Do your best. Speak the truth.
FIML practice is like JWST compared to normal interpersonal speech, which is like Hale at best. Like the telescope, FIML is a technical advance that allows for much greater clarity and resolution. In Buddhist terms, FIML is partner-based mindfulness that provides an objective control on understanding in addition to much better clarity. ABN
Link to article: Attorney ‘Thrilled’ After Federal Judge Blocks COVID Vaccine Mandate for Air Force, Air National Guard
Never, never, never give up your right to religious freedom—the freedom to act in accord with your conscience. Spiritually, this is arguably our most fundamental right because it is only by nurturing and following our consciences that we grow in wisdom and goodness. ABN
Animism (from Latin: anima, ‘breath, spirit, life‘)[1][2] is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence.[3][4][5][6] Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and perhaps even words—as animated and alive. Animism is used in the anthropology of religion, as a term for the belief system of many Indigenous peoples,[7] especially in contrast to the relatively more recent development of organised religions.[8] Animism focuses on the metaphysical universe, with specific focus on the concept of the immaterial soul.[9]
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This is the heartbreaking reality of what the woke activists have done to our community with their push to sexualize & indoctrinate children. So many of us feel this way. Had we known this is what our fight for equality would have led to, we wouldn’t have fought for it at all 💔
Incredible and raw video from our newest contributor, Carol. You can find her on TikTok and Instagram.
Originally tweeted by Gays Against Groomers (@againstgroomers) on July 17, 2022.
The Buddha made rules for monks and nuns ad hoc, to address something that had happened or was happening. In the video above Carol says: “If I had known… I never would have.” I think that is a very good basic formula for how to draw the line on behaviors that have gone too far. Carol states it very eloquently, in a fine example of controlled brevity. “If we had known better… we would never have agreed to that.” This is a good way to assess public policies that have not worked for us and figure out how to improve them. ABN
Incidentally, shame in Buddhism is considered essential for the cultivation of wisdom for without shame we do not recognize our own mistakes and learn from them. It is not right to dwell on shame, but feel it and contemplate it long enough to fully mend your ways. Rather than pretend there is no hypocrisy in her words, Ardern would do better for herself and others to simply admit her mistakes, take her lumps and move on. ABN
First the easy ones:
Most people can more or less agree on the above, even stated as bluntly as that. These and other simple issues are purposely made complex or stated as ideals to confuse people so advocates/activists can rake in the money.
The hard problems:
These two hard problems are difficult because they involve highest level beliefs/values. My proposal for these is put them together. The result will be a Western “religion” or “culture” that accepts individual rights in a law based social system that respects all religions that can accept this synthesis.
2016: Chloe said that she became exposed to transgender activism at age 11 on Instagram and Tumblr which influenced her thinking on her own gender.
2018: At age 14, Chloe began taking puberty blockers and testosterone injections, that were administered by her mother. That same year she begins going by the name Leo.
June 2020: Chloe goes under the knife for the first time at 15 when she has a double mastectomy
Almost immediately, she regrets the surgery as she was confined to her bed for that summer as she healed from her surgery
May 2021: Following a biology class during which she came to the realization that she would never be able to feed her baby, Chloe said that she stopped taking testosterone injection
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Pretty much any hard-held identity is delusional in Buddhism. I do not see any way a Buddhist can honestly support surgical or hormonal transgender treatments on children, who obviously are too young to make these decisions for themselves. Not sure I see any reason to support treatments like these for adults either. Clinging to any mundane identity is the core delusion of the Second Noble Truth, the truth of the cause of suffering. Sexual orientation alone is not important enough to base an identity on. Surgically or chemically changing your body just to conform to some notion of what your “real” gender identity is is clearly excessive, not the Middle Way. As Buddhists, we do not reject people who do this just as we do not reject out of hand anyone who makes even very serious mistakes. But not rejecting is not the same a condoning or encouraging behavior that furthers delusion and suffering and does not lead toward greater wisdom. ABN
You thought the treatment of folks going bare-faced in 2020 was intense? Wait until you see how unvaccinated people still wearing a mask – in good faith and according to CDC guidelines – are ostracized as dangerous pariahs in 2021.
[For Buddhists, this and virtually all things covid illustrate the First and Second Noble Truths with exquisite clarity. ABN]
Continue reading “How the unvaccinated were treated in 2021”
MI5 director Ken McCallum and FBI chief Christopher Wray in historic address
Heads of security agencies used joint speech to warn of China’s long-term risk
Ruling CCP pose a ‘game changing challenge’ to the established world order
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Notable because it’s a joint statement. Also notable is it’s from two agencies I do not trust about a third I do not trust either. I do not believe any of us below the very top know what is really going on. Recall that covid is almost certainly either a US bioweapon, a Chinese bioweapon or one concocted by both and release deliberately or not. That is one wobbling foundation upon which to divine the planetary drama playing out today. Covid allowed China to hide its defeat in its trade war with Trump. It also provided cover for our domestic cabal to steal the presidential election. Every factor you can think of cuts two, three, four ways minimum. That said, Chinese spying is ferocious and very widespread. What’s weird about that is they are spying on Western institutions that have already been infiltrated and taken over by someone else. Who wants world domination most? Even if you don’t want it, who wants to be dominated? No question, we have before us one of the greatest illustrations of the First Noble Truth ever manifested in the human realm. ABN
This is a good video for Buddhists to watch. See this for an explanation of amplituhedron. ABN
@stkirsch
@BretWeinstein
@EricRWeinstein
@RWMaloneMD
According to ancient Jewish law if a panel of the Sanhedrin (23 Jewish judges) unanimously find a defendant guilty of murder then they must acquit.
The underlying assumption behind the "Sanhedrin rule" is that, in this situation, the Sanhedrin’s judgement may be systematically biased, and hence the judgements may be dependant, one on another, rather than each judgement produced independently.
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/live-mtg-2021-08-30.html
Hence a 14-0 judgement should, logically, using Bayesian analysis, increase your belief that the CDC ACIP decision was systematically biased.
Too good to be true: when overwhelming evidence fails to convince | Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences (http://royalsocietypublishing.org)
Originally tweeted by Prof Martin Neil (@MartinNeil9) on September 4, 2021.
Teenagers resisting tyranny.
Originally tweeted by Boxer Rebellion 777 (@BRebellion777) on June 9, 2022.
American Buddhist Net 