Quote:
|
Originally Posted by guthrio
Hi Joe Mc,
I had the occasion to use this "rope" analogy in the reference, below. Ironically, it just occurred to me that use of the words Rope or Snake, is really only useful if those who utilize them remember that the difference (and usefulness) of either becomes moot without understanding what they mean in context.
One person's "Rope" may not necessarily be another person's "Snake", right?
Reference: http://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/sh...3&postcount=19 |
Hi Guthrio,
Thanks for your reply, i haven't had occasion yet to read the article concerning Christianity, i just skimmed through it. Do you think you have been found mixing up religious illusions ? lol and what might be the punishment in such circumstances ? Just joking, i was thinking of mixing metaphors or something like that, i don't really know what mixing metaphors means lol.
Anyways the parallel that im intuiting from initially reading your post is that the 'Eastern Mind' in terms of the Hindu tradition at least seems apt to deliver a short sharp shock to what we might call the 'Intellectual Mind'. So what we might call our 'Sinful Nature' in the Christian tradition is arrested momentarily through the use of an Allusion to point out our limited thinking or sinful nature.
Obviously the rope and the snake allusion doesn't quite fall into the Zen tradition especially the Rinzai school ...where questions such as the sound of One Hand Clapping or Show me your Original Face are meant to instigate in the seeker a shift of some kind.
So these allusions like the Snake and the Rope seem to me to have the flavour of arresting the egoic mind lets say in a way that Christian writings don't and are maybe not meant to ? But i can't help but take a saying like
Its harder for a rich man to pass through the eye of a needle..., and there must be many more ..and see those sayings as Allusions which are meant to lead to a wider and different understanding ? Anyways Guthrio thanks for the opportunity to rant a bit lol...
Best Regards
Joe