Kacchapa wrote:
I would be very interested if you were willing to elaborate on this "Of course, if some sort of trauma has occurred or is occurring, this will definitely prevent such glimpses."
Certainly Mark,
By trauma I mean
what the Merriam Webster Dictionary means: a very difficult or unpleasant experience that causes someone to have mental or emotional problems usually for a long time. b) a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress or physical injury.
In my life, the traumas that have prevented a perception of a skillful/wise way of behaving, or being are:
- Psychological/emotional pain inflicted by authority figures (school teachers, parents, bosses), verbal or non-verbal.
- End of intimate relationships.
- Addiction to substances.
In the first trauma, a result is the fear of feeling pain inflicted by authority. This fear lead me to develop a strong codependent/submissive behavior that I consider a trauma in itself when it happens.
In the 2nd, the result is the fear to lose the GF at the moment. This developed into jealousy, possessiveness, controlling behaviours and codependence which I also consider traumas.
The third trauma can be divided into:
- Trauma of a strong craving or urge to consume substances.
- The trauma of binging.
- The trauma of guilt that results from the inherited conventional morality towards addictions.
We could explore this a lot more but I think this explains what I mean by a trauma that prevents the perception of wisdom/sila/bodhicitta.
So, after many sessions with psychologists, meetings, cultivation of discipline, etc. I was able to free myself (to a certain extent) from the momentum of the traumas and the derivative fears and behaviours.
This brought about some peace to my days that laid the foundation for meditation practice. Without this foundation, I would not have discerned the different layers of the mind, not to mention, as Chris said, a reality beyond "Thou shall not-Thou shall", "Good-bad". The forces of this experiences are utterly overwhelming, even after many years have passed since they first occurred.
Now, if we look for something similar to this in the teachings of Buddhism, the one that best describes this (somewhat) is the six realms of samsara. I believe a "precious human rebirth", as Tibetans call it, is a metaphor that corresponds with that peaceful time in my life were I could learn and practice meditation for the first time. The hells, hungry ghosts' and animals' realms are metaphors that correspond to those periods where I was at the mercy of traumas and their momentums.
Makes sense?