Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Potential Relief for the Persistently Overwhelmed

2 comments:

  1. Healthier desire for excellence or contentment with genuine competence;

    This entails that one goes through a process of comparison for every thought word or deed and seek appreciation and approval from an external agency.The moment we understand we are created unique and need no addition or subtraction to the self for contentment and stop being intent or being in tension life will becomes serene.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sathya,

      You got right to the heart of my point! Though I suspect you might be viewing it differently than I'm about to:

      The compulsion for superiority/perfection requires constant external comparison, while excellence/competence does not. In the former the focus is on what others are doing (and gaining their approval), while in the latter we're focused on what we're doing and allowing ourselves to grow over time in a healthy manner... However, I can't advocate complacency (having no intent or tension at all) if we choose to participate in efforts that involve other people, such as family and community (though I would fully agree with your statement above if life consists of sitting in a cave alone meditating all day), because complacency too easily leads to stagnation.

      It's my Tantric interpretation of the classical gunas: Ragas (Compulsion/too much tension) leads to overwhelm, Tamas (Stagnancy/no tension at all) leads to rot, while Sattva (Poise/just-enough tension, which is an ever changing state within fluctuating boundaries) is fully present and able to respond to whatever life offers with compassionate clarity, as well as skillful (meaning learned via life experience), detached engagement.

      If I understand you correctly, I'd discern your statement as being from the perspective of Advaita Vedantic philosophy, while mine is from the Tantric philosophical view. Neither is "right" or "wrong," just what speaks best to us as individuals and how we choose to live in the world...

      Thank you so much for your comment!

      Delete