Nice comments Tartji, I would say that Enlightenment is not a thing of utility.
Enlightenment is a state where you realize that you need not be a millionaire
with a million dollar wife, a million dollar car, a million dollar house and
million dollar kids to be happy. You don't have to help suffering people in
Iraq, Japan or Bangladesh. You don't have to a damn thing and that you don't
owe anyone anything. That the existence is in a blissful orgasm with you every
minute.
So Barry is right in a way that it is a "selfish" realization. However out of
that "selfish" self absorbed state comes true compassion and love.
It's not because you owe anyone a damn thing.
It's because your cup is so overflowing that you naturally would like to share.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, tartbrain <no_reply@...> wrote:
>
>
> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@> wrote:
> >
> > All that seems
> > to "matter" is the person's subjective sense of their
> > own subjective state of consciousness. We never hear of
> > ways in which this subjective state proves itself of
> > value to anyone else in the objective world. I'd like
> > to hear more about that.
>
> When a crack, heroin, alcohol or food addict, gets "clean", gets outside of
> the addiction, it appears that most don't say "how selfish, its all about
> you" and ask "how did you help anyone else in the world?" and "what did you
> do for me today?"
>
> While I am sympathetic to your POV, in the past I have asked, "where are the
> human virtues"? However, we might be addicted to the introductory lecture
> (whether TM, neo-buddhism, or Andrew Carnegieism.) Intro lectures are
> simplified, dumbed down versions of things.
>
> When someone loses the grip of their lives-long addiction to the thought-full
> mind, past and future, looking for satisfaction out there, blame, regret and
> judgement, I am not sure its uber-sane to ask, "But what did you do for ME
> today?". Former mind and thought addicts don't owe you or me anything. Still,
> having one less person looking for love -- and satisfaction -- in all the
> wrong places seems to be a positive step for humanity.
>
> (And let us hear how the lessening of your addictive, monkey on your back,
> monkey mind, nature (inhert in all of us) has helped the world?)
>
