Admittedly, I don’t know much about Buddhism, but Soulewolf seems to be admiring Buddhism simply because God is Love. Of course we already believe God is Love, but is that enough??? Maybe Buddhism has penalties for sins. I don’t know. When we lust for scantilly-clad hotties, we are decreasing our relationships with our wives. Years ago, I never would have wanted to admit that, but it’s true. Yet, guys will criticize the Catholic Church for being too tight. It’s the way to discern between our tendency to give into lust due to selfish boredom versus maintaining true love. The CC is correct.
How do you define “reasonable and functional?” If “reasonable and functional” is defined by the unelected pop culture media’s values, then who is your god??? As the Bible says, “You cannot serve two masters.” Maybe people need to open their minds, ask questions, and challenge the unelected media god establishment that is generating public opinion without an election.
I can’t speak for Soulewolf. And yes, we do know that God is Love, but mostly as an intellectual assertion, or an emotional one, or wost case, by rote. None of those is how I would understand God as Love. And that our definitions are inadequate is simple enough to understand as we are usually with mortal mind attempting to have a sense of what Divinity is about, and on a deep retreat or through inspiration or grace, we might see more profoundly the meaning of that. It usually is something quite unexpected.
The Church appears to have “structured” penal;ties for sins in that we classify them as mortal or venial, and there are degrees and kinds of those, of course. And who hasn’t gone to a priest who is “easy” with penance prayers or deeds? But more to the Buddhist point is that each act has its exact consequence which is reflexive on the actor. Karma, if you will, with the punishment being an inherent part of the crime, now and thenceforward. Not so different than our Golden Rule and Great Commandment, and actually more overtly related to the reason for those commandments: for all practical purposes the other
is you, separated only by the human notion of difference.
As for lovely ladies drawing one’s attention, it is nuts to think that a system built to recognize beauty would stop doing that because of a spoken commitment. As with anything we do, there are degrees and kinds of commitment. Some guys never learn or care that they have made one. Others are so committed by their nature that they don’t respond even when heavily provoked because their love is first in their hearts. That is a matter of growth in maturity. If “rules” and “punishments” help. it only means that there is an inner weakness to begin with. After all, “religions” stems from roots that mean “to tie back to.” The implicit implication is that the tie-ee, if you will, can’t stand on their own. And that is why it is said that very holy people are “above the law.” It, the law, is written in their hearts as their own being. No need for tying there. From your remarks, it appears that you have made some progress in this area.
And selfish boredom for a creative intelligent mind in a loving relationship is impossible. But it takes work to achieve that. or a gift.
“Reasonable and functional” means to me that there is a cognitive line of understanding why something is so, and actions based on that understanding do no harm and support growth in Love. Pop culture is sensually based, mixing fear, greed, and desire. The “Pop” culture that works is the knowing that the Father doeth the work. Most people identify with their acts as subject. Few people can step back and witness themselves going about the day. But that is why we practice, if we do, the Divine Presence, and do an examination of conscience. It is also why we listen to our loved ones and are accepting of criticism. That way we can have several pairs of eyes and a few minds as anchors in the picture the world presents us as being “true.” It is all, in one way or another, illusory. That doesn’t’ mean it doesn’t exist, as many wrong interpretations of Buddhism might have you believe.
But in our pop culture even religion, even the Catholic religion is taken to be a one step fix by many people. The subtleties of the pop culture are nefarious and many.
And you are of course right to say that no man can serve two masters. But as the parables have levels of meaning so does that. It is literally true. Yet many are treasonous to themselves and therefore to the God. It is clear to anyone who has half a neuron and can use it that the media are invested in sensationalism and waste. Those are completely antithetical to experiencing growth in love. But if you know the way, go with Einstein. He said “Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means.” I think we know of someone who did that and we built a Church around it. He said “Go ye and do likewise.” Now there is a worthy lifetime of work, eh?
