Many thanks to all who made this discussion a wonderful success. An adequate synopsis would take many pages to do justice to the depth and breadth of the disussion. We found the process morphing through Gratitude, Belief, Faith, to the Teacher/Student process being present in all our communications. The final consensus was support for the Buddha's admonition to find our own truths through observation and analysis.
One such observation was how much the teachings always seem to come full circle as we personally become more experientially intimate with them. A second was the value of the sangha to each of our spiritual journeys through being an environment supportive of openness and sharing in which the exploration of thoughts and feelings is nurtured, though they may not always be in agreement with others. Many laughs and personal annecdotes made this another in what I hope will be a long line of insightful moments with this group of spiritual warriors.
The next meeting will be November 21st and Ken will let me know what the subject will be and I will notify you all in short order.
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Last time we talked a bit about the distinction between belief and faith, and then I found this piece by Stephen Batchelor from a SoundsTrue podcast with Tami Simon. Wanted to share.
Tami: ...What would you say is your faith?"
Stephen: "My faith? My faith lies primarily in my faith to be able to transcend my limitations. I see faith not as a set of beliefs. I see faith as very much a kind of longing, a kind of aspiration, an aspiration to never relinquish the quest for meaning and value and understanding and compassion and love. Faith is a longing that these things can be realized, that these values are worth pursuing, and that no matter what kind of obstacles may stand in one's way - whether that be other people or institutions, or whether it be psychological problems like attachment or anxiety or depression or whatever it is - that one nonetheless does have the ability as a human being to rise beyond and above those limiting factors and achieve a kind of transcendence - not a transcendence in something that we would call "the transcendent," but rather transcendence as process, a process which is a living process of working beyond one's limits and opening up as much as one can, moment to moment, day to day, towards an unknown, what you do not yet know, and which beckons, as it were, as offering possibilities of insight and understanding."
Thanks to everyone for a wonderful discussion, Elisabeth
Excellent comment....see how this is supposed to work?
Wonderful quote. I think one could substitute "belief" throughout that passage and it would also work.
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