GoodPersonEffed
Brevity is my middle name, but my name was TL
- Jan 11, 2020
- 6,727
Thank you. And in turn, that made me laugh!
I think he's highly intelligent, but imagine if he used it for doing right instead of oiling up his slickness so he can try to slide uphill and to lube his ass in case he doesn't sufficiently cover it.
I read an essay by Musonius Rufus, wisdom far more ancient than mine and still utterly relevant about human nature, that says something similar but less vulgarly, see spoiler.
In order to support more easily and more cheerfully those hardships which we may expect to suffer in behalf of virtue and goodness, it is useful to recall what hardships people will endure for unworthy ends. Thus for example consider what intemperate lovers undergo for the sake of evil desires, and how much exertion others expend for the sake of making profit, and how much suffering those who are pursing fame endure, and bear in mind that all of these people submit to all kinds of toil and hardship voluntarily. Is it not then monstrous that they for no honorable reward endure such things, while we for the sake of the ideal good--that is not only the avoidance of evil such as wrecks our lives [and that of others!], but also the acquisition of virtue, which we may call the provider of all goods--are not ready to bear every hardship?
And yet would not anyone admit how much better it is, in place of exerting oneself to win someone else's wife, to exert oneself to discipline one's desires; in place of enduring hardships for the sake of money, to train oneself to want little; instead of giving oneself trouble about getting notoriety, to give oneself trouble how not to thirst for notoriety; instead of trying to find a way to injure an envied person, to inquire how not to envy anyone; and instead of slaving, as sycophants do, to win false friends, to undergo suffering in order to possess true friends?
[the next two paragraphs are good, but I'll skip to the end]
How much more fitting, then, it is that we stand firm and endure, when we know that we are suffering for some good purpose, either to help our friends or to benefit our city [or country, or the world] or to defend our wives and children, or best and most imperative, to become good and just and self-controlled, a state which no man achieves without hardships. And so it remains for me to say that the man who is unwilling to exert himself almost always convicts himself as unworthy of good, since "we gain every good by toil." These words and others like them he then spoke, exhorting and urging his listeners to look upon hardship with disdain.
And yet would not anyone admit how much better it is, in place of exerting oneself to win someone else's wife, to exert oneself to discipline one's desires; in place of enduring hardships for the sake of money, to train oneself to want little; instead of giving oneself trouble about getting notoriety, to give oneself trouble how not to thirst for notoriety; instead of trying to find a way to injure an envied person, to inquire how not to envy anyone; and instead of slaving, as sycophants do, to win false friends, to undergo suffering in order to possess true friends?
[the next two paragraphs are good, but I'll skip to the end]
How much more fitting, then, it is that we stand firm and endure, when we know that we are suffering for some good purpose, either to help our friends or to benefit our city [or country, or the world] or to defend our wives and children, or best and most imperative, to become good and just and self-controlled, a state which no man achieves without hardships. And so it remains for me to say that the man who is unwilling to exert himself almost always convicts himself as unworthy of good, since "we gain every good by toil." These words and others like them he then spoke, exhorting and urging his listeners to look upon hardship with disdain.
Yes, Buddhists excuse all sorts of abuses with karma. The teacher is always right and beneficient, so if they abuse the student, they were helping them with the karma they brought in, such as fulfilling it, but better to be raped by a spiritual teacher than someone evil. Physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and violence are rampant in sanghas as well as among the lay.
What, by the way, is a Buddhist whore? Is she a paid prostitute who is Buddhist, a slattern who is Buddhist, or part of the sangha who performs tantric services as a holy prostitute?
Back on my soapbox, another reason I consider Gautama a narcissist is that I consider he made out of his cousin, Devadatta, the greatest scapegoat in history...but it gets even more narcissistic than that. His cousin was in the sangha, wanted more rules added for monks. Gautama said no, so Devadatta and his followers split off to form their own sect. Therefore, new rule! Whoever criticizes and therefore tries to split up the sangha is headed for a hell realm. But wait, there's more! Devadatta tried to have Guatama-- a Buddha--killed, but the attempt failed: hell realm! BUT, Devadatta decided to apologize to Gautama and reconcile, only he got killed on the way there, but because of his intention, he was spared from a hell realm, just in the nick of time. But wait, there's more! The Nikayas are the stories of Gautama's remembered past lives as he was on the long path to realizing Buddhahood. In many of them, there was a foil who proved Gautama's Buddha nature and gave him opportunities to advance on his path. Guess who? (Spoiler alert: Devadatta!) His path of rebirths heading toward liberation was to sin so that Gautama could shine. A blessed path indeed!
Ergo, (sing-songingly) "nar-ciss-ist"...
But I'm a woman, karmically cursed, therefore what do I know? Perhaps I'm just making the dhamma shine all the brighter, which I previously chose to do to bless my path toward enlightenment and escape from samsara to nibbana, because my ongoing wise mind is wise like that.
Last edited:
