Why write this? Well, if other people feel so freely to share their convictions, I think I also need to share my convictions.
Problems I have with organised self-delusional groups:
a) there is something inherently wrong or misdeeds you or your forefathers have done, so shut up and make the best of it;
b) all these units of charm offensive promises you something in return.
Original Sin/Previous Lives - Imagine you have a 5 year old kid going to kindergarten for the first day. He sat down, the teacher comes over and gave him one tight slap. He cries why ... the teacher said "oh, its something your forefathers did or you did in your previous life". What kind of logic? Well, in every organised charm offensive, there has to be something that you can never question, something you are "guilty of" and there is nothing you can argue or question its logic. It is only by getting you to be "you might not know it but you have already done something wrong" mode that they can proceed to show how they can "bail" you out.
The Uncertain and Unknown Afterlife - Most are just buying insurance or just doing things because they have been culturally inclined to. Just in case there is really a purgatory or heaven or hell, or really another life. We need to hedge our bets against the unknown. IF there is a "plan", you are here... then just live your life HERE and NOW well. Any kind of afterlife plan that looks like a health insurance place is bollocks: oh well, you didn't tick these boxes. Live your current life well and with joy, whatever happens (or nothing happens) after, will sort themselves out.
In Christianity its because God so loved you, and now that you have been saved, you should be like Christ, be good, be nice.
In Buddhism, we are all just passing through, its cycles, we need to improve the present life so that our future life cycles higher on the road to nirvana. Karma is a bitch too, what you put in you plow... maybe not this life but eventually.Every single organised charm offensive is selfish in nature. You do something in order to get something in return. You do charity, social work, bring kind, even being a better person generally ... because of something you are getting.
Better life cycles to nirvana, isn't that just selfish as well... it is me me me, better for me.
My problem with the above two postulations is why can't we be good for GOODNESS SAKE!!!??? Why do we need this carrot being dangled in front of us, what are we, PETS!!???
I am not an atheist, and I do believe there is a God (power/force) and its all very nice the love thing but let's leave it at that. Do not extrapolate that into my character. I am still me.
If I do good its because good is really good, it brings out the best in humans. It is the right thing to do, AND YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE SOMETHING IN RETURN - you don't need presents, good luck, eternal life, good karma ... those are some other shit.
We have a mind, a sense of morality ... you may ask where do these come from ... even if they are God given, just say thank you ... but you do not need to do good because of that. You as a good parent, you take care of your kids because it is the right thing to do, because of the love you have in your heart for the kid... and most will not even want anything in return, most will not want the kid to worship them, most will not need the kid to repay them... and so it is. Do good because the other side is evil/grey.
Yes, I do feel good when I do good, so is that something for something, who cares... don't do it for presents or promises or to change your luck because those will only reveal how shallow your character is, and in the end, your goodness is tainted and watered down.
Will you still do good if there were NO CARROTS!!?? If you answer yes, thats the best answer and the only answer you need to hear. Good hearts can't be bought. You can nurture it but don't bribe me.
WE ARE NOT PETS... don't dangle carrots/bones in front of us!!!
22 comments:
I think it's not a carrot dangling thing. I think it's more a herd mentality thing.
I'm a Christian but I don't ascribe to all the mumbo jumbo. Like you, I believe in God. I also learn Buddhism as it is more of a teaching than a religion. Nothing wrong with learning what is good.
Doing good is not something human beings are good at. Look around you. But being evil seems to come naturally these days. Has to do with the environment I think.
Yes, doing good has to come from the heart. Not because it was mentioned in the Bible or other Holy Books. It cannot be forced but it can be taught.
Well said. Dali.
Well said, Dali.
Well said, Dali.
Winners will win, lovers will love,gooders will...
人之初，性本善。
We were born good. There is where your good come from.
性相近，习相远。
But environment and society has make us different.
Why religion emphasize so much of the 'carrot' these days ? Capitalism; where you do thing for something in return.
Capitalism is older than any living monk, priest etcs. Capitalism has spread so fast and vast that many religious preacher lost their path; promoting the 'carrot' instead of the teaching.
In Buddhism, karma etcs are not carrot at the first place. It is a belief of how the cosmic work and it happened to ties to how one behave. It one dwell deeper, most religion teaching do ask followers not to focus on the outcome when doing good.
But all is not lost, Confucius, Lao Tze and many ancient Chinese philosopher take up the teaching parts. Just learn the teaching from them and forget about the religion part.
Since we're on the topic of religion, you may wanna check out Dawkin's "The God Delusion". He gave a good account of why morality NEED not have anything to do with religion.
If I have 72 virgins, I'll give away 20 to you. With 52 it is easier to work out a weekly roster.
Dalai Lama's message on science and Buddhism, need to view in the right context. It mean that one should not hold or accept one view / opinion rigidly based on a) Holy books, b) traditional beliefs and practise c) everyone following and accepting it d) repeated hearing or rumour etc etc. One should also be ready to accept new ideas, if science prove certain religious facts being wrong. That does not mean that there is no truth about Buddhism.
In actual fact, after the death of the founder of religion, all religion suffer from change and some incorrect facts being introduced as the successor are not perfect human beings. Buddhism is no different. Most religion, settle differences by who is stronger and powerful and wars have been fought over these differences. However, I have yet to hear of wars being fought due to difference in opinion on Buddhism. On the contrary, there is a book written about debates between the various Buddhist sects to settle differences of opinion.
Below is to answer your question on why can't we be good for goodness sake. Why be good only for higher future life cycles.
Most people are far from perfect and they need motivation to do good. Karma will give motivation to them. The world will be a better place if many do good. Unfortunately, it is not the case. Wars, killings and robbery, lies are every day occurrence. Even business people who rich and powerful with influence, commit swindling acts. To me, God only need to impress on these few human leaders to drive down the culture of doing good for its sake. The whole world will be driven towards goodness. But, He is not responding. Perhaps God don't want to get involved. After all, with an automatic system of rewards and punishment like for e.g. karma, He can be completely hands off.
Imagine, with 7 billion people, having to judge their deeds, God will be very busy indeed.
Well said, Yik!
DALAI LAMA also said
-" People do not arrive in dis world as members of a particular religion but Ethics is Innate"..... "far more crucial than Religion is our Elementary Human Spirituality. It is our Predisposition towards Love, Kindness & Compassion that we all have within us"
Quite disappointing with the expletives to emphasise your thoughts and ideas on religious issues.
a major disappointment... bro
did u fall off the wrong side of the bed?
Quite disappointing about your rants and using expletives to express your sheer ignorance.
joseph,
u can go fuck yourself ... its my blog, not an english test, i write the way i feel, nothing for you to be disappointed as i do not have to live up to your man made ideals
no like, don't return to my blog... its like criticising someone's diary
I believe you are taking good steps to rediscovering God.
The goodness'within us comes from Him. We get better at doing good when we embrace Him and receive Him. We live out His nature...
I like your attitude in wanting to do good for goodness sake but I got a question. How do you know that a position, belief or action is 'good'? How do you define 'good'?
If you tell me that 'good' is innate or something thats self evident, well I got news for you bro. Hitler truly believed he was doing 'good' when he gassed Jews and other undesirable people in his gas chambers. Those ISIS guys truly believe they are doing 'good' in murdering anyone who doesn't agree with them.
So whats the yardstick or benchmark? You see the world requires a yardstick/benchmark in order to guide us. "Goodness" isn't innate.
We live in a modern world where we teach our young to have manners, respect other's property and not steal, etc. If we didn't do so, guess what, the strongest child rules the schoolyard and its the law of the jungle ie the strongest survive by whatever means. And thats how ancient societies thrive. Thats why so many wars of conquest. And that's what is innate in us, the need to survive and thrive and being strong of arm is whats needed. So take away the 'modern' and 'civilized' behaviour, we are all bullies, doing whats necessary to survive and thrive. Moralistic behaviour is the last thing in our minds.
So how did we as a society have morals ie know how to define 'good'? Its because we are given a benchmark, a yardstick.
I cannot speak for others but I know my yardstick. Mine is 'Do unto others what you want others to do unto you.' And it came from the Bible.
Jesus Christ never promised you get any reward for "doing good". Instead He promised to prepare a place for us in paradise if we believe. It is by faith and not by any good works that we are saved.
I am not a Pastor and do not wish to sound preachy but I think you misunderstand the main message of the Bible.
Very well said indeed!
I really find those who do charity and want something in return esp publicity etc are hypocrites.
joseph....
take a hike dude...
Dali,
I think you misinterpret the meaning of karma. Am not an expert, I could be wrong too. My understandong of karma is - karma is nothing more than a guideline. It is not a mandatory law like if you sin you go to hell.
Having said that, it is like someone says if you drive fast you will probably met and accident and die, and if you drive slow, you will most probably be safe. Karma is you are responsible for your own actions and most important of all, the possible reactions.
The only part I don believe is - where you reincarnate, that if reincarnation does exist and you will be punished for your past crime. Which sounds stupid, that is like putting a person in jail for a crime his ancestor committed. (e.g. All white man are slaves owners and all white should be ashamed of it)
There is a saying in english - you reap what you sow. Karma is just a guideline, an advice, not a law. Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time. (or consequences).
Cheers,
I am going to ramble on this one...
Is it easier to do something good or is it easier not to do something bad?
On our individual average days, how often do we get to do something good let alone create long-lived good results? Take five on this question.
Charity is fine; caring and giving is good..yet how often haven't we concluded that what we give or even the way we give doesn't generate long-lived results because the recipients need more than temporary relief...they need something that they themselves can sustain but somehow or other they keep on falling back time and again.
So in a 6 to 12 day, how often can we do real good? Not all can be doctors or firemen saving lives or relieving pain and loss. Other service providers deliver services. If we relax our scope of good, being honest is also good since it involves a willful action not to do bad.
Therefore it seems it is easier not to do bad than to get a daily menu we can regularly pull out to do real good. In any case, not many have enough disposable means to always give regularly let alone bounteously to critical mass.
Yet we live in a world of choices. We can choose not to do something bad. However our ability to make the right choice depends on our breeding, learning and something that may be called the-fate-of-the-moment.
For most, it's easier to make the right choice if they can refer to something that helps them make the right choice. But that doesn't mean those in the minority who make right choices on their own volition independent of any reference sources are not doing the real right thing. Maybe these smaller groups of people are more instinctive about doing good as well as not doing bad. Unfortunately not enough focus by society has been made anywhere in the world regarding their instinctive nature inclined to natural goodness.
Hence, in a manner of inchoate summary, the present situation is still different strokes for different folks and any which way we can do good or even not do an iota of bad in any hour of our own ordinary days can be considered an achievement, albeit transient when viewed against the fact so many generations have come and gone in the entire history of mankind across the globe....
And then there's the other matter. We try to search for a universal storyboard that will somehow make sense about life - why everyone suffers and whether the suffering is meant to give some ennobling realization that would elevate life beyond the usuals.
In the process of trying to understand all that, we sense some answers will be found once we go beyond and above our selves. Which is why it is painful to hear some people emphatically say without a second thought, 'you nice to me, i nice to you, and vice-versa'. So if a bad person says that, the badness is replicated from that person to the other person who has to be nice in order to receive reciprocal niceties. After all a good person will have no need to set such a condition in the first place in order to transmit goodness.
Which remains to be asked - is there another world in our world? I don't have an uplink cable to take and post those photos with the hand-phone. Photos of neo-human and human-like faces. They were not there before, then they appeared one by one. You can see them clearly now. And the faces remain - etched on wood and stone. Maybe in a more elemental state of the environment like in a jungle or quiet remote place they can appear. In cities and towns and places hubbub with human and machine activities, they are more reticent. Could it be possible they had walked the same earth a long time ago and yet through some crack in time they appear because they want to communicate an acknowledgement?
Maybe this sighted other-world is one segment of the universal template we all seek in order to see reality with a wider lens.
I'm in total agreement with your views. Alhough some may find your expletives offensive, I know you use them to create a sense of drama. Like some redneck types often start a sentence with "DIU NIA MA...." but don't really mean the action.
Having said that, I remember reading in the Bible that when doing good, the left hand should not know that the right hand is doing so. And in Buddhism, karma is not so much a reward system but a description of the way things actually work. That is why Buddhism does not talk about good or evil actions but rather skillful and unskillful actions. Skillful actions lead to good results whereas unskillful actions lead to bad results, eg great suffering at the time of death and rebirth in a lower state like a cockroach.
Disclosure: I tend to lean towards Buddhism and conveniently refer to myself as a Buddhist. But like a reader said, Buddhism is more a teaching, a way of life, rather than a religion. There is no God to punish you for your bad actions and you don't have commandments to obey; rather, some guidelines are given for one to lead a skillful life so that one gets good results. Who does not want good results, whether here or in the hereafter?
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