Thank you for sharing this. Nishijima Roshi is such an important person in my journey with Soto Zen and Zazen practice. I’m very grateful that I can learn from you and from Jundo.
Another old video I haven't seen before and am hence grateful for you re-uploading. I remember being awestruck by Nishijima Roshi's re-formulation of the 4 noble truths when I read your book "Letters to a Dead Friend about Zen" Brad. The point about the separation between the material and the spiritual being an illusion produced by the (very physical) human brain is one of the most important insights for me in many years, as it has resolved quite a few problems I've been grappling with. I am not sure if you are familiar with the Danish occultist and science-fiction author Erwin Neutzsky-Wulff, but he frequently makes that point as well.
@@HardcoreZen unfortunately very little of his work has been translated into English, most of that being his non-fiction work on the history of horror and science-fiction as literary and cinematic genres... but hey, that is right up your alley!
@@HardcoreZen In any case Erwin Neutzsky-Wulff has quite the interest in the neurobiological foundations for religious experience and frequently arrives to similar conclusions as Nishijima Roshi did. Despite the two having very different fields of interest when it comes to specific religious traditions: Wulff is more into pre-Christian Greco-Roman religion and the Kabbalah. For instance he likes pointing out that the different Sephiroth (manifestations of the divine + powers of the human mind) on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life correspond closely to the different components of the human brain in having particular specialised functions.
Fusing Gudo Nishijima’s Interpretation back into the earlier framework: - The conventional interpretation of the Noble Truths can be summarized as: The [1st] noble truth places an emphasis on suffering. The [2nd] noble truth observes that desire gives rise to suffering. And the [3rd] noble truth is an action that can be performed to circumvent suffering: fading away desire to put an end to suffering. Here’s my attempt at fusing Gudo Nishijima’s Interpretation back into the earlier framework: [1st] noble truth: Idealism, a spiritual approach. Continually experiencing life as unsatisfactory, without knowing why. Always expecting better, without being aware of one’s expectations, and wondering why? [2nd] noble truth: the piling up of things (like atoms), materialism, objectivity. Now they are aware that their desire & expectations lead them to feel dissatisfied with the results. This is a diagnosis of the problem. Now you know why you find much of life unsatisfactory, but you still want to keep acquiring things (materialism). You objectively understand what makes you unsatisfied. [3rd] noble truth: the Action approach (or philosophy). Think of it as stopping the desire (already) and just doing it. We tend to think of this as: acting upon your original impulses and insights. As William Blake put it: “Sooner murder an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires.” But it has a deeper meaning in terms of perception: Stopping the step-by-step desire to pick away at problems using a single thread of thought (reasoning) - to see things in terms of the wider context, engaging all the interrelationships at once, the way the mind naturally functions through persisting associations. To see through to the depths of things directly, such as they are. This is the True Dharma Eye. And the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye is Dogen’s Shobogenzo. [4th] noble truth: the Eight-Fold Path. The many-fold process to get to the point of dropping off incremental desire. To stop the endless loop of analysis, and synthesize one’s understanding.
@@osip7315 Yes, more and more words to stop the words. Yet I am afraid that's what most people think they need (desire?) to hear. And, with compassion, that is what they are given.
You said something real good at the end there: we're never out of contact with reality, but we sometimes forget that. I wonder: do we just like to pretend that we forgot?
I agree with others that it is always very interesting and instructive to hear Nishijima Roshi‘s take on various aspects of Buddhism. Unfortunately, the audio quality was pretty atrocious. I had a very hard time following this one because of it. Brad, would you consider doing this one again as a fresh talk, rather than as a re-posting of a previous one?
so, the four "ig-noble" truths are . . . some people find life a lot more fun than others for various reasons suffering is usually visited on you without permission and has nothing to do with unfulfilled desire desire is a nonsense word anyway (ed. covers no.3 and 4)
Thank you for sharing this. Nishijima Roshi is such an important person in my journey with Soto Zen and Zazen practice. I’m very grateful that I can learn from you and from Jundo.
Another old video I haven't seen before and am hence grateful for you re-uploading.
I remember being awestruck by Nishijima Roshi's re-formulation of the 4 noble truths when I read your book "Letters to a Dead Friend about Zen" Brad. The point about the separation between the material and the spiritual being an illusion produced by the (very physical) human brain is one of the most important insights for me in many years, as it has resolved quite a few problems I've been grappling with. I am not sure if you are familiar with the Danish occultist and science-fiction author Erwin Neutzsky-Wulff, but he frequently makes that point as well.
A Danish occultist and science-fiction writer? I am intrigued. Thank you!
@@HardcoreZen unfortunately very little of his work has been translated into English, most of that being his non-fiction work on the history of horror and science-fiction as literary and cinematic genres... but hey, that is right up your alley!
@@Tsotha I like books about the history of science fiction.
@@HardcoreZen In any case Erwin Neutzsky-Wulff has quite the interest in the neurobiological foundations for religious experience and frequently arrives to similar conclusions as Nishijima Roshi did. Despite the two having very different fields of interest when it comes to specific religious traditions: Wulff is more into pre-Christian Greco-Roman religion and the Kabbalah. For instance he likes pointing out that the different Sephiroth (manifestations of the divine + powers of the human mind) on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life correspond closely to the different components of the human brain in having particular specialised functions.
thanks, i really enjoy when you share nihijima roshi's unique perspcetives..
Fusing Gudo Nishijima’s Interpretation back into the earlier framework:
- The conventional interpretation of the Noble Truths can be summarized as: The [1st] noble truth places an emphasis on suffering. The [2nd] noble truth observes that desire gives rise to suffering. And the [3rd] noble truth is an action that can be performed to circumvent suffering: fading away desire to put an end to suffering.
Here’s my attempt at fusing Gudo Nishijima’s Interpretation back into the earlier framework:
[1st] noble truth: Idealism, a spiritual approach.
Continually experiencing life as unsatisfactory, without knowing why.
Always expecting better, without being aware of one’s expectations, and wondering why?
[2nd] noble truth: the piling up of things (like atoms), materialism, objectivity.
Now they are aware that their desire & expectations lead them to feel dissatisfied with the results. This is a diagnosis of the problem. Now you know why you find much of life unsatisfactory, but you still want to keep acquiring things (materialism). You objectively understand what makes you unsatisfied.
[3rd] noble truth: the Action approach (or philosophy).
Think of it as stopping the desire (already) and just doing it. We tend to think of this as: acting upon your original impulses and insights. As William Blake put it: “Sooner murder an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires.”
But it has a deeper meaning in terms of perception: Stopping the step-by-step desire to pick away at problems using a single thread of thought (reasoning) - to see things in terms of the wider context, engaging all the interrelationships at once, the way the mind naturally functions through persisting associations. To see through to the depths of things directly, such as they are. This is the True Dharma Eye. And the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye is Dogen’s Shobogenzo.
[4th] noble truth: the Eight-Fold Path. The many-fold process to get to the point of dropping off incremental desire. To stop the endless loop of analysis, and synthesize one’s understanding.
they write words
and more words
thinking them
an end in themselves
not asking
if the circles return
or move
outwards
@@osip7315 Yes, more and more words to stop the words.
Yet I am afraid that's what most people think they need (desire?) to hear.
And, with compassion, that is what they are given.
@@JimTempleman what rot !
@@osip7315 whatnot.
@@JimTempleman at least that "fusing" was successful
Your channel is great. I hope more and more people will discover it.
I'd reply with a big AMEN except that just doesn't seem right on a Buddhist channel.
Always enjoy hearing about Nishijima Roshi’s perspectives …
You said something real good at the end there: we're never out of contact with reality, but we sometimes forget that.
I wonder: do we just like to pretend that we forgot?
I agree with others that it is always very interesting and instructive to hear Nishijima Roshi‘s take on various aspects of Buddhism. Unfortunately, the audio quality was pretty atrocious. I had a very hard time following this one because of it. Brad, would you consider doing this one again as a fresh talk, rather than as a re-posting of a previous one?
Was the interpretion the result of Roshi's personal views or was it derived from something he studied in Dogen? It seems a very modernistic approach.
stories on stories
interpretation on interpretation
to the blinkered view
this is meaningful
so, the four "ig-noble" truths are . . .
some people find life a lot more fun than others for various reasons
suffering is usually visited on you without permission and has nothing to do with unfulfilled desire
desire is a nonsense word anyway (ed. covers no.3 and 4)