🧡 If you find benefit in my videos, consider supporting the channel by joining us on Patreon and get fun extras like exclusive videos, ad-free audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: www.patreon.com/dougsseculardharma 🙂 📙 You can find my new book here: books2read.com/buddhisthandbook
Interesting take on this story. I hadn't thought about its meaning in terms of socioeconomic inequality but it does make sense; I feel that many privileged people harshly judge those with lower socioeconomic status on matters of addiction, ignorance, and motivation, failing to recognize that circumstances make it harder for them to ease troubling habit energy and so failing to recognize how it might be fairer to grant even more help and compassion instead of condescendingly thinking, "I succeeded, so why can't they?". I am working my way through all of your videos, Mr. Smith, and because of your expression of nuance I consider you a reliable source I am thankful for. I'll see if I can't get the Meditation Mind Discord server book club to read your book.
Doug, It was very helpful to hear about your encounter with anger in this video. I also seem to "lose it" dealing with the phone tree setup that customer service uses before connecting to a representative. Hearing you tell your story gives me strength from learning everyone can snap. Stay well and safe
I've just finished your book today, and it's marvelous! 😻 I can only recommend it to everybody here! *Buy Doug's book, folks!* 😁 Wonderful story! Didn't know it. Thanks for sharing! 😊🙏🏻
@@DougsDharma you should consider an audiobook version. With dharma talks and the oral tradition being so important in Buddhism it would be very fitting. It would also broaden your potential audience to people like myself who only seem to have the time for books while driving or on the treadmill. So far, I find the book well written, inspiring, and, at times, very thought provoking. Two thumbs up! I will be sure to leave a comment at Amazon when I am done.
This brings to my mind the anger awareness technique I read somewhere. Through the proper practice of this technique you are able to maintain a state of awareness that enables you to recognize anger as soon as it arises whereby you either put off the spark of anger before it turns into a massive fire or in case it is a person who causes you to be angry you express your dissatisfaction towards the person in a neutral and calm tone and if that doesn't work you just walk away
Clown in a car your human ♥️ sounds like habitual volition coming to fruition. Very helpful thankyou 🙏 I am a student of Thich Nhat Hahn a wonderful and perfect embodiment of the Buddha’s teachings who is 95 years of age 11/10/26. He is a real blessing to all beings. If you need calm joy and peace I recommend his teachings.
I have learned that showing puzzlement with hand gesture is more productive than showing the bird even when i am in the right. Afterall, how we live our lives IS the spiritual path. Having said that i need to practice that more often than not.
to address a comment below, right livelihood according to the Buddha: no trading in weapons, living beings, meat, liquor, and poisons, so the Buddha indeed disapproved of slavery. see wikipedia for more.
@@rexaustin2885 The Buddha's time was not a "comfortable" time, and he knew slavery was wrong. I believe in hard work and reaping the fruit of your own labor. Slavery is the theft of other people and their labor. There is a very clear distinction between the theft and hard work.
@@rexaustin2885 You should ask yourself why you think of being disgusted by theft and kidnapping as a "preference" that only comfortable, modern people can have. Go to poor countries and people there will tell you in half a second that theft and kidnapping are wrong.
@@默-c1r some people say taxation is theft too? Is taxing wages of the people who work and distributing it to the poor theft too? I bet the poor won't be complaining about that. Why should anyone invest into a business if they are not going to get the greater share of the profits compared to the workers? Is it theft too by the owner of the business to make profit out of the work of their workers? We are not discussing literally working on a field planting crops to reap the fruits of one's labour. Sometimes we work for other people too. Does that make us a slave?
The case in the parable of the mistress and the slave servant is a common situation. One can witness such situation almost every day anywhere. For instance, at work between an employer/manager and a defiant employee. This parable is a good example to make the case of Mahayana practice of the bodhisattva path. If one remains sheltered within a monastery without being exposed to the outside world, one will never find out one's hidden nature and limitations. A bodhisattva's goal is to help all living beings, good and bad and in between, without any self awareness. In Mahayana practice, there are 6 paramitas, namely, charity/kindness, discipline, patience/tolerance, perseverance, zen, and transcendental wisdom. The first three paramitas are good guidance for not just bodhisattva practice, but for our every day life.
Yes regular contact with the world is essential, I agree. In the Buddha's day the monks went on daily alms rounds so they wouldn't have remained cloistered away in a monastery.
Enjoyed very much, this talk of yours, it's very inspiring and insightful, especially your spontaneity on the streets of NYC, you are an ordinary person like anyone of us....😂, despite our practice of mindfulness. Now I feel better when I burst out in anger when provoked badly. This Buddha's tale of Kali and Vedehika giving me lots of food for thought cos this is happening around us all the time. Somehow, I cannot find a reconciliation as to the right judgement...🤔
I once heard Sogyal Rinpoche say that the only thing that survives when the body dies is our negative karma. He said that the mind, the personality, our memories all dissolve. How about our consciousness? Does that die? If it does, then what part of his past lives did the Buddha remember when, upon achieving enlightenment, he remembered all of his past lives? I too occasionally have had what I believed were past life recollections, usually as I finished meditating. Were these delusions, or could they have been actual past life recollections and are they stored in the consciousness? Would you consider doing a talk on this? I think it’s a deep subject that many of us would like to know more about. Thanks.
Well as a secular practitioner I leave such speculative questions aside. What matters most is our practice in this life. That said, our consciousness and indeed all aspects of our mind and body are "dying" or passing away and being replaced all the time.
I know Shantideva is outside your early Buddhist focus, but do you have any insight about the bodhisattva's guide? I know that the Dalai Lama recommends it to people he meets and sometimes gives them copies. I guess I'm really asking if you believe it differs from early Buddhist principles? Thank you
Good question Blake, I've read some of it, and it is indeed a bit different from what you find in early Buddhism. Though to do a serious treatment of it would take some further study. It is a great and very influential book.
So insightful! Your channel has given me so much context for my own personal buddhist exploration. Thank you. Will your book have a physical copy eventually or is it exclusively an Ebook?
Thanks so much Jack! For now the distributor has only made it available as an ebook. I'm not sure if or when it might come out in physical form, but I'll certainly let everyone know.
Vedehika is praised and seen as a calm, compassionate, helpful lady by everybody in the village. Although Kali does all the household work from dawn to night she does not get any credit or appreciation from anybody. Kali thinks that it is because of her untiring work that Vedehika is able to engage in such so-called social work. That is the reason she decides to test her. Buddha says it is really difficult to judge somebody simply by outward appearance. Sometimes it takes years to find out the exact nature of a person. One relatively easy method is to PROVOKE A PERSON .then sometimes bad nature of a person becomes apparent and visible. What kali did was to provoke and test her and KALI succeeded. If one really wants to test somebody, PLEASE PROVOKE THAT PERSON VERY GENTLY.
Doug gave someone the bird?!?!? Wow! XD Great video, as usual! I've been binging your older videos the past few days, so it was a nice suprise to see a new upload today! This story had to make me think on a completely different subject, though. The Buddha, I'm guessing, was not against slavery, right? Since he believed in karma and rebirth? The Abrahamic relgions also support slavery and is a good reason for people to walk away from them, so what would make someone not want to do the same when it comes to Buddhism? I know that comparing Buddhism to Abrahamic religions is basically like comparing apples to oranges on most levels, and that the biggest difference is that the Buddha did not claim to be or be speaking for a creator god whose rules we need to follow, but still. It isn't really something as easy to ignore as the ideas of karma and rebirth in general. What is your view on this? Have you already posted something on this topic this in the past?
the Buddha DISapproved of slavery: selling slaves or any living being is considered wrong livelihood. Right Livelihood: no trading in weapons, living beings, meat, liquor, and poisons.
@@rexaustin2885 A contract signed between two consenting people to trade labor for money is not the same as kidnapping and selling people and treating them like property.
In the 21. Century, we still have forced labour in many countries and slavery has not vanished but growing in illegal sex trade of children and women . Instead of punishing the victims, one should held the perpetrators and consumers accountable!
What I have a question about is, why did Kali try to test her mistress? Why was she trying to prove that her mistress is not kind and peaceful? Why did she end up as a slave in the first place? Was this behaviour from Kali just her being vindictive, petty and envious? Does her mistress have no right to question her irresponsibility? Does the owner of a property have no right to question the people who work for him/her? Can working for someone to pay off one's debts equal to slavery? The lesson I got from this story is that Kali is not the best person to be teaching anyone a lesson.
@@MustAfaalik maybe, but then, is one better or worse than the other? Should either of them be the recepient of contempt or adulation? Why should I care about one or other?
@@thetruthseeker5448 Oh ok. I see the problem. I think too much and am very sceptical, very often. In your reply, although you didn't mention anything about Buddha, I thought you were comparing Buddhism with Christianity, to make the point that Buddha also justified slavery. My bad that I thought too much about it, when you didn't mean it at all ! 😂 Anyway, here's the thing. There's nothing wrong with liking your own comment. It's like loving yourself. But yeah, my previous comment was wrong. So, I have removed the like 🤣
I used to work in NYC so I had to chuckle at your story about giving “the clown” the bird. You see a lot of obnoxious and endangering behavior in busy congested places and it is easy to show displeasure at it. Remember that even the Buddha lashed out on occasion when someone was way out of line. The fact that it bothers you that you did it is more telling of the person you are. Crossing the street in NYC is stressful enough without having to deal with the obnoxious behavior you were subjected to.
Sir have u explored the Archaeology of Buddhism? There r many historians I am seeing these days in my country who claim Buddhism existed even before 700BC & there are certain proofs of 7 buddhas in the Indus Valley Civilization, which btw existed around 3500BC to 1700 BC. Some scholars have even written books while factually trying to show that modern brahminism is nothing but a branch of vajrayan. Like Rajendra Prasad Singh, Prof Rajeev Patel or Surendra Kumar Agyat. Your views on this?
🧡 If you find benefit in my videos, consider supporting the channel by joining us on Patreon and get fun extras like exclusive videos, ad-free audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: www.patreon.com/dougsseculardharma 🙂
📙 You can find my new book here: books2read.com/buddhisthandbook
Appreciate the vulnerability! We all struggle with living up to our own code of ethics, even in small ways. But there's always tomorrow to try again
Indeed so Giantcrabz, thanks. 🙏🙂
Interesting take on this story. I hadn't thought about its meaning in terms of socioeconomic inequality but it does make sense; I feel that many privileged people harshly judge those with lower socioeconomic status on matters of addiction, ignorance, and motivation, failing to recognize that circumstances make it harder for them to ease troubling habit energy and so failing to recognize how it might be fairer to grant even more help and compassion instead of condescendingly thinking, "I succeeded, so why can't they?".
I am working my way through all of your videos, Mr. Smith, and because of your expression of nuance I consider you a reliable source I am thankful for. I'll see if I can't get the Meditation Mind Discord server book club to read your book.
Hey thanks Daniel, that's very kind of you! 🙏
Doug,
It was very helpful to hear about your encounter with anger in this video.
I also seem to "lose it" dealing with the phone tree setup that customer service uses before connecting to a representative.
Hearing you tell your story gives me strength from learning everyone can snap.
Stay well and safe
Yes it does happen sometimes ... oy! Thanks for your comment. 🙏
Thanks from India.
I've just finished your book today, and it's marvelous! 😻 I can only recommend it to everybody here! *Buy Doug's book, folks!* 😁
Wonderful story! Didn't know it. Thanks for sharing!
😊🙏🏻
Thanks so much xiao mao! If you feel like leaving a review that would be great too! 😀
@@DougsDharma
Of course, I'm gonna write one in German for the German Amazon page. 😊🙏🏻
@@DougsDharma you should consider an audiobook version. With dharma talks and the oral tradition being so important in Buddhism it would be very fitting. It would also broaden your potential audience to people like myself who only seem to have the time for books while driving or on the treadmill. So far, I find the book well written, inspiring, and, at times, very thought provoking. Two thumbs up! I will be sure to leave a comment at Amazon when I am done.
This brings to my mind the anger awareness technique I read somewhere. Through the proper practice of this technique you are able to maintain a state of awareness that enables you to recognize anger as soon as it arises whereby you either put off the spark of anger before it turns into a massive fire or in case it is a person who causes you to be angry you express your dissatisfaction towards the person in a neutral and calm tone and if that doesn't work you just walk away
Yes, this is the essence of mindfulness. Practicing metta or lovingkindness also helps.
Clown in a car your human ♥️ sounds like habitual volition coming to fruition. Very helpful thankyou 🙏 I am a student of Thich Nhat Hahn a wonderful and perfect embodiment of the Buddha’s teachings who is 95 years of age 11/10/26. He is a real blessing to all beings. If you need calm joy and peace I recommend his teachings.
Yes Thich Nhat Hanh is an inspiration! 🙏😊
🙏
🙏😊
This is a great story. Great video
My pleasure, glad you enjoyed it!
I have learned that showing puzzlement with hand gesture is more productive than showing the bird even when i am in the right. Afterall, how we live our lives IS the spiritual path. Having said that i need to practice that more often than not.
Yes, puzzlement is a good way to defuse a bad situation. It's something we probably all need to practice! 😄
New York cab drivers should be required to have a small Buddha statue on the dash just like the cabs in Thailand have…
😄That might help!
to address a comment below, right livelihood according to the Buddha: no trading in weapons, living beings, meat, liquor, and poisons, so the Buddha indeed disapproved of slavery. see wikipedia for more.
Yes that's right!
Its easy to say all this when you have a comfortable and 'privileged' life. Or are you just justifying your own preferences?
@@rexaustin2885 The Buddha's time was not a "comfortable" time, and he knew slavery was wrong. I believe in hard work and reaping the fruit of your own labor. Slavery is the theft of other people and their labor. There is a very clear distinction between the theft and hard work.
@@rexaustin2885 You should ask yourself why you think of being disgusted by theft and kidnapping as a "preference" that only comfortable, modern people can have. Go to poor countries and people there will tell you in half a second that theft and kidnapping are wrong.
@@默-c1r some people say taxation is theft too? Is taxing wages of the people who work and distributing it to the poor theft too? I bet the poor won't be complaining about that.
Why should anyone invest into a business if they are not going to get the greater share of the profits compared to the workers? Is it theft too by the owner of the business to make profit out of the work of their workers? We are not discussing literally working on a field planting crops to reap the fruits of one's labour. Sometimes we work for other people too. Does that make us a slave?
Great video Doug! Makes one wonder how oneself would react or how to test oneself in a normally peaceful life.
Yes it's good to keep that in mind! 😄
The case in the parable of the mistress and the slave servant is a common situation. One can witness such situation almost every day anywhere. For instance, at work between an employer/manager and a defiant employee. This parable is a good example to make the case of Mahayana practice of the bodhisattva path. If one remains sheltered within a monastery without being exposed to the outside world, one will never find out one's hidden nature and limitations. A bodhisattva's goal is to help all living beings, good and bad and in between, without any self awareness. In Mahayana practice, there are 6 paramitas, namely, charity/kindness, discipline, patience/tolerance, perseverance, zen, and transcendental wisdom. The first three paramitas are good guidance for not just bodhisattva practice, but for our every day life.
Yes regular contact with the world is essential, I agree. In the Buddha's day the monks went on daily alms rounds so they wouldn't have remained cloistered away in a monastery.
Enjoyed very much, this talk of yours, it's very inspiring and insightful, especially your spontaneity on the streets of NYC, you are an ordinary person like anyone of us....😂, despite our practice of mindfulness. Now I feel better when I burst out in anger when provoked badly.
This Buddha's tale of Kali and Vedehika giving me lots of food for thought cos this is happening around us all the time. Somehow, I cannot find a reconciliation as to the right judgement...🤔
Thanks Pauline! Yes, the story is very nuanced and it's hard to come to a definite judgment about it.
I once heard Sogyal Rinpoche say that the only thing that survives when the body dies is our negative karma. He said that the mind, the personality, our memories all dissolve. How about our consciousness? Does that die? If it does, then what part of his past lives did the Buddha remember when, upon achieving enlightenment, he remembered all of his past lives? I too occasionally have had what I believed were past life recollections, usually as I finished meditating. Were these delusions, or could they have been actual past life recollections and are they stored in the consciousness? Would you consider doing a talk on this? I think it’s a deep subject that many of us would like to know more about. Thanks.
Well as a secular practitioner I leave such speculative questions aside. What matters most is our practice in this life. That said, our consciousness and indeed all aspects of our mind and body are "dying" or passing away and being replaced all the time.
I'm wondering if there's not an additional level to the story in that the servant was named Kali after the Hindu goddess of destruction.
Yes I wondered about that as well.
I know Shantideva is outside your early Buddhist focus, but do you have any insight about the bodhisattva's guide? I know that the Dalai Lama recommends it to people he meets and sometimes gives them copies. I guess I'm really asking if you believe it differs from early Buddhist principles? Thank you
Good question Blake, I've read some of it, and it is indeed a bit different from what you find in early Buddhism. Though to do a serious treatment of it would take some further study. It is a great and very influential book.
So insightful! Your channel has given me so much context for my own personal buddhist exploration. Thank you. Will your book have a physical copy eventually or is it exclusively an Ebook?
Thanks so much Jack! For now the distributor has only made it available as an ebook. I'm not sure if or when it might come out in physical form, but I'll certainly let everyone know.
Vedehika is praised and seen as a calm, compassionate, helpful lady by everybody in the village. Although Kali does all the household work from dawn to night she does not get any credit or appreciation from anybody. Kali thinks that it is because of her untiring work that Vedehika is able to engage in such so-called social work. That is the reason she decides to test her.
Buddha says it is really difficult to judge somebody simply by outward appearance. Sometimes it takes years to find out the exact nature of a person.
One relatively easy method is to PROVOKE A PERSON .then sometimes bad nature of a person becomes apparent and visible. What kali did was to provoke and test her and KALI succeeded.
If one really wants to test somebody, PLEASE PROVOKE THAT PERSON VERY GENTLY.
Yes, this is a good way to look at the story. Thanks! 🙏
Doug gave someone the bird?!?!? Wow! XD Great video, as usual! I've been binging your older videos the past few days, so it was a nice suprise to see a new upload today! This story had to make me think on a completely different subject, though. The Buddha, I'm guessing, was not against slavery, right? Since he believed in karma and rebirth? The Abrahamic relgions also support slavery and is a good reason for people to walk away from them, so what would make someone not want to do the same when it comes to Buddhism? I know that comparing Buddhism to Abrahamic religions is basically like comparing apples to oranges on most levels, and that the biggest difference is that the Buddha did not claim to be or be speaking for a creator god whose rules we need to follow, but still. It isn't really something as easy to ignore as the ideas of karma and rebirth in general. What is your view on this? Have you already posted something on this topic this in the past?
the Buddha DISapproved of slavery: selling slaves or any living being is considered wrong livelihood.
Right Livelihood: no trading in weapons, living beings, meat, liquor, and poisons.
just to be clear, right livelihood is part of the eightfold path, there is good info on this on wikipedia
Right, the Buddha was opposed to slavery, as he considered it wrong livelihood. Nevertheless it was a part of the society that surrounded him.
@@默-c1r is working for your boss or an organisation slavery too? Is service same as servant?
@@rexaustin2885 A contract signed between two consenting people to trade labor for money is not the same as kidnapping and selling people and treating them like property.
In the 21. Century, we still have forced labour in many countries and slavery has not vanished but growing in illegal sex trade of children and women . Instead of punishing the victims, one should held the perpetrators and consumers accountable!
Yes it is very sad.
What I have a question about is, why did Kali try to test her mistress? Why was she trying to prove that her mistress is not kind and peaceful? Why did she end up as a slave in the first place? Was this behaviour from Kali just her being vindictive, petty and envious? Does her mistress have no right to question her irresponsibility? Does the owner of a property have no right to question the people who work for him/her? Can working for someone to pay off one's debts equal to slavery?
The lesson I got from this story is that Kali is not the best person to be teaching anyone a lesson.
Perhaps the story is focused more on Vedehika's conduct from a privileged position.
@@MustAfaalik maybe, but then, is one better or worse than the other? Should either of them be the recepient of contempt or adulation? Why should I care about one or other?
That is how a Christian would argue or justify for slavery as it is in the Bible including NT. Bible NEVER rejected the concept.
The Truth Seeker, what are you trying to say ? That Buddha justified Slavery ? Well, Buddha didn't. He simply did not promote Violence ...
@@thetruthseeker5448
Oh ok. I see the problem. I think too much and am very sceptical, very often. In your reply, although you didn't mention anything about Buddha, I thought you were comparing Buddhism with Christianity, to make the point that Buddha also justified slavery.
My bad that I thought too much about it, when you didn't mean it at all ! 😂
Anyway, here's the thing. There's nothing wrong with liking your own comment. It's like loving yourself. But yeah, my previous comment was wrong. So, I have removed the like 🤣
I used to work in NYC so I had to chuckle at your story about giving “the clown” the bird. You see a lot of obnoxious and endangering behavior in busy congested places and it is easy to show displeasure at it. Remember that even the Buddha lashed out on occasion when someone was way out of line. The fact that it bothers you that you did it is more telling of the person you are. Crossing the street in NYC is stressful enough without having to deal with the obnoxious behavior you were subjected to.
Yes thanks Dread, indeed it can be taxing!
Sir have u explored the Archaeology of Buddhism? There r many historians I am seeing these days in my country who claim Buddhism existed even before 700BC & there are certain proofs of 7 buddhas in the Indus Valley Civilization, which btw existed around 3500BC to 1700 BC. Some scholars have even written books while factually trying to show that modern brahminism is nothing but a branch of vajrayan. Like Rajendra Prasad Singh, Prof Rajeev Patel or Surendra Kumar Agyat. Your views on this?
Thanks again for yet another great segment.
Best wishes from Montreal.
My pleasure Philippe. Enjoy Montreal, my wife and I spent Christmas there many years ago and had a great time. 🙏