Ateneo Professional School
Makati City
November 4, 2015
From Ordinary Gentlemen
This subject is about Leadership, right? Why are we then pursuing the thoughts of Siddharta Gautama ( Buddha ) and Socrates? Were they not philosophers and therefore their thoughts/this discussion belongs to another subject/class?
Necessarily we are invited to discuss their thoughts because part and starting point of leadership is self awareness (and the authentic self)
Both agree on denial of the pleasures and satisfaction of the senses - Socrates goal is spirituality - on rebirth after death (I would like to suspect that Socrates promotes suicide which brings one to a rebirth) Letting of our bodily desires promote spiritual growth. Buddha on the other hand promotes denial of pleasure for Enlightenment on this earth.
It is nice to discuss the 4 noble truths of Buddha.
1. First truth suffering or pain is inescapable, part or life
2. There is pain because of our inability to permanently satisfy our cravings
3 Removal of craving removes pain
4. Dharma
Comparing Buddha, Socrates and Descartes
Emptying your mind and desires from Joy of Yoga
The four noble truths
Dharma, the 8 fold path:
The purpose of inclusion of Buddhism and self awareness is not to understand and make a study of Buddhism nor of Socrates (we do not have the time nor the competence to investigate their thoughts, but to use the concepts and process the way of Buddhism and Socratic philosophy in self awareness. The ability to control your pain your emotion is an important aspect of self awareness
I have Thai counterparts who did leave for a while to become a monk and practiced their faith to Buddha. Then I asked why they wanted to become a monk and they said it was for their family. They believed that if a man became a monk, their family could go to heaven when they die. The duration depends to their preference. They could be monk for 7 days, 15 days, 1 month or more. They followed 227 rules to practice Buddhism. For those normal people they only observed 5 rules. First, don’t kill animals and humans. Second, don’t steal. Third, don’t commit adultery. Fourth, don’t lie. And five, don’t drink alcohol. If they know the main point of Buddha, then they will follow these rules automatically. The main point of Buddhism would be simply, do only good things, never commit bad things, and make their mind clean. Then I asked what monks do in every day. First, offer food to the community and wishing them good health/career. Second, being contented in oneself, their appearance, cast out material things and should not want anything. That’s the reason why they shaved their hair and their eyebrow before they can be monk. They believed that hair can make the appearance looks good. Third, they can eat only food that was offer to them during breakfast and lunch and they can no longer eat after 12PM except water. They believed that breakfast was for the mind, lunch for the body and dinner for copulation. They need to free their mind and study the lessons of Buddha and gather again in prayer at 6PM. If they followed everything that Buddha said then there is a great chance that they can go to Nirvana. Nirvana is a place where there is no reborn or reincarnation, no karma, no sadness and no happiness. In Buddhism they believed that people became sad if they couldn’t get what they want. So the main point would be not to want anything, and again do only good things, never commit bad things, and make their mind clean.
ReplyDeleteVery humanistic and simple way to do great things. So normally we should only eat 2 times a day?
DeleteI have Thai counterparts who did leave for a while to become a monk and practiced their faith to Buddha. Then I asked why they wanted to become a monk and they said it was for their family. They believed that if a man became a monk, their family could go to heaven when they die. The duration depends to their preference. They could be monk for 7 days, 15 days, 1 month or more. They followed 227 rules to practice Buddhism. For those normal people they only observed 5 rules. First, don’t kill animals and humans. Second, don’t steal. Third, don’t commit adultery. Fourth, don’t lie. And five, don’t drink alcohol. If they know the main point of Buddha, then they will follow these rules automatically. The main point of Buddhism would be simply, do only good things, never commit bad things, and make their mind clean. Then I asked what monks do in every day. First, offer food to the community and wishing them good health/career. Second, being contented in oneself, their appearance, cast out material things and should not want anything. That’s the reason why they shaved their hair and their eyebrow before they can be monk. They believed that hair can make the appearance looks good. Third, they can eat only food that was offer to them during breakfast and lunch and they can no longer eat after 12PM except water. They believed that breakfast was for the mind, lunch for the body and dinner for copulation. They need to free their mind and study the lessons of Buddha and gather again in prayer at 6PM. If they followed everything that Buddha said then there is a great chance that they can go to Nirvana. Nirvana is a place where there is no reborn or reincarnation, no karma, no sadness and no happiness. In Buddhism they believed that people became sad if they couldn’t get what they want. So the main point would be not to want anything, and again do only good things, never commit bad things, and make their mind clean.
ReplyDeleteLearning Buddha, Socrates and Descarte will take a lifetime, as per history writings, they have lived their lives learning, searching and continuously finding what has life to offer. Though, if I can share my own version, I see these 3 personas representing pure heart, pure mind and pure soul.
ReplyDeleteWe should be aware of their teachings as we move on our study of leadership
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