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When asked what surprised him about humanity the most, the Dalai Lama replied: “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifice

When asked what surprised him about humanity the most, the Dalai Lama replied: “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

badpun 8y ago
On the flip side, if no one was anxious and everyone was perfectly enjoying the present, it could be that no one would ever bother to even invent the wheel.
- n4r9 8y ago
  On the flip side's flip side, if people weren't so anxious about carving their life out, it could be that we'd have plenty more Edison's and da Vinci's inventing great things for the fun of it.
  - cvrjk 8y ago
    On the flip side's flip side's flip side, if people weren't anxious about making money and building a future all those fun ideas might not have gotten monopolized for use
- tonyedgecombe 8y ago
  I bet the person who invented the wheel did it whilst idling one sunny day.
  - r_smart 8y ago
    They may have gotten the idea while idling, but it still took work to design and test prototypes. This would obviously be more true for the many more advanced inventions that have come since.
  - julius_set 8y ago
    I highly doubt a single person created the wheel out of nothing. The idea of a circle is part of our innate biology we are hard wired to recognize or create circular shapes. Most likely several people tried to create the wheel and ideas on what to do with a circular shape were thought of, some cross pollination from physics resulted in it being used for transportation. So I’d argue it was not done on a sunny day but mostly as an obsession just like most every other game changing idea
    - amelius 8y ago
      The wheel is a natural invention. Just let something (not necessarily very round) roll off a snowy hill, and see what happens.
      - spenczar5 8y ago
        The wheel isn't the hard part. The hard part is the axle bearings.
    - pault 8y ago
      The wheel is trivial and obviously anyone could come up with the idea. The reason wheels weren't used universally from the dawn of time is that axels had to be invented first. In order to invent a cart that can support enough weight to be more useful than a donkey, you first need to invent metallurgy.
    - antisthenes 8y ago
      The simplest form of a wheel is a wooden log. The prototypes were readily available and supplied by nature. Now to make an actual wheel, with spokes and mostly 'hollow' inside and to put it on an axle - would have required better tools, so the wheel was probably created/invented quite naturally alongside the advances in metallurgy.
  - knodi123 8y ago
    It just came to him one day as he was stuck in traffic.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  I think there can be a balance. Even compared to when I grew up in the 70s everything seems more accelerated now to the point of overwhelming. I think we can have progress without going crazy.
- projectileboy 8y ago
  In our society, I fear that our fear is not that no one would bother to invent the wheel, but rather that no one will buy our automatically-renewing annual subscription to the wheel.
- movedx 8y ago
  Exactly. I've done a bit of Buddhist study my self and it wasn't for me. It was as if it was telling me to sit still and just relax. Well, I'm keen on relaxing and such, but there's also problems to be solved. So enjoy the present, be in the moment, but don't neglect the future (or your health) as if it's not going to come.
  - PavlovsCat 8y ago
    > Before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water. > After enlightenment: chop wood, carry water. -- Zen Proverb
- rifung 8y ago
  > On the flip side, if no one was anxious and everyone was perfectly enjoying the present, it could be that no one would ever bother to even invent the wheel. I don't think the idea is that people should stop investing in the future but that they should enjoy the path to get there as well. The idea that you should just be unhappy but it will all be worth it once X happens is not good for your well being. Life can be hard and even stressful but that doesn't preclude you from being happy or fulfilled. For example, if you are working your butt off, you can feel happy that you did so. I started piano at 20 years old which is really old compared to most serious pianists. I practice 4 hours a day despite working full time. I know that it is entirely possible I will never reach the level as the greatest pianists but I try anyway. I think the fact that I am not depending on being great to be happy makes it easier for me to keep going because each week I feel improvement and I know I worked hard and that makes me happy.
  - mac_was 8y ago
    "I am not depending on being great to be happy" - spot on!
kilovoltaire 8y ago
I like that quote, but at least according to wikiquote it may be misattributed - https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tenzin_Gyatso,_14th_Dalai_Lama#%22What_surprises_you_most_about_humanity?%22 https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tenzin_Gyatso,_14th_Dalai_Lama...
- mac_was 8y ago
  I didn’t know that, even so it perfectly summarizes some people lives.
yakshaving_jgt 8y ago
That’s a bit rich coming from Tenzin Gyatso — a man who lived in utter opulence as the leader of an elite priest-class and ruled over serfs who would be tortured if they didn’t do as they were told.
- simmanian 8y ago
  Can you provide some source?
  - yakshaving_jgt 8y ago
    Sure. http://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html http://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html
  - blotter_paper 8y ago
    >Until 1959, when China cracked down on Tibetan rebels and the Dalai Lama fled to northern India, around 98% of the population was enslaved in serfdom. Drepung monastery, on the outskirts of Lhasa, was one of the world's largest landowners with 185 manors, 25,000 serfs, 300 pastures, and 16,000 herdsmen. High-ranking lamas and secular landowners imposed crippling taxes, forced boys into monastic slavery and pilfered most of the country's wealth – torturing disobedient serfs by gouging out their eyes or severing their hamstrings. Sauce: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/feb/10/tibet-china-feudalism https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/feb/10/tibet-... This was just the first google result for 'dalai lama slaves' (no quotes). The West wants to think that Tibet is the the good guy, since China is _obviously_ the bad guy, but it turns out that history doesn't have good guys and bad guys; it has humans, and humans at the top of large-scale traditional hierarchies tend to be cruel to humans at the bottom of those hierarchies. So it goes.
    - Nimitz14 8y ago
      Pretty sure the Tibet was invaded before the Dalai Lama even had a chance to show what sort of ruler he would have been. The only people who speak negatively of him are Chinese.
manigandham 8y ago
Many people strive to achieve which leads to a greater satisfaction than anything else. Of course it all sounds bad when you completely take away accomplishments and fulfilment.

badpun 8y ago

On the flip side, if no one was anxious and everyone was perfectly enjoying the present, it could be that no one would ever bother to even invent the wheel.

n4r9 8y ago
On the flip side's flip side, if people weren't so anxious about carving their life out, it could be that we'd have plenty more Edison's and da Vinci's inventing great things for the fun of it.
- cvrjk 8y ago
  On the flip side's flip side's flip side, if people weren't anxious about making money and building a future all those fun ideas might not have gotten monopolized for use
tonyedgecombe 8y ago
I bet the person who invented the wheel did it whilst idling one sunny day.
- r_smart 8y ago
  They may have gotten the idea while idling, but it still took work to design and test prototypes. This would obviously be more true for the many more advanced inventions that have come since.
- julius_set 8y ago
  I highly doubt a single person created the wheel out of nothing. The idea of a circle is part of our innate biology we are hard wired to recognize or create circular shapes. Most likely several people tried to create the wheel and ideas on what to do with a circular shape were thought of, some cross pollination from physics resulted in it being used for transportation. So I’d argue it was not done on a sunny day but mostly as an obsession just like most every other game changing idea
  - amelius 8y ago
    The wheel is a natural invention. Just let something (not necessarily very round) roll off a snowy hill, and see what happens.
    - spenczar5 8y ago
      The wheel isn't the hard part. The hard part is the axle bearings.
  - pault 8y ago
    The wheel is trivial and obviously anyone could come up with the idea. The reason wheels weren't used universally from the dawn of time is that axels had to be invented first. In order to invent a cart that can support enough weight to be more useful than a donkey, you first need to invent metallurgy.
  - antisthenes 8y ago
    The simplest form of a wheel is a wooden log. The prototypes were readily available and supplied by nature. Now to make an actual wheel, with spokes and mostly 'hollow' inside and to put it on an axle - would have required better tools, so the wheel was probably created/invented quite naturally alongside the advances in metallurgy.
- knodi123 8y ago
  It just came to him one day as he was stuck in traffic.
maxxxxx 8y ago
I think there can be a balance. Even compared to when I grew up in the 70s everything seems more accelerated now to the point of overwhelming. I think we can have progress without going crazy.
projectileboy 8y ago
In our society, I fear that our fear is not that no one would bother to invent the wheel, but rather that no one will buy our automatically-renewing annual subscription to the wheel.
movedx 8y ago
Exactly. I've done a bit of Buddhist study my self and it wasn't for me. It was as if it was telling me to sit still and just relax. Well, I'm keen on relaxing and such, but there's also problems to be solved. So enjoy the present, be in the moment, but don't neglect the future (or your health) as if it's not going to come.
- PavlovsCat 8y ago
  > Before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water. > After enlightenment: chop wood, carry water. -- Zen Proverb
rifung 8y ago
> On the flip side, if no one was anxious and everyone was perfectly enjoying the present, it could be that no one would ever bother to even invent the wheel. I don't think the idea is that people should stop investing in the future but that they should enjoy the path to get there as well. The idea that you should just be unhappy but it will all be worth it once X happens is not good for your well being. Life can be hard and even stressful but that doesn't preclude you from being happy or fulfilled. For example, if you are working your butt off, you can feel happy that you did so. I started piano at 20 years old which is really old compared to most serious pianists. I practice 4 hours a day despite working full time. I know that it is entirely possible I will never reach the level as the greatest pianists but I try anyway. I think the fact that I am not depending on being great to be happy makes it easier for me to keep going because each week I feel improvement and I know I worked hard and that makes me happy.
- mac_was 8y ago
  "I am not depending on being great to be happy" - spot on!

kilovoltaire 8y ago

I like that quote, but at least according to wikiquote it may be misattributed - https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tenzin_Gyatso,_14th_Dalai_Lama#%22What_surprises_you_most_about_humanity?%22 https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tenzin_Gyatso,_14th_Dalai_Lama...

mac_was 8y ago
I didn’t know that, even so it perfectly summarizes some people lives.

yakshaving_jgt 8y ago

That’s a bit rich coming from Tenzin Gyatso — a man who lived in utter opulence as the leader of an elite priest-class and ruled over serfs who would be tortured if they didn’t do as they were told.

simmanian 8y ago
Can you provide some source?
- yakshaving_jgt 8y ago
  Sure. http://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html http://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html
- blotter_paper 8y ago
  >Until 1959, when China cracked down on Tibetan rebels and the Dalai Lama fled to northern India, around 98% of the population was enslaved in serfdom. Drepung monastery, on the outskirts of Lhasa, was one of the world's largest landowners with 185 manors, 25,000 serfs, 300 pastures, and 16,000 herdsmen. High-ranking lamas and secular landowners imposed crippling taxes, forced boys into monastic slavery and pilfered most of the country's wealth – torturing disobedient serfs by gouging out their eyes or severing their hamstrings. Sauce: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/feb/10/tibet-china-feudalism https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/feb/10/tibet-... This was just the first google result for 'dalai lama slaves' (no quotes). The West wants to think that Tibet is the the good guy, since China is _obviously_ the bad guy, but it turns out that history doesn't have good guys and bad guys; it has humans, and humans at the top of large-scale traditional hierarchies tend to be cruel to humans at the bottom of those hierarchies. So it goes.
  - Nimitz14 8y ago
    Pretty sure the Tibet was invaded before the Dalai Lama even had a chance to show what sort of ruler he would have been. The only people who speak negatively of him are Chinese.

manigandham 8y ago

Many people strive to achieve which leads to a greater satisfaction than anything else. Of course it all sounds bad when you completely take away accomplishments and fulfilment.