I stumbled upon this today:
The nature of reality exists so far outside of the realm that many people can grasp. Most people can't fathom a world outside of their relationships, their job, and themselves. It's strange, because the obvious nature of reality isn't rooted in the things that so many people center their realities around -- money, popularity, "supposed-to" living and things....surface.
That's where my disconnect lies. It's really hard for me to see the pomp and circumstance that go along with things that do nothing but massage the ego. Ultimately, what good is an expensive wedding? I've had more fun at small weddings, better stories from crazy weddings in the backwoods of Western Massachusetts. It's all vanilla. The wall decor is different. The dresses and ties are different, but it's all ultimately the same. It's a plug and play society where most people have to structure their fun and have a regimented idea of (for example) when to be spiritual (Sunday morning, but Saturday night if the Bills have a 1:00 game right?).
Bliss is not something that can be scheduled. Joy is not something you plan. Happiness is not a dot on the map. Yet, the grasping...the yearning I see from people to get to these non-existent destinations suffocates me.
The pervasive suffering of conditioning -- we're built this way. Enlightenment is fighting like hell to break the cycle of pervasive conditioning. The unenlightened existence is suffering, because a life filled with chasing something that cannot be caught (joy...happiness) ends nowhere.
The third level of suffering is the most significant -- the pervasive suffering of conditioning. This refers to the very fact of our unenlightened existence, the fact that we are ruled by our negative emotions and their underlying root cause, namely our own fundamental ignorance of the nature of reality. Buddhism asserts that as long as we are under the control of this fundamental ignorance, we are suffering; this unenlightened existence is suffering by its very nature. -- Dalai Lama
The nature of reality exists so far outside of the realm that many people can grasp. Most people can't fathom a world outside of their relationships, their job, and themselves. It's strange, because the obvious nature of reality isn't rooted in the things that so many people center their realities around -- money, popularity, "supposed-to" living and things....surface.
That's where my disconnect lies. It's really hard for me to see the pomp and circumstance that go along with things that do nothing but massage the ego. Ultimately, what good is an expensive wedding? I've had more fun at small weddings, better stories from crazy weddings in the backwoods of Western Massachusetts. It's all vanilla. The wall decor is different. The dresses and ties are different, but it's all ultimately the same. It's a plug and play society where most people have to structure their fun and have a regimented idea of (for example) when to be spiritual (Sunday morning, but Saturday night if the Bills have a 1:00 game right?).
Bliss is not something that can be scheduled. Joy is not something you plan. Happiness is not a dot on the map. Yet, the grasping...the yearning I see from people to get to these non-existent destinations suffocates me.
The pervasive suffering of conditioning -- we're built this way. Enlightenment is fighting like hell to break the cycle of pervasive conditioning. The unenlightened existence is suffering, because a life filled with chasing something that cannot be caught (joy...happiness) ends nowhere.
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