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conditions for your happiness?


kaesthebluntedwonder

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im reading a book and they are talking about how everyone sets up conditions for their happiness, like if i live in a huge house, drive a nice car, get a certain degree, know certain people, so on and so on, ill be happy. the book talks about how all these are just obstacles that get in the way of realizing what true happiness is. and our entire nation and a huge chunk of the world lives like that, so its really about our nations happiness and the gazillions of conditions it sets up for itself. and it seems like the standards get higher and higher. just thinking...:idea:

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Sad fact #1 is that money changes everything. Sad fact #2 is that those who think they understand #1 spend all their time and energy slaving away to rack up $$, which they don't have time or energy to enjoy properly.

I recognized the problems associated with thinking that money is the ONLY factor in being happy. I withdrew from the rat race and found a way to exist on very little money. But of course it comes with sacrifices. No car, no spending money, etc. So the peace of mind I associate strongly with not having to go to work, and the free time to pursue art and other things (as long as they don't cost money) are the only 2 things I get out of this lifestyle. Everything else sucks.

So having a lot of money would drastically increase my happiness. But to GET a lot of money, I have to sacrifice those 2 things I love, and basically rejoin the rat race...which robs the joy out of whatever money is made.

The only way I can see to address improving my happiness is to find a way to make more money that doesn't steal much of my time. I haven't found it yet, but I'm using some of that free time on research.

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Personally happiness would probably have alot to do with health. I mean I wanna see my Goddaughter grown up and if I have any kids see them grow and have families. I wanna have a wife that I love and can grow old together. A bonus might be her letting me 'talk' to strippers. J/K! I would like a decent sized house in a nice neighborhood. Although if I had a couple of mansions on the beach and the mountains I wouldn't be mad. I would want some cash at least to live comfortably and be able to buy stuff that we need along with things we want. It would be nice to have alot of money so I could buy everyone in my family cousins, aunts, uncles the things that they need and want. The wants don't need to mean buy everyone that jet plane with pilot they always wanted but you know a reliable new car. A house so they wouldn't have to worry about payments,mortgage etc.

Ah Dreams...

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is this possibly yet another days of war post?

 

i today hear this though... people spend way too much time living up to other peoples ideals. why waste your time doing shit that doesn't make you happy? just do what feels good to you...

i'm always glad to see there's other people on here who think about this shit...

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Guest --zeSto--

as a summation of the cracked ass post...

 

For the first half of your life,

you trade all your time for money.

Then for the second half of you life,

you trade all your money for time.

 

my addition... enjoy whatever you have while you have it.

 

Now back to making %#$@%# alpha channels in after effects DAMN IT!

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I forgot to mention doing something for a living that I enjoy. Right now I'm going to school to become a teacher. I kinda decided on that because I'm pretty good with kids and I think alot of kids are growing up with out any males in their life. I think by having a Chicano as a teacher it might help out the kids and it would make me happy if I could give them something positive. It would help me sleep better at night.

Kaes what kinda Buddhism you been getting into. Zen or straight Buddhism? Have you ever been to a Zen Center? It's pretty cool. I've been to one before talked to one of the White monks from New Jersey about philosophy and Zen. We went inside and did Zazen for about 15 minutes, it was interesting.

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im reading the essential writings of Thich Nhat Hanh. i dont know enough about it to tell you what kind it is, but there are many buddhist themes in there and whats cool about it is that it can apply to all people of any religion...real eye opener to things that are right in front of you. i havent been to a buddhist center but i play (bass) with a pianist who has been to one and has told me a little about it. im just kind of doing it on my own tho as a way of dealing with things that i found out have been a bother to me for quite some time now that i just hadnt seen before.

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Thats what the monk was saying at the Zen Center. That Zen can be applied to ones life as a philosophy rather than a religion. Since there is no God in it. Therefore Christians or whoever can still utilize some of the philosophies of Zen. Zen concentrates heavily in the here and now. And the idea that all things have good and negative effects. It is OUR decision to choose. With no choice being wrong, we must only think through our decisions and both possible choices. It's pretty hard to try an ignore some of our previously held ideas and try and adopt Zen thoughts. But if you can it can help you feel more comfortable making decisions about what you wanna do in life.

A good book to read is Zen Flesh Zen Bones, it's one of the more popular Zen books around.

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Guest --zeSto--

Zen or straight Buddhism?

 

a ha ...

 

here's a point I'd like to make.

Zen is only budhism in dogma, not in spirt.

To trace the ideological roots of zen, you'll find that

the Ch'an teachers who brought their philosopies to Japan,

were all originally Taoists. It's also widely believed that the

budhist who came to China (long before zen) were returning

with the ideas of the old Master (Lao Tzu) who wenture off into India.

The Taoist sages of the day saw Budhism as a simplified version

of their own Taoism. The roots are in China, not in India.

 

Also..

The Budhism commonly known as 'Zen' is actually 'Mayahana Budhism'.

Where this budhist dogma teaches the practice of meditation and such,

zen really doesn't need it. Zen roshis are quick to point out that

thinking of zen is a guarantee that you will never understand it.

Sounds very much like the Tao, no?

 

my main argument...

Budhists feel that enlightenment come from a withdrawl from the world.

Where as the Zen (and Taoist) enlightenment comes from being in

the world, involved with the daily happenings. A truly wise sage can

descend from the mountain and re-enter society to apply his knowledge.

 

 

if you read nothing else that I've written...

READ THIS.

----------- A budhist monk and a zen roshi approach a river. The monk

sits down on the river bank and starts to meditate. The roshis asks why

he's sitting in the mud. "I will meditate for as long as it takes for me to

walk on water." says the budhist monk. The zen rohsi (or taoist sage)

replies " I'll go and pay the boatman a penny to take me across.

For that is the natural order of things."

 

my $0.02

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realizing the ultimate reality

 

this is what hes talking about now.

 

"We come to the practice of meditation seeking relief from our suffering, and meditation can teach us how to transform our suffering and obtain basic relief. But the deepest kind of relief is the realization of nirvana. There are two dimensions to life, and we should be able to touch both. One is like a wave, and we call it the historical dimension. The other is like water, and we call it the ultimate dimension, or nirvana. We usually touch just the wave, but when we discover how to touch the water, we receive the highest fruit that meditation can offer.

 

In the historical dimension, we have birth certificates and death certificates. The day your mother passes away, you suffer. If someone sits close to you and shows her concern, you feel some relief. You have her friendship, her support, her warm hand to hold. This is the world of waves. It is characterized by birth and death, ups and downs, being and non-being. A wave has its beggining and an end, but we cannot ascribe these characteristics to water. In the world of water, there is no birth or death, no being or non-being, no beggining or end. When we touch the water, we touch reality in its ultimate dimension and are liberated from all those concepts."

 

 

 

 

:idea:

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