It says, Bonte, I have been thinking recently, I have already made mention of how some of the Christians hand out magazines to me at the bus stop.
Would it be wrong if I told them I'll take it if they listen to what I have to say?
Not so much of...
they are wrong but won't have any effect upon others anyway.
What do you think Larry?
Is that wrong?
Yes in a way I think it is wrong because first of all they're wasting other people's time and as he stated he or she
handing out one pamphlets not going to make a difference in how someone feels about their inner beliefs in the first place so really it's quite agitating um we have some people here in the states that go door-to-door from time to time handing out pamphlets
I usually just out of courtesy take them say thank you and I go chunk them as soon as they leave the front door because I'm not going to read them because I know basically I've read enough to basically know some of their beliefs and I just have no interest if they want to believe that way fine but if not you know I believe like the way I would want to believe so I think to be polite to those individuals would be just to say
I'd rather not take your pamphlets because no thank you I don't want your pamphlet and leave it at that.
A confrontation particularly in a bus station or an airport is futile to begin with.
No one is going to convince anyone else of anything.
They believe that.
They believe in apostatizing.
And that's their beliefs.
That's fine.
But just don't take it out on me.
Anybody else?
Am I wrong?
I don't think it's an eye for an eye kind of thing.
You have to listen to me and I listen to you.
Fair is fair, right?
I don't know.
Yeah, I would just say, yeah.
Thanks a lot.
I mean, if it's wrong for them to be confrontational in, you know, forcing their views upon you, or if it seems kind of rude and so on, then adding rude to rude is not probably the best...
What I find works much better is to inquire as to their beliefs politely.
What I find has the best effect on people who engage in such blind faith in things like God and so on, and other imaginary things, is to inquire and actually
investigate with them the way Socrates did.
Not exactly the way Socrates did, but politely asking.
Because they have so much stress.
I've talked about this before.
These people have so much stress and tension.
Probably this is the person who asked the question before.
I don't remember it, but I remember answering this somehow.
They have so much stress and tension built up that really all they want is to let go.
not want, but really all they need, and really what would make them happy, truly happy, is to let go and stop trying to justify something that's totally unjustifiable and irrational.
Trying to rationalize it.
Here in the United States, so many times, one particular denomination that I'm familiar with, they send their children around door to door.
They sit in the car, I don't know if they're
came to come up or afraid or what but they'll send their children to the door with these pamphlets and you can't confront those kids because quite frankly I think they've been brainwashed it's just like the church out in Missouri that
Their parents and their kids, I'm sure all of you are familiar with this, at least the ones here in the States, where they're protesting the military funerals of soldiers that have been killed in action.
And these church members and their children, they've all been indoctrinated.
The ones here locally are not affiliated with that at all.
But I do Google them from time to time and find out that it happens to be one of the
I guess you could call it a sect.
They wouldn't call themselves a sect, but they happen to be a group that feel like that they're wrong and everyone, I mean, they're right and everyone else is wrong.
And the fact, I've read some articles written by previous members of that particular religious sect that say once you are
We're losing you, Larry.
The term that they use in that particular sect, but it is true, too.
It's a very sticky question.
I just feel like, personally, I just really don't have the time for them.
I try to get out of the situation as quickly as I can without thinking.
I mean, confrontational with them, but they're just not going to convince me of their ways, regardless of what they say or what they give me.
So to me, it's just a waste of my time in there.
Let them go find somebody that will believe what they say.
Yeah, for sure.
With children it's especially difficult.
I remember once these evangelicals came to the monastery and, you know, once they had me targeted.
This woman, she was, there were some women there and then one of them was the leader and she totally
totally cold and I said, would you like this card?
And they said, no, no.
She said for everyone, no, we don't want your card.
Just in a really cold and hard way.
And then suddenly the next night, she comes back with her husband and her two kids.
And I think I started talking to the kids and it was, well, depressing because they're obviously
have no ability to think for themselves and have never been taught how to use their, what do you say, the reason circuits in their brain or in the mind, the mind's ability to investigate.
And they've been totally talking of the brain as a filter.
Well, their brain is like a vice
vice grip, keeping them locked in on certain predefined views.
So I asked them, and the parents said, go ahead, Tommy, tell him.
And then da, da, da, da, da, da, da.
Which is really sad because what can you do with kids?
They're so malleable that you can twist them and turn them in any sort of way.
They're not strong enough to reject the things that their parents teach them.
When they get older they may be able to.
But, you know, you still have to feel for these people.
And, you know...
to some extent, not to a very big extent, but to some extent, see their suffering.
From my point of view, because what happened then, I think I've told this story before, the next day I said, well, if they're coming to visit me, I should go visit them.
And then the next day I went to their church, which was this huge church just down the road from Wat Thai of Los Angeles.
And it was such an interesting experience.
I talked with this teacher of preachers.
He was a preacher teacher.
He taught preachers, pastors.
He taught pastors.
He was suffering, it was so easy to see.
I made him see, not to a great extent, but he must be dealing with this conflict inside of himself every day.
How difficult it is to keep this faith that is so ungrounded in any form of reality.
To the extent that you're able to gently show them their own suffering, I think you do them a great deal of benefit.
Just showing them confidence, real confidence, in the sense that, I don't mind if you talk to me, I don't mind if you give me your brochure.
Why?
Because I'm happy.
I'm settled in who I am.
I mean, you want to give me your brochure?
Sure.
It's just a piece of paper.
But somehow bringing across to them a sense of peace and happiness and helping them to see that that's not possible to gain with blind faith.
That you are free from something that they are not free from yet.
I mean,
And I think this doesn't come from imposing your views on them.
It comes from being accepting and open and loving and caring towards them.
Because really that's generally why people go to such cults, you might say, or sects.
It's because of the love that they find.
the need that they have for being controlled or for being taken care of.
The need for, in Judeo-Christian religions, the need for a father figure.
People become, you know, it's such a fatherly religion.
If you read, if you actually read the things that Jesus says, it's, you know, it's very much, very oppressive, actually.
Some of it's nice, but a lot of it's just, you know, you're a father, you're a father, and how you have to... So if you help people to see
the possibility of just loving without needing, then you do them a favor.
I mean, this is the thing.
Rather than seeing it as a conflict, rather than seeing it as a confrontation, you should see it as a fellow human being who you might be able to help.
And if you think in terms of helping this person, and not in a condescending or self-righteous way, but just in the way that you would help someone who needs food, and give them some food, you know, you're not judging them and you're not thinking to look down on them or that you're better than them, but just look and see if there's any way you can help you.
With children, if it's children bringing pamphlets to your door, there's not much you can do.
But you can love them.
It makes you happy and these kids come to your door and they want to give you some brochures and say, thank you.
I hope you have a good day.
That's good for you.
That's a good thing that you've done for them.
It's not going to change them or make them doubt their religion, not in any significant way, but
It's what you could do.
It's like you gave them a muffin or something.
You gave them something that was good for them.
It's not going to solve the world's problems, but we're not here to solve the world's problems.
We're here to do good things, avoid evil things, and purify our own minds.
So whatever helps you to do that, that's what I would do.
Hopefully that's what I would do.
I might just get all self-righteous on them and start telling them about Buddhism and so on, but I should.
I'm not saying that I practice everything that I preach, but do as I say, not as I maybe do sometimes.