Interesting! Also a worthy aspiration! Curious to learn how you calm yourself by dissolving. Is it via meditation, regular time to be alone? I can relate with what you are saying about striving and the chasing. With that, it can’t be helped that I get the empty “so what” feeling after getting what I want.
I believe that this has a lot to do with how we have been conditioned since young as social beings with expectations all around. How we have been parented, the school system etc.
The Diamond Sutra quote reminds me of Plato’s allegory of the cave! :)
Thanks a lot. I meditate, sometimes for more than 15 minutes and sometimes just a few minutes. I also take long walks and practice calligraphy to calm my mind, they help me get rid of emotional burdens and escape from distractions.
I think the idea of "living up to expectations" is so hard to get away with. Our entanglements in all aspects of life have made us captives to some extent. But what is more challenging is Chuang Tzu's idea of not having expectations from the outside. My understanding of this idea is about cultivating a heightened awareness of being unattached that gives us a sense of inner freedom and clarity. I know this is super hard for me at this stage of life because I still have a lot to do. For instance, keep writing more. But, I feel that his idea will serve me some time later in life.
To get us unconditioned, I guess it is a work in progress of continuous disenchantment. I see the element of illusion in the Sutra and Plato's allegory, but I'm sure they are open to different interpretations.
Great! I do similar practices. For me, it took back to back health diagnoses and personal crises to want to get closer to inner introspection and spirituality. You may enjoy Kyoto with the many temple/ shrines, nature all around so please let me know if you ever plan to visit, I will be happy to show you around!
Profound! Also thinking of layers of dreams. Awakening at different points in life - is this possible? What you have consciously chosen at a certain point in life earlier but no longer serves you right now?
Thanks! I've been thinking about this topic for some time, as I've come to realize that I've been stuck in a state of constant uncertainty. So, I dare not say that I've achieved a level of awakening. I can only say that I see things with a certain extent of clarity.
I can calm myself by going through the learning journey of dissolving myself. As the Diamond Sutra teaches, "All things contrived are like dream, illusion, bubble, shadow." But, what scares me, for now, is seeing the possibilities and realities in different narratives in my mind.
I can trace some of them back to my fixations—the goals, pursuits, and struggles I put myself into. Perhaps they are also a dream I persuaded myself to believe in. I see the necessity and utility of doing that, but I also sense the emptiness after reaching that state and am willing to peacefully accept it. So, I think it is still a lasting inner peace that matters the most for me.
Interesting! Also a worthy aspiration! Curious to learn how you calm yourself by dissolving. Is it via meditation, regular time to be alone? I can relate with what you are saying about striving and the chasing. With that, it can’t be helped that I get the empty “so what” feeling after getting what I want.
I believe that this has a lot to do with how we have been conditioned since young as social beings with expectations all around. How we have been parented, the school system etc.
The Diamond Sutra quote reminds me of Plato’s allegory of the cave! :)
Thanks a lot. I meditate, sometimes for more than 15 minutes and sometimes just a few minutes. I also take long walks and practice calligraphy to calm my mind, they help me get rid of emotional burdens and escape from distractions.
I think the idea of "living up to expectations" is so hard to get away with. Our entanglements in all aspects of life have made us captives to some extent. But what is more challenging is Chuang Tzu's idea of not having expectations from the outside. My understanding of this idea is about cultivating a heightened awareness of being unattached that gives us a sense of inner freedom and clarity. I know this is super hard for me at this stage of life because I still have a lot to do. For instance, keep writing more. But, I feel that his idea will serve me some time later in life.
To get us unconditioned, I guess it is a work in progress of continuous disenchantment. I see the element of illusion in the Sutra and Plato's allegory, but I'm sure they are open to different interpretations.
Great! I do similar practices. For me, it took back to back health diagnoses and personal crises to want to get closer to inner introspection and spirituality. You may enjoy Kyoto with the many temple/ shrines, nature all around so please let me know if you ever plan to visit, I will be happy to show you around!
It seems that we all need to experience some (bearable) crises to reach a new level of understanding about ourselves.
Thanks so much. I will definitely let you know when I visit Kyoto! It's one of the places I've always wanted to see and experience.
Profound! Also thinking of layers of dreams. Awakening at different points in life - is this possible? What you have consciously chosen at a certain point in life earlier but no longer serves you right now?
Thanks! I've been thinking about this topic for some time, as I've come to realize that I've been stuck in a state of constant uncertainty. So, I dare not say that I've achieved a level of awakening. I can only say that I see things with a certain extent of clarity.
I can calm myself by going through the learning journey of dissolving myself. As the Diamond Sutra teaches, "All things contrived are like dream, illusion, bubble, shadow." But, what scares me, for now, is seeing the possibilities and realities in different narratives in my mind.
I can trace some of them back to my fixations—the goals, pursuits, and struggles I put myself into. Perhaps they are also a dream I persuaded myself to believe in. I see the necessity and utility of doing that, but I also sense the emptiness after reaching that state and am willing to peacefully accept it. So, I think it is still a lasting inner peace that matters the most for me.