Lets get the ball rolling Moses

[tabs]

Originally posted by Moses
It is that, and perhaps only that making our journey bearable.

So U feel alot of pain, hearbreak and sorrow, and sometimes you wish you could do so much more.

[nostatic]

Originally posted by Moses
Like a back rub, it may feel good but I'm not sure how much good it's doing. I've never been in therapy myself. I'm not a good candidate.

but you are not most people. It does considerable good for many people. With issues of the heart/mind, if you don't believe in it, it likely won't do much for you...

[bigchillcar]

filling me with such existential despair...

[hatpix]

Originally posted by nostatic
not really. Just imposing your view of what you think is Buddhism and what you assume I think/know/do. That isn't about keeping me honest, it's about your ego

Actually, I know very little about Buddhism and had to look up the details. The data comes from Wikipedia, which is sort of like the lowest common denominator that registered users can agree upon. Sorry to disappoint, not about ego.

[nostatic]

Originally posted by hatpix
Actually, I know very little about Buddhism and had to look up the details. The data comes from Wikipedia, which is sort of like the lowest common denominator that registered users can agree upon. Sorry to disappoint, not about ego.

well, if you're taking someone to task about something (a complex metaphysical topic) that you only learned about today from wikipedia, then how is that *not* about your ego?

[svandamme]

Originally posted by bigchillcar
filling me with such existential despair...

eeh, don't worry bout it Ryan ,

the fun part of Buddhism is that it's very open

the basic truths are there, they are very easy to agree with

all the rest around it , is just up for grabs and personal interpretation... in the end , all one can be expected to do , is try and be good... at least that's how i read it... wether Nostatic sees it in the same way is another thing, but ultimately that's quite irrellevant... difference in thought is encouraged..

and if you are lazy, unconvinced, not interested or simply do not care... no problem you won't go to hell, nobody is threatening anyone in believing anything... it's ok to be an random/average human...just be good...

[Moses]

Originally posted by tabs
So U feel alot of pain, hearbreak and sorrow, and sometimes you wish you could do so much more.

Yeah Tabs, I do. Truth is my job is slowly breaking me down. But I'm truly OK with that. It's part of the price. I could try to remain a bit more detached I guess but it's just not the way I am. I am tremendously grateful for the opportunities I've been given. If the price I must pay is emotional exhaustion, that's fair. I've been in 9 to 5 grind-out-the-day jobs before. They are much worse.

Last night I woke up at 2 AM worried about a patient with a confusing radiology report. I stayed up the rest of the night worrying and planning. Last month I attended two funerals. One because my patient lost a child. I can't count the times I've cried with my patients. Too many times. It's true my job can be filled with heartbreak and sorrow, but there's joy too.

When I'm done I'll be exhausted and spent, but the pain I've endured will be nothing compared to the guy who breaks his back in the coal mines or watches his children starve in some third world country. I'm lucky.

[tabs]

Well now U know why you were one of the 3 that I picked.

The pain you feel is the expression of the love that you feel. If you didn't care (didn't love) , you wouldn't have any feelings about what U do. OK.

I beg to differ with Nostatic...you would make a good canidate for Thearpy. U tend to avoid the pain by slipping into the roll of scientist. Cold hard unfeeling facts. Thats how U push the pain away. Sometimes when U go on overload, you need to put the load down. But be aware that when U do so your not quiet on center with yourself. Make sense?

[nostatic]

I'm not the last word...that is the point of the whole thing. It is a personal journey.

[hatpix]

Originally posted by nostatic
well, if you're taking someone to task about something (a complex metaphysical topic) that you only learned about today from wikipedia, then how is that *not* about your ego?

Ok, you're right, I'm wrong. Done.

[nostatic]

it really isn't about right and wrong...those concepts are constructs where we attach a certain outcome. One of the biggest challenges from a Buddhist perspective is getting away from "me." I struggle mightily with it. I'm not trying to say you're right or wrong, but merely point out that almost everything we say and do is about us and our world rather than other people. We impose our own ideas and will on others because it seems to clarify and strengthen our personal world view. In the end though, that lense is quite clouded by our own biases and attachments, and in fact just makes life harder. The trick is to try and recognize it and then act accordingly. Very difficult, as it runs in the face of human nature...

[tabs]

Nostatic, I just tend to wallow in my own excesses, and Mother keeps telling me I'm a selfish ba$tard.

[nostatic]

you have a special dispensation...you are the the antiBuddha

[munro86]

That's the problem with human nature-its egocentric, but how could it be any other way? As Nostatic has alluded, to work against these innate drives takes a herculean effort,not just once or twice, but sustained,because our default setting, if you will, is set on us, as survival necessitates it should be. The only blessing is that we are capable of abstract thinking-We can choose a course of action and apply it-in theory or in actuality being able to 'reject' as course of action. The depressing thing is that we are hard wired towards egocentricity or selfishness, which is always with us.

[livi]

Originally posted by scottmandue
Mike, Markus, Moses.

Would you die to save the life of your child?

If so why?

Adequate question, indeed!

Emotionally and in practice I would not hesitate to risk my life for my child.

However, from a genetic survival calculation it is not obvious I should. Firstly I am still in a fertile age, secondly I have four children to protect and support. If I die it is possible that my genes totally would have less chance of surviving, than if one of my children die.

Harsh but biologically plausible.

And thanks! Silly me got all warm hearted from some of your responses.

[tabs]

Not silly at all.

[livi]

Thanks!

And how are you today, tabs ? Your benevolent concern for our Pelican brothers well being is likewise warm hearting. But what about you ? Everything alright ?

[tabs]

Last summer my Big Airdale George died. I had left both dogs out on a hot summer day and George couldn't take it (he was nearly 12 years old). I felt guilty that I had left him out, that I should have known better. I told him I was sorry and please forgive me. That was OK. For a coupla months I was just bothered and feeling sad about George, I couldn't put my finger on it. Then I realized that George had been part of my life in CA, and that he was gone now to. Since then I havn't felt sad about George until I just wrote this.

I'm not going to sit here and tell U that I don't have problems that cause me stress and that sometimes I get bent outa shape. The stresses and problems that I have aren't internaly based, but are external to me. For instance the lawsuit I was in caused alot of stress, it was a matter of a fairlily large amount of money and one just didn't know what or when the outcome would be or take place.

I would say that things are going pretty good for me, the money is coming back in and my health is generally good. I think the next step for me is going to be putting some physical activity back into my regime. I tend to change things slowly over time.

Like Clint Eastwood said, "A mans got to know his limitations." Everyman has his limitations on what he can and can't do. I feel that everything has its own time and place, and when your ready to do something you do it.

[livi]

I see what you mean, tabs and I agree. On the subject of Clint Eastwood and his sayings, I should have told myself " Do I feel lucky today, punk?", today at work.

After a whole day with patients, mostly teenagers with asthma and allergies, I sat down for a coffee with some of the nurses. Suddenly they all start to laugh pointing at my crouch. Turns out I have a big hole in my pants there. My underwear for the day, with 60' bikini girls, showing very clearly.

At this point the whole day is starting to make sense. Every patient had been acting kind of weird, unfocused. Particularly the last patient. A 17 year old girl with her mother. Both a bit 'agricultural' and both obviously dressed up their best for the doctor. The girl with a pretty amazing set of front bumpers and a deep cleavage. She just couldnīt look me in the eyes when we talked, constantly trying to stop giggling. Seeing as they did not act like Einsteinīs lost cousins, I made an effort to explain how she should take her asthma medication. Ended the lesson asking if she had understood. Looking like she snapped out of a haze, she looked me in the eyes going -"erh, what ??"

Like I said, it all made sense later that afternoon..

[tabs]

When Johnny Cash recorded the Trent Rezor Song "Hurt" something must have been going on with Cash. He was allready ill or he knew his wife wasn't well and needed an operation that she sumbed to. There was just so much emotion in it.

When I saw that video I cried. Cause here was an old man at the end of his life reflecting on all the mistakes he felt he had made and how much pain sorrow he felt. That time is so fleeting and nothing lasts forever. Wishing perhaps to have told his wife and children that he loved them more often, or perhaps talking to his Dad before he was gone.....