> > > > > > I still believe that it owes a lot to Buddhism... > > > > > > > > > > That's a stretch. Many translations of the First > > > > > Noble Truth have it as "Life is suffering," but > > > > > that's not related in any way to God, since they > > > > > don't believe in one. > > > > > > > > To say "life is suffering" implies there is something-- > > > > a condition or state--that is *not* suffering. > > > > > > > > If suffering is said to be a lack, there is something-- > > > > a condition or state--in which nothing is lacking. > > > > > > > > What is it? > > > > > > ++ State of mind? > > > > In a way. If (as the Four Noble Truths state) the > > cause of suffering is attachment to desire/aversion, > > then living in a state of mind that is *not* attached > > to achieving the fruits of desire or avoiding the > > things one is averse to is a way beyond suffering. > > > > The "input" to life doesn't change, only one's > > ability to greet it with equanimity. Try to force > > the square peg of that input into the round hole of > > one's desires, and you get suffering. Treat it as > > a square peg and be neither attached nor averse, > > no suffering. > > > > Nothing to "achieve," no "obstacles" to remove from > > the "path" to non-suffering, nowhere to "go." Same > > old same old...just life dealt with as What Is, not > > What You'd Like Life To Be. > > > > Just for fun, compare and contrast this to MMY's > > latest U.N. rap, in which he once again presents his > > S-V theories and suggests that the problems of the > > world can't be solved unless one starts over with > > all-new buildings. In the Buddhist view, this > > approach to resolving suffering can never work > > because it is based upon trying to change the input > > of life to avoid suffering, rather than change the > > inner being's ability to deals with the input with- > > out attachment. > > As I understand it, the theory is that S-V buildings > facilitate the change in the inner being's ability > to deal with the input without attachment.
As I understand it, the S-V theory is being promoted by someone who has been afraid to leave his suite of S-V rooms or to be in the same room with a human being other than the two or three trusted aides he interfaces with for over a decade now. And the latest plan to "deal with the input" being promoted by the person living this S-V-compliant lifestyle depends on raising an amount of money that is greater than the combined GNPs of the world's biggest countries. I'd say that either the theory needs a sanity break or the theorist does. > > In the Buddhist view, the richest, most successful > > person in the world, living in a perfectly-aligned > > S-V house but still attached to his desires, will > > be lost in suffering. Whereas the poor person who > > lives in a cardboard box, if he is not attached to > > his desires, is beyond suffering. > > But what if living in a perfectly aligned S-V house > makes it easier to break the attachment to desires? See above. The longer the primary proponent of S-V hides inside his S-V house, the larger his demands for money get and the more dire his pronouncements of what will happen to the world if he *doesn't* receive the money he's demanding get. Does this look to you as if S-V reduces either one's desires or the attachment to them? Just asking. I mean, people these days pay a million dollars to go on a course with Maharishi, the person who has been living in S-V compliant buildings longer than anyone else, and what they find is someone who is so fearful or reclusive or whatever that he can't even sit in the same room with them. Does this behavior tend to convince you of the benefits of S-V? ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/UlWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
