This article is a continuation of my previous blog post. Link to that is below
Quoting from the article above there is a key passage:
Be without preferences or judgments as regards the arisings of the mind. The path is the goal. Respond with equanimity and empathy to the arisings of the mind.
Now I was making a mistake in putting the above teaching into practice.
Whenever an unpleasant feeling or sensation arose, I tried to get rid of it using the above words (or concepts) as a club. I tried to hide from the unpleasant sensation or feeling.
This is not the way to practice spirituality or even to live life. We need to be brave enough to suffer what we need to suffer.
You can hide from life but you cannot hide from suffering. Suffering will catch you out. And if you try to hide from suffering you will fail to live.
Whom am I quoting. A certain Nikhil Gangoli.
It is difficult to put this philosophy into practice. It requires enormous courage. Who amongst us enjoys unpleasant experiences? Nobody. We all want them to end as quickly as possible.
But quoting from the book by Mark Manson (link is below this paragraph): Wanting positive experience is a negative experience; accepting negative experience is a positive experience.
Meditation is not a way to hide from suffering or to hide from life. It enables us to endure what must be endured and to live life to the full. Not having preferences and seeing all as a manifestation of the divine gives us the freedom and the strength to feel wretched and come out stronger. All is divine including the excruciating bits.
As the Spartans used to say: That which does not kill me makes me stronger.
So the way forward for me is to feel all the unpleasant bits and remember all this high funda philosophy only in the back of my mind. The main emphasis is to feel and experience whatever the Buddha Mind wants me to go through. There is a Zen saying which goes: This very mind the Buddha.
I think that in Indian society there is an emphasis on controlling yourself. This is most likely due to the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita which lays stress on becoming a master of your mind and senses.
There is a well known analogy of our being compared with a person riding a chariot. The senses are supposed to be horses and we are supposed to control the horses as we make our journey through life.
But that does not mean – in my opinion – that you should judge yourself and condemn yourself for feeling what you are feeling. Live life, including the unpleasant bits. Life is suffering so what is so surprising that we should suffer.
The Bible says – Judge not that you be not judged. Start with not judging yourself and allow yourself to live.
I’ll end here. Hope you liked the article and please explore this site for more on Spirituality, Self Help and Politics. If you would like to contact me the link is below. Please also comment on the blog if you liked the article (or even if you didn’t). Feedback from my readers keeps me going.
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