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Everything posted by thelerner
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You know, everybody gotta chop there own wood, and carry up there water. Some with joy, Some in sorrow. Don't make no sense to do it for other folk, yer jist not doin them any good, cause you can't eat, drink or think for another.
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Best laid plans go to hell. Is the human race doing so badly? The last 50 years we've made huge strides against dire poverty, hunger, illiteracy and disease. Even on fronts such as war, there are no world wars now, while a few localized strifes are happening, there aren't nations fighting other nations, cities being destroyed, admittedly there are a few ongoing civil wars and cold wars happening. Few in the early 50's would have guessed the atomic bomb would never be used again or another WW wouldn't happen. There are equally large hurdles still existing.. we've improved dire poverty, but not regular poverty. Every good move creates unintended consequences.. more prosperous people often means more environmental degradation. We've got the tools, and right now the time to find the sweet spot. To me it doesn't mean a top 'brainiac' solution from above, but intelligent communal solutions from the below. An intelligent blue print that can be followed that leads to a better life. One that's flexible. It'll take generations but I think people are smart enough to move to a communities that are built for the human being instead of the haphazard places we live in now. Starting with blocks, communities, towns, cities, I'd like to see new efficiencies, new paradigms come online. Not necessarily revolutionary but making things better, changing some systems, communal awareness to make things better for everyone. Maybe that means a new kind of internal peace corp. Say for school kids up to through college 2 hours a day, doing something that would better the community, maybe building or cleaning. Kids should take over some janitorial jobs in there schools design, build and maintain garden areas. For adults, something similar, if patriotism doesn't do it, then provide a tax break, but have communal goals listed, gradual improvements. As important as working together is celebrating together. Community wide potlucks and celebrations, at least each month. Times to get to know your neighbors and community and celebrate whats been accomplished.
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I liked the video, but uh.. I'll side step history.. ignore it for now, because to me Thanksgiving isn't about the Pilgrims, its about thanking providence for its gifts and celebrating with friends and families, before the harsh winter sets in. I expect every culture has its Thanksgivings.. a time to celebrate and shake your fist at the coming winter, saying we will survive together. In the past there was no guarantees, maybe there still isn't. So what, lift a glass, eat and drink with friends and family, let them know what you are thankful for.
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I like anime as much as the next man but they're not a source for learning a real system. addon. If they were I'd recommend Avatar:The last Airbender. They are fantasy, exaggerations. Beware of too much energy. If things get strange, slow down, long walks.. it can be more a sign of burnout then progress. A live teacher is always best.. otherwise, slow steady grounded progress.
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Yup nothing like an "elite organization of world leaders, business authorities, innovators.." that anyone can join for free. E-bait for the gullible, imo. addon>Good saying for the modern age: If you're getting it for free you are not the customer, you are the product.
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No problem, its an interesting subject. I agree (and so does Daoism) that extremes even or especially opposite ones, can be very like each other. I'd disagree with Enlightened being the top of society. Imo they're most likely outliers, easily misunderstood, and as likely scorned as admired. Sadists.. sadly can be at the top of society- absolute power corrupts absolutely or at the bottom. The thread got me thinking of Satanism. Depending who you ask, to some it's all about individualism, nothing to do with cruelty or devil worship. To others that's the whole point.
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What does it mean to "Be True To Yourself"
thelerner replied to TheCLounge's topic in General Discussion
Know thyself & To thine own self be true. Works for me, though I might add to your best self be true. Otherwise, some of myselves are pretty slovenly. addon> wanted to grab the original Shakespearean: Polonius: This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. For an interesting historical view of the quote see: https://literarydevices.net/to-thine-own-self-be-true/ -
Love builds happy homes...Lust destroys them
thelerner replied to TheCLounge's topic in General Discussion
'Love builds happy homes...Lust destroys them' hmnn, I'd say lust has the potential to destroy them, though lusting for your significant other is good. Love and lust are not mutually exclusive. Going further, I'd think many a happy home and couple are the products of lust, ie the search for a mate (& sex) is what brought them together. That combo of lust/love make the world go round. Not smoothly perhaps, but it is the engine for many of our motivations. Here is a video many of us saw in highschool to explain it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrrADTN-dvg -
What is Buddhism/the Buddha incorrect about?
thelerner replied to Phoenix3's topic in Buddhist Discussion
I like Buddhism and think it has some very clear descriptions of mankind, its problems and possible solutions. Imo some branches have evolved into making the Buddha godlike, a mistake imo. Likewise some branches are more theistic then others and I prefer my Buddhism like I like my coffee, deist free. -
Often discussing action, the concrete is better then philosophizing. Dawn90, what are people doing that makes them sadists? What typical actions? thanks.
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There's a good chance a sadist made that quote, thus it might not be from a reliable, non-partial source. From my limited experience sadists are simply assholes. addon> my definition being someone who enjoys the pain of others> Cruelty is an interesting subject though. Rather then deep understanding its more likely a closing of the heart. It might look like enlightenment to some, but imo it's really more a separation from all. Closed heart- empathy, sympathy are gone, wholeness impossible- self and ego rules and cruelty builds them up. To me its more the opposite of enlightenment though there is undoubtedly self serving power there. Until it self-destructs. Not a good path, but cruelty is inside all of us. I think we keep in check, not with our minds, but by keeping in-touch with our hearts.
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When you find it difficult getting along with people...
thelerner replied to TheCLounge's topic in General Discussion
Thing is, with my relationship with my dad is we both enrage each other at times but we also know it's temporary. So we can be expressive, him more then me, but we snap out of it. Putting on the mindset of 'job to do' is temporary. Not holding a grudge, moving on, doing our best to be friendly and helpful gets us back on an even keel. til one, or the other sets the cycle rolling again. I owe many debts of gratitude to my father.. so one keeps going, taking the good with the bad. good training really. -
He can add a retired police officer (you can google to get his name) also backing the allegations and a couple of shop keepers from that era to his Sue list. Also from what I've read old records from that time period were tossed by the mall. By some accounts his pursuit of teens was relatively well known at the time. When you say they're attacking because of this or that, I think you guys are over thinking it. It's simply normal to look for skeletons in your political opponents history. If he'd been a businessman and there were old allegations they liked underage woman, once the story is out, more will surface, especially if its true. At this point if the evidence gets larger and more preponderance, then Moore might be in more trouble for lying about it then for the incidents themselves, at least to some of his loyal constituents. I wonder if we'll get memories from any mothers he reportedly asked to date there daughters weighing in? If you want to read an indepth article about it https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/locals-were-troubled-by-roy-moores-interactions-with-teen-girls-at-the-gadsden-mall Again it probably won't persuade either side, but its a reporter looking into it for a few weeks. It has anecdotes and interviews that help both sides.
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When you find it difficult getting along with people...
thelerner replied to TheCLounge's topic in General Discussion
Spending time with my elderly father and ailing mother can be very trying. Yet what helps was knowing I had a job to do, so suck it up and not adding to any anxiety. Hard yet, once I had that as my goal, mantra even, it became easier to put my ego away and not let my buttons be pushed. -
I don't know if he's guilty or not. Not for sure. Yet there are I think are 7 or 8 woman who've come forth as well as people connected to the mall and acquaintances who've backed it up. Seemingly his trolling the mall for teens was open knowledge. But that's not slam dunk, it could be a political smear, but that's still quite a bit and making these accusations opens you up to insults and threats. Literally death threats. When questioned about it instead of no, it was 'Generally no..' a kind of answer which to me means, sometimes. Also his talking about always getting the mother's permission, seems to imply his dates, when he was 30+, lived with their mom. For me there's enough smoke to show fire. What does it mean. Well nothing legally. It's smearing a long time political judge who's been removed from office twice. As I've written its political, finding skeletons in the opponents closet and bringing them out for people to see and judge the worthiness of the candidate. Old game. One I'm sure Moore has used himself as well as the religious and martyr cards. This fits a bias, but there's a stereotype of a self righteous fundamentalist who does what he wants because he believes it God's will. True believers who'd justify almost any behavior as biblical.
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Poor sentence structure on my part. I didn't mean to aim 'damning' at dating younger, though a 30+ year old trolling malls for teens is bit creepy, imo. Damning was a poor choice of words, shoulda used contrary or adds doubt. The word 'Generally' before a 'no' statement, is damning or better yet puts doubt on it. Ie- I generally never drink alcohol, tends to mean I sometimes do, or if evidence comes in to the contrary I'm not lying, I said 'generally' never. Reportedly when Hannity pressed Moore on whether he had dated girls in their teens when he was in 30s- “Not generally, no,” the former judge said in response. Seems like a good prosecutor would ask if that meant Yes, No, or Sometimes.
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lie detector tests have been largely discredited or at least found inconclusive. I believe not allowed in court (googled depends on the judge). Still people take them and perhaps they'll show up here. Course you could have Moore take them to, but they shouldn't be considered gospel. They create enough false positives and negatives to be questionable. Especially if the polygraph tester or people around them have bias's. I find Moore adding the word Generally, to the question if he dated teens in his 30's to be somewhat damning. If someone said 'Generally, I'm not a serial killer', I don't think you'd want to spend the weekend with them in a cabin.
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nver mind. didn't add to the conversation.
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From what I've heard its the feeling that the form was handed down with those instructions and other lines of the teaching it are incomplete without them.. the 'empowerments'. Understandable. Winn even admits he's changed the form a bit. Anyhow, there's a simplicity to Pangu that is wonderful. Winn has a short gi gung form that has sun and moon in it. I'm sure if it was picked up by another teacher, modified and used without the visualization he might also feel the interpretation was problematic.
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The more you try to be good, the more bad will follow
thelerner replied to TheCLounge's topic in The Rabbit Hole
We all howl at the moon sometimes. Caught at the wrong moment we are at our worst.. random factors align and people lose it. Often on others who don't deserve the attitude. Knowing that it happens and cutting ourselves and others some slack, seems an essential skill in life. Without a constant flow of forgiveness, we'd carry too much mental weight. -
I've heard that. Still, I enjoy Winn's interpretation and think I get something out of it. Perhaps I'll have an opportunity to learn it from the Master Wei's school one day.
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I enjoy Pangu, a short form, easy to learn with good energetics. I learned it from Michael Winn. Here's a video of it-
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I'm a bit more positive towards woman. I see most men and woman good, not perfect, prey to selfishness, greed and violence. Bad can do alot of damage. Life is complex, sometimes trying to do good creates unforeseen disaster. Spoiler alert>There's differences between men and woman. Men are more aggressive. Woman more nurturing. That runs on a spectrum ofcourse, but men have more testosterone, woman have more of a nesting instinct. I wouldn't mind seeing a Matriarchy for a bit. See how it works out. I think the human race can use a little more mothering right now. Doesn't have to be dramatic, but I'd like to see more woman in governing positions. See how it goes. What countries have more woman in government. I wonder if countries doing well have more active woman in governing positions? Hold on let see if google knows.. it does- http://www.businessinsider.com/world-economic-forum-countries-where-women-have-most-power-2016-7/#4-nicaragua--47-of-senior-government-officials-in-nicaragua-the-central-american-republic-are-female-this-combined-with-the-fact-that-41-of-all-parliamentary-members-are-women-helps-make-the-country-one-of-the-worlds-best-for-female-political-power-20 " To measure political equality, the WEF took three separate measures; the number of women in a country's parliament, the number of female ministers, and the number of years since 1965 that a woman has been head of state. The three measures were then collated and each country given an individual score out of one. " The Top 3 give woman much credit- Iceland, Finland & Norway - progressive, countries with high livability, equality, good places to live. Number 4 Nicaragua, I don't know how well that's doing 41% of parliament is female. 5 Sweden- good country. 6 Ireland, great bars, good music 7.Interesting Rwanda.. no idea 8 Bangladesh.. I know its poor. 9 India.. 10 Bolivia 11 Germany. UK is 23rd.. the list just goes to 23, US not on the list. I don't know if the above list proves my point or not. I'd say in general the higher woman countries are more progressive, but wouldn't countries that keep women out of politics be 'old' fashioned at best, misogynist at worst? They seem to be mostly good livable countries, one could do much much worse in this world. The top 3 shine as far as life style and happiness of the population. Looking at this site- http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/17-best-governed-countries-world-a7417096.html The Best governed countries, you see much overlap. Neither sex is better, but there are differences. We want good people in government. All things being equal, I'd prefer to have more good women involved, cause we've had the other way and I see room for improvement.
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Not exactly the same case, ie she's an adult, not a teen and he acknowledged and apologized for it. Also they'd been doing a comedy skit for the USO that had a groping scene in it. That doesn't excuse the act, but he kept with it after it was over. Poor behavior, but far different then Moore is alleged to have done. Early in Moore's campaign he reportedly dissed so many other Republicans that many don't feel the need to back him and some feel hostility towards him. It'd be easy to say don't judge til there's more evidence, instead some are throwing him under the bus.
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If its any consolation, on the micro-level, within individual families, there is a solid shot at matriarchy or at least equality. (in my book good equality is sharing and each to there strength) In many 'macho' cultures where woman traditionally played second fiddle, often wives were strong, decision making heads of the household in most matters. 'Soft' power to be sure, but power nonetheless.