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I'm a Zen practitioner, and really have no use or need of any outside ethics. If someone is present, the situation tells you what to do and what not to do. The situation is always fluid, it isn't fixed. It always depends on what is happening NOW. Any fixed system of ethics is not going to work all the time because everything is unique and dependent on cause and effect in the present moment. Even if it's something you've seen 1,000 times, that 1,001 time is unique.
Causation will determine what the correct effect should be, assuming we are in present time and not running around in our heads. In Zen, we have the usual Buddhist "8 Noble Truths", and the most important of them is right view. Right view is no view at all, it's simply seeing the situation clearly w/o an agenda, not coming from past experiences or future expectations, both of which are not reality, they're just in our minds. No one has ever lived in past or present time, we always live in present time. Right view means you don't need to worry about the other 7, they will automatically be taken care of in right view. We achieve right view through meditation and mindfulness, we have to be in a state of "no mind".
I'm a Zen practitioner, and really have no use or need of any outside ethics. If someone is present, the situation tells you what to do and what not to do. The situation is always fluid, it isn't fixed. It always depends on what is happening NOW. Any fixed system of ethics is not going to work all the time because everything is unique and dependent on cause and effect in the present moment. Even if it's something you've seen 1,000 times, that 1,001 time is unique.
Causation will determine what the correct effect should be, assuming we are in present time and not running around in our heads. In Zen, we have the usual Buddhist "8 Noble Truths", and the most important of them is right view. Right view is no view at all, it's simply seeing the situation clearly w/o an agenda, not coming from past experiences or future expectations, both of which are not reality, they're just in our minds. No one has ever lived in past or present time, we always live in present time. Right view means you don't need to worry about the other 7, they will automatically be taken care of in right view. We achieve right view through meditation and mindfulness, we have to be in a state of "no mind".
If you believe people are a means unto themselves instead of an end to a means then you are a Humanists. How you develop that is irrelevant. I think Buddhism is excellent for that. Christianity is a hard way to go about it. Adding in science overcomes that tho.
I'm a Zen practitioner, and really have no use or need of any outside ethics. If someone is present, the situation tells you what to do and what not to do. The situation is always fluid, it isn't fixed. It always depends on what is happening NOW. Any fixed system of ethics is not going to work all the time because everything is unique and dependent on cause and effect in the present moment. Even if it's something you've seen 1,000 times, that 1,001 time is unique.
Causation will determine what the correct effect should be, assuming we are in present time and not running around in our heads. In Zen, we have the usual Buddhist "8 Noble Truths", and the most important of them is right view. Right view is no view at all, it's simply seeing the situation clearly w/o an agenda, not coming from past experiences or future expectations, both of which are not reality, they're just in our minds. No one has ever lived in past or present time, we always live in present time. Right view means you don't need to worry about the other 7, they will automatically be taken care of in right view. We achieve right view through meditation and mindfulness, we have to be in a state of "no mind".
While that all sounds very fine, I suspect that it would only work when the basics of human morality has been instilled by the time the Doctrines are added to operate using human morals as a basis for the ethics of 'right view'.
Here's a definition of humanism according to the British Humanist Association: Humanists:
Think for themselves about what is right and wrong, based on reason and respect for others. Find meaning, beauty and joy in the one life we have, without the need for an afterlife.
Look to science instead of religion as the best way to discover and understand the world.
Believe people can use empathy and compassion to make the world a better place for everyone.
Very. I didn't need a test to tell me 100% to know that. It's one of the biggest reasons why I've always rejected all things religion. More important even than the question of whether there may or may not be a God or afterlife or anything (don't care all that much)...I cannot deal with the harm that religious extremism has done, and continues to do. Some of the greatest atrocities that man has done to man seem to often be connected to, about, or rationalized/justified by...religion. And some of the worst things in the modern world in my opinion, seem to be likewise backed by religion. I feel that most of the mainstream religions are married to suffering and cannot thrive without it. There is a motive to increase human suffering so that people will "need" God I think.
That's why I'm not that much against faith, if people feel a need or desire for faith...but I am very against the institutions that try to act as gatekeepers of it.
Charlie Chaplain once said, "Man as an individual is a genius. But men in the mass form the headless monster, a great, brutish idiot that goes where prodded." I agree with that assessment. We are herd animals ... we are profoundly uncomfortable when taking a lone stand and so are super vulnerable to groupthink. I fight it every day of my life.
That's a great quote. Me too Mordant. You will end up alone if your opinion is not that of the majority. It's sooooo worth it though. Or, you might just run into one like-minded person. That's plenty. Three would be better, though. That's constitutes a crowd.
69%
You have some religious beliefs, but you agree with some aspects of humanist thinking. Check out our site and see what you think.
Actually I don't have any religious beliefs. Failed quizz.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freak80
I have zero faith in humanity, so it would be hard for me to be a humanist.
Sames. I thought it was a quizz about humanism vs. antihumanism. That'd be more interesting.
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