Be in the World but Not of It

Being in the world but not of it is the biggest challenge for one who seeks liberation, because when we are in this world, we are surrounded by the mind, the senses and all the attractions and distractions that the world offers.

So, how can we be in this world, but not of it? We generally tend to get carried away and we sink in this world, but it’s a big challenge to be like a boat that is on the river, but does not sink in the river. It is a big challenge to be like the lotus that’s in the pond, but stays above the dirty waters, bright and shining. We have to learn to be like the lotus and the boat, and not sink in the waters of this world. There is no way to escape being in the world. Anybody who is alive has to wake up, has to do something, has to do his duty or his karma. The challenge is - while we are alive and while we are doing things - not to sink in this maya, this illusion, this mythya of the world or samsara, this is the biggest challenge for us. Many people try to escape the world; they try to run away from the world, go into a forest, a silent retreat. Can they escape the world? Eventually, they have to wake up. Then have to wake up and face the world and then they will feel defeated because they have no experience of facing the world.

For instance – imagine we are in a jungle and right in front of us, a tiger appears. Does it make any sense to close our eyes?, The tiger will be there regardless; we have to face it. So also we have to face samsaar, we have to face the world and not shut our eyes to it, but we have to overcome it, not suppress our feelings, but sublimate our feelings; we must be in this world, but not be of the world.

AiR

One cannot be in the world but not of it in any absolute sense but one can be free to some degree. The best way to achieve it is to avoid
other human beings as much as possible. That is easy to do if like me you have no wife or children or friends and do not work or socialise
and live alone and fully intend to be like that till the day you die. Many would apparently go mad if they had to live like that but I do not
know how true it is. But I know that it works for me and one of the consequences of this is that it makes me relatively detached from life
beyond my own existence. And I also have no fear of death and so am just biding my time till I die so this further reinforces the notion of
detachment. I cannot recommend this life however. As how others choose to live theirs is a matter for them not me. Though it definitely
works for me for I am very much at peace with myself. This to me is positive nihilism rather than the stereo typical negative one which is
usually portrayed. So I am not denying life merely the fact that it has any objective meaning or purpose to it. Which it does not of course

I was born in this world, therefore I am of it.

I agree with Ierrellus

surreptitious57

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Nothing is absolute.
What the saying actually means is to be in the world, yes, even a part of it, but not to be attached or too attached to the things of the world, not to hug them too tightly.
Does free mean having nothing left to lose?

Being that the world includes human beings, S, if you’re avoiding them, you are not so much in the world as you think. You may be in your own little world but that’s okay if that’s what you want.
How does one learn to transcend temptation without being confronted with it at times? Maybe that’s not a good analogy.

Well, coming in here is a form of socializing. I don’t want to know, I mean, I’m not really interested in an answer, but I am really curious about your natural environment and what you do do. You must really live way on the outskirts of civilization. I wonder though - if you absolutely couldn’t ever see anyone at all, come in contact with anyone at all, not speak or socialize even this little bit as you do in here, how would you fare?

I will ask one question here. How many years have you lived like this?

Have you ever read a book called The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck?
So time is to be spent by biding it’s time to die? Is there anything which happened to you today that you might want someone to remember - something that made at least a nice difference in your day?

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Define what you mean by peace? Quiet, not having anyone around you? How can you know peace, S, without its opposite? Have you ever considered giving your “peace” another name? Could you call it something else?

Even the objective can sometimes be seen only in the eyes of the beholder.
Would I be wrong in saying that you also deny Life’s subjective purpose, according to an individual?

Why wouldn’t you recommend your kind of life. You say that it works for you. Couldn’t it work for others? What do you have that others don’t?

I live in a big city but keep entirely to myself which suits me just fine. I have been alone for eight years. I do
not socialise on the internet as I am not interested in that but in productive discourse which is why I am here

For some reason, I have trouble with the word “transcend”, especially if it implies some growth or development that cannot be characterized as evolving. If the change is evolving, it does not negate what I am with ephemeral ideas of what I can be. One starts at the base, which is isness in a given world.