XPost: alt.philosophy.taoism, alt.buddha.short.fat.guy, alt.philosophy.zen   
   From: wudao@wuji.net   
      
   noname wrote:   
   > Kitty noted:   
   >   
   >> It's been my observation that people   
   >> who cause suffering are often unaware that they are committing acts that are   
   >> considered evil.   
   >   
   >That seems contrary to buddhism, which claims that we take on suffering of   
   >our own free will.   
      
   Sometimes I like being the devil. Sometimes I am one naturally,   
   without any thought given to how I happen to be at a time.   
      
   I don't think Buddhism claims that the mother whose baby died   
   and was told to go house to house and find a house in which   
   there had never been any death, ever, to find out how   
   suffering is a fact of life, took on the suffering, at first,   
   of her own free will. Quite the contrary.   
      
   People who suffer, and realize they are suffering, and desire   
   to stop suffering might attempt to get rid of their suffering   
   and find out how desire works.   
      
   Eventually, realizing how a desire to get rid of desire   
   tends to be somewhat problematic, another level is realized.   
      
   With Taoism, a swimmer once took a dive, head-first, into the rapids   
   at the cataracts below Lu Liang Falls. Confucius thought the swimmer   
   was trying to commit suicide and sent his followers to find out.   
      
   The swimmer, emerging unscathed, told Confucius how to swim.   
      
   Going along, without any desire to be rid of desire, and not attached   
   to trying to get rid of suffering by washing one's hands of blood   
   using blood in the process, might be a technique.   
      
   - dao ke dao fei chang dao   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)