To me it just sounds like a great exaggeration of life. I mean plenty of people lead long and full lives without giving up craving so I don’t see their shortcoming part. I know I want things and sometimes I get it and sometimes I don’t, but if I wanted nothing then I wouldn’t do anything. Not to mention that I don’t think anything is unconditioned (even if they think so) except maybe the beginning of the universe
Whats a full life?
You are missing the point, it’s more like saying wanting things and liking things is bad because it makes you a prisoner.
Excuse me. What is a full life??
I’m hungry, lets eat.
Like I said you are missing the point being made, did you even read the link?
Xain, one thing you should have been taught in school is to read what you have written before you finalise
You said
". I mean plenty of people lead long and full lives without giving up craving "
So i am challenging you to expand on this and explain what you mean by full life
I guess what people would deem to be satisfactory.
satisfactory in terms of…???
I don’t know, but this has nothing to do with the article or the point being made.
So you say you dont know what you are talking about.
Good on you for being honest
I do know what I’m saying but no one is addressing it. You guys just keep asking irrelevant questions.
As she is saying, where do the thoughts come from? What about our desires? Can we truly say they are us if we don’t have control over them? What about our thoughts?
Youre the one that said you dont know in trying to justify an assertion you made with regards to full lifes and cravings.
I just said I did and I posted a link in regards to it, it’s not my fault if people aren’t engaging the topic or that they can’t.
I tried to read the whole thing but it became just a string of words pretty quick. It assumes we know what is meant by “conditioned mind” and tries to say you can get to the unconditioned mind, but then warns you other mind things will make you think you are there, but you’re really not. This was supposed to be some important revelation:
“If there is a point or a center of the knower anywhere, that is an agent of birth.” That’s what it said.but it's not. I can't find anything meaningful or even coherent in that. What is this website? How do they decide who gets published on it?
It’s a Buddhist magazine.
PErsonally, I just get the sense that suicide would be an easier option if your goal is to not suffer anymore. I mean granted there is no rule or law about HOW one has to live their life, but to me seeking this option just feels…off for some reason. Like I get that I might be at peace yes, yet…I don’t know about it. It was similar to what I said in a other post about that guy saying “you aren’t happy because you don’t want to be”. But that’s not it. This is similar to the argument that if you could be hooked to a machine and be permanently happy, would you do so? I personally would say no. Because even though I suffer and such it still makes for an interesting life. I know they argue that most of our suffering comes from within us and not outside (since not everyone responds to the same thing in a similar way), but I don’t think that means that we CHOOSE to suffer, I think it’s more complex than that.
You don’t have to look any further than the first paragraph to see they are not talking about ending all suffering. The third noble truth is the cessation of dukkha. It’s not “be happy all the time”.
Some years ago, in reflecting on this third noble truth, I began to understand the Buddha’s words in a new and more immediate way. Rather than understanding the end of craving only as some far-off goal, as the end of the path in the distant future, or as some special meditative state to try to sustain, I understood it as being a practice to experience right now, in each moment.It's a practice, an exercise that you do regularly. You don't just get to get into shape then stay that way, you have to keep doing the exercises. When it talks about reaching a state of mind during meditation, that would be like getting into your aerobic zone while jogging. But you don't stay there.
Besides there’s up sides to craving.
Ever been out hiking on a hot day and gone through water faster than you thought you would. Then you get thirsty - keep going - then you get scared - keep going - then you start craving - keep going - then you finally get to your destination thinking of nothing but that guzzle of water.
Craving it like you never knew craving.
Then you finally get that long deep draft of cool water and you Realize (Yes with a capital R) what water really tastes like and what a fantastic wonder it is - this thing you’ve always taken so for granted.
Moral, even craving has its up side.
I’ve always thought the essence of that sort of Buddhist thinking is to allow those swings to happen - but being aware enough to appreciate, this too shall pass, and becoming okay with that, then the extremes start losing their sting.
I’ve always thought the essence of that sort of Buddhist thinking is to allow those swings to happen – but being aware enough to appreciate, this too shall pass, and becoming okay with that, then the extremes start losing their sting.That's my understanding too. I gave up on pursuing Buddhism any farther when I saw it as too much time spent doing nothing as a way to get a slightly more heightened experience while doing something. The Dalai Lama wrote a book on applying the principles to work, like normal office work. Actually it was more written by one his close associates. Bottom line, Buddhism doesn't apply to work. Maybe when I'm retired I'll have time to enhance my enjoyment of sunsets.
I don’t think that’s it. I think they are getting at this being a more permanent thing and not like the runners high. One of the remarks was about how we suffer because we don’t know what we truly are, whatever that means. I know Buddhism references a false self a lot