Part of what Martin Heidegger saw in his studies of Authenticity is that people often look for escapes from authenticity because facing reality, priorities, and such, have a pang in the chest anticipating death because life is just one thing after another until death. We either have to die and let go of them or many of them will be taken away before we even get to death. Many find they can only enjoy these luxuries for a period of time, and in reality, for all people, we can only enjoy our possessions and relationships for so long. The upkeep is expensive and stressful in that high income must continue to maintain it. Even a rich person may do a typical thing which is to buy an expensive boat or a house. Contemplating impermanence teaches people how much stress they will have if they extend their sense of self, clinging, to vast numbers of objects and relationships. Desire has a sense of ownership because of the clinging to keep what we like is located in our bodies. The 3rd characteristic of not-self is seeing how impersonal impermanence can make anything in our experience. Therefore, we can infer that insensitivity is the ignoring of drawbacks to prevent pleasure from being spoiled a kind of self-hype. This is because the mind is becoming more sensitive and is not looking away from drawbacks. Past desires can now bring a sense of dullness instead of the interest and passion they used to have. I should stop.” Strong concentration feels good and the mind becomes stronger with it. Paying attention to the breath with as few gaps as possible helps to squeeze out and highlight what slips through. Thinking habits can be looked into and interrupted with attention to the breath. Meditation is primarily a way to scan emotional and physical pain to see how optional a lot of it is. The 2nd characteristic of dissatisfaction is seeing how draining a lot of our thinking and intentions are. When impermanence hits home it can throw you into a vantage point of someone who is looking over their life and trivial things get put in their place and are easier to let go of. Much of these Buddhist contemplations originally took place at a time when people had shorter lifespans, non-existent healthcare, as we understand it, so death was much more of a present atmosphere for people even in their 20s. Paying attention to the 1st characteristic, vibrating impermanence, especially looking back at past situations you worried about, how sometimes those strong emotions evaporated, and how periods of zeal and interest turned into boredom and stress, can hit home that anything you pursue will have a predictable outcome of dissatisfaction at some point or another. Yet, nirvana is waaaaaay over there, and preliminary practices of concentration leading to Jhanic flow-states and insights leading to that early feeling of control, provide low hanging fruit that convinces that there is something to these practices.Īs people get better at the Three characteristics (3Cs) of Buddhism, the mind can begin to enjoy staying in the present moment. There’s a temptation to dabble in meditation practices to take control of one’s stress when it seems to be uncontrollable. Yet the people who yearn for more peace are most often the ones who are drowning in these modern environments. Living in cities with modern access to addictive substances, or entertainment on tap, is a challenging environment to be practicing meditation in. Rude scout songs.When people are called to a goal, including something rarified like Nirvana, it’s often a curiosity that is humbly set aside as too unrealistic.