Walking the Wall

While I don’t listen to the death metal music genre, I found this post on Nate’s blog, Precious Metal, quite interesting in being able to see the musician’s progression from basically using the Buddhist teachings as a sort of filler for the music–to it having an effect on his mindset and his learning so much. Bruno, from the band The Firstborn, writes, “The simple approach to existence (and non-existence) that Buddhism conveys operates almost like an anchor on this miasma of materialism we live on. I think this is why more and more westerners turn to Buddhism nowadays, to find answers to their questions, and then to question their answers.” I find that quite perceptive, and I fully agree that I think Westerners are attracted to Buddhism for that very sense of an anchor to the chaos of our social & cultural (and even religious) system. But it is an anchor in a different sense than a weight. If you think about traditional Christianity’s metaphor of life being a “heavy burden,” images of heaviness permeate the Bible as symbols of this life that people will eventually be able to lay down through conversion and even death. Then there is Milan Kundera’s idea of modern life moving to a state of unbearable lightness (The Unbearable Lightness of Being, written about the effects of extreme communism on culture)–where religion is left behind and people suffer not from weight, but from an unbearable disconnectedness. Buddhism offers something different–offers compassion for oneself and for others; offers a gentleness for oneself and for others; teaches to use the breath to anchor, but very lightly–touch on it and then let go, as Pema Chodron would say. It teaches to relax into being.

I also loved his idea of finding answers and then turning around and questioning the answers–so very true, it is a process we should use on any journey towards truth–find answers, question the answers, and keep questioning–it’s one of my favorite aspects of Buddhism! Even biblically, while I instinctively link Christianity (or to be fair, the conservative Baptist of my experience) with narrowness and control to keep people from questioning–if you read, you’ll find that the God of the Bible actually seems to enjoy most the people that question most–even if they are questioning God.

Anyway, great post. It just goes to show that even if your not into death metal (or insert any other topic outside your interests)–keep reading as there might still be something to learn!