remedial teachings

{lifted form my old english blog...}

sometimes i read stuff in my Buddhist texts that baffle me, or get my  back up at first.
Someone once said that Eastern and Western cultures are too different for something like Buddhism to really work here. Times like this i get what he means... We've learnt such different values and ways of behaving that it feels we're a million miles removed from being able to achieve inner peace...

the best remedy against sadness is detachment

it said on our Buddhist tear-off calender.
Right now i'm in the middle of detaching myself, letting go of a lot of baggage, things that keep dragging me down, but there's a limit to even that. From a very young age we've been tought to attach to just about everything - toys, cuddlies, mum, dad, whatever we've learnt to give us comfort or what we think of as love. Tricky to let go of all that... But great when it's achieved - a weight off your shoulders...
But to let go of sadness....

Can you really never feel sadness, or pain, or frustration? Should you? Wouldn't life be flat and well, boring?
maybe this text should be put a little differently...

the best remedy against lasting sadness is detaching from the feeling,

letting it go again...

sadness can't be avoided, but hanging on to it because we're scared of what's coming, can...