Jack Adam Weber: Deepening Further Into a Meaningful, Connected Life

I deeply appreciate and resonate with the wisdom and compassion expressed here by Jack Adam Weber. And I am so grateful to be on this heart path that leads me ever more deeply into the experience of being a fully embodied human being. It also comes to me to share that this quote and its accompanied perception was especially hard, at least for me, if I believe that Thich Nhat Hanh is all knowing and always right and that what he says should fit for me and my belief systems and experiences. Gratefully, I don't always accept that my teachers are all knowing and not also human. Regarding this quote, I much more deeply resonate with Jack's wisdom and his more compassionate and human reflection that he shared here. This has resulted in my growing into much greater loving acceptance of myself and others and all of our humanness. Bless us all on our human journeys. — Molly

 It's In Our Neurophysiology To Care, To Be Attached, and To Feel Pain When We Lose What We Love

Jack Adam Weber writes:

I am so sorry I missed last week's Black or White Wednesday. I am sure y'all were acutely aware of my lapse! So, I've dug into my black or white fallacy bin and pulled out one for this week, lest we let it extend for a fortnight!

This quote assumes that if we only think differently we won't suffer. It's typical spiritual bypassing. It encourages not valuing attachment, to deny suffering by trying to think ourselves out of our feelings (sometimes that's helpful, partially, anyway), and by extension, to deny the suffering of others.

Example: you have just lost your precious furry friend to an accident and someone tells you, "Everything is impermanent, you know?" Or, "Have you been slipping into attachment again and failed to practice your impermanence thinking?"

At times, an aspect of suffering may be due to expecting things to last forever. Otherwise, if we are embodied, we suffer because we are human—because it's in our neurophysiology to care, to be attached, and to feel pain when we lose what we love. Not only can we not prevent suffering, unless we become uncaring or sociopathic, but there is a more human, uncontrived, and heartfelt way to interface with suffering. As Mary Oliver puts it:

To live in this world

you must be able

to do three things:

to love what is mortal;

to hold it

against your bones knowing

your own life depends on it;

and, when the time comes to let it

go,

to let it go.

Of course, complete letting go is a whole other ball of wax that we don't so much "do" as much as receive, but that's another story.

So, here's to appreciating the little ways that our perception causes suffering AND to the bigger ways that we suffer because we are engaged, connected, and deeply care. And that when we value our pain and suffering, we can deepen further into a meaningful, connected life.

https://jackadamweber.com/blog/