MONEY, SELF-WORTH AND BUDDHISM
JACK BRAGEN
Copyright 2009 By Jack Kenneth Bragen
Despite the saying, “Money doesn’t buy happiness,” it is a commodity almost universally sought. Money is necessary in our society in order to do or have almost anything. The more money a person has, the more choices. And while money may not buy happiness, it does help when you need a loaf of bread.
It is not correct to think that Buddhism shuns money. Buddhism, rather, objects to the desire for money. If you have money, that’s fine. Just don’t create a path of destruction in the insatiable quest for it. People sometimes misquote the Bible and say: “Money is the root of all evil.” But the correct quote in part is: “…the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.”
Money carries no inherent moral value, good or bad. It is the bad things people do to get money, or with money once they have it, that is the problem.
Since many Buddhist practitioners and others have not yet transcended suffering on the physical plane, money for basic necessities can make a substantial difference to the level of suffering a person experiences, or not.
However, when you are talking about large amounts of money, above and beyond what is needed, money affects the level of happiness via a person’s set of gross illusions and expectations. The hoarding of massive amounts of wealth is sometimes for the purpose of feeding some deficiency in a person’s ego. There was a news piece about the major players on Wall Street who have been in competition with each other to see who can rack up the biggest numbers, who has the fastest car, and who can out spend everyone else. It has been a contest of the mega affluent, and the result is a crippled American economy.
As a result of the recession in the United States, there are millions of depressed people because many citizens who were once financially extremely successful have had to lower their expectations.
This recession is also an opportunity for learning. I’ve met a man who became emotionally devastated upon having earnings of twenty percent of previous. Yet the man still had enough money to live on and to support his family--just not in the style he was used to. He still lives comfortably on the income he has, but he has lost all sense of the self worth that he associated with his earnings. The money apparently wasn’t just for the purpose of living in luxury. He believed he was “somebody” because of the income he generated.
For many typical Americans, self esteem is linked to how much money they can earn. And then the money they make becomes more of a symbol of prestige rather than merely a means of support. When that happens, a lot of the enjoyment of the money that could happen is lost. The individual is stuck in a race to earn more and more money in the pursuit of the elusive, “enough” state.
Buddhism teaches that everything in the universe is impermanent. A person may achieve wealth, but at some point, that wealth will end. Either the person will lose the money at some point, or they will die and thus no longer be wealthy. That’s why Buddhism teaches that when you hang on to something in the universe, for example, money, you will suffer.
Self-acceptance and self worth can be difficult to attain despite being internally generated states. You can achieve self-worth and self-esteem even if you are penniless. These states are just as hard to achieve if you are a multi millionaire. This is because, in spite of appearances, self esteem and self worth are completely separate issues from the amount of income and prestige you have.
People of more self worth might be less likely to debase themselves for money. Yet they could be more likely to become an entrepreneur, and thus earn money in some innovative way. If someone doesn’t have any self worth, they may be unlikely to try anything that could lead to generating wealth. Yet, in the presence of real self worth, the lack of wealth is not devastating.
Self worth and self-esteem are states that vaguely resemble being happy. It is easier to be happy if you have them, assuming that you are living within the boundaries of your ego mind.
Buddhist practice doesn’t seem to specifically address self-esteem, self-appreciation and self worth. It encourages transcendence in which even these internally generated states aren’t a necessity. Yet, if you are an imperfect Buddhist, and it seems that most of us are, unconditional self worth and self appreciation will make the ego mind a more comfortable place to visit when you are not transcendent.
If you have achieved self worth, it is easier to meditate toward more enlightenment because you are more likely to expect your efforts to work. If you practice from a place of no self worth, the practice could end up being hijacked into a system of more self-punishment.
The man I mentioned before, who was upset because his income was down doesn’t realize that he could potentially do reprogramming to change his perception of himself, and this would take less work than once again attaining that huge amount of money.
Self worth, self-acceptance and self-esteem are gifts that you can bestow on yourself, and they don’t cost you anything.
People who practice Buddhism in the early stages may associate self worth with the idea of being a “master” or of having Buddhist attainment. However, upon going farther into the practice, you realize that you are good enough for yourself at any level of attainment. When more meditation is done, it becomes less relevant how “high up” you are on the ladder to enlightenment.
A step toward success is the point where you believe you are an acceptable, worthy, lovable person. Believing in yourself in this way allows you to enjoy real contact with other human beings. If you do not believe in your worthiness, everyone around you may appear frightening. Once you are worthy by your own self evaluation, the world opens up to you, and this is regardless of whether or not you’re at the top of the Zen totem pole, whether you’re rich or poor, and whether or not you have the approval of another person. Once you approve of yourself, you’ve joined the ranks of the human race—in a good way.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Here's some PC help!
SOME TIPS FOR A FRIENDLIER PC
Copyright 2009 By Jack Kenneth Bragen
Jack Bragen
I have run into individuals in all walks of life who find their computer to be a source of frustration. While there are those who find computers to be second nature and who naturally acclimate to their usage, there are also those who find themselves “blocked” and who need a little assistance to get going. It’s not a sign of less smarts if you don’t find computers easy. I have met numerous people with very high I.Q. levels for whom computer use just doesn’t come naturally. With that in mind, this article offers a few pointers that might help you get better use of your unit.
Keep your anti virus software updated, and scan your hard drive with it frequently. Your anti virus software doesn’t do anything unless it is being used. Updating of the anti virus software includes the downloading of “virus definitions” which tell the computer what viruses to look out for. It also includes the downloading of updates to the software that improve its ability to knock out the newest viruses that are resistant to the previous versions of software. “Tracking cookies” allow others to track where you’ve been and slow down the computer, but they generally pose little or not threat to the computer’s integrity. It is good to clean them up periodically. However, “Trojans” “Worms” and “Viruses” are all terms that refer to a strong threat to your computer. These threats are also contagious, and can be spread to other people’s units.
Your data recorded on your computer is far more valuable than the computer itself! You should periodically back up all of the important data on your unit onto recordable CD’s or DVD’s. Windows Visa comes with backup software, and you are better off if you take advantage of it. If you do not have backup software, you can learn to manually transfer your documents from where they are stored onto the data bank that is to be burned onto the disk. In the disk burning software, there is generally a “wizard” that will allow you to drag and drop documents into a window that shows what is to be recorded onto the CD or DVD. Most computers nowadays are capable of burning either CD’s, DVD’s, or both. You might not know whether or not your computer can do this. As a last resort, Word and some Excel documents are small enough that they can be transferred onto floppies. However, for photos and videos, one floppy might or might not be able to accommodate just one.
“Spam Filtering” done by your Internet service provider can exclude some of the emails that you should and want to receive, and not just the Spam’s. Some of the spam can also leak through the spam filer, as well. This is due to the fact that it is a computer on the other end that tries to recognize what is the spam and what isn’t. Computers do not have the power to judge. They [the spam filtering computers] are taught to look for specific characteristics that the software designer believes will indicate a spam. You may not know that emails are getting deleted unless you check with those people who may be sending you the emails. To check on this, you can also refer to the “settings” section of the webmail stage of your email. By “webmail” I mean that there is generally a webpage available that is at a stage prior to where the mail is downloaded into Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, or other email “clients” that you might be using. You can find out the web address of this “webmail” page by asking your internet service provider.
FYI: you can change the “wallpaper” shown on your computer screen by “right-clicking” on an unused portion of the screen and choosing “customize,” or “properties” in earlier versions of windows. From the menu that comes up, you can choose a number of pictures that are already stored in Windows. If you feel ambitious, you can learn to put a digital photo or a scanned picture onto your screen.
The “cancel” button is your friend. If you are unsure of what you are about to do or of what the computer is asking you to do, often the safest option is to hit “cancel.” Cancel will stop a specific pending action that your computer is ready to take. In some instances, such as in Word, “cancel” will stop you from closing the document you are working on. In this scenario, you want to be certain that the document appears in exactly the form that you want it “saved” in before you close the document. If you have just accidentally deleted a bunch of text, you can click on the “don’t save” button in order to revert back to the previous time in which the document was saved. If the computer is asking you to do something that you disagree with, or that you’re not yet ready to do, sometimes the cancel button comes in handy.
If you are ready to purchase a flat panel monitor, don’t hesitate. They are better for your health than the older “CRT” monitors because they don’t produce the X-rays and Gamma rays, and the low-frequency RF radiation that come from a picture tube. They save energy, they don’t collect as much dust internally, [high voltages used to power a CRT attract dust], they don’t break down as often, they have a better picture, and they are less likely to start a fire of there is a “short circuit.” They also produce less hazardous waste when they are to be disposed of. Flat panel monitors have come down in price. FRY’s sells several models for under $200.
Last but not least: If you don’t want something known by members of the public, don’t enter it onto your computer. Files can be accessed via internet spying, and there is no absolute way to prevent this. If you want your personal information spread everywhere, including other countries, post it on the Internet.
Copyright 2009 By Jack Kenneth Bragen
Jack Bragen
I have run into individuals in all walks of life who find their computer to be a source of frustration. While there are those who find computers to be second nature and who naturally acclimate to their usage, there are also those who find themselves “blocked” and who need a little assistance to get going. It’s not a sign of less smarts if you don’t find computers easy. I have met numerous people with very high I.Q. levels for whom computer use just doesn’t come naturally. With that in mind, this article offers a few pointers that might help you get better use of your unit.
Keep your anti virus software updated, and scan your hard drive with it frequently. Your anti virus software doesn’t do anything unless it is being used. Updating of the anti virus software includes the downloading of “virus definitions” which tell the computer what viruses to look out for. It also includes the downloading of updates to the software that improve its ability to knock out the newest viruses that are resistant to the previous versions of software. “Tracking cookies” allow others to track where you’ve been and slow down the computer, but they generally pose little or not threat to the computer’s integrity. It is good to clean them up periodically. However, “Trojans” “Worms” and “Viruses” are all terms that refer to a strong threat to your computer. These threats are also contagious, and can be spread to other people’s units.
Your data recorded on your computer is far more valuable than the computer itself! You should periodically back up all of the important data on your unit onto recordable CD’s or DVD’s. Windows Visa comes with backup software, and you are better off if you take advantage of it. If you do not have backup software, you can learn to manually transfer your documents from where they are stored onto the data bank that is to be burned onto the disk. In the disk burning software, there is generally a “wizard” that will allow you to drag and drop documents into a window that shows what is to be recorded onto the CD or DVD. Most computers nowadays are capable of burning either CD’s, DVD’s, or both. You might not know whether or not your computer can do this. As a last resort, Word and some Excel documents are small enough that they can be transferred onto floppies. However, for photos and videos, one floppy might or might not be able to accommodate just one.
“Spam Filtering” done by your Internet service provider can exclude some of the emails that you should and want to receive, and not just the Spam’s. Some of the spam can also leak through the spam filer, as well. This is due to the fact that it is a computer on the other end that tries to recognize what is the spam and what isn’t. Computers do not have the power to judge. They [the spam filtering computers] are taught to look for specific characteristics that the software designer believes will indicate a spam. You may not know that emails are getting deleted unless you check with those people who may be sending you the emails. To check on this, you can also refer to the “settings” section of the webmail stage of your email. By “webmail” I mean that there is generally a webpage available that is at a stage prior to where the mail is downloaded into Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, or other email “clients” that you might be using. You can find out the web address of this “webmail” page by asking your internet service provider.
FYI: you can change the “wallpaper” shown on your computer screen by “right-clicking” on an unused portion of the screen and choosing “customize,” or “properties” in earlier versions of windows. From the menu that comes up, you can choose a number of pictures that are already stored in Windows. If you feel ambitious, you can learn to put a digital photo or a scanned picture onto your screen.
The “cancel” button is your friend. If you are unsure of what you are about to do or of what the computer is asking you to do, often the safest option is to hit “cancel.” Cancel will stop a specific pending action that your computer is ready to take. In some instances, such as in Word, “cancel” will stop you from closing the document you are working on. In this scenario, you want to be certain that the document appears in exactly the form that you want it “saved” in before you close the document. If you have just accidentally deleted a bunch of text, you can click on the “don’t save” button in order to revert back to the previous time in which the document was saved. If the computer is asking you to do something that you disagree with, or that you’re not yet ready to do, sometimes the cancel button comes in handy.
If you are ready to purchase a flat panel monitor, don’t hesitate. They are better for your health than the older “CRT” monitors because they don’t produce the X-rays and Gamma rays, and the low-frequency RF radiation that come from a picture tube. They save energy, they don’t collect as much dust internally, [high voltages used to power a CRT attract dust], they don’t break down as often, they have a better picture, and they are less likely to start a fire of there is a “short circuit.” They also produce less hazardous waste when they are to be disposed of. Flat panel monitors have come down in price. FRY’s sells several models for under $200.
Last but not least: If you don’t want something known by members of the public, don’t enter it onto your computer. Files can be accessed via internet spying, and there is no absolute way to prevent this. If you want your personal information spread everywhere, including other countries, post it on the Internet.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Secrets To Cooking Good Rice
A GREAT POT OF RICE COMES WITH EXPERIENCE
Jack Bragen
Copyright 2009 By Jack Kenneth Bragen
Learning to consistently prepare a good pot of rice is like becoming adept at parallel parking: They both require experience, focus, and finesse.
The first thing is to select a good brand of rice and stick with it. The cheaper brands may have pebbles or bits of dirt that must be fished out, and even with this, the final result may not taste as good. Once a good brand is found, it is important to stay with it, since different brands may need different cook times. The directions on your package are not always accurate.
Rice in a re-closable bag is a good idea, since this will prevent infestation by insects. If not, you should keep rice in an airtight container. I’ve seen rice kept in an open bucket, and it wasn’t long before the bucket was loaded with moth larvae!
Fill a small or medium sized pot about halfway with water, and get it to a full boil on your stove before you add the uncooked rice. Too low a temperature to begin with will leave your pot of rice destined for the disposal. Adding the right amount of rice for the amount of water is important. With practice, it is best done by “eyeballing.” Over time, you will know exactly how much to pour. The amount is approximately half the height of the boiling water. Give it a little stir.
Put the cover on the pot and turn the heat down to a level that will provide a moderate boil with the pot covered. Going too low on temperature, again, is not a good thing. Get to know your stove: For example; my stove is best put on number 2&1/2 or sometimes 2 once the pot is covered. Your stove is liable to be different.
Leave your rice alone to do its thing as much as possible. Checking on it too frequently may worsen the outcome. With white long grain rice, about fifteen minutes, plus or minus five minutes, ought to do it. Nearly all of the water should be absorbed, and the rice should be palatable. Take a taste after cooling your sample. If the rice is okay or very close to okay, put the lid back on and take it off the heat. Let it sit a few minutes to cool and to absorb the last of the water.
Brown long grain rice may take a lot longer to cook, and doesn’t go down well when undercooked. The proportions of water and rice remain about the same.
Cooking good rice, like many other things, may not go well on the first try. Yet with practice and persistence, you’ll get the hang of it.
Jack Bragen
Copyright 2009 By Jack Kenneth Bragen
Learning to consistently prepare a good pot of rice is like becoming adept at parallel parking: They both require experience, focus, and finesse.
The first thing is to select a good brand of rice and stick with it. The cheaper brands may have pebbles or bits of dirt that must be fished out, and even with this, the final result may not taste as good. Once a good brand is found, it is important to stay with it, since different brands may need different cook times. The directions on your package are not always accurate.
Rice in a re-closable bag is a good idea, since this will prevent infestation by insects. If not, you should keep rice in an airtight container. I’ve seen rice kept in an open bucket, and it wasn’t long before the bucket was loaded with moth larvae!
Fill a small or medium sized pot about halfway with water, and get it to a full boil on your stove before you add the uncooked rice. Too low a temperature to begin with will leave your pot of rice destined for the disposal. Adding the right amount of rice for the amount of water is important. With practice, it is best done by “eyeballing.” Over time, you will know exactly how much to pour. The amount is approximately half the height of the boiling water. Give it a little stir.
Put the cover on the pot and turn the heat down to a level that will provide a moderate boil with the pot covered. Going too low on temperature, again, is not a good thing. Get to know your stove: For example; my stove is best put on number 2&1/2 or sometimes 2 once the pot is covered. Your stove is liable to be different.
Leave your rice alone to do its thing as much as possible. Checking on it too frequently may worsen the outcome. With white long grain rice, about fifteen minutes, plus or minus five minutes, ought to do it. Nearly all of the water should be absorbed, and the rice should be palatable. Take a taste after cooling your sample. If the rice is okay or very close to okay, put the lid back on and take it off the heat. Let it sit a few minutes to cool and to absorb the last of the water.
Brown long grain rice may take a lot longer to cook, and doesn’t go down well when undercooked. The proportions of water and rice remain about the same.
Cooking good rice, like many other things, may not go well on the first try. Yet with practice and persistence, you’ll get the hang of it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
