Philosophical ramblings

(Comments welcome, as always)

So... Meditation retreat... Did I say it was ten days? I meant to say four... Yup. Turns out ten hours of meditation is about nine and a half more than I can tolerate.

Don't get me wrong, I have tremendous respect for anyone who can finish all ten days. As for me - attaining Englightenment sounds nice and all, but if it requires long periods of sitting on my arse reflecting on the intracacies of my nostrils, I'm out of luck.

Seriously, Vipassana (based on Gautama Bhudda's approach) seemed pretty amazing. My mind surely benefitted from those four days, and if I wasn't such a wuss I probably would be levatating and shooting lightning bolts if I could have finished all ten. One of the goals is to train your mind to overcome craving and aversion, by experiencing the temporary nature of all things. For example, the pain in my knees, the itch on my ear, the numbness in my back, all of it would have passed with time; Nothing is permanent.

So that got me thinking, about aversion and craving, and whether or not I really need or want to rise above them. This much is true: I have an aversion to large hairy spiders, and when they visit my room I say "I don't like this!" and I feel misery. I have a craving for video games and the beach, and since I don't have those things I say "Waah, I want these things!" and I feel misery. But you know, honestly, I don't mind so much, I feel like occasional cravings and aversions make me human.

Another example: A husband loves his wife. When she is absent, he craves her presence, he feels misery if she is gone for a long time. Is this kind of craving something we should try to overcome?

On the other hand, perhaps aversions and cravings don't bother me so much, because I can attain most of the things I crave and I can avoid most of the things I have an aversion to.

Another example: A hungry child living in an impoverished community craves nourishing food, but her family only has enough money to buy rice and bread a few times a week. She has an aversion to lice and scabies (microscopic itchy skin cooties), but she has no means of avoiding these living in an environment without proper santitation facilities.

In this case, aversion and craving are indeed the cause of great misery. But certainly it would be absurd to expect this girl to meditate so she can overcome aversion and craving.

Well... I have to go and I forgot my point.