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Studying texts and stiff meditation can make you lose your Original Mind.
A solitary tune by a fisherman, though, can be an invaluable treasure.
Dusk rain on the river, the moon peeking in and out of the clouds;
Elegant beyond words, he chants his songs night after night.
Zen Master Ikkyu Sojun.
1394 - 1481
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikky%C5%AB
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I finally posted my x-files big bang! :D See Master Post if you're interested :D.
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Today, the man responsible for the "sniper" killings that happened a few years back is going to be executed. I don't know how many of you remember these killings, but they were harrowing, until he and his accomplice were captured. Though his lawyers say he is mentally ill, the killer will be executed today unless the Governor of his state steps in. Some of the families of victims are eager to watch the execution, and have been waiting to do so for some time. Quoth the daughter of one of the victims: "He basically watched my dad breathe his last breath," she said. "Why shouldn't I watch his last breath?"The whole story is here if you're interested: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091110/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_executionSCENARIO: You are a Buddhist missionary/minister. Bearing in mind that she is angry over what happened to her father years ago, what do you say to the woman who has proclaimed "He basically watched my dad breathe his last breath," she said. "Why shouldn't I watch his last breath?"Answer her question- why shouldn't she? Give Dharmic justification. You can try the compassion angle if you want, but that likely won't work for her with respect to the killer. But if you want to try to explain to her why compassion for the killer might be good (and if you personally think it would be good), go ahead. I think we'd all love to hear it. Make this real, as if you really had a chance to speak directly to this woman. Remember, she's not tearful about her father anymore. She's grieved, and now grief has transformed into mostly anger, so you don't have to be as sensitive with her emotions now. In fact, she has, in some adversarial sort of way, challenged you or anyone to explain why her lurid execution entertainment isn't a good and justified thing. Assuming you don't think it is, say why. |
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http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1591  | archive - contact - sexy exciting merchandise - search - about–  |  | | | ← previous | November 10th, 2009 | next | November 10th, 2009: In yesterday's comic T-Rex and Utahraptor talked about self-charging mp3 players (before everyone died) (quite a bit before everyone died). Utahraptor said "There are physical limits to what a -" before he was interrupted by T-Rex. If he'd been allowed to continue he would have said "There are physical limits to what a device such as that can do, and it wouldn't be enough, as I said earlier - assuming of course that the person lives a sedate lifestyle and barely uses their legs."
I say this because it turns out that people are ALREADY working on T-Rex's invention! In fact, they're such great people that they started working on it even before he invented it, and that's really something. Thank you everyone who sent me links to this Science Daily article and this NPR story. I even got some emails from researchers working on this very problem, which was kind of crazy, because I hadn't expected that! It made me think that if I'd written a comic about how you can converse in English with your dogs now instead, we'd all be waking up today to a world where, come Christmas 2009, a Dog Talker will be on the top of everyone's list!
Anyway that sounds pretty good to me!
UPDATE: Guys it turns out that dog translators exist, I am going to think really hard about what my third invention will be before posting it here; I don't want to waste it.
UPDATE 2: Okay the idea of using breasts as a power source was just a stray thought, I didn't mean for it to come true! I need to get a handle on controlling this new-found power. – Ryan |
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Okay, now here's a question I never get tired of asking, and which never gets old.
Scenario: one minute or one hour from now, you face death. Let yourself do this thought experiment, and really be brutally honest. One minute or one hour from this very moment, you face death. It doesn't matter how- just imagine that you see it coming by enough time to be able to have some final moments of mental activity. Maybe even a few minutes.
What do you do? Don't try to impress me with your answers- I don't want to hear the Tibetan prayer that you'd say or the tantric empowerment chant you'd pull out. I want to hear some brave people here tell me honestly what they believe they'd likely think and feel and say and do if they were facing their certain end.
If you were once Christian, do you think you'd hedge that final bet and give even a tiny prayer nod to God and Jesus? Do you think you'd try to face death mindfully, by meditating or becoming mindful in some other way? Would you ask the Awakened ones to be present for you in the Bardo to come? Would you lock up in fear and confusion or shock or denial? Would you feel afraid? Sad? Angry? It's true you can't know what you'd do until the moment comes, but I think you can get some good and accurate guesses based on an honest thought experiment. I did this experiment, and it even frightened me a bit- I felt the tightness in my chest, the pressure of it. I'll share my results after you guys give your input.
There is no right answer, but there are certain answers that will be obvious bad ones. I don't know that any of us here are badass and disciplined enough to face death with smiling equanimity. That would be nice, but be realistic. For frack sake, we fight about useless shit online. That doesn't speak volumes for our attainments in equanimity. But this exercise- and the bravery of sharing one's results- is good for self-awareness, growth, and knowledge of where you are, roughly, on your path. And, it's a good meditation on impermanence to face one's own death. Maybe I should do this daily.
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Help everyone? Love everyone? Work for the good of everyone? Are we kidding ourselves?
Serious question. Think about it again. Get out of your "Tibetan for Westerners" books and Richard Gere fansites. Drop the coffee house crap and the cheap plastic malas and really think about this. And when you're done thinking about it with respect to our single planet, understand the scale of "helping all sentient beings in any world." A joke? You think?
This is me being devil's advocate and then not devil's advocate. At what point does cosmic quantitative thinking necessarily collapse into qualitative thinking about the condition of mind that must lie beyond these (seemingly) ridiculous "love the world" teachings?
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Om bhur bhuvah svaha
tat savitur varenyam
bargo devasya dhimahi
dhiyo yonah prachodayat
"Let us honor the unity of Divine Spirit
that pervades all realms of existence:
the earth, the atmosphere and the heavens.
May That most brilliant Divine Light
protect us, sustain us
and illuminate our consciousness
that we might realize
our inherent goodness,
our inborn divinity
and our unity with All That Is.
By this knowledge may our actions be inspired."
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I've been talking to a lot of depressed people lately. Like a huge, ridiculous amount. Also, the news is always grim, there is anger and hostility everywhere, and even people who you're close to display it and aren't always doing things "in your favor." Even when you do kind things to win them back, it doesn't work. It can seem like there's no place to turn. I thought and came to the conclusion: my expectations are too high. Every single person is suffering. Every single person is in samsara. To expect anything else is wrong. To expect people to see things your way, or the right way, or half way towards the right way, or to act decently, or to act in ways that don't hurt themselves, is untruthful. When Wojtesticles makes ridiculous posts, which disturb people or incidentally entertain some others, he is suffering.
When someone bans Wojtesticle, they are suffering.
When someone likes it, they are suffering.
When someone dislikes it, they are suffering. To expect anyone to be anything above that, to expect anyone to be excellent, to be anything of a high expectation, is wrong and not truthful. To have expectations of anyone beyond the fact that they are suffering, is untruthful. When someone is hostile, or depressed, or doesn't respect your wishes or feelings, or doesn't listen to advice, or gives you attitude when you try hard to give advice humbly, what do you expect? To expect anything else is not truthful. Rise to the occasion. See it with compassion, work towards enlightenment to benefit all beings. That is thinking that helped me today, maybe it will be useless to anyone else. |
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I love their Ring Ring series. They make me giggle every time. Here are two of my favs:
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Did anyone watch SNL on Saturday? I freakin' love Penelope. She's got to be my favorite reoccuring character. Anyway she mentioned that her car runs on bleu cheese dressing and well what did I do? Yes, I went out and bought some bleu cheese dressing. Damn you SNL!
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Ever watch FOX news? How about that guy on there who likes to cry on cue, calls Obama a racist and compares him to Hitler? Actually lots of folks on FOX news like to compare him to Hitler. Anyhow. People choose to watch that because they like to think that's real. Sane people. Yes, indeed, unless half of the USA is insane, which, according to the prevailing view, would be impossible: people happily clinging to a norm are quite fine. It's people who have trouble with FOX news that need psychiatric help. Wait, though, it's still almost half of Americans that dislike FOX news! SO they're clinging to a norm, too! So, is it clash of FOX news followers vs. FOX news haters in a war fought on the airwaves to decide the prevailing view of reality which shall be hereafter called the norm, which we will all, in the end, agree with? If so, we'd all better get yelling at each other! Which is what 80% of Americans seem to think, as I watch from a comfortable distance in Canada's north. Maybe it's just how TV shows it. Probably is. How many Americans also only really know about America through TV though? And, since I think that both halves of America (or rather both 40 percents of America) on the FOX news crises are barking mad, making me and the left-over 20% of Americans who feel similarily and don't really give a damn one way or the other over FOX news except to hope people stop giving such a damn one way or the other over FOX news ... me and that 20%, are we gonna end up locked up, drugged up, shut-up, so that the norms can keep going batshit over ratshit? Well, that's the way it goes, isn't it? The Stupid Way posted the story about the monkey with two eyes. Here: http://thestupidway.blogspot.com/2009/11/tale-of-two-eyed-monkey.html |
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- I'm pretty sure I have heat again. My plumber came over on Wednesday and, within an hour or so, was able to correct the problems that had resulted in the furnace shutting off after a couple hours every time I turned it on. Having hot water for multiple days at a time feels like a luxury! (I'm also very glad he was able to fix it and I didn't have to call the furnace-repair people, who would've charged me an extra hundred bucks just to come take a look. Anyway, if I'm going to pay a little money to get it fixed I'd rather give it to someone I know, especially since I know he's been having a tough time lately.)
Edit 2009-11-09: Nope, no hot water again, because why should I ever get to have a functioning house for more than three fucking days. I hate all that lives. - The Lord of the Rings talk/Q&A session I regretted skipping a month ago has been (mostly) transcribed. As always, I love reading more in-depth discussion about this music.
- Joe Girardi: decent human being.
- This Week in Genetic Modification: peas that immunize chickens.
- One good thing about the Christmas season beginning before the leaves are off the trees is the ability to buy egg nog rather impressively early. It's expensive, but oh so very good.
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some History Channel show about ancient orgies | |
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Impermanent alas are formations,
subject to rise and fall.
Having arisen, they cease;
their subsiding is bliss.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) wojtesticles |
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