• 8 Posts
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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 6th, 2023

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  • LassCalibur@beehaw.orgtoChat@beehaw.orgguess i’ll just die
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    3 months ago

    Are you familiar with the Buddhist teaching of The Arrow?

    When touched with a feeling of pain, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught. So he feels two pains, physical & mental. Just as if they were to shoot a man with an arrow and, right afterward, were to shoot him with another one, so that he would feel the pains of two arrows; in the same way, when touched with a feeling of pain, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught. So he feels two pains, physical & mental.

    The mental pain is due to our resistance, repulsion, anger, or hatred. Often this resistance takes the form of judgement and anxiety. What are you gaining by holding on to this resistance? Is it worth it?

    Thich Nhat Hanh, in his exegesis upon The Arrow in No Mud, No Lotus (p. 46), writes:

    …there is real danger attached if you don’t have enough to eat or can’t afford necessary medicine. But you don’t need to make this suffering worse by spinning stories in your head that are much worse than the reality… It’s important to remember that everything is impermanent. A suffering can arise—or can work itself out—for anyone at any moment.

    Instead of throwing good energy away on condemning yourself or obsessing over what catastrophes might be lurking around the corner, you can simply be present with the real suffering that is right in front of you, with what is happening right now. Mindfulness is recognizing what is there in the present moment. Suffering is there, yes; but what is also there is that you are still alive…

    What has happened to you is wrong, but none the less there is still joy all around you if you choose to find it. I hope that you do! Please take a look at these links and reconsider.




  • LassCalibur@beehaw.orgtoChat@beehaw.orgguess i’ll just die
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    3 months ago

    In your situation two different events are taking place. The first, losing healthcare coverage, is not of your own doing. The second, your reaction to this fact, is something over which you have agency. It is within your ability to choose how you respond.

    If you are sick or injured, it is your responsibility to get yourself to the doctor or hospital. This is no different but merely more difficult. Have you called your doctor’s office for advice on your situation? Have you called manufacturers of this medication to ask if they have a reduced cost option? Have you looked online for cheaper sources from abroad?

    The worst-case scenario is that you and your partner have to sell all your possessions, buy some one-way tickets and move to a different state.