How many of you all avoid talking to attractive women?

[NewbiePoster]

Originally Posted by Shankapotomus

Well, wait a second...don't Buddhist monks choose celibacy and seek out enlightenment by living alone for long stretches of time. Buddhist monks are often pretty wise...are you saying it's not working for them either? By all accounts, they choose that life because it increases their contentment. Maybe there is something to being alone.

I know people who've worked in Buddhist monasteries teaching English. All that stuff people believe about Buddhist monks is pretty much bunk, man. They're not wise, and they're not content. Monasteries can be real hell-holes full of child sexual abuse (they take in little kids, you know. Who live next to all those supposedly celibate adults, get my drift?), monks jockeying for power, trying to ingratiate themselves to the high-status monks so they can move up in the ranks, desperate to put each other down to boost themselves up and improve their life in the hell-hole by getting better work assignments, monks getting into fights (seriously), it's a mess.

No. It's not working for them. Look up a Tibetan dude named Kalu Rinpoche. He's got a UTube vid up and some newspaper interviews where he talks about being raped as a kid in the monastery, and having to fight off a murder attempt. In Sri Lanka, they outlawed monasteries taking in kids because of the abuse. But I don't think the law stuck, I'm not sure. It's a zoo, man. Don't believe the fairy tales.

[Shankapotomus]

Originally Posted by NewbiePoster

I know people who've worked in Buddhist monasteries teaching English. All that stuff people believe about Buddhist monks is pretty much bunk, man. They're not wise, and they're not content. Monasteries can be real hell-holes full of child sexual abuse (they take in little kids, you know. Who live next to all those supposedly celibate adults, get my drift?), monks jockeying for power, trying to ingratiate themselves to the high-status monks so they can move up in the ranks, desperate to put each other down to boost themselves up and improve their life in the hell-hole by getting better work assignments, monks getting into fights (seriously), it's a mess.

No. It's not working for them. Look up a Tibetan dude named Kalu Rinpoche. He's got a UTube vid up and some newspaper interviews where he talks about being raped as a kid in the monastery, and having to fight off a murder attempt. In Sri Lanka, they outlawed monasteries taking in kids because of the abuse. But I don't think the law stuck, I'm not sure. It's a zoo, man. Don't believe the fairy tales.

Okay, I'll take your description of corruption at face value. But that still doesn't change the fact that a Buddhist monk's life, including the celibacy and isolation that goes with it, when done right, is a way of tapping into contentment.

None of the major or minor religions and philosophies counsel dating or finding a partner as a way to tap into inner fulfillment. If it worked, one of them would. That all is considered beside the point and unnecessary.