Your search for “the perfect mango” or “the hottest sports car” has at its core a feeling of unsatisfactoriness. Then there comes the moment of satisfaction. The moving from not having to having that comes as you catch a glimpse of that longed-for mango. You become exhilarated. “Oh, it’s yellow. Oh, what a beautiful mango!” And the mango is in your hand and there is a moment of peace. For a split second there is no desire in the mind and the body feels very light. Peace is experienced not because of the object in our hand but because for a moment desire does not obstruct the joy and quietude of our underlying nature. What we call satisfaction is the momentary experience of the vastness which lies beneath. All of a sudden the clouds part and the sun shines through. The painfulness of desire does not exist. The mind for a moment experiences its wholeness. In that moment of nonwanting, the mind becomes like a clear pool no longer ruffled by the prevailing winds and we can see through the still water to what lies beneath. We experience a moment’s participation in the joyousness that arises as we approach our true nature.
In a split second this satisfaction disappears as other desires arise to protect what it has just acquired. To hide the mango, to plant its seed, to get as much out of it as possible. Freedom is lost in the density of yet more wanting, of yet more protection and self-interest.
—Stephen Levine, Who Dies? (Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1982), pp. 44-45. (Emphasis mine)
What we usually call happiness is the ability to re-create previous pleasures. The pursuit of happiness is the attempt to satisfy old desires. The very nature of desire is a feeling of unwholeness, of being incomplete. We see that this thirst creates what could be called the “if only” mind. The yearning that says, “If only I could get my sports car, I’d be happy.” “If only I could get that job, or that date, or that money I need, then everything would be O.K.” But to the degree the mind wants that object yet unmaterialized in its world, the less it can be present for what is happening. It is drifting off in future pleasures or musing on satisfactions past. The whole world narrows to just that desire, just that sports car, that prize, that pretty face. The whole world disappears into expectation and life is missed once again, traded off for a mirage floating in the mind. We seldom make direct contact with reality, but instead live only in the flat silhouettes that it casts in the mind.
— Stephen Levine, Who Dies? (Anchor Books, 1982), pp. 43-44.
A brief digression for more “Pearls of Logic” from C. C. Ryrie.
From the Introduction to the First Letter of Paul to Timothy:
Some have questioned whether Paul himself wrote these letters … There is no argument against Pauline authorship that does not have a reasonable answer. And, of course, the letters themselves claim to have been written by Paul. (Emphasis mine)
From A Synopsis of Bible Doctrine:
The Bible is self-authenticating and church councils have only recognized the authority inherent in the books themselves. (Emphasis mine)
Need I say more????
“I happen to feel that the degree of a person’s intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting attitudes she can bring to bear on the same topic.”
Lisa Alther
I love this quote. It goes strongly against the black/white view so many people have on so many topics. Things are rarely as dichotomous or polarized as we think but due to many factors we just can’t seem to see that third or fourth dimension. Often we are presented with these other ideas, viewpoints, attitudes but they all get lumped into our “wrong” category without proper analysis. How often does it happen that someone holds an opinion that you think is totally wrong but if you really listen to their reasons for holding said opinion you can at least begin to “see things their way?” You may still not be able to reconcile both viewpoints and they may still be conflicting but at least you can “see” the other side. And conflicting viewpoints are ok — really! But don’t take my word for it …
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