Lost in Translation

Let's take this at face value. If you are the only person on Earth then under what condition can you be right or wrong? The answer seems to be when there is an objective reality, a right and wrong defined independently of oneself. The same answer would hold for good and bad. Under what condition can you be neither right nor wrong, neither good nor bad? Here the answer points to a condition in which reality is fundamentally subjective. So back to the quote above. Is the master leading the student, or is the student asked plainly to meditate upon the question?

This happens a lot. Personally, I tend to apply a Christian bend to Tao. Tao becomes a euphemism for God. It's difficult to not do this, the structures are ingrained and unconscious. Thus I give people leeway when discussing matters of faith, especially when they may not be aware that this is what they are doing.

Responsibility On the one hand we are responsible for all things in our own life. On the other hand we are responsible for nothing. Case in point: you live your life and adjust to all circumstances that appear before you. You are responsible for your responses. They define you and they form the foundation for all that is to come. You are fully in charge of your responses and thus fully responsible for them. But you have no control over what is to come. You have no say in what tomorrow may bring, nor indeed if there will be a tomorrow. In this manner you bear no responsibility. They key to wisdom, happiness, and success in life is to balance responsibility for one's responses against the utter lack of responsibility for one's environment. One must see where the one ends and the other begins. This is not easy. Many confuse the two and attempt to bear the burden for their environment - a thing they can not do - while ignoring their own responses to their environment - a thing they must not do. This ends in confusion, pain, chaos and suffering.

This seems to me that your teacher is telling you to develop a personal understanding of Tao instead of taking his or anyone else's. TTC and other works are guideposts pointing to the way, they are not the way itself.

Example: The day starts off like any other: kiss the spouse goodbye, hop in the car, head out to work. From there it all falls apart. A fire sparks in the woods and tears through the neighborhood. The roads are closed. Everyone evacuates. And just like that you are separated from your loved ones and homeless. Are you responsible for this? Is anyone? Sure, you can point fingers all day, but to what end? Ultimately you must decide: shall I burn myself up inside struggling against that which I cannot control, or will I accept my limits and act accordingly? Part of the process of ending the struggle is to end the guilt. You are not responsible. You never were responsible. You never will be responsible. Do I blame my house cat when the winter turns cold? Rubbish!

I have always enjoyed that story. Sai Ong's family may have been able to prevent the horse running away, but they certainly could not have prevented its return. Sai Ong's son may have been able prevent his own broken leg but he certainly could not have prevented the war. Had he gone to war, Sai Ong's son may have returned alive, but he would have no way to guarantee that. In the end life works out as it will and we, as characters in our own story, must learn to adapt. This is all we can do, as Sai Ong so clearly demonstrates.

For example: Apple is a trans national corporation. On the one hand they pay what are considered "slave wages" (in the industrial west) to Chinese factory workers who make their products. On the other hand they employ thousands of workers in China who would otherwise be unemployed a decent local rate for their labors. And their products are enjoyed by tens of millions of people. Is this not a value to humanity? One must be intentionally obtuse to only see one side of this equation. So how to meaningfully answer this question? It's not possible given the options!

I took the test again and selected the opposite answers on all my "on the fence" questions. This time I scored (-3,-1.5), left libertarian. For example, here is the first question: "If economic globalisation is inevitable, it should primarily serve humanity rather than the interests of trans-national corporations." This question assumes the interest of trans national corporations and of humanity cannot coincide. It sets up an assumed us vs them and forces the reader to take a side. I reject the premise of this question. When I select disagree (and side with corporations) I fall into the authoritarian camp. When I choose agree then I become a leftist. My true response is not listed. Hence it's a bogus test. Unless you really score far to one extreme I would take the results as a very basic guideline.

Test results greatly depend upon mood. Wait a few weeks and take it again and watch your dot jump half-way across the board!

Me. The test has no neutral option so it felt contrived at points.

What, you pronounce it "thirence?"

First article: Fascism resembles Marxism. Okay... that's not super helpful. https://www.livescience.com/57622-fascism.html Second article: Fascism is far-right. Since this is Wikipedia I'll take what it says with "pinch of salt." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism Third article: Fascism is not what you belief as much as how you implement your beliefs. Now we're getting somewhere! https://www.vox.com/2018/9/19/17847110/how-fascism-works-donald-trump-jason-stanley Fourth article: This is the dictionary definition. There's no mention of left-right but it does describe characteristics of fascism, including implementation tactics. This agrees with the third article in description. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fascism Fifth article: Fascists are neither left nor right but a combination of whatever achieves power I have no desire to research this all day but it does seem clear that "fascism" describes a set of objectives and tactics to achieve them. By this measure fascism is neither left nor right, but rather both left and right, depending upon who wants power. So the next question one must ask is who wants power?

Welcome, Tricks! Do you with Frantzis personally? I've read a couple of his books and they have helped me immensely along the way.

Respect my authoritah!

I just saw you posted a new video. I'll definitely check it out when I get home and let you know my thoughts.

I did not, but I am glad you did. That history lesson was fascinating! Mama mia, Mama mia, Mama mia, let me go! Beelzebub has a devil waiting aside for me, for me, for meeeeee! (Commence head banging)

No. In fact, some magnanimous, Republican congresswoman should offer her space in her home or apartment until she can get on her feet. Do this before a Democratic congresswoman does. It's a PR move, "reaching across the aisle" and such.

Let i = infinity i Let x = i x = i Since infinity is unlimited we can add anything to it and it will still be infinity. In this case we add infinity to itself. x = i + x Now we remove the common values from both sides of the equation, namely x. 0 = i Infinity equals zero...

She should stay with Dianne Feinstein or Maxine Waters. I'm sure both of those women would happily help a young woman out.

I'm keeping this!

x = 1 + 1/x This describes the "golden ratio", roughly equal to 1.618.

I did not know this. Thank you.

From an article I just ran across: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/07/magazine/placebo-effect-medicine.html (Emphasis is mine) Given that the placebo effect is real, and that people given a placebo often are healed, at least partially, then there is an undeniable truth to placebo medicine. I found it quite astute to realize there is a placebo effect even among actual medicine! In other words, some get better faster and more thoroughly than others. The placebo effect is part of the bona fide cure, not just part of the sugar pill. Mind blown! - It's obvious in hindsight, but wow. And now here is my corollary: If the placebo effect can sure, can it not also injure? Can one get sick by placebo in the same way one can get healed by placebo? So the drama between the healer and the patient matters. People crave the ceremony of the witch doctor. How does this portend with modern medicine where doctors increasingly minimize their patient time just long enough to prescribe a pill?

Excelsior!