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Universal Loving Friendliness, and Other Buddhist things as well!
Metzger Meister
It Gets Worsebefore it gets any better.Registered User regular
It Gets Worsebefore it gets any better.Registered User regular
Right! Well, we all know who this guy is.
I've been reading a lot about meditation (Vapassana meditation to be precise) lately, due to Mr. Henry Bemis sending me a book on the subject some time ago. Buddhism is a fascinating faith to me, and were I a religious person, I would probably practice Buddhism. As it stands, I merely ascribe to a lot of Buddhist beliefs.
Beliefs such as universal loving friendliness!
Wikipedia wrote:Mettā (Pali: मेत्ता in Devanagari) or maitrī (Sanskrit: मैत्री) is loving-kindness, friendliness, benevolence, amity, friendship,good will, kindness, love, sympathy, close mental union (on same mental wavelength), and active interest in others. It is one of the ten pāramīs of the Theravāda school of Buddhism, and the first of the four sublime states (Brahmavihāras). This is love without clinging (upādāna).
The cultivation of loving-kindness (mettā bhāvanā) is a popular form of meditation in Buddhism. In the Theravadin Buddhist tradition, this practice begins with the meditator cultivating loving-kindness towards themselves, then their loved ones, friends, teachers, strangers, enemies, and finally towards all sentient beings. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, this practice is associated with tonglen (cf.), whereby one breathes out ("sends") happiness and breathes in ("receives") suffering.[8] Tibetan Buddhists also practice contemplation of the four immeasurables, which they sometimes call 'compassion meditation'
"Compassion meditation" is a contemporary scientific field that demonstrates the efficacy of metta and related meditative practices.
How about you folks? Any eastern philosophy we wanna chat about?
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“Attachment is the origin, the root of suffering; hence it is the cause of suffering.”
This is probably one of my favorite Buddhist teachings. It's very simple, but when you think about it more, you start to realize a lot of things about yourself. It's something I've taken to heart, and has really improved my life in ways I can't even begin to describe.
My mind is basically racing all day long
Awful fatalistic, from my angle, no offense intended.
Lean with Chesterton here pretty strong. I like wanting things. Not every want I have is good or proper, sure. Lot of 'em ain't. And some of the decent desires aren't able to be fulfilled, so that leaves a little more gap.
But the fulfillment, and, hell, sometimes the desiring? Wouldn't trade for the world.
That's like saying a fellow should like starving because of gluttony, and that means losing the pleasure of food.
More importantly, and relevantly?
Love is right off the table in any form but the most platonic. Hell of a lot of desire there, attachment is go, and damn straight there's suffering. But you know what?
Even the desire, unfulfilled, hell, even if (by some perverse miracle) we lived in a world that was a monkey trap where nothing could come of romantic entanglement but heartache and despair in the end at best, where the desire would be forever unfulfilled?
Shit. It'd still be my choice to have it on the table. Because Nirvana? Sounds a hell of a lot closer to despair than anything worth having from my perspective.
Getting hurt sucks. Suffering sucks.
But the whole mess is worth it. Don't like to surrender when victory is possible.
Why I fear the ocean.
The death of my older brother, for example, I would have said was a negative experience in the past. But, it brought my remaining family much closer together and made us realize how important it is to say "I love you" as often as you can to the people who you love.
To all the assembled 'Skins crowd he uttered, "gunga gunga-lagunga".
So they've got that going for them.
This is what I'm talking about. It looks simple, but once examined you can find there's more meaning to it than you realize. I don't know whether or not the Buddha is advocating cutting yourself off from everything to live the life of a monk. No idea. However, the way I interpret this is, be sure that what you care about actually matters. Getting upset over your Xbox breaking, or some girl shooting you down at a bar isn't worth your energy. You can't let little stuff like that shape your personality.
Pick and choose what you're willing to attach yourself to. Ask yourself if it's really worth missing when it's gone.
It's a goddamn lifesaver
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai
I think Buddhism is super rad. If I ever chose to practice a religion, it would be Buddhism.
Also only in the modern age have people been greedy and self interested.
I sorta feel like it's a quality already existing in that man if he gets his hands on money and is corrupted afterwards
I mean there are people who are super rich and who are very generous with it and use it to help others, though of course you don't hear about it as much
and the gengars who are guiding me" -- W.S. Merwin
Yeah, exactly.
Power just gives them an avenue and agency to direct their will.
he's only my favorite forumer ever.
edit: well said langly.
SUPERMAN ISN'T YOU DICK
How can you believe that all people are corrupt and be a buddhist at the same time?
Batman would beg to differ.
edit: People are imperfect. That's probably the most Buddhist thing anyone can think!
Imperfection is not corruption.
Buddhism also teaches us that mankind has baser urges that we have to ignore and rise above, and greed is one of those that every man shares.
I miss him a lot.