Sunday, June 01, 2008

Chogyam Trungpa - Liberated from Conventionality


Here is this weekend's Ocean of Dharma quote from the books of Chogyam Trungpa:
LIBERATED FROM CONVENTIONALITY

Giving birth to bodhichitta in one's heart, buddha in one's heart brings freedom. That is the notion of freedom in Buddhism altogether. We are talking about freedom from the constriction of our own capabilities. It is as if we were extraordinary children, possessing all sorts of genius, and we were being undermined by the society around us, which was dying to make us normal people. Whenever we would show any mark of genius, our parents would get embarrassed. They would try to put the lid on our pot, saying, "Charles, don't say those things. Just be an ordinary person." That is what actually happens to us, with or without our parents. I don't particularly want to blame our parents; we have also been doing this to ourselves. When we see something extraordinary, we are afraid to say so; we are afraid to express ourselves or to relate with such situations. So we put lids on ourselves -- on our potential, our capabilities. But in Buddhism we are liberated from that kind of conventionality.

~ From OCEAN OF DHARMA: THE EVERYDAY WISDOM OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA. 365 Teachings on Living Life with Courage and Compassion. Number 282.

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