I believe that this is based on Buddhist philosophy. Zen Buddhism believes that life is empty (as in life is meaningless/there's no such thing as good or bad), there is no-self (only an ego that perceives a self), and that existence is merely a big chain of cause and effect called dependent co-arising. It's about seeing the world and accepting it for being what it is. While attempting to achieve this one is encouraged to recognize negative emotions like anger as a result of fear. We become angry because someone else forces the ego into territory we've been programmed by evolution to fear.
"Upon this he saw that when he was of anger or knew hurt or felt fear,
It was because he was not understanding"
To understand is to recognize negative emotions for what they are, mere tricks of the ego.
All of our lives are run by delusions that we perceive as reality. There is no inherent truth to any mental or physical reaction as good or bad. It exists in the eye of the beholder, but is not the basic state of things. Evolution has trained us to react to stimuli in a way that will most likely help us to survive. This of course includes negative reactions to keep us away from harmful things. Humans developed a consciousness, however, that has caused us to turn simple reaction into complex emotions. These emotions often trick us into believe things that are not true. Because of this we can accept that while our own lives are run by delusion, we can recognize them for the unreality that they are and be OK with them. Also, everyone else's are dominated by illusion. To see this combined with the emptiness of life and the idea that there is no self one can learn to see that they are one with all of humanity and all other things, both living and non. One can then accept other people for what they are and react in a compassionate way towards them.
"And he learned compassion.
And with his eye of compassion
He saw his enemies like unto himself,
And he learned love. "
It takes a long systematic transformation of the mind to actually love one's enemies. I see love as the ability to recognize another being as one with oneself. Another piece of the many forms life takes, just like ones own body and mind. First one can learn to truly love their friends. With this accomplished one can progressively expand their love out into the world, accepting more and more undesirable beings.
Damn that's a lot of "one"'s.
Hence:
"Just open your eyes,
And realise, the way it's always been. "
I'm sure I did a poor job of explaining these concepts... but I'm pretty sure that's what the song is based upon.
That comment "To understand is to recognize negative emotions for what they are, mere tricks of the ego." struck a chord with me. Is it a quote or did you think of it yourself?
That comment "To understand is to recognize negative emotions for what they are, mere tricks of the ego." struck a chord with me. Is it a quote or did you think of it yourself?
It's not a quote, but the idea itself is certainly not new. I'd recommend the book "Everyday Zen" by Charlotte Joko Beck. There are many ways to interpret Buddhism, but she has largely inspired my take on it.
It's not a quote, but the idea itself is certainly not new. I'd recommend the book "Everyday Zen" by Charlotte Joko Beck. There are many ways to interpret Buddhism, but she has largely inspired my take on it.
I believe that this is based on Buddhist philosophy. Zen Buddhism believes that life is empty (as in life is meaningless/there's no such thing as good or bad), there is no-self (only an ego that perceives a self), and that existence is merely a big chain of cause and effect called dependent co-arising. It's about seeing the world and accepting it for being what it is. While attempting to achieve this one is encouraged to recognize negative emotions like anger as a result of fear. We become angry because someone else forces the ego into territory we've been programmed by evolution to fear.
"Upon this he saw that when he was of anger or knew hurt or felt fear, It was because he was not understanding"
To understand is to recognize negative emotions for what they are, mere tricks of the ego.
All of our lives are run by delusions that we perceive as reality. There is no inherent truth to any mental or physical reaction as good or bad. It exists in the eye of the beholder, but is not the basic state of things. Evolution has trained us to react to stimuli in a way that will most likely help us to survive. This of course includes negative reactions to keep us away from harmful things. Humans developed a consciousness, however, that has caused us to turn simple reaction into complex emotions. These emotions often trick us into believe things that are not true. Because of this we can accept that while our own lives are run by delusion, we can recognize them for the unreality that they are and be OK with them. Also, everyone else's are dominated by illusion. To see this combined with the emptiness of life and the idea that there is no self one can learn to see that they are one with all of humanity and all other things, both living and non. One can then accept other people for what they are and react in a compassionate way towards them.
"And he learned compassion. And with his eye of compassion He saw his enemies like unto himself, And he learned love. "
It takes a long systematic transformation of the mind to actually love one's enemies. I see love as the ability to recognize another being as one with oneself. Another piece of the many forms life takes, just like ones own body and mind. First one can learn to truly love their friends. With this accomplished one can progressively expand their love out into the world, accepting more and more undesirable beings.
Damn that's a lot of "one"'s.
Hence:
"Just open your eyes, And realise, the way it's always been. "
I'm sure I did a poor job of explaining these concepts... but I'm pretty sure that's what the song is based upon.
You did a great job :)
You did a great job :)
That comment "To understand is to recognize negative emotions for what they are, mere tricks of the ego." struck a chord with me. Is it a quote or did you think of it yourself?
That comment "To understand is to recognize negative emotions for what they are, mere tricks of the ego." struck a chord with me. Is it a quote or did you think of it yourself?
It's not a quote, but the idea itself is certainly not new. I'd recommend the book "Everyday Zen" by Charlotte Joko Beck. There are many ways to interpret Buddhism, but she has largely inspired my take on it.
It's not a quote, but the idea itself is certainly not new. I'd recommend the book "Everyday Zen" by Charlotte Joko Beck. There are many ways to interpret Buddhism, but she has largely inspired my take on it.
Thank you for the name of the book :)
Thank you for the name of the book :)