bodhigirlsmiles

i am sorry to hear about your surgery, but i am happy that you are feeling better. vegetarianism is all i have ever known, so i cannot claim (in all honesty) to understand how you feel to have a carnivorous brain. the very best of luck to you, however!

as do all the navajos....fry bread....oh, wait, that's different (the navajo fry bread is excellent, by the way.)

i used to have a monkey as a pet! she was certainly entertaining....

that is certainly much much clearer. following that, would you say, in your belief, that god created animals for the purpose of food and raiment? was this their only reason for creation? p.s. the comma had not gone unnoticed to me. i teach english, and i am always fond of anyone who pays attention to grammar! :)

:lol::lol: thank you for your answer. i want to ask my next question delicately, as i do NOT wish to offend but am sincerely curious.... how can the sections of the word of wisdom be interpreted as other than to mean that meat is not to be eaten (except during famine, etc)? or is it that the parts about not drinking strong drinks or using tobacco, for example, are more weighty than the others? again, i hope i am not causing offense, i am just curious. truegrits....do you find it difficult being a vegetarian in a largely meat-eating environment?

i just now saw that there is another thread called "word of wisdom"....i apologize for not posting there with my thread!

good morning! i have a question for anyone who cares to answer. i received a copy of the word of wisdom from a friend, and i find it to be a very beautiful document! many of the items mentioned within the body of the text are things i follow every day as a buddhist. i took a vow many years ago to refrain from intoxicating substances, and i believe, if i am reading the word of wisdom correctly, this is prohibited for lds people as well. i have a question about a certain portion of the word of wisdom.... and again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome aherbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man— every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with aprudence and bthanksgiving. yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly; and it is pleasing unto me that they should not be aused, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine. all grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth; and these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger. all grain is good for the food of man; as also the fruit of the vine; that which yieldeth fruit, whether in the ground or above the ground— nevertheless, wheat for man, and corn for the ox, and oats for the horse, and rye for the fowls and for swine, and for all beasts of the field, and barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain. and all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; and shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; and shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. my first question is this....are lds people vegetarians or vegans? i had never heard this, but i was curious. as a strict buddhist, i do not eat animal flesh of any kind (including oceanic life). my second question is....where it says, "health in their navel and marrow to their bones," what does this mean? sorry if that is a stupid question!

thick nhat hanh is one of my most beloved authors and friend. i have met him on a number of occasions and he has continuted to inspire me with his compassion and zest for life. in fact, speaking of the lds faith, your thomas s. monson is someone that inspires me in the same way that thick does. i have not read a lot of mr. monson's writings, but what i have read very much reminds me of thick. they are both very compassionate people who love life!

i am very glad to hear that! i am tibetan myself. my parents were born there, but i was born in the united states. i have practiced the religion of my parents since i was very little. i would love to hear more about what you described about cemetaries! that sounds very interesting. thank you for your warm welcome!

oh no! does that happen often?

thank you charley! i look forward to getting to know you.

thank you melissa!

that is quite a lot of questions! i am not sure i understand completely what you are asking, but i think i am very happy. it is a very rare occasion that i do not have a smile on my face and love in my heart.

and you as well! thank you :)

i certainly hope you will....but we must all approach this life's journey at our own speed and in our own way....to do otherwise would be simply horrible

i think that is wonderful as well....we can do nothing about the past and the future has yet to happen....we have only this moment....

very nice to meet you! by whom was the book you mentioned written? just curious. by all means, please ask me anything and everything. this is not only true of scholarly questions, but everyday things as well (i.e. do buddhists really go without any meat? do buddhists marry? do buddhists vote? do buddhists wear underwear? ). i am not easily offended. i look forward to talking to you as well....it's always nice to have new travelers on this journey of life.

please do not feel bad that you were too aggressive! i did not take what you had to say as aggressive at all. you were simply sharing emotions and thoughts that are important to you. along those same lines, i hope you do not take the quote i am about to share with you as didactic. i am certainly not hoping to repremand you in any way! it is simply a quote that has helped me when i've faced uncertainty about a various facet of buddhism. "A man approached the Blessed One and wanted to have all his philosophical questions answered before he would practice. In response, the Buddha said, 'It is as if a man had been wounded by a poisoned arrow and when attended to by a physician were to say, ‘I will not allow you to remove this arrow until I have learned the caste, the age, the occupation, the birthplace, and the motivation of the person who wounded me.’ That man would die before having learned all this. In exactly the same way, anyone who should say, ‘I will not follow the teaching of the Blessed One until the Blessed One has explained all the multiform truths of the world’-that person would die before the Buddha had explained all this.'"

have you ever read mystics and zen masters by thomas merton?

yes i did....it is always hard to type early in the morning. although....the "m" adds a lovely hint to the mystic that you described. perhaps, today, i have created a new word :)

hello pushka. thank you for your very candid and beautiful reply. i am so sorry to hear of the death of your son's school friend. loosing someone who is close to us is certainly a horrible thing to have to endure. when it is a precious child, it is even more so. before i share my feelings, i want to say that they are just that....my feelings. i often flirt with intellectualism, but i cannot claim to be an intellectual. nor do i claim to be a buddhist scholar. there are so many facets of the buddhist tradition, and people have devoted their lives to the pursuit of their study. i do, however, promise to share my honest feelings and hope that you will forgive any misdirection i may give! while i do believe that our situation in this life is largely determined by karmic connections from previous existences, i do not believe that ALL of what happens to us is a direct result of whether we were good or bad in the past. did your son's friend get cancer because of something he did in a previous existence? perhaps, but i do not personally believe this to be true. since i believe that we are all connected and that nothing is of permenance, it follows, IMHO, that the universe acts out it ways that may not be readily understood by us. perhaps his death served some greater purpose to the universe and was not a direct result of something that he did. i know that this was a horrible attempt to bring light to your very heartfelt question, and i aplogize! i would love to keep this question and conversation open so that we can explore it together. i wish you peace.

thank you for your warm greeting and question! you have hit on a hotly disputed point in buddhism. generally speaking, buddhists do not believe in a god in the traditional christian/muslim/jewish way (triune or otherwise). for me, it is an emistemological rather than ontological matter.

thank you very much....i appreciate that!

st. francis was such a wonderful fellow....

thank you very much....i am truly excited to be here. i think that the few mormons i have met are some of the nicest people out there.