Day 78
Today, I walked with an old high school friend around Bond Park, slept through most of the day, and played tennis with my boyfriend.
Altogether a relaxing day.
I thought a bit about belief and religion.
While I was raised to be Buddhist, I consider myself to be more spiritual but not necessarily religious.
I don’t practice any organized religion in particular, but I have been reading and learning about Buddhism in general.
It’s interesting because a lot of it has ties with psychology. Like more and more therapy practices include some Buddhist concepts like self-awareness and mindfulness. Meditation is said to improve people’s mental health, too.
I see it more as a guide for life — a life philosophy — as opposed to a religion, I suppose.
I used to be more interested in Christianity, too, since it has such a prominent role in the American government and politics in general. Even though religion is supposed to be separate from the government (with the whole separation of church and state), there are religious undertones behind most politicians’ messages.
I just kinda wish more people were like Pi Patel from Life of Pi: open to exploring different religions and finding meaning from them.
As someone once told me, science explains the how and religion explains the why things happen the way they do.
I think everything does happen for a reason, but the reason may not be as obvious as you might think.
People create meaning for themselves, and in doing so, live a richer life with more purpose.
What I’ve learned from Buddhism I’ve generally found to be true, through my life experiences and thinking critically on how and why things happen the way they do.
At the heart of Buddhist doctrine is the idea that everything in the world is interdependent and that we’re all stuck in a cycle of suffering.
When we covet something, even upon obtaining it, we only experience a temporary happiness. And then a cycle of greed starts where you covet the next best new thing. This happens with things like new generations of phones, TVs, you name it.
This lack of contentment can be considered a type of suffering.
And Buddhist thought touts impermanence. All which begins must come to an end. And beginnings and ends are just a sort of relative truth, within the ongoing narrative of life.
It’s interesting because in The Art of Living, it describes how things and people are ultimately continuous forms of energy. Despite the fact that people die, their physical body merely turns into a different form. Their bodies eventually decay or turn to ash and return to the earth. It’s not like they disappear — it’s just that their corporeal form no longer houses their consciousness.
(Whatever your consciousness is supposed to consist of.)
I guess I’m still seeking answers for myself, but I’ll share what I discover along the way.
That’s enough thinking for today — I think I’ll just read for a bit and head to bed.
Bye!
