Mike L.
We Need More Apologies!
I say we need more apologies. There is nothing like good old-fashioned self-abasement to feed the soul. And, of course, there is nothing in this world that people respect more than an apology for daring to defend yourself. I just hope that when Obama left Netanyahu's office that Netanyahu thanked him in the only manner appropriate... on his hands and knees.
The Day of the Dhimmi is Done - Michael Lumish, PhD, proprietor. (mike.lumish@gmail.com)
And I like a lot the song that you have on the sidebar right now: "Think for yourself", by The Beatles. I like the music a lot, and I appreciate the lyrics.
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way, the lyrics to another Beatles song whose music I like a lot and whose lyrics I appreciate:
Revolution
You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
All right, all right
You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We'd all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well, you know
We're doing what we can
But when you want money
For people with minds that hate
All I can tell is brother you have to wait
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
All right, all right
You say you'll change the constitution
Well, you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well, you know
You better free you mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
All right, all right
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"The liberal project began to fail when it began to lie."
-- Daniel Patrick Moynihan, U.S. Senator, U.S. Ambassador, Democrat, sociologist
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Daniel Patrick Moynihan - Zionism is not Racism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_8VqP7QKPA
Daniel Patrick Moynihan speaking in opposition to U.N. Resolution 3379 ("Zionism is Racism") in 1975.
By the way, the United Nations, at that time, in 1975, was headed by an Austrian former Nazi -- Kurt Waldheim.
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"The non-doing of any evil,
the performance of what's skillful,
the cleansing of one's own mind:
this is the teaching
of the Awakened."
-- The Buddha
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I think that it may have been not wholesome that I, in this comment, referred to pieces of music, and that I referred to my liking those pieces of music, and that I referred to a teaching of the Buddha in this comment that I referred to pieces of music and in which I referred to my liking those pieces of music. The reason that I think that it may have been not wholesome for me to do that is because I understand that feeling craving for experiencing sense-pleasure such as sense-pleasure that one may experience by listening to music is not beneficial, and rather, leads to suffering, and because I realize that promoting what may lead to the experiencing of sense-pleasure without mindfulness -- and which may thereby lead to craving for experiencing sense-pleasure -- is unwholesome. I apologize if what I have done is unwholesome. I am just a flawed ordinary human being.
But I strive to not do any evil and to perform what's skillful -- what's beneficial -- and to cleanse my own mind. It's difficult for me to not do any evil and to perform what's skillful and to cleanse my own mind, but I strive to not do any evil and to perform what's skillful and to cleanse my own mind.
In fairness Netanyahu only apologised for "operational errors" and you have to admit there were some.
ReplyDeleteLanding on the deck armed with toy paint guns for a start. I no expert on these things but I would have thought something like this was more appropriate.
https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=z1W8JQclCjt_bM&tbnid=hWAke5YBeDFOKM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.special-ops.org%2Fshayetet-13-elite-israeli-naval-commandos%2F&ei=jTNWUefFCcafkQWymYHoCg&bvm=bv.44442042,d.aGc&psig=AFQjCNGJ4Hbl95ptWS7wM80ia9Dp6H2MVA&ust=1364690033358077
I bet they don't make that mistake again.
Here's a better link
ReplyDeletehttp://www.special-ops.org/shayetet-13-elite-israeli-naval-commandos/
Dan, please believe me when I tell you that your participation here has never, ever, at any point, constituted anything that could possibly be characterized as "evil."
ReplyDeleteNot even close. Not even in the same ballpark.
Not even the same friggin' sport.
You do not speak evil, ever. You may be mistaken here and there, time and again, but you are far more insightful than you are mistaken... in my opinion, at least.
What you've got is pretty much what all of us have (although I would agree that you probably have it to some unknowable greater degree) and that is what they call in the Buddhist tradition The Monkey Mind.
If I understand the basics of Therevada Buddhism correctly (and I think that I do) the central notion is the necessity of release from attachment and that includes the yammering in the mind.
I am not a Buddhist, because I love my yammerings. I live for my yammerings. Half the time I do not even want to go to bed because I cannot write down my yammerings in my sleep. But I get the basic concept.
By the way, have you ever seen a movie call The Man from Earth?
I think that you might like it.
Hi, Mike.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind sympathetic words.
But I do think that what I wrote in my previous comment which, in my previous comment, I expressed that I thought might be unwholesome may be unwholesome. And I feel dread that what I wrote in my previous comment which, in my previous comment, I expressed that I thought might be unwholesome may be unwholesome. And I apologize for writing that writing which I think may be unwholesome.
And, much of the dread that I feel about actions that I do which I think may be unwholesome has to with the OCD that I have. I suffer from severe OCD which causes me to feel that I am causing harm to people by my volitional actions. The OCD that I have makes me feel that with almost every volitional that I do I am causing metaphysical harm to whoever pops up in my mind at the time when I am doing that volitional action. The OCD that I have also makes me feel worried that, or makes me feel more worried that, or makes me prone to feeling more worried that, I have caused (actual) harm to people by my having done actions which I feel were wrong actions -- particularly wrong speech or wrong writing.
The term "monkey mind" that you referred to is, I think, used by, and, I think was invented by, Mahayana Buddhists (Zen Buddhists) or Tibetan Buddhists (Vajrayana Buddhists). I think that that term, "monkey mind", refers to the "jumping-around" nature of the mind. And, yes, it is my understanding that that is the nature of the mind. It is my understanding that the Buddha taught that that is the nature of the mind.
"Quivering, wavering,
hard to guard,
to hold in check:
the mind.
The sage makes it straight —
like a fletcher,
the shaft of an arrow.
"Like a fish
pulled from its home in the water
& thrown on land:
this mind flips & flaps about
to escape Mara's sway.
"Hard to hold down,
nimble,
alighting wherever it likes:
the mind.
Its taming is good.
The mind well-tamed brings ease.
"So hard to see,
so very, very subtle,
alighting wherever it likes:
the mind.
The wise should guard it.
The mind protected brings ease."
-- The Buddha, Dhammapada, Chapter 3 - Cittavagga: The Mind, verses 33-36
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And, Mike, I haven't seen the movie "The Man from Earth". But after I read your comment I looked it up and read a little bit about it, and I think that it's a movie that I might like. That is: I think that it's a movie that I might experience pleasure watching -- seeing it and hearing it and thinking thoughts about it. However I think that I might also, or instead, experience pain -- distress, stress -- by watching it, because, from what I read about it, it presents a fictional wrong view of historical events and because, as part of that, it presents a fictional wrong view about the teachings of the Buddha. But, I realize that my watching that movie -- my seeing it and my hearing it and my thinking thoughts about it -- would just be seeing, and hearing, and thinking thoughts, and would be something that would not be beneficial to cling to. :)
And, by the way, as I've expressed before, the existential view that I hold, and the moral and existential path of practice that I strive to follow, is Theravada Buddhism.
ReplyDeleteTheravada Buddhism is the school of Buddhism that adheres to the oldest surviving written recordings of the teachings of the Buddha.
Access to Insight - Readings in Theravada Buddhism
http://www.accesstoinsight.org
You're not alone, Daniel.
ReplyDeleteI've noted my own OCD (along with a very, very, very mild form of tourette's) before - in the case of the former, it generally manifests as an annoying and sometimes time-consuming ritual I have to perform before leaving the house, along with tapping my pockets a lot while out in public; in the case of the latter, I sometimes involuntarily feel the urge to imitate certain movements of others, and tend to make a few quick clicking noises with my tongue while performing certain specific work tasks (there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it, but once any given thing becomes associated with tongue-clicking in my mind, then that's all she wrote).
I suppose I'm fortunate in that I realize what I'm doing, and that I'm able to make my quirks and tics as subtle as possible, but still... I wish I didn't have to do them in the first place! ;)
Thank you for your kind support, Jay.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Dan
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteAnd, by the way, what I meant by my saying that I'm just a flawed ordinary human being is that I'm just an ordinary human being and that therein I'm flawed. That is: what I meant is that I'm an ordinary human being and that therein there are defilements in my mind -- defilements that are in the minds of ordinary human beings. The defilements greed, anger, and delusion. And as part of there being in my mind the defilements greed, anger, and delusion, I have severe OCD. And what I meant in my meaning to express that there are defilements in my mind is that therefore I make mistakes. That is: What I meant is that therefore I do wrong actions.
But, also, as I expressed, I strive to not do wrong actions. I strive to not do any evil and to perform what's skillful and to cleanse my own mind. It's difficult for me to not do any evil and to perform what's skillful and to cleanse my own mind, but I strive to not do any evil and to perform what's skillful and to cleanse my own mind.
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And,
In my previous comment, I wrote:
"...thinking thoughts..."
I think that that phrase which I wrote in my previous comment may be an incorrect phrase to use in the instances where, in my previous comment, I used that phrase.
I, right now, don't know what is the correct phrase to use in the instances where, in my previous comment, I used the phrase "thinking thoughts". However, I think that the correct phrase to use in those instances has to do with the term mental fabrications.
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ReplyDelete