Use Of Labels

The Dalai Lama said he doesn't use any labels, not even Buddhist. He said labels are prisons.

I agree. I think people become slaves to their labels and try to not be posers.

This includes atheists, who learn about science and are too cerebral.

What do you think?

 

I find labels useful to stick on envelopes, gifts and so on.

But seriously, the Dalai Lama is never going to get away from being labelled as a Buddhist.

Obviously though, people are always more complex than whatever label gets attached to them.

 

Nice sentiment, sadly our nervous systems aren't wired that way.
Our brains are designed to quickly categorize, evaluate, and act on information.
If you have to sit and ponder whether or not that person/thing that looks different than you is friend or foe, you may not get to pass on your genes.

 

You can let people label you without believing in the label personally.

To some people I'm African, to others African American, to others black, to others just American.

To some people I'm liberal, to others I'm a libertarian.

To some people I'm straight, to others a lesbian.

To some people I'm atheist, to others agnostic, to others a Christian, to others a hedonist.

I don't dispute it.

 

Chameleons are found in nature too.

 

Labels are usually one of those things that if you get confronted with one in an unfortunate way they seem all bad. But they're not. Labels are very handy and you also make use of them everyday. Do they also have disadvantages? Sure. When we aren't aware they're merely a label and put more signficance on them than is needed for example. Or act like we aren't aware and abuse the label. Happens all the time as well.

Not sure what that has to do with labels.

 

We often use labels in a way that is superflous, for instance I think the label "cis-gender" is an example of this, however labels in general can be very beneficial.

Alot of our labels for country, spirituality, science, technology, etc. comes with it implicit understanding of particular customs, behaviors, approach to understanding such phenomena. I think this ability to unpack labels is an integral part of what has helped humans advance beyond other species.

 

Well worded GB.

 

Labelling can be negative though. Police in the UK tend to label all young black males as likely criminals for example.

 

I'm lost here. How do other species label things if they don't have language?

 

That's evident. It gets a bit tiring though to see that because of the negative uses people are acting like labels are bad and retarded in every way. They are not, they have their uses. It is just that it is often taken out of context or placed too much significance on it. Same with for example certain racist issues. Sure technically it can be called a racist issue, or something can be called a racist comment. Does that mean it is atrocious or even discriminating by definition? Not always so. But that doesn't mean that some people act like it is, just because it is 'racist' and racist things are always bad mmkay.

 

They don't

 

Well if they don't have labels, then it's a bit meaningless to say that the ability to unpack labels has helped us advance beyond them. We must have advanced beyond them to the point where we can create labels in the first place before we could start to unpack them.

 

I didn't say labels aren't useful, just that they can lead to problems in some instances.

 

Well clearly it's meaningful if labels and the ability to unpack them have helped us advance beyond them.

 

Btw I'm not suggesting it's the only variable that has helped us advance past other species but our ability to abstract labels seems vastly superior.

I'm under the impression that no matter how many words of sign language we can teach a gorilla or chimp, or whether dolphins vocalizations and echolocation gets recognized as an offical language, like some scientist want to do, they will never be able to abstract language, hence labels in the same way that leads to grocery stores, space exploration, physics, computer technology, music collections, etc.

 

Well, I wasn't talking about you The topic of labels and how they are used comes up like at least once a year. The premise is generally that they are bad and we should get rid of them. While it is clear we will use them anyway because 1) that's how we are wired, and 2) because they have their purpose. The only thing we have to watch out for is not putting too much significance on social labels, like not taking the use out of context, or plain simply abuse them. Because this is done they're regarded as useless by certain people.

 

Labels create duality and divisions. The purpose of spirituality is to get rid of all divisions which prevent harmony and love.

However when religion becomes a tool to foster divisions and duality , it can be very diabolical.

Gandhi stated thus, " Satan's greatest successes are when he has the name of God on his lips. "


If you look deeply into it, you can see that each label is just a cluster of thoughts in the mind.

Considering oneself as an American, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Russian, Black, White, Shia, Sunni, Catholic , Protestant , Upper class, Lower class, Chauvinist, Feminist means that you are attached to a cluster or set of thoughts defining you as this and that. The label is nothing else other than that , a mass of thoughts instilled and maintained by conditioning.

In Awareness /Mindfulness or No-mind, no thoughts exist to create duality. You use thought to fulfil your practical purposes and then switch it off.

Most people don't switch it off, and thus they condition themselves into all these artificial identities for themselves, create disharmony and conflict on that basis , and consequent suffering for themselves.

 

scholarship
title of book page number quote

jesus would have died for your sins
but helped twice as much as long pig

gandhi was killed by the bjp for promoting pakistan to be carved from india for islam

next time you want a book of philosophy without labels try the avadhutigita

dalai lama is buddhist - he doesn't need labels he's sooooo buddhist