Intimacy:
Intimacy: "to make known" a relationship which is based on "What is the case."
Unbinding of oneself from one's illusions, stories, and ideas.
The relationship created with the people who are interacting with us here and now.
Feldman, Jay. "Buddhism, Unit 8." University of Idaho, 2013.
My Definition:
- Mar 4, 2013:
The feeling of closeness with another individual, animal, or event - it is necessary to recognize that this intimacy is transient.
- Mar 6, 2013:
- April 15, 2013:
My Journal:
- Feb 12, 2013:
Intimacy results from the awakened mind of the individual. Recognition of the influence of conditions on the moment and our lives allows the individual to be more aware of the moment. With this, the individual recognizes anatta in their lives lessing the Subject-Object dualism found in Western Culture.
- Feb 28, 2013:
- Mar 6, 2013:
I have experienced very few true moments of "intimacy." These moments were often brought about by a shock that startled me into beholding parts of the world as "is the case." One moment of intimacy occurred 2.5 years ago at a wedding, I walked past a mirror without recognizing it as such. Looking into it, I did not immediately recognize myself believing that I was looking at a separate room. This brief "trick" of the mind allowed me the opportunity to view myself without expectations or illusions. I was shocked at how thin I was where I did not even recognize myself. This surprise forced me to consider the moment as it was without illusions.
While intimacy in the world can be very gratifying it can also be very painful. The individual recognizes both suffering and discomfort as well as comfort. As humans, we create a "m&m shell" around us to protect us from this knowledge- intimacy includes the process of eroding this shell so that we can experience everything.
- March 28, 2013:
Recently, I have realized that I have several "personas" that I put on in front of friends, families and teachers in order to demonstrate my "best face" towards them. This "multi-faced personality" startled me - I have always seen myself as a very straightforward person and to suddenly perceive myself as something other was shocking and unsettling. Following this realization, I want to tear down my "facades" that I portray to the world so that I can see- and show to people the person who I am most like. I feel that this personality will be a little more abrasive or "crazy" at times I believe that my boyfriend experiences my most intimate personality in that he sees me worry about grades and classes. However, I need to trust that other individuals will accept me or that otherwise there is nothing I can do- to be something other than what I am creates dukkha.
- April 14, 2013:
Intimacy is intimately connected to attention to moments as they occur. By paying attention to moments, individuals are able to recognize conditions as they occur (including dukkha) as well as the connections in which they arise through interdependent co-arising. In this way, intimacy goes beyond friendship with an individual or recognition of a moment- it forces the individual to be fully present in the moment as it occurs without secondary thoughts concerning the past or future. This practice is very difficult, it takes constant effort and vulnerability to sustain.
- April 28, 2013:
Interdependent Co-Arising (ICA)
Interdependent Co-Arising (ICA):
Pratītyasamutpāda
any moment of experience is the sum of all causes/ conditions that allow it to arise. Recognize that phenomenal experience constantly changes as the conditions that support it arise and pass away.
Feldman, Jay. "Buddhism, Unit 5." University of Idaho, 2013.
My Definition:
Interdependent Co-Arising: recognition that all experiences are made up of a number of conditions. The sum of conditions creates an experience that cannot be other than what it is.
Understanding the conditions that create Interdependent Co-Arising leads to recognition of dukkha. Recognizing ICA is important in developing an awakened mind in that it recognizes the influence of conditions in reality and the inability for the individual to realize all of them. Because of this, the individual must experience each moment as it occurs.
March 14, 2013:
Attention is important to recognizing conditions and interdependent co-arising. Individuals are created through conditions and interdependent co-arising; this negates the possibility of individuals or independence due to the dependence that individuals must assert towards others through conditions.
My Journal:
Interdependent Co-Arising is both similar and different from Western ideas of cause and effect in that rather than one cause there are multiple conditions which create the moment. Similarly, because conditions effect the experience it is in constant flux - there is no one "story" an individual can tell themselves. Rather, individuals need to accept the experience as it is, understanding conditions is helpful in that individuals can work to understand how and why they react to something and thereby prevent dukkha in their lives.
For me, I see Interdependent Co-Arising only after the moment of experience. At this point, I have already created a "story" that I tell myself and ignore certain conditions that do not mesh with my ideas. I need to pay attention to the current moment in order to recognize the influence of various conditions and how I react to them. Only through this practice of developing patience and insight through attention can I lessen dukkha in my life.
Interdependent Co-Arising is most easily seen in "bad days" in which the person percieves everything is going wrong. Then, individuals often create a laundry list of events (ex. I was late for school, it was raining, there was no coffee, etc....) that account for their bad mood or bad day. However, this creation of a laundry list demonstrates attachment and grasping causing dukkha. In order to avoid dukkha in this stance the individual needs to develop equanimity to recognize each moment of existence and accept it.
The five aggregates are often conditions that interdependently co-arising in situations of experience. The five aggregates are useful to individual to analyze moments in that it creates a "checklist" from which to organize thoughts in experiences.
Through this analysis, the individual can understand the conditions and recognize where dukkha arises.For example, following an allnighter I experience...
1. Bodily phenomena - I am exhausted and have a headache which can causes dukkha in my relationships if I snap at people because of it.
2. Feelings- I often feel a sense of pride because I have completed work.
3. labeling or recognition - I recognize that I am tired because of the putting off work. However, I may create a false story blaming the teacher for not giving me enough time rather than recognizing my procrastination.
4. volition - I desire to go home and go to bed. This desire leads to cravings and expectations which may lead to dukkha.
5. Conscious awareness - I recognize myself as an individual having my own thoughts. Despite this I am a summation of various conditions and have been influenced by the allnighter toward my behavior.
Thus, this "checklist" allows an individual to break down an experience which might otherwise be overwhelming in order to find conditions. I need to use the five aggregates more often in order to understand experiences and how I percieve the world in order to recognize and understand the causations of dukkha in the future.
Interdependent co-arising can also be seen in the form of the 12 links:
As humans, we react to our senses and feelings which are conditions to experiences. These feelings and sense are partially conditioned from what occurred before; however, we often react without being able to control it. In order to avoid dukkha, we must recognize that feelings and sense influence us as conditions and at times cause dukkha. Through time and practice, skillful feelings and habits would eventually be developed leading to more wholesome reactions. It is necessary to understand interdependent co-arising in this circumstance in order to realize that these feelings and sense are conditioned and that the current moment is influenced in a myriad of ways this prevents the individual from grasping at a single conditioned in order to place blame or create a story.
any moment of experience is the sum of all causes/ conditions that allow it to arise. Recognize that phenomenal experience constantly changes as the conditions that support it arise and pass away.
Feldman, Jay. "Buddhism, Unit 5." University of Idaho, 2013.
My Definition:
- Feb 12, 2013:
Interdependent Co-Arising: recognition that all experiences are made up of a number of conditions. The sum of conditions creates an experience that cannot be other than what it is.
- Feb 18, 2013:
Understanding the conditions that create Interdependent Co-Arising leads to recognition of dukkha. Recognizing ICA is important in developing an awakened mind in that it recognizes the influence of conditions in reality and the inability for the individual to realize all of them. Because of this, the individual must experience each moment as it occurs.
March 14, 2013:
Attention is important to recognizing conditions and interdependent co-arising. Individuals are created through conditions and interdependent co-arising; this negates the possibility of individuals or independence due to the dependence that individuals must assert towards others through conditions.
My Journal:
- Feb 12, 2013:
Interdependent Co-Arising is both similar and different from Western ideas of cause and effect in that rather than one cause there are multiple conditions which create the moment. Similarly, because conditions effect the experience it is in constant flux - there is no one "story" an individual can tell themselves. Rather, individuals need to accept the experience as it is, understanding conditions is helpful in that individuals can work to understand how and why they react to something and thereby prevent dukkha in their lives.
- Feb 19, 2013:
For me, I see Interdependent Co-Arising only after the moment of experience. At this point, I have already created a "story" that I tell myself and ignore certain conditions that do not mesh with my ideas. I need to pay attention to the current moment in order to recognize the influence of various conditions and how I react to them. Only through this practice of developing patience and insight through attention can I lessen dukkha in my life.
Interdependent Co-Arising is most easily seen in "bad days" in which the person percieves everything is going wrong. Then, individuals often create a laundry list of events (ex. I was late for school, it was raining, there was no coffee, etc....) that account for their bad mood or bad day. However, this creation of a laundry list demonstrates attachment and grasping causing dukkha. In order to avoid dukkha in this stance the individual needs to develop equanimity to recognize each moment of existence and accept it.
- Feb 24, 2013:
The five aggregates are often conditions that interdependently co-arising in situations of experience. The five aggregates are useful to individual to analyze moments in that it creates a "checklist" from which to organize thoughts in experiences.
Through this analysis, the individual can understand the conditions and recognize where dukkha arises.For example, following an allnighter I experience...
1. Bodily phenomena - I am exhausted and have a headache which can causes dukkha in my relationships if I snap at people because of it.
2. Feelings- I often feel a sense of pride because I have completed work.
3. labeling or recognition - I recognize that I am tired because of the putting off work. However, I may create a false story blaming the teacher for not giving me enough time rather than recognizing my procrastination.
4. volition - I desire to go home and go to bed. This desire leads to cravings and expectations which may lead to dukkha.
5. Conscious awareness - I recognize myself as an individual having my own thoughts. Despite this I am a summation of various conditions and have been influenced by the allnighter toward my behavior.
Thus, this "checklist" allows an individual to break down an experience which might otherwise be overwhelming in order to find conditions. I need to use the five aggregates more often in order to understand experiences and how I percieve the world in order to recognize and understand the causations of dukkha in the future.
- Mar 1, 2013:
Interdependent co-arising can also be seen in the form of the 12 links:
- Ignorance
- Formations (dispositions, intentions, motivations)
- Consciousness
- Mind-and-body (psychophysical personality) nama-rupa
- Six Senses (five senses plus consciousness; six gateways)
- Phassa: Sense-Contact
- Feeling
- Craving
- Grasping (attachment)
- Becoming
- Birth
- Old age and death-grief, lamentation, pain, sorrow, and despair come into being
- Mar 6, 2013:
As humans, we react to our senses and feelings which are conditions to experiences. These feelings and sense are partially conditioned from what occurred before; however, we often react without being able to control it. In order to avoid dukkha, we must recognize that feelings and sense influence us as conditions and at times cause dukkha. Through time and practice, skillful feelings and habits would eventually be developed leading to more wholesome reactions. It is necessary to understand interdependent co-arising in this circumstance in order to realize that these feelings and sense are conditioned and that the current moment is influenced in a myriad of ways this prevents the individual from grasping at a single conditioned in order to place blame or create a story.
- March 20, 2013:
- April 27, 2013: