The Monkey within the Bodhi Tree: Loopy-Knowledge & the Method of the Smart-Idiot
By Jason Brett Serle (www.o-books.com)
Journey past the acquainted to unleash the unconventional transformative energy on the coronary heart of the world’s nice knowledge traditions
For so long as I can keep in mind I’ve been fascinated by the query of sanity; its presence, its absence, and maybe extra importantly, its perfection. Simply who’re the sanest people and who’re the craziest, and the way are we to know the distinction? On the similar time my sensibilities have at all times been shocked by the obvious insanity that constitutes “regular” society and the inconsistency that we so usually show between our phrases and our deeds, which in itself is a sort of delicate insanity, tolerated by others solely to the extent that we tolerate theirs. Krishnamurti as soon as famously mentioned, “It’s no measure of well being to be effectively adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” And so, in such a mad world, is it actually sensible to evaluate our sanity towards its requirements, and the very customs and conventions which can be themselves fairly insane? And if so, maybe we shouldn’t be too stunned to seek out that those that have taken their sanity most critically are sometimes those that society has labelled as “mad”. The Desert Father, Anthony the Nice knew solely too effectively some 1800 years in the past when he mentioned: “A time is coming when males will go mad, and after they see somebody who isn’t mad, they’ll assault him saying, ‘You might be mad, you aren’t like us’.” Maybe that point has come.
For a number of a long time now I’ve sought out these exemplars of sanity which have left their mark upon historical past. I’ve studied and realized from them. I’ve tried to observe their methods and apply what they preached. Whether or not resulting from a quirk in my very own character or just the quirks in theirs, I’ve at all times been significantly fascinated by the wise-fools and mad sages amongst them – the mavericks and misfits who gave their all to achieve actual sanity. Not the sanity of typical success, measured by a college diploma, a gradual well-paid job, a paid mortgage and a pleasant automobile, however the supreme sanity that liberates one totally from ignorance and struggling – the sanity to finish each sanity and madness, in addition to all questions and doubts.
In finding out these iconoclastic characters, one quickly begins to see that the logic and motive fashionable man holds in such excessive esteem because the summum bonum of the developed thoughts is actually simply one other rung within the ladder of cognitive potential and there lie others above it. Certainly, simply because the toddler lives in a pre-logical, pre-rational world, the wise-fools and crazy-wisdom masters of all occasions and traditions have penetrated by to post-logical and trans-rational cognitive realms, leaving all these standing beneath them scratching their heads and considering them to be mad.
When Diogenes roamed the streets of Athens in broad daylight with a lit lantern searching for an “trustworthy man”, was it merely insanity, or was he deliberately highlighting the ethical decay of the occasions through which he lived in an illustrative and memorable approach? When Ramakrishna scandalised his fellow Brahmins by ecstatically anointing and worshipping his personal spouse because the Divine Mom relatively than the Ok?li statue within the temple, was it a short lapse of his psychological capacities, or was he making some extent concerning the ubiquitousness of the female divine precept? Had Zen grasp Gutei merely minimize his attendant’s finger off as punishment for imitating him, with no different consequence aside from the ache and trauma, then we might certainly contemplate it to be a prison act. However in doing so, the attendant achieved the Final Realisation; one for which he would have fortunately sacrificed way over only a finger. Did Gutei know this was to be the result? Or did he simply get fortunate? How may he have recognized?
The Monkey within the Bodhi Tree takes a deep dive into these themes and makes an attempt to carry some readability to a common phenomenon that has grow to be often known as “crazy-wisdom”. Though a reasonably fashionable neologism, crazy-wisdom is as historic as mankind. It rears its loopy head in all of the world’s knowledge traditions from the enigmatic Mahasiddhas of historic India to the eccentric Taoist poet-monks of China, from the uncompromising insights of the Buddhist Tantrikas to the unconventional knowledge of Su? heretics and the utter give up to God displayed by the Fools for Christ. Wherever there was logic and motive, there have been those who transcended logic and motive. Wherever there was typical behaviour, there have been those who have gone past its restraints and restrictions, and in doing so, have outlined new requirements and modes of being. They’re the counter-cultural icons that over time have outlined novel elements of tradition itself.
However simply because the transcendent statements of true crazy-wisdom adepts have typically been mistaken for the ramblings of an unhinged thoughts, usually the babblings of madmen have been elevated to the standing of knowledge by these unable to discern the irrational from the trans-rational — the loopy from the crazy-wise. Because of this the world of crazy-wisdom, divine insanity, holy fools and rascal gurus will be one thing of a minefield for neophytes and non secular novices, strewn as it’s with frauds and charlatans. Too usually what passes for crazy-wisdom is nothing greater than narcissism dressed up as non secular altruism, perversion justified as liberated equanimity or unacknowledged pathology relabelled as a manifestation of the transpersonal.
As a idiot striving to raise his knowledge to the extent of his craziness, The Monkey within the Bodhi Tree is my try to assist set the file straight. Moderately than waste valuable ink and paper on denouncing the fakers and phonies, I’ve as an alternative tried to shine the sunshine of consciousness on the genuine methods of the wise-fool and the ageless archetype of the real crazy-wisdom grasp — the monkey within the Bodhi tree. In an effort to do that, I’ve approached the topic from two broad views: the theoretical and the sensible. Divided into two elements, Half I offers with the idea and tries to reply such questions as: What’s crazy-wisdom? The place did it come from? How is it embodied and expressed? Who’re its best luminaries and expositors? And why ought to anybody care anyway? Half II offers with the apply and goals to display crazy-wisdom in motion. To this finish, I’ve collected 151 instructing tales from all over the world for instance the strategies of the nice masters and adepts; tales that not solely give sensible perception but additionally, like Zen koans, can be utilized as contemplative instruments to light up and provoke epiphany.
Loopy-wisdom then isn’t insanity within the sense of irrational behaviour, impulsivity or transgression for its personal sake. As an alternative, it’s a profound sort of knowledge that emerges from stepping past the traditional boundaries of rational thought and social etiquette. It’s the area of those that have transcended the separate self sense and who dare to reject the norms of society that maintain this delusion of selfhood. It’s about dwelling with fearless readability, with a willingness to see the world as it’s and embrace its obvious contradictions while remaining grounded in a deeper reality that transcends all of this. It’s about understanding that sanity, in its highest kind, is probably not what we expect it’s in any respect. As an alternative, it might be the flexibility to see by the insanity of the world and to seek out peace within the very midst of it.
So, whereas data is aware of {that a} tomato is a fruit, and knowledge is aware of to not put it in a fruit salad, crazy-wisdom is aware of methods to add the tomato anyway and in so doing improve each the flavour and dietary worth of the entire dish.
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Unleash the unconventional, transformative energy on the coronary heart of the world’s nice knowledge traditions.
Of the various paths up the mountain, that of crazy-wisdom, though one of many lesser travelled, presents a dramatic and formidable climb to people who are so inclined. Now for the ?rst time, the true non secular panorama of the wise-fool has been laid naked and its options and principal landmarks revealed.
Written in two elements, loosely based mostly on the idea and apply of crazy-wisdom, The Monkey within the Bodhi Tree is the ?rst complete take a look at this common phenomenon, from its origins and growth to the lives of its best adepts and luminaries.
Along with the theoretical foundations laid down in Half I, Half II offers with its apply and goals to display crazy-wisdom in motion. To this finish, 151 instructing tales from all over the world have been meticulously gathered and retold for instance the strategies of the nice masters and adepts – tales that not solely give sensible perception but additionally, like Zen koans, can be utilized as contemplative instruments to light up and provoke epiphany.
From the enigmatic Mahasiddhas of historic India to the eccentric Taoist poet-monks of China, from the uncompromising insights of the Buddhist Tantrikas to the unconventional knowledge of Su? heretics and the utter give up to God displayed by the Fools for Christ, this e book will take you to a spot the place the boundaries of logic and motive dissolve and enlightenment awaits these daring sufficient to enterprise forth.
The Monkey within the Bodhi Tree: Loopy-Knowledge & the Method of the Smart-Idiot by Jason Brett Serle is out there from www.o-books.com or from wherever books are offered.
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