Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lately I've thinking about the Eight Worldly Concerns quite a bit, trying to be aware which of them I'm involved it at any given moment. It's very interesting because it's almost always that I'm concerned about at least one of them, even when I'm not consciously aware of it! For those of you unfamiliar, the Eight Wordly Concerns are broken down into four pairs:

1. Feeling happy upon receiving material goods or wealth
   
2. Feeling unhappy upon not receiving them or having them taken away
   
   
3. Feeling happy upon receiving kind words or praise
   
4. Feeling unhappy upon receiving harsh words or criticism
   
   
5. Feeling happy by having a good reputation
   
6. Feeling unhappy by having a bad reputation
   
   
7. Feeling happy upon experiencing good sense-pleasure
   
8. Feeling unhappy upon experiencing bad sense-pleasure

Of course there are some nuances between them (such as feeling unhappy when not receiving good sense-pleasure, especially when you're expecting some), but these are the eight worldly concerns that are said to pre-occupy all beings in samsara at one moment or another.

I reflect upon my avatar here on Gaia. I try to make it pleasing not only so that I get some visual sense-pleasure from it, but so that I can elicit kind words from others, and gain a better reputation on Gaia. The same can be said of my custom profile, or posting style (which I confine to a few Guilds and the GCD).

I also sometimes post in the E.D. and M&R with a mind that hopes people will read my post and think, "he's so wise!" or "he's so concerned for the wellfare of others!" Of course that isn't a conscious motivation, but it is there just out of my awareness and when I later reflect upon my motivations for the day, I see the Eight Worldly Concerns at work.

What do others think about the Eight Worldly Concerns? How do they work in your samsara?