Should lay Buddhists vote?

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
Coyote
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Re: Should lay Buddhists vote?

Post by Coyote »

Mkoll wrote: I'm saying we have a civic duty "nowadays" because we're members of democracies, at least those of us on this forum I hope. And it's more of a right and something expected of you rather than an imperative. Personally, whether someone actually votes or not is none of my business.

It has nothing to do with Buddhism or Buddhist ideals.
Thanks for the clarification.
"If beings knew, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they would not eat without having given, nor would the stain of miserliness overcome their minds. Even if it were their last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared."
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Sam Vara
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Re: Should lay Buddhists vote?

Post by Sam Vara »

Mkoll wrote: Marx would just be another puppet under their control whose ideas they allowed to spread in order to influence people's minds in such a way as to further their ends.
Ah, I see. What about the Buddha, I wonder...?
Boris
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Re: Should lay Buddhists vote?

Post by Boris »

Mkoll wrote: Thanks for reminding me. I forgot to add that the the Jews or some Jewish cabal are also prime suspects of conspiracy theorists regarding who runs the world. Both links you provided opt for that route.
Shell I understand your statement here, that you put SF creatures theory and evident and obvious overrepresentation of Jews in almost every important industry/field in America on the same level? http://thebilzerianreport.com/whats-wro ... -gentiles/
The man who wants to avoid grotesque collapses should not look for anything to fulfill him in space and time.

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daverupa
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Re: Should lay Buddhists vote?

Post by daverupa »

While I'm somewhat inclined to :popcorn: this calumny, let us please :focus:
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
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Cittasanto
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Re: Should lay Buddhists vote?

Post by Cittasanto »

Hi Craig
not exact but...
DN31 wrote:"The servants and employees thus ministered to as the Nadir by their master show their compassion to him in five ways:


(i) they rise before him,
(ii) they go to sleep after him,
(iii) they take only what is given,
(iv) they perform their duties well,
(v) they uphold his good name and fame.
At the end of the day as a layperson you are take part of the social contract, part of that unwritten contract is for you to vote as you see fit, just as a written part maybe to be drafted when sought for, in a capacity that is suitable.
Voting is a new thing and will not of been known in the time of the Buddha but the social contract was, part of the understanding was that the citizens went to war if needed, another part was that they payed taxes. Now Voting is a right that if not used could be lost if the wrong people got in (potentially).
people fought for these rights and died in some cases, it is an act of respect to generations past that we use these votes wisely now while we can.
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
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chownah
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Re: Should lay Buddhists vote?

Post by chownah »

If voting could change things in any fundamental way it would be illegal.
chownah
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Mkoll
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Re: Should lay Buddhists vote?

Post by Mkoll »

boris,

If you'd like to make another thread in the lounge to discuss conspiracy theories, I'll join you. We can entertain people with crazy stuff they've never heard before. It's about time this forum got a dose of Jews, aliens, lizard people, 9/11, rothschilds, central banking, Jekyll Island, NWO, Bilderburgs, Trilateral Commission, mass sterilization, manufactured viruses, chemtrails, HAARP, earthquake machines, mind control, Zionism, Satanism, Skull and Bones, and the Illuminati.

Or maybe I can save everyone's time and sanity by saying: don't waste your time.

Sorry for hijacking the thread!

:focus:
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Boris
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Re: Should lay Buddhists vote?

Post by Boris »

Mkoll wrote:boris,

If you'd like to make another thread in the lounge to discuss Satanism, ...
Or maybe I can save everyone's time and sanity by saying: don't waste your time.
:focus:
First to be in line of topic I can say that Buddhists should not vote on system which base on fiction. Money are real when they have cover is something. So called Lizards print money out of air, what does cost them nothing, now even not the cost of paper, all operation goes in virtual world. However latter they give you these money on credit and you must pay them back by real work. Don't you find strange that the most common answer here on the forum "Why you can not become monk? is: I must pay my dept. Irony of avuso Mkoll is rather out of place here.

About Satanism it seems to me that one who does not smell sulfur in air in the present world has just serious problems with olfactory system. This post has some input in line of topic, so I hope that digression will be forgiven. And from now I will follow advice of avuso Mkoll ...
The man who wants to avoid grotesque collapses should not look for anything to fulfill him in space and time.

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chownah
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Re: Should lay Buddhists vote?

Post by chownah »

Right now it is a tough call for Thai Buddhists as to whether they should vote or not.....there are a lot of Buddhists who want to stop the election of a new government and they are doing everything they can to disrupt the transitional gov't and the election process including occupying government buildings and closing down voting sites with mass demonstrations.. ........so..........should a Buddhist vote or not?
chownah
sattva
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Re: Should lay Buddhists vote?

Post by sattva »

chownah wrote:If voting could change things in any fundamental way it would be illegal.
chownah
:jumping:

More seriously though, Craig, I don't think there is a right or wrong answer here. Just listen to your gut and your conscience. :anjali:
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chownah
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Re: Should lay Buddhists vote?

Post by chownah »

sattva,
I'm glad you saw the humor in that but do remember that it does have a serious side. As a follow on to my previous post about the situation in Thailand I report that the military stepped into the situation and the first thing they did was to make voting illegal.
chownah
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Re: Should lay Buddhists vote?

Post by Spiny Norman »

chownah wrote:If voting could change things in any fundamental way it would be illegal.
chownah
:jumping:

It's funny because it's true.
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DreBay
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Re: Should lay Buddhists vote?

Post by DreBay »

I would say that you can of course vote if you want to, but
then you have to get into the politics and figure out who you want to vote for.
I can see that this maybe have a potential to raise new attachments, and bringing you a way opposite of the way meditation brings you.
But sure you don't have to get into politics much to vote, but is your vote necessary if your not really sure for what you're voting for :thinking:
Like one who picks and chooses flowers, a man who has his mind attached to sensual pleasures is carried away by death, just as a great flood sweeps away a sleeping village - Dhammapada 47
thepea
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Re: Should lay Buddhists vote?

Post by thepea »

I do not vote.
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TheNoBSBuddhist
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Re: Should lay Buddhists vote?

Post by TheNoBSBuddhist »

I don't vote. Not because I am Buddhist, but because most politicians never keep their promises, assurances or manifestos. And furthermore, no matter how well-intentioned their opening speeches are, it's all hot air. They're all as guilty as one 'anither'....

as my grandmother used to say "It doesn'ae matter who tha' votes fer, the government always gets in!"
:namaste:

You will not be punished FOR your 'emotions'; you will be punished BY your 'emotions'.



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‘Absit invidia verbo’ - may ill-will be absent from the word. And mindful of that, if I don't respond, this may be why....
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