What is the Middle Way? | Robert Thurman

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Күн бұрын

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In the Buddhist world, we often hear this phrase, "The Middle Way." But what actually is this middle way, and what does it mean for our lives? Professor Robert Thurman eloquently explains two types of middle way in this short video.
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Пікірлер: 40

@martinhealourlovecamden9191 3 жыл бұрын

Don't over-indulgent; don't self-neglect !!

@zsugiart 3 жыл бұрын

holding your cutlery with maximum grip and trying to eat - is too hard. holding your cutlery so loosely that it fell out of your grip- is too soft. holding your cutlery with exactlty 50% grip strength is not humanly doable (and even if you could you still wont have a good meal) extremeties (absolutely hard or absolutely soft, or absolutely in the middle) result in rigid application, but life is fluid and not rigid. somewhere in between is an enjoyable meal that is not laden with suffering. give it a shot and just enjoy your meal, in fact it's more enjoyable when you don't think about your grip and instead on your food. have a good day and may your life be at peace. [ updated thanks to Carl E's comment about 'middle extremety']

@NickEinstein Жыл бұрын

A dreamlike illusion of holding a fork or knife and of eating a rotisserie chicken. 🍗 This is a kind of shunyata experience ✨

@MDOurMD Жыл бұрын

The Middle Way means, to me, that I have no answers to the great questions and I'm ok with that.

@NickEinstein Жыл бұрын

Here are some intro books on Middle Way philosophy in Buddhism, for anyone who is interested: “The Sun of Wisdom” by Khenchen Tsultrim Gyamtso “The Middle Way Meditation Instructions of Mipham Rinpoche” by Thrangu Rinpoche “Open Door to Emptiness” by Thrangu Rinpoche And the best: “Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen” By: Namkhai Norbu, Chogyal

@rainbowstar4360 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for sharing.

@KennitoGat 3 жыл бұрын

What I understand by the middle way is being neutral between the path of light and the path of darkness.

@NickEinstein Жыл бұрын

The path of light and the path of darkness… these are sort of vague concepts and very subjective, everyone would have their own interpretation of even what light and darkness even are. Maybe you’re hinting at a kind of nonduality?

@martinhealourlovecamden9191 3 жыл бұрын

All is of equal importance vs. maintaining a hierarchy importances !!

@loopylululand3641 3 жыл бұрын

thank you so much, this really helped!!! :)

@trand9112 2 жыл бұрын

Many nuances of Middle Way have been revealed here.

@fenneeuk Жыл бұрын

So a reflection could be; Meeting reality on realities terms. Not trying to change it by chasing a feeling or experience. Not indulging, dwelling or wallowing, but being present with it. But also not resting too much in passive fatalism, nor pushing too much in active volition. Thoughts?

@NickEinstein Жыл бұрын

I agree 😊 I think fatalism is a wallowing in some nihilistic ideology where one believes nothing one does even matters. And this is all really just a miserable illusion. And the not forcing principle… if people could really experience this deeply in their lives, our world would be so much of a better place to live in! You sound like a Dzogchenpa ✨

@NickEinstein Жыл бұрын

He does an interesting job of finding the language to bridge Buddhist philosophy with a western philosophical paradigm

@tashigelek7585 2 жыл бұрын

Middle way means avoiding from two sides , one is extremely eternal and other is nihilism

@scottkraft1062 4 жыл бұрын

The middle way It's living like our true selves before the ego and has nothing to do with religion

@RAJEEVRANJAN_07 3 жыл бұрын

'Nothing to do with religion', how did you come to this belief, its dogmatic.

@akshayk5391 2 жыл бұрын

👌👌

@NickEinstein Жыл бұрын

Shunyata has nothing to do with religion ~

@NickEinstein Жыл бұрын

Check out this amazing book: “The Crystal and the Way of Light”

@carle8267 3 жыл бұрын

The middle way is the best hiding place for the ego. The so called middle way depends on two extremes to orientate itself. Either end of the extreme only depend on the other extreme while they are often not concious of this dependency. The middle way depends on both of those extremes and many in the 'middle way' are unconcious of this double dependency. The middle need the extremea more than the extremes need the middle. The middle is not a position between the two either, it is only put this way. The middle way is just a point of view that attempts to mediate across the foundations that the extreme positions forge. The middle way is simply a point of view like any other. In other words you can be exteeme in your 'middleness' and this can actually make problems in situations where the so called middle way has no realistic solotion to a problem. But, since those who assune the middle way is the best way, their ego refuses to see this, as pointed out above. The true way is that extremes always exist and people attatch more tolerable terms to such extremes to justify them. The middle way is such an example. I will cite Chinease history as my proof. Steeped in middle way enlightenment, and if that enlightenment was the way, thenhow is it possible China is fastly growing into the leading capitalist consumerist nation?. This does not happen unless a mass shift in culture took place. Why would they stray off the middle way if the middle way is superior?. Do not kill. This is a human law that all religions and cultures have mostly agreed on. Most people agree that in the normal sense, to kill for no reason is bad. Billions of people beleive this to be right and go their entire life withought killing a person ir aninal for no good reason. If the middle way was potent enough,it would be just as prominant as do not kill. It isnt.

@aditya6201 2 жыл бұрын

Nah.. The middle way is the best way.. There can be no extreme of a middle path.. The middle path is a path where you decide what the best course of action is to take for the moment and you live moment to moment and is therefore a better way to live life.. Living in the past does nothing but take you behind while the world moves ahead and living too much in the future does nothing but take you too far ahead from the world while problems of the present moment pile up and nothing of any value gets accomplished..

@carle8267 2 жыл бұрын

@@aditya6201 What you are talking about there is living in the moment, it isnt the same thing as the middle way. Living in the moment all the time is also an extreme position or point of view. Many things need planning.

@versoturner5777 2 жыл бұрын

If extreme is better then why is there always more suffering found there... at the extremes? For example... extreme "good" ends up as facism and extreme "bad" ends up as anarchy. There are your extremes. Life clearly needs balance and by failing to see that you cause more harm than good. It also seems to me that percieving "problems" that need to be fixed is hubris. Humans cause every problem thus far... nature clearly flourished just fine before we decided to intervene. Name any problem and I bet there's an extreme there. You talk of a hiding place for the ego, but it's the ego that needs to fix the world in the 1st place. The soul accepts it as it is. Already divine as it is... each soul growing at it's own pace.

@carle8267 2 жыл бұрын

@@versoturner5777 I didnt say extreme was better, I said the middle way is mostly an illusion. In reality it is one or the other, yes or no, dead or alive, action or no action. Life needs a balance, and you say it is the ego thst messes with things?.. so how can you find 'balance' when balance is a statement made made from the ego.. to suggest their must be a balance. Everything is already in balance.. even chaos is a certain type of balance. To suggest a certain way of doing something is best, is an extreme statement.. because it eliminates all other ways that are not your idea of "balaned". Also you suggest nature does just fine, and that humans make the problems, I can remind you that humans are from nature, everyrhing we have done, good or bad is from nature, it gave us the ability to do it. If we are a problem then nature is a problem. If you are religious, then a god who gives human an ability to pick good and bad, ultimately destines some people to pick bad, or else why give a choice? if everybody is to be good, why give a choice? its a pointless choice. This means some people have to pick bad.. those bad people define the choice of good, just like extreme positions define their opposits.

@NickEinstein Жыл бұрын

The middle way isn’t dependent on the extremes, the two extremes are dependent on each other. If you learn Madhyamaka, you’ll learn that the extremes are the illusions… the middle way is merely absence of illusions. * (check my comment with book citations, if interested)

@stevenkok1926 3 жыл бұрын

Wipe out the self indulgence and the two extremes firstly.

@loribenvenuto4679 2 жыл бұрын

I'm a Buddhist...and Thurmans (x) son in law is my Hollywood crush Ethan Hawk...(melt)...lol.

@Agalarov97 Жыл бұрын

2:13 😅

@martinhealourlovecamden9191 3 жыл бұрын

All is of equal importance + maintain a hierarchy of importances !!

@perpetualgrind1707 Жыл бұрын

Someone size this man's watch properly.

@mikefinley4367 2 жыл бұрын

Obviously this guy has never directly experienced the middle way but spews theories. The !idle way is that narrow gate biblically spoken of also the eye of the needle. People spend a lifetime in meditation not what it's not but theorized to be and waste the entire embodiment because the middle is onlybhintedcat in ancient Zen texts. To find the middle path, you must be able to see the patterns of creation and it's repeated applications in the here and now, especially the first action and where you find it repeatedly n front of your face and the middle can then he known, however, knowing intellectually and direct experience are two different things. One hinds and the other begins a treacherous journey

@loribenvenuto4679 2 жыл бұрын

I'm a Buddhist...and Thurmans (x) son in law is my Hollywood crush Ethan Hawk...(melt)...lol

@loribenvenuto4679 2 жыл бұрын

I'm a Buddhist...and Thurmans (x) son in law is my Hollywood crush Ethan Hawk...(melt)...lol