Warning: The magic method OCDI\OneClickDemoImport::__wakeup() must have public visibility in /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-content/themes/book-club/importer/inc/OneClickDemoImport.php on line 121 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-content/themes/book-club/importer/inc/OneClickDemoImport.php:121) in /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1831 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-content/themes/book-club/importer/inc/OneClickDemoImport.php:121) in /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1831 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-content/themes/book-club/importer/inc/OneClickDemoImport.php:121) in /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1831 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-content/themes/book-club/importer/inc/OneClickDemoImport.php:121) in /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1831 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-content/themes/book-club/importer/inc/OneClickDemoImport.php:121) in /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1831 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-content/themes/book-club/importer/inc/OneClickDemoImport.php:121) in /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1831 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-content/themes/book-club/importer/inc/OneClickDemoImport.php:121) in /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1831 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-content/themes/book-club/importer/inc/OneClickDemoImport.php:121) in /customers/a/8/2/robertmellis.net/httpd.www/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1831 {"id":433,"date":"2019-01-27T11:32:14","date_gmt":"2019-01-27T11:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/?page_id=433"},"modified":"2019-01-27T11:32:15","modified_gmt":"2019-01-27T11:32:15","slug":"parables-of-the-middle-way-sample","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/parables-of-the-middle-way-sample\/","title":{"rendered":"Parables of the Middle Way – Sample"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

1. The\nShip<\/a><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The lovely ship \u2018Progress\u2019, laden\nwith important passengers and precious cargo, was just entering the dangerous\nstrait between Scyllia and Charybdisland when the weather began to look more\nthreatening. Captain Jack Everyman scowled at the gathering cloud and the\nrising wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not looking good\u201d, he said\nto his first mate, Mr Scyllius, \u201cWe could be driven straight onto those rocks\nif we call in at Scyllatown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut we have to call in there!\u201d\nprotested Mr Scyllius, \u201cMy mother will be waiting for me, and she has a legacy\nto give me from my lately deceased uncle! Also the Prince of Scyllia wishes to\njoin us on the voyage. We will displease him!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat won\u2019t do any of us any good\nif the ship is turned to matchwood on the way\u201d said Everyman, \u201cYou and the Prince\nand your money will all alike go to feed the sharks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d chimed in Mr Charyb, the\nSecond Mate, who came from the rival state on the other side of the strait,\n\u201cScyllia is too dangerous at the best of times. The docks are thronged with\ncut-throats! I don\u2019t know why the ship has to include it on the itinerary at\nall. Come to Charybdisland instead: it\u2019s a great deal safer and friendlier. The\npeople there are actually rational and behave like proper human beings!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot likely,\u201d replied Everyman\ngruffly, \u201cThe passage into Charybport is just as dangerous. Not rocks but\nsandbanks! It may look smoother, but the threat lies just beneath the surface.\nNot in this weather!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut the Oracle of Charybport is\ndue to give a final revelation!\u201d cried Charyb, \u201cI need to hear it! And the\nChief Priest wants to join us on the voyage. He will be most displeased!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat seals it,\u201d replied Everyman\nironically, \u201cIf we\u2019re lucky enough not be eaten by sharks, the Prince of\nScyllia and the Chief Priest of Charybdis will probably kill each other in any\ncase, and trash the ship in the process!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do expect if you let\nhypocritical scum from Charybdisland on board?\u201d cried Scyllius<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the immoral rabble from\nScyllia that cause the trouble!\u201d protested Charyb. \u201cJust look at the statistics\non crime in sea-going vessels. They bear me out!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s enough!\u201d said Everyman\nsharply. Both men knew that he had no sympathy with their partisan bickering,\nand the tone of command was enough to silence them. \u201cEither I please you both or\nI please neither. There\u2019s no way I\u2019m going to visit one port but not the\nother.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the moment, a sudden shaft of\nsunlight burst through the gathering black clouds, and the wind seemed to drop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s an interesting\nmeteorological indication, sir\u201d said Scyllius carefully, \u201cDo you think it might\nmean we could risk it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a sign!\u201d cried Charyb in\nhalf-ironic triumph, \u201cGod wants you to go to Charybdisport! He could never\nallow you to leave his Chief Priest standing on the quay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe it\u2019s a sign, and maybe it\nisn\u2019t,\u201d said Everyman, \u201cBut if we take the risk, we go to both ports. Agreed?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reluctantly, both men agreed.\nEveryman turned the ship towards Scyllatown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As they neared Scyllatown,\nhowever, the weather deteroriated again. The clouds massed, the rain lashed\ndown, and the winds blew up to storm force. Having made up his mind, though,\nthe Captain set his jaw, held course and ordered the sails down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook at those rocks!\u201d cried\nCharyb, \u201cWe\u2019ll be wrecked! Let\u2019s get out of here, Jack!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust hold your course!\u201d urged\nScyllius, \u201cWe\u2019ll be OK. Many ships have still managed to dock safely in weather\nlike this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were driven closer and\ncloser to the rocks, to the terror of all on board, but Jack Everyman held his\nnerve. At last the wind began to abate a little, and the quay of Scyllatown\nloomed before them through the film of rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as they docked they sent\nmessengers into the town to find Scyllius\u2019s mother and the Prince. Both were\nsurprised but happy to find that the ship had dared the weather to dock there.\nCaptain Jack Everyman urged the Prince to board without delay, and made sure\nthat all cargoes were loaded and unloaded immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you not going to wait for\nbetter weather, Captain?\u201d asked the Prince\u2019s Aide-de-Camp, \u201cWhy do we go so\nsoon?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Captain shook his head,\n\u201cWe\u2019re leaving immediately,\u201d he said, \u201cand sailing to Charybdisport\u201d. The\nAide-de-Camp looked at him incredulously, as if he had said they were sailing\nfor Hell. The Captain did not tell him why he feared lingering in Scyllatown\neven more than the storm. Charyb had been right about the throngs of\ncut-throats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the Prince and more precious\ncargo on board, the ship set off again in weather that was not much better than\nthe conditions they had arrived in. This time the journey lay straight across\nthe strait, for Scyllatown and Charybdisport, each the capital of a\ndiametrically opposed kingdom, lay right opposite each other. Each could even\nsee the other in clear weather. Many had been the ships sunk and men\u2019s lives wasted\nin endless warring over that strait. In public all was enmity, with all\nvisitors from the opposite realm requiring special clearance from the\nauthorities. Any stray sailor from the opposing realm who wandered incautiously\nin either city would first be spat upon, then quietly dispatched in a dark\nalley. Yet behind the scenes, the authorities in fact maintained quite a\ncordial relationship with each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a battered-looking Progress<\/em>, with a snapped foremast but\notherwise intact, that limped into the harbour of Charybdisport a few hours\nlater. The Prince of Scyllia had barricaded himself into a stateroom below\ndecks and refused to stir, the misery of seasickness only slightly alleviated\nby the news that they had landed in Charybdisland. The quay in Charybdisport\nwas much better maintained than that in Scyllatown, but the sailor who jumped\nonto the quay was immediately upbraided by the harbourmaster for wearing what\nhe took to be leather shoes. \u201cThis is an insult to Charybdis!\u201d he roared, \u201cTake\naway your unclean footwear this instant!\u201d The terrified sailor soon leapt back\non board to comply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an inspection by the\nharbourmaster for both leather footwear and signs of disease, a few sailors\nwere judged pure enough to be able to land temporarily. However, they were only\nable to precede into the town to view the wonders of the Great Temple and\nlisten to the Great Oracle after paying hefty additional bribes to the\nharbourmaster. Only Mr Charyb, as a native, was able to avoid these strictures.\nCaptain Everyman was again desirous to be off as soon as possible, and\ninstructed the sailors to be back in an hour at the most. He was relieved to\nsee that the Chief Priest\u2019s sumptuous carriage soon rolled up. The extremely\nobese Chief Priest was then brought on board in a litter borne by four slaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was greeted, somewhat to his\nsurprise, by the Prince of Scyllia, who had unbarricaded his state room as soon\nas he glimpsed the Chief Priest\u2019s arrival through a porthole. \u201cHello, old\nfellow!\u201d He proferred a hand, \u201cTerrible weather, what!\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFancy meeting you here!\u201d the\nPriest responded, \u201cDon\u2019t think I\u2019ve seen you since the Ball after Finals! Time\ngoes by, what!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then the Prince glimpsed the\nCaptain coming towards them along the passage. \u201cQuick, the Captain\u2019s coming,\u201d\nhe said in an undertone, \u201cIt might be prudent to be more statesmanlike.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s an insult to Charybdis!\u201d\nshouted the Priest suddenly, putting on a convincing, but rather wobbly, shake\nof anger. \u201cI will hear no more of this blasphemy!\u201d He then turned and waddled\nback along the passage towards the Captain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour holiness is quartered in\nthe front state-room, as his highness from Scyllia occupies the rear one.\u201d said\nthe Captain politely, \u201cI hope it will be to your liking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The priest waddled on to inspect\nthe front state room, \u201cIt will do,\u201d He said eventually. \u201cJust don\u2019t let that\nsacrilegious scumbag anywhere near me!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once more, then, the ship set\nsail in some haste, as soon as passengers and cargo had been loaded and\nunloaded, and the foremast replaced. One sailor who had lingered too long,\ncaptivated by wonder in the Great Temple, had to be left behind. As they set\nout the storm had already abated to a gale, and before long it sank to a\npleasant breeze. Within hours the clouds had drifted away, and the sun shone,\nas the ship beat down the strait to further its journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The captain and mates gathered\nagain on the bridge. \u201cThat was a hard passage, captain,\u201d remarked Scyllius, and\nCharyb for once nodded his agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAy, \u2018twas hard,\u201d remarked the\nCaptain. \u201cIt would have been hard enough just to sail down the strait in such\nweather, let alone pick up passengers. Yet I\u2019m glad I allowed you both to\npersuade me. What would be the point of a voyage without passengers?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs long as the Prince and Chief\nPriest don\u2019t kill each other.\u201d added Charyb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey haven\u2019t yet.\u201d said the\nCaptain, \u201cWho knows, a pleasant voyage in the sunlight may help ease their\nenmity!\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.  The Lute Strings<\/a><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Gaynor had now given up her early\nobsession with music and decided to focus on her career. In fact, it had been\nseveral years now since she had even thought about music. Instead, her focus\nwas on the completion of this project, the approval of her boss, the likelihood\nof more responsibility in the next project, the need to overcome obstructive\ncolleagues and placate demanding customers, the determination to make an\nimpression for her ability and commitment. She had barely noticed as her relationship\nunravelled and her boyfriend moved on. She lived alone now, and worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But suddenly, like a swimmer\nstricken by weakness in mid-channel, she began to find herself undermined by\nturbulence around her that she only started to recognise because she had ceased\nto make progress forward. One morning she woke up at 3am overwhelmed by despair\n\u2013 knowing suddenly that she was not good enough and there was no point. She\ncould not go to work and she could not go on. She took time off, and at first\nher boss was sympathetic. \u201cYou\u2019ve been overdoing it, Gaynor\u201d she said on the\ntelephone, \u201cBut you\u2019re a valuable asset to the company, so you need to look\nafter yourself. You take some time off and get better.\u201d The doctor advised a\nnew treatment: mindfulness based stress reduction. Really good for depression,\nhe had said, much better than giving her drugs. So one afternoon, Gaynor found\nherself in a class learning how to meditate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first it was really annoying.\nThe mindfulness teacher led them in a body scan and then told them to focus on\nthe breath. For Gaynor, the body scan had just made her feel insecure about her\nbody: it wasn\u2019t good enough, it was full of tension. Then when asked to focus\non the breath she just found it boring. She tried doing it for a few seconds,\nbut then immediately started thinking about the office again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the discussion afterwards,\nGaynor asked the mindfulness teacher how she could focus on her body or on the\nbreath without getting stressed about it. To her they just seemed like new sources\nof stress. Why go to a meditation class and fail at doing something else,\nhaving just failed at going to work? If she tried to stop doing these things,\nshe would float around and then just land right back on her stress points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell,\u201d the Mindfulness Teacher\nseemed to be searching for the right response, \u201chave you ever played any music\n\u2013 an instrument of some kind?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sudden stab of memory at the\nword \u201cmusic\u201d: Gaynor and her lute, at the age of 14. That lute given to her by\nher aunt, and the local guitar teacher keen on the baroque, who had taught her\nand encouraged her. At one time she hadn\u2019t just played music, it had seemed\nthat music had also been playing her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d responded Gaynor after a\npause, \u201cI used to play the lute, but I gave it up to concentrate on my career.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh! Well, there\u2019s a story told\nby the Buddha about a lute. Once there was a monk who came to him whose name\nwas Sona. Sona had been trying too hard in meditation. Like you he was just\nfinding it another challenge, another source of stress. But Sona also used to\nplay the lute. So the Buddha asked him, \u2018What happens if the lute-strings are\ntoo tight?\u2019 What would you say, Gaynor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t get a good tone. You\nget distortions, and it\u2019s bad for the instrument.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd what happens if the\nlute-strings are too slack?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSimilarly, you don\u2019t get a good\ntone. It\u2019s out of tune.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo you need the lute-strings to\nbe neither too taut nor too slack, but somewhere in between, the Middle Way.\nMeditation is just like that. You have to find a point in yourself where you\nstart getting the right tone, the one that just hits the note and is in tune.\nYou won\u2019t do that by forcing your effort or having too rigid an idea of what\nyou want to achieve. You have to be a bit exploratory and provisional. On the\nother hand you do need to have a sense of purpose in meditation, and to\nmaintain that sense of purpose, otherwise you will just drift off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she got home, Gaynor went\nimpulsively to her wardrobe, where, under a pile of clothes and other detritus,\nshe found her lute in its case. In excitement, she took it up and tried to tune\nit, but straight away one of the strings snapped. She had to make a trip to a\nmusic shop before she could go any further. But then at last she was there,\nwith a lute once more in her hands, and with the strings neither too taut nor\ntoo slack. After a few minutes of initial clumsiness, she was amazed at how\nquickly her musical agility returned: the technique, the expression, the memory\nof the pieces, all were still there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She played solidly for two hours,\nand then realised that her depression had apparently lifted. But she felt no\nurge to go back to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next week she returned to the meditation class. In the practice, this time, she tried to tune her breath like a lute-string: neither too taut, nor too slack. For a while she seemed to find that point, then she got distracted by congratulating herself and thinking about her lute. At least she wasn\u2019t thinking about work, she thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go to the main page for this book<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1. The Ship The lovely ship \u2018Progress\u2019, laden with important passengers and precious cargo, was just entering the dangerous strait between Scyllia and Charybdisland when the weather began to look more threatening. Captain Jack Everyman scowled at the gathering cloud and the rising wind. \u201cIt\u2019s not looking good\u201d, he said to his first mate, Mr […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":379,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_oct_exclude_from_cache":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-433","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/433"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":434,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/433\/revisions\/434"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}