If you could change the past, would you?

[Willamena]

Contentment is the removal of desire. You need desire in order to change. If you're so content that you don't feel the need to do anything with your life it's bad.

Contentment is the fulfillment of desire.

The removal of desire is frustration.

 

[Sees]

Oh! What makes something a "main event?" What if we're mistaken about what is "main?"

That would be the hard part if we got carried away with changing the past. The biggest obstacle in my mind would be not tinkering with other people's lives.

It's hard to make the distinction outside of very simple things...like not eating some fast food that didn't agree with you or taking that one step without turning on the lights. For me the things to change would mostly be trying harder at certain tasks I had already done, saving a little more than I spent here or there...

 

[RedDragon94]

Contentment is the fulfillment of desire.

The removal of desire is frustration.

Let me think of a scenario. If a parent/guardian of a child asks their child to do something (go outside and rake the leaves) and the child comes back in three hours later and says, "Hey I did the front yard." To which the parent says, "I'm content with that." Is that really the fulfillment of the desire of the parents? I think that the whole meaning of contentment is to be okay with less.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Hmmm.

To use different terms, happiness is still there when the drive to change comes from a place of being authentic to who we are rather than a reaction to some external circumstance we dislike

Yes. That is where true happiness comes from (I call it free spirited. Happiness sounds superficial) when you can float with the wind whereever it leads and learn to react in a healthy manner to whatever flies in your path.

I wouldn't quite put aside finding happiness because of negative external stimuli. I mean, that's why many if not most people want to be happy (have ever lasting life, enlightenment, and so forth) is because of fear, suffering, and so have you. It helps a lot of people lead spiritual lives.

I agree, though. Our true selfs/natures are what drives us to do what we do rather than eternal stimili. I see no harm in either. I just like the latter. It doesn't limit me to do things only when something bad happens.

A sort of love of the journey, rather than its destination? When people aim to change things from a place of dissatisfaction or dislike with the world, that is a problem, yes? The fixation is on having the destination, that thing at the end.

I would say it's natural to want change .. that's how we grow. s far as fixation on the destination rather than changing or shaping the present, that, I can see as a problem.

"Wait, are you leaving?" ~Bruce

"Yeah, I figure you can handle things now." ~God

"What if I need you? What if I have questions?" ~Bruce

"That's your problem, Bruce. That's everyone's problem. You keep lookin' up" ~God

 

[Twilight Hue]

In the religion of Buddhism, emphasis is placed on focusing on the present moment, rather than dwelling on the past or dreaming of the future. From there, it is sometimes said that those who have the most inner peace are those who are fully present in the right here, and the right now. To frame things another way, those who would answer the question "if you could change the past, would you?" with a yes, are lacking inner peace or contentment with their lives. Do you agree with this perspective? Is it possible to have great inner peace and contentment while desiring to change the past? If a person desires to change the future or shape the world, does this also indicate a lack of inner peace and contentment?

It's more akin with living the present moment than attempts towards focusing on it. If a person counts breaths It becomes apparant as to the "gist" of it all as relience on counting wanes.

If desire proves bothersome, then consequently you get that perspective that there is a lack of inner peace and contentment. The expectation of inner peace and contentment alone should tell you something as far as Buddhism is concerned, and where you stand as things are presently.

 

[Twilight Hue]

We are not all completely content.

Nor should we be. Of course you knew that I suspect. "0]

 

[MARCELLO]

If I could have changed the past I would change the study I did at university.I am 40 now,it is too late

 

[Laika]

Yes, but Buddha is right on this one. wanting to change the past means being in conflict over the nature of the self.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

From there, it is sometimes said that those who have the most inner peace are those who are fully present in the right here, and the right now.

It's partly about contentment, but for me a more important aspect of being more fully in the present is that it makes experience more interesting and rewarding. Spending a lot of time in the past is pointless, though I think there is some value in acknowledging that we have made mistakes and then maybe we can learn from them. Hindsight is a wonderful thing of course!

 

[Rick O'Shez]

Contentment is the fulfillment of desire.

But that's a very temporary kind of contentment.

 

[Jumi]

If things changed I wouldn't be "me". If I could take what I know now into the past and somehow relive there, that I would do.

 

[Eliab ben Benjamin]

If I could have changed the past I would change the study I did at university.I am 40 now,it is too late

Never too late, one should endeavour to learn something new every day

 

[Eliab ben Benjamin]

and to the topic if it is to change my own past ... then NO

though at times traumatic it has taught me well and generally guided me to
be helpful kind and do good in this world

 

[Smart_Guy]

I vote no because I think it is wrong and would just create similar. Once it is known how to do it, people will keep going back. Let alone doing it for bad selfish things. I however really wish to do it and would if I knew for sure things won't screw up, which is not possible.

 

[picnic]

If I could have changed the past I would change the study I did at university.I am 40 now,it is too late

I feel exactly like that. I'm almost 50 now. The problem is that this feeling of being doomed by past "mistakes" removes the hope and dreams that would otherwise motivate you to improve things about your life. In 10 years you might be looking back at this time when you were 40 and wishing that you had seen the opportunities instead of feeling stuck.

I'm the worst person to give advice on this, because I don't put that advice into practice, but there is my advice.

 

[MARCELLO]

Never too late, one should endeavour to learn something new every day

Really?

 

[Iti oj]

Really?

never to late

 

[Eliab ben Benjamin]

Really?

Yes really, at 35 i experienced a TBI , was a zombie for almost 3 years, lost
40% my brain, and yet worked hard to recover, studied and got 2 more degrees
Founded a Head Injury Soc. Lobbied Govt. got new Laws for Disability Rehab.
and Worked full time after as a Biomed Engineer at the local hospital ..

So i can attest Study after 40 is not only possible but achievable and good

 

[Quintessence]

I'm sorry, but this is giving me a headache...

It's the pressure of the implied responsibility weighing in on you, maybe? If so, the reaction of a headache sounds healthy.

If changing the past creates a better present and future for me then yeah I would definitely try to.

What about things other than you? Other people, whether it be humans, trees, or rivers? Does your own betterment override that of all else?

Contentment is the removal of desire. You need desire in order to change. If you're so content that you don't feel the need to do anything with your life it's bad.

This is an interesting perspective, perhaps because it's much different than how I see contentment. I see contentment is acceptance of what is and what must be; an acceptance of the reality of fate, as it were. Desire can certainly still be present there. Philosophically, I'm a determinist, but this doesn't stop me from having desires. Nor does it stop reality from changing. Reality is constantly changing regardless of the presence of humans and/or their desires, isn't it? The rain still falls, the earth still turns, and animal bodies still exchange energy with their environments. All of that... is change.

Let me think of a scenario. If a parent/guardian of a child asks their child to do something (go outside and rake the leaves) and the child comes back in three hours later and says, "Hey I did the front yard." To which the parent says, "I'm content with that." Is that really the fulfillment of the desire of the parents? I think that the whole meaning of contentment is to be okay with less.

What is "less?" I'm not sure I understand what that is. Doesn't this idea of "less" begin with the expectation that one deserves something in particular? If one accepts what is, I'm not sure it's accurate to say the idea is being content with "less." One doesn't recognize there is a "less" and a "more." That value judgement evaporates, I would think.

That would be the hard part if we got carried away with changing the past. The biggest obstacle in my mind would be not tinkering with other people's lives.

Presuming you refer only to human persons, what makes humans of special consideration here? What about things like the near total destruction of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem in the Midwestern United States by humans? It doesn't seem uncommon for folks to only consider humans and the human world when thinking about this question. It's not surprising given the level of anthropocentrism in Western culture, but it is a worrying habit. Humanity's failure to consider the affect of itself across the entirety of the Weave has gotten it into quite a bit of trouble it seems...

It's partly about contentment, but for me a more important aspect of being more fully in the present is that it makes experience more interesting and rewarding.

That is a very important point. We seem to go through so much of life on autopilot, not really thinking much about what we're doing. We could see something truly beautiful, but not be capable of enjoying it. I think of that whenever I see college kids in my campus with their faces stuffed in their mobile devices. There could be a beautiful rainbow right over their heads and they wouldn't even notice.

But that's a very temporary kind of contentment.

Yes, because then one is just seeking the next thing in this endless chain of desires, right? Such is the terrible engine that feeds materialistic consumerism in my country. It's all about wanting this, that, or the other thing, and seeing what one has as "less" or "not enough" and going out to buy something else.

If things changed I wouldn't be "me".

I agree that this looks to be the case, but let's wonder about this for a moment. Is that really true? What does that mean, to be who you are? If we were changed from what we are now, how could we be anything other than ourselves? What is this concept of personal identity that we have? Do I stop being "me" because I somehow stayed in the Catholic church as a kid and never found contemporary Paganism, for example?

 

[fantome profane]

Past, Present, Future are all just a matter of perspective. If you think it would be immoral or just foolish to change the past because it would affect the present in ways we can't predict, then I ask is it wrong to change the present because it would affect the future in ways we can't predict?

The actions I take today will affect the future. I try to do my best and do the right thing. If somehow I had the ability to change the past I would try to do my best and do the right thing.