SUTRA: "Overwhelmed" (Royal & the Serpent)

This video was shot on Kodak 16mm film with special thanks to Paula Boada at MOXY Vintage.

(Royal & the Serpent "Overwhelmed" written by William Jay Behlendorf, Jeoff Harris, Mark Gozman, Ryan Santiago)

This mind isn't mine. And this "I" isn't mine.

LYRICS: "Turn off the TV/ It's starting to freak me out/ It's so loud/ It's like my ears are bleeding/ What am I feeling?/ Can't look at the ceiling/ The light is so bright/ It's like I'm overheating/ This mind isn't mine/ Who am I to judge?/ Oh I should be fine/ But it's all too much/ I get overwhelmed so easily/ My anxiety creeps inside of me/ Makes it hard to breathe/ What's come over me?/ Feels like I'm somebody else/ I get overwhelmed so easily/ My anxiety keeps me silent/ When I try to speak/ What's come over me?/ Feels like I'm somebody else/ I get overwhelmed/ All of these faces/ Who don't know what space is/ And crowds are shut down/ I'm overstimulated/ Nobody gets it/ They say I'm too sensitive/ I can't listen cause/ I'm eyeing the exits/ This I isn't mine/ Who am I to judge?/ Oh I should be fine/ But it's all too much/ I get overwhelmed.../ I should be fine/ But it's all too much/ I should be fine/ But I'm not/ I get overwhelmed..."

SUTRA: Overwhelmed by the Five Hindrances

Maurice O'Connell Walshe (trans.), Dhr. Seven, Crystal Q (eds.), Sangarava Sutra: "Discourse to Sangarava" (SN 46.55 PTS: S v 121 CDB ii 1611), accesstoinsight.org

There are these Five Hindrances.

[In the city of Savatthi the Brahmin Sangarava asked the Buddha:]

"Why is it, good Gautama, and how does it come about that sometimes sacred words [Pali manta, Sanskrit "mantras" or, presumably, sacred texts of the Brahmins] I have long studied are not clear to me, not to mention words that I have not studied? And how is it that sometimes other sacred words that I have not so studied are clear to me, not to mention those that I have studied?"

"Well, Brahmin, when a person dwells with heart possessed and overwhelmed by sense desire [which is the first of the FIVE HINDRANCES] and does not know, as it really is, the way of escape from sense desires that have arisen, then one cannot know or see, as it really is, what is to one's own benefit, nor can one know and see what is to the benefit of others, or of both oneself and others. Then even sacred words one has long studied are not clear, not to mention those one has not studied.

Five similes

Julia was overwhelmed by sense desire (1984).

1. "Imagine, Brahmin, a bowl of water mixed with lac, turmeric, dark green, or crimson dye. If a person with good eyesight were to look at the reflection of one's own face in it, one would not know or see it as it really is.

"In the same way, Brahmin, when a person dwells with heart possessed and overwhelmed by sense desire... then one cannot know or see, as it really is, what is to one's own benefit, to the benefit of others, to the benefit of both.

"Then even sacred words one has long studied are not clear to one, not to mention those one has not studied.

"Again, Brahmin, when a person dwells with heart possessed and overwhelmed with ill-will... then one cannot know or see...

2. "Imagine a bowl of water, heated over a fire, boiling and bubbling over. If a person with good eyesight were to look at the reflection of one's own face in it, one would not know or see it as it really is...

"Again, Brahmin, when a person dwells with heart possessed and overwhelmed by sloth-and-torpor... then one cannot know or see...

3. "Imagine a bowl of water covered over with slimy moss and water plants. If a person with good eyesight were to look at the reflection of one's own face in it, one would not know or see it as it really is...

"Again, Brahmin, when a person dwells with heart possessed and overwhelmed by worry-and-flurry... then one cannot know or see...

4. "Imagine a bowl of water ruffled by the wind, so that the water trembled, eddied, and rippled. If a person with good eyesight were to look at the reflection of one's own face in it, one would not know or see it as it really is...

"Again, Brahmin, when a person dwells with heart possessed and overwhelmed by doubt-and-uncertainty... one cannot know or see...

5. "Imagine a bowl of water, agitated, stirred up, muddied, and put in a dark place. If a person with good eyesight were to look at the reflection of one's own face in it, one would not know or see it as it really is.

"In the same way, Brahmin, when a person dwells with heart possessed and overwhelmed by doubt-and-uncertainty... then one cannot know or see, as it really is, what is to one's own benefit, to the benefit of others, to the benefit of both.

"Then even sacred words one has long studied are not clear to one, not to mention those one has studied.

"But, Brahmin, when a person dwells with heart not possessed, NOT OVERWHELMED by

1. sense-desire...
2. ill-will...
3. sloth-and-torpor...
4. worry-and-flurry...
5. doubt-and-uncertainty...

[like the five bowls of water not as previously described, but water that is "clear, limpid, pellucid, and set in the open" in a bright place]... "then one knows and sees, as it really is, what is to one's own benefit, to the benefit of others, to the benefit of both oneself and others.

"Then even sacred words one has not long studied are clear, not to mention those one has studied." Source

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