hasunoha

I don't feel motivated

People will die one day. Everything, not limited to people, will come to an end someday.

When I think about it, nothing lasts forever in this world, and it makes me think that there isn't much meaning in what a small being like me did.

Probably because of that, no matter what I do, I don't feel very motivated.

It's not like I want to run away from bad things. Rather, it's the same even when you're doing what you love. For example, even if you're watching an anime or playing a game, there are times when it suddenly becomes empty along the way and you stop. When that happens, all you have to do is wait in the futon for time to pass.

When it comes to school and study, rather than working on it of one's own will, there is a sense of adapting to the surroundings “because it is something that is done.” Of course, I understand it's necessary for the future. However, when I think that future will end someday, I don't understand the point of making an effort.

It is said that time and memories with friends are also important, but those too will be lost someday. Once you've watched a work that moved you, it's over, and no matter how many fun events are in the past.

I'm not particularly unhappy. Rather, I think they are blessed people. And yet, I can't get out of this way of thinking.

In Buddhism, there is a way of thinking about “impermanence.” However, I don't become positive enough to know those words, and I feel that “it's meaningless because everything will be lost anyway.”

So I have a question.

How do you view this kind of thinking in Buddhism?

Also, how do you originally accept the idea of impermanence?

Am I misunderstanding something important? Or is this emptiness also natural?

5 Zen Responses

Life is meaningful because it is impermanent

First of all, let me be honest: you half understand what's important and half misunderstand.

Certainly, Buddhism preaches “impermanence.” Everything changes, including people, things, and relationships, and will end at some point. The feeling that “it will end anyway” that you feel is definitely not wrong.

However, it is a misunderstanding that they draw the conclusion “so there is no point” from there.

To put it in a slightly harsher way, it's also the logic of people who haven't lived their lives enough yet.

For example, no one says, “No matter what you eat, you'll get hungry again, so there's no point in eating.”

It's not that it's meaningless because it ends; it's only because it ends that it's worth it.

Cherry blossoms are beautiful not because they bloom all year round. People look up at flowers precisely because they scatter in a few days.

Time with friends and family is precious because now is the only time.

Maybe you're thinking too much about life in your head.

Of course, it's important to think. However, even if you try to answer the meaning of life in your teens, it's impossible.

That's because I haven't experienced life enough yet.

It's like people who haven't climbed the summit are trying to draw a conclusion at the foot, “Is this mountain worth climbing?”

Buddhism teaches that humans seem to understand with their heads, and in fact, they are beings that can only be viewed in a limited way.

So what you need now is not “finding the meaning of life,” but “living for now.”

I don't know if studying, friendships, club activities, or hobbies are meaningful, but I'll try it.

There is a landscape that can only be seen in the accumulation.

Impermanent is not a word of hopelessness that “you will be lost anyway.”

It's an awakening saying, “What we have now is not natural.”

People you meet today don't necessarily mean you'll meet tomorrow either.

I'll never go back to who I am now, or my time now.

That's why the teaching is to cherish the present.

Humans don't only understand what they think; they also change depending on what they experience.

It's easy to get into a futon with the conclusion that “there's no point anyway.”

However, even if I don't understand the meaning, I'll take a step forward. In terms of Buddhism, that is a much more sincere way of life.

The meaning of life is not something you think about and find; it is also something you encounter little by little while you are alive. I think we're still in the middle of that right now.

I read it.
You don't feel motivated to do anything because this world is impermanent. I don't know the details of you or your surroundings, but I feel like I can understand that you have such a pessimistic attitude. I understand your feelings from the bottom of my heart.

I used to think so when I was young, and there was a time when I was wearing futons the whole time because I wasn't motivated to do anything. I thought it was a waste to do it anyway, because no matter what happened to me, society and the world wouldn't change, so what I did would go away anyway.
Nonetheless, I think I'm getting tired of not doing anything all this time.

My consciousness has changed, and I think yours will too.

That's all, so please take your time and face yourself. And when you get tired of it, go outside and see all kinds of things. Then your feelings will change too. You might be tempted to actually try a lot of things. And you'll feel a variety of things by experiencing it firsthand.

As you work on various things, you may want to learn more, or you may want to get more involved.

It's your precious life, so please watch and listen to various things

Certainly, this world is impermanent. And impermanence is painful.
That is also the teaching of Buddhism.
However, what you have done can be passed on to future generations even after death.
Lives are passed down from parent to child.
If you make things such as roads and bridges, they will be passed on to future generations.
Knowledge is passed on from teacher to student.
I think there are things that are impermanent but are passed on instead of becoming nothing.
(Of course, the Earth will be swallowed up by the Sun in 5 to 10 billion years, but that is a long time away.)
The anime and games I enjoy now, and my studies at school were born from what our ancestors have now passed away.
It would be nice if you could become an adult in the future and pass on something in life, things, and knowledge to future generations while working. And to that end, please study hard and play hard when you're a student.

Maybe I'm not feeling well. The Buddha can keep his body light.

If your brain and nerves are active and you're not physically exhausted, “the Earth is going to die anyway, so did you do what you wanted to do to the fullest!” It might become.
If you think so, there is a possibility that you are a reserve force for mental health problems such as “depression,” and your serotonin nerves is out of balance.
Be careful about the day-night reversal to sleep, bathe in the sun, and eat breakfast every day.
Now, after realizing impermanence, selflessness, and total suffering at age 35, Buddha continued to actively travel and preach his teachings until his death at age 80.
The driving force behind this is the characteristic of lightness (lightness), which is “I was asked by someone else, so I'm going to do it because I'm too strong and there's no reason to refuse.”
Enlightened people will no longer have the worries of laziness (wanting to cut corners, lose their mind, want to sleep).
It's the opposite of poor mental health.
The Buddha was very popular, and many people invited him to offer meals. In other words, there were a lot of people who wanted to invite Buddha to dinner.
At one point, a woman promised the Buddha a meal donation. After that, another rich man heard about it and tried to somehow get the Buddha to hand over the right to give alms from that woman, but it didn't work.
The Buddha's attitude is simple.
“Hi, OK” on a first-come, first-served basis. There, I don't think it would be bothersome or that people over there would serve a gorgeous treat because they are very rich.
In other words, without thinking about your own profit or loss, quickly and equally “OK, OK!” in response to requests from others That's it.
So, once you realize that you are truly impermanent, the weight of laziness will disappear, and the power of compassion will overflow, and you will be able to move lightly for others.

Why don't you feel connected and find the meaning of being born into this world?

Certainly, everything in this world is impermanent. You mean it's constantly changing, and it's by no means eternal. That's why, instead of becoming obsessed with things that don't turn out the way you want them to, you should break out of the chain of suffering by letting go.

Things you don't start imagining are also relationships, and that encounter is unique to this moment. If you feel that it's meaningless, it also means you're not struggling with obsession.

Humans have emotions, so when you get involved with the people you are about to meet, your heart will move. Even if you understand with your head that nothing is left, when you come into contact with the warmth and joy you feel, you may want to cherish it.

Important people I've met. I'm no longer in this world. I can't see that figure anymore, but the time I spent, my memories, and the experiences I was taught haven't disappeared into my memory even now, and that small presence supports my life.

The things in this world don't stop there, but what I value lives within me and supports me. As if it were meaningful, we can live.

Why don't you feel a connection that seems like that too?
Why don't you find the meaning that you were born into this world?