“Don’t Let Your Brain Freeze — Keep Thinking!”
Buddhism teaches that if someone stops thinking, that state is called “Dark” and it means “no wisdom.” Buddhist practice is to keep thinking, and that wisdom dwells within you.
But these days, people are “freezing” their brains. They’ve stopped thinking. And that’s why the world feels so dark and heavy now.
When people have a stomach ache or something, and worry about what the cause of the pain could be, and then go to see a doctor, and the doctor tells them that it’s this or that disease, then they feel at ease, just because a name has been put to it, even though the symptoms are not gone or they haven’t received treatment — their problem has simply been given a name — and they then stop thinking and worrying about it.
The same kind of thing happens when people watch TV. When a commentator gives something a name, puts a label on a situation, or says “this is xxxx,” then people say “OK” and stop thinking.
When people judge something, someone, or a situation, they stop thinking after they judge. Or you could say, when they put a label on something, they stop thinking.
Ninety-nine percent of people in this world are good people and have a conscience. But when those good people stop thinking, they easily become evil.
They think they are doing good things, but they are actually doing evil things. They believe themselves when they think or say, “I’m doing a good thing,” but when someone points it out to them and asks, “Is it really good?” then they’ll get excited, and sometimes get mad at the person who pointed it out. Maybe because they realize they missed something subconsciously.
In Buddhism, it is taught that being stuck or trapped by obstacles is the result of feeling fear. The fear of death.
Ego doesn’t want to accept death, because ego is attached to the physical. Ego can’t accept physical death. But we are not just physical beings. We are actually more than that: we are energy, we are spirit, and we are one with God (Buddha).
You can feel the body sensation of your oneness with God (the Universal Spirit). And when you do, you will feel emptiness, which has infinite possibilities. You will feel transparent, nothing will bother you.
It is through these feelings that you can have real faith. It is a connection between you and the Universal Spirit. It doesn’t matter what others say; voices from society mean nothing. The most important thing is to listen to the voice from the deepest part of your heart.
“No prophet is accepted in his own country” (Luke 4:24). Jesus wasn’t accepted in his hometown.
Shakyamuni (the founder of Buddhism) couldn’t go back to his hometown for a long time.
Honen (the founder of Pure Land Buddhism) was expected to be the next leader at a mountain temple, but he left.
These religious leaders just followed the voice from the deepest part of their heart. They did not pay attention to what others said or thought of them.
If you really pursue the truth, you’ll naturally become destructive to hierarchy, self-preservation, vanity, and any general social common sense that is built on greed.
When we face the fear of death, we are forced to have true faith.
What will be left after your physical body is gone?
What will you think your life was all about? How satisfied will you be in that moment, the moment of your death?
If you can die with a feeling like “I have done whatever I can for the world, I’m satisfied,” then your life will have been a happy one, don’t you think?
Think about how you can live your life while realizing how you will feel about it in the last moment before you die. If you do this, then you can live your life fully.
If you don’t freeze your brain and you face up to the reality of your death, the purpose of your life can be nothing other than living for all beings.
Are you aware of your blind spot?
Which subjects cause your brain to freeze?
