More paramitas
May. 14th, 2025 08:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mickiThe other three paramitas are exertion, meditation, and wisdom.
"When we begin to practice exertion, we see that sometimes we can do it and sometimes we can't. The question becomes, how do we connect with inspiration? How do we connect with the spark and joy that's available in every moment? Exertion is not like pushing ourselves. It's not a project to complete or erase we have to win. It's like waking up on a cold, so we did in a mountain cabin ready to go for a walk but knowing that first you have to get out of bed and make a fire. You'd rather stay in the cozy bed, but you jump out and make the fire because the brightness of the day in front of you is bigger than staying in the bed...
"If we really knew how unhappy it was making this whole planet that we all tried to avoid pain and seek pleasure- how that was making us so miserable and cutting us off from our basic heart and our basic intelligence- then we would practice meditation as if our hair were on fire. We would practice as if a big snake had just landed in our lap. There wouldn't be any question of thinking we had a lot of time and we could do this later....
"When we sit down to meditate, we can connect with something unconditional- a state of mind, a basic environment that does not grasp or reject anything. Meditation is probably the only activity that doesn't add anything to the picture. Everything is allowed to come and go without further embellishment. Meditation is a totally nonviolent non aggressive occupation. Not filling the space, allowing for the possibility of connecting with unconditional openness- this provides the basis for real change period you might say this is setting ourselves a task that is almost impossible. Maybe that is true. But on the other hand, the more we sit with this impossibility, the more we find it's always possible after all."
"When we begin to practice exertion, we see that sometimes we can do it and sometimes we can't. The question becomes, how do we connect with inspiration? How do we connect with the spark and joy that's available in every moment? Exertion is not like pushing ourselves. It's not a project to complete or erase we have to win. It's like waking up on a cold, so we did in a mountain cabin ready to go for a walk but knowing that first you have to get out of bed and make a fire. You'd rather stay in the cozy bed, but you jump out and make the fire because the brightness of the day in front of you is bigger than staying in the bed...
"If we really knew how unhappy it was making this whole planet that we all tried to avoid pain and seek pleasure- how that was making us so miserable and cutting us off from our basic heart and our basic intelligence- then we would practice meditation as if our hair were on fire. We would practice as if a big snake had just landed in our lap. There wouldn't be any question of thinking we had a lot of time and we could do this later....
"When we sit down to meditate, we can connect with something unconditional- a state of mind, a basic environment that does not grasp or reject anything. Meditation is probably the only activity that doesn't add anything to the picture. Everything is allowed to come and go without further embellishment. Meditation is a totally nonviolent non aggressive occupation. Not filling the space, allowing for the possibility of connecting with unconditional openness- this provides the basis for real change period you might say this is setting ourselves a task that is almost impossible. Maybe that is true. But on the other hand, the more we sit with this impossibility, the more we find it's always possible after all."
Thoughts
Date: 2025-05-14 07:09 pm (UTC)That's a good example of leveraging motivation.
>> "If we really knew how unhappy it was making this whole planet that we all tried to avoid pain and seek pleasure- how that was making us so miserable and cutting us off from our basic heart and our basic intelligence- then we would practice meditation as if our hair were on fire. <<
Distress tolerance is a necessary life skill. It can help you access resources and experiences that are not available to those easily daunted. But it has a risk, which is that people may tolerate distress that should NOT be tolerated. A lot of people in positions of power encourage this problem.
The best description I've seen is rock problems vs. clay problems. A rock problem is something you cannot change, or at least, changing it is unfeasible. So you need other coping skills such as distress tolerance, meditation, distraction, etc. to deal with that. A clay problem is something you can and should change. Tolerating it is typically bad for you. So you need different coping skills for that kind of problem.
>>"When we sit down to meditate, we can connect with something unconditional- a state of mind, a basic environment that does not grasp or reject anything.<<
That's one approach, particularly in Buddhist meditation. There are others, and one thing I like about meditation is how there are dozens of methods. So if someone says they hate meditation or can't do it, I ask what they tried, and whether they have tried these other 20 or so methods. There's something for almost everyone.
>>But on the other hand, the more we sit with this impossibility, the more we find it's always possible after all."<<
<3 six impossible things before breakfast.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-15 01:14 am (UTC)