What can change the nature of a man?

If everyone became prog rock fans... society would stop while everyone debated whether the band "Yes" should be included in discussions amidst King Crimson and Genesis...

 

(1)...Extreme Misfortune, eg The Death Of A Loved One....

(2)...Extreme Good Fortune, eg Winning Lotto....

(3)... A Man's Natural Ageing Process....



Cheers Glen.

 

Calamity.

 

To sum it up... anything

 

The only way most people will predictably change is if they have to--- so enduring crisis is my response.... something that imperils our ability to feed ourselves for which there is no hope for an outside solution..

^^^ in a word ^^^

 

propaganda which is prevalent enough to become super conscious

 

Is the question whether YES was good, or whether it was actually Prog?

Nobody could seriously doubt the latter???

***
In answer to the OP:
"For the early Buddhists, karma was non-linear and complex. Other Indian schools believed that karma operated in a simple straight line, with actions from the past influencing the present, and present actions influencing the future. As a result, they saw little room for free will. Buddhists, however, saw that karma acts in multiple feedback loops, with the present moment being shaped both by past and by present actions; present actions shape not only the future but also the present. Furthermore, present actions need not be determined by past actions. In other words, there is free will, although its range is somewhat dictated by the past. The nature of this freedom is symbolized in an image used by the early Buddhists: flowing water. Sometimes the flow from the past is so strong that little can be done except to stand fast, but there are also times when the flow is gentle enough to be diverted in almost any direction.

"So, instead of promoting resigned powerlessness, the early Buddhist notion of karma focused on the liberating potential of what the mind is doing with every moment. Who you are — what you come from — is not anywhere near as important as the mind's motives for what it is doing right now. Even though the past may account for many of the inequalities we see in life, our measure as human beings is not the hand we've been dealt, for that hand can change at any moment. We take our own measure by how well we play the hand we've got. If you're suffering, you try not to continue the unskillful mental habits that would keep that particular karmic feedback going. If you see that other people are suffering, and you're in a position to help, you focus not on their karmic past but your karmic opportunity in the present: Someday you may find yourself in the same predicament that they're in now, so here's your opportunity to act in the way you'd like them to act toward you when that day comes.

"This belief that one's dignity is measured, not by one's past, but by one's present actions, flew right in the face of the Indian traditions of caste-based hierarchies, and explains why early Buddhists had such a field day poking fun at the pretensions and mythology of the brahmans. As the Buddha pointed out, a brahman could be a superior person not because he came out of a brahman womb, but only if he acted with truly skillful intentions.

"We read the early Buddhist attacks on the caste system, and aside from their anti-racist implications, they often strike us as quaint. What we fail to realize is that they strike right at the heart of our myths about our own past: our obsession with defining who we are in terms of where we come from — our race, ethnic heritage, gender, socio-economic background, sexual preference — our modern tribes. We put inordinate amounts of energy into creating and maintaining the mythology of our tribe so that we can take vicarious pride in our tribe's good name. Even when we become Buddhists, the tribe comes first. We demand a Buddhism that honors our myths.

"From the standpoint of karma, though, where we come from is old karma, over which we have no control. What we "are" is a nebulous concept at best — and pernicious at worst, when we use it to find excuses for acting on unskillful motives. The worth of a tribe lies only in the skillful actions of its individual members. Even when those good people belong to our tribe, their good karma is theirs, not ours. And, of course, every tribe has its bad members, which means that the mythology of the tribe is a fragile thing. To hang onto anything fragile requires a large investment of passion, aversion, and delusion, leading inevitably to more unskillful actions on into the future."
-From Thanissaro Bhikkhu: Karma

 

trying to find it

 

Is there such a thing?

 

That was to be my answer. The nature of a woman.

 

hallucinogenic drugs.

 

a gun, while it's in your mouth

 

6 million dollars.

 

HipForums

 

Hasn't Changed Me In The Slightest....

I'm Still The Same Obnoxious Pain In The Butt Today, As When I Joined

HF's On The22nd April 2007....



Cheers Glen.

 

I consider you to be like an "act of God" unchangeable, same as hurricanes, volcanos, always interesting to watch from a safe distance. :love:

 

Smoking weed.