Question: At this very moment, all sorts of erroneous thoughts are constantly flowing through our minds. How can you speak of our having none?
Huángbo: Error has no substance; it is entirely the product of your own thinking. If you know that Mind is the Buddha and that Mind is fundamentally without error, whenever thoughts arise, you will be fully convinced that THEY are responsible for errors. If you could prevent all conceptual movements of thought and still your thinking-processes, naturally there would be no error left in you. Therefore is it said: 'When thoughts arise, then do all things arise. When thoughts vanish, then do all things vanish.'
[Excerpt from On Transmission of Mind, translated by John Blofeld, 1954]
3 Reasons We Need Tougher Texting And Driving Laws, excerpt, by William Arthur Green [source: lawyers.com 05/05/17]
Research tell us that eight people will die every day as a direct result of texting and driving; over 1,100 are injured in the same 24-hour period. As a personal injury attorney, I see firsthand every day the real effect that driving while using your cellphone, browsing social media, texting and general distractions has on families just like yours and mine. Lives can be torn apart, families put under intense financial duress and, at worst, we can lose the ones we love.
So why is it that the laws in this country don’t do more to keep people safe? Well, we’re not politicians to debate that question. What we can do, is point out three reasons that our government needs to do better at keeping our roads safer. Texting and driving kills people. Point blank. The stats are pretty alarming.
One in every four car accidents will be cause as a direct result from texting and driving. Driving drunk is not the most dangerous thing you can do behind the wheel; texting and driving makes someone six times more likely to have a crash! Every time someone answer a text, it takes their eyes off the road for five seconds. If someone is driving on a highway at 55 mph, that is about the length of a single football field. And the stats for teenage drivers are even more horrifying. (Parents, do we have your attention?)
A disproportionate number of teens to adults die every day as a result of a texting and driving; 11 teenagers lose their life each day. Over 20% of teenagers who were involved in a fatal accident in some way were distracted using their cell phone. This is not just talking, but texting, "Snapping" and using social media in general! Teens are 4 times as likely to have an accident as an adult when they are using a cell phone. Sometimes, numbers should be enough to make things happen. Especially, when you consider that, behind each number is a mother, father, sister, brother, son, or daughter that someone loves and cherishes.
Wandering Ronin commentary and questions: Distracted driving is quickly becoming an epidemic that has the potential to affect us all in one way or another. Is a person who is texting or distracted on their phone while driving that kills or seriously injures another person somehow above error? I wanted to make a serious point with the juxtaposition and referencing of these two sources: a misreading of Zen can lead to some terribly unskillful concepts, as in a person believing that Zen allows them to do whatever they wish without any concern for consequences.
Submitted November 20, 2018 at 09:19PM by WanderingRonin77 https://ift.tt/2KlVJDI
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