Enlightening Enlightenment
A comparative analysis of 3 very different ways of living; each of them leading to 3 very different experiences of “Enlightenment” ...
A comparative analysis of 3 very different ways of living; each of them
leading to 3 very different experiences of “Enlightenment” ...
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*While Zone 1 proponents' focus on diminishing, replacing &/or preventing<br />
the painful experiences of their lives ensures that they remain inevitably mired in<br />
ever-escalating intensities of the same, Zone 2 disciples tend to focus on<br />
intellectually rationalizing, vacantly accepting, &/or passively avoiding the same<br />
– a stagnating mindset that doesn't make their negative encounters more<br />
prevalent or intense, and yet one that doesn't make them any less frequent or<br />
painful either. Zone 3 enliveners, in stark contrast, choose to powerfully<br />
transcend their painful moments by utilizing the same – choosing to be potently<br />
grateful in times of lack, humbly amazed in times of tedium, &/or<br />
transformatively kind in times of anger or fear or annoyance.<br />
*Just as Zone 1 affiliates fear pain and stringently resist it (and thereby chronically<br />
intensify the suffering experienced via the same), Zone 2 devotees employ “healthier”<br />
mechanisms to cope with their current pain &/or resist the arrival of future<br />
discomforts (a mindset that often disguises its self-centered intentions under the guise of<br />
“mindful meditation” or “self respect” or “personal growth”, and yet a mindset that is selfcentered<br />
nonetheless – and thus a mindset that solidifies & preserves the same egotistical<br />
opinions that allow one's personal pains to become intense sufferings in the first place). Zone 3<br />
enthusiasts, however, maintain a<br />
dramatically different focus – one<br />
that refuses to attend to personal<br />
worries or self-focused fears<br />
whatsoever; one that understands<br />
that “coping” with pain actually<br />
prevents us from effectively (i.e.<br />
selflessly) utilizing the same; one that<br />
knows that, while they are not to be<br />
masochistically summoned, painful<br />
happenstances are to be humbly<br />
respected & courageously honored<br />
as the empowerers of kind deeds<br />
they innately are & will ever remain.<br />
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