Greetings, I apparently have been practicing a number of principles of Zen for quite some time, albeit completely unintentionally. A lot of what I am reading now are things I have realized through experience without external guidance: It is very refreshing to see there are teachings for this that I have stumbled on.
One thing I am having a lot of trouble with recently is interaction with others who simply don't understand - people so stuck in their dualities that they can't begin to comprehend I just don't have them, people who are so immersed in the material world that they can't conceive that I am happy without many possessions, people so focused on having external influences complete them that they seem to be cut off from simply being. This issue has been so pervasive recently that I have went from existing with a peaceful thought-free mind (no-mind?) to one that has been sad on occasion. I have never needed meditation to achieve that state, but I am starting it to see if it helps. It seems the issues most frequently presented are that people who feel I am important to them seem to keep insisting on doing things for me, then being frustrated that I am not ecstatic for their gestures (nor am I upset, those gestures simply are what they are - transient, typically materialistic things that are nice, but not necessary to my wellbeing). They expect to be thanked as if I had needed their action like food or water. They seem to expect me to sustain them in a similar fashion. And thus they make their own misery over it when I simply am who I am. I've tried explaining, but they are not ready to learn. I have been called "cold" or "unsympathetic". It seems people expect me to make assumptions on the intention (or nonintention) behind their actions. Yet they do them and by doing them they are those actions, yet they take no responsibility for them. Even more they seem to expect everyone, including nature itself to excuse their actions, nullify any effect or consequences those actions may have had. To me it is what it is - yet this makes them miserable, as if I am expected to wipe away their remorse by reassuring them they were at the mercy of some power other than their own. So I ask: How do you interact with the people in this world? -Lana
