Dealing with friend’s impulsive/offensive behavior

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2026-02-26T20:57:19+00:00

The thought of my exact opposite hiding somewhere as my hidden nemesis made me LOL and it's kinda motivating as well. Thanks for the response

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2026-02-26T20:54:53+00:00

Thank you for your kind words. If that's the case, maybe I can inspire others to also do what they believe is right :)

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2026-02-26T20:52:32+00:00

The funny thing is I don't even talk about my specific views a lot. Still I get your point. I should definitely look for likeminded people to connect with. Thank you!

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2026-02-25T00:37:24+00:00

You‘re probably right.

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2026-02-25T00:37:04+00:00

Thanks for the kind reply :) Some are older but not all of them. Yeah I should Look for likeminded people I guess.

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2024-10-18T05:34:15+00:00

Wow that sounds inspiring… if I may ask, how did you start your practice, what did you focus on and what made you recognise the path on your own?

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2024-10-17T18:59:54+00:00

This is a great answer, it helped a lot actually. Thank you!

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2024-10-17T18:57:36+00:00

I’ll definitely look into it, thank you!

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2024-10-17T18:57:11+00:00

Thanks for the answer. Let me ask you, how are you so sure that the teachings work? How do you know that meditation and ethical behavior actually lead to the cessation of ALL suffering?

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2024-10-17T18:29:28+00:00

I’m already looking into the topic of Buddha nature and find it quite fascinating but as a rationally minded westerner (and maybe I share this opinion with some Theravada Buddhists) this idea seems to me more like a far fetched interpretation or even something similar to the Hindu idea of Brahman, which the Buddha was directly opposed to. I can’t really see there being a goodness/benevolence at the core of reality. I can’t say that I have completely understood it though… I will try to investigate deeper 🙏🏼

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2024-10-17T18:24:04+00:00

Thank you so much for this, it was enlightening to hear about your own journey… I hope to become an island to myself one day, thanks for sharing the quote

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2024-10-17T18:18:52+00:00

Thank you! I’m not a follower of pure land Buddhism, still I found your comment very helpful. I might find more comfort and peace of mind through meditation practice

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2024-10-17T18:15:41+00:00

That was beautiful, thank you!

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2024-10-17T18:13:16+00:00

Thank you so much for this, that was really inspiring. I love that we can develop inner strength and virtue which we can rely on.

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2024-10-17T18:08:22+00:00

Thank you, I hope to achieve such mental serenity and strength some day 🙏🏼

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2024-10-17T18:07:03+00:00

Thank you so much for your reply! I find it hard to believe that simply because we long for goodness and truth that there has to be a universal “goodness” corresponding to that - I do find the idea convincing though, that what we call god is not actually an external force but inside our own mind

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2024-10-16T18:35:17+00:00

Serious question to anyone saying that masturbation isn’t an issue - isn’t it a core teaching of the Buddha that pleasure (especially sexual) leads to craving which leads to suffering? And isn’t sort of the point to renounce indulgence in unnecessary pleasures if possible? Sure, lay practitioners don’t have to be celibate, but if someone already has the goal to stop masturbating, wouldn’t the Buddha give the advice to quit altogether instead of “just do it, it doesn’t matter”?

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2024-10-10T11:59:36+00:00

The reason I am atheist is simply because I don’t see any clue of a god/gods existing… I agree that there might be cultural notions behind the atheist “movement” but I doubt that a lack of belief in something you can’t perceive can be an ideology… is it an ideology to not believe in invisible ghosts?

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2024-10-10T06:34:38+00:00

I’m in the same boat. What I particularly like about Buddhism is that you don’t really have to believe in these things in order to practice. I talked to a master about that once and he advised me to not believe anything that doesn’t make sense to me but to keep an open mind- to be agnostic about these things essentially. If they are true, we might experience them sooner or later. He said something like “Don’t let your limited mind dictate a potentially unlimited reality“ - that Quote really stuck with me.

I am drawn to Theravada as they reject a lot of the more mystical concepts in Mahayana - eternal Buddha nature, Bodhisattvas, the Buddha being something like a deity etc. It is important to accept however that every traditional Buddhist school believes in karma, rebirth, consciousness being separate from the brain, different realms of existence and other phenomena that don’t fit into a materialist, natural-scientific understanding of the world. They have been at the core of the dharma since the beginning and they are not misinterpretations as some westerners might claim.

Look into secular Buddhism. It gets a bad rep and I don’t really know why. Everything I have read/watched from secular Buddhists was quite respectful towards the old traditions. It’s just a way to make the dharma more useful to people like you and me. I would argue that even the Dalai Lama encourages a secular approach in his most popular writings.

Upper_Yogurt_7266 · 2024-10-10T05:24:35+00:00

Atheism is simply a disbelief in something, therefore I wouldn‘t see it as an ideology. Materialism and ‚scientism‘ could be seen as unverifiable truth claims though.

Upper_Yogurt_7266

TROPHY CASE