silent thunder

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Everything posted by silent thunder

  1. Chaos Protocols

    Wow. timing. Thanks for sharing mate.
  2. The Sad Reality Of This Word (Ft George Carlin)

    George was not just a comedian, to me he was a social commentarian... with amazing timing and unmatched delivery. His scenarios often remind me of some of the translations of Chuang Tzu I've read. Social commentary, with enough humor to help it go down a little easier. I miss him and his insights. What he shares in this particular segment is from his final set in which I found him to no longer be even attempting to make it funny, because it isn't. It's some bitter harsh tea, but also some good medicine... to me anyway. "Willfully ignorant... It's called the american dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it." boom Nice intro by Alan Watts too. Good piece, thank you for sharing. Very timely.
  3. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    All perception is a gamble. ~Husserl
  4. Phrases we never want to hear again.

    I suspect I'd be good without hearing 'fake news' again.
  5. The Only Constant Is Change

    Thank you for sharing Sketch. The properties of water are endlessly fascinating to me, and this was some very new and highly intriguing info.
  6. Epic Food Appreciation/Outdoor Cooking Masters

    That was beautiful! Those sandwiches were as big as their faces! what a sweet man... thanks for sharing mate.
  7. It is known

    That's got me thinking... Given the circumstances here regarding our history... could Earth be a version of one of those 'bus stops' on a galactic scale?
  8. The cyclical nature of the seasonal procession seems like an indicator of this inherent cyclical nature of the manifest, to me. A Spiral Progression. As I move through the process of my life here, these cycles reflect internally as well, within my own individual awareness are the ages of the spiral progression reflected within my own process. As within, without. As above, below.
  9. For me the hinge pin in how to tell delusion from true perception of actual reality is our perceptual process and the awareness that fuels it. When there is no true perception among human minds regarding reality... perception for each individual is interpretation, gamble, assumption, projection that is created by the storyteller of mind, that is formulated and based on filters of perceptual cognition created by family, society and self dialogue. How does one define actual reality in a manner that doesn't rely solely on their awareness through their perceptual apparatus? Perception and Awareness are the arbiters of actual reality? To me they are filters and reflections of it, respectively... we only ever speak about what we perceive and are consciously aware of... what we perceive is what is filtered into and then through awareness... because of this, claiming that we are free of delusion at any time is akin (to me) to aiming a flashlight into the ocean and saying... I've seen the ocean, so I now know it as it is, in full, clearly and truthfully, it's actual reality... It is the same for me when folks claim to know actual reality with their flashlight (local conscious) awareness. Such innate trust in and assumption of the capability and accuracy of the projections of one's perceptual process and local awareness is alien to me.
  10. Opening for another moderator or two

    Thanks mate. You are appreciated.
  11. Hello There

    Welcome mate!
  12. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    I adore Niels Bohr. ha, rhymes! This quote of his (and subsequent parlay by Alan Watts) caused a shift in me. And some time ago, I traded away seriousness in my demeanor for sincerity. After living this way, I'll ever go back. Serious is dead inside, muddied and muted, to me. Somber without need and innately withdrawn on a fundamental level. Whereas Sincerity is vibrant, fully capable, engaged, present and able to play in the midst of still 'getting shit done'. Sincerity over Seriousness for the win. And deep love for Sir Bohr.
  13. Breath holding in neidan

    I've encountered emptiness breath sublimation practices in G-Tummo (Tibetan) and in my experiences with Longmen Pai. I expect it's shared by many traditions under a variety of names and to a myriad of potential applications. It's surprisingly potent for me. I play it sparingly.
  14. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    “When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes. And he went WOW. That’s amazing! And I said, “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.” And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: “I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.” And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “Win” at them.” ~ Kurt Vonnegut
  15. Tibetans in exile are holding their Parliamentary elections today in Dharamshala. 

     

    1. silent thunder

      silent thunder

      Right on the heels of the Dec passing (unanimously) and signing into Law of the Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020.  A strong re-affirmation by the US Gov't, recognizing and stating unequivocally the legitimate recognized governing body of Tibet lies with the exiled Tibetans and HHDL and their duly elected parliament.

      I'm surprised our legislative and executive branches even had this on their radar honestly, let alone came to unanimous support for it.  (even a broken clock can be right twice a day...)

    2. manitou

      manitou

      Nice that the gov't would reaffirm that.  At this point, who in the world would care what we affirmed,? :unsure:

       

      I just wish we were a bit more forthcoming on the moves that China has made on Hong Kong.

    3. silent thunder

      silent thunder

      Another article on CTA site described a similar vote was carried out for Taiwan as well as Tibet, including a 2.3 Trillion combined pandemic care/goods purchase agreement.  So a functional/fiscal commitment/agreement to both Taiwan and Tibet with actual trade agreements that will strengthen their economies, not just provide verbal affirmation and diplomatic noise (which is all we've had since about 2002).

       

      I suspect the recent overriding of his veto is why 45 didn't try veto'ing this bill as well and caved to sign it.  (as I said, grateful for this broken clock being right on occasion).

  16. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    “The hypothesis of God, for instance, gives an incomparably absolute opportunity to understand everything and know absolutely nothing. Give man an extremely simplified system of the world and explain every phenomenon away on the basis of that system. An approach like that doesn't require any knowledge. Just a few memorized formulas plus so-called intuition and so-called common sense.” ~ Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic “Strange department, this. Their motto was: "The comprehension of Infinity requires infinite time." I did not argue with that, but then they derived an unexpected conclusion from it: Therefore work or not, it´s all the same." In the interests of not increasing the entropy of the universe, they did not work.” ~ Arkady Strugatsky, Понедельник начинается в субботу “I would put it this way. There are objects for which we have found uses. We use them, but almost certainly not the way the visitors use them. I am positive that in the vast majority of cases we are hammering nails with microscopes.” ~ Arkady Strugatsky “Easier to believe than comprehend.” ~ Arkady Strugatsky, The Snail on the Slope
  17. It is known

  18. First time

    Welcome to the Bums Jordan.
  19. Moments do not exist.  They are an illusory function of memory.  Like a photograph, but pure thought.

     

    There are no individual moments, no distinguishable separations within the unfoldingness. 

     

    There is what is. 

    This is it. 

    And it is you. 

  20. My summary of simple philosophical foundations

    Well, at least you're not bitter about it. Fundamentally disagree with you on time existing mate. It's not an objective property/virtue of reality. Time is a human manufactured perceptual function of comparative memory and as such, is relegated to thought and is subjective. If your memory (alzheimers, dementia) shuts down, your notions of time passing dissolve as well. You could visit the work of Einstein, Bohm, Bohr or visit an elderly care facility to observe this.
  21. Is meditation the only path?

    In my life, meditation oscillates between dietary and medicinal. For a long time was dietary for me. A disciplined daily process linked exclusively to the cushion (or the stance, or form). Eventually, some decades in, a process of release was initiated. A deep foundational shift in paradigm, awareness, perspective, motivations/desires, attachments played out... all forms and processes dissolved (some still are). Interesting to note that meditational states had branched out into daily life, work, shopping and so the need to pursue it actively was released into daily embodiment. Formal cushion time and use of stances and forms lately manifests in a more medicinal process. No longer a daily diet, formal sitting and forms arise tzujan, when conditions call for it and i respond.
  22. The Cool Picture Thread

  23. What are emotions

    Lime is pretty close to Lima...?
  24. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase each other doesn't make any sense. ~ Rumi