IT AIN'T ABOUT ME

Wheeeeee-ew. It's been a long time. I have made a "change for the better", just like my fortune cookie said I would. :)

I was reading about Buddhism today, and it was very interesting. It's a book called Buddhism: Plain and Simple by Steve Hagen, and it is true to it's title. He talks about Buddhism in exactly the way that I think of it, in a way that is very refreshing and easy to read. The main thing that I've gotten from it so far is that we should live in the present moment because everything always changes. Buddhism is a way of thinking that does not try to explain everything. We live our lives always trying to "fathom" things and bring them in to fit our reality, when it is something larger and more dynamic than anything we could possibly explain away, therefore making the present moment so important. There is something called the eight fold path, which tells you to have the right view, the right intention, the right speech, the right action, the right meditation, etc. But none of these are steadfast rules that say that you 'shalt not lie' or 'shalt not' do this or that. More so, it emphasis that you make sure whatever you think, intend, say, act, and are, in the end, beneficial to others around you because every being is connected. It takes the "self" right out of the picture, and puts your whole motivation to be a good person outside of you, because essentially "you" or "I" do not exist since we are ever-changing as is everything else, from moment to moment. And the word 'right' does not imply right and wrong, good or bad, black or white, which is how we define things in our everyday life. Things are not one way or the other. They just are. We are not Buddhist, or Christian, or Catholic, or Muslim. We don't wear hats, and we don't have to. We just are.

The way that things are explained in that book are simple and make so much sense to me. If what I wrote seems like a lot of gibberish, just pick up that book. It'll all be clear to you then.