In this episode, Kenneth talks about how the outcome of your spiritual practice is influenced by the values you take into it. Also: pachekka buddhas, Actual Freedom, and the Dharma Overground; the ten oxherding pictures, Rumi, the Five Ranks of Tozan, and the man himself, Gotama Buddha.
NYC Talk: Outcomes
4 thoughts on “NYC Talk: Outcomes”
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Hi Kenneth,
The point of paccekabuddha is , as I see it, silent buddha.
While af people seem talkative and friendly guides, as any other person.
so they cannot be defined silent by any way I see, so I think the analogy you are making is false, perhaps even slanderous?
Moreover, in the talk you said it had taken you a while to feel comfortable to state your opinion on this, but you have been stating it (whatever opinions you had then) from day one.
thanks for sharing the talk!
I think “slanderous” is a bit over the top, is it not?
I agree that the people claiming AF I’ve encountered have been amiable enough, but I think that the aggressive marketing of AF by it’s proponents is more similar to that of Scientology than a group of people genuinely interested in freedom from suffering, however you want to define it.
Kenneth, I think you’ve made a brave move with this talk and it’s commendable to see someone openly discuss this from another viewpoint. I don’t have the knowledge of Buddhism to fully appreciate the paccekabuddha analogy but I respect your ability to cut to the chase with this stuff. Hopefully this talk will lead to a more reasonable discussion of the aims of AF, and not just more parroting from the AF website.
Finally I had the time to listen to this, because I was meditating my behind off lately. I agree with these values. As a father of two I can’t believe complete transcendence is the right goal for me. As a friend said recently: I want all the frequencies of experience to be accessible. Anyway, I’m still getting towards that third rank in the meanwhile. 😉
I think addressing the question of values is really important. Compassion is something that is an expression of our humanity. Partaking in the suffering of others and helping to change that is an important thing as it is the counterpart of selfishness which has anti-social outcomes. I´d rather embrace my emotions, positive and negative, and deal with life and the world in a skillful way.
Also, to me, it is a great experience to be able to inspire others.
A Dalai Lama quote comes to my mind: “My religion is compassion”.