(Replying to PARENT post)

It's not just the Amish. Many communities have decided they wish to live at ~1850. It has always made me curious why, what do they know?

If you look deeply in many religions they are the same. Buddhist monks aren't excluded from tech but they certainly dont own any themselves. Why? Because it's something to consider and create desires. Just as they shave their head not because of aesthetics but because now you never have to worry about your hair looking bad.

When you eliminate the unnecessary from your life, you certainly live a happier life.

👤sleepysysadmin🕑4y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

No it's that if they leave the Amish they lose their community.

I realize it's cool to fetishize them but think of them like the Jehovah's witnesses.

👤MomoXenosaga🕑4y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

Many Buddhist monks own cell phones. Many even own laptops. Additionally let's not romanticize the Amish community. They have significant social issues just like any other society, their lack of modern technology doesn't make their society a utopia, it just makes it different. Maybe in some good ways, sure, but it doesn't solve for endemic rape, incest and abuse for instance.
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(Replying to PARENT post)

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/buddhist-monks-with-the...

It's more complicated than that. Always.

The monks I've known accept modern science, medicine, etc cheerfully. It's not really relevant to Buddhist spirituality any more than the advent of frozen fish sticks was.

It's fine to LARP 1850 if that's your bag. But people who truly wish to live in the confines of that era will have children who die of cholera. We should all be grateful for the upsides of modern society.

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(Replying to PARENT post)

> When you eliminate the unnecessary from your life, you certainly live a happier life.

Unnecessary for you maybe, it doesn't look very happy to me

👤throw6746🕑4y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

I have a colleague who constantly talks about not having a cell phone and how freeing it is, but on the other hand, he's always asking someone to look something up, asks for someone to navigate him to where we're going for lunch, asks to borrow a phone to call his wife, etc. It really looks like this guy would be happier with a phone.

Are phones unnecessary? Maybe, maybe not, but IMO, the way to a happier life isn't to ignore things, but to find a balance (or develop the self-discipline) to use something like a cell phone in a way where it can improve your life.

👤dfxm12🕑4y🔼0🗨️0

(Replying to PARENT post)

A lot of the Tibetan monks I have seen in the US seem to be really excited about their cell phones and are on them all the time.
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