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Main » Articles » ISSUE #6 » It's an amazing world

An amazing world

I would question the statement: "It is an amazing world”. Although I strongly believe it is a really precious opportunity to experience the diversity of life and investigate its potential and values. Here I will try to briefly speculate and state my point.

Once attending the lecture given by the professor of  neurophysiology, I was a kind of shocked and amazed to hear the first words of his, like: ‘there is nothing real existing in the world, everything is just projection of our mind, functioning in this magic way”.

From the web:


According to Buddhist teachings, all appearances perceived during the whole life of an individual, through all senses, including sounds, smells, tastes and tactile sensations in their totality, are like a big dream. It is claimed that, on careful examination, the dream of life and regular nightly dreams are not very different, and that in their essential nature there is no difference between them.

Although Albert Einstein was certainly not a Buddhist, these statements sound much like it:

"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the 'universe', a part limited in time and space.

He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest

- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.

This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affectation for a few people near us.

Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion

to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." Buddha


The non-essential difference between the dreaming state and ordinary waking experience is that the latter is more concrete and linked to attachment; the dreaming experience while sleeping is slightly detached.


Consequently, it appears that the things, which exist in the world, are  not real, in a sense, but neutral. They are neither bad, nor good.  Only the man himself, depending on his inward state and realization, seems to see and assess these things as something potentially good, bad, pleasant, or unpleasant and so on. As it may seem that the taints of his emotions would simply penetrate  all things around. All the same things might be emotionally and physically pleasant for one man, meanwhile they would be absolutely disgusting or annoying for another one, for example smoking or a place to live in.

Also, they say that there is nothing real, just emptiness. Yet there is a great potential for everything. Just like every woman is potentially a mother, and every man has a potential to become a hero.

As a result, we all notice, feel, and experience the great diversity of the world. We all have a great potential, a choice and a chance to realize all our dreams. Yet we are all different! We have different talents, we are passionate about and good at different things. All together we form a complex colorful puzzle.  Undoubtedly, it is an amazing state of existence. We can constantly choose every step we take, every word we say, every promise we make. But how do we use this potential chance and what picture of the puzzle are we?

We see and say it is the world of the rich and poor, the able and disable, the smarts and dulls, the winners and losers…. It’s endless. We are zealous to split and count. We are eager to achieve what is somehow supposed to be right and praised. We are all trained to compete and win.

But what is happiness? What are real values? What are true needs? What’s the best way to live? Where is the answer to the "Why so many poor, abandoned, lonely people?”, "Why they have no bread while he is buying another whatever”, "Why they’ll be just happy with a slice of stale bread, while he is jealous of his neighbor’s brand new yacht” "Why so much hunger and greed?”,  "Why so much sorrow and grief?”. It’s endless again. Is it only my view?

For a example, there is a war. It means someone needs it. But for those who lose their lives or their family,  it is a clear-cut disaster. While for some others it is a worthwhile action, meanwhile all the rest may feel sympathy. But they are not really much concerned, as they have some other vital day-to-day routine. Thus, we see one situation, but different attitudes.

It is a fast-changing world. New things and technologies come to light, old ones go the way of the Dodo. But the emotions we seem to experience are still all the same. They are either positive (joy and compassion) or negative (greed, anger, aversion). Some of the things bring happiness, the others grief and suffering.


   We all constantly strive for a bigger portion. We always seem not to be happy with what we have.

We enjoy eating fine food, cooking specialities, decorating our homes. It  is an aesthetic beauty and proof of our pleasure. We enjoy travelling, loving our partners, bringing up our children, doing our  jobs, and moving up professional ladders. That’s cool and exciting. I have something  more that just my body.

This expansion is the product of our desires and emotions. They can be refined and subtle, and so they lead to creativity. But they  are also aggressive and crude, so they result in harsh use of violence and authority.

So, our emotions and continuous  desires determine all phenomena in the whole world, on all levels. Desire makes progress of any kind.

Meanwhile, Buddha once said that attachment and desire are a core stone of all suffering.

It is presumed that in this race and quest for more pleasure, enjoyment, and power, we search for stability and happiness.  But stability is just the state of awareness! It is when you are aware of the nature of your mind and its potential. And, it is an amazing state of prolific existence! No artificial boundaries, but everything is an almighty possibility!

The nearer  you come to this state, the more genuine and less dependent or attached you become.

Luckily, there is everywhere an amazing opportunity to overcome all these obstacles of obscurity through full realization of your inner potential and the magic nature of your mind.

Awareness of magic nature of mind comes through imagination and creativity. They are the tools for unifying creativity. Emptiness and potential are fundamental bricks for implementation. And being here with my friends, I am happy to have this great prospect for co-creativity and collaboration.

So, we can  join our efforts and build our home of an amazing beauty!

I absolutely agree that  "The beauty in the eyes of the beholder”.

These two suspenseful videos are worth watching. They say about the power of friendship and strong constructive spirit.

The Butterfly Circus [Short Film HD] English   Russian   (22 min)

Worthwhile interview    Surprisingly great sense of humor!

His success cost him literally an arm and a leg!


One more thing here is to be said.

One way of realising your  potential of creativity is enthusiasm. If you go with enthusiasm, it means not only do you immensely enjoy what you do, but you also have a goal and vision how to achieve it.

Enthusiasm and Ego never come along together.  Enthusiasm is in a tight union with the source of joy and energy. It never leads to confrontation. It never divides into losers and winners. Its basic principle is include and never exclude. It is a creative power itself, so it never manipulates people’s needs. With a power of enthusiasm, we get in harmony with a universal principle of co-creativity.

So, to sum it up, I believe that friendship and enthusiasm, joy and imagination, profound books and genius people, potential and creativity are those amazing things we have to create our lives full of meaning, beauty and miracles of existence.

PS

"Highest truth is highest joy.”

"…. What brings liberating meaning to any expression of mind’s potential is the realization that everything is ultimately the free play of space…”

"… Whoever feels mind’s essential power and richness will naturally express its unlimited potential. Thus one will perform whatever  benefits all and secures human rights and freedoms into the most distant future.” (

Lama Ole Nydahl)


Category: It's an amazing world | Added by: Guzeliya (24-May-2012) | Author: Marina Blizhina
Views: 2503 | Comments: 2 | Tags: enthusiasm, Values, Buddhist, Potential, Buddha, Emotions, Diversity | Rating: 5.0/3
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