I’ve always been passionate about many things. My work, animal rights, my kayak, the water it floats in, and coconut meringue pie. And there are those things I hate – war and torture come to mind today, also flippancy about important things, and Brussels sprouts Strangely, the fact that I’ve really never tasted a Brussels sprout doesn’t stop me from hating them.
So this morning I’m reading* an article titled Smile at Fear by Tibetan Buddhist writer Carolyn Rose Gimian. In it, she mentions the Buddhist teaching of the three poisons – passion, aggression and ignorance. Poison passion?
I’ve always felt good about being passionate. After all isn’t the opposite of passion apathy? Or is the opposite of passion nonattachment? The thing about passion is that it keeps us from seeing things the way they are. We view things we’re passionate about as if through a curtain that blurs the shape, obscures the details and makes it easy for us to see pretty much just what we want to see rather than what’s really there. Just trying to see things as they are is a lifetime occupation.
*Shambhala Sun , March, 2009
So this morning I’m reading* an article titled Smile at Fear by Tibetan Buddhist writer Carolyn Rose Gimian. In it, she mentions the Buddhist teaching of the three poisons – passion, aggression and ignorance. Poison passion?
I’ve always felt good about being passionate. After all isn’t the opposite of passion apathy? Or is the opposite of passion nonattachment? The thing about passion is that it keeps us from seeing things the way they are. We view things we’re passionate about as if through a curtain that blurs the shape, obscures the details and makes it easy for us to see pretty much just what we want to see rather than what’s really there. Just trying to see things as they are is a lifetime occupation.
*Shambhala Sun , March, 2009
