Majrelende

Majrelende OP wrote (edited )

Reply to comment by kore in Dhyana by Majrelende

Thank you for the quote! That is a very fortuitous quote to hear, and I will have to check out the Record of Linji.

I did know this was mediation and not meditation, but part of it was out of facetiousness and the second part was because if someone can't do the latter, they probably can't do the former either.

Something else about the quote though. I have found for myself about buddhas having nothing to do (not that I'm a buddha, but I think I have been getting little glimpses of buddha-nature) and realise that both "do something" and "do nothing" are potential paths to misery, because it is possible to cling to them.

Without knowing anything of buddha-nature, a person can stare at a wall saying to themself, "Nothing to say, nothing to think, nothing to do", and then smash their head into it in frustration because they don't understand the freedom of their own nature. But having glimpsed it, they can say, not as a command but as a simple statement of freedom:

I have nothing to say, thus I will say nothing;
I have nothing to think; thus I will think nothing;
I have nothing to do, thus I will do nothing,

and be able to rest peacefully in that nothingness, not beating themselves up with thoughts about how they are being useless, or how awful they look today, or how they haven't been able to get to third jhana yet, and so on. It is like how Huizi lambasted the gnarly tree for being useless to the carpenter, but Zhuangzi said it was a wonderful place to lie down and rest in the shade.

But, when someone comes and asks for their help, they don't snap, "I'm trying to stare at the wall!" They don't cling to not-doing; they just realise that this time, there actually is something to do, and they aren't too bitter about it.

I haven't read much of the Mahayana sutras so my terminology might be a bit off too; this is just my experience so far.

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Majrelende wrote

I am no expert, but probably, two characteristics are helpful:

  1. Generosity, as you seem to have enough time for Raddle posting anyway. This tends to form connections between people. Not philanthropy type generosity, but usually when people feel a sense of mutual gratitude they are on good terms, and connection becomes easier. And you feel happier that way too.

  2. Modesty. Don't do things to try to make people like you, just assume they like you unless proven otherwise.

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Majrelende wrote (edited )

I'm down to form a militia of confused people, and we can march through town being confused, or camp secretively in the hills guerilla style and also be confused.

Who is Ludd, anyway? I don't know. What is a luddite? I'm guessing a kind of rock named after some geologist. And militia? It's like a murder of crows, yes? A morbid name for a dinner party. Now I'll go and gather cattail roots and stop being verbally confused. (But the trace of confusion remains. Once a person is confused, they can only with great difficulty be un-confused.)

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Majrelende wrote

Reply to Friday free talk by kano

Getting into Buddhism is so... liberating, and... awakening. That is in the name, though...

But aside from that, I have been thinking back to Zhuangzi, and realising that the messages are eerily similar, or just similar. On one page is a description of meditative dhyana; now I read back to the stories of the giant gourd and the gnarly tree, and realise that Zhuang Zhou isn't just mocking Huizi's lack of creativity, but liberating us from obligations to be of use, and giving a metaphor of how these self-imposed obligations hurt us--smashing us or cutting us down. Buddha would call it craving becoming, I think: a desire to be something else, somewhere else, having this or that, and describe how craving leads to clinging, and clinging to suffering. (I think that's how it went?)

Now you have this big tree, and you’re distressed because it’s useless. Why don’t you plant it in Not-Even-Anything Village or the field of Broad- and-Boundless, relax and do nothing by its side, or lie down for a free and easy sleep under it? Axes will never shorten its life, nothing can ever harm it. If there’s no use for it, how can it come to grief or pain?

So I began explaining and kept at him for three days, and after that he was able to put the world outside himself. When he had put the world outside himself, I kept at him for seven days more, and after that he was able to put things outside himself. When he had put things outside himself, I kept at him for nine days more, and after that he was able to put life outside himself. After he had put life outside himself, he was able to achieve the brightness of dawn, and when he had achieved the brightness of dawn, he could see his own aloneness. After he had managed to see his own aloneness, he could do away with past and present, and after he had done away with past and present, he was able to enter where there is no life and no death. That which kills life does not die; that which gives life to life does not live. This is the kind of thing it is: there’s nothing it doesn’t send off, nothing it doesn’t welcome, nothing it doesn’t destroy, nothing it doesn’t complete. Its name is Peace-in-Strife. After the strife, it attains completion.

First, a description of deep meditation; second, a description of the Deathless (nibbana/nirvana); third, what might possibly describe "right effort" leading to the ending of effort, to peace.

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Majrelende wrote

ziq's answer is excellent, but it is true that many societies have chosen subsistence farming over solely foraging. It provides some extra security via diversity.

But only sometimes is this really the case. Especially in modern times, it becomes degrading when too much subsistence farming replaces the wild ecology, and supplants the foraged diet, instead of the two coexisting peacefully. This is for reasons as mentioned, such as land enclosure, ecological degradation, and taxation/regulation--all of which are interconnectedly enforced by the state.

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Majrelende OP wrote (edited )

Kind of strange to think about, but I wonder about the implications of cross-species faecal transplant. Could we reintroduce microbe species long lost to domestication? Digest raw food more easily? Or would rabbit microbiology be like a wrench thrown in the system?

Edit: Effects on poisonous substances?

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Majrelende wrote (edited )

Yes, and thus I think there is no such thing good people with guns and bad people with guns. Such a thing could hypothetically happen in a situation with anarchy. Just about anything could. But whether it is desirable? Definitely not.

I say there are no good and bad people with guns, to mean I have come to believe that almost all violent acts will come to injure freedom, directly (i.e. oppressive violence) or indirectly (rebellion sparking counter-rebellion), leading me to something closer to pacifism. Not a dogmatic moral pacifism, though; I will explain.

I am not wise enough to say for certain, but this is what I perceive, and what I gather. Each member of modern society has needs; what they take to meet those needs are provided by those who they oppress, and the product of their own labour is snatched by those above them. Each one is locked into this system; stop oppressing, and you will be punished; try to not be oppressed, and you will be put down; but obey and oppress, and you will have a miserable existence, but at least you will be accepted by society--the last desire fulfilled, acceptance. This is similar to, but more realistic than the Marxist model, I think, and far more useful for the modern day, when most people are in the position of both being oppressor and oppressed.

A lot of the following is based on my recent readings of Buddhism, but it fits in well enough with my previous thoughts, just now I have more language to explain them. They are not really my knowledge yet, but hopefully I will gain some wisdom for living over time.

Oppression or rebellion is thus a false dichotomy; better is individual renunciation, and "slipping away". We are governed by these needs, many of which are fabricated (e.g. smartphones!!!) but letting go--of course it makes us free! Renouncing authority is so difficult, though. People are like Frodo, unable to throw the ring into the fire; only through the kind of reflection that is scarcely found among people, is it possible.

Thus a "good" person smashes the gun, using it for neither rebellion nor continued oppression, knowing that each path bends into the same destination. They turn around and go back, realising that--to use another annoying Lord of the Rings reference--these are Old Forest paths, twisting everywhere into danger and adversity. Or does "back" twist into right the same place? Do we sit down and do nothing? I don't know; these are all beyond the limits of my knowledge.

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Majrelende OP wrote

Reply to comment by Fool in Dhyana by Majrelende

I think the Buddha also compared it to someone walking quickly--slowing, stopping, sitting, and then lying down.

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Majrelende wrote (edited )

Firearm enthusiast

An anarchist society, by definition, has no laws. Mass shootings would be averted by the potential for a swift and disproportionate response to hostile action. One draws their weapon to commit mass murder, and is abruptly relegated to a pile of pulverized meat.

Can we say this is as cringey? I mean, it is closer to the point, but it sounds too much like a pessimistic film premise.

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Majrelende wrote

the anarchist equivalent of gun laws

I do believe mass shootings can be heavily reduced through making mental health treatment far more accessible, as it would be in an anarchist system, and through improving the education system to combat religious radicalization.

Sorry, but I do think laziness is real, and a very real concern. In more than sense of the statement.

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Majrelende wrote (edited )

I think they would certainly be nice, but it's the same as diabetes. Don't forget that under civilisation, transgender people have been generally oppressed, and it appears that with the rise of right-wing ideologies worldwide, the present window of inclusivity's days seem to be numbered. (as with past windows of inclusivity conveniently forgotten to appease the narrative of progress)

It's the same as diabetes, I think. I am basically on my own, for one, and if half the trans people in the world live in unwelcoming countries, then much more than half are being denied socially santioned transition. Modern remedies might be good for those who can get them, but they are typically limited to certain privileged people in conducive social environments, and I don't see that likely to change positively in the future; rather, the opposite.

It's better to have a small, non-transphobic society that does its best for transitioning than waiting for a perfect revolution (that somehow doesn't go rotten) to create a civilised utopia wherein it is supposed that all humanseveryone generally gets what they want. at the expense of the rest of life.

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Majrelende OP wrote

Generally, I was just looking through /f/bestof again. Whether various things happened recently or not, it really is sometimes hard to tell whether someone is just strange or a subtle troll. The message is among other things to avoid spreading personal information, be wary of mysterious links (especially if not using Tor or VPN), and so on.

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