Universal Worthiness .....

[Donner]

Im gathering a sort of non religious but spiritual as well as
practical list of things to strive for at any age- not sure what the
correct label would be ~ morals, superior attributes,universal truths,
path stones ~ etc....

'What attributes would you prescribe as worthy of pursuing/attaining
for anyone of any age,gender,religion,race etc.. ?'

[DocRock]

These are my "sacred seven":

Truth
Awareness
Detachment
Gratitude
Contentment
Loving-kindness
Peace

[EyeFly]

Interesting concept and I certainly like and agree with the good DocRocks response; not likely to find anything more worthy than those seven.

In addition, I've always had the philosophy that the strong must care for the weak. That seems somewhat trite I guess but it is really a pretty great concept when you put it into action as we all change roles from the strong to the weak pretty much on a daily basis.

For example, let's say you are a physician and want to buy a home. You will find that the person who knows the realty market is strong in that regard and you are weak, easily taken advantage of at the very least. So, in that situation, you would certainly want honesty, sincerity, and a modicum of knowledge rendered on the part of your realtor to protect you from the foibles mostly of which you are unaware. Now, that same realtor may come to you the following week with a sore throat and fever. Here, the realtor is weak and is expecting the same level of conscientiousness and care from you in your role as the strong.

The same applies when parents care for the very young and they grow to take care of their parents when they are very old.

It's a pretty universal and practical concept. I always try to ascertain when I am in a position of strength or weakness and when in strength, I go the extra mile to ensure care for the weak. When weak, I work to improve my vantage but rely too on the hope that the strong will care for me. I have done my best to ensure my children know and use this strategy as well.

I guess it boils down to this. We all have a piece of the pie; what we do with it, how we cut, shape, share, or hoard it, well, that is our legacy.

May not have been what you were looking for but thought I'd give it a go. Haven't been able to respond much for a while on the Forum; been in a position of weakness! Good to see you up and posting again Mike.

cork

[huckleboogie]

Interesting concept and I certainly like and agree with the good DocRocks response; not likely to find anything more worthy than those seven.

In addition, I've always had the philosophy that the strong must care for the weak. That seems somewhat trite I guess but it is really a pretty great concept when you put it into action as we all change roles from the strong to the weak pretty much on a daily basis.

For example, let's say you are a physician and want to buy a home. You will find that the person who knows the realty market is strong in that regard and you are weak, easily taken advantage of at the very least. So, in that situation, you would certainly want honesty, sincerity, and a modicum of knowledge rendered on the part of your realtor to protect you from the foibles mostly of which you are unaware. Now, that same realtor may come to you the following week with a sore throat and fever. Here, the realtor is weak and is expecting the same level of conscientiousness and care from you in your role as the strong.

The same applies when parents care for the very young and they grow to take care of their parents when they are very old.

It's a pretty universal and practical concept. I always try to ascertain when I am in a position of strength or weakness and when in strength, I go the extra mile to ensure care for the weak. When weak, I work to improve my vantage but rely too on the hope that the strong will care for me. I have done my best to ensure my children know and use this strategy as well.

I guess it boils down to this. We all have a piece of the pie; what we do with it, how we cut, shape, share, or hoard it, well, that is our legacy.

May not have been what you were looking for but thought I'd give it a go. Haven't been able to respond much for a while on the Forum; been in a position of weakness! Good to see you up and posting again Mike.

cork

thanks Eye Fly - i really like that! having a son of 3, i spend a lot of time thinkin about what values i should teach him when he grows up....
one value i'd like to add: always try to respect other people, no matter how strange or even dumb their ways/opinions might seem at first - always remember they're just different.

[DocRock]

Thanks for your good words, cork!

I think this has the makings for a very good thread.

[Bobby D]

never give up.

be compassionate

develop the heart

work for peace

never give up.

(this is a condensed version of a talk the Dalai Lama gave that i heard years ago)

[Donner]

I sent this question out to some interesting people and got some very interesting responses - I may post some of them here for posterity (without authorship of course) - good inspirational reading....

[mills]

I think I'm prematurely a grumpy old man, and pretty cynical, so this might not be inspiring or anything, but it works for me...

1) You aren't special. And I'm not either. No one really is. No matter what you've accomplished, what you've done, or how awesome you think you are, you're actually not better than anyone. I can't really adequately put this one into words, but I guess that the thing to strive for is being humble, friendly, and treating people as equals.

2) Be open minded and don't try to force your beliefs/practices on others. I can get along with people with fundamentally different ideals as long as we can think about it, and agree that there might be more than one way to see things and move on. As soon as there's a struggle to be right, or show the other person how they're wrong there's no point in interacting with them anymore.

I know that we all say "yeah, I'm open minded, I don't act like I'm special" but really we all do (and I'm included here)... Its something to strive for because it isn't easy to honestly do. And, apparantly I'm a massive hypocrite because if someone violates either of those too much, I'll judge them and more or less write hem off as a person... So I gotta work on that.

[Donner]

yeah mills I think you hit a big part of it - its a journey ... just like no one is 'special' ~ no one is 'finished' either, there is always room for improvement

[Bobby D]

man, sometimes it really comes down to KISS. keep it simple, stupid.

one thing i have learned from BJ himself is to try and always keep it light, keep it peaceful, and take the higher road if at all possible.

my bandleader is the same way. his mantra is "if you are playing with me, then you ALWAYS take the high road. you are representing MY band, so that means you are representing ME, and i want you guys to always do the "right" thing"

as someone who you might term a "seeker" for many many years, i have been around the block spiritually. spent time in a buddhist monastery. spent MANY hours on the meditation cushion. spent many years studying and practicing various things.

finally ended up at the "last house on the block" for most seekers. advaita hindu philosophy. my teacher in this is Wayne Liqourman, also known as "Ram Tzu". he is the most "un-teacher" teacher i have ever known.

one of my fave poems from him:

Ram Tzu has some questions for you...
Just who do you think you are?
Are you other than God?
Are you separate from Me?

If so...
What are you made of?
Where did it come from?

Don't look to science to help you.
The physicists have all become mystics.
They're of no more use to you than is Ram Tzu.

If you're really clever you'll turn around
And walk away
Fast!
Hang around here and you're liable to lose
Everything you hold dear.

Go back to your church, your temple,
Your therapist, your drug dealer, your ashram.
There you may find a moments peace.
You found it there once.
Here is only emptiness for you.
You'll find no food for your ego here.

What if your precious sense of self
Were to shrivel up and die?
Where would you be then?
What would happen?

Best not to risk it.