Best Of

See if this resonates with you, @marcitko, in the context of strategy games:

“As we have seen, having – the concept of ownership – is a fiction created by the ego to give itself solidity and permanency and make itself stand out, make itself special. Since you cannot find yourself through having, however, there is another more powerful drive underneath it that pertains to the structure of the ego: the need for more, which we could also call “wanting.” No ego can last for long without the need for more. Therefore, wanting keeps the ego alive much more than having. The ego wants to want more than it wants to have. And so the shallow satisfaction of having is always replaced by more wanting. This is the psychological need for more, that is to say, more things to identify with. It is an addictive need, not an authentic one.”
from A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

Does anybody else get fired up thinking about the equanimity that is possible in an imagined future on the Buddhist path?

Strangely. Once we no longer crave the results. We practice more or tread the path more insightfully and mindfully. I can not think of anything which is not practice.

If we feel our equanimity could be greater, we will never be satisfied. It is a bit like opening a Christmas present from the inside... and finding the world is the present...

Not bad. I’ve often found that the presence of death has a wonderfully clarifying effect on one’s priorities. Suddenly your heart speaks, and you notice that all the blithering that the mind does about bills, work, cars, it doesn’t matter at all. What matters is that you haven’t seen your brother in twenty years.

@Shoshin1 said:
Don't have expectations, just practice, forget about trying to achieve something and things will eventually fall into place....

Years ago, one of the first times I received meditation instruction at a Zen center, the instructor said gently before we started that "you're not trying to achieve anything." I thought it was good advice but also out of left field, since we had just met and she didn't know my motivations.

But of course she did know, even if I didn't yet.

Thus have I heard...

Om Mani Padme Hung ....The Jewel is (already) in the Lotus

What you crave for, you already have. it's your craving which is keeping you from it.

Don't have expectations, just practice, forget about trying to achieve something and things will eventually fall into place....

The Dalai Lama once said "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."

That's the weird and wonderful Dharma for ya...

I sometimes wonder what is actually important?
Here are some answers I found helpful...
https://www.joanwestenberg.com/the-mortality-matrix-a-framework-for-decision-making-in-an-overwhelmed-world/

A little piece of Eckhart Tolle on addiction:

If you have a compulsive behavior pattern such as smoking, overeating, drinking, TV watching, Internet addiction, or whatever it may be, this is what you can do: When you notice the compulsive need arising in you, stop and take three conscious breaths. This generates awareness. Then for a few minutes be aware of the compulsive urge itself as an energy field inside you. Consciously feel that need to physically or mentally ingest or consume a certain substance or the desire to act out some form of compulsive behavior. Then take a few more conscious breaths. After that you may find that the compulsive urge has disappeared ­ for the time being. Or you may find that it still overpowers you, and you cannot help but indulge or act it out again. Don't make it into a problem. Make the addiction part of your awareness practice in the way described above. As awareness grows, addictive patterns will weaken and eventually dissolve. Remember, however, to catch any thoughts that justify the addictive behavior, sometimes with clever arguments, as they arise in you mind. Ask yourself, Who is talking here? And you will realize the addiction is talking.