Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
What is your Buddhist goal?
zombiegirl
beating the drum of the lifelessin a dry wasteland Veteran
Every time someone mentions their goal of attaining enlightenment, it gets me wondering. I don't think I have ever consciously aimed for enlightenment. It's always been one of those things that in the day to day, I feel rather unconcerned with (also lumped in that group: God, reincarnation, etc.)
My practice has always been more primarily geared towards the results that I can see: compassion, appropriate action, decrease in stress, eradicating wrong views, etc. For me personally, it is a little victory when I encounter a situation in which I react differently (more appropriately) than I know I would have in the past, before Buddhism. But then again, I am an independent practitioner, just reading my books... so I have no way of really knowing how my practice matches up with others.
So, what's your goal here? Do you actively strive for enlightenment? Do you just use Buddhism as a means of decreasing suffering and delusion? Do you believe you will be enlightened?
My practice has always been more primarily geared towards the results that I can see: compassion, appropriate action, decrease in stress, eradicating wrong views, etc. For me personally, it is a little victory when I encounter a situation in which I react differently (more appropriately) than I know I would have in the past, before Buddhism. But then again, I am an independent practitioner, just reading my books... so I have no way of really knowing how my practice matches up with others.
So, what's your goal here? Do you actively strive for enlightenment? Do you just use Buddhism as a means of decreasing suffering and delusion? Do you believe you will be enlightened?
14
Comments
That and win the lottery.
I guess if I was enlightened I could help more people to awaken in kind but if I'm far enough away, that could mean focusing on myself too much when I could be helping others. Helping others seems to do more for my awareness than aiming for enlightenment anyways.
In terms of my life I hope for peace and non-delusion. My voices I hear are a great theatre, but other things too like transforming daily boredom, loving kindness, more alive, understanding, and easy going and open.
I can see how some/most of those relate towards going in the direction if not the actual realization of nirvana
nothing wrong or "selfish" with that. When I finish the guided metta meditations I do on the BC, I often talk about how I think that is part of the problem in western society. We are always taught to put others first and that it is "selfish" to think about ourselves. This is one of the major reasons I'm not a big fan of the whole bodhisatva concept in Mahayana. You can't hope to have compassion and empathy for all beings if you can't have it for yourself first.
I rarely worry about reaching "enlightenment". No, to be honest, I never worry about that!
I view Buddhism as a means (for me) to dwell in a reality of serenity, compassion with as little 'suffering' as possible (by detaching from unnecessary desires and cravings) and therefore living this life as happily as possible.
At the same time by walking the Buddhist path and honoring the 8 fold path and precepts, I am contributing to the happiness and serenity of my family, community and the world at large.
But that is a very good point zombiegirl, I don't think I myself have ever thought "yea I want to be an enlightened being", maybe at the very start the thought may have seemed appealing, but Buddhism throws up goals daily for me. It is life, Buddhism is life with a different set of glasses to view it with. It is the same life as it was ever going to be, but you tackle each goal and hurdle with a different mindset. So my ultimate goal is to be A-OK with how things are around me at any given moment, to just be.
I agree with this.
You need to find yourself to lose yourself...
I actively try and find in others what they already 'have' . . . which a little buddha bird told me . . .
Is enlightenment.
It is kind of the kind thing to do . . . Might take my mind (whatever that is, if anything) off my self obsession . . .
:thumbsup:
...but me personally? My goal is to suffer.
My greatest attachment is the world itself; should I detach from this world entirely and reach nirvana, I would leave it alone to its own demons and devices, and frankly, I'm arrogant and crazy enough to believe that I can make some kind of a difference in this crazy world for the better. Therein, my goal is to reincarnate as many times as possible, to deny nirvana, because my happiness is nothing when I think about the pain of the world, and how I could use my talents to help it, if but even in the smallest of ways. When everyone can ascend to nirvana, then I will. Until that day, I will remain here, in one form or another, forever, by choice.
There is much work to be done, and many people to be helped.
Too much of a woos to embrace suffering. [sob]
Maybe I should have another look at those Mahayana vows . . .
Too much of a woos to embrace suffering. [sob]
Maybe I should have another look at those Mahayana vows . . .
I remember a long while ago somebody made a thread about what is the meaning of life, or what is the point of life. I replied 'suffering' which basically it is. Life is suffering, no getting away from that, so the sooner you get to know suffering the sooner you will want to be free from it, and hopefully eventually you will.
Volitional suffering is a high calling . . . :bowdown:
They teach us that life is what life is; flawed.
Yet with tremendous potential for joy and fulfillment.
~Lama Surya Das~
This quote is the basis for my goal. To find joy and fulfillment and to share that with the others in my life. Even if it is only in passing, I wish that the joy I have been able to find, maybe just my smile or great attitude, will brighten anothers day.
As for enlightenment, in my initial zeal after beginning my Buddhist practice, I thought that was because that is the ultimate goal, I wanted to achieve it in this lifetime. But something didn't seem right. Although I will still acknowledge that it is possible, I have since cultivated the tiniest bit of wisdom: I realize that I have a long, long, way to go! Not only that, but conceptually I also realized that if one becomes fixated on the 'goal' of enlightenment- what is really happening? If we see enlightenment as a goal, like some kind of a holy, transcendent promotion, and then grasp it with all our might, we are simply replacing our current attachments with yet another.
So in sum, I hope that my path is one that progresses toward, and not away from, enlightenment. But my main focus now is the struggle, diligence, and joy that comes from cultivating wisdom and compassion and working to change all the bad habits created by attachment, anger, and ignorance (all of which serve to reduce suffering) through practices like mindfulness and meditation. The journey is the best part, and I think you have already realized this in your practice by the wisdom you have developed to handle things differently than in the past.
I want to be like her.
But I sense that the path is leading in the right direction and so I'm walking it.
Goals to me are a lot like vision - the current object of my focus seems to be my current goal.
As for Buddhism… for me, that seems to sit most comfortably with as few hindrances as possible – in that context, goals have progressively presented themselves as hindrances.
A very loose example; I enjoy gardening – there was a time when I would plan what I wanted to achieve much like the rest of my life – nowadays, I potter where the wind takes me… bulbs are thrown resting where they lay, plants shout for attention and multiple logistics-lacking trips to the shed… so much more opportunity to simply ‘garden’.
Its all a matter of where we stand.
He suggests that instead of goal orientated practice we develop Source orientated practice.
Focusing on the here and now, in this body.
That to me is the whole of the Middle Way.
Our suffering is based on the delusional way we interact with experience. Dwelling in negativity, past, future and fantasy.
As we clear some of these tendencies we just quite naturaly and inevitably move towards enlightenment . . . :clap:
That to me is the whole of the Middle Way.
Our suffering is based on the delusional way we interact with experience. Dwelling in negativity, past, future and fantasy.
As we clear some of these tendencies we just quite naturaly and inevitably move towards enlightenment . . . :clap:
"Do you actively strive for enlightenment? Do you just use Buddhism as a means of decreasing suffering and delusion?"
I didn't mean to belittle it. I meant for it to be read by taking the sentence before it into account. I view those aspects as intrinsic to Buddhism as well, thus I used the 'just' to imply that you are doing those things but without actively striving for enlightenment (which was the first question). Sorry, I should have worded it a little better/used a semi-colon/perhaps added an "or" to make it all one sentence. ...Ugh. Grammar.
Failure is an option