My sister asked me to write a few things about myself, so I decided to add a short essay summing up my thoughts post vipassana. They are as follows...
…the path of “enlightenment”…
“Everything is temporary.”
~ The Buddha
It has been said by many great thinkers in history that the most important thing in life is; life itself. It seems very obvious to the analytical reader or the philosophical debater, but those with the true understanding of life are those with the experiential understanding of what life is, and more importantly, isn’t. This experiential understanding is symmetrically similar to intellectual understanding, but one must balance the two; total equilibrium of mind over matter and vice versa. Like any other important force, concept, or theory in the universe, the analytical understanding of the value of life must coincide, and be perfectly balanced with, the effort and discipline of actually living the life that you so passionately read, write, and talk about. It may be cliché, but if you talk the talk you must walk the walk. People can see right through a person who tries to mold themselves around their own sense of identity, but if you don’t live that identity, if you only cling to the idea that this is how “you” want to be, you never really find the person that you so desperately yearn to explore. It’s almost like playing cover songs in a band your entire life. In the beginning you’re young and reckless and you feel like you have plenty of time to conquer the music biz writing your own music. But, the truth is, by age fifty you’re playing the same covers and still hoping to write that hit song. You can never write the song if you don’t pick up the pen. You’ll never write the song if your main focus is someone else’s song. Be yourself and no one else.
“Everything is temporary.”
~ The Buddha
It has been said by many great thinkers in history that the most important thing in life is; life itself. It seems very obvious to the analytical reader or the philosophical debater, but those with the true understanding of life are those with the experiential understanding of what life is, and more importantly, isn’t. This experiential understanding is symmetrically similar to intellectual understanding, but one must balance the two; total equilibrium of mind over matter and vice versa. Like any other important force, concept, or theory in the universe, the analytical understanding of the value of life must coincide, and be perfectly balanced with, the effort and discipline of actually living the life that you so passionately read, write, and talk about. It may be cliché, but if you talk the talk you must walk the walk. People can see right through a person who tries to mold themselves around their own sense of identity, but if you don’t live that identity, if you only cling to the idea that this is how “you” want to be, you never really find the person that you so desperately yearn to explore. It’s almost like playing cover songs in a band your entire life. In the beginning you’re young and reckless and you feel like you have plenty of time to conquer the music biz writing your own music. But, the truth is, by age fifty you’re playing the same covers and still hoping to write that hit song. You can never write the song if you don’t pick up the pen. You’ll never write the song if your main focus is someone else’s song. Be yourself and no one else.
1 comment:
Interesting take on lessons learned from vipassana. Albeit thick with philosophical jargon, I think I catch your drift. Be yourself.
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