tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post7809527037472021209..comments2023-05-24T23:33:57.516+10:00Comments on My Unwelcome Stranger: Making sense using Eastern logicDenis Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-65122458989606867842012-07-16T13:43:23.328+10:002012-07-16T13:43:23.328+10:00I very much regret having found this again only af...I very much regret having found this again only after nearly a whole year, while looking for something else. It's the sort of comment that deserved thanks and a real response. I can't tell now why I didn't get back to it, but it's probably too late now. <br /><br />Of course I don't need to respond to every comment, but I surely intended to on this. Apologies. All I'll say is that it's a compliment that you might have referred someone to the piece, and that I agree very much with what you have said otherwise. <br /><br />This belated response is a good demonstration of <i>dukkha!</i> I very much agree with your translation of the term and in fact it was one of the first things I used to impress upon students when lecturing on Buddhism. I never was keen on translating it purely as suffering, though sadly it surely means that too.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-50591824878203598952011-08-14T11:38:56.974+10:002011-08-14T11:38:56.974+10:00A friend of mine recently asked me to explain what...A friend of mine recently asked me to explain what Buddhism is about. She'd been to a one-day retreat with Thich Nat Hanh and figured it was just all about being a better person, nothing about liberation or transformation of consciousness as she understood it. <br /><br />Where do I start? I think I'll refer her to this section of your blog, Denis. It's a very good blending of the ethical teachings of Buddhism and the transformation of self/consciousness that is the goal of Eastern religious traditions.<br /><br />I don't find the 8 fold path moralistic. They prevent the unnecessary accumulation of bad karma and offer opportunities for productive self discipline if done in the spirt of compassion for even oneself. It's hard work being mindful of your speech, actions, and intentions. Easy to fall into gossip, undermining people, being critical, and secretly rejoicing in the failures of others. As Carl has said too often to me, "Would you like someone else to say that about you?" That shuts me up and gets me thinking about my motives for some of the things I say and do. <br /><br />I fall down on the 5th precept, but find the other 4 to be vastly useful as guides to daily living, #1 "not harming", in particular.<br /><br />For me "dukkha" means "unsatisfactoriness". The Sanksrit meaning, according to my dictionary, is "uneasy, uncomfortable, unpleasant, difficult". Nothing from the realm of samsara can satisfy the existential urge for freedom and realisation of the true Self, which is usually the underlying motivation of all our craving. Ultimately anything we do in the realm of samsara to satisfy this basic instinct, will be, in the end, unsatsifactory, no matter how promising it seems at the beginning. However, even the craving for liberation can be an obstacle on the path.<br /><br />On the recent Census form, both Carl and I put Buddhism down as our religion, regardless of our lack of intention to adhere to the 5th precept, which we frequently enjoy breaking, especially with good friends.<br /><br />All this without a demanding, wrathful, irascible, unpredictable God to lord it over you. If one has to have a religion, what better one than this?Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04715081266571704126noreply@blogger.com