Reflections 6, 7, and 8

Reading: Bhagavad Gita

Question: According to Krishna what is happiness?
According to the passages assigned concerning the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna
discusses a number of reason that Arjuna should not be saddened that he is going
to war. Krishna talks about A warriors code of honor, acting without attachments,
and The self does not die.
In refusing to fight Ajruna will sin. For a warrior there is no greater good than
a lawful war. Happy are the warriorswho find such war coming to them (pg
877) by sinning Ajruna has violated his own personal law and code of honor. Krishna
also says that other will spread the story of his dishonor and that a man of ill repute
is worse off than he would be if he were dead. This is a theme that is repeated often
in warrior cultures. It is honorable and desirable to die for your countrymen. In these
cultures, it could be considered a require of happiness, to battle in the face of death.
Acting without attachments is another point the Krishna uses to convince
Arjuna to fight. Arjuna asks if understanding is more important than action why are
you making me fight? Krishna tells Arjuna that those who follow me are free from
action and those you do not follow are mindless and lost. Pledge your actions to
me. Krishna says. This is familiar in quite a few religions and organization of battle.
You as a person need not concern yourself with thoughts or temperament. Give
them and let god take care of them.

The self does not die discuss that the self is only contained within the body.
That fire and weapons cannot hurt the self. The self has existed before and will exist
after the body dies. There for there is no reason not to fight. The self is any idea
that is very interesting. Alan Watts discusses it in lengths during his lectures about
Buddhism. Reminding me again how many similarities exist between the two.
Reading: The Supreme Happiness
Question: Why is inaction true happiness and how is it reflected in the
stories?
Why is inaction happiness according to Chuang Tzu? The inaction of Heaven
is its purity; the inaction of earth is its peace. (Pg. 885) In terms that people will
more easily understand I feel Tzu is saying that if you have an idea of what
happiness is or that you desire happiness it with not come to you. The Highest
happiness has no happiness. (Pg. 885) if you seek happiness like those who
separate what the world honors and what it looks down on. The stories Tzu uses
illustrate his points. The first story about the man who does not honor his wife by
mourning. He responds by saying that he did but why should he, if he in of inaction
he shows that he does now about fate. The next story the man grows a willow on his
elbow (which after reading the footnotes makes the story make so much more
sense as willow was a borrowed character for tumor) He accepts his fate. He does
not take action against it, he takes inaction and thus he is happy.
To live is to borrow. And if we borrow to live then life must be a pile of trash.
Life and death are day and night. You and I came to watch the process of
change, and now change has caught up with me. Why would I have anything
to resent? (Pg. 886)

After discovering what that willow was instead tumor, this passage began to take
shape for me. Accept life as it is for if you struggle against it or take action you will
not be happy.
Reading: Buddhist Contentment
Question: The Three Similes, what do they mean?
The three similes. The first discusses that someone who is not withdrawn in
both mind and body. The timber and the fire stick both being wet. The second is
someone who is withdrawn from sensuality in body only but still desires in the mind.
This is the dry fire stick and the wet timber. The last simile is someone who is
withdrawn both mentally and physically. They are the dry stick and the dry timber.
Both parts need to be dry in order to start a fire. In Buddhism it is about removing
desire. We this in the four noble truths. Truth of suffering, truth of cause, truth of the
end, truth of the path. When both the mind and the body are withdrawn then you
can start to end suffering within the eight-fold path.
Question: Why Buddhism?
Upon leaving his palace we are told an account of Buddha. He wandered
looking for the path to enlightenment. He tries beating his mind, non-breathing, and
fasting. He recalls sitting under a tree secluded from unskillful mental qualities.
(Pg. 896) He then entered the Jhanas stage by stage he became more enlightened.
I find this very interesting as I have been interested in Buddhism for quite some
time. Its good to some history and learn about where it came from. A lot of what
the Buddha is saying I have heard in the form of Alan Watts. It is cool to see the
differences in how someone from a Mahayana background differs from a Theravada
(or more traditional Buddism) background. The history remains the same but the

context and the way they derive information from the Buddhas enlightened
teachings.