goldisheavy

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Everything posted by goldisheavy

  1. Aurobindo Anyone?

    I think this is nonsense. Sorry I don't want to post a full rebuttal. Too much work. Instead I suggest you read Mula madhyamaka karika for deconstruction of concepts that physicalists depend on. http://www.stephenbatchelor.org/verses2.htm It can be a hard text to understand, and it's better to get the book: http://www.amazon.com/Fundamental-Wisdom-M...2680&sr=8-1 It's better translated and it has excellent commentary by a top notch guy. "Top notch" is my opinion based on reading the book.
  2. What value do experts provide to society?

    The article touches on many kinds of expertise. It's true that the guy writing it is mostly interested in the financial and political experts, but the studies he mentions at the beginning investigate the phenomenon of expertise on a more general level. I think it's a worthy article. The point is that people are fallible and even in a completely idealized discipline such as mathematics where you deal exclusively with the known (by definition) people make mistakes all the time. And what to say when you have to interact with reality that's unknown and complex? Expertise makes more sense in hard sciences like chemistry and physics, but the closer you move to soft science such as biology and psychology, the more dangerous expertise becomes. Even in hard science experts make mistakes. So being careful around experts is a wise attitude no matter what.
  3. .

    You can share yours too. The only one who can stop you from sharing is yourself (it's basically your fear of convention). It's even better to share if someone is trying to stop you from sharing. Practice that courage. As long as you feel a genuine movement to share, do so.
  4. .

    Thanks for sharing Vajra! That was a fun read. I'm looking forward to more.
  5. Help.. exhaustion, stress, depression, burnout

    Right on. A good technique or two can help when you're in a pinch. But long term you have to have a stable calm life glow inside. You have to feel whole, know why you live even if you don't know the exact details, know and partake of the joy of life, allow yourself to be loved by yourself and others even if you are not perfect. See how wide open this is? You can't realize that kind of state just by a technique. It's impossible. Techniques are narrow in their meaning by definition. Techniques deal with particulars. Techniques cannot help with problems that are rooted at higher more abstract "layers" of the mind (ok, the mind doesn't really have layers, it's just a figure of speech). A technique is like putting a splint on a broken arm. It's smart to do so. However, long term you learn to watch where you put your arms, maybe you eat a little healthier and exercise a little more so that your bones get stronger. A splint cannot give you all that.
  6. The word "tantra" does not mean "technique". It means something like "a thread" or something that continues like one. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra
  7. J Krishnamurti's thoughts

    J Krishnamurti is wrong then. But why would he say something like that? It's because of our habit to look at particulars. If you expect some particulars of experience to represent the thinker -- this leads to disappointment. So when you have such expectation in mind and come away disappointed after realizing that no particular element of experience represents the thinker, you might declare "there is no thinker". The trouble is that you had a bad expectation to begin with. You were expecting to find a thinker that's like an element among elements. Failing that you declare "it doesn't exist". It's like saying "I expect the sky to be under my feet". Then you look down and you see earth. You keep looking and looking. Eventually you get tired and disappointed and you declare "There is no sky". In reality the sky exists, but you were making an incorrect assumption about it and thus couldn't find it. To find the nature of the thinker, one has to examine one's own experience and assumptions very very carefully. People are so used to looking for objects, that if something is not an object, it's as if it's not real or they can't find it. That problem must be addressed in contemplation. It's not obvious at all. When you are angry, is anger all that you are? When you are happy, is happiness all that you are? For me, the answer is no. No matter how angry I am, it's not the entirety of my being. And no matter how happy I am, that's not the entirety of my being either. So I am not my anger and I am not my happiness. If I watch a movie I am not the movie. I have alternatives. Were I to be anger, then I'd have no alternative but to always be angry. If I can be or not be angry, then anger is my manifestation but not the entirety of who I am. Being angry is like holding a fist. Is my hand a fist? Nope. I can open my hand too. I have alternatives available to me. I can hold my hand open or clenched, but my hand is neither a fist nor an open palm. My hand is a dynamic happening that transcends fixed positions and narrow-minded definitions. You can make the effort. However, when you struggle in your effort, what is resisting you? Is something other than you resisting you? If true, then this "other than you" appears where? Does it appear outside of your mind or inside? If "other than you" appears inside your mind, how is it outside? One more. Let's say you see a building. It's far away. That's how you feel. You feel it is distant, right? This feeling of "distantness" -- is it distant? Where is the feeling? So then where is the house again? Think it over. Try it actually on the actual house.
  8. Operation Mind Seed - MUST SEE

    I believe there are some elites that dream of something like world domination. Will they succeed? I don't think so. The first person that tries to implant me with a chip will die a horrible and painful death. I'd rather die without medical coverage and I'd rather be blown up by terrorists 10 times in a row than to be implanted with a chip like some dog. Hell, I wouldn't even do that to my dog. If my dog runs away, it's the right decision for him.
  9. Tai Chi class review

    Amen brother. Not a truer word has been spoken. This is why I have my doubts about some of the Gurus on this forum. Glowing hands are good and bright smiles are good, but having a naked chin is a dead give away of amateurism. What good is your smile if you have no beard? It doesn't look convincing at all. I mean, I know what sages look like. I also know what Joe Plumber looks like. Nobody can fool me. The difference is obvious.
  10. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jacquel...om_poverty.html I enjoyed this clip and thought you might too.
  11. Tai Chi class review

    PROTIP: You better believe the beard is where it's at. Just look at this guy for example: Every real Taoist teacher and immortal has a beard. If you don't spot the beard, it's most likely a fake teacher.
  12. How To Win Friends and Influence People

    Stig, Those quotes paint a much different (much better!) picture than does the table of contents. Based on the table of contents I had some negative impressions. Now that I read those quotes, I think the full book would have to be read to determine the real value, if any.
  13. big heart

    http://www.abc2news.com/entertainment/weir...5a9uOIh2rA.cspx Talk about heart. That guy has one strong heart! Big heart. Total commitment. This is all over the news now, but I couldn't help myself but to post this link.
  14. Early childhood memories of rebirth

    This is cool! Thanks for sharing. One time I was meditating in my car when I suddenly became the car. That was strange too. I was worried I would wreck driving in that state, so that sensation didn't last long. Another time when I was meditating on the floor it felt like the "real me" slipped out and became the house I was in. I am just describing how it felt. I also had a friend who claimed to be able to become me the same way I could sometimes become other objects. One time he told me what I could see. It was a little freaky, so I had to stop asking him questions. He said something like, "I see with your eyes as you". So it's not like being possessed by a ghost, he explained. He said he's me in me and he's himself in him, and he's other things in other things. That was the same friend that guided and helped me to some truly amazing experiences in my 20s. Great guy, although after a while I couldn't talk to him anymore because he changed his name to one of Indian Gods, but not in a good way in my opinion. Could have been my fat ego back then, I don't know. I don't think I would care about it today. But it was strange how one day we were pals and the next day he becomes God and I can't talk to him as pals anymore. That was the part I didn't like. Oh well...
  15. How To Win Friends and Influence People

    I want to clarify something I said, because I don't think I said it well. Originally I said I want to restate this. What I mean is that who we are is a complicated organism. In this complicated organism I don't think we can understand all the interdependencies, and so it's wrong to try to get this organism to do what you want by twiddling locally with this or that local aspect. Influencing a person is like twiddling with some knob on a machine you don't understand. A person who you have "influenced" to do what you want, can then turn around and do a lot more things against you than if you never "influenced" them in the first place. A simple example. Suppose you butter someone up, but then one time you find the need to be frank. So you say something frank that's less than flattering, and blammo the person explodes, cause you've set up their expectation on flattery and suddenly you're not singing that tune. So there is a backlash! Now, had you never buttered this person up in the first place, it wouldn't be as shocking to that person to hear something frank from you. A lot of times influencing people gives short-term benefit but digs a hidden long term hole somewhere that we're going to fall into sooner or later. So I was saying it's best not to try to micro-manage reality by influencing people in a twiddly manner. People are not like knobs on a music equalizer. They're not meant to be twiddled. You can't take something false and make it genuine. It's silly to say "compliment the person AND mean it". What does that say? Why does the author have to say "and mean it?" So it means it's not a natural assumption! It means that had the author not said "and mean it", a large percentage of readers would just pile up flattery. So this same percentage of readers who understand compliments as flattery read the additional "and mean it" and what do they think? They think they have to trick themselves into believing that flattery is honest... That's totally wrong. That's like taking a problem and making it worse. Now you have two problems instead of just one. I hope this is better explained.
  16. Early childhood memories of rebirth

    Yes, I do. I think there is something to it. It's like yesterday or 10 years ago. Does 10 years of your past experience make you who you are? My answer is no. You are made by where you are going and not by where you come from. However, sometimes knowing where you come from, or even just knowing that you do come from somewhere is helpful.
  17. Enlightenment Projects: How they can fail

    I think there is a good deal of wisdom in your post. The only thing that sticks out as questionable is the reference to "measurables". Being on a spiritual quest may be hard to express in terms of measurables. However, if you could measure something, that might be an honest way to check progress. Measurement works well for mundane goals because in the mundane world, "if we cannot measure it, it doesn't exist" is often true. It's especially true in the fields of engineering and science. Less true in arts. But even for a mundane task, it's all too easy to measure the wrong thing and to thus provide a wrong kind of incentive that skews the project away from its intended purpose.
  18. How To Win Friends and Influence People

    Point taken. Right and wrong is complicated. It's illusion and it's not, depending on how you look at it. For example, let's say I enjoy beer and dislike wine. Is drinking beer right and drinking wine wrong? And if I think that, is it an illusion? That's actually a complicated question. The answer will depend on what I expect. For example, if I think that drinking beer is right, do I mean that all beers are good? If I that's what I mean, then imagine one day I drink a foul beer and it turns out badly, so I am disappointed by my self-imposed right/wrong maxim. In that case I think we should say I was under the spell of illusion. The same thing can happen if I refuse to drink wine, because it's wrong, but one day out I drink one glass for pretentious reasons, only to find I enjoy it! This time the disappointment comes again, because I am thinking, gee, what else have I been missing all this time due to my narrow-minded right/wrong framework? So again this shows the illusory nature of some beliefs. But if I don't take my "drinking beer is right" too seriously, then when I drink a foul beer, I am not disappointed. And if I don't take "drinking wine is wrong" too seriously, and I continually dabble in wine here and there, I am not surprised if a good one turns up and I don't feel like I am missing out. This way I am participating in something illusory in a way that doesn't lead to disappointment, and so because I don't feel deceived or cheated, I don't call this illusion. It's kind of like going to a stage magician's show knowing you're going to see "fake" tricks for the sake of entertainment. So on one hand, those are illusions, but on the other hand, you're under no illusion when you observe those illusions for what they are. In life we all want some things, don't we? I think it's only honest to admit to it. Even the most detached person has passion. For example a detached person has passion for phenomena that are concomitant with non-attachment. Just look, for example, what praise Buddha Gotama has lavished on experiences of Jhanas. And so on. Once you admit that you want something, you realize someone else may want something that's in conflict with what you want. What to do then? It's not an easy question. Please don't trivialize it. My answer to this is to discuss the differences. When we discuss those differences, we implicitly say, "I value you to some extent, even if you disagree." It's honest. It doesn't mean "I value you no matter what." That's a lie. And it doesn't mean "If you disagree you are worthless." It's a middle way between these extremes. It's a place where we come to see if either we can build a bridge, or at least, can we co-exist peacefully without resolving our disagreements? If only the polite and the agreeable members are valued in a community, it's like a marriage where you only value your partner as long as they are having a good day and remain sweet. The second your partner farts in your face or has a bad day, you throw them on the street. That's not "for better or for worse". That's just "for better or get lost" marriage. And a community is really like marriage. If you want a genuine community, you must welcome disagreement into it. You must welcome cranky people. You must welcome upset people. You must welcome disagreeable and somewhat foul people into it. There IS some limit to this of course, but I think one needs to keep in mind, "for better or for worse." Think of it this way. If community is our celestial body, how would you treat it? Compare it with your body. Imagine if your body feels good, and you are happy. So you like it. Then one day your body aches. Do you commit suicide right away? I sure hope not. But at the same time, I can see some rare cases where the pain is so great that an euthanasia is acceptable. But it's not the 1st or the 2nd or even the 20th option on the list. It's way down the list for the cases that are unresolvable in any other way, IMO. The point is, when we have our body, we commit to our body not only if it feels good, but also if it feels a little bad too. And we love ourselves even if we feel bad. The same should be true of the community. We should love our community not only on the days everyone agrees, but also on the days when people argue. The book is about influencing people. It's unfortunate that "win friends" is also part of the title. It's well known, it's well documented, and it's common knowledge that flattery works as a method of influence over most people. It's only very rare people that get turned off by flattery. The book tells you in straightforward manner that you need to boost and validate other person's ego. And ego is all it is. It's all ego. Even humility is ego. A humble person thinks, "I am better because I am humble. The other guy is not humble, so he's a moron." There is hypocrisy inherent in humility. A truly humble person doesn't even know what the hell is or is not humble. They can't even understand that measurement and don't find it useful in day to day life. Anyone who can tell a humble person apart from a non-humble one is an arrogant person and a hypocrite. It just takes a little insight to see why that must be so. It's kind of like the people who always ask everyone to drop the ego are the ones that are the biggest egomaniacs in the crowd. Same thing. If you want to influence people just for the sake of influencing them or to get things for yourself, that's a wrongheaded approach. If as part of being who you are people become influenced, that's correct. In the correct case you don't produce an intent to influence people per se. You produce an intent to manifest your highest right, and that's it.
  19. I don't understand the question. Is the question about doing exercise at work without seeming weird? If that's the case, then what kind of goal do you have in mind? Is it strength? Is it endurance? Is it flexibility? Is it wisdom? Is it some mix of the above and if so, what's the order of importance? Depending on what your desired benefit is, dynamic tension exercises can be good. They do look a little weird, but the cool thing is that you don't need to get on the floor or go upside down, and you can do them while sitting in the chair or in the bathroom or in the hallways, empty meeting rooms, empty offices, outside, etc. So for example, you can get a benefit similar to a push-up without touching the floor with your hands. It will still look a little weird though, so if seeming "normal" is a high value item for you, it's going to interfere.
  20. falun gong question

    I suggest you pick up a book at your local bookstore and just read it. The esteemed leader of the Falun Gong sect has written a book. My subjective take is that it's more than a little weird. So, it's not "just Chinese propaganda" from my point of view. Just get the book and read from the horse's mouth. I can't take Falun Gong seriously at all. And it's funny for me to say that, because I really like weird things usually. But there are some weird things even I don't like. Even if Falun Gong was perfect and not weird, starting a yet another religion is the wrong path. We already are bedeviled by enough religions as is. We don't need more.
  21. How To Win Friends and Influence People

    This tells me a lot about your values. You prefer superficial peace to honest conflicts. It kind of reminds me about the "good luck" story with the horses. You don't know if the conflicts are fortunate or unfortunate because the story is not yet finished. As more chapters are added to the story, how the conflicts are seen is changing. So don't jump to conclusions too quickly. Conflicts are good if they are honest. If people create conflicts for trivial and petty reasons, that's one thing. But if a person has an honest disagreement and believes that discussing it is for the best, that's a different matter. Life can't all be smooth. Not every tree has birch's bark. Some trees are oaks and they are just as Tao as anything else. In fact oak gives more shade, even though it has a rough bark. Birch gives less shade, but birch juice is tasty. Everything has its own benefit place and time in nature.
  22. How To Win Friends and Influence People

    Stig, That's a very extremist book. First, friends that you have to win over are false friends. True friends naturally are aligned with your intent and you don't need to win them over by flattery and cajoling. When you meet a true friend, it's like meeting a long lost brother. You know each other right away and you don't need to bullshit or "appreciate" each other to become friends. You know right away where you stand, as there is an instant connection. There is place for politeness and basic generic friendliness, but this should not be confused with friendship. You should be friendly to strangers, if the mood allows. If your mood is foul, it's better to avoid fake attempts at friendliness, and better to either enjoy the foul mood, or if you're not enjoying it, improve it. Once the mood is good, then you can be naturally friendly to people. But this natural friendliness has nothing to do with friendship. It's like saying that to make love to girls, you have to undress them and touch their pee-pee. There's some truth to it, but the amount of truth is tiny in proportion to deception. Your book, Stig, sounds like that. It covers the superficial outward aspects of ego-based friendship. It basically says, boost the ego in every way you can, and MEAN it too, don't just pretend. So not only do you need to boost another person's ego, but you can't even pretend while doing it, you have to swallow your own kool-aid too. That's terrible. I've had over a thousand of friends in my life and many deep true friends. Take it from me, friendship is one place where you go to escape the artifice of life. If you start your friendship with flattery, and if you then must make yourself believe your own bullshit in the process, you start on the wrong foot. When something cool or neat arises, you can notice it. You don't have to set out to look for aspects to complement on. Just let it arise naturally, if it's there. If not, be silent. Friend is someone you feel at ease with. Friend is NOT someone you have to abide by the rules of society. Friend is not someone who demands you abide by the rules of polite behavior. And you don't attract truth by lies. You don't fuck for virginity.
  23. On Chunyi Lin

    Interesting experiences Drew. Thanks for sharing.