Quantity/quality
How smart do we need to be in order to be peaceful and joyful in our life? How much do we need to know in order to enjoy the present? How much “tuned in” do we need to be to feel like we belong, that we know our place in the universe? How many square feet of house does it take to love the seasons? How many friends do we need to have a heart as spacious as the sky? How many plans does it take to do what we love?
May 10th, 2005 00:12
One.
May 10th, 2005 06:28
Just enough, but no more.
May 10th, 2005 07:45
Last night at my Jewel Heart class on Bodhisattva Vows, someone asked how can some traditions of Mahayana focus on a single sutra (specifically the Lotus sutra in some Japanese traditions) and ignore all the other sutras on ultimate compassion. The consensus was that it was enough for those followers to reach enlightenment.
May 10th, 2005 21:26
When I was a young student, I learned that there are 84,000 sutras - teachings - in Buddhism. In the last sutra, Buddha instructs his students to believe nothing in the previous 83,999 sutras, and ultimately only believe what their experience in the here and now teaches. Easy for him to say, since all of the teachings do nothing but teach us how to notice, pay attention, be here now.