Stoicism or smiling?

Posted on May 6th, 2009 by Siona in Gaia Books

My copy of Eat, Pray, Love came with discussion questions, which I'm posting here in hopes that you'll want to weigh in. :) Prayer and meditation are both things that can be learned and, importantly,... More »

Advice From a 2000-Year-Old Slave

Posted on Jun 6th, 2008 by Flowerchild in Living Metaphysics

Advice From a 2000-Year-Old Slave by Alexander Green Dear Reader, Standing in line at the register the other day, I couldn't help overhearing the woman on her cell phone in front of me. Her mother... More »

Salutations

Posted on Mar 6th, 2008 by ItsWill in Gaia Lounge

"Just saying Hi" was taken, so I tried to be clever.  As much as I would enjoy taking a more active part in the Gaia on-line community, I am currently working as a bookseller full-time... More »

Year of Hope - Find the Signs of Hope

Posted on Jan 29th, 2008 by WhiteWolf in Elders of the Seven New Tribes

First, let me apologize for not posting for a bit. The new puppy has kept us quite busy in the White Wolf household. I think in a way, that was a good thing. When I... More »

Sitting in Stillness by Robin Littlefeather Hannon

Posted on Dec 31st, 2007 by WhiteWolf in Elders of the Seven New Tribes

Sitting in Stillness In our modern day world we have forgotten how to sit in absolute stillness, breath and meditate waiting for Spirit.  From our conception we are surrounded by a cacophony of noise.   We... More »

Tell You What

Posted on Dec 4th, 2007 by Cody in MFA: Marvelous FREE Art!

A short story of sorts... He began living. Unfolding himself from the fetal, Golden Ratio he was born into; a staircase in the vision of a dreamer. The antennae, receiving and transmitting consciousness, energy which... More »

Re: Pantheism

Posted on Jun 4th, 2007 by debyemm in Living Metaphysics

Thanks for getting this started.  It is of huge interest to me and I am quite happy to sit in a circle to discuss Pantheism with you and any one else who decides to join... More »

Meet the Extropians

Posted on Apr 12th, 2007 by adastra in The Integral Pod

from http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.10/extropians.html   Meet the Extropians There's been nothing like this movement - nothing this wild and extravagant - since way back in those bygone ages when people believed in things like progress, knowledge, and... More »

Re: Call of humanity

Posted on Mar 25th, 2007 by Zakariyya in Vision Cafe - Visionaries Unite!

  Hate "Hating" something does not have to be the  emotional "hate" like you hate an enemy who has just destroyed your home. One would certainly hate a hurricane tearing their house down, wouldn't they?... More »

Re: Which is better, Enlightenment or Wisdom?

Posted on Dec 23rd, 2006 by Tyrone in Beyond Enlightenment

well, yes. i agree reading all my philosophy books just gradually started to tear away at my brain, even these days, im going to university and i refuse to take a philosophy class, because i... More »

I get it, now...

Posted on Oct 21st, 2008 by Grey Stone

It is about 6:30 in the evening here. I still have more work to do: it sometimes feels as though my day will never end. Like the proverbial kid in school, I look out the... More »

When was the last time you acted?

Posted on Sep 24th, 2008 by B.B.

I'm kinda me all the time. Some times I reel myself in a bit like at work when shits happening and I zone into the rhythm of technique,and hold on for dear life,and let go... More »

" Shit Happens " in various world religions...lol

Posted on Jun 12th, 2008 by metaphysi_chic

TAOISM: Shit happens. CONFUCIANISM: Confucius say, "Shit happens". ZEN: (What is the sound of shit happening?) JESUITISM: If shit happens and when nobody is watching, is it really shit? ISLAM: Shit happens if it is... More »

A Tip to Quickly Change Any Emotion

Posted on Mar 27th, 2008 by Obi

Logic vs. Emotions by Obi Okorougo Any Stoic Philosopher would tell you that the easiest way to change your emotions is to realize that: A. You are not your emotions (you aren't "mad"you just have... More »

Universal Gaia

Posted on Mar 24th, 2008 by Russell

Aurelius proclaims: "Constantly regard the universe as one living being, having one substance and one soul; and observe how all things have reference to one perception, the perception of this one living being; and how... More »

Year of Hope - Find Signs of Hope

Posted on Jan 29th, 2008 by WhiteWolf

First, let me apologize for not posting for a bit. The new puppy has kept us quite busy in the White Wolf household. I think in a way, that was a good thing. When I... More »

Speedlinking 1/10/08

Posted on Jan 10th, 2008 by WH

Quote of the day : "In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress." ~... More »

Ethics at the Mind-Brain Intersection

Posted on Dec 28th, 2007 by DuALiTySTrUgGle

{feedback is greatly appreciated!!!}     Over 2,500 years ago, Gautama Buddha said: “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world” (Kornfield, 1993, 4).... More »

Sitting in Stillness

Posted on Dec 28th, 2007 by Robin Littlefeather

  Sitting in Stillness In our modern day world we have forgotten how to sit in absolute stillness, breathe and meditate waiting for Spirit.  From our conception we are surrounded by a cacophony of noise.  ... More »

Dirt and Snow and Light Draft One

Posted on Dec 25th, 2007 by Beagle

DIRT AND SNOW AND LIGHT This morning the dirt I kicked into the pond fell through the water like dry snow. Now, snow falls—quarter-sized flakes slushing the water’s surface. Somewhere past the snow the sun... More »

'T 's pride, rank pride, and haughtiness of soul; I think the Romans call it stoicism.

When some state or other offered Alexander a part of its territory and half of all its property he told them that ‘he hadn’t come to Asia with the intention of accepting whatever they cared to give him, but of letting them keep whatever he chose to leave them.’ Philosophy, likewise, tells all other occupations: ‘It’s not my intention to accept whatever time is leftover from you; you shall have, instead, what I reject.’ Give you whole mind to her.

If S.B. sometimes railed against Western customs, treating democracy as if it was a euphemism for bad faith, red tape, and diplomatic evasiveness, this was not because he put himself above the lway, ready to waive constitutional procedures, or ignore the views of others. It simply reflected his impatience with indecisiveness, and his aristocratic heritage. It was his pride in this heritage that led him, as an eleven year old boy to stand up to Mr. Vincent's disparaging conflation of Kuranko and savages. To be Kuranko was, as his father had told him, the only conceivable way of being a man. But when S. B. invoked Kuranko-ness, it was not some form of tribalism that he had in mind, but the values he held dear-- not only forthrightness, stoicism, hard work, and self-reliance, but also honesty, generosit, and fidelity to one's principles. Pertinently, it was S. B. many years ago, who provided me with a not implausible etymology for the word Kuranko. "It iwas from the kure tree," he said, "whose wood is very hard."Thus, to say kure n'ko is to imply that the speaker is tough-minded, able to withstand all kinds of hardships, and persevere, like the kure tree.

"The universe is in change, life is an opinion."

That's great! I am smiling broadly - still! :-)

remarks:
Me too dear Ian

source:
From: Ian Gardner
Subject: Try this one HAL.
Date: Mon May 21 04:33:02 UTC 2007

CLICK HERE .....
Ever since I first saw this picture I have tried to grasp the word that describes his expression. I think I have just got it: Stoic  Stoicism is a helpful attitude provided that it is not taken to extremes.

The way of the Buddha involves a metaphysical stoicism, a way of overcoming the power that worldliness has over oneself: the world rules us through our suffering no less than through our desires and appetites and hopes; all of this is Maya, the universe of delusorily desirable and despicable goods. The primal insight of Buddha is not that the suffering of the world must first be mitigated but rather that we must learn to recognize that our DESIRES are no less a form of SUFFERING than are our AILMENTS. This is what qualifies Buddhism as an authentic form of spirituality, its transcendence over the finite and merely psychological domain.