Best Of
Re: Buddhist View of Justice
I am not a Buddhist, as in I've yet to commit to the Dharma, but few things upset me as much as the way society, generally reacts to the suffering of those who they deem deserve it. I often encounter footage of people, sometimes teenagers given life sentences, breaking down in tears and the most average people I walk past the street are cheering and celebrating. Now more and more states are loud about extending the death penalty for this and that and I can tell, after all the damage they do, people still yearn for more, like live tv entertainment executions. It is rather traumatic for me and such intense hatred often makes me lose my will to live.
A life behind bars is wasted. A life taken is wasted. Any family that person had is broken, torn apart. Any family they could've had is lost. If I die because of someone else's fault, how could such devastation honor my memory? They shouldn't remain a danger to others, of course, they should be properly rehabilitated, but I recognize no justice in making people suffer. If they come to regret what they did, they should be able to try and make up for it in some way. And if they don't come to regret it the justice system fails a purpose that is core to its existence as far as I'm concerned.
RobinH
Re: The Plant Medicine Path
just catching up with this thread now. very interesting and informative and on the back of it I think I will order new book by Michael Pollan, it sounds very interesting. Thank you @Jeroen and to all contributors to this thread. 🙏🏻
Re: Eight Simple Zenish Habits
You don't have to turn Japanese to find value is some aspects, surely...
...and now for a musical interlude
lobster
Re: Eight Simple Zenish Habits
Interesting topic. In the way of this video, which lifts eight good things about Japanese culture into view, you could probably also find a number of good things about Dutch culture. Similarly, a given culture also has a shadow side, which becomes clear while living a number of decades as part of it.
Whether adopting a culture’s good properties is a good way towards learning to be a better person, or even a more mindful or more Buddhist person, is another matter. You don’t experience the level of conditioning of growing up in a culture, the immersion of experiencing a childhood within it. You likely acquire a certain surface-level impression.
Jeroen
Re: US Citizens! Thinking About Moving Overseas ?
I think about it.
But, at 78, with family here as cohabitants.....
It does not get much past "Think". 
Lionduck
Re: On the topic of becoming more conscious
Thank you for sharing this @Shoshin1. It was a very helpful pebble in my shoe.
Many years ago, I became aware of attention. It's like it took it becoming an observable, dare I say not-self, being slightly behind it, to even notice it exists.
But I couldn't tell you what awareness was, at least not within normal non-woo-woo conciousness.
Today, lazing in my recliner, and watching my troublesome anxiety, remembering this video, it clicked.
Attention remains the thingy that focuses on something, as opposed to everything else.
Awareness is the thingy that registers everything. It has no likes and dislikes and does not exclude anything. If it has any charactersistics, it's a sense of ease and spaciousness.
marcitko