JBrainard
Senior Master
This is not directly related to the martial arts but I can't think of a group of people who's opinion I respect more than all of yours, so here goes:
I believe that the Buddhist path is the correct one, but I have a quandary. In the fifth of The Five Mindfulness Trainings, there is the statement (and there are variations, of course): "I am determined not to use alcohol or any other intoxicant or to ingest foods or other items that contain toxins, such as certain TV programs, magazines, books, films and conversations." Ok, now the alcohol and food part makes sense to me. The problem is that I enjoy listening to Black Metal (which contains some pretty negative lyrical content), watching horror movies, and watching "kung fu" movies" (which can be very violent). To follow the Buddhist path, should/would I have to give up these things? Or is that austerity? Or would that be setting myself up to desire what I cannot have? What do you Zen Buddhists (or anyone else out there who is into philosophy) out there think?
I believe that the Buddhist path is the correct one, but I have a quandary. In the fifth of The Five Mindfulness Trainings, there is the statement (and there are variations, of course): "I am determined not to use alcohol or any other intoxicant or to ingest foods or other items that contain toxins, such as certain TV programs, magazines, books, films and conversations." Ok, now the alcohol and food part makes sense to me. The problem is that I enjoy listening to Black Metal (which contains some pretty negative lyrical content), watching horror movies, and watching "kung fu" movies" (which can be very violent). To follow the Buddhist path, should/would I have to give up these things? Or is that austerity? Or would that be setting myself up to desire what I cannot have? What do you Zen Buddhists (or anyone else out there who is into philosophy) out there think?