11-10-2013, 12:01 AM
When I grew up, my best teachers would explain things in multiple ways; so here's another explanation.
The following is a list of the places having something to do with pity.
1. Place of pity - This is where you're at whenever you're seeing, (or more often imagining), "bad" things happening to yourself or others and feeling sad about it.
2. Place of not pitying anyone at the moment - This is where you're at whenever you're not at place 1 I assume many of you are at this place as you read this, and I think very few of you are homocidal maniacs.
3. Place of no pity - This is where you're at when you no longer consider pity to be a viable option; when you realize that it is in fact a harmful place to yourself and those who are pitied because it magnifies suffering. [see footnote]
The only thing that can make #3 harder to get to than #1 is habit. As a child, you had to work hard to get to the place of pity in the first place, and then to develop going there as a habit. It is never enjoyable and the longer you stay there the more it weakens you. To me it is a path without heart. I shan't traverse it. You of course shall make your own decision. I'd advise you to look at the meteor before you make it.
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Footnote - If you pay attention to how you use your energy, you'll realize that you must add your energy to the suffering energy in order to fully feel pity. The only way to do that is to intend it, and yet most people are completely unaware that they have to intend to magnify suffering in order to feel pity. If you were to say to them that by pitying another they had intended to magnify suffering they would deny it; totally convinced that they are right. This is worth taking a moment to reflect on. They do indeed have to intend to magnify the suffering and yet they are absolutely convinced that they don't do that. I'd say there are two reasons for this. First, they never desired that to happen and second, they were not doing it deliberately. Yet, that is what they did. This example therefore excellently demonstrates that intention does not equal desire; and that it does not require deliberation. Intention is what you put your energy into, whether you're paying attention to it or not.
The following is a list of the places having something to do with pity.
1. Place of pity - This is where you're at whenever you're seeing, (or more often imagining), "bad" things happening to yourself or others and feeling sad about it.
2. Place of not pitying anyone at the moment - This is where you're at whenever you're not at place 1 I assume many of you are at this place as you read this, and I think very few of you are homocidal maniacs.
3. Place of no pity - This is where you're at when you no longer consider pity to be a viable option; when you realize that it is in fact a harmful place to yourself and those who are pitied because it magnifies suffering. [see footnote]
The only thing that can make #3 harder to get to than #1 is habit. As a child, you had to work hard to get to the place of pity in the first place, and then to develop going there as a habit. It is never enjoyable and the longer you stay there the more it weakens you. To me it is a path without heart. I shan't traverse it. You of course shall make your own decision. I'd advise you to look at the meteor before you make it.
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Footnote - If you pay attention to how you use your energy, you'll realize that you must add your energy to the suffering energy in order to fully feel pity. The only way to do that is to intend it, and yet most people are completely unaware that they have to intend to magnify suffering in order to feel pity. If you were to say to them that by pitying another they had intended to magnify suffering they would deny it; totally convinced that they are right. This is worth taking a moment to reflect on. They do indeed have to intend to magnify the suffering and yet they are absolutely convinced that they don't do that. I'd say there are two reasons for this. First, they never desired that to happen and second, they were not doing it deliberately. Yet, that is what they did. This example therefore excellently demonstrates that intention does not equal desire; and that it does not require deliberation. Intention is what you put your energy into, whether you're paying attention to it or not.