Buddhist Romanticism

within them. Even though there is physical pain, we are capable of
joy; even though there is mental sorrow, we are able to be well; and
even though we are part of an impermanent, self-less flow of
phenomena, we are nevertheless able to feel whole, complete, and
deeply healthy.”
“The Buddha’s Third Noble Truth, and his most significant
biological insight, is that… as humans we are able to see into our
primal reactivity and in the process learn how to overcome some of it.
…
Most of us will never get there, never arrive at a steady state of
‘happiness ever after’ or ‘perfect wisdom.’ Nature’s odds are against
it. Humans seem to be novices at self-realization. And while
mindfulness meditation may be an evolutionary sport, like evolution
itself the game is never finished. One reason is that if we are indeed
evolving, then we will always need remedial training in selfawareness.”
In maintaining the immanence of the Buddhist goal, some authors note
that the Pāli Canon contains passages—such as §§46–50—clearly indicating
that the goal is transcendent, and that these passages contradict what they
are saying. One common way of dealing with this problem is to dismiss
such passages as “rogue,” “later additions” to the Canon composed by
“neurotic monks.” Another is to translate the passages in such a way as to
mitigate their transcendent implications.
The immanence of the goal, according to Buddhist Romanticism, is
nothing to be regretted. In fact, it is to be celebrated as an expression of the
infinite creativity of life. This is one of the reasons that Buddhist Romantic
writings, as in one of the examples under Point 3 above, often compare the
spiritual life to a dance. Just as the novel provided the early Romantics with
an example of a free-form genre, modern dance has provided a similar
example for Buddhist Romanticism.
“We can find peace and freedom in the face of the mystery of life.
In awakening to this harmony, we discover a treasure hidden in each
difficulty. Hidden in the inevitable impermanence and loss of life, its
very instability, is the enormous power of creativity. In the process of
change, there arises an abundance of new forms, new births, new
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