Comment on Future is going swell...
shiftymccool@piefed.ca 3 days ago
All that stuff is still happening whether you see it on your “nightmare rectangle” or not. Sticking your head in the sand doesn’t make the nightmare end
What can you personally do about what’s going on in Gaza? Can you personally assist the people who died in the flooding in Nepal?
If the answer to those questions is ’no’, then what value is there in actively sticking your face into the biting nest of news all day long?
We didn’t evolve to be able to tolerate that. At best, we’re able to comprehend the struggles of maybe 100 people around us. Not the entire planet’s worth of hardship.
Yeah, if we have to wait for the entire planet to be sunshine and rainbows all day every day for everyone forever, then we’ll never find inner peace or be able to enjoy a moment of happiness. And neither can anyone else.
If we can allow ourselves to have those things despite the suffering in the world, then the amount of suffering in the world will be reduced drastically. Certainly not entirely, but by nature of the fact that everyone can find a moment or two each day to appreciate the little things, the compounding effects of suffering will be mitigated.
It’s called “the second arrow” in buddhism. The first arrow is the thing that makes you suffer. The second arrow is your internal response to the suffering, which only compounds the suffering even more without changing anything. It comes from clinging to a sense of “it shouldn’t be this way,” a refusal to accept reality on reality’s terms.
That’s not to say we should be callous. A common misperception is that buddhism says we should abandon the world. That’s not the case at all. True buddhist practice awakens the heart of compassion. You’ll feel the suffering of the world immensely if you’re doing it right; more than you ever thought you could. The difference is that you learn to feel that suffering, and acknowledge it for what it is, without resisting reality as it is. That actually increases your ability to respond to it with empathy, because you’re not burning yourself out emotionally.
Non-resistance in the buddhist sense isn’t passivity though. You can still take proactive measures to reduce suffering in the world, and you absolutely should. Buddhism encourages this. The difference is that “non-resistance” is an internal state-of-being in which you can feel the suffering of the world, and not let it break you. What you must accept is your own suffering: the pain you feel when you watch others suffer. To resist that is to be callous. It’s the “first arrow” that one must learn to welcome into one’s flesh, because to resist the first arrow is the second arrow itself.
We can hold space for the suffering of the world, and still enjoy a gentle breeze, or a warm cup of tea, or the smile of a loved one. To not allow ourselves these simple pleasures, is to not allow the world its simple pleasures either. That only increases suffering. Buddhism does not encourage such rigid asceticism, contrary to popular belief.
It’s not “accept pain and deny yourself pleasure.” That’s dogmatic masochism. This isn’t a Herman Hesse novel. It’s “let go of your attachment to pleasure, let go of your resistance to pain. Just let go.” The difference might be subtle, but it’s important.
I just call it “my obelisk”
No smoking in the obelisk room
But what are you going to do about it right at this moment? Presumably if you’re like me you already know who you’re going to vote for, or at least certainly who you’re not voting for. Anything major will pop up in some feed somewhere so you don’t have to listen to whatever dumb shit Trump said on Tuesday.
I get a daily digest from NPR and that’s enough. A 15 minute browse then I’m done with the “news” for the day.
Yeah but what good’s all this tech for if you can’t reduce your own mental state by force feeding yourself doom
It’s about your circle of control. If you can’t do anything it’s not worth worrying about.
Vote in every election. Join groups that set up protests and show up. Help your local community. Join a mailing list that lets you know when to contact your reps about topics you care about.
And that’s it. No reason to consume the rest of the garbage.
protist@retrofed.com 3 days ago
Awful stuff has been happening all over the world forever. Feeding it into your face 24/7 is what’s different