Devotion
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About religion and interests and preference and hard-wiring, here's something
to think about by Dean Sluyter. I've mentioned him. I'll mention him again.
I have a tie-in for you for the poop thread (later). He has a website.
www.cosmicbook.com
So, from _The Zen Commandments_, page 94-95 (with *x* for italics; sorry)...
"Our impulse toward devotion, I suspect, is so deeply ingrained that we all
look for objects toward which to direct it. We're built for it the way birds
are built for flight; without millions of devotees, neither Beatlemania nor
the Roman Republic could have happened. So the question is not *wheher* but
to *what* or *whom* you will be devoted. By harnessing our natural tendency
toward devotion and pointing it toward an appropriate object, we can put it
to the service of liberation. We can kiss the frog of warty, flawed
existence, freeing it--and ourselves--from the spell.
"This is not merely an emotional or attitudinal shift, but a perceptual
transformation. When I was ten years old I was a devoted coin collector and
experienced this in a small way. Pennies, the most worthless of coins, began
to reveal a greater value and beauty. Through my focused enthusiasm (love)
for them, I literally started to see aspects I hadn't seen before: this one
was in Extremely Fine condition because all the lines in the wheat stalks
were clear and sharp, that one was rare because it had the designer's
initials (V.D.B.) on the reverse. My enhanced perception of the coins in
turn fed my love for them, which further enhanced my perception, which in
turn fed my love. . .
"In this way devotion becomes self-perpeuating. If you just stay with it,
keep opening to the same object, your appreciation grows without limit. You
many have experienced this with your children, your country, your work, your
art. If you're a devoted musician, you hear subtleties of rhythm and timbre
that other people don't; if you're an artist, you keep seeing light, shapes,
and colors in new, vivid ways; if you're a fly fisherman, you know things
about the river that can't be put into words.
"in principle, it doesn't matter what the object of devotion is. If we focus
steadfastly on any wave it will evenually be revealed as ocean."
Sandra
to think about by Dean Sluyter. I've mentioned him. I'll mention him again.
I have a tie-in for you for the poop thread (later). He has a website.
www.cosmicbook.com
So, from _The Zen Commandments_, page 94-95 (with *x* for italics; sorry)...
"Our impulse toward devotion, I suspect, is so deeply ingrained that we all
look for objects toward which to direct it. We're built for it the way birds
are built for flight; without millions of devotees, neither Beatlemania nor
the Roman Republic could have happened. So the question is not *wheher* but
to *what* or *whom* you will be devoted. By harnessing our natural tendency
toward devotion and pointing it toward an appropriate object, we can put it
to the service of liberation. We can kiss the frog of warty, flawed
existence, freeing it--and ourselves--from the spell.
"This is not merely an emotional or attitudinal shift, but a perceptual
transformation. When I was ten years old I was a devoted coin collector and
experienced this in a small way. Pennies, the most worthless of coins, began
to reveal a greater value and beauty. Through my focused enthusiasm (love)
for them, I literally started to see aspects I hadn't seen before: this one
was in Extremely Fine condition because all the lines in the wheat stalks
were clear and sharp, that one was rare because it had the designer's
initials (V.D.B.) on the reverse. My enhanced perception of the coins in
turn fed my love for them, which further enhanced my perception, which in
turn fed my love. . .
"In this way devotion becomes self-perpeuating. If you just stay with it,
keep opening to the same object, your appreciation grows without limit. You
many have experienced this with your children, your country, your work, your
art. If you're a devoted musician, you hear subtleties of rhythm and timbre
that other people don't; if you're an artist, you keep seeing light, shapes,
and colors in new, vivid ways; if you're a fly fisherman, you know things
about the river that can't be put into words.
"in principle, it doesn't matter what the object of devotion is. If we focus
steadfastly on any wave it will evenually be revealed as ocean."
Sandra