Conversations with Avant-garde Sages - The Wizard LLC

Conversations with Avant-garde Sages
there's just great fuel there for conversation. You quote the Zen
master Jayata, you say, "I don't seek enlightenment nor am I
deluded, I don't worship Buddha, nor am I disrespectful. I don't
sit for long periods, nor am I lazy. I don't eat only once a day, nor
am I a glutton. I am not contented, nor am I greedy. When the
mind does not seek anything, this is called the way".
Right, here's my point of confusion, and maybe it's not confusion,
but maybe you guys can help me. One of the best pieces of advice
that I've ever got from the Wizard over here is to simply be myself,
and to be this natural thing, myself, without like over thinking it,
but simply accepting it and letting it be, this thing called me, that's
been very helpful. And I think that's great advice, but this thing
called me doesn't walk this middle way, it sometimes goes
completely slap bonkers greedy, gluttonous, and sometimes it
doesn't eat anything, sometimes it goes for sex for a week straight,
and then it doesn't do anything for a month. So I'm more of like a
binge personality, and every time I come into Zen wisdom, there
seems to be this moderation that's characteristic of the Zen
master, and that's not who I am. So is this advice that to just
simply be myself at odds with Zen?
BRIAN EZZELL: No, everything in moderation, including
moderation [Laughs]. You know, Trip, I can identify with all of
that, there's times where… I used to be a smoker, I don't attribute
a deep voice to that, but 10 years ago I used to smoke and I used to
enjoy two packs a day. And I didn't like the fact that I had to stop
that, I enjoyed it way, way too much. And I didn't like the fact that
I had to control that in any particular way. There are days where I
want to eat a lot, and then there's times when I don't want to eat
much at all. And I guess I don't try to think about it anymore. I
don't over indulge like I used to in my younger years, I'm 37, I'm
still young [Laughs].
But the fact of the matter is that, yes, it's just being moderate. It's
not trying to think about should I do this, or should I do that, just
be, and have the experience, that's what this life is really all about
is simply having the experience. It's not about doing things
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