Category: Buddhism

As a woman who once truly believed I was born in the wrong body and should have been male, you need to understand you can’t reason with crazy

~ ABN ~ Leave a comment

I was actually crazy.

It's not individual trans people you should be arguing with – it's the institutions pandering to their insanity.

I literally convinced myself that I had a male brain in and female body.

I hand on my heart believed my dysphoria came from too much testosterone in the womb.

You cannot reason with people that lost. Not until they wake up themselves.

I was delusional.

Originally tweeted by Watson (@ImWatson91) on April 27, 2023.

Recognizing your own delusions is the beginning of true freedom. ABN

Young Americans turn to religion in post-covid era

~ ABN ~ Leave a comment

The story of religious trends in America has been one of increasing disaffiliation among younger generations. But a new study reveals an unexpected resurgence of faith among youngsters in a post-Covid era. 

Some young adults had an awakening during Covid as the entire world crumbled around them. They were in search of a higher power to get through the government-forced lockdowns and controlled demolition of the economy, as well as watching loved ones and friends contract Covid-19 that some federal government agencies believe leaked from a Chinese lab.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, a new study commissioned by Springtide Research Institute found about one-third of 18-to-25-year-olds believe in a higher power, up from one-quarter in 2021. The findings were based on polling data from December. 

link

The essence of religion is insight. The rest is mainly vocabulary. ABN

Psychedelic-induced mystical experiences: An interdisciplinary discussion and critique

~ ABN ~ Leave a comment

Contemporary research on serotonergic psychedelic compounds has been rife with references to so-called ‘mystical’ subjective effects. Several psychometric assessments have been used to assess such effects, and clinical studies have found quantitative associations between ‘mystical experiences’ and positive mental health outcomes. The nascent study of psychedelic-induced mystical experiences, however, has only minimally intersected with relevant contemporary scholarship from disciplines within the social sciences and humanities, such as religious studies and anthropology. Viewed from the perspective of these disciplines—which feature rich historical and cultural literatures on mysticism, religion, and related topics—‘mysticism’ as used in psychedelic research is fraught with limitations and intrinsic biases that are seldom acknowledged. Most notably, existing operationalizations of mystical experiences in psychedelic science fail to historicize the concept and therefore fail to acknowledge its perennialist and specifically Christian bias. Here, we trace the historical genesis of the mystical in psychedelic research in order to illuminate such biases, and also offer suggestions toward more nuanced and culturally-sensitive operationalizations of this phenomenon. In addition, we argue for the value of, and outline, complementary ‘non-mystical’ approaches to understanding putative mystical-type phenomena that may help facilitate empirical investigation and create linkages to existing neuro-psychological constructs. It is our hope that the present paper helps build interdisciplinary bridges that motivate fruitful paths toward stronger theoretical and empirical approaches in the study of psychedelic-induced mystical experiences.

link

I have not yet read this paper but am posting it anyway because psychedelics are interesting in and of themselves and also in relation to Buddhist history and religious practice worldwide. From what I know about psychedelics, they can be very helpful to some people used the right way at the right time. I honestly do not want to encourage the use of any drugs, including many prescribed drugs and OTC ‘pain-killers’ (some are brain killers, imo), but also believe that there is abundant evidence that psychedelics have affected most religious traditions beneficially, including Buddhism. From a Buddhist point of view I wonder Are We Misunderstanding the Fifth Precept? For the record, I do not use any drugs at all except caffeine and a very occasional micro-dose of homegrown organic tobacco under the tongue for maybe 30 seconds. ABN

Dalai Lama, 87, was only showing his ‘innocent grandfatherly affectionate demeanor’ in video where he asked a young boy to ‘suck my tongue’, insists head of Tibet’s exiled government

~ ABN ~ Leave a comment

source

The video is self-explanatory. I don’t see anything bad about it, just looks weird after crossing cultural lines. Displaying the tongue is a Tibetan greeting. My understanding is there was a mistranslation—the boy wanted to hug the Dalai Lama but the DL was told he wanted a kiss. The other point to remember is China’s CCP constantly attacks the DL and has been doing so for decades. They do it because they know that historically revolutions in China often centered around a revered religious figure. Falun Gong is repressed for this same reason and no other. There is an OK article on the incident at the source link above. ABN

UPDATE: Here is a better interpretation of this event sent by a reader:

As for the Dalai Lama kerfuffle, according to my Tibetan, there was zero issue with the translation and DL was definitely not told that the boy wanted a kiss. (As an interpreter, I sometimes got blamed for relational/karmic stuff that really wasn’t my error, so I’m sensitive to this issue.)

For some reason, the DL was not understanding the common Tibetan term ‘tham (hug) being spoken by the interpreter to his left but he finally understood the English term “hug” (spoken with gesture) by the man on his right.

A Russian ex-monk/interpreter in the Tibetan tradition said that Tibetan grandparents have this thing they say to tease young kids: nga’i.lce.las.’jib. It translates as, “Suck my tongue.” or “Suckle from my tongue.” The idea is just to gross the kids out and get them to recoil in disgust.

I never witnessed this in my years in the Tibetan scene because I never spent time with lay families and this sort of thing never came up in the monastic setting I was in. But it sounds entirely plausible, as Tibetans tease everyone hard from an early age. Anyway, this was definitely not the wordless tongue-as-greeting Tibetan thing. In my experience, that is usually something fleeting and the tongue isn’t stuck very far out.

That said, I still find it odd that the DL, as someone who has been on the world stage for decades, decided to go with a direct translation of this. Like, was there seriously not any inner voice saying, “Um, maybe this one won’t translate well. Maybe don’t go there . . . “?

I’m definitely no Tibetan Buddhist or DL apologist. The dysfunction in that system is extreme. But IMO, the last thing people need right now is to lose whatever modicum of faith they have.

Zoomers and computers both need ethical communication or both are doomed

~ ABN ~ Leave a comment

I just read a descriptive analysis of zoomers that seems pretty good to me. Assuming there is some truth in it, zoomers can be defined as entirely non-FIML. From a FIML point of view this constitutes unknowing abandonment of our most wonderful talents due mainly to not knowing they are possible.

Sadly, this largely defines all generations that have ever lived. Zoomers are novelties only in that they see no way out of earthly illusions including even caring about finding a way out. In some ways, it has ever been thus, Samuel Beckett on a warm beach, where the sun still shines on the nothing new.

The better way to go is bring the full power of your human voice and ears to every moment. Let nothing pass you by. Then you can do still nothing while also accomplishing something. The illusions are solipsisms and tautologies but that’s all. No reason to be cucked by them.

The core problem with GPT is it can’t be trusted. GPT is an even purer form of non-FIML than zoomers. GPT is potentially pure KOBK. Both of these fundamental problems illustrate that the most important human endeavor is morality, ethics. Systems in computers or in human brains don’t work optimally without ethics. In this discussion, that becomes abundantly clear. ABN

5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Transitioning

~ ABN ~ Leave a comment

From a Buddhist point of view, you do not need an identity. You can walk around all day long without ever invoking any identity. An identity is a habit, a learned reference, a psycholinguistic category, one way of understanding your own name or words addressed to you, a psychological ball and chain. You do not need any of that. Your brain, life, and mind will work perfectly well with no identity at all. In fact, one of the goals of Buddhist practice is to be free of identity. Try it—walk around with no identity. You won’t fall down and will be able to get wherever you were going just fine. ABN

Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: a discussion

~ ABN ~ Leave a comment

Linked below is a thoughtful discussion of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD).

Personally, I think we all have CPTSD for how can the basic needs of a child (acceptance and security) ever be fully met?

A core aspect of Buddhist mindfulness training is noticing disturbing psychological responses the moment they arise. The ways these responses are dealt with and cured is a major focus of Buddhist practice.

The discussion linked below explores mindfulness in CPTSD therapy. It also describes the therapeutic concept “co-regulation,” which entails two people mindfully regulating or curing unwanted stressors together. (FIML does that extremely well, btw.)

Here’s the discussion. It’s a good read.

-Behaviors serve a purpose and are maladaptive attempts to meet an unmet need and trauma survivors generally have maladaptive behaviors which came from shame and recreate shame. If you struggle with an eating disorder, substances, or other compulsive or destructive behaviors, honor the need you were trying to get met, the feeling you were trying to feel/not feel, and work on addressing that in a substantial way instead of focusing on controlling symptoms or shaming yourself for “bad” behavior

-our childhood relationship solutions are our adult relationship problems. Complex trauma is attachment trauma, so we are all impacted primarily in our ways of relating to ourselves and others. Be gentle with yourself for the childhood solutions (fawning, complying, running, clinging, manipulating, avoiding, etc) that are now causing adult relationship problems. Don’t label yourself as co dependent or rush yourself to not feel what you feel – you’ve been programmed this way and it takes conscious unlearning and practice to create new patterns

-there is nothing wrong with craving deep, meaningful, secure relationships. We are meant to be connected and healing takes place not just in our relationship with ourselves but our relationship with others. Often children with complex trauma will develop one of two attitudes to cope. A) if I’m good enough I’ll be lovable or B) fine I don’t need these people anyways. If you need love and the needs are unmet those needs become so painful we sometimes shut them down, which creates inner tension because the deep need for attachment and love never truly goes away, it’s just repressed. Unfortunately, some “recovery from co-dependency” can mimic this message of needing to be independent, self sufficient, and shut down the need for co-regulation and attachment.

-co dependency isn’t about your relationship with anyone else,‘ it’s about a lack of a relationship with yourself

-identifying and healing my nervous system and attachment patterns and rebuilding self trust are the two most important parts of my healing (The main things I’ve learned as a CPTSD survivor and trauma therapist so far)

first posted FEBRUARY 18, 2020

The original post linked above has been deleted. The excerpt above is either all of it or the gist of it. I posted it because it is a very natural voice of someone with real life experience. I also like it because it is a clear description of what underlies poor interpersonal communication. FIML not only fixes problems like these but also raises interpersonal communication to its full potential. ABN

Reframing Race

~ ABN ~ Leave a comment

This reframe is very close to how Buddhist karma should be understood. Karma is mainly a forward-looking understanding of the mind-stream. The only thing I would add to Scott’s talk’ is the networking should be sincere. Phucktons of phony networking is one reason our politics and major institutions have become bloated, rotten, ineffectual, virtue-signaling, civilizational dead-ends (which are so lost in the dark they’ve allowed CRT to flourish). ABN

If you are a conservative Christian who feels there is a “woke” movement attempting to subvert your civilization out of your hands

~ ABN ~ Leave a comment

You feel exactly like a Roman Pagan did 1700 years ago

Christianity was the woke movement of Rome

And this is it’s bizarre story

Christianity was an urban bureaucrat movement

It seized control of the late empires bloated institutions and used them to impose their ideology

This is just like the Woke activists in your government

And just like you – the wholesome rural Roman people did NOT want this

[This is a good thread but the images do not unroll well. I added one editorial comment in the text near the end. This tale is stated simply but the analogy is highly appropriate. ABN]

Continue reading “If you are a conservative Christian who feels there is a “woke” movement attempting to subvert your civilization out of your hands” →

Jews and pagans in the ancient world — the roots of Christianity

~ ABN ~ Leave a comment

Paula Fredriksen: “Judaizing the Gentiles: The Ritual Demands of Paul’s Gospel”

UPDATE: I had originally posted this talk in five short excerpts. When I had time, I found the full lecture which is the video above. It’s a very good talk for anyone interested in history, history of religion, Judaism, or Christianity. Provides an excellent context for understanding how Christianity was born out of Judaism. ABN

A beautiful contemplation

~ ABN ~ Leave a comment

Some twenty percent of the world stood up against covid malfeasance—the lies, the harmful non-treatments, mandates, and bans. Despite censorship and name-calling, this twenty percent of the world found each other. We found cures, effective medications and how to get them. As our families and friends rejected us, we found each other and shared humor and wisdom. It’s worth spending some real time just contemplating how wonderful and beautiful this side of covid has been and still is. This is the energy that will lead us away from evil and toward the good. With no one to help us but ourselves, with no indispensable leaders, about twenty percent of the world chose freedom, reason, compassion and wisdom. ABN

New AI filter rolled out on tiktok. 😳

~ ABN ~ Leave a comment

I see this AI filter as an illusion similar to Buddhist illusions of the small self or ego; the deluded self which clings to imported illusions akin to AI filters or self-generated illusory filters such as narcissism or almost any personality construct since all of them are false constructs—communicative illusions and expectations—that cover over and obscure authentic thusness of real being. The day may come when AI will help us see through all this. Our real fear of AI transhumanism is that it will be the false-humanism we have always known but made stronger and even harder to escape from. Buddhism is all about escaping the delusions of the false self, escaping the cage the false self constructs around itself and projects at others. A good AI program might be one whose highest level of thought is the Buddhadharma complete with its morality/ethics and realization that all identities, selves, and filters are false constructs. ABN

Continue reading “New AI filter rolled out on tiktok. 😳” →