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Do you agree with Thoreau?

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Front-Ranger:
 :'( :'( FRiend, I'm not going to disagree with you. Sh*t, that's hard.

Maybe that's why we venerate the place where we can live like the animals, unaware of our own mortality:


--- Quote ---There were only the two of them on the mountain flying in the euphoric, bitter air, looking down on the hawk's back and the crawling lights of vehicles on the plain below, suspended above ordinary affairs and distant from tame ranch dogs barking in the dark hours.
--- End quote ---

This is almost a Buddhist thought, where we can be freed from suffering by letting go of desires for earthly things, love, happiness, health, and all of that that separates us from the animals...

moremojo:
Yes, the Buddha taught that desire is the root of all suffering. By this train of thought, Ennis and Jack suffered out of their love for one another--and yet that is precisely what gave their lives (and their story) meaning. It really is such a dilemma.

Abhinavagupta taught that all experience is willed into being by the Divine Self--we actively create all our existence, but our conscious mind has been sent into forgetfulness so as not to impede the play (the literal translation of the Sanskrit lila). Here, suffering and pleasure, and everything in between, is part of a grand cosmic ritual wherein God experiences God, through us. Nothing is out of place, and everything is holy. Whenever we think differently, we are letting the illusion veil our view.

There is some kind of austere comfort to be gleaned by both these approaches. Lucretius, the poet of the De rerum natura, has also been cited as a guide in "austere compassion" in suggesting how his fellow humans approach their suffering and eventual death.

Front-Ranger:
That is really beautiful and inspiring...

Don't you just love Buddhism? It gives you the key to free yourself from all crippling desire for material things and experiences...but if you want to f**k your way to paradise, that's okay too!!

Front-Ranger:
When I compare my life to that of the previous generation, I am glad that I disregarded the advice of my mother and went my own stubborn way. I've enjoyed, if not happiness exactly, a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. But most of the radical decisions I've made were early in adulthood, and then I became a stander, waiting out any intolerable situations until they finally changed for the better.

What I would like to experience more of is not happiness per se, but a sense of bliss. Happiness to me means contentment, but bliss is more akin to joy. More bliss in my life is what I aspire to, and I think I know how I can get it. The times in my past when I've truly known bliss have been when I connected on a very deep level with another person. I've known it with my son and daughter, with my partner, teachers, and friends. And the more you experience, the more you want to experience.

Front-Ranger:
Jack was happy on Brokeback Mountain and he knew it. Late in his life he said, "I did once" meaning that he had a better idea about him and Ennis prolonging their happiness and living a sweet life. But Ennis, even though he was so happy he felt he could paw the white out of the moon, didn't believe he deserved the happiness and impulsively rejected it. Later, he realized what he was missing, and wrote "You bet" to Jack, paving the way for the reunion. Then he slipslid back into self-denial and punishment, which meant Jack had to be dragged into it as well. Jack went to his grave believing that Ennis would wise up and embrace happiness. Ennis was only able to achieve that release in his dreams, to the end of his life.

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