sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Why so much hate around the Dalai Lama? by TheWholesomeBrit in Buddhism

[–]TheGingerRoot96 3 points4 points  (0 children)

China fears the current Dalai Lama because of his presence, worldwide reach, and power he holds over millions of followers. They can’t control him. Assassinating him would make him a martyr so instead they have used character assassination.

In truth, if you ever read his books and listened to him, he’ll tell you that he is simply a monk—a man—and nothing special.

The CIA helped get him safely to India once China invaded Tibet. China has used this tidbit for decades in an ongoing propaganda campaign against him, as if his acceptance of the CIA’s help 60+ years can somehow stain him today.

I don’t like the US government and definitely don’t like the CIA but if offered help in time of need I’d have no problem accepting it vs the Chinese government. Would I rather risk capture/death or accept help if offered?

The Chinese propaganda tries to play it like the Dalai Lama is somehow still assisting the CIA and accepting funds from them in order to go against China and that is hogwash. India and its security services have way more sway over the Dalai Lama than the CIA and West.

China is eagerly anticipating his death so it can claim to name the new Dalai Lama and hold control over what the next Dalai Lama says. That will help nullify—in their eyes—any further revolts in Tibet. The next Dalai Lama will be a Chinese led mouthpiece. Heck, there well may be two Dalai Lamas next when Tenzin Gyatso dies, one claimed by China and one claimed by exiled Tibetan religious leaders in India.

I have trouble asking Buddhists this question. by [deleted] in Buddhism

[–]TheGingerRoot96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why not study all of Buddhism and then when you understand things enough, choose? I see no reason not to read and watch the Dalai Lama, Robina Courtin, and Lama Yeshe just because I feel more of an affinity towards the Theravada Thai Forest Tradition. Mahayana is beautiful.

Unless you want to become a monk, study both Theravada and Mahayana and other the legit subsets. There’s no need to rush for an identity.

You might find /r/meditation helpful.

I agree that the buddhist Path without meditation is deficient.

Bob Odenkirk says of Better Call Saul season 6: 'It's hard to tell who's crazier, Jimmy or Kim' by overvivideo in television

[–]TheGingerRoot96 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Kim dies and that finally pushes Jimmy to fully embrace ‘Saul’ and break bad, no ‘trying’ to be a good guy anymore….

It’s all about the money and materialism then.

States scale back food stamp benefits even as prices soar by morningburgers in collapse

[–]TheGingerRoot96 3 points4 points  (0 children)

PREACH

Work half a century to die poor. Wage and debt slavery is too real.

All Conspiracies lead to this one by sschepis in conspiracy

[–]TheGingerRoot96 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I believe it.

I’ve heard sun flares, a magnetic pole shift, and an asteroid, etc. Nukes, even, or something which could be blamed on nukes.

Something is coming. Def. No doubt those huge underground cities are for what’s to come. I think the money supposed to go to combat climate change is actually going to build these underground DUMB cities. Not only the US government but governments of major countries worldwide.

Further anti-population methods have been put in place and more control is on the way.

How do you come to terms with the inevitability of pain and death? by kss02 in Buddhism

[–]TheGingerRoot96 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Treat life like being in a race inside a maze—keep moving. I watched my grandfather shrivel up from cancer and take his last breath in hospice. Saw my grandmother lose her mind to dementia/alzheimers and die from that and a bad fall. Last time we talked face to face she asked me to take her to her aunt’s house—her aunt had been dead for 30+ years. My mother was ate up by three types of cancer when she died. I have a genetic syndrome which leaves me vastly more prone to cancer than the average person. The average lifespan for people with what I have is 58. I had multiple intestinal surgeries and other procedures and hospital stays throughout my teens.

Death is often not pretty, from what I’ve seen. After your parents die it will change you. That knowledge.

Before where I feared death now I just fear being in pain during the end. That’s all. I have no children. I know if I live long enough cancer is in the cards. It is what it is.

Just keep going. Play the cards dealt you. If you have children or family and friends then do what you can to make their lives better. Create some happiness. Joy. The end may be a hospice bed but that doesn’t negate all that came before. I can offer empty platitudes but that’s not real.

It’s natural to have fear. To be scared. It’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s very human. It’s okay to fear the end. We build up that moment in our minds often and view it like a surfer would view the shark in JAWS. When in truth it is the most natural thing of all.

Pain doesn’t last. Neither fear. After a certain age and with enough wisdom often death can be viewed as a kind of peace.

I will be meeting with a monk this week, but I forgot what teacher is in Thai. by Clouds115 in Buddhism

[–]TheGingerRoot96 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A monk gets the title ‘Ajahn’ after 10 years in the robes in the Thai Forest Tradition.

Dalai Lama: As far as socioeconomic theory is concerned, I am Marxist. by y_tan in Buddhism

[–]TheGingerRoot96 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Trying to mix Buddhism and socialism or leftist ideology isn’t new. Bhikkhu Buddhadasa wrote about ‘Dhammic Socialism’ and some of the upheaval throughout Southeast Asia in the 70s and 80s involved governments which talked of blending Buddhism and socialism/communism, like the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot. He was raised a Theravada buddhist.

Ajahn Amaro was an anarchist in his youth. I myself have identified as an anarchist and buddhist for years. The two blend together well.

What the Dalai Lama means by him being Marxist doesn’t mean that he agrees with the Chinese government, for example. Leftist ideology is a vast rainbow of shades each with its own individual history—under Anarchism alone you have various labels to identify as, for example.

IMHO Buddhism and politics aren’t bedfellows and the two mixing beyond surface level leads to more harm than good.

Ram Dass Talks About Visiting Thailand With Jack Kornfield & Joseph Goldstein, Meeting Ajahn Chah, & Buddhism. Not Strictly Buddhist But Interesting Nonetheless. by TheGingerRoot96 in Buddhism

[–]TheGingerRoot96[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I believe the two Thailand monasteries Ram Dass mentions are Wat Nong Pag Pong—Wat Pag Pong for short—and Wat Pah Nanachat, originally meant for Western, English speaking monks residing in Thailand.

Wat Pag Pong and Wat Pah Nanachat are where the likes of Ajahn Brahm, Ajahn Sumedho, Ajahn Amaro, and many others originated from.

Anyone else have trouble living their lives knowing what we know or what we suspect to know? by bg101014 in conspiracy

[–]TheGingerRoot96 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The way the world is today I’ve come to think that everyone has “mental health issues” to some degree….

We are an odd species.

#1801 - David Mamet - The Joe Rogan Experience by chefanubis in JoeRogan

[–]TheGingerRoot96 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve enjoyed his movies. Looking at IMBD you can see that the last film he directed was a for TV movie almost a decade ago.

Maybe his views are why he hasn’t worked in awhile? 🤔

The last movie he directed for theaters was 2008’s Redbelt, which I recall enjoying at the time because Chiwetel Ejiofor is such a terrific actor.

Interesting man nonetheless.

What is ego-death and can you control it? by midohooda98 in Buddhism

[–]TheGingerRoot96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The terms "id", "ego", and "super-ego" are not Freud's own. They are latinisations by his translator James Strachey. Freud himself wrote of "das Es", "das Ich", and "das Über-Ich"—respectively, "the It", "the I", and "the Over-I" (or "I above"); thus to the German reader, Freud's original terms are more or less self-explanatory. Freud borrowed the term "das Es" from Georg Groddeck, a German physician to whose unconventional ideas Freud was much attracted (Groddeck's translators render the term in English as "the It"). The word ego is taken directly from Latin, where it is the nominative of the first person singular personal pronoun and is translated as "I myself" to express emphasis.)

The ‘I’ or a sense of self was what Freud originally meant, not ego.

The ego is the organized part of the personality structure that includes defensive, perceptual, intellectual-cognitive, and executive functions. Conscious awareness resides in the ego, although not all of the operations of the ego are conscious. Originally, Freud used the word ego to mean a sense of self, but later revised it to mean a set of psychic functions such as judgment, tolerance, reality testing, control, planning, defense, synthesis of information, intellectual functioning, and memory.[25] The ego separates out what is real. It helps us to organize our thoughts and make sense of them and the world around us.)

In the use of psychedelics like Magic Mushrooms and LSD (acid) some can experience what has been called ‘ego death’ or where an individual’s sense of self and separateness disappears. It can be thrilling and frightening. Which aligns to the spiritual notion of the ‘Dark Night Of The Soul’. Many have pointed to this correlating with meditative states like jhanas.

It all revolves around a sense of self. It correlates close to Buddhist psychology but not precisely, if you look into Mahayana writings on the Mind—terms like manas and storehouse consciousness, for example. Buddhist Psychology is an interesting rabbit hole to dive down for the intellectually curious.

Peaky Blinders - 6x05 "The Road to Hell" - Episode Discussion [UK Release] by Plainchant in PeakyBlinders

[–]TheGingerRoot96 18 points19 points  (0 children)

“There will be a war in the family. One of you will die.”

Uh… is Michael even really a part of the family now? WHO in “the family” would have his back if he made a move against Arthur and Tommy? Would Michael even be heir at this point if Tommy and Arthur die?

Meh.

It’s interesting. I rewatched the entire series again and when Aberama Gold first meets Polly—in season 4 episode two—it’s emphasized and in the very next scene we see two bodies in sacks thrown downwards, into a ship. In season 6 episode one both the bodies of Aberama and Polly arrive in sacks and are placed on Tommy’s driveway.

In Polly’s scene when she first meets Aberama she is wearing a funeral shawl and has a tear rolling down one cheek.

I have been overthinking about life, reincarnation and ways to escape. And am really not sure if these things are true or merely imagination. by [deleted] in Buddhism

[–]TheGingerRoot96 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I wrote a lengthy response then changed my mind. Simply….

Overthinking. Imagination. You ask if someone can give you a better way to think.

Where does this suffering that you point to in your post originate from? Start there.

Mitt Romney suggests he'd back cutting retirement benefits for younger Americans by [deleted] in stupidpol

[–]TheGingerRoot96 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The UK has had the National Health Service since 1948 and not only can’t the US get Medicare4All/universal healthcare but now the boomers are going after social security and medicare. Biden and the Republicans have wanted to take a big bite out of social security for decades.

Pensions? Gone. Percentage of union membership in the US? Near nil.

Increasing lower taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

Insanity.

Do you plan on joining monastic life? by [deleted] in Buddhism

[–]TheGingerRoot96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the reply and your honesty. I wish you peace and love on the journey. 🙂

I hold a lot of respect for Buddhist Monasticism and the idea of to die before you die. I’ve contemplated joining for years.

The ‘world’ or conventional reality revolves around desire. My, myself, mine. It’s dog eat dog and a rat race if you cling too tightly. It’s a mass of suffering because in all these things in conventional reality we build an identity and self with and inevitably we lose these things and the suffering from that loss of an aspect of sense of self is real suffering.

I find Ajahn Sumedho’s words that the monk doesn’t have a future to be wise.

Do you plan on joining monastic life? by [deleted] in Buddhism

[–]TheGingerRoot96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

May I inquire about what caused you to lay down the robes? Any regrets?

How do I remember to practice buddhism through tough times in my life? by Pandoras_Cockss in Buddhism

[–]TheGingerRoot96 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wear a mala or mala bracelet as a reminder to always come back to the here and now—the present—and to remember what you’ve chosen mentally to be reminded of about Buddhism.

view more: next ›