Buddhism is but dharma and meditation. I hate rules and regulations, pomp and ceremony.
There's no metaphysics in Buddhism. haha
Buddhism is like talking to the sky, absurd.
Buddhism is immaterial. Buddhism doesn't exist, according to Buddhists.
Of the variety of religions that one might choose, Buddhism is near the least objectionable. Buddhists do not trouble themselves with a magic man in the sky.
I have a friend who is Japanese. Ashidasan is a Buddhist. He is married to a down home type, hard shell, Christian woman. It is surely a miracle that they coexist and have done so for many years. My friend is one of the most polite, considerate, and helpful people that I have ever known. Whether that has anything to do with his Buddhism, is indeterminate.
buddhuists are weird. certainly the theravadans are all explicitly atheist, but thrre are other braches, like the yellow hats.
im not do sure about those
Buddhism is a wide topic that should have a narrow focus.
I must practise Buddha patience.
Practicing Buddhists contain themselves rather admirably.
Quote from: MarcusA on August 08, 2023, 12:55:07 AMI must practise Buddha patience.
Try to start with a desire to keep your posting relevant to the subject matter? :)
Buddhists have to meditate for 16 hours a day to avoid returning as an animal in their next life.
I heard this from a monk at the Forest Centre in England.
...Or don't meditate, return as a cucumber, get eaten in a salad within a couple of months, then re-return as something else again. :smilenod:
There are ways around the consequences of lacking in the enlightenment department, I think.
There were 27 Buddhas that preceded the great Gautama.
It's similar to the number of Christs that preceded the great Jesus.
I don't mind coming back as a pet dog, because they have a good life, but please not as a cucumber.
I'll start meditating, just in case.
This is the place I was referring to. It's a branch of the main Forest Heritage in England (Hertfordshire).
https://foresthermitage.org.uk/#:~:text=Meditation,https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3l0NwFT
...And what, may The Asmo inquire, is wrong with the noble cucumber?
Nature's own knobbly dildos :smilenod: ...Also work in that salad.
Cucumbers get eaten and they give me indigestion.
I could end up in the belly of Donald Trump.
Cucumbers are a vital ingredient when making Gazpacho. Of course Gazpacho is dish of probable origin with the sheepherders of the Pyrenees. It will fit the rules of Buddha perfectly.
Tomatoes, cucumber, celery, green or red peppers, onion, garlic, oregano, basil, vinegar, olive oil, salt, black pepper, chicken broth. OOPS maybe the chicken broth is not OK with Buddhists. Very well, then use vegetable broth instead. (Serve cold with croutons or hard bread) Yummy. Keeps for several days in the fridge. Must have cucumbers seeds and all.
The cucumber cares not what gullet it passes through. :levitate:
Is a cucumber a fruit or vegetable?
How about a sea animal?
Whatever it is, it needs liberating from the cycle of death and rebirth.
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/sea-cucumber-liberation-front-classic-tshirt-for-sale-by-seacucumber--180003317599424324/
"Sea cucumbers are echinoderms—like starfish and sea urchins. There are some 1,250 known species".
Yes. You see? The noble cucumber is the way, the light and the saviour. One should strive to be reborn in its green and elongated form - also good for pickling. :smilenod:
I was told a first hand story by an acquaintance a fair while ago. He had gone to Australia on holiday. One trip he did was 'Rock pooling' with a naturalist guide somewhere on the cost. It was a mixed group of locals, European and Asian tourists. There was a Japanese couple in the group they did not speak fluent English. Apparently the tour guide would find things in the rok pools and show them around the group. He found a sea cucumber and the Japanese pair became quite chatty and animated. The guide passed the sea cucumber to them and they promptly started eating it.
It does take the Japanese to appreciate the sliminess of the sea pickle. :smilenod:
I'm surprised and disappointed at the attitude of those Japanese who should know better.
That sea cucumber could have been one of their deceased family members.
As could a octopus, and yet they munch upon those alive and wriggling.
I like a lot of Japanese food. Was actually contemplating a food tourism over that way, but then there was the c00f and currently, them stocks be a-bleedin'.
Do you mean Sushi?
" Wild-caught fish like tuna and salmon are great for you. They're full of omega-3 fatty acids that help protect our hearts and brains, and they're packed with protein. Unfortunately, that's probably not the fish you're getting. More likely you're being fed farmed fish, which are dangerous to your health and full of antibiotics, pesticides and dangerous chemicals. "
Sushi is also packed with bacteria, mercury and excrement from the fish farm.
Not just sushi. I also approve of gyoza dumplings, shabu shabu, a nice bowl of ramen, a few more "esoteric" dishes...
...There is a lot to the Japanese cuisine. :smilenod:
When it comes to what's in it, the squeamish may be best served by not dwelling - whatever it is. I... Just don't care overmuch. A pubic hair in my hot dog is unlikely to give me syphilis.
That said, how on Earth would the author of your unattributed quote have any idea what I am or am not likely to get in my sushi and what standard of safety is being used in its production chain?
https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/multimedia/multimedia_pub/multimedia_pub_fsf_205_01.html
Buy before you go.
https://www.dupont.com/personal-protection/nuclear-protective-clothing.html
That's Hong Kong - a city in a country I have never even visited. A country which is not Japan. And it talks about iodine contamination rather than where sushi comes from.
I assume you were not answering my question, but have moved on to a completely different matter? I tried looking up the quote online, but all I find are various ""healthy eating"" rags, blogs and forums, which neglect to list sources or measured values or... Pretty-much anything, which leads me to believe that they have gained that information by "reading and believing" something somewhere, possibly disregarding its context.
But the Japanese are buddhists, Hong Kongers are daoists.
Well, sort of. I don't think they know either.
I've never been to Japan but I've spent time in HK SAR.
The fish is fresh in HK. You order it live in a tank, and a few minutes later you are consuming it.
Well... Yeah... Sorta'.
They will sell you a frozen (currently or formerly) fish in Hong Kong, as they will sell you a out-of-the-live-fish-tank fish in Norway. The Japanese though, who are sneaky that way, will sell you sashimi which is actually
alive (-ish) at the time of consumption.
Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.
That is a truly awful video.
One reason I don't go to the far east any more.
They don't love animals.
fuck the japanese.
Quote from: zorkan on January 25, 2024, 05:58:16 PMThey don't love animals.
That's far too blanket a statement. Sure "they" do. Even farmers who produce beef may love their animals, and still kill them for food. There is a subtle difference between love of something and emotional attachment to one or more instances of this something.
There is nothing stopping the guy who prepares live sashimi from finding the fish cool and fascinating - and still filleting it while it wriggles away.
nothing except empathy for other living things, including non-japanese human beings. japanese culture minimizes this.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731
I didn't know about Unit 731, but I'd heard about the experiments done on people during the slaughter and occupation of Nanjing.
Even the Nazi's were shocked.
Japs also dropped bio-bombs containing anthrax, cholera and plague on the Chinese.
I'm guessing the whole idea of buddhist karma might have influenced their behaviour.
They regarded themselves as a master race and all others were subhuman.
Also the way they treated foreign women as sex slaves and POW's like vermin.
However I have taken notice of what a British POW said about his Jap captors.
He hated them, but felt no ill to the current generation.
japan has yet to accept respobsibility for its actions in tbe war. their national guilt remains as long as that is the case.
my korean brother in law-- born and raised in japan-- had to explain to his fellow university students --japanese-- that no, korea did not "invite" japanese peacemakers into korea in the 1930s, and that it was in fact a hostile military invasion.
japanese education whitewashes their war crimes in this and many other instances.
the day japan hosts a photo exhibition of the rape of nanking inside their hiroshima memorial i will change my mind.
Quote from: billy rubin on January 26, 2024, 05:29:24 PMtheir national guilt remains as long as that is the case.
Do they have any national guilt to speak of? It seems more of a German, British or American thing to me.
Quote from: Asmodean on January 30, 2024, 10:14:57 AMQuote from: billy rubin on January 26, 2024, 05:29:24 PMtheir national guilt remains as long as that is the case.
Do they have any national guilt to speak of? It seems more of a German, British or American thing to me.
actually, no.
japanes culture resembles chinese in that respect. there is less consciousness of guilt, but great awareness of shame. in china the practice of saving face is an imperative that goes back centuries, at least.
face culture means that it matters less what you do, than it does what you are caught at. so the japanese may fill the harbour at minimata with poisonous mercury, and be found out, but a public apology is deemed sufficient. or toshiba may sell american submarine plans to the soviets, but again, a public apology covers all th ebases.
in japan, the government is carefully erasing any factual history of the second world war within its educational system. even during the war, the invasion of southeast asia was touted as the greater east asian co-properity sphere, with the public facade that it ws a voluntary and compassionate imposition of health, wealth, and higher culture.
the japanese do not acknowledge their role in the atrocites their occupation troops imposed in the philippines, malaya, singapore, thailand, burma, and china. modern japanese school children grow up completely ignorant of the role their grandfathers played ion the war. once the memory is gone, then there is no longer shame, and the japanese will no longer even acknowledge responsibility for their part in the war.
th ehiroshima memorial is a case in point. nuclear war is a horrible thing, yet the japanese killed more chinese in nanking in their three months of terror than the americans did in the bombings. with a great deal more personal cruelty.
when i was younger i was fascinated by the depth and richness of japanese culture-- architecture, literature, pre-meiji history, and the arts. i studied the japanses language in university. but i take a much more nuanced view of their self-regard these days, and the results are very mixed.
and i find their love for live sushi to be representative of a general lack of empathy for pain and suffering of "others," whether human or animal.
Quote from: billy rubin on January 30, 2024, 04:33:21 PMjapanes culture resembles chinese in that respect. there is less consciousness of guilt, but great awareness of shame. in china the practice of saving face is an imperative that goes back centuries, at least.
I've read somewhere that it even plays a part in their organised crime. Extortion by the threat of public shaming or some such. Hm... It's a different culture, to be sure. I can see
some appeal, but suspect it takes work, being a good cog in the larger machine.
Quotein japan, the government is carefully erasing any factual history of the second world war within its educational system. even during the war, the invasion of southeast asia was touted as the greater east asian co-properity sphere, with the public facade that it ws a voluntary and compassionate imposition of health, wealth, and higher culture.
Who says history is written by the victor? Heh... More by whatever culture has the capability of effectively writing it.
Quotethe japanese do not acknowledge their role in the atrocites their occupation troops imposed in the philippines, malaya, singapore, thailand, burma, and china. modern japanese school children grow up completely ignorant of the role their grandfathers played ion the war. once the memory is gone, then there is no longer shame, and the japanese will no longer even acknowledge responsibility for their part in the war.
Thing is though, very few Japanese people alive today did any of that, nor did they vote for the leaders who ordered it, nor did they fail to overthrow a government that overstepped. In my book at least, that makes them absolutely guiltless.
Quotewhen i was younger i was fascinated by the depth and richness of japanese culture-- architecture, literature, pre-meiji history, and the arts. i studied the japanses language in university. but i take a much more nuanced view of their self-regard these days, and the results are very mixed.
I'm hardly what the kids these days would call a "weeb" either. I do admire some things about the Japanese culture, such as their tendency not to inflict themselves on others, but as is the case with most cultures, it's a mixed bag. Not saying all cultures are equal, mind you. Some bags are more mixed than others, and the Japanese is not that in my book, but it does have its downsides. Deep-rooted collectivism comes to mind, (The irony of it being the source of the one admirable trait I mentioned is not lost on me, but nor is the observations that even a broken collectivist may get it right twice a lifetime)
Quoteand i find their love for live sushi to be representative of a general lack of empathy for pain and suffering of "others," whether human or animal.
Love of sushi in general is no different from
my deep appreciation for consuming dead animals, yet I am perfectly capable of, to put it this way, compartmentalising a dog I want to pet from one I want to eat. One is a friend and a companion, with all the emotional baggage attached. The other is food.
I mean, yeah, the fish is often raw, but it does not
have to also be wriggling. Conversely, in Thailand, one can get a nice bowl of jumping shrimp salad. I don't think that speaks to a lack of empathy for animals - it's just that ripping some/certain animals apart is precisely what your canines are for. They are food.
Is it OK to be racist now?
This is good.
I've had my thoughts, Turkey resisting Sweden's entry to Nato grates.
It's OK to hate "the Turkish" because they deny the Armenian genocide.
I think I could easily think of a way righteously condemn every nationality.
Quote from: The Magic Pudding.. on January 31, 2024, 12:10:19 PMI think I could easily think of a way righteously condemn every nationality.
...Which is, in part, why I choose
not to.
Quote from: The Magic Pudding.. on January 31, 2024, 12:10:19 PMIs it OK to be racist now?
Your thought crimes, dear Pudding, are your own. :smilenod:
I'd like to see Sweden in NATO as well. I think they would be more technologically useful to the aliance than Turkey, and more politically predictable besides. Turkey has its strategic position though, and Sweden's land borders are exclusively with friendly nations.
QuoteIt's OK to hate "the Turkish" because they deny the Armenian genocide.
Here's a slight coincidence.
I was talking to an Armenian 2 days ago and he spoke of the genocide.
He informed me that Armenia was the first christian country, and not Judea.
I'd have probably said SPQR.
Secular Buddhism is wonderful. Buddha was called 'the Great Physician" quite appropriately, in my mind. I have benefited tremendously from meditation, and from the truths elucidated by Buddhist philosophy. Rub that shit on everything.
As long as you keep those philosophical truths malleable enough to change with changing or revealing reality.
Quote from: Asmodean on February 05, 2024, 08:41:34 AMAs long as you keep those philosophical truths malleable enough to change with changing or revealing reality.
Unfortunately, not here.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-518499/Buddhist-monk-cut-pieces-run-lawnmower-Milton-Keynes-temple.html
He had been warned by The Buddha to be::
"Free from craving
before the break-up
[of the body],
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.4.10.than.html#:~:text=Gotama%2C%20tell%20me%20about%20%E2%80%94%20when,2%5D%20no%20yearning%20is%20his.
Would it be bad taste for The Asmo to insert a suitably vicious karma joke right about here? ;D
It's a bit of an aside, but this reminds me of "spiritual experiences" that some people claim to be the root of their belief. While I can intellectually understand how they would infer the divine from their knowing that a loved one has died before they were told or having a feeling that they had to be somewhere and when they followed it, some great event in their lives occurred or... Jesus appearing to them in a fucking dog turd.
Anyhoo, while I can understand how many such people arrive to where they are at, philosophically speaking, I'm almost-invariably unimpressed by how little they pondered other likely scenarios as to the nature of their experience, and how few questions they ask of their own faith. I guess it's kind-of in the word "faith," but yeah... I digress.
My sister in law ran away from home when she was 16. Some time later, she ended up in Japan and landed a job with Panasonic teaching English to their executives. She stayed in Japan long enough to change her moderate Christian upbringing attitude, and her name, to a Japanese name. She also became a Buddhist and to this day, 50 years later, she is a dedicated Taiko drummer. Not sure what Buddhism and drumming have to do with the whole scene.
Kimisan is a cool old chick. I like her.
To repress their sexual desire many Buddhists take up smoking.
I wouldn't like to be a disciple of the Dalai Lama.
You may be required to show your faith by eating his shit and drinking his urine.
Quote from: zorkan on February 06, 2024, 02:46:25 PMTo repress their sexual desire many Buddhists take up smoking.
What a coincidence! About the time I quit smoking, my libido went to hell. Well not so much my libido but essential parts of my anatomy became hopelessly lazy.
A recent study suggest this.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-does-smoking-affect-you-sexually#faq
Buddhists are right after all.
Their karma ran over my dogma.