note: I originally published part of this last night but got that it wasn't ready for prime time yet. So I deleted it. However, this morning I had left one of my windows open with it intact. So I copied it to "Word" and added what God showed me and I felt God approve it in this new more evolved form in it's perfect timing for today.
I was
having a conversation with one of my teachers. He said something like,
"You and I are really powerful!" with a smile on his face and I knew
I was being tested. I said, "
Power is silly
Common sense is everything
Power is silly
Common sense is everything
After I
said this he nodded in agreement. I had passed the test. (Though one might be
powerful one also has more responsibility) the more power one has. So, Freedom
is responsibility. Responsibility creates power. But power alone is silly
because by itself it is destructive to everyone including oneself.
Therefore it is common sense to honor souls and the lives of all beings even if sometimes while
being as compassionate as possible one has to give one's life to honor all beings in this compassion. But one only does this as a last resort and only after ALL practical options have been tried first.
Here is something interesting I found at Wikipedia on Crazy Wisdom:
Therefore it is common sense to honor souls and the lives of all beings even if sometimes while
being as compassionate as possible one has to give one's life to honor all beings in this compassion. But one only does this as a last resort and only after ALL practical options have been tried first.
Here is something interesting I found at Wikipedia on Crazy Wisdom:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_wisdom
In Tibetan
Buddhism Crazy wisdom or 'yeshe
chölwa' (Tibetan: ཡེ་ཤེས་འཆོལ་བ, Wylie: ye shes 'chol ba, literally:
"wisdom gone wild") refers to unconventional, ...
Crazy wisdom
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In Tibetan Buddhism Crazy wisdom or 'yeshe chölwa' (Tibetan: ཡེ་ཤེས་འཆོལ་བ, Wylie: ye shes 'chol ba, literally:
"wisdom gone wild")[1]
refers to unconventional, outrageous, or unexpected behavior, being either a
manifestation of buddha
nature and spiritual
teaching (enlightened activity, Wylie: phrin'las)[2]
on the part of the guru,[3]
or a method of spiritual investigation undertaken by the student.[4]
It is also held to be one of the manifestations of a siddha or a mahasiddha.[5]
Teachers such as the eighty four
mahasiddhas, Marpa,
Milarepa, the Nyönpa and Chögyam Trungpa
have traditionally been associated with crazy wisdom.[6]
Georg Feuerstein
however, takes a perennialist
approach in equating this originally Vajrayana term with the trickster-type behavior of
teachers in other Dharmic
Traditions such as Zen, Tantra and Sanatana Dharma. He
claims that parallels to this may be found among other forms of spirituality as
well, citing Sufism, Bonpo, Taoism, Russian Orthodoxy (Yurodivy) and shamanism as examples.[7]
Various aspects
The guru
Lama Ole Nydahl emphasizes
mainly the aspect of the teacher. He tries to show that ancient Lamas like Drukpa Kunley would use
unconventional methods to shock their students out of fixed cultural and
psychological patterns. He cites examples of them forcing students to strip or
publicly make fools out of themselves, in order to instill friendship or trust
in a group or "ultimately space itself".[3]
The student
In his
book "Crazy wisdom", the Tibetan tülku Chögyam Trungpa
describes the phenomenon as a process of spiritual discovery:
"Instead
we explore further and further and further without looking for an answer.
[...] We don't make a big point or an answer out of any one thing. For
example, we might think that because we have discovered one particular thing
that is wrong with us, that must be it,
that must be the problem, that must be the answer. No. We don't fixate on
that, we go further. "Why is that the case?" We look further and
further. We ask: "Why is this so?" Why is there spirituality? Why is
there awakening? Why is there this moment of relief? Why is there such a thing
as discovering the pleasure of spirituality? Why, why, why?" We go on
deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper, until we reach the point where there
is no answer. [...] At that point we tend to give up hope of an answer, or of
anything whatsoever, for that matter. [...] This hopelessness is the essence
of crazy wisdom. It is hopeless, utterly hopeless."[4]
Non-duality
From a
particular Buddhadharma spiritual lexicon and perspective, Georg
Feuerstein implies nonduality
in his equating the essence of Samsara
and Nirvana as the root of
crazy wisdom:
"Crazy
wisdom is the articulation in life of the realization that the phenomenal
world (Sanskrit: samsara) and the
transcendental Reality (Sanskrit: nirvana)
share the same essence."[8]
Generally,
the difference between Sanatana
Dharma and Buddhadharma conceptions of 'Samsara' and 'samsara'
respectively are the former which is a proper noun denoting a relative
apparent locality and the latter is an interiority or state of mind, the two
are resolvable when understood from a nondual perspective.
Feuerstein then enters the spiritual lexicon of Advaita Vedanta with what may in an etic Anthropological discourse be proffered as its culturally relative memes, archetypes, literary motifs and cultural tokens of 'Atman', 'Brahman', 'Paramatman' and 'Satcitananda' (which Feuerstein glosses to the contraction of 'Being-Consciousness' with bliss implied or transcended) to identify the root of crazy wisdom:
Feuerstein then enters the spiritual lexicon of Advaita Vedanta with what may in an etic Anthropological discourse be proffered as its culturally relative memes, archetypes, literary motifs and cultural tokens of 'Atman', 'Brahman', 'Paramatman' and 'Satcitananda' (which Feuerstein glosses to the contraction of 'Being-Consciousness' with bliss implied or transcended) to identify the root of crazy wisdom:
"Seen
from the perspective of the unillumined mind, operating on the basis of a
sharp separation between subject and object, perfect enlightenment is a
paradoxical condition. The enlightened adept exists as the ultimate
Being-Consciousness but appears to inhabit a particular body-mind. In the
nondualist terms of the Indian teaching known as advaita vedanta,
enlightenment is the fulfillment of the two truths: the innermost self (atman)
is identical with the transcendental Self (parama-atman); and the ultimate
Ground (brahman) is identical with the cosmos in all its manifestations,
including the self." [8]
Avadhuta
Feuerstein
frames how the term 'Avadhuta'
(Sanskrit) came to be associated with the mad or eccentric holiness or 'crazy
wisdom' of some antinomian
paramahamsa who were
often 'skyclad' or 'naked' (Sanskrit: digambara):
"The
appellation "avadhuta," more than any other, came to be associated
with the apparently crazy modes of behaviour of some paramahamsas, who
dramatize the reversal of social norms, a behaviour characteristic of their
spontaneous lifestyle. Their frequent nakedness is perhaps the most symbolic
expression of this reversal."[9]
Feuerstein
equates the Avadhuta with the 'sacred fool':
"The
crazy wisdom message and method are understandably offensive to both the
secular and the conventional religious establishments. Hence crazy adepts have
generally been suppressed. This was not the case in traditional Tibet and
India, where the "holy fool" or "saintly madman" [and
madwoman] has long been recognized as a legitimate figure in the compass of
spiritual aspiration and realization. In India, the avadhuta is one who, in his [or her] God-intoxication, has
"cast off" all concerns and conventional standards."[9]
Crazy wisdom as a universal cultural phenomenon
Feuerstein lists Zen-poet Han-shan (fl. 9th
century) as one of the crazy-wise, explaining that when people would ask him
about Zen, he would only laugh hysterically. He also counts Zen master Ikkyu (15th century), the
Christian saint Isadora,
and the Sufi storyteller Mulla Nasruddin among
the crazy wise teachers.[10]
Other adepts that have attained "mad" mental states, according to
Feuerstein, include the masts and bauls of India, and the
intoxicated Sufis associated with shath.[11]
June McDaniel, in her work on the divine madness of the medieval bhakti saints in Bengal, mentions multiple parallels to this phenomenon in other cultures: Plato in his Phaedrus, the Hasidic Jews, Eastern Orthodoxy, Western Christianity and the Sufi all bear witness to the phenomenon of divine madness.[12] The bhakti divine madness may show itself in a total absorption in the divine, complete renunciation and surrender to divinity and the participation in the deity and divine pastime rather than its aping or imitation.[13] Though the participation in the divine is generally favoured in Vaishnava bhakti discourse throughout the sampradayas rather than imitation of the divine 'play' (Sanskrit: lila), there is the important anomaly of the Vaishnava-Sahajiya sect.[14]
Divine madness may also be seen in the biography, hagiography and poetry of the Alvars and it has parallels in others religions, such as the Fools for Christ in Christianity, and the Sufis (particularly Malamati) in Islam.[15] The ninth-century Indian philosopher Adi Shankara also described that an enlightened man may act like a Jadvat (an inert thing), a Balvat (child), an Unmat (a manic) or a Pissachvat (ghost).[citation needed]
June McDaniel, in her work on the divine madness of the medieval bhakti saints in Bengal, mentions multiple parallels to this phenomenon in other cultures: Plato in his Phaedrus, the Hasidic Jews, Eastern Orthodoxy, Western Christianity and the Sufi all bear witness to the phenomenon of divine madness.[12] The bhakti divine madness may show itself in a total absorption in the divine, complete renunciation and surrender to divinity and the participation in the deity and divine pastime rather than its aping or imitation.[13] Though the participation in the divine is generally favoured in Vaishnava bhakti discourse throughout the sampradayas rather than imitation of the divine 'play' (Sanskrit: lila), there is the important anomaly of the Vaishnava-Sahajiya sect.[14]
Divine madness may also be seen in the biography, hagiography and poetry of the Alvars and it has parallels in others religions, such as the Fools for Christ in Christianity, and the Sufis (particularly Malamati) in Islam.[15] The ninth-century Indian philosopher Adi Shankara also described that an enlightened man may act like a Jadvat (an inert thing), a Balvat (child), an Unmat (a manic) or a Pissachvat (ghost).[citation needed]
Notes
6. ^ Kakar (2009) 41. On the Nyönpa as
madmen, see: Ardussi & Epstein (1978) 327. On Chögyam Trungpa as a
manifestation of crazy wisdom, see: Nydahl (2003) and Nydahl (2004).
12. ^ McDaniel (1989) 3-6. See also the
lead section of this article. See the article on theia mania for more
information regarding Plato's views.
References
Ardussi, J.
& Epstein, L.
(1978). James F. Fisher (ed.). "The
Saintly Madman in Tibet". Himalayan
Anthropology: The Indo-Tibetan Interface (Paris: Mouton & Co.):
327–338. ISBN 9027977003.
Dimock, Edward
C. Jr. (1966). The Place of the Hidden Moon: Erotic
Mysticism in the Vaisnava-Sahajiya cult of Bengal. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press. ISBN 8120809963.
Feuerstein, Georg (1991). Holy Madness: The shock tactics and radical teachings of crazy-wise
adepts, holy fools, and rascal gurus. New York: Paragon House. ISBN 1557782504.
Horgan, John (2004). Rational Mysticism: Dispatches from the Border Between Science and
Spirituality. New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 061844663X.
Kakar, Sudir (2009). Mad and Divine: Spirit and Psyche in the Modern World. Chivago:
University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226422879.
McDaniel, June (1989). The madness of the saints: ecstatic religion in Bengal. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-55723-5.
Mcleod, Melvin (2009). The Best Buddhist Writing 2009. Boston: Shambhala Publications. ISBN 1590307348.
Nydahl,
Ole (2004). "Verrückte
Weisheit: und der Stil des Verwirklichers". Buddhismus Heute 37:
48–57. Retrieved 2012-12-14.
Nydahl,
Ole (2003). "Crazy
Wisdom". Diamond Way Time 1: 48–54. Retrieved 2012-12-14.
Phan, Peter
C. (2004). Being Religious Interreligiously: Asian
Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue. Maryknoll: Orbis Books. ISBN 1–57075–565–5.
Ray, Reginald (2005). Fabrice Midal (ed.).
"Chögyam Trungpa as a Siddha". Recalling
Chögyam Trungpa (Boston: Shambhala Publications). ISBN 1590302079.
Trungpa, Chögyam (2001). Crazy Wisdom. Judith L. Lief, Sherab Chödzin (eds.). Boston: Shambhala
Publications. ISBN 0-87773-910-2.
Simmer-Brown, Judith (2001). Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine
Principle in Tibetan Buddhism. Boston: Shambhala Publications. ISBN 1-57062-720-7.
See also
- Antinomianism
- Divine ecstasy
- Foolishness for Christ
- The Fool (tarot card)
- Heyoka
- Sacred fool
- Theia mania
- Village idiot
end quote from Wikipedia under the heading Crazy Wisdom.
A Christian emissary of Crazy Wisdom would be Jesus himself and Saint Francis of Assisi walking out on the roof after battle as a knight and holding his hand out to a wild bird and talking to it. Eventually he founded the Franciscan Order and San Francisco is named after him. Crazy wisdom is being willing to do literally anything to save souls and beings from harm in as practical a way as possible.
repeat quote from above: "Crazy wisdom is the articulation in life of the realization that the phenomenal world (Sanskrit: samsara) and the transcendental Reality (Sanskrit: nirvana) share the same essence."[8]
end repeat quote from wikipedia.
I would put it this way: it is the realization that heaven and earth share the same essence and acting accordingly.
There was a story that also depicts crazy wisdom told to me by one of my Native American Medicine Men teachers in the 1980s. I was at Two Ravens in Idaho at a conference in the Summer where I met one of the Hopi Elders when I heard this story. A man came into a sweat lodge who had a dislocated arm and was in pain. During the sweat lodge all the men present in the sweat were sharing a peace pipe. When the elder medicine man running the sweat turned to the man with the dislocated arm, he said suddenly and sharply, “Here!” as he gave him the pipe. The man was shocked and moved very quickly and “Snap” his shoulder snapped back in place and he screamed in pain. And then he began laughing as his arm was back in place and all present laughed with him. This is crazy wisdom in action.
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