The idea of samsara...and the idea that even thinking about it is extremely negative

[z00se]

I guess the intention is very important in this case. If you want to go to nirvana by yourself, you're unlikely to succeed. However if you want to bring your loved ones into nirvana as well, why not give it a try?

 

If you bring your loved one there, and they bring someone else there, one by one, eventually the most human race would be there.

 

But you have to save yourself first, if you can't save yourself, you can't save anyone else.

 

Maybe our ancestors suffered and endured so much with hope some one would find the way and lead them into nirvana. Please don't give up. Everyone has the potential.

 

I don't think you can bring anyone else to nivana, only yourself. It's very easy to be in nivana for a very short time, but to live there is difficult i think. When you blink, the split second that my eyelids raise i feel like i am in nivana. If i flicker them up and down i can get more of a feel of it. Anyone can do that.

[skydog]

cheers all

[zanshin]

I guess the intention is very important in this case. If you want to go to nirvana by yourself, you're unlikely to succeed. However if you want to bring your loved ones into nirvana as well, why not give it a try?

 

If you bring your loved one there, and they bring someone else there, one by one, eventually the most human race would be there.

 

But you have to save yourself first, if you can't save yourself, you can't save anyone else.

 

Maybe our ancestors suffered and endured so much with hope some one would find the way and lead them into nirvana. Please don't give up. Everyone has the potential.

 

You can do it in Mormonism. You can get your ancestors recorded in something and then they can get into heaven, don't remember the details. It involves money.

 

I'm sure I sounded cynical and you're trying to be lovely and encouraging. I really do think an attitude of going through life thinking it is all something to suffer and endure with the only hope that there might be an escape to something better is pretty dismal and depressing. First of all we don't really know what's beyond this life, if we did there wouldn't be all these different ideas and religions. Maybe it's scary to think we might not be able to control our eventual fate which for 99.999% is going to be death and then maybe whatever is next, if anything. We can control our attitude right now. Life isn't perfect, but it has can have some perfect parts. Even suffering itself can be beautiful, it can bring wisdom and temper people's souls.

[johndoe2012]

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Edited August 18, 2013 by chris d

[hydrogen]

You can do it in Mormonism. You can get your ancestors recorded in something and then they can get into heaven, don't remember the details. It involves money.

 

I'm sure I sounded cynical and you're trying to be lovely and encouraging. I really do think an attitude of going through life thinking it is all something to suffer and endure with the only hope that there might be an escape to something better is pretty dismal and depressing.

 

Then you should live your life cheerfully every day.

 

Mormonism? Money? must be false. Why does God need earthly money?

 

I used to be a very cynical person. I'm still not sure I'm fully recorvered from depression. But I'm totally convinced that the water ripple effect is real. It's so cliche in Zen that I'm sure you know the stone thrown into pond metaphor. Your thought now effect your future.

 

Karma is truth. I have a different version of karma. I believe we're engineered. One of the engineer design principle is feed-back system. All our outpout will eventually feed back to ourselves as input. Your thought, your emotion, your speech and your act will come back to you.

 

If you're a programmer, then you know the saying "garbage in, garbage out." I believe the other way is true as well "garbage out, garbage in." If we continue the cycle of "garbage in, garbage out, garbage in, garbage out...", we'll stuck in the vicious cycle forever.

 

 

We have to wise up and do something different. Our goal is to be able to do "garbage in, fetilizer out." Then we will start a positive cycle "fetilizer in, fruits out", "fruits in, happiness out.", "happiness in, love out".

 

The old metaphor is "lead to gold" in innner alchemy. I'm not saying anything new, just different phrase.

 

The more awareness you have, the clearer you can see the cause-effect feed back loop. It's as true as gravity. You can't change the system. You have to work with it.

 

Buddha said "It is better to travel well than to arrive."

 

Jesus said "Live life in joy and welcome death in peace."

 

Lao Tzu said "Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belogns to you."

 

So I don't where you get the idea "it is all something to suffer and endure with the only hope that there might be an escape to something better".

Edited December 11, 2012 by hydrogen

[zanshin]

Buddha said "It is better to travel well than to arrive." So I don't where you get the idea "it is all something to suffer and endure with the only hope that there might be an escape to something better".

 

"Maybe our ancestors suffered and endured so much with hope some one would find the way and lead them into nirvana."- from you, post 25.

 

Mostly we might agree, but I did not like that line at all. I feel it diminishes the experience of grand old folks who had some bad times as we all do, but also had some fun along the way and loved deeply. I've probably already done a whole lot better than I deserve, lucky me in samsara, right now, not overly concerned with getting.