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Since my journey began, i have looked to understanding myself and the world that surrounds me. I endeavor to look at my interactions with as many views as possible as well as make attempts to make peace with myself and those of my interactions.

I am frustrated and this sometimes leads to nihilistic views. I cannot express my inability to realize and actualize the concepts offered by the path. I understand it. I comprehend it. I am confounded with what i deem as imbalance. I am grateful and appreciative of my good fortune however i want to realize and actualize so that i can look at all aspects.

There seems to be a disconnect between what i see, feel, hear, smell and taste. It is akin to cognitive dissonance. I understand awareness, mindfulness and realization however it seems to be at polar opposites with the 6 senses or 12 ayatanas.

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  • What do you think about substituting mindfulness for these views you speak of?
    – Tenzin Dorje
    Oct 6, 2015 at 7:37
  • Sorry but I find it difficult to be sure what this is asking. Actualizing precepts -- do you mean the five precepts? Do you mean it's difficult to refrain from killing, for example? I am frustrated and this sometimes leads to nihilistic views -- seems to be the centre of the question ... maybe adding an example of what you're talking about would clarify what you mean by "I am", "frustrated", and "nihilistic views"? I cannot express my inability -- can you identify a question that you want to ask?
    – ChrisW ♦
    Oct 6, 2015 at 8:12
  • realize and actualize -- this pair of words appears twice, so it's probably significant ... maybe you could explain that further? Is it a quote from somewhere? Have you learned something somewhere which suggests that something is supposed to be "realized and actualized"? a disconnect, cognitive dissonance, polar opposites -- I don't know, isn't this expected ... the feeling that something is wrong, isn't that ordinary aversion?
    – ChrisW ♦
    Oct 6, 2015 at 8:17
  • Do you know whether you prefer an answer to be from the perspective of a specific school (Theravada, Mahayana, ...)? Might it be that this is a better question for a teacher than to ask online?
    – ChrisW ♦
    Oct 6, 2015 at 8:30
  • @Tenzin Dorje - I am unsure of what you mean exactly. Would you be able to give an example?
    – Motivated
    Oct 6, 2015 at 16:46

2 Answers 2

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It's not easy to actualize the high Buddhist ideals in the turbulent waters of everyday living. Three things can help:

  1. It helps to have a very clear understanding what the Buddhist concepts like "right-intention" etc. really refer to. Often the canonical definitions don't provide enough details to latch on in immediate experience. This is where a live teacher can help, or ask specific questions here on Q&A: "how does the right-intention manifest in real-life practice? what are the typical challenges and are there any techniques for overcoming them?". It is said that the most difficult problem in Buddhism is to get the sense of immediacy, and once you got that -- Enlightenment is within reach.

  2. As Shrawaka correctly pointed out, you can't expect to skip from your current karmic situation to a perfect karmic situation - with no intermediate steps. As my first teacher explained, karma exhibits inertia, it is very inertial. So you need to start seeding better karmic seeds now, and patiently hold on until the situation will change. If you seed better seeds more or less consistently over a long time - the external situation will change, I promise -- as I was promised to, back in the day.

  3. As my last teacher said, many of our precept breaches / behavior problems (losing temper or giving in to obsession or panicking etc.) come from not staying inside our bodies (losing what's traditionally called kayagata-sati - "mindfulness of the body"). In simple words, when something non-trivial happens we very often "fly over" from our body to a place "over there" -- that being either the other person's perspective or some imaginary point in abstract space. This somatic disconnect is the first step in the chain of events leading to a loss of control to kleshas (blinding affects). Instead, we should train to retain the sense of our bodies, phenomenologicaly always being "inside" our body (leaving aside the philosophical implications) - esp. continuously staying in touch with our lower abdomen, but also feet and face.

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  • Thanks. It has been a challenge finding someone who doesn't approach the concepts from purely an academic perspective which suggests to me that the concepts are not clearly understood. Having said that, i am attempting to learn these on my own as much as possible.
    – Motivated
    Oct 9, 2015 at 7:05
  • As for karmic situations, i am hesitant to agree or disagree since it isn't one easily understood in the context of everyday living. I see karmic plantations as sowing the seeds that may result in concrete results e.g. if i develop hatred for a particular situation and although i may not be affected immediately, at some point i'm going to snap which may lead to undesirable effects which leads to your next comment on not staying inside one's body.
    – Motivated
    Oct 9, 2015 at 7:06
  • I find the point interesting since it raises the idea of where do you draw the line? If someone is verbally abusive or physically or decisively cunning in pitting one against the other, i would question staying inside one's body.
    – Motivated
    Oct 9, 2015 at 7:06
  • why the last one?
    – Andriy Volkov ♦
    Oct 9, 2015 at 8:29
  • I am unsure what you mean by why the last one
    – Motivated
    Oct 10, 2015 at 1:01
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As your comments "since my memories still haunt me especially when attempting to make peace with myself and others. The question why keeps pursuing me. e.g. Why is there hate? Why do others not see the destruction? Since i am unable to answer this in any meaningful way, it frustrates me leading to nihilistic views." I think "Kamma" and it's reaction always with us.

Every action, every thought, every idle word sets up reactions, according to the Universal Law. When one thinks a thought, that thought makes an impression on the Universal Consciousness. Nothing is lost or done in secret. Everything is done within the Universal Consciousness, and the Whole is affected by it (as well as all others within the Whole).

http://www.edgarcayce.org/ps2/soul_life_destiny_fate_karma.html

Everyone involved in our present lives was very likely involved in our past lives. Actually, it is likely they have been involved in many of our past lives. Our parents, brothers and sisters, spouses, children, friends, colleagues, bosses and employees, and even our enemies began sharing life with us long before the present lifetime.

Past Lives & Present Relationships - by John Van Auken

How to end this 'karmic action' and earn 'Peace' is shown in Buddhist practice.

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  • Thanks Shrawaka. I appreciate the answer however it does not explain the imbalance i see. I am not saying karma does not exist nor does it exist or neither i.e. it simply is, however it suggests to me that concepts until fully realized are simply that, concepts or blind faith.
    – Motivated
    Oct 8, 2015 at 16:19
  • @Motivated "concepts until fully realized are simply that", Up to this "faith". After that "No faith"(Asadda). Not faith, Only the path.
    – Shrawaka
    Oct 9, 2015 at 1:19

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