tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post808008032718001692..comments2024-01-01T20:33:52.554-08:00Comments on a moon, worn as if it had been a shell: Something I Might Need to Work OnElizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-20763502202796535002011-07-13T07:00:54.897-07:002011-07-13T07:00:54.897-07:00Over a decade ago, I stumbled upon an essay by Thi...Over a decade ago, I stumbled upon an essay by Thich Nhat Hanh's, "Hope as an Obstacle", and it spoke so clearly and powerfully to thoughts and yearnings that had been traveling within me for years. In it, I recognized a wisdom that had already taken root inside me. I remember after reading it, I sat there stunned, and thought, I have no idea who this man is, but this is my tribe. I have been a student of Buddhism ever since.Noanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01300868872496481473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-33402626781225323252009-09-03T18:50:04.434-07:002009-09-03T18:50:04.434-07:00What a wonderful dialogue! I admire Buddhism and C...What a wonderful dialogue! I admire Buddhism and Catholicism for different reasons, and all mysticism. I have felt free to criticize AND respect the tradition in which I was raised, after I left it (Christian Science). <br />Now I am a Presbyterian, but since my local church "imploded," I don't attend, and am wondering where I belong. I still love God, and attempt to pray and listen daily, but I miss community. <br />I think many of us benefit from loving community and the opportunities for serving others that it provides.Gbergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08895779471612397202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-16697215422029371802009-09-03T12:17:27.403-07:002009-09-03T12:17:27.403-07:00Religion, religion, religion. I have made my own r...Religion, religion, religion. I have made my own religion for lack of a better word. I believe in an undefined superior intelligence that my nanny used to call The Divine Equalizer. Neither male nor female, neither this nor that I believed TDE was a form of natural Karma, what you do for good may or may not come back to you to the twofold. Do it for evil, as in tampering with the road signs or poisoning the well, and you can be sure it will come back to you to the tenth fold. It wasn't fear, of that I am sure. It was a sense that one must pay a price for being alive, the idea that you must leave everything a bit better than you find it once you are aware of the need to do so.<br /><br />Any form of organized religion demands that one suppress the personal view of right and wrong and subscribe in toto to the tenets of that religion, in my opinion. Which to my way of looking at things is the equivalent of ignoring that with knowledge comes responsibility, and thus if we see wrong we must either make it right or as in my case, persevere to the point of annoyance until someone with more power than I rights the wrongs. I truly admire the Dalai Lama but while respecting every religion I must be free to criticize that which offends me or does not follow the basic principles of humanity, i.e: kill for the love of God? I don't think so.A.Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06947308878002639964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-22683642889363260612009-09-03T10:29:49.643-07:002009-09-03T10:29:49.643-07:00I wish I knew more about Buddhism. It seems the o...I wish I knew more about Buddhism. It seems the one religion that is focused on understanding suffering. Or that doesn't see suffering as an unnatural state or one that divides one human being from another.jeneva22https://www.blogger.com/profile/14796890614666454443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-90236142543867372742009-09-03T10:29:09.192-07:002009-09-03T10:29:09.192-07:00I read recently that Buddhism isn't a religion...I read recently that Buddhism isn't a religion at all - but a practice. I wonder about that. I feel like my life is practice. Practice DOESN'T make perfect though. That's why I need Jesus in it :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10818795902981871173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-10281462849580980312009-09-03T04:56:14.899-07:002009-09-03T04:56:14.899-07:00so strange that as i was recently searching for a ...so strange that as i was recently searching for a cargo bike (fossil-fuel-free and exercise for me) i came across this article in tricycle magazine; yet perhaps my circuitous route to the same message reflects the point...<br /><br />we each travel our own path, and if that leads us away from the traditions of our culture, so be it.<br /><br />at the same time, i have been disturbed by rantings toward one's culture, that does not at the same time take responsibility for the baggage which an individual is still (perhaps unconsciously) carrying; those things woven into our own personalities which inform the way we move through the world.<br /><br />as if we 'throw out the baby', and sit screaming as we float downstream in our dirty bathwater.adriennehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17981984403481555118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-78997595535123344932009-09-03T03:57:58.414-07:002009-09-03T03:57:58.414-07:00I do not respect religions...only the people who d...I do not respect religions...only the people who do good things in their name. I prefer the word "honour". I "honour" my religion, as I honour my parents who brought me into this earth. If my parents abused me mercilessly throughout my childhood, however, it is my duty to keep my children away from them and to warn others to do the same, n'est-ce pas?Clairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13070297384173508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-79966745995661217362009-09-02T23:34:59.651-07:002009-09-02T23:34:59.651-07:00It's a wonderful quote. I think the Dalai Lama...It's a wonderful quote. I think the Dalai Lama is right that we should follow our own tradition. My own situation is that I was brought up in what's been called the secular humanist tradition, but then converted to the Anglican branch of Christianity. I still respect secular humanism, but I do have a problem with militant atheism, which too often has no respect for anything but atheism.steve on the slow trainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18257811143869341854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-64059917783394878272009-09-02T15:06:59.934-07:002009-09-02T15:06:59.934-07:00I prefer to be religion-free. That way I don't...I prefer to be religion-free. That way I don't have to pick and choose what I believe or don't believe within the context of the "rules." Plus, I get to criticize them all.Ms. Moonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09776404747858099919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-20299332968834590242009-09-02T14:27:58.468-07:002009-09-02T14:27:58.468-07:00My opinion? I go with my religion (Catholicism) be...My opinion? I go with my religion (Catholicism) because I agree with lots of its tenants. At the same time, there are PLENTY I don't agree with. My guess, though, is that if I were to follow a different religious tradition, I'd find issues with that as well. Religion ain't perfect.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-36160780384874470702009-09-02T14:07:39.613-07:002009-09-02T14:07:39.613-07:00grumble, grumble. All right. I'll think abou...grumble, grumble. All right. I'll think about it.Steph(anie)https://www.blogger.com/profile/01345590378662641435noreply@blogger.com