‘The bright and shining mind is never absent but is colored by the thoughts and emotions people put on it”
Shayamuni Buddha from the Anguttara Nikaya
And the thoughts and emotions we cling to are what the Buddha refers to as attachment. We become so attached to our thoughts about the world, that for us these thoughts and states become the real world.
Yes, but aren’t our thoughts real?
Yes they are really thoughts.
Perhaps we cling to our thoughts to avoid what we see as the real world. The world of disease, loss, old age and death. The world in which everything is impermanent.
But we have a choice. The road the Buddha took. Instead of thinking about the world of impermanence and suffering we can embrace it, become one with it. This is practice and the road to liberation.
What would it be like to completely accept everything that comes with life and death, completely?
It would be to cross over to the other shore.
This shore.
photo credit: A Chilling Soul
Dear Doen,
As I re-read this I am struck with the realization of how important it is to understand and remember to embrace the real world and be one with it. From my past few months experience I have been caught up in the world of disease, possible loss and death. The result was the loss of any perspective and loss of a realization of myself. I became a fanatic, unstable person, who felt solely responsible for the “saving” of another person. In other words I was unbearable.
How refreshing to have such a burden lifted. In being one with the world, I am free of being responsible for what is happening in my life. I am able to accept and relax to the conditions that are around me. There is a peacefulness. Admittedly, the glimpses of oneness are fleeting – I have so much more to learn.
Thank you for your patience and teaching. You have incredible wisdom. I am sorry to be missing this weekend with the group.
Love, Kris