People
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Jeff
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Todd
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Jeff: My name is Jeff Eagar and I'm 32 years old and I'm from Canada. And most people in Canada are Christians, they're Catholics or Protestants and my parents are Catholic but I've done a lot of traveling in my life and now I'm interested in the Buddhist religion, Buddhism. It's a very peaceful religion and it has some philosophies that I believe in, for example, it talks about detachment. You should not get attached to money or you shouldn't get attached to fancy cars and fancy clothes. You should try to simplify your life and have as little as possible. Be comfortable but don't have too much. Don't have.. don't be excessive with what you have and I believe in this philosophy.
The Buddhist religion also has a philosophy of karma, of the cycle of good behavior, brings you good behavior in return and if you act bad, bad things will happen to you and I think this is kind of true because if you do good things for people, most of the time good things happen to you. People treat you well. If you treat people poorly and badly, people will treat you badly, so I believe in this Buddhist philosophy of Karma and good things will happen to you if you do good things for others.
Canada is a very peaceful country and I'm a peaceful guy. I don't believe in fighting and I don't believe in war and my neighbor, across the border, the United States of America is at the moment at war with Iraq and for me this is a very senseless or sort of silly thing to be doing. I think it wastes money and it wastes lives and I think there should always be sort of.. some sort of peaceful way to end an argument. So I believe in peace and I don't think war should be.. I think war is a waste of time and a waste of people and a waste of lives.
get attached
We should not get attached to money or cars or clothes.
When you 'get attached' to something you feel like you need to have it and that it is very important. Notice the following:
- It's easy not to get attached to people and places when you move
around a lot.
- It didn't take her long to get attached to her new toys.
simplify or excessive
You should try to simplify your life and not be excessive with what you have.
When you 'simplify' something you try to make it less complicated or, according to Jeff, have less material things. If you are 'excessive' you have more than a normal limit of something. Notice the following:
- The first thing we need to do is simplify the problem.
- Giving your son a new car for his birthday is a little excessive.
cycle
I believe in the cycle of good behavior, that if you treat people well, you will also be treated well.
A 'cycle' is a connection between things. If you do one thing it causes something else and that causes something else. Notice the following:
- Humans cause many problems for environmental cycles.
- It is difficult to break the cycle of poverty.
senseless
For me, war is senseless, because it's a waste of money, time, and lives.
If something is 'senseless' there is no reason or purpose to do it. Notice the following:
- Sometimes she can be very senseless in her actions.
- It was a senseless use of the day.
treat
If you treat people poorly and badly, people will treat you badly.
The way you 'treat' someone is your action towards them. Notice the following:
- It is important that you always treat customers with respect.
- My parents taught me to treat people well.
Vocabulary Quiz
cycles • senseless • treats
