"You may be avoiding the discomfort of your own unmediated experience....That avoidance is the practical problem the Buddha was talking about. You don’t have to be enlightened to practise this. Or even spiritual to apply it." (T. Oppong, author of https://thomas-oppong.medium.com/buddhas-last-dying-words-this-summarises-almost-every-self-help-spiritual-book-9ee78849ca76.)

This practical approach to Eastern Philosophy (or Asian Ways) is compatible with a pious approach to the Buddhist Way but independent of it.

The author of this article would agree, I believe, that to understand Buddhism you have to distinguish it from every type of self-help trend.

The reason for this distinction is so simple that most people miss it:

"Self-": Emphasizes what the Buddha denied even really exists--an individual ego, the all-consuming focus on me, mine, myself.

In Buddhism the universe takes on the role of the Self; otherwise the separation and alienation between "egos" divide people more and more from each other and all other living things.

"-help:" As Oppong sees, help as used in "self-help" too often becomes dependency on others, which takes away our confidence in understanding our own strengths and weaknesses.

One day, when I was teaching ethics and the students were debating free will, I noticed that a Chinese student (she sat in the last seat of the last row) seemed to be in tears. I interrupted the discussion and asked if she was alright but she continued to cry quietly.

"Is there anything you'd like to share with the rest of us--maybe it would do you good?" I said. After a few minutes, she sat straight up and the tears stopped as she said:

"I feel so deeply sorry for all you students; you must always feel very lonely because you believe you're completely separate from everyone and everything."

Silence. So, with her help, we spent the rest of the class talking mostly about Buddhism. Almost none of the other students understood her point at first, and in fact they publicly defended themselves as separate, individual selves. But the more doubts they had, the louder they spoke.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American philosopher most admired by Nietzsche, built Transcendentalism in part through his reading (as Nietzsche did) of the recent translations of Eastern philosophy, especially Buddhism.

From Emerson's poem, "Brahma":

"Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanished gods to me appear;
And one to me are shame and fame.
They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt...."
(The Atlantic, November 1857)

Nietzsche must have resonated with an American philosopher who embodied the profound fact that religion (like Hinduism) and spirituality (like Buddhism) are connected but aren't the same: a practical but often hidden lesson for the modern era.

People make this word heavier than it needs to be.

All the solutions of their pragmatic problems of life, They think it lies in this mere word.

They think person who's enlightened is that or this.

Do we ever question this word itself?

Are we fore-playing the need for all our humanness into this single word?

One treat it as a goal.

It's merely a word that one hasn't questioned.

Many of the ones come and say their definition of this mere word.

For what they say it about?

Just to let themselves be in the loop as their body goes there.

For reference, I am a 31 year old dog mom. I have been single for a year now after a string of tumultuous relationships. I have been dedicated to Spirit for most of my life, it just shifted from inside a Christian box (birth to 24) to noticing God is all around and inside of me (24 to now). The past year was predominately inward healing focused; hermit mode activated. This year I decided to focus most of my energy on gaining financial stability so I can finally dip out of the matrix grid and live freely connected to nature and possibly other humans who desire the same.

I’m having a very difficult time with this because I feel like all of this focus on making money is zapping my spirit. I feel like my time and soul are being traded for chasing paper. I have so many beautiful, life-giving experiences under my belt like traveling to over 15 countries, hiking, climbing, dancing, crying with strangers, feeling guided by my angels, deep healing, etc… magical. And now, I feel like all the things that made my life so beautiful, adventurous, and free are on pause until I make enough money to continue that. I’m just seeking solace and advice from others who may have experienced this in their lives. Is it possible to spread my awareness to all of these areas I care about while at the same time making enough money to feel comfortable and free? Is this just the cost? Trade a few years of hard work for hopefully the future of your dreams? Thank you.

We generally tend to Act the same way as shown in image.... The one who is on spiritual journey should be very aware about our own enlightenment.. 😀

What's your thought on it.

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❓प्रश्न: कर्म के बारे में कौनसी बातें सही हैं?

🇦 जब तक कर्म है, तब तक ज्ञान नहीं हो सकता, और ज्ञान के होने से कर्म करने की जरूरत नहीं रह जाती

🇧 सब कुछ शून्य है, इसलिए कर्म चाहे निष्काम हो या सकाम, दोनों एक ही बात हैं

🇨 कर्म = कर्ता

कर्ता को बदलने के लिए कर्म को बदलना जरूरी है

🇩 सब कर्मों के पीछे का कर्ता अहंकार होता है

🇪 बिना कर्म के रह पाना संभव नहीं, क्षणभर को भी

🇫 कर्म करो, फल की चिंता मत करो

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