Both Christian and Eastern traditions know very well that error weighs much less heavily on the layman than on the knower. That is why it is often said that one should reflect carefully before embarking on the path of renunciation: once the vow is made, the fall is certainly more severe, and often irreversible. So it is with matters of the spirit. Woe to those who, aware of the world, propose to renounce it. From that moment on, temptations will seem endless, camouflaged ever more subtly, always lurking in anticipation of the slightest assent, which seems like nothing, but which consummates betrayal forever. From then on, one falls and falls very deep without realizing it, one begins to make simple mistakes, long since overcome, and when the mind remembers, in a fortuitous flash, the old vow, the previous state of mind that no longer exists, it wants both, but can no longer have them, and perhaps never will again.
Tag: religion
Perhaps the Main Reason for Modern Atheism…
Perhaps the main reason for modern atheism is that man today spends his life in a controlled environment, feeding a false sense of security, which takes the place of what he lacks most: the experience of extreme helplessness, of total dependence on his condition. It would not be difficult to cure him of his disbelief: it would suffice to put him in a small boat, on the open sea, in the middle of a storm, or alone, at night, in a dense forest, and he would certainly make peace with religion and return from the experience transformed, reciting a handful of prayers from memory.
The Term “Religions” Is One of the Most Misleading
The term “religions” is one of the most misleading, and makes those fanatics, who know only one of them and set out to proclaim their opinions, look ridiculously foolish. A little reading is enough to show that so-called religions have their own vocabulary and talk about different things. While translations may sometimes convey a different image, no translation can betray the ostensibly original whole. Hence, in order to see a direct conflict between them, it is almost always necessary to fabricate a straw man, something that can only reveal the ignorance of its maker. But it is useless: it takes a tremendous effort to prevent vanity from manifesting itself.
More Impressive Than the Deeds Described…
More impressive than the deeds described in Milarepa’s biography is the perfect characterization of madness as a necessary constituent of holiness. Just imagining him as he is portrayed, a “skeleton” with greenish skin, a “ghost”, a miserable weakling, dressed in rags… And yet we notice his stubborn will, his total self-denial and the resolution that does not give in to the most intense and basic needs. What is most impressive is that, after assimilating the reasonableness of madness, one ends up realizing that mad, in fact, was everyone else.