In the context of meditation I have heard people say things like, “Experiences are neither good nor bad. They are neutral. It is how we perceive them that gives them meaning.”
I find this idea very appealing and was wondering if there is a name for it.
Non-Dual or Non-Duality
I struggle with this concept…there is good/bad…right/wrong…up/down…black/white
I find it very hard to think of experiences as neutral not good/bad…but a bad experience can be equally valid as a good one…
I work with some girls who were sold by there parents…one was only 11 when she was sold to a man…now she is an amazing kids yoga teacher, is confident,happy and is going back to school…the experiences she had from being sold were BAD…but because she was removed from that situation by an NGO and then came to work with us her life now is GOOD and MUCH better than if she had continued living with her parents(the most she could have aspired to would be a clothing factory worker like her sisters)…her experience was BAD but GOOD has come from it and her life so very different than other young women here…she also has a good/positive impact on the kids she teaches…but all of that does not make what happened to her neutral…
what both posts above articulate, in my opinion, is that to judge another situation, no matter the convincing evidence a certain way is a mistake. In the case of judging your own experiences and in the case of judging the experience of another. Basically, being 100% present each moment leaves no room at all for the thing we call judgement to prevail.
But to answer the question…“Is there are name for the idea that experiences are neutral?”, I don’t really know. Detachment comes to mind, along with dispassion… I mean, there is no need to even consider whether experiences are good or bad if there is complete lack of attachment or passion for the perceived benefit or detriment of either.
No… that didn’t really answer the question either… hmmm I don’t really now if there’s a word for that but must agree, Non-Dual as posted above appears as close as can be, though I loathe that word (or any word for “it”) lol.
…Being?
siva
“Experiences are neither good nor bad. They are neutral. It is how we perceive them that gives them meaning.”
If that quote did NOT contain “They are neutral” - it would resonate truer for me.
To me, it’s like a “choose your own adventure”. Not neutral, but malleable and compliant to your own attitudes & perspectives.
I think it is about not getting so attached, thus practicing non-attachment. It does not mean becoming “detached” in the English sense but unattached.
Perhaps it’s easiest if one begins by turning the inquiry towards the Self i.e. moving past the attractions and aversions of the mind, become the witness as the likes and dislikes arise noticing the Self remains the same.
Also: Consider “right” and “wrong” are simply ideas not reality, unlike “Truth” “morality” is relative, mostly having to do with what time period one lives.
[QUOTE=yogacambodia;66253]Non-Dual or Non-Duality
I struggle with this concept…there is good/bad…right/wrong…up/down…black/white
I find it very hard to think of experiences as neutral not good/bad…but a bad experience can be equally valid as a good one…
I work with some girls who were sold by there parents…one was only 11 when she was sold to a man…now she is an amazing kids yoga teacher, is confident,happy and is going back to school…the experiences she had from being sold were BAD…but because she was removed from that situation by an NGO and then came to work with us her life now is GOOD and MUCH better than if she had continued living with her parents(the most she could have aspired to would be a clothing factory worker like her sisters)…her experience was BAD but GOOD has come from it and her life so very different than other young women here…she also has a good/positive impact on the kids she teaches…but all of that does not make what happened to her neutral…[/QUOTE]
Thank you!
I couldn’t agree more. It is such a difficult thing.
What I first saw as the absolutely worst moment of my life is slowly becoming one of the best things that ever happened to me.
My perspective changed.
Vairagya: non-attachment, dispassion, detachment from the world and its cause(s)