George Leonard disproves passion and life purpose

[Ramanujan]

> ""There’s another way of thinking about it. Zen practice is ostensibly organized around periods of sitting in meditation and chanting. Yet every Zen master will tell you that building a stone wall or washing dishes is essentially no different from formal meditation. The quality of a Zen student’s practice is defined just as much by how he or she sweeps the courtyard as by how he or she sits in meditation.""

 

 

 

 here he means that for a zen master , there is no difference between meditation and washing dishes.  they see washing dishes the same way as their life purpose , which is meditation. there is no special thing out there that is meant to be our life purpose. you can make anything your life purpose if you practice it with love. 

george leonard here speaks against passion and life purpose

 

 

 

 

 

> 

""In the words of Chinese Zen master Layman P’ang (c. 740808 A.D.):

My daily affairs are quite ordinary;
but I’m in total harmony with them.
I don't hold on to anything, don’t reject anything;
nowhere an obstacle or conflict.
Who cares about wealth and honor?
Even the poorest thing shines.
My miraculous power and spiritual activity;
drawing water and carrying wood.""

 

 

 

in this place , george leonard is saying that , for a master , there is no distincion between his so called "life purpose"  and  doing ordinary things 

george leonard is going against life purpose and passion

 

wish i realised this before falling prey to "follow your passion" idea. 

 

 

 

[Someone here]

What matters is whether that aligns with your level of development or not. From my understanding..both mentalities have their own role and utility.

 

[integration journey]

George Leonard is not some entity that has it all figured out.

I would cross reference with other writers and “thinkers” 

[Lyubov]

Don’t over analyze these models. What he said is correct. What is here now is the most important thing happening, and you are always exactly where you are supposed to be. Washing the dishes isn’t some glitch where you fucked up along the way and are now having to devote time towards stuff you aren’t supposed to be doing. There isn’t some absolute hierarchy of how you spend your time in the sense that one moment is less valuable compared to others. There are just moments and in each one remembrance, and from this you have a canvas where you can create a life that is authentic and important to you and delights your soul. Zen recognizes this. Reality is open to everything and jsut because it doesn’t align to how you think it should be it doesn’t mean you are not walking your authentic path. Life purpose is a tricky word because it can carry a lot of hidden expectations about how we think things should be. Life purpose is not some grand destiny that’s charted out. It’s alive, constantly evolving, not entirely knowable, embracing uncertainty and going with the flow while using your faculties to chart and plan the way. It’s discovering what you’re good at through trial and error and delighting in surprises of what happens when you embrace your talents and authentic self. It’s being keen enough to ride waves of luck when you are able to catch them and capitalizing on different opportunities. 

Edited 3 hours ago by Lyubov

[Hojo]

They talk in the way of mindset.

There is a specific brain mode that you can be in when you are absolutely focused on something.

Pretend you are doing what you love the most. You lose track of time, you lose track of your identity. You are so focused on something you forget you exist and are the thing. 

Thats the state they are in when they wash dishes.

If you are thinking about something else while doing them, its wrong.

 

The entire idea of meditation is to stop using the schizophrenic dissociation that you think you are.

You were one when you were a baby, then you dissosiated, now become one again.

IE Stop self reflecting.

Edited 25 minutes ago by Hojo