Stosh

Tolkien- Treebeard “Side? I am on nobody's side, because nobody is on my side, little orc.”.... Then he sees whats going on ... "They come with fire, they come with axes. Biting, breaking, hacking, burning. Destroyers and usurpers. Curse them!"

Two possibilities come to mind , geometrical shapes are sometimes obtained as positions within a spectrum of possibilities. Transecting a circle in various ways can yield a square, and at either end of the progression one ends up with a single dot or the entirety of the unbounded manifest , neither of which can be said to have corners. The other , is that the abstract specifies the lengths of the sides, and the corners are dependent and unspecified... they fill the role rather than initiate a square specifically , ( four 90 degree angles could make for a rectangle ) So , if you were 'doing' the non-initiative participation of wei wu wei, you could be likened more to a corner, than a side. But that's just guessing , to fit the answer, to the shape of the question.

A good question.. Is it possible to even embrace things one doesn't really believe?, and if they don't , are they excluded from a wonderful experience? I'm thinking no , and possibly yes, in that order. The world is , whatever it is, but the mind can encompass ,.. other than that. I dunno if the mostly secular buddhist or christian is getting much out of the casual beliefs. Facts of understanding must be put in play. I think its a critical aspect , that if one works things out on a mental level , at some point they have to put that into the forge of practice or it was just , a game of sorts. Exercise practice at least has one -actually doing something. Staring at eyelids , well it passes time ,like watching TV, then that time is gone,, I think far more important is the mind as it behaves during ones active day... though I know people claim otherwise. It may ground them in a view of things, and themselves that is altogether different.

Ok, Youre tooling along on the way to work, and somebody on their phone ,slams into you... I blame them, Steve and Manitou have to quit their job, and Apech doesnt think anyone is responsible

It Looks to me that James in the article , came back as a bullshit artist.

I figure it means that you forgive everyone else for being jerks not in control of Themselves, and blame yourself instead because you somehow have the powers of free will they dont.

I figure you have to prove that you can persist without a body., that you arent a version of everyone else..that you arent an expression of a much greater principle...and once you prove that you are a dinky lone quirk of chance that miraculously isolates itself through the immensity of the universe,,that for some reason youre so critical that the universe needs to perpetuate all your foibles.. that it needs to reinsert you into a body perpetually. If thats the case.. Ill take the job of barnacle next go round.

The learner.. I dont really disagree with that, I just think we are past the point where we can realistically butt out. We collectively need to foster the earth, decide what will get to live unbothered and what we will exploit. How many and how few , so that it continues to function. Yes its a huge undertaking. The next hundred years are pivotal and we cant be babies about it.

If it turns out that ants are more important to the ecosystem than we are,..

Why should intelligence have anything to do with food sourcing? Chimps will eat other monkies With RELISH! Chinese eat dogs, Peruvians eat Guinea pigs , falcons eat pigeons. Most cultures have explored cannibalism.. its problematical, but within a culture ,it may be perfectly functional.

Im not sure where to start, temporally in order I guess. Yes , some situations could override morally my justification for eating things. No I dont have to prove its assertively moral to eat, thats just not requisite... I dont feel like being restricted to a vegetarian diet , physiologically its a poor decision. My Viking ancestors, and theirs before them ate dolphins thousands of years before China was even a place, or Flipper was put on TV. It reminds me of happy summers at my grandparents house in Russia and tending the smokehouse.

Solid ice doesnt become liquid when it melts? That I dont get, but if yall agree one can be considered not to be existing , being just part of the whole and operating as such , I get.

I try to act morally, I was raised to value that. I think we all are. Eating isnt immoral ,it sustains us. The burden is to say why one shouldnt eat a particular thing. Isnt it? I am compelled to choose humans over animals even if humans are often crappy because humanity shares more with each other than with beasts, things we all value. Deciding on the animals we exploit, one looks at sustainability and so forth , some try to decide based on cuteness or intelligence or rarity, but with each other there is other criterion ideally.

Nah, Im willing to answer IF I know whats expected in this.

Ive been thinking about Steves point, while its confusing , on first exposure, I dont see what it has to do with bolstering ego, Steve keeps his cool, I like that, it IS superior to do it , and it lets me ask about what I dont get. Viewing how we are impacted differently, could be ... significant. I got caught in some traffic, and it made a difference not to expect baseline to be good traffic , .. if that applies.

In your hunt whether it be here or elsewhere, I figure it would be helpful to look for a source who speaks your language, since its true , this place has a wide variety. Its eclectic, I like that, but not everyone will. No one here was of the brand you could get behind , but who Is that? I dunno. I do know that the opinion prevails here , that this really isn't the venue in which a serious master is wishing to be serious , and even then, they will be reluctant to broadcast what they have to say. I hope you find this leadership you want to find ,and keep a kind thought for those of us whom did not meet expectation. But I would add that there are some who are connected or aware of groups that might be interesting to you if you privately post them.

You're probably right , but what the heck are the challenging parts ? it seems pretty simple actually, other than making it habitual.

Ah, gimme a minute to consider ,,,, why I am making a value judgement in that direction ... ? hmm In accord with the general moral code, my conscience and logic , there is no prohibition on my part regarding eating the dolphin , considering that I must 'emotionally think' the dolphin is less important than a human fits. The mode of getting these parameters to agree, resolves potential internal conflict over it, and I value my morality such as it has become. Forgive my difficult wording , having to explain why I make value judgements is a difficult thing to make brief.

Its an exaggeration ,, admitted, its just that what was being called ' Socratic method' is what I would consider just a wandering stimulus for discussion. In the case of therapy , there is a presumption that the patient has acted wrongly , come to wrong conclusions, and wishes to kiss up to the therapist. In the case of Dao bums , you're dealing with people not so undermined ,and not needing to accommodate, and most likely have considered what they are saying or have proposed.

Ok , but I want to say that the pdf etc didnt look like truth was of utmost importance , just bending the subject to a more approved approach pre-decided by the therapist as being the right answer to arrive at. You will have to be able to say whether the amount of morality increases, decreases or stays the same when eating dolphins No I cant prove which mathematical effect on total morality results from my food choice , merely that the food choice which must be made, can include dolphin and remain a morally approvable choice, and the same goes for every other food. because only then can the reason you gave be relevant. Do you agree on that? Sorry no , because.. this is the original quotes here... What is the procedure when you get to a value based selection , like .. say..., the lives of people are more important than that of dolphins? But I am still going to think I was right , if I had said dolphin hunting was just fine , ( since I value humans more ), ...I do not eat dolphins to increase my morality , I simply do not think my morality is compromised by eating dolphins since I value humans more, and I have to eat Something.

I'll agree , there is stuff within our control , But there is stuff that is not, too. How could you take responsibility for behaviors like over fishing , if you aren't a fisherman? maybe you can blame it on the state of the world , and let the animosity about it dissipate ,, but I don't see how you could include it as your personal responsibility, to take responsibility off the fishermen. Are indeed your reactions , I figure you mean the emotional ones, really in your control ? You can approve of despicable things , happily consume disgusting food , and so forth? I understand some things , like the upset of some rain , can be brushed aside, for me most natural events are like that, and so I like being in nature. But when it comes to people... nope , I'm not so flexible. Maybe extending this nature reaction to people would be good for me. Hmmm food for thought there.

Dude, don't you think you can grill someone better than that Lemme set the stage, You're at Guantanamo, and while you can't actually put your hands on em ... there are some adjustments that are in order for the good of themselves, and society at large.

But you're still going to keep bumping into situations where you know you don't control . Overfishing off the grand banks, school shootings ,.. rain.

Ah! Ok, been there done that, then what? Steve is aware the guy cut him off on the road, divorces responsibility for that from him, fine , any parent who had a child poop their britches has done the same. Why should he retard just moving on to the next step ? and what is it?

Ok , but I haven't seen anything challenging yet, .. there's no independent Jack the ripper, so there is no fault specifically on Jack , he's a leaf in the wind, but at the end of the day , someone goes out there to put the cuffs on Jack or the spree continues.