In Stoicism, Epictetus once wrote, āIf youāre fond of a jug, say, āThis is a jug that Iām fond of,ā and then, if it gets broken, you wonāt be upset. If you kiss your child or your wife, say to yourself that it is a human being that youāre kissing; and then, if one of them should die, you wonāt be upset.ā And itās a famous Buddhist teaching and a cornerstone of the Four Noble Truths that āattachment is the root of suffering.ā Both Stoics and Buddhists are keen to point out that craving and clinging to the transient leads to dukkha, misery, or dissatisfaction.
But Jiri raises an interesting question. When does this kind of detachment become unhealthy? After all, most people reading this would find it odd ā or even pathological ā if you saw a parent shrug off the death of their child. Which suggests there is some kind of line to be drawn. Sometimes detachment can be an unhealthy thing.
@_Barry. Great article! Yes, one can become attached to being peaceful and calm, which is just another attachment. There is something to learn from Taoism here - live in the flow of the river and embrace each feeling and experience as it arises, then let it go. Now Iām peaceful, now Iām grieving and sad, now Iām angry, now Iām happy, now Iām calm again. If you get attached to peace and calm it just puts a dam in the river. Those damn dams are the source of suffering and even physical and emotional illness!
yes, the greatest illusion is to think we, humans have no faults nor humanityā¦ Hitler just wanted a perfect human race after allā¦ everyone to be vegan and paint nice landscapesā¦
which makes me think that animals are great educators in thisā¦ thereās no bull shit in themā¦
in their contact we become human (when we allow ourselves to receive their magicā¦)
Bill Porter aka āRed Pineā is an American translator of Chinese Zen poetry and sutras. A new film āDancing with the Deadā is the story of his travels among Zen Buddhist and Taoist hermits in a remote mountain region of China.
Here is the trailer:
The film can be seen on this website for a small donation through October 27, 2024:
This appears to be an older Chinese film of his travels among these Hermits which you can see for free on youtube:
āThe heart of the man is a musical instrument; it contains a magnificent music. It sleeps, but is there, waiting for the right moment to be interpreted, expressed, sung, danced. And is because of love that the moment arrives.ā Yalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi.
Sadvhi Bhagavati Saraswati was an American grad student in psychology who went to India on vacation and never returned to her old life. She is now recognized as a saint and spiritual teacher who has done much to improve the life of the people of India.
I saw her speak last year at Bhakti Fest in California.
Hereās a little story about the first time that I heard Alan Watts. I was around 11 or 12 years old and I was living in Los Angeles and it was the 60ās. At that age I was listening quite a bit to AM top 40 rock & roll radio. The hippie thing was starting to happen but I was not yet aware of that. But on one of the local rock radio stations on Sunday night a radio show started called āRadio Free Ozā which I later figured out was a hippie radio show. But when I first heard it, I didnāt quite know what to make of it. It had music by bands like Jefferson Airplane and the Greatful Dead and then they would put on talks by people like Alan Watts. So I hear this guy with a British accent talking about Buddha and I think to myself, "I canāt believe it! I think the Buddhists are sending missionaries here to convert the Americans to Buddhism and theyāre going on the rock radio stations! " I even mentioned this to my conservative Christian parents, and they also didnāt know what to make of it. But by the time I was in my 20ās I was starting to study Buddhism myself!
Book to recommend. Just finished this and I found it quite remarkable, both from my personal experience and from the little I know of Buddhist Dharma.
One of the reviews on AMAZON:
Hands down this is one of the most powerful texts ive ever read. if you are ready to accept real truth in your life, then you will find this book as illuminating as any spiritual or philosophical text youāve ever read. Although there is obvious use of metaphor exstensively throughout the narative the points and suggestions made therein are beautifully conveyed to the reader`s core self as powerful truth. An incredible and profound juxtaposition of Buddhist philosophy, Christian ethic, modern phschology and the native perspective. A clear call to all of us to see the onesness in all things.the author invites us on a journey of discovery and great insight in which one can examine life from all directions for the healing of mother earth and all who dwell upon her.an absolute must read.
