Part Three
If we are to contemplate the worldly life then it is here that our desires lead us to much pain and suffering - usually it is because we feel we need something when in fact we can live without it. Not rocket science but then neither is living happily.
“Sometimes our experiences of enlightenment seem to come at unexpected moments, often when walking or reading.”
Gloominary speaks of Essentialism:
To deny life’s essentials is also foolish as they are truly the most valuable things.
I speak of Confinism:
Confinism is: “the philosophy of dealing with our limits”. It is a measure of our maturity . . .
Our limits are the very reason why we feel like asking questions that begin with the words:
Why . . . ? . . . How . . . ? . . . When . . . ? . . . What . . . ? . . . et cetera . . . ?
Confinism is the very reason why we ask questions at all.
The reason we ask questions is because we do not know the answers.
If we knew the answers then there would be no reason to ask the questions that we ask.
In many cases it comes down to knowing when to let go . . . when and how to let go of answers that we may never receive . . . or in fact never need . . .
Why? Because sometimes we do not really need the answers - all we really need is the essentials . . . however the brain is able to help us eat and drink and breath . . .
The brain also helps us determine what is poisonous and what is not - so from the essentials then there is some soft psychological needs . . .
We can read from a book what is poisonous - the same information used to be given to us by tribal elders - and now we have the internet - yipee.
A small leap of imagination tells us that we need others to survive - to be born - to learn and to live - through communication to hopefully be happy . . .
The desire to talk or communicate then most certainly comes from our tribal/pack/social nature of looking out for each other - to flourish - our desire to talk was built into us a long long time ago - when you think about it many flock/pack creatures communicate essentials to each other like - DANGER/FOOD respectively - some sheep make a noise to find out where other sheep are.
Note the use of the word “vital”. If we attach ourselves too strongly to our desires then our vitality is diminished. Emotions are tricky little beasts . . .
The same Wikipedia article that I quoted also contains the following text: “While desires are often classified as emotions by laypersons, psychologists often describe desires as different from emotions; psychologists tend to argue that desires arise from bodily structures, such as the stomach’s need for food, whereas emotions arise from a person’s mental state.”
The same Wikipedia article that I quoted also asserts that: “Desire is a sense of longing or hoping for a person, object, or outcome. The same sense is expressed by emotions such as “craving”.”
The question is whether “desire” and “craving” are fundamentally the same thing.
The paradoxical features of reality are what makes existence interesting.
[-o<