Quote:
Originally Posted by SecretMethod70
Really, I think the idea of giving something up for lent has a very Buddhist flavor to it, in that it involves material self-denial. I don't buy the idea of drawing parallels between giving something up and the suffering of Jesus or any of that stuff. Nor do I buy into the whole fish thing. I see lent as an exercise in moving beyond corporeal attachments so as to find the joy in freeing ourselves from such restrictive addictions. That is not to say, of course, that physical pleasures are bad, but only that they can be inhibitive if we allow them to be. They can blind us to the greater pleasures of existence. And, thus, I decided to begin this extended exercise of giving something up for lent again last year.
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How exactly do you think caffeine is blinding me to the 'greater pleasures of existence?' I'm not being a smartass...I honestly can't see where you're coming from.
Lent and other holidays of the same vein, are splendid times, I think, to examine one's life and reflect upon the past year. I think that's great. Everyone should do a little introspective house cleaning every once in a while. What I don't understand is the self-denial. Why do it? What is it's purpose? To show mastery over sweets or nicotine? To show mastery over one's body?
Self-loathing wrapped up in psuedo-mysticism? Would somebody like to explain it to me, please?