Best Of
Re: The Plant Medicine Path
The Guardian published an article in it’s Long Read series with an extract of Michael Pollan’s new book on consciousness, for those of you who are interested in getting a taste. It seems to contain a lot of material on the mind, as well.
Jeroen
Re: Buddhist View of Justice
Buddhist View of Justice
At a Dharma talk many moons ago the Dharma teacher made this interesting point:
If people truly understood that their actions inevitably bring consequences "for every action there is a reaction", those of sound mind would act responsibly, not out of fear of punishment but out of wisdom. A society guided by this awareness might have little need for police, armies, or courts. Ethical behaviour would come from inner awareness rather than external enforcement.
However because human beings are still imperfect and often unaware, social structures like laws and institutions remain necessary.
Understanding karma can be seen as a path toward a more peaceful society.
A peaceful journey of 1000 kilometers begins with the first wholesome karmic step.
Shoshin1
Re: No Buddhist Quotes
When you’re deeply looking at something, you’re loving it. And I think that when you do that, whether it’s with a person or a nonhuman animal or a plant or a tree, it is a way of witnessing and being witnessed.
Ada Limón, “Decentering the Self”
Jeffrey
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
@Shoshin1 said:
Well, I'm sitting in my new car (a 2016 Nissan Note X) on the car ferry back to the island. I looked at a few cars over the last couple of weeks Suzuki swift, Suzuki splash, Nissan March, Nissan Note... Decided on the Note .
Looks like the one in this photo.
Had a pre purchase inspection done ✅ by a really friendly/happy young man, originally from the Philippines.
Because I had to wait longer than expected, he also did a diagnostic test too, for no extra charge .
The reason I went with the Note was it only had 24,000 kms on the clock and is in really good condition. It's a Japanese import, one owner . Plus after the PPI report I got the dealer to replace four tires, put in a new battery. It comes with a years Warrant of fitness and six month registration. I also got him to reduce the price by a couple of thousand dollars...
wishing you happy and safe motoring. as a previous Nissan owner I can in my personal experience vouch for reliability and trouble free motoring. 🙏🏻😀
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. 🙏🏻