Comments on: Choices and Responsibility

By: Timothy Hilgenberg

Timothy Hilgenberg — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 07:15:16 +0000

This is where mindfulness comes in. If I’m so caught up in myself that I’m largely unaware of what is happening then the Stimulus-Response gap that Victor Frankl talks about is a space I’m also unaware of and like a machine I follow the genetically directed route. The more mindful I become the more able I am to become aware of this space and the more opportunities I have to chose my response.
Like Jinglett said, the Tathagata didn’t become enlighten by wishing it, he put a lot of effort into it.
I think it’s too easy to say we’re not chickens, there are countless actions each day which we do on “automatic pilot” without being aware of them… think about walking, do you really know which muscles you move to propel yourself in the direction you wish to go and maintain perfect balance without falling over?
Stimuli can be small little things that on their own might seem innocuous, but when several occur in a short space of time, it can be like the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Through my daily meditation practice I have increased my ability to notice many stimuli that years ago I would have missed giving me the choice to act on them or not

By: JC Colon

JC Colon — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 01:56:52 +0000

I love the way Stephen Covey explain some of this issues about personal responsability. “Your life is a product of your values, not your feelings” and also “Your life is a product of your desicions and not your conditions”. And from Victor Frankl we have “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom”.

I believe genes might play a role in our life, but our choices really determined who we really are.

By: Abe Simpson

Abe Simpson — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:23:37 +0000

Bryan, I am very happy to see you directly address this and very much like your response. This stuck out to me in the original post and it was one of the few times I felt compelled accept the karma of countering somebody’s belief with a “no, that isn’t right.”

I am going to remember that story too, and call it Pavlov’s koan?

As for genetics, I completely agree with the quote posted by bloodymice.

By: bloodymice

bloodymice — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:25:51 +0000

I find that assigning blame is rarely helpful, however determining the cause of events can sometimes indicate the solution to problems. Certainly it seems that our genes do determine some things. I suppose the danger is in using genes as a scapegoat for our faults, or as an excuse for behavior our conscience tells us is wrong.

By: John Miller

John Miller — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:58:29 +0000

Thank you for sharing the comments and photos.

Even if there comes a time in history when there isn’t any color because we’ve become homogeneous, there will still be racial/social issues unless we evolve (become enlightened) to the knowing that we are all connected and therfore one and the same.

By: Brian Schell

Brian Schell — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:55:16 +0000

I never used the word “race,” as I think it’s inappropriate. There is only one race. I see no problem with the way I used it in this context; I could have said light-skinned or dark-skinned person, but I think it’s clearer as I said it. Everyone knows what I meant, and there was no judgment or racism in the way I meant it or in the way I said it.

[Actually, I wrote a long detailed response to this message, but rather than post it here in the comments, I am going to do a full post on racism next week. Stay tuned]

By: JINGLETT

JINGLETT — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:46:54 +0000

Thanks for an amazing email, discussion, and presentation today!

If a tiger can be trained to reach a state of peace in a community of monks, then human beings should also have the same capacity toward universal peace.

The Buddha did not become enlightened by wishing, hoping, praying, or commanding. He spent hours, months, and years training his mind and, thus, his body’s reaction.

Once one goes through such a long, enduring process, sitting in a half-lotus position, which I cannot do well, become second nature. Breathing exercises, then, become second nature. Focusing for ten minutes or an hour becomes second nature. There is a certain ladder one climbs during such training, and I don’t want to refer to this training as “habit,” but if you think about your “enemy” and place yourself in his or her position, as the Dalai Lama describes in many of his books, even the love of your neighbor or “enemy” begins to become second nature.

We should be mindful of anything that becomes “habit,” but we should also celebrate the progression of learning how to write a letter, how to form the letter into a word, how to create an entire sentence, how to construct a complex sentence, and then how to move that complexity toward ideas and values communicated to others as art or email.

Jinglett

By: Mushim

Mushim — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:31:09 +0000

I appreciate your common sense approach to the nature-nurture debate. The slideshow of the Temple of the Tigers is fascinating. However, one important point regarding your statement, “Obviously whether you are tall or short, black or white, blue-eyed or brown-eyed, is a matter of genetics. No one has any control over that stuff.” The terms “black” and “white” are racial categories applied by human beings to other human beings. It is well known at this point that the concept “race” is a social construct. The PBS series, “Race: The Power of An Illusion” goes into depth on the complexities of the concept of “race” — there is information online available. Whether as a human being you are considered “black” or “white” is, actually, not a matter of genetics, but is a socially constructed categorization. Not too long ago in the United States, both Irish and Italian peoples were not considered to be white, for instance.

By: Alex Newell

Alex Newell — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:30:11 +0000

These photos really nail the nature / nurture debate!

Thank you for displaying these amazing and beautiful pictures.

Alex