This is part 3 of my series The Trouble With The Elephant. Part 1 and part 2 can be found be found by clicking the links. In part 3, Gloria is responding to my email in part 2.
Jarrod:
Wow....okay...on my way to packing our bags for Texas but definitely wanted to share my thoughts.
I agree with a lot of what you have said. I still firmly believe in Buddhism for many reasons. The main one being that it does not depend on an entity such as God as a source of happiness and well being. I've spent most of my time in the past few years trying to better understand the Four Noble Truths (which I'm sure you already know revolves around suffering and enlightenment from the suffering.) There is a lot of logic and reasoning (to me) regarding understanding the root of suffering and its relationship in the world.
I personally find it hard to believe in the all-powerfulness of God (no personal offense to anyone intended) when I see the level of suffering in our world. Logically, if God is loving and caring for us all, how do we explain the wars, poverty, terminal illnesses, etc. as well as the intolerant understanding of the different religions and homosexuality that is so prevalent in our worlds. No, I do not thing "he" is neglecting us nor do I think that "he" is merely allowing us to make our way to "him". On the flip side, I also know that miracles of all sorts happen and they cannot be explained by the level of technology and knowledge that we have today. This is my crossroads. If there is something or someone out there "watching over us", how, why and when does "he" chose to help on only specific occassions and not on other occassions that are of equal importance?
With Buddhism...I work on myself and how to help those around me. One of the first steps advised by the Dalai Lama to achieving enlightenment is "helping others. If you cannot help others then at the very least you can do no harm to others." Obviously, I still have a lot to work in that realm. One of my largest offense being devisive talk.
I agree with you. I do not want to use religion as a crutch....I want it to be part of who I am. I have made decisions, good and bad, for many years now without the assistance of religion as a reason for my choices. Logic and common sense have been my motivators. Emotion has been my catalyst. I defintely don't presume to say that I fully understand any religion or that any one religion is right. That's why I really don't understand waring countries that fight over religion. Why can't they coexist? One should not pose any harm or ill-will on any other. Agree to disagree, right?
Naturally you and I don't agree on everything. I'm sure you've read this email and found many fallacies, flaws or lack of understanding within it. Personally, I don't mind. I'm open to what you have to say, but that doesn't necessarily mean you will "win me over" to your beliefs. Just that it's nice that we agree on the necessity of the logical side of things and that we are both mature adults enough to agree to disagree when we don't see eye to eye. Will that change the way I view our friendship? Sure....I've gained a lot more admiration and respect for you over this past week. I think I've gotten to know you just a little bit better and understand you a little bit more. I've truly enjoyed it.
So, please....tell me more.....
P.S. Regarding the elephant....I do not agree with the Raj that all men are only partially correct. Based on the information that they have, they are correct. We know very little of the origin and validity of the Bible, but it is the center of so many religions. Based on the information we know and that we have, it is a valid text of God and is treated as such. Whose to say we are wrong? No one can prove it. In my opinion, we have no Raj in our world that can tell us one way or another that the truth that we now know is whole or incomplete. Our truth changes with each new fact we learn. Truth is subjective just as happiness and understanding are. Frameworks and thoughts tend to shift (somewhat resistantly) with each new piece of information that comes to light. Hence...science.
Gloria
Jarrod:
Wow....okay...on my way to packing our bags for Texas but definitely wanted to share my thoughts.
I agree with a lot of what you have said. I still firmly believe in Buddhism for many reasons. The main one being that it does not depend on an entity such as God as a source of happiness and well being. I've spent most of my time in the past few years trying to better understand the Four Noble Truths (which I'm sure you already know revolves around suffering and enlightenment from the suffering.) There is a lot of logic and reasoning (to me) regarding understanding the root of suffering and its relationship in the world.I personally find it hard to believe in the all-powerfulness of God (no personal offense to anyone intended) when I see the level of suffering in our world. Logically, if God is loving and caring for us all, how do we explain the wars, poverty, terminal illnesses, etc. as well as the intolerant understanding of the different religions and homosexuality that is so prevalent in our worlds. No, I do not thing "he" is neglecting us nor do I think that "he" is merely allowing us to make our way to "him". On the flip side, I also know that miracles of all sorts happen and they cannot be explained by the level of technology and knowledge that we have today. This is my crossroads. If there is something or someone out there "watching over us", how, why and when does "he" chose to help on only specific occassions and not on other occassions that are of equal importance?
With Buddhism...I work on myself and how to help those around me. One of the first steps advised by the Dalai Lama to achieving enlightenment is "helping others. If you cannot help others then at the very least you can do no harm to others." Obviously, I still have a lot to work in that realm. One of my largest offense being devisive talk.
I agree with you. I do not want to use religion as a crutch....I want it to be part of who I am. I have made decisions, good and bad, for many years now without the assistance of religion as a reason for my choices. Logic and common sense have been my motivators. Emotion has been my catalyst. I defintely don't presume to say that I fully understand any religion or that any one religion is right. That's why I really don't understand waring countries that fight over religion. Why can't they coexist? One should not pose any harm or ill-will on any other. Agree to disagree, right?
Naturally you and I don't agree on everything. I'm sure you've read this email and found many fallacies, flaws or lack of understanding within it. Personally, I don't mind. I'm open to what you have to say, but that doesn't necessarily mean you will "win me over" to your beliefs. Just that it's nice that we agree on the necessity of the logical side of things and that we are both mature adults enough to agree to disagree when we don't see eye to eye. Will that change the way I view our friendship? Sure....I've gained a lot more admiration and respect for you over this past week. I think I've gotten to know you just a little bit better and understand you a little bit more. I've truly enjoyed it.
So, please....tell me more.....
P.S. Regarding the elephant....I do not agree with the Raj that all men are only partially correct. Based on the information that they have, they are correct. We know very little of the origin and validity of the Bible, but it is the center of so many religions. Based on the information we know and that we have, it is a valid text of God and is treated as such. Whose to say we are wrong? No one can prove it. In my opinion, we have no Raj in our world that can tell us one way or another that the truth that we now know is whole or incomplete. Our truth changes with each new fact we learn. Truth is subjective just as happiness and understanding are. Frameworks and thoughts tend to shift (somewhat resistantly) with each new piece of information that comes to light. Hence...science.
Gloria
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