doc benway

@azurite Please check your message inbox. I will try to help.

Solaris had a profound impact on me as well. I didn't like the remake. My favorite Tarkovsy film is probably Andrei Rublev but they're all powerful and unique. While Stalker was a great film, I feel like it was more of Tarkovsky's expression inspired by the book. I got a better sense of the Strugatskys' actual story and intent from Roadside Picnic. For me they were very different. I watched the first episode of Katla a few weeks ago but haven't gotten back to it yet.

The recent discussion brings to mind for me the koan attributed to Linji Yixuan: If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him! I won’t get into my own interpretation as I think this, one of my favorite koans, is rich and multi-layered but I think it gets to the heart of the discussion from a Buddhist perspective.

Let’s build something new A loving and supportive Cyber-family

Kumbaya

My best wishes on a speedy and full recovery. 🙏🏽

@Immortality You are welcome to edit your posts. The moderators do not delete posts. When you have done that, if you want your account deleted let me know.

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing this wonderful moment from Bums past. 🙏🏽❤️🙏🏽

@Ano Eremita Please change back to the tutanota address and try to login let me know when you’ve done it, thanks

You’re as precious as any old mantra… …but that’s just me 🙏🏽 Moderating or Bumming, people come first for me, scripture second. At least I try to see things that way.

If my post was offensive to you, my apologies. I thought it was humorous. It has been removed. _/\_

Om Tat Sat

One thing I’ve learned is that what we experience when connecting to this source is not so much the source itself but rather the opposite of whatever was obstructing us before. So one person may feel incredibly open, another may feel connected to everyone and everything, another may feel all powerful or all knowing. This is simply because they were previously feeling the opposite and when that obscuration drops, the experience of what was being obscured is very profound. The direct experience of the source is beyond words and concepts. The instant we label it or “understand” it we are already grasping and limiting, and we are already mistaken and disconnected. This is why it is said that the conceptual mind can never know it, as it is itself an obstacle in the beginning.

In dzogchen writings, the Natural State is often referred to as "self-secret," meaning that even as we are in the midst of it, being a manifestation of it, or having it directly pointed out to us, it is only reveals itself to us when we are ready. What does it mean to be ready? No one really knows for sure, and it varies from person to person and time to time, but I am certain that a part of it is that we are able and willing to listen actively and openly, we often say nakedly, without the activity of our ideas and beliefs getting in the way. The voice of the source is extraordinarily subtle despite the fact that it is all-pervasive and indestructible. A clue - some voices here, and elsewhere, speak directly from the source. While they may not be Buddhas or fully enlightened, there is a clarity and authority in their words that can be a beacon to finding our own direct taste. We can listen or we can correct them so that they are more in line with our own concepts and opinions. Food for thought, or no-thought as the case may be...

@Ano Eremita I will look into this and see what I can find. I will get back to you in the next day or two.

Thank you @liminal_luke It was wonderful working with you. Your presence on the mod team will be missed!

@refugeindharma your wish is my command

Far more surprising if done and paid for by a capitalist government, no?

@cheya Apparently it was a rescue and this was a photograph of the cat while tranquilized. It was going to be release into the wild. Here's more info - https://thistle25.wordpress.com/2014/03/24/big-kitty/

If I identified with a political party it would be Green.

I think my initial post was just a bit ambiguous. If you would like access to the new sub-forum please ask me here or through PM. Not everyone who posts a thank you (or an F you) here will necessarily want access so it will not be automatic. Thanks