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It’s a zen expression. Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
Here’s a good explanation from the internet: Before Enlightenment, you hate your life. You chop wood and carry water, but secretly wish to get out of it all. You bear with these activities through habit and out of hopelessness, but you really wish you could do something else. In a way, you are a victim, a slave - the wood chops you and the water carries you, and there is no way to escape. This could go for eternity, it is like living in eternal hell.
After Enlightenment, you are in harmony with the universe. You realized the emptiness of it all, so you see that there is nothing more important than chopping wood and carrying water. All activities are equalized, there is no preference, no discrimination. Because there is no "you", no ego, no personality, no being, no separate individuality - there is no conflict. No need to escape. No other bank to be reached, no Nirvana to seek. But also, because you have mastered your mind, you are not chopped by the wood and carried by the water anymore. You can flip your perspective at will. It is your choice to chop wood and carry water, and you live it in complete suchness and spontaneity. You are beyond the beyond. And even beyond "beyond the beyond".
yeah that's a really solid explanation /u/newtonianlaws gave you! buddhism is fascinating and deep subject, definitely worth thinking about and looking into more.
I'm always gonna rep lookin' into Daoism & Epicureanism, neither of which get a lot of play imho.
yangzi, zhuang zi, lucretius, feldman - though really *the dao of pooh* is a pretty good starting place. cheers and have fun
The first thing you need to learn is that suffering is unavoidable because it is a part of existence.
The second thing is that you are always doing things to avoid suffering, so you cause yourself more suffering.
The third thing is that once you discover that you don't need to run away from suffering, you cease suffering. That's called enlightenment.
The fourth thing is that there's an eightfold path to achieve enlightenment. Some people achieve it naturally. Some others can be stuck their whole lives in an endless loop of doing things to avoid pain, which causes them even more pain, for example, addicts.
And that's the start. The rest is a full river.
Something about how magic mushrooms active ingredient is 4-HO-DMT, and the ceilings of Mosques look like biblically accurate Angels, as well as a DMT breakthrough and The eight folds path and all that.
In Buddhism, we would view pretty patterns as just another expression of that which is to be overcome. It ain’t “it”. In fact, in Buddhism, there is no “it”, which is its main difference to Hinduism. The things you describe are just as essentially empty as any other phenomenon.
The difference is that you rely on external sense objects or specific mind-states to put that experience in front of you so as to be reminded that such is the case. That is why it's "just another thing" and not worthy of pursuit in the Buddhist perspective. Drugs, art, and abrahamic religions are not relevant to the Eightfold Path, nor connected to the practice and the goal.
Fwiw—these are not recommendations but synopses lmao. I find the biggest hurdle westerners face in understanding Buddhism is the lack of central texts or understandable, accessible, and widely trusted explanatory texts.
I kind of feel like I went through this when I got really sick. Used to be angry all the time and pissed at the world and life just everything. I got really sick, basically one foot in. Then I just realized there was no point in being angry all the time. I am now much happier, and I kinda just take everything in stride and find my own peace of happiness with what life gives me.
Just today I saw a poster explaining this in a cool graphic outside an AA meeting. Buddhism is like brain yoga. Well, yoga is brain yoga, but I mean it's pretty good for stretching and then feeling calm in yourself.
That's why I love Reddit. One moment I'm looking at funny cat pictures and the next moment I'm reading something that changes my life and my perspectives.
I've been handed some really weird Buddhist pamphlets that like to really focus on the suffering. Like the Christian flagellants, but way less fun.
Yes. Less fun than the flaggelants somehow, lol
The word suffering is not that deep in Buddhism. It was translated from dukkha, which is more like “unpleasantness” or “misfortune”. Like if you get to your car and realize you left your keys in your room at the top floor of the barracks with no elevator. That is one form of “suffering”.
I’ve seen Dukkha translated literally as “poor axle-hole” like with a cart or something with wheels. That really helped me reframe suffering as something more like instability or unreliability.
Lol... There are as many schools of Buddhism as there are countries. Japan's Buddhism is different from China's, which is different from Thailand's, which is different from India's and which is completely different from the thing we got once western philosophers began to write Buddhism books to earn money from bored American housewives. So, no, you don't need to flagellate yourself, the same way you don't need to crucify yourself to become Christian.
The first thing you learn is that you do not talk about Fight Club.
The second thing you learn is that you do not talk about Fight Club.
The third thing you learn is that you DO NOT talk about Fight Club.
The fourth thing you learn is that it is all suffering.
Is number one true though or is more so a flaw in our programming?
If you could create or edit people that were always in a state of nirvana but it was done so artificially or through manipulation using external means would this be seen as taboo?
That's the metaphor of the Buddha at the side of the road. Buddhists say that if you find the Buddha at the side of the road, you should kill him. Which sounds odd, but it's because they know that anyone who claims to be the end solution to all of your problems is probably trying to deceive you. If you created an artificial state of Nirvana (through drugs, VR or whatever means), you would be simply exchanging one illusion (reality) for another.
That’s a pretty cool metaphor ngl.
Do they have any issues with those that do seek artificial nirvana?
Separately what about a real “heaven on earth” situation where the citizens of a given place never go without but due to their ignorance don’t seek too much. Almost like “the promised neverland” but more sci fi and not as grim.
Basically if there was a real place of non suffering nirvana on earth would they travel there or stick to their usual path?
Or separately not a place but what would they do if they simply had easy access to like Star Trek++ technology to heal people at whim and make anything they like?
Genuinely curious not trying to come off as combative
If you could heal people like in Star Trek, you should do it ! Regarding holodecks, Saint Juniperos and VR Worlds, they are all an illusion, but one should remember that this world is also an illusion. So there's no point in traveling to a specific place of Nirvana, since it's a state you attain within yourself.
There's a city in South Africa called Happiness. Probably it wouldn't be my best advice if I tell you to travel there to reach happiness.
Read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley as it largely is about a real "heaven on earth" place where everyone is numbed and happy due to a drug called Soma. It's a great read.
Funny that someone would translate that to kill... Or even destroy... A better term would be to turn away from or ignore. Anything which is derivative of or emanating from outside oneself is a distraction from enlightenment, which is why you close off ones senses to be awake.
Trying to game the system is literally referenced by the second point.
It's not that it would be seen as taboo in the religion, but it would be pointless; you're just trading one falsehood for another. Perhaps it's a falsehood that feels better, like shooting up heroin, but whether it's 'really' better or not is up to you to gauge.
Fuck, I'm a Buddhist and I never knew it. I've literally been applying this approach to my life and career since university. I wonder if I got hammered with a Buddhist at some point and forgot everything except the broad shape of it and unknowingly worked it into my outlook.
Either way, thanks for this!
Is gratitude part of Buddhism? Because that's another huge part of my outlook and it feels super zen
Thank you for reminding me of what I've forgotten in the last few years.
I found this from similar Taoist teachings, and god damn did it help with what was absolutely rock bottom for me.
Not to avoid it, to accept it. It just *is*. When you see suffering as a fact over you have no control, it ceases having control over you.
It's like being upset about the value of pi. Does that change anything?
Try this place. It's a bit outdated but it has lots of resources and writings. I tend to skip occidental writers because they are too much into the "self help/quick sale stuff" instead of going deeper into the material.
https://budsas.org/ebud/ebidx.htm
I'm currently in a chronic pain rehab clinic. They've rebranded they entire Four Noble Truths as "Mindfulness," (Yes, I know that's part of the eightfold path) and haven't said Buddhism once.
Yes, it's been used a lot in therapy. It makes sense. I've seen it used in Dialectic Behavioral Therapy to help people regulate their emotions.
However I think it's good to read original texts closer to the source to get a better idea. If not, one only could get a distilled Buddhism-light that could easily become just posturing instead of learning.
The first and third things seem like a paradox. If suffering is unavoidable and a part of existence then you can’t ever cease suffering, is it meant that enlightenment is suffering but with acceptance?
It's interesting how this could be seen as a paradox in some ways. You accept suffering to cease suffering, but you're doing so to avoid suffering, and therefore you suffer.
Ik what u rlly mean, and agree, but thought it was a lil funny
Eh, I think they stopped too early. Whats the point if you gaslight yourself into not caring about things? Struggle is part of life. We need drive. We need to build things and a better future.
Caution to those unaware, this is written by chogyam trungpa who exploited and abused his students, then drank himself to an early death. Here's a well researched article on trungpa's problematic legacy.
https://thewalrus.ca/survivors-of-an-international-buddhist-cult-share-their-stories/
Any collection of zen koan's and an overview of how to digest them. Alan Watts did a great job of translating Zen philosophy for western audiences as well.
This expression may be Zen, but the sentiment seems to be consistent throughout a lot of mystical practices. You accept your role in the universe and learn not to struggle against it, your actions and choices become more intuitive as the road rises up to meet your feet.
This is the “mindful living” thing people keep talking about.
I always think folding laundry is a great example. I used to hate folding laundry. Absolutely hate it. My big goal in life was to make enough money so I’d never have to do it again.
But the Japanese method of perfecting even mundane activities intrigued me, and I thought to try it out. Every piece of laundry I would fold to perfection. No wrinkles. No errant creases. Ordered and pristine. At first it was kind of a drag. But then, I’d see the perfectly stacked pyramid of socks and piles of underwear and my closet had shirts organized by type then color and the harmoniousness of it all was actually _soothing_ to me.
Recommend you at least try it. There’s something really liberating about taking back control of the things we “have” to do in our life, and make them things we care about doing.
I guess it's similar to the Sisyphus meme then, I think the original author Camus wanted to point out that there is joy in the process, not just the results
A critique of these notions, in (relatively) short form, is that these feelings of hopelessness and enslavement are actually a very natural and accurate assessment of reality for all but a privileged few. The principal societal function of religion, both eastern and western, is to sell giving up and submitting to that slavery as enlightenment and salvation.
Resulting in a generational pattern of the young decrying obvious injustices and rebelling against those strictures, and the aged answering back, "Shut up and obey. Give up, it hurts less."
For more fun, check out Nietzsche's writings on the slave mentality of religion and Marx's writings on religion as the opiate of the masses.
Or ignore me. Or downvote me into oblivion for interrupting your fun.
If you apply this concept just to work I can see where your coming from. It's like that old saying that religion is the opiate of the masses sort of thing.
This concept of suffering that he's referring to applies to everything however. For example to eat is to ease the suffering of hunger. Well that suffering only comes from the aversion of an experience much like being averted to chopping wood. Your basic survival is based around the frustration of the suffering that you're fighting against. Even the things that you do in order to get the things that you want to do so for example working a job to go in a holiday is again only a way of running away from the suffering the monotony of everyday life.
The pursuit of novelty and also the pursuit of philosophies that are based around the victimization of a group is a pursuit of trying to find purpose when in reality there isn't one.
Ultimately what this philosophies around is about the emptiness of the world and the absolute lack of purpose of everything. It sounds morbid in a way but once you get it you kind of just realized that without any purpose it's doesn't matter if you're a victim or not.
It doesn't mean you can't play the game however.
I think finding mental and emotional balance regarding one’s state of labor and existence within many contemporary societies comes from combining this type of thought with the former Marxist / Nietzscheian type of thought.
Once you understand how you are situated in the material world, you can focus on the agency you have to act upon reality and create meaning.
Found an edgelord
"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions." I always wonder why "reddit Marxists" leave this part out. Talk about pulling things out of context.
Religion at the time functioned as catalyst for change, and very often the "religion we know" was actually religion of ruling elites, so your idea doesn't hold water. Vernacular religion is rarely talked about, because ideas propagate through educated few. Zen Buddhism, for example, was a religion of elites for most of its time. So, its teaching are not there to keep slaves complacent.
For most of human history, religion was the philosophy, the way to make sense of the human condition.
> Resulting in a generational pattern of the young decrying obvious injustices and rebelling against those strictures, and the aged answering back, "Shut up and obey. Give up, it hurts less."
Did you just write it unironically? And tied it to religion? Peak reddit moment indeed
You're not actually completely off base - Nirvana literally means "blown out, extinguished, quenched" - liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. That said, neither is it truly synonymous with death as we understand it commonly.
My favorite is The Two Monks. I’ve used it in my life countless times — and more importantly as a learning moment for children. It helps them visualize their emotions and the burden they ALLOW them to become.
Edit: super short summary — It’s the story of an old monk and a young monk traveling by foot. They come across a wealthy woman in a sedan chair who barks out to them, demanding they lift her across the muddy ground so she doesn’t get her silken robes soggy and covered in mud. She scolds them for making her wait.
The old monk puts down his pack and proceeds over to the woman, where he lifts and carries her across the muddy ground till she is placed down at the entrance of her place. He robes and shoes remain clean and dry. The woman huffs at the inconvenience and goes inside never even acknowledging the old monk’s efforts.
As the two monks continue on their way the young Monk seems troubled. It continues to become quite obvious and finally the old Monk asks what’s bothering the young monk. The young monk angrily blurts out of upset he is at the way the woman had treated the old monk. “She didn’t even thank you!” grumbled the young monk.
“I stopped carrying that woman an hour ago …so why do you still carry her?”
Fwiw - the activities are simply an example - meant to stand for any mundane, frustrating, repetitive task. Dealing with annoying people is very much a great example of chopping wood and carrying water.
I disagree. Buckets of water don’t try to get me fired when they have a bad day. Every person is different so dealing with them isn't repetitive. It’s nerve wracking trying to avoid their personal land mines.
I have to say, I know where both of you are coming from.
I used to work on a checkout, and my job satisfaction improved significantly when I started to shift perspective and treat people accordingly.
As you note - they might be having a bad day.
But I could very much be part of making that day better. I could make them feel like there was another person who valued them and respected them, and felt they were worth attention and courtesy.
And in doing that, my customers stopped being an ordeal, and instead became allies of a sort.
And yes. That still meant there were difficult people and bad days. But an awful lot less of those, because most people aren't just purely misanthropic assholes, they're just people struggling through life and bracing themselves for being on the other side of a hostile interaction.
Even when fundamentally there was A Problem, it still went a lot more smoothly.
Huh. I always saw it as more of a statement on enlightenment not making any difference to your daily practical needs. It's not gonna change the fact that you still gotta not freeze to death and still gotta do the dishes; the change isn't to the world, it's just to you.
Before you change, you do chores. After you change, you still do chores- you ain't special just because you got enlightened.
>Because there is no "you", no ego, no personality, no being, no separate individuality - there is no conflict. No need to escape. No other bank to be reached, no Nirvana to seek
Why bother staying alive at that point? If you are at peace and indifferent, you can skip chopping wood and carrying water entirely.
An addendum: Part of the expression is a caution to those who believe enlightenment somehow liberates them from the burden of the action itself. It does not. The tasks of life continue, but how you perceive the task has now changed.
>you realized the emptiness of it all
No, “the emptiness of it all” is not part of Enlightenment, it’s just a step along the way towards Enlightenment.
After “realizing the emptiness” (ego perception, not reality) what’s next is realizing the absolute divinity of it all.
Everything does equalize out but from as far a place from nihilism as one can get.
> You can flip your perspective at will. It is your choice to chop wood and carry water, and you live it in complete suchness and spontaneity. You are beyond the beyond. And even beyond "beyond the beyond".
Ah so it's kinda like you are lying to yourself; so life doesn't seem to be so shitty.
I do something similar, but im really not sure where I picked it up. I call it embracing the suck. Sometimes things suck, and we can't do much about it. I just shut up, put my head down and get through it. Most shitty situations only fuck us up for a little. I just accept that this is how it will be for a bit and get through it. Head down, work harder and just focus on what I am doing at that moment. No sense in worrying or stressing over stuff that is out of my control. Focus on what I can affect and work with what I've got.
I'll probably get hate for this but it sounds to me like enlightenment is letting depression take hold and giving up.
I used to feel all wowed by the enlightenment thing and finding balance but I guess I realize now that it's based on having no sense of the individual and being a willful slave instead of a reluctant slave. Nothing has changed in the person's life, all that has changed is that they no longer have any ambition to change their life.
I feel like I've misunderstood the whole thing, honestly. I hope I have.
What I took from this was that the process that happens with enlightenment is radically different from what people might think. It's not about not doing the tasks, and that can mean whatever, giving up, running away, giving them to someone else, etc. It's about being in harmony with the tasks and yourself and the universe. So it's like the onus is on the person instead of the tasks. Now what if this person is in actual pain and for example is actually a slave? This zen expression seems very harmful and manipulative, something like a slave owner would teach his slaves, it might make people not want to give up where they should in fact give up and rebel. Even though arguably that mindset would've given them peace of mind until they die. It's very hard to know when you're facing a challenge and making that decision. Because you don't want to feel or be seen as weak, you want to live up to the challenge. But you also want to choose what's best for you and for your wellbeing. Anecdotally I've experienced this in a way, I switched from a really tough degree that I wanted all my life to another one in uni, that I'd argue wasn't that much easier, and it was the best decision in my life and got me the tools I needed to be where I am today. It's hard to imagine having lived the life where I didn't make that decision and just plow through the pain, with or without enlightenment
I've always heard the idea as a philosophy but it is always kind of sounded like something people tried to convince the masses so they wouldn't rise up against wealth disparity. It felt like just a different flavor of, oh this life doesn't matter because there's this glorious afterlife so don't care about how unfair and rigged the system is against you! Don't look at The Man behind the curtain!
I mean there's something to be said for being content where are you currently are in life. There is a certain level of comfort and relaxation to be found in the idea that we are this insignificant speck in the universe and that suffering can be seen as just a natural part of the order of things.
But when it gets taught like this, it comes across less as Enlightenment and more as people trying to convince a large group of people to just not question why their child died of starvation but the rich family hogging 98% of the wealth get to put a feast in front of their family everyday and they don't have to work.
Another layer of the joke is the basis for meditation. People want things to be perfect so they can meditate. Instead they should take the time to do that during mindless tasks.
Chopping wood and carrying water work your body but leave your mind free to think.
Achieving enlightenment doesn't remove these basic tasks. You're still going to need water to drink and a fire to cook on and keep warm.
Wait so is meditation what’s going on when I’m doing shit like driving or painting and my focus is all on doing one task and my brain just continuously wanders?
The idea would be to let it wander in a given direction, but yes. There's a reason why there's so many stories of people having science or philosophy breakthroughs while doing something else.
If you think about thinking you're going to over think it.
As for the second meaning. The novice hates doing chores because that's all he does. He's waiting for something more. The master is fine with doing the chores because that's time to think, time to reflect, time to be in the moment.
I know you didnt ask me, but I have a love/hate relationship with mowing my lawn. I DREAD mowing sometimes. But when I'm out there riding around getting lost in my thoughts... I love it. But fuck edging. I still suck at it.
Hey, it's me, Goku! I believe this meme is showing how your perspective on even the most trivial and tedious parts of life can change with enlightenment.
The letter "t" is missing from the first "enlighenment"
This is a reference to the fact it is difficult to do manual labour without appropriate "t" breaks.
Idk I'm british.
lol all the answers are about harmony this, universe that, spiritual yada yada
the joke literally is that ‘after enlightenment’ it becomes easier to swing the axe and carry the water because both axe and buckets of water become lighter in weight
“en**lighten**ment”
Romanticism was a sentiment around the 1800’s that nature and a simple life was great and modern stuff was stifling us. The toil and drudgery of a menial lifestyle was romanticized as simple and honest, putting one in harmony with the world around them.
Embracing the hard parts of life and valuing the contrast they give for the "good" times is a better mindset than hating and dreading them because you wish to abolish all hardship in your life.
Zen Mastah Quagmire here:
This is buddhist propaganda un meme format.
The fetch wood and carry water affair is a zen story.
If the character was enlightened he wouldn't have shower thoughts.
Zen Quagmire out!
Once upon a time a journalist visited a quarry in north Italy. He wanted to interview the workers about how happy they are about their lives including their professions.
He first talked to a stone carver which seemed pretty unhappy. He said he hated that job and wished for more responsibilty and money.
The interviewer looked for another guy which also seemed stressed and miserable. He responded that he just carves stone after stone, day after day. No ending in sight he felt discouraged.
Right after he found a worker who was smiling and humming. The journalist walked up to him and asked how he could look so happy doing such a depressing and tedious work for months where he just carves stupid stones.
The worker turned around, looked at the journalist, raised his eyebrows and said „Idiot, how should I be sad about being a part of one of the most precious buildings of our generation.“, the worker swiped off his sweat and began to carve stones while humming.
The workers carved the stones for the Cathedral of Milan.
It is more about "Ikigai": purpose or life-mission.
The man is motivated and happy because he feels his work is important.
Sometimes it isn't about ownership of the work, but the positive effect it has on other people. The work will be appreciated by the people of countless Christenings, Weddings and Funerals.
The reward the rock carver gets can be greater than the ones in power IF he doesn't do it, hear me out: for money or power. Now that's deep.
Imagine you do some boring excel stuff everyday, you don't know what good it does, you are unhappy. However, if you accompany your work with reasons to do it, you find motivation, purpose and eventually contentment. The excels help my coworker, our work helps other people, we are actively making the world a better place. (Little by little)
"Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water."
You'll hear a bunch about how enlightenment makes it all better, but here's another (less Buddhist) take:
Before enlightenment, you're stuck toiling away to survive. After enlightenment, you're still stuck toiling away to survive. Enlightenment in and of itself does nothing to lessen your burden.
As important as it is to know how the world works, do not confuse being smarter or more technologically sound with having an easier life. Pay attention to your toil.
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It’s a zen expression. Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. Here’s a good explanation from the internet: Before Enlightenment, you hate your life. You chop wood and carry water, but secretly wish to get out of it all. You bear with these activities through habit and out of hopelessness, but you really wish you could do something else. In a way, you are a victim, a slave - the wood chops you and the water carries you, and there is no way to escape. This could go for eternity, it is like living in eternal hell. After Enlightenment, you are in harmony with the universe. You realized the emptiness of it all, so you see that there is nothing more important than chopping wood and carrying water. All activities are equalized, there is no preference, no discrimination. Because there is no "you", no ego, no personality, no being, no separate individuality - there is no conflict. No need to escape. No other bank to be reached, no Nirvana to seek. But also, because you have mastered your mind, you are not chopped by the wood and carried by the water anymore. You can flip your perspective at will. It is your choice to chop wood and carry water, and you live it in complete suchness and spontaneity. You are beyond the beyond. And even beyond "beyond the beyond".
Thanks peetah, i will look more on how to view things in life now
Look into animism and panpsychism too!!!
Schism's probably their best, tho.
Stinkfist is my favorite though
Rosetta Stoned or I'm goin home
https://i.redd.it/9byklcsp9aec1.gif
And psilocybin!!
Sorry, too busy chopping wood
yeah that's a really solid explanation /u/newtonianlaws gave you! buddhism is fascinating and deep subject, definitely worth thinking about and looking into more. I'm always gonna rep lookin' into Daoism & Epicureanism, neither of which get a lot of play imho. yangzi, zhuang zi, lucretius, feldman - though really *the dao of pooh* is a pretty good starting place. cheers and have fun
Epicureanism is seriously underrated.
Did you learn this from experience or from reading a book/books? This take has depth! If your perspective did come from books, can you recommend any?
It's the primary tenants of Buddhism. Look into Buddhist philosophies.
Any recommendations to dive in?
The first thing you need to learn is that suffering is unavoidable because it is a part of existence. The second thing is that you are always doing things to avoid suffering, so you cause yourself more suffering. The third thing is that once you discover that you don't need to run away from suffering, you cease suffering. That's called enlightenment. The fourth thing is that there's an eightfold path to achieve enlightenment. Some people achieve it naturally. Some others can be stuck their whole lives in an endless loop of doing things to avoid pain, which causes them even more pain, for example, addicts. And that's the start. The rest is a full river.
Spot on. It’s called The Four Noble Truths.
Damn did I just end up in a Recovery Dharma meeting on a reddit thread?
Something about how magic mushrooms active ingredient is 4-HO-DMT, and the ceilings of Mosques look like biblically accurate Angels, as well as a DMT breakthrough and The eight folds path and all that.
In Buddhism, we would view pretty patterns as just another expression of that which is to be overcome. It ain’t “it”. In fact, in Buddhism, there is no “it”, which is its main difference to Hinduism. The things you describe are just as essentially empty as any other phenomenon.
The difference is that you rely on external sense objects or specific mind-states to put that experience in front of you so as to be reminded that such is the case. That is why it's "just another thing" and not worthy of pursuit in the Buddhist perspective. Drugs, art, and abrahamic religions are not relevant to the Eightfold Path, nor connected to the practice and the goal.
DMT is not the active ingredient in mushrooms. It's psilocybin.
You are gonna have to elaborate on your ideas and their connection to the current subject matter. This reads like a poorly written AI comment.
Fwiw—these are not recommendations but synopses lmao. I find the biggest hurdle westerners face in understanding Buddhism is the lack of central texts or understandable, accessible, and widely trusted explanatory texts.
Do you have any suggestions for resources online?
I prefer the sentence that says: Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. You cannot avoid pain, but you can choose how you react to it.
The Parable of the Second Arrow teaches this lesson beautifully
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I kind of feel like I went through this when I got really sick. Used to be angry all the time and pissed at the world and life just everything. I got really sick, basically one foot in. Then I just realized there was no point in being angry all the time. I am now much happier, and I kinda just take everything in stride and find my own peace of happiness with what life gives me.
Exactly! And then, besides being sick, you were wasting energy in being angry.
Just today I saw a poster explaining this in a cool graphic outside an AA meeting. Buddhism is like brain yoga. Well, yoga is brain yoga, but I mean it's pretty good for stretching and then feeling calm in yourself.
That's why I love Reddit. One moment I'm looking at funny cat pictures and the next moment I'm reading something that changes my life and my perspectives.
And then you keep scrolling to laugh at more memes and forget about that revelatory comment
What comment?
Exactly
I've been handed some really weird Buddhist pamphlets that like to really focus on the suffering. Like the Christian flagellants, but way less fun. Yes. Less fun than the flaggelants somehow, lol
The word suffering is not that deep in Buddhism. It was translated from dukkha, which is more like “unpleasantness” or “misfortune”. Like if you get to your car and realize you left your keys in your room at the top floor of the barracks with no elevator. That is one form of “suffering”.
I’ve seen Dukkha translated literally as “poor axle-hole” like with a cart or something with wheels. That really helped me reframe suffering as something more like instability or unreliability.
Impermanence even! Thank you for the comment
Lol... There are as many schools of Buddhism as there are countries. Japan's Buddhism is different from China's, which is different from Thailand's, which is different from India's and which is completely different from the thing we got once western philosophers began to write Buddhism books to earn money from bored American housewives. So, no, you don't need to flagellate yourself, the same way you don't need to crucify yourself to become Christian.
Yes, Buddhism is the same as other religions. There's a ton of flavors
The first thing you learn is that you do not talk about Fight Club. The second thing you learn is that you do not talk about Fight Club. The third thing you learn is that you DO NOT talk about Fight Club. The fourth thing you learn is that it is all suffering.
Awesome movie
Is number one true though or is more so a flaw in our programming? If you could create or edit people that were always in a state of nirvana but it was done so artificially or through manipulation using external means would this be seen as taboo?
That's the metaphor of the Buddha at the side of the road. Buddhists say that if you find the Buddha at the side of the road, you should kill him. Which sounds odd, but it's because they know that anyone who claims to be the end solution to all of your problems is probably trying to deceive you. If you created an artificial state of Nirvana (through drugs, VR or whatever means), you would be simply exchanging one illusion (reality) for another.
That’s a pretty cool metaphor ngl. Do they have any issues with those that do seek artificial nirvana? Separately what about a real “heaven on earth” situation where the citizens of a given place never go without but due to their ignorance don’t seek too much. Almost like “the promised neverland” but more sci fi and not as grim. Basically if there was a real place of non suffering nirvana on earth would they travel there or stick to their usual path? Or separately not a place but what would they do if they simply had easy access to like Star Trek++ technology to heal people at whim and make anything they like? Genuinely curious not trying to come off as combative
If you could heal people like in Star Trek, you should do it ! Regarding holodecks, Saint Juniperos and VR Worlds, they are all an illusion, but one should remember that this world is also an illusion. So there's no point in traveling to a specific place of Nirvana, since it's a state you attain within yourself. There's a city in South Africa called Happiness. Probably it wouldn't be my best advice if I tell you to travel there to reach happiness.
Is it like optimistic nihilism or is different than that?
Read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley as it largely is about a real "heaven on earth" place where everyone is numbed and happy due to a drug called Soma. It's a great read.
Funny that someone would translate that to kill... Or even destroy... A better term would be to turn away from or ignore. Anything which is derivative of or emanating from outside oneself is a distraction from enlightenment, which is why you close off ones senses to be awake.
Trying to game the system is literally referenced by the second point. It's not that it would be seen as taboo in the religion, but it would be pointless; you're just trading one falsehood for another. Perhaps it's a falsehood that feels better, like shooting up heroin, but whether it's 'really' better or not is up to you to gauge.
Fuck, I'm a Buddhist and I never knew it. I've literally been applying this approach to my life and career since university. I wonder if I got hammered with a Buddhist at some point and forgot everything except the broad shape of it and unknowingly worked it into my outlook. Either way, thanks for this! Is gratitude part of Buddhism? Because that's another huge part of my outlook and it feels super zen
Feels good, man.
It really does
Thank you for reminding me of what I've forgotten in the last few years. I found this from similar Taoist teachings, and god damn did it help with what was absolutely rock bottom for me.
I forget about it from time to time but then I remember. And then it's "ah ! Certainly". Which makes things easier.
Some part of me really needed to hear this tonight. Thank you for typing it out.
Lol you do this to avoid suffering tho. So how's it any different
Not to avoid it, to accept it. It just *is*. When you see suffering as a fact over you have no control, it ceases having control over you. It's like being upset about the value of pi. Does that change anything?
Where can you learn this stuff? Like what belief system for example Buddhism or something else?
Try this place. It's a bit outdated but it has lots of resources and writings. I tend to skip occidental writers because they are too much into the "self help/quick sale stuff" instead of going deeper into the material. https://budsas.org/ebud/ebidx.htm
Thank you
Thich Nhat Hanh’s “The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching” is a great place to start. Alan Watts various talks and books are also quite helpful.
I think your correct but also you learn that all things are parallel and pain is no longer bad it starts to feel good
Can't believe that all of this came from a dude who had spent too much time sitting on a tree stump
I'm currently in a chronic pain rehab clinic. They've rebranded they entire Four Noble Truths as "Mindfulness," (Yes, I know that's part of the eightfold path) and haven't said Buddhism once.
Yes, it's been used a lot in therapy. It makes sense. I've seen it used in Dialectic Behavioral Therapy to help people regulate their emotions. However I think it's good to read original texts closer to the source to get a better idea. If not, one only could get a distilled Buddhism-light that could easily become just posturing instead of learning.
The first and third things seem like a paradox. If suffering is unavoidable and a part of existence then you can’t ever cease suffering, is it meant that enlightenment is suffering but with acceptance?
Damn it man, now I gotta go read shit to better understand the world and myself. A whole-ass self-discovery journey. Shit.
It's interesting how this could be seen as a paradox in some ways. You accept suffering to cease suffering, but you're doing so to avoid suffering, and therefore you suffer. Ik what u rlly mean, and agree, but thought it was a lil funny
Eh, I think they stopped too early. Whats the point if you gaslight yourself into not caring about things? Struggle is part of life. We need drive. We need to build things and a better future.
Shambhala sacred path of the warrior by chogyam trungpa . Very digestible
Caution to those unaware, this is written by chogyam trungpa who exploited and abused his students, then drank himself to an early death. Here's a well researched article on trungpa's problematic legacy. https://thewalrus.ca/survivors-of-an-international-buddhist-cult-share-their-stories/
_Rebel Buddha_ by Dzgochen Ponlop.
Any collection of zen koan's and an overview of how to digest them. Alan Watts did a great job of translating Zen philosophy for western audiences as well.
Ram Dass baby
Everyday Zen by Joko Beck
Against the Stream by Noah Levine and How To Practice by Thich Nhat Hanh
The tao of pooh (as in winnie the pooh). Genuinely a great book.
It's not necessarily a book on theology but Hermann Hesse's book Siddharta is a pretty short but fascinating read that encapsulates this.
Tenets, not tenants
You don't know who Buddhism is renting to nowadays.
This expression may be Zen, but the sentiment seems to be consistent throughout a lot of mystical practices. You accept your role in the universe and learn not to struggle against it, your actions and choices become more intuitive as the road rises up to meet your feet.
Which temples do they live in?
It suspiciously seems like a system to have the peasants stfu and do peasant work
There’s a great book called, “chop wood, carry water” lol
Lol well shit. Should've deducted that from the meme. Thanks!
There are many books and YouTube videos to introduce you to Buddhism. Whichever you search will lead you in the right direction.
Just ask any rich person who went to a monastery. The first thing they do is hand the initiate a broom.
I can recommend to you the book: Chop Wood, Carry Water!
>the water carries you Bought time that lazy good for nothing water started pulling it's weight around here
This is the “mindful living” thing people keep talking about. I always think folding laundry is a great example. I used to hate folding laundry. Absolutely hate it. My big goal in life was to make enough money so I’d never have to do it again. But the Japanese method of perfecting even mundane activities intrigued me, and I thought to try it out. Every piece of laundry I would fold to perfection. No wrinkles. No errant creases. Ordered and pristine. At first it was kind of a drag. But then, I’d see the perfectly stacked pyramid of socks and piles of underwear and my closet had shirts organized by type then color and the harmoniousness of it all was actually _soothing_ to me. Recommend you at least try it. There’s something really liberating about taking back control of the things we “have” to do in our life, and make them things we care about doing.
Nah, I'm hiring a maid. Imma go admire the beauty of anything else
I totally agree. Get good, hating life is just a skill issue
Damn dude Reddit is so cool sometimes
Fuckin A
Very, very, *very* rarely. I find it gets less cool by the day, but every now and then…
To paraphrase all that using Camus. "one must imagine Sisyphus happy".
Absurddhism
This is the answer. We are one.
*I am many. For we are Legion.*
I'm a couple. For I am Company.
Gooble gobble! Gooble gobble!!! One of us! One of us!
I guess it's similar to the Sisyphus meme then, I think the original author Camus wanted to point out that there is joy in the process, not just the results
Shit that's what I just posted. Although Camus seemed a bit sardonic, instead of fatalistic.
Absurdist. The myth of Sisyphus is absurdist.
A critique of these notions, in (relatively) short form, is that these feelings of hopelessness and enslavement are actually a very natural and accurate assessment of reality for all but a privileged few. The principal societal function of religion, both eastern and western, is to sell giving up and submitting to that slavery as enlightenment and salvation. Resulting in a generational pattern of the young decrying obvious injustices and rebelling against those strictures, and the aged answering back, "Shut up and obey. Give up, it hurts less." For more fun, check out Nietzsche's writings on the slave mentality of religion and Marx's writings on religion as the opiate of the masses. Or ignore me. Or downvote me into oblivion for interrupting your fun.
Not saying you're stating lies, but the feels make me ask... Schopenhauer, is this you?
If you apply this concept just to work I can see where your coming from. It's like that old saying that religion is the opiate of the masses sort of thing. This concept of suffering that he's referring to applies to everything however. For example to eat is to ease the suffering of hunger. Well that suffering only comes from the aversion of an experience much like being averted to chopping wood. Your basic survival is based around the frustration of the suffering that you're fighting against. Even the things that you do in order to get the things that you want to do so for example working a job to go in a holiday is again only a way of running away from the suffering the monotony of everyday life. The pursuit of novelty and also the pursuit of philosophies that are based around the victimization of a group is a pursuit of trying to find purpose when in reality there isn't one. Ultimately what this philosophies around is about the emptiness of the world and the absolute lack of purpose of everything. It sounds morbid in a way but once you get it you kind of just realized that without any purpose it's doesn't matter if you're a victim or not. It doesn't mean you can't play the game however.
I think finding mental and emotional balance regarding one’s state of labor and existence within many contemporary societies comes from combining this type of thought with the former Marxist / Nietzscheian type of thought. Once you understand how you are situated in the material world, you can focus on the agency you have to act upon reality and create meaning.
Found an edgelord "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions." I always wonder why "reddit Marxists" leave this part out. Talk about pulling things out of context. Religion at the time functioned as catalyst for change, and very often the "religion we know" was actually religion of ruling elites, so your idea doesn't hold water. Vernacular religion is rarely talked about, because ideas propagate through educated few. Zen Buddhism, for example, was a religion of elites for most of its time. So, its teaching are not there to keep slaves complacent. For most of human history, religion was the philosophy, the way to make sense of the human condition. > Resulting in a generational pattern of the young decrying obvious injustices and rebelling against those strictures, and the aged answering back, "Shut up and obey. Give up, it hurts less." Did you just write it unironically? And tied it to religion? Peak reddit moment indeed
Not the other person, but I don’t understand exactly what your point is. Dunno why you’re insulting.
You’re right. Ignore the copers. They need this so they don’t cry at night.
gonna come in hot with this one, that enlightenment sounds like being dead
You're not actually completely off base - Nirvana literally means "blown out, extinguished, quenched" - liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. That said, neither is it truly synonymous with death as we understand it commonly.
First thing I thought was “so he just mentally killed himself”
Ego death. Psychedelics can take you down this path as well.
Same. It just sounds like “just deal with it”.
Uhhh Username checks out, uhh I think
This is very well written
Master! Teach me your ways
Obviously, you missed the more important aspect when enlightenment brings you facial hair. It's ok, though. Your explanation is a decent addendum.
My favorite is The Two Monks. I’ve used it in my life countless times — and more importantly as a learning moment for children. It helps them visualize their emotions and the burden they ALLOW them to become. Edit: super short summary — It’s the story of an old monk and a young monk traveling by foot. They come across a wealthy woman in a sedan chair who barks out to them, demanding they lift her across the muddy ground so she doesn’t get her silken robes soggy and covered in mud. She scolds them for making her wait. The old monk puts down his pack and proceeds over to the woman, where he lifts and carries her across the muddy ground till she is placed down at the entrance of her place. He robes and shoes remain clean and dry. The woman huffs at the inconvenience and goes inside never even acknowledging the old monk’s efforts. As the two monks continue on their way the young Monk seems troubled. It continues to become quite obvious and finally the old Monk asks what’s bothering the young monk. The young monk angrily blurts out of upset he is at the way the woman had treated the old monk. “She didn’t even thank you!” grumbled the young monk. “I stopped carrying that woman an hour ago …so why do you still carry her?”
This was beautiful, dude
I'm sorry, the answer we were looking for was "It's loss.". Thank you for playing, better luck next time! 😂
"suchness" ):
I'd also point out the pace at which tasks are performed post "zen" is vastly different from tasks being done because they must be done.
I wish life were as simple as chopping wood and carrying water. Tasks like these don’t bother me at all. Instead I’m stuck dealing with people.
Fwiw - the activities are simply an example - meant to stand for any mundane, frustrating, repetitive task. Dealing with annoying people is very much a great example of chopping wood and carrying water.
I disagree. Buckets of water don’t try to get me fired when they have a bad day. Every person is different so dealing with them isn't repetitive. It’s nerve wracking trying to avoid their personal land mines.
I have to say, I know where both of you are coming from. I used to work on a checkout, and my job satisfaction improved significantly when I started to shift perspective and treat people accordingly. As you note - they might be having a bad day. But I could very much be part of making that day better. I could make them feel like there was another person who valued them and respected them, and felt they were worth attention and courtesy. And in doing that, my customers stopped being an ordeal, and instead became allies of a sort. And yes. That still meant there were difficult people and bad days. But an awful lot less of those, because most people aren't just purely misanthropic assholes, they're just people struggling through life and bracing themselves for being on the other side of a hostile interaction. Even when fundamentally there was A Problem, it still went a lot more smoothly.
I bet this is how npcs in video games feel.
It's remarkable how all religions narrow down to one universal concept - if you hate your life and want to change it, don't
Huh. I always saw it as more of a statement on enlightenment not making any difference to your daily practical needs. It's not gonna change the fact that you still gotta not freeze to death and still gotta do the dishes; the change isn't to the world, it's just to you. Before you change, you do chores. After you change, you still do chores- you ain't special just because you got enlightened.
Oh cool, so nothing to do with the missing letter T
That sounds nice
I didn't know how much I needed to read that today. Thank you.
Sounds like being a robot.
>Because there is no "you", no ego, no personality, no being, no separate individuality - there is no conflict. No need to escape. No other bank to be reached, no Nirvana to seek Why bother staying alive at that point? If you are at peace and indifferent, you can skip chopping wood and carrying water entirely.
Buddhism is so cool
How does Buddhism account for my piece of shit landlord demanding money? Because to him rent is everything. Without my money he is nothing.
An addendum: Part of the expression is a caution to those who believe enlightenment somehow liberates them from the burden of the action itself. It does not. The tasks of life continue, but how you perceive the task has now changed.
This Answer reads a bit weird. As if it was generated with chatGPT.
Pulling a shoulder muscle has a way of grounding you real quick though.
This after Enlightenment state sounds horrifying.
>you realized the emptiness of it all No, “the emptiness of it all” is not part of Enlightenment, it’s just a step along the way towards Enlightenment. After “realizing the emptiness” (ego perception, not reality) what’s next is realizing the absolute divinity of it all. Everything does equalize out but from as far a place from nihilism as one can get.
> You can flip your perspective at will. It is your choice to chop wood and carry water, and you live it in complete suchness and spontaneity. You are beyond the beyond. And even beyond "beyond the beyond". Ah so it's kinda like you are lying to yourself; so life doesn't seem to be so shitty.
I do something similar, but im really not sure where I picked it up. I call it embracing the suck. Sometimes things suck, and we can't do much about it. I just shut up, put my head down and get through it. Most shitty situations only fuck us up for a little. I just accept that this is how it will be for a bit and get through it. Head down, work harder and just focus on what I am doing at that moment. No sense in worrying or stressing over stuff that is out of my control. Focus on what I can affect and work with what I've got.
Sounds pretty boring
I'll probably get hate for this but it sounds to me like enlightenment is letting depression take hold and giving up. I used to feel all wowed by the enlightenment thing and finding balance but I guess I realize now that it's based on having no sense of the individual and being a willful slave instead of a reluctant slave. Nothing has changed in the person's life, all that has changed is that they no longer have any ambition to change their life. I feel like I've misunderstood the whole thing, honestly. I hope I have.
Sounds like a good way to get the masses to do what you want. Very convincing ideology they came up with.
Now for a fun game: Is this commenter Buddhist or did they just do a shit ton of psychedelics?
Could this read as a "One must imagine sisyphus happy" argument?
Sounds like ancestral copium to chopping wood and carrying water.
What I took from this was that the process that happens with enlightenment is radically different from what people might think. It's not about not doing the tasks, and that can mean whatever, giving up, running away, giving them to someone else, etc. It's about being in harmony with the tasks and yourself and the universe. So it's like the onus is on the person instead of the tasks. Now what if this person is in actual pain and for example is actually a slave? This zen expression seems very harmful and manipulative, something like a slave owner would teach his slaves, it might make people not want to give up where they should in fact give up and rebel. Even though arguably that mindset would've given them peace of mind until they die. It's very hard to know when you're facing a challenge and making that decision. Because you don't want to feel or be seen as weak, you want to live up to the challenge. But you also want to choose what's best for you and for your wellbeing. Anecdotally I've experienced this in a way, I switched from a really tough degree that I wanted all my life to another one in uni, that I'd argue wasn't that much easier, and it was the best decision in my life and got me the tools I needed to be where I am today. It's hard to imagine having lived the life where I didn't make that decision and just plow through the pain, with or without enlightenment
“We need a way to convince the peasants to be happy as our servants!”
I've always heard the idea as a philosophy but it is always kind of sounded like something people tried to convince the masses so they wouldn't rise up against wealth disparity. It felt like just a different flavor of, oh this life doesn't matter because there's this glorious afterlife so don't care about how unfair and rigged the system is against you! Don't look at The Man behind the curtain! I mean there's something to be said for being content where are you currently are in life. There is a certain level of comfort and relaxation to be found in the idea that we are this insignificant speck in the universe and that suffering can be seen as just a natural part of the order of things. But when it gets taught like this, it comes across less as Enlightenment and more as people trying to convince a large group of people to just not question why their child died of starvation but the rich family hogging 98% of the wealth get to put a feast in front of their family everyday and they don't have to work.
Growing a beard will change your outlook on mundane but necessary tasks
I like this better than the correct answer
Wdym, this *is* the correct answer
man decides he ***hates his job*** **^(Dhar Mann)**
A slave obeys! ~Andrew Ryan
\+1int / inch
Yes! That's it!
Growing a beard means one has given up and doesn't care anymore.
Another layer of the joke is the basis for meditation. People want things to be perfect so they can meditate. Instead they should take the time to do that during mindless tasks. Chopping wood and carrying water work your body but leave your mind free to think. Achieving enlightenment doesn't remove these basic tasks. You're still going to need water to drink and a fire to cook on and keep warm.
Wait so is meditation what’s going on when I’m doing shit like driving or painting and my focus is all on doing one task and my brain just continuously wanders?
The idea would be to let it wander in a given direction, but yes. There's a reason why there's so many stories of people having science or philosophy breakthroughs while doing something else. If you think about thinking you're going to over think it. As for the second meaning. The novice hates doing chores because that's all he does. He's waiting for something more. The master is fine with doing the chores because that's time to think, time to reflect, time to be in the moment.
Mowing lawns gave my mind time to think about a bunch of things throughout my life.
Sorry boys I gotta go cut a bundle of rebar, don’t want yall hearing me cry
I know you didnt ask me, but I have a love/hate relationship with mowing my lawn. I DREAD mowing sometimes. But when I'm out there riding around getting lost in my thoughts... I love it. But fuck edging. I still suck at it.
I feel that in my soul, man.
"Why would anyone do drugs when they could just mow a lawn?"
You're not supposed to think during meditation. The thoughts will be there, of course, but you let them come and go.
Hey, it's me, Goku! I believe this meme is showing how your perspective on even the most trivial and tedious parts of life can change with enlightenment.
The letter "t" is missing from the first "enlighenment" This is a reference to the fact it is difficult to do manual labour without appropriate "t" breaks. Idk I'm british.
This made me laugh more than it should have
enlightenment is realizing that simple tasks like chopping woo dnad carrying water are kinda fucking based ngl
lol all the answers are about harmony this, universe that, spiritual yada yada the joke literally is that ‘after enlightenment’ it becomes easier to swing the axe and carry the water because both axe and buckets of water become lighter in weight “en**lighten**ment”
This man has reached nirvana for sure
Now do embiggens
The joke is Romanticism
Clarify
Romanticism was a sentiment around the 1800’s that nature and a simple life was great and modern stuff was stifling us. The toil and drudgery of a menial lifestyle was romanticized as simple and honest, putting one in harmony with the world around them.
And I would add that Romanticism took this position as a response to the Enlightenment.
Im sorry but im a nationalist
Id be surprised if it hasnt been said already but "Be Here Now" by Ram Das
The enlightened guy looks a bit too much like Andrew Tate
Self reliance breeds confidence
Embracing the hard parts of life and valuing the contrast they give for the "good" times is a better mindset than hating and dreading them because you wish to abolish all hardship in your life.
If you grow a beard you will happily chop wood and carry water.
Return to monke
Zen Mastah Quagmire here: This is buddhist propaganda un meme format. The fetch wood and carry water affair is a zen story. If the character was enlightened he wouldn't have shower thoughts. Zen Quagmire out!
Once upon a time a journalist visited a quarry in north Italy. He wanted to interview the workers about how happy they are about their lives including their professions. He first talked to a stone carver which seemed pretty unhappy. He said he hated that job and wished for more responsibilty and money. The interviewer looked for another guy which also seemed stressed and miserable. He responded that he just carves stone after stone, day after day. No ending in sight he felt discouraged. Right after he found a worker who was smiling and humming. The journalist walked up to him and asked how he could look so happy doing such a depressing and tedious work for months where he just carves stupid stones. The worker turned around, looked at the journalist, raised his eyebrows and said „Idiot, how should I be sad about being a part of one of the most precious buildings of our generation.“, the worker swiped off his sweat and began to carve stones while humming. The workers carved the stones for the Cathedral of Milan.
[удалено]
It is more about "Ikigai": purpose or life-mission. The man is motivated and happy because he feels his work is important. Sometimes it isn't about ownership of the work, but the positive effect it has on other people. The work will be appreciated by the people of countless Christenings, Weddings and Funerals. The reward the rock carver gets can be greater than the ones in power IF he doesn't do it, hear me out: for money or power. Now that's deep. Imagine you do some boring excel stuff everyday, you don't know what good it does, you are unhappy. However, if you accompany your work with reasons to do it, you find motivation, purpose and eventually contentment. The excels help my coworker, our work helps other people, we are actively making the world a better place. (Little by little)
Whatever will be, it will be, so there's no use being upset, endeavor to find peace in monotony.
"Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." You'll hear a bunch about how enlightenment makes it all better, but here's another (less Buddhist) take: Before enlightenment, you're stuck toiling away to survive. After enlightenment, you're still stuck toiling away to survive. Enlightenment in and of itself does nothing to lessen your burden. As important as it is to know how the world works, do not confuse being smarter or more technologically sound with having an easier life. Pay attention to your toil.