As I delve deeper into the world of Buddhism, I discover more and more about the difference between Buddhism, and other religions. First of all, is Buddhism a religion? It can be labeled as a nontheistic religion, however, other people prefer to think of it as a philosophy. I like the philosophy theory due to the fact that organized religions terrify me. This type of philosophy has an answer for everything. Sounds silly and impossible right? Practitioners of Buddhism don't claim to have the answers for everything, they simply instruct ways for you to find your own answers. When I first started reading about this, I was intimidated by the thought of finding my own answers. I kept thinking that if I had the ability to find my own answers I would have done it already, right? What a shallow way of thinking!
There are many techniques you can use to heal yourself which is, lets face it, something we all need. The very first thing Buddhists will teach you is that everything is impermanent. But what does that mean? It means that everything changes, without exception. Our bodies are full of cells, and molecular structures, and chemical syntheses that are producing and changing constantly. So you think your body doesn't change from second to second but guess what... it does! You can look at an object in your house, say, your coffee table. And you can think that there's nothing going on inside that coffee table that's causing it to change, it's just sitting there. This is mostly true, however, this object wasn't always a coffee table. It was, at one point, a tree. Other parts of it were metal pieces in a hardware store. Once it's use as a coffee table is no longer necessary, it will be disposed of one way or another. At which point, it will no longer be the same coffee table. See where I'm going with this? Nothing is permanent. This is a very genius discovery. If we understand the law of impermanence, we can suffer less over things that we feel should, or shouldn't be. Nothing should, or shouldn't be. It is what it is. This very simple philosophy is the first step to easing our suffering. Everything is changing constantly so when we're suffering, we can remind ourselves that things change moment by moment and our current suffering could end in anyone of those moments, even in the very next moment!
Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.
For anyone new to this, like me, this is the best place to start. I recommend reading "How to Wake Up" by Toni Bernhard. She is amazing. She has a chronic illness very similar to mine so off the bat I am drawn to her. However, she speaks to the public in ways that allow every last person on the planet to handle their own suffering, not just sick people. And it's simple. It mostly requires looking at things differently which sounds sort of strange at first, but you'll find is way easier than it seems. The Buddhist community teaches you to approach life with compassion for yourself, and all beings. It teaches you not to judge yourself, or anyone else. This is one place it separates from organized religions, which teach you "not to judge someone", unless that person happens to be homosexual or anything else that the bible has deemed to be a sin. Then feel free to tell them they are a very nice person, however, they wont be joining you in heaven. How cruel.
I urge people to look into Buddhist philosophies who hasn't already. Start from the beginning, with impermanence. And get back to me on what you find.
No comments:
Post a Comment