{"id":588,"date":"2016-01-05T12:59:21","date_gmt":"2016-01-05T07:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ashwita.com\/zen\/?p=588"},"modified":"2016-01-05T17:33:47","modified_gmt":"2016-01-05T12:03:47","slug":"conversations-spiritual-teachings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ashwita.com\/zen\/conversations-spiritual-teachings\/","title":{"rendered":"Dialogue: Spiritual Teachings"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A
A Bylakuppe, near Coorg, is a beautiful, serene Buddhist monastery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Absolutely any spiritual teaching holds the risk of being misinterpreted, especially when it is read by the wrong person at the wrong time. Just like religious texts have been misinterpreted and twisted to suit one’s convenience for centuries, anyone reading spiritual teachings must also beware that teachings will work against you if you read through the filters of your beliefs instead of trying to connect with the essence through your heart.<\/p>\n

And here I present especially something that can be open to misinterpretation, but I do it anyway, because I believe it will still help those who are prepared. One of the most common traps on a spiritual aspirant’s pathway, is getting lost in teachings. I have found myself lost more than once, and I see many around me deeply trapped by their intellect – able to give an entire discourse if need be, but barely able to invest any energies in actually experiencing anything.<\/p>\n

Spurthi contacted me recently during her stay at Bylakuppe, where she was attending HH Dalai Lama’s teachings. I would like to mention here that our conversations have nothing to do with Buddhism itself, but with the idea of listening to teachings.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Spurthi<\/b>
\nI am in Bylakuppe for Dalai Lama’s teaching.
\n\"\"Ashwita<\/b>
\ngreat, how’s that going for you?
\n\"\"<\/b>Spurthi<\/b>
\nVery good… it’s awesome to be in his presence.. very peaceful.\u00a0I experienced similar first in your\u00a0presence.
\nHe covered how to realise emptiness and impermanence, origin of\u00a0dependence
\n\"\"Ashwita<\/b>
\noh, sounds wonderful
\n\"\"Spurthi<\/b>
\nIt helped in my intellectual understanding,\u00a0I need to do lot of work to surrender fully.\u00a0Hope 2016 helps me better
\n\"\"Ashwita<\/b>
\nYeah I find that the one risk in Buddhism is getting lost in the intellect
\n\"\"Spurthi<\/b>
\nYes.. tats why HH stressed direct realization is must
\n\"\"Ashwita<\/b>
\nyeah, that can also be a very intellectual statement \ud83d\ude00
\n\"\"Spurthi<\/b>
\nTeaching should only be a signpost
\n\"\"Ashwita<\/b>
\nSee all these things come in when you want to ‘get’ somewhere
\nYes – signposts are needed when there is a journey. A journey is when you are not happy with where you are. Just sit down,\u00a0there is nowhere to go. Stop trying to be better, and surrender will happen naturally. Otherwise you will end up with a fake intellectualized surrender
\n\"\"Spurthi<\/b>
\nHmmm … how can surrender happen wen my mind still complains \/ resists
\n\"\"Ashwita<\/b>
\nSurrender to that state of mind. It is only the mind that is telling you how the mind should behave. Let that layer go first
\n\"\"Spurthi<\/b>
\nIt still wants to take control of things and induces fear of future by negativity
\n\"\"Ashwita<\/b>
\nThat is the only ‘work’ you need to do – witnessing the mind and not heeding its madness
\n\"\"Spurthi<\/b>
\nWhile witnessing I somehow get lost with it and stop being witness..
\n\"\"Ashwita<\/b>
\npractice practice practice
\n\"\"Spurthi<\/b>
\nI need to practice
\nYes tats the way.. should be more patient.
\nShouldn’t give up practice
\n\"\"Ashwita<\/b>
\nthat’s all \ud83d\ude42 there is nothing else you need to actually know
\n\"\"Spurthi<\/b>
\nRight… Thanks a lot Ashwita for the way i want to discuss more with u.. now going to attend one more teaching from a Buddhist monk.. it’s so true as u said there r lot of chances here to get lost intellectually.
\nIt’s easy to start seeking …
\n\"\"Ashwita<\/b>
\nyeah. The real teachings fit in half a page. Anything more than that has a potential to mislead you
\n\"\"Spurthi<\/b>
\nExactly!!! Mind will be more than happy to resume it’s work after half page
\n\"\"Ashwita<\/b>
\ngooood girl \ud83d\ude42
\n\"\"Spurthi
\n<\/b>\ud83d\ude42
\n<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\nAt the beginning of a spiritual journey, it is usually of much help to be able to heal some deep wounds through therapy or some sort of spiritual healing. Until one reaches this stage, there might be some desire to ‘reach somewhere’. But eventually one reaches a point where all the basics have been learned, and practice is all that is required. One needs to steer clear of intellectual masturbation and focus on the only real thing on the ‘journey’ – simple, boring practice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Absolutely any spiritual teaching holds the risk of being misinterpreted, especially when it is read by the wrong person at the wrong time. Just like religious texts have been misinterpreted and twisted to suit one’s convenience for centuries, anyone reading spiritual teachings must also beware that teachings will work against you if you read through the filters of your beliefs instead of trying to connect with the essence through your heart. And here I present especially something that can be…<\/p>\n

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