Best Of
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
I moved the baby hedgehog off the drive, fearing it might get run over/squashed ...
A while back I saw a turtle wandering across my driveway, making its way to the pond ..It had escaped from one of my neighbours......it was on the run 
Shoshin1
Re: An online approach
@RobinH said:
Thank you. Nice of you. Oh, I just noticed where you live. There must be a boom in looking for ways to de-stress right now.
I'm guessing he just moved in the hopes that he'll become a US citizen... 😏😂
person
Re: Zen - 'enlightenment in this lifetime'
Who's there?
Can't be Buddha
Can't be Buddha who?
Can't be Buddha You!
Re: From the non-dual book pile…
Stack the books, place a cushion on top, and use them as a meditation seat. In this way, a vast array of wisdom quite literally supports your practice.
Shoshin1
Re: Can the mind be conditioned into enlightenment?
@Kerome said:
@mindatrisk said:
It's just excuse after excuse after excuse. None of which you truly believe, none of which makes sense, and none, if push came to shove, you'd even act on.If I were you, I wouldn’t spend so much time projecting. You don’t know what we do to help others, you’re basing what you are saying just on some image of the meditating Buddhist that you hold in your mind. What do you know of how I help maintain my parents, the volunteering work I do, or the donations I make.
This is a sangha, a place where we share what wisdom we have, most of us are here to contribute to the community and try to answer the questions that people put in front of us. Just being here and adding with care and attention what wisdom you have is already making a positive contribution to all the noise on the internet. I don’t think it’s appropriate to make these kind of accusatory remarks and start insinuating that people here aren’t doing enough.
None of you believe this stuff! None of you live like this already! If the suffering came to your door then you'd break your back to help. But you going to the suffering... that seems to be a point of resistance. That's when the pretty 'wisdom' kicks in.
You seem to like to talk the talk, but I don’t see much sign of you yourself actually lifting a finger.
Accumulating and spreading wisdom is a very important part of Buddhism. I’d even go so far as to say it is the most important part. Much of the rest is idiot compassion, useful as far as it goes but really just temporary stopgaps which aid a person in the moment but don’t make a lasting change.
I've never said that you do not do anything. My responses have been to your own responses. As I said before, an obvious and natural response to my questions is...
_Yeah, I agree, there is a lot of suffering in the world, and in such perilous times it is so important that everyone does what they can. _
This is a normal, human response to the world situation at the moment. Instead, I got responses about 'other peoples karma', 'waiting to be enlightened' etc. and when I countered these with good arguments - and they are good arguments - I get 'well what do you do', 'you are trolling', 'you are angry', 'you need to grow' etc. etc.
You don't know who I am, and you don't know what I do. But many of you see fit to insult me on the basis of a discussion - a discussion that is not personal to any one of you, but a discussion about the state of the world and our responsibilities within it.
I haven't said that you or anyone here does not do good. I haven't even said that you don't do enough good - how would I know? I've just challenged what you consider to be wise responses that, to me, having gaping gaps and contradictions in them, and that, in the real world, you don't even adhere to yourselves.
You guys seem extremely sensitive to being challenged, to being asked questions, to having your wisdom countered. Rather than engaging in a discussion, considering points I've made, thinking things through, exploring ideas, some of you simply start to jab a finger at me. What is this?
Have I said nothing at all of any merit? Have I said nothing worthy of consideration? Have any of you replied with a simple 'fair point'...? Buddhism has a rich tradition of extreme scrutiny, meticulous examination, ripping apart everything that we believe and think to find out what is real and true.
It seems like here is much as the rest of the world is becoming. Safe spaces where we are free from being challenged, free from having our views questioned, patting each other on the back, telling each other how wise we are. I'm sorry, but this is not the path. And if you want a genuine sangha where people come to receive genuine wisdom, then you are utterly duty bound to tear apart your own ideas and thoughts before you presume to share them with others.
I'm sorry, but you are all falling far below par based on this discussion here. I don't come to teach. I come to discuss, learn and grow. It would be nice if that didn't involve being insulted, but so be it, I can handle that. This forum is dead compared to the last time I was here a few years ago. Maybe you all need to think about the kind of 'sangha' it is that you are creating.
Three laughing monks
I came across this story today… it involves monks so worth a repost.
I have heard about three monks. No names are mentioned, because they never disclosed their names to anybody. They never answered anything. In China, they are simply known as the three laughing monks. And they did only one thing: they would enter a village, stand in the market place and start laughing. They would laugh with their whole being and suddenly people would become aware. Then others would also get the infection and a crowd would gather. The whole crowd would start laughing just because of them. What was happening? The whole town would get involved. Then they would move to another town.
They were loved very much. That was their only sermon, their only message; that laugh. And they would not teach; they would simply create a situation. Then it happened that they became famous all over the country. Three laughing monks. All of China loved them, respected them. Nobody had ever preached in such a way that life must be just a laughter and nothing else. They were not laughing at anyone in particular. They were simply laughing as if they had understood the Cosmic joke. And they spread so much joy all over China without using a single word. People would ask for their names, but they would simply laugh. So that became their name — the three laughing monks.
Then they grew old. And while staying in one village. one of the three monks died. The whole village became very much expectant because they thought that when one of them had died, the other two would surely weep. This must be worth seeing because no one had ever seen these people weeping. The whole village gathered. But the two monks were standing beside the corpse of the third and laughing — such a belly laugh. So the villagers asked them to explain this. So for the first time, the two monks spoke and said, “We are laughing because this man has won. We were always wondering as to who would die first and this man has defeated us. We are laughing at our defeat and his victory. Also he lived with us for many years and we laughed together and we enjoyed each other’s togetherness, presence. There can be no better way of giving him the last send off. We can only laugh.”
But the whole village was sad. And when the dead monk’s body was put on the funeral pyre, then the village realised that the remaining two monks were not the only ones who were joking, the third who was dead was also laughing. He had asked his companions not to change his clothes. It was conventional that when a man died they changed his dress and gave a bath to the body.So the third monk had said, “Don’t give me a bath because I have never been unclean. So much laughter has been in my life that no impurity can accumulate, can come to me. I have not gathered any dust. Laughter is always young and fresh. So don’t give me a bath and don’t change my clothes.” So just to respect his wishes, they did not change his clothes.
And when the body was put to fire, suddenly they became aware that he had hidden some Chinese fireworks under his clothes and they had started going off. So the whole village laughed and the other two monks said: “You rascal, you are dead, but you have defeated us once again. Your laughter is the last.”
Jeroen
Re: Funny Stuff
When your guided meditation is too specific:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Xgc49FGBx/
marcitko
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
For the last few weeks I have been ordering but not getting Venezuelan chocolate. Luckily we have alternative supplies [phew...]
Now that Venezuela is under American occupation asset stripping protective custody, I hope to be buying their Coca flavoured chocolate bars very soon... 
Maybe I am missing something?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca
lobster