From a Reader: Observation - Folks are Funny
June 10, 2011
Venerable Wuling in Musings

Amituofo. I'm amazed at the dynamics that arise among people in various groups, be they families, groups of friends, political groups, social groups, religious groups, etc., It seems the human tendency to consider oneself wholly correct and others less so, in varying degrees, can cause strife even among cultivators. Further, if a group largely professes one viewpoint, a few dissenting voices are looked at with disfavor, perhaps hostility. Are you an American or a foreigner, a Republican or Democrat or Independent,man or woman, straight, gay or bi, vegetarian or eater of three-pure-meat,Mahayana or Theravada, Pure Land, oh great-what sect-Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese -Jodo Shu or Jodo Shinshu?

It seems the universe between one's ears has the potential to (frequently) rub someone else 's universe the wrong way. Such episodes cause arguments, disunity and can escalate to poisonous thinking and emotions, as well as outright violence in different forms. Clearly, the goal of cultivation, any variety, is the transcendence of attachment to views that limit one's ability to interact in a civil, compassionate manner with other sentient beings. For Pure Land cultivators, mindfulness of Amituofo, and the remembrance of one's true identity that accompanies it, can overcome this human tendency; allowing one to be a Buddha moment-by-moment.

Just an observation from an average cultivator with a lot of work to do.

 

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