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The 10 things that make us vulnerable

personperson Don't believe everything you thinkThe liminal space Veteran
edited June 2012 in Buddhism Basics
1. An exacerbated sense of self-importance

2. To keep ruminating on the past

3. To be full of anxiety about the future

4. Not to be able to rest in the awareness of the present moment

5. To put all our hopes and fears on the outer conditions of happiness

6. To neglect cultivating inner conditions of genuine happiness: inner peace, inner freedom, altruistic love, and compassion.

7. To seek a selfish happiness

8. To relate to the suffering of others in a self-centered way. (Instead, we need to relate to the suffering of others with altruistic love and compassion; this method will increase our courage and détermination to care for them).

8. To be overly concerned by pleasant or unpleasant feelings, gain and loss, praise and criticism, fame and anonymity.

9. To distort reality by constantly superimposing mental projections upon others and the outside world.

http://www.matthieuricard.org/en/index.php/blog/

Comments

  • TheswingisyellowTheswingisyellow Trying to be open to existence Samsara Veteran
    I love the three marks of existence.
    In forgeting that all things are Annata and Annica we will always arrive at Dukkha.

    "The perceiving of impermanence, bhikkhus, developed and frequently practiced, removes all sensual passion, removes all passion for material existence, removes all passion for becoming, removes all ignorance, removes and abolishes all conceit of "I am."

    Just as in the autumn a farmer, plowing with a large plow, cuts through all the spreading rootlets as he plows; in the same way, bhikkhus, the perceiving of impermanence, developed and frequently practiced, removes all sensual passion... removes and abolishes all conceit of "I am."

    — SN 22.102
    http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/various/wheel186.html#words

    "Bhikkhus, form is not-self. Were form self, then this form would not lead to affliction, and one could have it of form: 'Let my form be thus, let my form be not thus.' And since form is not-self, so it leads to affliction, and none can have it of form: 'Let my form be thus, let my form be not thus.'

    "Bhikkhus, feeling is not-self...

    "Bhikkhus, perception is not-self...

    "Bhikkhus, determinations are not-self...

    "Bhikkhus, consciousness is not self

    SN 22.59
    http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.059.nymo.html
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    What does it mean to "relate to the suffering of others with altruistic love and compassion?"
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    What does it mean to "relate to the suffering of others with altruistic love and compassion?"
    It means to consider them as deserving of love and compassion, no matter what.
    We can take the lowest of the low, or the highest of the high, and treat their impostor circumstances just the same - they both merit unconditional love, kindness and compassion, as human beings enduring and existing in "suffering". No matter what a human being's circumstances, we view them as entities in Samsara.

  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    edited June 2012
    There's really only one thing that makes us vunerable: dukkha. ;)
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    What does it mean to "relate to the suffering of others with altruistic love and compassion?"
    It means to consider them as deserving of love and compassion, no matter what.
    We can take the lowest of the low, or the highest of the high, and treat their impostor circumstances just the same - they both merit unconditional love, kindness and compassion, as human beings enduring and existing in "suffering". No matter what a human being's circumstances, we view them as entities in Samsara.

    Thanks @federica. But I was also wondering how "relating to others' suffering in a self-centred way" is related to "relating to others' suffering with altruistic love and compassion?"

    I suppose I should've asked what the "self-centred way" is. I thought it meant that when we hear about another's suffering, we tend to think about how we'd feel if we endured the same thing. How does this conflict with "altruistic love and compassion?"
  • misecmisc1misecmisc1 I am a Hindu India Veteran
    edited June 2012
    I suppose I should've asked what the "self-centred way" is. I thought it meant that when we hear about another's suffering, we tend to think about how we'd feel if we endured the same thing. How does this conflict with "altruistic love and compassion?"
    @Invincible_summer: i think this "self-centred way" is referring to taking advantage of other's suffering for your benefit, or getting satisfied/pleased in other's suffering if the others are thought of as unfriendly/enemy to you - which is all due to ignorance leading to the view of self as an entity. so in this way, it is the opposite of having compassion for others in other's suffering.
  • PrairieGhostPrairieGhost Veteran
    That was a good list, thankyou person.

    Do you think 9 should come first, since it seems to be the root of the other 8, and of samsara in dependent origination (ignorance)?
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    ....
    I suppose I should've asked what the "self-centred way" is. I thought it meant that when we hear about another's suffering, we tend to think about how we'd feel if we endured the same thing. How does this conflict with "altruistic love and compassion?"
    Read the OP again.
    The 10 things that make us vulnerable.

    *1 - 7 snip*

    8. To relate to the suffering of others in a self-centered way. (Instead, we need to relate to the suffering of others with altruistic love and compassion; this method will increase our courage and détermination to care for them).

    It's one of the 10 things that make us vulnerable.

    If we relate to others who are suffering in a self-centred way, we do not cultivate Right Compassion because there is always an agenda.

    whether it's -

    "I'm glad it's not me"
    or
    "look art how wonderful I am being!"

    Our compassion is not unconditional, but self-centred. Thus, we are vulnerable to suffering.



  • sndymornsndymorn Veteran
    What does it mean to "relate to the suffering of others with altruistic love and compassion?"
    It means to consider them as deserving of love and compassion, no matter what.
    We can take the lowest of the low, or the highest of the high, and treat their impostor circumstances just the same - they both merit unconditional love, kindness and compassion, as human beings enduring and existing in "suffering". No matter what a human being's circumstances, we view them as entities in Samsara.

    Thank you for this. Further thanks for Kipling allusion.
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    ....
    I suppose I should've asked what the "self-centred way" is. I thought it meant that when we hear about another's suffering, we tend to think about how we'd feel if we endured the same thing. How does this conflict with "altruistic love and compassion?"
    Read the OP again.
    The 10 things that make us vulnerable.

    *1 - 7 snip*

    8. To relate to the suffering of others in a self-centered way. (Instead, we need to relate to the suffering of others with altruistic love and compassion; this method will increase our courage and détermination to care for them).

    It's one of the 10 things that make us vulnerable.

    If we relate to others who are suffering in a self-centred way, we do not cultivate Right Compassion because there is always an agenda.

    whether it's -

    "I'm glad it's not me"
    or
    "look art how wonderful I am being!"

    Our compassion is not unconditional, but self-centred. Thus, we are vulnerable to suffering.



    Thanks!
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