Winning

No.

 

Winning at all costs... Yeah, it is.

 

Depends entirely on the context.

 

Case solved

 

Yes, no and maybe would be 3 possible answers. I'm going with no.3 on the list.

 

Ahhh the great Philosopher Carlos Irwin Estévez

 

not at all, but, winning what? whatever your fortune, that's fine either way. what matters is consideration.
winning is a more ambiguous concept then i think most people seem to realize.
gratification isn't some accumulation of points, however you count them.

 

If winning means fulfilment of your duties properly without causing injury to other sentient beings, I wouldn't call it selfishness. Those who try to win by harming others always ends up as losers in the long run , even though they may have some initial victories.

There is an ancient Indian saying which goes thus, 'Satyameva Jayate -- Truth alone triumphs'. Also 'Yatho Dharmah Statho Jayah -- Where there is justice, there is always victory.'

So winning devoid of values and wisdom, is bound to loose its steam eventually.

 

Speaking of winning, I would like to put in here a good link of Dr. Frederick Lenz's notes on winning and gaining personal power, which I found to be quite insightful. Dr. Frederick Lenz is also known as Zen master Rama, and is known for his proficiency in many fields as a martial artist, software engineer , educator and author.

 

It would depend on what it is...winning the lotto or any fair rules for all....fine.....
winning at outsmarting and defeating someone else for personal gain.....empty victory.

 

Dr. Frederick Lenz has also used tantra in his teaching methodology, which might have provoked a lot of misunderstanding and prejudice in those times in the west. Finally, not just Dr. Frederick Lenz, but Buddhism too was subjected to a lot of fundamentalist attacks and negative propaganda then and Lenz was probably the target of all this defamation. I have read a lot of ridiculous stuff with respect to him on the net by those possessing no knowledge whatsoever of yoga and the psychic powers that come with it.

I find Dr. Frederick Lenz to be a brilliant and well-educated man, and consider him to be enlightened , and someone deserving of attentive study which can be fruitful and productive. There is a lot of intelligence in his teachings, which adapts and suits Buddhism to the modern age, and to ignore him would be a major folly and loss in my opinion. Let us not forget that the Buddha himself was subjected to a lot of negative propaganda and fundamentalist attacks in his own time as well.

Well, it works fine on my end.

Here is the link...

http://ramaquotes.com/html/gaining_power.html

 

Well, ironically, imho, none of them are enlightened. Hanh and Dalai Lama are great saints, but not sages. The rest are just scholarly intellectuals, stuck in the mind and intellect.

As far as I am concerned, Dr.Frederick Lenz is enlightened, and far greater than any of those put over here.

Buddha was a self-proclaimed Guru himself. Would you have stayed away from him , citing this !

 

I don't really think so. Especially not when there are people out there who win prizes and immediately turn around and donate them. And as far as winning games of skill goes, is it selfish to be better at something? I don't really think so.

 

Agreed, for instance competition in the form of sports often require a tremendous amount of dedication and practice. This probably deviates to the realm of semantics but one could perhaps even make a case that the term 'selfishness' is incompatible with the notion of 'team sports' at some level. Many professional sports players (others too) often find ways to donate money and time with communities as well.

It seems that often people point to the exorbitant amount of money professional athletes make, which in a more nuanced approach, we could probably say that some are indeed selfish. But most athletes are really passionate in what they do and it's not their fault that the culture has placed such an emphasis monetarily on what they do.

Another style of competition, that is surprisingly becoming more and more lucrative and will be interesting to see play out in the next several years are video game competitions.

 

If there is one thing I can't stand it is a charlatan!

Now to the OP:

No.


For everyone who has read my response, please send $25 to Guru Mountain Valley Wolf.

All forms are accepted----cash, check, money order, bank transfer, credit card, gold.