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Some people are obsessive seekers. Of riches. Of a calling. Of enlightenment. Of whatever: "If only I had ___, then I'd be happy." My take on Zen Buddhism is

Some people are obsessive seekers. Of riches. Of a calling. Of enlightenment. Of whatever: "If only I had ___, then I'd be happy." My take on Zen Buddhism is that it's engineered to fix that problem. You need X to be happy? Great, let's get you X. Get up at 4 AM and sit quietly. Cook food. Clean dishes. Try to solve nonsense puzzles. Eventually you'll suffer a mild mental breakdown and achieve a realization -- the enlightenment that there is no enlightenment outside you to be found. And anyway, in the meantime at least you'll be focused on quiet activities, not bothering the rest of us. ;)

sliverstorm 13y ago
For me, the seeking is the happiness ;)
- gte910h 13y ago
  http://sourcesofinsight.com/synthetic-happiness/ http://sourcesofinsight.com/synthetic-happiness/ Apparently even the seeking isn't necessary
GuiA 13y ago
Huh, I'm confused by your 2nd paragraph. Are you saying that zen buddhism will make you get X to be happy, get up at 4am, etc. and then suffer a mild breakdown? Could you rephrase what you meant? I'm legitimately confused :(
- 6cxs2hd6 13y ago
  I meant that you show up at a monastery and say, "Hello, I'm here to be enlightened!" They say, "Yeah, we get that a lot. Well, we can help you with that. Let's start by having you get up early tomorrow morning and cooking some rice." Then they channel all your seeking-enlightenment energy into other activities, until you hopefully someday realize there ain't any such thing. But perhaps that realization is another sort of "enlightenment". I speak from no significant direct experience. I'm just pointing at the moon with my finger. :)
  - goldenkey 13y ago
    I never thought of it that way. Your comment has enlightened me, funny enough. :-)
  - GuiA 13y ago
    Ha, Ok. In the context of the monastery it makes sense. Thanks!
- delluminatus 13y ago
  I read it as saying that "enlightenment" of Zen Buddhism is at heart a deep surrendering. This can only come from within yourself. So, the practice is not designed to teach, but instead to simply facilitate that surrender by exacerbating the issues that contribute to it. The carrot of "enlightenment" is dangled before you until, finally, you say, "fuck that carrot, I'm tired of chasing things". Then you are enlightened. :) In a way, I like to think of it as aversion therapy applied to hopes and expectations.

sliverstorm 13y ago

For me, the seeking is the happiness ;)

gte910h 13y ago
http://sourcesofinsight.com/synthetic-happiness/ http://sourcesofinsight.com/synthetic-happiness/ Apparently even the seeking isn't necessary

GuiA 13y ago

Huh, I'm confused by your 2nd paragraph. Are you saying that zen buddhism will make you get X to be happy, get up at 4am, etc. and then suffer a mild breakdown? Could you rephrase what you meant? I'm legitimately confused :(

6cxs2hd6 13y ago
I meant that you show up at a monastery and say, "Hello, I'm here to be enlightened!" They say, "Yeah, we get that a lot. Well, we can help you with that. Let's start by having you get up early tomorrow morning and cooking some rice." Then they channel all your seeking-enlightenment energy into other activities, until you hopefully someday realize there ain't any such thing. But perhaps that realization is another sort of "enlightenment". I speak from no significant direct experience. I'm just pointing at the moon with my finger. :)
- goldenkey 13y ago
  I never thought of it that way. Your comment has enlightened me, funny enough. :-)
- GuiA 13y ago
  Ha, Ok. In the context of the monastery it makes sense. Thanks!
delluminatus 13y ago
I read it as saying that "enlightenment" of Zen Buddhism is at heart a deep surrendering. This can only come from within yourself. So, the practice is not designed to teach, but instead to simply facilitate that surrender by exacerbating the issues that contribute to it. The carrot of "enlightenment" is dangled before you until, finally, you say, "fuck that carrot, I'm tired of chasing things". Then you are enlightened. :) In a way, I like to think of it as aversion therapy applied to hopes and expectations.