"Laying Down the Burden"

[Jhanon]

Dear friends, Arahants, and dedicated mystics,

In the Sutta's, the Buddha talks about laying down the burden, the holy life lived, done what had to be done (or something closely to that effect.)

My first ecstatic bliss moment in samadhi was mostly an accident, and so far it has been the most intense, despite it never entering the immaterial attainments (unlike other experiences I've had). A kundalini and intuitive insight rush occurred that satisfied me to the core. I felt like I was "Home", and finally, FINALLY had laid the burden down, if even just for a moment. It is this last point I am questioning.

I FEEL this burden always. It is very perceptible, and I want to know if upon Arahantship this burden is laid down for good. If one feels free of the burden during normal waking life from that point on. Or perhaps "the burden" can be continuously reduced to satisfaction through a fully dedicated practice regime? Or, is this an experience which can only be accessed occasionally through samadhi, regardless if one is arahant or not?

Thank you

[rougeleader115]

Dear friends, Arahants, and dedicated mystics,

In the Sutta's, the Buddha talks about laying down the burden, the holy life lived, done what had to be done (or something closely to that effect.)

My first ecstatic bliss moment in samadhi was mostly an accident, and so far it has been the most intense, despite it never entering the immaterial attainments (unlike other experiences I've had). A kundalini and intuitive insight rush occurred that satisfied me to the core. I felt like I was "Home", and finally, FINALLY had laid the burden down, if even just for a moment. It is this last point I am questioning.

I FEEL this burden always. It is very perceptible, and I want to know if upon Arahantship this burden is laid down for good. If one feels free of the burden during normal waking life from that point on. Or perhaps "the burden" can be continuously reduced to satisfaction through a fully dedicated practice regime? Or, is this an experience which can only be accessed occasionally through samadhi, regardless if one is arahant or not?

Thank you

I am curious about this as well. I am almost constantly aware of what I think you are referring to as the burden. I have felt it lifted from me in the way you have described here once for just short while. "Satisfied to the core" and "home" really touch how it felt for me too, so I hope I am at least in the ballpark in trying to relate to you. But I guess I don't really know much else to input here that is useful, so I will wait for what Jhanananda has to say.

[Jhanon]

Thank you for your response, Rougeleader. As this is something I've struggled with for so long, I would like to try and expand to see if it is indeed what you are referring to as well. I struggle to explain it elegantly, so please do endure my clumsy attempt

So many times I have been in agony, depression, anxiety, and I've just wanted it to end. So often I've been somewhere where everyone was having fun, but I quietly left with feeling like it was so empty. So often I've been in conversation with others, and have felt uninspired. As if we were standing around a pile of shit, obsessing over its qualities.

The heart and mind ache for something better. Since I was young, my sister and I have spoken about not feeling like we belong here. About longing to go "Home"--even though we didn't really know what that meant.

I've learned how to make the best of life. But it will not change how weary I am of what I've come to consider a quasi-hellplane. I can still appreciate life, but this is only because I sometimes see, feel, and experience the ecstatic source of it all. Maybe it's a kundalini rush from a song or situation of significance. Maybe it's a sudden rise of euphoria stimulated by an insight.

Perhaps the burden is that of identity? Or it is that of the material/physicality of the human realm? I believe one of these what was being left behind when I finally felt free of it. It was both terrifying, profound, and INTENSELY blissful.

And maybe it is just the nature of the human realm. But that does not mean I will stop when I ascend. I want to ensure I never experience this burden ever again.

Again, forgive me for the clumsy response here. I am, for some reason, struggling to write well.

[Jhanon]

One last thing worth mentioning, and this is basically a copy/paste from the music thread.

As I listen to the music I've been posting here (which is what I primary listen to these days), and sometimes just when i stand or sit silently and still, I often feel as though I am retiring. I somehow, perhaps intuitively, perhaps just imagination, feel the burden of all my past lifetimes and troubles bearing down on me. But at the same time, it is as if I am saying goodbye to them all--to everything.

Do you or anyone else ever experience this?

[Jhanananda]

Dear friends, Arahants, and dedicated mystics,

In the Sutta's, the Buddha talks about laying down the burden, the holy life lived, done what had to be done (or something closely to that effect.)

My first ecstatic bliss moment in samadhi was mostly an accident, and so far it has been the most intense, despite it never entering the immaterial attainments (unlike other experiences I've had). A kundalini and intuitive insight rush occurred that satisfied me to the core. I felt like I was "Home", and finally, FINALLY had laid the burden down, if even just for a moment. It is this last point I am questioning.

I FEEL this burden always. It is very perceptible, and I want to know if upon Arahantship this burden is laid down for good. If one feels free of the burden during normal waking life from that point on. Or perhaps "the burden" can be continuously reduced to satisfaction through a fully dedicated practice regime? Or, is this an experience which can only be accessed occasionally through samadhi, regardless if one is arahant or not?

Thank you

When one meditates deeply, as Jhanon, rougeleader115, and others have reported here, one feels the "burden" of life lifted.  This is a sign of deep meditation.  When we come out of meditation, then we are presented with the struggle for life.  If we learn to live in the moment, with a still mind, means we are free of craving, and thus free of much of the burden of life.

However, struggle is a central component to life.  Just sitting, standing, walking and lying down with a relaxed and anxiety-free mind, the body has to resist gravity, and that requires struggle.  The body gets hungry, so it has to be fed, that requires struggle.  The body gets cold, and/or wet, so we have to clothe it, and house it, which requires struggle.

Nonetheless, if we can meditate deeply on a consistent level, then we can free ourselves in the moment of the "burden" of life.  If we live in the moment, with a still mind, without craving, then we do not carry the burden with us, because we put it down, time and again, over and over again.

[Jhanon]

Without yet commenting on Jhananda's response, I wanted to also offer this which to my surprise I found in a recent thread. I consider "world weariness" (the title of the other recent thread) and "the burden" to be a part of the same thing. I often use these expressions interchangeably.

The point that Michael Hawkins and I are attempting to get across, is no mater how deeply you meditation, life, and human culture, itself has a quality that strives to erode the bliss, joy and ecstasy that the mystic attains. 

[follinge@gmail.com]

The title of this post is exactly the type of thought I had last week.

I had been meditating regularly for years. Since I became reaquainted with Jeffrey's work a few months ago, I decided to ramp up the sheer number of minutes I meditated and I got benefits from that. It's still going.

However, only recently, I realized what I used to know. I had not been mindful of my thoughts from moment to moment while outside the meditation and I let things get out of hand.

I forgot to realize that my most of my thoughts were trivial, unimportant, and they got in the way of me noticing things.

So the title, lay down your burden, was my goal. In many ways, it's such a simple practice.

I continue to read, and think about enlightenment as well as meditate as per the instructions here. But now I just have to keep in mind this practice. Thanks for posting this.

[Jhanananda]

Yes, Frederic, most of us carry around far more than we need, like useless thoughts.  So, as we take up a mindfully, self-aware contemplative life we find we need to keep shedding excess baggage, like in your case "useless thoughts."  I might add superfluous things, activities and beliefs, as items that get dumped along the path of one who follows a fruitful contemplative life.

[follinge@gmail.com]

Thanks, it's nice to get feedback. I was afraid I was going off-base in my last response. Nice to see I'm going in the right direction.