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Buddism and old superstitions
The other night during my meditation, I Heard an Owl whooing, It brought me back from with-in. And I realized that the reason for this is from an old legend I had heard as a child, (the owl was a bad omen). I realize that most of the legends of my people were told so that they could survive. But how does one get around such superstitions that are part of one's life? :scratch:
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Example: When somebody tells you over and over again that it will bring "7 years of bad luck" when a black cat crosses your way from left to right, you are probably - sooner or later - going to associate that black cat with negative feelings.
Now, if you have a cat, you might take longer to associate these things together, and even longer, if you have a black cat. But if you have no relations to cats, it might not take as long to believe that a (black) cat indeed is something you should fear.
To overcome this learned behavior, you could start your own association process, for example, you might want to listen to relaxing music while you look at some cat (or in your case, owl :winkc: ) pictures. Since we have learned to react a certain way, we can learn to react another way as well.
Now, this might not at all answer your question on how we get over our superstitions altogether, but it might show that the first part of solving this problem is to realize what the situation is (why do I react like this?). I think once we notice a couple of times that our fears and concerns are all reactions and behaviors to certain situations, it should be much easier for us to realize that we can also unlearn or re-program ourselves and our thoughts to be positive and not so superstitious after all.
I should add that I have no clue on how buddhism would answer this - I have a couple of semesters of psychology on my resume, unfortunately no buddhist studies yet :hair:
"Superstition", eh? Isn't it simply a more blatant example of all the erroneous 'beliefs' that we use to organise the world around us into forms that we can handle? In some ways, superstitions are among the easiest to examine and to find, within them, the way in which we structure such delusions.
Additionally, recognising these beliefs as part of our ancestral heritage helps us to understand our place in the flow of history.
Ideally, of course, you will find a moment comes when
You on a cushion.
An owl hoots.
No you, no owl.
The Path itself can be broken down to virtue, concentration, and discernment (wisdom). These practices are tools for us to see reality as it is, and to properly understand the 'Thusness' that is the true nature of all conditioned things. While following this Path the mind is observed, trained, and released of it's 'ignorance' or 'not-knowing'. One of the by-products of following this Path is realizing the superstitions that the mind has picked up along the way, and allowing you to uproot them.
With insight and wisdom being cultivated, there is little that the mind cannot understand and free itself from. All it really takes is effort, and time.
Some reading material on the Noble Eightfold Path:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/pathtopeace.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/pathtopeace.html
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/wings/2h.html
Although, care should be taken in also seeing superstitions as "part of our ancestral heritage that helps us to understand our place in the flow of history.", as Simon has said. It is not wrong to study and understand where we have 'come from'. It is only wrong to 'hold onto' false beliefs that cause us dukkha. In all things there is the conventinal truth (Sammutisacca), as well as the Ultimate truth (Paramatthasacca).
*Hoot, hoot*
All the delightful things of the world--sweet sounds, lovely forms, all the pleasant tastes and touches and thoughts--these are all agreed to bring happiness if they are not grasped and possessed.
But if you regard them merely as pleasures for your own use and satisfaction and do not see them as passing wonders, they will bring suffering.
-Sutta Nipata
Comic... you're such a pessimist.
Why... I bet when you drop a glass on the floor and part of it breaks, you think, "oh no! the glass is broken!" when you could just as easily think, "ahh... now it is just a worthless, un-usable piece of crap!"
See? It's just the way you view things....
-bf
I was kidding. If that was an example of how optimistic I can be - I'm in pretty bad shape
-bf