retrofuturist wrote:Greetings,
Dan74 wrote:I think early on Robert made a disparaging remark about focusing on the here and now
I think the concern was more about "focusing on the here and now" in the absence of Right View.... in other words, "focusing on the here and now" is no substitute for Right View. "Focusing on the here and now" is not the forerunner.
Right View, which will not be perfected until one is ariya, helps put a context to the "here and now" practice and the "here and now" practice illuminates Right View.
Dan74 wrote:On the other hand, there seem to be hints of a passive-aggessive complex from "the other camp" that meditators are self-deluding and full of conceit and dhamma study is where it really happens.
Who knows. It just feels like different people trying to tilt the public agenda
That is cute; however, I have no interest in "tilting" any agenda. While the Sujin practice may be efficacious, I have no interest in that sort of dry Abhidhamma style of doing things, but I would not say to another, do not do that for this or that reason. I do, however, take exception to what looks to be, from Sujin and her followers, very negative straw-man characterizations of other forms of Dhamma practice. Calling that into question is not trying to “tilt the public agenda,” which seems to suggest a negative value. It is dialogue and debate, which is the purpose of this forum and such discussuion has its worth.
I see Dhamma practice as a personal thing so am more interested in the sharing and listening of views, and the taking on board of what is deemed useful by the individual, rather than those views being pitted against each other in public debate. But that's just my preference... I'm not here to impose it on others.
Practice is, indeed, a personal thing, which is why characterizing in such a negative way, as the Sujin people are doing here other forms of Dhamma practice, should be looked at as it happens.