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So, Are We Intelligent Enough to be Enlightened?

CarlCarl
edited June 2006 in Buddhism and the Four Noble Truths
Judge Judy says beauty only lasts a little while, but stupid is forever. That correlates the same way as above (if smart is yang and dumb is yin). Is there a verse in the TTC that supports being stupid?

If so, I can seriously relax! 8)

Comments

  • CarlCarl
    edited December 1969
    Like some lottery, we [chref=71]think[/chref] we can beat the odds and win life without [chref=69]rolling up [our] sleeves[/chref]. Each moment we gamble away a penny's worth of integrity in the hope of getting a dollar's worth of [chref=37]desire[/chref]'s winnings. Alas, each day holds an eternity of such moments, so it all adds up! How intelligent do we need to be [chref=71]to know[/chref] this?

    The [chref=32]way[/chref] is simpler than words and thinking can understand, which is one reason we have difficulty [chref=70]understanding[/chref] 'it'. We are using the wrong tool, the brain. Not literally, but by taking thoughts too seriously; we make too much 'noise' to hear the [chref=43]teaching that uses no words[/chref]. We make too much 'noise' to feel the [chref=25]silent and void[/chref] enlightened view. Ironically, from a symptom's point of view, we may be making all this 'noise' to avoid feeling this silent and void view. We fear 'it', yet by relying on thought to pin 'it' down, we can never know 'it'. This leaves us consciously* unaware of 'it'. And, like they say, we fear the unknown. In short, fear drives the thought; thought suppresses knowing; not-knowing drives fear.

    All in all, our intelligence stands in our [chref=32]way[/chref]. Our [chref=65]cleverness[/chref] hinders rather than helps [chref=10]knowing[/chref], which makes this is a trick question I guess. In this, as everything else, [chref=41]the way that leads forward seems to lead backward[/chref].

    * I am using conscious here as the thought based specie-centric experience many people define it to be. Personally I feel that everything, right down to the quark, is conscious,... huh? :roll: Although, I imagine that anyone seriously drawn to the Taoist point of view has at least begun to sense this [chref=56]mysterious sameness[/chref] side of consciousness... at least subconsciously. :wink:
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