Don’t Be A Slick Buddhist
Be an investigative journalist, seeking the truth
The Buddha understood what others did not understand: that the purity of awareness is our true nature, and not the trappings.
Trappings: The outward signs, associated with a particular situation or role – “Some of the appeal lay in its ritual and spectacular trappings: the bells and whistles.” Something in which we can become trapped.
A slick professional presentation is not the Dharma. The Dharma is revealing the truth – how it actually is. Learning all the answers and merely repeating them gives us a false sense of security. Just repeating the words “emptiness” and “essence” gives no flavour of what these words really mean.
The way in which we approach the Dharma is thinking like an amateur: in Suzuki’s words, “Beginner mind, Zen mind”, asking basic questions of “What?” “Why?” and “How?” It is not about learning by rote. Learning by rote is useful for later on, in order to be able to scan the mind quickly for information, but only to be beneficial in a specific situation. Wisdom has to hit the spot with a shock, and not gloss over.
We have to be investigative journalists seeking the truth, and not TV journalists being lobbyists for a cause. All Dharma practices are a means to an end, and that end is awareness of awareness, which is emptiness. It’s not about being good at doing a practice. It’s not about looking good at beating a drum, ringing a bell, waving a dorje or making mudras…
I once heard a lama say that when he started teaching educated Westerners, he was worried about being asked a question that he was unable to answer. He found that this hadn’t happened. So I asked him, “Who has become enlightened in recent times?” He did not reply. I remember that, after the break, I sat closer to the exit door…;-)
Understand what others do not understand: the true nature of reality.
BUDDHA IN THE MUD is a blog - a living book based on the Dzogchen teachings. Our teacher is life, and life is karma. We are all Buddhas in the mud of concepts. 
This the journalist John Pilger giving TV journalists a lesson on being an investigative journalist,
and not a mouthpiece for the corporation or government.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHkWpa4Vfgs
Labelling oneselve as a “Buddhist” is quite bizarre in itself. Being “Buddhist” what does that mean? To be an eternal follower of the Buddha? Is it possible to be a Christian, a Buddhist, a freemason, and an ordinary person at the same time? Labelling, labelling..; Dualistic activity. Preventing oneselve from seeing reality “as-is”. Pliny the elder once said: god is present there where a mortel is helping his fellow man. Yes, perhaps, but if you look closer. Things are not what they seems. Last year I bought an ancient bronze statue of the Buddha, to find out a couple of days ago that a part of his head was being eaten by bacterie and mushrooms. Impermance, a noble truth. Enough for today’s rambings… Have a nice weekend Tony and Kathie and to the followers of this blog. Why I’m here? Well that IS indeed the question. Gratitude.
Be well, Marcel.
🙂 😀
Tony and Kathie
Marcel – what a great story about your statue!
Tony – if only we could all keep that genuine open, enquiring approach to everything in life, the world would be a very different place.
Daisy
We’d all have to be enlightened for that to happen!
Hello Daisy, I’ll put up some pictures of the statue with the mushrooms. And the buddha keeps on smiling.. 🙂
That would be great!
Daisy