The 10 States of Life 2
As I shared in my last blog influence by the book "Basics of Buddhism" there are ten states in life. The first is hell and the second is Hunger. Hunger is driven by desire. Many of us know very well what it is like to be hungry with desire and at times obsessed with having more of this or that. We try to satisfy our needs by eating a lot or buying a lot of things. We may try to meet our needs of rather what we think we need when in fact we don't. We are involved in a vicious circle that cannot be satisfied. It should be noted that desire can result in something good like a discovery or an invention that is useful. Hunger does not have to mean that we must eat or do things to meet our desires. We can in fact see how our hunger is leading us to greed and that this greed can be harmful to us. I think that in our world the desire for alcohol and other drugs has ruined many a life. The desire for money has created situations that have resulted in murder. The desire to be happy has resulted in doing nurturing things for ourselves and others. Hunger has not always resulted in some horrible outcome or even an unpleasant one. It really depends on what we are hungry for, what we desire.
I am hungry today for more joy. I have been hungry for more joy for about a year now. I see how I try to resolve that hunger by buying things for my home or getting a new pair of shoes. I also see how I attempt to meet my needs by praying or meditating. It is not always a negative thing for me but rather something to look closer at and decide whether the need is something I must have or something I am trying to use to satisfy myself superficially. Every moment is a decision as to what I am hungry for and why. Every moment I am making a decision about my needs and if what I am hungry for is legitimate and necessary.
Hunger is normal and each of us are hungry for something yet we also need to look at whether what we are doing is just being greedy. Greed takes hunger to another level where it is not healthy for us and in fact is unhealthy for us. Although we all have needs we can each take our needs much too far into the realm of greed and lust for more and more. We get to a place where it is hard to satisfy us. We don't want to go hungry and not meet any of our needs while at the same time be conscious of what we are doing and why it is that we are so feverish about it. It is out of helping others? Is it out of self-preservation? Or is it in service to our spirit and others?
I am hungry today for more joy. I have been hungry for more joy for about a year now. I see how I try to resolve that hunger by buying things for my home or getting a new pair of shoes. I also see how I attempt to meet my needs by praying or meditating. It is not always a negative thing for me but rather something to look closer at and decide whether the need is something I must have or something I am trying to use to satisfy myself superficially. Every moment is a decision as to what I am hungry for and why. Every moment I am making a decision about my needs and if what I am hungry for is legitimate and necessary.
Hunger is normal and each of us are hungry for something yet we also need to look at whether what we are doing is just being greedy. Greed takes hunger to another level where it is not healthy for us and in fact is unhealthy for us. Although we all have needs we can each take our needs much too far into the realm of greed and lust for more and more. We get to a place where it is hard to satisfy us. We don't want to go hungry and not meet any of our needs while at the same time be conscious of what we are doing and why it is that we are so feverish about it. It is out of helping others? Is it out of self-preservation? Or is it in service to our spirit and others?
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