Confident is good. Relating to your basic ground. Devotion is good. We are bombarded by images from advertisements, movies, political campaigns, environmental campaigns, this campaign or that or the other. And they are rarely based on pure reason which doesn't work too well for most humans. Hard to keep going on pure reason, for some reason or another.
So - nothing wrong with - say a few prayer flags, or a statue of the Buddha, or making the traditional offerings to the Buddha, or pilgrimages, or prostrations, rituals, whatever it is that helps with devotion. A few posters of stupas. Anything like that. Reading the life story of the Buddha.
All that helps to give one confidence - well - depending on what works for you. And the faith to continue on the path.
Where in Buddhism devotion doesn't mean blind devotion, but - just a strong connection and inspiration that helps you to follow the path, which you do with an open mind, able to question anything in a fearless way because of that ground confidence you have. You are okay with being vulnerable, and opening to things, the more you continue along the path, then the more open and vulnerable you are.
But - not in the sense that you want to put down anyone else's support for their practices. They may have a very different support. Maybe your friend goes to a mosque, or has Jesus nailed to a crucifix hanging up on their living room wall, or whatever it is. For them, that's their devotional support. And to try to damage that - that's harming them and counter to the teachings of the Buddha.
It doesn't threaten a Buddhist in any way at all, or at least it shouldn't - if it does perhaps there is something we need to work on there.
So, a quiet steady confidence. Eventually that will be the unshakable confidence that the Buddha had when he touched the ground with his earth touching mudra, saying the Earth would be witness to his right to continue to sit on that spot to meditate, when he was attacked by Mara.
Completely unshakable confidence, that you have the right to meditate and to practice the Buddhist path, and nobody can stop you. Only you can stop yourself.
That's not pride though, in the ordinary sense. Just confidence. Confidence is good and is needed to continue on the path. On any path, worldly paths as well as spiritual paths.
So - nothing wrong with - say a few prayer flags, or a statue of the Buddha, or making the traditional offerings to the Buddha, or pilgrimages, or prostrations, rituals, whatever it is that helps with devotion. A few posters of stupas. Anything like that. Reading the life story of the Buddha.
All that helps to give one confidence - well - depending on what works for you. And the faith to continue on the path.
Where in Buddhism devotion doesn't mean blind devotion, but - just a strong connection and inspiration that helps you to follow the path, which you do with an open mind, able to question anything in a fearless way because of that ground confidence you have. You are okay with being vulnerable, and opening to things, the more you continue along the path, then the more open and vulnerable you are.
But - not in the sense that you want to put down anyone else's support for their practices. They may have a very different support. Maybe your friend goes to a mosque, or has Jesus nailed to a crucifix hanging up on their living room wall, or whatever it is. For them, that's their devotional support. And to try to damage that - that's harming them and counter to the teachings of the Buddha.
It doesn't threaten a Buddhist in any way at all, or at least it shouldn't - if it does perhaps there is something we need to work on there.
So, a quiet steady confidence. Eventually that will be the unshakable confidence that the Buddha had when he touched the ground with his earth touching mudra, saying the Earth would be witness to his right to continue to sit on that spot to meditate, when he was attacked by Mara.
Completely unshakable confidence, that you have the right to meditate and to practice the Buddhist path, and nobody can stop you. Only you can stop yourself.
That's not pride though, in the ordinary sense. Just confidence. Confidence is good and is needed to continue on the path. On any path, worldly paths as well as spiritual paths.
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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