Truth of the Middle Way

Some have asked about the "middle way" of Buddhist thought and what is my view on what the Buddha meant by the middle way. When ever a person looks at the concept of a particular school of thought one must realize that it is interpretation. One looks according to ones conditioning. So a person may disagree, agree or not have an opinion according to ones beliefs. But if one can look without the self that is embroiled in its own agenda with conclusions and opinions then one may realize the truth behind the concept. If a person lives and exist (psychologically) in the freedom of the moment then it is possible to realize the reflection of the true self in what is conceptual. That is one sees the middle way not as a concept but as the truth and reality of a mind that is not caught in the illusion of conceptual extremism. To such a person the concept "middle way" has no meaning or definition because it is not a subjective or objective ideal, it is the actual reality of ones existence.

If there is belief, then there is the ideal, that which is sought. If there is non-belief, then there is still the ideal, that which is not sought. The middle way is neither belief nor non-belief. The mind as the self is involved in decision making processes that can lead to the extremes of psychological determinism. When one is unaware of the self as the activity of a consciousness that is conditioned and being conditioned by external influences, then one gets ensnared by ones own desire to conform to a conceptual ideal. Most Buddhist would do well to read the Pali Cannon or the various sutra's and then throw them in the trash so that they could rid themselves of the illusion of conceptual desire. They are caught in the very attachment and identification that Buddha warned them about. Ironically, one must ultimately die to Buddhist thought and "Buddhism" its self. Then there is total freedom from the self that is seeking its own image in the conceptual ideal of "Buddhism".

The purest teaching of freedom and self realization is found in the "Diamond Sutra". If one is totally in the moment in which there is the freedom of the true self, then one lives the "Diamond Sutra". But one must go beyond the word as concept to the realization of that which is unconditioned.