That last one will have many raging - but as Richmond observes:
There are so many pitfalls in practice, and those who study the teachings of the ancients can see that they knew all about these matters, and tried to warn us. Dharma is reality. We have to continually face that, rejecting what is false, and embracing what is true, however painful.
Personally, I don't agree with the view that "the ancients... tried to warn us." I believe they were very clear. It's just that, as with so much else, the warnings were given a good varnishing with the label Esoteric and made to appear complex and even unfathomable - and all too often that was done by supposed Gurus who then got caught out in some "Religious Corruption".
It's even odder that when the Esoteric is made clear, so many prefer to retain the mysticism and varnish reality with more of the esoteric.
It's almost as if Buddhism is all about varnish, and Nirvana can be found in a paint store.
Many read Richmond's views will immediately look outside themselves for what is false. They just can't deal with the pain of looking within to consider where falsity has taken root and grown, and how that has become part of the reality they live within.
As I was told by a wise Old Buzzard, "Buddhism does not do first aide. It's kill or cure. You either kill your own Buddhahood or you allow your own Buddhahood to cure that which ails you.".
It would seem that after some fifty years, the nature of some medicine and how it can be used is finally becoming clear. |
