Do you suggest a gift as in someone giving and someone receiving. My ancestors did not give me in the sense of handing me something...like their accumulated niceness... Bottom line where does your gift come from in your view of the Universe. Alex
I can't give you an answer. Sorry. It's something you need find yourself, a realization. At this point in my life I'm almost ready to cut the moorings and let life take me where I need to go (not that it hasn't already done so). I am a bit frightened, though, but also curious.
I hope nevertheless you have one. You sound ready to shave your head and live on a commune...go for it even if your hair won't grow back.. Alex
What is "inability"? Surely it is not a mere lack of "access" alone. Who would readily admit to a dearth of talent, at this penultimate scale?
Suffering is part of life. I don't minimize its significance, but neither do I dwell on it to the point that I am bitter...anymore.
I'm not bitter, just cynical about anyone calling existence a gift or a blessing for which we should be thankful, especially to a creator.
But I am thankful, so much so that I want to make every day a ritual (still working on that one). I found it through a roundabout way, but others might find it through other avenues, such as Christianity. Don't sell yourself short, spider. You are special.
Who gives a shit? A hundred years from now, we will all be in a grave and no one will care. Life goes on, it's not special.
I don't think Buddha started a religion. He specifically rejected being seen as a God. He was a philosopher who researched the cause of and how to deal with suffering. He was born a prince, but divested himself of everything and for many years led an ascetic lifestyle. His students saw him as a messenger of god, but he never accepted such adoration. His ultimate conclusion, as I understand it, is to live a balanced life and embrace pain and suffering as well as joy and celebration of the good and moral things in life. On the whole, not a bad philosophy, IMO.
I agree with with the religious part, but considering the trillions of eggs and sperms that did not result in a living organism, I feel myself fortunate to be one of the relatively few who made it to maturity and had an opportunity to experience life itself. While I believe there is other life in the universe, it does seem to be a rare event and requires some very favorable conditions. I consider myself as one of the lucky accidents.
Simple understanding of how things work. What does "Enlightenment" even mean? Becoming lighter and floating away...? Or glowing in the dark...? Carlin would say ; "You see that brightly shiny guy floating up there, he is......... Enlightened!
Well, to me a religion without a god is a philosophy. Using a ritual in order to focus presents no problem to me. He saw himself as a human teacher. His students adored him....difference. We still adore Aristotle, Archimedes, Euclid, Einstein, etc, etc. as "giants on who's shoulders we stand" Athletes warm up before the game. Everybody follows a kind of ritual in their lives. For dining, table settings are ritualized .Would you call that a religion or tradition. Traditions are ritualized behaviors. Nothing to do with God per se.
He showed others what he had discovered. It was so incredible that, yeah, he was idealized for what he had given them. The ritual has meaning and shows appreciation on many levels.