How do you all feel about this thought?
I agree with his statement but having said that, I think the kind of happiness he speaks of is entirely different from what many people, especially here in America, see as happiness.
I agree Pamela . I think that to seek the American version of happiness is to trivialize the idea . In my opinion , better word choices would be serenity , inner peace , acceptance , coming to terms , or tranquility .
posted by Dirck
over 2 years ago
I think one of the most important things I'm learning is that words have different meanings from the Buddhist perspective and what I'm used to... like happiness... ego... trust... and many others.
The Dalai Lama is such a great man but he most assuredly doesn't get our American way of thinking. When he met with American teachers who spoke of Americans having to start with their self loathing, he had to confer with his translator for a long time because he just didn't get it. Much of Buddhism is foreign to us but I think happiness is just contentment. Americans equate happiness with money & stuff, that's why a lot of us don't "get it." IMHO, of course.
Bodhidharma quotes the sutras in saying, "To seek is to suffer. To seek nothing is bliss."
(from the book "The Zen Teachings of Bodhidharma." Translated by Red Pine.)
May, I come to the day where I seek nothing!
