From: natashavita@earthlink.net
Date: Fri Jul 19 2002 - 11:00:37 MDT
From: Dickey, Michael
>I will not ever choose to NOT desire a minimial list of things,
which are the following (in order of importance)<
(cut)
>I do have a special appreciate for Buddhism for many reasons,
especially as a philosophy and its difference from mainstream religions, but
I will never attempt to attain a total lack of desire.<
Your lucid comments are appreciated.
I want and desire many things, all of which I believe are advantageous to
my life and responsibilities. Wanting sets into practice pro-activity.
Without this want, human nature becomes relaxed in a state of stasis, for a
while and, then starts retreating.
Without wanting, there is a lack of focused direction that makes a person
feel the rewards of accomplishment and self-sufficiency. It is the wanting
that puts ideas in motion. Ideas of invention are based on a "need"
followed closely by a "want". We want things to happen. so we make them
happen.
Desire is a full-blossomed and energizing emotion and a springboard for
creativity. It is that imaginative moment when possibilities shoot across
our mental-monitors like billboards under a neon glow.
As extropian transhumanists, our values are nurtured by wanting to see our
dreams fulfilled. Without these dreams, values have little significance.
The phrase "Be here now, be here now" has always been interpreted by me as
living in a "ju ju" moment (African); or Automorph moment. This is a
Buddhist underlying sensibility, to be sure. Live now - sell the roses -
be in the moment.
Wanting more than you need evokes overuse, inflated ego, waste, gluttony
and overly satiated, stuffed emotions. I don't see this as being a
transhumanist value because the initiative of "streamlining" ourselves is a
more technologically aesthetic choice. We understand that careful and
cogent, and mellifluous, thoughts express ideas better.
We value aspects of Buddhism because it brings out a mature, understanding
and wholesome aspect of humanity. But we must remember that Buddhism, like
most religious philosophies, are best appreciated in their pure state as
they were written, in their ceremonial quality, and then borrow the
elements of the belief that add to our own growth and transhumanity.
Natasha
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