--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "lurkernomore20002000" <steve.sun...@...> wrote: > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "curtisdeltablues" > <curtisdeltablues@> wrote: > > > It is his rejection of that cruel ideology that makes his thinking so > attractive to me. He is saying something that is the opposite view of > the karmic belief system, "it's not fair!" They didn't earn this > suffering by their bad deeds in a past life, they just drew the short > straw in life by chance. I've just been thinking about this. A phrase > that has been used often to explain things that don't make sense to us, > is, "God in his infinite wisdom has..........such and such" Which is > another way of saying, I haven't the foggiest idea why. Any maybe this > weak explanation works for many people. But for others it doesn't. But > I am thinking that an equally absurd explanation is that, "The random > universe in its randomness has resulted in.............. such and such, > and so and so. Please give me a sensible explanation of good and bad > things happening, action and reaction in the world of human life > without introducing the concept of reincarnation. I cannot, and that is > why I subscribe to this concept. Andwe can act to change this > unfairness. > > > > I think it is fascinating that you are promoting a guy who explicitly > states that he does not belief in God and whose views are so much more > inline with Gandhi than Guru Dev. > >
Again, I am sure I am in the thick or a larger discussion and debate -- so apologies if I am repeating or trotting ideas already shown to be bogus. The Big Question, "Why are things the way they are?". First, its fascinating and curious to me that my dog doesn't appear to ask this question -- but is far more enthusiastic about things than I, and plainly quite more gleeful at the wonders of life. "A walk? FANTASTIC! Thats the greatest idea of the Century! I could jump and down. Wait -- I AM jumping up and down. Bro, you are a genius." "Wow, get a load of this smell, oh, now this one, lets run -not walk, Run over there and smell that thing. So MANY wonderful new smells to discover.Isn't life Great!" But until we reach the ultimate View, DC, a parallel thought to the Big Question is why do things happen to me, and to "you" (as in any other)? Are these two questions related? Experimentation, experimental design, statistics -- science in general -- pursues the Big Question -- but has its limitations (that are increasingly overcome as knowledge expands). To pose a question of other posts and threads, why is the 8 year old beggar child so poor and exploited? "Science" (which includes the social sciences -- as well as humanities that explore causal chains in other ways) has a lot of ideas and partial data on why poverty exists -- though hardly much consensus. One poster would appear to say the key driver is "economic system" others appear to think it's political, others class warfare, etc. Some merit can be found in all of these perspectives -- but none definitively answer the issue. "Science" has somethings also say why poverty is happening to this person and not that one: education, social structure, parents income and wealth, height (Dilbert says a key criteria for managers is height -- which in my experience seems to bear some fruit)etc. But the questions as to why that 8 year old girl was born into poverty and a girl across town was born into a life of privilege is far less clear. I too find reincarnation is a plausible, but highly difficult to prove, explanation. And I don't feel that reincarnation, for me, is an exploitive tool to oppress others. If past action results in particular current conditions (almost a truism), that in no ways voids compassion. How the 8 year old girl got into that condition, random or karmic, in no way diminishes the compassion we can have and actions we can take to help her, or others like her, out. (And that is no to say giving handouts -- particularly when thins smell manipulative -- is the best answer However, does it matter? I am sure catcalls will follow this post -- but there is a value judgement in all of this that assumes that wealth is superior to poverty. I have learned some great things when I was flat broke over sustained periods as well as when I have been more financially secure.
