Satisfaction Meditation and Duality
There are three major themes of this blog they are Satisfaction, Meditation and Duality.
Satisfaction: Satisfaction is the goal of life, dissatisfaction is what drives us to make efforts. In a sense dissatisfaction is the fuel that runs the world. As with all things an excess of dissatisfaction is also not good, and there needs to be a balance between satisfaction and dissatisfaction. If achieving goals is the only way to satisfaction, then this balance is hard to achieve since frankly many of our goals are probably not achievable. Further, even if one goal is achieved another goal is in its place to repeat the cycle of dissatisfaction and effort. Fortunately, we can get attain satisfaction without achieving goals, and this brings us to the concept of meditation.
Meditation: The aim of meditation is to produce satisfaction without any goals being fulfilled. How is that possible? The reason is that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are after all mental states and meditation provides a way to adjust the mind so that satisfaction is produced without any goals being achieved. But, goals are important right? Yes and no which brings us to the two dimensions of life.
Duality: There are two principles at play in a living being. One principle is changing and other is unchanging. We intuitively know the unchanging principle, as the I. Even though life brings many changes from childhood to old age and day to day, we intuitively grasp that there is a core I which is unchanging. Everything else except this core I is forever changing, including body mind and the world. The goal of meditation is to separate out the unchanging core from the changing world.
Dissatisfaction and goals exist in the changing dimension of life, in the unchanging dimension there can be no goals since nothing ever changes. And since there is nothing to achieve, the unchanging dimension is a place of satisfaction. Most of us do not recognize the self as unchanging, and thus are stuck in the single mode of dissatisfaction and striving. Meditation in essence is to repeatedly reminding ourselves of the unchanging dimension of the self, till it doesn't need reminding.
Alternating between the two dimensions we can strive towards our goals in the realm of dissatisfaction while also enjoy the peace and satisfaction of the unchanging dimension of the self.
Satisfaction: Satisfaction is the goal of life, dissatisfaction is what drives us to make efforts. In a sense dissatisfaction is the fuel that runs the world. As with all things an excess of dissatisfaction is also not good, and there needs to be a balance between satisfaction and dissatisfaction. If achieving goals is the only way to satisfaction, then this balance is hard to achieve since frankly many of our goals are probably not achievable. Further, even if one goal is achieved another goal is in its place to repeat the cycle of dissatisfaction and effort. Fortunately, we can get attain satisfaction without achieving goals, and this brings us to the concept of meditation.
Meditation: The aim of meditation is to produce satisfaction without any goals being fulfilled. How is that possible? The reason is that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are after all mental states and meditation provides a way to adjust the mind so that satisfaction is produced without any goals being achieved. But, goals are important right? Yes and no which brings us to the two dimensions of life.
Duality: There are two principles at play in a living being. One principle is changing and other is unchanging. We intuitively know the unchanging principle, as the I. Even though life brings many changes from childhood to old age and day to day, we intuitively grasp that there is a core I which is unchanging. Everything else except this core I is forever changing, including body mind and the world. The goal of meditation is to separate out the unchanging core from the changing world.
Dissatisfaction and goals exist in the changing dimension of life, in the unchanging dimension there can be no goals since nothing ever changes. And since there is nothing to achieve, the unchanging dimension is a place of satisfaction. Most of us do not recognize the self as unchanging, and thus are stuck in the single mode of dissatisfaction and striving. Meditation in essence is to repeatedly reminding ourselves of the unchanging dimension of the self, till it doesn't need reminding.
Alternating between the two dimensions we can strive towards our goals in the realm of dissatisfaction while also enjoy the peace and satisfaction of the unchanging dimension of the self.
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