ralis

Thomas Hartmann's video just happened to be posted on Huffpo and I used it. Palin's "blood libel" comment is offensive and she is attempting to see herself as a victim! Many others on her map have had death threats. These problems are not separate acts and are indicative of a societal problem. Her rant about the exclusive privilege of being an American is very offensive. In her mind, this country is the exclusive property of God. BTW, for those unfamiliar with the term "blood libel" it is anti-semitic.

He proved my point.

I have already understood cause and effect and have moved on from discussing it. However, you have some deep desire to preach about it. Why is that? Dependent origination is your absolute truth whether you like it or not.

If you lived in the U.S. you would understand the vitriol and hate she has created. She is a far right wing hate monger!

The problem with your insistence that Buddhism is not a religion and therefor claims no revelations from an ultimate divinity, is problematic. Why? By insisting that Buddhism is some ultimate holder of absolute truth, puts Buddhism in the same category as other purveyors of absolute truth. Buddhists can in no way compare what they believe to be non-religious to a religious belief system such as Islam, Hinduism or whatever. That pseudo logic does not make sense. You posit the same argument as the atheists vs. the fundamentalists. The results of which create sectarianism. Given your claim to absolute truth, why do you even care what others believe? Why the insecurity of belief?

That song is not what you think it means. The gun is symbolic of a syringe.

Thom Hartmann's analysis of Sarah Palin's rant. This is excellent!

I absolutely agree. That is why I started the "Ideology of Exclusivity" thread. He wants exclusive rights to be absolutely right and make everyone else wrong.

Sometimes, I refer to the primate need to establish hierarchies and that can bother some. However, the evidence is increasingly clear that human behavior is not unlike chimp behavior as a social group. I say that in regards to chimps being a related species. I imagine this is a survival mechanism. This behavior is carried out in conjunction with humans that have evolved higher brain functions. Exclusivity and authoritarian personalities are what comes to mind. Many times, religious experiences seem to exasperate the primitive social behaviors. Why? I am a little tired now and will write more later. I am not certain the above is very coherent.

There is a problem on the youtube video.

I was going to start a thread on exclusivity. I think I will.

Absolutely mind blowing visual experience. Maybe the best visual effects I have ever seen!

You assume much! I never said it didn't work.

I understand Vajrayana very well. I practiced it for years. However, that is not the point. Westerners have a blind fascination of anything exotic. To put it another way, romancing the primitive.

It seems you choose to only focus on a narrow view of some mythical enlightened Tibet. That is an illusion. There continues to be a Western fascination of exotic cultures.

Our resident Buddhist preacher uses a style that is an attempt to dazzle his audience with arcane and profound terms, combined with a frozen narrative. A few arcane terms that are repeated ad infinitum, is a technique used in propaganda by authoritarian personalities. They offer no real teaching or experience that can be delineated in their own words.

I am extremely visual and the movie gave me an answer to something I have been pondering for the last few days. Maybe Jeff Bridges is a Zen Master in real life. He will always be "the dude."

When I read the beginning of the thread last night, I posted a response thinking that would be the end of it. I was immediately inundated with some nasty responses. The vitriol stopped after your last post. Thanks for saying what needed to be said!

I agree in part. What concerns me is when the solar panels are deteriorating, the landfills will be used for disposal. Unless there is recycling. I am an optimist in regards to future clean energy sources. However, I am not so optimistic when it comes to greed and the continuing throw away culture we live in.

Any technology can cause problems for various biosystems. There are always trade offs. The idea of a pure nonpolluting technology is an illusion. I really like your judicious use of hyphens. Goes well with your version of poetic license.

I would like to add that in addition to harmful physical side effects of meditation, psychological side effects can be just as harmful.

Technological systems are not biological. Symbiosis is a relationship that benefits both biological systems. Technology does not benefit from us, unless you think a computer chip is alive. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Symbiosis I wish you would stop taking liberties with language and use appropriate terms in context.

Technology appropriately designed and implemented can have great value to make living more comfortable for everyone. However, the technological fix is not a Utopian world as portrayed in literature and movies. Take for example the internet. There are many benefits and associated problems. Even now the corporations want absolute control over what was seen as free cyberspace. Scams abound as well as free expression and news organizations that give different journalistic view points different than TV. BTW, symbiosis has nothing to do with technology. Symbiosis describes interactions in biological systems.

You are relentless in putting others down! During all the retreats that I participated in with Norbu, never once did he treat others inappropriately.

You are so dense. Let me spell it out for you. I deeply care about the plight of less fortunate people. To not be enslaved by religious and political ideology, lack of food, little or no education, medical care, shelter, proper sanitation etc. All the things I take for granted that many don't have. The worst of this are countries of Africa, Tibet, parts of China, India and Southeast Asia, in general. I believe that is real compassion! Heart!!