I've been watching The Atheist Experience lately on YouTube. It occurred to me:
What is the definition of evil?
Evil is the opposite of good, right? But evil can only be evil if you know what good looks like. So a person's perception or understanding of good determines what the opposite might be.
Do we not have different opinions and tastes in all areas in life? Would those leanings of mind therefore define what is good or evil?
Without anyone else to educate you or to tell you what good is, how do you know what evil is? Organised religions go a long way to address this problem but they do so in a destructive way because the rely on the supernatural, superstition, deception and threats of violence or torture to achieve this.
The solution from the teachings of the Buddha revolves around the cessation of suffering for all sentient beings. If the cessation and reduction of suffering is the number one priority in your daily life, you suddenly see perspective and positive ethics come naturally. Like putting your hand in the fire.
That really, for me, makes all the Christian, Muslim and Jewish approaches to ethical living redundant. It becomes obvious to you in a flash what your actions and speech ought to be.
Peace and joy everyone, peace and joy.
Friday, 31 August 2012
Thursday, 30 August 2012
A New Age Of Sticking It To The Man
It occurred to me just now. People view you and they form opinions of who you are and what you know or stand for.
It brings me back to the story of the respected monk who was invited to attend a function and arrived in the shabbiest, most tired robes he could find.
When he arrived they turned him away as they thought he was just some horrible stinking vagrant.
They became concerned that their star guest has not shown up and made their excuses.
When the monk returned in his best robes he asked if there was anything wrong.
They told him about the vagrant monk who troubled them earlier and with that he began to remove his robes.
"What are you doing??" They asked.
"I was that vagrant monk you spoke of. Now did you invite me or my clothing?"
This is an example that is alive and well to this day. People think I'm a clean living, diligent person and always have been. Just because I'm in a position of perceived responsibility they assume I have always been the same. Not true. I developed and evolved over a long period of time. This is based only on their understanding of me as they percieve me since they've known me. Everyone is a product of his or her past I know but don't get hung up on appearances as this is dangerous territory. As the story suggests, and it is a non superstitious story, anyone could be anything.
A Buddhist tale about vanity and why vanity is unwholesome.
It brings me back to the story of the respected monk who was invited to attend a function and arrived in the shabbiest, most tired robes he could find.
When he arrived they turned him away as they thought he was just some horrible stinking vagrant.
They became concerned that their star guest has not shown up and made their excuses.
When the monk returned in his best robes he asked if there was anything wrong.
They told him about the vagrant monk who troubled them earlier and with that he began to remove his robes.
"What are you doing??" They asked.
"I was that vagrant monk you spoke of. Now did you invite me or my clothing?"
This is an example that is alive and well to this day. People think I'm a clean living, diligent person and always have been. Just because I'm in a position of perceived responsibility they assume I have always been the same. Not true. I developed and evolved over a long period of time. This is based only on their understanding of me as they percieve me since they've known me. Everyone is a product of his or her past I know but don't get hung up on appearances as this is dangerous territory. As the story suggests, and it is a non superstitious story, anyone could be anything.
A Buddhist tale about vanity and why vanity is unwholesome.
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
Phones and TV services
Earlier this month I acquired Virgin Media TV, Broadband and phone. I'd always been a Sky TV man and still like what they do tremendously. Unfortunately, where we live the satellite dish could only be fitted to a wooden fence which meant any disturbance to the fence would result in a weaker signal. This was irritating when the problem would occur at a time when I wasn't in the mood to go out there with the satellite finder and tools and start readjusting.
I decided after a while to go ahead and get Virgin cable TV, the 30 mbps broadband and phone and save money at the same time. With £70 credit on the bill and half price TV for 6 months it was a sensible offer.
The two young guys came and installed everything cleanly and professionally and all is well. I didn't choose to take as many channels as with Sky but frankly I didn't watch them a great deal anyway. Since the Virgin TiVo box has 10 mbps broadband as standard I spend more time watching TV on demand and catchup TV now. Searching the backlog has resulted in a greater quality of programming to choose from and something my Sky setup was unable to do (easily) since my broadband was on the other side of the room.
Now although I have fewer channels I am less reliant on recording and watching from the schedule which means manually searching what is on or coming up, and now I can access more choice with fewer channels. Not only that but I have YouTube on the main TV screen.
One issue I had was the phone charges. Looking on the online itemised bill I noticed that an unanswered call to a mobile phone lasting just two seconds cost us 39 pence!
Now I have put a headset on to my PC and will make calls using Skype if my mobile signal is no good at home. Currently the signal is very poor in our house on O2 so we used to use a landline just so we could hear the other person and not get cut off. This is also beneficial for us as we used to phone abroad with an 0844 number. This was supposed to be 1p per minute but over the Virgin line it is a lot more than this!
So to summarise: Virgin is a quality service in my opinion and I'm enjoying the TV a lot more than I expected. The broadband is the best I've ever had. But beware of how much phone calls cost!
I decided after a while to go ahead and get Virgin cable TV, the 30 mbps broadband and phone and save money at the same time. With £70 credit on the bill and half price TV for 6 months it was a sensible offer.
The two young guys came and installed everything cleanly and professionally and all is well. I didn't choose to take as many channels as with Sky but frankly I didn't watch them a great deal anyway. Since the Virgin TiVo box has 10 mbps broadband as standard I spend more time watching TV on demand and catchup TV now. Searching the backlog has resulted in a greater quality of programming to choose from and something my Sky setup was unable to do (easily) since my broadband was on the other side of the room.
Now although I have fewer channels I am less reliant on recording and watching from the schedule which means manually searching what is on or coming up, and now I can access more choice with fewer channels. Not only that but I have YouTube on the main TV screen.
One issue I had was the phone charges. Looking on the online itemised bill I noticed that an unanswered call to a mobile phone lasting just two seconds cost us 39 pence!
Now I have put a headset on to my PC and will make calls using Skype if my mobile signal is no good at home. Currently the signal is very poor in our house on O2 so we used to use a landline just so we could hear the other person and not get cut off. This is also beneficial for us as we used to phone abroad with an 0844 number. This was supposed to be 1p per minute but over the Virgin line it is a lot more than this!
So to summarise: Virgin is a quality service in my opinion and I'm enjoying the TV a lot more than I expected. The broadband is the best I've ever had. But beware of how much phone calls cost!
Sunday, 26 August 2012
Fish and Plant Keeping
I have a small nano fish tank of 30 litres and it brings me a great deal of pleasure. It's a Juwel Vio 40. I have aspirations to upgrade and almost went to a much bigger setup a couple of months ago. My other big interest is growing plants. Chillies, herbs, orchids and draceana marginata at the moment.
The process of taking care of the fish and plants brings me a great deal of peace and helps me feel tranquil at home. If you need a hobby that is totally absorbing then try plants or fish.
When I set about working on the fish tank, that is all I think about. Nothing else. I use it as a mindfulness exercise. Similarly when I work on the orchids that is all I concentrate on. Shut out the problems of your work or whatever and absorb yourself in the moment of the task i.e. cleaning the fish tank inside with the sponge. Up, down, up, down, left, right and so on. This way you can achieve first class results and reach a level of relaxation that you wouldn't have otherwise found.
The process of taking care of the fish and plants brings me a great deal of peace and helps me feel tranquil at home. If you need a hobby that is totally absorbing then try plants or fish.
When I set about working on the fish tank, that is all I think about. Nothing else. I use it as a mindfulness exercise. Similarly when I work on the orchids that is all I concentrate on. Shut out the problems of your work or whatever and absorb yourself in the moment of the task i.e. cleaning the fish tank inside with the sponge. Up, down, up, down, left, right and so on. This way you can achieve first class results and reach a level of relaxation that you wouldn't have otherwise found.
Musa Basjoo Cuttings
Today I took 3 cuttings of my banana plant. The biggest one (in the foreground) was left with one root barely hanging off. The smaller two have a lot more roots left so they may have a better chance of taking. I decided to sprinkle rooting hormone on all three to help things along. Well...if it works, it works.
I suspect the biggest one with no roots will fold but hope the other two will take. Either way I'll show pictures of the disaster (or triumph) unfolding.
I suspect the biggest one with no roots will fold but hope the other two will take. Either way I'll show pictures of the disaster (or triumph) unfolding.
My thoughts on retirement
It is something I think about regularly and a very important part of my life. When do I stop work? What is the strategy? I look around at my workplace and see men over 60 (my father included) and I wonder what they are in it for? The simple answer is money of course. I've seen some wonderful colleagues die in service before they had even one day of retirement. What an injustice. The pension companies talk to us about our target age of retirement. 60? 62? 65? They seem to suggest we are guaranteed to live this long. We aren't. If I was told my death age was 53 what reaction would I have to this news? This is my point. I consider each day spent beyond 50 years old as a slave to the wage packet one too many. This is my goal: retire before I'm 55. I don't care if I'm not quite rich enough. As far as I am concerned when you don't want anything you're the richest man in the world. The training therefore is: reduce your cravings and desires rather than working to achieve material wealth and property. Simplify and declutter yourself. With each possesion you get rid of you feel more and more freedom. The trappings of the modern upbringing slain like a dragon.
In Buddhism the 'middle way' is not being a strict ascetic monk taking yourself to the extremes of sensory deprivation, hunger and thirst; nor is it overindulgence in food, drink and luxuries. Therefore the average person should try to see what is reasonably attainable and stick to a realistic and sensible plan for retirement. If you become comfortable with reducing down to the 'monk level' then this is great but the average person may not want to go that far. The tendency should be to scale down in my opinion.
If feathering your nest is your thing, and it is mine at this point in my family's life, do it whilst you're young enough to put the long hours in. These old men working full time really have either missed the boat in their younger days or are deluding themselves into believing that the extra 2 years service will be worthwhile. You're a long time dead.
In Buddhism the 'middle way' is not being a strict ascetic monk taking yourself to the extremes of sensory deprivation, hunger and thirst; nor is it overindulgence in food, drink and luxuries. Therefore the average person should try to see what is reasonably attainable and stick to a realistic and sensible plan for retirement. If you become comfortable with reducing down to the 'monk level' then this is great but the average person may not want to go that far. The tendency should be to scale down in my opinion.
If feathering your nest is your thing, and it is mine at this point in my family's life, do it whilst you're young enough to put the long hours in. These old men working full time really have either missed the boat in their younger days or are deluding themselves into believing that the extra 2 years service will be worthwhile. You're a long time dead.
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