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Think Think, Judge Judge, Grasp Grasp
Simplify
Veteran
?
What about the nature of mind, or straight up questions on morality?
What about the nature of mind, or straight up questions on morality?
0
Comments
Palzang
Thinking?
Judging?
Grasping?
Habits of internet posting?
Tendencies?
The nature of Mind, or
Questions of morality?
What?
Palzang
What about the salt. . .
You are wise. period. And usually with such short and clear answers.
All in good fun, think-y thinker!
A
Sorry for the vagueness I was just poking
sure its bad form to disapear only to come back and complain, but
I was just looking at the new posts since I left and saw a lot what seems to be ego based ideation, defense, holding on to thoughts and ideas, you know stuff that seems irrelevant to the practice.
I don't think so! Or, I don't think, so...
Palzang
I started to get all defensive about being a noob and still learning. But then I thought about it.
Name one post above that is ego-based, (what is 'ideation'...?) defensive and 'holding on to thoughts and ideas'.
The fact is, we all made it up as we went along and had fun with it, because nobody had a clue what you were going on about.
In a medium such as this - where the only means of communication is the written word - then it's important to clarify precisely what your intention is within your post, what it is you seek by way of responses, and what kind of interaction you're looking for.
Otherwise, we could just as easily clump your original post into one of your own categories, and call it "Ego-based and defensive".
Say what you mean, mean what you say.
Now.
Would you like to start again, or shall we leave it here?
Ideation is idea making. It seems plainly obvious that the ideation machines in our minds are often driven by ego, especially obvious on the internet.
I find it both funny and sad that people on a 'Buddhist' forum chose to engage their ego grasping with the ideation machine.
You can see that sometimes people start escalating it and getting a bit mad. It is just part of being human, there is NOTHING offensive about that.
Attachment to 'knowledge'.
What is knowledge? Examining incomplete conceptual information for patterns that fit your fears and desires? Faith in a particular interpretation or aspect of something that was rumored to have been said 2000 years ago?
This whole thread is about as vague as vague gets. Quite psychoanalyzing every single word people say. Say what you mean! :rolleyes:
either you see it or you don't
If you say so, Neo.
I'm constantly fighting with my sense of 'self' and the 'identity' I'm trying to present and shore up on here. Not that others are like this, but I tend to be inflexible in my beliefs (although I'm better than I was) because I'm afraid to not have what I think are concrete answers to spiritual questions. About ten years ago I was called opinionated and arrogant by someone I respected and they were so right. If I was posting here with my old attitude I'd be pretty insufferable. I really held on to my views tightly and was threatened easily when someone disagreed or criticized me.
I still struggle with those old habits of clinging to my beliefs and I actually blush with embarrassment when I think back to some of the things I said in those days. But this forum has helped me SO much it's astonishing. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that bulletin boards like this one with its relative anonymity make it easy to be arrogant and unbending and they also lend themselves to feelings of self-importance because our posts are 'published'. So it presents the perfect opportunity to solidify one's sense of 'self' and because I've had to work so hard at resisting that temptation I've been forced to make changes in myself. It's slow going but I'm improving which has lessened my suffering considerably. I hope it's mitigated the suffering of those who read what I write too.
So ditto. The more I let go of this ego (although temporarily) the happier I feel. Maybe it's because of my anxiety but I have always been some sort of a laid back person anyway. But that doesn't mean I have no ego. Usually the quiet ones are those who keep it all bottled in
Glow,
That's how I see it too. Writing down our opinions and publishing them for all to see is an exercise in solidifying the ego in itself, even if we're not particularly clinging to those opinions. It's a challenge but a great one.
Deshy,
I'm SO with you on that. I can see, intellectually, how the understanding of not-self will completely eradicate my panic disorder because the little progress I've made in that area has already made a difference with the anxiety. I really do think of it as the antidote to the disorder for me.
Ever since my first panic attack when I was 9 or 10 I've been a virtual slave to fear. I've done relatively okay socially but it's always been there at my heels just waiting to strike and take me down. When I was a kid I assumed that I was going to end up in an institution and not be able to function in normal society.
But studying and contemplating the not-self teachings, among other teachings, has changed everything. Now I can actually look at fear and believe that I may conquer it, or at least it's pathological aspects, in this lifetime. And when I think of it like that I think, "How totally amazing is that?? I could conquer fear! I may not have to live constantly trying to keep it at bay." It makes me feel free for the first time since I was a young child.
Oooops! I'm babbling and off topic. I'll shut up now.