I just read on another forum some gooddoer western Buddhist guy post a thread in which he asked what can western Buddhists do to help combat prostitution in Buddhst nations. I understand the guy means well, but he is living in LALA Land, really he lives in Japan......okay joke aside.....Now I can help but wonder what makes him think that he or anyone can do anything?

I posted as much and told him that he should focus on helping indivduals who are seeking help and going off to crusade is pointless. Was I wrong to tell him that? I have though many a times that evil has it's place in the world. I don't lke, but really our suffering defines us, right? So, you rid the world of evil, just help people, really the people next to you. Acting locally and all that.

I don't know, what do you learned Bedlamites think......okay, jokes aside.....what are your thoughts?

Cheers!

Hi Thaibebop,

It's 9:38 on a Sunday morning !

Go and have a delicious breakfast with someone beautiful - then we can come back and discuss the bigger issues at a more reasonable hour.

I know you mean well, I just think your timing is a little out...

Hi Thaibebop,

It's 9:38 on a Sunday morning !

Go and have a delicious breakfast with someone beautiful - then we can come back and discuss the bigger issues at a more reasonable hour.

I know you mean well, I just think your timing is a little out...

Mate, it's 9:18 PM here in Kansas of The United States Of America, now is the time for such deep discussions.....it's still Saturday to!

.

Oops Silly Me

I'd better make a booking for a little later in the day - thanks for the explanation - now it makes complete sense.

Oh and is "Everything Up To Date in Kansas City" just like the song says ?

.

Oops Silly Me

I'd better make a booking for a little later in the day - thanks for the explanation - now it makes complete sense.

Oh and is "Everything Up To Date in Kansas City" just like the song says ?

No, it's a little a$$backwards here. Which is why I pray that my karma will lead me out of here. I wouldn't wish this place on my worst enemy........well, maybe I would.

Prostitution isn't evil unless you count marriage as evil. Forced prostitution is.

Prostitution isn't evil unless you count marriage as evil. Forced prostitution is.

So, I take it yo didn't enjoy your time as prostitute?

Well bops, I know you know my views on many things and maybe this one also.

Evil has to exist in the world until the Lord Jesus returns. He will then make this world into one that's good. In the mean while however, we should do what we 'personally' can do for each other and accept what we can change and what we can have an effect on.

As for the righteous do-gooder talking about prostitution, it's not called the oldest profession for nothing!

Another debate which could rage in this thread is the definition of evil...

Prostitution isn't evil unless you count marriage as evil. Forced prostitution is.

So, I take it yo didn't enjoy your time as prostitute?

It was boring just sitting there with no customers!

Our suffering defines us? Who says so? Why can't our happiness define us? How about our intelligence or compassion, can't that define us? Can't we defined by our humanity orconciosness? Maybe we could define ourselves by how much we care to fight eveil, or not. How about definition by our skandas? Suffering defines us,? Geez I hope not. Some people might be defined by their delusions. BTW, maybe you haven't travelled much but there are lots of worse places than Kansas.

Nope.

Oh, you might want more, sorry...

Who would want to "fight" evil? Evil exists, and will always exist.

My spin is that evil consumes itself....I believe in the concept of Karma.

"Another thing that people must sacrifice is their suffering.

It is very difficult also to sacrifice one's suffering.

A man will renounce any pleasures you like but he will not give up his suffering.

Man is made in such a way that he is never so much attached to anything as he is to his suffering.

And it is necessary to be free from suffering.

No one who is not free from suffering, who has not sacrificed his suffering, can work.

Later on a great deal must be said about suffering.

Nothing can be attained without suffering but at the same time one must begin by sacrificing suffering.

Now, decipher what this means."

Georges Ivanovich Gurdieff

I always thought that evil was a necessary tool, to help you understand fully, Right and Good, however scars of this world run deep, so is evil still a necessary arrangement for people to have, so that they can fully understand Good, I have my doubts.

Moss

Maybe the evil you allow is one of the sources of ones suffering. Maybe how you overcome your suffering can become what defines you. Maybe if enough people can overcome their suffering there will be no place for evil to live.

"...whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

Philippians 4:8

I think the point of this verse is not that we should look at the world with 'rose-tinted' glasses, but to understand all that is good we must at least have an appreciation, if not experience, of the opposites.

Well bops, I know you know my views on many things and maybe this one also.

Evil has to exist in the world until the Lord Jesus returns. He will then make this world into one that's good. In the mean while however, we should do what we 'personally' can do for each other and accept what we can change and what we can have an effect on.

As for the righteous do-gooder talking about prostitution, it's not called the oldest profession for nothing!

Another debate which could rage in this thread is the definition of evil...

By your beliefs would you say that evil is necessary to test the faithful?

Prostitution isn't evil unless you count marriage as evil. Forced prostitution is.

So, I take it yo didn't enjoy your time as prostitute?

It was boring just sitting there with no customers!

Couldn't give it away could you?

Our suffering defines us? Who says so? Why can't our happiness define us? How about our intelligence or compassion, can't that define us? Can't we defined by our humanity orconciosness? Maybe we could define ourselves by how much we care to fight eveil, or not. How about definition by our skandas? Suffering defines us,? Geez I hope not. Some people might be defined by their delusions. BTW, maybe you haven't travelled much but there are lots of worse places than Kansas.

Have you ever been to Kansas, man!!! It's pure American He ll, I tell you!! Walmarts and mini-vans, soccor moms and yuppie package deals, give me convenience or give me death is the motto here.

Nope.

Oh, you might want more, sorry...

Who would want to "fight" evil? Evil exists, and will always exist.

My spin is that evil consumes itself....I believe in the concept of Karma.

I like that answer, and the pic....Long Live Vader!!!

"Another thing that people must sacrifice is their suffering.

It is very difficult also to sacrifice one's suffering.

A man will renounce any pleasures you like but he will not give up his suffering.

Man is made in such a way that he is never so much attached to anything as he is to his suffering.

And it is necessary to be free from suffering.

No one who is not free from suffering, who has not sacrificed his suffering, can work.

Later on a great deal must be said about suffering.

Nothing can be attained without suffering but at the same time one must begin by sacrificing suffering.

Now, decipher what this means."

Georges Ivanovich Gurdieff

I always thought that evil was a necessary tool, to help you understand fully, Right and Good, however scars of this world run deep, so is evil still a necessary arrangement for people to have, so that they can fully understand Good, I have my doubts.

Moss

Meaty post there Moss, I need to think on this.

Well bops, I know you know my views on many things and maybe this one also.

Evil has to exist in the world until the Lord Jesus returns. He will then make this world into one that's good. In the mean while however, we should do what we 'personally' can do for each other and accept what we can change and what we can have an effect on.

As for the righteous do-gooder talking about prostitution, it's not called the oldest profession for nothing!

Another debate which could rage in this thread is the definition of evil...

By your beliefs would you say that evil is necessary to test the faithful?

Necessary, no. Factual and part of life, yes. Many things will test the faithful, and this testing can be a good thing, but I wouldn't use the word necessary.

Well bops, I know you know my views on many things and maybe this one also.

Evil has to exist in the world until the Lord Jesus returns. He will then make this world into one that's good. In the mean while however, we should do what we 'personally' can do for each other and accept what we can change and what we can have an effect on.

As for the righteous do-gooder talking about prostitution, it's not called the oldest profession for nothing!

Another debate which could rage in this thread is the definition of evil...

By your beliefs would you say that evil is necessary to test the faithful?

Necessary, no. Factual and part of life, yes. Many things will test the faithful, and this testing can be a good thing, but I wouldn't use the word necessary.

So, then could you say it is a challenge to over come?

Interesting topic. When the faithful become evil, who steps in ? Old re-runs of excellent BBC documentaries on here in HK over the weekend. One about the rise of MS ( Salvadorian Street gang ) and one about the Death camps. The Latinos to a man covered in Tattoos showing their allegiance to their gang and to the church, as they brag about killing and maiming on a vast scale !!!!! Likewise amazing the number of names steeped in infamy from such places as Treblinka who went to work in the morning to oversee the mass extermination of men women and children, but bore signs of religion in their offices and went to church every Sunday ( Eastern Europe and Central America, equally devout ).

I for one can never get my head round the sheer numbers of people " brought up " in the religious sense " The right way ", but become so evil.

Interesting topic. When the faithful become evil, who steps in ? Old re-runs of excellent BBC documentaries on here in HK over the weekend. One about the rise of MS ( Salvadorian Street gang ) and one about the Death camps. The Latinos to a man covered in Tattoos showing their allegiance to their gang and to the church, as they brag about killing and maiming on a vast scale !!!!! Likewise amazing the number of names steeped in infamy from such places as Treblinka who went to work in the morning to oversee the mass extermination of men women and children, but bore signs of religion in their offices and went to church every Sunday ( Eastern Europe and Central America, equally devout ).

I for one can never get my head round the sheer numbers of people " brought up " in the religious sense " The right way ", but become so evil.

So, where do you think this evil comes from?

Perhaps it is simply a result of being unable or unwilling to control one's selfishness (i.e. giving in to whims and desires without attempting to suppress them if the 'little voice' tells you they are wrong)?

I think thats true, Evil is inherent in all of us, it is only society that keeps it from raising its ugly head, and even then society fails at that occasionally as it did in Germany, and Japan during those nasty 6 years from 1939-1945 (isn't it amazing to think that the War on Terror

As that urban myth of an Edmund Burke quote goes "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"

Prostitution isn't evil unless you count marriage as evil. Forced prostitution is.

So, I take it yo didn't enjoy your time as prostitute?

It was boring just sitting there with no customers!

Couldn't give it away could you?

That was my point.

Well bops, I know you know my views on many things and maybe this one also.

Evil has to exist in the world until the Lord Jesus returns. He will then make this world into one that's good. In the mean while however, we should do what we 'personally' can do for each other and accept what we can change and what we can have an effect on.

As for the righteous do-gooder talking about prostitution, it's not called the oldest profession for nothing!

Another debate which could rage in this thread is the definition of evil...

By your beliefs would you say that evil is necessary to test the faithful?

Necessary, no. Factual and part of life, yes. Many things will test the faithful, and this testing can be a good thing, but I wouldn't use the word necessary.

So, then could you say it is a challenge to over come?

Oh yes, it is a challenge to overcome! The potential for evil exists in all of us.

Interesting topic. When the faithful become evil, who steps in ? Old re-runs of excellent BBC documentaries on here in HK over the weekend. One about the rise of MS ( Salvadorian Street gang ) and one about the Death camps. The Latinos to a man covered in Tattoos showing their allegiance to their gang and to the church, as they brag about killing and maiming on a vast scale !!!!! Likewise amazing the number of names steeped in infamy from such places as Treblinka who went to work in the morning to oversee the mass extermination of men women and children, but bore signs of religion in their offices and went to church every Sunday ( Eastern Europe and Central America, equally devout ).

I for one can never get my head round the sheer numbers of people " brought up " in the religious sense " The right way ", but become so evil.

So, where do you think this evil comes from?

Not my question, however, just to be controvertial a quote from Isaiah 45:5-7 where God's speaking to Israel...

"I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."

So there you are. It is then up to us to respond to it.

I think thats true, Evil is inherent in all of us, it is only society that keeps it from raising its ugly head, and even then society fails at that occasionally as it did in Germany, and Japan during those nasty 6 years from 1939-1945 (isn't it amazing to think that the War on Terror

I think you will find that concentration camps were the brain child of the British in the Boer War.

As that urban myth of an Edmund Burke quote goes "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"

I think you will find it is not Urban, nor a myth.

Man's inhumanity to man is well documented.

Moss

Well bops, I know you know my views on many things and maybe this one also.

Evil has to exist in the world until the Lord Jesus returns. He will then make this world into one that's good. In the mean while however, we should do what we 'personally' can do for each other and accept what we can change and what we can have an effect on.

As for the righteous do-gooder talking about prostitution, it's not called the oldest profession for nothing!

Another debate which could rage in this thread is the definition of evil...

By your beliefs would you say that evil is necessary to test the faithful?

Necessary, no. Factual and part of life, yes. Many things will test the faithful, and this testing can be a good thing, but I wouldn't use the word necessary.

So, then could you say it is a challenge to over come?

Oh yes, it is a challenge to overcome! The potential for evil exists in all of us.

Interesting topic. When the faithful become evil, who steps in ? Old re-runs of excellent BBC documentaries on here in HK over the weekend. One about the rise of MS ( Salvadorian Street gang ) and one about the Death camps. The Latinos to a man covered in Tattoos showing their allegiance to their gang and to the church, as they brag about killing and maiming on a vast scale !!!!! Likewise amazing the number of names steeped in infamy from such places as Treblinka who went to work in the morning to oversee the mass extermination of men women and children, but bore signs of religion in their offices and went to church every Sunday ( Eastern Europe and Central America, equally devout ).

I for one can never get my head round the sheer numbers of people " brought up " in the religious sense " The right way ", but become so evil.

So, where do you think this evil comes from?

Not my question, however, just to be controvertial a quote from Isaiah 45:5-7 where God's speaking to Israel...

"I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."

So there you are. It is then up to us to respond to it.

Whoa, heavy. So, how do you respond to that?

I think thats true, Evil is inherent in all of us, it is only society that keeps it from raising its ugly head, and even then society fails at that occasionally as it did in Germany, and Japan during those nasty 6 years from 1939-1945 (isn't it amazing to think that the War on Terror

I think you will find that concentration camps were the brain child of the British in the Boer War.

Probably true, the British have certainly been Evil over years, its not just the preserve of those countries listed, look at what happened in Australia.

As that urban myth of an Edmund Burke quote goes "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"

I think you will find it is not Urban, nor a myth.

Man's inhumanity to man is well documented.

Moss

Now that last sentence is certainly true but in fact there are no written records that actually attribute this quote directly to Edmund Burke. Indeed it has never been found in any of his writings, but I do agree with the premise.