/lit/ - Literature

>>4736111
>Pick one.
I can't...

>>4598184

Quit fucking around. We all know that your inner adolescent got the shivers from that shit.

>You will never get to watch DFW grow into a sagacious old man
>You will never get to watch DFW develop fully as an author
>The Pale King will always remain unfinished
>All of his essays have been written; there won't be anymore
>He's dead

Fuck

24yr old virgin, not fat or unattractive in the least, but have serious self esteem issues and I'm pretty seriously introverted and avoidant

It used to bother me a lot, not only bothers me a little, I have few illusions that sex will improve my quality of life by that much (granted it would give it a boost, I don't deny that)

If I lose it, not much will change I gather, If I don't, my hermit life continues as normal, no biggie, I've adjusted by now and can hide my wizard power level quite well.

I can only answer for myself, I can't say exactly what interested me in Buddhism at first, probably that it was non theistic and it seemed like a good way to self improvement. As I read more into philosophy however, I continued to gravitate back to Buddhism. It seemed like the most complete tradition which followed "philosophy as a way of life" as Pierre Hadot says, instead of philosophy as theorizing. If Cynicism or Stoicism was still alive, and really alive with like schools and groups of wandering cynics, I might have gone that route, but seeing as Buddhism is one of the few ancient axial age traditions in this vein still around, I went there. Also as time passed I was astounded with the depth of the Siddhartha's thinking. It's more than just the four noble truths and 8fold path, this guy was the first phenomenologist, the first cognitive behavioral therapist, he had some serious insights. And as I put the teachings into practice, they worked, they did what they were supposed to do, and that sealed the deal for me.

>Vehemently deny that I am intelligent
>Not sure if this stems from a genuine belief, or from some subconscious need to actually prove to myself that I /am/ intelligent; I know about the Dunning-Kruger effect, so it's not unthinkable that I should use it as evidence in some perverted way
>In the end just end up hating myself

>>3607519
why wouldn't he count? Diogenes was a true bro

So in the ancient world, we would have a chance to join several communities of Cynic, Epicurean or Phyrronist bros, working to get some of that ataraxia and living simply in communal philia-hood. But is it safe to say that these days, since those communities do not exist, the closest thing is a Buddhist monastery? Is Buddhism (and I guess other Indian sramanic traditions) basically eastern Cynicism/Stoicism? What do you guys think of living this type of life?

I guess the other option would be live as a hobo, but I'm somewhat attracted to a sense of community like Epicurus' garden.