here and now

I've been listening to a podcast called Secular Buddhism, which is a worldview that's...compelling and relevant to me, I think those are the right words. The podcasts are clearly explained and offers quite practical lessons. If this was compiled into a book I would definitely buy it.

Previously if you ask me what worldview I believe in, I would've answered existentialism. That's probably because it's the only one I've studied with half an ounce of rigour (in grade 12 ha) at the right timing. There's some concepts that are common between existentialism and secular buddhism, such as no inherent purpose in life, suffering as result of choice, and it's ultimately up to you to have your perspective to alleviate said suffering.

A few notes from some notable episodes I've listened to:

• The Nature of Human Suffering: outlines three types of suffering of physical pain, emotional loss, and stories that we use to make sense of what's happened that causes us grief. The first two we cannot help but feel, the last we should recognize and eliminate.
• True Selflessness: the sense of self / ego is not a permanent thing (as there is only impermanence). The self is only a collection of relations to others, hence to be selfish is to care about other people. This reminds me of a discussion I had with Tien where he told me about how no one person deserves more than another because anything we've ever had / have is given by someone else. 
• Parable of the Raft: teaches us to let go. Not sure if it's actually this episode that discusses that the present moment is all we ever have, aka the past and future are mere constructs. 
• The Faith to Doubt: reinforces the idea of there's reality, which we should / can have faith in, and then there's the stories we make up, which we should doubt. My favourite analogy from this series also makes an appearance in this episode, it goes that life is like tetris, we know there will be a new block that falls, but we don't know which block. If we wish / expect a certain block, we will suffer once our expectations are not met. But if we accept whatever block that comes up and manipulate it accordingly, we'll do well in the game. 
• Truth in the Context of Time: reinforces the idea that everything is impermanent, but that we shouldn't discredit conceptual truths (as opposed to empirical truths which are true independent of humans, conceptual truths are human beliefs) of the past because they are no longer true in the present. May I gloat a bit and say that I've learned this lesson well.