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| On 2006-07-30 04:46:32 -0700, "Dave K" <dkotschess@yahoo.com> said:
> I've spend considerable time thinking about these issues myself. In
> taoism, the sage is the one who "unlearns" a little every day. Samadhi
> in Buddhism can said to be the absense of thougt. All this is
> considered in some way to be a spiritual ideal, but what of the
> intellect? Sometimes the intellect is seen as a barrier to
> enlightenment.
On the other hand, classic yoga suggests intellectual pursuits as a
perfectly acceptable practice on the road to enlightenment. Buddhism
puts a premium on the intuitive mind. It may be that we see this
emphasis because westerners put a premium on the rational mind. For
the Buddhist teachers they emphasize development for us in that
direction.
Seekers such as the Dalai Lama are intensely intellectual.
The trick here (as always) is not getting attached to the intellect.
But you know that. It is evident from your posts.
>
> So I take it as a safe bet to have the Buddha as my role model in this
> regard. I realized at one point that it wasn't his great enlightenment
> alone that made him a great teacher, it was also his ability to teach
> and communicate. He was educated. He was intelligent. He was, IMO, a
> genius.
Agreed. Also an intellectual in the same way as Plato or Aristotle.
>
> WRT to integrating Buddhism with western psychology, I say go for it.
> The purpose of that to me though, is not that Buddhism itself is
> lacking anything, but that it doesn't communicate to everybody. As far
> as that monk goes, I dont' see that he even had a psychological
> problem. He was a conflicted human being. The mistake is thinking
> that spiritual practice makes one into some kind of logical,
> emotionless robot. I call this Vulcan Dharma.
> -DaveK
Ram Dass was not saying that Spiritual practice makes one emotionaless.
He was saying that it does not develop all possible of human
potentials. In the case of the Monk he was clearly did not have a good
sense of his personal/sexual self. 30 years later Buddhism will more
fully integrate with western psychology into transpersonal, cognitive
and integral psych. Forms that approach deeper levels of human
consciousness along many more lines of development.
May want to check out WIE.org
--
~Stu
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