Discussion on how to better oneself as a human being

We haven't had a discussion topic that focuses on suggestions on how people can better themselves and improve themselves, REGARDLESS of religious association.

I'm hoping people would be willing to leave their religions (or non-religious) associations outside of this thread, and focus on suggesting and recommending ways to become better human beings (as well as discussing them).

I doubt this thread is going to go anywhere, due to people's loyalty to their associations (religion, atheism, agnosticism other otherwise), but I thought I would try. I am sure everyone wants to better themselves, so I'm hoping this thread would serve as a discussion medium to share ideas how we can be better.



I was watching a re-run of Jerry Springer, about people in the KKK clan. Though the KKK clan and the Nazis are extreme examples, at the end of the show, Jerry Springer said one phrase that I believe should be the focal point of all of us, being human:

It doesn't matter what religion one follows, or the lack of following a religion altogether, it all comes down to being able to compassionately work for each other.

 

I’ve always follow these words throughout my life “己所不欲，勿施於人” I guess it can be translated to “if you don’t want it to happen to you, don’t wish it on someone else” I guess it’s the same as the golden rule for most religion.

Moral is nothing more than you doing or not doing to other people what you would or would not want done to yourself.
Do you want to be rape? No! Why would I rape another person? That makes it morally wrong.
Do you want to be murdered? Of course NOT! Why would it be ok for me to murder someone else? This makes murder morally wrong.
Do you want to have your stuff stolen? Hell NO! Why would it be ok for me to take from others? This makes stealing morally wrong.

Let’s flip the concept and see what’s morally right.
If you or a love one are sick, wouldn’t you want to help? Would you want people to help you financially? Sure! This makes giving money to charity morally right.
Do you want to be loved by your family and friends? Of course! This makes loving others morally right. It’s pretty simple!

Put yourself in the receiving end and ask yourself if you want this to happen to you or the ones I love. Answer “Yes” it’s morally right. Answer “No” it’s morally wrong.

Is this in the bible? Sure it is Luke 6-31 Do unto others as you would have them do to you. Does it make this a biblical concept? Absolutely not! It’s simply common sense hence written down in an ancient document. Sometimes the bible is doing nothing more than plagiarizing common sense and calling it religion.

If we all follow the golden rule it would help us better ourselves as human beings.

 

Not all religiously strict people are nice and sweet. And not all non-believers are bad.
Having said that,
1) as long as you don't harm anyone
2) as long as you can sleep well at night
3) don't be envious or judgemental
4) mind your own freaking biz (better way of saying it - respect others' decisions and choices in life irregardless of how badly you may disagree/disapprove of it)

I think if every human beings can do those things, the world will be a much better place. So, maybe, everyone should strive to do at least achieve those few minor things.

Just my 2 cents

 

^ Definitely, it doesn't require a large change for the world to be apparent. Even a small change can work wonders.

Definitely true. It's just sad that people are extremely self-centered, which nullifies the ability to care for another person (a stranger perhaps).

And yes, it's true that religious literature pretty much lists down things that should be common sense. But it's interesting, because I just had this discussion with a friend. Things we believe to be common sense, just isn't common sense to others (strange, but that's the way it is). The level of understanding of others are either more or less than ours, which implies that they see common sense differently. So say is common sense, it's relative to the level of understanding of a person.

As for literature plagiarizing common sense, I'd like to think of it more like the following analogy:

There are many students in a class room copying down lecture notes. But each student copies the lecture notes differently. However lecture notes aren't technically plagiarism. Lecture notes are mediums that help the student learn, and remind the student of concepts in the lecture. There are others who don't need lecture notes, either because they are geniuses, or can remember the notes. But for the rest, literature is simply a way to remind lecture concepts to those who cannot remember. It's unfortunate that it's not the fault of the literature, it's the fault of those who interpret the literature.



edit: I'm sorry, I replied to this prior to watching your video. This is an AMAZING video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=2Oe6HUgrRlQ#!

 

So after this beef I had with some retard this morning, I was just taught a lesson. I am too optimistic and think too good of people. I guess there is a point when being too tolerant of people becomes negative. Initially, I've always thought there's no way people can be as ill-natured as people can be, and I've always thought people at least had some humility and take responsibility, even if small. I guess my belief in humanism made me expect too much from people, and in that sense, I'm very immature. I need to accept that just sometimes, there are people who you just cannot discuss with, and are so ill-natured that it is impossible for them to feel compassion, or at least a basic sense of humility, responsibility, and respect; to the point that they can do you harm.

So the morale is, although very much against Buddhism, you really sometime need to care for yourself before you care for others. This may seem counter productive to "bettering oneself", but I guess there is just a point where self-centerism is needed.

 

Don't overestimate the intelligence of people.

I was reading an account of a person who bought a fake, potted plant from a supermarket and she returned it a few days later saying how the plant was defective because it wasn't flowering. Apparently the manager asked her if she knew it was a fake plant when she bought it and she said yes.

Sometimes 'common sense' isn't all that common.

 

^ There's no reasoning with stupid. You'll just kill yourself trying ... so why bother?

 

LOL for real? Hahaha a flowering plastic plant

 

do look at p0rn

 

pok guy i'm totally serious mang!

 

Yea, I don't know why. I've just suddenly had an interest in philosophy. I guess because since those with a high understanding of science (Ph.D level) tend to lean towards philosophy and spirituality, I've always wondered why this was the case. Many prominent figures lean towards philosophy, so maybe there's a reason they're doing so.

And Ph.D means: Doctor of Philosophy. So maybe the answer to everything lies within Philosophy.

Anyway, on the topic of this thread, a good paper to read in regards to Human Dignity: http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books6/Bhante_Dhammananda_Human_Dignity_in_Buddhism.pdf

 

I'm interested in the details of this incident you had with this retard......what happen?

 

Basically, I was waiting in my car, parked in a lot. This guy pulls up with his SUV right next to my left side, opens his door and bounced off my car about three times. I came out, I asked him in a very non-provocative manner, and politely: "What happened?", and then went to check my car. He said "I didn't do anything to you". Taken by surprised I said "You just hit my car when you opened the door and it bounced off 3 times".

He goes "No I didn't. I would know if I hit your car" in engrish. I said, well opbviously you would deny it, because you hit my car. He then repeats "I don't care, call the cops, I don't care" and starts walking away. I lost my cool and threatened to key his car in an attempt to have him stay. His girlfriend (I assume it was his girlfriend) comes out, listens to my side of the story, and profuriously apologizes for the incident. While her dumbass boyfriend stands there like a moron, she helps investigate to see if there was any damage, while still apologizing. Her boyfriend darts to wherever he was going.

Well lucky for him there was no damage to my car. The reason I lost my cool was due to his denial, and refusal to be accountable for his actions. To be honest, the way to handle this was not to be offensive and provoke a fight, but rather investigate and show that he did indeed hit my car. If there was damage, call the cops. If he leaves the scene then it would be "hit and run". But the important thing is not to lose one's cool, like I did.

The lesson I learned is that I think too good of people. This is in part due to my immaturity, in believing that people are too good to be this irresponsible. This is why I believe that morality is not necessarily common sense, as discussed before. People like this truly lack morality, and if it was common sense, they wouldn't be as immoral as they are.

And when one becomes emotional, one loses one's sense of morality.

 

I think many of us would've reacted the same way. At least the girlfriend apologized for him. Was she at least HOT? LOL Don't take it so hard? There are morons in the world we just have to learn to deal with them! Just be happy there was no damage to your car.

 

I came home, thought about it, and came to the conclusion that this was just a mini life lesson. No bad feelings on my end now.

And no she wasn't hot. Maybe I'm just not attracted to fobs.

 

Wise life lessons from a 5 year old.

 

that's not exactly going to work... majority of ppl out there don't see the whole picture for what it is... as an example everyone in the US is screaming for jobs, what ppl don't realize is ok, you can have jobs, but are you ok with it if prices of your goods go up?(very basic example, there are definitely more variables in there)... asking what people want is the wrong question, asking what would benefit society as a whole is the better question... ultimately that quote is just an example of why u cannot entrust decisions to the masses...

 

Lol maybe I wasn't making myself clear. I wasn't referring to this from a political stand point, I was referring it from a philosophical stand point.

The reason why some conflicts occur is due to the fact that people have egos, and adopt the "I'm right, you're wrong" mindset. All I'm trying to point out with this girl's statement is the fact that people should try and take the time to talk to people, try and find out why the other people think the way they do. That way, people can come up with solutions to whatever problems/issues they may be having.

This is a thread focusing on how to be a better person, not a political one, and especially, not a thread for anyone to come in and be like "people fail because blah". I don't want this thread turning into a flame war/debate simply because people disagree with one another. Take it or leave it.

Please leave the political BS out of this thread. Thanks