On Buddhism and Finding Religion

[Kiouni]

On the Feelings of Hot and Cold in Religious Practice

It should be noted that with religions and more importantly within practices their can be some misguiding. With the original Shackyamuni Buddha or Gotama he realized as a small child the “collective coolness” that leads you towards the path of enlightenment.
By meditating daily on the ardor of love and what it meant to apply this emotion to all living things including a few blades of grass Gotama was able to further himself. Gotama used this emotional compass to guide him away from the Ascetics of the old way into a dharma all his own. This spiritual compass is important to realize.
When I was attending a Christian church I felt nothing towards their God. I felt completely void of insight or feeling towards the practice of the parishioners. I discovered that when I adopted seclusion as my practice and furthered my own theology or a-theology independently I felt warmth to my studying.
During this period of being utterly lost on my chosen practice I tried to study all concepts of every faith to find what path should be my own. But I soon discovered that finding the right religion to fit me was pointless because conformity is not the solution. The idea is to free you from the limitations of elementary thoughts. Gotama upon achieving enlightenment under the bodhi tree does not say “I am liberated,” but “It is liberated!”1
This statement is not limited to just Buddha’s mind but to that of all human thought because when he tried to establish his own method of practice he ran into the simple fact that the human mind cannot achieve this concept of liberation over night or separate their attachments without first going through similar exercise that he himself undertook.
However it should be noted that after reaching enlightenment Gotama told or better said re-told the four noble truths. Gotama claimed these concepts of enlightenment have been said in previous existences but have been lost in time. These concepts of suffering and the derivation of suffering are not new concepts but rational conclusions that all people come to. The fourth noble is, “there is a method for achieving this goal which is the eight fold path.”
The eight fold path it should be noted though is not just the exclusive path to enlightenment but rather a byproduct of the journey. When you approach the truth of a situation you can feel a warmth of wisdom on your approach. In life we feel this regularly in life for example when a significant other feels content from a good dinner made by you or speaking thoughtful words to them.
This idea of using hot and cold to guide us is funny when you think about it because as children didn’t we use the same technique to find the “hidden treasure?” So, it should not be so foreign to us to realize that we should use the same concept in determining faith and theological facts.
If a practice leads you to fill cold or distant from what you are told is the final conclusion then you have strayed from your path. If a practice gives you the strength to move on in the direction you deem worthy that use that practice as it is intended, a stepping stone. Once you have moved beyond a concept do not pay it any more attention because it was simply a previous stage that should be discarded upon reaching the next.
This is why within religions their should be multiple practices, if there is not then we should not see this short fall for as a failure of the organization but rather as a limitation of the followers. An attempt to move them on should be made as well. But, the warmth of wisdom and insight should be your guiding light to achieve liberation and true happiness. Having the right mind, thought, action, etc., will follow as you reach these stages of understanding and spiritual growth.



1 Armstrong, Karen, “Buddha.” (Penguin lives, New York) 2001. pg. 85

[phiddle]

1. Thank you!