Before starting on any inquiry, investigate what is being promised.
Challenges are a part of life. By changing our attitude and response to our experiences, we can reduce our psychological suffering and find fulfillment.
The promise of Weekly Accounting is not to eliminate all sources of challenges in business but to transform our relationship the challenges so we can see the business better.
The Parable of The Second Arrow
When the the Buddha was well into his advanced years a monk comes to in front of his disciples and says, I have this question.
What is the question?
You said, that there is sorrow and sorrow is old age, disease death.
So what’s the question?
The question is that we are your followers and we are doing whatever you told us to do, but we are getting old and some of us are already dead. You are getting old too. And all of us we get disease once in a while. So how did we overcome suffering and more to the point how did you overcome suffering you claim to overcome suffering and yet you are getting old, you get disease, and soon you will die soon.
How did we overcome suffering?
The Buddha’s answer was simple and direct. He said,
Imagine a person hit by an arrow and then hit by a second arrow, the shock of pain of the first arrow and then the terrible suffering the second arrow. Well, the first arrow is what the world throws at you. the second arrow is our reaction to it. What I have taught you will remove the suffering caused by the second arrow, about the first arrow I cannot do much.
When Anderson became Neo.
Reminds us of The Matrix when Anderson became Neo.
A Question for another time – the Metaphysics
Of course, there’s metaphysics which shows that if you were to attain that enlightenment, then you go beyond the cycle of births and deaths, and therefore the suffering caused by the first arrow will eventually cease and all of that we can, but we can put it aside for the time being,
—— Notes follow
All kinds of problems in the world problems in the body like old age and disease and death problems in the mind consequent upon all the problems in the world and the body. It all comes to the mind Finally, all of that is the first arrow and it causes suffering.
Buddhists claim anything that’s it’s very solid that our whole reaction to it constitutes the bulk of our suffering is it’s unpleasant to get a disease, but the real suffering is how we react to it.
So this is what is being promised here. That a complete entire change in our attitude to our experience of life, and that will remove our suffering. what is directly being promised is a complete end to psychological suffering, and attainment of psychological fulfillment.
Source: Waking Up App: Sam Harris conversation with Swami Sarvapriyananda regarding The Ultimate Nature of Things.
