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Re: Respecting one’s elders
I try to respect everyone regardless of their age.
To respect that everyone has some teachings to offer about what to do and what not to do, whether it's their intention to share them or not, when I am open enough to receive those teachings.
Pretty much what has already been said about it, above.
how
Re: karma?
@opiumpoetry said:
No one faith knows it all, not one is perfect. I think it's all one huge jigsaw puzzle and each faith is a only a few pieces of the puzzle.
Well, as the Dalai Lama said, “Don’t become a buddhist, but use buddhism to become a better whatever-you-are.” I think he was quite right to say that the insights of buddhist philosophy have something to offer to Christians, Muslims and others, and that some people are better off with other traditions. It is a personal choice.
I would say that any spiritual path can be a good one. If it is approached with wisdom, care, insight, and openness there will be opportunities to get to know oneself and the universe, and there are certain universal aspects of the human experience which we get to recognise, such as silence and illusion.
Jeroen
Re: karma?
@person said:
The explanation that changed my mind on the subject from someone who did believe in karma as all encompassing was that just because someone's current suffering came about from past actions doesn't mean they aren't worthy of compassion and help. Helping them would also be their karma.I think I'd also ask if there isn't something else at work here? Most people wouldn't think that one idea is morally bankrupt and abandon the whole project. Are there other factors that led you to believe the way you do now and subsequent to that you now look on Buddhism with an unfavorable lens?
Perhaps I was considering how unfortunate I and my mother have been, the mistreatment we have always suffered at the hands of close family. I think it will take me many years to overcome my anger and learn to think calmly and more rationally.
"Helping them would also be their karma." I'm reminded of a man in Cambodia who said of girls working in brothels, "It's the result of their past karma. There's nothing anyone can do." The reply is, if you don't try to help them then you are gaining bad karma for yourself. It's sad that anyone would misinterpret the dharma in that way.
I guess we're all still on the journey, making giant leaps over the years but only baby steps day by day.
Re: karma?
Karma is an issue of cause and effect, not of reward and punishment, carrot and stick, though some appear to interpret it in that way.
If we look for cruelty in these realms, we need look no further than the Christian doctrine of original sin, whereby we are all cursed by the supposed transgression of Adam.
Jesus himself, of course, had little to say about the issue. Matthew 5:22 perhaps?
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' will be subject to the Sanhedrin . But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be subject to the fire of hell.>
Fosdick
Re: karma?
"if something bad happens to someone, it's because of their bad karma from this or a previous life."
Zen master Shakespeare once said
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”
This also applies to karma and how one perceives the results of one's actions,,,.Bearing in mind good and bad are relative
Pyrrhonism holds that good and evil do not exist by nature, meaning that good and evil do not exist within the things themselves. All judgments of good and evil are relative to the one doing the judging.
Shoshin1
Re: karma?
The explanation that changed my mind on the subject from someone who did believe in karma as all encompassing was that just because someone's current suffering came about from past actions doesn't mean they aren't worthy of compassion and help. Helping them would also be their karma.
I think I'd also ask if there isn't something else at work here? Most people wouldn't think that one idea is morally bankrupt and abandon the whole project. Are there other factors that led you to believe the way you do now and subsequent to that you now look on Buddhism with an unfavorable lens?
person
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
@Kotishka
....also....I began to study Dogen today.... Bendowa.....haiya..... ! There will be many posts coming up soon....!
Although Dogen purists would be offended by what I write here....
I thought Bendowa is largely Dogen's marketing proposal for why his teaching was superior to any of his contemporaries of the time. While I am sure Bendowa provided much initial motivation & comfort for many of his followers, the adversarial flavor of it, seems like a dangerous flirtation where one's worldly attachments are in danger of only getting exchanged for spiritual equivalents of the same.
Yes, it also includes beautiful representations of truth, & the practices of those days were historically combative, & this might have also been Dogen's true Koan, but I think that Bendowa, on its own, compounds as many delusions as it addresses.
I'll be interested to hear what your studies of it are.
how
Re: Respecting one’s elders
There is a generality to "Respect our Elders"
as with all such generalities, there are exceptions.
Respect for one's parents for having brought you into this world does not mean you must respect acts of cruelty, meanness or disregard for others.
In this regard, those who torture their children would not be looked upon as elders and certainly not elders worthy of respect.
the concept is, however, that we respect others (and ourselves) as beings capable of great good while we must accept that we also have the potential of great evil. it is the endevor to be and do good, embodies in the concepts of right thoughts, deeds, words, etc., from which rises the concept and ideal of respect for our elder, our neighbores, our fellow beings. it is the concept of respecting the begger on the street, as a human being, regardless of circumstance.
Peace to all
Lionduck