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Commitments and unresolved karma
Yesterday I came across @how saying “maybe it’s just another aspect of be here now” and I realised it was the title of Ram Dass’s book, which can these days be downloaded for free in pdf format. So I found it and started reading it in the deep of the night.
“Now, though I am a beginner on the path, I have returned to the West for a time to work out karma or unfulfilled commitment. Part of this commitment is to share what I have learned with those of you who are on a similar journey. One can share a message through telling ‘our-story’ as I have just done, or through teaching methods of yoga, or singing, or making love. Each of us finds his unique vehicle for sharing with others his bit of wisdom.”
— Ram Dass, Be Here Now
I found the passage above near the end of the first part of the book, where Ram Dass talks about his experience going from being a Harvard professor to being a Baba in India. It speaks to why he wrote the book, that in a way each of us on this path have by nature of walking the spiritual roads taken on some karma to serve as a guide for generations who come after us.
Each generation copes with different circumstances, for example I think games are a problem for this generation, and so is the trend for remote contact with gurus through Zoom or Skype, and so are smartphones. There are different things you can write about. So I wonder if Ram Dass may be right to write about ‘commitment or unresolved karma’.
Jeroen
Re: lasting presence in the shortest time possible without going through a "dark night of the soul"
@how said:
Perhaps enlightenment is only limited by our attempts to possess that which we have never been apart from.Is more time needed than the only moment we have ever been able to practice within?
How to describe to a prisoner that the only jailer was themselves?
I was taught that the journey was more akin to straightening one's house. To prepare for the master to return. The elements in the house, workers, maids and more are all doing things which is what ever they want to do. No disciple. No direction. Correcting this behavior bring about order. Then when the house is ready, the master can return.
Of course, this is just a metaphor or allegory or just something to feed the mind to get things working proper again. It will not stretch beyond and go to all limits.
Perhaps enlightenment is not limited by our attempts to seek it? Perhaps it is obscured by our attempts to possess that which we already have? To want some "thing" that is not a thing?
Avisitor
Re: Free Jewels
@pegembara
Look again
On the surface, it appears obvious. But accepting yourself to be human goes beyond the physical manifestation. Ordinary human beings do not arise from a Buddha. Buddha arises from the ordinary human being.
Within you, me, all of us, is the potential to rise to Buddha or the fall the Demon King or anywhere between. You have the choice to polish your great gem, allowing it to shine, to brightly radiate it's light and warmth or to bury it, hide it from yourself and from the world.
To accept that you are human is to recognize and accept that you have the responsibility and the freedom to change your karma for the better and thus positively change your bit of the world as you do it.
It is as if you are on a ship being battered and knocked about by the Eight Winds like a cork upon the endless Sea of Suffering. Accepting you are human entails rising the sails and manning the helm, utilizing the Eight Winds (of seeming gain and loss) to navigate your ship across the same "Sea of suffering" to the great "Harbor of Tranquility".
Thus to bring out from within the life states of Bodhissatva or Buddha.
Another, less graphic way to put it is that to recognize you are human is to take control of your life from within, and choose to positively direct your life condition, regardless of exterior appearances/circumstances.
At any rate, I hope I have no thoroughly confused you with my word salad.
Peace to all
Lionduck
Re: Letting go of games
I usually take my games pretty lightly, it is more about the fun of it than winning. I remember a while back in a common room with ping pong tables someone asking if I wanted to play and I accepted. We were closely matched and she became really competitive, I wound up winning and she wanted to play again. I declined it wasn't very pleasant. Another time in college playing racquetball I played against a friendly acquantance who was a bit better than me and lost, but had a lot of fun.
person
Re: Letting go of games
@Jeroen said:
@person said:
I guess I simply don't see them in the same negative light that you do.It is personal, and connected to where you are on your spiritual journey, I think. I am not a very complex being, I have one centre of consciousness and experience everything full-on, it is an all-or-nothing affair. So for me games were a huge experience, I would throw myself in them one-hundred percent.
Which is also why, having seen them as an extension of samsara in a way that makes the world of suffering unnecessarily more complex, bigger, more seductive — I can’t continue with them even for the undoubted social benefits. It’s like having seen it’s unbeneficial nature, he puts it away and does not pine for them.
This is helpful, I think I was projecting my attitude of preferring synthesis and balance onto you.
@person said:
But its not like all the superior mature people are free from hang ups and misperceptions of the world.There are plenty of fields to have hangups about, that’s for sure. Being spiritual is a great one, trying to be spiritual is such a trap! 🙏
I just go where insight and my inner compass lead me, the fact that I can forget about games and just drop them for extended periods is a good sign I think.
What has worked for me is when I know I have some sensible time set aside for games my mind is more free of them in the mean time. Its the same with treats and indulgent foods, I allow myself a cheat day and have little desire for them throughout the week, eating healthy is much less of a struggle.
person
Re: Letting go of games
There is a more interesting game afoot.
It's call life or existence.
That should be your playground.
It is a game too but the stakes are much higher.
Satta sutta- A Being
"Just as when boys or girls are playing with little sand castles:[4] as long as they are not free from passion, desire, love, thirst, fever, & craving for those little sand castles, that's how long they have fun with those sand castles, enjoy them, treasure them, feel possessive of them. But when they become free from passion, desire, love, thirst, fever, & craving for those little sand castles, then they smash them, scatter them, demolish them with their hands or feet and make them unfit for play.
"In the same way, Radha, you too should smash, scatter, & demolish form, and make it unfit for play. Practice for the ending of craving for form.
"You should smash, scatter, & demolish feeling, and make it unfit for play. Practice for the ending of craving for feeling.
"You should smash, scatter, & demolish perception, and make it unfit for play. Practice for the ending of craving for perception.
"You should smash, scatter, & demolish fabrications, and make them unfit for play. Practice for the ending of craving for fabrications.
"You should smash, scatter, & demolish consciousness and make it unfit for play. Practice for the ending of craving for consciousness — for the ending of craving, Radha, is Unbinding."
Re: Letting go of games
@Jeroen said:
Today I came across this, which struck me as relevant…To transcend, not to win – to transcend. This word is very beautiful. What does it mean, to ”transcend”?
It is just as if a small child is playing with his toys. You tell him to put them away and he becomes angry. Even when he goes to sleep he goes with his toys, and the mother has to remove them when he has fallen asleep. In the morning the first thing that he demands to know is where his toys are and who has taken them away. Even in the dream he dreams about the toys. Then suddenly one day he forgets about the toys. For a few days they remain in the corner of his room, and then they are removed or thrown away; never again does he ask for them. What has happened?
He has transcended, he has become mature. It is not a fight and a victory; it is not that he was fighting against the desire to have toys. No, suddenly one day he sees this is childish and he is no more a child; suddenly one day he realizes that toys are toys, they are not real life and he is ready for the real life. His back is turned towards the toys. Never again in dreams will they come; never again will he think about them. And if he sees some other child playing with toys, he will laugh; he will laugh knowingly... a knowing laugh, a wise laugh. He will say, ”He’s a child, still childish, playing with toys.” He has transcended.
Transcendence is a very spontaneous phenomenon. It is not to be cultivated. You simply become more mature. You simply see the whole absurdity of a certain thing... and you transcend.
Osho, Tantra: The Supreme Understanding
Its a criticism I'm familiar with, I've heard it plenty, "its childish, grow up", etc. It does bring up some of the teenage emotions of being teased or demeaned for my nerdy interests. But by and large I'm over it, I like playing games with people. I think I do it in a more mature way now, than when I was younger. Like engaging with character driven play in RPGs, or using games as a way to socialize and bond with others.
...Children possess a pure innocence that most adults have long lost. They embrace their curiosity, ask questions, and entertain novel ideas with humility and wonder. As adults, we tend to refrain from asking questions, fearing it may expose our ignorance or vulnerability.
To truly appreciate the beauty and enchantment of everyday life, we need to adopt a childlike perspective characterized by wonder and inquisitiveness.
The journey of adulthood is often laden with responsibilities, stress, and challenges, making us yearn for the carefree days of our childhood. We find solace in reminiscing about those days when life was simpler and less complicated...
person
Re: Letting go of games
Is it pure and perfect? No. Does it have to be in order to have positive value? I don't think so. Do I feel happier after a session, as opposed to after a session of video gaming? Yes. On the whole is it a positive aspect of my life? Yes. Would other people answer these questions the same? Unlikely. Does that make it bad or good? Is insulin good or bad for people to take.
person
Re: Letting go of games
Agree on games aren't reality, they are simplistic models. The real world is much more complex with real stakes. At the same time meditation isn't the real world yet it helps train and prepare our mind to engage with the real world in healthier ways. The majority of games do offer a mode of training that conditions our minds to act in antisocial ways. I don't think that function is inherent to games though, I think it has more to do the design and individual player engagement with them. Games can be used to develop positive qualities too, at least in my experience.
One can play board games with the intent to dominate and humiliate the other players or they can be played as a modality (there's a better word I can't think of) to connect and bond, to laugh and smile with friends, family or complete strangers.
I've played games of D&D where the purpose is to min/max rules and character strategies to kill anything that moves and get loot. And I've played D&D games where the purpose is to explore character and story, to make jokes and explore the spontaneity of improv. Most of the time being some mix along that spectrum.
I know people who have bookshelves full of board games and host weekly game nights for friends. To say that what they're doing is negative and they'd be better off hosting spiritual book club nights or something along those lines doesn't feel like wholesome advice.
person
Re: Letting go of games
@Jeroen said:
@person said:
I'll own up to it, its an attachment of mine. Its good to be reminded of the fact that it does add to delusion. Reflecting, I think I've made the decision (at least for the time being) that trying to live in the world and externally letting go of my attachments leads to me living a miserable life.This is the passage in particular that has stayed with me @person. Games are something that lends colour and excitement to life in a safe way. If I were to try and find the attributes I mentioned in the above post in the real world, I’d have to become some kind of world traveller to very adventurous places.
Where I am now is coping with a certain ambiguity. On the one hand I’m glad to have had those gaming experiences, and on the other hand I realise that they are spiritually not helpful, that they do add to the delusion.
I recall a long series of dreams I had during my period of Buddhist studies in which I was back in games development and playing games. They were kind of joyful dreams, but also dreams which presented questions, about programming, generalship, combat, computers, machines even. They began when I had been meditating for a while, and these were part of what convinced me that my period in games development had influenced me on a spiritual level.
I think it had to do with my passion, I was pretty total for quite a while in both work and play, to the exclusion of things like starting a family, which I certainly had the financial room to do.
What I mean by that is there is a sort of inner peace and happiness that comes from spiritual work. I've experienced that at times when I've been able to retreat from the world and focus inwardly. Living in the world requires efforts and activities that stir things up and a level of taking in the neurosis of the rest of the world. What that means for me is I go out into the world, take on negativity, come home and doing the spiritual work means confronting, processing and settling all that stuff. Only to go right out back into it, so all of the difficulty with little of the inner reward.
What a regulated and healthier intake of some worldly pleasures gives me is some kind of worldly happiness in my life. A big part of me would like to live that sort of blissed out meditative life, but for various reasons I'm resistant to taking that plunge. I've spent many years of my life on the edge of that leap, but have now decided that I'm probably not going to take it, so I'm attempting live a life of balance between spiritual and worldly.
I'm venting some of my pain and frustration right now, because like I said a part of me would like to let it all go. But my experience so far has been that the inner happiness and peace rewards of a spiritual life aren't really on the table while living in the world, so I'm stuck with worldly pleasures that aren't so toxic and hopefully have some positive benefit too.
person