Written by Dr. JC Doornick, Health Transformation Coach – Podcaster
Dr. JC Doornick is a leader in Health Transformation, sense making and the human I.R.S.-(Interface response system). After a spontaneous recovery from a life-threatening traumatic event, Dr. JC made it his lifelong commitment to pay forward his concepts and strategies to dramatically shift one's perspectives to reclaim control as the dominant creator of your reality.
An interesting observation of human behavior is that of wanting and desire. In Buddhism, there is much talk about Desire being the root of almost all suffering.
This article comes in the form of me, almost 53 now, paying forward some valuable lessons I've learned along the way that I'd like to have known before. I hope they both serve you well and you use them well.
Warning: Learning is nothing more than a distraction, in the absence of action. If you learn something today, give it away (share it) and put it into play (take action). That’s how it will stay.
Check out this episode from the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast, The Timeless Dimension: Detaching from want and desire.
A little background on Buddhism and the correlation between desire and suffering
Buddha was an individual who discovered a way to live without suffering. He devised a logical and organized system of teachings for anyone wanting to achieve the same freedom and equanimity—a state of mental stability and composure unaffected by emotions, pain, or other phenomena that might cause others to lose their mental balance.
Central to this system are the Four Noble Truths, which are fundamental to Buddhist philosophy and essential for anyone seeking equanimity:
Life involves suffering.
Attachment to desire causes suffering.
Suffering can end with detachment from desire.
The Eightfold Path leads to liberation from suffering.
The eightfold path
The Eightfold Path isn't a step-by-step process but a holistic and interconnected set of practices that should be engaged in simultaneously. Progress in one area can support progress in others, making it a comprehensive and lifelong journey. The eight elements of the path, often described as “right,” “wise,” or “skillful,” are grouped into three categories: wisdom, ethical conduct, and mental discipline, collectively known as the threefold training. These training sessions are essential for achieving liberation from the cycle of suffering (samsara).
Wisdom
1. Right view: This involves understanding the Four Noble Truths, the law of karma (the principle that our actions have consequences), and the impermanence and interconnectedness of all things. It means recognizing the nature of suffering, its causes, its value, and the path to its cessation.
2. Right resolve: Cultivating wholesome and ethical intentions, including renouncing harmful actions, developing goodwill and compassion towards all beings, seeking the positive in situations, and fostering non-attachment or non-harming. The very reason I created our private Makes Sense Academy community where we arm and equip our members with the 4 step Interface Response System that helps them change the way they look at things, so that the things they look at change. Thus setting the stage for a healthy response system. Check it out, risk free. Makes Sense Academy
Ethical conduct
3. Right speech: Avoiding false, divisive, harsh, and idle speech or gossip. Instead, using words to promote truth, harmony, understanding, and love.We teach a do no harm system called communication breakdown where becoming a master communicator takes this third step of the Eightfold Path into account. Check it out, risk-free. Makes Sense Academy to become a master communicator and networker.
4. Right action: Emphasizing ethical conduct by refraining from harmful actions such as killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. I hope this resonates with you.
5. Right livelihood: Choosing work that aligns with ethical principles and does not harm others. This includes avoiding professions that harm sentient beings or involve dishonesty. We teach the idea of living an Integrated life. Where you live and build your life around the things that matter most. Vs. around the things that society has programmed you to believe were important. Make Sense?
Mental discipline
6. Right effort: Making a persistent effort to cultivate wholesome qualities and eliminate unwholesome ones, abandoning negative mental states, and nurturing positive ones. Remember, discipline is not something we are born with nor is it a muscle you are gifted with from the universe. It's one you develop by deciding what you want, why and making the fundamental decision to go after it no matter what.
7. Right mindfulness: Practicing full awareness and presence in the moment by observing our body, feelings, mind, and mental phenomena with clear and non-judgmental awareness. Remember that human beings are only online and conscious 5% of the day and the other 95% we are subconsciously sleep walking and allowing our programmed habits and behaviors to call the shots. Mindfulness is about becoming aware of this and actively looking to tap into that conscious awareness. Make Sense?
8. Right concentration: Developing a focused mind through meditation practices, allowing the mind to become absorbed in a single object of concentration, leading to mental tranquility and insight. When both Warren Buffet and Bill Gates were asked what their top secret for success was, they both independently answered the same. Focus.
The Eightfold Path is a practice that anyone can engage in to lift the burdens and break the chains of suffering. It doesn't eradicate suffering from existence but changes your current relationship and perception of it. Make sense?
What I find interesting about desire and wanting is that the human brain cannot enjoy the present moment and be in a state of gratitude when it is in a state of desire and wanting. Why is this? Because desire and wanting are things that occur in the future. It always represents the next step. Ekhart Tolle speaks about that moment where we experience the elation of getting what we wanted. Call it achieving our goals, reaching the finish line. He points out that the reason we love that feeling has little to do with the act of getting what we wanted, as much as the fact that we are unconsciously experiencing what is known as the Timeless Dimension. The timeless dimension refers to a space where we stop wanting, stop having desires and simply experiencing being. Being is the practice of sitting in the timeless dimension. The reason it feels so good is that it is pure love and gratitude for all that we have, vs have not. There can be no suffering in the timeless dimension as suffering is something that requires wanting. Make sense?
This poses a big challenge as we have been raised and programmed to want. In fact, we have also been programmed to assume outside forces including society, and others, want from us as well. This naturally makes us want for ourselves and them. When we experience that beautiful timeless dimension, we quickly and unconsciously move back into wanting and desire. It's just how we are wired. Makes Sense.
So, can you see where suffering comes from? You are not unlucky and it is not some outside force happening to you. It's just a programmed and expected symptom of wanting and desire. When we say the obstacle is the way? This is only true when we are on our way somewhere. However, when we are sitting in the present timeless dimension and moment, there are no obstacles. Sit with that one. When we are sitting in the present timeless dimension and moment, there are no obstacles.
What does this mean for you and how can this knowledge and practice serve you today? The very nature of setting a desired state and making a decision to go after your dreams requires the radical acceptance of what comes with it. When I make reference to the idea of “Embracing the Suck” I am referring to the radical acknowledgement and acceptance of how hard times and challenges are part of the deal when we have wants and desires. If you are looking to avoid hard times, you must consider getting rid of all wants and desires and move into a space where you radically accept simply just being. In that timeless dimension.
Where this gets challenging which you now know is part of the win you seek. It's not really a realistic approach as we acknowledge the idea that our time is limited and we move through life with the greatest desire of them all. To matter. To make our time count. So, for a human to have no wants or desires they would in effect, need to be dead.
However, through the practice of things like meditation, and breath work, we can learn to take moments of our days where we practice that radical acceptance of simply being and visit the timeless dimension. Using these daily mindfulness practices as reminders of the existence of this dimension and enjoying the beauty in celebrating your accomplishments and who you have become in this present moment. Remember, today the things you have were once the things you wanted and desired. Celebrate them by celebrating just being you. Do so, before you move on and place your focus again on future wants and desires and who you are in this moment it slips away into what is referred to as the past and who you were. What's at stake? Who you are right now, is about to slip away and become who you were. Take a few moments and celebrate who you are right now in the timeless dimension, before it does. Make Sense?
Dr. JC Doornick, Health Transformation Coach – Podcaster
Dr. JC Doornick is a leader in Health Transformation, sense making and the human I.R.S.-(Interface response system). After a spontaneous recovery from a life-threatening traumatic event, Dr. JC made it his lifelong commitment to pay forward his concepts and strategies to dramatically shift one's perspectives to reclaim control as the dominant creator of your reality. As the CEO of Doornick Enterprises, and the host of the Rise up with Dragon podcast, and co-founder of the Makes Sense Academy, his mission is to positively impact the world one perspective at a time.
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