The metaphor of descentIn Buddhism, we often encounter the language of ascent—the pursuit of transcendence, of reaching ever-higher states. But there's another metaphor worth considering: descent. Descent into the here and now. With descent, there's nowhere to go. It's about being fully present, right here, right now. As Sangharakshita puts it: “The unconditional acceptance of the conditioned is the unconditioned.” This idea has a parallel in our experience of beauty. We often view beauty as a process of refinement, a pursuit of perfection, something that transcends the grit and messiness of the real world. But I've always loved the grit, the rawness. I was 20 when I first encountered Buddhism. Before that, music was my religion—Bowie, Janis Joplin, Lou Reed. At the Buddhist center, people loved music too, though it was mostly harpsichord. I was reading Kerouac; they were reading Wordsworth. While we agreed that the arts were important, we differed in what we considered art. My instinct was that whatever led me to Lou Reed also led me to the Dharma. In my world, they were moving in the same direction. But I couldn’t quite articulate that to others. Instead, I was told I should refine my tastes. I still haven’t! Then I discovered the concept of wabi-sabi, and finally, I had a framework to connect the art I resonated with to the Dharma—a Dharma of descent. My intuition had always told me that reality wasn’t elsewhere but hidden in the here and now, in the ordinary, in the everyday. What they call "hidden in plain sight." "Hidden in plain sight": something that at first seems concealed but is, in fact, easily found.
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