Last week the Milton Keynes Meditation Association were looking at the 8 Worldly Winds. In this introductory session to a series on the eight “loka dhammas” we looked at this traditional description of the forces that push and pull us in life. These are considered in 4 sets of opposing pairs:
1/ Loss & Gain
2/ Infamy & Fame
3/ Blame & Praise
4/ Pain & Pleasure
These 8 categories can be summarised as:
LOSS – I am not getting what I want
GAIN – I am getting what I want
INFAMY – I am disliked
FAME – I am liked
BLAME – I am at fault
PRAISE – I have done well
PAIN – I am not enjoying this
PLEASURE – I am enjoying this
We spent some time discussing these and to what degree we felt influences by them. We also discussed the “ego clinging” behind them that leads us to believe there is a “special, separate thing” in us that requires protection. This clinging leads to the basic reaction of grabbing pleasant experience and pushing away the unpleasant or threatening.
We agreed to look at our responses to the 8 Worldly Winds during the week.
Further Reading/Info:
I can thoroughly recommend Vajragupta’s book: “Sailing the Worldly Winds” (Windhorse Publishing). You can read or download a sample chapter of this book from the Buddhist Centre.com.
Here is the first of 2 talks given by Vajragupta on the Worldly Winds for the recent Urban Retreat:
Here is the second talk in the series: