Originally Posted by Ginsan
Your sense of well-being can be detached from everything, you can be at peace regardless of what's happening in the world. But that doesn't make you unable to care for others, you can try to make the world a better place without being tormented by huge amounts of empathy.
Well said good sir!
"And who's to say a life continuously filled with such moments is any less fulfilling than a life without them?" I think that this is your main point, am I right? Ofcourse a life continuously filled with such moments is great, it's better than the lives of the vast majority of people. But if you are depending on things like music, friendship, health, sex, taking a walk while holding hands with your lover, you are in trouble. Because the moment those things are taken away from you, or that possibility exists, you are threatened. Every time the things that you enjoy are taken away from you, you become less happy. When a friend dies, when you get ill, when a relationship falls apart, or even when any of these things are about to happen, you are grieved, you become frustrated and you lose your peace of mind. But this is not necessary, you can have a peace of mind, while enjoying these things, but you do not have to become attached to them. It does not have to disturb your peace of mind when you lose something that makes you happy. You only need to observe your mind and see for yourself that these pleasures are transient and depending on them will inevitably cause you unhappiness.
Vince, did I get it right?
Man, you really hit the nail on the head Ginsan. Thank you for compensating for my laziness by elaborating on these points. I was trying to avoid a drawn out debate, but it seems you've taken care of business!
Originally Posted by Ginsan
Vince, with all due respect, I would like to point out that that's a cop out. You like to improve yourself, right? You could have tried to rephrase your arguments, maybe you can plant a seed for spiritual interest in him. I see this as a challenge to my ability to explain my view more clearly. If I can't, I'm either wrong, or I am just bad at explaining things.
I know, I copped out. I've been down this road before many times, and more times than not, it just leads to me repeating myself and others maintaining their original viewpoint. You can only rephrase so many times before you're just wasting everyone's time. I do believe it is important to plant these "spiritual seeds" as you say, and I believe my original statements did just this, even though they were met with resistance. I'm not sure if your elaboration will make a difference, and if it does, that is awesome. Personally, I've reached a point where I have little interest in pushing my views beyond providing a clear explanation. Take it or leave it. Being content with others expressing doubt or disagreement with my perspective has proven to be extremely liberating. Of course, I try to help when I believe my advice may be of use, but letting go of the need to measure up to the scrutiny of others is a giant leap in the right direction in terms of cultivating genuine peace and happiness. This does not mean the questions and doubts of others are ignored or suppressed, it simply means they are allowed to disagree and the ego doesn't feel the need to prove itself.
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