Rational Certainty

[greenberg]

Not awfully common in Western society though, is it? Comparatively speaking.

Many areas of the Western world are threatened by shortage of drinking water - we normally have to buy drinking water.
This is, in effect, draught. There may be water, but if it is polluted, it is of no use.

 

[lightgigantic]

Actually, secular Scandinavia consistently comes out top in such endeavours. See?

it's dealing with something a little different

For this study data has also been analysed in relation to health, wealth and access to education.

Buddhists also score highly on the happiness scale - regardless of country of origin/residence.

surprise surprise

But of course: most of us aren't Buddhists and, when we're lying like worms in filth, we tend to notice it.

Maybe the world needs more buddhists

 

[lightgigantic]

If humans created the bad, so the good.

Pick an explanation and stick to it, yes?

we do create the good and the bad - but not in the way you are probably thinking - we create it through our previous action (karma) .... everything else is automatic.

 

[greenberg]

Maybe the world needs more buddhists

They do seem to be rather resilient and stubbornly persistent, ready to face long stretches of chaos and evil where nothing seems to make sense or be for any good ... yet on they go, convinced in karma and rebirth.

 

[redarmy11]

Gah, I am done with this thread for now. I have an atheistic attention span and am not cut out for desert travel. My keyboard is filled with water and I am being attacked by angry bees!

 

[EmmZ]

That's god's way of smiting you for being a scientist.

 

[lightgigantic]

That's god's way of smiting you for being a scientist.

I thought he said he was an atheist?

 

[redarmy11]

That's god's way of smiting you for being a scientist.

Well.. I'm not one. But clearly I must have been in a previous life.

 

[lightgigantic]

Tell me if I've taken this out of context but you're telling me a pig being led into a slaughterhouse thinks as it hears the screams of it's fellow farm-mates, "Ah, tis but a scratch"?

I don't know
haven't seen too many pig slaughter houses
But its not unusual to see two goats having sex in a butchers queue

 

[lightgigantic]

Well.. I'm not one. But clearly I must have been in a previous life.

you weren't born sometime around 1979 were you?

 

[greenberg]

I don't know
haven't seen too many pig slaughter houses

I have witnessed the slaughter of pigs, chicken, rabbits, mice.
The screams are unforgettable.

At some point, they apparently realize what is going on, and this is several minutes before the axe falls.

 

[lightgigantic]

I have witnessed the slaughter of pigs, chicken, rabbits, mice.
The screams are unforgettable.

At some point, they apparently realize what is going on, and this is several minutes before the axe falls.

actually there is a puranic incident where indra (kind of like the king of heaven) gets cursed to become a pig by his guru. As the time for his curse lapses all the demigods come down to beg him to return to heaven (since the throne is empty) but he doesn't want to because he is quite happy as a pig - he has his beautiful wife and lots of happy kids - what more could an individual want? Eventually his children get taken away to get slaughtered, and while distressed, he rationalizes that one of the benefits of being a pig is that kids are easy to come by. Then his wife gets taken away to get slaughtered, and while momentarily distressed, he brings himself out of it by realizing that as a pig, sex life is quite easy with no distinctions of mother, sister, daughter or wife, so there is no real reason to fret. Eventually he gets taken to the slaughter yard and its only when the butcher brings out his knife that he decides going back to the throne of heaven is a good idea ...

 

[EmmZ]

And that's my cue. Adios.

 

[Myles]

something else, aside from water, falls from the clouds in africa?

My guess is Manna. Do I get the cigar ?

 

[Myles]

redarmy

right there

”

today's westerners are tomorrow's africans (provided they get the human form of course)

IOW the general tendency of the conditioned living entity is to swing like a pendulum from acts of piety (performed in the absence of adequate facility for sense gratification) followed by acts of impiety (performed quite carefreely in the presence of great facility for sense gratification). That is the basic story of mundane religiosity.

But actually there are all sorts of ways that one can get struck down by sinful reaction - geography is one way - others include physical appearance, intellectual capacity, vigor/health, social community etc etc - so its not like the west is immune to suffering.
Alternatively, there are all sorts of ways to get the right hand with pious credits.

Are you for real ? Do you really believe that stuff ?

 

[Myles]

actually WHO regularly does surveys on which populations are most happy. The winners all seem to come from third world economies (eg Bangladesh, mexico, etc) for some uncanny reason .... I guess that says more about being pious in the presence of physical calamity than being impious in the presence of physical facility




lol
generally, whether we are a worm in a stool or a deranged stock broker, we like to think "I've got it pretty good here"

Tell us what it's like to be a worm in a stool ! I'm sure most of us have no idea.

 

[lightgigantic]

Are you for real ? Do you really believe that stuff ?

the bit about the africans was more of an analogy to illustrate the concept concisely - the laws of karma are way too complex and involved to be obedient to such a simple statement.

The substance of the statement lies in the "IOW" onwards

 

[lightgigantic]

Tell us what it's like to be a worm in a stool ! I'm sure most of us have no idea.

just imagine yourself in your favorite chair by a fire place

 

[draqon]

Personal commitment will get you to certainty.

Thoughts?

I lack commitment for cause of God for the reason of my adeptness to the system without the God element in my life yet having a stable and logical explanation for everything with God lacking...buddhism.

 

[Myles]

the bit about the africans was more of an analogy to illustrate the concept concisely - the laws of karma are way too complex and involved to be obedient to such a simple statement.

The substance of the statement lies in the "IOW" onwards

"The laws of karma are way too complex.................."
How convenient ! It saves you the problem of trying to explain why anyone other than the guillible should believe such stuff.

Karma is no more than a way of getting people to stay in line by accepting their caste as a given. If you are an untouchable it's because of what you did in a previous life.

It can also "explain" what may be a painful experience. For example, if a child is born deformed, it can be said the deformity is the result of something done in a previous life and which will now teach the child lessons which will enable it to have a better birth next time.

As usual, the whole question of karma and rebirth is not suported by any objective evidence. It is simply a plausible explanation for those who are rready to believe such stuff.