Much of what I write is too allegorical for mainstream publication. Writing professionally is something I tried for years. You have to create a product people want. What I write people probably don't want to think about, let alone buy.
So my stories molder on hard-drives and in archives and will eventually be forgotten. Even by me. It's sad, really. But such is life.
Poetry is something that is often appreciated, if at all, only after the well has run dry, metaphorically.
William Blake: Died a pauper. Dylan Thomas: Drank himself to death, died a pauper.
Publish or perish? I see my fate, and I accept it.
The writing is on the wall. I suppose I'll have to just settle for a life of graffiti.
The tendency to believe we are correct at all times is a major factor in why I don't post much on this site anymore. I believe what I believe, and it doesn't require a Master's degree to get there.
Education doesn't mean book-learning or perfect grammar, it means having the tools to find the information one requires when one so requires it.
The world is small and getting smaller every day. The information we have is vast and growing geometrically. Gone are the days of Goethe, when one man could know the sum of human knowledge.
So you think you're better than me because you've gone to school longer or paid more to do so? Think what you like! I know the truth about both of us.
"The only thing I know is that I know nothing." - Socrates
I don't make negative Resolutions. I always try to find something to do, not to abstain from. This is how resolutions for the new year are possible.
I will find a better, more fulfilling job this year.
I will endeavor to gain more wisdom this year.
I will make every effort to create positive change for those I care about, either through positive growth in myself or supporting their growth the best I can.
This is my philosophy for New Years Resolutions. Don't focus on what's wrong with you or the world and attempting to damn up some flow of energy that flows regardless. Rather, harness the flow and direct toward things that are positive, practical, and achievable.
Do not endeavor to "don't", endeavor to do. Take action, instead of making words.
Peace to all, and good-will. This one tin soldier shall now ride away.
After experiencing the Oregon Health Plan, I know the truth. Health-care has become a triangle of greed in the world. Between the insurance companies, hospitals and Pharma, they have a lock on dictating what is healthy. The Codex Alimentarius will soon make their power global.
In the long-run, there will be no Health-care bill, because as usual, these three are calling in some huge favors from the past on this. One or the other pretty much has a lock on our Congress, no matter which Party you choose to cite.
What we will get instead is a drastic cut in the quality of health-care providers as more and more ethical providers quit the market and the new breed are unleashed on the population. This new breed I'm talking about will not care about the Hippocratic Oath. They will do what they're told.
Tis not a skirt, tis a kilt, Said with enough vehemence, To make flowers wilt.
And yes, ladies, in response to your query, Only posers wear dainties, When clad in Scottish attire. Real Scots wear nothing Under their clan colors. They were invented in The days when chamberpots Were all the rage. Easy access, as it were, And guaranteed to cause her A bit of a blush When the wind comes calling All in a rush.
Why is a kilt called a kilt, Because many men have been kilt For calling it a skirt.
The first album I ever bought with my own money was The Moody Blues - Seventh Sojourn. I believe I was 7. I had just gone to see my first concert, which was, of course the Moodies' Album Tour for Octave.
"There you go, man Keep as cool as you can. Face piles of trials with smiles It riles them to believe That you perceive the web they weave, And keep on thinking free."
I am my own accuser, Judge, jury, and executioner. There is no punishment God or Man can declare; They were here and I was there. Now, I am living in the now, Knowing the now, Being the now.
Now is all I own, There is no past, I can never go home, I am waking from a dream, The future holds no fear I must be my own cure Turning the poison of the past Into the medicine of tomorrow.
Alchemy of the soul, The absolution of the whole, The gestalt is not my fault The road is long, And so's the song And worth its weight in salt.
This is how I gain absolution. Words they are, But more a prayer Not to God, Nor to a clod, Nor to a tree But to the sea That exists inside me.
Just because a language can't be understood doesn't make it incomprehensible, just incomprehensible to you.
There is a quote from the Lotus Sutra that encompasses my feeling on this:
Yui butsu, Yo butsu (The language of Buddhas can only be understood by Buddhas)
What does this mean then?
Is all communication verbal or textual? Or can we communicate with a look, or a glance, or a gesture? To put it more accurately, is all communication "Contextual"?
So, then, what is knowledge? And how is it distinguished from wisdom?
And what is it we are communing with when we "transcend" and gain this "knowledge" that "can be derived rationally without benefit of experience."?
And is transcendental knowledge truly rational if it is gained by means that, on the surface, don't appear to be rational?
I give no stance on this issue. I'm thinking, however, that these questions might be pertinent to any understanding of "transcendental" Philosophy.
Harvest done, And frost is here The snow is falling, Falling heavy, White comfort Windy, cold, Wood in a barrow, Fire burning, Winter carol, Blizzard blowing, Blowing hard Winter wailing, Music in the eves, Yuletide carols, Mistletoe and wreathes, Proserpine is in decline, Hades is her home, Leaving snow and Sol Invictus, Seasons stirring In a wintry bowl, Yuletide carols Whispers of antiquity Birthing spring, The dove on wing Songs of hope in An icy clime, Seasons turning, Turning on a dime, Time is fleeting, Fleeing, seeking, Eternity of mind.
And what is a laser beam but coherent "electro"-magnetic radiation? and when it is modified, how is it modified, via frequency and wavelength? This is still an analogy that works, and the code that the laser "reads" is still information about wave modulation.
The analogy I used is more appropriate to a cassette tape, where the modulation is magnetic information. Nevertheless the information is holographic in nature, no matter how technical you get about the analogy used.
The only question I have is the semantic difference between 'spiritual' and 'consciousness'?
The reason I ask is that I have experienced a shift in realities (universes) related to consciousness that has expanded my definition of 'consciousness' and thus the nature of what I believe to be 'spiritual'.
I can no longer justify stating that I undergo a stream of consciousness when thinking. Consciousness, at least to me, goes far beyond thought. Rather I exist in a sea of consciousness, what Buddhists call ichinen sanzen, or 3000 worlds in a single life moment.
In quantum physics, until a thing is observed it is in a ground state of pure wave nature, what they call the bosonic dimensions; a classic example of this is the thought experiment Schroedinger's Cat. Until the cat is observed, it is neither alive nor dead, and, simultaneously, both.
Until a CD is played, the music doesn't exist. And yet, it has to be somewhere, and it is; it is in the form of pure magnetic potential on the surface of the disk. Completely latent. But it is there, in a form we can't observe.
I have been in my life both latent and manifest. I have been alive, and simultaneously dead. I have been Live and I have been Memorex. I have been. I have always been. I will always be. In one form or another, the magnetic signature that is my consciousness is eternal.
Am I God? Or Jesus? Is there a third choice? Is there a difference?
Not according to the Trinity; the Trinity holds a truth symbolically that is pretty much universal in all philosophical and religious doctrines. And that is there is nothing that is pure potential, and there is nothing that is purely material. Everything that is anything in the world we think we live in is a mixture of both; pure energy bound in a material matrix.
And this is what my experiences have led me to believe.
Which just goes to show that only certain people get to play the game, let alone win.
I remember one of the Libertarians in my region who was running for office, a number of years ago. Since the money he used to run his campaign was grass-roots, the special interests had no hold on him. Since they had no hold on him, they pushed all the money they could into his opponents coffers.
Okay, so I've been thinking about the Three Treasures lately. As this world goes through enormous consequence from the three poisons polluting the land and creating enormous suffering, I think it is important to focus on Treasures of the Heart. Nichiren says in the Gosho that these are most important, over Treasures of the Body, or Treasures of the Storehouse, that these Treasures are immaterial, but not worthless, that in the long run they are the most important things we own.
Treasures of the Heart. Hmmm...what does that mean, really? I think it means different things to different people, but to me it describes the love and understanding I gain through my positive actions and healthy, honest relationships.
This is what we carry with us that is valuable. All other karma; fear, hate, anger, greed, and sorrow, are dross, not to be undervalued to be sure, but understood as part of a wholeness. The true "treasure of the heart" is the wisdom that we gain as we chant and challenge ourselves and attempt to fulfill our desires. Whether we attain our desires or not is not important, for often what we are chanting for isn't what would really make us happy. The Gohonzon knows the difference. It teaches us by giving us the tools to attain our own wisdom and reasons for happiness. Those tools are Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo.
Many times people ask me why I believe the way I do, why I chant. I have seen it work. It is the only faith I have ever given to anything philosophical or religious that has actually had any tangible return on investment. And before you jump to conclusions, quite often I have not gained the desire or fulfilled my wish that was in my heart when I chanted. What I did gain through the process of chanting and taking action was the wisdom to know the difference between what is temporary happiness, and what is absolute happiness. Absolute happiness is Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo.
The Rissho An Konkuren is Nichiren's treatise to the Shogunite government challenging the State Religions and suggesting the practice of this form of Buddhism as the only way to end the enormous suffering Japan was experiencing at that time at the hands of the era's Military Industrial Complex. Look it up!
I think the predominant Buddhism practiced by the Samurai (the followers of the Bushido code) was Zen or Amida Buddhism. If you actually study this practice you'll realize Nichiren was against the Bushido establishment and for peace.
As was the first President of the SGI, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, who died in prison in protest against the State Shinto practice forced onto the population during WWII.
So who exactly has a shallow understanding of this practice?
If I were a mere citizen of this mudball, I'd leave off the Galactic and go with something more terrestrial. Like dungheap_bodhi, or Member_of_the_confused_masses_bodhi...
I vote other. Humanity could not have passed on the knowledge of these other things and built upon knowledge widely shared and disseminated without the printing press.
Galactic_bodhi Forum Posts (9,196)
RE: Personal attacks!
I know Michael. The "you" in my post was most definitely an "indefinite" pronoun. Not directed at you at all.Regards.
TET