This Too Shall Pass — The Eight Worldy Winds

A classic piece of Buddhist philosophy that everyone should apply.

The Tiger Story

Once upon a time, a man was walking through the sprawling fields of a beautiful safari. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a tiger started chasing him. The man run as fast as he could and stumbled upon a well. As a means of escape from the hungry tiger, he jumped into the well and grabbed hold of a loose branch. Lest to his knowledge, right below the deep well as a poisonous snake waiting for him to fall. At this very moment, he is precariously perched, with a hungry snake below and an even hungrier tiger above him. Just to make matters worse, two small tunnel rats came out of nowhere and started knowing on the already thin branch. With nowhere else to go, the man took a pause to analyze the situation. Up above from the well he saw a small bee hive that leaked was leaking fresh honey. With no other thing left to do, he adjusted his position and opened wide to take in small drops of this delicious honey.

After a few minutes though, the tiger started getting impatient and attempted to reach into the well to get a bite at the hanging man. Luckily for the man, the tiger didn’t notice the slippery cracks at the mouth of the old well. With one final attempted swoop, the tiger slipped to the front and fell down into the well, crushing the snake under his bodyweight. The loud thud scared the two rats away, and the man was able to climb out alive.

The Eight Worldy Winds

• Pleasure vs. Pain
• Gain vs. Loss
• Praise vs. Criticism
• Recognition vs. Disrepute

Unfortunately, for all of us, these things are what influence the way we perceive the world and live our lives. Whenever we get a raise or a better position at work, we become happy; similarly, if our reputation goes to shit, we get depressed. When people listen and agree with our ideas, we feel accepted and acknowledged, but if they don’t, we can feel a sense of frustration and self-doubt.

Notice how our happiness or sadness are very dependent on these “external” environmental factors that we (for the most part) have no control over? This explains why human beings naturally fluctuate from moods of happy optimism to self-destructive pessimism like a metronome.

The problem with this way of life is the “slave-ish” relationship with the world and the universe. If external things decide our mood, we are in a very unreliable and unstable place.

Finding Joy in Suffering

In the story, the man took a moment to pause and just savor the lucky happenstance that fresh honey was leaking right in front of him.

For many people, finding joy at a hopeless situation may seem impossible, other worldly and downright psychopathic. I mean, if death was right in front of you, would you actually be capable of smiling? But then again, when all hope is lost, the only way you could make things better is to change your perception and look deep and hard for something positive in the situation.

When you examine the near-death survivor stories of skydivers with failed parachutes, or divers in the brink of drowning, you would notice a common theme. Most of these survivors discuss how their life flashes before their eyes, and how they mentally shut off and start remembering their happy moments before the immanent crash to earth or water filling the lungs. According to their testimonies, when death is already right infront of you, the human nature is rendered completely powerless to the physical world. The mental world, however is still in control. When you find yourself facing death head on, your subconscious mind will shift to overdrive and you will have nothing left to do but remember your best moments in life. This shift in perception is a small move, but it can mean the difference between a happy accepting death versus a chaotic and sudden one.

In the story, the man didn’t let the thought of an impending death distract him from the present moment. In this moment, he was able to savor drops of fresh honey falling from above; the only positive thing the present moment could offer at the moment. Through this seemingly psychopathic move, the man claimed freedom from the fickleness of the universe, and has rebelled against the natural world system. This is not just any sort of freedom though, this is freedom on a metaphysical level.

“The only way to deal with an unfree and controlling world is to shift your mindset to be so free to the point that your very existence is an act of rebellion”

How to deal with your problems in life?

Suffering is everywhere, and the human experience wouldn’t be complete without it. It is a fact that happiness itself could not exist if pain didn’t too. The type of fulfillment you get keeping a business stable wouldn’t exist if you didn’t endure the fatigue and hard work in order to keep it that way. Similarly, you wouldn’t feel the joy of your girlfriend saying “yes” to you if you didn’t power through the interpersonal struggle and fears of failure that came with confessing.

As you can see, the world has a balance, whenever there is happiness, there would always be a corresponding amount of suffering whether you like it or not. The truth is, life is fair, only your perceptions make it seem like its not.

Why are there many depressed rich people while millions of happy poor people? Same principle. It is basic paradox of choice.

Now, how must you deal with your problems in life? There are many ways to do this, but the most important one is to acknowledge and view them more of a “personal challenge” rather than a source of misery.

• Stressed about traffic? Why not be thankful you have a car/ride to work?
• Your partner dumped you? Why not celebrate the freedom of being single again?
• Failed an exam? Good. Now you learned the importance of studying harder!
• Your business not making gains? That’s okay. It’s just a true test of how strong you are.
• Depressed and lonely? That’s okay too, its just another opportunity to reflect on what you really want in your life, and how you can attain it.
• Stressed at work? At least you actually have a job.
• Stressed at school? Shut up and study. You’re lucky to even be given education.
• Trauma and negative past experiences? At least you are still standing.
• Coronavirus pandemic? Given the fact that you are reading this right now, it means you are alive. Why not be thankful you are still alive and kicking?

As you can see, everyone in the world has problems — it’s part of the human condition. And yes, you do have problems, but millions of people have bigger problems than you. So shut up, take a seat and be grateful. Gratitude amidst turmoil can do you wonders as it brings focus into the present moment and starts to unload the pain off your shoulders.

In a world of rapid technological superficiality, you barely get to hear a “thank you” anymore. The best free gift you can give is a smile, why not try it from time to time?

Fuck the World, I Choose Happiness.

There will always be low points in our lives wherein a solution is nowhere to be seen; but do not let this distract you from the fact that there will always be a high point on the horizon. If you are incredibly depressed right now, that only means you experienced incredible happiness before and vice versa. Once you go up, the only way is down. Once you go down, the only way is up.

“Balance is key” — St. Thomas Aquinas

So taking this classic piece of Buddhist wisdom into mind, try taking back control of your life by focusing on your blessings whenever you suffer. The next time you think your life is falling apart, remember that it is just the natural process of your life falling “into place”.

The Truth on Existence

Change is everywhere, however we have no way of predicting where it will take us. Uncertainty is part of life, and wherever you go there will always be risks involved. In starting a relationship, you do risk your very emotional vulnerability, but this risk all becomes worth it in the end. Same goes in running a business, at times you win some and lose some, but it is all worth it in the end, for you leave with a myriad of learning experiences.

With this, it is important to remember the temporary state of the universe. Since everything changes, everything shall indeed, pass. If life gives you problems, they too shall pass — don’t take them too seriously. In the same way, happy moments will pass as well, and the best thing you can do is enjoy them in the moment and avoid distractions.