Tuesday 2 August 2011

Kill the Buddha

After years sitting on his cushion, a monk has what he believes is a discovery: a glimpse of enlightenment, the Buddha mind, the expectant final payment for his years of spiritual toiling and longing. Describing the experience to his master, all the same, he is told that what has occurred is par for the course, nothing special, perhaps even detrimental to his pursuance. And then the master gives the student demoralising advice: If you come across the Buddha, he says, kill him.

Why kill the Buddha? Because the Buddha you come across is not the true Buddha, but a construction of your yearning. If this Buddha is not killed he will only stand in your way.

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." Buddha

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