It might be helpful to make a distinction between “pain” and “suffering” in this context. Pain is inevitable; suffering is in part determined by how we react to the pain.
There are probably a few ways you can reduce your reaction to pain, but I think changing or reframing your reaction is more the goal (again, at least in this context) than eliminating a reaction entirely. Buddhism is one framework out of many where people work skillfully with the desire that surrounds pleasure and pain - every breath I take is fulfilling an inevitable need, but I don’t need to be controlled by a resistance born of the idea that I won’t always be breathing, or an attachment to the idea of breathing for the rest of all eternity.
There are definitely people, particularly some western buddhists, who are similarly controlled by a desire to become completely free of the emotions and needs that encompass the human experience - within their own framework, this desire feeds their suffering.
Well I think maybe the first issue is, what do you mean when you say "buddhist?" Because there's a whole lot of different strains and traiditions of buddhist thought, and not all of them agree with each other. Is there any specific tendency whose ideas don't sit well with you?
Well, the way I've learned, it's not so much about avoiding desire as about learning to let go of attachment to the things we desire.
Imagine someone tells you that they're going to give you a chocolate cake. Chocolate cake is good! It's good to enjoy it. But if you spend all day fixating on the cake before you eat it, if you wish for more cake after it's gone, if you compare all subsequent chocolate cakes in your life to that one, then how much suffering have you endured because of your attachment to the cake?
There are ascetics in buddhist-majority regions that beg as a form of meditation, with the goal of letting go of ego and attachment to desire. If they are given food or money, great. If they aren't?
Nah, no worries. I'm just doing a bit because I saw OP do another Buddhism thread a few days back and didn't chime in. I hope they're not actuallly calling anyone specific out, because this seems like a pretty esoteric fight to want to pick.
Am I being called out? Jeeze. Hey Ma, the internet's mad at me again.
No I don't know what I did!
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All I do is rake leaves, sit zazen, eat tofu and lie
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It might be helpful to make a distinction between “pain” and “suffering” in this context. Pain is inevitable; suffering is in part determined by how we react to the pain.
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There are probably a few ways you can reduce your reaction to pain, but I think changing or reframing your reaction is more the goal (again, at least in this context) than eliminating a reaction entirely. Buddhism is one framework out of many where people work skillfully with the desire that surrounds pleasure and pain - every breath I take is fulfilling an inevitable need, but I don’t need to be controlled by a resistance born of the idea that I won’t always be breathing, or an attachment to the idea of breathing for the rest of all eternity.
There are definitely people, particularly some western buddhists, who are similarly controlled by a desire to become completely free of the emotions and needs that encompass the human experience - within their own framework, this desire feeds their suffering.
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Well I think maybe the first issue is, what do you mean when you say "buddhist?" Because there's a whole lot of different strains and traiditions of buddhist thought, and not all of them agree with each other. Is there any specific tendency whose ideas don't sit well with you?
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Well, the way I've learned, it's not so much about avoiding desire as about learning to let go of attachment to the things we desire.
Imagine someone tells you that they're going to give you a chocolate cake. Chocolate cake is good! It's good to enjoy it. But if you spend all day fixating on the cake before you eat it, if you wish for more cake after it's gone, if you compare all subsequent chocolate cakes in your life to that one, then how much suffering have you endured because of your attachment to the cake?
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There are ascetics in buddhist-majority regions that beg as a form of meditation, with the goal of letting go of ego and attachment to desire. If they are given food or money, great. If they aren't?
Also great.
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Nah, no worries. I'm just doing a bit because I saw OP do another Buddhism thread a few days back and didn't chime in. I hope they're not actuallly calling anyone specific out, because this seems like a pretty esoteric fight to want to pick.
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