It is not possible to become fully aware realized in an urban environment. For to gain realization means the achievement of special psychophysical states. That requires quiet cultivation and an acquaintance with the subtle. When the roar of the city is all there is, how can the song of the divine be heard?I usually find that I agree with the ideas and thoughts of Deng Ming-Dao, but in this case, I both agree AND disagree.
~ from 365 Tao: Daily Meditations, Entry 284 ~
On a strictly personal basis, I wholeheartedly agree. Because of my anti-social nature, I feel very uncomfortable in urban areas. I feel squeezed and unable to breathe freely. I feel like life is pressing in on all sides.
This is one of the chief reasons I am so happy to live in the little rural hamlet of South Bend, Washington. It accentuates the solitude I need. At night, I can sit on my back deck and hear nary a sound, except for the breeze blowing through the forest or the gurgling of the creek that flows in the ravine below my house.
But while what Ming-Dao has written speaks to me personally, I certainly would not apply this same standard to everyone else! Some people -- my brother Sean comes to mind -- would go stir crazy living here. My guess is that the silence would drive him bonkers.
We each walk different paths. What is useless noise to one person is the song of the divine to another. Far be it for me to tell you when or where you will find realization and/or enlightenment!
For those readers who do live in urban areas, what do you think about Ming-Dao's pronouncement?
Deng Ming-Dao is writing from a perspective of classical practice which includes qigong, philosophy, meditation, and internal martial arts; he is talking about serious cultivation of spirituality, not about contentedly living wherever you happen to like to live (what you call walking different paths). I suspect your brother is not interested in this kind of cultivation (and I think you are not either). Being aware of one's "anti-social" nature or being an enthusiastic urban dweller has nothing to do with spiritual realization ("the achievement of special psychophysical states").
ReplyDeleteFor those who cultivate, the city is distracting and annoying, and not conducive to the quietude and energy required for serious practice. Although I have done qigong practice in my office, near a busy airport in a light industrial neighborhood, better results are achieved outside, in nature, in a park. One retreats to the mountains, not to a shopping mall.
Temples and monasteries built in nature are conducive to this; even within cities they manage to set themselves apart from the activity of the city in "sacred space" as sanctuaries.
I do not regard DMD's commentary in this whole passage-- which talks much about spiritual things and which you have chosen to ignore -- as a "pronouncement" or a "standard" but as words of wisdom and sound advice.
I expect you will respond that you are interested in "philosophical" Taoism. But at some point, the philosophy becomes related to practice, when the rubber hits the road. The pollution, traffic, commerce, noise, crowds, crime, and pace of the city are in no way the song of the divine and anyone who thinks so is deluded. (Although it may be an interesting exercise--perhaps a validation of achievement-- for an accomplished mediator to attempt that in the midst of the urban cacophony and chaos.)
That's what I think.
...accomplished meditator...
ReplyDeleteYou stated, "For those who cultivate, the city is distracting and annoying, and not conducive to the quietude and energy required for serious practice."
ReplyDeleteYou may feel comfortable making declarative statements like this, but I do not. How can I know how one person cultivates as opposed to another?
"For those readers who do live in urban areas, what do you think about Ming-Dao's pronouncement?"
ReplyDeleteI've heard "the song of the divine" in quiet pockets of even the busiest areas.
A few times I've even found it on busy street corners surrounded by thousands of other people.
So much depends on our personalities. For me being out in nature is preferable but with the right state of mind it isn't necessary.
When I say "cultivate" I'm talking about fairly well defined practices and techniques of internal alchemy (meditation and qigong) which have been practiced and refined over many generations, and which DMD also discusses in detail in some of his other works. This is not what I call "hippie tao", the "go with the flow, do your own thing, walk your own path" kind of philosophy that seems to appeal to disaffected, abandoned and alienated persons. This is not "cultivation" but just settling into a comfy position that allows you to ask, somewhat perversely, the question you did: "How can I know one person cultivates as opposed to another?" It doesn't matter to me whether you cultivate or not, but some people know things other people don't and there are levels of achievement. I stand by my "declarative statement". There is a reason why the great Taoists go to the mountains. And any one of them who is practicing or teaching in a city has probably perfected himself while on a retreat or through early training in a setting apart from the urban landscape. Ordinarily I wouldn't even talk about this, it seems so obvious, but you posed the question.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, there's a little editorial error in the quote:
ReplyDelete"It is not possible to become fully aware realized..."
DMD's text actually reads "It is not possible to become fully realized.."
(Delete "aware".)