Whose Perception? (Train Incident)

DaltheJigsaw

Hi Yall! I wrote a little Blogpost about perception. I thought I would share it here.

http://misterethoughts.blogspot.com/2016/10/whose-perception.html

federica

I think you're mistaking perception for interprettion... or maybe mixing the two....

DaltheJigsaw

@federica said:
I think you're mistaking perception for interprettion... or maybe mixing the two....

Not at all. Merriam-Webster defines it as "the way you think about or understand someone or something," "the ability to understand or notice something easily and the way that you notice or understand something using one of your senses." Therefore, what is this young man's understanding or his sense when trying to commit suicide? So, his perceptions to commit a suicide, what is the aftermath. Then our perception of what the young man was doing. Now, an interpretation according to Merriam- Webster is "a particular way of performing something," or "the act or result of explaining or interpreting something: the way something is explained or understood." Perhaps they interconnect?

silver

It's hard to answer a question such as yours because it just doesn't seem fully formed / fleshed out. I don't understand what you're really asking. Is it about the lexical definition or is it about what you and others were witnessing with that young man?

pegembara

Then there is the perception of impermanence (anicca-sanna) which to be developed by those who still hold a wrong perception.

Just like a dog will spend hours and hours chewing its “highly valued” bone, we also give much value to sense pleasures that are fleeting in nature. We do get brief instances of real pleasure, but we do not realize the effort and suffering that we go through to get that brief sense of pleasure. Most of the time, the pleasure is a “pleasure of anticipation”. We trudge through hard work with the mind cheering on showing the “possible pleasures to be had”.

The Buddha likened this to a cow (in the old days) who drags a heavy cart with eagerness to get to the pile of straw being held in front of it by a pole. It does not realize the futility of its efforts because it is only thinking about the “prize” being held in front of its eyes. It does not even feel the burden of the heavy load, or even if feeling it, just disregards that pain in anticipation of the “reward” that it thinks can be had by “just taking a few more steps”.
Most of our pleasures are short lived and arise just out of putting down the “fires” or distresses. The water tastes best when we are thirsty. Think about how you felt when you were very thirsty; the first sip of water was heavenly. But as the thirst went down with drinking more water, the “sense of pleasure” went down as well. After at most two glasses, the “feeling of pleasure” turns to a discomfort.

https://puredhamma.net/key-dhamma-concepts-that-have-been-hidden/anicca-dukkha-anatta-2/how-to-cultivate-the-anicca-sanna-ii/

DairyLama

@LeonBasin said:
Hi Yall! I wrote a little Blogpost about perception. I thought I would share it here.

http://misterethoughts.blogspot.com/2016/10/whose-perception.html

So you were wondering what drove this young man to behave like this? The state of mind he was in?

DaltheJigsaw

@SpinyNorman said:

@LeonBasin said:
Hi Yall! I wrote a little Blogpost about perception. I thought I would share it here.

http://misterethoughts.blogspot.com/2016/10/whose-perception.html

So you were wondering what drove this young man to behave like this? The state of mind he was in?

Exactly!!

DaltheJigsaw

@silver said:
It's hard to answer a question such as yours because it just doesn't seem fully formed / fleshed out. I don't understand what you're really asking. Is it about the lexical definition or is it about what you and others were witnessing with that young man?

I understand. It was just a free flow and I wanted to get it out because I have struggled with depression when I was younger and could relate, but it got to me and so I needed to write it out.