Philosophical Discussion

[Wylder Treejumper]

All right, I took Plugg's suggestion and started a topic for philosophy. This will mainly be me and Plugg's thing, I guess, but jump in if you have any comments (that have a point). I'll start with three basic philosophy questions:

What quality must a man have to be at harmony with himself?

What quality must a man have to be at harmony with mankind?

What quality must a man have to be at harmony with the world?

P.S.: This will get religious, my philosophy can hardly not be. Please no direct comments on religion.

[Kitsune]

To be at harmony with himself, a man must be able to accept his own flaws. He needs to realize that he is human, and therefore imperfect, and that he should not see himself as anything other than imperfect. When he messes up, he should realize that he is imperfect. He should not punish himself for making a mistake, because behind that is the desire for perfection, but shrug it off. He then has harmony with himself.

To be at harmony with mankind, a man must be able to accept its flaws. Just as a man should not expect himself to be anything more than imperfect, he should expect the same for his fellow man. By realizing its utter humanity, a man can see that mankind is bound to make mistakes, and if that man does not expect perfection from mankind, he will be at harmony with it.

To be at harmony with the world, a man must be able to accept its flaws. He must not expect perfection; there is no symmetrical waterfall, no perfectly smooth rock. When a man learns that the world is imperfect, and if he comes to accept that imperfection, he will be at peace with the world.

To be at harmony with anything, one must realize that nothing is perfect. Everything has its flaws, and if you expect something perfect, than it really is "too good to be true" and will only leave you with crushed hopes. If you can learn to embrace the imperfections of something, then and only then can you have harmony with it.

[Wylder Treejumper]

Hmm. Our ideas are fairly similar. I see each of these virtues building successively off the other- self, then society, then universe

In order for a man to be at harmony with himself, he must have the quality of humility. This does not mean having low feelings of self-worth as the term has generally come to mean colloquially. Rather, it means accepting that he is a mortal man living in a fallen world, and as such, that neither he nor the world can be perfect. This man recognizes himself for who he is. He realizes both his and others' weaknesses and flaws, but also recognizes his and others' strengths. He thinks himself neither above nor below others. He sees people not as successes or failures, but rather each having opportunity to improve himself.

In order for a man to be at harmony with mankind, he must have charity. The man who has charity has pure love for all, regardless of circumstances. He sees others as above and beyond himself. The man who has charity looks through the surface to see the people at heart, because he loves them enough to not take them at face value, but rather to take them at heart value. Thus this man chooses not to be offended, angered, or hurt, because he sees the real reasons for peoples actions, and instead of reacting to the action, reacts with an increase of love to mend the underlying cause.

In order for a man to be at harmony with the universe, he must have faith or hope. I consider these two interchangeable. If a man has hope, he will never act in discord, because all his attentions will be focused on making the future better then the present. A man who has hope will do what is right in any circumstance, because he realizes the present is not the be-all and end-all. Rather, he lives in the present for the future. Thus, any misfortunes which may befall him can not affect him, because there is more than the here and now.

[Hickory]

Sounds Buddhist.

[Wylder Treejumper]

Actually, I based mine off of the three core virtues of Christianity (Faith, Hope, Charity), though I combined faith/hope and added humility.

You want the next question, Plugg?

[Kitsune]

Certainly. ^ - ^

[Wylder Treejumper]

Er, I meant to ask the next question. Sorry.

[Kitsune]

Ah. Well, in that case...

Is suffering necessary for wisdom?

[Blaggut]

WELL RELIGION IS...

*magicslly poofs away*