/lit/ - Literature

>>17760779
When this thread was made, a thread died.

>>17760784
When a thread dies, a new one is born.

>>17760784
Can someone finally make a god damn samsara wheel of Buddhism with threads being cycled through existence? Sick of this fatalist shit.

>>17760784
>>17760790
Such is life

>>17760779
meditations of marcus aurelius, any book about stoicism

>>17760822
Imagine not being a natural born Stoic

>>17760779
Gravity and Grace, Siddartha and The Hobbit come to mind.

>>17760779
I just finished my first read of Suttree by Cormac McCarthy, and I was struck by the kindness and care that the protagonist shows for others. It made me reevaluate how lonely and solipsistic my life has become these past few years. Reading The Fountainhead and trying to be Roark for a while didn't help, but what's in the past is in the past I suppose. Hoping I can turn the corner and establish some meaningful relationships when I go back to school in the fall.

>>17760845
Altruist here, if you want to walk that kind of path, there are a few things to keep in mind. The first is that the reward for boundless kindness is malice and misfortune. Never let that dishearten you and instead grow stronger for it. The second is to throw away any notions of what "good" or "nice" might be. You aren't a good person, what you're doing isn't nice. Until you can safely and objectively evaluate your actions, use that as a safeguard against your ego. Lastly, "Slave Morality" is a meme made by people who want to justify their shitty actions. You are no slave, you are a master of your own making. Bend that will to no-one and nothing.
Maybe its in my personal experience that nothing good ever comes of doing good, and maybe you'll have a better experience with it than I do. But be prepared for anything and don't let your weakness get the better of you.

>>17760809
>samsara wheel of Buddhism meme
This is the one, one of the best memes I've ever seen

>>17760827
I mean, have you observed our fellow apes

>>17760949
Is that arguing for them being natural Stoics or that their propensity for baffling levels of stupid is all one needs to embrace Stoicism

>>17760779
This metaphysical masterpiece completely altered my perspective on everything and changed my life for the better.

>>17760779
How big of an impact?
There was some minor pondering when reading Tatar Steppe, Death of Ivan Illych or works of local philosopher. However there was no bigger impact yet. I'm still searching for that book.

>>17760779
Stoner helped me accept that I probably won't amount to very much. Life is dull, depressing, and painful, but the brief and rare moments of tenderness and beauty are worth waiting for.

>>17760779
Writing this wasted 400 hours of my life. Which is the most of any book. Therefore this is my answer.

>>17760779
siddhartha helped me as a teenager

>>17761872
aren't you dead?

>>17760779
lovely scenic pepe

>>17762247
June 5th 1999 - January 19th 2021; Feburary 2nd - October 2058

>>17760779
>Moby Dick
>The poems from Hölderlin
>The philosophy of Nietzsche (especially Zarathustra)
>The Iliad
>Sun and Steel
>The philosophy of Spengler

reading Lolita at 19 terrified me

>>17760945
what does this mean? each time you die the whell spins and you land randomly?

>>17762448
Not randomly, it is said to be dertermined by your karma. The wheel symbolizes eternity.

>>17762490
so the goal of buddhism is to escape the wheel altogether? got any book recs if I'm only interested in the wheel and how people have attempted to deal with it?

>>17760779

>>17762506
Just Buddhism in general deals with that question and yes, they think ultimately the only way to escape eternal suffering is to remove yourself. They don't even really differentiate between pleasure and suffering, both are obstacles on their path to nirvana. I find it culturally very interesting that their heaven is our nihilistic nightmare. You could look at picrel for example and here's a movie scence where Keanu Reeves aka the Buddha attains enlightement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiseKrDBVeQ

>>17760779

>>17762506
The "goal" of Buddhism is not escape. The best answer anyone can give here is "it's complicated."

BRUNZE AHGE MEENDSIT

>>17762561
You could say the goal is to have no goal which I guess is why zen is so fond of paradoxes.

>>17762534
What's that book like? I was thinking of getting pic related, which is supposedly (only) the Pali texts.

>>17760779
The Gay Science

Franny and Zooey

>>17762622
I'm not qualified in regards to making comparative judgements but the book is online and you can find it by adding pdf to your search.

Atomised