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The Mystical Musings of AmeVirupa

Discussion in 'Self Improvement' started by AmeVirupa, Dec 25, 2015.

  1. AmeVirupa

    AmeVirupa Fapstronaut

    I wanted to write a personal interpretation and adaptation of “The Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind to Dharma (Truth)” which are four contemplations that are encouraged in the (Tibetan) Buddhist tradition in order to find lasting happiness in life.
    Generally we are advised to contemplate these at least once a day in the morning but they are really meant as guidelines throughout every aspect and moment of our lives.

    Today I wanted to start with the first one but in writing about it I think I pretty much touched on all four of them already so I might write about the other ones in the future or I might just leave it at this.

    I really believe that these contemplations are valuable for everyone, no matter what religious or non-religious affiliation we might have and I hope that my writing about them brings benefit to all of us.

    Enjoy!


    The Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind to Truth.


    1. Our human life is precious.

    Why? Not because it affords us an opportunity to experience some momentary pleasures once in a while. Not because it allows us to chase pleasure after pleasure after pleasure, never finding fulfillment.
    This endless pursuit of pleasure is an option of course but so is the pursuit of happiness.

    Our human life is precious and our time is valuable because in this life we all have a great opportunity and that is the opportunity to break free from the shackles of this vicious cycle of endlessly trying to pleasure ourselves in an infinite variety of ways without ever finding lasting satisfaction.
    The opportunity to use our valuable time instead to be of service to others, to all living beings.

    Our human life is precious because we all have the capacity for love, compassion and selflessness and with this human life we have the opportunity to actualize that capacity and that way actually find happiness and fulfillment ourselves.

    For I truly believe it is as one of my teachers, Garchen Rinpoche, says: “(Unconditional) love and compassion are the root of happiness. Self-grasping is the root of suffering.”

    It is in this basic goodness that fulfillment lies. In the endless chase of pleasuring the ego there can never be fulfillment because all our pleasures are only temporary. Only in the inexhaustible store of love and compassion, which is our true nature, can we find true fulfillment in our endless rejoicing in the wellbeing of others and our endless ability to bring this wellbeing to others.

    We all have a good heart beating in our chest but many of us build impenetrable fortresses around it. We lock it in vault within vault within vault trying to protect it from being broken. So fearful we might lose our footing in this unstable world.

    But when we bring about this unconditional love and compassion, break through our self imposed barriers, break through and transcend our ego and selfishness, when we let the whole thing fall apart in a deep sigh of recognition that we are all stuck in this cycle of dissatisfaction and let our heart break open completely, we discover we never had anything to protect at all. There is bliss.
    In this raw heart of profound sadness for the world is unexpected bliss and this bliss is the bliss of unconditional love and compassion. In this life we have the opportunity to discover this bliss for ourselves and THAT is why it is precious.

    In this life we have many opportunities. Many options are available to us. There are endless experiences to pursue but one thing is for sure: We are going to die and we don’t know when.

    So we have a choice, we can choose to keep chasing temporary pleasures thinking one of these days we’re going to find some sort of paradoxical lasting temporary pleasure, chasing, chasing, chasing until one day we die unfulfilled.

    Or, we can give this whole wild chase up and let the whole search for pleasure and even happiness fall apart in this great heartbreak of unconditional love, compassion, surrender and selflessness and miraculously, in this giving up of one’s own happiness for the happiness of others, THERE is lasting happiness. God is good after all.

    We can do this TODAY and find perfect fulfillment today for we might die today. This is the way to die without regret. Because in this heartbreak, in this great giving up of ourselves, of all our hopes and fears, in this sacrifice of our ego, we forgive ourselves of all our flaws and past transgressions and the boundary between sinner and saint dissolves in this ever present timeless moment of unconditional love, compassion and surrender.

    This doesn’t mean we have to give up all our dreams necessarily. It merely means we have to live life in a constant appreciation of its transitory nature, of the fact that things are always changing and can change at every moment. Our dreams might not come true, we might die today, we cannot find lasting satisfaction in experiences that are always subject to change.

    But we can continue on living with a sense of humor, having given up on the idea of a lasting happiness we have to find somewhere out there, understanding that everything can fall apart at any moment, that in fact it does and that in fact it was never not apart.

    We can continue living, not taking things too seriously, continually letting it all fall apart in the deep surrender of unconditional love and compassion. Then when death finally comes we won’t struggle for another moment to chase our delusion of a happiness out there, we’ll just let it all fall apart, as we have been letting it all fall apart, and in this heart of sadness, of deep love and compassion there will be bliss, as we’ll have always experienced bliss.

    Rumi said “Our death is our wedding with eternity.” and this kind of death will surely be that. We will join the eternal love and bliss that is the basic goodness within all living things and there will be peace and fulfillment, in life and in death.
     
  2. What a meditation. Well done Heir
     
    AmeVirupa likes this.
  3. AmeVirupa

    AmeVirupa Fapstronaut

    Thanks a lot! That's what I was going for. Maybe I'll try to write something more practical next time but then again, love and compassion ARE practical (with a bit of practice). :D

    I think this thread will have some more mystical musings in the future though so don't forget to tune in! :D
     
  4. Looking forward to more delightfully mind warming musings my jolly good sir!
     
    AmeVirupa likes this.

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