GREAT BOOK - GREAT QUOTE!

by Dansk 6 Replies latest jw friends

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  Dansk

  I'm re-reading Walpola Sri Rahula's wonderful book What the Buddha Taught and, on page 5, a couple of paragraphs immediately stood out for me considering the amount of Islamophobia and nationphobias recently exhibited here. They read:

  "Truth needs no label: it is neither Buddhist, Christian, Hindu or Moslem. It is not the monopoly of anybody. Sectarian labels are a hindrance to the independent understanding of Truth, and they produce harmful prejudices in men's minds.

  This is true not only in intellectual and spiritual matters, but also in human relations. When, for instance, we meet a man, we do not look on him as a human being, but we put a label on him, such as English, French, German, American, or Jew, and regard him with all the prejudices associated with that label in our mind. Yet he may be completely free from those attributes which we have put on him."

  Ian
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  TopHat

  It is true...Dansk, We all have a hard time thinking alike.....If you met a bible thumper or say a Muslim met a JW they would have preconcieved ideas about that person...we humans just can't help it. There you are. BUT it is always good to get to know someone from a different background from yourself. That doesn't mean we have to be good buddies or fight with one another. Just learn that this is a diverse world we live in.
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  lovelylil

  so true - thanks for sharing.

  We all need to stop labeling and thinking somehow our beliefs are superior to all others. Lilly
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  Siddhashunyata

  Seeing our own prejudices is a first step to seeing how the conceptualizing process itself is the snare. By simply observing our thoughts we become more aware and conceptualizing loosens its hold on the mind. To observe directly, without concept, we must first see how are mind has and continues to enslave us.
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  Black Sheep

  I wish I had thought of that 40 years ago Ian. My brain was turned off then.

  Thanks for the tip. I'll have a scrounge in our library and see if I can find it.

  Cheers

  Chris
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  bubble

  That proves just how arrogant the jws are in calling their religion 'the truth'.
  
  I always hated that.
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  trevor

  Dansk

  Thanks for those wise words.

  Of course the danger is that while not associating what we perceive to be truth with particular religions or races, labelling our own perception of truth as ‘truth’ is also a trap to be avoided.

  For example ‘all religion is a snare and a racket’ may be perceived as true but it is not an absolute truth and is not actually accurate. Our view of the world is coloured by our own perception and need. We then attempt to justify our view with many words.

  In the end we come down to the realization that attaching words of any kind to experience in an attempt to explain truth, misses the point of what truth is.

  Truth is what is.