Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Not at all. When I go to my neighbor's house (the wife is a quite devoted Christian), I don't go there to talk religion. In fact, I don't go to anyone's house to talk religion. We have other topics to talk about. Religion rarely comes up.
When I go here, my purpose is to explore religion. And if you want to say it's about behavior, well okay -- would you like me to critique yours...again?You cannot decide what reduces suffering for me. You can only decide what reduces suffering for you.
And then, once again, you attack. But that's okay because you're special.
the principle in Buddhism
is to reduce suffering for self and others.
the principle in Buddhism
is to reduce suffering for self and others.
not just self.
Nothing is perfect. And frankly, I am not responsible for sacrificing my own attempts to reduce my suffering so that you don't suffer. You don't want to suffer because of my posts...you can reduce that suffering entirely by putting me on ignore. In Buddhism, the person most responsible for you and your suffering is...YOU. You have made it clear, repeatedly, that atheists should just shut up. Sorry. Not going to happen.
regarding bold above, the natural question is, why treat people online differently than how you treat people face to face. if you don't treat people a certain way face to face, then why do you change your behavior towards others when you are online.
the "you" is generic, not specific to any one person.
those are questions for anyone, regarding the behavior noted and view expressed.
It is rather impossible to be punched in your face via a forum.
That gives sense of security and ability to strip one's tongue, as he wishes to, knowing that the worse punishment will be ban, followed by re-logging using commonly available methods.
This is how mellow fellows turn into trolls and online harpies.
Lack of instant karma.
I actually had 2 bosses like this. Face shy email warrior.
Only the person that becomes enlightened knows it. Despite a lot of writing on this subject, you can't look at them and tell. There is no look of calmness or saintliness, and they may just curse out the person who unexpectedly pulled out in front of them on the freeway like any other mortal.
Here's my take on it. The idea that goes around is that when you become enlightened the whole world becomes enlightened. But what does that mean? Wars continue to go on, weather events kill people, etc. In my experience, it means that everyone you come into contact with will be different because you are different. We are all connected, far beyond our bodily senses. I've had a number of what I call "wakeups" from 30+ years of Zen practice. I don't like the word enlightenment, there's too much baggage associated w/ it. We wake up to reality as it is because "we" are not running the show, that's closer to the truth. Our ego, the thing that believes it is us is disabled.
I discussed this w/ the teacher at the Albuquerque Zen teacher, a very dedicated Rinzai teacher that is real, and loves a good 20 year old Scotch. It tastes like lighter fluid to me, but otherwise he's on the money. I said to him one day "You know, the problem w/ this enlightenment business is it doesn't last. Mine lasted a week, maybe a month, maybe a few days and then that was it". He simply chuckled and said softly "It doesn't last".
I thought about that now and again until one day it hit me. Right, it doesn't last, nothing lasts, all things are impermanent! That's the truth of Buddhism, everything is always turning into something else. People are born, they live, move away, die. Our jobs cease, everything (including enlightenment) is impermanent. And we suffer when we forget that things are impermanent and ever changing, and we always will until we let go of it all. Just let go and live our lives. And then I realized what an authentic teacher Josu is. Rather than explain it to me, he wisely just gave me a hint so that I could get it myself, and not need to take it on his word. That's a great teacher.
alcohol is a barrier, obstacle, stumbling block, and hindrance.
what a person wants most is gauged by what they are willing to give up to get there.
likewise what a person continues to do is an indicator of what is most important to them.
if alcohol is most important to them then they continue to ingest alcohol.
when removing barriers and hindrances and obstacles is most important, they no longer ingest alcohol.
every choice we make reflects and indicates our priorities.
shorthand for me is "how bad do i want it" and measured against "i will do whatever it takes to get there"
Last edited by Tzaphkiel; 07-29-2023 at 02:57 PM..
alcohol is a barrier, obstacle, stumbling block, and hindrance.
what a person wants most is gauged by what they are willing to give up to get there.
likewise what a person continues to do is an indicator of what is most important to them.
if alcohol is most important to them then they continue to ingest alcohol.
when removing barriers and hindrances and obstacles is most important, they no longer ingest alcohol.
every choice we make reflects and indicates our priorities.
shorthand for me is "how bad do i want it" and measured against "i will do whatever it takes to get there"
because alcohol is a hindrance obstacle and barrier to it.
and if a person for example "desires enlightenment" and has a practice that seeks to cultivate that, well is that desire strong enough to overcome their reluctance and unwillingness to stop drinking booze. a person can watch and observe how this plays out in their own daily life and practice.
Last edited by Tzaphkiel; 07-29-2023 at 06:13 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
