Best Of
Re: The Other Elephant In The Room
Thanks for the well thought out post @marcitko ...
It's true that one can still have compassion for the oppressors, bearing in mind that one would not commit atrocities if one is not experiencing some form of suffering oneself..
Sadly it is such that hurt people, hurt people and so the tit for tat vicious cycle continues...and many innocent lives are lost on both sides...
Shoshin1
Re: Space - the final frontier
Actually, the Last Frontier is alsi the First Frontier - The Mind.
Lionduck
Re: On giving unsolicited advice
Skillful means is a term that Buddhists sometimes use to describe Dharmic teachings that are offered when a listener is actually ready to receive them.
Unskillful means are those attempted dharmic transmissions that are so bound up in our own egos that what is really being transmitted is our own underlying egotism.
With the average ego being such a slippery beast in daily life, it is a pretty big practicing challenge to get enough of yourself out of the way to know what is truly skillful compared to that which is not.
Sometimes you'll get it right, other times you won't, but I think the more important factor is
a real time examination of whether your offering of unsolicited advise results in a reduction or softening of the ego or does it result in an increasing or solidifying of it.
Example... at least3/4 of what I potentially write on NB never makes it to print because I am not sure if it is more beneficial than it is not..
how
Re: On giving unsolicited advice
If you make it clear you are just passing on your thoughts on a situation, by saying, my thinking on this is… or, I believe that… then very few people will take offence. But I only do this rarely. It’s not a good idea to become a fountain of unwanted advice, but offering your thoughts “for the conversation” is a relatively normal thing to do.
When I really want people to take note, I’ll usually say something like, don’t take this the wrong way, but I have some life experience that you could use to your advantage. I’ve found that with both of these formulations people will often at least consider what you say. But even then whether people will take it on board is very hit and miss.
So I’d say giving unwanted advice is not the worst habit, if you bring it with respect.
Jeroen
Re: What Happens When Societies Stop Worshipping God?
@IdleChater said:
To put my question a different way, are these countries that have moved away from a god-centered society become more just and fair as a result, or are they simply less religious?
I would say they are more just and fair plus less religious, but not necessarily less spiritual ...
When I talk about a god-centric society I'm talking about the concept of the Abrahamic god and how the religious have in the past (and some still do) have laws based on their religion which more often than not discriminate against for example, minority groups, women, LGBTQI...
In a number of countries for example Australia, Aotearoa (NZ) the UK, the Netherlands Sweden people are becoming less 'religious' but not necessary less spiritual ..
Countries that have adopted a more secular governance structure often aim to separate religious institutions from political and legal systems. This separation is intended to ensure that laws and policies are based on principles that are not tied to a specific religious doctrine. The goal is to create a more inclusive and equitable society.
Secular societies may be more inclined to uphold human rights and equality, as they are less likely to be influenced by religious doctrines that might discriminate against certain groups based on beliefs, gender, or sexual orientation.
When I'm taking about humanism becoming the dominate force, I'm talking about a gradual free and natural change in mindset which tends to take time...
Humanism is a democratic and ethical life stance, which affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives. It stands for the building of a more humane society through an ethic based on human and other natural values in the spirit of reason and free inquiry through human capabilities. It is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural views of reality
Shoshin1
Re: The Other Elephant In The Room
I am no scholar of the Israel-Palestine conflict, but my thoughts are:
- to forbid humanitarian aid, to propose "voluntary" emigration of the total population to other countries - after actually forbidding all exiting from Gaza - and to say that you will no longer be able to tolerate the existence of a people in a certain place are four policies which are far, far, far, beyond any normal best war practices that they immediately amount - to my mind at least - to a war crime(s).
- For these reasons, and the historical systematic encroachment on the land of the Palestinians - subsidised and encouraged by the state of Israel (I checked this, it's true)- I consider the whole process either already genocide or genocide in the making.
Here are the UN requirements for the term "genocide":
Killing members of the group;
Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
As far as I can tell, Israel is already doing numbers 1, 2, 3, not doing only number 4, and proposing to do number 5.
Gaza is, to my mind, a geto. Clear and simple. It is heartbreaking that the descendants of those from a geto would create a geto.
I am NOT anti-semitic and intend wholeheartedly to remain that way. I consider the Nazi extermination of the Jews to be certainly the biggest crime in recent history of which I know and have nothing against and all in favor of any individual Jew I might come across, including those from Israel. I come from a war-torn region and know something about being "anti-x-nation". It is NOT the same to criticize the policy of a certain state/entity and to criticize all members of a group as being X. I do not think that the Jewish people are any X. I think, however, that the State of Israel is a lot of X, and that X ain't good, currently more so.
On the other hand, it IS true that the historical conditions in the region led to a 70 year clusterfuck which I certainly cannot hope to understand. So, I have compassion even for the hawks in Israel. It ain't easy living there or being a politician there, and that's probably an understatement.
I observe the global order through a lens of the slow downfall of the US and the West as the global superpower and the rise of China with its current and future allies. From that lens, it seems to me that the US, which would ordinarily restrict the atrocities of Israel, considers itself only strong enough to prop up its ally in an important region, and does not have the strength any more to uphold its own virtues and values. That, I find sad.
marcitko
Being absent while engaged
I was standing on the platform of the train station, waiting for my train, and it was only after I had boarded that I realised that I had been largely absent. There was attention spent standing, and watching the people coming off the train, but this was largely an automated activity. I had fallen into a pattern of behaviour.
It was only after I had sat down in a seat that I was feeling fully aware again. It seems to me that this falling into automated behaviours happens almost by itself, that full awareness comes up and then falls away again as we do little bits of automated activity.
I had not previously noticed it for such short periods. I’m going to try to keep track of what other activities cause my focus to wander, it might be interesting.
Jeroen
Re: The Other Elephant In The Room
Every time I start to write about this. words fail me. The senselessness and sheer brutality bring tears to my heart. It is not enough, but my prayers go to/for the people impacted by this war, by all the wars raging upon this planet of ours.
Prayers for compassion 
Prayers for mercy
Prayers for peace
Peace to all
Lionduck
The Other Elephant In The Room
The horrendous situation in Gaza...
( I know the history of Palestine and the issues faced by its people (both Palestinian and Jews) there is a complex one and dates back many years...)
Yes the attack on Israeli settlers by Hamas and the amount killed and the taking of hostages was horrendous and my heart goes out to the families who have lost loved ones, but Israel's response, the indiscriminate slaughter of over 15 thousand mostly innocent Palestinian civilians, including over 5,000 children and more than 3,000 women was uncalled for , it's barbaric, yet most Western governments do nothing but pay lip service...to the heart wrenching scenes from Gaza...
From what I've seen there are many Jewish people around the world (including Israelis) who are appalled at the heavy handed use of force by the IDF (Israeli Defence Force) and strongly voice their opposition...and if non Jewish people voice their concerns about the more often than not brutal tactics used by the Israeli military toward Palestinian civilians, they are labelled anti Semitic ...which is ridiculous, but it has become a weapon used by the present Israeli government against non Jewish people who have concerns about how the Palestinian people are being treated...
I have nothing against the Israelis people who want to protect what they call their homeland, but sadly the use of extreme violence by the Jewish state will no doubt lead to a backlash where more cases of Jewish people being targeted around the world, even the Jewish people who oppose Israel's present government and their polices when it comes to the treatment of Palestinian people...
And as usual the first casualty of any conflict/war is the truth... but in the case of the suffering of thousands of Palestinian people at the hands of the IDF the Truth is undeniable ...
Sadly this is what happens when hatred, anger and greed AKA ignorance clouds the mind....
May all involved find peace soon.... ...but I won't hold my breath....
Shoshin1
Re: Group meditation: discipline, friendship, and path walking
Well I feel the zen dojo is not quite what I need … So I provided this 8 minute led meditation. I hope it works for others. At the moment I do something similar, with a chant and longer sit for my half an hour morning practice
https://audio.com/lobster/audio/led-meditation
lobster