Friendship / Relationship, to me, is like Enlightenment.
It's not tangible.
It's not physical.
It's not something you can hold on to.
It's not solid.
It's not something to grasp at, to be held.
It's to be experienced.
To be felt.
From the heart.
At the heart.
To be treasured and cherished there.
It's not about Presence; it's about Feeling.
But being Human, we like to hold on to things.
We want and need something to hold on to.
We cling, we crave, we attach.
We have to see the face, hear the voice;
If not, we'll brandish them to the 'cold palace'.
To me, that's not it.
To me, we don't have to see the person all the time.
But when we do get to see or talk to each other,
It's still the same - Nothing's changed.
It's as if time stood still
Time did not pass the two of you by
This, to me, is Real.
The Buddha knew ...
Relationships tie a person down. It would impede him from his goal of Enlightenment.
Emotions are involved, and therefore, attachment.
Often we care too much, our emotions get in the way.
We get 'sucked' into others' control dramas.
There'll be feelings of love (or rather, attachment), resentment, jealousy, unfairness etc.
It merely strengthens the ego identity of a 'self'.
So he left.
His family, his friends, his kingdom -
Misunderstood by all.
It was a huge sacrifice he made to seek Enlightenment, to free himself from 'suffering' , from the cycle of samsara, so as to enlighten and free others.
The Buddha was a noble man.
Me? I am not noble, neither do I have the courage and strength to walk away from it all.
But, perhaps, one day, I will.
"Appreciate, treasure and cherish when you have something,
And when it's gone
Be thankful and grateful for having had it once. "
"Be happy and satisfied when we have something
Be happy and Content even if we don't have
With no longing and no desire
We can, and we will, attain peace"
"To love is to free
To free is to let go
To let go is to be detached.
To be detached is to not have any craving, or wanting to control.
To not have any craving or wanting to control is to understand ...
The Emptiness and Impermanence nature of things"
