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3bob

"May all beings be happy" ?

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My buddy got jacked by a laughing gull at the local pier here one afternoon.  He had just walked out of the restaurant with a platter full of crab and lobsters on his way to his families' table when a crafty gull swooped down and made off with a steamed crab from one of the plates.  He said  " I swear Creighton, it was laughing at me the whole time and I could do nothing about it but stare open mouthed"...

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if a hammer is happy being a hammer and a nail is happy being a nail (etc.) then:

 

"I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail
Yes I would, if I could, I surely would
I'd rather be a hammer than a nail
Yes I would, if I only could, I surely would

Away, I'd rather sail away
Like a swan that's here and gone
A man gets tied up to the ground
He gives the world its saddest sound
Its saddest sound

I'd rather be a forest than a street
Yes I would, if I could, I surely would
I'd rather feel the earth beneath my feet
Yes I would, if I only could, I surely would

"I'd rather be a hammer than a nail , yes I would if I only could, I surely would"

 

El Condor Pasa 
By Simon and Garfunkel

Edited by 3bob
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Since everything is but an apparition,

Perfect in being what it is,

Having nothing to do with good and bad,

Acceptance or rejection,

You might as well burst out laughing!

 

Longchenpa

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A simple Zen saying also contradicts RT's quote. (I imagine he knows it quite well ?)

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with the shortened song version along the lines of, "first there is a mountain then there is no mountain then there is...."

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yep, there is nothing that can stop the beginning  and ending of the cosmic cycles - ready or not here we come.

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Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others.

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The Buddhsit prayer that says, "May all beings be happy" sounds nice but considering how some beings are only happy when others are suffering seems to make for an impossible, oxymoronic prayer....  and if we include the animal kingdom as an example (since the prayer says "all" beings)  then most of the time predator's are "happy" when they devouring other beings like deer which do not display happiness during such occasions...

 

is there a work around in meaning for such a prayer....?

 

"Happy" is just an easy word to use, but the meaning behind it is deeper, and it's important to view it in light of the deeper meaning. For instance, happy doesn't mean that their bliss is dependent on something in particular...it's supposed to arise spontaneously. The happiness that depends on something to happen isn't what's being spoken of by any means. Especially not a kind which would negate the "happiness" of other beings, such as only being happy at their expense...the prayer wishes for happiness for ALL.

 

I think an easier way to understand it would be by saying "inner peace" instead of "happiness".

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