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Originally Posted by Sparrow
I actually thought of the Buddhist ideas of letting go while I was reading the article.
I kind of overlooked the relying on the kindness of others that other posters have commented on. It was the ditching of possessions that appealed to me - and how far that could go.
Added: it just occurred to me that the relying on others' kindness is a Buddhist thing too. I remember reading about a Buddhist monk being asked about the tradition of going from village to village, eating food that the villagers would provide - wasn't it improper to take food from poor people? His reply was that this tradition gave an opportunity for doing good - it struck me as a very profound response. In the West it would never normally occur to us that providing opportunities for others to help us is a good thing to do; and yet it is often the saddest of sights to see an offer of help being refused. We are generally very bad at taking aid graciously, and would much rather refuse it if possible - it reinforces our self-esteem, but dimninishes the worth of others by rejecting what they seek to offer.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffC
One wonders, do they pay for the use of couch and where does the electricity for the laptop etc come from, and do they pay ?
Seems a selfish way to live, forever scrounging off friends - precarious too - and it doesn't look as though they don't have money - so what do they do with it ? save for a rainy day when they decide to settle down and let the next generation do unto them what they did unto others ?
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I'm certain they didn't have a $3000 begging bowl