Death carries off a man busy picking flowers with an besotted mind, like a great flood does a sleeping village.
Gautama BuddhaRead
Never have anything to do with likes and dislikes. The absence of what one likes is painful, as is the presence of what one dislikes. Therefore don't take a liking to anything. To lose what one likes is hard, but there are no bonds for those who have no likes and dislikes. From preference arises sorrow, from preference arises fear, but he who is freed from preference has no sorrow and certainly no fear.
Interpretation
This quote teaches that attachment to preferences can lead to suffering and that freedom from likes and dislikes brings peace.
Gautama Buddha's quote emphasizes the idea that attachment and preference are sources of suffering. When we develop specific likes and dislikes, we risk experiencing pain when we encounter what we don't like or when we lose what we love. By encouraging a mindset free from these attachments, Buddha suggests that one can attain a state of tranquility, devoid of the sorrows and fears that often accompany personal preferences.
In practice
In a mindfulness seminar discussing the importance of letting go of attachments.
Death carries off a man busy picking flowers with an besotted mind, like a great flood does a sleeping village.
A kind man who makes good use of wealth is rightly said to possess a great treasure; but the miser who hoards up his riches will have no profit.
There are having flowers in Spring, breezes in Summer, moon in Autumn, snows in Winter. If there is nothing worrying over you, it will be the best seasons at all times.
Make an island of yourself, make yourself your refuge; there is no other refuge. Make truth your island, make truth your refuge; there is no other refuge.
When a wise man is advised of his errors, he will reflect on and improve his conduct. When his misconduct is pointed out, a foolish man will not only disregard the advice but rather repeat the same error.
The tongue like a sharp knife ... Kills without drawing blood.
Idleness and pride tax with a heavier hand than kings and governments.
I'm not pretending to be ingenuous; I know what I'm doing.
In the measurement world, we set a goal and strive to achieve it. In the universe of possibility, we set the context and let life unfold.
What’s more, you’re loads better than you think you are.” “So why is it I get to thinking that way?” I puzzled. “That’s because you’re only half-living.” she said briskly. “The other half is still untapped somewhere.
Nothing does reason more right, than the coolness of those that offer it: For Truth often suffers more by the heat of its defenders, than from the arguments of its opposers.
To mature is in part to realize that while complete intimacy and omniscience and power cannot be had, self-transcendence, growth, and closeness to others are nevertheless within one's reach.
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