Last night at work, I spotted members of the local church holding an addiction seminar at the recreation center.
This church offers the cure of Jesus Christ for addictions.
Sadly they brought pamphlets, which would lead to pollution so I threw the four that I found in the nearest garbage can.
IMHO the cure for addiction is to be of service to other people. Even keeping the earth green is a higher calling. Yet a religious organization that is not eco-friendly is not keeping the earth that God created clean.
That these church members don't get this shows that their cure is merely a substitution of a deadly addiction with godliness and its potential to be abused.
All the paper pollution that these ex-addicts left behind show that they are the road to a spiritual addiction which will blind them to true service to their fellow mankind.
For godly people are sorely tempted to consider themselves better than a sinner who abases himself by praying meekly, "Lord, have mercy on me a sinner."
Showing posts with label humility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label humility. Show all posts
20150112
The Hypocrisy of Christendom (satire)
To be a man of God as a Christian, and to hate Muslims, that is a sign of hypocrisy. For a Christian who hates Islam but professes to love God knows not that the God of Islam is the God of the Jews.
Yet that Christian is known to hate them equally, all due to the closed-mindedness and jealousy of Christian royalty and nobility.
How noble it is to think of oneself as more holy than a Jew or a Muslim.! How pitiful such pride is! Many a man and woman has fallen before theirs.
They who mock the Jews and revile the Muslims do not know their own Bible. For such folk are not unlike the rich man congratulating himself for not being poor.
God has greater reward for a Christian who unashamedly declares, "Kýrie, eléi̱són me ton amarto̱ló.*"
* The Greek version of the quote "Lord, have mercy on me a sinner" from verse 13 in the Parable of the Tax-Collector and the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14.
Yet that Christian is known to hate them equally, all due to the closed-mindedness and jealousy of Christian royalty and nobility.
How noble it is to think of oneself as more holy than a Jew or a Muslim.! How pitiful such pride is! Many a man and woman has fallen before theirs.
They who mock the Jews and revile the Muslims do not know their own Bible. For such folk are not unlike the rich man congratulating himself for not being poor.
God has greater reward for a Christian who unashamedly declares, "Kýrie, eléi̱són me ton amarto̱ló.*"
* The Greek version of the quote "Lord, have mercy on me a sinner" from verse 13 in the Parable of the Tax-Collector and the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14.
20140915
Kyrie Eleison: To serve is the meaning of Priesthood (satire)
After two interviews with my bishop, I now have the choice of picking an elder to ordain me as Priest next Sunday. As of that date I am 23 days a baptized Mormon.
Is it not too early to serve the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint? No, for it is not I who hears God calling me but the bishop who knows that I shall be an usher because, despite lost sleep from the night before, I am trusted due to the mercy, not of him, but of God himself.
Yes, but it is because I answered the questions correctly, but not according to my libertarian views. For libertarian means "a person who shall live for the day, choosing to act conservative when it suits him with regard to private worship while actually holding onto liberal values like a life raft in his secular role in society."
I believe the pejorative term to describe me is "hypocrite" which means "a person who applies the least amount of critical thought to all things in his practice of his faith; he who acts pious on Sunday but is the least pious when it is not the Lord's day; a person who act religious in front of pious people."
Recently I have talked to an apostate who is First Nations, and argued with him about the chastity vow. He claims that most religious people break their vows regularly by claiming that overall, most Christians masturbate (99% men, 90% women). My counterargument is that 75% of Mormons masturbate, overall (80% men and 62% women). I decided not to add that by the time they get baptized (between their 10th to 12th year), the rate might be higher but becomes lower.
A lot of Mormons can save their grief if they have fallen due to masturbation. This is not an act that will lead to Spirit Prison. However, this sin is what the Melchizedek priesthood uses to psychologically blackmail members of the church, and sometimes the lower Aaronic priesthood. It is also what confessing to such a thing may lead to NOT being a Good Member In Standing - pun intended.
Since most masturbation is done in the privacy of the home, it is between you and God, not anyone in the Priesthoods to use to control your behavior and to use in an excommunication due to fapping instead of praying to the Lord. Prayer is the recommended method of substitution, i.e. praying rather than fapping.
It is unimportant to the higher priests to even mention masturbation to them, because it tempts them to commit the higher sin of Lording it over you. Remember the Bible story about the rich man praying to God and the poor may praying also. That is the sin that anyone who controls other people, regardless of whether it is religion or politics, commits and it is less pardonable than breaking the vow of chastity.
For when a rich man is humble, he is no different from a poor man who humbles himself by praying, "Lord, have mercy on me a sinner."
Indeed, a priest ought to make the Sinner's prayer his motto.
Reference:
Melchizedek - Latter-Day Saint beliefs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melchizedek#Latter-day_Saint_beliefs
The Melchizedek priesthood is the higher priesthood; and the Aaronic is the lower.
Is it not too early to serve the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint? No, for it is not I who hears God calling me but the bishop who knows that I shall be an usher because, despite lost sleep from the night before, I am trusted due to the mercy, not of him, but of God himself.
Yes, but it is because I answered the questions correctly, but not according to my libertarian views. For libertarian means "a person who shall live for the day, choosing to act conservative when it suits him with regard to private worship while actually holding onto liberal values like a life raft in his secular role in society."
I believe the pejorative term to describe me is "hypocrite" which means "a person who applies the least amount of critical thought to all things in his practice of his faith; he who acts pious on Sunday but is the least pious when it is not the Lord's day; a person who act religious in front of pious people."
Recently I have talked to an apostate who is First Nations, and argued with him about the chastity vow. He claims that most religious people break their vows regularly by claiming that overall, most Christians masturbate (99% men, 90% women). My counterargument is that 75% of Mormons masturbate, overall (80% men and 62% women). I decided not to add that by the time they get baptized (between their 10th to 12th year), the rate might be higher but becomes lower.
A lot of Mormons can save their grief if they have fallen due to masturbation. This is not an act that will lead to Spirit Prison. However, this sin is what the Melchizedek priesthood uses to psychologically blackmail members of the church, and sometimes the lower Aaronic priesthood. It is also what confessing to such a thing may lead to NOT being a Good Member In Standing - pun intended.
Since most masturbation is done in the privacy of the home, it is between you and God, not anyone in the Priesthoods to use to control your behavior and to use in an excommunication due to fapping instead of praying to the Lord. Prayer is the recommended method of substitution, i.e. praying rather than fapping.
It is unimportant to the higher priests to even mention masturbation to them, because it tempts them to commit the higher sin of Lording it over you. Remember the Bible story about the rich man praying to God and the poor may praying also. That is the sin that anyone who controls other people, regardless of whether it is religion or politics, commits and it is less pardonable than breaking the vow of chastity.
For when a rich man is humble, he is no different from a poor man who humbles himself by praying, "Lord, have mercy on me a sinner."
Indeed, a priest ought to make the Sinner's prayer his motto.
Reference:
Melchizedek - Latter-Day Saint beliefs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melchizedek#Latter-day_Saint_beliefs
The Melchizedek priesthood is the higher priesthood; and the Aaronic is the lower.
20140713
What Kind of Image Do You Present? (satire)
It is all about humility as the antidote to narcissistic behavior.
I would rather present the image of low self-esteem than be a narcissist who seeks revenge against his imagined enemies. What isn't an issue here is self-esteem.
All that is needed for a person is a validated self-image which endures all adversity for the sake of survival. The very fear of the bully leads children of low self-esteem to do nothing when another child is bullied, lest each of them become a target.
However, the cowardice of bullies is what prevents them from making victims of a group of people, except if they have a tinge of sociopathy.
Therefore, no one is special or unique, lest their ego become distorted. Unconditional love may be a factor in preventing narcissism, because not one person has a monopoly on it.
For all of us are blessed with love, yet few of us are to realize its use in validating one's self-image.
Even when it is self-love, the truly compassionate of us sees the joy in sharing love. For it would be impossible to have a monopoly on narcissism.
Though it would be sad if a narcissist thought people loved him for being unique and special. Truth be told, we admire the narcissist out of pity, especially when he is repentant.
Personally, I would not love him because he is special but I would love the narcissist in spite of his positive and negative attributes.
Without his uniqueness, he is just as deserving of love as an ordinary person. Though it is important to respect other people's boundaries.
When their "me-ness" is almost endless, be compassionate towards the narcissists and show them respect. If they leave you at peace, then they have show you respect, too.
It is truly in how you present yourself to other people that counts, not that the whole world revolves around you alone.
This is why my self-image is based on what appears to be low self-esteem but is a compassionate and kindly image of a humbled self.
It is only through the karma of humility that the desire for attention arising from narcissism is remedied. Those people who refuse the gift of humility are like moths dancing in flight around a candle.
For humility will quench the fires of desire that in which narcissism burns for attention in today's world.
20140117
Perfection (satire)
Some people who know a little about nanotechnology think it could create superior human beings with greater intellect, reasoning abilities and, as a consequence, morality. However, the possible risk of death from taking a pill to cause this evolution into Homo Sapiens Magna has dampened research into the use of nanotechnology to make us smarter and morally superior to the average person.
This is because greater intellect does not preclude insanity, which is validated by schizophrenic people being of a higher intellectual capacity than a person with a mood disorder. Even though bipolar people are highly creative, their tendency toward anxiety in novel situations when not manic tends to moderate their intellect.
As for narcissistic peoples, the only thing they know about the most is themselves, so they would apply their intellect once they confirm what's in it for them, which implies the appearance of high intellect without a corresponding sense of compassion for other people. Were anyone to confront them about their past stupid mistake, things could get really ugly in no time.
Even if we were to evolve, the higher intelligence and reasoning abilities might result in the ability to learn to follow a strict moral code as well as the strong sense of compassion and mercy with the strong risk to develop schizophrenia due to sensory overload caused by too much deep thought.
While it would be cheaper to genetically engineer a human being with superior intelligence and reasoning, it would be impossible to correct the inherent genetic destiny of schizophrenia genetically since most schizophrenia is not due to a genetic predisposition but to not learning successful coping skills in response to stress.
In short, there is no gene that gives you superior coping skills. It has to be learned through experience. Thus, the superior man is not born to cope with life. Rather, he learns how to cope with life through his life experiences.
In conclusion, I reject the nanotechnology and the genetic engineering route for creating the perfect man.
Instead, all it takes is Buddhist learning to perfect the man. This includes daily meditation sessions to develop the calm mind (samatha) necessary to solving koans (vipassana).
Though, the easy way to perfect the man is to chant the Nembutsu or even the Nichiren daimoku "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo". This form of meditation is easy to do, and only requires five minutes or less of chanting daily.
Meditation itself helps Buddhists to discover that Buddha Nature inherent to their own live. Buddha Nature can be considered the perfect qualities of the Buddha which passed into the consciousness stream when he died. Superior intellect, reasoning and morality are three of those perfect qualities.
However, I won't consider this exclusive to Buddhists. Christians use the Sinner's Prayer as an aid to perfect, chanting "God have mercy on me, a sinner" out of humility. Indeed, humility is the essential key to perfection, not the science of technology.
YMMV
This is because greater intellect does not preclude insanity, which is validated by schizophrenic people being of a higher intellectual capacity than a person with a mood disorder. Even though bipolar people are highly creative, their tendency toward anxiety in novel situations when not manic tends to moderate their intellect.
As for narcissistic peoples, the only thing they know about the most is themselves, so they would apply their intellect once they confirm what's in it for them, which implies the appearance of high intellect without a corresponding sense of compassion for other people. Were anyone to confront them about their past stupid mistake, things could get really ugly in no time.
Even if we were to evolve, the higher intelligence and reasoning abilities might result in the ability to learn to follow a strict moral code as well as the strong sense of compassion and mercy with the strong risk to develop schizophrenia due to sensory overload caused by too much deep thought.
While it would be cheaper to genetically engineer a human being with superior intelligence and reasoning, it would be impossible to correct the inherent genetic destiny of schizophrenia genetically since most schizophrenia is not due to a genetic predisposition but to not learning successful coping skills in response to stress.
In short, there is no gene that gives you superior coping skills. It has to be learned through experience. Thus, the superior man is not born to cope with life. Rather, he learns how to cope with life through his life experiences.
In conclusion, I reject the nanotechnology and the genetic engineering route for creating the perfect man.
Instead, all it takes is Buddhist learning to perfect the man. This includes daily meditation sessions to develop the calm mind (samatha) necessary to solving koans (vipassana).
Though, the easy way to perfect the man is to chant the Nembutsu or even the Nichiren daimoku "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo". This form of meditation is easy to do, and only requires five minutes or less of chanting daily.
Meditation itself helps Buddhists to discover that Buddha Nature inherent to their own live. Buddha Nature can be considered the perfect qualities of the Buddha which passed into the consciousness stream when he died. Superior intellect, reasoning and morality are three of those perfect qualities.
However, I won't consider this exclusive to Buddhists. Christians use the Sinner's Prayer as an aid to perfect, chanting "God have mercy on me, a sinner" out of humility. Indeed, humility is the essential key to perfection, not the science of technology.
YMMV
20140107
What If the Mad are Actually the Sane Ones? (satire)
What if madness is when common sense calls to us but we forgot how to listen to ourselves because our fragile connection to reality is broken temporarily?
Then medical intervention comes to the moment of psychic healing when we either remain in fear, unable to rise above madness, or we boldly go on to heal, and to become whole, using humility to reconnect to reality.
Mere mortals would confuse the mad for those people who have risen above madness, due to their fear and ignorance about madness.
What if the State assumes that madness should be controlled by medication because of that same fear?
Then these same medications are administered not only to relieve the mad of their affliction but also to relieve the fear which "normal" people feel when faced with the mad.
How absurd that we subject the mad to medication to relieve our own fears about madness itself!
Is this not the height of madness itself, that we subject others to medication to control them so that we ourselves may feel less fear towards them?
Even so, we do not take medication to relieve our own fears about madness because of the delusion that we ourselves consider ourselves sane while assuming that the mad are insane.
In doing so, we prove how insane society truly is! Perhaps then the truly mad are kept safe from society in psychiatric wards so as to be protected from society.
Then the purpose of medication is to calm extremely nervous people so that they may function in a society that has yet to overcome the stigma of mental illness.
Sometimes I ask these questions with the insight that the majority of people with mental illness are mostly non-violent people. Anyone who is violent and legally insane are excluded from this definition of sanity as madness. This is because their behavior forms part of the etiology of the psychopath.
Rather this so-called argument is satire designed to de-stigmatize mental illness.
Originally posted: May 20, 2005 08:18 PM
Then medical intervention comes to the moment of psychic healing when we either remain in fear, unable to rise above madness, or we boldly go on to heal, and to become whole, using humility to reconnect to reality.
Mere mortals would confuse the mad for those people who have risen above madness, due to their fear and ignorance about madness.
What if the State assumes that madness should be controlled by medication because of that same fear?
Then these same medications are administered not only to relieve the mad of their affliction but also to relieve the fear which "normal" people feel when faced with the mad.
How absurd that we subject the mad to medication to relieve our own fears about madness itself!
Is this not the height of madness itself, that we subject others to medication to control them so that we ourselves may feel less fear towards them?
Even so, we do not take medication to relieve our own fears about madness because of the delusion that we ourselves consider ourselves sane while assuming that the mad are insane.
In doing so, we prove how insane society truly is! Perhaps then the truly mad are kept safe from society in psychiatric wards so as to be protected from society.
Then the purpose of medication is to calm extremely nervous people so that they may function in a society that has yet to overcome the stigma of mental illness.
Sometimes I ask these questions with the insight that the majority of people with mental illness are mostly non-violent people. Anyone who is violent and legally insane are excluded from this definition of sanity as madness. This is because their behavior forms part of the etiology of the psychopath.
Rather this so-called argument is satire designed to de-stigmatize mental illness.
Originally posted: May 20, 2005 08:18 PM
20131231
An Immoral Proposal Regarding Crackerjack Kids (satire)
Does anyone know of a good way to get medicinal nutrition into the food supply to help children who misuse their computer access to bully, harass and terrorize the world? You know, the crackers mistaken for hackers?
Perhaps it is possible to super-size those fries with yam genes? And through selective breeding, the farm factory industry are able to create cows that produce a higher yield of choline (source of acetylcholine), tyrosine (source of the neurotransmitters dopamine and noradrenalin) and tryptophan (source of serotonin) in addition to pyridoxal (helps create neurotransmitters and retinol (improves eyesight) derivatives along with thiamine (improves mental acuity)? Or the vegan equivalent of grains and nuts to boost brain power? Yes, I am suggesting we move beyond hacking computers.
Where's the gene splicing kits for tomorrow's gene hackers? We may need to make a smart-drug neuro-peptide with nutritional co-factors piggybacking within the polypeptide chain.
Additionally, I feel that crackerjacks need to be inoculated with a special virus to enlighten their current methods of social control. Perhaps that's what they mean by "a dose of humility."
Originally posted: February 10, 2007 1:31 PM
Perhaps it is possible to super-size those fries with yam genes? And through selective breeding, the farm factory industry are able to create cows that produce a higher yield of choline (source of acetylcholine), tyrosine (source of the neurotransmitters dopamine and noradrenalin) and tryptophan (source of serotonin) in addition to pyridoxal (helps create neurotransmitters and retinol (improves eyesight) derivatives along with thiamine (improves mental acuity)? Or the vegan equivalent of grains and nuts to boost brain power? Yes, I am suggesting we move beyond hacking computers.
Where's the gene splicing kits for tomorrow's gene hackers? We may need to make a smart-drug neuro-peptide with nutritional co-factors piggybacking within the polypeptide chain.
Additionally, I feel that crackerjacks need to be inoculated with a special virus to enlighten their current methods of social control. Perhaps that's what they mean by "a dose of humility."
Originally posted: February 10, 2007 1:31 PM
20130620
Repentance and Humility: Tools of the Faithful
The idea that satan curses the faithful with poverty is a pernicious fallacy. For the very idea that material wealth is the sign that God has blessed you is actually a sign of spiritual materialism.
Indeed, in some cases, wearing a silver cross is such a sign. It shows that a person of faith has sacrificed time to afford a valuable trinket rather than performing acts of repentance.
How foolish! Were a religious person truly aligned to God, he would remember Jesus' saying "Blessed are the poor, for they shall inherit the kingdom of God."
This is why I, as a Buddhist, will not convert to Christianity. Far too many financially success Christians have attributed their new-found wealth to being blessed by God. They forget that a repentant attitude is caused them to stop sinning. By making beneficial choices motivated by their faith, they actually profited, because those choices gained respect with their peers.
As long as the attitude of Christians is reflected in the philosophy of material wealth being a blessing from God, their spiritual materialism will blind them to repentance. Furthermore, they may fear poverty so much as to be influenced by satan to oppress the poor, be it through taking advantage of them or worse, teaching them that the road to riches is by attributing it all to the work of God.
Any Christian who believes that satan is the author of poverty might also believe that, satan being the enemy, it is right to let the poor in need suffer. This belief contradicts Jesus' attitude of the poor, and also shows that popular Christian preachers with a large flock may actually be wolves in sheep's clothing.
If I as a Buddhist know this, then it's amazing how large that block of wood in the eyes of the faithful actually is.
For even in Buddhism, much value is placed in repentance as its helps the Buddhist to make choices which benefit all sentient beings.
Indeed, in some cases, wearing a silver cross is such a sign. It shows that a person of faith has sacrificed time to afford a valuable trinket rather than performing acts of repentance.
How foolish! Were a religious person truly aligned to God, he would remember Jesus' saying "Blessed are the poor, for they shall inherit the kingdom of God."
This is why I, as a Buddhist, will not convert to Christianity. Far too many financially success Christians have attributed their new-found wealth to being blessed by God. They forget that a repentant attitude is caused them to stop sinning. By making beneficial choices motivated by their faith, they actually profited, because those choices gained respect with their peers.
As long as the attitude of Christians is reflected in the philosophy of material wealth being a blessing from God, their spiritual materialism will blind them to repentance. Furthermore, they may fear poverty so much as to be influenced by satan to oppress the poor, be it through taking advantage of them or worse, teaching them that the road to riches is by attributing it all to the work of God.
Any Christian who believes that satan is the author of poverty might also believe that, satan being the enemy, it is right to let the poor in need suffer. This belief contradicts Jesus' attitude of the poor, and also shows that popular Christian preachers with a large flock may actually be wolves in sheep's clothing.
If I as a Buddhist know this, then it's amazing how large that block of wood in the eyes of the faithful actually is.
For even in Buddhism, much value is placed in repentance as its helps the Buddhist to make choices which benefit all sentient beings.
20130512
Mental Negativity is the Dark Side of Ego
Sometimes I'd rather be a Westernized Asian rather than fall for propaganda designed to create hatred against another nation, be it Japan, Germany or America.
Hatred causes and arises from mental negativity. It is but an ally of anger which is the root of all negativity.
Indeed, negativity is the dark side of the ego left in control of the mind, sometimes with tragic yet preventable results (war, famine, and other human problems).
Only patience and love will stand up to anger. As for hatred, it is transformed by love into compassion. For love has opened the eyes of people who once hated and they repented.
Within context of Buddhism repentance is mandatory after admitting your faults in front of fellow Buddhists.
This brings out humility, which helps the Buddhist vow to "think good thoughts" as Zen Master Hui-Neng suggests.
Hatred causes and arises from mental negativity. It is but an ally of anger which is the root of all negativity.
Indeed, negativity is the dark side of the ego left in control of the mind, sometimes with tragic yet preventable results (war, famine, and other human problems).
Only patience and love will stand up to anger. As for hatred, it is transformed by love into compassion. For love has opened the eyes of people who once hated and they repented.
Within context of Buddhism repentance is mandatory after admitting your faults in front of fellow Buddhists.
This brings out humility, which helps the Buddhist vow to "think good thoughts" as Zen Master Hui-Neng suggests.
20130427
Amida Buddha Still Calls (poem)
If I knew good and evil like Amida does,
then I'd be Buddha.
Yet all I am is a fool
who recites the Nembutsu.
This is why a fool like me
is no good to set
an example since I call
to Amida now
and then. How slothful am I!
Even so, a fool
such as this one who writes
of the Buddha
tries to show perseverance
outdoes inconsistency.
No matter how many times
I recite the Name,
Amida Buddha still calls
through me as I chant,
"Namu Amida Butsu!"
20130417
Awake and Asleep (poem)
Awaken from all concept of "me",
and you are truly awake.
If ego grasps onto "awakening",
then you are still asleep.
When awakened, the ego is gone;
when asleep, only the self remains.
Sadly, he who says, "I am awake!"
has yet to awaken from the dream
called Ego — for the awakened
have forgotten about the self.
When you are truly awake,
it would be best to be humble
and abide in awakening.
and you are truly awake.
If ego grasps onto "awakening",
then you are still asleep.
When awakened, the ego is gone;
when asleep, only the self remains.
Sadly, he who says, "I am awake!"
has yet to awaken from the dream
called Ego — for the awakened
have forgotten about the self.
When you are truly awake,
it would be best to be humble
and abide in awakening.
20130322
The Good That Men Do Goes Unnoticed
There are good and bad in every country and community, and even in the business community.
Yet people hardly get noticed for the good that they do, especially when it has to do with the poor. It's better to shine the light on people who err than to give credit where credit is due.
Two examples of this would be Bill Clinton and Frank Giustra of the Clinton Giustra Foundation which solicits donations from mining corporations to help mitigate poverty in Chile and Peru.
Yet neither of these men are rewarded for that. While Bill Clinton was once the butt of jokes in the comedy circle, today he meditates to help reduce stress since his heart problems a few years ago.
On the other hand, nobody has heard of Frank Giustra, because he's so low-key and under the radar.
And that's the way it's supposed to be.
Yet people hardly get noticed for the good that they do, especially when it has to do with the poor. It's better to shine the light on people who err than to give credit where credit is due.
Two examples of this would be Bill Clinton and Frank Giustra of the Clinton Giustra Foundation which solicits donations from mining corporations to help mitigate poverty in Chile and Peru.
Yet neither of these men are rewarded for that. While Bill Clinton was once the butt of jokes in the comedy circle, today he meditates to help reduce stress since his heart problems a few years ago.
On the other hand, nobody has heard of Frank Giustra, because he's so low-key and under the radar.
And that's the way it's supposed to be.
20130118
Hero / Not a hero
On the other hand, Lance Armstrong is not a hero because, despite admitting to doping "because everyone does it", he refuses to admit to cheating.
After listening to people discussing whether Lance Armstrong is a hero, I decided to look at my hero, the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is a hero because he has superpowers. I kid you not: When you meditate as much as he does, you might get siddhis, which are mind powers arising due to practice.
Does Lance have any of these? No, nothing, just extra stamina & leg strength. Overall, Armstrong is no hero because he cheated. As well, his ego is so big, it's gone "cancerous." This guy needs to go see the Dalai Lama and talk to him about this hero business and develop humility.
20130111
Tips on How To Get a Spiritual Warrior Into a Buddhist Retreat
What To Do When Asked How You Meditate
This is satire. Using anything contained in this article may get you kicked out of a Buddhist retreat. It is provided here to poke fun at spiritual warriors who take themselves too seriously. However, the aim of this article to help Buddhists to develop humility.
1) Quietly state that you are at the retreat to share what you know about "chanting" before and after meditation.
2) Mention that you visualize the Buddha sitting in meditation by first looking at a picture of Amida Buddha.
3) Insist that reality is subjective and that it is only interpretable to each person. By doing so, you demonstrate that subjective reality is not consensual reality. Do not let their rationalization distract you from your inner Truth. You are not at the retreat to analyze but to be in the moment sitting in meditation.
4) If someone asks you to teach them chanting then tell them "I have meditated for over 20 years and chanting the name of the Buddha before and after helped with my meditation." Then teach them Buddha Remembrance by chanting "OM MANI PADME HUM" 7, 21 or 49 times. Emphasize sincerity during chanting.
What To Do Actually All Day and/or Night When Committed To the Retreat
For people who are serious about attending a Buddhist retreat, here are some simple rules regarding attendance. A Buddhist retreat is for developing compassion, humility, patience, and wisdom.
Bring a sleeping mat and pillow and be prepared to sleep on a hard floor.
Practice harmlessness against yourself and/or others.
Practice meditation on rising and before going to bed.
Be peaceable to other people, but be assertive.
When they give you the vegetarian meal, take it with thanks.
Do not talk out of turn or verbally harass other people. Otherwise, you lose the chance to help each other to enlightenment.
This is satire. Using anything contained in this article may get you kicked out of a Buddhist retreat. It is provided here to poke fun at spiritual warriors who take themselves too seriously. However, the aim of this article to help Buddhists to develop humility.
1) Quietly state that you are at the retreat to share what you know about "chanting" before and after meditation.
2) Mention that you visualize the Buddha sitting in meditation by first looking at a picture of Amida Buddha.
3) Insist that reality is subjective and that it is only interpretable to each person. By doing so, you demonstrate that subjective reality is not consensual reality. Do not let their rationalization distract you from your inner Truth. You are not at the retreat to analyze but to be in the moment sitting in meditation.
4) If someone asks you to teach them chanting then tell them "I have meditated for over 20 years and chanting the name of the Buddha before and after helped with my meditation." Then teach them Buddha Remembrance by chanting "OM MANI PADME HUM" 7, 21 or 49 times. Emphasize sincerity during chanting.
What To Do Actually All Day and/or Night When Committed To the Retreat
For people who are serious about attending a Buddhist retreat, here are some simple rules regarding attendance. A Buddhist retreat is for developing compassion, humility, patience, and wisdom.
Bring a sleeping mat and pillow and be prepared to sleep on a hard floor.
Practice harmlessness against yourself and/or others.
Practice meditation on rising and before going to bed.
Be peaceable to other people, but be assertive.
When they give you the vegetarian meal, take it with thanks.
Do not talk out of turn or verbally harass other people. Otherwise, you lose the chance to help each other to enlightenment.
20130106
Good and Evil are One
To see good and evil as one is to transcend moral judgment. By creation of good by mindful practice, the disciple neutralizes evil of the Five Poisons, and embraces the true nature of her basic goodness.
When I make no moral judgment on good and evil, but see that my actions and the effect of these actions may be considered good or evil, depending on the situation.
Thus, in Buddhism, "good" and "evil" has less to do with moral judgment and more to do with my actions and the effect of those actions.
Buddhist philosophy declares that each of us has the potential to create good or evil, but we favor creating good to neutralize evil.
When the terms "pure", "real", and "true" are used, they refer to "basic goodness". On the other hand the term "evil" is not as absolute as the Western concept of evil because it can easily be neutralized by creating good with loving-kindness. For evil is created by anger, desire, fear, hatred, and ignorance, which are negative emotions and feelings that unsettle the mind.
A result of an unsettled mind is suffering, and one may make a moral judgment and mistake good for evil, and evil for good. Even when one sees good as good, and evil as evil, one may judged oneself and other sentient beings harshly. Due to such misjudgment, one entertains dualistic thoughts by making moral judgments regarding good and evil.
Such dualism is due to an unsettled mind. With the Bodhi Mind as the practitioner's goal, the mindful practice of Buddha Remembrance and meditation results in the nondual mind that sees good and evil as due to her actions and their effect on the lives of both herself and other sentient beings.
That nondual mind arises due to the mindful practice of the Middle Way
For the Middle Way transcends moral judgment involving good and evil, and allows the Buddhist to let go of clinging to such judgment to free himself of ignorant craving. As a result he chooses to create good in his life.
This is the goal of Buddha Remembrance: to mindfully practice Buddha Recitation and meditation to free oneself of the ignorance which arises from a deluded mind. Once Awake, the practitioner maintains her practice to maintain positive control over her ego, lest she fall prey to worldly desires and create evil.
For we are capable of creating good and evil in the journey called Life, and thus we bear the responsibility for our very actions on that journey.
Reference:
Good and Evil in Buddhism: http://gandhara.blogspot.com/2013/01/good-thoughts-destroy-evil-karma.html
When I make no moral judgment on good and evil, but see that my actions and the effect of these actions may be considered good or evil, depending on the situation.
Thus, in Buddhism, "good" and "evil" has less to do with moral judgment and more to do with my actions and the effect of those actions.
Buddhist philosophy declares that each of us has the potential to create good or evil, but we favor creating good to neutralize evil.
When the terms "pure", "real", and "true" are used, they refer to "basic goodness". On the other hand the term "evil" is not as absolute as the Western concept of evil because it can easily be neutralized by creating good with loving-kindness. For evil is created by anger, desire, fear, hatred, and ignorance, which are negative emotions and feelings that unsettle the mind.
A result of an unsettled mind is suffering, and one may make a moral judgment and mistake good for evil, and evil for good. Even when one sees good as good, and evil as evil, one may judged oneself and other sentient beings harshly. Due to such misjudgment, one entertains dualistic thoughts by making moral judgments regarding good and evil.
Such dualism is due to an unsettled mind. With the Bodhi Mind as the practitioner's goal, the mindful practice of Buddha Remembrance and meditation results in the nondual mind that sees good and evil as due to her actions and their effect on the lives of both herself and other sentient beings.
That nondual mind arises due to the mindful practice of the Middle Way
For the Middle Way transcends moral judgment involving good and evil, and allows the Buddhist to let go of clinging to such judgment to free himself of ignorant craving. As a result he chooses to create good in his life.
This is the goal of Buddha Remembrance: to mindfully practice Buddha Recitation and meditation to free oneself of the ignorance which arises from a deluded mind. Once Awake, the practitioner maintains her practice to maintain positive control over her ego, lest she fall prey to worldly desires and create evil.
For we are capable of creating good and evil in the journey called Life, and thus we bear the responsibility for our very actions on that journey.
Reference:
Good and Evil in Buddhism: http://gandhara.blogspot.com/2013/01/good-thoughts-destroy-evil-karma.html
20110621
Humility (AA affirmation)
I just wish to be an ordinary human being. For me, the desire to be sober without humility is no different from relapse.
Humility keeps the ego deflated so that God as I know Him shine above like the sun.
Sobriety is not holiness, because humility is what reminds us that we are no better than the drinker.
The sober are able to identify with their social drinking, partying friends. Yet they no longer compare themselves with their friends because of that humility.
Humility keeps the ego deflated so that God as I know Him shine above like the sun.
Sobriety is not holiness, because humility is what reminds us that we are no better than the drinker.
The sober are able to identify with their social drinking, partying friends. Yet they no longer compare themselves with their friends because of that humility.
20110420
Give Up on Yourself
"Give up on yourself. Begin taking action now, while being neurotic or imperfect, or a procrastinator or unhealthy or lazy or any other label by which you inaccurately describe yourself."
"Go ahead and be the best imperfect person you can be and get started on those things you want to accomplish before you die."
- Dr. Morita, psychiatrist
This is the most liberating of advice because it is realistic and doable.
It takes humility to see that this advice is realistic.
It takes responsibility for the self to make this advice doable.
For humility and self-responsibility are what frees me of my inaccurate description of myself.
"Go ahead and be the best imperfect person you can be and get started on those things you want to accomplish before you die."
- Dr. Morita, psychiatrist
This is the most liberating of advice because it is realistic and doable.
It takes humility to see that this advice is realistic.
It takes responsibility for the self to make this advice doable.
For humility and self-responsibility are what frees me of my inaccurate description of myself.
20100908
Mindful of the Mind (poem)
To speak one's mind is
far better than not speaking,
for you learn much more
by asking a question.
For humility is learned
from asking questions,
not from sitting in silence.
Alone in silence,
one barely knows of herself.
To know one's mind may
take a whole lifetime to do.
All that is needed
is the willingness to learn
to be mindful of the mind.
For self knowledge is the goal
worthy of humans,
and the mind open to change
will grow much wiser
with experience and learning.
far better than not speaking,
for you learn much more
by asking a question.
For humility is learned
from asking questions,
not from sitting in silence.
Alone in silence,
one barely knows of herself.
To know one's mind may
take a whole lifetime to do.
All that is needed
is the willingness to learn
to be mindful of the mind.
For self knowledge is the goal
worthy of humans,
and the mind open to change
will grow much wiser
with experience and learning.
20100716
Lewis's Trilemma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis%27s_Trilemma
"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. ... Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God." -- CS Lewis, Mere Christianity
---
Given the brevity of Jesus' life, much of his teachings didn't reach their ultimate conclusion as it did for his ancestor Moses.
Rather, it plays out daily in our everyday lives without most of us being aware of it.
For it begins with humility and a reliance on a higher power...
"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. ... Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God." -- CS Lewis, Mere Christianity
---
Given the brevity of Jesus' life, much of his teachings didn't reach their ultimate conclusion as it did for his ancestor Moses.
Rather, it plays out daily in our everyday lives without most of us being aware of it.
For it begins with humility and a reliance on a higher power...
20071225
Shin Buddhism And The Value of Humility
I've never heard of Shin Buddhists founding an order, only discussion groups.
And, I'd like to think the founder Shinran never wanted to make a name for himself, because of what he had learned by becoming associated with Honen.
Even when offered the opportunity to head a temple late in life, he refused.
Yet, for lesser men, the ego is sometimes so hard to curb.
So, because in these times ordinary people in the West have been inculcated in the public school system to fear any religious or spiritual feeling, and remain ignorant of such things in general, the awakened may decide instead on a life of poverty and obscurity over a life seeking status and wealth.
In Shin tradition, it is more about people who are very ordinary; calling attention to one's good works is like bragging about one's merits.
If a founder of a Buddhist order, whose ordination is suspected to have materialized out of his imagination, was really deserving of his yellow robes, then his works will not declare this. Instead, it'd be shown by his humility when exposed to the light of public opinion.
I suppose that I talk like this because of my culture. For humility maintains anonymity.
And, I'd like to think the founder Shinran never wanted to make a name for himself, because of what he had learned by becoming associated with Honen.
Even when offered the opportunity to head a temple late in life, he refused.
Yet, for lesser men, the ego is sometimes so hard to curb.
So, because in these times ordinary people in the West have been inculcated in the public school system to fear any religious or spiritual feeling, and remain ignorant of such things in general, the awakened may decide instead on a life of poverty and obscurity over a life seeking status and wealth.
In Shin tradition, it is more about people who are very ordinary; calling attention to one's good works is like bragging about one's merits.
If a founder of a Buddhist order, whose ordination is suspected to have materialized out of his imagination, was really deserving of his yellow robes, then his works will not declare this. Instead, it'd be shown by his humility when exposed to the light of public opinion.
I suppose that I talk like this because of my culture. For humility maintains anonymity.
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