Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
your turn #3 (hinduism open forum)
we're finished with the upanishads. what do you want to talk about?
go ahead.
(below is our new post on Jainism)
8 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I’m selfish, materialistic, imperfect, driven by human desires and eccentricities. I’m me and therefore I cannot be God. I am not conscious of my unconscious mind. The mind that is one with the self. I was created by a supreme being, I can only be a “copy” of itself. As long as I keep this empty vase, I would never reach the Brahman. When the samsara is over, I will be face to face with the supreme. Then, and only then I might be able to reach some level of divinity. Although, since the beginning of the course I had been questioning myself of the existence of a “God,” in the way my parents taught me, I think it is important to me to keep that idea, otherwise I will feel hopeless. The idea of not being able to “bring” to life and materialize his existence is too much for me, at this present time.
Reaching perfection in ourselves means that if were living were giving many opportunists to achieve what see as perfection. And Jainism gives people like me steps that can help me become more of a divine person but at the same time, in reality my atman will cause me to make mistakes and sin just everyone as through out there life time. And the perfections that I may seem to think I reach will just end up being my Maya and cause myself to react maybe in a sinful way so I don’t believe we can reach perfection from Jainism itself but from realization.
The idea of ahimsa is beautiful, especially in the type of society we live in where respect is rarely seen for all beings. I am in awe of those that follow Jainism and have been able to restrict themselves from violent thoughts and violent actions. I like that there is no supreme being, no destroyer or creator in Jainism. No divine creator feels like a weight has been lifted. Despite my beliefs and my faith in a god, I also believe and know the universe has the power, or siddha to gives us all that we ask for. If we put in the effort and if we allow it to, the universe will guide us through.
Ian Deck Jainism acknowledges that non-living things, like rip currents, possess energies that are capable of interacting with our own energies and causing life altering events. Human souls are not the only ones that can be affected by these types of interactions. Jainas assert that all living things have souls, born in accordance with their karma, and are in charge of their own lives. Because of these beliefs Jainism asserts that we practice; the right knowledge, the right faith, and the right conduct. Once these practices are perfected one can fully realize themselves and achieve moksha. Again, this realization is not limited to souls that occupy human bodies. Any living thing is capable of moksha as long as it follows the three rules.
Jainism sounds like a beautiful way to live, I especially like the idea of Aparigraha non-possession. In a world where your judged more and more by what you have then what you don’t have, aparigraha is something I believe everyone of us should practice more often. Jainism is a beautiful way to live life but at the same time it couldn’t be more different from how we in the west have been taught to live life. We are surrounded by the opposite of every single one of the five basic principles, maybe this is the reason why most people in the west live such unfulfilling lives. Its some thing to really think about when trying to find fulfillment in our modern day life’s.
The way i see it is that Jainism was founded to truly help one realize that there is better. It states that it is there to help one find true and divine perfection. To the ear that sounds appealing and something people want to know more about and even be a part of. When one is able to perform Ahimsa they are truly being divine and not wanting to harm at all, and that is a step in the right direction. By being able to follow the procedures of understanding truly what you are willing to sacrifice, and change for. One has to then understand the faith and what Jainism is all about, and then want to be cultivated by it. I believe that i would want to live that way, i truly respect and admire having the knowledge of understanding something before becoming a part of it. Living in a world where one is not judged and understood by everyone would be realistic, and when i say understand i mean being more open minded. Carlota Sanchez
Non violence (ahimsa) is a law we should all follow but are all guilty of in one degree or another. It is easy to forget about the amount of resource we take from the earth and frankly don't realize the levels of violence we commit by just living. The truth (satya) is more often than not a painful note but it is rarely ever the wrong decision. Its hard to not lie because the human is really good at doing so and constantly lies to itself in order to ease the pain of the reality. Brahmacarya is something that we desperately need. There is a tremendous amount of gluttony and waste that goes into the pursuit of enjoyment, whether through sexually driven exercise or other dopamine releases like gambling or having a great meal. It is ludicrous to believe that we can be happy every minute of our lives and by accepting that we can move closer to slowing down our overindulgence. It is the curse of the male to constantly have an itch but it must never be the decision maker. A detachment to material (Aparigraha) is a hard concept for the westerner to understand, as it is in direct opposite to the consumer society we were molded by. Once we release ourselves from our material overlords we can truly exist as we should, free and with nothing to lose but our love and life.
The five basic principles are not unfamiliar to most of us, but it is interesting how regardless of religion or belief, these principles seem to be universal. Ahimsa meaning (non-harming living things) is including our day to day manners such as things we eat that are "violent" for the steak we may be eating could have come from a poorly treated animal and by consuming it we then give more incentive for this cruel practice to go on, thus we are violating the principle of ahimsa. To always speak the satya (truth) is a principle taught to us since we are very young, thus we see that failing to be honest is looked down on even in foreign beliefs, same goes for the serious offense of corrupting the principle of asteya (non-stealing), also taught to us at a young age. Celibacy (Brahmacarya) brings to mind the concept of marriage under Christianity, where one may not indulge in sexual pleasure before marriage, or commit to their carnal desires, whether in jainins it is said that one should not seek pleasure for the sake of pleasure as you are wrongfully breaking the principle of Brahmacarya. From all these religions and different beliefs, it is interesting to see that somethings remain the same.
8 comments:
I’m selfish, materialistic, imperfect, driven by human desires and eccentricities. I’m me and therefore I cannot be God. I am not conscious of my unconscious mind. The mind that is one with the self. I was created by a supreme being, I can only be a “copy” of itself. As long as I keep this empty vase, I would never reach the Brahman. When the samsara is over, I will be face to face with the supreme. Then, and only then I might be able to reach some level of divinity. Although, since the beginning of the course I had been questioning myself of the existence of a “God,” in the way my parents taught me, I think it is important to me to keep that idea, otherwise I will feel hopeless. The idea of not being able to “bring” to life and materialize his existence is too much for me, at this present time.
Elena Murga.
Reaching perfection in ourselves means that if were living were giving many opportunists to achieve what see as perfection. And Jainism gives people like me steps that can help me become more of a divine person but at the same time, in reality my atman will cause me to make mistakes and sin just everyone as through out there life time. And the perfections that I may seem to think I reach will just end up being my Maya and cause myself to react maybe in a sinful way so I don’t believe we can reach perfection from Jainism itself but from realization.
Mario Louissaint
The idea of ahimsa is beautiful, especially in the type of society we live in where respect is rarely seen for all beings. I am in awe of those that follow Jainism and have been able to restrict themselves from violent thoughts and violent actions. I like that there is no supreme being, no destroyer or creator in Jainism. No divine creator feels like a weight has been lifted. Despite my beliefs and my faith in a god, I also believe and know the universe has the power, or siddha to gives us all that we ask for. If we put in the effort and if we allow it to, the universe will guide us through.
Ian Deck
Jainism acknowledges that non-living things, like rip currents, possess energies that are capable of interacting with our own energies and causing life altering events. Human souls are not the only ones that can be affected by these types of interactions. Jainas assert that all living things have souls, born in accordance with their karma, and are in charge of their own lives. Because of these beliefs Jainism asserts that we practice; the right knowledge, the right faith, and the right conduct. Once these practices are perfected one can fully realize themselves and achieve moksha. Again, this realization is not limited to souls that occupy human bodies. Any living thing is capable of moksha as long as it follows the three rules.
Jainism sounds like a beautiful way to live, I especially like the idea of Aparigraha non-possession. In a world where your judged more and more by what you have then what you don’t have, aparigraha is something I believe everyone of us should practice more often. Jainism is a beautiful way to live life but at the same time it couldn’t be more different from how we in the west have been taught to live life. We are surrounded by the opposite of every single one of the five basic principles, maybe this is the reason why most people in the west live such unfulfilling lives. Its some thing to really think about when trying to find fulfillment in our modern day life’s.
The way i see it is that Jainism was founded to truly help one realize that there is better. It states that it is there to help one find true and divine perfection. To the ear that sounds appealing and something people want to know more about and even be a part of. When one is able to perform Ahimsa they are truly being divine and not wanting to harm at all, and that is a step in the right direction. By being able to follow the procedures of understanding truly what you are willing to sacrifice, and change for. One has to then understand the faith and what Jainism is all about, and then want to be cultivated by it. I believe that i would want to live that way, i truly respect and admire having the knowledge of understanding something before becoming a part of it. Living in a world where one is not judged and understood by everyone would be realistic, and when i say understand i mean being more open minded.
Carlota Sanchez
Non violence (ahimsa) is a law we should all follow but are all guilty of in one degree or another. It is easy to forget about the amount of resource we take from the earth and frankly don't realize the levels of violence we commit by just living. The truth (satya) is more often than not a painful note but it is rarely ever the wrong decision. Its hard to not lie because the human is really good at doing so and constantly lies to itself in order to ease the pain of the reality. Brahmacarya is something that we desperately need. There is a tremendous amount of gluttony and waste that goes into the pursuit of enjoyment, whether through sexually driven exercise or other dopamine releases like gambling or having a great meal. It is ludicrous to believe that we can be happy every minute of our lives and by accepting that we can move closer to slowing down our overindulgence. It is the curse of the male to constantly have an itch but it must never be the decision maker. A detachment to material (Aparigraha) is a hard concept for the westerner to understand, as it is in direct opposite to the consumer society we were molded by. Once we release ourselves from our material overlords we can truly exist as we should, free and with nothing to lose but our love and life.
The five basic principles are not unfamiliar to most of us, but it is interesting how regardless of religion or belief, these principles seem to be universal. Ahimsa meaning (non-harming living things) is including our day to day manners such as things we eat that are "violent" for the steak we may be eating could have come from a poorly treated animal and by consuming it we then give more incentive for this cruel practice to go on, thus we are violating the principle of ahimsa. To always speak the satya (truth) is a principle taught to us since we are very young, thus we see that failing to be honest is looked down on even in foreign beliefs, same goes for the serious offense of corrupting the principle of asteya (non-stealing), also taught to us at a young age. Celibacy (Brahmacarya) brings to mind the concept of marriage under Christianity, where one may not indulge in sexual pleasure before marriage, or commit to their carnal desires, whether in jainins it is said that one should not seek pleasure for the sake of pleasure as you are wrongfully breaking the principle of Brahmacarya. From all these religions and different beliefs, it is interesting to see that somethings remain the same.
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