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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (4593)	8/28/1999 11:45:00 PM
From: mark silvers	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Charles, Spirituality and religion are different animals. It may not be your cup of tea, but it is quite clearly spirituality. Here is a quote from the Dalai Lama's new book, "Ethics for the New Millenium" concerning the difference between religion and spirituality. "I believe there is an important distinction to be made between religion and spirituality. religion I take to be concerned with faith in the claims to slavation of one faith tradition or another, an aspect of which is acceptance of some form of metaphysical or supernatural relity, including perhaps an idea of heaven or nirvana. connected with this are religious teachings or dogma, ritual,prayer, and so on. Spirituality I take to be concerned with those qualities of the human spirit-such as love and compasssion,patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony-which brings happiness to both self and others." If you look at those qualitites he mentions concerning spirituality, meditation(navel-gazing) is a very legitimate method of developing and/or examining those same qualities in one's self. Mark

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (4593)	8/30/1999 12:57:00 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

When one believes that there is a perfection towards which human beings should aim, both in their character and actions, in the cultivation of their souls and their relations with others, then one is in a position to discuss ethics. It seems apparent that the desirable qualities have not changed much since Plato and Aristotle: prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude still hold up pretty well as cardinal virtues. It seems as well that the basic rules are not so different: deal honestly and fairly, fulfill your primary obligations to family, friends, and community, be generous to those in distress, concern yourself more with being worthy of honors than with the honors themselves. Even were there improvements, it seems that one should learn the basics before going on to advanced courses. How many of those who are occupied with "spirituality" truly have down the basics?...In any event, the difficulty of getting agreement on the elements of ethics, or of getting people to agree that ethical values must be upheld, without accusations of self- righteousness, smugness, and intolerance, suggests that there is a decay in our culture that "spirituality" will not address, at least if spirituality is taken as something without positive demands, but rather as getting in touch with ones self....