"HAPPIER" READING 13-27

With which description to most idenitfy? Why? With which do you wish you could closely identify? Why?

The dog in this section is a metaphor for David himself. David is trying to justify his actions by saying that his desires were uncontrollable. He believes that he shouldn't have to be punished for something that he believes is part of his own nature."But desire is another story. No animal ill accept the justice of being punished for following its instincts" (90). I don't think he understands that sometimes our desires are not acceptable. For the most part, I really don't agree with him. When our instincts may be unacceptable and wrong, we should not pursue them because they may go against basic principles and morals. He compares himself to a dog and believes that he should not be punished for going after something he truly desires. Although i believe in the bigger message of what he says, I don't think this idea of fulfilling what we really want should be pushed the extent of fulfilling something that is wrong, if that makes sense. We should follow our instincts with good judgment.

Disgrace Question

After reading Chapter 11, go back and read again, carefully, the story of the neighbor's dog, and David's commentary about it, on page 90. What is he saying here? What is he proposing about the nature of human life and how we should live it? In what he says, with what do you disagree? With what do you agree?

"once we have committed a negative action, unless it is purified we will experience its consequences. We can't shirk the responsibility or try to make the karma disappear by justifying it. It doesn't work that way. Whoever commits an act will infallibly experience its results, whether positive or negative."
I say amen to this portion of the text because I can totally relate to this. It's so true that when I do something terrible, something terrible happens to me. It sucks, but karma gives everything bad some sort of justification. I also think it's true that we try to justify negative consequences but really, we're just suffering from our previous actions. While reading this part of the text, it felt like I was the one writing it because it holds so true to what I experience.Every time I do something bad, I know that it'll come back to me later on so I don't even bother trying to justify my negative consequences. I just know that some bad things happen because I have taken some negative action. I think karma gives us reason to believe that we can have some sort of control over our own lives, and I guess that's a good thing?

I dont really have anything I can argue against, however, I enjoyed the question and response section because those questions were similar to the ones I had about karma especially:
There are so many human beings and so much karma, how is it all arranged? How is it all kept track of? How does it all happen just right?
The more broad idea of karma is a little bit shaky, I think. How does all of this work? Basically, I feel that some things just have to happen, regardless of our own prior actions. Some things happen out of our control, and that's basically it.

KARMA:

After actively reading the KARMA chapter in "Gates to Buddhist Practice" (pages 62-77)Respond to both questions:
(1) Give a quote from the reading that you can argue against or offer critical questions for. Do so.
(2) Give a quote from the reading that you can shout "Amen"/"AHA"/"INDEED" to. Why does it ring true to you?

Meditation & The Brain

From each reading (so two paragraph), what fact/study did you read about that struck you as most promising in terms of greater wellness/happiness for individuals and society?

HARD CORE ZEN 4 NOBLE TRUTHS

What line from this texts makes the most sense to you? What line brings up a new/familiar question you have been considering?