Enlightenmint

So say Doll eye Llama/Buddha

"What is reborn are our habits.   Enlightenment is the ending of rebirth, which means a complete non attachment or non-identification with all thoughts, feelings, perceptions, physical sensations, and ideas."

Well, first of all, we only outlive our lives through our children and ideas, in my view/book.  I don't believe in reincarnation, or souls, or soul migration, or going to other realms, like heaven or hell or limbo or purgatory or what-have-you.   You remain as memories, granted.   We all die.   Nothing is forever.  No one lives forever.   All is impermanent.  Because everything is ephemeral and transitory, like a bubble, I guess you could say we are all enlightened!   There never was any rebirth to begin with.   

   Heaven and Hell and The Earth-Realm:  Bliss and Torture, Ecstasy and Agony, and plain old neutral ordinary everyday life, with the potential for anything, but characterized by a moderate normality, in between the extremes of pleasure and pain, which is quite pleasant and satisfying, in my book.  They say heaven and hell are all in your head, but steady ongoing effort yields a pleasant life, with the right people in it, I think.

Second, are we our names?  Should we not attach to our names as a referent to our bodies?  A rose is a rose by any other name.   They say people with more A's in their names get better grades.   So there IS some correlation between name and identity.   Like, my name has like 10 gods in it.   Is that why I have a God's blog?  I don't think so, but maybe.  Or, all the anagrams sometimes seem relevant and meaningful.   Is reality playing games with us?  Or the numbers in names?   It's completely random!  Who ordered the alphabet, and do we have to use base 9?  (the numerology seems pervasive).   You can choose any name for yourself you want.  You can change names every week!  You can have no name, and identify with all names.   You can pick names at random from a phone book.   You can think about your name for years, and have a sacred ceremony for it.   It can be as important or unimportant as you like!  You can demand people call you something, or you could care less.   Names, shnames!  My confirmation name is John.  I wanted to be Jonathan.  My names in other languages are fun.   Well, whatever.   Sometimes, it's good to change, for variety, or safety, or getting married, or just to feel happier.   Maybe you need a change.   There are bad associations with some names, and good associations with others.   I like unique names.  Weird names.  Fun names.  With meaning (and kinding).  

Thirdly, I don't think the DL is saying there is no truth or reality or that all ideas are worthless...  Just don't IDENTIFY with them.   Self and identity are your body and conditioned and changeable, and we're all a part of Reality, both Everything and Nothing, and that's the whole shebang.  I mean, to tie this Buddhist idea with my God-blog thing, we're All I AM.    Fill in the blank, I AM _____.   Yes.   We're all everything.  All in all is all we are.   All the components of Reality in the microcosm of our minds, bodies, spirits, selves, whatever.   You are okay, already, whatever you are.   It seems like everybody wants you to be something else.   Some things ARE better and happier than others.   So that's it.

I like to identify with positive feelings, and think of myself as a happy, well-adjusted person.   This strikes me as healthier than being gloomy and depressed, but the DL is saying, don't.   I don't have to accept HIS ideas, either.   I get it, though.   Be Everything, One with Reality, and nothing will bring you down (or up), you'll have equanimity, and be solid and compassionate and loving and kind and good and non-judgmental and grounded in reality, all the better to operate ideally within it.    

Physical sensations aren't me.   I am not my pleasure, pain, discomfort, or contentment.   I can kind of program myself to feel fine almost anywhere or anytime.   It's temporary, in any case.  If you are not your body, and not your mind, and in fact there IS no you, because it is all conditioned, and nothing is permanent, then simply existing in union with your eternal Oblivion is a kind of bliss.

Ideas?  Don't take MY word for it.    Everybody groks reality for themselves, no matter what they read!

Yes, I know it's spelled Dalai Lama and enlightenmEnt.    Speaking of which, why is light good and dark bad?  Like positive and negative?  The poles of a battery are not good and evil!  Anyway, dark is just as good as light.   I like to see things, and am glad I'm not blind.  I like dreams.  But that doesn't make dark bad!!!  Dark is good, when you need to sleep, or your eyes are tired.  The Pope could wear black, for all I care.   This purity symbolism is ridiculous.

Anyway, on bacon.   It's delicious.   Pigs suffer.   What to do?  Well, I'm sure if the pigs could taste it like we do, they'd understand, and say hell I want some, too!   But on the other hand, one Slice Of Bacon is a sob story.   I mean, people need meat, a little (in moderation), but pigs are intelligent animals and factory farming is heinous, if I understand things correctly.   So have bacon once in awhile, but don't go overboard, and -if you can- consider helping your fellow animals by not eating them (although it's true they wouldn't be alive in the first place if we didn't).   But if humans tasted like bacon, we'd all be cannibals, I think.   

If I had to summarize Buddhism, it's that life is suffering, but you can be happy from the pursuit and attainment of Nirvana, which is Bliss, by purging attachments and aversions, and grokking Reality, through meditation, reflection, philosophy, reading, and (for me, at least) writing.  The Christian concept of Hell fits into the Buddhist fabric, in the sense of dukkha (discontent, dissatisfaction, unhappiness, including the pain, agony, suffering, torment, misery, anguish, despair, depression) being overcome through insight and application.   We're (almost?) all in some level of hell, some circle (as it were), some of us worse than others.  Helping others escape melancholy, malaise, and misery and find play, pleasure, and positivity*... itself brings you the felicity and rapture of meaning, service, being a part of something Good, making a difference, helping.   

*bliss, joy, satisfaction, fun, laughter, glee, gratitude, contentment, love, etc. (you get the picture).    It's actually less about play and pleasure than it is about (the Buddhist values of) kindness, compassion, understanding, equanimity, wisdom, and generosity.   But maybe it should be!   Buddhist Values are called Dharma.