Having read some existentialist stuff, there argument seems to be “there’s no point, because you die”.  Alternatively, if we lived forever, there would still be the same lack of point (for me).  Living forever would not make anything any more meaningful for me.  So the mortality thing is a red herring.  A “point” is not dependent on that, so where does this “point” come from?

Psychadelic mushrooms recently caused “long lasting mystical experiences” in a recent study at Johns Hopkins University. Volunteers were given mushrooms, and seemed happier to people after their “spiritual” experiences. Apart from the ones that got paranoid. Griffiths stated “these drugs should not be used recreationally”. Obviously, getting wasted on mushrooms should be restricted to the laboratory

References

Griffiths, R. R., Richards, W. A., McCann, U., & Jesse, R. (2006). Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance. Psychopharmacology (Berl), 187(3), 268-283; discussion 284-292.

Scientific American Mind: Visions for Psychedelics

I can’t remember who told me this, but it was some kind of life coach type character.

In the morning, get straight up instead of snoozing. Make your bed. Tidy yesterday’s pots & clothes away. Have a shower. Eat something. Get properly dressed.

This way, even if you are not formally working, you are up and ready to face the day and get stuff done. Instead of sitting about in your pants with the curtains closed and the light on.

I’m veggie. Mostly. If I want meat, I eat it. I can hear all the hardcore veggies take a sharp intake of breath. Well guess what? It doesn’t matter. Absolutes rarely exist.

Why?
Partly health, partly weight loss (which worked a treat), partly because meat makes me feel like crap, and partly because the idea of growing animals then hacking them up for my dinner just doesn’t appeal.

But what about “insert stupid statement here to try and catch me out or make me look like a ‘hypocrite’”?
I just said, there are lots of reasons, and I sometimes eat meat. I’m not trying to torture myself or seek attention, I just don’t want to, most of the time.

So do you eat fish?
Is a fish a vegetable? Is it an animal? Is it grown and suffocated for my pleasure? No I don’t eat fish (unless I want some).

It’s really quite simple. We all eat things that we want to eat. I just want to eat animals less than most people, most of the time. It is easier to say “vegetarian” than trot off this whole page every time someone asks. There, not so hard, was it? :wink:

Something that crops up a lot in Buddhism is the “middle way”. I have been pondering this with regards to emotions. One extreme is to be at the mercy of one’s emotions, and as a consequence, act very irrationally. Another extreme is to “control” your emotions, blocking them out and not feeling them at all, repressing them. The middle way for this is to experience the emotions, whatever they are, and let them dissipate without acting on them. Repressing emotions is a Very Bad Idea, and they will come back and get you, usually in a really weird, inappropriate way

This concept is not new by any means, but is very useful in everyday life, with emotions and with many other things. There is a reaction, which is largely unhelpful. There is repression, which causes problems, and there is acceptance. Mindfulness. Acceptance is not passivity in this sense, as action could and should be taken in many situations. It’s acceptance to begin with, followed by choice of actions rather than pure reactions.