Conference weekend. Admittedly I didn't see a whole lot of it I confess. I did see a few sessions though. It is interesting watching from the outside. I find it amazing how different something can appear between when you believe in the man talking and when you don't.
On the subject of doubt for instance, Buddha encouraged doubt of even his own teachings, much of what I heard this conference was about avoiding doubt. Ignoring doubt. Stifling doubt. Before I flipped I would have heard this as encouragement to stay the course. I would have considered ignoring doubt a place of safety, by denying anything different from what I believed as lies, I could rest confident in what I knew. This was a very difficult position to maintain as I tend to observe patterns in organizations and behaviors in comparison to their actions and think about them so the cognitive dissonance was becoming very painful.
So, back to doubt. Can a mind truly be free of deception without it? If one is not allowed to verify, how does one keep from being conned or taken in or running willy nilly with every rumor flying around their facebook feeds and email accounts? How is one to be truly mindful if one restricts the bounds of the mind?
On another level, presumably the reason for this doubt is the attainment of something after this life which is permanent, requiring us to pass a test beset with logical stumbling blocks constantly placed in our way to the point that nothing we believe is independently verifiable or else we should not have faith. I have observed nothing permanent in my life as of yet and the scientific jury would say there is really not anything that is permanent. How can one know something without doubt? Knowledge without verification is a guess. But perhaps I am falling victim to the error of the faithless.
In any case, when feelings aren't to be trusted and emotions distracting, what is left but doubt to gain a good direction? To question, to investigate, to confirm before we embark on the next leg of our journey?
On the subject of doubt for instance, Buddha encouraged doubt of even his own teachings, much of what I heard this conference was about avoiding doubt. Ignoring doubt. Stifling doubt. Before I flipped I would have heard this as encouragement to stay the course. I would have considered ignoring doubt a place of safety, by denying anything different from what I believed as lies, I could rest confident in what I knew. This was a very difficult position to maintain as I tend to observe patterns in organizations and behaviors in comparison to their actions and think about them so the cognitive dissonance was becoming very painful.
So, back to doubt. Can a mind truly be free of deception without it? If one is not allowed to verify, how does one keep from being conned or taken in or running willy nilly with every rumor flying around their facebook feeds and email accounts? How is one to be truly mindful if one restricts the bounds of the mind?
On another level, presumably the reason for this doubt is the attainment of something after this life which is permanent, requiring us to pass a test beset with logical stumbling blocks constantly placed in our way to the point that nothing we believe is independently verifiable or else we should not have faith. I have observed nothing permanent in my life as of yet and the scientific jury would say there is really not anything that is permanent. How can one know something without doubt? Knowledge without verification is a guess. But perhaps I am falling victim to the error of the faithless.
In any case, when feelings aren't to be trusted and emotions distracting, what is left but doubt to gain a good direction? To question, to investigate, to confirm before we embark on the next leg of our journey?
