What are you serious about?

[Barna]

What are you serious about?

Are you serious about your goals?
Are you serious about getting a girlfriend/boyfriend?
Are you serious about earning more money? 
Are you serious about reaching enlightenment?
Are you serious about knowing the Truth? 
Are you serious about becoming more loving?

Are you serious about your relationships with others? 
Are you serious about how others see you?
Are you serious about helping others?
Are you serious about your responsibilities?
Are you serious about fairness?
Are you serious about faithfulness? 

Are you serious about life? 
Are you serious about death? 

*************************

Notice that seriousness is an attitude.
This attitude can appear only when we don't understand deeply the impermanent and relative nature of reality. 
Seriousness can come only from short-sightedness.

We might feel that we need to be serious about our goals in order to reach them.
But in reality, we only need a sincere desire for going forward.

We might feel that we have to be serious about our relationship with others to make it balanced and beneficial for both sides.
But in reality, we only need to be sincere with others and with ourselves. 

We might feel that we have to be serious about death in order to live a long and fulfilled life. 
But in reality, we only need to be sincere in admitting that we don't even know what death is. 

This is my perspective. Now I'm interested in yours.  

Edited November 29, 2019 by Barna

[electroBeam]

I would just say that seriousness is a necessary attitude for people who are TOO wound up in their ego. 

Just like how a blue stage attitude is necessary for red staged individuals, seriousness is necessary for egoic individuals. If an egoic person takes on your advice, they will instantly corrupt it and use it for justifying dysfunctional habits such as laziness. But if a non egoic person maintains seriousness beyond its expiry date, it will limit that individual, for that individual will need to do things and act in accord to what the seriousness prescribes, which will literally block activities that go beyond seriousness but are necessary for growth. 

 

[28 cm unbuffed]

@Mikael89

Maybe it will help you somehow, good luck brah

[Lento]

In my experience, seriousness arises from incomplete knowledge. Why did I underline "incomplete"? Because to have all the knowledge (you are fully aware) means to be enlightened. And to have almost zero knowledge means to be completely ignorant. "Ignorance is bliss.", they say.

It's the journey from knowing to not-knowing (even in reverse if you will) where all the seriousness arises.

There is no enlightenment really, because reality is infinite and always changing, so we aren't capable of knowing/learning/being aware of everything. However, the more knowledge one acquires, the closer they are to enlightenment.

The only difference between enlightenment and ignorance is that ignorance stems from spiritual bypassing, i.e. something like: "problems only exist when you think of them", "there is nothing but direct experience", "your car doesn't exist unless you look at it", etc... While enlightenment stems from observing reality, through mediation, and through those 'spiritual bypassing' lenses as well as through anything else.

However, there's nothing wrong with being serious. I think that it's a requirement for a healthy growth. I like to think of it as a spectrum of seriousness vs. non-seriousness. One should not attach themselves to one side of the spectrum.

Just my mind monkeying around.

Edited November 29, 2019 by Lento

[DrewNows]

All anyone is ever serious about is being a serious stubborn fucking bastard 

 

[Preety_India]

 I'm serious about life. I don't think it's possible without that. 

 

I don't think only a sincere desire is enough 

 

Edited November 29, 2019 by Preety_India

[28 cm unbuffed]

 

[JustThinkingAloud]

I'm serious about everything serious! haha

But seriously, everything that destroys life or good things is serious to me.

[pluto]

Serious is illusory.