Taking Praise & Blame with Wisdom

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  • Jundo
    Treeleaf Founder and Priest
    • Apr 2006
    • 40311

    Taking Praise & Blame with Wisdom

    Catching up on some back issues of the Buddhist mags, I came across this very insightful little essay by a Teacher in Trungpa's lineage ... on taking personal blame or praise with Wisdom ...

    --------------------------

    Love Me, Hate Me
    Thursday, February 3, 2011 At 1:17PM
    Praise and blame are like echoes that don’t ultimately exist, explains Rose Taylor. But we still have to know how to work with it.

    If you know that all the many utterances of praise and blame
    Are sound-emptiness, unborn,
    Like the sounds of guitars, echoes, and thunder in the sky
    Then all attachment and aversion to these sounds of praise and blame
    Will be completely pacified.


    —Unchanging Sky’s Beautiful Melody, Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche

    As conveyed in this verse, the Buddhist teachings on genuine reality tell us how praise and blame are merely empty sounds with no true existence. In essence, they are no different. We are able to distinguish the concepts of praise and blame only by contrasting each with its opposite—each depends on its opposite for its own definition. They do not have any independent identity in themselves. These sounds of praise and blame are merely unborn sounds, like echoes reverberating or thunder rumbling in the sky.

    This can be quite difficult to remember when we are faced with praise or blame. Our minds are easily carried away with the alluring sounds of praise and disturbed by the harsh sounds of blame. So it is useful to examine the relationship between them, develop skillful methods for working with them, and investigate their ultimate natures.

    more here ...

    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE
  • Juki
    Member
    • Dec 2012
    • 771

    #2
    Thank you. This is something I still (and probably always will) need to work on.

    gassho,
    William
    "First you have to give up." Tyler Durden

    Comment

    • Mp

      #3
      Praise & blame ... opposite, yet the same. Thank you Jundo.

      Gassho
      Shingen

      Comment

      • Yugen

        #4
        This is worth reflecting on. I have saved it to return to. Thank you.

        Deep bows
        Yugen

        Comment

        • Myosha
          Member
          • Mar 2013
          • 2974

          #5
          Thank you.

          Gassho,
          Edward
          "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

          Comment

          • Joyo

            #6
            I have always struggled with being a people pleaser. I've focused a lot on stopping this by being mindful of similar words that you posted. Having attachment to praise or criticism is really not living a peaceful life. And, in fact, I find that with letting that go and not caring, acts of kindness are just acts of kindness, not with the intention of getting something in return. As for criticism, it's going to happen, no matter what you do, and the more one can let that go, the more you will be able to live a pure and peaceful life, listening to your own heart, and not the opinions of others.

            Gassho,
            Treena

            Comment

            • Shokai
              Treeleaf Priest
              • Mar 2009
              • 6393

              #7
              Jundo; Thank you for this opportunity to take you back to an era when it became socially acceptable to look at Jesus and his followers, as historically real people; as portrayed in the 1973 hit Jesus Christ Superstar. As far as we surmise, Buddhism was able to do this from a very early stage as we are led to believe that the Buddha asked this of us himself. Just imagine what the world would be like today if that were so with the beginnings of Christianity.
              I just love the expression of human longings portrayed in this out-take around the Last Supper; right down to the apostle's idle drunken thoughts of immortality in the gossamer twilight of Gethsemane:



              Jesus
              The end...is just a little harder, when brought about by friends.
              For all you care, this wine could be my blood.
              For all you care, this bread could be my body.
              The end! This is my blood you drink.
              This is my body you eat.
              If you would remember me when you eat and drink.
              I must be mad thinking I'll be remembered.
              Yes, I must be out of my head.
              Look at your blank faces. My name will mean nothing
              Ten minutes after I'm dead.
              One of you denies me.
              One of you betrays me.

              Apostles
              No! Who would?! Impossible!
              Jesus
              Get out they're waiting! Get out!
              They're waiting, Oh, they are waiting for you!

              Judas
              Every time I look at you I don't understand
              Why you let the things you did get so out of hand.
              You'd have managed better if you had it planned...
              Oh....

              Apostles
              Look at all my trials and tribulations
              Sinking in a gentle pool of wine.
              What's that in the bread? It's gone to my head,
              'Till this morning is this evening, life is fine.
              Always hoped that I'd be an apostle.
              Knew that I would make it if I tried.
              Then when we retire, we can write the Gospels,
              So they'll still talk about us when we've died.

              Jesus
              Will no one stay awake with me?
              Peter, John, James?
              Will none of you wait with me?
              Peter, John, James?
              OR, something like that

              gassho,
              合掌,生開
              gassho, Shokai

              仁道 生開 / Jindo Shokai

              "Open to life in a benevolent way"

              https://sarushinzendo.wordpress.com/

              Comment

              • Joyo

                #8
                Shokai, have you read the two books TNH has written on Jesus? I own one of them, I've never read the entire thing. What I have read, however, portrays Jesus so different from modern Christianity. After practicing Christianity for 36 years, I have to say, his book was the first time I actually liked Jesus.

                Gassho,
                Treena

                Comment

                • Shokai
                  Treeleaf Priest
                  • Mar 2009
                  • 6393

                  #9
                  I have his "Going Home" and I know whereof you speak, lol

                  Sent from my Note 2 using Tapatalk4
                  合掌,生開
                  gassho, Shokai

                  仁道 生開 / Jindo Shokai

                  "Open to life in a benevolent way"

                  https://sarushinzendo.wordpress.com/

                  Comment

                  • Heion
                    Member
                    • Apr 2013
                    • 232

                    #10
                    I love it! Especially in such a critical field as music. It was good for me to read this.
                    Look upon the world as a bubble,
                    regard it as a mirage;
                    who thus perceives the world,
                    him Mara, the king of death, does not see.


                    —Dhammapada



                    Sat Today

                    Comment

                    • Joyo

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Shokai
                      I have his "Going Home" and I know whereof you speak, lol

                      Sent from my Note 2 using Tapatalk4
                      That is the book I have also.

                      Comment

                      • alan.r
                        Member
                        • Jan 2012
                        • 546

                        #12
                        I've been thinking this over a few days and keep returning to this: praise and blame are difficult, I think, because they both seem to refer to a self, they both seem to reinforce a self, this constant thing, that has either done a good job or has messed up. And if we've done a good job, we like to think it was something in us that caused the praise, something in our constant self, and if we get blamed or criticized, we still look at ourself and think that there's something faulty in us that we have to change.

                        Thank you for sharing this with us. I really liked reading it.

                        Gassho
                        Shōmon

                        Comment

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