"if you don´t escape, if you allow the suffering to be there, if you are ready to face it, if you are not trying somehow to forget it, then you are different. Suffering is there but just around you; it is not in the center, it is on the periphery. It is impossible for suffering to be in the center; it is not in the nature of things. It is always on the periphery and you are the center. So when you allow it to happen, you don´t escape, you don´t run, you are not in a panic, suddenly you become aware that suffering is there on the periphery as if happening to someone else, not to you, and you are looking at it. A subtle joy spreads all over your being because you have realized one of the basic truths of life, that you are bliss and not suffering."
Thank you for this discussion! This is the first time I have ever heard and explanation of Hindu beliefs and philosophy. Now please, an investigation of Islam and its mystic thinkers
recently i found that pain actually could bring us a spark of joy, but it also makes us prone to attachment nowadays normality makes us so used to attachment, and the only way to detached is by emptying the normal. i tried it for 2 years, n it helped me understand why the practice of fasting is important. it's not about celebrating special month in a year, but it should help us able to notice our own attachment; our own desires which in extreme point might lead us to "sins". throughout history, every living being built some kind of narrative through life pattern to maintain life. and in human case, we keep building narratives about everything that comes to our senses. from the ancient homo sapiens--or any older version of homo--who leave narrative by drawing things they had seen on cave, ancient civilization with their codes and art, and now we have all these fonts n english as universal language. but i think in terms of sharing and building narratives to maintain lives, we have a tendency to avoid pain while at the same time we are also naturally attracted to it. we construct narratives to avoid pain, but we also enjoy violence as entertainment at the same time. ritual in any religion should help us able to build pattern of wisdom, where the core is taming the "beast" inside us as we also have to admit that we're a kind of animal in some perspective . and what i found is that some religion are drowning in circular habit and ritual, but lost in meaning and purpose. they're only focusing on memorizing text, translating the text, but lost in what heaven n hell actually mean, and makes them so judgemental. i think the narratives of wisdom should help us being better to understand, than to judge. i think this is sad.
"Vice comes from fear". "Suffering comes from unmet desire. All desire is a pursuit of control. Let go of control to let go of dissapointment and therefore suffering." (Note that suffering and pain are not interchangable.)
Illuminating interviews from all guests, with all-important reference to phenomenology (23:10). Eastern religions seem so much more rational compared to Judeo-Christian emphasis on personhood (22:50) - yet, what about the European Renaissance & western progress? What about the suffering of battery-farmed animals in the west? At 13:11 - Doctrine of karma - how might the bad karma that us meat-eaters create for animals return to haunt us in our next lives? Could western progress have been achieved in the absence of the suffering of the most innocent?
"Why are Suffering and Ritual Vital" Our loving Creator perfectly created imperfections for mankind to understand what is bad, better or good, ugly or beautiful, pleasure and suffering, that can serve as hints of the existence of Heaven and hell so for us to hopefully find faith in a loving GOD... ...this is how suffering is vital... and ritual is one way of communicating with the Divine Almighty not only for His blessings but mainly for our salvation...
Did God have to be imperfect to understand what good and bad are; what suffering is? If he can know what good and beautiful are then there is no contradiction and he could have made us knowing like him and not suffering. I don't need to be poor to empathise with the poor, or to have cancer to empathise with the sick.
@@SG-gq2rf It is not God but us who needs to experience or to be aware & learn of whatever bad and good, ugliness and beauty, or pleasure and suffering that this Physical Universe are giving to our temporary physical human vessels that our souls dwell in...
@@evaadam3635 You haven't understood. If God can know good without suffering then he could have made us knowing good without needing to suffer. He did not do this, therefore he is responsible for suffering and it has no purpose, because he could have given the benefits without the suffering.
@@SG-gq2rf our lost souls were not sent here to know but to BELIEVE, because it was losing our belief in God's love that we fell from Heaven, ended in hell, and now on earth for a chance of salvation through regaining our belief in a loving God... ... if we fail to believe, our souls will return to hell... God gave us our temporary human vessels to shield knowledge of our pasts so that we can choose to believe freely without knowing God...
Because human suffering is inevitable does that make it "vital"? Because humans find some sort of soles in ritual does that make it vital and necessary for life to exist?
Absolutely true. Nor did he preach any form of rituals. This is one of the reason modern human mind has become complex on account of useless practices in the name of religion.
Literally enduring suffering oneself may not be a prerequisite, but at the very least, an UNDERSTANDING of how suffering arises is widely agreed to potentially be an EXTREMELY effective means to enlightenment. It's no accident that this understanding is really the SOLE focus of the Four Noble Truths.
This is a ridiculous comment. The first noble truth is the noble truth of suffering, and buddha mentioned clearly that the only way to enlightenment is to understand and realize the 4 noble truths. And how did so many people agree? Shame on you all for making crap up that sounds good
@@jacoblogan Ridiculous is what ridiculous sees. “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” - This quote has been attributed to the Dalai Lama, Haruki Murakami, and M. Kathleen Casey.
Ritual is an act of immersion and into the activity itself, as in binding one. Dinner, showering, sleep, voting for politicians, watching TV, and scrolling on tablets are all such acts that immerse one. When it comes to pastors of churches and their silly rituals, notice how they are completely immersed, identifying with some trite notion, the whole attire set they cloak themselves with, even their minds disposition is directed to the totality of the milieu and opinions that surround. I'm pointing this out because they don't exactly look like liberated beings. Quite the contrary, they are binded down. There are good rituals that avail one, such as paying homage for the food one eats, acknowledging that the food, be it animal, vegetable, or fruit, was once alive, and to not take it for granted. This places man higher in soul, and we all know of it, than if one were to take such sacrifice for granted thinking all is just resources for him and his life. Sacrifice has always allured me because of something beautiful about it. The greatest sacrifice of man is in giving up his own life for the sake of another. Too, studying scripture, theology, metaphysics, is a sacrifice in itself, and in the srimad bhagavad gita, if I recall, states that Brahma(aspect of Brahman; the creative power) is both the sacrificer, the act of and the sacrificed. Just as the Sun, the very sublime symbol of God, the Spiritual essence of God, the Christ 888, gives of himself to all, is that most august love of the Divine. Love is sacrifice as it is all in giving and not of receiving. To become reborn, to see all of life through the eye of soul, is rare, and to long towards the stars and have an inclination in want to realize Truth, justice, the virtues and the universals, principles, theophanies, is rarer yet. If you're going to do any kind of ritual, may it be one with the comic order or Divine will beneficial for others, and avail one in their studies concerning the Divine. Wisdom is all about liberation, severing the ties that bind us; rituals often immerse us. the one is indifferent to all the world. the one is impervious. nothing here can influence God. Nothing can bind God. If man seeks to come nearer to God, beware of rituals and seek Wisdom instead. God doesn't immerse himself into anything. Rituals immerse, man. Rituals are always done for the attainment of something, thus action, i.e. karma is involved, which binds. God is without need of anything. The Philosopher means something different than what the academicians proclaim. Philosophers are to mimic the one. Philosophy is love of wisdom.
Great that you seek out these traditions but you have to practice them if you want to get closer to the truth. “The finger that points to the moon is not the moon.” In other words, talking about truth is not the same as experiencing truth.
@7:40 I wonder what level of Suffering is: lack of Money….or. Opioid -Addiction…. @14:00 So where did All the souls come from? Why are there so many souls that just keeps on coming and coming and coming…. Why doesn’t the creator stop making so many souls.?…..so there wouldn’t be so much suffering… Don’t understand why all this “Karma-Cycles” is necessary…!
- Opioid addiction is self created suffering - you cling to a pleasure that has built into it terrible effects, and your mind becomes habituated to that act; the pleasure is impermanent and that is the problem. - In Buddhism there is no creator that is making Souls, they are already existent and have done so eternally (In Hinduism likewise the souls do not have a beginning to them). If more souls are born in this time period then that only means they come from other places, other worlds and so on. - If a creator did keep making souls then he would be responsible for the suffering, but he did not. - Karma is not some design some god made that you can ask why is it necessary, what job does it do? it is merely a description of reality, a part of it like gravity. You have to understand reality to navigate it and stop suffering. - You can confirm the existence of most Karma. If you get angry you suffer, if you are envious you suffer,.....and we know that effects can be delayed - you might take drugs today but you will suffer tomorrow. If you accept the existence of the soul, and that the mind causes itself suffering (like in anger), and that effects can be delayed, then you can explain the suffering whose cause we don't see.
Mr Kuhn. I think you should talk to practitioners and not just to academics. Meditation is not what you believe it to be. It is not about "mystical experiences" as your guest spoke about. I suggest you talk to the Buddhist monk Mathieu Ricard.
Buddha, most wise and greatest psychology of all time, born in a rich family, his father tryed to hide the world from him, therefore, later on in his life when Buddha seen the desolation and suffering of others, was very polarized and had impact on his mind, and him being like royal no longer felt right in living that life. Buddha was not only bothered by suffering and wanting to help others, but during his time the brahmins were of idolatry and doing rituals for only their wealth, family and themselves, even hiding the knowledge from the people. Therefore, now when you study the Nikayas in digha, majjhima, Samyutta etc.. you will better understand Buddha's reason. He wanted to share the Knowledge to everyone and help people sever the ties to materialism, dependence, desire, thus ultimately leading to envy, hatred, jealousy...thus wars, division and calamity. With Buddha and the Nikayas, it's all Wisdom. And yes, Buddha acknowledged God and Soul, but his way was via negativa, because far too many groups had a personal conception of God, thus can be a cause of quarrels, as there still are, between the vedantists and vaisnavas. Buddha is what you'd call a real man, with real heart, had a real destiny, and was a true brahmin. He give his life, in dedicating it to the study in acquiring wisdom and finding the way out.
In Islamic view, this worldly life is for test, meaning giving persons opportunity to produce evidence for their wellness for good qualities. So suffering designed by God for multiple purpose in this test, one, just for pure test, someone's or some life's suffering is not necessarily for that person's test but for people around them. God will compensate and reward all involved if they respond correctly or if they do not respond 'wrongly'. Some suffering is to drive things in a certain direction as response, suffering of pain is such an example, which drive response towards healings, which will keep the system sustained. Other sufferings are just to amend, correct, this is because bad things are associated with suffering so that people may avoid. Some suffering is to help those who have good intentions but yet to discover their full potential or get trained to navigate against odds which makes humans spacial. So in Islamic view God has invented/created suffering wisely and with purposes which reflects that God is not only good but God is pure good, and God is the reference point of good. Pure good is something that repels bad with assigning negative values or feelings to bad, or suffering against bad, to filter it out, keep good ones away from it, to embolden good ones.
Brains are complex system . Meditation heal mental health problems. However other side of coin are showing transcendent reality. Keep out comum sense It is inconsistency with reality of life are bizzare crazy .
Meditations for modern day human being is absolutely dangerous. Today human mind is very very active and complex. Cleaning the mind using cathartic meditations like Osho's 'dynamic meditation ' or 'no-mind' meditation or the western lathian meditation is like a must.
Was the Quran memorized? They say the truth sets you free. I want to know the truth. Do you want to know the truth? To know the truth you have to ask for proof that the Quran was memorized. What would be the future of atheism and christianity if atheists and christians continue to refuse to ask for proof that the Quran was memorized?. To not waste this loving poem I say atheism is a logical fallacy that assumes God is the religious idea of the creator of the creation to conclude wrongly no creator exists because a particular idea of God doesn’t exist. Thank you.
"if you don´t escape, if you allow the suffering to be there, if you are ready to face it, if you are not trying somehow to forget it, then you are different. Suffering is there but just around you; it is not in the center, it is on the periphery. It is impossible for suffering to be in the center; it is not in the nature of things. It is always on the periphery and you are the center.
So when you allow it to happen, you don´t escape, you don´t run, you are not in a panic, suddenly you become aware that suffering is there on the periphery as if happening to someone else, not to you, and you are looking at it. A subtle joy spreads all over your being because you have realized one of the basic truths of life, that you are bliss and not suffering."
This episode of closer to truth deserves millions of views.
That would be easily achieved if it was in Hindi or Mandarin!
Thank you for continuing to get closer to truth.
thank you ! for always bringing, in such a beautiful way, different perspectives on our own individual human journey...
Kudos for examining Eastern Traditions !
Thank you for this discussion! This is the first time I have ever heard and explanation of Hindu beliefs and philosophy. Now please, an investigation of Islam and its mystic thinkers
This is not even 1% hindu
I really enjoyed the conversation with Yang. It was very well communicated.
Like the Buddha, Robert is always searching, never quite finding.
What did the Buddha fail to find? Other than no self!
recently i found that pain actually could bring us a spark of joy, but it also makes us prone to attachment
nowadays normality makes us so used to attachment, and the only way to detached is by emptying the normal. i tried it for 2 years, n it helped me understand why the practice of fasting is important. it's not about celebrating special month in a year, but it should help us able to notice our own attachment; our own desires which in extreme point might lead us to "sins".
throughout history, every living being built some kind of narrative through life pattern to maintain life. and in human case, we keep building narratives about everything that comes to our senses. from the ancient homo sapiens--or any older version of homo--who leave narrative by drawing things they had seen on cave, ancient civilization with their codes and art, and now we have all these fonts n english as universal language. but i think in terms of sharing and building narratives to maintain lives, we have a tendency to avoid pain while at the same time we are also naturally attracted to it. we construct narratives to avoid pain, but we also enjoy violence as entertainment at the same time.
ritual in any religion should help us able to build pattern of wisdom, where the core is taming the "beast" inside us as we also have to admit that we're a kind of animal in some perspective . and what i found is that some religion are drowning in circular habit and ritual, but lost in meaning and purpose. they're only focusing on memorizing text, translating the text, but lost in what heaven n hell actually mean, and makes them so judgemental. i think the narratives of wisdom should help us being better to understand, than to judge.
i think this is sad.
"Vice comes from fear". "Suffering comes from unmet desire. All desire is a pursuit of control. Let go of control to let go of dissapointment and therefore suffering." (Note that suffering and pain are not interchangable.)
I wish you guys would record in "at least" 4K
Illuminating interviews from all guests, with all-important reference to phenomenology (23:10). Eastern religions seem so much more rational compared to Judeo-Christian emphasis on personhood (22:50) - yet, what about the European Renaissance & western progress? What about the suffering of battery-farmed animals in the west? At 13:11 - Doctrine of karma - how might the bad karma that us meat-eaters create for animals return to haunt us in our next lives? Could western progress have been achieved in the absence of the suffering of the most innocent?
To answer your last question: No, suffering was a fundamental aspect of its rise.
You can't turn off suffering, but you. Your only choice is to embrace it again and again. Everything you need is under your feet. Just walk. Nonstop
"Why are Suffering and Ritual Vital"
Our loving Creator perfectly created imperfections for mankind to understand what is bad, better or good, ugly or beautiful, pleasure and suffering, that can serve as hints of the existence of Heaven and hell so for us to hopefully find faith in a loving GOD...
...this is how suffering is vital... and ritual is one way of communicating with the Divine Almighty not only for His blessings but mainly for our salvation...
Did God have to be imperfect to understand what good and bad are; what suffering is? If he can know what good and beautiful are then there is no contradiction and he could have made us knowing like him and not suffering. I don't need to be poor to empathise with the poor, or to have cancer to empathise with the sick.
@@SG-gq2rf It is not God but us who needs to experience or to be aware & learn of whatever bad and good, ugliness and beauty, or pleasure and suffering that this Physical Universe are giving to our temporary physical human vessels that our souls dwell in...
@@evaadam3635 You haven't understood. If God can know good without suffering then he could have made us knowing good without needing to suffer. He did not do this, therefore he is responsible for suffering and it has no purpose, because he could have given the benefits without the suffering.
@@SG-gq2rf our lost souls were not sent here to know but to BELIEVE, because it was losing our belief in God's love that we fell from Heaven, ended in hell, and now on earth for a chance of salvation through regaining our belief in a loving God...
... if we fail to believe, our souls will return to hell... God gave us our temporary human vessels to shield knowledge of our pasts so that we can choose to believe freely without knowing God...
Please interview Edwin Bryant at Rutgers.
Off topic I know but does anyone know the unsettling music used to introduce these videos?
Because human suffering is inevitable does that make it "vital"? Because humans find some sort of soles in ritual does that make it vital and necessary for life to exist?
Even Buddha himself didn’t believe that suffering was a prerequisite for, and the only path to, enlightenment
Absolutely true. Nor did he preach any form of rituals. This is one of the reason modern human mind has become complex on account of useless practices in the name of religion.
Literally enduring suffering oneself may not be a prerequisite, but at the very least, an UNDERSTANDING of how suffering arises is widely agreed to potentially be an EXTREMELY effective means to enlightenment.
It's no accident that this understanding is really the SOLE focus of the Four Noble Truths.
This is a ridiculous comment. The first noble truth is the noble truth of suffering, and buddha mentioned clearly that the only way to enlightenment is to understand and realize the 4 noble truths.
And how did so many people agree? Shame on you all for making crap up that sounds good
@jacoblogan Did you read my comment?
@@jacoblogan Ridiculous is what ridiculous sees.
“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” - This quote has been attributed to the Dalai Lama, Haruki Murakami, and M. Kathleen Casey.
Ritual is an act of immersion and into the activity itself, as in binding one.
Dinner, showering, sleep, voting for politicians, watching TV, and scrolling on tablets are all such acts that immerse one.
When it comes to pastors of churches and their silly rituals, notice how they are completely immersed, identifying with some trite notion, the whole attire set they cloak themselves with, even their minds disposition is directed to the totality of the milieu and opinions that surround. I'm pointing this out because they don't exactly look like liberated beings. Quite the contrary, they are binded down.
There are good rituals that avail one, such as paying homage for the food one eats, acknowledging that the food, be it animal, vegetable, or fruit, was once alive, and to not take it for granted. This places man higher in soul, and we all know of it, than if one were to take such sacrifice for granted thinking all is just resources for him and his life.
Sacrifice has always allured me because of something beautiful about it. The greatest sacrifice of man is in giving up his own life for the sake of another. Too, studying scripture, theology, metaphysics, is a sacrifice in itself, and in the srimad bhagavad gita, if I recall, states that Brahma(aspect of Brahman; the creative power) is both the sacrificer, the act of and the sacrificed. Just as the Sun, the very sublime symbol of God, the Spiritual essence of God, the Christ 888, gives of himself to all, is that most august love of the Divine. Love is sacrifice as it is all in giving and not of receiving.
To become reborn, to see all of life through the eye of soul, is rare, and to long towards the stars and have an inclination in want to realize Truth, justice, the virtues and the universals, principles, theophanies, is rarer yet.
If you're going to do any kind of ritual, may it be one with the comic order or Divine will beneficial for others, and avail one in their studies concerning the Divine. Wisdom is all about liberation, severing the ties that bind us; rituals often immerse us.
the one is indifferent to all the world. the one is impervious. nothing here can influence God. Nothing can bind God. If man seeks to come nearer to God, beware of rituals and seek Wisdom instead. God doesn't immerse himself into anything. Rituals immerse, man. Rituals are always done for the attainment of something, thus action, i.e. karma is involved, which binds. God is without need of anything. The Philosopher means something different than what the academicians proclaim. Philosophers are to mimic the one. Philosophy is love of wisdom.
🙏🙏🙏
Great that you seek out these traditions but you have to practice them if you want to get closer to the truth. “The finger that points to the moon is not the moon.” In other words, talking about truth is not the same as experiencing truth.
@7:40
I wonder what level of Suffering is: lack of Money….or. Opioid -Addiction….
@14:00
So where did All the souls come from?
Why are there so many souls that just keeps on coming and coming and coming….
Why doesn’t the creator stop making so many souls.?…..so there wouldn’t be so much suffering…
Don’t understand why all this “Karma-Cycles” is necessary…!
- Opioid addiction is self created suffering - you cling to a pleasure that has built into it terrible effects, and your mind becomes habituated to that act; the pleasure is impermanent and that is the problem.
- In Buddhism there is no creator that is making Souls, they are already existent and have done so eternally (In Hinduism likewise the souls do not have a beginning to them). If more souls are born in this time period then that only means they come from other places, other worlds and so on.
- If a creator did keep making souls then he would be responsible for the suffering, but he did not.
- Karma is not some design some god made that you can ask why is it necessary, what job does it do? it is merely a description of reality, a part of it like gravity. You have to understand reality to navigate it and stop suffering.
- You can confirm the existence of most Karma. If you get angry you suffer, if you are envious you suffer,.....and we know that effects can be delayed - you might take drugs today but you will suffer tomorrow. If you accept the existence of the soul, and that the mind causes itself suffering (like in anger), and that effects can be delayed, then you can explain the suffering whose cause we don't see.
Mr Kuhn. I think you should talk to practitioners and not just to academics.
Meditation is not what you believe it to be. It is not about "mystical experiences" as your guest spoke about. I suggest you talk to the Buddhist monk Mathieu Ricard.
Ayn Rand was the greatest bodhisattva.
What are western traditions?
Buddha, most wise and greatest psychology of all time, born in a rich family, his father tryed to hide the world from him, therefore, later on in his life when Buddha seen the desolation and suffering of others, was very polarized and had impact on his mind, and him being like royal no longer felt right in living that life. Buddha was not only bothered by suffering and wanting to help others, but during his time the brahmins were of idolatry and doing rituals for only their wealth, family and themselves, even hiding the knowledge from the people. Therefore, now when you study the Nikayas in digha, majjhima, Samyutta etc.. you will better understand Buddha's reason. He wanted to share the Knowledge to everyone and help people sever the ties to materialism, dependence, desire, thus ultimately leading to envy, hatred, jealousy...thus wars, division and calamity. With Buddha and the Nikayas, it's all Wisdom. And yes, Buddha acknowledged God and Soul, but his way was via negativa, because far too many groups had a personal conception of God, thus can be a cause of quarrels, as there still are, between the vedantists and vaisnavas.
Buddha is what you'd call a real man, with real heart, had a real destiny, and was a true brahmin. He give his life, in dedicating it to the study in acquiring wisdom and finding the way out.
In Islamic view, this worldly life is for test, meaning giving persons opportunity to produce evidence for their wellness for good qualities. So suffering designed by God for multiple purpose in this test, one, just for pure test, someone's or some life's suffering is not necessarily for that person's test but for people around them. God will compensate and reward all involved if they respond correctly or if they do not respond 'wrongly'. Some suffering is to drive things in a certain direction as response, suffering of pain is such an example, which drive response towards healings, which will keep the system sustained. Other sufferings are just to amend, correct, this is because bad things are associated with suffering so that people may avoid. Some suffering is to help those who have good intentions but yet to discover their full potential or get trained to navigate against odds which makes humans spacial. So in Islamic view God has invented/created suffering wisely and with purposes which reflects that God is not only good but God is pure good, and God is the reference point of good. Pure good is something that repels bad with assigning negative values or feelings to bad, or suffering against bad, to filter it out, keep good ones away from it, to embolden good ones.
Rob, moving on to Hinduism vs Taos!# 😂😂😂😂
The only path closer to truth has yet not pondered is Islam.
Islam is evil. It's just Arab imperialism. It destroys whatever it touches. It is what Hamas, and other terrorist organizations embody.
Robert is searching for what?
Brains are complex system . Meditation heal mental health problems. However other side of coin are showing transcendent reality. Keep out comum sense It is inconsistency with reality of life are bizzare crazy .
Muslim fasting for 30days@each years so that we could rejuvenate & revitalise the earth resources..peace be upon you'll out there
Islam is evil.
Meditations for modern day human being is absolutely dangerous. Today human mind is very very active and complex. Cleaning the mind using cathartic meditations like Osho's 'dynamic meditation ' or 'no-mind' meditation or the western lathian meditation is like a must.
Was the Quran memorized? They say the truth sets you free. I want to know the truth. Do you want to know the truth? To know the truth you have to ask for proof that the Quran was memorized. What would be the future of atheism and christianity if atheists and christians continue to refuse to ask for proof that the Quran was memorized?. To not waste this loving poem I say atheism is a logical fallacy that assumes God is the religious idea of the creator of the creation to conclude wrongly no creator exists because a particular idea of God doesn’t exist. Thank you.
This is still by far the most racist channel on TH-cam hands down nobody come close to it
I would be interested in understanding why you say this is such a racist channel?