Politics - no thanks

[rhys gethin]

I'm not a closet anybody, and i've nothing to do with any isms or any ists.

I am a fan for sure of what the buddha said those many years ago.

I'm a fan of any kind of wisdom i read.

I love spending as much time as i can outside of politics.

I can't see why, if one gets rid of the illusion of self ('If one drops one's ego, for however long') that that has anything to do with getting rid of politics. To say that meditation (for instance) is 'the part of life where politics ceases to have an impact on a person' is extremely political and entirely wrong. We do not somehow cease to relate to other people and the world in general as we increase our awareness - quite the opposite, in fact. If fela is any sort of Buddhist, I'd reckon that he has still a fair way to go towards Enlightenment if he feels that (well, don't we all?) I could be wrong, of course - as , by the way, could fela.

 

[Ann Tigonie]

Yeah, well i've never yet heard somebody not from america use the word 'dude'.

You might need to get out more.

You're another person not quite able to read (or listen) properly.

I have said politics affects us all, impacts on us all. So that obviously includes me.

So politics impacts on us all including you now! Make your mind up, one minute it doesn't affect you, the next it does.

But what i've consistently said is that it does not have to impact on us all the time, and that politics is not everywhere. You are not grasping this simple point ann.

So to sum up, the effects of politics are everywhere, but nowhere near you. Perhaps sometimes near you, but not too close. It doesn't affect you, well sometimes it does, but only when you choose. Is that about it?

And i can assure you that my ego is generally very well under control, far from it being 'inflated'.

If your ego was under control and you weren't such a pedantic obscurantist, you wouldn't have persisted so doggedly trying to defend such an illogical position.

 

[fela fan]

I can't see why, if one gets rid of the illusion of self ('If one drops one's ego, for however long') that that has anything to do with getting rid of politics. To say that meditation (for instance) is 'the part of life where politics ceases to have an impact on a person' is extremely political and entirely wrong. We do not somehow cease to relate to other people and the world in general as we increase our awareness - quite the opposite, in fact. If fela is any sort of Buddhist, I'd reckon that he has still a fair way to go towards Enlightenment if he feels that (well, don't we all?) I could be wrong, of course - as , by the way, could fela.

By dropping the ego, for however long a period of time, and for however frequently it might be, that is when the real self appears. There's no illusion of the self, just the self.

I agree that with more awareness that we increase our relatedness with other people. Or perhaps i should say we increase our effective relatedness with others.

I'm no sort of buddhist mate. I don't follow anybody, even though buddha was indeed a wise man, but he spoke about life over 2500 years ago, and we live in different times. Interestingly a lot of what he said stands the test of time, but not all of it.

I emphatically categorically state that i'm not wrong when i say that politics does not impact on us all the time. And that there is something higher than politics. I am not wrong, and that's that. If folk want to continue to argue i'm wrong, then fine. But that is because they wish to stick to their point of view and since mine is different to theirs, they argue against it. What they could do of course is try to get their head around what i'm saying instead of being so dogmatic in declaring me to be wrong, based on their own experiences in life.

I don't mean you mate per se, you've at least been polite about disagreeing with me.

Look, i said it already on this thread, but it's getting long, so i'll resay it:

Living in and subscribing to society means that politics is the default, yes, it is everywhere.

But, getting out of society, freeing oneself from society, for however long, and however frequently, means getting out of politics, means a life of zero politics. One's ego is a reflection of one's perceived role and standing within society. Drop the ego, and one has dropped the need to conform to society and has dropped politics. I have done a lot of thinking about this over the last few days, because of the disagreement folk have shown me on this thread, but my conclusion is that i'm in no way wrong, and i urge folk to question their own beliefs on this.

 

[fela fan]

You might need to get out more.

If your ego was under control and you weren't such a pedantic obscurantist, you wouldn't have persisted so doggedly trying to defend such an illogical position.

Oh dear, i got out more a long time ago, in fact i got out about 10,000 kms more. And ever since i've been getting out frequently. That's one of the beauties of the lifestyle that i found when i left britain, in large part because suddenly i can actually afford to get out more.

The reason i have persisted on this thread is because of similar kinds of threads down the years on urban, and some rather interesting pms i get from posters. More than a couple have indicated that they thought i was some kind of 'pedantic obscurantist' or similar (although they use more approachable language), yet then go on to say that they now realise where i was coming from. The trouble is ann, and you're included here, people are so protective of their positions on things that they just can't make the proper effort to listen carefully enough. It's always the same, they end up posting up judgments on other posters even though they've never met them, and this is written communication, not the instant real time oral variety.

 

[brasicritique]

It is a luxury of the rich to be uninterested in politics.

To judge oneself to be disinterested in politics is dangerous. You may wake up one day on the wrong side of a prison door wondering what on earth happened.

No Its a luxury of the uninteresting to be involved in politics. And as for the prison door analogy given the way this country is going at the moment it all depends on who you want to lock you up

 

[butchersapron]

The reason i have persisted on this thread is because of similar kinds of threads down the years on urban, and some rather interesting pms i get from posters. More than a couple have indicated that they thought i was some kind of 'pedantic obscurantist' or similar (although they use more approachable language), yet then go on to say that they now realise where i was coming from.

Sure they have

 

[nino_savatte]

By dropping the ego, for however long a period of time, and for however frequently it might be, that is when the real self appears. There's no illusion of the self, just the self.

This is Buddhism speaking - hein?