emptiness in everyday life
Namada
Veteran
Do you see the emptiness in everyday life or do you find it difficult?
And how is your midset adjusted to see this emptiness, because the habbitual mind belive its "mine"
so we have to tune it in..
Like Buddha said:
Thus shall you think of all this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
A flash of lightening in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.
If something bad or good things happen I imagine it is like a wather bubble (it will dissapears very soon).
Or I can imagine a rain drops trip from the sky to the earth, were it get smashed to the ground, and its nothing to hold on to.
But this visualisations appears when iam tuned in to the dhamma channel and not to the "monkey mind".
How often do you see this in every day life, its just a "A flash of lightening in a summer cloud"..
Comments
We can let go of emotions such as anger and pause if even for a moment. The anger is not irresistible because it is not our true nature. So we can just let it be and then its influence recedes.
Yes I think I see where you are coming from/came from
Practice makes perfect @Namada... Practice makes perfect...That's the whole reason for ones practice...to stay as present as possible...
And try not to veer off course
@Shoshin buddhism discriminats monkyes, they are not SO stupid :P
They know how to relax sometimes
@Shoshin Do you have a mantra you follow trougout the day or?
Where do you put your awarness, do you have a main ancer?
For me I dont have just one ancer, but many diffrent, depends on each situation..
Ajahn Thanissaro says one should follow your breath troughout the day, but I find that difficult. He also says you should build a fortress, and thats your breath, know your breath and you will be stronger.
@Namada, I think after a while it becomes somewhat of a 'habit'...It's possible because I meditate every day both morning and afternoon/night, the time in between automatically kicks into meditation/awareness mode as and when necessary...It can be liken to having ultimate awareness as the background music throughout ones day, however I'm still work on the volume control adjustment...
Thoughts are like bubbles. Learn to let them pop.
when I meet one "important" person, I just remind my self of (if Iam aware):
He/she is just a lump of elements made of, earth, wather, fire and wind, nothing more than that.
Just to make some space...
So how can we be compassionate and at the same time we try to detach us from it...
Detachment and compassion, hand in hand?
@Namada says :Do you see the emptiness in everyday life or do you find it difficult?
And how is your midset adjusted to see this emptiness, because the habbitual mind belive its "mine"
so we have to tune it in..
I deal with emptiness by going back and observe my breathing. You can say that it is a sort of "refuge" - the arising and ceasing of the abdomen put my mind to a state - where I can say "this is enough - just this" I don't sometimes look forward in time or think the past.
?
When the day is full, emptiness is seen?
I tend to return to awareness/mindfulness/breath/attention/calm.
Emptiness is nothing.
I'm trying to practice "the just this moment" in every person I meet. Whoever that person in front of me will be the most important. - In that present moment. It's a little odd really, because before I got into the practice- I thought I could categorize people, things or event in life- separating "important, not that important and no important at all thing" I remember a Zen teacher who said that "everything is important"
So I try to begin this kind of practice to give full attention to a person who is in-front of me, developing compassion and understanding. And once it's done, I tried not to attached to it - for the next person I will face will got my fullest attention too - whoever he/she might be.
This I find myself not empty after all.
Impermanence, notself, origination.
This is what I know for certain.
I find the emptiness thing very elusive, so I tend to use impermanence which is easier to see.
@mockeymind, I do the same, but it's maybe easier for me, because working in retail, I often (more often than not!) find myself at the checkout. There, you can ONLY deal with one person at a time. As they approach the till from the queue, I automatically focus on them and think, "May you be happy, may you be free from Suffering" and I am as pleasant as I can be towards them, and always smiling.
(Yes, honestly, Moderators can also smile!
)
Particularly when times are a little quiet, it is not unusual to engage in conversation with the customer, and I always finish by hoping they have a good day. One lady turned round and said, as she was leaving, "It's always a pleasure to be served by you."
When someone tells you that, it's a nice confirmation that you've done something right.
Even if they don't, you know your Right Effort has been well-aimed....
I like that idea, of following our breath throughout the day. It might be hard at first but I can see me doing it and I'm going to give it a whirl. (Or maybe it will be a fun-ny challenge, like patting one's head and rubbing one's belly at the same time like we used to do as kids. In any event, it sounds like a very good idea!)
Honestly, even if my manners in the Right Speech department are still wanting and bely that fact, I lead a very Dharmic life.
As much as a secular life can be.
I am very mindfully grounded in the here and now, and though I have too many beloved ones creating too many attachments -yes, I so love my family and friends- the concept of impermanence is a constant with me.
Perhaps because I appreciate the fact that reality and everything within it are impermanent, I savour them more mindfully.
Emptiness? I also prefer impermanence.
It is a good idea. It works. The breath softens, you really do get an understanding of the mind body link. In time you might have a breath soft and calm enough to explore the 'emptiness' of the breath. I feel it is one of the best ways to instigate a return to breath/mindfulness constant.
Conceptually, like SpinyNorman and DharmaDragon, I preferable to use impermanence.
I see your point, lobster. It is all, perhaps, in one's perspective in the moment.
It is good to see through different eyes..clears the cobwebs out, so to speak.
Thank you.
Some people have a hard time seeing how a thing being empty can make it precious.
I thought breathing sounds easier...I have to think too much to figure out what impermanence means....no really! {J/k}
Reflecting and accepting emptiness sometimes allows me to feel contentment and equanimity, which is a good thing I think. Is that what it's supposed to do anyways?
I sometimes work with conditionality, which is basically what emptiness is.
Can you say some more about this please?
no one is truly alone.
...Until they're dying.
I've never heard anyone say "Could someone please come with me and accompany me?" on their death-bed, and have it happen, too....
Every murder-suicide?
Oh please, let's not get fernickety, @how.
I'm not talking about killing someone to put an end to their lives, I'm talking about a voluntary cooperation.
Besides, nobody can die WITH someone, and still be WITH them.
Can they?
Sheesh...
I's been Sheeshed?
Jeff said "No one is truly alone."
You responded with, "Until they are dying."
This really just indicates what anyone identifies with.
If one identifies with the understanding that there is no innate separation between self and other, then Jeffries answer is apt.
If one identifies with the ego's truthful fear that it will disapate at death , then
your answer is apt.
Yes, but then YOU posted -
thereby splitting the hair I was presenting.
That's why you were 'sheeshed'.
My response was on the purely physical plane.
I think you knew that, or you wouldn't have responded as you did.
If ya need voluntary...
Double suicides? Cult endings? Life partners choosing to not to live beyond the others death?
You'd have to talk to them to see what they believe but it sure sounds based on some huge
emptiness in daily life.
Emptiness does help me a lot in daily life.
If I feel unhappy,depressed,sad,worried,hurt,I remind myself it's all empty,and I get over it quickly.
@how, you clearly don't get what I'm attempting to convey, so I'll leave it.
There is a fundamental misconception here in respect of the Buddhist concept of 'emptiness'. It is not a deficit or a pointer that something is lacking. It is rather a 'Mahayana' Buddhist extrapolation of the fused linkage of the three marks of existence, that is, impermanence, suffering and non self ( A fundamental tripod of Hinayana or Theravadin Buddhism.) In short, it started off as a teaching as to the non separation of a personal self and it evolved to a teaching(s) against the reification of ideas or concepts as real things ('form is empitness' etc.)
( @Mumonkanman, We don't use the term 'Hinayana' here, for Theravada Buddhism. many consider it patronising and disrespectful, whether that's your intention or not. Just a heads-up....
)
I just used it. There is nothing disrespectful about it. If you think there is then you need to educate yourself about Buddhism.
Greetings @Mumonkanman -- maybe you could just go ahead, offer up your alternate view of what 'Hinayana' means.......just a suggestion. I'd like to know myself what makes it okay on your side of the fence, etc.
As it is not clear to me why you think that use of this well established term is not appropriate I think it is more reasonable for you to particularise why you think it is disrespectful.
I would put a picture of Michael Jackson eating popcorn but we are not supposed to put pictures up anymore
Well you can.... if they're pertinent.... which in this case, I guess it would be!
It's been disrespectful since the term was coined by Mahayanists to look down on Theravada.
Quite a while ago.
It's well-established, but that doesn't make it any less disrespecful for being an established term.
Rather like the term 'fuck'.
I see. And you are a moderator of this forum, is that right?
Right now, to all intents and purposes, I am THE moderator.
'fundamental yana' are what some Tibetan Buddhists call it (hinayana) now to avoid controversy. It (hinayana) really is not a nice term from what I have heard. But a lot of TB don't intend it to be they are just using the term because it has always been used and many TB are not intending to be aggressive. So I like the term 'fundamental yana'. I do feel that both TB and Theravada are free to believe that their way is 'superior'. I mean what do we think of Buddhism versus other religions such as Christianity, Scientology, etc? We think ours is the best right? Maybe not all people think of it that way but a lot do. So I find it normal to feel your 'way' is the best but unnacceptable to be insulting. And of course as I said a lot of people really are not intending to be insulting. Incidentally TB teaches all 3 yanas and not just tantra.
Hinayana connotes a plain fact. People engaged in this practice are focused exclusively on gaining their own liberation, or part thereof.(There is no room on their moped for a pillion passenger, it is a 'single vehicle'). That is their avowed reason for practice.It is commendable, skillful, honest and practical. The Buddha himself encouraged this practice yet he himself was above and beyond it and tended more towards the 'Mahayanaistic' manner of dealing with people and things. The so called Mahayana try to follow the Buddha's example by devoting their energies towards actualizing the Bodhisattva ideal, which appeals more to those brought up in the Judeo Christian tradition.
That is interesting...so, as far as the Buddha was concerned, neither one is preferable, and we can also find ourselves above and beyond it. Yeah?
Mumonkanman you are not understanding the point. The point is that the actual word 'hinayana' is derogatory. So even if you mean a valid distinction that doesn't remove the insult. It is basically similar to if you called it the "poop yana" and tried to pull off that you meant it as 'singular'.
With respect, I did not coin the word, and I repeat the fact that it is not derogatory or disrespectful, it is in fact descriptive. If your goal in practice is to become an Arhat, which was the goal of every direct disciple of the Buddha, then you are following the Hinayana, a path and tradition that I have the utmost respect for.
@Mumonkanman, yes it not your fault. I know you do not intend disrespect. I am just educating you on what the term means.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinayana
I see. you are trying to educate me through Wikipedia? Interesting. The Pali Text Society was at that stage strongly prejudiced towards the type of Hinayana practiced in Ceylon ( Sri Lanka). The Ceylonese Buddhists were rather insular and felt that they were being shown up by the trend in preference for the Mahayana. I have trained in Sri Lanka and I can tell you that the Hinayana is alive and kicking there. I literally saw several Hinayana monks step over a dying man on their way into a Bank in Kandy. The man was dead when they stepped over him again, on their way back out.
Ok say whatever you want. I was just trying to help you out. I don't really care if people say Hinayana I was just trying to explain how some people feel. In the setting here on this forum in the here and now there are some people who are offended by the word 'hinayana'. So I am just trying to help you and them out so that nobody gets upset.