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LesDawsonsPiano · 70-79
"Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.”
― Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
― Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
ArtistMoon · 31-35, F
@LesDawsonsPiano uhmm but its so tiring 🥺
LesDawsonsPiano · 70-79
ArtistMoon · 31-35, F
@LesDawsonsPiano thanks i will try my best
SomeMichGuy · M
@LesDawsonsPiano
Then Chödrön thinks everyone lives like a Steinbeck character.
That's patently untrue.
but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart.
Then Chödrön thinks everyone lives like a Steinbeck character.
That's patently untrue.
LesDawsonsPiano · 70-79
@SomeMichGuy I don't know enough Steinbeck characters to pass comment.
Pema Chodron's words are true for me.
All the best
Pema Chodron's words are true for me.
All the best
SomeMichGuy · M
@LesDawsonsPiano In a book published long ago by Little, Brown, and Co.‐‐Plotto I was told--the author(s) had categorized all plots in literature via some system and come up with a small number less than 20, with examples of each in the Bible.
Steinbeck came up with "the plotless plot", where the tension is set up but never resolved.
A pretty bleak "take", and look where it took him in his own life.
Steinbeck came up with "the plotless plot", where the tension is set up but never resolved.
A pretty bleak "take", and look where it took him in his own life.
LesDawsonsPiano · 70-79
LesDawsonsPiano · 70-79
@ArtistMoon
I think the main idea is to find it interesting.
Here is Pema again, speaking of "loving kindness":-
When people start to meditate or to work with any kind of spiritual discipline, they often think that somehow they're going to improve, which is a sort of subtle aggression against who they really are. It's a bit like saying, "If I jog, I'll be a much better person." "If I could only get a nicer house, I'd be a better person." "If I could meditate and calm down, I'd be a better person." Or the scenario may be that they find fault with others; they might say, "If it weren't for my husband, I'd have a perfect marriage." "If it weren't for the fact that my boss and I don't get on, my job would be just great." And "If it weren't for my mind, my meditation would be excellent."
But loving-kindness - "maitri" - towards ourselves doesn't mean getting rid of anything. "Maitri" means we can still be crazy after all these years. We can still be angry after all these years. We can still be timid or jealous or full of feelings of unworthiness. The point is not to try to change ourselves. Meditation practice is not about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already. The ground of practice is you or me or whoever we are right now, just as we are. That's the ground, that's what we study, that's what we come to know with tremendous curiosity and interest.
Sometimes among Buddhists the word "ego" is used in a derogatory sense, with a different connotation than the Freudian term. As Buddhists, we might say, "Well, then, we're supposed to get rid of it, right? Then there'd be no problem." On the contrary, the idea isn't to get rid of the ego but actually to begin to take an interest in ourselves, to investigate and be inquisitive about ourselves.
Still crazy after all these years! I like that thought.
😀
I think the main idea is to find it interesting.
Here is Pema again, speaking of "loving kindness":-
When people start to meditate or to work with any kind of spiritual discipline, they often think that somehow they're going to improve, which is a sort of subtle aggression against who they really are. It's a bit like saying, "If I jog, I'll be a much better person." "If I could only get a nicer house, I'd be a better person." "If I could meditate and calm down, I'd be a better person." Or the scenario may be that they find fault with others; they might say, "If it weren't for my husband, I'd have a perfect marriage." "If it weren't for the fact that my boss and I don't get on, my job would be just great." And "If it weren't for my mind, my meditation would be excellent."
But loving-kindness - "maitri" - towards ourselves doesn't mean getting rid of anything. "Maitri" means we can still be crazy after all these years. We can still be angry after all these years. We can still be timid or jealous or full of feelings of unworthiness. The point is not to try to change ourselves. Meditation practice is not about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already. The ground of practice is you or me or whoever we are right now, just as we are. That's the ground, that's what we study, that's what we come to know with tremendous curiosity and interest.
Sometimes among Buddhists the word "ego" is used in a derogatory sense, with a different connotation than the Freudian term. As Buddhists, we might say, "Well, then, we're supposed to get rid of it, right? Then there'd be no problem." On the contrary, the idea isn't to get rid of the ego but actually to begin to take an interest in ourselves, to investigate and be inquisitive about ourselves.
Still crazy after all these years! I like that thought.
😀
SomeMichGuy · M
@LesDawsonsPiano ...boiling life down to a Paul Simon song seems counter to your intent.
The Biblical term for "lovingkindness" is Ḥeseḏ / Chesed / חֶסֶד
The Biblical term for "lovingkindness" is Ḥeseḏ / Chesed / חֶסֶד
LesDawsonsPiano · 70-79
@SomeMichGuy You appear determined to belittle and scorn, methinks to elevate some great biblically based lifeform to the pinnacle of human endeavour and emulation!
Who is boiling down life to anything? Not me, more yourself.
I can see another blocking on the way.
😀
Who is boiling down life to anything? Not me, more yourself.
I can see another blocking on the way.
😀