“That is a major frustration.”
It is , but I’m more concerned with the possibility of something really bad being in my OS ~ a virus.
I was raised MAC and have only gotten into PC as a matter of cost consideration this year. My IT girl is actually my wife, and, she is busy, but she wants me to learn this stuff myself, which is a nice idea, but NOT if there is some brain eating worm that could potentially destroy my side of the business. Aside from which, it’s making me crazy and I can’t FReep!
“The Sojourn of Arjuna” is sort of a wrap/spoken word piece. There is a live version on Youtube, but not quite as smooth as the original cut and with a little improv by the singer. Still, it’s pretty cool and you become “more cool” by virtue of listening to Bela Fleck. That is a little known fact.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx5Qd6uEWq8&feature=related
I agree with your views on pacifism and moral relativism, I’d also include secular humanism; different name same kind of intellectual poison. There is a great quote by C.S.Lewis about pacifism. I’ll have to see if I can find it.
I sort of knew that Buddhists were not pacifists, but of course, that is NOT in line with how they are portrayed by the media.
I also have an acquaintance who claims to be a Buddhist, but I’m afraid the whole thing is just a kind of foil that he places over his personality to reflect his “humanistic spirituality”. You guessed, he’s a liberal!
The guy once told me that he had been on jury duty in a really heavy case, by which he had to put a man (whom he thought was guilty) in prison. It was all to heavy for him and the next time he was up for jury duty he told me he would opt out because he was a “Buddhist”.
First, I suppressed my urge to laugh, then counseled my friend that he had done the right thing if he had convicted a guilty man and that he shouldn’t feel responsible for what may happen to criminal in a court of law as long as he follows what is proscribed. I also mentioned that he had the opportunity of giving over his seat on a jury to someone who may either have a agenda with a accused person. This can go either way.
By the way, this was a very bad criminal. This wasn’t someone that got caught up in something or a matter of circumstance. From what I gather, the person was a violent offender. So, it’s probably good that people who lack the fortitude to do something difficult naturally remove themselves from the process.
In essence, my friend is a soft-headed liberal, and my esteem for him fell tremendously after this conversation and successive political discussions, which I will say were very polite and courteous, which is significantly different from many conversation that I have had with many left-wing.
Again, and per a previous discussion, another example of what I will now call “Romantic Buddhism”. i might have pointed out that he was not “really” a Buddhist, but this hardly something I argue with others.
Some members of my family were members of the pacifist Christian denomination of the Society of Friends (Quakers) back during WWII. They would not fight or kill others directly, essentially they were conscientious objectors, however they understood the value of opposing evil and they served in civilian medical positions. One of my great uncles submitted himself as a guinea pig for medical testing for vaccines for malaria back during the war.
My uncles were very gentle folk, very kindly. They were definitely pacifists in the sense that they would let others do them harm. I can’t get my head around such thinking. When I was younger I thought this was something of a romantic notion, after I had children and post-9/11 such nonsense went right out the door!
Can’t find the Lewis quote, but there are some good ones out there if you look and they’re all screaming the same thing!
I expect that most American Buddhists are liberals just as you describe your friend. There is a preconceived view in the west of what Buddhism is and that attracts people who think it will be a validation of their own views.
But religions of all flavors find themselves to be convenient decorations for those seeking self-validation. Thus there are a very large number of self-identified Christians who are liberals in spite of the fact that the core precepts don't align very well with liberal philosophy and policies.
If your friend had said he felt that he, personally, wasn't fit to sit on the jury to me that would have been a Buddhist way of looking at things. To say that he couldn't "because I am a Buddhist" sounds more like a cop out to avoid taking responsibility for his own feelings about it. Not a Buddhist way of dealing with things IMO.
There are no perfect followers of the Buddhist path though. If you already knew the way what need would you have for a guided path? As Krishna said to Arjuna in the story "you have to proceed from where you are." For the vast majority of people that starting point is "near hopelessly lost." ;^)