On the 12th of July, we had a talk held by Ann Hao about the follies of blindly following our thoughts and emotions and letting it influence our actions. In it, he explains how this kind of behavior can lead to dissatisfaction within ourselves and by settling aside the turmoil of emotions which can blind us, we can strive to work towards a greater peace.
In the beginning, he mentioned about how Buddhism relates to this particular tendency of us – by looking at the 5 functional factors (Khandhas) made up of the physical form, feeling, perception, mental formation and consciousness. Each of these individual factors are built up from different things.
Feeling – Past experiences
Perception – Realization/ Memory of things
Mental formation – Highly important for kamma generation
These things are the main factors for tying us down. Interestingly, because they are things made from our experiences during our lives, they cannot be said to have a permanent form. For instance, you may enjoy eating chocolate ice cream but due to a possible change in your perception or mental formation, this can change in the future.
Also, these factors are responsible for the creation of clinging (the intensification of craving). This is important as we see many live examples such as sense pleasure (basing too much emphasis on positive feelings), views and theories, and rituals and rules which does not make too much sense without a proper explanation.
By leaving the self, or accepting that impermanence is part of this world, we can obtain a way to pull ourselves away from this flow of attachment and desire from the world. Experiencing things with all 5 senses can serve as a means to reach the desired goal.
In short, it is very important to realize that the ‘self’ is no more than a collection of emotions, thoughts and experiences. These factors are the things which define us but we should not let it get the better of us.
In the beginning, he mentioned about how Buddhism relates to this particular tendency of us – by looking at the 5 functional factors (Khandhas) made up of the physical form, feeling, perception, mental formation and consciousness. Each of these individual factors are built up from different things.
Feeling – Past experiences
Perception – Realization/ Memory of things
Mental formation – Highly important for kamma generation
These things are the main factors for tying us down. Interestingly, because they are things made from our experiences during our lives, they cannot be said to have a permanent form. For instance, you may enjoy eating chocolate ice cream but due to a possible change in your perception or mental formation, this can change in the future.
Also, these factors are responsible for the creation of clinging (the intensification of craving). This is important as we see many live examples such as sense pleasure (basing too much emphasis on positive feelings), views and theories, and rituals and rules which does not make too much sense without a proper explanation.
By leaving the self, or accepting that impermanence is part of this world, we can obtain a way to pull ourselves away from this flow of attachment and desire from the world. Experiencing things with all 5 senses can serve as a means to reach the desired goal.
In short, it is very important to realize that the ‘self’ is no more than a collection of emotions, thoughts and experiences. These factors are the things which define us but we should not let it get the better of us.
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