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.
desire, happiness and ordinary life
greetings all 
this is my first post, nearly 2 weeks ago i had an awakening experience, an insight of truth, and have entered the path. i consider myself to be either sakadagami or anagami level, life is so fantastic now, words cannot express. On to the matter troubling me at the moment however, i still desire some worldly things, to live long and do things that make me happy. i have no more anger or hatred for anything or anyone, yet i still want to do things that i believe will make me happy. as i understand, buddhism teaches that i must work on ridding my self of this desire to reach nirvana. however, i cannnot see the problem with doing thing that makes one happy, so long as one is able to let go of them once they have passed. currently, i ented to live a moderate life, to endulge moderately in things that make me happy, until i am satisfied that i have done enough and i crave no more fulfilment. personaly, i cannot see the problem with this, however i am still very ignorant and new, so any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated
this is my first post, nearly 2 weeks ago i had an awakening experience, an insight of truth, and have entered the path. i consider myself to be either sakadagami or anagami level, life is so fantastic now, words cannot express. On to the matter troubling me at the moment however, i still desire some worldly things, to live long and do things that make me happy. i have no more anger or hatred for anything or anyone, yet i still want to do things that i believe will make me happy. as i understand, buddhism teaches that i must work on ridding my self of this desire to reach nirvana. however, i cannnot see the problem with doing thing that makes one happy, so long as one is able to let go of them once they have passed. currently, i ented to live a moderate life, to endulge moderately in things that make me happy, until i am satisfied that i have done enough and i crave no more fulfilment. personaly, i cannot see the problem with this, however i am still very ignorant and new, so any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated 0
Comments
This, too, shall pass.
When the sun shines, be content. When it rains, be content. When you are healthy and happy, be content. When you are sick and miserable, be content.
Happiness is a way of being, not a goal you can reach. If you pursue happiness, it will elude you. One day, you will get sick and die. What will make you happy, then?
Happiness will make you happy. So just do that. Do happiness. Do happiness even when things go wrong. Forget stuff to "make" yourself happy. Be happy where you are, doing what you are doing.
The measure of enlightenment is not how serene you look when meditating in full lotus position in a perfectly tended Zen garden. It's how serene you look when you've got five screaming kids in the back of your station wagon fighting over the toy from a happy meal, and you just rear-ended a BMW with vanity plates that read, "I LITIG8."
That's what it's all about.
We might save a lot of confusion if we rank how enlightened we are on a scale between 0 and 10, with zero being not enlightened at all and 10 being maximally enlightened.
Not only would this save confusion but it would allow us to turn Dharma practice into a great online game, maybe where you win discount coupons or Itunes vouchers?
As for how enlightened am I? I would say.....
High-5!
namaste
I am sorry, though you are entitled to claim any enlighytenment you want all parameters must be in accordance with the initial conditions. The 11 has been modified to the maximum value:
Thank you for your conisderation.
namaste:p
Cameron,
Congrats on the new experiences! Awakenings can surely be a time of magic.
I hear in your words some striving to be where you are not. Be glad you are less indulgent than you were, be glad you are able to let go of the things you have let go. Don't worry about progress, you'll make it quite naturally.
Do you have a meditation practice? If you do, I suggest you stick with it. When and if it is time to let go of other things in your life, you will see it, be ready for it, and let go of it without confusion or remorse. If you don't, meditation is the way to sustain your awakening experience into a life lived awake. Great luck to you, I am very happy you have found some nourishment.
With warmth,
Matt