Medusa's Question Du Jour *the millenium edition!*

[thalassa]

Re: Medusa's Question Du Jour *the millenium edition!*

[quote author=volcaniclastic link=topic=62.msg4448#msg4448 date=1287439359]
I will eat something past the expiration date if and only if: It still looks good, it still smells good, and it passes the taste test.
[/quote]

this...

[Sitnamorcen]

Re: Medusa's Question Du Jour *the millenium edition!*

Same as thal above me, when I see something's past the expiration date (and want to eat it) I inspect it carefully for those odd colours on the surface of it that make you go "eww".
If not there, the smell or taste usually gives it away. :P

[Medusa]

Re: Medusa's Question Du Jour *the millenium edition!*

Pain and suffering are a part of everyone's life. Is this due to our attachments and aversions, or merely the end result of free will?

[ChainLightning]

Re: Medusa's Question Du Jour *the millenium edition!*

[quote author=Medusa link=topic=62.msg4999#msg4999 date=1287529173]
Pain and suffering are a part of everyone's life. Is this due to our attachments and aversions, or merely the end result of free will?
[/quote]

I was about to say "both" but it occurred to me... taking away one's free will? Doesn't end their pain and suffering. So, suddenly, I had to rethink the attachments and aversions aspect. I don't really think that's all that much of a factor either. But more consciousness, sentience and understanding.

Unfortunately, my dinner is getting cold, and it's really hard to think deeply on an empty stomach.



*Ooh, look! A shiny thing!

[WestPagan1]

Re: Medusa's Question Du Jour *the millenium edition!*

Pain and suffering are a part of everyone's life. Is this due to our attachments and aversions, or merely the end result of free will?

I think to have free will means to take the good with the bad, having free will in our lives gives us great oppurtunities but without suffering and pain being present in the world that freedom has no meaning. It would be very difficult to appreciate the good things in life if we didnt have to deal with the bad stuff too, how would we know something was good if we had nothing bad to compare it against?

[Eryx_UK]

Re: Medusa's Question Du Jour *the millenium edition!*

[quote author=Medusa link=topic=62.msg4999#msg4999 date=1287529173]
Pain and suffering are a part of everyone's life. Is this due to our attachments and aversions, or merely the end result of free will?
[/quote]

It's all part of the "what we want" and "what we don't want", and because whether we put ourselves before others or look to help others and declect ourselves. So I'm going to say that it is because of free will.

[TaiganPagan]

Re: Medusa's Question Du Jour *the millenium edition!*

Actually pain and suffering is always present, it's perceived by metaphysical transformation of our perception. This perception of pain and suffering may come from physical perception, mental perception and if you are connected to the spiritual world a lot, you can perceive spiritual pain. Also you need pain and suffering in everyday existence, alive or dead to remind you that you exist.

[Ophidia]

Re: Medusa's Question Du Jour *the millenium edition!*

[quote author=Medusa link=topic=62.msg4999#msg4999 date=1287529173]
Pain and suffering are a part of everyone's life. Is this due to our attachments and aversions, or merely the end result of free will?
[/quote]

None of the above.

I got hit by a car when I was 11. I was on my way to school, crossing the street, in a crosswalk. I had looked both ways. A half-blind old lady came barreling out of the shopping center parking lot that was on the opposite side of the street. She was driving a big, huge Ford LTD or a Caddy or something. When she hit me, I rolled onto her hood, cracked my head on the windshield, rolled off & got tangled on the bumper. She ran me over, dragged me for several blocks and didn't stop until a bunch of construction workers blocked the road off with their equipment. I died a few times, was resuscitated & was in a coma for almost two weeks. Suffered broken bones, kidney & heart damage, half my skin was shredded off, had to go through debridement. I spent 6 weeks in the hospital & 6 months in a full leg cast, with steel pins holding my shattered bones together. I've still got gravel embedded in my leg that eventually works its way to the surface. Now one leg is shorter than the other & I've got scoliosis and associated complications.

I wasn't thinking about anything in particular that day, it was just another day, on my way to school. I can't be sure that old lady wasn't planning on almost killing anyone, but sure enough, it happened. It's true, I was living with an abusive relative, I was a child alcoholic, I was getting into fights with bullies on an almost daily basis at school, and I had been thinking about killing myself, but I know there wasn't a single car on that street when I stepped off the curb. I know because it's the last thing I remembered before I died the first time, and it's a crystal clear memory.

Maybe my desire to die called that old woman's car to me, maybe it was supposed to be some grand lesson in 'how precious life is'... but honestly, I didn't learn a damned thing from it other than abuse can occur in hospitals from people who are supposed to be helping you heal as well as at school & from coke-head relatives. It sucked. The entire ordeal sucked. I'm still suffering on an almost daily basis because of it. Ultimately, I was at the wrong place at the precise worst time for me to be there.

In other words, shit happens.

[Raphaeline]

Re: Medusa's Question Du Jour *the millenium edition!*

[quote author=perzephone link=topic=62.msg5133#msg5133 date=1287552125]
None of the above.
...
shit happens.
[/quote]

My answer.

Pain and suffering just happen. It's part of life. It doesn't matter what we do - we can't stop it. It's just something you have to accept, like death.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Medusa's Question Du Jour *the millenium edition!*

[quote author=Medusa link=topic=62.msg4999#msg4999 date=1287529173]
Pain and suffering are a part of everyone's life. Is this due to our attachments and aversions, or merely the end result of free will?
[/quote]

It's the result of being a physical being in a physical universe.

If there's a table and a toe, some night, they're gonna meet.

[volcaniclastic]

Re: Medusa's Question Du Jour *the millenium edition!*

[quote author=B. de Corbin link=topic=62.msg5199#msg5199 date=1287582723]
It's the result of being a physical being in a physical universe.

If there's a table and a toe, some night, they're gonna meet.
[/quote]

I agree.

[don108]

Re: Medusa's Question Du Jour *the millenium edition!*

[quote author=Medusa link=topic=62.msg4999#msg4999 date=1287529173]
Pain and suffering are a part of everyone's life. Is this due to our attachments and aversions, or merely the end result of free will?
[/quote]great for understanding how people interpret sensations. They are great for learning about people and how to interact and communicate with them better. Pain and suffering are like points on a map. Sensations are the actual territory the map depicts. The map, however, is not the territory. The more we understand another person's maps, the more we can understand that person. The more we understand a person's maps, the better we can predict how they will respond to various sensations. The more we understand a person's maps, the better we can say, touch, do, etc. with that person and get a response we desire. It is in this way the terms that are meaningless in themselves, become meaningful to another.

[Dez]

Re: Medusa's Question Du Jour *the millenium edition!*

[quote author=Medusa link=topic=62.msg4999#msg4999 date=1287529173]
Pain and suffering are a part of everyone's life. Is this due to our attachments and aversions, or merely the end result of free will?
[/quote]

I agree with the people that said "shit happens". I think that a big part of whether we are successful in our life is how we chose to cope with the random crap that comes our way, over which we have no control.

On the flip side, though, I believe that if a particular type of problem keeps happening over and over in your life, it's because it's a lesson you're refusing to learn. I see this daily with my in-laws, who have spent their lives swinging from living very nicely to joblessness time an time again because MIL is convinced that if she's a good follower of Christ, she can label all of her "wants" as "needs" and he'll make it work out in the end. They consider their "trials" the price they pay for following Christ...and it's total bull shit.

A Buddhist would consider their lives an excellent example of suffering due to attachments.

I know I'll screw up, and I know that there are times when what I think I want, or my ego, or my fears will get in the way of what is best and cause me problems. If I can possibly help it, though, my goal is to not make the same mistake twice. We're already doing that financial with the new apartment, and I can't tell you how good it feels. Now I just need to learn how to do it by not letting the in-laws take advantage of us because MIL wants something.

[thalassa]

Re: Medusa's Question Du Jour *the millenium edition!*

[quote author=Deseret link=topic=62.msg5264#msg5264 date=1287597328]
Now I just need to learn how to do it by not letting the in-laws take advantage of us because MIL wants something.
[/quote]

Tell her God has told you that your family is not the the answer to her materialistic whimsy...

[Dez]

Re: Medusa's Question Du Jour *the millenium edition!*

[quote author=thalassa link=topic=62.msg5272#msg5272 date=1287598382]
Tell her God has told you that your family is not the the answer to her materialistic whimsy...
[/quote]

Heh...oh, I plan on throwing God into the mix from our side, too. More interesting to me has been the realization of the past week that a lot of the confusion I feel when dealing with her is because she is actively bullying me (with a nice face) on a regular basis. Now that I've figured that out, I'm thinking it'll be a lot easier to set some limits.