the future?
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Ok, I was reading about buddhism or something... It said that who is he who feels these feelings like joy and sadness. Something happened and tears began to drop from eyes and by the way I have really difficulties writing this because I really don´t see the point about asking these stupid questions.
Anyway, my question is: if this is everything right here and if one can detach from "myself", how can one plan the future? What about school? What about the real life? Should one just trust that the "feeling",( or perhaps it can´t be called a feeling because what the are feelings anyway, me?) is here to stay and it´s not just some trick that mind plays to protect from something? -
Nothing is too stupid to askOriginally posted by nif:Ok, I was reading about buddhism or something... It said that who is he who feels these feelings like joy and sadness. Something happened and tears began to drop from eyes and by the way I have really difficulties writing this because I really don´t see the point about asking these stupid questions.
Anyway, my question is: if this is everything right here and if one can detach from "myself", how can one plan the future? What about school? What about the real life? Should one just trust that the "feeling",( or perhaps it can´t be called a feeling because what the are feelings anyway, me?) is here to stay and it´s not just some trick that mind plays to protect from something?
One can definitely plan the future and etc... but one is not attached to the notion of 'future', one is not attached to the 3 minds: Past mind, Present mind, Future mind. But we still can plan.
Secondly I am not too sure what you mean by 'feeling', can you pls elaborate on that? -
Basically the feeling that everything is not quite how it used to be. I thank you, my post was an impulsive reaction to this "out of body experience" and now I feel that Im beginning to be the same boring individual who has no control of anything. I quess meditation can make me stronger, or something...
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Oh and care to refer me to the article you read? I'm interested to read tooOriginally posted by nif:Ok, I was reading about buddhism or something... It said that who is he who feels these feelings like joy and sadness. -
What do you mean by "out of body experience", do you literally mean you float out of your body or..?Originally posted by nif:Basically the feeling that everything is not quite how it used to be. I thank you, my post was an impulsive reaction to this "out of body experience" and now I feel that Im beginning to be the same boring individual who has no control of anything. I quess meditation can make me stronger, or something...
"Boring" and "no control" is just a notion and concept, it is ultimately not real and shouldn't be clung to. Even the notion of me being an "individual" is an illusion and through practise the illusion can be seen through. One should gradually let go of all conceptual notions before insights can occur.
Glad to you hear you practise meditation (or am i wrong?) What kind of meditation do you practise?
Also your post is a little vague.. maybe you can share ur experience in more details? -
Sure: http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/hum/uskon/pg/erjanti/mystinen.pdf
(by the way, it´s in finnish, sorry
) -
Oh you're not a Singaporean..? You're finnish?Originally posted by nif:Sure: http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/hum/uskon/pg/erjanti/mystinen.pdf
(by the way, it´s in finnish, sorry)
-
Hi Nif,
I think i may know what you are feeling...
IMO... it is better not to assume that spirituality can fully solve the daily problems of conventional reality. In my experience, it cannot... at least while we still have this body.
Sometimes conventional problems are better solved using conventional means. Spirituality let us experience the Truth... however the world is still largely adapted to work with certain assumptions and beliefs.
just my opinion... -
Yes I am finnish, this was the first board i found about buddhism. The experience wasn´t really "out of body" but something that cannot really be described with words . I just realized that the happines, (or the state of mind, the moment) that I then had was actually "me" and every moment is me and I change all the time. I don´t know what it was but it was fun.
-
Hello nif,Originally posted by nif:Ok, I was reading about buddhism or something... It said that who is he who feels these feelings like joy and sadness. Something happened and tears began to drop from eyes and by the way I have really difficulties writing this because I really don´t see the point about asking these stupid questions.
Anyway, my question is: if this is everything right here and if one can detach from "myself", how can one plan the future? What about school? What about the real life? Should one just trust that the "feeling",( or perhaps it can´t be called a feeling because what the are feelings anyway, me?) is here to stay and it´s not just some trick that mind plays to protect from something?
welcome to sgforum. Anyway this forum is for everyone to share. I don't think u r asking stupid questions here. In fact im quite interested in what u had to say.
Btw im also curious in what kind of meditation did u practise?
"it is said that who is he who feels these feelings like joy and sadness."
and u drop tears.
U must have felt something moving ? Im guessing that u r not actually sure why u feel there way.. am i right here?
I could recommend a good book to read "Power of NOW" by Eckhart Tolle.
Refer to this thread about "time".
http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=105352 -
Wow cool! Welcome to this forum.. So I presume you have interest in mystical subjects (I can't read finnish but the document seems to be talking about mysticism?)Originally posted by nif:Yes I am finnish, this was the first board i found about buddhism. The experience wasn´t really "out of body" but something that cannot really be described with words . I just realized that the happines, (or the state of mind, the moment) that I then had was actually "me" and every moment is me and I change all the time. I don´t know what it was but it was fun.
huh u got that book also?Originally posted by Isis:Hello nif,
welcome to sgforum. Anyway this forum is for everyone to share. I don't think u r asking stupid questions here. In fact im quite interested in what u had to say.
Btw im also curious in what kind of meditation did u practise?
"it is said that who is he who feels these feelings like joy and sadness."
and u drop tears.
U must have felt something moving ? Im guessing that u r not actually sure why u feel there way.. am i right here?
I could recommend a good book to read "Power of NOW" by Eckhart Tolle.
Refer to this thread about "time".
http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=105352 -
nope.. but ur posting/advertisment in the sgforum already convinced me that it was already a good bookOriginally posted by An Eternal Now:huh u got that book also? -
Yes, there is only this ever-changingness and the so called "me" is only but this ever-changingnessOriginally posted by nif:Yes I am finnish, this was the first board i found about buddhism. The experience wasn´t really "out of body" but something that cannot really be described with words . I just realized that the happines, (or the state of mind, the moment) that I then had was actually "me" and every moment is me and I change all the time. I don´t know what it was but it was fun.. Meaning there is no permanent self.. and there is no self apart from the observed. In fact one can say, the whole notion of 'self' is an illusion.The Three Characteristics of Existence (Must read!)
There is more to this truth, and it relates to the third characteristic, no-self. We are caught up in this bizarre habit of assuming that there is an “I.” [b]Yet the definition of this seemingly permanent thing has to keep constantly changing to keep up the illusion in an impermanent world. This takes up a lot of mental time and is continually frustrating to the mind, as it takes so much constant work and effort. This process is called ignorance, i.e. the illusion of an “I” and thus that everything else is “not I.” -
okay.. mm but in buddhism.. there wasn't a individual "me"Originally posted by nif:Yes I am finnish, this was the first board i found about buddhism. The experience wasn´t really "out of body" but something that cannot really be described with words . I just realized that the happines, (or the state of mind, the moment) that I then had was actually "me" and every moment is me and I change all the time. I don´t know what it was but it was fun. -
Oh I see.. yes that book is indeed inspiring and transformativeOriginally posted by Isis:nope.. but ur posting/advertisment in the sgforum already convinced me that it was already a good book -
Regarding everchanginess and no-self, there is a good article by Toni Packer:
www.shambhalasun.com/Archives/Features/2002/May02/packer.htm
[/quote]
What is This Me?
by Toni Packer
Are we interested in exploring this amazing affair of ‘myself’ from moment to moment?
A somber day, isn't it? Dark, cloudy, cool, moist
and windy. Amazing, this whole affair of the weather!
We call it weather, but what is it really? Wind.
Rain. Clouds slowly parting. Not the words spoken about it, but just this
darkening, blowing, pounding and wetting, and then lightening up, blue sky
appearing amid darkness, and sunshine sparkling on wet grasses and leaves.
In a little while there'll be frost, snow and ice covers. And then warming
again, melting, oozing water everywhere. On an early spring day the dirt
road sparkles with streams of wet silver. So - what is weather other than this
incessant change of earthly conditions and all the human thoughts, feelings
and undertakings influenced by it? Like and dislike. Depression and elation.
Creation and destruction. An ongoing, ever-changing stream of happenings
abiding nowhere. No real entity weather exists anywhere except in thinking
and talking about it.
Now, is there such an entity as me or I? Or is it
just like the weather - an ongoing, ever-changing stream of ideas, images,
memories, projections, likes and dislikes, creation and destruction, that
thought keeps calling I, me, Toni, and thereby solidifying what is
evanescent? What am I really, truly, and what do I merely think and believe
I am?
Are we interested in exploring this amazing affair
of myself from moment to moment? Is this, maybe, the essence of this work?
Exploring ourselves attentively, beyond the peace and quiet that we are
seeking and maybe finding occasionally? Coming upon an amazing insight into
this deep sense of separation that we call me and other people, me and the
world, without any need to condemn or overcome?
Most human beings take it for granted that I am me,
and that me is this body, this mind, this knowledge and sense of myself that
feels so obviously distinct and separate from other people and from the
nature around us. The language in which we talk to ourselves and to each
other inevitably implies separate me's and you's all the time. All of us
talk I-and-you talk. We think it, write it, read it, and dream it with
rarely any pause. There is incessant reinforcement of the sense of me,
separate from others. Isolated, insulated me. Not understood by others. How
are we to come upon the truth if separateness is taken so much for granted,
feels so commonsense?.....
(please go to the website for the whole article -
All rightOriginally posted by Isis:okay.. mm but in buddhism.. there wasn't a individual "me". Im interested what is buddhism? A word?
My point tried to be that my individuality ="me" had become the feeling that I then had. (sorry Im bad at describing hard things in english) Perhaps that´s not buddhism either but I do not have an urge to become a buddhist . -
Hi and thanks!Originally posted by Isis:Hello nif,
welcome to sgforum. Anyway this forum is for everyone to share. I don't think u r asking stupid questions here. In fact im quite interested in what u had to say.
Btw im also curious in what kind of meditation did u practise?
"it is said that who is he who feels these feelings like joy and sadness."
and u drop tears.
U must have felt something moving ? Im guessing that u r not actually sure why u feel there way.. am i right here?
I could recommend a good book to read "Power of NOW" by Eckhart Tolle.
Refer to this thread about "time".
http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=105352
I have not practiced meditation except for a few times after I had read a book called "Zen" by Alan Watts, which I really didn´t thoroughly understand although it had some interesting stuff. Thanks for the recommendation I will check if they have it here where the sun seldom shines. -
Buddhism is founded on insights on the nature of reality, the founder is the Buddha, who was enlightened to the truth. And he teaches that everyone of us can realise the truth for ourselves.Originally posted by nif:All right. Im interested what is buddhism? A word?
My point tried to be that my individuality ="me" had become the feeling that I then had. (sorry Im bad at describing hard things in english) Perhaps that´s not buddhism either but I do not have an urge to become a buddhist .
Secondly I think I do understand what you are trying to say... the whole notion of self that seems to be separate from what one experiences is an illusion, and therefore there is no duality (of subject and object).
Do correct me if I misunderstood you. -
Alan Watts' books seems interesting and I have seen quite many recommended them. Although I have yet to check them out maybe I should...Originally posted by nif:Hi and thanks!
I have not practiced meditation except for a few times after I had read a book called "Zen" by Alan Watts, which I really didn´t thoroughly understand although it had some interesting stuff. Thanks for the recommendation I will check if they have it here where the sun seldom shines.
In regards to Buddhist insights, I am currently reading this book, it is free and available for download online:Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha:
I have posted certain parts I have just read, which I find very important, and hope you can take some time to read it (it's about 13 pages of the book altogether which I pasted): The Three Characteristics of Existence (Must read!)
http://www.interactivebuddha.com/Mastering%20Adobe%20Version.pdf (pdf version)
http://www.interactivebuddha.com/Mastering%20Word%20Version.doc (document format)
http://www.interactivebuddha.com (The website)
The author is very enlightened and I think that book is very suitable to serve as a guide to the understanding of the important teachings of the Buddha. Do enjoy reading Here's what I said about that chapter:One of the very core teachings of the Buddha about the nature of reality can be summarised in three points which are known as the Three Characteristics of Existence. When distinguishing whether a teaching is in accordance to the Buddhadharma (the teachings of the Buddha), whether it is true authentic Buddhist teachings, the 3 Dharma Seals serve as a very useful guideline. All true Buddhist teachings must be in accord with the 3 dharma seals. Why? Because the 3 dharma seals are the nature of reality, and if the teaching is not in accord with the nature of reality, it is falsehood. But not only that... the 3 Characteristics of Dharma is not only meant to be understood theoretically. The dharma seals must be directly experienced from moment to moment by all sincere practitioners, we must bear witness the Emptiness truth in action - the moment ceases as it arises, and there is no-self apart from this, and any identification of self, any sense of aversion and clinging, based on Ignorance, is Suffering.
Eckhart Tolle's book is also great, but his emphasize is more about living in the present moment, not so much about the ultimate nature of reality. Oh and I believe they have it in Finland, in fact there is a Finnish translation of The Power of Now
When Buddhism talk about Emptiness, it can also be understood in terms of the Three Characteristic of Existence, because of these Three Characteristics, all things are devoid of inherent, permanent, solid existence. Emptiness is the ultimate nature of all things and is essential for all Buddhists to not only understand it, but intuitively, directly experience this in every moment. This leads to freedom. Fully realising it is Enlightenment.
I shall share some very well written articles on the Three Dharma Seals, written by a modern Arhat (a person who has attained Enlightenment, Nirvana, and freedom from the samsaric cycles of birth and death), known as Dharma Dan. It is so essential that I think every Buddhist practitioner, insight meditators, but not only Vipassana - even if you do zazen, etc (there's something on that later) should take some time to read it. Enjoy. -
i seeOriginally posted by nif:All right. Im interested what is buddhism? A word?
My point tried to be that my individuality ="me" had become the feeling that I then had. (sorry Im bad at describing hard things in english) Perhaps that´s not buddhism either but I do not have an urge to become a buddhist .
Glad that u r having some insight there. -
"The three existence" is an interesting read.. as strongly recommended by AEN.
Since u r doing meditation, u might be interested in what it had to say.
Good luck in ur spiritual path.
------------------------------------------ [it seems discontinued and so i add a line here]
I agreed with longchen words.
Sometime there is need for a balance.
aso my opinion here. -
my suggestion is for u ,AEN ,go learn finnish ,scandinavian and other norway languageOriginally posted by An Eternal Now:huh u got that book also?
welcome nif
here is the hotbed of buddhist discussion in singapore
the tropical and hot island in South east asia -
nif ,use finnish ,dun worry , i will use babel to try to understand what u saidOriginally posted by nif:All right. Im interested what is buddhism? A word?
My point tried to be that my individuality ="me" had become the feeling that I then had. (sorry Im bad at describing hard things in english) Perhaps that´s not buddhism either but I do not have an urge to become a buddhist . -
As if you can learn Finnish on the fly....Originally posted by bohiruci:nif ,use finnish ,dun worry , i will use babel to try to understand what u said
Don't crack up if you don't get the meaning...