Straun -- thanks for rephrasing my question. Much more concise!!
--- Platt wrote:Try as I might I'm having trouble understanding Rob's plea for “sensitivity.” Am I correct in assuming that it would be better if we dumped the intellect in favor of all *becoming* Zen Buddhists? ---
Platt, having pursued a Masters Degree in Economics, I am all for intellect! I'm just against intellectual prejudgement of value. Value is experienced. Experience first, then make sense as things stimulate your intellect... Your use of the word "become" is very interesting. I think we should pay close attention this word. Does not "becoming" a Zen Buddhist mean mentally rejecting other alternatives? This is just replacing one filter with another.
I would like to include an excerpt of lecture from Krishnamurti. This is ths source of where I am coming from. Of course, I just want to explore truth so I am definately interested in any criticisms/questions you might have. Try to follow every sentence carefully without any pre-judgement or conclusion. In other words, be *sensitive*. Also -- without judgement -- observe the thoughts that spontaneously come into mind. That is true intellectual quality.
"I would like to discuss with you the problem of freedom. It is a very complex problem needing deep study and understanding. We hear much talk about freedom, religious freedom, and the freedom to do what one would like to do ... I wonder if you have ever stopped to observe the marvelous glow in the west as the sun sets, with the shy moon just over the trees? Often at that hour, the river is very calm, and then everything is reflected on its surface ... It is all very beautiful. And to observe, to watch, to give your whole attention to something beautiful, your mind must be free of preoccupations, must it not? It must not be occupied with problems, worries, with speculations. It is only when the mind is quiet that you can really observe, for then the mind is sensitive to extraordinary beauty; and perhaps here is a clue to the problem of freedom...
Many people in the world are independent, but very few are free. Freedom implies great intelligence, does it not? But intelligence does not come into being by just wishing to be free; it comes into being when you really understand your whole environment, the social, the religious, parental and traditional influences that are continually closing in on you... To understand all these and become free from them requires deep insight; but you generally give in to them because inwardly you are frightened. You are afraid of not having a good position in life; you are afraid of what your preist will say; you are afraid of not following tradition, of not doing the right thing. But freedom is really a state of mind in which there is no fear or compulsion, no urge to be secure...
Have you not noticed that your parents and teachers tell you that you must amount to something in life ... Or you try to imitate the example of some hero, to be like the Masters, the saints, so you are never free. Whether you follow the example of a Master, a saint, a teacher or stick to a particular tradition, it all implies a demand on your part to *be* something; and it is only when you understand this fact that there is freedom."
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