WOOOHOOO! 500,000 dead maybe in Mynamar. Thank goodness.....

[The Straight Story]

All those folks worried about over population can rejoice now. Lots of folks are dead.

I feel better already, don't you? :sarcasm:

Thankfully, the worst problem we had tonight (while living our little lives) was that DU was down for a spell.

And I am damned thankful those folks in the 70's were wrong about over-population and starvation, etc and so on.

The world, contrary to what they and the religious right said, has not ended yet. No new ice age, no mass death and destruction on a regular basis....now we have global warming, bush (and I would swear I read in the book of Revelation he was riding a horse...), and the fall of communism (which they kept drilling into our heads was a threat, only to be replaced today with Islam and terrorism, etc).

It's always something coming to screw us all up. And yet in the end we usually die in a hospital as our organs fail us.

Doomsday, meteorites, over population, cooling, warming, etc and so on - we have all heard that before for years.

Them crazy religious folks told us a long time ago that we would fuck it all up, from the water to war. Guess they were wrong....or maybe not.

You don't have to believe in God to see how right prophecies were about us all. Given enough time we would screw this world up.

Technology is our friend. Or was. And what have we done with it? Pollute our waters, make nuclear weapons, found new ways to monitor and control people.

The problem is not science, it is not guns, etc. It is people.

[melody]

1. I regret that I have but one rec to give your post

So good I'm bookmarking it.

[roguevalley]

23. incredibly terrible thing, this. the intensity is probably from global

warming. God rest all those poor souls and the people who have it worse, those still alive.

[whistle]

2. Prince Philip will be toe dancing in Buckingham Palace

[The Wielding Truth]

3. I was reading that the UN was able to get through so I thought

that we should give them our supplies so the help can get through. U've sent money to Unicef. Gee this is awful.

[The Straight Story]

4. It is indeed awful

So many are suffering right now. From not having the bare needs to losing someone they loved and needed.

They need medical and mental health care now - much like many of us need the same here.

I hope those in the RW that see helping them as something good and noble will see the same thing about people here.

We can and should help our fellow citizens of the world, and we can and should help each other out here.

there is no reason we cannot.

[uppityperson]

5. k&r. 500,000!?!?!?

I thought it was possibly 100,000. Even that. Shit.

[Warpy]

6. Nothing is all good or all evil

and further confusing the issue is the fact that good and evil are perceptually bound.

The responsibility for the death toll in Burma lies with a government that didn't bother to warn people about the approaching typhoon so they could get off the delta and head for higher ground. That was a terrible evil. However, if it gets those military thugs out of the government, it's quite possibly going to be seen as a good thing far down the road and viewed through the 20/20 hindsight glasses and after the pain has faded.

As for death, I've seen a lot of it, and it mostly comes as an old friend, saving people from an existence in hideous pain when their bodies have worn out or have become too damaged to continue to function.

Mostly things just ARE, and we make choices in how to think about them and how to use them or avoid them. Our own choices are the only ones we ever have control over, and trying to control the choices of others is futile and leads only to misery.

[mtf80123]

7. If I may please... offer a Buddhist prayer

The Bardo Prayer

Oh Buddhas and Bodhisattvas abiding in all directions,

Endowed with great compassion,

Endowed with foreknowledge,

Endowed with divine eye,

Endowed with love,

Affording protection to sentient beings,

Please come forth through the power of your great compassion,

Please accept these offerings, both actually presented and mentally created.

(light a candle and burn insense)

Oh Compassionate Ones, you who possess

The wisdom of understanding,

The love of compassion,

The power of doing divine deeds,

And of protecting in incomprehensible measure,

these people are passing from this world to the next,

They are taking a great leap,

The light of this world has faded for them,

They have entered solitude with their karmic forces,

They have gone into a vast silence,

They are borne away by the great ocean of birth and death .....

Oh Compassionate Ones, protect these blessed ones (human and animal) who are defenceless. Be to them like a mother and father.

Oh Compassionate Ones, let not the force of your compassion be weak, but aid them.

Let them not go into the miserable states of existence.

Forget not your ancient vows.

------------------------------------------------------------


The Way of the Bodhisattva

by Shantideva

May all beings everywhere
Plagued by sufferings of body and mind,
Obtain an ocean of happiness and joy
By virtue of my merits.

May no living creature suffer,
Commit evil or ever fall ill.
May no one be afraid or belittled,
With a mind weighed down by depression.

May the blind see forms
And the deaf hear sounds.
May those whose bodies are worn with toil
Be restored on finding repose.

May the naked find clothing
The hungry find food;
May the thirsty find water
And delicious drinks.

May the poor find wealth,
Those weak with sorrow find joy;
May the forlorn find hope,
Constant happiness and prosperity.

May there be timely rains
And bountiful harvests;
May all medicines be effective
And wholesome prayers bear fruit.

May all who are sick and ill
Quickly be freed from their ailments.
Whatever diseases there are in the world,
May they never occur again.

May the frightened cease to be afraid
And those bound be freed;
May the powerless find power
And may people think of benefiting each other.


Namo Amitabha _/\_

<>

Edited to add pic

[Truth2Tell]

8. Thank you for that mtf80123!

And welcome to DU! :hi:

[mtf80123]

9. Thanks Truth2Tell

I wish the member who started this thread would change the heading though.

[The Straight Story]

10. to what? And welcome to DU!

:)

[mtf80123]

11. Something more Solemn and Humble I would think

Thanks Straight Story.

[The Straight Story]

12. Tis a long story

as to why I chose the title I did :)

Has to do with being here awhile. But your concern is duly noted ;)

Sorry if it offended you.

[mtf80123]

13. I....

kinda sorta understand your title. The Government they have in that country is evil. But the people there are truly beautiful. To me, they represent an understanding of their own lives, true spirituality and knowledge of their place within the Universe.

They are one of the last known monastic societies on this planet. Unfortunately they have been taken over and driven in to a subservient role to the militaristic state.

Please change the title of this thread. Can this thread become a place of prayer for these people?

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. If I may bring you back to some reality

the damage and the death toll is directly tied to global warming

Expect more of this in coming years

And on a Hagee line... I am sure the good pastor will find a reason for so many unsaved to have been punished by god :sarcasm:

As to the overpopulation... once the age of oil is done for (soon, in my lifetime) the green revolution will be over... not to point this out is criminal, but the planetary carrying capacity may not be that high without hydrocarbons

[mtf80123]

15. Reminders not neccessary

I am not a Christian. I fully understand that Global Warming is to blame for this. And I know that more is deffinitely in store for all of us. To certain calamity. And I expect that the entire planet will soon be suffering greatly to the detriment of all life.

I admit that I am very much religeous (Buddhist). I do not underestimate what is happening to this planet and to its causes in which we have all had a hand in.

I just wanted to offer a prayer to these people.

"The House decays when it is not repaired" ~ Buddha

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. The reminder was to the OP

Sorry. I understand the need to pray

Me personally, on my development religion in my travels have gone from lukewarm belief in a creative force, to you've got to be kidding me? Seen way too many tragedies over the years.

It hurts that so many people are already paying the price for our foolishness as a species, whether it is Myammar, Bangladesh, New Orleans (and the rest of the Gulf Coast), The Mexican lowlands, and so it goes

We are an apex species... and we have caused a mass extinction event. If humanity manages to survive this... at least it will be shown just how much of a PART of nature it is... and perhaps the foolishness of Christian theology that got us into this hole, will die with the mass extinction event.

[mtf80123]

19. We all pray in one way or another.

Hopefully we will survive these evil times. If we are doomed it will be by our own causes.

It does not really matter. Discovering your place within the Universe and understanding the true nature of your own reality is what truly matters. The most important thing is to relieve the sufferings of others. That is the most important teaching of the Buddha. That is what will help you achieve a fortunate re-birth or Enlightenment.

"There is no salvation without compassion for all living beings" ~ Buddha

Most of these people in Myanmar I belive will most certainly have a most fortunate re-birth.

[rdenney]

17. Too put it bluntly, millions and millions of humans are on this planet because of cheap oil..

..and of course that would include everyone, to one extent or another.

Yeah, it sucks, but it's the truth.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. I know and if the worst numbers are right

we may see a great die out of one third of the population as soon as peak oil becomes even more of a realtiy

Read the numbers, and the rice (and now wheat, see Kansas) are just the tip of that

[melody]

21. How did you determine you were informing the poster?

I didn't see anything in the OP that would disagree with that position.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

20. "Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out."

Otherwise known as The Republican Creed.

:cry:

[sammythecat]

22. I don't remember where I saw this,

or who said it, but I never forgot it.

Speaking of Mankind, someone said, "We have become very clever, but not yet wise." I remember seeing that only once, but so many times I'm reminded of it that I'm sure I'll never forget it.

[mtf80123]

24. Bertrand Russell?

"We have become very clever, indeed too clever. We can make lots of wonderful gadgets, including television, high-speed rockets, and an atom bomb, or a thermonuclear bomb, if you prefer. But we have not been able to achieve that moral and political growth and maturity which alone could safely direct and control the uses to which we put our tremendous intellectual powers. This is why we now find ourselves in mortal danger".

In a nutshell: we are clever, perhaps too clever, but we are also wicked; and this mixture of cleverness and wickedness lies at the root of our troubles.

[cynatnite]

25. Well, Jenna's wedding was today...

and we still act like apes.

[mtf80123]

26. Yes we do

And we must oppose those who cause harm to the many.