One needn't imagine Sisyphus...
One needn't imagine Sisyphus...
32 comments
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It's not endless.
Thankfully death exists.
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I never thought of it that way. That's kind of nice.
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Bad meme but I'm upvoting anyway because it introduced me to the historymemes comm and that makes me happy. Thank.
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Looking at the Community rules, I don't see 'no Buddhism' so let's go
- life is suffering
- Suffering comes from attachment, craving, and ignorance, particularly craving for things that are impermanent
- Suffering can be overcome by eliminating the causes of suffering, specifically by extinguishing craving and attachment
- There's a whole step by step program for doing that which they say leads to the end of suffering
I've been working this program for a while and it seems pretty effective. I started with the question "what do you do when you want something you know you just can't have?" The only real answer I could come up with was to let go of wanting it. That led down the rabbit hole and now I'm typing out the four noble truths on a lemmy memes community.
To be honest, though, it's probably the most difficult task I've ever set out to achieve. So, yeah, there's no easy fix.
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I think it WOULD be pretty fucking funny if a community had an "Absolutely NO Buddhism" rule.
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life is suffering
Bro so true
Suffering comes from attachment, craving, and ignorance, particularly craving for things that are impermanent
How does neurological pain that is chronic and beyond apparent medical remedy fit into that categorization?
Suffering can be overcome by eliminating the causes of suffering
That seems tautological? But just axe my whole damn sensory receptors please
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Buddhism has no prescription for physical pain. There's no 'ending bodily pain' type of meditation that I'm aware of. There are some more advanced types of meditation where you stop feeling bodily sensations, but that only lasts while you are doing the meditation. Apparently the Buddha himself suffered back pain after his own awakening. There are prominent present day Buddhist monastics dealing with pain every day. But the Buddha taught that the physical pain is only part of the story. What we do with the pain in our own minds can make it a source of anguish or not. A complete answer would deserve more than a comment on lemmy. But it would probably point toward how claiming the pain as me or mine just makes it worse. And how learning to observe it as a thing that's happening but it isn't me leads toward a more peaceful relationship with it. Getting there would take time and effort, but it is a thing that you can learn about.
That seems tautological?
It would be if there weren't competing explanations. But in the Buddha's time there were many philosophies of life to choose from. Some taught that your fate was written in the stars and you had no control. Some taught that karma was a substance that stuck to your soul and you had to burn it off with austerities. Some taught life had no meaning and everything about you was annihilated at death, so be a hedonist. Etc., etc. The main message the Buddha taught was your actions matter. You are in control of your fate. The suffering you experience is the result of your own choices, intentions and actions, and because of that you can make different choices and end your suffering. The four noble truths are just a condensed version of that idea
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How does neurological pain that is chronic and beyond apparent medical remedy fit into that categorization?
You did something fucked up in a past life I guess. ยฏ(ใ)/ยฏ
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How does neurological pain that is chronic and beyond apparent medical remedy fit into that categorization?
Karma, something holding you back from the past, I guess.
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Wait! Am I a buddhist without even knowing it?
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It sure is a tricky one. Going down that path is counter-productive to achieving the things you want (obviously) so it's hard to convince yourself to do it. But also wanting to eliminate the suffering could be considered a craving as well, which just causes more suffering. I've taken few steps down that path, then a few back. Not sure where I stand now, but even those few steps can give some relief
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It has its nice moments
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That's when you're walking downhill to get the boulder again
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It didn't have to be, but somewhere along the line we fucked up and fucked up bad.
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It wouldn't HAVE to be endless suffering if it wasn't for the majority of people living their lives for reasons besides than to be happy.
Making society and life in general more difficult just because "it brings us closer to God" is the wrong way to run things and always has been.
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Always will be
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So, maybe the people expecting life to not be suffering are the mad ones.
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Never has been.
There is meaning in the endless toil, one can find peace in knowing that the boulder will never reach the top. Let go of expecting a reward for reaching the top, and appreciate the rewards in pushing the boulder.
32 comments