Where Do I Go From Here?

[Perfect Dark]

You're making progress then? =]

 

Pretty avy also!

[NowandZen]

I've been sick lately. It has blown my contemplation. Why would I focus on the pain? Does it allow me to escape the heavy lifting?

[tiredofvampires]

N&Z, you are NOT a perfect being. Why did you think you needed to be. Everything was there, waiting for you to have UNDERSTANDING.

 

I think this is a breakthrough.

 

The moment you say, "I'm enlightened"....you're attached again.

 

Attachment to the craving for enlightenment can be one of the strongest attachments there is.

 

There is no magic cure for suffering, feelings, thoughts arising, the ego. And it's much harder to live in the world of sensate pleasures and human desires than to isolate oneself so as not to be perturbed by the annoying nature of reality, which is the mind constantly trying to attach to something.

 

By understanding that you will lose everything you're attached to, you are already practicing non-attachment. There is no burst of light when you're officially "cured" of it all, so the next best thing is to keep the skills of awareness close and continue to refine them in each life challenge as it comes up. I don't think it's our job to meet life except one moment at a time.

 

Yeah, pretty frustrating for a goal-oriented person. Shattering the goal can be pretty liberating, but the goal itself is just one more hindrance.

[NowandZen]

My FIL is terminal. He's in denial. I have reached acceptance. Odd. All things must end, including form. When my father died, I had trouble with all of it, but I am grateful for the time I had. I only wish I could find a way to comfort my wife, but my experience is that there is no comfort. What there is, must come from inside.

[NowandZen]

I think this is a breakthrough.

 

The moment you say, "I'm enlightened"....you're attached again.

 

Attachment to the craving for enlightenment can be one of the strongest attachments there is.

 

 

A vicious cycle. It's like still. Sometimes I am still, but I don't know it until after the fact. You can't say to yourself, ok, be still.

[NowandZen]

I am losing it. I think it is, on balance, a good thing. I hope so. My reactions are not what they were. The things that disturbed me, thrilled me, don't do so anymore.

 

I am dying before my death. At least on a small scale. I didn't much care for the old me anyway.

 

It's a little scary though. If I am not _______ , then what am I?

 

Help me understand.

[Perfect Dark]

I wish I could help you understand, I don't understand myself so I'm use-less heh. You sound a little depressed. *hugs*

[livinginsbi]

N/Z what is wrong with the old you? Is it possible to really live a life of Zen? Is it really mentally healthy too? If you have no reactions, do you have life?

[NowandZen]

N/Z what is wrong with the old you? Is it possible to really live a life of Zen? Is it really mentally healthy too? If you have no reactions, do you have life?

 

Taking questions one at a time:

 

The old me had too much self inflicted suffering

 

I assume it's possible to live a life of Zen, there are those who do so.

 

I think you can make the argument that Zen masters are the most mentally healthy among us. You can also make the opposite argument. A Zen master would not argue the point anyway. I make no pretentions to mastery, but I do see the wisdom of a life without attachment.

 

For the last question, I suppose it really depends on your definition of "life"

 

One thing to remember, I suppose, is that you never get to live the same life ever again anyway. Change is the way of the universe. The question is whether you can make the change positive, to embrace it, to accept what is.

 

Thanks for your questions.

[NowandZen]

Today's' thought is about love.

 

A definition I heard was that love was when you accept someone for who they truly are, and not what you want them to be.

 

I believe this and yet, and yet.... By this definition does anyone really love?