Story Broken vase a metaphor:

[MeltingHeart]

Say you have a broken vase. If it just had a small crack or chip in it- it would have been easy to repair- bit of glue, re-paint etc. Its almost as it was.Just a little damage-but kind of still ok. But you never noticed the cracks so never did anything, in fact you just ignored it, it kept getting knocked over or just left to get worse & more cracks & chips appeared, till it eventually fell apart- now you are angry that's its so broken- you hate it & don't want to even look at it. But still insist that it can be repaired- you feel like it's morally wrong to let it go & just won't accept that it is broken beyond repair & now no matter how much people try and fix it- it can never be the same again- whilst it could have been if it had been repaired/ looked after much earlier- at what point do you accept not only a little responsibility for the damage that has occurred & also just let it go. You never cared about it before- so why 'care' now it's broken beyond repair. Atleast that way you never have to look at it again- you never really liked it anyway. You should never have got it in the first place-you didn't think it through when you got it- and regretted it soon after. Maybe someone else would have liked it & it could have gone to a happy home. But you made the mistake of keeping it. Maybe all your friends had vases too? Or society made you feel you should have one & keep it. Please let it go now...

 

[exhausted]

Kintsugi - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Broken vases can be beautiful to some.

 

[MeltingHeart]

Kintsugi - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Broken vases can be beautiful to some.

Ohh that's sweet. I've heard of this kind of thing before - there is another Japanese word for a good kind of imperfection (also usually attributed to objects such as pottery) but I can't remember it just now. Would be ok if it was a little damaged but not so broken it can never be the same again. All its original beauty & purpose has gone now- no one will ever want it...

 

[exhausted]

Lol, I just found this

 

[MeltingHeart]

Lol, I just found this

View attachment 20157

Wabi- sabi - that's the other word for Japanese art of imperfection & transient things too.

 

[exhausted]

Wabi- sabi - that's the other word for Japanese art of imperfection & transient things too.

Yes, that was in the Wiki article, such a beautiful concept.

 

[almaranthine]

Your metaphor reminds me of this Buddhist teaching of viewing everything in life as if it is "already broken" or at its end.

Before saying a word, he [Ajahn Chah] motioned to a glass at his side. "Do you see this glass?" he asked us. "I love this glass. It holds the water admirably. When the sun shines on it, it reflects the light beautifully. When I tap it, it has a lovely ring. Yet for me, this glass is already broken. When the wind knocks it over or my elbow knocks it off the shelf and it falls to the ground and shatters, I say, 'Of course.' But when I understand that this glass is already broken, every minute with it is precious."

Then ending of that translation is more optimistic than others. Here is a more practical one:

To me this cup is already broken. Because I know its fate, I can enjoy it fully here and now. And when it's gone, it's gone.'" When we understand the truth of uncertainty and relax, we become free."

This could be interpreted to mean that after one accepts the uncertainty and transience of (essentially) everything in life, an individual can become indifferent, or even apathetic, to any misfortunes. The "freedom," I believe, that they're really discussing is the freedom of not caring and not feeling the pain of loss by relinquishing all emotional attachments. While the first translation of this teaching ends on a positive note, gaining that "freedom" is needed precisely because we live in an uncertain, uncaring, and unjust world. While it sounds pleasant, the truth that underlies the teaching isn't much so. It stresses the inevitability of suffering through loss of material objects/assets, relationships, emotions etc.

Your metaphor reminded me of this passage because I have heard it retold using a vase as the object of the metaphor instead of a glass.

 

[MeltingHeart]

Your metaphor reminds me of this Buddhist teaching of viewing everything in life as if it is "already broken" or at its end.

Then ending of that translation is more optimistic than others. Here is a more practical one:



This could be interpreted to mean that after one accepts the uncertainty and transience of (essentially) everything in life, an individual can become indifferent, or even apathetic, to any misfortunes. The "freedom," I believe, that they're really discussing is the freedom of not caring and not feeling the pain of loss by relinquishing all emotional attachments. While the first translation of this teaching ends on a positive note, gaining that "freedom" is needed precisely because we live in an uncertain, uncaring, and unjust world. While it sounds pleasant, the truth that underlies the teaching isn't much so. It stresses the inevitability of suffering through loss of material objects/assets, relationships, emotions etc.

Your metaphor reminded me of this passage because I have heard it retold using a vase as the object of the metaphor instead of a glass.

Yeah it makes sense in some ways- sadly as a human one can only endure so much suffering - before you can no longer view it in any kind of philosophically distant way. It's virtually impossible to hve no emotional attachments- as humans we are driven & live through are emotions- maybe we can cast aside some -for sure & that can be good to an extent but to ignore/deny them all is to live a lie or in denial or a state of constant surpressed emotions- that can cause you to breakdown (as I have sadly discovered). Right now I just want my life to be transient/ over. Suffering done & over - that would be good. I like the idea though.

 

[almaranthine]

Yeah it makes sense in some ways- sadly as a human one can only endure so much suffering - before you no longer view it in any kind of philosophically distant way. It's virtually impossible to hve no emotional attachments- as humans we are driven & live through are emotions- maybe we can cast aside some -for sure & that can be good to an extent but to ignore/deny them all is to live a lie or in denial or a state of constant surpressed emotions- that can cause you to breakdown (as I have sadly discovered). Right now I just want my life to be transient/ over. Suffering done & over - that would be good. I like the idea though.

I completely agree that it is virtually impossible to be pure of any emotional attachments. Some people claim to be such and it's difficult to really believe they have achieved that state. For normal people at least, it seems highly unlikely. Perhaps I would believe a monk who has lived in total seclusion for decades or someone of like background.

Nevertheless, the teaching doesn't actually imply that you need be free of it all, only that you understand everything in life as being already broken. For example: that relationship- it's already over, that really nice top you like- it's already stained, that good company you work for- it's already out of business. The teacher believes that viewing life this way will give you a kind of freedom or inner peace. It's not that one won't suffer, but that he/she will accept that suffering on the basis of already having expected it to happen.

Anyways, I understand not being able to philosophically think about life any longer. One gets to a point where the pain of it all is just too visceral and damaging and I get that. My lost love pursued a doctorate in philosophy so this manner of thinking is like a contagious sickness I caught from him. Sometimes these thoughts remove me from myself in a way that's helpful, while other times I'm thrown under a torrent of existential despair.

I think Life is the broken glass/vase, flawed from the very beginning without appearing to be so. The point at which life seemed tolerable and the climax of it becoming too miserable to bear exist simultaneously together outside of time - even when Life seemed fine, it never was.