Best Of
Re: Mastering Zazen, mastering one's life?
@Kotishka said:
So… is this it, then? There’s no real goal—just a lifelong practice of learning to sit and simply be, whether it's raining, you're heartbroken, or you're high on some success at work.
Hmm, some of the quotes in the No Buddhist Quotes thread imply that there is no path to enlightenment, that maybe it happens but there is nothing you can do about it. That once you see it, you realise this was it all along, and it has always been this.
For me, what happened was that a great deal of time spent alone slowly caused things to start dropping away. As you lose the trappings of society, you come more to stillness and quiet inside. It’s not like quiet outside, just a matter of noise, but slowly there is a cessation.
Jeroen
Re: New Pope on her way...
This statement was reported to have been made by the Pope during his hospital stay. He didn't actually make it, but I found it moving so am posting it for that and to highlight something we all know about misleading statements online.
The walls of hospitals have heard more honest prayers than churches...They have witnessed far more sincere kisses than those in airports...It is in hospitals that you see a homophobe being saved by a gay doctor.A privileged doctor saving the life of a beggar...In intensive care, you see a Jew taking care of a racist...A police officer and a prisoner in the same room receiving the same care...A wealthy patient waiting for a liver transplant, ready to receive the organ from a poor donor...It is in these moments, when the hospital touches the wounds of people, that different worlds intersect according to a divine design. And in this communion of destinies, we realize that alone, we are nothing.The absolute truth of people, most of the time, only reveals itself in moments of pain or in the real threat of an irreversible loss.A hospital is a place where human beings remove their masks and show themselves as they truly are, in their purest essence.This life will pass quickly, so do not waste it fighting with people.Do not criticize your body too much.Do not complain excessively.Do not lose sleep over bills.Make sure to hug your loved ones.Do not worry too much about keeping the house spotless.Material goods must be earned by each person—do not dedicate yourself to accumulating an inheritance.. . .You are waiting for too much: Christmas, Friday, next year, when you have money, when love arrives, when everything is perfect...Listen, perfection does not exist.A human being cannot attain it because we are simply not made to be fulfilled here.Here, we are given an opportunity to learn.So, make the most of this trial of life—and do it now.Respect yourself, respect others. Walk your own path, and let go of the path others have chosen for you.Respect: do not comment, do not judge, do not interfere.Love more, forgive more, embrace more, live more intensely!And leave the rest in the hands of the Creator.
~Not Pope Francis
person
Re: What documentary are you watching?
An Israeli woman I know who lives on the island recently returned after spending some time back in Israel.
Like many Israelis, she doesn’t like the politics there, especially the way Palestinian people are treated.
She told me she’d never let her children serve in the IDF, although one of her sisters is proud that her kids are serving.
Even though she’s passionate about Palestinian rights and was an activist back in Israel, it’s still really hard for her to reconcile with some of her family members over this.
It must be incredibly hard for Israelis like her, having to navigate the tension between family, friends, and a large portion of Israeli society who hold different views, and her own deep belief in doing what she feels is right.
Shoshin1
Re: What documentary are you watching?
I took the opportunity to watch it @Shoshin1 … as a Dutch person, it is strange to me to watch so many people in the thrall to extreme ideas of dominance, of taking land, of ejecting people, of making their lives a misery. The Netherlands is a successful multicultural society where everyone has the same rights, and I thought Israel held to similar, Western ideals. But apparently it is not so.
I found Louis to have the patience of a saint here, I would have booked a plane ticket out of there in days, it feels so oppressive.
Jeroen
Re: What documentary are you watching?
Just 30 minutes into watching this, I'll finish watching after dinner... It's possible the narrator in a documentary is AI, but still quite interesting and is not a distraction.
Unseen China | Hidden Places You Won't Believe Exist! My Unreal Planet TV
China is a place steeped in rich culture and history, no wonder I'm drawn to the place.
Shoshin1