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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Philosopher who wrote (72305)	8/12/2003 8:54:07 AM
From: Rambi	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 82486

:) I went to the dictionary also. For the most part, bliss seems to have a spiritual element in its definitions, don't you think? Although it did say it came from the Old Eng "blithe"- which can mean lack of concern. As for the interpreting of Campbell as sybaritic, etc., that was my point about using the phrase out of context. People do it all the time. Look at the twisting interpretations of "let's kill all the lawyers"- or the strange things people do with the Bible. Here, people are normally careful about context, and so when I saw the definitions of bliss flying around using that quote, I thought I would say something. Even a cursory look at Campbell would indicate that he isn't about selfishness "at the expense of others." Color me rose-colored- but I don;t believe that kind of selfishness, actions at the expense of others, can lead to true happiness. Not the kind I THINK we are talking about. But I also don't think we are all capable of the Mother Teresa lifestyle, or that it's necessary to be so in order to live a life with meaning. We often hear, following the death of someone not terribly "important", of the small kindnesses done for others that were never remarked on while the person was alive. Most of our lives probably look pretty small and trivial from the outside-- even selfish and acquisitive. But there are also the acts of redemption, and the moments we rise higher than our normally self-centered behaviors. So when you say that someone is incapable of digging deeper - I guess I respond with a shrug. Can someone find true bliss by maxing out their credit cards on towels and linens? By accumulating millions stomping on little people merely to have them? I can't judge that for anyone else. It's all a very long journey with different paths and different depths opening up all along the way. We each do what we can. Hopefully we leave things better. But I think when you start trying to define and judge others' quality of bliss by your standards at any given moment, well- it is time better spent on your own dive deeper. (All this was, of course, using YOU meaning ONE, not YOUYOU.) Although I just spent a sybaritic week in Cancun drinking pina coladas and being totally blissful in the evil, selfish sense. It has its place. :) Also, have you ever read Ayn Rand's Virtue of Selfishness? It's one of the few concepts I found myself appreciating of hers. I believe that many acts we think of as selfless are not at all.