(no subject)
take a sociology class, and it will make you think about so much. my intro to sociology class makes me think about power and control; influence and coercion; love and hate; life and death; progression and regression; acceptance and dissidence; order and conflict. it will make you think about the most obscure matters in new perspectives.
the only thing that makes me think about these things even more, is my buddhism class.
i've been thinking about conflict a lot lately. the conflict between the east and the west; the conflict between the poor and the rich; the conflict between ignorance and wisdom; even the conflict that i have seen, at times, between my heart and my mind; along with all of the conflicts existing in the things that i mentioned above.
there are so many factors that go into conflict, is it even possible for the world to overcome?
i think that what it all boils down to, is a lack of understanding. of course, even that is complicated. misunderstanding can be the result of a lack of interest, a lack of effort, a lack of common symbols, a lack of perspective, or the lack of truth.
take, for example, when the media tells it's society about hundreds of babies being thrown out of incubators, by invaders, in a state of war. when in fact, the media purposely conjured up the whole story as a PR stunt.
or, how about, when a Tibetan buddhist is beaten and thrown into prison for having a picture of the Dalai Lama, because the chinese government doesn't realize that the Dalai Lama is a religious leader before he is the political leader of Tibet.
i could go on and on about the conflict in the world, but i'm sure that you could too.
i guess, i just wish that people would take the time to understand others. to understand different perspectives. to overcome the ethnocentric attitudes that create ignorance. to overcome the conflicts that harm the world.
then again, maybe i am just talking crazy talk...
the only thing that makes me think about these things even more, is my buddhism class.
i've been thinking about conflict a lot lately. the conflict between the east and the west; the conflict between the poor and the rich; the conflict between ignorance and wisdom; even the conflict that i have seen, at times, between my heart and my mind; along with all of the conflicts existing in the things that i mentioned above.
there are so many factors that go into conflict, is it even possible for the world to overcome?
i think that what it all boils down to, is a lack of understanding. of course, even that is complicated. misunderstanding can be the result of a lack of interest, a lack of effort, a lack of common symbols, a lack of perspective, or the lack of truth.
take, for example, when the media tells it's society about hundreds of babies being thrown out of incubators, by invaders, in a state of war. when in fact, the media purposely conjured up the whole story as a PR stunt.
or, how about, when a Tibetan buddhist is beaten and thrown into prison for having a picture of the Dalai Lama, because the chinese government doesn't realize that the Dalai Lama is a religious leader before he is the political leader of Tibet.
i could go on and on about the conflict in the world, but i'm sure that you could too.
i guess, i just wish that people would take the time to understand others. to understand different perspectives. to overcome the ethnocentric attitudes that create ignorance. to overcome the conflicts that harm the world.
then again, maybe i am just talking crazy talk...