Is Nothingness Valuable?

[methylatedghosts]

I think Zen here has put it better than I - that's pretty much what I was trying to say

[PureX]

Originally Posted by methylatedghosts

To be perfectly honest, focusing on something ELSE rather than the anger is still ignoring the anger, regardless of what the other is that you are focusing on. A really good "mantra", that I like is

"What you resist, persists. What you look at, disappears"

So my tact, would be to actually look at the anger for what it is, and look at why it is I'm feeling it. Rather than focusing on something else, thus resisting the anger, bottling it up.

You talk of fighting anger, and battling pain, but I'm not entirely convinced that's the way to go about it.

This is exactly what it means to meditate by focussing the mind on nothingness. The only way to achieve this empty state of mind is to confront whatever baggage we are carrying and then practice at letting it go until it's all gone. This can sometimes take months or even years, I suppose. But having done so, we are finally free to experience our own BEING. Just as it is. Free of the bias of our own desires.

[methylatedghosts]

Originally Posted by PureX

This is exactly what it means to meditate by focussing the mind on nothingness. The only way to achieve this empty state of mind is to confront whatever baggage we are carrying and then practice at letting it go until it's all gone. This can sometimes take months or even years, I suppose. But having done so, we are finally free to experience our own BEING. Just as it is. Free of the bias of our own desires.

Exactly! ^_^

I've always liked "Feel the fear and do it anyway"

To me that says feel the fear, acknowledge that it is there, but don't give it any thought, and simply move on

[michel]

Originally Posted by tomspug

We all need to relax sometime. We all need to clear our head sometimes, but is there really any value to focusing on nothingness?

As a Christian, I am encouraged to "think on the things that are good". I think there is a difference between pretending to be something that you are not and striving to be something that you are not. This is what I think this verse means. You might be angry, but instead of ignoring the anger or pushing it away or escaping into nothingness (while the anger remains, hidden), you fight the anger by focusing on the value of peace. Or if you are grief stricken, you focus on happy and beloved memories, you seek out the value of life in order to combat what one might consider pain.

So, as opposed to this, which seems like an excellent motive to me, what is the value of, instead, focusing on nothingness. Is it really a good idea, or is it simply a philosophically dressed form of conflict-avoidance?

I rather like methylatedghosts's reply here; in addition, I find it much more satisfying to work out why I feel the anger (the immediate event that sperked the anger is not always the root of the matter).

Letting yourself "feel" the root cause, and exploring it can be quite revealing. We are all (to some extent) hard wired into ways of behaving when situations come up (be it nurure of nature). Many a time I have come to the conclusion "That was rather petty of me............" . For me, it works, it makes me feel free of the "chains" of the anger that somehow seem to have bogged me down at times in my life.

[tomspug]

Originally Posted by PureX

This is exactly what it means to meditate by focussing the mind on nothingness. The only way to achieve this empty state of mind is to confront whatever baggage we are carrying and then practice at letting it go until it's all gone. This can sometimes take months or even years, I suppose. But having done so, we are finally free to experience our own BEING. Just as it is. Free of the bias of our own desires.

Free of experience, too.

[zenzero]

Friend Tomspug,

Free of experience, too

Yes, finally when the experiencer and the experience becomes ONe is when the goal is reached.
None can talk about the experience as no individual remains to tell the tale.
Love & rgds

[DallasApple]

I tried to pretend I focussed on nothinngess or had a blank mind....And Willamena caught me..

Love

Dallas

[tomspug]

I don't really understand the idea of things "becoming one". Experience isn't a thing. It is a reflection of the mind, where as I am more than a mind, I am a person who DOES things, who makes choices. I can choose to reflect or not to reflect on things, but I will make choices regardless.

For instance, an experience in my past does not define me. Those that allow themselves to become defined thusly are those that are lost in the grips of regret, depression, and a lack of purpose and freedom. If I allow my experience and myself to become one, this is something that I risk. No, my purpose is to be MORE than I was previously, correct? To EITHER accept or reject previous experiences.

I reject anger, because I know that it is fruitless. I make the case, the argument, for why I must not be angry. I reject hurting others. In the same way, I reject hurting myself. These are not products of embracing nothingness. In fact, it is the exact OPPOSITE. I am making SOMETHING. I am doing SOMETHING. I am living.