THE PAINTING
Monsieur and Madame Edouard Manet by Edgar Degas
CHARACTER BUILDING
Perhaps dear reader, you have an immediate response to the title. I hope so. Read it again. I say that you may have an immediate response because you may wonder about what does character building beyond time & space and making bread have to do with spiritual practice? Yes. I understand. I wonder, too.
Spiritual practice is a method of character building. It requries a willingness to study what we call the self. But what exactly is the self we need to study? Although the self is a complex structure it is possible to study the self in such a way we discern our character and our traits of character.
We start with our human character traits. Those characteristics that are obvious such as generous, kind, stingy, hot tempered, cool as a cucumber, patient, jealous, envious and the list goes on. The work is to study our character and not the character of others. But to study ourselves is an arduous task and requires traits of perseverance, resilence, and a willing effort.
Furthermore, you may wonder, what does all of that have to do with character building? Sigh.
Perhaps oddly, let’s take a look the a painting.
The best I can do to begin is to ask you to consider the following question. How do you look at the above painting?
What I mean is – did you look at the painting as just a passing thing on the screen? Without looking at the painting, can you remember any of it? Did you just breeze over it? Did you look for a message from the artist?
Perhaps you don’t give a damn about paintings. And you may be getting frustrated that you are being asked to not only understand practice beyond time & space and making bread but are being asked to look at a painting!
How you respond matters. How you respond tells you something about yourself.
Looking, considering, thinking, seeing are tells. A tell is an action that reveals a character; in short it defines a quality or individual feature of the person doing the action. So, dear one, what did your actions regarding the painting tell you about yourself? Don’t skip this question.
That is an important question to contemplate. Without knowing our inner self we cannot manage our tendencies that we fabricate into habits. Specifically, without knowing our character, we will be burdened by one of several mental states and formations that lead us to suffer. Without a strong and concentrated mind, we become victims of our moods, attitudes and states of mind. Check it out for yourself.
When we skim over being alive, skim over what comes into our lives, we are unable to discern and discriminate what is actually going on.
The painting, for example, is damaged. The right side of the painting was sliced and cut by Manet who is the gentleman lounging on the couch. Did you notice it? His wife is sitting down at a piano but the piano is unseen in the painting. The missing piece cut off most of her face and the piano. What was going on? No one knows for certain but the speculation is that Degas knew some secret regarding Manet’s wife.
Did you see any of that? Or did you sum up the painting as some old classic painting of little interest?
Are you in a rush?
It is important for you to answer the question for yourself. To contemplate how you approach your life because your approach tells you about your character. The importance of this knowledge gives you a picture of what method you use to understand what comes before your eye and what is seen in the mind.
Is your mind restless? Confused? Stupefied? Ignorant? Arrogant? Bored? Distracted? OR…were you one-pointed?
First, you discern the state of your mind then, you decide what you want and how to live.
But another thing that happens is if you blew it off, blew off looking at the painting you may not be ready to study the teachings that are beyond time & space and making bread. Seriously. You may need to start by contemplating what you want?
What do you want?
The practice that is beyond time & space and making bread requires strength, diligence, dedication and discipline. These traits of character are often rolled up into the characteristic of patience. AND…patience is connected to being one-pointed.
Well, it requires patience to understand the connections. I don’t mean just a little patience, but patience that is heartfelt and disciplined. A patience that is determined and committed. It requires that we trudge through our indolence and keep at practice until we begin to see the connections.
In order to see the connections, we need to be willing to see how all of this is associated with each thing. Nothing is left out. Nothing is glossed over. Nothing is overlooked.
This requires attention.
There are two key points that we need to focus on: 1. want to realize and 2. method of practice.
If you are set, thinking and believing you neither want to realize your true original nature nor practice a method, then this is not for you. Try something else.
We need all our energy to practice a method that goes beyond time & space and making dough into bread. As any baker knows, bread requires specific ingredients, careful assembly and patience as the yeast does its work. Bread, after all, is not just any old batch of ingredients. It requires a number of specific things.
If we realize that bread comes from a list of specific ingredients, then, we realize the dough when done properly becomes bread. All we need is a good stable heat from an oven, an able and clear effort of putting the ingredients together in such a way we do not kill the yeast, and patience to allow the yeast to leaven the flour, sugar, salt and butter. The dough will rise and bake and actualize a loaf of bread.
Character building is a kindred spirit of baking bread. Zen Buddhism builds character to go beyond space and time for those who practice.
May we with all beings
realize the empriness of the three wheels,
giver, receiver and gift.
Author: Fashi Lao Yue
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