As I review some of my posts I realize they are all interconnected. We keep circling back to similar interrelated topics albeit from different perspectives. This is awesome! The Buddha’s teachings are like a giant jigsaw puzzle, all fitting together perfectly. Let’s begin another discussion of how to step back from the 8 worldly concerns. But first let’s review what they are. They are 4 pairs of opposites: praise and blame; fame and disrespect; pleasure and pain; and gain and loss. We train in reducing our attachment to all 8, even the ones from a limited perspective we feel are advantageous. They all involve some form of ego-grasping, of preoccupation with number one – me, me, me. Full nonattachment requires a deeper understanding and eventually realization of emptiness – absence of the distorted way we see and understand ourselves and the world. More to come …..
