Re: Sydney SOP 70's. A Different Perspective.
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2012 11:35 am
In wanting to respond to some interesting points raised above, I first had to find out what an "ad hominem" argument was, and Google told me it's "person A makes claim X, person B makes an attack on person A, therefore X is false".
This was useful to appreciate because it's such a common arguing ploy, and it works so often, and will certainly be used by rusted-on SFSK-ers dealing with the most unwanted revelations that the Mavros have been caught out lying.
But reflecting on the invitation by MOTS and AT for GT to outline what "the message" is, it occurred to me that maybe it's incumbent on those of us who maintain that the teachings of SFSK have some merit to also try answering, knowing that there is no "answer" and so it can only be a personal perspective. For me, the message is best summed up in the following story which I came across many years ago.
An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me.....it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
“One wolf is fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.
“The other wolf is joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.
“This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.”
The children thought about this for a moment and then one child asked, “Which wolf will win, Grandfather?”
The old Cherokee simply replied.....
“The one you feed.”
Or put even more simply, the Dalai Lama has been quoted as saying “my religion is very simple, my religion is kindness”.
To me this is truth whether or not spelt with a capital T. I believe/think/consider/feel without a shred of scientific empirical evidence or logical reasoning that this little story sums up the essential take-home message of religion/spirituality/proper living/ego-busting or whatever it is that's going on here. I am content with the notion that the “good wolf” represents “God” and the “bad wolf” represents the “ego” or “Satan”.
And sometimes I am aware that when the trigger name of “Mrs Mavro” comes up, I do not feed the good wolf. And sometimes I am not aware of this at all. So as simple as this “message” is, it is most definitely not easy to apply.
I'd be really interested in other's personal perspectives of the "message".
(BTW: MOTS and AT discuss the problems with using the word “truth”. It reminds me a little of “twilight”. Everybody knows what it means, but everybody would have a different conception of it and how on earth do you define it so that everyone has a common conception?)
MW
This was useful to appreciate because it's such a common arguing ploy, and it works so often, and will certainly be used by rusted-on SFSK-ers dealing with the most unwanted revelations that the Mavros have been caught out lying.
But reflecting on the invitation by MOTS and AT for GT to outline what "the message" is, it occurred to me that maybe it's incumbent on those of us who maintain that the teachings of SFSK have some merit to also try answering, knowing that there is no "answer" and so it can only be a personal perspective. For me, the message is best summed up in the following story which I came across many years ago.
An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me.....it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
“One wolf is fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.
“The other wolf is joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.
“This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.”
The children thought about this for a moment and then one child asked, “Which wolf will win, Grandfather?”
The old Cherokee simply replied.....
“The one you feed.”
Or put even more simply, the Dalai Lama has been quoted as saying “my religion is very simple, my religion is kindness”.
To me this is truth whether or not spelt with a capital T. I believe/think/consider/feel without a shred of scientific empirical evidence or logical reasoning that this little story sums up the essential take-home message of religion/spirituality/proper living/ego-busting or whatever it is that's going on here. I am content with the notion that the “good wolf” represents “God” and the “bad wolf” represents the “ego” or “Satan”.
And sometimes I am aware that when the trigger name of “Mrs Mavro” comes up, I do not feed the good wolf. And sometimes I am not aware of this at all. So as simple as this “message” is, it is most definitely not easy to apply.
I'd be really interested in other's personal perspectives of the "message".
(BTW: MOTS and AT discuss the problems with using the word “truth”. It reminds me a little of “twilight”. Everybody knows what it means, but everybody would have a different conception of it and how on earth do you define it so that everyone has a common conception?)
MW