Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Sign In Register
Examples: Monday, today, last week, Mar 26, 3/26/04
Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.

Do you think "Schadenfreude"(pleasure in pain of others) is natural?

BeachHouseGuyBeachHouseGuy
edited June 2011 in General Banter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schadenfreude
I had a friend I was angry with, something happened to him, I can't get over how I reacted to hearing about it.

Comments

  • woods93woods93 Explorer
    I do not think it is productive but sometimes you can't help how you feel. I just let the feelings come and let them go.
  • taiyakitaiyaki Veteran
    it's not natural, but it is a common action in most people. you could say everyone is living as insane people, but the insane people are so common that it seems natural.

    but your natural state does not see differences. if there is no permanent self, then there cannot be a permanent other.
    everyone and everything is empty of any inherent traits and self.

    so with this view when a friend is angry at me, my old reaction would be to be angry back at him.
    but now i realize that it is the energy of anger that has taken form through him and pointed towards me. i know this because my friend isn't always angry at me. at times he can be pleasant towards me. all these emotions/thoughts/beliefs are merely tourists. they come and go. what i see in him is his inherent buddha nature, which is just his emptiness. it's not that he himself is emptiness, there is only emptiness.

    have fun with this one. remember all views are projection from us. they are all interpretations and projections on an empty reality.
  • kaytekayte
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schadenfreude
    I had a friend I was angry with, something happened to him, I can't get over how I reacted to hearing about it.
    It all depends on your state of consciousness. You didn't give us much to go on. How much pleasure did you get from your friend's troubles? Do you like the way it made you feel? How would you feel if people delighted in your misfortune? Do like being around people who indulge in schadenfreude? How do you think it affects you and the people around you? Is it an uplifting affect or a corrupting one? Is it something you would be proud of displaying in front of people you respect?

  • BeachHouseGuyBeachHouseGuy
    lol no take it ez
  • DaozenDaozen Veteran
    Yes it's probably 'natural'; nature can be cruel. So don't beat yourself up about it. The fact you are aware of your reaction tells me you are on the right path.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    lol no take it ez
    First you say you can't get over something, then you give an almost dismissive response to someone trying to help by clarifying the situation.

    Either it matters to you - or it really doesn't.

    Which is it?


  • BeachHouseGuyBeachHouseGuy
    edited June 2011
    I don't want to feel like there is something being an outside source of influence on the situation. You know constantly picking away at everything, being annoying, but no one let's it be heard.
  • compassionate_warriorcompassionate_warrior Veteran
    I don't want to feel like there is something being an outside source of influence on the situation. You know constantly picking away at everything, being annoying, but no one let's it be heard.
    What does this post mean? What is it in reference to? It's difficult for some to respond meaningfully to your OP when you don't tell us how you reacted to hearing about the "something" that happened to your friend.
  • kaytekayte
    edited June 2011
    lol no take it ez
    I was merely suggesting some introspection, young Padawan.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introspection
    Introspection is the self-observation and reporting of conscious inner thoughts, desires and sensations. It is a conscious and purposive process relying on thinking, reasoning, and examining one's own thoughts, feelings, and, in more spiritual cases, one's soul. It can also be called contemplation of one's self, and is contrasted with extrospection, the observation of things external to one's self. Introspection may be used synonymously with and in a similar way to human self-reflection. It is used greatly as a spiritual examination.

    Introspection is like the activity described by Plato when he asked, "…why should we not calmly and patiently review our own thoughts, and thoroughly examine and see what these appearances in us really are?"[1][2]
  • kaytekayte
    What does this post mean? What is it in reference to? It's difficult for some to respond meaningfully to your OP when you don't tell us how you reacted to hearing about the "something" that happened to your friend.
    Thank you, CW. I didn't understand either.

    @ girllikesam- is English your first language? If not, that may be why we are having trouble conversing with you. If you are uncomfortable expressing your thoughts, I understand, but I can't make any suggestions if I don't understand what you are asking.

Sign In or Register to comment.