coco
Personal suffering or global? My view on this is too deep for here.

BW I feel like taking anything personally that anybody does makes me a victim to them. What they do is motivated by what lives inside them and has nothing to do with me at all, even if they direct it at me. Another person in exactly the same circumstances might behave completely differently even if I was doing the exact same thing, they and their personality are the variable so I conclude the friction is theirs. I don't have to get worked up about it in any case, how I feel is all about me and in my direct control. If not, if I allow my feelings to be influenced by outside experiences, again, I feel I've made myself a victim. I own this body and this mind, for this life time anyhow, who better to decide what I think and feel?

Back2eden, the only suffering we have any control over is our own. No matter what we do on this earth we can't have a hand in how another reacts, one person may be happy while another unhappy while yet another feel neutrally. My judgement over how others "should" feel about my actions is a poor guide to follow. Someone will always be unhappy, no matter what we choose to behave like. The guiding principles have to satisfy me, that's the only measure of behavior that has any validity at all. That doesn't imply that righteous action isn't the aspiration, to the contrary, that is the ultimate goal of all action. But who it satisfies? That is only the self. The true one self exists in oneness with all else. When that is recognized, there is no longer a potential for wrong action. To me, recognizing that oneness is the ultimate life goal and it's what all spiritual writing and practice is about. The end of suffering is to recognize the G_d within all and to see that in fact we are all one, there is no division, there is no suffering, there is only oneness and all else is illusion. Relief from suffering means letting go of the stories we construct to explain everything. There is a great unknowable, to learn to trust that is everything, it's the only thing. Every story we tell ourselves and each other about what things mean, how they should be, etc, is painful and always will be.

Coco, I agree with you. It's a different way of thinking when one is raised having other's "stuff" put on him/her because as children, we only know what we are told. It takes a while to understand that adults are fallible and not to believe what they say.

OK as contriversial as this may be I'm going to give my very long view of suffering in just a few sentences and leave it up for thought.

1.Most of the suffering that people go through is due to their own behaviour.

2. For the ones who get past that state there is no way for anyone to reach thier full potential without much suffering.

3. It's like the refining of silver and gold.

4. The suffering that refines I do not resist but embrace.

5. You can clearly know the difference between 1. and 2.

I don't have time to explain this in any detail.

a book with no pages

[www.sahtouris.com],

I just started to read this book.I heard an interview with her that I really liked.She is a real treat.

Prana, agree with you re: the Tao Te Ching. I don't have the Mitchell translation. I will have to look at it. I own a copy of the Gia Fu Feng/Jane English translation (1972). I like it's black and white photography that accompanies the text. There is no annotation in the book itself, just the translation.

I also like:

- Every Day Spiritual Practice: Simple Pathways for Enriching Your Life by Scott Alexander [www.amazon.com] and
- Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach. [www.amazon.com].

BW, thank you for starting this thread. Paul

Paul, is that Tao version you have an oversized paperback? I may have that one, too. Actually, I have several versions.

I wanted to apologize for not including the Bible, Koran, etc. as possible recommendations. I only did so because they are the books typically mentioned and also because people sometimes get saddled down in comparing one religion to another.

If anyone has a particular Biblical passage (or other book from an organized religion), then please share. I remember going to a wedding of an affluent family and the bride chose a passage from (I think) Matthew where they talk about the "lillies of the field" and how the birds don't worry about their sustenance. I loved the message and I think the bride was tweaking her parents just a little!

Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
This book fed my womanly soul, and for the guys..it will give you a new perspective hopefully a renewed appreciation for women in general and for the special ladies in your life.

Excerpts from the book at following link.

[www.elexion.com]

Love,
Prism

Hand Book For Mankind Buddhadas Bhikkhu

In 1956, the Venerable Buddhadasa Bhikkhu gave a series of lectures to a group of prospective judges, which were subsequently edited and arranged into what became The Handbook for Mankind.

Since then, the success of this small book has been astounding. Well over 100,000 copies have been printed in Thai, and the book still enjoys widespread popularity, more than three decades after the original talks. The reason for the "Handbook's" duration is clear: that the Venerable Buddhadasa offers fresh insights into a timeless Truth (Dhamma), in the direct and simple manner that characterizes all his teaching. The clarity of his insight brings the Dhamma to life, so that today, a new generation of readers, not yet born at the time of these talks, can find meaning in his words.

As a guide for newcomers to the Buddha-Dhamma (the Truth which the Buddha awakened to and subsequently taught), this book is an invaluable guide. In it are contained the essential teachings of Buddhism. The "Handbook" is especially useful for those who approach the Buddha's teaching, not as a subject for scholarly study, buy as a means to understand and ennoble their lives.

The Handbook for Mankind was originally published in English by the Sublime Life Mission, buy has long been out of print. With their permission, we have reprinted this book, making some corrections where necessary, buy leaving the text otherwise intact. Our thanks are due to Mr. Pun Chongprasoed, who first put this book together in Thai, and to all the people whose effort has made possible the reprinting of this book.

Handbook for Mankind by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
Translated from the Thai by Ariyananda Bhikkhu (Roderick S. Bucknell)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2012 01:09AM by riverhousebill.

Thanks Riverhousebill. Here's the online book:

[www.buddhanet.net]

I came across this in my notes the other day and thought of this thread


The word “spiritual” originates from “spirit”, which is equivalent to the Latin word “spiritus” - a breath. Spirit has the same meaning in Russian: “doun” – a breath. Similarly, life enters the body with a first breath and leaves the body with a last breath. According to Webster’s dictionary, the word “spiritual” means “the quality or state of being”. Therefore, spirituality is not just a belief because beliefs alone do not create a spiritual state of being, although beliefs may (and often do) lead to values through personal verification.

12 Steps to Raw – Victoria Boutenko