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i don't know what to make of the many sufferings of others
it's easy to believe that everything is one's own fault, that if one were simply maximally self-sacrificing that one could not be troubled by those cries, because one would have done every last thing they could
but one would lose sight of oneself actually doing that, and still there is no amount of self-sacrifice that will actually eliminate suffering, it can be found at every turn, in every place, in all directions; one would have to self-sacrifice a billion times over, and yet more
“don't make an offer you would resent someone for taking” is probably a good rule.
@hikari yeah
@hikari moreover, "don't make an offer you would resent someone for giving you"
@whitequark i've done this once and feel very bad about it, though i've no idea if i'm imagining the same thing
religion (non-christian)
@hikari our own goal is to try as hard as possible to hear the cries and eliminate what suffering we can. not because anything is in any way our fault, but merely because we believe it's a good direction to move towards
this is the reason why we keep around an icon of Guanyin (JP: Kannon)
@hikari
I don't know what is "sight of yourself", but there's always efficiency to action, and self-sacrifice is not often efficient. You might of pure egoism, believe that your life is worth more than dirt and end up heroically drumming against rocks with a microscope where throwing some dirt for plants to grow and shatter would have been more effective.
@hikari like, if I think about it, within finite amount of casual links everything wrong going on in the world is my fault through action or inaction, but that's simply a description of possible power I am capable of exerting, nothing more — nothing less.