Hi, Mayka
Yes, Mendieta is my real surname. Yes, it is basque, as far as I know coming
from mendietan, meaning "place in the mountains" (mendi= mountain, hill; etan:
place, site)
It was also a veiceroy in South America named Mendieta, and some Mendieta are
in South America.
Not a very usual surname, certainly.
Not found also in which country he was viceroy... :-(
Not a big wonder of a basque surname with a catalan name. Till I can track, in
father's side of family, have been only males, so, inherited first family name,
despite my grandgrandfather was already born in Catalonia (his ancestor was in
Zaragoza province), and many of their wifes weared two catalan surnames.
I live near Barcelona.
With best wishes
Lluís
----- Original Message -----
From: Maria Lopez
To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2010 8:32 AM
Subject: Re: [Zen] Re: FW: Quote from St. Thomas Aquinas
Lluis:
Is Mendieta your real surname?. It sounds a Vasque surname. A name
from Catalunya and a surname from the Vasque Country...Are they both your real
identity or you have adopted them for participating in the forum?. Just
curious.
Mayka
--- On Wed, 3/11/10, Maria Lopez <flordel...@btinternet.com> wrote:
From: Maria Lopez <flordel...@btinternet.com>
Subject: Re: [Zen] Re: FW: Quote from St. Thomas Aquinas
To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, 3 November, 2010, 7:25
Hello Lluis:
Welcome to the zen forum. is Lluis your real name or it's a
nickname you have adopted to participate in this forum. Are you from
Catalunya?.
Mayka
--- On Tue, 2/11/10, Lluís Mendieta <lme...@intermail.es> wrote:
From: Lluís Mendieta <lme...@intermail.es>
Subject: Re: [Zen] Re: FW: Quote from St. Thomas Aquinas
To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, 2 November, 2010, 21:24
Good evening to all
Just a new member, that feels buddhist, albeit in Mahayana or
Tantrayana, not exactly Zen
In Buddhism, as I understand, nothing is "ones personal".
All is for all sentient beings.
Compassion is not a badge.
Is what we should feel, as we need as a whole
We all should reach nirvana. And no one will be free when
still any sentient being has not reached nirvana. Or so I have understood. And
I know that is hard, specially for me that I am not native english speaker, to
verbalize such concepts
Boddhishatva will explain...
Anyway, my best wihes to all and my special wishes to the
moderator who invited me (sorry, still tied to mundane things)
And,as I learned in other forum, peace
With best wishes
Lluís
----- Original Message -----
From: ED
To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2010 3:20 PM
Subject: [Zen] Re: FW: Quote from St. Thomas Aquinas
Bill wrote:
> [Bill!] I understand 'compassion' to mean 'to be aware of
the feelings of
> others'. Merriam-Webster Online defines it as
"sympathetic consciousness of
> others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it".
That definition
> satisfies me.
Bill, Bill, Bill,
The definition is consonant with ones I have seen in
Buddhist texts.
However, questions come to mind (as usual):
o Is possessing 'compassion' a badge of merit, or is it a
normal and natural aspect of human nature?
o Is not "sympathetic consciousness of others' distress
together with a desire to alleviate it" none other than a stipulation that a
person not possess genes for autism?
o And when we do experience compassion, is it not usually
selectively directed toward persons we feel connected to in some way?
o For instance, do we feel compassion for the million-plus
war-widows caused by the US/UK/Australian invasion of Iraq?
--ED
--- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, <billsm...@...> wrote:
>
> Ed, Ed, Ed…
>
> I posted a quote attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas:
>
> "I would rather feel compassion than know the meaning of
it."
>
> You then asked:
>
> [Ed] Wherein do you perceive any intelligence or wisdom
in St.
> Augustine's preference?
> [Bill!] I don't perceive any intelligence in St. Aquinas'
statement above.
> I do however perceive a lot of wisdom. I perceive the
wisdom in his stated
> preference for experience over knowledge.
>
> [Ed] What does St. Augustine mean by 'compassion'?
> [Bill!] I don't know and I don't care. The meaning of
compassion is not
> important in the quote, in fact the quote itself says
that. You can
> substitute any word you want for 'compassion' in his
quote and the wisdom
> will still be there.
> [Ed] What do you understand 'compassion' to be?
> [Bill!] I understand 'compassion' to mean 'to be aware of
the feelings of
> others'. Merriam-Webster Online defines it as
"sympathetic consciousness of
> others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it".
That definition
> satisfies me.
> ...Bill!
