Like/Aversion

My reading material for the flight to Chicago was a Jack Kornfield book about vipassana meditation, which has useful insights into the problems that meditators face. One of them--one of the struggles of existence--is aversion.

Aversion is simply another manifestation of attachment. We get attached to concepts, to behaviors, to experiences, and we want to hold on for dear life, even though the holding on causes pain. Aversion says, "This experience is unacceptable. It does not mesh with what I want, with how I want things to be." When we feel aversion, we are giving power to the material world and it's illusory ability to cause happiness or suffering.

Well, I got to really explore "aversion" in Chicago. There is something about being surrounded by family for five days straight that brings out the worst in me.

In other news, we saw Hedwig and the Angry Inch (the movie) which was fantastic, and Hearts in Atlantis which sucked mightily.

As I said in yesterday's entry, the VanGogh/Gauguin exhibit is tender, inspiring, amusing. "Gauguin is a very great artist and a very excellent friend..."