is love of life metta?

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Guy
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Re: is love of life metta?

Post by Guy »

Hi Befriend,

When people say they "love life", do you think they love all aspects of life or just the pleasant parts?

Do you think that people who claim to "love life" also love: loss, disappointment, pain, grief, despair, sorrow, lamentation, old age, sickness and death?

Metta,

Guy
Four types of letting go:

1) Giving; expecting nothing back in return
2) Throwing things away
3) Contentment; wanting to be here, not wanting to be anywhere else
4) "Teflon Mind"; having a mind which doesn't accumulate things

- Ajahn Brahm
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acinteyyo
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Re: is love of life metta?

Post by acinteyyo »

dhamma follower wrote:How do you define life as you experience it?

Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, thinking/feeling/imagining...?

Is any of these is permanent, satisfactory, commandable?

Best wishes,
excellent answer! :goodpost:
this should be kept in mind and considered well...

best wishes, acinteyyo
Thag 1.20. Ajita - I do not fear death; nor do I long for life. I’ll lay down this body, aware and mindful.
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Zom
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Re: is love of life metta?

Post by Zom »

in an interview with Jack Kornfield i just read in Kripalu catalog someone said why do you teach. the first thing out of his mouth was because i love life. theres was more but thats the first thing he thought of.
That's why this is much better to learn what Buddha says rather than what buddhists say.
daverupa
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Re: is love of life metta?

Post by daverupa »

acinteyyo wrote:
dhamma follower wrote:How do you define life as you experience it?

Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, thinking/feeling/imagining...?

Is any of these is permanent, satisfactory, commandable?

Best wishes,
excellent answer! :goodpost:
this should be kept in mind and considered well...
Sadhu! Sadhu!
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
befriend
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Re: is love of life metta?

Post by befriend »

Guy wrote:Hi Befriend,

When people say they "love life", do you think they love all aspects of life or just the pleasant parts?

Do you think that people who claim to "love life" also love: loss, disappointment, pain, grief, despair, sorrow, lamentation, old age, sickness and death?

Metta,

Guy

this may sound odd. even when i feel pain when i am doing the dishes and the water is too hot, i am aware of the sensation, and am curious about the pain. i am not in suffering, then the pain reminds me i am alive. then this makes me happy. id rather feel a little pain than be dead. i disclocated my shoulder a few years ago, the strongest emotion i felt about it was gratitude. the shoulder felt awkward and painful but a sense of gratitude arose INVOLUNTARILY because although it was a unfortunate event i was stil happy because if i couldnt dislocate my shoulder i wouldnt be a live. they obvisouly dont love pain and disease, but i think its possible to appreciate life so much, that you have gratude for everything. i dont know if this is dhamma i have a lot of opinions but most of them are malleable and could very much be delusion. sadhu, befriend
Take care of mindfulness and mindfulness will take care of you.
befriend
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Re: is love of life metta?

Post by befriend »

daverupa wrote:
acinteyyo wrote:
dhamma follower wrote:How do you define life as you experience it?

Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, thinking/feeling/imagining...?

Is any of these is permanent, satisfactory, commandable?

Best wishes,
excellent answer! :goodpost:
this should be kept in mind and considered well...
Sadhu! Sadhu!

yes i do define life as such. is it not a deep joy to see the world like this???????????????? metta befriend :woohoo:
Take care of mindfulness and mindfulness will take care of you.
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Fede
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Re: is love of life metta?

Post by Fede »

Guy wrote:Hi Befriend,

When people say they "love life", do you think they love all aspects of life or just the pleasant parts?

Do you think that people who claim to "love life" also love: loss, disappointment, pain, grief, despair, sorrow, lamentation, old age, sickness and death?

Metta,

Guy
I can honestly answer yes, but I think, as far as I am concerned, I am content from a PoV, to substitute the word 'Love' for 'Embrace'.

What other choice do we have?
"Samsara: The human condition's heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment." Elizabeth Gilbert, 'Eat, Pray, Love'.

Simplify: 17 into 1 WILL go: Mindfulness!

Quieta movere magna merces videbatur. (Sallust, c.86-c.35 BC)
Translation: Just to stir things up seemed a good reward in itself. ;)

I am sooooo happy - How on earth could I be otherwise?! :D


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daverupa
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Re: is love of life metta?

Post by daverupa »

Fede wrote:I can honestly answer yes, but I think, as far as I am concerned, I am content from a PoV, to substitute the word 'Love' for 'Embrace'.

What other choice do we have?
Upekkha.
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
befriend
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Re: is love of life metta?

Post by befriend »

had an idea, maybe its impossible to love life. becaue there is no self. who is loving life????????????????? yes yes, what do you think?
Take care of mindfulness and mindfulness will take care of you.
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Fede
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Re: is love of life metta?

Post by Fede »

daverupa wrote:
Fede wrote:I can honestly answer yes, but I think, as far as I am concerned, I am content from a PoV, to substitute the word 'Love' for 'Embrace'.

What other choice do we have?
Upekkha.
Precisely.

Latin aequanimitas, from aequo animo with even mind.


Meeting with Triumph or Disaster, and treating those impostors just the same.
"Samsara: The human condition's heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment." Elizabeth Gilbert, 'Eat, Pray, Love'.

Simplify: 17 into 1 WILL go: Mindfulness!

Quieta movere magna merces videbatur. (Sallust, c.86-c.35 BC)
Translation: Just to stir things up seemed a good reward in itself. ;)

I am sooooo happy - How on earth could I be otherwise?! :D


http://www.armchairadvice.co.uk/relationships/forum/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
daverupa
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Re: is love of life metta?

Post by daverupa »

This earlier thread also discusses upekkha in some detail, on that note, but alas this begins to go further afield than the OP.
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
befriend
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Re: is love of life metta?

Post by befriend »

daverupa i am wondering what you think of. loving life being a form of identifying with ones sensations as being yours. if sensations arent mine, its impossible to love life because life is like a dream. but that is ultamite reality, in conventional reality it may be a different story.....?
Take care of mindfulness and mindfulness will take care of you.
dhamma follower
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Re: is love of life metta?

Post by dhamma follower »

befriend wrote:had an idea, maybe its impossible to love life. becaue there is no self. who is loving life????????????????? yes yes, what do you think?
Hi befriend,

It is not so!

There's no need for a self in order for "love for life" to exist.

Although there is no self, there is a mental factor called craving having as object the concept of life, this craving is "love for life ". It is craving, not you, me or anybody else.

To understand correctly conventional and ultimate reality, and apply them appropriately in your understanding of the phenomenal world, you might try to read some basic works about the Abhidhamma.

This is one option:
http://www.usamyanmar.net/Buddha/Book/A ... 0Print.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In line with your enquiry about what is the foundation for higher states of mind and wisdom, you might study further about the sobhana cetasikas (beautiful mental factors) and the 6 particulars. You will also see that pity (joy) and sukha (happiness) are among the mental factors of the first jhanna, which can be a foundation for vipassana insight. However, these mental factors of joy and happiness arise as a result of strong one-pointedness of mind, they don't have the sense objects as object. Therefore, they are not to be confused with our joy and happiness in daily life, which have some degree of craving in it. It is important to well understand the differences between these mental factors.

Best wishes,
dhamma follower
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Re: is love of life metta?

Post by dhamma follower »

befriend wrote:daverupa i am wondering what you think of. loving life being a form of identifying with ones sensations as being yours. if sensations arent mine, its impossible to love life because life is like a dream. but that is ultamite reality, in conventional reality it may be a different story.....?
Life (with people, houses, jobs, lovers...) IS a dream, dear friend :-)
Yet we forget it most of the time :cry:

Best wishes,
befriend
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Re: is love of life metta?

Post by befriend »

excellent, yeah i need to study the abhidhamma more. puja, befriend.
Take care of mindfulness and mindfulness will take care of you.
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