Now I get it!

Love, Ann

“Oh no! Not again!”

- a bowl of petunias, according to Douglas Adams

FWIW, one of the big arguments between the 2 Zen schools is “is enlightenment gradual or sudden”? Needless to say, there hasn’t been an answer in, oh, 1000 years or so… suggesting that the problem is NOT determining the correct answer, but some glitch in the premise of the question.

Want to have a more relaxed way to live?

Start by noticing when you’re arguing with the reality of your life — which now, according to you, includes floundering in imprecision and stress more often than” you would like. Then, you may want to consider the 1st teaching of the Buddha which, if I may paraphrase, and I will, is:

Hey, Life Sucks… Now Get Over Yourself!

I wish I could think of a more useful way to say it, but they all land in some predictable variations, including, but not limited to: “I’d be happier if . . . (I made or didn’t make a particular decision,” or “I’d feel justified/right if . . . (a particular decision resulted in what I predicted.) and things like that, all of which are not only unlikely, but also untrue, and while I’m at it, sressful.

I think I’ll just go read a book and go to sleep. I just thought I’d try to use this information to find some more relaxed ways to live - which makes it a goal - which has been pointed out as the best way to guarantee failure.

Many philosophies say that there is a period of “undoing” on the way to what they call “enlightenment” where we let go of ways we used to think. I’ve done some of that and I’m still floundering in imprecision and stress more often that I care to be.

Pleasant dreams! Ann

In what sense?

Clearly, some “decisions” (whether we “make them” or whether they happen to us) seem to lead to things we like and others seem to lead to things we don’t like. And then we die.

“Blink,” in many ways is all about the Feeling of Knowing and how, SOMETIMES, it’s correct even when we can’t identify how/why. Of course the problem with Blink is that:

a) Many people took away from Blink the idea that you could/should trust your gut-feeling first impressions. But as Gladwell barely pointed out, this is only a useful strategy if you’re an expert in the field in question. That said…

b) For each of the “experts” whose feeling-of-knowing was correct, there were MANY more for whom the SAME feeling of knowing was incorrect. The validity of the feeling-of-knowing was only determined after the fact…but the FEELING itself was no different up until that time. And no doubt, in other circumstances, the tables were turned and today’s expert is tomorrow’s “oops, I was wrong.”

A “no” on either or both of those, could possibly take a big load of stress off… or cause one… depending on how we think about these facts, if true.

Sheesh… my head is spinning… now what do we do?

Love, Ann