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    hardie karges 3:10 am on January 6, 2024 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , religion,   

    Buddhism 102: Kindness is Contagious  

    Disease is not the only thing that is contagious. So is kindness, and compassion, and the smile of a stranger. That is how karma works. What goes around comes around. And if that sounds all New-Agey and superstitious, I suspect that it could be proven, if we only knew how to properly frame the questions, to probe the parameters of truth, in an open field without any markers nor metrics. After all, just how do you measure kindness and compassion, anyway? I mean: you can’t just walk into the supermarket and order a quart or a liter or it, now, can you? I wish, haha… 

    But what you can do is ‘pay it forward’, i.e. not just return every kindness with a kindness as an equal and equitable ‘payback’, but initiate such actions without any promise of a return on that investment. Because, if you’re expecting a return, then it’s not an act of kindness at all, but an act of business, interest on principal, compounded annually, if not quarterly. But true kindness is entirely selfless, by its very nature, and so avoids the back-slapping and hand-clapping which is the minimum that most people expect as reward for their generosity. 

    Why have most nations adopted some form of religion at some point in their history, anyway? To enlarge the circle of friends, of course, and hopefully improve people’s lives in the process. Because, without it, the only people you can trust are your immediate family, and beyond that, maybe even your so-called ‘race’. Religion is a way to transcend racism, and what is religion if not a circle of kindness? The challenge is to include everyone in that circle. Because then karma is not only a likely story, but a living breathing reality… and the meek will inherit the earth.  

     
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    hardie karges 4:20 am on December 30, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , religion,   

    Buddhism in the Balance, Aware and Mindful…  

    You don’t have to fight for your religion, like Christians do. You don’t have to surrender to your religion, like Muslims do. You can just be, right in the center, with eyes open or closed, aware and mindful, with no particular judgements to make either way, good or bad, offensive or non-offensive. This is the way Buddhism works, simple yet effective, with no ribbons or bows, and no deep bows, except the ones you make to the senior monk when in his presence.  

    Christianity is a religion of passion: weeping, wailing and all that gospel. Islam is a religion of submission. Buddhism is a way of life dispassionate, quiet, serene, full of passion only in the original sense of passion as suffering, the stuff of life in this material world, long before someone decided that it could be fun, as long as someone else was suffering more or worse than you. Because suffering exists, whether we are in the throes of it or not, and the only way out is to give it no quarter.  

    So, the way to deal with suffering is to remove its source of sustenance, the craving and lust which it consumes for breakfast and lunch, hunger and thirst of the craven kind, crude and rude, cowardly and unforgiving in its lack of moral distinction. But this kind of turpitude depends on negligence for its survival, inattention to all detail and the passive acceptance of all things most easily proffered. Buddhism has no such luxury. Buddhism demands awareness, and mindfulness, and wakefulness to the sleepy dream that is all too often the standard for life. It’s never too late to meditate… 

     
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    hardie karges 3:12 am on November 20, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Alexander, , , , , Gymnosophists, , , , , , Pythagoras, religion   

    Buddhism and Christianity in the Future of the World…  

    Christianity was perhaps better to develop a raw wild unruly world. But Buddhism is better to sustain it. All of which avoids the issue of whether we will survive or not. But, isn’t it better to have developed the world and lost, than never to have developed it at all? Hmmm, I’m not sure, because it seems that we could have developed mentally, and consciously, without ever filling the landfills with so much kitchen appliance junk that our lives are full of, whether we ever perfect the perfect counter-top blender or not. Remember them? 

    But, one thing is for sure: if our civilization collapses, future archeologists will certainly have fun trying to figure it all out, assuming that the historical narrative is fundamental to that civilization, so, it, too, will also likely be lost. Only time will tell, because war is so fundamental to civilization, that to lay down arms, in an effort to reconcile our differences, would be seen as treason to many a competing contender to world dominance. Such is our world and our lives.  

    With the recognition that northern India and modern Europe are genetically related, it must have been interesting to sit around gatherings on the northern steppes when they all spoke a common language, but with apparently different opinions. Because northern Indian philosophy has offered a distinct alternative to the European analytical quest since time immemorial, and that is the milieu from which Buddhism arises, debates with the Brahminists and the Jains.  

    But the Platonists and Pythagoreans had their own issues, never the twain to meet, until Alexander sought the Gymnosophists there in India and the East and West renewed their long conversation left behind on the northern steppes. Now here we sit, trying to make sense of it all, human diversity trying to respond to natural laws, which can only be surmised and rarely proven in the first place or the second instance, and so the only satisfaction lies in trying—or not, if you’re a renunciant.  

     
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    hardie karges 3:09 am on October 21, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , arahat, , , , , , , , , , , religion, , ,   

    Buddhism 201: Theravada and Mahayana  

    Buddhism in Bhutan

    The difference between Theravada and Mahayana is the difference between Self and Other, if there is one. If you’re a ‘non-dualist,’ then there is none, though that defies common-sense logic, which seems to show a diversity of disparate objects. So, that is the point of the new religion, I suppose, to unify existence, since you gotta’ have something to believe in for a religion to have its raison d’etre. But Buddhism wasn’t concerned with such metaphysical stretches, or at least not in the beginning, though Mahayana was the evolution of a more metaphysical stage of Buddhism.  

    That coincided with a geographical transition from India toward Central Asia and then China, and which also coincided with the evolution of Taoism, so more fertile ground to plow right then and there. If the origins of early Buddhism were all about a debate (and competition) with the Brahmanists and Jains of India, then the evolution of Mahayana was all about a competition with the Taoists in China. By that time, with the shunyata ‘emptiness’ doctrine of Nagarjuna, Buddhist and Taoist metaphysics were not far apart, the main difference between the two apparently that the Buddhists were—and are—far superior meditators.  

    And if Theravadan anatta had evolved into Mahayana shunyata, then Theravadan arahats had evolved into Mahayanan bodhisattvas, the spiritually enlightened beings who forego nirvana until everyone is ready for that final step. Arahats were more content to keep it to themselves, each at his own pace. But the issue of Self and Other is a non-issue if there is no substantive Self; so how could there be a substantive Other? Still, we live our lives in the common-sense world of apparently diverse beings, and so it is there that we must find solutions to common-sense problems. My conclusion? Save yourself, and then save the world. Good luck out there. 

     
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    hardie karges 3:40 am on October 7, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , myth, , religion, , zero-sum   

    Buddhist Self-Sufficiency Trumps Christian Abundance  

    Overflowing abundance is a myth, but there is always enough, just enough. And that’s probably an act of faith, also, but preferable to the call for gluttony. Because that’s what abundance signifies: more than enough, all you can eat, sky is the limit, all that Christian mythology that spurs capitalism, Protestant individualism, global warming and war, as if winner takes all in a zero-sum game. But why would that be the case, since it clearly is contradictory?  

    If there are unlimited resources, then there should be plenty to go around for everybody, but that’s not the way it works, apparently. It seems that it doesn’t really count until counted. Until then it’s just religion, myth and ritual, designed to encourage the gods as much as to propitiate them, since they are the gatekeepers of these mythical resources. So, Christianity shoots itself in the foot by trying to claim more than it can realistically access. Abundance, i.e. unlimited resources, are useless if not freely available. 

    Buddhism makes no such outrageous claims, but ‘just enough’ can be easily surmised if not statistically proven, with much better results than the Christian hubristic assertion. And that’s what the previous king of Thailand did with his theory of self-sufficiency, พอเพียง, ‘just enough,’ which, from a Buddhist standpoint, is a self-adjusting mechanism as much as a statistical reality. Whatever there is, it’s ‘just enough,’ as long as you can adjust your desires accordingly. This is classic Buddhism at its best, and a win-win situation for all. Don’t be greedy. 

     
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    hardie karges 5:07 am on September 10, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , mindlessness, miondfulness, , religion, ,   

    Buddhism 499: Washing Dishes… 

    I don’t wash dishes to wash dishes. I wash dishes to get them clean, over and over and over. It can be very meditative. And, of course, that’s what Thich Nhat Hahn meant in his famous quote about “washing dishes to wash dishes,” that that is a meditation in itself, every bit the equal of a walking meditation or even a guided meditation, if not the original cross-legged lotus-pose figure-eight (Thai) immortalized in countless imagery over the ears and centuries, showcasing rishis and maharishis and yogis and sannyasis and vairagis and countless other practitioners of eclectic ascetic disciplines who never wanted to be showcased in the first place. Most just want to be left alone to meditate.  

    But few have that luxury, since even the most renunciant of yogis still must eat sometime, even if that requires leaving the cave to go into town and beg for it. For most Theravada Buddhists, that is the stylized ritual that forms the foundation for their existence in society, if not the world itself, for which meditation is perhaps the precursor to all. And yes, that is usually best done in the silent and still sitting position, for which the only requirement is just that: be silent and be still. Whatever goes on in your mind is your business, unfortunately. But modern Buddhism has brought many new ways, and so the old ways must re-invent themselves, also, to stay relevant to new Buddhist adepts.  

    Thus, the TNH invocation to get your meditation wherever you can find it. Mindfulness must be careful not to drift into mindlessness, however, and ‘washing dishes to wash dishes’ comes dangerously close to that, as if there is nothing really to be accomplished in the world and all such efforts are equally destined to fail. The Buddha never said that. But many ‘non-dualists’ do. I don’t. That is a luxury I can’t afford. So, if TNH’s message is to take your meditation where you find it, my message is to make the world a better place, also, in your short time on this piece of earth. Don’t be obsessed with it and/or possessed by it, but don’t waste the opportunity, either. 

     
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    hardie karges 4:34 am on September 1, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Bentham, , , , , , Mills, pragmatism, religion, skillfuil means   

    The Skillful Means of Buddhism  

    Buddhism wants you to accept and adapt to your circumstances. Christianity wants you to change them. Let’s split the difference and call it good, an ever-evolving Middle Path, in which we are neither totally renunciative nor totally aggressive, but rather capable of both, or either, depending on what the situation calls for. But that doesn’t mean that the ethics or morals change with the situation, only that the path forward can, or might, change in such a way as to benefit the greatest number. 

    Because pragmatic concerns always weigh heavily in the considerations of possible paths forward, i.e. the greatest good for the greatest number. Bentham and Mills didn’t invent such concepts in 19th century Britain. They only systematized them for intellectual consideration. But the Buddha was way ahead of them with his use of ‘skillful means’ to settle disputes and move arguments forward. It’s very simple: you lean toward the best possibility for conciliation, while de-emphasizing potential conflicts. Points of contention can be worked out later, if indeed they still exist.  

    Still the path is there for traveling, even if it revolves around a familiar center. Nothing stands still, not in this universe of constant motion. Silence doesn’t always imply stillness. That is a luxury. Thus, we can both adapt to our circumstances AND change them, and without confrontation when we use skillful means to ease the path forward. Confrontation is to be avoided at all costs while conciliation is to be encouraged. That is the gospel—of Buddhism, and nothing is more important. 

     
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    hardie karges 3:49 am on July 29, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , commerce, , , , , planet, religion   

    Buddhism and the Decline of Planet Earth  

    Buddhism in Bhutan

    I don’t think that Buddhism is superior to Christianity. But I think that it is the right idea in the right time and in the right place: Here and Now. Because they’re both dealing with situations in progress and in process that are constantly changing and needing updates, but which are both necessary and good and fulfilling a function and that must be fulfilled. It’s the timing that is most crucial. 

    As if the Buddha could almost see that Asia would be an overcrowded and possessive morass of humanity within a couple thousand years and that renunciation might be a really good way of dealing with that—in advance. As if Jesus could almost see that in his neck of the woods violence would take on new meaning as a way of life, unless people could somehow be convinced that that would be unnecessary and highly undesirable, if we could all somehow see that we are brothers and sisters capable of our own strong bonds of love and connection. 

    It’s all aspirational, of course, but if that’s the best we can do, then so be it. So, if the Buddha’s best-laid plans failed to produce a meditative non-possessive Asia, and Christianity could only sublimate the urge for violence into the urge for commerce, then so be it. At least East and West could agree on the commerce. But now the needs are different, since we are largely the victims of our own success and are on the verge of destroying our home planet Earth, rather than finding the proper ways of living with it and in it. And that is the precipice upon which we stand, overlooking the abyss of our own making, with vastly reduced options for a successful outcome.  

    If we could have only somehow frozen world population and consumption at 1954 levels, the year of my birth, then the outcome might have been easy. But income levels were not equal and many people were still in a state of colonial servitude. I see Buddhism as the best chance for a successful outcome, given 2023 circumstances, renunciation and dispassion and all that goes with Buddhism. If nothing else, it can be a way of dealing with a situation that nobody can effectively change. But we must try. Buddhism can at least help deal with that sinking feeling that comes with reduced expectations. That is one of its specialties. Believe me.

     
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    hardie karges 3:53 am on June 17, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Al Capone, Better Call Saul, , , Mao Zedong, , , , religion,   

    Don’t Mistake Buddhism’s Kindness for Weakness  

    Don’t mistake kindness for weakness. Because kindness comes from a place of strength, and weakness is a point of no return. And if that first statement is first attested from Al Capone, and first noticed by me on ‘Better Call Saul,’ well, that does nothing to diminish its importance. Because truth is truth and meanings are important. And kindness is arguably the trademark of Buddhism, in which aggression is foregone in favor of forbearance, and there are those who would love to take advantage of that situation. But that is one of the conundrums of civilization, is it not?  

    Not only that the things we love most are at the mercy of the things we love least, but that somehow the good guys must rise to the top and maintain love, peace and happiness—at the barrel of a gun. So, the obvious solution is that the peace lovers and freedom fighters must rule by smarts and not bullets. Is that possible? Or is there another way? There probably is, but must that be by means of a society so tightly controlled that there is little or no freedom of movement in the process? Xi Jinping cracks a smile, while Mao Zedong takes it all in style. 

    Wouldn’t it be nice if people simply had no desire to harm others, rather than having the means to do so expressly forbidden to them by law? It sounds like a paradise, but it’s not impossible. It involves more than simply keeping people’s bellies full, though. People need some sort of psychological satisfaction, also. That’s where religion and philosophy come in, where patriotism leaves off and before egotism takes over. Somehow people need to feel that everything is right with the world, beyond their nutritional and social requirements, and monetary requirements, too. But how is that best accomplished? That’s why we’re here. The Middle Path never quits, but it does take some time. Persevere. 

     
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    hardie karges 4:44 am on May 20, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Buddhist poisons, , , , religion,   

    Fear, Poisons, and Spiritual Bypassing in Buddhism  

    Fear should not be mistaken for hatred or anger. Fear is easily cured by friendship, metta. Fear, as bad as it is, at the least, is not a sin of aggression, and so is much more easily cured, as long as it is caught in time, before it morphs into fear and/or anger, and thousands of kindergarteners lying dying in pools of blood on sacred school grounds. The only Buddhist form of love is really metta, friendship, Platonic love, without craving nor attachment, always forgiving and conciliatory.  

    So, there is a reason why fear is not one of the prime Buddhist ‘poisons’ in the same way as greed, hatred, and delusion. And that is because it is essentially harmful only to the actor who is victim to the farce, and so, not any crime of aggression is actually committed. The others all hurt somebody—someone else—where fear does not, not necessarily, if dealt with in time. If this is a sin, then it is a sin of the heart, of feeling, of emotions, which are largely kept hidden and therefore not subject to further scrutiny. 

    This might be an example of ‘spiritual bypassing,’ though, a trendy claim favored by psychologists when dealing with personal problems by plaintiffs who favor silence over the confrontation, with emotions, that many psychologists prefer. So, that’s why I hold back my full blessings, though they may certainly have a point. But the counterpoint is that that same accusation could be leveled at meditation, also, which is arguably Buddhism’s greatest contribution to world culture and history. As always, the true path lies in the middle… 

     

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