“People are strange when you're a strangerFaces look ugly when you're alone
Women seem wicked when you're unwanted
Streets are uneven when you're down . . .”
We had to turn on comment monitoring on the blog because someone turns out "not to be a civilized human being". And said some slanderous and rude things.
So is the human race. See my cynicism entry.
Our challenge is not to turn into these kinds of people, and that is very hard for me. I am learning.
It’s about finding my place in the world. I’ve struggled and probably will continue to struggle with that. Asking myself “what function do I serve?” … “Is the world better off with or without me?” ... or as I suspect, the world really doesn’t care. If that’s the case then I should just get over myself.
It’s desire. Buddha (or one of his many students ) said it best: “But when one masters this wretched desire, which is so hard to overcome, then one's sorrows just drop off, like a drop of water off a lotus.”
Until then .. there will be suffering. Shed the desire. Shed the suffering.
I’m at another philosophical turning point in my life. But I can’t see around the corner I’m about to turn on.
"It isn't the things that
ReplyDeletehappen to us in our lives that cause
us to suffer, it's how we relate to
the things that happen to us that
causes us to suffer."
--Pema Chödrön