Do you wish to continue?

Casual discussion amongst spiritual friends.

Do you wish to continue?

Postby tiltbillings » Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:03 am


What is the use of his knowledge
pertaining to the number of insects in the whole world?
Rather, inquire into his knowledge of
that which is to be practised by us

-- Dharmakirti

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond.
SN I, 38.

Níl sa saol seo ach ceo
There is naught in this life but mist
Is ní bheimid beo ach seal beag gearr.
And we will not be alive but a short hard time.
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Re: Do you wish to continue?

Postby dhamma_newb » Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:32 am

Tier three sucks. I do not wish to continue.
The watched mind brings happiness.
Dhp 36

I am larger and better than I thought. I did not know I held so much goodness.
Walt Whitman
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Re: Do you wish to continue?

Postby James the Giant » Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:48 am

Ooh chilling.
It reminds me of an Ian Banks novel where the Culture goes to war to stop various civilizations from running virtual, simulated hells, where good or bad deeds are punished or rewarded by the torment of digitized personalities after death.
And in a virtual world, there's nothing to stop someone being tortured to death, again and again and again.
Then,
saturated with joy,
you will put an end to suffering and stress.
SN 9.11
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Re: Do you wish to continue?

Postby Rui Sousa » Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:22 am

Great satyre. But the question is very meaninguful. Do I wish to continue experiencing life? The honest answer is yes :(

Not proud of it anymore, but I really want to be alive and have a body and mind just as this one. And so I do.
With Metta
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Re: Do you wish to continue?

Postby daverupa » Fri Jun 22, 2012 11:09 am

Is it possible to meditate while remaining on the menu screen? :stirthepot:
    "There is, headman, dhammasamādhi. If you were to obtain cittasamādhi in that, you might abandon this state of perplexity. And what, headman, is dhammasamādhi?

    [kammapatha & brahmavihara, & a method of arousing gladness]"
- SN 42.13 - Pāṭaliya


    "Others will misapprehend according to their individual views, hold on to them tenaciously and not easily discard them; we shall not misapprehend according to individual views nor hold on to them tenaciously, but shall discard them with ease — thus effacement can be done."
- MN 8 - Sallekha Sutta
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Re: Do you wish to continue?

Postby Kim O'Hara » Fri Jun 22, 2012 11:26 am

James the Giant wrote:Ooh chilling.
It reminds me of an Ian Banks novel where the Culture goes to war to stop various civilizations from running virtual, simulated hells, where good or bad deeds are punished or rewarded by the torment of digitized personalities after death.
And in a virtual world, there's nothing to stop someone being tortured to death, again and again and again.

There are other SF treatments, too. One you may have missed (especially since it was a debut novel) is The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi. It opens in a prison in which the lead character is forced to endlessly play the Prisoner's Dilemma game (co-operate or defect?) against multiple copies of himself, or other beings, and dies painfully when he loses, only to be brought back to life. (It does get better, but also weirder.)
Greg Egan has also written some great stories about what might happen if we go silicon.

To answer the OP: Yes, of course. It may be crooked but (so far as I know) it's the only game in town. :tongue:

:namaste:
Kim
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Re: Do you wish to continue?

Postby suttametta » Fri Jun 22, 2012 3:15 pm

There are many other worlds than this one. No need to cling to life here under such conditions. I, for one, am not afraid to die.
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Re: Do you wish to continue?

Postby Alex123 » Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:13 pm

Why exist? Just let me die already! Life has difficulties as it is, so why continue and pay for it?
If life is imperfect (dukkha), then it is ignorant to try to change it to perfection (sukha). Accept what is!
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Re: Do you wish to continue?

Postby manas » Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:27 pm

Rui Sousa wrote:Great satyre. But the question is very meaninguful. Do I wish to continue experiencing life? The honest answer is yes :(

Not proud of it anymore, but I really want to be alive and have a body and mind just as this one. And so I do.


I feel that way also. But remember that one can enter the stream that leads to Nibbana, and although bhava-tanha is not fully abandoned at that stage, at least we would have shut the door on reappearance in the animal, ghostly or hell realms, permanently. 8-) Let's enter the stream that leads inexorably to Nibbana... :meditate:

:anjali:
When this is, that is.
From the arising of this comes the arising of that.
When this isn't, that isn't.
From the cessation of this comes the cessation of that.
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Re: Do you wish to continue?

Postby Sam Vara » Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:59 pm

If I pay a big enough supplement, can they get me stream entry?
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Re: Do you wish to continue?

Postby Ben » Sat Jun 23, 2012 6:37 am

well that was interesting, thanks Tilt!
...he wondered whether there was any love between human beings that did not rest upon some sort of self-delusion.

-- John le Carré, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

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e: ben.dhammawheel@gmail.com
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Re: Do you wish to continue?

Postby Reductor » Sat Jun 23, 2012 6:51 am

Surely such a service would be opt-in, right? Or opt-out at least.

Then it would be easier to make that decision when one is sure they'll live forever, thus avoiding such a miserable proposition when the inevitable happens. :tongue:
Michael

The thoughts I've expressed in the above post are carefully considered and offered in good faith.

And friendliness towards the world is happiness for him who is forbearing with living beings. -- Ud. 2:1
To his own ruin the fool gains knowledge, for it cleaves his head and destroys his innate goodness. -- Dhp 72

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