MT: I don't recall anywhere reading where he said "there's also laughing."
NS: “Where there is no ostensible attribution, please assume that I am quoting, misquoting, or simply paraphrasing myself.” (NS)
MT: Perhaps you can direct me to that line. I'd like to read it because I do believe that laughing is part and parcel, the yin/yang of joy/sorrow. Why do you think Buddha brought that up? To crack a joke for you?
NS: If he had said it, you may be sure that would have been the sole reason for doing so. Why I said it, was to mimic the grammatical structure so to make it more obvious to you how you were expanding unnecessarily upon Buddha’s “suffering” assertion.
MT: It seems to have degenerated into other ideas and other's sayings.
NS: While I may well be a degenerate who holds other ideas and sayings than those of the “Preacher” in Ecclesiastes, I don’t believe we erred by your references to Buddha’s saying and ideas, and my accompanying you there. I feel it both deepened and broadened the discussion well beyond a stupid quote.
I genuinely like the three Greek sourced Biblical books, and the great Preacher's wisdom. But, in the instance of this particular quote, I’d have to agree with Job who said:
”Great men are not always wise.” But then, who among us is?
MT: If you, NS, disagree that 'there is suffering' and 'much suffering begets much sorrow' I'm not sure I agree with your reasoning
NS: I don’t disagree that, “there is suffering.” I do disagree that one must necessarily “sorrow” over their, or another’s, suffering. Far better, and “wiser,” not to compound one’s suffering by the addition of sorrowing over it. And do please note that Buddhism considers suffering as the opposite of wisdom, since no one actually suffers.
MT: If you are a perfectly satisfied individual so be it.
NS: Humans are always unsatisfied in some way or other, if only feeling the need to adjust their posture, or to exhale a breath. “Satisfaction” only arrives when one no longer considers themselves to be human.
”a True Human Being is not human!” (Rumi)
” Thou, as a human being, art that which is not. I am that I am. If thou perceivest this truth in thy soul, never shall the enemy deceive thee; thou shalt escape all his snares.” (St.
Catherine of Siena)
MT: Odd... I prefer to watch a movie. But, of course, I may be ignorant in knowing how a movie is caught... it may be better than watching.
NS: “Watching” works until the movie begins to run; that is the best time to “catch” it, if you can. Otherwise, you may miss it, It’ll get by you, and will then only play at a theatre Not near you; making it even harder to catch, unless you can grab it later as a rerun. Oddly, short runs of movies are the hardest to catch.
NS (No Shorts)
”Some folks are wise, and some are otherwise.” (Tobias Smollett)