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Re: Is it better to believe in one life or in many?
Is it better to believe in one life or in many?
Yes! 😉😁
Sometimes better, sometimes worse.
For some better, for some worse.
In some ways better, in some worse.
The same, and different.
A better question might be: stuck between birth and death, and not knowing what came before and what comes after, whachagona do about it?
marcitko
Re: Is it better to believe in one life or in many?
I think rebirth would work like the hydrological system here on Earth. Clouds transform into drops which fall individually and through the path of least resistance they eventually evaporate and again form clouds. It's all the same water but no individual drop ever repeats.
Re: Is it better to believe in one life or in many?
So I am a drop while incarnate, and part of a cloud while between lives? Cool!
Jeroen
Re: Benefits of a Loving Mind
@ Jeroen:
It appears we are talking about the same gem through different facets.
That said, I offer an additional observation.
A beneficial act is a chosen act. It is not an accidental act, but an act deliberately made. The level benefit derived to the individual who performs the act is ultimately dependent upon said individual's intent. There is benefit from and act performed from a selfish intent, but that benefit is reduced and can even be nullified by the coutervalence of the degree of selfish motivation of personal gain.
To preform beneficial acts without regard to expectation of personal gain generated a different kind of personal benefit or gain. Said may appear as inconspicuous or conspicuous benefit or gain, but is more profound, more meaningful and more lasting.
This is the difference between a predatory act of word or deed dressed up as an act of kindness, of selflessness and an act of word or deed arising from the heart freely given free of the chains of expectancy of reward.
Such differences may be invisible to other parties, but the mind, the heart of the person knows, catalogs, remembers.
This is not to say that having an expectation of benefit or gain is exclusive of the selflessness of the specific words or actions. But that the primary reason for the words or actions is not "Where is my gain ? Where is my benefit?" but that gain or benefit will derive from the selfless actions organically. The benefit is already there. The benefit may not manifest immediately or appear in a manner expected. But it is there. It arises through the quality derived from the actions of the heart, not strategy.
Peace to all
Lionduck
Re: Simon
I’ve read quite a few of his comments when digging into the forum’s past. Namaste Simon 🙏
Jeroen
Simon
If anyone here was around when Simon (@Simonthepilgrim) was a regular participant, I learned that he passed away recently. He was a regular contributor for many years back in the day. I learned a lot from him. He’ll definitely be missed.
Jason
Re: What documentary are you watching?
At the age of 3, Dr. Ming Jie Wu witnessed his father cure his sister's asthma with ancient Chinese herbs. This left a deep impression on young Ming, who was amazed. At a tender age Ming decided to dedicate himself to the ancient practice of Taoist Chinese Medicine (TCM) like his father and grandfather before him.
lobster
Re: Benefits of a Loving Mind
@Lionduck said:
Beneficial acts when done with "intent" indicates a self-other mindset.The act, though prima facia beneficial, is often more ego, "I am doing a beneficial act because I want the reward from the act." It is a act of selfishness in the guise of a beneficial act.
A Beneficial act performed without expectation of reward, the selfless act, is the act generating true reward, the reward neither sought nor expected.
It is interesting that learning what is a beneficial act allows the ego to enter in. You can see, I am benefitting from the act, and because I benefit I will do this act and other beneficial acts more. You learn to be selfish over time, and the ego, hidden under the guise of doing beneficial acts, becomes more prominent.
On the other hand, if you choose to forget what is beneficial, and you just do what you choose to do, then you may do some beneficial things just by accident. And as long as you know what is unbeneficial, or even anti-beneficial, and avoid doing those things, you can, all things considered, lead a good life without knowing about the benefits of goodness.
Another route one could take is to learn what is beneficial, without taking note of the rewards. In this way, you can know what is good for you, without starting to focus on the benefits and thus allowing ego and covetousness a foothold.
Jeroen
Re: peace
@_lobster _
Indeed, we are each the sum of our parts. The people we encounter see only a one or a few parts. Few, if any, ever see the whole. What each sees is the real you. But, it is only part visible "above the water".
When the Spanish first entered the Pacific, it was calm, peaceful (after passing through the Straight of Magellan), hence the name, PACIFIC. Later, they found that this ocean also had a nasty temper.
We are the same. Whenever a person interacts with another, depending upon both the circumstance, the situation, prior actions or lack thereof, will see one aspect, one facet
of that other person. It is said that people tend to judge others in the first seconds of initial contact. Sometimes that initial contact yields a correct analysis of the the person, often the initial contact, like the Spanish and the Pacific, is only partial and thus erroneous, incorrect.
We are all deep pools, only the surface is what others see. As a person becomes familiar to us, we are able to see deeper, but never more than a fraction of that depth.
Everyone has a story. The story makes each and all unique.
The difficulty is to look deep enough into the pool to interact with and understand as much of another as can be understood and accepted.
Returning to the you, the me, the we...Before we can understand another, we must first understand ourselves. So many fail to probe their own depth. Those persons fail to prob beyond the surface and think they understand their pool.
We must not forget to be courageous enough to probe.
Peace to you
Peace to all
Lionduck
Re: Being a light unto yourself
A thirteenth Century monk wrote:
_When you hold the lantern for others, you light the way for yourself.
_
Lionduck