Page 18 of 29 FirstFirst ... 8131415161718192021222328 ... LastLast
Results 256 to 270 of 435

Thread: Why does a good God promote suffering?

  1. #256
    Quote Originally Posted by Darcy88 View Post
    What are you talking about? Realizing the impermanence of all things is the core if not the definition of Buddhist enlightenment.
    The care of oneself is a universal truth and contradicts every metaphysics that pretends to universal knowledge.

  2. #257
    TobeFrank Paulclem's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Coventry, West Midlands
    Posts
    6,363
    Blog Entries
    36
    Quote Originally Posted by G L Wilson View Post
    Interesting. I must confess my ignorance of this doctrine until now. Of two truths, both must be a lie. As Henry Ford said, "History is bunk." To me, natural philosophy has no rival and is the only truth.
    No-one can tell you what to believe. It's up to you mate - or as The Buddha put it:

    Be a lamp to yourself. (In an ancient Indian language)

  3. #258
    Registered User Darcy88's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    British Columbia, Canada
    Posts
    1,963
    Blog Entries
    3
    Quote Originally Posted by G L Wilson View Post
    The care of oneself is a universal truth and contradicts every metaphysics that pretends to universal knowledge.
    Spoken like a true nihilist. No, no, no, no, no ad infinitum. The doctrine of impermanence makes a lot of sense. I'd suggest you contemplate it more intensively.

  4. #259
    Quote Originally Posted by Darcy88 View Post
    Spoken like a true nihilist. No, no, no, no, no ad infinitum. The doctrine of impermanence makes a lot of sense. I'd suggest you contemplate it more intensively.
    One can be selfish for love, in fact it is the nature of man to be.

  5. #260
    TobeFrank Paulclem's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Coventry, West Midlands
    Posts
    6,363
    Blog Entries
    36
    Quote Originally Posted by G L Wilson View Post
    One can be selfish for love, in fact it is the nature of man to be.
    HH The Dalai Lama has an interesting take on selfishness. He says that to be really skillfully selfish, you should be kind to other beings as this generates good karma, and raises your status in the eyes of others as a kind person.

    Underlying this idea is the Buddhist method that if you practce somethng enough, you will become it. So, you may start off as being genuinely selfish in what you do for others, but repetition will make you become really unselfish.

    My colleague was telling me about an experiement that was held with couples who were on the verge of divorce. As part of the experiment, they were told to be kind to their partner for a number of weeks. It was found that this had a generally positive effect upon the people and their relationships, even though they all knew the terms of the experiment, and thy found common ground again. (This is from my colleague - I can't find what he's referring to on the internet).

  6. #261
    Quote Originally Posted by Paulclem View Post
    HH The Dalai Lama has an interesting take on selfishness. He says that to be really skillfully selfish, you should be kind to other beings as this generates good karma, and raises your status in the eyes of others as a kind person.

    Underlying this idea is the Buddhist method that if you practce somethng enough, you will become it. So, you may start off as being genuinely selfish in what you do for others, but repetition will make you become really unselfish.

    My colleague was telling me about an experiement that was held with couples who were on the verge of divorce. As part of the experiment, they were told to be kind to their partner for a number of weeks. It was found that this had a generally positive effect upon the people and their relationships, even though they all knew the terms of the experiment, and thy found common ground again. (This is from my colleague - I can't find what he's referring to on the internet).
    I believe in the power of positive thought but not in miracles.

  7. #262
    TobeFrank Paulclem's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Coventry, West Midlands
    Posts
    6,363
    Blog Entries
    36
    It's all done through thought - powerful stuff.

  8. #263
    Quote Originally Posted by Paulclem View Post
    It's all done through thought - powerful stuff.
    Buddhist magic inflicts a con upon the innocent and should be held in the utmost contempt by the rational thinker like all the bogus claims of religion. In this respect, nothing is more bogus than rationalism.
    Last edited by G L Wilson; 09-05-2011 at 07:22 PM.

  9. #264
    Registered User Darcy88's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    British Columbia, Canada
    Posts
    1,963
    Blog Entries
    3
    Quote Originally Posted by G L Wilson View Post
    Buddhist magic inflicts a con upon the innocent and should be held in the utmost contempt by the rational thinker like all the bogus claims of religion.
    You are out of your element. Buddhist meditation practices actually alter the functioning and the structure of the brain. Its not bogus. It increases activity in the left prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain associated with rational thought.

    The four noble truths, the doctrine of the impermanence and conditionality of all things - what exactly do you take issue with here?

  10. #265
    Quote Originally Posted by Darcy88 View Post
    You are out of your element. Buddhist meditation practices actually alter the functioning and the structure of the brain. Its not bogus. It increases activity in the left prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain associated with rational thought.
    Isn't this the exact opposite of what is intended by Buddhist meditation?

    Quote Originally Posted by Darcy88 View Post
    The four noble truths, the doctrine of the impermanence and conditionality of all things - what exactly do you take issue with here?
    Wholesale detachment from reality sounds a lot like psychosis to me.

  11. #266
    Registered User Darcy88's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    British Columbia, Canada
    Posts
    1,963
    Blog Entries
    3
    Quote Originally Posted by G L Wilson View Post
    Wholesale detachment from reality sounds a lot like psychosis to me.
    I suppose that depends on how one defines the word "reality." To me the essence of Buddhism is exactly what I set forth before - the doctrine of the impermanence and conditionality of all things, especially that of the self. What about that indicates a "wholesale detachment from reality?"

  12. #267
    Quote Originally Posted by Darcy88 View Post
    I suppose that depends on how one defines the word "reality." To me the essence of Buddhism is exactly what I set forth before - the doctrine of the impermanence and conditionality of all things, especially that of the self. What about that indicates a "wholesale detachment from reality?"
    It is interesting that you should be interested in the self now. I thought that ego was a dirty word with Buddhists, why should humanity's impermanency concerned you? is my question to you.

  13. #268
    Registered User Darcy88's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    British Columbia, Canada
    Posts
    1,963
    Blog Entries
    3
    Quote Originally Posted by G L Wilson View Post
    It is interesting that you should be interested in the self now. I thought that ego was a dirty word with Buddhists, why should humanity's impermanency concerned you? is my question to you.
    Realizing that the self is an illusion, that its subject to the same impermanence and conditioning as the rest of reality, is the fundamental "aha" moment in all Buddhism.

    I'm not even a Buddhist. I merely appreciate the sublime sense and elegance of the philosophy.

  14. #269
    Quote Originally Posted by Darcy88 View Post
    Realizing that the self is an illusion, that its subject to the same impermanence and conditioning as the rest of reality, is the fundamental "aha" moment in all Buddhism.

    I'm not even a Buddhist. I merely appreciate the sublime sense and elegance of the philosophy.
    In humanism, the self is the start of philosophy and not the end. The self-deception that goes into Buddhism is astounding to me.

  15. #270
    TobeFrank Paulclem's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Coventry, West Midlands
    Posts
    6,363
    Blog Entries
    36
    Quote Originally Posted by G L Wilson View Post
    Wholesale detachment from reality sounds a lot like psychosis to me.
    The phrase is non-attachment not detatchment.

    Non-attachment means to not be negatively influenced by things, people, places. It does not mean - as detatchment implies - cutting off from.

    This is often wrongly equated with acetics who are on retreat, as if it is a symptom of their detatchment from society. This is not the case. A person goes on retreat to solve their own problems in order to better understand and help those in the world.

    Understanding yourself helps you to understand others.

    Quote Originally Posted by G L Wilson View Post
    It is interesting that you should be interested in the self now. I thought that ego was a dirty word with Buddhists, why should humanity's impermanency concerned you? is my question to you.
    As Darcy says, it is about understanding the illusory nature of our projected self. Self delusion is like a common and unrecognsed madness. It leads to an overwhelming protection of the self - often without good cause - which leads to suffering and the development of bad karma. The worst case of defending some illusory self is the urge to war that often goes along withthe identfication of individuals wit a national identity. Lots of suffering and death result from it.

    why should humanity's impermanency concerned you?

    The ultimate aim of Buddhists is to free themselves and others from suffering.

    Impermanence is often the cause of suffering - the greatest impermanence being the fragilityof the individual and death. Also humanity is a Buddhist's concern which is why compassion is developed.

    Quote Originally Posted by G L Wilson View Post
    In humanism, the self is the start of philosophy and not the end. The self-deception that goes into Buddhism is astounding to me.
    Please explain what you mean by self deception. The aim of many meditations is self awareness and precisely the opposite of what you describe.

    Buddhism has values similar to humanist values in that it promotes and has compassion for the suffering of humanty. It doesn't stop there though as it extends this compassion to all living beings.

    It goes much further in the sense of understanding the mid and providing the practitioner with methods for imrpoving their daily lives - through meditation reflection and practice. It identifies antidotes for negative human emotions like anger, greed etc and maps a way of overcoming negative traits and promoting positive ones.

Similar Threads

  1. Why I believe in God?
    By laidbackperson in forum Religious Texts
    Replies: 938
    Last Post: 11-27-2011, 05:49 PM
  2. This is why I'm an anti-natalist
    By African_Love in forum Serious Discussions
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 11-09-2009, 10:19 PM
  3. Does Good & Evil Exist
    By ron@y in forum Philosophical Literature
    Replies: 104
    Last Post: 09-18-2009, 12:06 AM
  4. Are we reading the same text?
    By Peripatetics in forum Jane Eyre
    Replies: 35
    Last Post: 02-07-2009, 09:36 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •