jpaul256

not sure i can articulate my thoughts super well tonight... long couple days of work and pretty tired, but i'll try. i strongly believe that cancer is deeply connected to stress... everyone i have even met (including myself) holds tension in particualr areas of their body... over time this is what i believe triggers illness and injury. as for our disconnection with earth.... i feel it makes us more stressed.... i also think we do not see the relationship with what we consume or disregard and how it literally can infect us... everything is connected. i think a great deal of what we have done in society is a way of trying to stop the inevitable... we will die one day. maybe cancer was always here, but i tend to believe it stemmed from man-made causes... i have no proof or research to back up my opinion. i just wonder why people who are ill can become healthy through things like yoga and art, etc... that's got to say something.... those are things that connect individuals... anyway just my thought... sorry to ramble!

Hi there old fellow. I was a little surprised and a bit disappointed that you didn't find my comments from a while ago interesting enough to comment on because I looked forward to knowing what you thought. In any case, I'm not berating you at all because there was no implied obligation; I simply wanted you to know that it was so easy and such a pleasure writing for a guy with so much intelligence, depth and decency, that I'm still trying to figure out how I can capture the same feeling when writing a book for an audience of unknowns. I'm in your debt for the experience and really thought you should know. If anything was offensive to you, it was certainly the farthest thing from my intention. I hope you're well.

You probably shouldn't take Chainlink too seriously. You rather came off as a troll in most of your first posts, and while I can see that you've calmed down a lot, a lot of people aren't going to respect your transformation, at least for a while.

I still think you're wrong about everything, of course. Civility doesn't change that.

thanks! today has been so great... i know it has more to do with my outlook than anything else . you a big fan of country music? i find myself listening to it lately... only thing i can stand on the radio other than NPR

I agree Jozsef.

My exploration of Buddhism has actually lasted several years. My initial impression was that Buddhism was a single philosophy. Wrong! As with most philosophies, there are many variations on a theme.

I have done a lot of reading and research and have found that Humanistic Buddhism speaks the clearest to my heart. Humanistic Buddhism is comprised of six primary characteristics:

1. Humanism - The Buddha was neither a spirit, coming and going without leaving a trace, nor was he a figment of one's imagination. The Buddha was a living human being. Just like the rest of us, he had parents, a
family, and he lived a life. It was through his human existence that he showed his supreme wisdom of
compassion, ethical responsibility, and prajna-wisdom. Thus, he is a Buddha who was also a
human being.

2. Emphasis on Daily Life - In his teachings, the Buddha placed great importance on daily life as spiritual practice. He provided guidance on everything, from how to eat, dress, work, and live, to how to walk, stand, sit, and sleep. He gave clear directions on every aspect of life, from relations among family members and between friends to how we should conduct ourselves in the social and political arenas.

3. Altruism - The Buddha was born into this world to teach, to provide an example, and to bring joy to all beings. He nurtured all beings, for he always had the best interests of others in his mind and heart. In short, his every thought, word, and action arose from a heart filled with deep care and concern for others.

4. Joyfulness - The Buddhist teachings give people joy. Through the limitless compassion of his heart, the
Buddha aimed to relieve the suffering of all beings and to give them joy.

5. Timeliness - The Buddha was born for a great reason: to build a special relationship with all of us who live in this world. Although the Buddha lived some 2,500 years ago and has already entered nirvana, he left the
seed of liberation for all subsequent generations. Even today, the Buddha's ideals and teachings serve
as timely, relevant guides for us all.

6. Universality - The entire life of the Buddha can be characterized by the Buddha's spirit of wanting to liberate all beings, without exclusion. [The Buddha loved beings of all forms, whether they were animals or humans, male or female, young or old, Buddhist or not Buddhist, etc.]

Humanistic Buddhism also appeals to me, in part, because of this philosophical stand:

The first 100 to 300 years of Buddhist history was the period of the Small Vehicle, but not the Great
Vehicle; that is, Theravada Buddhism was popular, while Mahayana Buddhism remained obscure. The
following 600 years saw the emergence of the practice of the Great Vehicle, but not the Small Vehicle;
that is, Mahayana Buddhism gained popularity, but Theravada Buddhism receded from view. For 1,000
years after that, Tantric practice developed. The Humanistic Buddhism I advocate invites the integration
of all Buddhist teachings from the time of the Buddha to the present_whether they are derived
from the Theravada, Mahayana, or Tantric traditions. Humanistic Buddhism is truly the study of the
bodhisattva path. Chinese Buddhism has long honored the bodhisattva path, which Humanistic Buddhism
embodies.

And it is odd that all of this appeals to a boy who grew up in Atlanta and wanted nothing more than to play football for the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!!)

I so appreciate this! While I have some facility with language, writing a clear dissertation of more than a few sentences is very difficult for me, so what you've presented is not only informative but also rather remarkable.

It seems that the Buddhism you describe very closely parallels everything I believe to be important. I do wonder how closely one is expected to follow 600 year old dictates, if that's what they are, about mundane matters though. As for Nirvana, if it's a place then I can only hope it exists, along with or as an adjunct to heaven, but I haven't seen persuasive evidence. Still, an intense feeling came over me one day as a young fellow, and it consisted of a sudden certainty that I should deal with this life and not waste my time searching for information about unknowables. Whether this was in itself an experience with supernatural or spiritual components, I cannot say, but it made so much sense that I never questioned the validity of the idea and there is a sense of appropriateness about making the most of each day that works for me.

I don't propose science as an alternative to anything else, except maybe ignorance. It's simply been my experience that understanding how our minds work solves some ongoing problems, leaving more time for whatever's left. Let me cite one of my favorite small examples. I'm sorry that the source escapes me, but it involves human memory. We now know that a crystal-clear memory is not more likely to be accurate than a hazy one that we are not inclined to trust very much. You can see the immense value of this, I'm sure. I no longer ascribe ill intentions to people who I once would have assumed were being dishonest because I know that my memory in the absence of documentation can never be considered infallible. A whole category of conflict has disappeared from my life.

Lastly, we as a species must deal with people who simply declare that they disagree with, let's say, Humanistic Buddhism, and believe that it's natural to "look after" oneself at any cost to anyone or anything. We are seeing this everywhere, of course. If these people were to learn that such a brutal struggle is unnecessary in the world of modern technology and we could relax a lot more than we do, and cooperate more, it would be a wonderful thing. The point I'm alluding to is that primitive instincts that served us well throughout pre-history are ill-suited to or largely unnecessary in, the modern world and lie at the root of so much of the destructive behaviour that we manifest in our worst moments.

It's actually been fun writing this, so thanks for the stimulus and the opportunity!

love thunderstorms... they are the best things ever!!!