Compassion
 

After reading some of the "let Mother Nature sort them out" posts on the Haiti threads, a post from the Dalai Lama may be in order....


THE DALAI LAMA ON COMPASSION

"My message is the practice of compassion, love and kindness. These things are very useful in our daily life, and also for the whole of human society these practices can be very important.

"Basically, universal responsibility is the feeling for other people's suffering just as we feel our own. It is the realization that even our own enemy is motivated by the quest for happiness. We must recognize that all beings want the same thing we want. This is the way to achieve a true understanding, unfettered by artificial consideration.

"At the heart of Buddhist philosophy is the notion of compassion for others. It should be noted that the compassion encouraged by Mahayana Buddhism is not the usual love one has for friends or family. The love being advocated here is the kind one can have even for another who has done one harm. Developing a kind heart does not always involve any of the sentimental religiosity normally associated with it. It is not just for people who believe in religions; it is for everyone who considers himself or herself to be a member of the human family, and thus sees things in accordingly large terms.

"The rationale for universal compassion is based on the same principle of spiritual democracy. It is the recognition of the fact that every living being has an equal right to and desire for happiness. The true acceptance of the principle of democracy requires that we think and act in terms of the common good. Compassion and universal responsibility require a commitment to personal sacrifice and the neglect of egotistical desires.

"I believe our every-day experience confirms that a self-centred attitude towards problems can be destructive not only towards society, but to the individual as well. Selfishness does not solve problems for us, it multiplies them. Accepting responsibility and maintaining respect for other will leave all concerned at peace. This is the essence of Mahayana Buddhism."

The Haiti thread was one of the most disgusting things I have ever read on this board.

The lack of empathy, greed and pettiness.....sickening. Those that profess the loudest that they are 'proud Americans' showing the ugliest angles of human nature.

Om Mani Padme Hum

Yes, throwing around indignation makes you far superior .

How's that remodel coming? Buy any other Porsches lately?

Nice sentiment by the Dalai Lama, naive and at odds with basic human nature, but a nice sentiment.

Is the act of cleaning Fuchs and giving them that vasoline luster an "act in terms of the common good"?

I mean, I know that I don't like to see Porsches wheels running around with brake dust clad dullness; and so I expect others don't like to see it either. ergo, an "act in terms of the common good. "

:cool:

Seattle. It's residents not known for their intellectual endowment. Self-righteousness, superficiality, hypocrisy, yes. But keep trying, Island. Some take a while to migrate from the amygdala to the cerebrum. So much so, they never really make it.

Don't post much but lurk daily. I agree that the Haiti thread has shown how people have lost compassion for fellow man. I think(hope) that the majority of the earth's population don't have the same views.

Crowbob I see your in NW MI. Are you close to TC by any chance? Don't see to many pelicans around these parts.

So what have you done to help them? How much OF YOUR OWN MONEY have you sent to Haiti?
How much OF YOUR OWN MONEY did you send to help the people devastated by the tsunamis?
How much OF YOUR OWN MONEY did you send the people who were devastated by Katrina?

Let it go, Sammy.

Compassion...

A Q for you progressives: is your conscious alleviated when you put $10 in a jar at the local grocery store? ...or do you also have to follow that up with some self-righteous indignation, aimed at those who "just don't care enough"?

BINGO!

Alas, it's also Seattle to declare it does have "intellectual endowment" - Don't forget the trademark Liberal Elitism. It's so Seattle to be "corrected" by others for your viewpoint.

I'm leaving this town and it's faux big city culture and $hitty weather, soon.

rjp

The Dali Lama is a pussy.

I don't recall how much we gave during prior disasters. We have given $320 thus far to support Haiti.

My wife is a physician, and would like to go and help, but she is leaving the 20th to fly to Indiafor 10 days. She is part of volunteer team that will be performing free urinary tract/GI surgeries in rural parts of Gujarat.

We don't just talk the talk.

I don't think your criticisms of liberals is entirely unwarranted. In my experience, conservatives (in particular business owners) tend to be far more charitable than liberals. Liberals talk a big game, but they are frequently tightwads.

What you fail to realize- obviously- is that maintaining the status quo there is the WORST possible thing we could do.

It would be like artificially propping up a massive deer herd after it had ravaged the countryside and had no food left to support itself. Pure stupidity.

If Haitians were a deer herd, we'd be hunting them to thin the herd right now.

Good job wasting your money to CONTINUE the suffering there. Your donations don't help the long term situation in Haiti, they perpetuate the suffering.

(see my above post for details)

Gee, thats strange. I wonder why Microsoft isn't based in Cadillac, MI?

Or Amazon.com? Or Realnetworks? Or Cray Computers? Or Getty Images? Etc.....

Yeah, Seattle residents are real morons compared to the geniuses in rural Michigan. :rolleyes: Having grow up in small town Michigan, it seems like the first thing anyone with a half a f*cking brain does is leave.

The rate WA State is going these companies will pull up stake and leave WA anyhow. See Boeing as an example.

PS- those companies are notorious for bringing in from outside the country.

2nd thing, being in the software biz, they all think they are intellectually superior to anyone else. It's legendary the arrogance that profession carries.

rjp

I don't disagree. I think the United States is directly responsible for propping up one dictatorship after another in Haiti. I think that one could argue that NGOs actually allow the corrupt governments stay in power by diffusing the peoples need (and thus dissatisfaction with the government.) We give most of our money to the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. We simply want to help people in the acute aftermath of the earthquake.

I don't know about arrogance, but I have to say, some of the most brilliant SOBs I have ever meet in this town were software folks. Scary smart.

Compassion and Neo-cons

A Catholic Priest, an Indian Doctor, a rich Chinese Businessman and a Neo-Con were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers in front of them.
The Neo-Con fumed, 'What's with those guys? We have been waiting for fifteen minutes!'

The Indian Doctor chimed in, 'I've never seen such poor golf!'

The Chinese Businessman yelled out 'Get moving, time is money'

The Catholic Priest said, 'Here comes George the greens keeper, maybe he can do something about this'

'Hello, George!', said the Catholic Priest, 'What's wrong with that group ahead of us? They're rather slow, aren't they?'

George the greens keeper replied, 'Yes. That's a group of blind fire fighters. They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so we always let them play for free anytime.'

The group fell silent for a moment.

The Catholic Priest said, 'That's so sad. I think I will say a special prayer for them tonight.'

The Indian Doctor said, 'Good idea. I'm going to contact my ophthalmologist colleague and see if there's anything he can do for them.'

The Chinese Businessman replied, 'I think I'll donate $50,000 to the fire-fighters in honor of these brave souls'

The Neo-con said, 'Why the hell don't they play at night?'





C'mon, guys...lighten up:D

that may be true, I also know scary dumb folks in IT and Software.

it's not an automatic membership perk like some in Redmond will have you believe.

rjp

For a second there, I thought I fell into a big pile of PARF.

Lately, the PARFers seem to be determined to drag threads into their cesspool. I guess they are getting lonely yelling at each other.

Ian

Hey Ian... on your lip there... no the other side... you've got a bit of PARF stuck there.


you should know better than to be so close to that Dudley guy.:D

Even in Hell?
 

Compassion is an emotion, action is what is needed.

My wife is headed down Monday, part of the Catholic effort. She should be there two weeks, using vacation time.

Anyone who thinks helping is a waste of time or effort is inane.

Or perhaps people are just posting politically charged topics in PPOT instead of PARF where they belong.

Sports figures often make poor role models, but some break free of that stereotype. My all time favorite said something to the effect of: "If you have the opportunity to help someone and don't, you're just wasting your time on Earth." That is an admirable standard if you can back it up. He did. Those of you giving of your time and abilities have my respect.

Full respect to your wife.

If I had some useful skills to contribute I'd be there as well. But somehow I don't think they need lawyers...or writers...

We have been supporting Medicins Sans Frontiers for years. If you have any doubts as to where to send your $$, these guys are one of the very best bangs for the buck out there.

Perhaps "compassion" is a politically charged topic in the parallel universe in which you live. I feel sorry for you.

Evolution is a good thing.

I recommend it to you.

I hadn't clicked on the Haiti thread. I did and sent it to parf. Sadly, some people here are really quite angry and pathetic. It is simultaneously sad and disgusting. Time for another holiday from this place...

I will look into them, thanks.

My wife is a force, btw...when the task is at hand, there is no better person in the crux. Farm women.

Living within your means is a wonderful thing. I recommend it to Haitians.

Well i would if they weren't all huddled together in tin shack shanty towns with 10,000 kids a piece.

Anybody who thinks that simply maintaining an utterly sick and twisted status quo is "helping" is insane.

If i lived like one of those poor Haitian bastards i would welcome death.

People are people so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully

So we're different colours
And we're different creeds
And different people have different needs
It's obvious you hate me
Though I've done nothing wrong
I never even met you
So what could I have done

I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand

People are people so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully

Help me understand

Now you're punching and you're kicking
And you're shouting at me
I'm relying on your common decency
So far it hasn't surfaced
But I'm sure it exists
It just takes a while to travel
From your head to your fist

I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man

Help me understand

Living within your means is a wonderful thing. I recommend it to Haitians. (BTW, the irony of the comment in quotations is delicious. Evolution weeds out the weak after all, what you are practicing is the exact opposite of evolution. If we left this to evolution, all these people would be totally on their own, and most of them would already be dead, or would have never even been born.)

But lets look at the pure idiocy of these disaster responses...

Where were you guys the last 20 years while these poor bastards were living in absolute filth and squalor? Or do we only "help" people after mother nature finally steps in to reign in an out of control situation?

Clinton sent our troops in there to "help", back in the early-mid 90s. Did it change anything? No. Oh, and for our "help" the Haitians were so grateful that they took to shooting at our troops.

Insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting to achieve a different result. You lot are insane. 6 months after the last "compassionate" white boy leaves Haiti it will be the same sorry spit-hole it's been for decades.

That's the real tragedy here.

Then some other natural disaster will occur somewhere else, and all of a sudden white people in the West will care about "those poor souls." Yeah, the poor souls that have been living like caged animals for decades that were not worth our help before are suddenly "fellow human beings and innocent victims," as soon as a disaster hits.

Yeah, we care....we care according to the 24 hour news cycle.

So how much has the Dalai Lama contribute?

We've given Haiti $9 Billion over the last three years! Did we get an accounting on that? I read that the last two presidents are believed to have left office with a few hundred million bucks each. I can't imagine where that money came from.

I wish I was on the Amphib or Carrier steaming to help.

Help. Then help more.

Dude, I'd fly all day, then fly all night to support these folks.

If you do not wish to help, why encourage others not to?

If you do not want to do good, then at least do no harm.

Yeah. Help. Help them to do what? Live long lives of abject poverty, sickness, and overcrowding in a tin shanty town?

Is that help?

I hardly think so....

And when that pretty gray carrier steamed away, back to the US, would you stay to REALLY ACTUALLY help clean that cesspool out? Or would you go home to your nice US town feeling good about yourself as the people you "helped" lived out thier lives in filth, squalor and poverty in the most disgusting shanty towns you can imagine?

I simply do not consider what white boys do when they rush into the latest trendy disaster site to be "help." At least not in most cases, and certainly not in this case.

If we actually wanted to really help these people, we'd annex Haiti and make it the 51st state.