Self-restraint

Shundo Aoyama describes how we depend on the opinion and judgement of others. I certainly do, and more than I would like. If I look back in my life I see long periods where I solely valued my actions on base of what others said about it. And if I look around me, I see that this is a common behaviour; its nothing that only a few people seem to have, everybody somehow seems to try to impress others, get some recognition and confirmation from others. Maybe thats some essential part of living in a society, maybe its even vital for a society to survive ? What if such behavior is just to make sure that we react as a group, everybody trying to be in line with the group ? Would that be a bad thing ? I'm really split about this question, I feel its a very good thing to value our actions just by ourselves, not depending on others, but I see it could be seen different too, how do you feel about it ?


From Possession to Possessor

Yep, I confess I like to possess. And I see how simply what I wear makes a difference how I feel, isn't that strange ? I feel its indeed like Shundo Aoyama writes, we're playing roles, I'm a businessmen, I'm a poor victim, I'm a dad and I'm a Buddhist. But can we really play, or is tha maybe real? When reading this section a quote from Kodo Sawaki came to my mind, he said (I quote from memory, so forgive me if its not exact), "When you sit down in zazen, you play being Buddha". We play, pretend to be ? I dont know, honestly, but I'm pretty sure our possessions are not what we are, what do you think ?

Thanks for reading
Gassho
Peter