So how can I reach apatheia without reaching apathy or becoming a repressed person?
2006-12-01 18:58:43 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Social Science ➔ Psychology
I was told this story about Buddhist stoicism. Allen Ginsberg began to have terrible visions while taking LSD and he talked to a Tibetan Buddhist about this problem (probably Chögyam Trungpa). He asked what he should do when he gets these frightening thoughts, the monk responded, "let it go."
Ginsberg asked what to do when he has happy thoughts. The monk responded, "let it go."
I believe the idea is not to repress emotions but to let them go. It is of course extremely difficult, but I don't think anybody would claim Buddhism is easy. The first step is to let the negative thoughts pass.
2006-12-01 19:14:30 · answer #1 · answered by alex 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I may be making a big assumption in thinking that you have heard this being said somewhere.
My advice to you is to go deeper into Buddhism to fully appreciate what Buddist teaching is all about.
Buddhism never teaches repression. Quite the contrary. Buddhism tells you that if you repress emotions, they will come back and hit you with a vengeance, positive and negative emotions alike.
Seriously, find a good book on Buddhism and read it thoroughly.
2006-12-02 04:18:46 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Buddhism doesn't want your passion to control you, and that's not the same as repression. You need to accept your feelings and accept reality, not deny reality or let your feelings control you. In Buddhist meditation you're supposed to be very clearly aware of the feelings and thoughts you experience during the meditation... you're not supposed to destroy feelings and thoughts or pretend they don't exist. Buddhism is all about building a clear awareness of reality, not repression of reality.
2006-12-02 04:22:58 · answer #3 · answered by KatGuy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Err... the Christians and others repress passion too, although mostly in the sex department. Actually, even secular humanists like me have to repress some of our impulses because they are destructive.
2006-12-02 03:06:41 · answer #4 · answered by Wise1 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If keeping your passion is important , then these philosophies may not be for you.Take it from me: repression sucks.
2006-12-02 03:05:29 · answer #5 · answered by The Dark Side 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
bUDDHISM DOES NOT TEACH TO BE OFF LOADING UR PASSION. IT ONLY TEACHES ONE TO BE AT PEACE WITH ONESELF AND GET RID OF OTHER'S NEGATIVE VIBES. 1ST TIME I AM HEARING OF SOICISM , WHATEVER THAT IS . ?
2006-12-02 03:03:21 · answer #6 · answered by viren k 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋