A question for Buddhist leaning people...?

Question

Buddhism teaches dispassion as a road to happiness. Passion is to be discouraged as it leads to false expectations and ultimately unhappiness.

I have a passion for teaching. I believe that what I do helps people and furthermore that enthusiasm is a good quality for a teacher. Buddhism also teaches that dispelling ignorance is necessary for happiness.

Is passion in this sense a good thing or a bad thing? Should this be an exception to the general rule of dispassion or am I deluding myself?

What do you think?

Thanks to all the responders so far.

By the way, I don't care at all about marks and silly things like that, only teching and learning - and it certainly goes both ways - I learn things every day from teaching.

Answer 1

My understanding is not that passion is considered unskillful, but rather attachment. One can be enthusiastic about something but let go of the outcome. One can live in the moment, enjoying a process for itself, without having to have an investment in other people meeting your expectations, or indeed in things going your way in general.

Happiness is not an absence of feeling, but instead an acceptance of life on its own terms. If you are a giving person, who finds that teaching others things that you've learned and skills you've developed, you're doing nothing different than what the Buddha did during the last 50 years of his life. Somehow I don't think that Siddhartha would have said, "Do as I say, not as I do."

^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^

Answer 2

It is attachment you really need to be wary of from what I understand.

I think your passion for teaching is a good thing - though I think determining 'good' or 'bad' is not particularly Buddhist.....I guess your teaching just 'is'.... :)

The part where you might have trouble is if you have the expectation that you will help people - whilst I have no doubts you do & will help people sometimes it will be in ways you do not understand & may even seem like you are not helping them...that is where the Buddhism part comes in....

Focusing on teaching with compassion & honesty & enjoying it for what it is without expectations of specfic outcomes I think is what the goal would be.....though again, having a goal at all seems anti Buddhist too....it is always a little complicated......

This is pretty hard to do...I know I am not good at it.....
I also know I am not an expert in Buddhism...I have just been reading a little about it lately....

I would recommend 'What the Buddha Taught' by Walploa Rahula as a good book that explains some of this stuff a little more clearly......it is a little technical but is a really good summary of Buddhism & clears up some of the common misconceptions.....

Answer 3

It is not passion in and of itself that presents the potential for suffering, it is the "clinging" or "attachment" to that passion which we should seek to break.

Consider it as such: Because everything is impermanent and in a constant state of change, eventually you will not longer teach (this of course, could be due to many reasons, or combinations of reasons, either voluntary or involuntary); if you should cling to the passion of teaching and thus become unable to do so, the result will be to suffer.

This reminds me of a story about a highly realized monk or lama who had a very beautiful teacup. It was his favorite belonging and students were always very careful when in his office not to knock it over. One day a clumsy student opened the door, fell and knocked over the teacup which shattered into bits. The horrified student apologized profusely, and was feeling quite badly about the whole ordeal, to which the teacher respond, "No worries, it was just a teacup." The student then replies, "But it was your favorite teacup, and now I have broken it irreparably." The teacher then responds, "Yes, it was a beautiful teacup and was certainly my favorite, however in my mind, it was already broken."

I'm not sure if I have relayed the story with 100% accuracy, but you get the idea...

Peace and blessings to all.

Answer 4

i will only help you realize what i've got faith. in case you adore Jesus with all your coronary heart in case you positioned God certainly and the rest, then see you later as you're able to do this, and nevertheless practice Buddhism, then I say supply it a shot. in case you do discover faster or later in spite of the shown fact that the place you will desire to contain your courting with God via Buddhism, then I say you're better off dumping the Buddhism.

Answer 5

Passion is to be replaced by compassion; desires by aspirations..........There is a major difference between having passion and becoming it.