Best Of
Re: Right Speech
My opinion, FWIW is that there are those times when Right Speech requires us to be honest and sometimes "the truth hurts". You can of course sugarcoat it, but as the saying goes "you can't polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter"
IMO you (collectively) need to not confuse Right Speech with Idiot Compassion. We don't have to ALWAYS be 'nice' in order to practise Right Speech. Telling a little white lie to cushion the blow isn't even Right Speech when you look at it shrugs
Just my 0.02
Re: What movies are you watching?
Not a film but a BBC series. Called "The Repair Shop", members of the public bring in precious family objects, in need of (as the title would suggest) repair. Some things are simple, some are very old and extremely fragile, which gives the restorer the onerous and complicated task of reviving the object to its former glory, without necessarily obliterating its value or sentimentality.
Restorers' skills range from the technical to the artistic; clocks, mechanical toys, musical instruments, paintings, leatherware, paper objects, porcelain, soft toys and wooden items are all given to the appropriate skilled restorer, and we follow progress as they transform the poor miserable object into a thing of often wonderful beauty, once more.
Some of these people also work as restorers in our British museums, so they are highly skilled, and experts in their field.
There is no fee to pay.
But the programme does show the item being brought in, and subsequently returned to the owner, in the space of 45 minutes. In truth, some of these restorations take months...but filming is cleverly put together to bring the initial heartfelt wish, and the eventual grateful admiration, all in one programme's viewing.
I know we practise detachment; everything has a beginning, a middle, and an end; but the programme is heartwarming, gentle and delightful viewing, to know there are people who care enough about other people and their precious belongings, to want to make them happy again, for while...
federica
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
This was hilarious and educational… on belief, brain and the backfire effect
Jeroen
Re: Buddhist quotes
You are not the same as or different from
Conditions on which you depend;
You are neither severed from
Nor forever fused with them—-
This is the deathless teaching
Of buddhas who care for the world.
When buddhas don’t appear
And their followers are gone,
The wisdom of awakening
Bursts forth by itself.
Nagarjuna-Verses From the Center
Re: No Buddhist Quotes
“A swami came to visit me. He was eighty years old and had quite a few followers. He came into satsang and said to me, please don’t talk to me about Yoga, I have read all the books and know all of that. So I said, that’s fine, I won’t talk about Yoga. But what about all the other things you’ve brought with you, all those other methods and techniques? Let me help you carry them outside, then you can come in again without them. So I helped him to the door, and he stood outside for maybe five minutes, turning this way and that. Then he came in and said, it’s amazing. Later one of his students came to me and asked, what have you done to the swami? He has rejected all dharma’s.”
— H. W. L. Poonja
Jeroen
Re: The darkness within
@Jeroen said:
@marcitko said:
Just an addition to my OP since I believe I was not clear enough: I do not hold the belief that I am JUST negative, but ALSO negative. It's more of a case of holding "saint" and "sinner" beliefs/egos at the same time and (I believe), deep down, not having a balanced neutral/middle-way belief/ego.If you try and identify with both those sets of beliefs, you may end up rather divided internally and at war with yourself. Unifying these to create a melded middle way seems to me a difficult path.
It may be better to identify with being a witness to all that passes in front of the senses, and just letting what comes come, and letting what goes go. This is a path more of acceptance.
It is said that “enlightenment is the state of being in total acceptance with what is.”
Observing the stars a moment ago, I saw your point. Sometimes this comes, sometimes that. I am not what comes and goes.
marcitko
Re: The darkness within
@marcitko said:
How might we approach such a belief from a Buddhist perspective? Do you also have such a core belief / wound? If yes, how do you deal with it?
Thanks!
Just sit with it, see beliefs for what they really are ...
just thoughts...nothing more nothing less...
Shoshin1
Re: (Un)natural Disasters.... Is Mother Nature Trying to tell us something?
We only know about such things because of the speed of technology and the swiftness of news travelling. Unfortunately, while understandable focus is aimed at the victims of such disasters, it's worth noting that there are countless hundreds of good people at the rockface actually working hard to save and rescue those victims.
These people are heroic, but garner a cursory mentions. 'Rescuers dug to find survivors' is usually the extent of the praise they receive from reporting correspondents.
Whenever there is a disaster, there are good people. Remember those people. They are more numerous than is ever indicated. But good news don't sell.
This is the diet we are fed, which leads us to believe we are fighting insurmountable odds.
We are not.
But when it comes to newsworthiness, "Good guys finish last".
federica
Re: The darkness within
@marcitko said:
Just an addition to my OP since I believe I was not clear enough: I do not hold the belief that I am JUST negative, but ALSO negative. It's more of a case of holding "saint" and "sinner" beliefs/egos at the same time and (I believe), deep down, not having a balanced neutral/middle-way belief/ego.
If you try and identify with both those sets of beliefs, you may end up rather divided internally and at war with yourself. Unifying these to create a melded middle way seems to me a difficult path.
It may be better to identify with being a witness to all that passes in front of the senses, and just letting what comes come, and letting what goes go. This is a path more of acceptance.
It is said that “enlightenment is the state of being in total acceptance with what is.”
Jeroen
Re: Right Speech
@marcitko said:
From my perspective, if you are in a good place emotionally it does not matter much what you say, since people will pick up primarily your feeling. Some Christian saint said: "Love and do what you will". For this purpose we could change it to: "Love and say what you will".
Very wise. Since speech comes naturally to us, it can be a good looking glass into the heart. And by conscientiously practicing Right Speech, or Lobster's "Right Speechless" we can run the chain in both directions, and gradually train the heart to follow the words. Making this change requires ADKAR: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement. In other words, it's not a change you make by switching one day, it's an ongoing project, with prerequisites and ongoing attention.
Steve_B