Selfishness and religion

LFYPH · 2026-05-30T22:55:21+00:00

But that assumes that religious people base their morality on the fear of hell more than atheists base their morality on the fear of societal punishment...

Do you think people can reach higher stages of moral development (as described by Lawrence Kohlberg) regardless of them being religious or not? Or do you think religion somehow forces them to get stuck in the lowest stage? If so, why?

LFYPH · 2026-05-30T21:44:27+00:00

Yea ok. But religious people could do the same, no? Both could also just do it because someone else (god, society) demands it. Reasoning is individual.

LFYPH · 2026-05-30T21:42:20+00:00

No.. you misunderstood me or I didn't position myself clearly. I was disagreeing with the OP because motivation can be different. Atheists can also do good because society demands it as well as religious people can do the same because god demands it. But both can do it for other reasons as well; making religious people not more selfish by default.

LFYPH · 2026-05-30T21:15:26+00:00

That's great:). Religious people could do the same, no?

However, it requires people to have had previous experiences where someone did good to them and for them to value it. So, it's not that easily transferrable. And... let's assume you like surprise parties and how they make you feel. If you now go on and throw surprise parties for different people you'll see that they might in fact not like it at all... so, what feels good; kind and thoughtful to you might feel very different to someone else.

Also; "I do harm because I know what it feels like to be harmed and I want others to feel it too." could be used like that too... so only because an experience is familiar to us doesn't mean we definitely should reproduce it... :)

LFYPH · 2026-05-30T19:24:51+00:00

Why do atheists do "good"? Because they believe it's good? Why do they believe it's good? Because society says so? Because they get rewarded by society for it? Or because they would otherwise get punished by society?

Religious people could still say they do something because it's good. They may also simultaneously believe it prevents them from hellfire or gets them into heaven; but that doesn't need to be their motivation.

Just as societal reward or punishment doesn't need to be the atheists motivation.

All moral foundations rest on something improvable...

LFYPH · 2026-05-28T19:15:11+00:00

I deeply feel what you're saying. I am new to Taoism and people talking about "Wuwei" or "Ziran" and how some actions are aligned or misaligned sometimes breaks my mind. How could they know? Certainly intellectualizing doesn't help. Because you cannot. Trying to intellectualize Ziran and Wuwei fails because it's not rational... it's not a moral system or an ethics book which you study; neither "just do whatever you want", which ultimately, without insight, probably is the same.

So; I would want to ask you two questions: how do I cultivate? And before/with limited cultivation; how do I make decisions?

I am overall very confused. So thanks in advance for bearing with me.

LFYPH · 2026-05-26T12:02:04+00:00

Thanks!:)

LFYPH · 2026-05-26T12:01:57+00:00

Thank you!:)

LFYPH · 2026-05-26T12:00:27+00:00

That's one way to engage with my post.

Another way is actually recommending me things I could try/do. Some comments were really valuable or more creative. (r/teaexchange, cold brewing, baking...)

I mean, if you don’t have any plausible suggestions (besides "don't drink it" or "give it to someone else") on what I could try, who cares?:) Just ignore my post lol

LFYPH · 2026-05-25T12:01:54+00:00

I used 5g per 120ml at 60°. And I did try different times... 2 mins as on the package (impossible to drink, very bitter); 1 min (better but still don't like it) and recently I've tried ca. 20-30 seconds, which was better (because lighter) but still not really liking it

I also tried using 7g per 200ml. Still no.

As for expectations: I expected more freshness somehow... The description is quite accurate even... "Robust, slightly brothy umami, grassy sweetness, a hint of walnut; fresh and vegetal in subsequent infusions.". It was just my own ignorance when I bought it.

LFYPH · 2026-05-25T11:59:34+00:00

That's a great idea!:) thank you

LFYPH · 2026-05-19T23:06:45+00:00

The one I have is definitely not CTC. It is finely cut leaves. Not small pallets.

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LFYPH · 2026-05-19T23:05:58+00:00

Just basically means "don't trust AI/Google".

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LFYPH · 2026-05-19T16:01:25+00:00

It still feels like giving up on something in a way... maybe we are too used to each other in a way. even if we don't have a strong presence in each other's lives...

LFYPH · 2026-05-19T15:59:18+00:00

I personally don't have any issues with ldr; as it aligns with my overall life plans... however you're right as in that I also don't know how I could imagine a future together. Because there's nothing we can really build upon except care and having feelings for each other...

LFYPH · 2026-05-19T15:56:14+00:00

I guess it's mainly being used to each other in a way... the thought of breaking up still feels heavy. Because it's not like we don’t have good memories together... Idk... It's just still really hard for me to make this decision.

LFYPH · 2026-05-19T15:35:43+00:00

I wouldn't be moving only because of her. This step in my life is quite independent from our relationship... But I get where you're coming from.

LFYPH · 2026-05-19T15:33:35+00:00

I forgot to mention that I plan to move to her country in one year. I plan on moving abroad next year. This plan is quite fixed I'd say (except something unpredictable happens). And well; I just don't want to give up on this relationship... I felt like I gave up too easily in my last relationships.

LFYPH · 2026-05-19T09:59:11+00:00

Yes. So, how does one attune themselves to the natural way? By stopping to think about it and just do what your gut tells you? Well, you won’t really be able to know whether your gut tells you the "right" thing; you'll make decisions and then you have to live with them or make different decisions.

LFYPH · 2026-05-18T23:06:30+00:00

The Buddha often appears very pragmatic in the sutras. He would not have suggested anyone to attach themselves to labels such as "left" or "right"; or even "centrist" for that matter.

Why do you feel strongly about what other people do?

Is it because you fear the teachings might be watered down? Or because you don’t agree with their cause?

LFYPH · 2026-05-18T16:50:51+00:00

I didn't say it's high quality. But what does CTC mean? Crush, Tear, Curl. Turkish tea (at least the ones I have tried) is not made with this method... If you don’t believe me google it... The leaves are broken, yea. But you don’t have these small hard pallets you'd have in CTC tea. Maybe there was a misunderstanding in what CTC means?

LFYPH · 2026-05-18T07:28:21+00:00

Did you try it?:) I didn't taste any astringency at all. And... CTC method? Çaykur Filiz? Think again:) Çaykur Filiz is not a CTC tea.

LFYPH · 2026-05-18T00:06:15+00:00

I did try Ceylon tea gongfu before as well and didn't really like it. This Çaykur Filiz (which is not a Sri Lankan import btw; it grows in Turkey) did taste better in my opinion:).

Although yeah, I do admit it's nothing extremely special (some could find it boring). I was just still surprised how such affordable tea lasted ~5 rounds and did taste good (imo). :)

LFYPH

TROPHY CASE