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True, it's not a great example-- I honestly think the author has missed the point of the exercise. "We might be down for thirty minutes" is not actually that ba
by Cushman 15y ago
True, it's not a great example-- I honestly think the author has missed the point of the exercise. "We might be down for thirty minutes" is not actually that bad of a thing, as you point out; he's just practicing avoidance, which is not the path to happiness.
However, Buddhist mindfulness really does predict that the only way to be happy is to contemplate, and accept, your most secret and horrific fears. Try, "No matter how hard I work, what I make will eventually fail and be replaced." Or maybe "Everyone and everything I love will die and be utterly forgotten in a few hundred years."
This is, in fact, practicing happiness. It seems absurd, but if you can't be happy and productive while accepting these thoughts, you weren't ever really happy; just in denial.
- grannyg00se 15y ago"Everyone and everything I love will die and be utterly forgotten in a few hundred years." That one isn't really that bad though. Unless you are obsessed with leaving some kind of significant mark on humanity. For most of us, what is remembered and forgotten in a few hundred years is hardly relevant since we will be dead.
- itmag 15y agoIt seems absurd, but if you can't be happy and productive while accepting these thoughts, you weren't ever really happy; just in denial. Sure, acceptance can lead to happiness. It can also lead to madness. For an example of "dark buddhism", see Thomas Ligotti's "The Conspiracy against the Human Race". http://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Against-Human-Race-Contrivance/dp/098242969X http://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Against-Human-Race-Contriva...