eternity: why isn't everybody awaken?

General discussion, particularly exploring the Dharma in the modern world.
Jesse
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Re: eternity: why isn't everybody awaken?

Post by Jesse »

kirtu wrote:
sangamaji wrote:dear friends,

why isn't everybody awaken, if samsara exist since eternal times?
Do I have failure in this thought?
I know that time is just a concept, but it didn't help me until know. :shrug:
The actual reason sangamaji is that people do not wish to awaken. They wish to follow delusion and thus get enmired further and further in samsara. Even Buddhists. This was the observation of Buddhadassa Bhikkhu in "The Heartwood of the Bodhi Tree". Other Buddhist teachers have made this observation as well (Khandro Rinpoche for example in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition).

Kirt
I don't think that is necessarily true, everyone wants to be happy and free from suffering, so everyone really does want to awaken, it's more our perception of what constitutes happiness. Even those who know better still get buried in samsara because it's hard not to. Habit's are hard to break.
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Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.
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kirtu
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Re: eternity: why isn't everybody awaken?

Post by kirtu »

Aryadeva makes the point in his 400 Verses that people confuse suffering with happiness and thus actively pursue the causes of suffering. Furthermore people call attenuated suffering happiness so they chase :alien: after attenuated suffering (in the form of pleasure).

Kirt
“Where do atomic bombs come from?”
Zen Master Seung Sahn said, “That’s simple. Atomic bombs come from the mind that likes this and doesn’t like that.”

"Even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth."
Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

"Only you can make your mind beautiful."
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ground
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Re: eternity: why isn't everybody awaken?

Post by ground »

sangamaji wrote:why isn't everybody awaken, if samsara exist since eternal times?
Do I have failure in this thought?
Thought may find a failure in thought or not.
sangamaji wrote:I know that time is just a concept, but it didn't help me until know. :shrug:
What isn't "just a concept"? "help" and "me" are just concepts too. How does a concept help a concept?
Dependent on thinking this or that certain kinds of feelings may arise. Some are wanted, some not. :sage:
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