Hi Lluis again: If you live near by Barcelona I was wondering if I can drop you an email and perhaps meet with you and your wife over there. I never met face to face anyone who participate in any group. I don't know where is the place you mention: "Le Panier Fleuri". My mother is the one who knows everything and everywhere in the city. Which area of the city is?. Mind that I haven't live there for many years and my visits over there have been very occasional through the years. But yes in spite of awful quality globalisation culture invasion starting to gradually take over, still remain many nice places where to eat. Don't worry too much about being active participant here. This is far of being a solemn religious Buddhist or zen group. It's a very easy one where we all chat. Not all participants are practitioners of Buddhism or zen. And as for me I'm just a very casual practitioner educated mainly by myself with occasional retreats in zen Buddhism directed and guided by Thich Nhat Hanh. On this forum one of most reliable sources from which we all learnt a lot is Bill. His great talent is that he is beyond Buddhism concepts or any religion. So his simplistic way is very open, appealing to the ones that we ended up already saturated with Buddhism, and the rest of the Lotte. . Of course as everything else he's just the finger pointing to the moon and not always his pointing to the moon may go with one way of sensing life. The best of this forum is its freedom. It would be a shame that you missed out an active participation on it. When one dances one just dances. Whether our dance is good or not good is irrelevant. Having a concept like that may stop one to take part of the wonders of the dancing. Un video para ti y tu mujer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeNRnNIOfug Un abrazo para los dos Mayka --- On Wed, 3/11/10, Lluís Mendieta <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Lluís Mendieta <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Zen] Re: FW: Quote from St. Thomas Aquinas To: [email protected] Date: Wednesday, 3 November, 2010, 21:12 Hi, Mayka I was born in Barcelona, lived there till I married, now near Barcelona San Sebastián is a very nice place. You are fortunate to be born there. My wife and I still remember the lunch we had at Le Panier Fleuri! Fantastic (even if Maya...) You are always welcome, but I am a learner and even been talkative, when I do not know, I tend to sit and hear..and try to learn With best wishes Lluís ----- Original Message ----- From: Maria Lopez To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2010 3:44 PM Subject: Re: [Zen] Re: FW: Quote from St. Thomas Aquinas Hi Lluis: Do you really live near Barcelona?. My boyfriend is from Barcelona and I was borne in San Sebastian?. What an extraordinary coincidence to meet in the forum someone from home!. Looking forward to reading your posting. Mayka --- On Wed, 3/11/10, Lluís Mendieta <[email protected]> wrote: From: Lluís Mendieta <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Zen] Re: FW: Quote from St. Thomas Aquinas To: [email protected] Date: Wednesday, 3 November, 2010, 10:28 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: [email protected] 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 <[email protected]> wrote: From: Maria Lopez <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Zen] Re: FW: Quote from St. Thomas Aquinas To: [email protected] 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 <[email protected]> wrote: From: Lluís Mendieta <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Zen] Re: FW: Quote from St. Thomas Aquinas To: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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 [email protected], <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!
