Thoughts on the way we should live?
Basically- why would you not consider living like a buddhist monk? I don't mean believing in the religious parts necessarily (rebirth etc.) I'm just referring to their way of life which involves long periods of peaceful meditation, volunteering/ helping people in need and living a simplistic minimalistic lifestyle.
A neuroscientific study showed some signs of higher happiness in the brain of buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard (obviously i know more research needs doing in this area to be able to draw any strong conclusions) and some psychologists have identified aspects of way of life that can lead to "happiness" such as helping others, good quality socialisation etc. (this is subjective though I feel and no doubt will differ between people) So why would you not live your life meditating, only owning a few posessions, helping others and learning things for yourself (and for the benefit of everyone else) when this way of life seems to fulfill many of the needs for someone to live more happily? You would barely contribute to any of the human-induced suffering in the world ( no more owning things like gadgets, cars etc. that pollute the earth and destroy habitats through mining etc.) AND you would likely still have the things needed for a human to be happy- other people to socialise with, food, shelter, opportunity to learn, higher likelihood of inner peace from the meditation etc.
I continuously think about these things and I just want to know other people's perspectives. If there is a chance to be relatively happy and cause minimal suffering in the world through living like a monk why would we not do it? Is it because temporary/materialistic pleasures (new cars, fancy computers, good food, sex) ARE NEEDED for some people's happiness? Are things like music and movies/stories/art needed for your happiness? If these things were not available in the world and everyone meditated, socialised, volunteered and lived simply all day, there would be MUCH less non-human and potentially human suffering AND we could still possibly attain happiness? Thanks everyone for your thoughts
A neuroscientific study showed some signs of higher happiness in the brain of buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard (obviously i know more research needs doing in this area to be able to draw any strong conclusions) and some psychologists have identified aspects of way of life that can lead to "happiness" such as helping others, good quality socialisation etc. (this is subjective though I feel and no doubt will differ between people) So why would you not live your life meditating, only owning a few posessions, helping others and learning things for yourself (and for the benefit of everyone else) when this way of life seems to fulfill many of the needs for someone to live more happily? You would barely contribute to any of the human-induced suffering in the world ( no more owning things like gadgets, cars etc. that pollute the earth and destroy habitats through mining etc.) AND you would likely still have the things needed for a human to be happy- other people to socialise with, food, shelter, opportunity to learn, higher likelihood of inner peace from the meditation etc.
I continuously think about these things and I just want to know other people's perspectives. If there is a chance to be relatively happy and cause minimal suffering in the world through living like a monk why would we not do it? Is it because temporary/materialistic pleasures (new cars, fancy computers, good food, sex) ARE NEEDED for some people's happiness? Are things like music and movies/stories/art needed for your happiness? If these things were not available in the world and everyone meditated, socialised, volunteered and lived simply all day, there would be MUCH less non-human and potentially human suffering AND we could still possibly attain happiness? Thanks everyone for your thoughts
Comments (16)
There's a good chance there is someone in your area who teaches Buddhist meditation or a similar practice. Find them and start practicing. You should be able to start out without a major disruption to your life. Find out if it's for you. Fit it into your life in the best way for you. See where it goes.
I'm content and I have no interest in monkish things. I am a minimalist and have no real interest material things (except that which I deem necessary to get by). I've held this position for 40 years, I think I am an accidental epicurean.
I did consider it when I studied S?t? Zen for over a year as an undergrad but found 'meditative practice' was not for me.
Except for "meditating", I've lived as simply, minimally, as I've been able to since the mid-1980s. Study of nature, art & history as well as contemplating (& discussing) aporia has been my praxis despite the noisy, frenetic grind of this hyper-commodified modernity. I prefer to live fully engaged in the world than (trying) to escape from the world into some safely cloistered straitjacket. Solitude complemented by solidarity in struggles for justice, learning and beauty, I believe, make us more whole, flourishing persons. Contra mystics or ascetics, freethinkers, absurdists & bluesmen have always been my teachers. My "happiness" is mostly Epicurean ... :death: :flower:
One way to look at it is to ask if you are good company for yourself. Being alone is a pleasure and a form of suffering. I am not sure about those differences for myself and thus am doubly reluctant to say how things should be for others.
So, one may be living like a monk and not realize it. Or living in some other way without looking at it. What is perception and what is fooling oneself?
You probably need to draw the line between what you call ascetic (monk living) and living with just the basic necessities, which many ordinary people are able to do. I have already mentioned my own experience in another thread, but I will repeat it again here. I lived the bare minimum when I stayed away from the city and the grind -- I was still wired, meaning connected to internet and phone. It was great. That is, if you don't have to worry about bills. So it is realistic to think of living happily (no anxiety and worries).
Vague! Imprecise! How does one measure/define happiness in a way we could differentiate greater/higher happiness from lesser/lower happiness?
Quoting Troyster
...outer chaos. :up:
Quoting Troyster
Is the effort you put in to attain happiness worth it? Is the game worth the candle?
What about making enough dough to pay the mortgage, take the kids to hockey practice and ballet lessons, pay for their orthodontics and class excursions, keeping your wife at bay with buying her expensive jewelry, pleasing your husband with performing unspeakable acts, and playing poker with the boys on Friday nights?
Is a Buddhist monk's salary going to cover all this? And why meditate, when you can daydream about the role of the office secretary as the stern nurse with you being the incorrigible industrialist? Huh?
:fire: Ideas, philosophies, outlooks, etc. are pretty prisons - gilded cages. Why would anyone want to be incarcerated? I'm myself in jail, we all are. Who has the key to our freedom?
Only "prisons" for those who misconstrue philosophy as justifying dogmas (but otherwise vast horizons wherein philosophy is construed as explicating (A) warranted doubts & (B) speculative inquiries / interpretations).
Does she carry the whip? Sheer curiosity....
mine is worse... she carries an enema bag. Also carries carries. Her name is Kerry.
No, you carry the whip, cur! She, however, wields it! :smile:
Whip me with that enema bag. Hit me hard! Whip me good! Do me! Oblige me! True love!
:lol:
On a roll Agent!
:lol: