Best Of
Re: Death
@lobster said:
What is your favourite part of Death?
This is still theoretical for me in a lived sense, but my favourite part of death is that once we lose the fear of it, we lose all - at least chronic - fear. And can finally really live.
A quote comes to mind:
"A mystic is someone whom - quite fundamentally - you can't scare with death" (Allan Watts)
marcitko
Re: The nine contemplations of Atisha
@lobster said:
Personally, I would go and volunteer in a hospice, if worried excessively about death
That seems another very good option. Becoming familiar with death up close and personal really helps with the fear of it. Death brings many beautiful as wel as sad moments.
Jeroen
Re: East vs West
@lobster said:
Do you mean in your view there are positive or even preferable things about the western mindset?
No I mean there is no vs if you have no set mind or mind set on views...
I suppose I could say and rather than vs. In my mind vs is just a term for comparison rather than competition. I take the yin/yang view of dichotomies, they oppose each other, they play off each other and contain the seeds of the other within them. I find it useful when discussing and thinking about things to juxtapose opposites, but that frame exists within the idea that there are no absolutes and its all a spectrum.
person
Re: East vs West
When one looks at the general positives and negatives of the East vs West, one finds that the opportunity to incorporate the best of both. Of course, this must be done with care. When successful, this blend creates a rich conglomeration grater, more wondrous than either separately.
The constant churning of cultures is necessary to prevent cultural stagnation and decline. The key is to not keep an open mind.
Peace to all
Lionduck
Understanding dysfunction
It seems to me that Buddhism does have some understanding of dysfunction in the mind…
- Tibetan Buddhism has a list of unwholesome mental states and their antidotes;
- There are the Three Poisons of desire, hatred and ignorance;
- In Vietnamese zen there is talk of seeds and store consciousness for wholesome and unwholesome states;
- In Mahayana there are the Perfections, implying that the normal state is imperfect.
It seems to agree with psychology and psychiatry that part of the spectrum of human experience is covered by insanity and dysfunction. This seems true on the scale of nations as well as individuals.
To me it feels like spirituality is in the first instance about uncovering what is sane in us, what is beneficial to our well-being. Only after we have done that can we talk about lofty goals like the Bodhisattva ideal.
Food for thought?
Jeroen
Re: Death
That no life lives forever
That dead men rise up never
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea
zorro
Re: Death
@lobster said:
thanatophobia
Interesting, with Thanos from Marvel
What is your favourite part of Death?
That its so egalitarian... 😏
person
Re: The nine contemplations of Atisha
In Buddhism rebirth often isn't seen as a good thing. Paraphrasing Robert Thurman, "In Buddhism rebirth isn't a promise, its a threat". If we're fortunate enough to have the good karma for a rebirth in the upper realms our suffering will be light, but in Buddhist cosmology most of our lives are spent in the lower realms. Its why they emphasize the importance of taking advantage of the time we have now to practice.
person