Good post from Jeroen. The best restraint for me is probably a straitjacket
I understand the beer thing. Best beer I ever had was a trappist beer in a clay container. Outstanding. One drink once a month, is plenty for me too, mostly less.
Manageable restraint/asceticism is far better than extreme behaviour. Unless you are a Jain monk or Buddhist Nun or sleep deprived Sufi.
It is amazing how much voluntary simplicity proportionally increases ones Sukha.
I think I have been lucky. When I was young there was never much money, and so I got into the habit of only buying what I needed. This meant that I never really paid attention to what I desired, and so even in wealthier times I was modest in what I would buy. Pretty much the only things I spent money on were books, DVDs and technology. My mother used to call me a cyber monk.
Living a humble life in this way shields you from your desires and aversions, it keeps them small without repressing them. It was that in combination with the old saying, “take everything in moderation”. This gets you into the habit of applying a counter-pressure to desire, and taking the things that you enjoy in small quantities, without foregoing them entirely. You allow yourself to enjoy, but only once in a while.
I find myself doing the same thing with beer: once every month or two I will buy a bottle of Belgian Trappist beer, and just sit back and enjoy it with a few nuts on a quiet afternoon. I find this allows me to savour the enjoyment. But I don’t look forward to these things, that would be fuelling craving, I just buy them on impulse once it’s been a month or so since the last time. I don’t really keep track rigorously.
Some things I don’t keep in the house, like “borrelnootjes” or paprika crisps, because I know I won’t be able to restrain myself and will just end up eating an entire bag of the things. I’ve found it best to just not buy certain things which I know i have a weakness for.
Restraint is a theme you often come across in the sutras (Aparihani Sutra or Bhikkhuvagga) with respect to the senses or about the monks’ heedfulness, but I think it is important to lay people as well. I find it something that I sometimes struggle with to keep it in mind, especially with food items that I am fond of, like a salmon mousse or certain potatoe dishes. But often I remind myself of it, and then I give up a few more places where maybe I had been eating over-generous portions.
In fact, many companies search for a guaranteed model of generating income. This ranges from social engineering like Facebook to the taste of hamburgers by McDonalds to the gambling mechanisms of Las Vegas casinos to the opioid medications created by Purdue Pharmaceuticals. Anything which addicts or habituates people can be used to extract money and effort from them.
All of it works to fuel the fires of samsara, your desires in particular, but the media also works on your aversions and delusions. While Buddhism works to bring these fires under control, modern Western society works to fan the flames in order to get you to consume more. The influence of these companies does not bring you closer to peace and nirvana.
I think it is a pity that Buddhist countries in Asia are now also moving towards capitalist models, because the ultimate expression of these capitalist ventures is the exploitation of unconsciousness and unbridled desire.
To help shield myself from these things I am really careful with bringing certain influences into my life.
The things I enjoy are satsang (“meeting in truth”), music, podcasts, forums. There are still places where wholesome influences can be found, and these I try to contribute to with time and attention.
@Shoshin1 said:
Can't beat some humour. Thank you. ❤️👍
@Jeroen said:
@DagobahZen said:
Look at how humans have handled the internet and social media ( hint: extremely badly). I don't see AI ending well for humans.There is a certain amount of truth in that. A big part of that is the likes of Facebook and TikTok, which engineer their products for ‘maximum engagement’ which translates to addictiveness. It’s led to a generation of smartphone zombies.
It's not the AI as such I don't trust but the group of humans who will undoubtedly use it for dangerous purposes.
It is the underlying ruthlessness of the logical mind that is the problem. People who think with their head and are not in their emotional centre come up with ruthless ‘business solutions’ which unfortunately do a lot of damage but also make a lot of short term money, and leave society to pick up the pieces.
The potential for misuse is huge, and easy to see. It’s like having thousands of free expert workers to do projects for you, whatever you think those projects should be. Just in the area of scamming, I’ve noticed that scam emails have become much better written of late, it’s all being done by chat bots.
“The right use of the mind is in the service of love, truth and beauty.”
— Nisargadatta Maharaj
Loved your reply. Thank you. 👍👍
@marcitko said:
Some musings from recent history...Chess and poker and Go are games with a limited number of rules and clear objectives. For some time now, computers have been far better at these games than even the best humans. We say that these games have been "solved" (that the optimum strategy has been found) but this is actually not true - since computers keep improving and finding even better strategies.
What has happened with humans playing these games...
... the best players try to learn from and emulate the computer strategy. Generally, the closer you are to the computer strategy, the better you are. However, noone can fully do so because the computer strategy is too complicated.
... (I am not sure, but I strongly suspect) the average human skill-level in these games has increased. This is primarily because now the correct principles have been "proven" and so they can be learnt and taught in ever simpler and more efficient ways.
... some of the "mistique" has been lost for players at the top (because the computer is better).
... there is increasing concern about cheating (ie. using computers while playing other humans).
... people still want to see people play these games and play themselves. Pretty much noone watches computer vs computer games and human vs human games are as popular as ever.
... if your goal is to really delve deeply into the strategy aspect and learn, it is now easier than ever and you can go far further.I too am concerned about AI, and am not sure what my comment adds to the discussion, but I guess computers solving games was a precursor to today's AI, so how that played out could be partially indicative of how AI will play out.
Great reply. Thank you. ❤️
as someone only marginally more intelligent/sentient than the next hype bubble, I know:
Have a thoughtful day everyone. stay safe, be kind. Job done! 🦞🫶🫠
Tecno-buddhists? Let's rave. @lobster
Maybe Jundo wants to extend the Dharma, noble quest.
Anything wrong in expressing enthuthiasm for the spreading of Buddhist practice?
Maybe I should just leave the door open and write...
Zazen...live !
I had noticed this about America… there were several occasions where I had chances to go live in the USA and earn lots of money, but I always decided against it because of the social climate. The whole attitude about competitiveness and fighting each other is something I did not like.