Journal
"Enlightenment, for a wave in the ocean,
is the moment the wave realises it is water."
Thich Nhat Hanh
Summary of
the Key Topic of the week.
The human condition is something that every human is born into. Humans like to blind themselves to the truth, we like to see what we want to see which is not always the truth. Plato says that we are in a cave, and that we need to find a way out of the cave. Humans need to find a way to get out of the cave, seek the light, seek the truth. Like the quote by Thich Nat Hanh suggests, we need to realize that we are in the cave in order to leave it. M Scott Peak tells us that we need to build life maps, and that we need to always edit and remake these life maps. Some people do not wish to do this, some just want to keep on doing what they are doing and not change anything. They have convinced themselves that they are doing what they need to do. This is an example of how humans like to make illusions, another way of blinding themselves to the truth. The Human Condition also makes us ask questions like the question of evil. As humans we like to seek an answer to why human I in the world, and as humans we can never fully understand why. It is true that people in the past have come up with good opinions, but in truth there is no human being that can ever know the answer to that question. These things make up the human condition.
Three
Important Ideas.
1. The first idea that I want to remember is the right speech exercise. I think that this is something that is not done often. Even though it is a very smart thing to do, I do not think that most people really listen to what they say. The right speech exercise is a way for people to really see if they speak the truth, and if they do not it can be a way for t hem to improve themselves. They can try a little bit harder to speak only the truth.
2. Another thing that I want to remember from this section is the idea of a life map. I have never heard of anybody making a life map for themselves before, but now I think that it s a good way for a person to see where they have been and where they want to go in life. I also like the idea of a person having to edit their life map, not just keep the same one all of their life. I think that if a person really wants to see where they are going to go in life a life map could be a helpful tool for them.
3. The final thing that I want to remember from this section is the question of evil. Evil has always been in the world in some shape or form, and I think that it will always be here. The question of why God lets evil things happen to people is a very good question that I would like to be answered. I know that it can never really be answered, the most that people can do is to just come up with their own opinions on the question. Still the question of evil is something that we need to always wonder about. Maybe it is not God who allows evil to be in the world but really humans who do. The question of evil is something that I think should always be asked.
Question to Ponder.
Can a person really be happy in life?
Answer.
I think that a person could be happy in life. Even
though he or she lives in a world that has some evil in it, they also live in a
world with good. I think that people tend to focus to
much on the bad things of the world. Yes, bad things do happen in the world,
but to me just as many good things happen in the world. I consider it a good
thing when a child is born, I consider it a good thing
when a couple gets married. A person might also feel happy when they see
flowers bloom, anything like that could make a person happy. In my mind I see more good things than bad, and sometimes I am
called ignorant for not seeing the whole picture. In my mind
those people do not see the whole picture, you can not look at the bad in the
world without looking at the good also. So yes I do
think that a person can be happy in life, true he or she might go through some
hardships, but they can also live a happy life.
Buddha
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