by Sara H » Mon Oct 22, 2012 8:17 am
I think there is this tradition in the west to say that an institution or practice must be 100% perfect or else it's trash.
Those are actually two extremes.
On the one hand we expect something to be flawless, (which isn't realistic) and on the other hand when things don't live up to our ideals, we tend to say it's all garbage and discard it. (another extreme, the opposite of running toward perfection, which is running away from reality)
I think this comes out of our response to Christian teachings and their saying that the Bible is 100% perfect, etc, and so is the church, and so on, and our reaction to that.
This is not Christianity, And Buddhism is not the Christian church.
"With the ideal, comes the actual" after all, and we "then compound delusion later on, by following ideals".
Buddhism is about finding a middle way, not following ideals.
Expecting perfection out of an institution, or practice is idealism.
That's not the point of Buddhism, to be an idealistic sense of perfection.
It is rather to be a vehicle and provide a way to training and the cessation of suffering.
Nowhere does it say that all monks or practitioners are going to be perfect simply by virtue of being Buddhists.
This expectation, that we need to find a "savior" is one of the things to let go of in Buddhism.
We train ourselves, and with other people, and with the Eternal, with the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
We are human beings, and Buddhism is for human beings, not for flawless idealistic perceptions of how we think ourselves or other people "should" be.
That's one of the beauty's of Buddhism, is that everybody can do this.
Angulimala was a serial killer, who purportedly killed 999 people and was on his search for his "thousandth" when the Buddha got hold of him.
He later became a disciple.
Even the kind of sexual morality we place on people in the West has it's background in Christianity.
Gasp, someone has hormones and may be sexually attracted to someone.
And some of those people follow through with it.
This is human nature, and humanity.
This is why we train, to better ourselves, not to hold ourselves down and judge ourselves and others when they or we make a mistake.
I think we could all do well to remember this and remember that we too are human beings and have made our share of mistakes.
In Gassho, friends,
Sara H
"Life is full of suffering. AND Life is full of the Eternal
IT IS OUR CHOICE
We can stand in our shadow, and wallow in the darkness,
OR
We can turn around.
It is OUR choice." -Rev. Basil
" ...out of fear, even the good harm one another. " -Rev. Dazui MacPhillamy
etc. etc. well maybe it is good for Europeans or Americans, but sounds like bit extreme to one who is a stranger in this culture.