Menunggu Kapal karam

Setiap orang tentunya ingin bahagia. Walau kata bahagia itu sendiri seringkali rancu, dicampur aduk dengan kemapanan secara material. Di saat manusia mengalami hidup di mana beban dan tanggung jawab terus bertambah, meningkat pula kebingungan dan pencarian akan kebahagiaan.

Bukan satu dua orang bertanya,
“Bagaimana caranya hidup lebih bermutu?”,
“Bagaimana caranya menjadi manusia yang lebih baik?”
“Bagaimana caranya menemukan makna hidup?”

Komentar saya standar, “Meditasi. Itu cara yang paling efisien dan efektif.”

Respon yang diberikan penanya pun standar, “Hahaha, kayaknya gue belum butuh.”

Jadi kapan baru mau merasa butuh/ kepepet?

Seumpama belajar meditasi diumpamakan orang belajar berenang. Secara hidup ini penuh ketidakpastian, layaknya orang berlayar tiap hari bertemu badai di tengah laut. Apakah harus menunggu kapalnya karam, baru merasa butuh, baru mau belajar renang?

Jika saya bertemu seorang filsuf

Di dalam pesawat, saat mengetahui bahwa orang di sebelahnya seorang filsuf, maka ia pun bertanya,*

“Saya boleh tanya?”
“Boleh.”
“Ini pertanyaan filsafat. OK?”
“Tentu saja.”
“Saya suka seorang cowok. Sebaiknya saya sms atau imel dia?”

*disadur dari Gottlieb, A. (2010, spring edition). What philosophers believe: Anthony Gottlieb decodes an opinion poll. Intelligent Life, 3, 24-5.

Kata Hati

Kata seorang kawan sekembalinya ia dari 6 hari menjauhkan diri dari hiruk pikuk hidup a.k.a. retret,

… cita-citaku tercapai, bisa mendengarkan kata hati…

Jika benar adanya, maka itu adalah pencapaian luar biasa, karena manusia rata-rata jatuh bangun berjuang dalam kehidupan yang tidak terhitung banyaknya belum tentu bisa buat pernyataan macam itu.

Sang Buddha pun dalam kehidupan terakhirnya tidak tercerahkan secara instan dalam 6 hari.

Home(sick)

“Ah Harry, we have to stumble through so much dirt and humbug before we reach home. And we have no one to guide us. Our only guide is our homesickness.” (Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse)

Harry, at a loss, suffered from chronic melancholia. He cried out his longing for home.

Hermann Hesse let the readers decide for themselves whether Harry did reach home in the end.

What/ where is home?
Is there home for everyone of us?
If there is none, why are we suffering from homesickness?

How about you?
Are you coming home?

Death

I looked Death in the eye,
there’s nothing monstrous or ugly to behold.

Death is as natural as Life.

Mind in Sleep

While mind in wakeful state is like a wild horse, wildly chasing after one thought after another;
the mind in sleep is like a clan of hyenas, breaking loose, ready to tear everything apart that come its way.

A Movie called Life

After a couple of years practicing Vipassana, I start to understand what the Blessed One really wants us to do; training mindfulness and equanimity. It feels like watching a movie of your own life. All the time being aware and merely noting.

The teacher instructs you to start observing your breath and bodily sensations. Later on you will notice other things, too.

This is sense impression
This is perception
This is feeling
This is emotion
This is thought
This is form
This is non-form

Instead of being swept over by the strong current of the river (of life), you climb onto the bank and watch the river itself. Observant and equanimous, you start to cut the ties of suffering.