April 8 is commemorated by Buddhists as the birthday of
Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha.
Siddhartha was born in to a family of wealth in the year 563
BC in present day India. His father,
King Suddhodana was told his princely son would either be a great monarch or a
Buddha, a supremely enlightened teacher.
To ensure his son would become the monarch, he kept Siddhartha locked
away in the palace away from the human conditions of disease, aging, and death.
After some time, the curiosity of the outside world proved
to be too much for Siddhartha and he secretly left the palace gates. He began to live a life of an ascetic. An ascetic is one who lives a life of extreme
self discipline and denies himself any form of indulgence. After years as an ascetic, he was still
unfulfilled. He sat under a tree and
vowed to remain in this state of meditation until he found enlightenment.
He eventually found enlightenment and from this point
forward he was the Buddha. He taught others
the foundations of Buddhism which are the four noble truths, which I am
paraphrasing…
1.
Life in suffering
2.
Suffering is caused by our desires
3.
There is a way to end suffering, finding nirvana
4.
The way to end suffering requires following the
eightfold path of right views, right resolve, right speech, right livelihood,
right action, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
His teachings were spread throughout most of Asia by Buddha
and his disciples.
We often lose sight of our happiness and become too attached
to our “things”. What are you attached
to? What causes you stress? Is there a way to better manage your
stress? What examples do you see in the world
where the idea of attachment has given the wrong ideas about happiness?
I am kind of attached to my phone but not a lot. I am also attached to basketball but I don't really know if that is bad. The things that cause me stress are school and waiting for basketball tournaments to start. To manage my stress I could listen to music or try to focus on other things except what I'm stressed about. In the world people often define happiness by the amount of money they have, or how wealthy they are. Instead you should be happy about the people around you because they give you happiness.
ReplyDeletereally attached to my dog and my laptop. I don't really think being attached to your dog is a bad thing, but maybe my laptop. School and tests cause me a lot of stress and to be honest I don't really know how to manage it. I guess listening to music or thinking about something else helps, but over all I'm a really stressed person.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that I see in the world a lot is that money can't buy happiness, which is true in a literal way but it can spark a positive emotion. (I read an article about it once, I don't remember where.) But I think that the reason we have the positive emotion from touching money or buying stuff is because society has taught us that the more money and stuff you have the more important you will be. So I think that money can cause an artificial happiness, in a way that tells us that in order to be happy we must have all this stuff. I don't think that's really true, but you can't let other people tell you how to be happy, you have to Come As You Are and be In Bloom with who you are because one you figure out who you are you could be a Marigold, and in your Old Age you will truly know who you are and what you find to be your source of happiness and maybe you Don't Want It All.
I think I am attached too much to my laptop and sometimes my T.V. School is the main thing that causes me stress because of all the tests and homework. I was also very stressed about Science Olympiad. To manage my stress I could get outside and pull my attention away from what is stressing me out. I could also listen to music or watch T.V. I think the world tells us that if we have a lot of money and that we need to have a bunch of stuff to be happy. If we attach ourselves to these things, we don't really find happiness. According to Buddha, we need to detach ourselves from these things to find happiness.
ReplyDeleteI am very attached to my laptop, mainly because that is what I go to to relieve the stress of the day. The thing that most causes me stress is being overwhelmed, or being hit by many things at once and not knowing how to deal with it. Like I said, my laptop helps with that. It is the only thing that helps. Not even meditation has the healing properties that being behind my monitor does. In my personal opinion, having attachments is just fine. But being completely obsessed with an attachment is a problem, because it takes over your life and you don't think of anything else. Money is probably the best example.
ReplyDeleteI'm attached to my bed/room, and I don't know what I'd do if someone had to take my room from me. Being pressured stresses me out, and also having to make up work from school while I'm gone (haha). I'm sure deep breathing or something would help, but so far I haven't really found anything that worked. I think we get too attached to many things, or strive for them, and when we get them or continue striving all our lives, and we don't find happiness, we may never be able to find it at all, because we have been following the wrong thing, if that makes any sense. Things like money, fame, etc. shouldn't make us happy, but friends, nature, our jobs, anything else sentimental-like should.
ReplyDeleteI am very attached to my electronic devices, like my phone and computer. I think the main thing that causes me stress are my grades and things like soccer games or Science Olympiad. There are probably a lot better ways to manage stress like not caring or giving your problems to God. Some problems that society cause attachment has given the wrong idea about happiness are image. Like if you don't have a big house you can't be happy or if you don't have nice hair you can't be happy. It's kinda pathetic.
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ReplyDeleteI'm attached to my family and dessert. School, soccer, and contests cause me stress. With contests I get really anxious so I usually tell myself that it doesn't really matter. Nothing I've tried really relieves my stress about guest playing for soccer. For school I'm always stressed, so I've just accepted that fact. I think some examples are movie stars. They're all over the media and look happy because they're rich and famous, but that doesn't mean they're actually happy. It ties into the saying "money can't buy happiness." Even though you might have every material object, you can still lack true happiness.
ReplyDeleteI'm attached to all of my electronics. Things that cause me stress are mostly school work, but I'm not usually stressed out about that. The thing that I really worry about are tests. Something I could do to relieve some of that stress is to try and study more for tests and to pay more attention in class, so I'm not worried that I missed something important. I think that something society has made attachment to popular, is our appearance and money. Our appearance is very important to us, and we take time every morning to make sure that we look just the way we want to. I don't think that we should be worried about that, as much as school work or something else that should be more important. People will do anything for money. People with money are admired and respected. Everyone makes it seem like if you have lots of money, than you will be happy. But some of the happiest people that you'll ever find are some families in third-world countries. They have their family and their life, and they are happy.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I am most attached to is the television. Im alway trying to find ways to watch my show while still getting my homework done. The thing that definitely stresses me out the most is school by a long shot. I am always worried about quizes, homework, Science Olympiad, etc. I think there are multiple ways to manage stress, I just dont do it. For example every Sunday at the Berriochoa household we are always stressed out about getting our last minute homework done, which usually ends up in long nights. So doing my homework either on Friday or spreading it out during the weekend would help manage my stress on Sundays. I think most people define happines by how popular you are, or how much money your parents have, or how smart you are. Yes, you may be happy about those things but real happiness doesnt come from popularity. Its the people around you that make you popular, or the work that gets you to where you are money wise, or the self satisfaction of getting an A on a quiz or test that makes you happy, or gives you real happiness.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm too attached to what others think of me. I'm so focused sometimes on trying to be the perfect student, perfect daughter, or perfect athlete. I think this can cause me a lot of stress because I am always striving to be who everyone expects me to be, and not being the true me. I'm always worried about failing others. I think I need to stop pushing myself near the breaking point or letting other's hurtful words get to me. Some examples in the world I see that show fake happiness are people's attachment to their property including fancy clothes, big houses, shiny cars, etc. Some think that its only appearances that matter, which is definitely untrue.
ReplyDeleteI am personally kind of attached to my phone. I guess that I just like roaming around on it and stuff. I have personally been pretty good at managing my stress this year, but every once in a while assignments like study guides, quizzes, and SO kind of creep up on me. I really deal with my stress by a few things: going outside and playing, listening to music, praying, and kind of going absent minded. I personally think that gossip and electronics are things that we are super attached to. We like to gossip about each other, and I don't know why but it kind of gives a false sense of security or dominance. We all know why we are attached to our electronics WAY to much! We are so happy when we get a new phone, laptop, or T.V., sometimes even more than genuine family time. I know that I am a victim of it as well, but I have been trying to be more appreciative of the time that I have with my family and friends.
ReplyDeleteWe often lose sight of our happiness and become too attached to our “things”. What are you attached to? What causes you stress? Is there a way to better manage your stress? What examples do you see in the world where the idea of attachment has given the wrong ideas about happiness? I am attached to my electronic devices. I don't think that I'm addicted or anything like that, but I just like having them around. I also like to learn different things about the devices that I use by just playing with them. Many things can cause me stress. Those things can be school and sports. Sports not so much because I get to run around in them. I think that maybe if I did meditation it would help, but I dont think that I could commit myself to that stuff. I think that there are different ideas of happiness. Many people think that happiness is living in a giant house, with butlers, and billions of dollars. But to many other people happiness is having a place to stay. But for people like us. I think that happiness is love.
ReplyDeleteI am really attached to my phone. I dont know why but i have grown attached to it. My mom is always telling me to get of my phone or my brain will turn to mush. I ignore her. Even though it is a great source of technology some people over use it. I also use it to procrastinate sometimes. No wonder I dont get my Social Studies homework doesn't get turned in. ;) Things that cause me stress is Homework. Even though we do not have that much Homework i also have sports to deal with. I try my best to get everything done though. My stress issues are very manegable. But I have a schedule that fits everything in perfectly. In the world that we live in today, happiness is about wealth. But in my opinion, it is abut having someone to love, and someone who loves you.
ReplyDeleteI am attached to my ipod and laptop. It is mostly school and stuff like science olympiad that causes me stress. It causes me stress cause I get worried that I didn't do everything or am not doing well in school. I can better manage my stuff by writing everything down in my planner. I could also not procrastinate so I have less to do the night before it is due. I think the attachment to electronics and money. Electronics because now people text during dinner or stay up in their room all the time. Money because on tv it is advertised as the more money you have the happier you will be. They show the rich as happy and the poor as sad and depressed.
ReplyDeleteI'm attached to my electronics and grades. I stress about grades a lot, because I'm so attached to them. I'm also attached to Science Olympiad, which causes me to stress. However, this stress isn't always a bad thing when kept in check. The only thing I need to do is stop stressing about things that aren't really in my control, like how I'm going to do on a test a couple periods before it, for example. I think that our society of material things is a perfect example of false happiness provided by attachment. We always think that buying that piece of clothing, or getting that new game (this, I am guilty of) will just make our week so much brighter, and we will be happy. That's not true, though! Our society teaches that it is, anyways.
ReplyDeleteI think I am personally attached to my grades and my laptop. Ironically, grades are one of the main things that cause me a great deal of stress. Tests are extreme stress builders that often make me very tense. To add to all of this, Science Olympiad is peering down upon us, slowly taking over some of our lives. I think there are a couple ways of dealing with these worries, such as studying a little bit every day. I could also attempt to study more each day in a longer period of time. There is another thing I could do, like sit up an extra hour every night to study, but I don’t know if this would necessarily make me less stressed. I see people today feel that happiness comes from only things such as money, popularity, and other aspects people often talk about in our society. Honestly though, none of these are actually needed to be happy. You can have everything in the world, but hate your life, or you could have very little and be proud of how far you have been able to bring yourself up. That is true happiness.
ReplyDeleteI am attached to my phone and basically any of my electronics. Like everybody else, grades and tests really stress me out. This is because I feel like I HAVE TO get straight A's or only one B. I feel like a bad person if I don't get good grades. I tend to put things off until the last minute like studying. I think that if I would study a couple nights before, I would be able to manage my stress more. I need to stop also stressing about the things that I can't do anything about. The world gives you the image that to be happy you need to be wealthy or you need to be popular or you need to be pretty. The media just tells us that. It doesn't say that maybe some people who aren't that wealthy are happy or that some people who only have one or two friends are happy. Media is what gives us that image that happiness comes from attachment.
ReplyDeleteI am attached to sports above all things. The things that cause me stress are school and the future. I get nervous before test and quizzes. I also tend to put off my homework until it is the day before. That is definitely not a good thing. To help manage this stress i could not stress about the thing that are out of my control, and worry less about the things that i can control. When it comes to test, i can study a few days before as opposed to the day before. Society paint the picture that you need all these things to be happy, money, a big house. In effect people become attached to these things. When in all honesty, that stuff means nothing in the end
ReplyDeleteI am attached to my head....
ReplyDeleteNo but seriously i am attached to many technological things, sports, and good food. These things cause me stress because it sometime puts me behind in many things , such as school. I usually dont take stress very well, and I could improve in all ways I deal with stress. Some wrong ideas about happiness are money ,a big house, the hottest girl, etc above all things. people think you need money to be happy but thats not right. to be happy all you need to have is someone who loves you.
ReplyDeletePhysically, I am attached to myself. My hands attach to my arm and my head is where it’s supposed to be. Also, my soul is attached to my body until I die. Other than that, I am attached to my phone. I’m not gonna lie I really like my phone. It helps me out in so many ways, and in more ways, it actually distracts me from my work. I should learn how to limit my social media use, but I probably won’t. Too addicting. However, I am willing to try. But not that hard. I’m also attached to my cat. It’s like two bodies; one soul. I love her so much. Honestly, the only thing that really stresses me out are things I can’t control. Like my future, or someone I love getting hurt. I don’t get overwhelmed by homework, or freak out when I get a bad grade on a test. I’m not afraid to fail things, because I’m human and I will fail a lot of times. It’s things I don’t know that makes me stress out. I don’t know how to manage that type of stress, because the unknown scares a lot of people. I think that people in our society are too attached to fake happiness. Like me and my phone. My dad says a lot that money is a false god, and that it should just be used as a tool. I agree with that, but I’m still a hypocrite. My phone makes me happy, but so does my cat and my family and friends. I think I need to balance things.
I feel that I am sometimes overly attached to my grades and my laptop. Anxiety over tests causes me the most stress or studying for Science Olympiad. I think that the best way for me to minimize this stress is to not procrastinate and find balance with school, whether it be music or exercise. I feel that the world, especially my generation, is too attached to social media. Social media seems to suck away life and offer the world in a twisted way. I feel that in order to be happy society must learn that their is a world beyond what they hear and see on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter etc. The key to happiness, in my opinion, is achievement; how can one achieve if one lives as a sedentary slave to a website?
ReplyDeleteI am attached to many things but most of all it’s probably my phone. I always have it on me and I have games on it and I keep in touch with my friends from other schools with it. What stresses me though is always having to take so long on my homework because I get distracted by it. I think a better way to manage it is by setting my phone aside for an hour or two while I get stuff done because nothing bad could really happen in that time that I’ll absolutely need my phone for. Every day you can find examples of attachment that could give the wrong ideas of happiness by just turning on the TV. Like a new commercial where they make it seem like you need to buy something to make you happy because you see the woman on TV all happy with her new shoes that we all know she could live without.
ReplyDeleteI am attached to people. I don't think it is a bad thing to be attached to your friends or family but it does cause a great deal of stress. It also causes suffering because when you get attached to things or people sometimes it's hard to tell how long they will be there.
ReplyDeleteThere are many things that cause me stress like homework, sports or grades. But something I really get stressed or worried about is the future. I know that is totally opposite to what Buddhism says (living in the present) but I get worried about losing my sisters. I'm used to seeing them everyday and sometimes they get annoying but it stresses me out to think about us growing up and not seeing them as often. There are many things to do about stress but the one thing I love to do is draw. I can escape while listening to music as well. My feelings and all that I am stressed about is just transferred from me to the paper. The example I see in the world about false happiness is probably fame. Sure the celebrities seem happy and probably think they are but to me it is false happiness. True happiness is being around your family and having your own peace and giving to others.
awww rylie that's so sweet. Ill never leave you
DeleteI am attached to my family and things that have of little importance in my life. There are many things that cause me stress. Some of these things are grades, homework, family, and tests. I have really bad test anxiety so that causes me a lot of stress. There are many things that I know I should do to prevent future stress but do not because I don't know. Some things are that I could do is to not procrastinate, do the things that are mandatory and do the other things later. Society tells us that we need to be wealth, look like a barbie and be the best at every thing the first time we do it.. But to really be happy all you need is the necessity and have a family that loves you.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I am most attached to would be over thinking things. I tend to think way to much about certain situations when really it's easy to fix or just be okay with. I need to except sometimes that everything is in God's hands and what will happen, will be the way it's supposed to be. It sometimes effects the way I compete in games or in rodeos. I always worry about how I will do, when really I should be doing the things I love because they're fun. Over thinking definitely causes me stress. I am a person who normally doesn't cope with stress to well but I have found a few ways to help. To help manage my stress I tell myself not to worry about the things I don't have control over. Happiness is not defined very well in our society. False happiness would be having a lot of money, fame, or pretending to be someone else. True happiness in my opinion would be having someone who really loves you. Not everybody realizes that life isn't all about being the best of the best. Realize who means the most in your life and take time to be thankful.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that I am most attached to is sports. I am really committed to sports and I don't day off. Even when I don't have practice I still go outside and work on my game as much as I can. I don't focus on the things I am good at in sports, I try to improve on the things I am bad at. For example right now I am playing basketball and when I practice outside I don't focus on my shot because I have that down, I focus on my left handed dribbling, which is my weakness. I know I need to keep on working at the things I need to improve on in basketball and in life, like my Dad says "You don't want to take the easy way out in life because that will get you know where, you need to work hard at everything your doing with no break". I know I need rest sometimes, but I'll sleep when I'm either satisfied or dead. My goal in life is too keep on grinding at whatever I am doing and not taking a day off. The thing at really causes me stress is getting a lot of homework on the same day as a long practice or game. I get so stressed out that at one point I am taking my anger out on whoever is around me, I really need to work on that. I can manage this stress in lots of ways including: taking little breaks in the process, working as a fast as I can but in a good manner, and remembering that I don't need to blame other people for my own problems. One thing that I think is bad to be attached to is your phone. I am really attached to my phone and I hate it. I wish sometimes they didn't exist because all we do now in life is sit on the couch and look into it for hours, when there is so much better options. I think the phone is really affecting people's lives and childhoods, because instead of being outside and enjoting the day, children select to stay inside and play on their device and it really makes me sick, people should be thankful for every day they have and should cherish the day as if it your last because you never know when your life is going to end, that's God's decision.
ReplyDeleteThe things I am most attached to would have to be my sports and friends. They are essentially what gets me trough the tough days, and therefore I am more connected to them.
ReplyDeleteWhat really stresses me out is grades and the people who criticize me on trivial matters, not that the criticism is stressful as it is annoying. And yes, I can manage this tress by not worrying over school so much. during my whole life starting at fifth grade what I thought was that if school is going well, then I am doing well, and vice versa. Many times it is mind over matter. And with those who criticize me, who cares? many times jealousy and envy cause others to compensate by denoting those around them. Even when I try to stay humble they must find something to gripe about. this has led me to study how people react to different social scenarios and other things. All you have to do is address why it is happening and come to peace with their arrogance.
Look around at this of what we call the american dream, people are attached to profit, money and excess like a fly to flypaper. An example is this; Volkswagen developed a car that has an estimated 261 Miles Per gallon, diesel that is. but sadly these 250 automobiles are only sold in europe. Rumors had it that it was because the car was too efficient for our Oil market causing stocks to drop and a loss in annual profit. This was in fact not true, VW just treats the American auto market like an unwanted stepchild. Yet the cause that led to this skepticism was an assumption off of the greed that has been shown time and time again in the stock market. Another example is the laziness, envy, lust, and pathetic and dastardly cries for attention that run rampant in today's society. People will use whatever they have to their advantage in order to be noticed. Whether it be family, money, sexual orientation, friends, rumors, or that they have demeaned to the fact that they have been partially affected with psychosis to believe that they are cool and unique.
People today are extremely self centered, this is a major issue that we face, and it sickens me that many have such a disregard for what they were given, that they live in such a blessed place yet still are unsatisfied. Many parts of it are the media telling them they need more, but in many senses it is the fault of human nature.
In all honesty the things I am attached to is the social media. I find myself caught up in instagram and facebook but mainly on instagram. What really causes me stress is all the final/due dates that come along with school. Finals, tests, quizzes, nationals, chores, homework and important dates just all of that stuff gets me all overwhelmed. The best way to help me relieve myself from my stresses is just to seriously eradicate myself from technology and all the social media distractions during the school week and then maybe during the weekend I could devote just one hour to relax or something. Even on weekends I find myself stressed out. These sites just get me to waste my time for like hours/minutes when I could actually be doing something productive. In the end that is seriously the only thing that would work best for me. I think I just have to just focus on just the vital things for success academically. Then when summer comes along I can just breathe and relax. There are so many different examples in life where the idea of attachments has lead to the "fake" happiness in life. The one that jumps out the most in society today is again the whole idea of social media. The media is always trying to get people to think that oh if you had this and that then you would be the happiest man alive, but in reality you wouldn't even be close to the true happiness that exists. So many out there are always buying and changing themselves in efforts to accomplish what the icon of happiness the media creates. You would think people would be like wow they actually think that is what makes you happy but no instead they act as if they have brain washed because they are so caught up in the idea of "perfection." My mom always reminds me and my siblings that money can't buy you happiness and that you have to be grateful for what you have in front of you because others may have less yet they seem to be the happiest people in the world. Mainly because they don't try to become that icon the media puts out there.
ReplyDeleteThe things I am attached to are things like my laptop, phone, and instagram. School, well homework causes me stress. Also making decisions causes me stress because I don't want to make the wrong decision. I could manage my stress better my finishing my homework as soon as I get home, and all at ounce. Also, to manage stress when making decisions, I could find the pros and cons or narrow down the choices. the examples I have seen in the world are people who are attached to their money.
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ReplyDeleteI am attached to my phone and my blanket! Lots of homework and a big test! Or if I have a bad grade I get stressed! I think money has a big deal about it! Many people are so attached to getting the latest clothes or the most expensive car and it makes them happy! but that shouldn't be what makes you happy!
It's really embarrassing, but I'm still super attached to my blanket. My parents like to throw some jokes about it but I really can't do basically anything without it. I'm also really attached to the anime I watch and the manga I read. It actually is what makes me so outgoing and animated. Without it I'd probably be really shy.....around everyone. It kind of taught me how to be animated and fun in a way. I get stressed really easily because of school and my parents. I want to do well in school because I want to get a god job to support my future family. My parents like to push me, which I appreciate, but I sometimes feel like I'm never working hard enough or that I'm not doing good enough. It stresses me out because I want them to be proud of me and I want them to be excited about my achievements. I feel like with school, I just need to manage my time and stop leaving things down to the last minute. With my parents, I just need to know that deep down they are proud of me and that sometime they wont react to things the way that I want them too and that's okay. Today, people seem to be so happy because they have more things. It's seen in TV shows and in songs and on commercials on the radio. It's everywhere and it's sad to know that people buy that act. You could have everything in the world and feel empty because you're missing something. It's love. Love is the one pure thing that this world has left and it's the one thing that you can't buy.
ReplyDeletei think that i am attached to my phone,i am always on it is like a piece of my life.i find myself waking up with it in my hand and texting people while i am still sleep.but seriously i am one with my phone.it hink that the most stress ful thing in my life would be school.school makes me stressed becouse i have to work every day on homework and other school actives like siecse olipaind.i think that i can ma nge my stress my having to make more time in my dad to work on school work as soon as i get home. i think that many think that something that they are addicted to makes them happy but it is really not making them happy but even more addicted.
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