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A researcher on how to live a happy life

ox.ac.uk

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Re: A researcher on how to live a happy life

#171

Post by ralls_ebfe »

ralls_ebfe wrote: post #170
indigochill wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ...avoid things that other people control, because then you must serve as their slave. A good mantra for self-hosted FOSS as well, come to think of it.

But is it really? I just read a german translation, which says to neither wish to have, nor to wish to avoid. Does anyone here know enough greek to clarify this?

Another translation:

> Whoever then wishes to be free, let him neither wish for any thing nor avoid anything which depends on others: if he does not observe this rule, he must be a slave.

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%...

Re: A researcher on how to live a happy life

#172

Post by ntSean »

maroonblazer wrote: post #147
saltedonion wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very insightful. Please share more. I’ve been taking up meditation and bubiddism but still very much a novice. I find that as you open your mind and see through more things, in a way things gets less interesting. It’s that feeling that you’ve seen this movie before. Maybe this is normal for older people but I’m in my 20s and it feels very odd. How do you deal with that and not feel like a zombie.

I started meditating in college (30+ years ago) and always thought I was doing it right. Then a few years ago I began using Sam Harris' Waking Up app and realized I was doing it wrong. I'd read about people traveling to Tibet to learn meditation and how, interspersed with their actual meditation, were periods of instruction. This never made sense to me. Now I understand the value of that instruction. Sure, some peopl…

Wholeheartedly agree. I've been using Waking Up since November last year and have found it incredibly helpful even after years of practice with other mindfulness tools such as Calm or Headspace.

Re: A researcher on how to live a happy life

#175

Post by madaxe_again »

lordleft wrote: post #23

Some overlap with Stoicism here. From the Enchiridion of Epictetus: 1. Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions. The things in our control are by nature free, unrestrained, unhindered; but…

There’s also loud echoes of Nietzche’s metamorphoses - Child, Lion, Camel, Child. Most of us get stuck on lion or camel, either fighting or bearing up under burdens. The child simply is, and finds delight in those small elements of nature which are deemed irrelevant to those still labouring under the guises of misapprehended beasts.

Re: A researcher on how to live a happy life

#177

Post by wolfhumble »

Nition wrote: post #150
wolfhumble wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, we are all sinners, and Jesus paid the price for each one of us on the cross: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." [Ephesians 2, 8-9 NKJV] "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us fr…

Probably worth adding the famous John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (emphasis mine)

Yes! That it is were it starts and continues in aeternum. :-)

Re: A researcher on how to live a happy life

#178

Post by dandanua »

If you live in a very aggressive and malevolent environment that constantly wants to break you and use you for its own needs it's important to follow these rules:

1. Don't forget to love. There is always something to love. This is the most important thing. Enemies will try to make you hate (no matter what).

2. Be happy. It may sound as a trivial advice, but to be actually happy it's very helpful to consciously set your inner state as "happy". Despite all negative aspects of the situation you are in.

3. Be grateful. This is also helps a lot. There is always something more to lose. Be grateful for what you have now.

4. Dream! Dreams are the force that move us in our life. And the movement is necessary.

5. Live! Another trivial advice. But you can easily stuck under the burden without noticing it.

6. Try to fly over the problems, don't let them control your mind and thoughts. Think of them as walls (well, sometimes you have to break through).

7. Try to use long-term planning. Uncertainty is not a good thing for happiness.

8. Don't get sucked and destroyed by the temporary situation. There is always sunrise after darkness. Remember it.

Re: A researcher on how to live a happy life

#179

Post by OJFord »

ralls_ebfe wrote: post #170
indigochill wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ...avoid things that other people control, because then you must serve as their slave. A good mantra for self-hosted FOSS as well, come to think of it.

But is it really? I just read a german translation, which says to neither wish to have, nor to wish to avoid. Does anyone here know enough greek to clarify this?

That was my (native British English) reading of the English too - it's just that GP's quote clips the context.

Re: A researcher on how to live a happy life

#180

Post by thorin »

maroonblazer wrote: post #147
saltedonion wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very insightful. Please share more. I’ve been taking up meditation and bubiddism but still very much a novice. I find that as you open your mind and see through more things, in a way things gets less interesting. It’s that feeling that you’ve seen this movie before. Maybe this is normal for older people but I’m in my 20s and it feels very odd. How do you deal with that and not feel like a zombie.

I started meditating in college (30+ years ago) and always thought I was doing it right. Then a few years ago I began using Sam Harris' Waking Up app and realized I was doing it wrong. I'd read about people traveling to Tibet to learn meditation and how, interspersed with their actual meditation, were periods of instruction. This never made sense to me. Now I understand the value of that instruction. Sure, some peopl…

Any chance you could provide a brief overview of what you think makes this different? I've meditated with a few different secular and Buddhist groups and retreats and was wondering how this approach might differ.
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