Jens,
I'm taking a course on the effect of sex and violence in the media on children:
By the time we turn 18, we've seen something like 22,000 penetratory acts. Also, we witness about 100,000 acts of violence before we die. ...nawwww, that wouldn't effect me!! 
Yahoo has a nice little category called "Anti Television". I went to this site: http://othello.localaccess.com/hardebeck/ about 2 years ago. Came upon it by accident. 15 minutes later, after going through the material, I decided that I'd never watch television again. And that was that. ..actually, I did watch the innauguration and the impeachment. (and the occasional movie).
I think the media's constant pandering to our animal aggressive and sexual drives keeps us from transcending the animal aspect of ourselves.
We've genetic inclinations for sensory gratification, and then we've got the pain/pleasure associations that we build up through years of experience in our memory.
In my view, Enlightenment or Eternal Bliss is transcending both animal drives and fears that have developed over the course of our lives. Once you transcend the body and ego... you're free. You *truly* have free will.
There are so many ways to articulate this--every culture and every sect and every person explains it differently, yet they are describing the same thing.
But I think that's why life sucks for most of us in a nutshell: Slaves to animal desires of the body and prisoners to our accumluated fears of the ego.
, Brian. Don't think too much even though you are in school.
Yep. "Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so." - John Stuart M.
This world is perfect just as it is.
Now that depends on whether you want to be a Stone Buddha or a Living Buddha. True, we can go into our corner of the world and do our own spiritual thang and find bliss. Or we can engage and strive and help.
Professional Buddhist or Missionary?
Of the 32 worlds, this is number 5.
righhhht...lol ...a joke? I hope?
