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  • Unknown's avatar

    hardie karges 2:17 am on October 5, 2025 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Dalai Lama, , , , , ,   

    Buddhism 401: The Science of Silence… 

    No experience is truly bad if it teaches a valuable lesson. This is gospel in the Dalai Lama’s Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism, I think, and seems to mesh well with all of them, something of a quick lesson in karma, when initial results might not be encouraging. Because none of us are in this for cheap tricks and quick thrills but settled in for the long run of sublime moments and partial fulfillments which leave themselves open for further development.

    The important thing is not what we get but what we give. Life is not transactional. Life is about fulfillment, not about feeling full, but about feeling satisfied at the spiritual rewards of suffering and its many lessons available for the simple taking. This is available in complete silence without any further methods of extracting the good from the fruit other than simple meditation. Precious moments are often wasted in mindless banter and useless argument, when silence will usually suffice.

    In fact, Buddhism could almost be known as a faith of silence, in silence, in an age when engagement, by means of speech, is rewarded as currency in the physical medium of social media. ‘Silence is violence,’ some say with no proof, and it’s true that there is no place left to go to escape the howls from the house-holders and the homeless, but there is no reason to surrender the quiet life of contemplation, either. For millennia deep contemplation was the closest we could come to truth, and science will never change all that, but it can certainly change some. There is a science of silence, also.

     
    • Dylan Raines's avatar

      Dylan Raines 8:39 am on October 5, 2025 Permalink | Reply

      If no experience is truly bad, is no experience truly good? Is believing too much in our own subjective judgment of good and bad perhaps the problem?

      • hardie karges's avatar

        hardie karges 7:01 pm on October 11, 2025 Permalink | Reply

        I think you’re probably right, yes, a duality we could probably do well without. Thanks for your comment!

  • Unknown's avatar

    hardie karges 4:25 am on May 11, 2025 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Dalai Lama, , , , , , , ,   

    Buddhism in a Time of Troubles 

    In times of chaos, we need calm minds. In times of crisis and cruelty we need strong hearts. Welcome to the USA, c. 2025. It is a time of peace. It is a time of war. There’s no real way to know what future historians will think about this era, but it probably won’t be good. Goodness is as goodness does, and cruelty just doesn’t count for much, unless you’re engaged in some frightfully fanciful fantasy. But Buddhism is just the opposite of that, and that comes after many a long involved historical dialectic, the likes of which continue to this day.

    But cruelty was never the kicker. Kindness is. The Dalai Lama said it, and I’d second it in a second. In Buddhism you don’t really have to do much of anything, as long as you’re nice about it. In fact, Buddhism is defined more or less by what you’re NOT to do, e.g. the precepts, not to be confused with the commandments, more like the prohibitions. Then there’s Emptiness, ‘shunyata‘, which veritably defines Buddhism by its lack of requirements, meditation being the prime example.

    So, the trick is not to be consumed by the swirl of politics and policies, even when the angst is almost overwhelming. After all, sometimes the worst situations eventually yield the best results. The important thing is to hold fast to certain principles, no matter how difficult that can sometimes be. Then there are ‘skillful means.’ That means that sometimes difficult goals can be accomplished in unfamiliar and unexpected ways. Be creative. The world is waiting patiently.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    hardie karges 3:09 am on April 28, 2024 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Dalai Lama, , , , , , , , ,   

    Non-Violence: the Original and Noblest Truth of Buddhism…   

    ‘First do no harm,’ primum non nocere in Latin, is part of the Hippocratic Oath. It should also be part of the Buddhist Oath. Because nothing is more important, not really, than ahimsa, non-violence, even if it’s not part of the Four Noble Truths or even the Eightfold path, though it could easily be assumed in samma kammanta, samyak karmanta, i.e. right actions, so obvious is the connection. And that karmanta, of course, could also be translated as ‘good karma,’ so think of it that way if you prefer, since most people don’t know that the word karma literally means ‘actions,’ so make a note. 

    Yes, sometimes the simplest and most obvious things are the most important, whether they are ever written up that way or not. Because when the Dalai Lama says that his religion is kindness, that’s exactly what he means, non-violence, for starters, on a sliding scale ranging from sympathy to empathy. And if that sympathy gets you some basic non-violence, then high-style empathy should eventually get you some beginner-level enlightenment, at the least.  

    And from there you can dream of nirvana, if you’re ambitious, or just content yourself with a nice job and a nice family in a nice little town with an active city center and a price line that won’t break your budget. Because the details don’t really matter so much, once you’ve made your peace with the world. You can adapt it to your requirements or adapt yourself to its requirements, or you can Buddha-like split the difference and walk that meandering Middle Path in a sweet spot dialectical dance and reconciliation of opposites. I think you already know my choice. 

     
    • quantumpreceptor's avatar

      quantumpreceptor 3:40 am on May 1, 2024 Permalink | Reply

      I really like the picture one of your last lines left in my mind. “ in a sweet spot dialectical dance and reconciliation of opposites”
      I sometimes see more of a knife edge but I would rather dance and have fun.

      My take on no harm is found here:

      The Paramita of Meaningful Bahavior

      • hardie karges's avatar

        hardie karges 3:25 am on June 23, 2024 Permalink | Reply

        Nice. Thanks…

  • Unknown's avatar

    hardie karges 3:45 am on April 14, 2024 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , Dalai Lama, , , , , Heart Sutra, , , , ,   

    Buddhism 101: the Middle Path is Easy  

    Muslims don’t always seem happy. Christians sometimes seem too happy. Buddhists seem just about right, more or less, give or take, on average, all things considered. That’s the middle path, that sweet spot somewhere between extremes, of luxury and lack, surrender or attack, white and black, better multicolor than random shades of gray. And that’s foundational to Buddhism, that lack of hard doctrine, much less dogma, in favor of an all-encompassing dharma based on principles on moderation, mediation, and avoidance of extremes and attachments. 

    “My religion is kindness,” the Dalai Lama himself once famously said, and that about wraps it up, on the foundational level, when combined with meditation as the finest form of practice. Sure, there’s the ontological primacy of emptiness, still, but that makes little or no difference in the average person’s life, it itself subject to shifting connotations and lack of definition, resonant mostly as the dueling protagonist in the Heart Sutra refrain, “Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is Form,” fully transcendent but ultimately inconclusive. 

    Buddhism is first and still foremost discipline, dignity, and detachment, far from the madding crowds and seething temptations. Control your mind to control your circumstances, especially when the likelihood of changing those circumstances is minimal. Choose your battles carefully. Save yourself, then save the world. That’s the best that we can do. Do it now. 

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    hardie karges 4:26 am on February 25, 2024 Permalink | Reply
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    Kindness and Compassion are the Heart and Soul of Buddhism  

    Buddhism in Bhutan

    Compassion has no expiration date. It’s never too late to make new friends with old enemies. This is one of the secrets to a good life: no grudges, no scorched earth, no retribution, and, most importantly, no regrets. It should be simple, since you don’t really have to do anything, but in fact it’s one of the hardest things ever, so attached as we are to our egos and our ‘face’ that we spend so much time and effort saving, lest someone steal it right off of our heads, haha. 

    The Dalai Lama once said that his religion was simple, and that’s kindness, which is compassion, in a word, same thing, same time, and that’s Buddhism, too, in a word. All the elaborate lists and literary expositions that comprise the Buddhist Abhidharma are unnecessary to describe the heart of Buddhism, so why waste so much time and effort when you can put it all in a word, or two? Because yes, there is another word that needs to be included, and if karuna is the first word, then metta is the second, often translated as ‘lovingkindness’ or simple ‘friendliness.’ 

    Put the two words together, and you’ve captured the heart and soul of Buddhism. In fact, modern standard Thai language does indeed often combine the two words for extra effect, so mettakaruna is a word or phrase that you will hear often there. Suffering is famously the back-story to Buddhism, that and its cessation, and that’s pretty much all you need to know. The cosmology of self and rebirth are important but debatable, IMHO, and thus of secondary importance, ditto nirvana. The analogy to Christian forgiveness might be worth mentioning but it isn’t necessary. Be good; don’t be bad. It’s that simple. 

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    hardie karges 10:58 am on May 29, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Covid, Dalai Lama, , , , , , human sacrifice, , murder,   

    Buddhism 499: the Worst Experiences Sometimes Teach the Best Lessons… 

    And while this may not be one of the Four Noble Truths or one of the folds of the Eightfold Path, it is one of the mystic truths of Buddhism, often cited by the Dalai Lama and very easy to digest in its simplicity. It is easy because it is intuitive, even if it somehow defies common sense. How could the Covid pandemic teach a valuable lesson, after all? Well, if it teaches us how to deal with Global Warming, then that would be valuable, wouldn’t it? And just that it may very well do.

    Think of it as the veritable kick upside the noggin that I could never explain with so much bloggin,’ haha. Didn’t Hitler teach us something? Didn’t slavery? No religion ever prohibited slavery, or even spoke disapprovingly of it, until very recently. It’s even doubtful that murder was considered a sin, until around the time that the Buddha, and then later Jesus, thought to specifically mention it. Why? Wasn’t that obvious? Probably not, sad to say. Because while we stand aghast now while contemplating human sacrifice, they didn’t. They lined up for the privilege.

    So, score one for cultural relativism, and let’s stand reproached for our modern arrogance. Is human sacrifice okay, then? Of course not. We know that now, that every life has value, and it’s only a question of when it begins, right? But isn’t there also a question of when it should end? This is part of the ongoing dialectic towards a higher—and more convenient—truth. What about Global Warming, then? How does that fit? We must live in harmony with Nature, somehow, some way. We don’t need to live with Dodge Charger V-8’s with four-on-the-floor and dual Holley four-barrel carbs, though. We already proved that. Now we need to relearn some of our other previous lessons.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    hardie karges 8:50 am on July 18, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Bodhicitta, , , , Dalai Lama, , , , , ,   

    Buddhism Made Easy: Kindness, Compassion, and all that Meditation… 

    Meditation every day keeps the doctor away, and a little kindness helps, too. That pretty much wraps up the gist of Buddhism, without all the doctrines and the calls to action, when inaction is often much preferred. Because Christianity may indeed have been a better paradigm for development of a world raw and wild, but Buddhism is the better paradigm for sustainability. And that is much the reason why I am here. The sentiment is easily extrapolated or interpolated for the life of an ordinary human being, also, such that Christianity might indeed be the better model for growing up and developing, but Buddhism is the better model for settling in and settling down, for the long haul…

    The Four Noble (Aryan) Truths and the primacy of suffering form the cornerstone of Buddhism’s overt doctrine, but meditation is the cornerstone of covert discipline. And so we tame the body and mind as we tame the world, and suddenly things become clearer. The natural animosity of the state of Nature is nothing of the sort when two typically argumentative species—say dogs and cats—are raised together as pups and kittens from the earliest days, keeping each other warm when nights are cold, and heaters are just fantasies from the north country. Is there any better example of Bodhicitta, i.e. Buddha nature?

    (More …)
     
  • Unknown's avatar

    hardie karges 7:45 am on May 6, 2018 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , Dalai Lama, , , , , , system,   

    Update on the Buddhist Update: Hard work… 

    img_1935

    Now the last thing I expected when I ‘finally got serious about Buddhism’ a few years ago was that there were people still decidedly attached to the three-in-one concept of rebirth-past lives-retributive karma, to the extent that without it Buddhism was simply not functional, and would never survive. Others of us, on the other hand, think that WITH it it’s simply not functional and will never survive…

    But Buddhism is just like any other religion derived from the remote past, bedraggled with the baggage of preceding generations, and left to fend for itself against the challenges of the future. So many self-described atheists would simply prefer to call the whole thing off, while at the same time affirming their own belief systems—whether secular humanism, democracy, socialism, but mostly materialism—without seeing the slightest bit of irony, even if they prefer to ignore the logical inconsistencies… (More …)

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    hardie karges 7:02 am on April 22, 2018 Permalink | Reply
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    Buddhism, Gurus, and motivational mash-ups: caveat emptor… 

    IMG_0599I’m not trying to win any popularity contests, but if I were I’d be telling you things like: “You are the masterpiece! You are connected to every molecule, every atom, and every quark that has ever existed and ever will exist in this or any other universe! You are the dharma! You are the Christ! You are the reason that the sun rises in the morning and goes to bed at night…

    Yes, you are the vibrant and vibrating electromagnetic field for thousands of tiny energy centers pulsing away inside you, each in direct contact with you, each other, and the universe, simultaneously random and predetermined, quantum entanglement at its finest, you and the Big Bang in unison…” (More …)

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    hardie karges 7:05 am on March 25, 2018 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , Dalai Lama, , , molecular biology, , , ,   

    Buddhism, Rebirth and DNA… 

    img_1773The year 1953 should have been a big one for Buddhism. Something to do with Tibet, you’re probably thinking? No, something to do with the discovery of DNA, I’m thinking, because that meant that we Buddhists would no longer have to twist ourselves into human pretzels and insert our heads halfway up our… meditation postures…

    …just to Ptolemy-like add another feedback loop of ellipses and eclipses to somehow justify and make sense of rebirth, reincarnation in sheep’s clothing, rather than just toss the whole thing out as an outdated vestige of a previous era, in which learning was nascent and science non-existent… (More …)

     

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