West Coast Connection Forum
Lifestyle => Train of Thought => Topic started by: Trauma-san on December 25, 2003, 05:20:26 PM
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So... this morning (christmas) at 5:30, this buddhist Monk at a local temple (it's downtown, about 200 people are followers there) set himself on fire. Apparently, Buddhists have some self-sacrifice thing as a form of protest. The guy was 74 years old, and left a list of his final 3 wishes, he wanted freedom of religion in Vietnam and around the world, he wanted human rights for all vietnamese people, and he wanted vietnam to retain it's land rights in a dispute against china. Weird.
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What a loser...
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Apparently, Buddhists have some self-sacrifice thing as a form of protest.
was this a joke...?
also were did this happen?
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No, lol, it's not a joke. Buddhists have some weird concept of protest, where if they burn themselves to death, it's the ultimate form of protest, or something. I dunno, maybe a buddhist can clue us in. It was in Charlotte, NC.
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i think they are showing that they would rather die, than live with bullshit in the world, like the monks before this guy who have done this, have protested war and other things, i think it isnt "weird" its basicaly using a humans natural emotions after seeing such a horrible act done in good, to try to change things
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Well, I define 'weird' as extremely different, or not what most people do, not normal. I think it's definately weird, but weird's not always a bad thing, so I'm not trashing the guy, it just struck me as something interesting.
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that is truly some fucked up shit
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It was in Charlotte, NC.
I guess being around so many crackers got to him. Maybe some racist white people did this to him, and set it up to look like a sacrifice. You never know with those hillbilly southerners.
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There are six perfections in Buddhist philosphy, they are : giving, morality, vigor, patience, wisdom and meditation. Amongst them, giving ranks the topmost. Now ofcourse, there are many forms of giving, but what is more virtuous than giving one’s life for the saving of others? Besides, what else can a monk give other than his own life?
-V[ x ]
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^ That must be the reasoning behind it, then.
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There are six perfections in Buddhist philosphy, they are : giving, morality, vigor, patience, wisdom and meditation. Amongst them, giving ranks the topmost. Now ofcourse, there are many forms of giving, but what is more virtuous than giving one’s life for the saving of others? Besides, what else can a monk give other than his own life?
-V[ x ]
he can give some good advice? hes not giving his life, hes killing him self for a casue, but its not gonna do SHIT, cause nobody cares
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It's quite like Gandhi's fast actually, once he nearly fasted to death after failed attempts to settle disputes between the Muslims and Hindus, as a result the two religions started to live in peace again.
".....what should a nonviolent person do when he finds his friends, relations or countrymen refuse to give up an immoral way of life, and all arguments prove futile to evoke any response? An ahimsa-ite must not use a semblance of force to convert the wrong-doer. He even eschews the use of any harsh language. The first step is gentle and affectionate persuasion. When it fails to produce any salutary effect, voluntarily he invites suffering in his own body to open the eyes of the person who is determined to see no light." -Gandhi
To many, its quite a hard concept to understand.
-V[ x ]
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There are six perfections in Buddhist philosphy, they are : giving, morality, vigor, patience, wisdom and meditation. Amongst them, giving ranks the topmost. Now ofcourse, there are many forms of giving, but what is more virtuous than giving one’s life for the saving of others? Besides, what else can a monk give other than his own life?
-V[ x ]
When a man is really keen to realize an objective in his life he wouldn't just throw it away... He does it becous he wants to run away from the objective as he feels that he's too weak to achieve it.. and he commits suicide.
I can name thousands who have struggld all their life against the dogmatic and inflexible society ( u can finds many names in the Medieval Europe or during hte renaissance).. well they all could have just killed themselves.. But a inner energy of self righteousness driove them on.. and even if they died.. it was becoz they were lynched by the mob.. becoz their teachings became too much for the mob...
and here u r, misinterpretting Gandhi's plilosophy..
What he menat by self sacrifice was to push one self to the limit of one's capacity to achieve one's dreams .. and here also u see a self interest...
He never advises u to run away from it. by embracing death..
Death should be the END and NOT the MEANS
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There is obviously a difference in perspective. A real Buddhist is not afraid of dying(but living), for it is only another journey, there are strong religious aspects of it which I don't wish to get into detail right now . Causing any type of harm to other lives in any way violates Buddhist beliefs, it contributes nothing to promote peace.
Ofcourse, I might have misinterpreted what Gandhi said; I felt that it coincides with the Buddhist belief, espically the following part: "The first step is gentle and affectionate persuasion. When it fails to produce any salutary effect, voluntarily he invites suffering in his own body to open the eyes of the person who is determined to see no light."
-V[ x ]
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Eidolon, you shouldn't argue with people about their religion, every religion relies on faith and therefore can't be proven or argued.
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It was in Charlotte, NC.
I guess being around so many crackers got to him. Maybe some racist white people did this to him, and set it up to look like a sacrifice. You never know with those hillbilly southerners.
Shut up troll. All your posts are fucking garbage.