You are not even making any sense - the Bodhisattva vow is the vow taken
by Mahayana Buddhists to "attain complete enlightenment for the sake of
all sentient beings", not to forsake enlightenment until everyone else
is enlightened. How do you get things so mixed up? Go figure.
Bodhisattva vow:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva_vow
On 11/8/2013 5:28 AM, TurquoiseB wrote:
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Michael Jackson wrote:
>
> just hard-wired into the con artists who claim to be able to do it.
I am less harsh than you are, Michael, in that I suspect
a lot of people who have such laudable goals "mean well,"
at least at the beginning.
What I think is "hard-wired" into the human psyche is
ego, and hubris, and that's what I think is at the root of
such goals, noble as they may seem.
Take the so-called "Bodhisattva Vow." Essentially, it is
declaring to oneself and to the world one's intention to
not allow oneself to become enlightened oneself until
all sentient beings are enlightened. Sounds good on
the surface, but step back for a moment and consider
the HUBRIS of such a statement.
To make it, you have to believe 1) that you have the
*ability* to help bring all beings to enlightenment
(can't get more hubristic than that), 2) that it is your
*right* to modify these sentient beings life in accord
with how you think they should be, and 3) that the
universe actually gives a shit what you believe or
what you "vow."
Maharishi's quote below is in the same ballpark IMO.
What gives him the *right* to define what "fully-
developed citizens" are. Are they "people who meditate?"
Do they include the toadies in the organization he
founded who can only do what they're told, *whatever*
they're told (like smuggling money across international
borders)?
IMO, one should always be wary of overly lofty goals.
They are often trotted out for their "Wow factor," and
to *distract* people from the here-and-now daily
activities of those who profess them.
As one spiritual teacher used to say, "Listen to what
people say, but watch what they DO." After he gave
this dictum to his students as a "rule of thumb," he
was probably more surprised than anyone else when
they started leaving in droves, after realizing that he
failed to "walk his own talk."
> --------------------------------------------
> On Fri, 11/8/13, anartaxius@... anartaxius@... wrote:
>
> So far, on the mat and counted out. This is
> pretty much the goal of every organisation that wants to
> better the world. Interesting that the dire situation at
> hand never seems to get resolved. I suspect most religions
> began with such laudable goals in mind. Could it be that
> this inability to fulfill such a goal is hard-wired into the
> universe?
>
> ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,
> dhamiltony2k5@ wrote:
>
>"We will count ourselves
> successful only when the problems of today's world are
> substantially
> reduced and eventually eliminated and the educational
> institutions of
> every country are capable of producing fully developed
> citizens."
>
> -Maharishi, from the
> founding catalog of Maharishi International University,
> 1974
>
