sawfoot _:
There is some kind of weird forum voodoo going on.
I checked the other day and read John's post in reply to this thread, and yet when I go back now it has vanished, though it says on the main page that the last poster was John.
I sort of remember what it said. You talked about your version of the 4 noble truths. I prefer the translation as "4 truths for noble ones" that David Brazier uses. But yeah, put like that, it all seems pretty...simple. and pretty, mundane, really. But no great newsflash, but I becoming solidified in my view that spirituality, like religion, is a bit of con. I think it "works", but these days the myths of eternal salvation, discovering the "Ulimate Truths" or an end to endless rebirths don't really cut it. And it comes down to that choice to be happy. Sometimes, when I have moments of clarity or "happiness", I think, actually, this is quite easy and straightforward - why don't I do this all the time? But then I forget. And so a religious/spiritual practice is really a way of remembering - remembering there is a choice, a choice in the present for present conditions and a choice in the present for future conditions.
Sorry, not forum voodoo, just me. I posted a message (reproduced below from email archive), and a short while later decided to delete it because I thought it might come across as frivolous or insulting -- which wasn't the intent, but could be the effect for someone who doesn't know me well.
There is one element of forum voodoo in that, even when you delete a recent post, you're still listed as the most recent poster in the thread until someone else contributes.
Anyway, here it is again, for referential integrity, so to speak:
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sawfoot _:
The other reason why I get bothered by the stages of insight, in particular the big "E", is the promise of the right condition for happiness without conditions. Conditionality of happiness is deeply entrenched culturally. If only I got a girlfriend, that job, that promotion, the retirement, then, finally, I would be happy. And the pragmatic dharma positioning of "E" can turn out to be a particularly insidious manifestation of that (IMHO). And despite being aware of this, I have still found myself getting sucked up into the snare, and that bothers me in the same way that knowing that a better job etc.. isn't going to deliver my happiness, and yet I can't help shake my conditioning that it will.
It's not an easy one to shake, cos it might not be just conditioning. The fantasy of a radical life-redeeming transformation somewhere in the future can be a neurotic's refuge -- a "fictional final goal" in Adler's terms -- and it has a very powerful and enduring appeal.
sawfoot _:
Anyhows, I should stop worrying about it.
You sure? ;-)
sawfoot _:
The point is that I should look for motivation not in promise of future reward but from recognition that increasing awareness of "non-duality" has a positive impact on my life.
Speaking of which, I like the possibility of taking a really pragmatic approach to "right view", i.e., approaching all aspects of practice in terms of the four noble truths -- which aren't really true, and therefore need to be customised.
Take your pick. Mine's as follows:
1) By default, there is psychological and emotional affliction.
2) There are ways of being and behaving that perpetuate and exacerbate these afflictions.
3) They can come to an end -- preferably without having to do away with "birth", "aging", "death" and the whole universe.
4) There are ways of being and behaving that don't perpetuate or exacerbate affliction. Choose them.