Hi RF, thank you for this thread, I wish you the best in your pursuit. Meditation is important to me too and I can relate with a lot of what you’re saying. If it wasn’t for meditation I probably wouldn’t have survived a period of great physical and mental pain in my younger days. To know pain (and pleasure) as a product of the mind helped me a lot.
Please allow me to do a bit of commentary on your posts, keeping in mind that I am not in disagreement, just offering an optional perspective.
Well said. Thank you for this insight.
Sometimes I wonder whether the external world is also generated within the mind. Reminds me about this Zen koan: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
I’m fond of fundamental physics too. For example the string theory that says that every particle in the universe is just a different vibration of the underlying sea of energy is very similar to my observation of thoughts, whereby individual thoughts are just different vibrations of consciousness. Hopefully the day will come when we see no gap between the worlds of matter and consciousness.
Yes, true happiness belongs to a different realm than things like income, assets, achievements etc… In fact to talk of happiness as if it can be experienced is not quite right in this context. By definition an experience is able to be experienced, therefore it has a beginning and an end, whereas true happiness is something that is inherently in your own nature, unchanging and endless.
Having said that, I’ve found that having a certain level of income does help, not so much in attaining happiness but in clearing the way for the pursuit of happiness. When I was poor and broke all my energy was used to escape poverty. I wanted money more than the richest man on earth. Now that I’m retired and LOR, conditions are much more favourable for a spiritual pursuit.
This is not to say that happiness cannot be experienced in time of suffering. Suffering can even be an opportunity. It can sharpen your mind so much that you get a breakthrough. I’ve been fortunate to experience that, to a small extent.
Is it a lottery if your mind has allowed it?
I would agree with this in general terms. Being a Buddhist by family tradition I’ve never thought much about God, however it has dawned on me that a meditation state can be very God-like. I now completely understand if someone tells me they can feel a Presence, a Life, so true and so great that there can only be one name for it: God.
It’s not so much that I am against religions, rather I see religions as (very) imperfect reflections of God as we all are. For many people religion has made them better... until it becomes a hindrance, and that seems to be your case.
Please allow me to do a bit of commentary on your posts, keeping in mind that I am not in disagreement, just offering an optional perspective.
The past is a thought that arises in the present. The future is a thought that arises in the present. Getting behind this sea of thought and experiencing what is true in this very moment is wondrous.
Well said. Thank you for this insight.
I've also had major breakthroughs in wellbeing by understanding how the brain works (I've studied it at length), realising that everything you can possibly experience in life is generated within the mind, from inputs from the external world.
Sometimes I wonder whether the external world is also generated within the mind. Reminds me about this Zen koan: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
Further, having a grasp of the evolution of the universe and life on earth really puts things in perspective.
I’m fond of fundamental physics too. For example the string theory that says that every particle in the universe is just a different vibration of the underlying sea of energy is very similar to my observation of thoughts, whereby individual thoughts are just different vibrations of consciousness. Hopefully the day will come when we see no gap between the worlds of matter and consciousness.
In summary, my level of wellbeing and longterm happiness has been off the charts, and ever increasing for all of my adult years. It appears entirely disconnected from income, assets, achievements, setbacks, expenses – all outside influences.
Yes, true happiness belongs to a different realm than things like income, assets, achievements etc… In fact to talk of happiness as if it can be experienced is not quite right in this context. By definition an experience is able to be experienced, therefore it has a beginning and an end, whereas true happiness is something that is inherently in your own nature, unchanging and endless.
Having said that, I’ve found that having a certain level of income does help, not so much in attaining happiness but in clearing the way for the pursuit of happiness. When I was poor and broke all my energy was used to escape poverty. I wanted money more than the richest man on earth. Now that I’m retired and LOR, conditions are much more favourable for a spiritual pursuit.
This is not to say that happiness cannot be experienced in time of suffering. Suffering can even be an opportunity. It can sharpen your mind so much that you get a breakthrough. I’ve been fortunate to experience that, to a small extent.
I understand everyone's experience in life is different. Our minds are all different, our experiences are all different and our circumstances are all different. It's a lottery (your genes, location, parents, life events etc) and I'm thankful that chance has delivered me to such a great place mentally, early on in my life.
Is it a lottery if your mind has allowed it?
I imagine religious belief, if anything, would detract from happiness and wellbeing for most. It did for me until I renounced my religious beliefs once I was a teenager with access to information who was able to educate himself on reality. Renouncing my indoctrinated beliefs provided a HUGE boost in my happiness.
It's not mentally healthy believing there's a man in the sky watching your every move, having rules imposed upon you that extend not only to your actions but your thoughts, endless threats of eternal torture and torment if you disobey too many of them, (or in the case of Islam, punishment by death for leaving the religion, or even questioning it), not to mention the demand of financial contributions in the form of tithes etc and the internal confusion that arises when religious dogma conflicts with facts.
I would agree with this in general terms. Being a Buddhist by family tradition I’ve never thought much about God, however it has dawned on me that a meditation state can be very God-like. I now completely understand if someone tells me they can feel a Presence, a Life, so true and so great that there can only be one name for it: God.
It’s not so much that I am against religions, rather I see religions as (very) imperfect reflections of God as we all are. For many people religion has made them better... until it becomes a hindrance, and that seems to be your case.