seduced by Samsara.

“Our motivation for practicing begins to change, and we desire to become tamed and reasonable for the sake of other people. We still want to see how the mind works and how we get seduced by samsara, but it’s not just for ourselves. It’s for our companions, our children, our bosses—it’s for the whole human dilemma.”

When Things Fall Apart
Pema Chodron

@corlin posted this link recently, here again.
it's worth reading in these days of disillusionment.
https://drive.proton.me/urls/QCBKM1F1YM#L8Sstl7odaC1

“years and years of going to the left or right, going to yes or no, going to right or wrong has never really changed anything.

Scrambling for security has never brought anything but momentary joy. It’s like changing the position of our legs in meditation. Our legs hurt from sitting cross-legged, so we move them. And then we feel, “Phew! What a relief!”

We keep moving around seeking pleasure, seeking comfort, and the satisfaction that we get is very short-lived.”

why they're afraid

“we don’t hear much about how painful it is to go from being completely stuck to becoming unstuck.

The process of becoming unstuck requires tremendous bravery,

because basically we are completely changing our way of perceiving reality

We are undoing a pattern that is not just our pattern. It’s the human pattern: we project onto the world a zillion possibilities of attaining resolution. This pattern keeps us dissatisfied and causes us a lot of suffering.”

Pema Chodron

the middle way
encourages us to awaken the bravery that exists in everyone without exception, including you and me.

training in the middle way—in staying right on the spot.

We are encouraged not to judge whatever arises in our mind. In fact,

we are encouraged not to even grasp whatever arises in our mind. What we usually call good or bad we simply acknowledge as thinking"

“we regard loneliness as an enemy.

It’s restless and pregnant and hot with the desire to escape

When we can rest in the middle, a nonthreatening relationship with loneliness, a relaxing and cooling loneliness turns our usual fearful patterns upside down.

six ways of describing this kind of cool loneliness.

They are: less desire, contentment, avoiding unnecessary activity, complete discipline, not wandering in the world of desire, and not seeking security from one’s discursive thoughts”

@holon42

Discursive thoughts…how apt