Self fulfilling prophecies and the dhamma

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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Bundokji
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Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2014 11:57 pm

Self fulfilling prophecies and the dhamma

Post by Bundokji »

Friends,

Self fulfilling prophecies seem to be integral to the religious experience and to our search for meaning. While the phrase "self fulfilling prophecies" is made up of three words, each one of them says something about us as human beings and how we function.

If we begin with "prophecies", the Buddha's future destination as a self-enlightened being was predicted by a clairvoyant, who stated that he would either become a wheel turning monarch, or fully-awakened Buddha. It seems that the appeal of self fulfilling prophecies is that it works against the odds (hence so fulfilling). It was against his father's attempts to keep him within the boundaries of the palace and distracting him with all kinds of sensual pleasures that prince siddhartha took the ascetic path, as if he was destined to do so.

The two truths doctrine seem to follow the same logic: conventional reality, where a self is assumed, provide us with odds that a self either exist or does not exist, of which going against the grain can be an attempt to discover whether we are ariyas or not.

At the more collective level, some countries are based on fulfilling biblical prophecies such as Israel. Establishing the third state of Israel is promoted by the orthodox as the first step towards the appearance of the Messiah. The whole antisemitism phenomena can be another expression of self-fulfilling prophecies: if i believe that others hate me, that i would subconsciously act in ways that confirms it, or, if i hate someone, i will most likely act in ways that trigger reactions to confirm my belief, or fulfilling my prophecy.

Working against the odds, while appears to be illogical, is actually based on logic. If we were to judge those who buy lotto tickets based on the odds, it would be more likely to get struck by a lightening than to win, and yet, when the amount of sacrifice is measured against the amount to be potentially received, it appears to be more rational. Seeking enlightenment is not so different: the practice itself is designed to let us see that we had nothing much to lose to begin with, considering the significance of the potential reward (enlightenment) and the insignificance of what we are giving up (it is just one life in an endless cycle of birth and death).

Circa ten years ago, i worked for as a financial manager for a telecommunication company. We were a small team of five, of which two were from conservative town. At that time, the ISIS saga was all over the news, and those two were pretty excited. In my argument with them, they claimed: what if those ISIS fighters are acting upon the truth? I replied: what if they are not? killing people based on some random or distant possibility is irrational. They remained silent.

Thoughts?
And the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus, saying: "Behold now, bhikkhus, I exhort you: All compounded things are subject to vanish. Strive with earnestness!"

This was the last word of the Tathagata.
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