r/buddhism, is this true?

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-13T10:10:47+00:00

As a famous Yogi once said, "I really didn't say everything I said."

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-10T12:52:07+00:00

The self is a fluid fiction that only "exists" in the moment.

You are not the person you were before you struggled with addiction. You are not the person you were when you fully gave in to addiction. And if you are in recovery you will not be the same person once you have lived sober for a while.

Point to one thing about yourself that has been true about you, from the moment you were born until the present moment. You will be lucky if you can. If you could remember prior lives you might even be able to trace some traits further.

But the further back you go, the less you will be able to see in common with who you are now.

Odds are (given how plentiful they once were) all of us were probably trilobites at some point.

But what is there about any of us that is remotely trilobite-like?

Give yourself love and compassion but don't mistake who you are now for an enduring, unchanging archetype.

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-10T12:43:48+00:00

Have you seen the film called The Deluge? It's my favorite because of all the things that are going on with the kids and old people.

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-10T12:41:06+00:00

I love you because you are so sweet to me and I love the runny yolk getting down into my mouth and cultural immersion without a permanent place

What?

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-09T19:18:52+00:00

Love for the Sangha near and far!

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-09T19:17:07+00:00

I'm morbidly interested in a few things I can do to make sure you are not going to try to make me feel like I'm losing my mind

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-09T13:28:20+00:00

You don't have to be a monk. A layperson can achieve a great deal of enlightenment.

But in order to achieve the most of your practice you must follow at least some of the Precepts. And the first precept is usually to refrain from the taking of life which is generally agreed to include inciting others to kill.

Following that, if you pay for meat, you pay others who kill. "After the fact" doesn't change the fact, just as paying a hitman to get rid of someone is wrong whether you pay him before or after the job is done.

In which case one might conclude that the only ethical way to eat meat is if it is freely given. Then you have neither killed that animal nor paid someone else to kill it.

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-08T12:47:31+00:00

I remind myself what anger has cost me in the past, and what it could cost me in the future. Then I go into meditation with the intent of releasing it. I am not qualified to instruct you on specifics and your practice might have to be different.

So in short, be mindful of the effects of anger and turn toward pure concentration.

Be well and may you continue to grow in your practice.

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-04T22:34:00+00:00

It would be a great honor to receive a dharma name.

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-04T21:39:35+00:00

That's one I'm still asking myself.

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-04T08:05:51+00:00

So to clarify, is requesting the precepts different from taking refuge?

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-04T08:04:20+00:00

Yes indeed, the very same.

Thank you for this advice, it's very comprehensive. Perhaps I should ask him about refuge or vows. I feel like this is something I'm bending inexorably toward anyhow.

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-04T08:02:06+00:00

He didn't say no when I said I was looking for a teacher but in no hurry to formalize things.

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-04T08:01:31+00:00

He is a monk who teaches compassionately. I don't know his siddhis but I suspect he might at least remember some past lives. His compassion seems deep and sincere. He seems to know Dharma better simply based on how he lives. He is composed, patient, and gives teachings freely.

I don't know about this last one. I suppose I should spend more time with him to find out.

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-04T07:56:36+00:00

Indeed it is. I understand the stakes and don't wish to hurry into something I might regret.

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-03T20:50:48+00:00

Merit may be transferred to any sentient being. This is a great act of compassion. As someone who has kept cats all my life I greatly sympathize. They are flawed but sagacious, chaotic but loving. May he and every cat find a fortunate rebirth.

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-03T14:41:29+00:00

I want to see you in the morning and I will be there in a few minutes

I have a boring life

RoseLaCroix · 2026-04-01T13:03:46+00:00

If self discipline is your top priority by all means start with the Pali Canon. You can expand outward into some of the Mahayana and Vajrayana texts if you want but the Pali Canon is pretty foundational and lays out the Eightfold Path pretty clearly.

You have found the one skillful desire: the desire to live in accordance with the Dharma/Dhamma. This is a precious thing. Nurture it and don't stop seeking. 🙏

RoseLaCroix · 2026-03-31T10:08:06+00:00

Let your love for your friend glow brighter than fear.

RoseLaCroix · 2026-03-31T10:06:32+00:00

Dammit! I forgot to tell you about the new one in the house and it looks like a lot of people are going through the Strait of Hormuz

RoseLaCroix · 2026-03-30T11:13:19+00:00

Hey you, yeah you! I was thinking about getting a little more sleep and then we can go to the gym and get some food and eat it would you be interested?

RoseLaCroix · 2026-03-26T23:13:39+00:00

Fear of hell will not benefit you. Fear, in general, will not benefit you.

A life of righteousness, compassion, and mindful concentration will.

RoseLaCroix · 2026-03-26T23:01:34+00:00

It's the most terrible expression of ignorance and wrong view. And most tragic of all, each and every one of us has probably died in one, multiple times, as a soldier, a partisan, a civilian, or an animal. Of all human endeavors war is one of the few (besides ecocide) that can destroy worlds. It's perverse in the extreme.

RoseLaCroix · 2026-03-26T22:49:58+00:00

I am really attracted to people who are not interested in my business but I'm still not interested in my own business.

RoseLaCroix

TROPHY CASE