10,000 Hawkers Hawking

[gatito]

Today I walked through the spiritual marketplace.
I will not go there again.

______________________________________

Today I walked through the spiritual marketplace,
And heard 10,000 hawkers hawking,
10,000 children teaching,
And 20% held forth as 100.
So many voices,
So full of authority,
Young and old,
Certain and assertive.
I brought my Beloved with me,
But She could not bear the din,
And ran from that place,
Staring back, tearfully.
I could not hear,
Amidst the din and clamour,
Her sobbing whisper,
“My Own, leave this place,
And follow me Home.”


gardenofthebeloved.com/hawkershawking.html

[3bob]

such may be the case for newly weds but sooner or later such a "din" has no effect upon them since they effect it.

[gatito]

There is a story about a a group of friends who were learning to meditate and one of them said that s/he found it impossible because s/he was living next to a noisy road.

 

A number of people made various helpful suggestions regarding fitting triple glazing, using earplugs, strengthening concentration etc., etc.

 

Do you know what the best answer was 3bob?

[GrandmasterP]

"There is a story I would like to tell you about a woman who practices the invocation of the Buddha Amitabha’s name. She is very tough, and she practices the invocation three times daily, using a wooden drum and a bell, reciting, “Namo Amitabha Buddha” for one hour each time. When she arrives at one thousand times, she invites the bell to sound. (In Vietnamese, we don’t say “strike” or “hit” a bell.) Although she has been doing this for ten years, her personality has not changed. She is still quite mean, shouting at people all the time.

 

A friend wanted to teach her a lesson, so one afternoon when she had just lit the incense, invited the bell to sound three times, and was beginning to recite “Namo Amitabha Buddha,” he came to her door, and said, “Mrs. Nguyen, Mrs. Nguyen!” She found it very annoying because this was her time of practice, but he just stood at the front gate shouting her name. She said to herself, “I have to struggle against my anger, so I will ignore that,” and she went on, “Namo Amitabha Buddha, Namo Amitabha Buddha.”

 

The gentleman continued to shout her name, and her anger became more and more oppressive. She struggled against it, wondering, “Should I stop my recitation and go and give him a piece of my mind?” But she continued chanting, and she struggled very hard. Fire mounted in her, but she still tried to chant “Namo Amitabha Buddha.” The gentleman knew it, and he continued to shout, “Mrs. Nguyen! Mrs. Nguyen!”

 

She could not bear it any longer. She threw away the bell and the drum. She slammed the door, went out to the gate and said, “Why, why do you behave like that? Why do you call my name hundreds of times like that?” The gentleman smiled at her and said, “I just called your name for ten minutes, and you are so angry. You have been calling the Buddha’s name for ten years. Think how angry he must be!”

--Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

[thelerner]

There is a story about a a group of friends who were learning to meditate and one of them said that s/he found it impossible because s/he was living next to a noisy road.

 

A number of people made various helpful suggestions regarding fitting triple glazing, using earplugs, strengthening concentration etc., etc.

 

Do you know what the best answer was 3bob?

I'm reminded about a story, probably true, in a book about hypnosis. The writer of the book had an office and was a professional hypnotist. One day a client comes in, and because they're working on the street in front, a loud jack hammer is going off. They can barely hear each other.

 

Nonetheless the hypnotist goes to work, shouting out the induction and he changes it a bit. He includes- '..the louder the jack hammer the deeper you'll go, the louder the jack hammer the deeper you'll go'. It's successful and at the next session the man told him, 'I really wish we had that jack hammer again!'

 

 

Perhaps more helpful- in case such an exotic mind trick doesn't work, I'd recommend a white noise machine, any device, computer, CD player, ipod etc., that can broadcast loud white noise. These days there a huge number of scientific noises made specifically to block out noise and entrain listeners.

[3bob]

There is a story about a a group of friends who were learning to meditate and one of them said that s/he found it impossible because s/he was living next to a noisy road.

 

A number of people made various helpful suggestions regarding fitting triple glazing, using earplugs, strengthening concentration etc., etc.

 

Do you know what the best answer was 3bob?

 

Move somewhere else when possible and when begining... a yogi would not have to move since they could shut off shut input.

[ThisLife]

"There is a story I would like to tell you about a woman who practices the invocation of the Buddha Amitabha’s name. She is very tough, and she practices the invocation three times daily, using a wooden drum and a bell, reciting, “Namo Amitabha Buddha” for one hour each time. When she arrives at one thousand times, she invites the bell to sound. (In Vietnamese, we don’t say “strike” or “hit” a bell.) Although she has been doing this for ten years, her personality has not changed. She is still quite mean, shouting at people all the time. A friend wanted to teach her a lesson, so one afternoon when she had just lit the incense, invited the bell to sound three times, and was beginning to recite “Namo Amitabha Buddha,” he came to her door, and said, “Mrs. Nguyen, Mrs. Nguyen!” She found it very annoying because this was her time of practice, but he just stood at the front gate shouting her name. She said to herself, “I have to struggle against my anger, so I will ignore that,” and she went on, “Namo Amitabha Buddha, Namo Amitabha Buddha.” The gentleman continued to shout her name, and her anger became more and more oppressive. She struggled against it, wondering, “Should I stop my recitation and go and give him a piece of my mind?” But she continued chanting, and she struggled very hard. Fire mounted in her, but she still tried to chant “Namo Amitabha Buddha.” The gentleman knew it, and he continued to shout, “Mrs. Nguyen! Mrs. Nguyen!” She could not bear it any longer. She threw away the bell and the drum. She slammed the door, went out to the gate and said, “Why, why do you behave like that? Why do you call my name hundreds of times like that?” The gentleman smiled at her and said, “I just called your name for ten minutes, and you are so angry. You have been calling the Buddha’s name for ten years. Think how angry he must be!” --Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

 

I love that story of yours ! Since one good turn deserves another, I'll pass on one of my own favourite Zen stories as well. These kind of stories help remind me to not get carried away with the wishful thinking and creative imagination which, (from my experiences), seem to make up so much of organised religious practice, ritual and dogma :

 

 

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An old, much revered Zen roshi lay dying, surrounded by loving disciples.

 

“Roshi, can I ask one last question please! What is life?”

 

“Life...is like a river...”

 

“What do you mean by that, Roshi?!?”

 

“OK,.... it is not like a river.”

 

And he died.

 

 

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