Turtle

"Imagine that the whole earth was covered with water, and a man was to throw a yoke with a hole in it into the water. Blown by the wind, that yoke would drift north, south, east and west. Now, suppose that once in hundred years a blind turtle would rise to the surface. What do you think? Would that turtle put his head through the hole in the yoke as he rose to the surface once in a hundred years?"

"It is unlikely Lord."

"Well, it is just as unlikely that one will be born as a human being; it is just unlikely that a Tathagata, a Noble One, a fully enlightened Buddha should arise in the world; and it is just as unlikely that the Dhamma and discipline of the Tathagata should be taught. But now you have been born as a human being, a Tathagata has arisen and the Dhamma has been taught. Therefore, strive to realize the Four Noble Truths."

Monday, January 02, 2006

why can't we cooperate?

I skipped to the Think Win-Win habit in "the 7 habits of highly effective people". got bored with the life mission thing I was reading...

Won't summarize what I've read, but I was strucked by this sentence "cooperation is often associated with cheating", a mindset instilled in most of us since our schooldays. Because of the academic placing following major examinations in every grade, students need to face exam on their own, no sharing of answers during exam. Even if you don't get caught, for highly competitive children, it's a win-lose situation - "in order for me to get to the top of the class, I have to score higher than you, therefore you're on your own and I'm on my own, no sharing, 'the pie is not big enough for everyone'"

By the time we enter secondary school where teamwork was tried to be instilled, the damage has already been done. We choose our group members, if we manage to work well in a group (there's competition even within the group), most probably we'd be competing with other groups. I can only make comparisons to my own experience back then. Some of us, had to say including me, won't share what we have with other students. For me, unless it's an "exchange of information", then yes. For some, it's a completely "no" to whatever exhange.

(deleted part of this post - better to do so since what I've written was not so nice... )

ttg
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2 comments:

turtlegurl said...

actually, he never beat me, it's not his intention to do so, he only wanted to pass... aih... duno lar... isn't it something like it's better to teach someone how to fish than to give him the fish?? and this person never even made the effort to fish and was asking for fish when he's hungry... not once, but many times. he would be a good fisher if only he learns. i wasn't afraid of him beating me, I've done my share of work and I knew where I stood :) if he's better than me (because of the effort and really because of his intelligence) and he beat me, it's ok. if it's because he cheated, nothing to do with me. but if he's better because i'm the one who give him the tips, when I knew he didn't deserve it, I think it's foolish of me to do that isn't it?

9:09 PM
turtlegurl said...

will i plant some good kamma seeds for helping him or will that act of kindness be classified as kindness/compassiona without wisdom?

9:14 PM

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