Head On Isms
Seeing as Conan's blog doesn't have comments:
So Buddhism says that desire is bad, and that wanting nothing is a good thing. From my cynical viewpoint that's a very useful philosophy for a part of the world that has a huge population and finds it difficult to feed them, great for keeping the hungry peasants in line. It's funny how most religious philosophies encourage people to become less material and put up with their poor lot in life. It's almost like religion was specifically designed as a tool to control the peasantry.
Personally, I feel that if I desired nothing, there would be no point in living. Buddhism (as described by Conan anyway) goes too far, just as any reactionary tenet does. As always the best place to be (IMO), is in balance. Enjoy the desire, but don't let it control your life, and accept that you will never get everything you desire.
Desiring something you know you'll never get may be suffering, but it's such sweet suffering sometimes.
One might also add that if everyone followed this path of eliminating desire then the human race would die out, and none of the great things have been achieved by people would have occurred either. Admittedly, none of the nasty things would have occurred either.
Fine if you like the void, but why do all these promised states of bliss sound so damn boring? Heaven is boring, nirvana is boring, and so are many other bands.
Where are the major religions offering an eternal life full of music, fun, drinking, and debauchery? Where everyone has a Mach 3 supersonic fighter and you can fly it around canyons with no thought of the danger, just for the rush of speed and control and competition, because you know you will live forever?
Maybe after a while even eternal life might get boring, but the imaginative could fill in many lifetimes of fun. What would it be like to be able to feel the solar wind and sail on it? What does magma feel like when you can swim in it? what does a nuclear explosion look like from the inside, especially if you could "see" in wider spectrums. Do the gas clouds of Jupiter sing in the radio spectrum? Set the controls for the heart of the sun. So many experiences this tiny weak fleshy body could not survive, so many things it has not yet felt, so many subtle shades to those experiences you could try out, if you had the time.
Why do most people seem to look forward to boredom?
I don't expect there to be anything after this life, my n-grams will fail as the flesh degrades and I am already obsolete and unnecessary baggage as far as the species s concerned, so want to get as much fun in before I die, but I think that's why I like pagan religions better, at least some of them celebrate partying!
So Buddhism says that desire is bad, and that wanting nothing is a good thing. From my cynical viewpoint that's a very useful philosophy for a part of the world that has a huge population and finds it difficult to feed them, great for keeping the hungry peasants in line. It's funny how most religious philosophies encourage people to become less material and put up with their poor lot in life. It's almost like religion was specifically designed as a tool to control the peasantry.
Personally, I feel that if I desired nothing, there would be no point in living. Buddhism (as described by Conan anyway) goes too far, just as any reactionary tenet does. As always the best place to be (IMO), is in balance. Enjoy the desire, but don't let it control your life, and accept that you will never get everything you desire.
Desiring something you know you'll never get may be suffering, but it's such sweet suffering sometimes.
One might also add that if everyone followed this path of eliminating desire then the human race would die out, and none of the great things have been achieved by people would have occurred either. Admittedly, none of the nasty things would have occurred either.
Fine if you like the void, but why do all these promised states of bliss sound so damn boring? Heaven is boring, nirvana is boring, and so are many other bands.
Where are the major religions offering an eternal life full of music, fun, drinking, and debauchery? Where everyone has a Mach 3 supersonic fighter and you can fly it around canyons with no thought of the danger, just for the rush of speed and control and competition, because you know you will live forever?
Maybe after a while even eternal life might get boring, but the imaginative could fill in many lifetimes of fun. What would it be like to be able to feel the solar wind and sail on it? What does magma feel like when you can swim in it? what does a nuclear explosion look like from the inside, especially if you could "see" in wider spectrums. Do the gas clouds of Jupiter sing in the radio spectrum? Set the controls for the heart of the sun. So many experiences this tiny weak fleshy body could not survive, so many things it has not yet felt, so many subtle shades to those experiences you could try out, if you had the time.
Why do most people seem to look forward to boredom?
I don't expect there to be anything after this life, my n-grams will fail as the flesh degrades and I am already obsolete and unnecessary baggage as far as the species s concerned, so want to get as much fun in before I die, but I think that's why I like pagan religions better, at least some of them celebrate partying!