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Through the eyes of an Outcaste

betaboybetaboy Veteran
in Philosophy
Most people are superficial. They say, "Life is great. My kids are enjoying, my son is so good academically, my daughter loves ballet, as for me I have a great job, great friends...... Etc.

This is the wrong approach. Are you so cheap and shallow that you see the world in terms of the material benefits you now have, benefits which even the buddha shunned?

You will develop more empathy if you learn to see the world through the eyes of the outcaste, the leper, the poor, the miserable.
lobsterrobotrohit

Comments

  • fivebellsfivebells Veteran
    You are confused. The Buddha's path avoids both extremes.
    vinlynperson
  • robotrobot Veteran
    Been there, done that.
    Had my stuff stolen while I was asleep on a picnic table in Stanley park. Left with only the clothes I was wearing. Pulled myself up by my bootstraps.
    Did I mention that my kids are doing awesome?
    betaboyperson
  • howhow Veteran Veteran
    The human condition makes life a trial for anyone. A lifetime of effort devoted to fortifying the buttresses of our Ego's failings doesn't provide a very stable platform for truth to shine.
    If you have found your way beyond such superficiality I do hope you can spare a little empathy for the many not yet as evolved as you.
    lobsterbetaboyDavid
  • robotrobot Veteran
    how said:

    The human condition makes life a trial for anyone. A lifetime of effort devoted to fortifying the buttresses of our Ego's failings doesn't provide a very stable platform for truth to shine.
    If you have found your way beyond such superficiality I do hope you can spare a little empathy for the many not yet as evolved as you.

    How poetic. Is this directed at me?
    Either way. Are we taking betaboy seriously now?
    Too bad. I have been enjoying his fishing trips lately.
    betaboyMaryAnneCitta
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran
    betaboy said:

    You will develop more empathy if you learn to see the world through the eyes of the outcaste, the leper, the poor, the miserable.

    Seeing through others being, walking in their shoes is a way to know yourself, your teacher, the sangha, your partner and even that well known Hindu heretic we all know, Buddha . . .

    Stroll on.
  • howhow Veteran Veteran
    edited December 2013
    @robot
    robot said:

    how said:

    The human condition makes life a trial for anyone. A lifetime of effort devoted to fortifying the buttresses of our Ego's failings doesn't provide a very stable platform for truth to shine.
    If you have found your way beyond such superficiality I do hope you can spare a little empathy for the many not yet as evolved as you.

    How poetic. Is this directed at me?
    Either way. Are we taking betaboy seriously now?
    Too bad. I have been enjoying his fishing trips lately.
    If it was, I'd show you due respect by headlining it with your handle. Geese, we even sail the same waters!
    Part of the problem is that by the time I thumb poke a response and press "Post",
    regular typer's have added numerous posts that I have not yet seen.

    I am conflicted by whether to ever encourage a flamer with a response or/and hoping that something I write might quench some of the collateral damage....but
    Mostly I think, "Dam, He's hooked my again"
    lobster
  • robotrobot Veteran
    how said:

    @robot

    robot said:

    how said:

    The human condition makes life a trial for anyone. A lifetime of effort devoted to fortifying the buttresses of our Ego's failings doesn't provide a very stable platform for truth to shine.
    If you have found your way beyond such superficiality I do hope you can spare a little empathy for the many not yet as evolved as you.

    How poetic. Is this directed at me?
    Either way. Are we taking betaboy seriously now?
    Too bad. I have been enjoying his fishing trips lately.
    If it was, I'd show you due respect by headlining it with your handle. Geese, we even sail the same waters!
    Part of the problem is that by the time I thumb poke a response and press "Post",
    regular typer's have added numerous posts that I have not yet seen.

    I am conflicted by whether to ever encourage a flamer with a response or/and hoping that something I write might quench some of the collateral damage....but
    Mostly I think, "Dam, He's hooked my again"
    Sorry. I was caught up in the game. It seemed like an appropriate response to my flippancy.
    Still, I was thinking that if betaboy was anything other than a fellow fisherman, I might take offence at his suggestion that my approach is wrong and my decades of work have left me cheap and shallow.
    Maybe one day he will earn the right to brag about his kids. Right now I'm not holding out much hope for him finding a wife who will put up with him. Even a white one.
  • betaboybetaboy Veteran
    robot said:

    how said:

    @robot

    robot said:

    how said:

    The human condition makes life a trial for anyone. A lifetime of effort devoted to fortifying the buttresses of our Ego's failings doesn't provide a very stable platform for truth to shine.
    If you have found your way beyond such superficiality I do hope you can spare a little empathy for the many not yet as evolved as you.

    How poetic. Is this directed at me?
    Either way. Are we taking betaboy seriously now?
    Too bad. I have been enjoying his fishing trips lately.
    If it was, I'd show you due respect by headlining it with your handle. Geese, we even sail the same waters!
    Part of the problem is that by the time I thumb poke a response and press "Post",
    regular typer's have added numerous posts that I have not yet seen.

    I am conflicted by whether to ever encourage a flamer with a response or/and hoping that something I write might quench some of the collateral damage....but
    Mostly I think, "Dam, He's hooked my again"
    Sorry. I was caught up in the game. It seemed like an appropriate response to my flippancy.
    Still, I was thinking that if betaboy was anything other than a fellow fisherman, I might take offence at his suggestion that my approach is wrong and my decades of work have left me cheap and shallow.
    Maybe one day he will earn the right to brag about his kids. Right now I'm not holding out much hope for him finding a wife who will put up with him. Even a white one.
    That's a very mean thing to say.

  • robotrobot Veteran
    betaboy said:

    robot said:

    how said:

    @robot

    robot said:

    how said:

    The human condition makes life a trial for anyone. A lifetime of effort devoted to fortifying the buttresses of our Ego's failings doesn't provide a very stable platform for truth to shine.
    If you have found your way beyond such superficiality I do hope you can spare a little empathy for the many not yet as evolved as you.

    How poetic. Is this directed at me?
    Either way. Are we taking betaboy seriously now?
    Too bad. I have been enjoying his fishing trips lately.
    If it was, I'd show you due respect by headlining it with your handle. Geese, we even sail the same waters!
    Part of the problem is that by the time I thumb poke a response and press "Post",
    regular typer's have added numerous posts that I have not yet seen.

    I am conflicted by whether to ever encourage a flamer with a response or/and hoping that something I write might quench some of the collateral damage....but
    Mostly I think, "Dam, He's hooked my again"
    Sorry. I was caught up in the game. It seemed like an appropriate response to my flippancy.
    Still, I was thinking that if betaboy was anything other than a fellow fisherman, I might take offence at his suggestion that my approach is wrong and my decades of work have left me cheap and shallow.
    Maybe one day he will earn the right to brag about his kids. Right now I'm not holding out much hope for him finding a wife who will put up with him. Even a white one.
    That's a very mean thing to say.


    You have been posting some nonsense lately. Don't go getting all sensitive now.




    lobstervinlynfederica
  • robotrobot Veteran
    ^ that is hilarious!
  • betaboybetaboy Veteran
    robot said:

    betaboy said:

    robot said:

    how said:

    @robot

    robot said:

    how said:

    The human condition makes life a trial for anyone. A lifetime of effort devoted to fortifying the buttresses of our Ego's failings doesn't provide a very stable platform for truth to shine.
    If you have found your way beyond such superficiality I do hope you can spare a little empathy for the many not yet as evolved as you.

    How poetic. Is this directed at me?
    Either way. Are we taking betaboy seriously now?
    Too bad. I have been enjoying his fishing trips lately.
    If it was, I'd show you due respect by headlining it with your handle. Geese, we even sail the same waters!
    Part of the problem is that by the time I thumb poke a response and press "Post",
    regular typer's have added numerous posts that I have not yet seen.

    I am conflicted by whether to ever encourage a flamer with a response or/and hoping that something I write might quench some of the collateral damage....but
    Mostly I think, "Dam, He's hooked my again"
    Sorry. I was caught up in the game. It seemed like an appropriate response to my flippancy.
    Still, I was thinking that if betaboy was anything other than a fellow fisherman, I might take offence at his suggestion that my approach is wrong and my decades of work have left me cheap and shallow.
    Maybe one day he will earn the right to brag about his kids. Right now I'm not holding out much hope for him finding a wife who will put up with him. Even a white one.
    That's a very mean thing to say.


    You have been posting some nonsense lately.




    Lately?
    EvenThirdfedericahowInvincible_summer
  • AllbuddhaBoundAllbuddhaBound Veteran
    It brought back a memory I had of a reporter who had experimented to see what it was like to be a bag lady in Edmonton (A Canadian city). As a bag lady, she had never been treated so contemptuously in her life. People would walk across the street to avoid her. They would be so disgusted and judgemental, that they would insult her, laugh at her and do their very best to shame and humiliate her. This was even true of the police. She found that the only people who actually showed any caring was the prostitutes. Just goes to show what a little humility will do.
    lobsterpersonbetaboyInvincible_summer
  • 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
    There's no 'e' on the end of 'outcast' either, by the way.
  • genkakugenkaku Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
    edited December 2013
    "Your life is so difficult that it has never been tried before" ... always liked that. No need for smarmy violins or thundering lectures aimed at others. "Your life is so difficult that it has never been tried before."

    The lesson that seems to me to be implicit is just lay off the violins or thundering lectures to others and ... get a life!
  • 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
    genkaku said:

    ... get a life!

    QFT....

    NYE....Good time to start anew.....

  • DavidDavid A human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First Nations Veteran
    edited December 2013
    betaboy said:

    Most people are superficial. They say, "Life is great. My kids are enjoying, my son is so good academically, my daughter loves ballet, as for me I have a great job, great friends...... Etc.

    This is the wrong approach. Are you so cheap and shallow that you see the world in terms of the material benefits you now have, benefits which even the buddha shunned?

    Buddha wanted kids to enjoy and ask questions, I think. Why do you suppose Buddha would shun a girls love of ballet, right livlihood and having good friends?

    Buddha didn't shun anybody. He could have headed in any direction when he awoke in Sidhartha but he went back to the Gotamas and gave his family the chance to come along even though he was no longer the one they knew.
    You will develop more empathy if you learn to see the world through the eyes of the outcaste, the leper, the poor, the miserable.
    Those who are poor and miserable, outcasts and lepers... They can not be good friends or have kids that are doing well? Can they not still find happiness by offering the best they can do?

    Empathy doesn't come from such division...

    We can learn to feel through others without losing our smile... Doing good service depends on it most times.

  • betaboybetaboy Veteran
    edited December 2013
    federica said:

    There's no 'e' on the end of 'outcast' either, by the way.

    Tell that to Hindus, lol. Dalits (a certain caste in Hindu society) are called outcastes, and they survive by doing menial labor.
  • CittaCitta Veteran
    edited December 2013
    betaboy said:

    robot said:

    betaboy said:

    robot said:

    how said:

    @robot

    robot said:

    how said:

    The human condition makes life a trial for anyone. A lifetime of effort devoted to fortifying the buttresses of our Ego's failings doesn't provide a very stable platform for truth to shine.
    If you have found your way beyond such superficiality I do hope you can spare a little empathy for the many not yet as evolved as you.

    How poetic. Is this directed at me?
    Either way. Are we taking betaboy seriously now?
    Too bad. I have been enjoying his fishing trips lately.
    If it was, I'd show you due respect by headlining it with your handle. Geese, we even sail the same waters!
    Part of the problem is that by the time I thumb poke a response and press "Post",
    regular typer's have added numerous posts that I have not yet seen.

    I am conflicted by whether to ever encourage a flamer with a response or/and hoping that something I write might quench some of the collateral damage....but
    Mostly I think, "Dam, He's hooked my again"
    Sorry. I was caught up in the game. It seemed like an appropriate response to my flippancy.
    Still, I was thinking that if betaboy was anything other than a fellow fisherman, I might take offence at his suggestion that my approach is wrong and my decades of work have left me cheap and shallow.
    Maybe one day he will earn the right to brag about his kids. Right now I'm not holding out much hope for him finding a wife who will put up with him. Even a white one.
    That's a very mean thing to say.


    You have been posting some nonsense lately.




    Lately?
    Betaboy.....and I am serious here..what is that you really want ?
    Are you simply bored and lonely ?
    If so there is no disgrace in that. But no number of cyber ghosts can scratch-that itch.
    vinlynbetaboy
  • MaryAnneMaryAnne Veteran
    ^^ Hey, I got in "trouble" asking him those kinds of questions...... (which he never answered anyway). :(
  • genkakugenkaku Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
    @MaryAnne -- You ought to know by now, sweetie -- never ask a simple question where a convoluted answer is available. :)

    Answers provide control. When I have the answer, I don't have to do any work ... does it get any kooler than that?
  • MaryAnneMaryAnne Veteran
    edited December 2013
    Well I just can't win ....
    image
  • MaryAnneMaryAnne Veteran
    and I can't get my jpeg only in the box without it being below as well! *sigh* image
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