Juggling and Zen
The philosophy of Buddhism exists primarily within the minds of those who practice it, guiding the way they view and act in the world around them, with the aim of reducing conflict in their life by seeing things clearly. However, practicing Buddhism is not an entirely mental process, requiring nothing more than mental activity. Buddhist principals are also applied to physical activity such as breathing and walking. Refined physical activities like the arts not only are not only guided by Buddhist principals, but also representative of them. I find that the art of juggling is not only a meditative activity, but is also executed and improved with the application of Zen principles. Lets look at the basic Zen principles and how they relate to juggling. First we should look at the reasons why Zen utilizes meditation. Zen differs from other schools of Buddhism in that it believes one can attain satori instantly and without the guidance of a master or a sutra. All schools of Buddhism maintain that we all have Buddha nature, and the potential to become a Buddha, but Zen puts a special emphasis on this fact. As Watts said "one does not practice Zen to become a Buddha; one practices it because one
Because of this I often juggle for stress-relief and to clear-headedness, especially when I need to attune my focus to something. Having taught so many people how to juggle, I have identified two commonly held misconceptions about juggling. It means that one has the ability to see tathata--the true suchness of things, reality unpolluted by typical human perception and thought. for it is only when there is no goal and no rush that the human senses are fully open to receive the world. The second commonly held misconception is that it takes superb coordination to juggle. The cornerstone of Buddhist thought is the first Noble Truth, dukkha, which states that life is suffering. However, there is that occasional moment while juggling that I feel no "I", with no sense of intention or conflict, while I passively observe this feat of harmony between gravity, objects, and my body. These mistakes are more often a crowd pleaser(if there is a crowd) than something negative, because it shows the human and natural side of juggling, much in accordance with the Zen tradition. If we claim that there is a permanent self, yet do not recognize that in it's(Atman) existence it is never the same thing and always changing, it can "produce harmful thoughts of 'me' and 'mine', selfish desire, craving, attachment, hatred, ill-will, conceit, pride, egoism, and other, defilements, impurities and problems"(Rahula, p. While I usually have some good advice to offer, what I tell them is ultimately like pointing at the moon because the beginner must teach their own bodies how to juggle. Though the concept of Anatta, or 'no self' is a fairly clear and understandable concept, it is difficult to integrate into ones life. While symmetry and uniformity can be beautiful, so can be the haphazard and erratic.
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