"When I stop screwing myself up, things will be fine," and that is an absolute truth.
Michael A. Singer
Samma Ditthi, Right Understanding or Right View, is the first "Right" in the Eightfold Path taught by the Buddha to assist us through suffering. Yes, Noble Truths tell us, there is suffering, a cause for suffering, a way through suffering, and the Eightfold Path is the way. Such amazing wisdom!
Right understanding. according to Michael Singer, is simply recognizing that we are in a sense responsible for our suffering. If we are not okay inside it is because we are holding on to something that does not serve us. The yogi's refer to these stored things as "samskaras". We are also using a conditioned methodology for "feeling better" that does not work in the long run. We are grasping, clinging and chasing things from the outside world that we erroneously believe will make us feel better inside and we push out the stuff from the outside world that makes us feel worse inside. (Pushing away is equivalent to pushing down adding to our stored stuff).
Wrong View
Our mixed up understanding is that the outside world is responsible for how we feel inside. So we spend our time chasing and clinging and pushing away. Our methodology for happiness, however, does not work and will cause more disturbance and unhappiness inside us and outside us in the long run. When we approach Life and suffering like this we end up preferring certain outside experiences, expecting them, and needing it all to be a certain way and that isn't how Life works. Life is just doing what Life does and we have this wonderful opportunity to observe it, experience it, and participate fully in it, which we cannot do if we are resisting it. When we resist anything in Life we close our hearts and operate from closed hearts and resistant minds. Singer reminds us that there are almost 8 billion people on the planet and if they are all operating from this "wrong understanding" no wonder why there is so much individual and collective suffering in the world today. We are not understanding correctly!
Right understanding takes us inside to the "root of suffering" so we view it and understand it enough to get through it. With Right Understanding we come to see that happiness is an inside game and that we are responsible for any mess we might have inside. Life is not here to please us but we can be pleased when we learn to open up to whatever unfolds in front of us...be it ten thousand joys or ten thousand sorrows. Keeping our hearts open is the goal, no matter what. We need to understand that is the only thing that works!!That is why Right Understanding is the most crucial step to ending suffering and opening ourselves up to the peace and joy we can be experiencing instead.
Stop screwing yourself up and you will find that the whole world is beautiful...not perfect...but beautiful!
All is well!
Michael A. Singer/ Temple of the Universe ( November 26, 2023) Taking Charge of Your Inner State. https://tou.org/talks/
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