XPost: alt.philosophy.taoism, alt.buddha.short.fat.guy, alt.philosophy.zen   
   From: wudao@wuji.net   
      
   noname wrote:   
   > Ummmmmmm wrote:   
   >>  liaM wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>> You enjoy quite a happy-go-lucky attitude to life, ummmmm  -  worthy of   
   >>> one who is happily unenlightened.  Who needs enlightenment..?!   
   >>>   
   >>> Well, there's a reason the Buddha's humanistic philosophy begins an   
   >>> advice to people starting out in life to go visit hospitals, hospices,   
   >>> shanty towns, etc.  Posting as you are on absfg, you probably know what   
   >>> the reason was.  So why are you giving this advice of yours in such   
   >>> cavalier fashion..   
   >>>   
   >>> Stupidity?   
   >>>   
   >>>   
   >> Yes, sheer stupidity.   
      
   Drinking vinegar is not for everyone.   
   Once upon a time there were three drinkers.   
      
   >> Fools rush in where angels fear to tread - and absfg is so full of   
   >> angels that it needs an idiot or two to redress the cosmic balance.   
   >>   
   >> Whatever you practice, you become good at.   
      
   Sometimes, when disaster strikes, people are happy.   
   No matter how much anyone suffers, in the real world,   
   they remain, unconcerned, with a happy glass of wine.   
      
   Nothing bothers them. No matter how tragic or sad.   
   They just keep on drinking their wine, which is fine, for them.   
      
   >> It's easy to concentrate on death, despair, disease, disaster, greed,   
   >> anger, deceit, lies - just pick up any newspaper, or turn on any news   
   >> channel. Some people think they owe it to themselves to wallow in every   
   >> bucketful of misery the media throws at them.   
      
   Some ignore real life, or pretend it's not real.   
   It's someone else's problem. Not theirs.   
      
   >> At any given moment there is just as much good news as there is bad   
   >> news. But it doesn't pay. It doesn't satisfy the ravenous hunger of the   
   >> ghouls for images of murder and bloodshed.   
      
   Painting pictures, with one's fingers, can be kid stuff.   
      
   >> If you practice tuning in to serenity, wisdom, compassion you'll become   
   >> good at it.   
      
   And you can ignore all the bad things in the world.   
      
   >> My cavalier advice - look, the cup is half full, not half empty!   
      
   When someone's child is killed by a cop, their cup is often empty.   
   Not half empty. It's empty, broken, and with sharp edges.   
   That's reality for some people. Really. In a big picture.   
      
   Telling them about some spiritual master, or Buddhism,   
   or Taoism, or anything, might not help at all.   
      
   Their pain is too great. Their loss too terrible.   
      
   >It doesn't matter whether the cup is half-full or half-empty; if you thirst   
   >for what it contains, drink it, otherwise at least try not to spill it on   
   >others.   
      
   Some people seem to like sour grapes.   
   Others prefer sweet. Others both sweet and sour.   
      
   Confucius, in the picture inside the picture-book was dour.   
   Or maybe that was Buddha. I forget and don't have my flash-light.   
      
   Typically, Lao Tzu is all smiles, in that picture.   
   It's a rare picture of Lao Tzu.   
   Unusually he's riding an ox in reverse.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)