Virtue and Reality
About
In part one we will introduce something we call spiritual aesthetics. The ambition here is to present an inspiring picture of the path, with the intention of guiding the reader over the thin ice of wisdom development prior to any experience of samādhi. In part two we will search for a natural moral foundation and examine how virtue relates to the spiritual life; we will also discuss how wisdom might inform and then function alongside virtue and how this leads us to a new source of virtue (of spiritual pārami) and also introduces us to the source of the highest wisdom in Buddhism – i.e. contemplation of the body. In part three we will examine the nature of and relationship between
ultimate and conventional reality as the wider constructs that guide us. In part four we will look for 'God' within Buddhism; to what extent could it be reasonable to use this word for the completely purified and transcendent mind? In part five we will see how all of these subjects come together in the practice.
It is essential to bear in mind that the intention throughout this book is not only to describe ordinary experience but also the transformations of the mind that come about through long-term meditation practice.
In part one we will introduce something we call spiritual aesthetics. The ambition here is to present an inspiring picture of the path, with the intention of guiding the reader over the thin ice of wisdom development prior to any experience of samādhi. In part two we will search for a natural moral foundation and examine how virtue relates to the spiritual life; we will also discuss how wisdom might inform and then function alongside virtue and how this leads us to a new source of virtue (of spiritual pārami) and also introduces us to the source of the highest wisdom in Buddhism – i.e. contemplation of the body. In part three we will examine the nature of and relationship between
ultimate and conventional reality as the wider constructs that guide us. In part four we will look for 'God' within Buddhism; to what extent could it be reasonable to use this word for the completely purified and transcendent mind? In part five we will see how all of these subjects come together in the practice.
It is essential to bear in mind that the intention throughout this book is not only to describe ordinary experience but also the transformations of the mind that come about through long-term meditation practice.