Before going to bed last night, I was writing a blog and at the end of it, I had the answer. Feeling contented, I went to bed.
Writing is good. Mel often says I need an outlet and blogging is my outlet. I was asking myself if Dhamma was the cause for my loss of interest in my favourite activities or aging? Below was what I wrote last night.
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“If losing interest in the things that we love to do is part of the aging process, does it mean that the absent of hunger in doing things that I once love is due to aging?
How nice it is somehow without exertion, we are able to easily let go of the things that we once love. If this is the case, ideally, over the age of 50 should be a perfect time to understand the true Dhamma because letting go seems effortless.
No one talks about their mental states as they aged. I couldn’t find blogs that share their life stories living as a Buddhist and I definitely won’t need another blog that talks about the Buddha’s teachings.
Perhaps I still have difficulties in recognising emotions…
Be it be Dhamma or aging, living at the present is the solution to all problems.
Ahh…I have the answer!
Zzzzzzz…“
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Basically a learned buddhist understood the path and has liberation in her mind, whereas, a non-buddhist has no clue. There are a few suttas explained by the Buddha about the difference between a learned or trained disciples and one who is untrained. He also explained the benefit of those who are learned and trained.
I remember someone saying that life is meaningless after understanding the Buddha’s teachings and another said he was feeling depressed and both were seeking for answers during a Dhamma talk. I was smiling then.
I guess it’s a process. One day they would come to truly understand what the Buddha meant when he said to live at the present. To understand and accept the first noble truth. To abandon the conditions in the second noble truth. Not only to know but to realise that we can end depression, suffering etc. Lastly, we still have work to do, that is to develop and cultivate the Eightfold path. Perhaps we already are cultivating but we just aren’t aware of it!
So how do I keep my life going? By keeping the precepts, cultivating the Eightfold path, memorising the qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha, his noble disciples and the devas and also the Metta sutta. By remembering the Mahasatipatthana Sutta and the teachings from the bhikkhunis during Buddha’s time. My favourite Buddha’s disciple is Maha Kassapa. I can and will never perfect everything but they are always in my mind.
To the lay buddhist, when you are tired, just remember that you are merely feeling tired and not breaking any precepts or threading against the path. Therefore, always keep the Buddha’s teachings in your mind, have a cup of tea, keep your mind calmed and relaxed.
Don’t be happy, just smile. Don’t be sad, just smile. Feelings are not reliable and have no foothold. Abandon them!
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