The Buddha

I enjoyed reading Buddha because it is confirming that one needs to be fully aware that no matter how much you read and/or follow the scriptures, listen to logic or inference, learn from religious teachers it is only you that can decide if: “something is unwholesome and bad for you, give it up. And if something is wholesome and good for you, do it.” That made me think of what I have been taught: “do more of what works, and stop what doesn’t work.”
I loved the analogy of the man walking along a great river. He saw something good across the water and used his knowledge and strength to achieve that better place and when he succeeded he laid it down to be done with. Carrying this raft on top of his head would cause physical pain and become a burden to carry around, when all one has to do is let go of what doesn’t work anymore. Drop the baggage, it is similar to carrying a dead corpse over your back, it slows one down in walking along the great river and too weary to enjoy the beautiful walk.
The last two paragraphs of this reading I found crazy. The statement: “all truths should be used to cross over; they should not be held on to once you have arrived.” Personally there are some truths in my life that I have held on to and they have been my strength. I can’t imagine letting go of such truths that drive me forward to a healthier place. The writer’s ideas were moving to me at first, and then it abruptly ended with letting go of something wholesome or unwholesome. I understand letting go of the unwholesome but the very last sentence: “Hold to the truth within yourself, as to the only truth” contradicts the earlier statement that says, “all truths should be used to cross over; they should not be held on to once you have arrived.” The statement: “Be your own confidence” is reminds me not to put our value in others but in ourselves because that is your true self that only you know it to be.