In a-googlin' some Buddhist stuff, I came across this:

If, through our own ripening knowledge, we appreciate that our ultimate and highest purpose should be Nibbana, the absolute end of sorrow, then all goals beneath that are cast in a new light. When we have something to live for that is higher than fame, honor, friendship, or health — higher even than love — we can never be utterly impoverished or ruined. We are in fact in a much better position to enjoy whatever may be achieved in worldly life, because we no longer depend solely on changeable circumstances for our happiness.

I thought this was worth sharing.

Baba Booey!

The buddhist view on this is that the mind is like a storm.

But with great practice you can control your thoughts.

The next natural step is that if you can control thoughts, obviously this thoughts give birth to emotions....ergo, the right behavior, right thoughts...etc. can lead to happiness.

I've seen this when I was going to beach with someone I knew, and another woman cut her off in traffic while we were driving to the ocean.

It was such a lovely day...I was in such a great mood. 3121 was playing in the car..

She was livid and pissed off for at least 2 hours after that incident. It was an imaginary anger in my mind, because there simply was nothing to be angry about.

I am a vain and quick-to-anger person. But I do believe that if I can control my thoughts, I can control my emotins. It's really simple....but difficult.

imago said:

The buddhist view on this is that the mind is like a storm.

But with great practice you can control your thoughts.

The next natural step is that if you can control thoughts, obviously this thoughts give birth to emotions....ergo, the right behavior, right thoughts...etc. can lead to happiness.

I've seen this when I was going to beach with someone I knew, and another woman cut her off in traffic while we were driving to the ocean.

It was such a lovely day...I was in such a great mood. 3121 was playing in the car..

She was livid and pissed off for at least 2 hours after that incident. It was an imaginary anger in my mind, because there simply was nothing to be angry about.

I am a vain and quick-to-anger person. But I do believe that if I can control my thoughts, I can control my emotins. It's really simple....but difficult.

[img:$uid]http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_liyyr9Su4m1qc96mp.gif[/img:$uid]

Shanti0608 said:

imago said:

The buddhist view on this is that the mind is like a storm.

But with great practice you can control your thoughts.

The next natural step is that if you can control thoughts, obviously this thoughts give birth to emotions....ergo, the right behavior, right thoughts...etc. can lead to happiness.

I've seen this when I was going to beach with someone I knew, and another woman cut her off in traffic while we were driving to the ocean.

It was such a lovely day...I was in such a great mood. 3121 was playing in the car..

She was livid and pissed off for at least 2 hours after that incident. It was an imaginary anger in my mind, because there simply was nothing to be angry about.

I am a vain and quick-to-anger person. But I do believe that if I can control my thoughts, I can control my emotins. It's really simple....but difficult.

[img:$uid]http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_liyyr9Su4m1qc96mp.gif[/img:$uid]

OMG, stop!

I'm trying to get ace to develop a man-crush on me with all this hippie loving bullshit rhetoric, and you are stepping ALL OVER my game!

imago said:

Shanti0608 said:

[img:$uid]http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_liyyr9Su4m1qc96mp.gif[/img:$uid]

OMG, stop!

I'm trying to get ace to develop a man-crush on me with all this hippie loving bullshit rhetoric, and you are stepping ALL OVER my game!

Dude, we are all trying to get Ace to have a crush on us.

Besides, your game is so big, it could never be crushed!

Carry on.....

Ace said:

In a-googlin' some Buddhist stuff, I came across this:

If, through our own ripening knowledge, we appreciate that our ultimate and highest purpose should be Nibbana, the absolute end of sorrow, then all goals beneath that are cast in a new light. When we have something to live for that is higher than fame, honor, friendship, or health — higher even than love — we can never be utterly impoverished or ruined. We are in fact in a much better position to enjoy whatever may be achieved in worldly life, because we no longer depend solely on changeable circumstances for our happiness.

I thought this was worth sharing.

Baba Booey!

except for that bit where females aren't allowed in the temples, and that part where buddha sat under a tree doing nothing but meditate while others brought him food, this is the philosophy for me!

Shanti0608 said:

imago said:

OMG, stop!

I'm trying to get ace to develop a man-crush on me with all this hippie loving bullshit rhetoric, and you are stepping ALL OVER my game!

Dude, we are all trying to get Ace to have a crush on us.

Besides, your game is so big, it could never be crushed!

Carry on.....

imago said:

The buddhist view on this is that the mind is like a storm.

But with great practice you can control your thoughts.

The next natural step is that if you can control thoughts, obviously this thoughts give birth to emotions....ergo, the right behavior, right thoughts...etc. can lead to happiness.

I've seen this when I was going to beach with someone I knew, and another woman cut her off in traffic while we were driving to the ocean.

It was such a lovely day...I was in such a great mood. 3121 was playing in the car..

She was livid and pissed off for at least 2 hours after that incident. It was an imaginary anger in my mind, because there simply was nothing to be angry about.

I am a vain and quick-to-anger person. But I do believe that if I can control my thoughts, I can control my emotins. It's really simple....but difficult.

^^^faints^^^

imago said:

Shanti0608 said:

[img:$uid]http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_liyyr9Su4m1qc96mp.gif[/img:$uid]

OMG, stop!

I'm trying to get ace to develop a man-crush on me with all this hippie loving bullshit rhetoric, and you are stepping ALL OVER my game!

Shanti0608 said:

imago said:

OMG, stop!

I'm trying to get ace to develop a man-crush on me with all this hippie loving bullshit rhetoric, and you are stepping ALL OVER my game!

Dude, we are all trying to get Ace to have a crush on us.

If you only knew the truth...

XxAxX said:

Ace said:

In a-googlin' some Buddhist stuff, I came across this:

I thought this was worth sharing.

Baba Booey!

except for that bit where females aren't allowed in the temples, and that part where buddha sat under a tree doing nothing but meditate while others brought him food, this is the philosophy for me!

Religion is not for me, ergo temples are not for me. As for the part where he did nothing while others brought him food? I knew this Buddha dude knew some shit!

fa fa flo hi!

Shorty said:

fa fa flo hi!

Fla-fla-flunky.

Papa-papa-hoooo
(A papa-oom-mow-mow a papa-oom-mow-mow)
Papa-papa-papa-hoooo
(A papa-oom-mow-mow a papa-oom-mow-mow)
Doot doot doot
(A papa-oom-mow-mow a papa-oom-mow-mow)
Doot doot doot
(A papa-oom-mow-mow a papa-oom-mow-mow)

Ace said:

Shanti0608 said:

Dude, we are all trying to get Ace to have a crush on us.

If you only knew the truth...

I find that many of us think of happiness as a destination. Like boarding a plane and arriving at "Happiness".

It does not work that way. It is a daily thing that you have to work at. It is not a pair of shoes or a puppy.

It is a state of being.

Oh and I just went to the dr today for a health problem caused by anxiety.

I need tip to stop being anxious!

Shanti0608 said:

Ace said:

If you only knew the truth...

I find that many of us think of happiness as a destination. Like boarding a plane and arriving at "Happiness".

It does not work that way. It is a daily thing that you have to work at. It is not a pair of shoes or a puppy.

It is a state of being.

Exactly:

Oh and I just went to the dr today for a health problem caused by anxiety.

I need tip to stop being anxious!

A good psychiatrist can help you with this (depending on the severity, medication might be helpful).

Ace said:

Shanti0608 said:

Exactly:

Oh and I just went to the dr today for a health problem caused by anxiety.

I need tip to stop being anxious!

A good psychiatrist can help you with this (depending on the severity, medication might be helpful).

Luckily I am not materialistic, actually the opposite, every week I try to find things to give to charities. I would like a puppy though.

Ace said:

Shanti0608 said:

Exactly:

Oh and I just went to the dr today for a health problem caused by anxiety.

I need tip to stop being anxious!

A good psychiatrist can help you with this (depending on the severity, medication might be helpful).

ahhh! this thing wouldn't let me out of this box.

anyway...not to rub it in or anything....but this "happiness is a choice" mentality comes naturally to me. The only time I'm ever "down" is like when my dad died, I was really sad for like a week, then the second week I was still sad but not all the time I was able to start accepting it and get over it. Recently my mom was diagnosed with cancer...and then falsely informed it was probably much worse than originally diagnosed....those few days I was very sad...or bummed out. but for the most part...I'm never "down" sure I get mad at shit but very little makes me sad. I NEVER feel bad about myself, I'ma don't sweat the small stuff kinda gal I guess.

Shorty said:

Ace said:

ahhh! this thing wouldn't let me out of this box.

anyway...not to rub it in or anything....but this "happiness is a choice" mentality comes naturally to me. The only time I'm ever "down" is like when my dad died, I was really sad for like a week, then the second week I was still sad but not all the time I was able to start accepting it and get over it. Recently my mom was diagnosed with cancer...and then falsely informed it was probably much worse than originally diagnosed....those few days I was very sad...or bummed out. but for the most part...I'm never "down" sure I get mad at shit but very little makes me sad. I NEVER feel bad about myself, I'ma don't sweat the small stuff kinda gal I guess.

You are lucky. I worry and get anxious about so many things. Silly little things and big things. I don't get down about myself really. I always worry about others and the what ifs.

Oh well, I am better than I used to be so I am glad about that.

I can always improve though.

Shorty said:

ahhh! this thing wouldn't let me out of this box.

This used to drive me crazy until I discovered a trick: Hit Enter a few times, at the bottom of the box, then click the "Blockquote" button (below Bold). Voila: jailbreak!

anyway...not to rub it in or anything....but this "happiness is a choice" mentality comes naturally to me. The only time I'm ever "down" is like when my dad died, I was really sad for like a week, then the second week I was still sad but not all the time I was able to start accepting it and get over it. Recently my mom was diagnosed with cancer...and then falsely informed it was probably much worse than originally diagnosed....those few days I was very sad...or bummed out. but for the most part...I'm never "down" sure I get mad at shit but very little makes me sad. I NEVER feel bad about myself, I'ma don't sweat the small stuff kinda gal I guess.

If only we could talk to Howard. Now, there's a guy who needs to learn how to not sweat the small stuff.

Ace said:

In a-googlin' some Buddhist stuff, I came across this:

If, through our own ripening knowledge, we appreciate that our ultimate and highest purpose should be Nibbana, the absolute end of sorrow, then all goals beneath that are cast in a new light. When we have something to live for that is higher than fame, honor, friendship, or health — higher even than love — we can never be utterly impoverished or ruined. We are in fact in a much better position to enjoy whatever may be achieved in worldly life, because we no longer depend solely on changeable circumstances for our happiness.

I thought this was worth sharing.

Baba Booey!

I have authorithy issues.

Who decides for me that I have to come to the conlcusion that Nibbana is my highest purpose? If I don't pursue Nibbana, that shows my knowledge isn't ripe enough?

And why should I strive for the absolute end of sorrow? Because isn't that resulting in total indifference or just a very eloquent form of avoidance and escapism?

I should not want love, friendship or health because my longing can result in dissapointment. So, it's better to dismiss that all, so I have full control of my own emotional state.

And living as hermit without any lover or friends to challenge me. Because I don't want feel bad or horrible now and than?

It's not that I like my lows. It's just that retracting myself from life in order to have a constant flat emotional state is not what I strive for.

Or is that a sign of my underdeveloped knowledge because my soul is far, far away from enlightenmend?

Some enlightened souls are more equal than others, I guess.

And yes, I wish I wasn't troubling myself so much.

XxAxX said:

Ace said:

In a-googlin' some Buddhist stuff, I came across this:

I thought this was worth sharing.

Baba Booey!

except for that bit where females aren't allowed in the temples, and that part where buddha sat under a tree doing nothing but meditate while others brought him food, this is the philosophy for me!

Females are allowed in temples. I am sometimes the only male at the local temple here when I go in to meditate.

Female discrimination is in Buddhist history and indeed monastic life/rules. But, these can change. The West is waking up to a new form of 'atheist buddhism' in which the core principles are applied to people's lives without the myths that surround the religion. The West has more or less stripped away the female/male distinction, which I think is a good thing.

The East has much further to go, but it's a societal problem more than an intrinsically Buddhist problem.

IanRG, if your annoying ass is going to jump in this conversation, my brain is going to explode.

I wonder if I did the Tina Turner chant will I be happier than I normally am on a good day?

dJJ said:

Who decides for me that I have to come to the conlcusion that Nibbana is my highest purpose?

Don't think anyone said that.

If I don't pursue Nibbana, that shows my knowledge isn't ripe enough?

"Ripe" enough? Dunno.

And why should I strive for the absolute end of sorrow? Because isn't that resulting in total indifference or just a very eloquent form of avoidance and escapism?

No, I don't believe that.

I should not want love, friendship or health because my longing can result in dissapointment.

I think you're misreading the quote.

And living as hermit without any lover or friends to challenge me. Because I don't want feel bad or horrible now and than?

Since this is obviously directed at me, personally, let me say that I don't live as a "hermit". I work five days per week (down from many years of six days per week) and I was just out with some friends, yesterday evening. As for "lovers", I've had some. Don't feel the need for them anymore. But the passage quoted does not say that you have to shun that.

It's not that I like my lows. It's just that retracting myself from life in order to have a constant flat emotional state is not what I strive for.

Since this also seems to be directed at myself, I don't feel that I've "retracted myself from life" at all. And "a constant flat emotional state" seems to imply that you feel that my emotional state is a listless one. Far from that, I am a very happy person who takes great joy in simple things.

Or is that a sign of my underdeveloped knowledge because my soul is far, far away from enlightenmend?

"Underdeveloped"? I wouldn't say that. I would say that "enlightenment" is a good thing.

Some enlightened souls are more equal than others, I guess.

Not that I'm aware of.

I think the point of detachment in Buddhism is largely misunderstood, because sorrow and pain are very crude translations of dukka which it much broader.

It would be like saying trust and fondness are the same thing as respect.

Freedom from dukka is something all Buddhist strive for. But an adequat description of Dukka takes weeks to understand and explain. Because laughter, love, sex, pleasure---these things are just as much dukka as pain, suffering, sorry, and greif are. It's just very difficult to explain.

As far as not being allowed to be happy that your in love? Nothing in buddhism says you can't be.

Own the iphone, have the beautiful girlfriend, have the great house and wonderful yaght by all means---just don't pin your happiness on these things. Happiness is a mental discipline.

All things are rafts that help you get to some shore. Once at the shore, it would be silly to lug that raft around with you.

Ace said:

As for "lovers", I've had some. Don't feel the need for them anymore.

I would like to clarify that I'm still interested in sex. I'm just not interested in sex with strings attached (and there are always strings attached).

Unfortunate, that.

Ace said:

Ace said:

As for "lovers", I've had some. Don't feel the need for them anymore.

I would like to clarify that I'm still interested in sex. I'm just not interested in sex with strings attached (and there are always strings attached).

Unfortunate, that.

Are you just clarifying this to keep Imago crushing on you?

Shanti0608 said:

Ace said:

I would like to clarify that I'm still interested in sex. I'm just not interested in sex with strings attached (and there are always strings attached).

Unfortunate, that.

Are you just clarifying this to keep Imago crushing on you?