dananddawn
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Joined: 9/12/2007
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I'll even start. This is the transcript of a ramble about being a Buddhist and a Master.
"How does being a Buddhist effect your role as a Master? How does that effect your Power Exchange? Or does it?
From a personal perspective? For me, the key to being a Buddhist is: Listen to your heart. Buddhism is about right intention, right thought, right speech, right action and when it talks about right it isn't just an ethical “right”. It’s heart-felt. If I get on FetLife and I’m all snarky with somebody, then I understand that my intention is to hurt them and to cause them harm. That is not right action for me - that’s not right speech for me.
So, Power Exchange is about having another person who is in your control; a person that you guide and lead to serve you. In that service they become a better human being. At least for me, I expect that. Through service to me, you have become a better person. The same is true for bat. The same is true for jem, etc. When i say better human being – and this is where I used to have a conflict with Buddhism- it isn't that they become a more Dan-like human being but that they become a more authentic human being. As a Master, that’s really all I’m doing: I’m ripping apart any of the false shields that we create around society saying that this is the way we are supposed to act; I’m reaching out there and pulling out that authentic self; and I’m using the Master/slave relationship as a tool to get there.
Buddhism, for me, goes beyond just practicing the values of the authentic self. It’s about compassion, about generosity, about not causing harm. It’s about not putting yourself in the forefront necessarily. That might feel like it is in conflict with the Master/slave relationship, but it is not.
The authentic Dan is a helpful person who uses the power of dominance to rip people apart, and after clearing off the muck, builds them up. That’s completely in line with my understanding of Buddhist philosophy. As a matter of fact, Buddhism helps me to stay in check, because Buddhism requires me to be humble; to look in the mirror and recognize – as the Christian saying goes – “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” Another way to say it is we are all one; we are all just big bags of meat walking around. No one is better or worse than anyone else. That helps me keep my balance and perspective in a Power Exchange relationship.
In general, that's how the two seem to work for me. From a perspective of helping people to grow, an understanding of the Dukkha (which gets translated into suffering which confuses people) can be very helpful. Here’s an exact, specific conversion of Buddhist concept to how Power Exchange works: When I punish a slave, either emotionally or physically, part of that is the understanding that the punishment only takes place in the present moment. There is no future and there is no past. There is the now. I am punishing you in the present moment. As soon as the punishment is over, then we need to let it go and move on because it now it is a new moment in time. That’s very much a Buddhist concept. Nothing is stagnant. Nothing stays the same. Everything changes and moves. Nothing is permanent. All that very much is reflected in the way I do Power Exchange.
There’s my answer ... but I’m sure that other Buddhists would say “That is bullshit and that’s not what Buddhism is about”. While we could argue if Buddhism is a religion or a philosophy – and in our Sangha, many people do – I don’t waste my time with that. If you go to some temples? Dammed if it doesn't look like religion to me, but if you read some of the works of Stephen Batchelor or some of these other cats? It’s absolutely a philosophy. The neat thing about Buddhism for me is that you take what you want and leave the rest. That’s the best part about Buddhism. It doesn't require you to believe in anything. "Be Happy" is the whole goal, for me. "
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Co-host of the Erotic Awakening podcast http://www.eroticawakening.com and authors of Living M/s http://goo.gl/cxXmh
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