The 10 States of Life: 4
All this time I have been referring to the 10 stages of life when in fact it is the ten states of life like the ten states of being. As Gilda Radner would say " never mind". A state of being is a bit different from stages in your life although rather similar. So I stand corrected and wanted to make that distinction.
The fourth state explains that the first three states as well as the fourth (anger) are states of evil or paths of evil more specifically. In Buddhism hell, hunger, animality and anger are all what they refer to as "paths to evil" which makes perfect sense to me. Each of these states lived out can cause a lot of anguish, anxiety and fear when one thinks about it. It is these four states of evil that often times get us into a hell of a mess. No pun intended.
Hell is where we are when we are in our darkest place and when we are negative and lack the courage and faith to walk forward and look up. Hell is when we see the glass empty rather than to see that it is half full or at the very least has some water in it. Hell is where we go when we feel like hell is a familiar place and we don't deserve to live any other way. Hell is what we make this place called earth because in reality there is no hell that we are going to because that hell after death does not exist as far as I am concerned.
Hunger and greed for having things creates another circle of confusion and gets us no where. We keep trying to acquire more and more thinking that the more we have the better off we are when in fact we are masking our feelings. We are withholding love or withholding our sadness by trying to conceal it with a pretty pair of shoes or a bigger house. That is why many of us have huge homes that we don't need and complain about how difficult it is to keep it clean. Why not own less and make it manageable enough to clean and be able to do other things like traveling? The answer to that question is inside of each of us. We have to decide if we are really hungry or we are just hoarding things.
Animality says that we must kill off or hurt others to become better, to feel better or to survive when in fact that is usually not true. I am not talking about a war bur rather everyday life. In our daily life we don't need to hunt like animals nor is there a need to be so super competitive. Animals are animals and humans are humans and compassion and love should override greed and competition. There is enough for everyone even when we believe it is scarce. There is a sector of people in our world who would like us to believe that they are superior to others but in actuality no on is, especially not the ones that believe that. It is their own sense of insecurity that asks them to pretend they are smarter or better than others.
Anger is ego and is motivated by the ego mind. The ego mind controls us instead of us being in the drivers seat. Anger makes some of us think we are better than anyone else. Anger manifests in racism and bigotry for example. People who are angry are not just in hell they are in their little personal spot in hell. Anger motivates people to do things that are unkind and it is all for this false notion to feel better or superior. We know that anger can make us creative and able to resolve things that have perhaps been difficult. Anger can give way to creativity according to the Buddhist practice. I say let your anger bring out the creative side of you.
I had never been more angry and upset at the fact that I got Cancer, the health opportunity. Yet it is that anger that has motivated me to live and motivated me to create a new life, one that is already better than before. I have more peace in my life and more assurance that I will make it and be healed and loved. Anger did not take me. It did not take anyone else and it will not take me. Through my own experience I have come to know anger as my friend. I can use it to propel me and that is exactly what is happening to me now. The last thing is to let go of it, as this is all that is left to completely abandon the forth path to evil. I won't ever need to pretend anymore because now I am really happy.
Elliott Collazo Gonzalez
The fourth state explains that the first three states as well as the fourth (anger) are states of evil or paths of evil more specifically. In Buddhism hell, hunger, animality and anger are all what they refer to as "paths to evil" which makes perfect sense to me. Each of these states lived out can cause a lot of anguish, anxiety and fear when one thinks about it. It is these four states of evil that often times get us into a hell of a mess. No pun intended.
Hell is where we are when we are in our darkest place and when we are negative and lack the courage and faith to walk forward and look up. Hell is when we see the glass empty rather than to see that it is half full or at the very least has some water in it. Hell is where we go when we feel like hell is a familiar place and we don't deserve to live any other way. Hell is what we make this place called earth because in reality there is no hell that we are going to because that hell after death does not exist as far as I am concerned.
Hunger and greed for having things creates another circle of confusion and gets us no where. We keep trying to acquire more and more thinking that the more we have the better off we are when in fact we are masking our feelings. We are withholding love or withholding our sadness by trying to conceal it with a pretty pair of shoes or a bigger house. That is why many of us have huge homes that we don't need and complain about how difficult it is to keep it clean. Why not own less and make it manageable enough to clean and be able to do other things like traveling? The answer to that question is inside of each of us. We have to decide if we are really hungry or we are just hoarding things.
Animality says that we must kill off or hurt others to become better, to feel better or to survive when in fact that is usually not true. I am not talking about a war bur rather everyday life. In our daily life we don't need to hunt like animals nor is there a need to be so super competitive. Animals are animals and humans are humans and compassion and love should override greed and competition. There is enough for everyone even when we believe it is scarce. There is a sector of people in our world who would like us to believe that they are superior to others but in actuality no on is, especially not the ones that believe that. It is their own sense of insecurity that asks them to pretend they are smarter or better than others.
Anger is ego and is motivated by the ego mind. The ego mind controls us instead of us being in the drivers seat. Anger makes some of us think we are better than anyone else. Anger manifests in racism and bigotry for example. People who are angry are not just in hell they are in their little personal spot in hell. Anger motivates people to do things that are unkind and it is all for this false notion to feel better or superior. We know that anger can make us creative and able to resolve things that have perhaps been difficult. Anger can give way to creativity according to the Buddhist practice. I say let your anger bring out the creative side of you.
I had never been more angry and upset at the fact that I got Cancer, the health opportunity. Yet it is that anger that has motivated me to live and motivated me to create a new life, one that is already better than before. I have more peace in my life and more assurance that I will make it and be healed and loved. Anger did not take me. It did not take anyone else and it will not take me. Through my own experience I have come to know anger as my friend. I can use it to propel me and that is exactly what is happening to me now. The last thing is to let go of it, as this is all that is left to completely abandon the forth path to evil. I won't ever need to pretend anymore because now I am really happy.
Elliott Collazo Gonzalez
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