Category Archives: philosophy - Page 3

The ethics of conversion

Posted by on February 13, 2011 1 comment

I’ve been a party to a few conversations at work regarding Atheism and Religion.  I’ve also been fortunate enough to speak to some Muslims and Sikhs, so I have a little perspective now on those faiths.  We have quite a mix of faiths (or lack of faith) at work, though I am the only Buddhist there.  There are a number of Jehovah’s Witnesses there and some are very militant and will not even read an email that might cause them to question their faith (I know this through read receipts).  What interests me is the constant drive they, and other faiths, have for converts.

My thoughts recently, especially as I have been making secular arguments in a number of areas, have been really more towards the ethics of conversion.  When does proselytizing and converting someone become wrong?  Yes, I appreciate that a given Atheist or Agnostic might have lots of answers and ammunition to fire.  The same it true for a door knocking Theist, but at what point does it become unethical to fire it, no matter how right you think you are?

I was pondering my own secular arguments, as a Buddhist I feel I can make secular agnostic arguments quite comfortably, as I find that Buddhism is a very agnostic thing at its root.  But I must also make the effort to observe the first precept, “I undertake to refrain from harming living beings”.  It’s not just physical harm, but emotional and mental hurt as well.  This left me wondering if was there a point at which I would have to tactfully remain silent.

Let me give an example of what I was pondering.  What happens when someones faith is all that is allowing them to cope with a personal tragedy?  Yes we may discuss things, but once I learn this is it right for me to continue arguing when I know it will cause suffering?  Does there come a time when, because of the high ethical cost, it’s not worth winning or being proved right?

On reflection, I think at this point I would have to try to suggest that we simply agree to disagree and simply respect one another’s views.

A Thought on Procrastination and Blocking

Posted by on November 3, 2010 No comments

After Tai Chi tonight I was driving home mulling on things.  Once again that feeling of sort of “forgetting the self” had come very very briefly and it seemed to work.  Last time I trained I must’ve been having a bad week as nothing went right for me, but this week it seemed to work.

I was considering the habit of Procrastination in light of my Tai Chi practise.  You don’t think about the things in Tai Chi, you just let them happen, so why doesn’t this happen outside the class so much?  I am wondering if the trick is to realise that the Tai Chi form never in fact stops, when we’re walking down the street or washing our hands, we’re still doing Tai Chi!

I’m thinking of how it feels to do the form and the best analogy I can think of is that it’s like a railway journey.  At first, each position in the form is like a station, the train stops at each one and changes onto a new section of track.  Later on, as you practise more, the position changes become more like signal boxes.  What I mean by this is, they’re still there but you don’t stop for them, the train shifts fluidly onto its new track.

So what I’m driving at, is the idea of bringing that feeling from Tai Chi into everyday use.  We procrastinate when we stop at the station, maybe it would be better to realise that they’re only signal boxes.  We don’t in fact stop, we just flow from place to place, from event to event, from task to task.  Perhaps, I wonder, when we come to forget the self would it be true that the separation of tasks and events is only in our minds?

Am I making sense?

Defended to the Death

Posted by on October 29, 2010 No comments

I’m away this weekend, and for a change I got the train.  I’m writing this on my phone while waiting for trains and while travelling, so if it seems a little disjointed then I apologise as I’m unused to writing on this device.

I love driving my car and the freedom it brings and would normally use it for a journey like this.  I decided to use the train as I think that this is the way things will go in terms of long distance travel, with walkable cities and metro services among the local options.  Besides, it’s different and trying something new is good.  I’d like to muse further on this as the English countryside whizzes by.

I was thinking of my visit to the Buddhist temple in Birmingham the other week and between that and this, plus an encounter with a pair of Jehovah’s Witnesses earlier this week, it started me mulling faith and the way we live.

We tend, in my opinion, to live and believe in the groove of our habits.  These habits don’t change much and we will defend them vigorously.  For an example, consider the future of the car.  Everything that can be done to assure the future of happy motoring is being done.  For my part, I think that in the long term there is nothing else to do but prepare for a carless future, but we will see.  There are always unexpected surprises.

So it is with our mental habits, not just of faith but of thought and behavior.  We defend these habits from the things that would change them without considering that the change might be just what’s needed!  Unless we allow our habits of thought and behavior to change and to evolve, then we will be defending them to their stagnation and the death of our hopes for future personal growth.