3min. video, 105 yr. old man receiving honor and award
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Forum discussion
Re: Does this qualify for muditā brahmavihāra, even though it involves, lying, deception, blackmail?
Post by frank k » Mon Dec 26, 2022 4:55 am
Here's a thought.
Someone asks you, "how are you?"
The truth is, most of us feel some mixture of good, bad, moody, indifference, whatever, but we just want to give a short answer to move the conversation along.
So if we say, "I feel good". That's partially true. Partially a lie.
if we say, "I feel lousy." That's partially true. Partially a lie.
Is that wrong speech?
Not a black and white clear cut choice on here whether that's a lie right?
Now if a nazi knocks on your door asking if you're hiding jewish children,
maybe the truth is, you're not 'hiding jewish children',
you're 'transporting them to their final destination, away from you murderous nazi bastards, and they're just temporarily stopping by my house.',
and the shortest answer to move the conversation along is, "no."
would that be a lie?
Now as for lying and bribing officials in other countries to convince them to allow those jewish children to emigrate there, I can't think of a kusala Dharma grey area at the moment.
Interestingly, there is monk from Myanmar who wrote a book entitled, “How Are You?”, which is based upon the fact that this question is not without its shortcomings.
ReplyDeleteAn English translation of the book, as well as an audio book version can be found here:
https://archive.org/details/@528_publications
Here are a couple excerpts:
Actually, it’s not really suitable to ask the question, “How are you?” The human life is not one that is characterized by being in great conditions. We weren’t born as humans to be in a state of perfect well-being. Our lives began with crying from the moment of birth. We start out in an unfavorable position because the body can’t be free from dukkha, and the ordinary person can’t be free from the kilesā. Starting from birth, misery, worry, and stress are part of the whole life, so this matter of being human is not so well at all.
People readily get old, fall ill, and die. As we grow old and become sick, the signs of aging and illness become obvious in our appearances. They can’t be hidden or kept secret. We shouldn’t pretend otherwise. It’s blatantly obvious. When we become old and sick, our lives aren’t so great. Getting around is difficult. We aren’t able to undertake the things that we used to. Eating and digestion become problematic. Nothing is optimal. However, when we consider aging and illness, we don’t have to become depressed or demoralized. It’s showing us clearly what it is to be human. It’s the thrust of Dhamma. The body’s nature of anicca, dukkha, and anattā is being directly displayed.
[…]
When we see one another, we should ask, “Is it useful?” “You can still use your body, right?” Because with a human life, it’s especially important to use our bodies productively so that we can gain kusala before it’s too late. This is the question worth asking. That’s why when I see someone, it’s become a habit for me to ask, “Is the body still available to use?” People who are not accustomed to being asked this type of question become dumbfounded when I ask them this. After explaining it, they laugh with understanding and reply accordingly, “It‘s still useful, venerable sir.”
When people see me and ask how I’m doing, I will answer, “I can still use it.” When my answer doesn’t seem to correspond to their question, they think I’m hard of hearing and repeat the question more loudly, asking “How are you?” two or three more times. I repeat, "It is still useful, I can still ask it to do things for me," and then I have to explain what I mean so they can understand.
This simplistic blog answers the later question about Dhp 137. When the mind is dominated by Biblical ideology, what happened in the translations of Dhp 137 also happened in this blog.
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