Inquiry: They are too tame.

They are too tame. (The folks at CSS, and the approach of the center in general.)

1. True?
   Yes. Certainly feels true, sometimes. And I can easily find stories to support it. I can even find, at least in my imagination, people who would agree. (Come to think of it, I have never heard anyone else say this.)
2. Sure?
   No. And I also don’t know what is best of them or me.
3. What happens when I believe that thought?
   • I go into stories of how tame they are. They are all trying to be good students. It feels like a Sunday school sometimes. They all keep to the conventional way of looking at things, from the various traditions. They seem to explore just a part of the terrain. Why not try being a little wild? Maybe that would juice things up a little. They may even gain some insights from it, equally valuable as what they get from the conventional, mainstream, slightly boring, mystical approach. (Notice some other statements for inquiry there.)
   • I feel that I don’t belong. That I should be somewhere else. My mind goes to Byron Katie, Genpo Roshi, Adyashanti, whose approaches all feel much radical, alive, juicy, wild within clarity.
   • When did I first have that thought? Probably when I first started visiting Buddhist centers. (Although never at Kanzeon.)
4. Who would I be without it?
   • Appreciating what is there. The sincerity. Willingness to be a good student. Willingness to not mess with the traditions.
5. Turnarounds.
   • They are not too tame.
     • No, they are as they are. Infinite causes behind it. Who am I to question it?
     • They are radical in some ways. Radical in wishing to discover what they really are. Radical in even going there, where the focus is on seeing through the story of I. Radical in their sincerity, it seems.
     • I am still there, so they are not tame enough for me to leave.
   • I am too tame.
     • Yes, especially there. I want to speak up much more. (Although I have been doing better lately.)
     • Also, I am too tame in my own practice. I want to be far more radical, both in sincerity and approaches.
     • I am too tame when I hold onto that initial belief, without questioning it. I am making it too safe for myself. (Which is not safe at all.)
   • I am not too tame.
     • No. I do speak up there, from sincerity. (And they even seem to appreciate it!)
     • I have some sincerity in my practice, sometimes, and I enjoy exploring things outside of the conventional traditions.
     • I experience everything with a great deal of aliveness. My immediate experience is not tame, far from it. It is alive, whether I believe thoughts or not, or question them.
   • They are too wild.
     • Hah! I guess many in the mainstream would see it that way, especially those who find (genuine) comfort in exoteric versions of the traditions. From that perspective, they are a wild bunch.
     • They are too wild for me, especially when I think they are too tame. (Or get caught up in any other beliefs about them.) As soon as I believe a thought about them, they become too wild for me. It goes a little out of control.
     • They are too wild in that they often get lost in their thinking about it. Their thoughts can be pretty wild, sometimes.
   • I am too wild.
     • Yes, many would probably say I could benefit from being a little more tame in relation to the traditions. And they may well be right.
     • I am too wild when I believe my stories about them. They go crazy in my own mind when I believe these stories!