203-Grasping for Wind - Buddhism in daily life

Grasping for Wind

No matter what we humans do, nothing will really change anything, because all being in this world is finite, transient, subject to decay.

Today still young and full of strength, tomorrow already withered and frail, the philosophy of Buddha is designed to avoid human suffering, because deep inside we suffer, because we know our fate very well.

Every action can only change something for the moment, just as the moment passes, the NOW and the HERE constantly passes in the flow of the universe, new opportunities emerge, are present, pass away again.

No matter what you reach for, it is not yours. This is a truth that must first sink in, for only in this moment do we live, the treasures we accumulate, they will one day belong to another person, nothing is forever, everything is in flux.

This is exactly what Buddha was talking about, whose teaching offers a refuge to people who can no longer (or don't want to) reach for the wind, because this reaching is just as unnecessary as a parasol without sun. Because we can reach for anything, but we can't hold on to it (permanently). The sooner we understand this, the easier we will lead our existence.

It would be much more important for us to "reach" for things that are permanent, like the "enlightenment" that Buddha found a long time ago, but which is just not easy for everyone to find. The very first thing that would be necessary for this would be a good portion of courage, to name the circumstances clearly, not to take refuge in illusions, to look reality in the eye, because Buddhists are realists, not dreamers.

What I am saying here is of course difficult to "digest", because the good news of a savior would be much more comfortable, who should then also take all sins upon himself. Buddhism, however, is about self-responsibility, about awakening, about the personal path, which can by no means be walked by a teaching, but which everyone must complete himself. It is about growing and the subsequent awakening, about the liberation from the fetters of human existence.

Nothing and no one can help you in this, and deep inside you know exactly, even if the great uncertainty often makes us doubt.

Where were we before we were born?

Who are we?

Where will we go?

These questions occupy every inhabitant of the earth, everyone thinks (more or less often) about these topics, everyone knows that all grasping can only be a grasping for the wind.

The way is the goal, only the enlightenment counts!

That seeker endures heat and cold, hunger and thirst, wind, sun and snow.

- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero

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