A quote which opposes Actualized but has merit.

[andyjohnsonman]

“Life is really simple but we make it complicated” Confucious.

Could it be true that we are over thinking things with all this philosophising and it's bringing in more worries? All these questions and contemplations? In Chinese the word question and problem is the same word (问题) as for them its the same, maybe there is some value to this? How about just  rising above all these questions (by being awareness) and watching all the problems disappear? The key to me is not the problem itself but what you are identified with when you see the problem. If it's awareness then the problem doesn't remain around for very long.

[Rilles]

I dont see how this opposes Actualized, I mean Leo is very big on wisdom and actuality and not mental masturbation.  

Besides, life was simple living in agrarian China, there was no planetary concern or climate change knocking on the door. Its easier to chill out when all you need is to milk the yaks and plant the rice. 

Edited November 2, 2020 by Rilles

[andyjohnsonman]

The thing which I feel opposes it is he is big on asking deep existential questions, self enquiry and all of these types of themes. If questions and problems are the same then how about just transcending them and floating in pure awareness. 

[mandyjw]

I tried to live the simple minimalist life, but then I said "fuck it, this is too complicated."

[andyjohnsonman]

bloody beautiful quote 

 

[andyjohnsonman]

John Butler talks about it here

[Leo Gura]

Reality is literally infinitely complex.

[ItsNick]

5 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Reality is literally infinitely complex.

But isn't complexity-simplicity a duality?

[Leo Gura]

6 minutes ago, ItsNick said:

But isn't complexity-simplicity a duality?

Of course.

But you live in a relative world full of vast social and mental complexity. You will not be able to avoid this complexity with cute simplistic quotes. Real-world solutions are complex, not simple. Using a simple mind to handle complex problems leads to stupidity.

[Karmadhi]

@andyjohnsonman Life is simple, reality is not. 

[andyjohnsonman]

15 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Of course.

But you live in a relative world full of vast social and mental complexity. You will not be able to avoid this complexity with cute simplistic quotes. Real-world solutions are complex, not simple. Using a simple mind to handle complex problems leads to stupidity.

I agree that life is nuanced and needs complexity. I am massively into the topics you talk about like politics, societies, developmental psychology etc. The problem I have is with the deep existential questions as from my experience using the mind to question whether or not life is an illusion or what is death just creates existential angst which can be better dealt with in stillness. 

[Leo Gura]

32 minutes ago, andyjohnsonman said:

The problem I have is with the deep existential questions as from my experience using the mind to question whether or not life is an illusion or what is death just creates existential angst which can be better dealt with in stillness.

That stillness does not guarantee any answers or insights.

Questioning is more challenging, but it also gets you better answers.

[Ry4n]

@andyjohnsonman I can see where you're coming from, for me right now it's ultimately both, since questioning alone can leave you stuck in the intellectual mind and as a result not go very far, but with stillness alone it could very well end up an aimless pursuit. Combining the two focuses the mind whilst allowing one to break into an actual experiential insight as opposed to just some waffly interesting ideas. 

[Leo Gura]

The skill of high quality questioning is one of the single most powerful and life-transforming skills a human can develop.

Do not underestimate the power of questioning.

[EternalForest]

Contemplation is always complex, that's the beauty of it. But as far as life itself being complicated, that depends on what kind of life you want to lead. If you choose to live in the forest with a small group of people and you all get along in harmony, then life becomes very simple indeed. But if you choose to be a lawyer in in the middle of Las Vegas, then yes, your life can become very complicated. But there's a huge trade off. If you choose to live in the forest, then most of your materialistic pleasures will be gone, but the trade off is a simpler, more natural lifestyle.

[Ethos]

Is it simple? Yes. But only if you follow your true self. To rediscover your true self, when lost, you have to get rid of emotional, cultural baggage, fears, neurosis. So yeah, when you reach high levels you say, hey, it's actually easy. But that's because you went through the non-easy part. And to get through that part, you need lot's of philosophy. Confuscious himself would be obsolete of we all have this true already unfolded in front of us. 

See it this way. Let's say you want to be happy. But you think you can only be happy by having things. You create a whole mental scheme to justify what you believe is true, until you discover it doesn't and that paradigm shifts. That's what I mean. That's why Taoism says, "there's nothing to teach, but only to become one with the Tao" And this is by contemplating, see life as it is, in action. Doing it's stuff and morderating your believes and expectations from it. Even Sadghuru says you don't need him if you are observant.

Edited November 5, 2020 by Ethos

[The0Self]

On 11/2/2020 at 5:45 PM, ItsNick said:

But isn't complexity-simplicity a duality?

Yeah, as is real-unreal. Nonduality points to the neither real nor unreal.

Edited November 5, 2020 by The0Self