spiritual awakening and enlightenment in today’s world

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite. —Bertrand Russell

Why should we bother seeking enlightenment?

August 7th, 2006 Posted in Mind, Peace and Justice, Spirituality

This is why:

torii after Nagasaki atomic bomb
Torii after Nagasaki atomic blast, August 9, 1945

  1. 6 Responses to “Why should we bother seeking enlightenment?”

  2. By Zach Young on Aug 8, 2006

    That picture is just haunting. All the destruction…

  3. By Jon on Aug 9, 2006

    And that’s the reason.

  4. By Ted Johns on Aug 9, 2006

    I think to be fair about the subject you should put pictures of the bombing of Pearl Harbor or the Bataan Death March or The Rape of NanKing.
    The Japanese were determined on world domination. They would not stop until every man, woman and child was under their control, or until they died trying.
    We saved the lives of probably millions if we had decided on a ground invasion of mainland Japan. Just on Iwo Jima alone tens of thousands of men on our side and theirs were lost. And that was a ground invasion. We must always stand up against evil or we are all lost.

  5. By Jon on Aug 9, 2006

    Ted,

    I think you misunderstand the post. My point is that the ego is ultimately the source of all conflict, and left to its own devices creates massive suffering for itself and others.

  6. By Jon on Aug 10, 2006

    Sorry, Julie, Your comment got caught in my spam filter, and when I tried to restore it, it was deleted. You made a great point, though. The primary reason is to change ourselves.

    We must be buddhas before we can become bodhisattvas.

  7. By anonymous julie on Aug 11, 2006

    Oh, good, because I made TWO comments and when neither showed up… I gave up. My third attempt would’ve been reduced to a sentence.

    Why bother? To get through. Just to get through. That’s it.

    What’s enlightenment, anyway?

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