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Noble Ethics as a Key to Happiness


Amita

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Every time I come across or hear about positive thinking. I can't help but be bias against it. I dealt with too many wishful thinkers in the occult who literal believed that "Thinking positive things" would bring effortless success. I blame that crap on The Secret. 

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26 minutes ago, Sherapy said:

My besties son is a Positive Psychologist, I have had conversations with him and it is to soon to know the effectiveness of this style. 

I am like you it might be to unrealistic for me. :P

To be fair, I am keeping my eye on the movement. We shall see. 

Alan Watts the philosopher Is the "go to," usually-- at least here in Cali. 

Alan Watts--excellent pull! Pertaining to religion or philosophy, don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Just take only what you need and leave the rest. There's no point in trying to make something work for you that, simply, doesn't. Don't be a convert to a religion or philosophy, convert what you take away from it to serve your own needs. Don't follow in someone else's footsteps--make your own. Be it's master not it's servant.

Edited by Hammerclaw
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54 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

Alan Watts--excellent pull! Pertaining to religion or philosophy, don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Just take only what you need and leave the rest. There's no point in trying to make something work for you that, simply, doesn't. Don't be a convert to a religion or philosophy, convert what you take away from it to serve your own needs. Don't follow in someone else's footsteps--make your own. Be it's master not it's servant.

Exactly, these are my sentiments exactly, I take what I want, try it out, if it works great, if it doesn't I let it go. 

I don't dogmatize, I personalize. Lol 

 The best two words as a conversation starter for building bridges are "for me".

Edited by Sherapy
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On 17/07/2018 at 1:48 AM, XenoFish said:

serotonin-and-dopamine-300x178.gif

They come in many shapes and forms.

Happiness is a state of mind and intellect, not a chemically induced state of body,  We can simply choose happiness by learning what neural patterns create it,  and then learning how to shape those patterns of energy discharge in our brain. 

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On 17/07/2018 at 3:03 AM, Amita said:

Here is Buddha outlining the stages of ethical progress leading to Liberation - Bhikkhu Bodhi translationi:

aṅguttara nikāya

the book of the tens

1. What Purpose?

Thus have i heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. Then the Venerable Ānanda approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and said to him:

(1) “Bhante, what is the purpose and benefit of wholesome virtuous behavior?”

(2) “Ānanda, the purpose and benefit of wholesome virtuous behavior is non-regret.”

(3) “And what, Bhante, is the purpose and benefit of non-regret?”

“The purpose and benefit of non-regret is joy.”

(4) “And what, Bhante, is the purpose and benefit of joy?”

“The purpose and benefit of joy is rapture.”

(5) “And what, Bhante, is the purpose and benefit of rapture?”

“The purpose and benefit of rapture is tranquility.”

(6) “And what, Bhante, is the purpose and benefit of tranquility?”

“The purpose and benefit of tranquility is pleasure.”

(7) “And what, Bhante, is the purpose and benefit of pleasure?”

“The purpose and benefit of pleasure is concentration.”

(8) “And what, Bhante, is the purpose and benefit of concentration?”

“The purpose and benefit of concentration is the knowledge and vision of things as they really are.”

(9) “And what, Bhante, is the purpose and benefit of the knowledge and vision of things as they really are?”

“The purpose and benefit of the knowledge and vision of things as they really are is disenchantment and dispassion.”

(10) “And what, Bhante, is the purpose and benefit of disenchantment and dispassion?”

“The purpose and benefit of disenchantment and dispassion is the knowledge and vision of liberation.

“Thus, Ānanda, (1)–(2) the purpose and benefit of wholesome virtuous behavior is non-regret; (3) the purpose and benefit of non-regret is joy; (4) the purpose and benefit of joy is rapture; (5) the purpose and benefit of rapture is tranquility; (6) the purpose and benefit of tranquility is pleasure; (7) the purpose and benefit of pleasure is concentration; (8) the purpose and benefit of concentration is the knowledge and vision of things as they really are; (9) the purpose and benefit of the knowledge and vision of things as they really are is disenchantment and dispassion; and (10) the purpose and benefit of disenchantment and dispassion is the knowledge and vision of liberation. Thus, Ānanda, wholesome virtuous behavior progressively leads to the foremost.”

 

Sounds complex, yet it is so simple. 

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  • 7 months later...
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life: “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.”It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” 
He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you–and inside every other person, too.”  
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf will win?” 
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
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If the fight was still going on inside old grand-dad, it seems like a life long opposition, neither was winning, but there was ongoing tension.

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On 7/22/2018 at 3:01 AM, MERRY DMAS said:

Philo:

THE SPECIAL LAWS, III

"I There was once a time when, devoting my leisure to philosophy and to the contemplation of the world and the things in it, I reaped the fruit of excellent, and desirable, and blessed intellectual feelings, being always living among the divine oracles and doctrines, on which I fed incessantly and insatiably, to my great delight, never entertaining any low or grovelling thoughts, nor ever wallowing in the pursuit of glory or wealth, or the delights of the body, but I appeared to be raised on high and borne aloft by a certain inspiration of the soul, and to dwell in the regions of the sun and moon, and to associate with the whole heaven, and the whole universal world. (2) At that time, therefore, looking down from above, from the air, and straining the eye of my mind as from a watch-tower, I surveyed the unspeakable contemplation of all the things on the earth, and looked upon myself as happy as having forcibly escaped from all the evil fates that can attack human life. ...Behold, therefore, I venture not only to study the sacred commands of Moses, but also with an ardent love of knowledge to investigate each separate one of them, and to endeavour to reveal and to explain to those who wish to understand them, things concerning them which are not known to the multitude."

If Philo played it as hard and lean as he claims.....I wonder if he found as much disappointment as I did when studying the laws of Moses.  For, a sincere study of it would lead one to understand that God had nothing to do with that mess.

IMHO.

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On ‎7‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 10:19 AM, Amita said:

Humanity need not rely on faith in science or religion alone.  In the long run of many lifetimes, altruism will clarify & purify the mind, thus revealing deeper truths.

Blavatsky

but doesn't give up the real Jesus `s ministry and the hope:(  

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43 minutes ago, Guyver said:

If Philo played it as hard and lean as he claims.....I wonder if he found as much disappointment as I did when studying the laws of Moses.  For, a sincere study of it would lead one to understand that God had nothing to do with that mess.

IMHO.

 

Quote
These considerations have come to our ears, having been discussed of old among
men of divine spirit and wisdom, who have interpreted the writings of Moses in no
superficial or careless manner. But, besides what has been already said, I also look upon
circumcision to be a symbol of two things of the most indispensable importance. (9) First
of all, it is a symbol of the excision of the pleasures which delude the mind; for since, of
all the delights which pleasure can afford, the association of man with woman is the most
exquisite, it seemed good to the lawgivers to mutilate the organ which ministers to such
connections; by which rite they signified figuratively the excision of all superfluous and
excessive pleasure, not, indeed, of one only, but of all others whatever, though that one
which is the most imperious of all. (10) The second thing is, that it is a symbol of a man.s
knowing himself, and discarding that terrible disease, the vain opinion of the soul; for
some men, like good statuaries, have boasted that they can make that most beautiful
animal, man; and, being puffed up with arrogance, have deified themselves, hiding from
sight the true cause of the creation of all things namely, God, although they might have
corrected that error from a consideration of other persons among whom they live; (11) for
there are among them many men who have no children, and many barren women whose
connections lead to nothing, so that they grow old in childlessness.

 

Sounds like he was not disappointed at all, having found the right approach to take in reading scripture.

Edited by Amita
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7 minutes ago, Guyver said:

Circumcision is probably ok from a health standpoint.

 

Which is exactly what Philo says, giving several hygiene related reasons in the section before this one.

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On 2/27/2019 at 9:02 PM, Amita said:
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life: “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.”It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” 
He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you–and inside every other person, too.”  
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf will win?” 
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

That quote is "pan-Indian" and had nothing to do with us. 

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2 minutes ago, Amita said:

This first people site accepts it and even gives another version:

https://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/TwoWolves-Cherokee.html

There's a lot of pan-Indian stuff in there. You read Charles Eastman. It's about a internal balance. Not a internal struggle.

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9 minutes ago, Piney said:

There's a lot of pan-Indian stuff in there. You read Charles Eastman. It's about a internal balance. Not a internal struggle.

Balance does not come naturally, so most struggle to find it, as this Eastman quote from his Soul of the Indian says:

Quote

It was our belief that the love of possessions is a weakness to be overcome. Its appeal is to the material part, and if allowed its way it will in time disturb the spiritual balance of the man. Therefore the child must early learn the beauty of generosity. He is taught to give what he prizes most, and that he may taste the happiness of giving, he is made at an early age the family almoner. If a child is inclined to be grasping, or to cling to any of his little possessions, legends are related to him, telling of the contempt and disgrace falling upon the ungenerous and mean man.

The words I underlined seem to allow for a story like the Grandfather tells.

 

Edited by Amita
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On 3/1/2019 at 9:30 PM, Guyver said:

If Philo played it as hard and lean as he claims.....I wonder if he found as much disappointment as I did when studying the laws of Moses.  For, a sincere study of it would lead one to understand that God had nothing to do with that mess.

IMHO.

It's the complete opposite to your experience. 

 

Philo: ON THE CHERUBIM

"X  Do you not see that even the wise Abraham, when he began to measure everything with a reference to God, and to leave nothing to the creature, took an imitation of the flaming sword, namely, “fire and a Sword,” (Gen. 3:24/22:6) being eager to slay and to burn that mortal creature which was born of him, that so being raised on high it might soar up to God, the intellect being thus disentangled from the body."

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46 minutes ago, MERRY DMAS said:

It's the complete opposite to your experience. 

 

Philo: ON THE CHERUBIM

"X  Do you not see that even the wise Abraham, when he began to measure everything with a reference to God, and to leave nothing to the creature, took an imitation of the flaming sword, namely, “fire and a Sword,” (Gen. 3:24/22:6) being eager to slay and to burn that mortal creature which was born of him, that so being raised on high it might soar up to God, the intellect being thus disentangled from the body."

Well then, I would chalk that one up to religious zealotry....which no doubt existed back then, and probably on a higher level than even today.  The idea of taking your firstborn son, slaying him, and offering him as a human sacrifice on a fire to a god or “God” is the kind of thing that should make every thinking person cringe, and it should be a severe indication that one should “check themselves before they wreck themselves” - IMO.

With all the pain and suffering, death, disappointments and stress that already exist in the world, the notion of “God” taking time out from his busy schedule to come down and give someone a personal invitation to kill another human being for his pleasure not only strikes me as a type of insanity....but an evil.

Yet, there was a time when I believed it because I believed the bible to be divinely inspired and directed.  Now that I’m free from my former religious indoctrination, I hold the opposite view.  What do you think about it?

 

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2 hours ago, Guyver said:

What do you think about it?

Hy Gyver

I think progression is a wonderful thing that is what potential is.

jmccr8

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22 hours ago, jmccr8 said:

Hy Gyver

I think progression is a wonderful thing that is what potential is.

jmccr8

Thank you for reading that post and responding.

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On 3/1/2019 at 10:15 PM, Guyver said:

Circumcision is probably ok from a health standpoint.

There's nothing wrong with doing it, but it's really only done for religious reasons. There really isn't any health reason for doing it.

On 3/1/2019 at 10:24 PM, Amita said:

Which is exactly what Philo says, giving several hygiene related reasons in the section before this one.

The whole "hygiene" argument for circumcision makes absolutely no sense. You don't chop off your arms to keep you armpits clean, or chop off your butt cheeks to keep your butt clean. If you wanna keep your ding dong clean, then clean your ding dong.

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On 3/5/2019 at 6:03 PM, Guyver said:

The idea of taking your firstborn son, slaying him,

While I am not sure whether you were talking about Ishmael  or Isaac seeing that Ishmael was Abram's firstborn son yet the event you are referring unto involved Isaac.  I suppose one could say that Isaac was Abraham's firstborn son since Isaac was born unto Abram after he was given the suffix of 'ham' and was called Abraham.

However, it would have been Isaac that was was referred unto as "thine son, thine only son" since Ishmael was no longer around since  Sarah had demanded Abraham cast off Ishmael away following the birth of Isaac.  

On 3/5/2019 at 6:03 PM, Guyver said:

is the kind of thing that should make every thinking person cringe, and it should be a severe indication that one should “check themselves before they wreck themselves” - IMO.

However, the idea that God would ask anyone to slay the innocent is indicative of what someone doesn't believe what they claim to believe . 

The covenant that is written of in the scriptures is that  "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." (See: Gen 9:6)   According to the scriptures, that token of the covenant was to the generation of men who not only existed at the time it was given, but unto perpetual generations of man who were to come.  

Why should I cringe since it was your God who told Abraham to slay his son?

Edited by 029b10
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10 hours ago, Aquila King said:

There's nothing wrong with doing it, but it's really only done for religious reasons. There really isn't any health reason for doing it.

Nothing wrong with it?  Tell that to those who didn't have any say in their circumcision that there nothing wrong with it.  <_<

11 hours ago, Aquila King said:

The whole "hygiene" argument for circumcision makes absolutely no sense.

As far as I know they didn't have zippers back then so what would have been Abram's motivation to circumcise Ishmael?

So of course it was for hygiene reasons, if you don't believe it was for hygience reasons then why do you think all those men  allowed themselves to be circumcised by Abram if it wasn't for their health?

Of course if God didn't tell Abram to circumcise Ishmael then where do you think the idea of circumcision came from? 

12 hours ago, Aquila King said:

If you wanna keep your ding dong clean, then clean your ding dong.

It isn't if you want to keep it clean but a matter of how you clean it.   

Spoiler

giphy.gif  LOL

 

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8 hours ago, 029b10 said:

While I am not sure whether you were talking about Ishmael  or Isaac seeing that Ishmael was Abram's firstborn son yet the event you are referring unto involved Isaac.  I suppose one could say that Isaac was Abraham's firstborn son since Isaac was born unto Abram after he was given the suffix of 'ham' and was called Abraham.

However, it would have been Isaac that was was referred unto as "thine son, thine only son" since Ishmael was no longer around since  Sarah had demanded Abraham cast off Ishmael away following the birth of Isaac.  

However, the idea that God would ask anyone to slay the innocent is indicative of what someone doesn't believe what they claim to believe . 

The covenant that is written of in the scriptures is that  "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." (See: Gen 9:6)   According to the scriptures, that token of the covenant was to the generation of men who not only existed at the time it was given, but unto perpetual generations of man who were to come.  

Why should I cringe since it was your God who told Abraham to slay his son?

Your right on the first point.  What makes you think it was my God who told Abraham to slay his own son?

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7 hours ago, 029b10 said:

Nothing wrong with it?  Tell that to those who didn't have any say in their circumcision that there nothing wrong with it.  <_<

You mean tell myself? Okay, there's nothing wrong with it.

Apart from foreskin supposedly making sex more pleasurable, there isn't really a downside to circumcision. Unless you count the occasional **** up whereby they accidentally chop off too much of your dingaling. :unsure2:

7 hours ago, 029b10 said:

As far as I know they didn't have zippers back then so what would have been Abram's motivation to circumcise Ishmael?

So of course it was for hygiene reasons, if you don't believe it was for hygience reasons then why do you think all those men  allowed themselves to be circumcised by Abram if it wasn't for their health?

Of course if God didn't tell Abram to circumcise Ishmael then where do you think the idea of circumcision came from? 

 

Psh. Hell if I know. :huh: What was Abram's motivation to kill his son cause a voice in his head told him to? What was his motivation to sacrifice animals on an alter to an invisible sky wizard? Why do millions of people follow any cult leader who tells them bats**t crazy things and the people just nod along with them?

We're talking about crazy people here. Their actions don't have to make sense. That's why they're considered crazy.

7 hours ago, 029b10 said:

It isn't if you want to keep it clean but a matter of how you clean it.   

  Reveal hidden contents

giphy.gif  LOL

 

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

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