The Equal Importance of Morality, Concentration, and Insight
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Morality, Concentration and Insight are the essential three trainings of Buddhist practice
And there's something interesting I thought was worth sharing....I thought it would be fun to envision the Three Trainings as characters and have them critique each other and then talk with each other about ways that they could reinforce each other. I will do this in the form of a short play in one act. While I will exaggerate and dichotomize their issues with each other for comic effect, I do think that each of the points made has some validity. Hopefully, you will see through the humor to the important points being illustrated.
Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, Adobe/.pdf version, by Arhat, Dharma Dan
Curtain opens. Morality, Concentration and Insight are sitting in a bar having a discussion. A large stack of empty shot glasses sits in front of each character.
Morality: You navel gazing, self-absorbed, good-for-nothing freaks! I go out and work hard all day long to make this world fit to live in while you two sit on those sweat covered cushions and cultivate butt-rot! I go out and make good money, keep food in our mouths, a roof over our heads, deal with our stuff, and you go out and spend our money up at that freak-house you call a meditation center when there is important work to be done! I want to work on my tan!
Insight: Who are you calling “self-absorbed?” I can’t be self absorbed by definition! If it wasn’t for me, you would be so stuck in dualistic illusion that you wouldn’t know your ass from your elbow, you conceptually fixated, emotionally mired, bound-up-in-manifestation-looking, twelve sandwich eating…
Concentration: Yeah! And by the way, Mr. Oh-so-worldly, you should learn to lighten up sometimes! Work your fingers to the bone, whaddaya get? Bony fingers. ThatÂ’s what. And that goes for you too, Mr. Enlightenment! If you didnÂ’t have my skills, youÂ’d be shit out of luck, unable to focus, and dead boring to boot! Who brings up the deep joy and wondrous mind states around here? I do, thatÂ’s who, so you two should just shut up!
Insight: Oh, yeah? Well, Mr. La-la Land, if it werenÂ’t for me, weÂ’d be so caught up in your transient highs that we might just get arrested. Somebody call the law! You two are so easily sucked into blowing things out of proportion that without me you two would have all the perspective of a dung heap!
Morality: Dung heap? YouÂ’d be lucky to have a dung heap if it wasnÂ’t for me, you emptiness-fixated, IÂ’m-oh-so-non-conceptual vibration-junkie. What good is having perspective if you donÂ’t go out and use it?
Concentration: Yeah! And speaking of perspective, I give you guys more perspective than you have any idea of. Not only do I provide a bridge between our resident Save-the-world Poster Child and the Void-fixated Flicker-boy, I help you two get your twitchy little minds right! I help the Boy Scout here gain more and deeper insights into his screwed up emotional world and “stuff” than he ever could have on his own, and if it wasn’t for me, Mr. Ultimate would just be spinning his wheels in the parking lot! And further more, I am fun, fun, fun!
Insight: Yeah, maybe, but you donÂ’t know when to stop, you otherworldly space-case! If Relative Man and I hadnÂ’t pulled you out of the clouds, youÂ’d still be lost in some formless realm thinking you had half a clue. IÂ’m the one with the clue! There ainÂ’t nothinÂ’ in the world like what I know, and without it, you twoÂ’s whole pathetic little sense of identity would be bound up in a world beyond your control. I am your salvation, and you know it!
Morality: Beyond my control my ass! I make things happen in this world, great things! IÂ’m the one that really gets us somewhere! I make a difference! Who cares if there is no self when people are starving in Africa?
Insight: Who cares is exactly my point! There is no separate, permanent self that cares!
Morality: “I know you are, but what am I?”
Insight: Exactly!
Morality: Jerk!
Concentration: See? You guys gotta' chill out, get some balance and peace in your life. Take a few moments and just breathe! Leave your worries and cares behind, and fly the friendly skies! ItÂ’s free, legal, and oh-so-recommended. You can quit whenever you like! All your friends are doing it! Come on, just relax!
Morality: All right, Fly Guy, when are we going to deal with our emotional issues, huh? When are we going to save the world? We canÂ’t just go on vacation forever.
Insight: Your problem is that you can’t see the sensations that make up these “issues” as they really are, so you make such a big friggin’ deal out of them. I mean, I see your point, but you are so reactive and blind that you are hardly the one for the job. You solidify these things into huge monsters, forget you have done this, and then freak out when they come running after you. You need a clue, you confused little shrew!
Morality: Oh, yeah! DonÂ’t think that just because you can see the true nature of the issues that make up your reality that you wonÂ’t still have stuff to deal with! Now, thatÂ’s delusion!
Insight: ItÂ’s even more deluded to think that you can really have a completely healthy perspective on anything without me, you Monster Maker!
Concentration: Dude, do you see those angels floating through the wall?
Morality: Where in the Hell did I find you freaks?
Insight: Short memory, eh? You found us when you realized you couldnÂ’t do it on your own. You needed us to really be able to do the job you wanted to do, to really make a difference and be as happy and effective as you could be.
Morality: Yeah? And when can I get rid of you?
Concentration and Insight: When you have mastered us completely. Jinx, one two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!
Morality: BartenderÂ…
THE END.
If you find that you have gotten to the point when you cannot laugh at your own path, stop immediately and figure out why. I hope you have found this little, irreverent dialogue entertaining. While obviously a bit ridiculous, these sorts of tensions can arise until we really have a solid grasp of each training. When we have this, they will work together as they were meant to. -
I am still confused by the above dialouge.
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Dharma Dan is really very brilliant and clear sighted.
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Ya agreed... still reading the book?Originally posted by longchen:Dharma Dan is really very brilliant and clear sighted.
Thusness thought Dharma Dan lives in Australia, and he asked me where he lives so he could pay him a visit in his current vacation in Australia
but actually he lives in USA.