What does this mean to you? If you could paraphrase or simplify it what would you say? If you wish to add your religion, faith, or lack of that would be helpful too:
"It is our own mental attitude which makes the world what it is for us. Our thought make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light. First, believe in this world, that there is meaning behind everything. Everything in the world is good, is holy and beautiful. If you see something evil, think that you are not understanding it in the right light."
2007-01-16 07:28:44 · 16 answers · asked by ChooseRealityPLEASE 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It sounds like new age rubbish. Yes our attitudes are very important but to simply put a happy face on war, disease, poverty, human misery etc is not very helpful.
2007-01-16 07:36:19 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
In the greater context, I agree. Simply paraphrased, "Life is what you make of it.". If you think things are going to go badly for you, chances increase that they will. If you view life positively, you will gain much more enjoyment.
On a case-by-case basis, though, it doesn't hold true. There are some things that cannot be viewed as good no matter how optimistic you are. Read a news story yesterday about a lady who was mad at her husband and to retaliate actually stuck their infant child in the kitchen oven and turned it on. Luckily, the child survived, but that act cannot be seen as anything but, if not evil, at least severly ugly and horrible.
Other things that come to mind are the Holocaust, various serial killers, and all wars/deaths carried out in the name of God (whichever God you may follow)
2007-01-16 15:37:08 · answer #2 · answered by Punkie'sDad 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's a lot of crap. A lot in this world is not good, holy, or beautiful. Evil is evil and calling it good is the wrong mental attitude to have about it. There is not meaning in everything. Having said that, we can look for and find the beauty in life if we "stop to smell the roses" or in my case "coffee".
2007-01-16 15:37:21 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
One cannot think that Murder beautiful! Murder is ugly!Everything is not beautiful! Child rape is not beautiful! This is rubbish talk! My Grandfather would say that a person can use a lot of fancy talking but be an educated fool I know what he meant now!
2007-01-16 19:23:14 · answer #4 · answered by Pamela V 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I like it, but I believe in a balance, for good and beautiful, there's evil and ugly. Not because of my perception, it just is. Hitler isn't evil cause I think so, he is because he is the main reason of tens of millions of deaths. I don't know what light I could view Hitler as good, holy, or beautiful.
2007-01-16 15:34:09 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Isaiah 5:
20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Some things in the world are not good, regardless what anyone thinks about it. A positive mental attitude can help you have a good outlook on life, but many times cannot change the consequences for our actions. If I see something that is evil, perhaps it is what it is, evil.
2007-01-16 15:42:29 · answer #6 · answered by Someone who cares 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Well there's a lot of good things in the world and a lot of things that we mis-percieve as evil things, but there is also evil in the world.
It doesn't just not exsist.
2007-01-16 15:40:04 · answer #7 · answered by Doug 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
My thoughts: Absolute "materialism" (Buddhist defintion thereof).
My rebuttal: Our minds grasp and attach to things we wrongly perceive as "good"/"beautiful" etc. and have aversions to things we perceive as "bad"/"ugly", etc. Learn to understand that EVERYTHING is EMPTY of inherent existence (i.e. arise due to causes and conditions and cease to exist due to causes and conditions), are impermanent, therefore NOTHING is inherently "evil" nor inherently "good". To think either way, materialistically OR to grasp onto nihilism are BOTH incorrect view and thus subject to lead you to "suffer".
_()_
2007-01-16 15:36:36 · answer #8 · answered by vinslave 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
To better figure out this riddle, this conundrum, this enigma of enigmas, this burning question, oh thou most unanswerable of felicitious musings, I had to immerse myself completely in its inky sea of anonymous rumination.
To that end, I printed out several dozen copies, put them in the shredder, stripped nude, doused my body in organic honey, and rolled around in the ethereal strands.
As I cogitated on this otherworldly nebulae, this amorphous theoretical reverie, a thought came unbidden, like ambrosia, sweet nectar of the gods.
"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade."
For sooth, verily, for sooth.
~Swingers 13:10
2007-01-17 12:10:51 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good quote, here's a paraphrase. The last lin from "Being There"
"Life... is a state of mind"
2007-01-16 15:32:50 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋