All that you can do is do your best

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purple planet
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All that you can do is do your best

Post by purple planet »

All that you can do is do your best - you cant control stuff but you should try to do the best you can to improve the situation

I am sure that this is not fully correct so if people here want to add or remove parts from/of this sentence and improve it you are welcome to do so

thoughts - ideas - examples - are welcome
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Kim OHara
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Re: All that you can do is do your best

Post by Kim OHara »

Looks good to me.

:smile:
Kim
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Khalil Bodhi
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Re: All that you can do is do your best

Post by Khalil Bodhi »

I know that's the best I can do. :anjali:
To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
-Dhp. 183

The Stoic Buddhist: https://www.quora.com/q/dwxmcndlgmobmeu ... pOR2p0uAdH
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http://khalilbodhi.wordpress.com
PimonratC
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Re: All that you can do is do your best

Post by PimonratC »

Oprah Talks to Thich Nhat Hanh :smile:


Thich Nhat Hanh : Well, happiness and suffering support each other. To be is to inter-be. It's like the left and the right. If the left is not there, the right cannot be there. The same is true with suffering and happiness, good and evil. In every one of us there are good seeds and bad. We have the seed of brotherhood, love, compassion, insight. But we have also the seed of anger, hate, dissent.

Oprah: That's the nature of being human.

Thich Nhat Hanh: Yes. There is the mud, and there is the lotus that grows out of the mud. We need the mud in order to make the lotus.

Oprah: Can't have one without the other.

Thich Nhat Hanh: Yes. You can only recognize your happiness against the background of suffering. If you have not suffered hunger, you do not appreciate having something to eat. If you have not gone through a war, you don't know the value of peace. That is why we should not try to run away from one thing after another thing. Holding our suffering, looking deeply into it, we find a way to happiness.



:smile: :smile: :smile:



Read more: http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Oprah-Talks ... z2iy48StPI
chownah
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Re: All that you can do is do your best

Post by chownah »

Does this mean that even people doing "bad" things are doing their best since doing one's best is the only possibility? I doubt that this is your meaning unless you are a fatalist.....I am only offering this idea because suggestions concerning the wording were invited.
chownah
SarathW
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Re: All that you can do is do your best

Post by SarathW »

Is it possible to do better than you best?
:shrug:
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
Sanjay PS
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Re: All that you can do is do your best

Post by Sanjay PS »

That is true .

What we can do is exercise a choice , of minimizing our internal reactions (sankharas in pali ) , thereby , helping ourselves and the atmosphere around us .

sanjay
The Path of Dhamma

The path of Dhamma is no picnic . It is a strenuous march steeply up the hill . If all the comrades desert you , Walk alone ! Walk alone ! with all the Thrill !!

U S.N. Goenka
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Doshin
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Re: All that you can do is do your best

Post by Doshin »

I'm not sure who you comment, the OP or the previous post (to yours) about Oprah. But I assume it is the OP.
chownah wrote:Does this mean that even people doing "bad" things are doing their best since doing one's best is the only possibility? I doubt that this is your meaning unless you are a fatalist.....I am only offering this idea because suggestions concerning the wording were invited.
chownah
First thought... "bad" by who's measuring stick ? I think that people doing "bad" according to my judgement, most likely think they do good, as seen through their delusion. In my view "bad" things, is mainly caused by not realizing ones own delusion (soon enough) as delusion.

I read "All that you can do is do your best .." from the OP, as it is about ones intention; yes people can do "bad" things, but if one is to reflect on ones intention, all you can do is choosing the most skilful intentions, as seen through your current delusion(s).

When one ".. try to do the best .." then at least it demands one to reflect about the outcome, based on ones intentions. When one reflect on ones intentions, one would gain wisdom, that is the antidote on delusion. At least that is what I think, when reflecting on the OP.

With a little different approach, I thought of a Shantideva quote:
If you can solve your problem, then what is the need of worrying?
If you cannot solve it, then what is the use of worrying?
_/\_
Knowing about dhamma, does not imply knowing dhamma
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manas
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Re: All that you can do is do your best

Post by manas »

Doshin wrote:If you can solve your problem, then what is the need of worrying?
If you cannot solve it, then what is the use of worrying?
...I think I might write up that quote and paste it onto my wall.

:anjali:
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
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reflection
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Re: All that you can do is do your best

Post by reflection »

For me letting go is the opposite of doing and the opposite of trying. :anjali:
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purple planet
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Re: All that you can do is do your best

Post by purple planet »

So what is actually
my best
?

like now i decided to take it easy(easier) i enjoy music ect ... but when i can control it i stop
i dont do to much meditation and do short meditation sittings sometimes when i can i do a long sitting

I belive its the best state now - im slowly and easily doing more mediation time and less stuff for my enjoyment - BUT i guess i can do more if i really try to - so am i doing my best ? even if i meditate 10 hours a day i can allways do 12 - where is the
best
lay ?
Sanjay PS
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Re: All that you can do is do your best

Post by Sanjay PS »

purple planet wrote:So what is actually
my best
?

like now i decided to take it easy(easier) i enjoy music ect ... but when i can control it i stop
i dont do to much meditation and do short meditation sittings sometimes when i can i do a long sitting

I belive its the best state now - im slowly and easily doing more mediation time and less stuff for my enjoyment - BUT i guess i can do more if i really try to - so am i doing my best ? even if i meditate 10 hours a day i can allways do 12 - where is the
best
lay ?
Hi PP,

The more one is aware of impermanence continually , the better. Hence , in effect there is always scope to give that little bit more , making use of any situation to its full . Its also really nice to feel and understand , our enjoyments , be it music , gardening and other engagements , these experiences are dominated by the sensations that courses through our body and mind at any given point of time . A liking to a song or a tune , is just a superficial liking , deeper, it is the sensation that was already there at that particular moment that stretches the liking of a song or any object/situation . Also , if we are aware, we will realize that at times there is this attachment to a song/object/situation , and sometimes there is no attachment. Similarly to the kinds of unpleasantness that we experience .Therefore , it becomes all the more clearer that its all an internal make up , and the thrill and reverence on walking on the path gets deeply entrenched .

Neither do we love anyone or anything , nor do we hate anyone or anything. Its just the changing sensations that rule ..........

sanjay
The Path of Dhamma

The path of Dhamma is no picnic . It is a strenuous march steeply up the hill . If all the comrades desert you , Walk alone ! Walk alone ! with all the Thrill !!

U S.N. Goenka
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