As I mentioned in my second post (I think), I've brought along several books to read while in Asia this summer. Among them is a translation of the 12th century, Scottish Cistercian abbot, Aelred of Rievaulx's masterwork Spiritual Friendship. Here's a quote where Aelred distinguishes between charity/love [broadly defined in Christian traditions as love directed first towards God and then towards oneself and one's neighbors as objects of God's love) and friendship:
"Hence, nature from the very beginning implanted the desire for friendship and charity in the heart of man, a desire which an inner sense of affection soon increased with a taste of sweetness. But after the fall of the first man, when with the cooling of charity, lust made secret inroads and caused private good to take precedence over the common weal, it corrupted the splendor of friendship and charity through avarice and envy, introducing contentions, emulations, hates and suspicions because the morals of men had been corrupted. From that time the good distinguished between charity and friendship, observing that love ought to be extended even to the hostile and perverse, while no union of will and ideas can exist between the good and the wicked."
In short, while God in the Christian tradition has obligated us to love and cherish all without exception, Aelred makes the point that we need not accept all as friends since friendship is a "union of will and ideas" - a union that we obviously cannot and should not enter into indiscriminately. The Buddhist parallel, it seems to me, is the practice of generating loving-kindness and compassion for all impartially on the one hand and the careful choosing our kalyana mitras (spiritual friends) on the other hand.
Showing posts with label Aelred. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aelred. Show all posts
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Books I brought along...
Books I brought along for this trip:
1. Introduction to the Middle Way, an Indian Mahayana classic by Chandrakirti (ca. 7th century Indian Buddhist master, proponent of the Centrist School of Buddhist Philosophy);
2. The Practice of the Wild, a collection of essays by American essayist, poet and nature-activist, Gary Snyder, and
3. Spiritual Friendship, a 12th century work by the Scottish Cistercian monk and abbot, Aelred of Rievaulx.
Introduction to the Middle Way or Madhyamakavatara is the text that we're ("we" as in Drigung Dharmakirti Hermitage) going to study when everyone returns from the summer. A few of us from the group (Ryan, Jes, Jeff, Joe and I) were fortunate enough to go to the annual Spring Retreat at Tibetan Meditation Center, MD and while there I requested Khenchen Rinpoche, Konchog Gyaltshen to give us a "reading-blessing/transmission" of the first few verses of the text. I trust that created some good karmic conditions for our study and understanding of the text. I've started listening to Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's recorded teachings on this text too . Good stuff.
Assigning Dogen's "Mountains and Rivers Sutra" from his Shobogenzo for this last semester's "Chan/Zen Buddhism" course rekindled my once very-fleeting interest in Gary Snyder's writings on nature, the wild and Zen practice. So, I returned to the copy of The Practice of the Wild that my grad school buddy, Kirk, had given me years back. Snyder is growing on me....
As for Aelred's Spiritual Friendship: you know who you are who is responsible for me reading it now! You better read it too so that we can at least pretend to exchange some insights over the summer.
Before the summer's over I suspect I'll finish a couple more books - probably the more "boring" academic/professional type... what Snyder aptly characterized as "byzantine artifacts."
Time to go people-watch and walk around before I fall asleep here.My body tells me it's 0200hrs but I need to stay awake long enough to get on the plane in 2 hours. To end this blog, I quote Snyder quoting Dogen: "Whoever told people that 'Mind' means thoughts, opinions, ideas and concepts? Mind means trees, fence posts, tiles and grasses."
Aight. I'll see y'all where the dwarf rhododendron bushes are on the hill next to Drigung-til Monastery. "Only 20 minutes. Yup, 20 minutes to get up there. Uh-huh."
1. Introduction to the Middle Way, an Indian Mahayana classic by Chandrakirti (ca. 7th century Indian Buddhist master, proponent of the Centrist School of Buddhist Philosophy);
2. The Practice of the Wild, a collection of essays by American essayist, poet and nature-activist, Gary Snyder, and
3. Spiritual Friendship, a 12th century work by the Scottish Cistercian monk and abbot, Aelred of Rievaulx.
Introduction to the Middle Way or Madhyamakavatara is the text that we're ("we" as in Drigung Dharmakirti Hermitage) going to study when everyone returns from the summer. A few of us from the group (Ryan, Jes, Jeff, Joe and I) were fortunate enough to go to the annual Spring Retreat at Tibetan Meditation Center, MD and while there I requested Khenchen Rinpoche, Konchog Gyaltshen to give us a "reading-blessing/transmission" of the first few verses of the text. I trust that created some good karmic conditions for our study and understanding of the text. I've started listening to Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's recorded teachings on this text too . Good stuff.
Assigning Dogen's "Mountains and Rivers Sutra" from his Shobogenzo for this last semester's "Chan/Zen Buddhism" course rekindled my once very-fleeting interest in Gary Snyder's writings on nature, the wild and Zen practice. So, I returned to the copy of The Practice of the Wild that my grad school buddy, Kirk, had given me years back. Snyder is growing on me....
As for Aelred's Spiritual Friendship: you know who you are who is responsible for me reading it now! You better read it too so that we can at least pretend to exchange some insights over the summer.
Before the summer's over I suspect I'll finish a couple more books - probably the more "boring" academic/professional type... what Snyder aptly characterized as "byzantine artifacts."
Time to go people-watch and walk around before I fall asleep here.My body tells me it's 0200hrs but I need to stay awake long enough to get on the plane in 2 hours. To end this blog, I quote Snyder quoting Dogen: "Whoever told people that 'Mind' means thoughts, opinions, ideas and concepts? Mind means trees, fence posts, tiles and grasses."
Aight. I'll see y'all where the dwarf rhododendron bushes are on the hill next to Drigung-til Monastery. "Only 20 minutes. Yup, 20 minutes to get up there. Uh-huh."
