Anything the United States does is calculated to a) to support b) perpetuate the (predatory) capitalist system and c) continue to control the means of production
Tag: greed
Early Buddhism: How the Buddha ‘Rejected’ the Treasure-Seekers!
Most lay-people, however, practice Buddhism whilst being married, having children and holding-down a job. Even so, and despite all the extra entanglements and barriers of commitment, the Buddha still stated that lay-people, if devoted to their practice, can still realise enlightenment, even though it is not an easy task. A male lay-follower of the Buddha is referred to as an ‘Upasaka’, and a female practitioner as an ‘Upasika’. These two terms refer to ‘lay’ practitioners that sit near to the Buddha (or his monastics) and ‘listen’ carefully (and with respect) to the Dhamma instruction being explained. These ‘lay’ practitioners then go back to their homes and carefully recall (and record) the Dhamma lesson which they put into their daily practice. However, the crux of this article is about two other categories of ‘lay’ person explained by the Buddha in his Suttas, but which are not often mentioned within Western discourse. This means that the Buddha actually explained ‘six’ (6) categories of human-beings in his Suttas – with four referring to his followers – and two to ‘non-believers’. Who are these ‘non-believers’, and why did the Buddha bother to explain their presence?
Buddhism and Celibacy
The Vinaya Discipline exists to put an end to the agency of human desire. Greed is desire, hatred is desire and delusion is desire. All desire is
Email(s): Indentity Crisis (11/12.6.2020)
Dear Gillian (11.6.2020) Richard Hunn advised that I be neither attached to the void, nor hindered by phenomena. Identity comes under phenomena as we ascribe
Email: Evagrius the Buddhist (7.6.2020)
However, both also seem to be saying that daemons can be concrete physical beings that are ‘attracted’ to our location and given unnecessary strength and influence over us by the corrupt state of our minds (and deficient behaviour), as well as being entirely psychological-emotional structures that can be superimposed over (and upon) concrete reality, whilst avoiding the trap of an inverted ‘idealism’ (which suggests physical matter congeals into concrete reality simply by force of thought). I would say that monasticism solves this problem by permanently uprooting the essence (asava) of ignorance that gives rise to greed, hatred and deluson, This ‘stills’ and ‘purifies’ the mind in both systems, and removes the idea of inner daemons polluting the outer conditions of the external world. I also think this prevents the ‘attraction’ of daemons on the physical plane, which might be better described as ‘corrupt beings’. This would allow for your ‘things worse than daemons’ statement. The similarities between early Buddhism and early Christianity are far more astonishing than most realise.
Lockdown Church Service for Atheists, Non-Theists and Agnostics (24.5.2020)
Marx and Engels understood the comfort that people experienced through attachment to religion, but stated that the very Church thy adore supports and encourages the very capitalist system that oppresses and crushes their aspirations – blaming their poverty not on the injustices of men – but rather on the bizarre notion that an unseen god is inflicting these sufferings ‘for your own good’, when rich people obviously suffer far less, if they suffer at all! Remember, you are in-charge of your own destiny.
