Like a cranky toddler we’ve become a self-indulgent society wanting to have everything for ourselves. We are so preoccupied with what we a searching for we miss the very essence of what we’re looking for. I think we have a tendency to want newness- new things, new activities. This newness has become a disorder- we’ve got short attention spans, becoming bored more frequently and wanting to be instantly gratified. We’ve got overflowing garages- yet still feel the need for newest editions- cars, clothes, and electronics, etc… Once the newness has gone, we move on to the next new thing to make us happy. Here is an example, have you ever heard a song on the radio that you just loved? Every time you’re in your car you turn on the radio hoping to hear that song. You look forward to the song and scan the radio until you get even the last verse of it. You finally decided to buy the song; you just can’t get it out of your mind. – So you play it a few times, but it’s not the same, it’s not as exciting to hear it. You play it a few more times, and then you never listen to it again. It seems to me the more convenient things become the less we appreciate them. I’m telling you all this, because when I read the passages from the Diamond Sutra I said, “I want the reach Nirvana too!” I was so astonished with myself, treating it like a song I heard on the radio. There is a long process you must go through to reach Nirvana. A passage from the Diamond Sutra says, “When I attain perfect wisdom, I will liberate all sentient beings in every realm of the universe, and allow them to pass into the eternal peace of Nirvana." and “When I attained Absolute Perfect Enlightenment, I attained absolutely nothing. That is why it is called Absolute Perfect Enlightenment.”
I think the problem that I have and I believe many people have the same problem, is that we are looking for a quick fix, or an accomplishment, or the next goal. I love the line “When I attain Absolute Perfect Enlightenment, I attained absolutely nothing.” This is precious and real.
2 comments:
Well said. We are definitely a society looking for the next thing that will make our lives easier. To give us additional time to watch tv and surf the internet.
I had a friend that was always putting himself dowm for being a little overweight. He would pig out; lay on the couch and put himself down for eating too much. One night he told me that he was getting something special in the mail...a month supply of diet pills from Brazil!!! Apparantly Alli and the other pills weren't working enough.
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