Samadhi

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Everything posted by Samadhi

  1. They have a great deal to be angry about in my opinion. Yet, if one has the power to hate, hopefully one can learn to use that power to forgive. I do not believe naming a team "Redskins" is done out of a desire to preserve heritage. Recently, the University of Illinois retired Chief Illiniwek. Having a white student dressed up as a 'chief' and dancing around the sidelines is foolish and lacks respect. It would be incorrect to think there is some type of honor in this after the Whites forced the Illinwek tribe(who the chief was based on) off of their land in Illinois. Today, even tribes disagree on whether it should be permitted to have Indian sounding names or not. Curiously, the NCAA is trying to force some teams to stop using Indian nicknames like the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota, yet still are fine with someteams to use them (Florida State Seminoles). I speculate it might have something to do with the massive amounts of money that are made off of FSU Seminole merchandise (at least here in Florida), etc...honor dies where interest lies...particularly financial.
  2. A human moved by nothing, is not a human at all...
  3. Do what you wish to yourself but if you are pregnant, you are no longer doing it to just yourself...A fetus does not count? I presume you haven't been around too many crack babies and children...
  4. If you plant fear, fear will grow. If you plant confidence, confidence will grow..
  5. Yes, Cleric John According to Lao Tzu, ritual was a useless act. I believe there are some rituals that have great meaning but many more that are pointless.
  6. From the Tao Te Ching Verse 38 Harmony does not care for harmony, and so is naturally attained; But ritual is intent upon harmony, and so can not attain it. Harmony neither acts nor reasons; Love acts, but without reason; Justice acts to serve reason; But ritual acts to enforce reason. When the Way is lost, there remains harmony; When harmony is lost, there remains love; When love is lost, there remains justice; And when justice is lost, there remains ritual. Ritual is the end of compassion and honesty, The beginning of confusion; Belief is a colourful hope or fear, The beginning of folly. The sage goes by harmony, not by hope; He dwells in the fruit, not the flower; He accepts substance, and ignores abstraction.
  7. I have over 100 posts but it still didn't work for me either. I presume I am in good standing???
  8. I'm reading 'Way to Happiness' by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen that I picked up in a resale shop for 50 cents...it is worth much more.
  9. I was teaching and lecturing on meditation but I wanted to go deeper into spirituality. Being a Buddhist, I saw my audience as being limited and sometimes judgemental. I started reading a lot of books on Catholicism and got interested in the lives of saints, monks, and nuns. I don't remember what sparked it, but one night I was drawn to looking on Yahoo for minister info. The ULC popped up and I read about how easy it was to be ordained. I must admit my ego kicked in and I thought it would be charming to be a "Reverend". The more I read about the ULC and thier views, the more I agreed with them that people of all kinds have ministry ability. It's not about memorizing scriptures, it's about being there to help people with their spiritual needs. I liked their interfaith ideas and I felt this was a great way to be able to talk and aid more people than I could have before...
  10. I am currently reading 'The Saints Guide to Happiness' by Robert Ellsberg. A fascinating book that has taught me a great deal. I was especially moved by the story of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago and his ordeal with cancer.