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Does this happen to other people...I am sure it does, but...

patominpatomin
edited April 2010 in Buddhism Basics
I will walk around all day angry or just "spun" by all the input around me. I won't see people for who they are or tasks as challenges. I become very negative...then....

*poof*

i have a moment of clarity and see the "good looking woman" or the "the person that angered me" for who they are...PEOPLE!!! Then I get this view of everything that is so clear it's almost able to be felt...like a veil is removed. I see all the futility and desire to help everyone's suffering... Then two seconds later it evaporates...

and i'm back to plodding around until the next "moment".

Any name for these "moments"?

Comments

  • DazzleDazzle
    edited April 2010
    patomin wrote: »
    I will walk around all day angry or just "spun" by all the input around me. I won't see people for who they are or tasks as challenges. I become very negative...then....

    *poof*

    i have a moment of clarity and see the "good looking woman" or the "the person that angered me" for who they are...PEOPLE!!! Then I get this view of everything that is so clear it's almost able to be felt...like a veil is removed. I see all the futility and desire to help everyone's suffering... Then two seconds later it evaporates...

    and i'm back to plodding around until the next "moment".

    Any name for these "moments"?[/quote]




    The beginings of mindfulness of negative emotions, perhaps ?







    .
  • patominpatomin
    edited April 2010
    I don't know, it's more than that. I see everything coherently for a few moments....like I'm watching TV or a movie. Then I come back to the realization that I'm in the middle of it, not just watching. I have a hard time holding onto that perspective. I wish I could hold onto it.
  • aMattaMatt Veteran
    edited April 2010
    patomin wrote: »
    Any name for these "moments"?

    It sounds like a vacillation between sukha and dukkha.
  • RainRain
    edited April 2010
    I'm not sure if I know what to call it, but I can somewhat relate I suppose. I think Dazzle could have a point, it sounds like the beginnings of mindfulness of negative emotions; ... on the other hand though, it almost sounds a bit like being bi-polar ;)

    For example... I have a very anxious mind that gravitates toward anxiety and anger more frequently than I would like (read: a lot). However, there will come the moments where I recognize that these feelings just "exist" and don't have to influence me as much as I have allowed in the past. In this moment, I see the world differently, almost in an "outside looking in" sort of manner. These moments are not permanent, though one day I hope they might be. When they disappear, I am left with my original outlook on the world which is mostly negative.

    Some days I wonder if it's simply become a habit for me to view the world in this manner, and now years later here I am trying to break those habits that I had already formed my entire life. Like quitting smoking, only you've been smoking since you were 2 ;)

    Over time though, I find I'm becoming more and more accustomed to recognizing when I have a negative veil over my eyes. When I recognize that it's there, the veil seems to disappear, at some times more easily than at other times mind you. But still, the potential is obvious.

    At any rate, this means I now more actively attempt to be mindful of my feelings and my mind, and I can see the beginnings of improvement. It's one thing that attracted me toward mindfulness in the beginning: This theory can be tried, tested, and proven. It is not some religious belief that must be done with faith and faith alone. I can prove it in almost a scientific way.

    I hope in seeing that I'll be able to implement it with more skill over time.
  • fivebellsfivebells Veteran
    edited April 2010
    Don't try to hold onto it. (Part of this series of podcasts.)
  • patominpatomin
    edited April 2010
    aMatt wrote: »
    It sounds like a vacillation between sukha and dukkha.

    I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Are you saying that my moments of clarity are moments of Sukha and then I fall on my face again into the Dukkha!? :)
  • patominpatomin
    edited April 2010
    fivebells wrote: »
    Don't try to hold onto it. (Part of this series of podcasts.)


    downloading so i can check it out. thanks.
  • patominpatomin
    edited April 2010
    Rain wrote: »
    I'm not sure if I know what to call it, but I can somewhat relate I suppose. I think Dazzle could have a point, it sounds like the beginnings of mindfulness of negative emotions; ... on the other hand though, it almost sounds a bit like being bi-polar ;)


    LOL. I have been accused of being a bit of a nut...but seriously, I like the perspective I have during that short time and want it to last longer if not indefinitely. If I couldn't only keep the insight I have during those moments....I could see myself doing things so much better.
  • RainRain
    edited April 2010
    I'm a bit of a nut myself ;) haha -- My anxious mind always wants "control" of everything. It's a hard "demon" to live with, even harder to exorcise ;)

    I believe the more we learn to be aware of the fact that the way we perceive the world isn't the be-all and end-all of everything, the easier it becomes to have those "moments" which are clear.

    I suppose it takes time, as all things. Trying to grasp it and hold it down won't work either which was a mistake I made for a very long time before I came to Buddhism at all (trying to "force" those moments to stay). In a way it just created another attachment in itself, being desperate to hold on to one moment or another.

    Instead there is a lot of benefit in recognizing moments as they arise and acknowledging them as they pass. Through that, moments of clarity actually do tend to become a bit more frequent as you observe your feelings almost as an outsider would observe another person.


    Just a personal opinion/experience of course.
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