Stop being so serious. It’s destroying my mental health.

Evil Neuro

The glass is already broken

“You see this goblet?” asks [Ajahn Chah], the Thai meditation master. “For me this glass is already broken. I enjoy it; I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably, sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I should tap it, it has a lovely ring to it. But when I put this glass on the shelf and the wind knocks it over or my elbow brushes it off the table and it falls to the ground and shatters, I say, ‘Of course.’ When I understand that the glass is already broken, every moment with it is precious.”

Mark Epstein, Thoughts Without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective, as quoted by Steven Harper

The parable of the Taoist farmer

There was a farmer who owned a horse. One day, the horse escaped. “What misfortune!” cried his neighbors. “Maybe,” said the farmer.

A few days passed and the farmer’s horse returned with five wild horses. “What incredible luck!” his neighbors exclaimed. “Maybe,” said the farmer.

The next day, the farmer’s son was breaking in one of the wild horses when he was thrown off and broke his leg. “What misfortune!” cried his neighbors. “Maybe,” said the farmer.

A week later, soldiers came to gather all the local young men to fight in a war. The farmer’s son was passed over because of his injury. “What incredible luck!” his neighbors exclaimed. “Maybe,” said the farmer.

Paraphrased from The Churning

Thinking about the future

The only thing we know for certain about the future is that it will be different from the present and we don’t know exactly how. Nothing in the present can be reliably conserved in its current state into the future; it’s all impermanent. Being attached to things in the present inevitably causes suffering when those things degrade and disappear, and worrying about that impending loss prevents us from fully enjoying the things we have. If my favorite cup is already broken, then I do not need to worry about it breaking. At the same time, lack of knowledge about the future is a good reason to avoid attachment to ideas about what the future will be like. Much of the time, like the farmer’s neighbor, we judge situations to be good or bad not based on what the present is like but rather on what we imagine the future will be like. The future rarely works out the way we think it will. Interpreting present events as disastrous or felicitous can prevent us from engaging with the present in an effective way, or appreciating the present for what it is.