Kigaku Noah Rossetter: Relatively Speaking: Exploring the Absolute in Theory and Practice

Summary: Episode Description: In this talk, Kigaku Noah Rossetter briefly dons a red clown nose in honor of Bernie Glassman Roshi for a very serious discussion on the relative and absolute. Noah consults Roshi Joan Halifax’s book Standing at the Edge to get the discussion started. He quotes, “Relative wisdom is seeing and understanding the interconnectedness of all beings and things, the truth of impermanence, the causes of suffering, the way to freedom from suffering, and living the imperative to free others from suffering.” He continues, “Ultimate wisdom is based on our direct experience of letting go of how we view so-called reality; any description we contrive about reality separates us from the direct experience of ‘things as they are’.” Noah describes how the ultimate and relative are interdependent, and cites the Buddhist philosopher, Nagarjuna, who claimed that the ultimate truth is that all things are empty of any inherent self. He then discusses the absolute as it applies to our practice of liturgy and meditation, closing with a few metaphors of the absolute, including a passage from Zen Master Dogen’s Genjo Koan which emphasizes the non-duality of enlightenment.<br> To help keep these podcasts freely available, we hope you will consider making a suggested donation of $25 to our <a title="Give to Upaya's Dharma Podcast Fund" href="https://www.upaya.org/give/fund.php?id=10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dharma Podcast Fund</a>.<br> <br>