Magical thinking, hippies, and the burning man festival.
by avishai 4 Replies latest jw friends
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perfect1
as far as karma goes, your understanding of it is a little bit off.
The Buddha took on all castes as his disciples, quite a controversial thing to do in his time, sadly it would still be so today. He went to far as to make etiquette for eating that would equalize the status of a beggar and a prince at meals. Those rules are still in practice today as the code of monastic discipline known as the vinaya.
I am not sure who you believe the Dalai Lama is dominating, he lives in exile in Dharamsala, and of course teaches around the world. I would encourage you to read his autobiography, Freedom in Exile. It is true that in Tibet before communism high lamas lived at the top of feudalistic pyramid. Today, most dont. Like many cultures, Tibetans have a tradition of royalty and no separation of church and state. Macloud ganj, the real town of Dharamsala, is an impoverished town on a hillside with a constant stream of refugees and orphans, and an attempt at an economy in the form of handicrafts.
I do understand where you are coming from, karma when misunderstood can seem more like social darwinism. It also has been used to justify social injustices. However, the basic teaching of cause and effect is not magical in the least, and if you were to practice meditation for any time at all you would see more clearly the chain of cause and effect (nidanas) in terms of the output of your own mind. What your mind can create as thoughts can also create real physical realities, for example, a craving for beeer leads to buying and drinking beer. In some people that becomes alcoholism, in most people, beer leads to more beer with no bad effects. :)
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avishai
I didn't write the article, I did however comment on it.
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avishai
I helped start an orphanage for children in that live in Nepal, I've read about the Dalai lama, and yes I've meditated. I'm not big on religion, regardless of it's stripe. Magical thinking keeps many from actually DOING stuff, which is what helps. Getting off your ass and helping others, rather than "wishing" for it (i.e praying, meditating, manifesting) or waiting on God. I used to do the same by handing out watchtowers. Now, I work on actually helping people in the here and now, and I'm agnostic.