Personally, I think he sincerely believes in a god that actually is that much of a dick. I surely can’t fathom it, but I can’t really fathom even, say, polycarp’s god either, even if I think I might like Him.
This looks like a job for Time Peace*!!!
*(or Clock Stopper if it’ll get him more girls.)
It’s a tautology that there must exist one. This leads to the conclusion that SOMEONE has to be…
I think he was referring to the treatment that we in the rank and file can apply: not feeding.
That’s it. He’s one fucking SADIST.
One Sunday Satan, himself, appeared at the front of a church in a particularly Yankee part of Vermont. All of the parishoners ran from the church, except one old guy in the front pew.
“Are you not afraid of me?” thundered the Archfiend.
“Why should I be?” asked the old Yankee. “I’ve been married to your sister for nigh on fifty years.”
I’ve read the above paragraph three times now and I’m even more confused than before* – best that I can gather from it makes no sense at all. For what possible pain could an illusion of self perceive? By default it would be imaginary pain, no? Beyond that, I don’t see how their duality differs that much from the JudeoChristian’s. Sure, they might not have the concepts of good and evil as such, but isn’t escaping suffering through enlightenment essentially the same thing? Where suffering = bad and enlightened = good.
STM the more I learn about different religions, the more they boil down to the same. Hope for a better afterlife/reincarnation/what have you…as long as it just doesn’t end here.
The good thing about dead costumers is that they never come back for a refund. Obviously, someone figured that out long ago. Hell, religions and fast-food companies have a lot in common now that I think about it. 
Again, I keep drawing the same parallel – the old geezer is just an enlightened martyr in Western theological speak. See Jesus & Co for more. Semantical wrangling so to speak and little else.
*I’m not knocking your explanation, rather the opposite, I appreciate it, thank you. It simply doesn’t compute in my pea-brain. Guess I’ll have to read some of these in order to fight my humongous ignorance on the subject.
Back on topic. It just has to be a woosh. How can anyone base their whole life’s philosophy on such a monster god and not be/become a monster themselves?
:::shudder:::
How do we know that he isn’t? Outside of a few vague hints, I don’t think he’s ever said anything about his personal life. For all we know, he could catch and torture stray kittens because the voices in his head, which he’s already admitted that he believes to be the direct Word of God, tell him to.
And even if he doesn’t do anything overtly monstrous, could he be considered a monster merely for spreading the beliefs of his monster god?
Eventually, they do. That’s the problem with these types. Even worse, they breed like crazy, and make monsters of their children, and other people’s children.
He’s been that way as far back as I remember. If you want to see a picture of kanicbird, look up “insanity” in the dictionary.
I think you got it right there actually. Pain is temporary and only a part of this world, and only if you really pay it any attention do you notice it. So if you notice it, you still are attached to your self. That’s it.
That’s why you have all those old school zen masters and monks who try to meditate and do ridiculous things to their body parts such as get hit with broken bottles or hammers or breaking blocks and all- just showing off that they don’t feel the pain and they’ve moved a step forwards in the chains. Though by showing off, they’re probably moving two steps backwards and all. But still. I suppose if they were just sitting there, and someone broke a bottle on their head as a demonstration to some passerby then it’d be totally cool and without ego.
:Shrug: Whatever helps you die peacefully I suppose.
The no feed policy is a good one, but honestly, we feed trolls so well here it’s a wonder they don’t assplode.
Exactly, see in Buddhism the mind is everything. The world is an illusion made by the perceptions and delusions of the mind. That’s the thinking behind the famous Koan\saying “if a tree falls in a forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?”. No one is there to perceive it so it doesn’t exist.
Buddhist believe it’s one’s attachment to pleasure, and avoidance of suffering that keep you in your delusion of self, and as a result keep you in a cycle of reincarnation, and as result keep you in a cycle of suffering.
Becoming enlightened is to see through the delusions of self so when you die you become nothing, and be one with everything like a rain drop falling in the ocean. I believe this is called Nirvana.
Buddhist believe enlightenment is the end of craving pleasure, and avoidance of suffering because you see they’re not real, they’re part of the delusions of self.
Let’s define some terms. In western religion we have Good and Evil, two opposite forces defined and enforced by powerful deities. We also have good and bad as moral judgments. A bad person robs the quickie mart and shoots Apu. A good person gives Apu CPR and brings him flowers in the hospital. These cultural definitions of good and bad are related to the Good and Evil themes our cultural runs over again and again in it’s stories. (Hero Protagonist vs Evil dude). We’re taught that good and bad are concepts and alignments in themselves. They’re presented as black and white concepts. Either you’re on the good team or you’re playing for the bad team. This goes back to the Good vs Evil of our theology I think. While notion of an actual supreme manifestation of good in a god form is losing sway, it’s good vs bad duality is strong as ever.
Buddhism doesn’t see it that way. In Buddhism good is “desirable” and bad is “undesirable”. Bad Karma isn’t a divine judgment like hell, but a natural reaction like gravity. If you jump gravity doesn’t pull you down because it thinks you’re a good/bad person, it pulls you down because that’s gravity does.
Say your hand had a strong northern magnetic field being generated from it. Could you grab the northern end of magnet easy? Would this be because the magnet judged you a bad person undeserving of it, or because opposites attract and likes repel?
Essentially Buddhist Karma is like a physics law, with no sentience. No judgment.
I know Karma wasn’t mentioned, but it seemed relevant to honest discussion of good and bad in Buddhism.
Well I personally think the point of the story isn’t that he sacrificed himself for a higher cause or power. He really had no fear of that sword. Like if someone menaced you with a paper clip.
No worries, I had to spend an hour rereading things just to make sure my response was accurate, and I prolly still got it wrong.
Your dog obviously did something to deserve it.
We could have a kanicbird pit thread of the day here and it wouldn’t help.
Nonsense. Spanish poet Antonio Machado was right when he wrote
But doesn’t seeing require a mind to perceive? Do cameras see or merely record and show?
Edit: also since we’re talking the Buddhist world view here was he a Buddhist Spanish Poet?
It’s just too much fun!
So blind people do not have eyes?
I’m currently reading a book of essays entitled The Daily Show and Philosphy, and it occurred to me that a lot of Kanicbird’s declarations are the epitome of “truthiness.”
I find kanicbird to be a fascinating example of someone trying to reconcile The Problem Of Evil with an omnipotent infinitely loving God. Whereas some merely throw up their hands and invoke ‘mysterious ways’ instead of trying to analyze the situation further and risk cognitive dissonance, s/he jumps in full speed ahead and makes ridiculous speculations like the one earlier in this thread about the fetus accepting a birth defect as a bargaining chip somehow.
I applaud these statements, they are doing great work for the cause rationality and atheism.