"If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is a law, and no amount of pretending will alter that reality."
"Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is...The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds."
-Quotes from Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
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2 comments:
The Short Answer to your question: No.
I can't explain it because words are insufficient. The only way to learn the truth of this statement is to experience it through meditation.
The Slightly Longer Answer: Read Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Millman can explain it better and more clearly than I.
The Long Answer: The test itself does not cause stress, it is the results of that test that you care about.
Good grade->
Pass class->
Graduation->
Good Job->
Money->
Material Possesions-> ?????
The same with stress from bills.
Failure to pay bills->
Loss of Material Possesions-> ????
Do material possesions lead to happiness? Or conversely, does a loss of (or failure to obtain) material possesions lead to unhappiness?
My answer to both is no. True happiness comes from within. It is something that everyone is born with. Most of us don't realize this because our minds distract us with things that don't matter. We eventually become so preoccupied with meaningless things that we lose sight of our innnate happiness.
So now to the quote. When Millman says life/what is, he means the experience of the present. Your experience of the present is interrupted/resisted/distracted by your mind caring about the test, caring about bills, caring about etc. etc. etc......
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