The American Declaration of Independence states that every man has the right to 'the pursuit of happiness'. One common interpretation of this is that happiness is fleeting, which may be true, but then again, this may be because man is forgetful. A big, soft, clean bed makes a homeless man incredibly happy, but it may not generate as much happiness in a rich man who's always had it all his life. At the same time, however, the novelty of this big, soft, clean bed also wears off the homeless man over time. It's not so much that happiness is a moving target. You do get into that state of happiness. It's just that man has a tendency to forget to be grateful for what we have. This, in turn, raises all kinds of problems - discontent, restlessness, unhappiness, even suffering.
But this tendency to forget is not necessarily a bad thing. Yes, it can lead to suffering, but Buddhist monks and Sufi masters acknowledge that suffering is a key to enlightenment. Like Eckhart Tolle, many other individuals had suffered before they reached enlightenment. Every individual, including you and I, have suffered at one stage or another in our lives. Most of the time we view these sufferings as obstacles, as curses, as inconveniences. After all, if God loves us so much then why is there also suffering on earth?
Well, now that's one way of viewing suffering.
I suppose that's why, originally, most religions have a component of 'ritual' in them. Only back then it wasn't a 'ritual' in the sense of the word today. Like the five 'ritual' prayers for Muslims or the Sunday mass for Catholics. it's not so much a case of 'If you don't pray when you're supposed to, you'll go to Hell.' It's probably more of a case of 'Pray when you're meant to because that's how you'll remember and be grateful.' Prayers is Man's antidote to forgetfulness. It's a question of cultivating habit, of developing and moulding rememberance into our otherwise seemingly monodrone daily lives.
Oh, drats. Time for bed already. Nite nite and Happy Fasting to all!
But this tendency to forget is not necessarily a bad thing. Yes, it can lead to suffering, but Buddhist monks and Sufi masters acknowledge that suffering is a key to enlightenment. Like Eckhart Tolle, many other individuals had suffered before they reached enlightenment. Every individual, including you and I, have suffered at one stage or another in our lives. Most of the time we view these sufferings as obstacles, as curses, as inconveniences. After all, if God loves us so much then why is there also suffering on earth?
Well, now that's one way of viewing suffering.
I suppose that's why, originally, most religions have a component of 'ritual' in them. Only back then it wasn't a 'ritual' in the sense of the word today. Like the five 'ritual' prayers for Muslims or the Sunday mass for Catholics. it's not so much a case of 'If you don't pray when you're supposed to, you'll go to Hell.' It's probably more of a case of 'Pray when you're meant to because that's how you'll remember and be grateful.' Prayers is Man's antidote to forgetfulness. It's a question of cultivating habit, of developing and moulding rememberance into our otherwise seemingly monodrone daily lives.
Oh, drats. Time for bed already. Nite nite and Happy Fasting to all!
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