Do some people take life to serious?

[Spirit of Light]

I think of this in these terms: approach life lightly and take one's spiritual path seriously. I've posted this before here, so forgive me if you've read it but this poem by Rosemary Harris illuminates one aspect of this for me:

My companion is fear
Walking behind me like a shadow.
He sees obstacles where none are,
He knows death as disintegration,
He comes from hell to cherish me
Saying 'turn right,' 'turn left,'
'Look, there is a lion in the road
And no resurrection.'

Yet I will make my torturer
My dear companion.
For in acceptance he grows honest,
Showing that a skeleton is only bones
And one moment no longer than another
And pain only sensation
Like the color of the rose,
Less than the falling of a leaf.

See, I shall turn my head,
Diminish him with pity,
Kill him with understanding
Even love . . .
Looking him in the eye
I shall observe his dwindling
Because he is only a shadow
Lost between me and the sun.

It is a beautiful poem/saying
Thank you for sharing it again with all of us

 

[charlie sc]

To follow a spiritual path can sometimes lead a person to be to serious about life ( I been there)
But may it be that we need to stop being afraid of doing wrong, and if we do wrong learn from it, instead of becoming to serious about it and actually fear our own faults?

My newfound joy in life is seeing life in a more happy way (living in the moment). Laugh of my own "stuid" way of being from time to time, and when someone have fun toward me, to smile and have fun back

Life is actually really fun when you let go of the fear of doing something wrong.

Hey, you’re back. I thought Internet forums were bad for your spiritual growth?

 

[SalixIncendium]

It means total liberation, that is to say release from the physical and mental anxieties of the samsara: suffering. Moksha, when the mind will be at rest without any thoughts. Meditation does not work. Will truth generate that salvation?

Truth is. It doesn’t “generate” anything.

It is being...without desire for attachments of maya...that results in moksha.

 

[Spirit of Light]

Hey, you’re back. I thought Internet forums were bad for your spiritual growth?

Hehe You know, yes it could be sometimes, But this time it was my self that stood in the way of spiritual growth, so i needed to step back for some weeks, and be totally alone to meditate and reflect on the future of my spiritual path.
I have found that first of all i got to "extreme" in my view sometimes and even i thought others maybe affected my views and beliefs, again it was my own "shadow" that haunted me.
But now i am back to be a happier and more understanding person. And no i won`t blame the Atheists for my struggle hehe

They say, we are our own worsed enemy. and i guess that sometimes hitt us in the face.
And this time i got smacked my self

 

[Shantanu]

Truth is. It doesn’t “generate” anything.

It is being...without desire for attachments of maya...that results in moksha.

I do not know anything for certain. I am a satya-advaitist who follows the truth path. I investigate ideas and concepts of God and the purpose of living.

 

[Shia Islam]

To follow a spiritual path can sometimes lead a person to be to serious about life ( I been there)
But may it be that we need to stop being afraid of doing wrong, and if we do wrong learn from it, instead of becoming to serious about it and actually fear our own faults?

My newfound joy in life is seeing life in a more happy way (living in the moment). Laugh of my own "stuid" way of being from time to time, and when someone have fun toward me, to smile and have fun back

Life is actually really fun when you let go of the fear of doing something wrong.

I don't know if it is not life that must be taken seriously what on earth must?!

 

[Spirit of Light]

I don't know if it is not life that must be taken seriously what on earth must?!

The teaching of the religious path we have chosen to cultivate must be taken serious, But not one self it is ok to have fun

 

[charlie sc]

Hehe You know, yes it could be sometimes, But this time it was my self that stood in the way of spiritual growth, so i needed to step back for some weeks, and be totally alone to meditate and reflect on the future of my spiritual path.
I have found that first of all i got to "extreme" in my view sometimes and even i thought others maybe affected my views and beliefs, again it was my own "shadow" that haunted me.
But now i am back to be a happier and more understanding person. And no i won`t blame the Atheists for my struggle hehe

They say, we are our own worsed enemy. and i guess that sometimes hitt us in the face.
And this time i got smacked my self

Just be careful. As fun as Internet forums are, they’re a procrastination tool. I think you realise this. Therefore, if you really want emotional/spiritual growth, it probably won’t be here.

 

[Spirit of Light]

Just be careful. As fun as Internet forums are, they’re a procrastination tool. I think you realise this. Therefore, if you really want emotional/spiritual growth, it probably won’t be here.

The spiritual growth happens anywhere if we do it right, but yes there is a chance that online one will meet people who want pull you down instead of helping you build your growth.

 

[Trailblazer]

The spiritual growth happens anywhere if we do it right, but yes there is a chance that online one will meet people who want pull you down instead of helping you build your growth.

An there are others who will do just the opposite, just like in real life.

 

[Trailblazer]

Just be careful. As fun as Internet forums are, they’re a procrastination tool. I think you realise this. Therefore, if you really want emotional/spiritual growth, it probably won’t be here.

Then where will it be? Why not here?

 

[Spirit of Light]

An there are others who will do just the opposite, just like in real life.

Yes that is true

 

[Trailblazer]

To follow a spiritual path can sometimes lead a person to be to serious about life ( I been there)
But may it be that we need to stop being afraid of doing wrong, and if we do wrong learn from it, instead of becoming to serious about it and actually fear our own faults?

My newfound joy in life is seeing life in a more happy way (living in the moment). Laugh of my own "stuid" way of being from time to time, and when someone have fun toward me, to smile and have fun back

Life is actually really fun when you let go of the fear of doing something wrong.

I do not take THIS LIFE very seriously... As a result, lots of things slip through the cracks but I usually sort them out later if they are important enough. Living things are all that really matter... Material things are not living things so they can always be fixed later, I keep saying.

 

[Spirit of Light]

I do not take THIS LIFE very seriously... As a result, lots of things slip through the cracks but I usually sort them out later if they are important enough. Living things are all that really matter... Material things are not living things so they can always be fixed later, I keep saying.

I do agree with you Material things can not be taken with us when we dies, so there is no need to cling to them. Personally i own very few physical things.

 

[Trailblazer]

I do agree with you Material things can not be taken with us when we dies, so there is no need to cling to them.

That is exactly how I feel, although I probably have a different belief about the afterlife than you as a Buddhist.

Personally i own very few physical things.

God, I only wish...
I have too much, namely three houses. I can only imagine what life would be like if I only had one house again, but it has been 10 years, so I have forgotten... I know life was a lot simpler back then, even though we had more than twice as many cats back then. Tenants living in houses is more complicated than cats living in houses because tenants want more than cats and need more than cats.....

I do not accumulate anything new but I still have what I have and it is all older than sin.
The cars are 1986 and the 1999 is our backup in case the 1986 breaks down.... we live in the country.

 

[Spirit of Light]

That is exactly how I feel, although I probably have a different belief about the afterlife than you as a Buddhist.

God, I only wish...
I have too much, namely three houses. I can only imagine what life would be like if I only had one house again, but it has been 10 years, so I have forgotten... I know life was a lot simpler back then, even though we had more than twice as many cats back then. Tenants living in houses is more complicated than cats living in houses because tenants want more than cats and need more than cats.....

I do not accumulate anything new but I still have what I have and it is all older than sin.
The cars are 1986 and the 1999 is our backup in case the 1986 breaks down.... we live in the country.

Hehe i do not even own a house I only stay here (can`t own a lot when one does not work)
I dont have a car

 

[Trailblazer]

Hehe i do not even own a house I only stay here (can`t own a lot when one does not work)
I dont have a car

The simple life is sure a lot easier but how does one change a life that they have made?
Needless to say, I was not ON a spiritual path when I made all these acquisitions.
I do not use a car myself, I ride a bike to work, I just meet my husband at the grocery store twice a week when he brings the car for grocery shopping... gotta eat.
If we did not have 10 cats it's be easier to change our lifestyle, but they need a house to live in.
The house is twice as big as what we need now because 19 cats when we bought it...
Now half the house downstairs is sitting empty.
I have NO idea what the future holds, I just hope God helps me out...

 

[Spirit of Light]

The simple life is sure a lot easier but how does one change a life that they have made?
Needless to say, I was not ON a spiritual path when I made all these acquisitions.
I do not use a car myself, I ride a bike to work, I just meet my husband at the grocery store twice a week when he brings the car for grocery shopping... gotta eat.
If we did not have 10 cats it's be easier to change our lifestyle, but they need a house to live in.
The house is twice as big as what we need now because 19 cats when we bought it...
Now half the house downstairs is sitting empty.
I have NO idea what the future holds, I just hope God helps me out...

Honestly i have stopped thinking about the future only think about today.
I have never owned a lot of things so to live a life where materalistic things is unimortant is not that hard And actually it make it possible to be less stressed about things in life.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

Hehe i do not even own a house I only stay here (can`t own a lot when one does not work)
I dont have a car

I personally say we have to find a balance in life

I look at it this way. It the Spiritual path on this earth was not to participate in life, work and contribute, then there is no purpose for us to be here and we could not be here, as it takes all those things to survive.

Thus I see the spiritual path is to participate in life to our fullest capacity, work hard and contribute the fruit produced to as many as we can. In that way life becomes a constant prayer.

Regards Tony

 

[Trailblazer]

Honestly i have stopped thinking about the future only think about today.
I have never owned a lot of things so to live a life where materalistic things is unimortant is not that hard And actually it make it possible to be less stressed about things in life.

I live only in the moment. I learned that from a good Buddhist friend I had.
I don't have a lot of things, just houses and cats and tenants.
I have a lot of money but there is nothing I want.
Most people where I work think I am kind of nutty because I don't live like them, for worldly things.