Attachments, family, the 'meaning' of Christmas/life/whatever
Attachments are the source of all suffering it is said. It seems to be true.
I watch LJ during this time and see so much agony, most of it due to people trying to force themselves into a mould called family. That mould is not a mould, but a meatgrinder. And they go through it every year and then complain about the sausage that they have become and then spend the next year rebuilding into a person jsut to have it all ground away next year.
I am lucky: I have family that is bearable. But I still choose to let them into my life or not. So many people think that they have to either take a stand against their parents/family and fight for who they are or they have to submit to some dominant paradigm and be someone they're not. You don't even have to fight... you just have to drift away. You just have to be honest with yourself and then your family.
But being [h]Honest with yourself is so hard to do that I almost want to capitalise the word. You know what, I will. [edit]
This weekend was so incredibly peaceful for me it was amazing. No pressures to do what I didn't want to do, no issues or drama. I was just myself. And I stayed in my home with my wife and friends most of the weekend. And it was great.
I recommend this Honesty in your life. It trumps guilt. And while I don't celebrate the traditions of a by-gone dead prophet, his influence of love, joy, honesty, sacrifice are not lost on me. I see it around us all the time. I am surrounded by compassion. I am also surrounded by the opposite of these things, and I accept them as balance, as yin and yang.
The modern religious paradigm is so concerned with control (as is the ego) that it cannot bring people to a transcendence that it pretends to. In order for religion to bring people to Light, it, too, must go through the struggle of dualism and thought and rid itself of control mechanisms, fear mongering, power, homo-ism, racism, sexism... any justification of judgement and creating rules or boundaries. Until then, it will be subject to its own moral decay, its own demons/Devil-figure, its own corruption.
Religion itself is not evil. Religion is trying to lead you to Honesty. It can help. But, as I said, religion is not immune to its own struggles and cycle that it is trying to break free from. Suffering is not to be avoided, averted, nor perpetuated or worshipped. Suffering is life. Life is suffering. Live life! Survive desire and for the love of god, be Honest with yourself!
I watch LJ during this time and see so much agony, most of it due to people trying to force themselves into a mould called family. That mould is not a mould, but a meatgrinder. And they go through it every year and then complain about the sausage that they have become and then spend the next year rebuilding into a person jsut to have it all ground away next year.
I am lucky: I have family that is bearable. But I still choose to let them into my life or not. So many people think that they have to either take a stand against their parents/family and fight for who they are or they have to submit to some dominant paradigm and be someone they're not. You don't even have to fight... you just have to drift away. You just have to be honest with yourself and then your family.
But being [h]Honest with yourself is so hard to do that I almost want to capitalise the word. You know what, I will. [edit]
This weekend was so incredibly peaceful for me it was amazing. No pressures to do what I didn't want to do, no issues or drama. I was just myself. And I stayed in my home with my wife and friends most of the weekend. And it was great.
I recommend this Honesty in your life. It trumps guilt. And while I don't celebrate the traditions of a by-gone dead prophet, his influence of love, joy, honesty, sacrifice are not lost on me. I see it around us all the time. I am surrounded by compassion. I am also surrounded by the opposite of these things, and I accept them as balance, as yin and yang.
The modern religious paradigm is so concerned with control (as is the ego) that it cannot bring people to a transcendence that it pretends to. In order for religion to bring people to Light, it, too, must go through the struggle of dualism and thought and rid itself of control mechanisms, fear mongering, power, homo-ism, racism, sexism... any justification of judgement and creating rules or boundaries. Until then, it will be subject to its own moral decay, its own demons/Devil-figure, its own corruption.
Religion itself is not evil. Religion is trying to lead you to Honesty. It can help. But, as I said, religion is not immune to its own struggles and cycle that it is trying to break free from. Suffering is not to be avoided, averted, nor perpetuated or worshipped. Suffering is life. Life is suffering. Live life! Survive desire and for the love of god, be Honest with yourself!