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Interesting Links

Found an interesting website concerning Companion style topics? Meditation, virtual world dynamics, Firefly websites, art of love? Lets share them here :)

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Permalink Reply by 19g3xc9ffjalf on November 18, 2015 at 12:35pm

It is safe to empathize but it is risky to act compassionately. What drives us to behave altruistically? Is it making a better, safer place? Or is it selfish, making us feel better because we, in this context, are the ones empowered to help? Is the risk worth the reward and what makes it worth it?

How do you identify and do you avoid the self centered or deceptive people that you may intend to help? What is your line in the sand for offering compassion?

....and now, some thought on Kittens....

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Permalink Reply by Beeflin Grut on November 18, 2015 at 12:49pm

Compassion is initially generated by empathy for others, but as you continue to practice it you realise it's good for you too. This creates a double motivation to act compassionately. But ultimately there's no division between self and other, so there's no distinction between selfishness and altruism either. So compassion eventually becomes a unified activity which generates happiness for everyone.

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Permalink Reply by Lysana McMillan on November 18, 2015 at 10:17pm

The line in the sand, I think, is when it is more compassionate to act out of self-love than other-love and separate yourself from the hurtful other in question. However, sometimes, that line is only perceived after the pain has been caused. As you said, gege, there is risk. When the risk brings reward, it helps compensate for the times risk brings pain. And if one is compassionate in a broad range of situations, one is more likely to accumulate reward by sheer force of the odds. Life cannot be pain-free, but it can contain more pleasure on the whole.

And I admit the idea that feeling good is selfish and thus lesser is one I'm a little bemused by. Why shouldn't I act to make myself feel good if I am bettering another's life in the process? If enjoying feeling good while doing good is selfish, then sex is repulsively self-centered. Or there's how Beeflin put it. *smiles*

Kermudgeon Baar said:

It is safe to empathize but it is risky to act compassionately. What drives us to behave altruistically? Is it making a better, safer place? Or is it selfish, making us feel better because we, in this context, are the ones empowered to help? Is the risk worth the reward and what makes it worth it?

How do you identify and do you avoid the self centered or deceptive people that you may intend to help? What is your line in the sand for offering compassion?

....and now, some thought on Kittens....

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Permalink Reply by 19g3xc9ffjalf on November 19, 2015 at 10:01am

Humor! The ability to laugh regardless of our emotional state, is a gift of our weird little brains to cope with anything. Here are some outtakes from the movie "Serenity". Enjoy