Saturday, July 31, 2010

interesting and important

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Sometimes I think that things are far too interesting to be important. Mostly, the importance is granted a lead position and what is interesting goes begging. But where importance glistens, what is interesting flows.

I guess this is just one of those post-its you can stick up on your mind's refrigerator door. A nudge. And perhaps important for a while. But after 'a while,' things get interesting and there is no denying it.

What brought this to mind was reading some words about 'Beat Buddhism' or some such moniker. I took it to mean the Buddhism found in works by people like Alan Watts and others of his time. I was always a fan -- found importance in -- the old guys of Buddhism and more specifically Zen. Their words nudged me much as Alan Watts' words nudge others.

But I don't think it's so important how anyone hitches up a star. What matters is that they pick their star and then ... for once ... stop screwing around: Dig in, dig deep and find the place where things become interesting and untenable. It really doesn't matter whether someone can spell or discourse on the nirmanakaya. Such things are like posters in an auto garage -- ads for the best spark plugs or brake pads or hub caps. Very important! Yes, very important if you want the car to run.

And then one day -- it might be a Tuesday or a Wednesday -- you wake up to the fact that what is important and what has held your hand through thick and thin ... is much more interesting than its importance. It may be a bit disconcerting at first because finding important topics is our way of asserting our own importance. But a little at a time, with practice, what is interesting takes the reins and giggles and doesn't ask for anything.

Maybe this is to vague, too airy-fairy, too scrambled. But it's what I can manage this morning.

Oh well.
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2 comments:

  1. Good post.

    I really like the "untenable" "disconcerting" thread in this. And I hate it, on occasion, run like hell from it, when it actualizes as something as important as a sparkplug. This happens.

    We find, I think, in this long practicing that the practice runs or stays, sits or walks and does all of these "things of life" and does nott ask for anything. other than attention which it has already.

    Airy-fairy only shows up on every third Thursday.

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  2. Then again, if the practice does run,
    and asks for your attention,
    Be sure to slap it in the face.

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