Why are you reading this? Why do we get involved in spiritual questions or practice? Is it a lack of confidence, a vague feeling that we are not good enough, or not quite cutting the mustard, that we are lagging behind certain expectations in the eyes of others, and most of all in the eyes of ourselves? We are constantly told what the ideal version of ourselves should be - the version might differ slightly depending on gender, family, culture, and society, but nevertheless, there is a demand we feel to improve ourselves. We should be hipper, more relaxed, thinner, younger, stronger, wiser, or more successful, and the list goes on.
What a fine essay! You wrote, "Nothing is excluded, unworthy or fake. If we get stuck in one thing, we ignore the other and don’t see that everything manifesting in form arises in pairs of opposites. Trying to pick out one thing and do away with its opposite is impossible and leads to a struggle with life, a battle we cannot win. There is no high without a low, no happiness without sadness, and no strength without vulnerability." A great stillness lets us see this. Love of truth helps us find the way.
I’m reading this because I have realized that the solid isn’t. Through death, addiction and mental illness I have realized, the stable, isn’t. The explanations weren’t. The search for something outside or after this doesn’t seem to make any sense until we can be a part of what this actually is without preparation. So I’m learning from you to understand what is. The only thing I can do now. I prepared for years various things only to have that prepared idea shuttered by “outside forces”. Im lost, disheartened but not giving up on life. I assume Buddhism has more to offer than the nihilism. So I study with you, rather than Nietzsche, or Zarathustra for that matter! I’m also learning from you to not repeat the concept “I am weak but he is strong.” So I can teach, especially my girls, that they aren’t broken. So far, it makes sense, so I’m continuing. Thank you for teaching me.
What a fine essay! You wrote, "Nothing is excluded, unworthy or fake. If we get stuck in one thing, we ignore the other and don’t see that everything manifesting in form arises in pairs of opposites. Trying to pick out one thing and do away with its opposite is impossible and leads to a struggle with life, a battle we cannot win. There is no high without a low, no happiness without sadness, and no strength without vulnerability." A great stillness lets us see this. Love of truth helps us find the way.
I’m reading this because I have realized that the solid isn’t. Through death, addiction and mental illness I have realized, the stable, isn’t. The explanations weren’t. The search for something outside or after this doesn’t seem to make any sense until we can be a part of what this actually is without preparation. So I’m learning from you to understand what is. The only thing I can do now. I prepared for years various things only to have that prepared idea shuttered by “outside forces”. Im lost, disheartened but not giving up on life. I assume Buddhism has more to offer than the nihilism. So I study with you, rather than Nietzsche, or Zarathustra for that matter! I’m also learning from you to not repeat the concept “I am weak but he is strong.” So I can teach, especially my girls, that they aren’t broken. So far, it makes sense, so I’m continuing. Thank you for teaching me.