Dukkha and the Tightrope
person
Don't believe everything you thinkThe liminal space Veteran
I was reflecting on the tension between many ideas and ways of living. The specific example I had in mind was the way our lives are directed by circumstance and luck on the one hand and our ability to have agency and direct the course of events on the other. It seems to me the best way to chart a course through life is to walk a balance between acknowledging the way events outside of our control shape us while at the same time putting effort into our own personal agency.
Many things operate in this manner, individual expression in tension with group solidarity, exercise and movement in tension with rest and relax, etc. Yin and yang.
In trying to live a worldly life managing this tension I think is a function of wisdom as in the serenity prayer's "knowing the difference". But in the spirit of a Buddhist view of Dukkha things never quite fit, its always a struggle to maintain a good place. It seems possible to do a decent job of it for the span of a human life, but I want to stay open to the possibility of rebirth and there it seems in that context, a fall is inevitable, so I feel I should make efforts at liberation. But I also don't have any real proof that rebirth is real, so I have a hard time committing to a path of renunciation.
So I'm attempting to live a worldly life in balance, while simultaneously acknowledging that its ultimately a losing proposition and putting some effort into a longer term plan.
Comments
Chill
I should chill, or this is chill?
Walking or waking.
Chill!
Yes, there are a certain number of life changing events we are abound to come across: a new job, falling in love, kids, the death of a parent. I inherited my father’s apartment and my mother and I are now thinking we might sell the house we had been living in and move into this one — a life changing event which we hadn’t thought of before my fathers unexpected passing.
Such things inevitably come with a lot of doubt, and in doing this we try to balance our view of the future with present financial considerations and the practical execution of affairs. It does generate a lot of dukkha, that is for sure.
I think making a commitment to the path of renunciation is in itself a life event, a turning point which signals one is going to live a more minimalist life at least, even if you stop short of becoming a monastic. Alternatively you could treat this as a sliding scale, but it would be a step towards a less lively lifestyle.
It’s been my experience that in this life things drop away naturally when you are finished with them, that renunciation has to do with repression. It is linked to age, things drop as you get older, as long as you have lived consciously and you haven’t repressed too much.
In the end, the vast majority of things we think are handed to us by parents, teachers, influencers, books. That includes Buddhism as well, and even language. Now it seems to me that we came into being for a simpler life, that we do not need such complicated concepts as judgment and different destinations for a possible rebirth. Is it not better just to celebrate this life, to dance and experience it’s joys, until the urge to do so falls away?
It depends partly on what is true about rebirth and samsaric existence and partly on what has been handed to us, not just socially in terms of our beliefs but genetically in terms of our disposition. The better way to live isn't an independently existing thing, it depends on the validity of what leads to that conclusion. Change the variables and you change the result.
I suppose I have an inherent deep distrust of anyone who says “follow the tenets of our religion and you’ll be rewarded in the hereafter”, it smells too much like a snake oil salesman. The Buddha’s words have passed through 400 years of oral transmission and much else, we just do not know how much expediency has been added, but births as a god versus births in the hell realms are in this trend.
There have been a few spiritual figures who have said “I am against religion, because they try to shape you until you are what they want you to be, and in doing so close the doors of your authentic being.” Jiddu Krishnamurti was in that line of thinking, in favour of the individual and not the crowd.
Something worth thinking about.
My point isn't that rebirth is true. Its that I don't know what is true.
Understood, I am just pointing out that there are good reasons not to believe what society tells you about the hereafter, whether that is about rebirth or about heaven and hell. The religions would have you trade obedience in the here-and-now for some imaginary reward in the future, which promise they will not have to make good on.
The true state of affairs in the hereafter is something only those with a Near Death Experience can shed any light on, and they only a little, because who knows if their visions are identical to what we will experience as they do not all see the same things.
@person :
What is true is that you were born, you live, you question, you seek.
That is the start.
Every day is a fresh start
Congratulations!
I hope I don't come across as an ideologue, my feeling is that I'm pretty far from that.
Following a spiritual path isn't the same as obedience. I think Buddhism, at least what we tend to express here, asks us to follow a teaching out of understanding or at least a hope that doing it will bring the promised fruits.
Maybe, maybe not. We also really don't know what near death experiences are showing us. Many of the experiences mimic known functions of the brain. To say they show something of the hereafter is still really only speculation, not much different than religious belief.
I understand. A well lived life can be had without any notion of what lies beyond. I haven't been able to let go of the possibility of a continuation and I feel the choices one makes change if it were the case. As usual, I don't have my feet all in one place.
Well, that depends. Buddhism does posit certain principles like the Five Precepts, the Paramita’s, the idea of Dana and sharing in a monks merit, and elements of the N8FP, which shape the members of a Buddhist nation. Besides the path to enlightenment, Buddhism contains a blueprint for living and making better lives together. But this is still manipulation, and not respect for the individual.
The exploration of science into NDEs hasn’t really progressed very far, as the Scientific American article shows by having to cite experiences from 1900 to suit its paradigm. To say that NDEs are related to the brain shutting down is really only speculation. Else why wouldn’t everyone get one.
I can't really wrap my brain around this perspective. It feels kind of offensive to me, being demeaning of spiritual traditions. I don't have a thought out response at the moment.
Are you saying something like people will innately know how to do spiritual work?
The point is, we don't know.
I’m sorry you are experiencing it as offensive, that wasn’t my intention. I was merely trying to say that as Ajahn Chah said, Buddhist spirituality is about letting go, more letting go and even more letting go. To me the words ‘spiritual work’ are a bit of a misnomer.
There is a funny Zen story. A prospective student comes up to the Zen master and asks, how long would it take me to become enlightened? The zen master says, ten years. And if I really work hard at it? Twenty years, replied the Zen master.
This isn't the whole of Buddhist thought. The Tibetan word for enlightenment Sangye literally translated means a letting go and a bringing forth. The path of practice has a dual action of purification and development. The time to let go of the raft is after you've crossed to the other shore.
Of course, in different Buddhist traditions you will find different approaches.
But I think the Zen story is ultimately very apt. If you work hard at meditation, you will likely be working against yourself.
I'd argue this is more about an attitude of mind than time spent. Dan Harris talks about progress in meditation is like a game where if you want to move forward you can't. That's the mental attitude that I think you're talking about.
And this approach in meditation I don't think is universally transferrable to daily life or ethics and such. If you want good relationships, for example, they require work and effort. Some times letting go is appropriate, sometimes effort is better.