[MD] Reifying carrots

[MarshaV]

Greetings Mark,

And once the 'being trapped' is discovered, realizing there is this 
precious opportunity to cultivate selflessness in spite of a 
overwhelming habit of selfishness.   


Marsha

 
 


On Dec 6, 2010, at 1:10 PM, 118 wrote:

> Hi Marsha,
> 
> Buddha saw the path to enlightenment by putting suffering at the core
> of his philosophy.  This is not the only way to go about it, but an
> effective one.  Nobody wants to suffer, and Buddha's notion rang true
> with many.  What could be more motivating than to stop suffering?
> 
> I see it as many paths, Buddhism being one of them.  It is a useful
> structure, but takes a lot of discipline and devotion.  It doesn't
> come naturally to many, and so alternatives are appropriate.  I agree
> that selflessness is much more healthy than selfishness.  One creates,
> the other destroys.  Since we only look through one pair of eyes, it
> would seem that selfishness comes first and selflessness must be
> cultivated.  It is a process of seeking liberation, but one must first
> conceive of being trapped.  One creates the other.
> 
> Mark
> 
> On Mon, Dec 6, 2010 at 2:26 AM, MarshaV <valkyr at att.net> wrote:
>> 
>> I see.  The Buddhist emphasis on a strategy to end suffering by
>> seeing things as they really are and developing compassion
>> would be the better approach.  Nursing the ego is not?
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Dec 6, 2010, at 12:50 AM, 118 wrote:
>> 
>>> Yes, there are happy drugs of course.  But this whole notion of
>>> creating a structure for how we think and behave I find ridiculous.
>>> How can one person tell another how they are thinking?  It is all
>>> projection.  It is also a spiritual dead end.  It cannot survive the
>>> inner nature of man.  It completely blocks growth of any kind.
>>> 
>>> Certainly the aspect of confessionals at a psychiatrists office
>>> followed by advice are useful, but this massive academic explanation
>>> of the way things are in our heads is nonsense.  This was already done
>>> thousands of years ago.  Now we claim it is science therefore we must
>>> abide by it.  Baloney.
>>> 
>>> Mark
>>> 
>>> On Sun, Dec 5, 2010 at 10:46 AM, MarshaV <valkyr at att.net> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Mostly pill pushers, but not all.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On Dec 5, 2010, at 1:44 PM, 118 wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Hi Marsha,
>>>>> 
>>>>> Yes, open in a way, but very directed by the concept of psychology.
>>>>> This is a construct that is used to control and confuse.  In today's
>>>>> world it is very prevalent, and our saviors are now psychologists.
>>>>> What a racket!
>>>>> 
>>>>> Mark
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Sun, Dec 5, 2010 at 12:46 AM, MarshaV <valkyr at att.net> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Mark,
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I'm not sure what you mean.  My point was the influence of Eastern
>>>>>> thought.  James seems to have been open to new ideas and quite
>>>>>> dynamic.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Marsha
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Dec 4, 2010, at 11:53 PM, 118 wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Hi Marsha,
>>>>>>> Yeah, James was pretty smart until he got into psychology.  Then he
>>>>>>> just became another hack.  What a waste.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Mark
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On Sat, Dec 4, 2010 at 7:21 AM, MarshaV <valkyr at att.net> wrote:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Buddhism planted the seeds in James:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> James's biography clearly states he had read and reread
>>>>>>>> Upanishad and Buddhist texts, texts that belonged to his
>>>>>>>> father.  This would have been around 1870.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Here's a list of some of the books:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>    Modern Buddhist - Alabaster
>>>>>>>>    Religion des Buddha (Vol.1) - Koeppen
>>>>>>>>    Le Buddhisme - Taine
>>>>>>>>    Weltauffas der Buddhisten - Bastian
>>>>>>>>    Brahma Somej: Four Lectures - Sen
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>    (William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism
>>>>>>>>        by Robert D. Richardson)



 
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