Unnecessary Hope and Fear

I came across with this quote by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche on Facebook... Which comes at the right time for me hah. It goes like this:

"If we could not be bought by praise or defeated by criticism, we would have incredible strength. We would be extraordinarily free, there would be no more unnecessary hopes and fears, sweat and blood and emotional reactions. We would finally be able to practice “I don’t give a damn.” Free from chasing after, and avoiding other people’s acceptance and rejection, we would be able to appreciate what we have in the present moment."

What intrigued me the most is the phrase there would be no more unnecessary hopes and fears. Many times in life, we hold on too much to both of these two things. Hope and fear. When we're waiting for some good news, we hold on so much to a hope that it will come true that we'll be devastated if it doesn't come as planned. The same goes vice versa when we're in tough times - the thought that the condition will last forever, or even become worst. These two thoughts make us suffer.

At the same time, we fail to realise that these two thoughts are unnecessary. We fall into the delusion that "we have to feel this way". Only when the mind is still and awake, that we realise that we shouldn't live inside the bubbles of these thoughts. The Buddha taught the middle way, where we should not indulge too much, and suffer too much. When we practice the middle way, we won't suffer!

Not exactly as totally not suffering, but we'll realise that there's no need for us to do so.

After reading the Dalai Lama's interpretation of the Prajnaparamita Sutra a few months back, I gained a deeper and clearer understanding of emptiness. How all phenomena has a mark of emptiness. And this is why the Sutra said that the mantra can quell all hardships and difficulties. I used to not understand the context of emptiness in Buddhism. It feels so dull and empty to me, like why would we even bother to study emptiness! Hahaha. But now I understand, and I'm grateful that I do.

Many times in life, I fall into a situation where there's nothing else that I can do but wait. This wait can be torturous. Waiting for some good news, or an outcome and so on. I used to feel worried and excited and stuff but now that I'm learning to grasp the concept of emptiness, I've been learning to let go. To feel neutral in spite of the ordeal that I am facing. Trust me, it is not easy, but it's liberating.

2016 has been such a year. And I'm still waiting. And I'm still liberating myself.

From all of these unnecessary hopes, and fears.

Thank you Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche for this wonderful quote!