Jeff into buddhism? Power of now....

[tblair]

Just came back from the doctors surgery, reading the Eckhart Tolle book, "The Power Of Now". It's quite heavy (but not, at the same time...?!)

The lyrics to War On War, have always slightly puzzled me. I kind of thought I understood, but not quite (if you get my drift). Anyway the whole concept of 'learning to die' was explained in the book. Briefly:

"You will know it (the truth) at the latest when you feel death approaching. Death is a stripping away of all that is not you, The secret of life is to "die before you die" - and find that there is no death"

If that sounds a bit gobledegook-ish, you probably need to read the book, but I find it all oddly re-assuring, and most of it makes good sense to me. It takes me back to the sixties, when a lot of the music I was listening to (Beatles/Lennon, Who/Townshend, Coltrane, McLaughlin) seemed to be 'looking' for the same thing, and totally explains why I love Wilco and Jeff's lyrics. I didn't consciously go looking for it, it kind of found me, or I was open enough to let it in. I dunno, but it all makes sense to me.

(not sure if it's ok to directly quote because of copyright reasons, but I have credited it)

[tblair]

Tolle isn't a Buddhist.

I thought alot of what he says is based on Buddhism. On one of his cd's, he says (paraphrasing here), "if I can condense what I'm saying to one word, it's Buddhism"

maybe I misunderstood it

 

ps I didn't actually say he was a Buddhist deliberatley because I didn't think he was, but a lot of his 'teachings' are based on it, aren't they?

[Stan]

[tblair]

While it's clear he's ripped a lot of teachings out of the Buddhist canon, he claims no religious or spiritual affiliations. He is 'self enlightened.'

not sure how that affects my original post/question?

I could re-phrase it if you like...

Is Jeff into Tolle-like spiritual enlightenment?

 

how's that?

 

(not sure I'm happy with the word 'ripped', makes it sound like he's stolen something. What I've read and heard, he constantly acknowledges where what he's saying has been said before)

[tblair]

jeez... one thing I hate about forums is all the nit-picking over irrelevant specifics. I never said Tolle was a Buddhist.

 

but anyway...

[Spawn's dad]

sorry to bother you. I deleted the post. carry on.

[tblair]

sorry to bother you. I deleted the post. carry on.

now you've deleted your posts, the thread looks like aload of nonsense....

thanks for your input...

[Spawn's dad]

All forms are Impermanent.

[tblair]

All forms are Impermanent.

I'm still struggling with this stuff, that's not fair..

[MattZ]

I always thought that "learning how to die if you want to be alive" was a reference to the fact that much of our lives are spent doing things or not doing things because of our innate fear of death. Sort of like the guy who spends his life afraid of dying of cancer because there is a history in his family and he dies of a heart attack.

 

So I thought the point of the line was that the only way to truly live life to its fullest is to enjoy every moment for what it is. Accept that death is coming and love life. Dont sweat death, enjoy life.

 

That's what I took from the line -- could be completely off base though. I suppose living each day has a buddhist quality to it...

[tblair]

I always thought that "learning how to die if you want to be alive" was a reference to the fact that much of our lives are spent doing things or not doing things because of our innate fear of death. Sort of like the guy who spends his life afraid of dying of cancer because there is a history in his family and he dies of a heart attack.

 

So I thought the point of the line was that the only way to truly live life to its fullest is to enjoy every moment for what it is. Accept that death is coming and love life. Dont sweat death, enjoy life.

 

That's what I took from the line -- could be completely off base though. I suppose living each day has a buddhist quality to it...

That sounds good.

I guess I was just a bit slow (with the lyrics), and it took a book to explain them to me.

[j4lackey]

While listening to many parts of Sky Blue Sky, I have had the feeling that a lot of the sentiments and findings Jeff is reporting run along similar lines to much of what I've read about Buddhism. Whether he got these from Buddhist texts or came to them in a natural progression of living and examining that life is another question. Probably a combination of reading and thinking.

[fatheadfred]

While listening to many parts of Sky Blue Sky, I have had the feeling that a lot of the sentiments and findings Jeff is reporting run along similar lines to much of what I've read about Buddhism. Whether he got these from Buddhist texts or came to them in a natural progression of living and examining that life is another question. Probably a combination of reading and thinking.

 

Gestalt