Abundant vs. Scarce mentality

[mightycpa]

I wonder if the person suffering from dehydration, with no water in sight, can tell himself that he is happy as he is, and some water would be icing on the cake, but not needed?

Yes, but what kind of person would let herself get into such a predicament? Part of the mindset of abundance is that you need to seek what you need and want, and you go get it for yourself. So, for the guy on a date, there are plenty of fish in the sea, that's undeniable. It doesn't do you much good if you don't go fishing though, and that is the hallmark of the victim of scarcity. The planet is 70% water. The dehydrated gal should have planned ahead, and brought some with her, or stored it for the future.

 

The same is true for love. There's love out there for you, lots of it. But if you shield yourself from it because you're shy, or afraid because you've lost at love, or because you were stung by it, well then, you cannot expect to have an abundance of it, can you? You want it? You need to seek it, with the enthusiasm that your desire for the thing demands. There's an abundance of lima beans too, but I don't particularly care.

 

As for happiness, I think that is overrated, and too tenuous a thing to pursue. Everything can be going right in your life and you can be unhappy. You can be very happy, and when one thing goes wrong, it sends you into a spiral. Far better to do things that fulfill you, because even when the going gets rough, those feelings last.

 

To wit:

Compassionate Giving.

 

That's the real secret to having an abundant amount of serenity and gladness in your heart and Mind.

 

Always making sure others around you have enough.

[TaraMaiden2]

Buddhism does not either teach, or encourage indifference.

Ever.

What Buddhism teaches is Detachment and Transcendence.

This is very well illustrated by using the analogy of the Lighthouse.

 

Imagine a lighthouse, far out from the shore, on a rocky promontory; The lighthouse is completely surrounded by water, and this water is never the same in appearance, two days running; there may be wild storms, high winds, calm, mill-pond, hazy summer days, deep, sullen, black, turbulent nights, high seas, low fogs, blizzards, tempests and waves twenty feet high, rising menacingly and crashing against the rocks, sending blinding salt-heavy spray up and over the top beacon.

 

Yet, look.... the lighthouse is still; imperturbable, solid, motionless and steady.... it continues to shine, calmly, reliably, no matter what the elements may bring.

 

And so, like this lighthouse, we should be.

Knocked and buffeted by whatever surrounds us, comes at us or rises to impede us.

We simply endure, accept, and 'rise above' it all.....

 

When asked what his point was, the Buddha answered that he merely came to teach about 'stress', the origin of 'stress', the cultivation and perpetuation of 'stress' and how to avoid doing that, and instead end up by rising above 'stress' and transcending it.

 

Life never stops. Things keep happening, we keep having experiences.

 

What matters is how we face these experiences, perceive them, and process them.

 

That isn't indifference.

That is focusing on everything with such an intensity that every trivial process is excluded, and you feel alive. Every second you breathe.

 

You detach your emotions and prevent them from escalating and snowballing.

Emotions are a vital component of being a human being.

Thank goodness we feel, and experience emotions.

The important is to not let them overwhelm us, structure our moments or define who we are.

And before anyone answers "Well, yeah...obviously!" Look at just how many people on this forum cannot get past their emotions....

 

People come here, precisely because their emotions have overwhelmed them and transformed their perceptions.

People come here because their emotions are bigger than their mind-set can cope with....

 

Indifference is the very worst quality one could demonstrate to these people.

What is required is compassion and support....

[54JA]

I think that regardless of our views of how to achieve it, whether through hope, high expectations, or giving up your desires, we all want the same thing, contentment/happiness. I think we argue about how to achieve it because of our differences in cultures and perspectives (e.g., linear vs cyclical view of time). I think that words like "hope" and "expectations" cause misunderstanding because they are understood differently and have different connotations depending on which perspectives/value system you are subscribed to. In Western world, where the concept of "time" tends to be viewed as being linear, "hope" and "expectations" have positive connotations because they are (I think) associated with upward movement. But in non-Western perspective (e.g., Buddhism), the concepts of "hope" and "expectations" can be seen as something contributing to the endless cycle of "desiring" more.

 

It's the differences in the view of when/how a person can reach that absolute contentment and whether he or she believes in it, or even values that. Some may argue that there is no such thing as absolute happiness/contentment, or associate being "content" as being lazy or lacking ambitions, especially if they view such things as "ambition" as a positive quality. There will be many that would say, "I won't be content until I achieve this and this." There will be others that believe, or have experienced, achieving a goal do not lead to contentment, but rather, more goals (next challenge) or feeling like something is still missing. They may believe that once they stop this endless cycle of pursuing the next challenge/ambition and start embracing how things are, they may find contentment in themselves.

[Ronni_W]

Part of the mindset of abundance is that you need to seek what you need and want, and you go get it for yourself.

That is what is passing for (being touted as) an abundance mindset in current mainstream, but it is NOT true abundance consciousness, which is can be found in: "I of myself can do nothing", or "I am not the true doer in my life." Whatever words you want to use.

 

Saying positive affirmations to the outer mind or conscious awareness -- without working on one's internal "stuff" -- is one way of (trying to) "get it for yourself".

But. The elevation must happen internally, within one's own belief system, sense of identity, habitual thoughts and patterns of feelings. (It's also NOT about giving away that Power of the True Doer to some external authority or source outside of our own self.)

[Justanaverageguy]

It's the differences in the view of when/how a person can reach that absolute contentment and whether he or she believes in it, or even values that. Some may argue that there is no such thing as absolute happiness/contentment, or associate being "content" as being lazy or lacking ambitions, especially if they view such things as "ambition" as a positive quality. There will be many that would say, "I won't be content until I achieve this and this." There will be others that believe, or have experienced, achieving a goal do not lead to contentment, but rather, more goals (next challenge) or feeling like something is still missing. They may believe that once they stop this endless cycle of pursuing the next challenge/ambition and start embracing how things are, they may find contentment in themselves.

 

No but see I'm not saying you will be happy when you achieve the goal - I'm not saying a goal will bring you absolute contentment. Contentment is an ongoing process that changes from second to second. It is not something you reach like a magical milestone that you hang around your neck forever. That's not why I said to set yourself high expectations and that's not why I said to chase your dream. The happiness and contentment does not come as some magical gift at the end of the process when you complete the goal - it comes from living your dream every single day. Thats how you make it christmas eve every single day. It is what you do and what you become in pursuit of a goal you truly value that brings contentment - not the accomplishment of it.

 

I think this quote says it best: Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.

 

A man who loves to fish will fish rain, hail or shine. He will fish when the fish aren't even biting and he will enjoy it even when he comes home empty handed. He will become a much better fisherman because of this. A man who fishes only to catch fish .... will feel unfulfilled 95% of the time because 95% of fishing is the process of trying to catch the fish .... not actually catching them. He won't fish when they are not biting or the weather is bad because he isn't likely to catch fish and he doesn't actually enjoy the process of going fishing. Thus he will never learn to be a truly great fisherman and never get anything more then a flash of contentment from fishing.

 

Just like fishing 95% of life is working towards a goal - only 5% is completing it and getting the rewards. Pursue a Goal that involves you doing something you truly LOVE and you will love your life everyday and you will automatically draw abundance, gratitude and success into it. Its the most obvious law of man kind but barely anyone follows it.

 

The basic idea in the words of one of my favorite modern philosophers -

Edited July 11, 2015 by Justanaverageguy