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A pretty dull world.
DaltheJigsaw
Mountain View Veteran
This will probably be a good post to kick-start this blog. But first, a few formalities. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I always appreciate a listening ear (or listening eye?) to my writing. Also, I would highly recommend that you read Steve Hagan’s book Buddhism: Plain and Simple. It will give you a terrific insight into the world of simplistic Buddhism, without all of the filler (culture, dogma, scripture, et cetera). I’ll try to convey those messages in this blog, but I’m afraid that Mr. Hagan has me beat in that department.
So, let’s jump right into it, shall we?
I hate to come off as pessimistic, but we live in a pretty dull world. The upside to this fact is that our filters (perceptions, ideas, thoughts, ponderings, knowledge, beliefs, et cetera) keep us from seeing this dull side to Reality. Perhaps it isn’t an “upside” in the sense that it prevents us from seeing Reality, but it does have the ability to move us from day to day, which is definitely a positive.
Take for instance this scenario: you see someone in a coffee shop spill their coffee on their new white shirt, and then laugh it off and stay in good humor about the whole incident. What’s unique about this situation is that the laughter and good humor radiate to just about everyone who witnessed the event, creating an aura of positive emotion. But take a much, much closer look at this situation; take a look at the Reality of it. If we strip this situation away of our humor, of our filters, then we’ll see that the incident is simply as-is. It’s neither humorous nor non-humorous, neither good nor bad, neither upsetting or non-upsetting. It’s just an event, plain and simple. It is dull; it is just an occurrence that will very soon pass us by.
It is our filters that make that previous situation of the spilled coffee funny, sad, or even indifferent. The interesting part about that event, and every other event that occurs at each passing second on this planet, is that they’re just events. The very second we become aware of them, our filters kick in, and we begin to judge, moralize, conceptualize, and every other -ize that humans are capable of doing.
If we would take a few minutes to think about this scenario, we’ll see that an Objective Reality really does exist, independent of our mind. This Objective Reality has no direction, no will, and certainly no preference; it just is.
http://seeingthewhole.tumblr.com/post/11289889506/aprettydullworld
So, let’s jump right into it, shall we?
I hate to come off as pessimistic, but we live in a pretty dull world. The upside to this fact is that our filters (perceptions, ideas, thoughts, ponderings, knowledge, beliefs, et cetera) keep us from seeing this dull side to Reality. Perhaps it isn’t an “upside” in the sense that it prevents us from seeing Reality, but it does have the ability to move us from day to day, which is definitely a positive.
Take for instance this scenario: you see someone in a coffee shop spill their coffee on their new white shirt, and then laugh it off and stay in good humor about the whole incident. What’s unique about this situation is that the laughter and good humor radiate to just about everyone who witnessed the event, creating an aura of positive emotion. But take a much, much closer look at this situation; take a look at the Reality of it. If we strip this situation away of our humor, of our filters, then we’ll see that the incident is simply as-is. It’s neither humorous nor non-humorous, neither good nor bad, neither upsetting or non-upsetting. It’s just an event, plain and simple. It is dull; it is just an occurrence that will very soon pass us by.
It is our filters that make that previous situation of the spilled coffee funny, sad, or even indifferent. The interesting part about that event, and every other event that occurs at each passing second on this planet, is that they’re just events. The very second we become aware of them, our filters kick in, and we begin to judge, moralize, conceptualize, and every other -ize that humans are capable of doing.
If we would take a few minutes to think about this scenario, we’ll see that an Objective Reality really does exist, independent of our mind. This Objective Reality has no direction, no will, and certainly no preference; it just is.
http://seeingthewhole.tumblr.com/post/11289889506/aprettydullworld
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- William Shakespeare
Or put another way:
"Nothing either dull or exciting but thinking makes it so"
- Me
One method of buddhism is letting go of attachment to the pleasure of life. We accomplish this by reflecting on the presence of suffering.