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Re: The Other Elephant In The Room
“The attack by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum.”
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres
Wise words.
Israel’s relentless cruel domination over the Palestinians for 56 years could ONLY produce this type of conflict. And until the US and Israel change course it is perfectly predictable that the smoldering will continue to produce intermittent flashes, and generations will continue to suffer. If Israel eradicates Hamas, other freedom fighters will arise. Rebellion against repression is seen throughout history. Ignorance, arrogance, and a limitless supply of US weapons over the decades have earned Israel the learned hatred of the Palestinian people. Their current actions are earning them the learned horror of a much wider group, some of whom now are transitioning from audience to participants.
Steve_B
Re: Dementia and Buddism
Hi George,
Life's a bitch. I've struggled with mental-health for over a decade. I know how hard and scary it can be sometimes. I want to write something helpful but am conscious that I don't have the required experience, wisdom, or knowledge. But I do have the wish... so here we go anyway!
My grandmother suffered from dementia in her late 90s. In the end she forgot pretty much everything and people generally felt very bad for her. I visited her weekly for years. During these visits I would often ask myself: "is she suffering?". By that question I meant: from her perspective. The honest answer was (and still is): "I don't know".
Alzheimer's is a strange disease. If I were to bet on something, I'd say that it's experienced as worse by others than the patient. This is because we generally identify with our minds. So there is hope - the hope that Alzheimer's is not so bad after all.
My impression was that even while her mind was slowly fading, her body was strong, and her fundamental psyche was OK - behind the illness of the mind. This might be an unorthodox view or overly optimistic. But that's my hunch based on observing my grandmother for years.
I would also like to impress upon you that you are NOT to blame for having Alzheimer's. You are also NOT to blame for the fact that you will probably at some point need help from others. Nor for the fact that you might have some symptoms or weird behaviours.
I am also reminded of the American spiritual teacher Richard Rose. Years (probably decades) before his death he wrote a poem which his students later interpreted as a prediction that he will have Alzheimer's. You can find the poem at the very bottom of this page - "I will take leave of you...". From the accounts I've read, similar to my grandmother, and even much more so, even while his mind was deteriorating, his fundamental psyche still shone bright and was appreciated and admired even by his care-takers.
In closing, my mental-health troubles have taught me a simple lesson: life goes on. So even though it might seem difficult, try not to pity yourself too much and use the time ahead as best you can. I will try to do the same.
Please write here often.
marcitko
Re: The Other Elephant In The Room
There was an interesting article on the Dutch mainstream news about how the political landscape in Gaza works. Apparently Hamas’ approval ratings are up slightly among Palestinians, but they haven’t held elections since 2006 when they gained power.
There is no democratic government in Gaza, for example all the government officials are paid from the Hamas bank accounts, so a lot of the population is directly dependent on Hamas. The unemployment rate is over 40 percent, and about half live below the poverty limits.
But there is criticism of Hamas in some quarters. People are saying this is the worst war yet, and this is what Hamas as brought upon them, although they don’t believe Israel will succeed in its attempt to wipe out Hamas. Largely because Hamas is not only fighters, it is a multilayered organisation which extends through much of the life in Gaza.
As long as you have government by a terrorist organisation in Gaza, there is not going to be peace. That much is becoming clear. We will have to wait and see what the Israelis intend to do.
Jeroen
Re: The Other Elephant In The Room
This said, cruelty is a common manifestation from the vast repertoire of human activity. This is a very disruptive and damaging mechanism that alters the psyche and the environment in a tremendous way.
I have lived my fair share of exposition to the war in Ukraine, which ended up showing to me how little human life is valued when the minds and hearts bond towards such an objective, the declaration of destruction unless ones sides demands are completely obliged with.
So far from compassion, understanding...
Kotishka
Re: Tilopa’s song of mahamudra
Tantra says: remember, whenever you choose something, whenever you decide for this or against this, it is your mind playing tricks. Don’t say the thing is beautiful; just simply say, ”I am affected in a nice way” – but the base remains ”I.”
Jeroen
Re: Experiences
Can one actually walk upon the Buddha's path toward suffering's cessation,
without that action also illuminating the very transmission of its own truth?
Here, the possibility of selflessness transcends the limitations of self & other.
how
About no-religion
In a way religion is a spiritual framework of thought which we use to give meaning to our place in the world. But that is just the way it appears to the mind. When you become more advanced and start examining no-mind, witnessing, and being just loose & natural, you start to move beyond the mental definition into a kind of no-religion.
In a way, what is at the core of the Tao, that sense of being in harmony with the natural world, is also what is in the Song of Mahamudra where Osho talks about being loose and natural as the ultimate goal of Tilopa’s teaching. You could say that that is what underpins all actual religion, that religion is a behavioural pattern on top of a primeval, unaware natural being but that eventually when you let it all go, those concepts of God and creation and enlightenment, that you then come back to a more aware natural state.
It is a kind of movement of return, where you let go of many of the things you have accepted about the world. It is a clearing-out, which can happen gradually or quickly. You know in the Tao Te Ching, where it says, the man of knowledge learns something new every day, but the man of Tao lets something go every day? Becoming knowledgeable about a religion, even Buddhism, brings new patterns to your life and mind, it is an accumulation.
Untangling these things and letting them go reduces the mind to a kind of pure state, where there is love and goodwill and a kind of basic pleasure. Beyond that there is a kind of indifference, or even upeksha, equanimity, which allows you to be in the world without being in the mind. You look through the mind, and the mind kind of vanishes. Things become simpler, the past and the future largely disappear.
Jeroen
Re: Buddhism, women and the goddess
This goes into consideration: I have received an email from my first teacher, a template but still.. He is announcing a series of Zoom talks to learn from the Sakyong directly.
I think, in line of what Fede has said, requieres action. I have deleted the e-mail. Incredible they listen to an ordinary being pretending to be Enlightened. And yes, if you mistreat others, particularly weaker individuals, you are FAR from the other shore you chant about.
Anyway.. Rant ends
Kotishka
Re: Dementia and Buddism
The thing with dementia is it’s a slow decline, over the course of years, during which you become less and less capable mentally. Living alone won’t be possible beyond a certain point, and it puts increasingly greater demands on your carers as the illness progresses. Your ability to take decisions will also be affected, and legally you will be declared unfit at some stage. It is not a kind illness, depending on your carers’ effort and approach.
My mother spends about 30,000 euros a year on care to help her wash, clothe and clean her husband, which wouldn’t be possible without the social care budget we have here in the Netherlands. We buy in daily care, 2 hours in the morning and 1 hour in the evening, seven days a week because my stepfather needs assistance with clothing himself, getting up, washing and going to bed in the evening, as well as being doubly incontinent. And he is a large man, and she is a small woman, so handling his body requires two people. So that level of care is very necessary.
So there is a financial planning aspect that you can’t ignore. I hear the progression of Lewy Body Dementia is quite different though, you’ll have to let the medical staff advise you on that.
Jeroen
Re: Buddhism, women and the goddess
Today, we continue the ongoing movement to the understanding and reality that everyone, regardless of "social standing", sex, age, ethnicity or belief, is worthy of respect. From the Buddhist standpoint, we say that everyone possesses the Ninth conscience aka Buddha. Hence all, in that regard, are equal.
Of course, we also possess all the other conditions (worlds). What our process of awakening to our Buddha nature, emerging from our fog of ignorance is the practice of the Way. This emergence is what is referred to as achieving Nirvana or Enlightenment or "becoming" a Buddha. This is so simple yet so difficult and so necessary.
When a Buddhist condemns the selfishness, deceit, and bigotry of a person, it is the condemnation of his or her words, deeds and/or actions which devalue and harm others.
A 19th century Japanese buddhist and political activist stated thus: "Hate the action, not the person."
Today, we see the ancients called goddesses and gods as the those functions, (thoughts, actions, words, things) which enable and support us in our efforts and endeavors to better ourselves, to seeking to awaken as persons and in out lives. Devils and demons are the functions that block, obstruct, hinder, and weaken our endeavors and lead us to the darkness and push us toward the worlds of anger, animality, hunger, hell.
Peace to all
Lionduck