Prompt #3

“Do you ever wonder what happens when one dies ?”

“No, I just know there’s something good one”

“So sure of yourself, then why don’t you go there ? I’ll be the one to help you get there - free of charge,”

I was doing some research into Buddhism, and hit upon a revelation that I had to share with all of you real quick!

In the West, we tend to view Buddhism as being inherently contradictory.  “How can it be a pursuit of joy when all of life is suffering, and we need to practice non-attachment to escape it?”

This is due, in part, to a mistranslation of Sanskrit terms, which do not have an exact equivalent in English. When we translate dukkha as “suffering,” it would perhaps be more accurate to say “unsatisfactoriness.” The Buddha taught that our misconceptions lead us to find life to be pervasively filled with a sense of wrongness and dissatisfaction.

What is the biggest misconception, the biggest “ignorance,” then? That is that we exist as an individual self that is separate, cut off from the rest of existence. Attachment to an object or sensation is a product of one feeling a disconnection from that object or sensation - when, in reality, we are all part of one huge, wonderful whole. There’s nothing to attach to in the first place, once you realize it was a part of you and you were a part of it all along!

Ignorance of this truth also breeds aversion, or hatred, as well. When you come to accept that we are all one, you could never bring yourself to hurt anyone or anything else, for that would be tantamount to hurting yourself.

I’m sorry to spring this on all of you out of the blue, but I’ve kind of been having a spiritual awakening recently, and I’m incredibly inspired! Thank you for reading, and may the Tree of Life always shelter you!