What is the "end of suffering"

inkaStepa · **#81** by **inkaStepa** » Jul 17, 2011 4:58 am

I wonder if people can ever really overcome attatchments. I was reading a book about Tibetan monks and how one's son pased away. One monk mentioned that death was an illusion and the father monk said "yes but this is a very big illusion." I might have mixed the words a bit but that was the drift. Thanks for the links. I don't think I would do very well on a path like this because even the thought of having to cut all my hair off seems like too much to bear...I'd be really upset and it's just hair.

Steve · **#82** by **Steve** » Jul 17, 2011 3:38 pm

I get leery of dogma very fast and Buddhists have plenty of that. I figure dogma is just another attachment so why not be a Buddhist who doesn't cut their hair? If I am not attached it makes no difference and the hair cutting is part of the uniform by which I proclaim something - that costumes and stuff can become distractions the same as anything else. But there is a place for them, as well.

I don't claim any particular path for myself. I follow a practice laid out by Eknath Easwaran (see the link in my sig.) I recommend reading his "Thought for the day" which is linked off the front page. Today he says

July 17
We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it.
– GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

Shopping for things we do not need, even if it is only window-shopping, wastes a lot of vitality; energy flows out with every little desire. It is a surprising connection, but an extravagant shopper will find it difficult to love. He or she scatters love like largesse all over the department store. We can become bankrupt in love this way.
When it comes to our personal vitality, we have no atoms to split, no windmills to set up, no sun to draw on for an alternative source of energy; we have to conserve what we have and make it last. When we find it difficult to love, we can think of it as a personal energy crisis. By not buying things which are neither necessary nor beneficial, we conserve the precious natural resources of the earth, and we save our personal energy, too.
So if you want a good, stiff test of your capacity to love, go into your favorite store some day – preferably when there is a sale – and see if you can walk straight through, looking neither left nor right, and come out unscathed. It may sound unbelievable, but it can be done.

Just a small exercise in exploring our attachments with no judgment about getting it wrong. It is just a way to observe ourselves with a promise of how the trivia in life connects to what matters most to us.

Sonoran Lion · **#83** by **Sonoran Lion** » Jul 17, 2011 4:00 pm

Steve wrote:I get leery of dogma very fast and Buddhists have plenty of that. I figure dogma is just another attachment so why not be a Buddhist who doesn't cut their hair? If I am not attached it makes no difference and the hair cutting is part of the uniform by which I proclaim something - that costumes and stuff can become distractions the same as anything else. But there is a place for them, as well.

I agree Buddhists can have plenty of dogma. What I admire about Buddhism over other religions that I have studied is that you don't need to adhere to any sort of dogma to be a Buddhist (or at least they don't tend to make as big a deal over it). Hell, some Buddhists have told me that you don't even need to be a Buddhist in order to be a Buddha or enlightened.

Arjan Dirkse · **#84** by **Arjan Dirkse** » Jul 17, 2011 6:53 pm

Umm Buddhists don't have to cut their hair. That is only in certain monasteries, but for a practicing Buiddhist in society the hair is free to do with as you like...

As far as Buddhism and dogma go, yes there is plenty of that, but there is no need to follow all the rules if you don't want to. Just take from it whatever you can use, discard what you think isn't beneficial to you.

inkaStepa · **#85** by **inkaStepa** » Jul 17, 2011 7:01 pm

About cutting my hair, I just meant that I'm really attatched to it, so I already know where I stand when it comes to letting trivial things go. I focus a lot on appearance. Steve thanks for the link....being a broke girl, I window shop a lot and what he said defiantely applies to me. I also like how Buddhists don't bother trying to to convert people or act as if there is only one way to live...they seem more practical like above feelings, etc. I like yoga better than a sitting meditation- it forces me to use my mind more productively when my body is involved...that's probably a sort of weakness though...

Steve · **#86** by **Steve** » Jul 17, 2011 8:04 pm

inkaStepa wrote: I like yoga better than a sitting meditation- it forces me to use my mind more productively when my body is involved...that's probably a sort of weakness though...

I am not sure if that is a weakness or simply yoga is an effective form of meditation for you. I never did yoga - that is probably a weakness though... lol

nunnington · **#87** by **nunnington** » Jul 18, 2011 7:46 pm

inkaStepa wrote:Nunnington, what is a "crushed illusion"? Thanks..

Just something that you think you are, or that life is, or that another is, but it turns out that you're not, and life isn't, and another isn't. But letting go of these things is very painful, and produces many feelings, such as anger, fear, guilt, but these too are illusions really, and in the end, one can let go of them. Then, you get to the good bit - you can let go of letting go.

inkaStepa · **#88** by **inkaStepa** » Jul 23, 2011 2:54 am

Hmm...maybe the better question would be..what isn't an illusion? lol

Steve · **#89** by **Steve** » Jul 23, 2011 3:59 am

inkaStepa wrote:Hmm...maybe the better question would be..what isn't an illusion? lol

Indeed. Good luck with finding the answer.

What is the "end of suffering"

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