One Bit of Philosophical Wisdom

Hmm... I'll have to think on this, I've a fee things ideas tumbling about in the ol' brain pan. Good topic!

Yea...I'm with River on this one. Let me get back to you about this. Definitely a great topic!

Ok, I think I'm gonna go with the story of Buddha inviting Mara to tea. Here's my paraphrasing:

So Buddha was chillin', being Buddha, but this demon Mara wouldn't leave him alone. Buddha tried all sorts of fighting him off and ignoring him and the silent treatment and all kinds of meditations and stuff, but Mara (who is sometimes called Temptation) just kept showing up. Even after Buddha became enlightened, Mara would come around sometimes. One day Buddha's like "Ya know what? Fine. If he's gonna be here, he might as well really be here." So he had some really nice tea prepared and some sweet silk sitting cushions strewn around, and probably some finger sandwiches and a Battenburg or something. So Buddha and Mara, light and dark, sit down and spend a nice afternoon talking story and getting to know ow one another. After that, Mara still came around, but there was never any fighting or anything; he and Buddha just politely acknowledged each other, worked out anything that needed working out, and went on their different ways until they ran into one another again.

This parable taught me a lot about how things that feel "bad" are great teachers, and how it's ok to be uncomfortable and have difficult stuff going on. In fact, adding the extra layer of fighting your duality just adds an extra layer of discomfort. Life is a cycle of cycles: you have to accept all of it to really get any of it. And that's ok.

No wait, I thought of one that's affected me more fundamentally. So fundamentally that I forgot it was a thing, heh.

So, most people believe we humans operate in a Stimulus-Response system. Something happens, and we respond. You hit me and I get angry.

But really, we operate in a Stimulus-Belief-Response system. Something happens, we have a belief about it, and that informs our response. For example: the other day it rained in my city. I was sad, because I'd planned a walk in the park with my dog that was now not possible. My brother was happy; he was going to have to water his garden but now nature had done it for him. My brother and I had the exact same neutral stimulus (the rain) but had two different beliefs about what it meant for is and therefore two totally different responses.

The fun part is, it's possible to dig up the beliefs you have, examine them, and change then if you like. And that, in turn, changes your responses.