[font="]I have been reading a lot of books concerning the subject of Buddhism as of lately. In some of these books they mention on how some people live in “ignorance”. I was never able to comprehend this sentence or see how it could be applied to my life. What was this “ignorance” in life and how did it manifest itself? Well earlier I put on some good music and started as I like to call “philosphising”. I started to think more and more about my life and maybe some ways that I could improve upon my life as that I have been rather melancholy lately. I started to think what the impetus was and maybe how I could transform it or maybe get rid of “it” altogether. And I came to many different thoughts on how I look at life and how my outlook may be detrimental to me at some level. Myself I have an idealized version of how I would like things to be, and I try as hard as I can to make things (or at least perceive) that way. I started thinking that I look for way too much certainty in a very uncertain world. Life’s not certain and no matter how hard I try I am going to be let down at some point. I have to high of expectation for things. I guess a life well lived is by the moment for precisely that reason. I just need to accept things as they come and go “with the flow”. Life takes its own natural beautiful course and to try to change that is disrupting the flow of water. It’s better to follow the flow of life and accept it for its own beauties. I have to start living life by the moment and doing things just for the sake of doing it. I should enjoy things more for what they are not as they should be or as I would like them to be. Life’s not perfect, its not meant to be, and its hardly every going to work out the way I want it to be. The sooner I accept that fact the happier I’ll be. [/font][font="]Maybe this is my "ignorance" in life and how I view it, and maybe changing it will benefit me and others.[/font][font="] Just some thoughts on my life and stuff, if you want to post anything concerning my own thoughts please feel free to do so. Also if you would like to post your own thoughts on matters like this or anything else that'd be great too. [/font]
I suggest you also read some books on Hinduism. It will tie together what you already know, but it may take years to see it. Better yet, study all the religions of the world. They all share a similar message. Better yet, study the self. Learning about it will unlock many of life's mysteries. Learn to watch your own mind. And question why it does the things it does. To know self, is to know peace. x
I find buddhism and Taoism very interesting. If you have nothing against Taoism, I'd recommend reading Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. It's a short read. I loved it. Both, Taoism and Buddhism, have opened my mind to many things. And I agree with your entire post, I am basically in the same situation working on improving myself
[font="]Xexon: I actually have been reading some various things on Hinduism and I do find a lot of it extremely enlightening. I agree with how you said "they all share a similar message", the more religions I study the more I find this statement true. If only more people understood this then maybe we wouldn't have a lot of the problems we do today concerning our religions. Box of Rain: Thank you for your recommendation. I actually have read the Tao Te Ching before and it is very fascinating book. Both Taoism and Buddhism have also opened my mind to many new possibilities. It's amazing how you can live a life one way and not even know there’s another, better, way out there. Good luck with your inner searching.[/font]
Thanks for reminding me of that. It's something I am trying to learn myself, but forget time and time again. There is a story in Taoism ..(If you know it already, read no further, but...) there was a farmer who lived with his young son. One day his horse ran away and his neighbors said "Oh, that's too bad!" . He said "Who knows?". The next day the horse came back bringing other wild horses with it. The neighbors said "Oh, that's wonderful." The farmer said "Who knows.". The next day the farmer's son tried to ride one of the wild horses and fell off and broke his leg, and the neighbors said "Oh, that's terrible!" Again he said "Who knows?" . The next day an army came through the village looking for young men to draft into a far off war, but because the farmer's son had a broken leg they left him in peace.
