Quote Of The Day 2
“Some people think they can find satisfaction in good food, fine clothes, lively music, and sexual pleasure. However, when they have all these things, they are not satisfied. They realize happiness is not simply having their material needs met. Thus, society has set up a system of rewards that go beyond material goods. These include titles, social recognition, status, and political power, all wrapped up in a package called self-fulfillment. Attracted by these prizes and goaded on by social pressure, people spend their short lives tiring body and mind to chase after these goals. Perhaps this gives them the feeling that they have achieved something in their lives, but in reality they have sacrificed a lot in life. They can no longer see, hear, act, feel, or think from their hearts. Everything they do is dictated by whether it can get them social gains. In the end, they’ve spent their lives following other people’s demands and never lived a life of their own. How different is this from the life of a slave or a prisoner?”
― Liezi, Lieh-tzu: A Taoist Guide to Practical Living
(https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/562579-lieh-tzu-a-taoist-guide-to-practical-living)
Posted on May 14, 2017, in Quote Of The Day and tagged Life, Reflection, Social commentary. Bookmark the permalink. 10 Comments.
Ben Naga 
Yes, the ‘feeling’ of purpose, of achievement, only “Not.”
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Clearly this kind of thing has been around for centuries, along with the odd individual who saw through the facade. 🙂
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What a great quote! Again, all we really need is that Bodhi tree… ☺
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Glad you liked it, Betty.
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Excellent quote. I’ve never chased after any of these things but nobody ever told me I shouldn’t. It just didn’t seem right, and still doesn’t.
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Exactly. It always seemed natural and obvious to me, even as a small child.
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help, let
me out
of here 🙂
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ENLIGHTENMENT
In the beginning
I sought only to escape
After a while
I sought for achievement
On a good day
All there is is offering
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Hello Ben,
That’s interesting what the wise one says. Going by what he says, my take is – slavery is but a moving point on a continuum. We are more or less slaves of our environment. Ultimately, we are all slaves to the cycle of life and death. Or, is there such a cycle?
Perhaps I misunderstood or am ignorant of the context in which the wise one said his words. In which case, I am comfortable being the permanent student, I am.
Peace,
Eric
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Comfortably learning sounds good to me. 🙂 Peace be with you.
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