Ardha wrote: ↑Mon Nov 28, 2022 2:22 am
PadmaVonSamba wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 5:29 am
Ardha wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 4:36 am
And this is what was said:
… "the one with true understanding knows there is no reason to feel anything to either one" I just dont know about that. I don't know if it's true.
I forget whether you answered when I asked you whether you have a regular meditation practice or not. Because, if you do, then you
can directly know and experience the truth in this. Otherwise, it’s just idle speculation.
The statement means that while a person with ordinary awareness gets upset because of a thunderstorm, a person with higher awareness (“true understanding”) knows that the storm is only temporary and will pass, and they don’t put any real emotional investment into it (“Thunderstorm” is used here as a metaphor for life’s upheavals).
As with thoughts that arise during meditation, emotions just come and go.
It sounds like she's saying that since stuff just happens without any real rhyme or reason then there isn't any reason to feel X or Y about it. Though that doesn't really make sense since random there is a reason to feel something toward that.
But from what you're saying it makes more sense. This stuff is all temporary and will pass so there isn't a reason to feel any type of way about it since it's all transient. But wouldn't that lead to being uncaring if everything around us is just transient.
I'll admit what she said did torment me a lot since it's saying there is no reason for me to feel happy about events because stuff just happens and so when I start feeling some sort of way I have to stop it since there is no reason to feel that feeling about that event.
The point is simply this:
All beings are constantly striving for perfect contentment and satisfaction.
In other words, to have permanent peace of mind, which is another way of saying freedom from craving.
That is why we buy things. That is why we seek companionship. That is why we do things that we believe will make us happy.
All phenomena that we pursue in order to deliver this happiness are temporary, composite phenomena,
which arise and disappear because of changing conditions.
As long as we seek
lasting satisfaction from
temporary objects we will eventually suffer,
because
a temporary cause cannot produce a permanent result. it is not any more complicated than that.
In Buddhism, there is this idea of ‘taking refuge’ in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
But what does ‘taking refuge’ really mean?
It means that one no longer ‘takes refuge’ in a new car, or a better job, and so on,
foolishly thinking that these temporary things will bring permanent peace of mind.
We don’t normally call our grasping at temporary objects ‘taking refuge’ in them, but that is basically what is going on.
Instead, we take refuge in these ‘Three Jewels’ of Buddhism because Buddhism works directly with awareness (the mind) itself,
because that awareness is
always there. If you want perfect peace of mind, then you have to work with what is always there.
The mind itself is the ultimate source of all our thoughts and emotions.
But, getting back to the issue of not experiencing things at all, That’s not what the Buddha taught.
As long as you know that you will still be hungry again tomorrow, you can enjoy stuffing yourself on a holiday meal today.
But if a foolish person were to think ‘if I stuff myself enough, I will never feel hungry again’ …you know what’s going to happen.
You can extend this reasoning to everything, people, places, things. Even if you fall in love with the most loving and wonderful person, even if being with that person makes you happier than you could ever imagine, the source of that happiness, ultimately, is still within your own mind.
EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.