The existence of heroes and impossibly high standards

ownerof1000oddsocks

Have you noticed that people generally tend to revere and idolize certain people and, at the same time, put down everyone else for failing to live up to that standard?

Whether it's a god or a buddha or a celebrity, attention is sucked from the real world into one of ideals and promises; of grandeur and higher morality; of omniscience and omnipotence.

While these non-fictional and sometimes imaginary figures escape our grasp here we are squabbling among one another; dissecting one another for our weaknesses, imperfections and judgements.. and somehow falling short of our aspirations

Are there real heroes in this world?

Stephen

I would say that real heroes are the ones who are able to inspire us to become better people ourselves. Then again, "hero" is just a word.

skydancer

I can think of many people whose lives inspire me. They are all ordinary people but they live life heroically and they put the needs of others above themselves.

Stephen

What sky dancer is saying is about the same as what I'm saying. A hero isn't someone the masses adore, like a celebrity, but whoever inspires *you*. It could easily be an ordinary person or people, maybe someone you know that is very compassionate or risks their life for others. I think for all of us, the Buddha was and continues to be a hero as well; an influencing force for the good of all.

Deshy

ownerof1000oddsocks wrote: »

...here we are squabbling among one another; dissecting one another for our weaknesses, imperfections and judgements.. and somehow falling short of our aspirations

If you are responsible for this then you know where to start

Hero is a subjective notion. For example, the person who fights for my side in the war is a hero to me while he is the enemy of the opposite side, generally speaking.

FoibleFull

ownerof1000oddsocks wrote: »

Whether it's a god or a buddha or a celebrity, attention is sucked from the real world into one of ideals and promises; of grandeur and higher morality; of omniscience and omnipotence.

While these non-fictional and sometimes imaginary figures escape our grasp here we are squabbling among one another; dissecting one another for our weaknesses, imperfections and judgements.. and somehow falling short of our aspirations

Are there real heroes in this world?

Hmmm.

I need to ask: what is wrong with ideals? Om mani padme hung ... padme: the lotus has its roots in the mud but grows up into the light. Just as we do. If you do not aim for ideals, you stay in the mud.

Are there real heroes in this world? Of course ... each of us is a hero. I'm not being sentimental or snarky here ... I have read entries here of courage and honesty, of hardship and travail ... and of the irrepressible human spirit which bounces back, looking for solutions to this business we call "living", and looking for ways to reach out to others. If that's not being a hero, I don't know what is.

Stephen

That's the problem with words, Foible. If we look at them too closely, they lose their meaning. If we're all heroes, then there are no heroes.

NamelessRiver

Are there real heroes in this world?

I think Gods, Heroes, Charming Princes and the respective opposites - The Devil, The Villain and The Witch - all come from the same place. We need a world that is black and white, and the white must be attainable, or else we feel lost. These figures compose our sense of security, which is in itself a fantasy.

In that sense I think that a Hero as someone who actually fills that void caused by this fundamental insecurity cannot be real. We can attribute heroic qualities to people, and we can even tag certain behaviors as heroic, but the bottom line is that we are adding this quality to them. It is not something they possess "from their own side".

With that in mind you are left with the fundamental choice of how you relate to things. You can keep grasping\loathing things as they complement or destroy the character you play in this whole of Me vs The World scenario we have going on, or, you can accept reality for what it is: largely incomprehensible and adverse to being given meaning.

You can even add a third alternative: instead of seeing these fantasies as a reality by themselves you can use them in a goal-oriented way. Here you will have to understand how they make you work and how to manipulate them well enough in order to reach your goals. Perhaps this is close to Tantra, and the second alternative more Zen like.

I guess that's my opinion.

FoibleFull

Stephen wrote: »

That's the problem with words, Foible. If we look at them too closely, they lose their meaning. If we're all heroes, then there are no heroes.

Oh..... yes! Just like the Heart Sutra: there is heroes, there is no heroes. Oooo, love it!

Deshy