Are you asking what is the real reason one is on the journey to free oneself from suffering? What motivation urges one to seek the truth? Or what is the truth of the seeker? One could be looking for end to suffering after encountering the four noble truths? One could be looking for power after hearing the acts done by some Buddhist masters? Personally I do not believe it matters because the person seeking can not ever find the truth of ones nature. That is because the person seeking thinks of themselves as a self that exist and is real. Only when one controls the attention of the mind and drops the essence of this self, the truth of ones nature will be seen.
The truth as always been there like the woman who thought she lost her head. People kept telling her that she has never lost her head. It is there on her shoulders. She could not believe nor understand. Then one day a person hit her over the head with a stick. The pain showed her where her head had always been. Sorry, Run away thoughts.
@Jeroen said:
@Shoshin1 said:
From a humanitarian viewpoint, we all must acknowledge the past if we want a better future for all.I’m not convinced that that is true, I think holding on to the past is one thing that is standing in the way of a lasting settlement and peace. If both sides were to wake up one day as amnesiacs, having completely forgotten religion and their history, they would probably find themselves living in peace.
As it stands now @Jeroen acknowledging the past ('mistakes' learn from them in order not to repeat them) if we want a better future...
I don't think religion is the problem, because history has shown that both Arab and Jew lived in relative peace together in the Middle East for hundreds of years ....however, if there was a magic pill which made people forget about religion and all the unwholesome baggage that comes with it...I would put the pills into the world's drinking water supplies....
@Shoshin1 said:
From a humanitarian viewpoint, we all must acknowledge the past if we want a better future for all.
I’m not convinced that that is true, I think holding on to the past is one thing that is standing in the way of a lasting settlement and peace. If both sides were to wake up one day as amnesiacs, having completely forgotten religion and their history, they would probably find themselves living in peace.
@Shoshin1 said:
"Israel is a small country and the degree of separation between either a person that was killed or a person that was kidnapped in Israel, the maximum degree of separation is probably one degree. So, everyone knew someone or knew someone that knew someone, and there was this kind of immense pain. Alongside that pain, there was also a major fear because everything seemed to have collapsed. The major IDF intelligence apparatus was not working, the defense system was not working, the fence was breached without any problems, and the whole apparatus of the state seemed not to be functioning. So, most Israelis were in great pain, were in great fear, but also immediately came this notion of revenge, kind of a sense we have to hit back, we have to hit back hard, and so forth.
My fear is that most Israelis are still trapped, still stuck in that October moment and unwilling to lift their eyes to see basically the genocide unfolding in the Gaza Strip. That's what we've been seeing in the past 6 months, is this horrific, devastating, massive killings of civilians. I mean Hamas killed 30 Israeli children on October 7th, and that is horrific. Israel has killed close to 15000 children, not counting those that are under the rubble since October 7th. We need to understand that figure 15000 children have been killed. We have women, thousands of women have been killed, and thousands of innocent men have been killed. Israel categorizes all the men as terrorists, but thousands of these men were not fighters. They were just men that were in the homes with their wives, with their children, and their homes were bombed."
Neve GordonIt's worth noting that this conflict isn't about Jews defending Western democracy versus Muslim terrorists, as Netanyahu often portrays it. I think it's more about the state of Israel, whose majority population happens to be Jewish, and the Palestinian people, predominantly Muslim. There are many Jewish people around the world who also oppose what the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinian people. they have adopted the slogan "Not In Our Name"...
I was pretty with you on the current state of the conflict up to this point.
This conflict is about a settler colonial apartheid state "Israel" versus the indigenous population who oppose the occupation and the theft of their lands
This just sounds like, 'this conflict is about the good guys vs the bad guys' to my ears. A too simplistic narrative, there's blame and victimhood all around even if right now Israeli action is the core problem.
I've said previously in this thread that I do think what the problem boils down to, is the foundation of Israel as a Jewish state legitimate, can and/or should it be undone and what means are justified in doing that?
My reading of your position here is that the state of Israel is illegal, or unjust, and should be abolished. Hamas are actually freedom fighters, despite their despicable acts, their cause is just. I think this is a fairly provocative reading, so feel free to correct me.
Also, I've heard the term settler colonialism, but I'm not sure of the distinction between that and a level of immigration to the point that the character of the region is changed. Anti immigration rhetoric isn't unusual in the US and this kind has some of that vibe. Even if it is, Sephardic Jews, not Ashkenazi make up a slight majority of the population
This situation is no different from what has occurred throughout the history of colonialism....
The history is way beyond me, but this also sounds like spin, a listing of the most justified and effective resistance fights in history with no mention of bad movements and then saying this situation is identical. Is there really NO difference?
I hesitate to post this. I don't want to provoke or delegitimize an important message. The majority of what you've posted comes across to me as an authentic and reasonable perspective, the last bit of this post struck a nerve of disagreement though.
I am creating my own server. Hard!
It's a great learning exercise. When it's time to run a site for others, I recommend a cost-effective managed hosting provider like Digital Ocean (which is what we use). Troubleshooting your own bespoke operating system & webserver configuration can quickly get out of control for a single person. Early on, we had a great many stability issues from that process and it distracts you from the work that matters. I daresay we wouldn't still have a functioning site if it was my own bespoke setup — important to future proof against yourself as well. As you say, everything changes.
P.S. I'm on the cusp of giving up social media myself.
Thus have I heard
Don't desire to give up more social media than you can and if you find that a problem, then don't desire to be successful in giving up more social media than you can
Everything in moderation...including moderation...
@Jeroen said:
It’s something usually targeted at younger people… I don’t know anyone my age who uses Snapchat or TikTok.
I don't use it at all. I did for a while to connect with my niblings. My concern is a broader social one regarding the implications for the collective mental health and especially that of the younger generation.
Maybe that's more to the point, though. In the recent stuff Jonathan Haidt has been talking about, he mentions that the young generation dislike social media on par with the olds. They're kind of trapped by it because all their peers are too.
Interesting interview....
Democracy Now
Israeli Scholar Neve Gordon on Israeli Mass Surveillance in Gaza & Use of AI to Kill Palestinians
"Israel is a small country and the degree of separation between either a person that was killed or a person that was kidnapped in Israel, the maximum degree of separation is probably one degree. So, everyone knew someone or knew someone that knew someone, and there was this kind of immense pain. Alongside that pain, there was also a major fear because everything seemed to have collapsed. The major IDF intelligence apparatus was not working, the defense system was not working, the fence was breached without any problems, and the whole apparatus of the state seemed not to be functioning. So, most Israelis were in great pain, were in great fear, but also immediately came this notion of revenge, kind of a sense we have to hit back, we have to hit back hard, and so forth.
My fear is that most Israelis are still trapped, still stuck in that October moment and unwilling to lift their eyes to see basically the genocide unfolding in the Gaza Strip. That's what we've been seeing in the past 6 months, is this horrific, devastating, massive killings of civilians. I mean Hamas killed 30 Israeli children on October 7th, and that is horrific. Israel has killed close to 15000 children, not counting those that are under the rubble since October 7th. We need to understand that figure 15000 children have been killed. We have women, thousands of women have been killed, and thousands of innocent men have been killed. Israel categorizes all the men as terrorists, but thousands of these men were not fighters. They were just men that were in the homes with their wives, with their children, and their homes were bombed."
Neve Gordon
It's worth noting that this conflict isn't about Jews defending Western democracy versus Muslim terrorists, as Netanyahu often portrays it. I think it's more about the state of Israel, whose majority population happens to be Jewish, and the Palestinian people, predominantly Muslim. There are many Jewish people around the world who also oppose what the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinian people. they have adopted the slogan "Not In Our Name"... This conflict is about a settler colonial apartheid state "Israel" versus the indigenous population who oppose the occupation and the theft of their lands
This situation is no different from what has occurred throughout the history of colonialism....
The Powhatan Confederacy (Virginia, USA): Led by Chief Powhatan, this confederation of Native American tribes in Virginia resisted English colonial expansion in the early 17th century, notably during the Anglo-Powhatan Wars.
The Pueblo Revolt (New Mexico, USA): In 1680, various Pueblo peoples in present-day New Mexico, led by figures like Popé, coordinated a successful revolt against Spanish colonial rule, driving the Spanish out of the region for over a decade.
The Aztec Resistance (Mexico): After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1521, indigenous groups in present-day Mexico, such as the Tlaxcalans, continued to resist Spanish rule for years, sometimes aligning with the Spanish against their common enemies.
The Tupac Amaru II Rebellion (Peru): In the late 18th century, José Gabriel Condorcanqui, known as Tupac Amaru II, led a major indigenous uprising against Spanish colonial rule in Peru, demanding an end to oppression and exploitation.
The Maori Wars (New Zealand): Throughout the 19th century, the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand fought a series of conflicts against British colonial forces, known as the New Zealand Wars or the Maori Wars, over land rights and sovereignty.
The Algerian Resistance (Algeria): Algerian resistance against French colonial rule was significant, with notable figures like Emir Abdelkader leading armed uprisings against the French in the 19th century. The struggle for independence culminated in the Algerian War of Independence from 1954 to 1962.
The Mahdist Revolution (Sudan): Led by Muhammad Ahmad, who proclaimed himself the Mahdi (a messianic figure), this movement rose up against Anglo-Egyptian rule in Sudan in the late 19th century. The Mahdists inflicted a major defeat on British forces at the Battle of Khartoum in 1885.
The Libyan Resistance (Libya): Libyan tribes, led by figures like Omar Mukhtar, fiercely resisted Italian colonization in the early 20th century. Mukhtar's guerrilla tactics against Italian forces in Cyrenaica earned him the nickname "The Lion of the Desert."
The Yemeni Revolts (Yemen): Yemeni tribes, particularly in the north, resisted British colonial rule during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The British faced numerous uprisings and conflicts, including the Aden Emergency in the 1960s, as Yemen sought independence.
The Arab Revolt (Middle East): During World War I, led by figures like Sharif Hussein bin Ali of Mecca and his son Faisal, Arabs in the Middle East revolted against Ottoman rule with the support of the British. This revolt played a significant role in the eventual dismantling of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of Arab states.
For now, if you flag a post, I will get the notification and respond. If there is a more complex issue that needs discussion, please privately message me. I'm focused on making some new software that rethinks how moderation works and will reach out to folks when it's time.
The most common difference between mindfulness within stillness and mindfulness in activity.....is one of objectivity.
Mindfulness dependent on stillness, describes an attachment to one's mentality.
Mindfulness when independent from such attachments describes objectivity.
In some Zen traditions, a teacher might suggest that you do kinhin until the objectivity in stillness is indistinguishable from that which you experience in movement.
Of course, since I've just tested positive for Covid 19 and have a fever, who knows what gibberish I'm currently penning here?