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Nothing Ever Goes Wrong In My World - The Power of Acceptance
AllbuddhaBound
Veteran
To quote Deepak Chopra, nothing ever goes wrong in my world. That acceptance is so universal, it empowers a person far beyond what they ever could have imagined. It makes a person extremely resilient. That is true acceptance.
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"The sort of doctrine, friend, where one does not keep quarreling with anyone in the cosmos with its devas, Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & priests, its royalty & commonfolk; the sort [of doctrine] where perceptions no longer obsess the brahman who remains dissociated from sensuality, free from perplexity, his uncertainty cut away, devoid of craving for becoming & non-. Such is my doctrine, such is what I proclaim."
Madhupindika Sutta
That isn't to discourage meditation in any way, as it's an extremely powerful tool for the cultivating of insight. That's just to give uncertainty its due. It might not be necessary for first awakening but may be necessary to get further... I just don't know, and I'm okay with that.
Just yesterday in my world I listened to a mother ready to cry because she couldn't afford the hundreds of dollars the school now charges for her child, who is showing talent and enthusiasm, to participate in any elective or after school activities. So her child will sit at home, bored, and become just another kid hanging out and getting in trouble. Budget cuts because of rich people refusing to pay a few more dollars in taxes, you see. That's wrong, and I'm trying to help her figure out a way to raise the money.
My next door neighbor, husband wife and three kids, just moved in, finally having a bit of help from the local government to get out of the homeless shelter. He has a part time job twenty miles away and an old junker of a car, and the bearings went out on a wheel so he was facing losing his only lifeline once again. This time, I asked my daughter to give him a ride to and from work and she helped him fix the car. So a lot was wrong, but better now.
There's a lot wrong in my world, because it includes a lot of people who are suffering. But me? I'm doing OK, all things considered.
Thus I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Gaya, at Gayasisa, together with a thousand bhikkhus. There he addressed the bhikkhus.
"Bhikkhus, all is burning. And what is the all that is burning?
"When he finds estrangement, passion fades out. With the fading of passion, he is liberated. When liberated, there is knowledge that he is liberated. He understands: 'Birth is exhausted, the holy life has been lived out, what can be done is done, of this there is no more beyond.'"
That is what the Blessed One said. The bhikkhus were glad, and they approved his words.
Now during his utterance, the hearts of those thousand bhikkhus were liberated from taints through clinging no more.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn35/sn35.028.nymo.html
Exactly so. I am not implying that I am enlightened but acceptance is merely a part of enlightenment and I discovered acceptance first, not Buddhism. It made my life so much easier and made me so much more resilient. I decided to explore Buddhism in earnest after that.
There are other beliefs such as Taoism that suggest acceptance is key to advancement as well. Do they need to meditate in order to achieve acceptance? I discovered acceptance in the search of ways to relieve suffering. This led me to a practice that enhances acceptance. The writings of Byron Katie is specifically designed to foster acceptance and there is no formal meditation involved. Mind you, she does call her approach a written meditation.
So the acceptance practice was the beginning of my practice. There are many many other aspects of Buddhism which I have not mastered but that one aspect, I feel I have a pretty good handle on.
For example, your daughter accepted the fact that your neighbor was in a bind and was able to help him. Had your daughter not accepted that your neighbor was in a tough situation, would she have helped?
Metta,
Guy
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2448910314735470356
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
This is said at the end of just about every A.A. meeting in the UK.
To not accept the things we can change, it involves craving for some desired outcome.
For example, your daughter accepted the fact that your neighbor was in a bind and was able to help him. Had your daughter not accepted that your neighbor was in a tough situation, would she have helped?
Metta,
Guy
Actually, I agree. Acceptance does slip to complacency in Buddhism quite a bit, though. I accept that people are just being people, always have and always will. So historically, this acceptance combined with a fatalistic approach to karma causes Buddhism to stagnate. The socially engaged Buddhism movement is a breath of fresh air.
Acceptance is not indifference.
I can to some extend feel the pain other people feel (like I can share in their joy).
But I can practice to be with that pain, like I practice to be with my own pain. They’re one, they’re just pain.
I can accept my headache but acceptance doesn’t stop me from taking an aspirin.
I can accept the pain of my cat, but acceptance doesn’t stop me from taking it to the vet.
Of course we are engaged but at the same time we can accept things as they are.
And it is a sober fact that whatever we do to help people; we can not ultimately take away their pain. Suffering just changes shape.
Mothers will cry and governments will be blind for people’s needs.
Acceptance and involvement go hand in hand somehow.
Maybe someone else can shine their light on this.
When something must be done then do it. Then get on with it. Feed those who are hungry then have your tea. Moment to moment what obvious thing are you avoiding? Acceptance is dynamic like a leaf falling from a tree.