Thanks!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who took the time to read my blogs and comment on them. I loved the input and it often gave me a new perspective about the topic I had discussed.

This class has rocked my world whether I wanted to admit it or not throughout the semester, and I'm really glad I signed up for it! It has helped me to build my own views as well as helped me to understand the view of others. It also has made it easier for me to accept people for who they are and worry less about other people and instead focus on what I cna do to better myself.

I'm sure that is all so cliche and you're ready to barf if you're reading this, but it is very true and I hope you've learned something from it as well.

Jason - if you're reading (haha) - I think you've done an awesome job of keeping things very neutral and open in the class and I think it made learning all the easier.

Thanks for everything, everyone!

Ludwig Wittgenstein

What an awesome passage! There is no other way to describe it. The first blurb really popped out at me and when I read it my first thought was (excuse the language) “Well, no sh*t.” It wasn’t in a negative way, but more in a way that it boggled my mind. What an amazing way to convey the idea of being happy with what you have and where you are! He said “the place I really have to reach is where I must already be.” It really hits home with the idea of relishing what you have in the moment and being happy with where you are in your life. I think it goes hand-in-hand with the idea that everything happens for a reason. I realize some people don’t believe that, but I do and it may be a coping mechanism, but it works for me. Regardless of if you believe that or not, it is always good to be grateful for the moment despite failed goals, ruined expectations or bad news. If you don’t live your life in the moment you are truly missing out on some of the best times.

He also talks about how we see people blind to problems in their lives and how it annoys us, basically. I thought that was a funny topic to touch on, but well worth mentioning. I don’t think any of us can say we haven’t thought that someone in our lives is doing something wrong or that they have a problem they can’t see. However, it is all relative! We may think they have a problem, but who is to say they agree? My mom may think my fiancé isn’t going anywhere fast in life, but I think he is learning the most valuable lessons about life that he could right now and things will pick up for us when they’re supposed to and we’ve learned the lessons we needed to learn. I think one of my friends could stop sabotaging his relationships, but hey, he wouldn’t have them any other way. And in all honesty, would he relaly be the person he is if he were any different? It is not our job to judge what is a problem to other people as it isn’t their job to judge us.

Kuei-Shan

This passage was so to-the-point! I think the short length of this passage made it profound. When Keui-Shan said “what he hears and sees are ordinary sights and sounds, but nothing is distorted” it really jumped out at me. I think it is always the profoundly simple things that stick out to me, but with good reason. It continuously brings me back to the simple things in life that we take for granted all too often. In this instance, it jumped out at me because it reminded me of when I was younger. My mom would take my sister and I to Golden Gate Park (in San Francisco) and we’d lay in the grass and close our eyes. Every time we’d just listen to nature and inevitable one of us would say “I’ve never heard that before.” It wasn’t that it was a new animal making the sound we’d heard, it was the fact that we’d never slowed down enough to hear it in the first place. When you truly just sit and listen (which also helps in meditation), I think you can hear the world for what it is – nothing more and nothing less.

I also liked the part where he said “Because he has eliminated … bad thinking habits …” because it makes a great point: We can have negative or bad thought patterns that we are able to change in order to better ourselves. It is a relatively obscure concept, but it is a revelation in and of itself. We have to recognize that we can rid ourselves of negative views or preconceptions and that it will make us better in the long-run. In this case, it makes you a Zen Master!

Rilke

What a nice and unexpected read this was. Although the first long passage was a pleasure to read, the second passage was what jumped out at me.

The passage talks about the importance of patience and I think it is a really important virtue to talk about. We can jokingly say, “Patience is a virtue” but it rarely really sets in or clicks with people. How can you change how patient you are (or are not)? Well, just accept that things will come in time and do not be disappointed if it doesn’t come at all. It goes back to the Buddhist teaching that when we end desire we end suffering. Just be and let things happen. Whether it be waiting for a boyfriend or girlfriend to call you back, life-changing news from a doctor or simply waiting to see your child smile at you, you cannot force it to happen and you have to just wait for it to happen. I used to really struggle with waiting – waiting for everything, too – but now I relish the time I spend waiting because to me it isn’t “waiting” at all. Now, I see time spent as time I have to myself to do the things I’ve been meaning to do and I’ve found that I’m so much more productive and satisfied. And once the thing I’ve been waiting for comes along, it is all the better and means so much more.

Another passage that I really liked was the second to last, which said that one of “the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us” is that of loving our fellow human beings. We’ve talked about this in class and I couldn’t help but mention it again. Someone had said that it is truly one of the hardest things to be nice to one another, especially in the face of torment or ridicule. Luckily I haven’t had too much drama in my life in the past few years, but when I did it was so hard to just let things go and just love whoever was the cause of issue. It is easy to get caught up in the moment of the pain and only see the other person as an embodiment of what they’ve said, but they are so much more. They are a human, with a vulnerable body and feelings and a family and they are simply learning how to live their life just like me. When I think of it that way it is much easier to forgive and forget and just accept people for who they are instead of seeing them for their faults. I’m not perfect, though, and it very well may be the hardest thing to do in life!

Symeon the New Theologian

First of all, why does he get to be the “New Theologian”? Anyway, this was such a short, simple and sweet reading. All of it spoke to me on one level or another and really made me think. I love it when that happens!

The first passage was such a great metaphor for how people live in general. “When he dives into the water, he can no longer see anything outside, and he knows only that his whole body is in the water.” When we dive into the scenarios of our life or the routine even, we tend to close ourselves off from the things outside of what we know and can only see what we want. It is as if we walk through life with blinders on and can’t fathom a world beyond what we see. It is when we consciously take those blinders off and approach the world with wonder that we find the most fulfillment and are able to learn something new.

“The more a man enters the light of understanding, the more aware he is of his own ignorance.” I had to read that sentence twice before it hit me like a ton of bricks. It is so true that the more we learn the more we are able to acknowledge how little we know. It can be hard to swallow the fact that you don’t know everything you thought you knew, but it is rewarding to be able to take it in and embrace it. It keeps you humble and constantly searching and truly gives life meaning.

The third passage was so short and simple, but may be the truest of all. “When it [our mind] is emptied of thought … [it] finds nothing but the light.” Once I got into the hang of meditating this statement became true. I wasn’t even necessarily trying to meditate to be a holy being or to reach some sort of nirvana, but just to see if I could do it. When I finally was able to truly free my mind of thought and checked back in to reality I was left with a feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction and tranquility like I had never experienced before. I didn’t consider myself religious, but when that happened it was hard to deny that something had to have happened that was beyond me.