Michael Sternbach

You do have to stop those commiting those acts of violence - if and when you can. But you will be fighting symptoms, not causes.

It should be obvious that what the radical Islamists want to achieve is to get more support from the Muslim world at large. They are well aware of their being a small minority. By their terrorist acts, they want to incite non-Muslims against Muslims. Successful warfare needs public support, and public support needs a bogeyman. It's the old "divide and conquer" principle. Islamic "holy warriors" are expecting great rewards in their after-lives. That's why it is so great that over 130 Imams refused to perform the funeral prayers, normally offered to all Muslims, for the London bridge terrorists. They are setting a strong signal that way. As are the numerous expressions of solidarity between Muslims and non-Muslims in the wake of this and similar attacks. Killing a small number of civilians doesn't make any sense as a physical act of war. But what this is about is psychological warfare. The risk of dying in a traffic accident rather than in a terrorist attack is still so much greater in any Western country. But the play with the deep rooted fears of its populace takes its effect. The terrorists may be frenzied madmen. The minds behind them are cold-blooded calculators. They do understand the Art of War. And the Western right wingers with their populist catchphrases are playing right into their hands. But maybe some of them wish the separatism and armed conflict too? They abhor the Muslim culture and would just love eradicating it, much like the radical Islamists would love to do away with Western culture... War is based on a field of tension between two opposite poles. Depolarize the tension and you neutralize the potential for conflict. This is the Art of Peace.

Am I still going to get a reply to this? I would really know how a karma theorist would explain the afore-mentioned oxymoron. And, by the same token, the unfairness of that woman being punished for an act she commited long ago, when (according to that theory) her 'victim' at that time was of necessity just another former evil-doer who deserved the punishment dealt out by her on behalf of the divine punishing mechanism.

I agree with some others here that negative beliefs about money being a hindrance to a spiritual way of life is a strong obstacle to getting it in the first place. It's really much better to have a reasonable amount of it than not to have it! I have actually been thinking of using divinatory methods such as astrology, Tarot, and/or dowsing, which I am pretty good at, in conjunction with stock marketing, whose intricacies my mind somehow refuses to delve into, despite well meant efforts by a friend to communicate them to me. If anybody here has a better grasp of those technical aspects and an openness to aforesaid unorthodox methods of prognosis, please PM me. It could be fun to blend our respective knowledge and come up with some action plan. Also, there would probably be the possibility to do some test runs before investing actual money...

Zen Buddhism has its roots partially in Daoist qigong/alchemy, which it greatly simplified and broke down to essentials. For instance, the meditation posture of the Zen practitioner is designed to induce the microcosmic orbit (MCO), but traditional Zen teachers rarely talk about the energetics that are at play here and focus more on philosophical questions.

More precisely, it's xiè x xiè, or Thanks squared. (I think.)

But didn't the killer commit an unethical act too? For which he will have to be punished by another unethical act in the future? How can this ever end? I think your logic is flawed...

I can name several. Greece - the birth place of Democracy and stronghold of ancient science and philosophy. There would be no advanced Western civilization whatsoever without it. But much of its wisdom had been inherited from Egypt and Mesopotamia. And later, for centuries, it was - oh bother! - actually the Arabic countres which preserved and eventually transmitted the advanced knowledge that had been largely forgotten by Christian Europe. And if we look at the Far East, it was mostly India and China which were the bringers of culture. None of this is meant to diminish America's gifts to the world in any way, of course - I do appreciate that McDonald's apple pie. No offense to all my American friends, I'm kidding here, of course. You do live in a country that is great in many ways - no need to "make it great again"!

One approach I like is to focus on the Lower Dantian. Breathe into it. Feel your center. Relax your shoulders. Stand firmly on the ground (if you happen to be standing). Then stretch your back and neck. Align your whole body. Feel you are at home in yourself, and in control of the circumstances. Awaiting cookie now. It's not a Brekkies, is it???!!!

This is in direct support of what I said here: and generally on this thread. Thanks, Tao-Kitty! I Very impressive.

Experience only leads to wisdom if you have the time and emotional distance to reflect on it.

Simply reading these books isn't the same thing like understanding them.

How about this? Do not seek the way. Let the way find you. Just a spontaneous thought...

I agree. I also get bored discussing politics after a little while and turn back to my alchemy books.

The US have always been brilliant at bombing a visible enemy into oblivion, but vulnerable to guerilla warfare.

Okay, now we are talking. If you want me to take a fresh look at things, refer me to concrete facts rather than to tons of material that I don't have the time to sift through. While your quote is interesting, it can hardly be called conclusive in the face of evidence for CO2 induced global warming, including satellite measurements. For those who wish an introduction to the topic, this summarizes it well, IMO: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GlobalWarming/page1.php Are you denying that the temperature on the surface of our planet is increasing at an alarming rate? If you are not, what are the causes, in your opinion?

As far as the afore-mentioned Islamic reformers are concerned: Reformers are by definition few in number and meet a lot of opposition. The efforts of those courageous individuals are to be commended. Being a cultural optimist, I believe that it will be inevitable for Islam to go through reforms in the long run. And this will to a large extent be the result of peaceful encounters with other cultures.

I agree with you that focussing so much on immigrants is mistaken. It is propagandistic, in fact. Most immigrants are in need and did not come to us to make troubles. Talking about the second or third generation, yes, some have been radicalised. Generalized anti-Muslim views will only aggravate the situation. Inter-cultural dialogue is needed to neutralize the soil on which Extremism can grow.

You could not be more mistaken about me. I do not make apologies for anybody whose chooses violence as their way of life. I am saying that it is naïve to believe that the Western countries being targetted have themselves contributed nothing to the state of affairs. We do attract what we experience - this holds true on both an individual and collective level. Again, you are generalizing beyond measure. IME, most Muslim refugees enjoying the benefits of living in a Western country are sympathetic towards our culture. Your frequently contemptuous tone tells me much about your mind set. Which is barring you from a more objective perspective. No. What I do is sharing my thoughts on how we might stop falling into the river over and over again. We are doing okay.

Afghanistan is a good example. Yes, the West helped the country get rid of the Russians, supporting the Taliban that opposed them. Gosh, even All-American superhero Rambo was fighting on their side at the time! How things have changed... Now the West is fighting against the Taliban they once helped bring to power. And wasn't the IS founded in the aftermath of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq? History teaches that overthrowing a dictatorship almost always leads to the establishment of an even worse dictatorship.

I did. What I found was inconclusive though.

By "reliable sources", I meant well documented studies.

While there are indeed passages in the Koran suggesting the eradication of non-believers (you find similar statements in the Bible too, see Psalm 139, 19-22, for instance), the average Muslim is neither a religious fanatic nor do they wish to be part of violent actions. Living in a country that hosts many of them, I know that what they care for is a having a pleasant and safe life for their families and themselves, just like everybody else. What you are referring to is a minority of self-declared soldiers waging war against states that they consider the enemy - a position that the latter have mostly put themselves in by their interventions in Islamic countries. Let it be understood that my analysis is in no way meant to diminish the horror of those attacks against innocents. These actions are indeed most misguided, sad and deplorable. My intention is only to show the other side of this dreadful equation. And Western separatism won't do anything to solve the problem but rather increase it by impeding inter-cultural dialogue, hardening fronts. and further encouraging some of the moderate Islamists (the great majority of them) to turn to extremism.

To my knowledge, nobody is forcing you to read my posts. I am okay with it if you don't. Wowowow... Let's break this down a bit: Not sure about the Cultural Marxist part, as I have no problem with free market economy, to which I am contributing as much as everybody else in my country. Also not sure why you would feel a need to defend 'white males' from me? I am most certainly one of them, not into self-depriciation and, unlike you, I do not blame ethnic groups en bloc for undesired developments. But I must say that Social Justice Warrior has a certain ring to it. As to 'waving a refugees are welcome here banner' - you may want to blame this on my family background - being the descendant of a man who put himself in harm's way by helping French and Polish refugees settle down in Switzerland during WWII. Being on the Nazis' black list, my grandfather was lucky that he lived to receive a medal from General de Gaulle, rather than a hail of bullets from a German firing squad. - So yes, it's fair to say that his spirit of supporting refugees from dictatorial governments came down on me. See my reply to this in one of the subsequent posts. Not turning a cheek to anybody. Just suggesting a simple way to keep it out of the line of fire in the first place.