Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - If a perfect, ideal buddhist doesn't desire...

filtherton · 09-20-2003, 11:17 AM

Since i doubt-correct me if i'm wrong- that anyone of us has met anyone who is even close to enlightened in the buddhist sense of the word, i doubt we could claim to understand their M.O.
However, with this in mind I would speculate that if you were truly content you wouldn't desire life any more than you would desire death; you would be fine either way. If you still desire to live more than you desire to die, obviously you are not truly content. I'm not saying that you can't be content and still want to live, I'm saying you can't be truly content in the buddhist sense, or atleast in my interpretation of it.
You also have to realize that reincarnation is part of buddhism. Under that belief you can't not exist. Death is not feared, it is just one step in the journey to enlightenment.
Edit: Being content is not the same as wanting to uphold the status quo. Being content is realizing that the status quo is going to change or not change regardless of what you do. Being content is realizing that struggling against what is inevitable is useless and wasteful. Being content nowhere contains the desire to be content, because you can't be content if your trying to be content.

09-20-2003, 11:17 AM	#16 (permalink)
filtherton Junkie Location: In the land of ice and snow.	Since i doubt-correct me if i'm wrong- that anyone of us has met anyone who is even close to enlightened in the buddhist sense of the word, i doubt we could claim to understand their M.O. However, with this in mind I would speculate that if you were truly content you wouldn't desire life any more than you would desire death; you would be fine either way. If you still desire to live more than you desire to die, obviously you are not truly content. I'm not saying that you can't be content and still want to live, I'm saying you can't be truly content in the buddhist sense, or atleast in my interpretation of it. You also have to realize that reincarnation is part of buddhism. Under that belief you can't not exist. Death is not feared, it is just one step in the journey to enlightenment. Edit: Being content is not the same as wanting to uphold the status quo. Being content is realizing that the status quo is going to change or not change regardless of what you do. Being content is realizing that struggling against what is inevitable is useless and wasteful. Being content nowhere contains the desire to be content, because you can't be content if your trying to be content. Last edited by filtherton; 09-20-2003 at 11:25 AM..