[Buddha-l] the 4 ages: age of alone

[Timothy Smith]

I think 'home' here is a metaphor for wholeness, for the lost connection with the )Self which, I might venture,
is the source of all dissatisfaction.  If by the abyss we mean an encounter with the Self and the ensuing ego-diminishment, yeah scary, but ultimately
necessary and unavoidable.  Better to be conscious of it than not.

Nostalgia indicates or points toward the necessity of this encounter, just as (obligatory Buddhist content here) the 4 NT begin with this same realization.

In Edinger's thrall,
T


Timothy Smith
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On Jun 20, 2010, at 9:12 PM, JKirkpatrick wrote:

> 
> The 'home' part is more poetic than literal, could suggest
> places, people, events, things even--but the 'algia' aspect is
> not poetic at all. It's the pain of loss, distance, the passed
> years-----one can go deep into its abyss, but best if one does
> not, eh?
> 
> On Jun 20, 2010, at 18:22, "JKirkpatrick" <jkirk at spro.net> wrote:
>> 
>> Nostalgia is craving........
> 
> Etymologically, algia means pain (dukkha). The word literally
> means the pain of returning home. Pain, of course is
> overdetermined. It can be caused by desire, but desire is not
> necessary. The pain of returning home could be caused by memories
> that home was an awful place to be in the first place.
> 
> Richard
> 
> 
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