Friends, enemies and strangers.

[Intense]

So where do you start?

Friendly acquaintances was not one of your three choices. There is no check box for friendly acquaintance as far as i know on any site i have ever been on. There are no grades of friends. You like someone or you don't. You are friends with someone or you are not.

However... what i said above also goes for "friendly acquaintances". There is always a starting point and you make the best of it. "Yes men" are not your friends no matter what you think, whether that is real life or here on line. If you cant be friends with someone who does not agree with you 100% of the time you are rather shallow. If you cannot like someone who does not agree with you 100% of the time.... how do you ever expect to get along with anyone?

There are many people here who i do not agree with, that does not stop me from liking them and thinking of them as friends. Ravi and jillian are both people who have totally different takes on many things, we disagree.... .and we still like each other and think of each as friends. Do i know them in real life... no. Would i support them in PM, listen to them, help with any problem as a friend... you better believe it. That goes for many others here as well.

I do not need "real life" to be someones friend. How you view people is up to you.

I checked the friend category at your request. We are actually not friends, but acquaintences.

Lets start from the beginning and understand each other in truth. You friended me, and then unfriended everyone a week or so ago. The original request was yours. You withdrew your hand. I kept mine out.

So what are we... enemy acquaintances since we are not friends? I was not aware of a third category in the bhuddist triad of friends, enemy's or strangers.


I tell ya sky... this is such high school stuff its crazy.

I love it when you talk dirty. ;D

 

[syrenn]

Only when you don't understand it, which you obviously do not.

oh i understand it quite well...

And its fucked up shit.

Just because you're annoyed with me is no reason to say Buddhism is flawed.

yes, this is childish crap sky. You know it and i know it...and so does everyone else. Ill call buddhist shit for what it is...

It is flawed and a load of crap in regards to his friends, enemy and stranger shit. It is also very cultish in its use of isolation.

 

[syrenn]

I checked the friend category at your request. We are actually not friends, but acquaintences.

Lets start from the beginning and understand each other in truth. You friended me, and then unfriended everyone a week or so ago. The original request was yours. You withdrew your hand. I kept mine out.

So what are we... enemy acquaintances since we are not friends? I was not aware of a third category in the bhuddist triad of friends, enemy's or strangers.


I tell ya sky... this is such high school stuff its crazy.

I love it when you talk dirty. ;D

want to give me a bath since i am so darn dirty?

 

[Sky Dancer]

Describe a friend. For me, my friends know me well and they love and accept me as I am. They want me to be happy. They support me in my goals. They exaggerate my positive qualities and they minimize my negative ones.

My enemies want me to be unhappy. They delight in causing harm. They exaggerate my negative qualities and ignore or minimize my positive ones.

Strangers are neutral.

I'm confident that you consider me among your enemies, Sky. I wish you happiness, but I will not minimize, nor exaggerate your faults or your attributes. I will tell you what I think of you and not sugar coat the truth. I owe another human that much.

I do not consider you an enemy. You're more of a stranger than anything else. I don't know you that well.

 

[Sky Dancer]

oh i understand it quite well...

And its fucked up shit.

Just because you're annoyed with me is no reason to say Buddhism is flawed.

yes, this is childish crap sky. You know it and i know it...and so does everyone else. Ill call buddhist shit for what it is...

It is flawed and a load of crap in regards to his friends, enemy and stranger shit. It is also very cultish in its use of isolation.

Obviously, you don't understand this contemplation and how it benefits the mind.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Further on the topic, you also can't say that enemy means the same to all, either.

For instance, if I consider someone an enemy, it's because they've probably done something so beyond the pale of being a good person that they wouldn't DESERVE equal regard with those whom I'd consider a friend, unless they made amends with me regarding what they've done.

Enemy is normally used by most people in an extreme way. In Buddhism we only use it to indicate anyone who is not a friend nor a stranger who opposes us in some way. Its a broad general category for mind training.

I thought you had left Buddhism? And USMB? Is Buddha as disappointed?

Buddha is not "disappointed" because Buddha is not a God or a man. Buddha is a state of mind.

I no longer consider myself a "Buddhist".

I come and go from the forum as I choose.

 

[syrenn]

Just because you're annoyed with me is no reason to say Buddhism is flawed.

yes, this is childish crap sky. You know it and i know it...and so does everyone else. Ill call buddhist shit for what it is...

It is flawed and a load of crap in regards to his friends, enemy and stranger shit. It is also very cultish in its use of isolation.

Obviously, you don't understand this contemplation and how it benefits the mind.

If this is what they are teaching... its not good for your mind. Its bullshit.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Congratulations, Lokiate.

You are the only poster who's read the thread and understands the topic.

I'd rep you if I could. See you in 24.

 

[Sky Dancer]

yes, this is childish crap sky. You know it and i know it...and so does everyone else. Ill call buddhist shit for what it is...

It is flawed and a load of crap in regards to his friends, enemy and stranger shit. It is also very cultish in its use of isolation.

Obviously, you don't understand this contemplation and how it benefits the mind.

If this is what they are teaching... its not good for your mind. Its bullshit.

It's quite beneficial to the mind. One of the reasons it works, is because when you truly examine who you label, "friend, enemy or stranger", you see that these categories are plastic, flexible. They have no solidity.

A stranger becomes a friend. Then the friends fall out, and they don't see each other for the rest of their lives. They become strangers again. Or if the riff is really bad, they become "enemies" or opponents. They stop getting along and they are no longer friends.

Some "enemies" make peace, and they become friends again. You can see these categories change all the time.

What it does is open the mind and heart, so that one doesn't view enemies harshly. Nor does one ignore a stranger or think of friendship as something solid.

 

[Sky Dancer]

I dont have any enemies that I know of.

I hope no one considers me an enemy and if they do I hope its because I told them a truth they did not like.

I consider everyone that comes into my life as a friend until they prove themselves to be unhealthy for me then they are a non issue. I just ignore them. They dont become enemies.

Enemies come and go. Saddam Hussein is a perfect example. At one point, he was considered a friend of the United States because Iraq was our ally in relation to Iran. Then he became an enemy to America.

 

[Sky Dancer]

A "friend" is a person who is on good terms, an "enemy" is someone who is not. The degrees vary. A stranger is simply an irrelevant unknown, unless rendered relevant one way or another.

You understand what I'm saying perfectly. Perhaps, you can help some of the others who are lost.

Hey, a Friend is Someone, in part, that gives timely and good council, whether you get the significance or not. A Friend, in part, is Someone you can Generally count on to not Hurt You, or Kick You when You are down. You push the Right Buttons, You will find more, rather than less of them. We All unravel in different ways. Packaging People, Supposing, misjudging, miss-characterizing, compounds the problems we each face.

Exactly. Do you notice what "friend, enemy and stranger" have in common?

 

[RetiredGySgt]

I dont have any enemies that I know of.

I hope no one considers me an enemy and if they do I hope its because I told them a truth they did not like.

I consider everyone that comes into my life as a friend until they prove themselves to be unhealthy for me then they are a non issue. I just ignore them. They dont become enemies.

Enemies come and go. Saddam Hussein is a perfect example. At one point, he was considered a friend of the United States because Iraq was our ally in relation to Iran. Then he became an enemy to America.

One can not equate what Countries do with what people do. Countries, in truth, have no human emotions. Friend is simply a political title give to those Countries a Country presently has good relations with and will change as the Countries change. Enemy simply means a Country we have bad relations with. A "friendly" country can easily become an enemy depending on the NEEDS of the Country. Same with Enemies, depending on the needs of the Country it can and will make enemies into friends. There are no stranger Countries. There are unaligned Countries.

And the term friendly Country can mean many different things. China is a "friend" trade wise but not in many other respects. England is a " friend " in just about every category a Country has relations with another.

 

[Sky Dancer]

I dont have any enemies that I know of.

I hope no one considers me an enemy and if they do I hope its because I told them a truth they did not like.

I consider everyone that comes into my life as a friend until they prove themselves to be unhealthy for me then they are a non issue. I just ignore them. They dont become enemies.

Enemies come and go. Saddam Hussein is a perfect example. At one point, he was considered a friend of the United States because Iraq was our ally in relation to Iran. Then he became an enemy to America.

One can not equate what Countries do with what people do. Countries, in truth, have no human emotions. Friend is simply a political title give to those Countries a Country presently has good relations with and will change as the Countries change. Enemy simply means a Country we have bad relations with. A "friendly" country can easily become an enemy depending on the NEEDS of the Country. Same with Enemies, depending on the needs of the Country it can and will make enemies into friends. There are no stranger Countries. There are unaligned Countries.

And the term friendly Country can mean many different things. China is a "friend" trade wise but not in many other respects. England is a " friend " in just about every category a Country has relations with another.

It's exactly the same. In history, we are friends and enemies serially with the same countries.

You could call a country you know nothing about a "stranger" country.

Everything in the friend, enemy and stranger labels is about ego.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Enemies come and go. Saddam Hussein is a perfect example. At one point, he was considered a friend of the United States because Iraq was our ally in relation to Iran. Then he became an enemy to America.

One can not equate what Countries do with what people do. Countries, in truth, have no human emotions. Friend is simply a political title give to those Countries a Country presently has good relations with and will change as the Countries change. Enemy simply means a Country we have bad relations with. A "friendly" country can easily become an enemy depending on the NEEDS of the Country. Same with Enemies, depending on the needs of the Country it can and will make enemies into friends. There are no stranger Countries. There are unaligned Countries.

And the term friendly Country can mean many different things. China is a "friend" trade wise but not in many other respects. England is a " friend " in just about every category a Country has relations with another.

It's exactly the same. In history, we are friends and enemies serially with the same countries.

You could call a country you know nothing about a "stranger" country.

Everything in the friend, enemy and stranger labels is about ego.

Countries do not have EGO's.

 

[Sky Dancer]

One can not equate what Countries do with what people do. Countries, in truth, have no human emotions. Friend is simply a political title give to those Countries a Country presently has good relations with and will change as the Countries change. Enemy simply means a Country we have bad relations with. A "friendly" country can easily become an enemy depending on the NEEDS of the Country. Same with Enemies, depending on the needs of the Country it can and will make enemies into friends. There are no stranger Countries. There are unaligned Countries.

And the term friendly Country can mean many different things. China is a "friend" trade wise but not in many other respects. England is a " friend " in just about every category a Country has relations with another.

It's exactly the same. In history, we are friends and enemies serially with the same countries.

You could call a country you know nothing about a "stranger" country.

Everything in the friend, enemy and stranger labels is about ego.

Countries do not have EGO's.

In a way, countries do have ego's. Ego is identity, a kind of "self". Americans definitely have ego about our country. It shows up as pride.

 

[Sky Dancer]

The whole point of using these labels of friend, enemy and stranger is to really examine them and see that they are not solid, and inherently existing. They are impermanent. They change all the time.

 

[catzmeow]

The whole point of using these labels of friend, enemy and stranger is to really examine them and see that they are not solid, and inherently existing. They are impermanent. They change all the time.

And here, I thought this thread was just about you engaging in some public mental masturbation.

 

[Liability]

The whole point of using these labels of friend, enemy and stranger is to really examine them and see that they are not solid, and inherently existing. They are impermanent. They change all the time.

And here, I thought this thread was just about you engaging in some public mental masturbation.

Another masturbation reference involving the two of you?

It's a ménage à trois thing involving the two of you and unmanlyfold, eh?

 

[Sky Dancer]

Another example of enemies: conservatives and liberals on this forum. Each hating the other and putting them down.

To much problem to label people enemies as it conveys a specific feeling. It implies hatred and I don't have the strength to waste hating people. My strength is used for me.

I mostly feel sorry for Liberals as they have delusional beliefs and are so ignorant of reality.

Enemy does not imply hatred, at least, not to me. Enemy is a category of relationship that is dynamic. It doesn't remain the same, ever.

Enemy to me is merely opponent. I used the term, "enemy" because it is used in this traditional Buddhist contemplation.

The whole point is to see through these changing roles and to develop an equal kind regard for all three kinds of relationships.

 

[syrenn]

Another example of enemies: conservatives and liberals on this forum. Each hating the other and putting them down.

To much problem to label people enemies as it conveys a specific feeling. It implies hatred and I don't have the strength to waste hating people. My strength is used for me.

I mostly feel sorry for Liberals as they have delusional beliefs and are so ignorant of reality.

Enemy does not imply hatred, at least, not to me. Enemy is a category of relationship that is dynamic. It doesn't remain the same, ever.

Enemy to me is merely opponent. I used the term, "enemy" because it is used in this traditional Buddhist contemplation.

The whole point is to see through these changing roles and to develop an equal kind regard for all three kinds of relationships.

Then it would appear that i am better at buddhist ideals then you are sky.