Best Of
Re: Is it better to believe in one life or in many?
I think you could also add whether you think life continues on after death or not.
Robert Thurman likes to say something like in Buddhism rebirth isn't a promise (like something good because you get more chances), its a threat (in that most of our lives are in much worse conditions than the human one, so get busy).
So I'd say there can be a more relaxed attitude with the notion of multiple lives, but that might not always be a good thing. And I wouldn't say it is better at reducing something like jealousy, a Christian could not care about a mansion because they'll have something better in heaven, while a Buddhist could think their mansion means they're a better person than the one without it because their karma is superior.
I guess as far as I'm getting immediately to resolving this is only to say that there are probably pros and cons of each.
I'm also not really sure what you mean by one life making someone more interested in meaning and philosophy. I see plenty of Buddhists interested in this throughout history and I don't really get the connection.
person
Re: Being a light unto yourself
Quite raw, that video @lobster… the way he talks about his parents dying at quite an advanced age in nursing homes struck me as an awful way to go, I can’t imagine living through that and not feeling some measure of guilt about it.
Jeroen
Re: Is it better to believe in one life or in many?
Is it better to believe in one life or in many?
Yes! 😉😁
Sometimes better, sometimes worse.
For some better, for some worse.
In some ways better, in some worse.
The same, and different.
A better question might be: stuck between birth and death, and not knowing what came before and what comes after, whachagona do about it?
marcitko
Re: The AI tsunami
I have small project for work to prepare for. Its similar to things I'm comfortable with but with conditions different enough I wasn't completely comfortable with my knowledge so I thought I'd ask AI for some input. It did give me some info that helped, but it was far enough off that I spent 4 hours and $20 in gas a supplies running around doing things that I had no need to do. I was already correct in my plan, I just didn't have the detailed knowledge of the specifics enough to know I was correct. It also gave me some horrible advice that had I followed would have led to a disaster of a project.
What is it telling me about things that I don't have the knowledge to properly question?
person
Re: Benefits of a Loving Mind
Our local Tibetan Lama says that there is no enlightenment without developing both wisdom and compassion.
And both of these come from developing an ongoing state of awareness/mindfulness.
As we become self-aware and start to feel compassion for our own habits of ignorance, we start to see that others are just like us ... trying to become happier. This awareness triggers a sense of kinship with all living beings, and that is the source of developing compassion.
Without compassion we are too focused on ourselves ... too ego-centered ... to develop the wisdom needed to live in ongoing enlightenment.
