Best Of
Re: The Other Elephant In The Room
I would say that there are those in the West who are living in very similar, or the same versions, where their countries mainstream government controlled news broadcasts, feed them the same mind poison when it comes to what is happening in Gaza...
The following is quite obvious .....
Propaganda: Governments may use mass media to disseminate information or messages that serve their interests. This can involve selective reporting, misinformation, or biased framing of events.
Censorship: Controlling the flow of information by restricting or suppressing certain content can be a powerful tool for governments. This can include censorship of media, the internet, or social media platforms.
Surveillance: Governments may engage in extensive surveillance of their citizens, monitoring communication, online activities, and movements. This can have a chilling effect on dissent and limit freedom of expression.
Nationalism and Patriotism: Appeals to national pride and patriotism can be used to create a sense of unity and discourage dissent. Leaders may use symbols, rhetoric, or events to foster a strong sense of national identity.
Diversionary Tactics: Governments may divert attention from internal issues or controversies by creating external conflicts or crises. This can shift public focus away from domestic problems and unite the population against a common external threat.
State-sponsored Disinformation: Some governments engage in spreading false information to manipulate public opinion, both domestically and internationally. This can be done through social media, news outlets, or other communication channels.
Use of State-Owned Media: Governments may control or heavily influence media outlets to ensure favorable coverage and suppress dissenting voices.
Restrictions on Activism and Protests: Governments may enact laws or use force to suppress political activism, protests, or dissenting voices, limiting the ability of citizens to express their grievances.
It would seem much of the above is already happening now ...
....
Shoshin1
Re: The Other Elephant In The Room
The mainstream media news here is also censored where those reporting on Gaza use the same loaded words as CNN, and no doubt many other Western mainstream media outlets....
I found the quote from Politic and the English Language by George Orwell (around the 52 minutes mark in the Real News Network video), quite interesting...
According to George Orwell , political language is often used to defend actions that are hard to justify. To make these actions sound better, politicians use vague and misleading language. For instance, bombing defenseless villages and forcing people out of their homes is called "pacification," taking away farmers' land and displacing them is termed "transfer of population" or "rectification of frontiers," and imprisoning or killing people without a fair trial is referred to as the "elimination of unreliable elements." Such language is used to talk about unpleasant things without creating strong mental images that might provoke opposition or criticism.
Shoshin1
Re: Experiences
@marcitko said:
@lobster Your verbal drivel is akin to a mind ensnared in the cycle of samsara, endlessly trapped in the delusion of its own significance. Like a discordant mantra, your words resonate with the cacophony of ignorance, disrupting the serenity of enlightened contemplation. May the lotus of wisdom blossom within you, washing away the debris of your misguided musings, for your utterances linger as stagnant pools in the vast river of profound understanding
Wow, that's really good! Some might say that it's close to the mark. The real deal. The straight poop. If I was Lobster (thank gawd I'm not) I would pause and reflect on my many years of actvity.
Re: The Other Elephant In The Room
This two year old After Skool video popped up on my YouTube feed....Interesting.....
"Menticide"
Menticide refers to the systematic and intentional manipulation **or control of an individual's mind, **often through psychological and emotional means. It involves the use of various tactics, such as propaganda, misinformation, coercion, and psychological pressure, to undermine a person's beliefs, values, and sense of self. The term is often associated with efforts to manipulate or control large groups of people, especially in the context of authoritarian regimes or oppressive systems. Menticide aims to break down independent thinking and foster unquestioning obedience or conformity to a particular ideology or authority.
Fear can be a significant component of menticide. The use of fear as a tool is a common strategy to manipulate and control individuals or groups mentally. Authoritarian regimes, cults, and oppressive systems often employ fear tactics to instill anxiety, uncertainty, and a sense of threat in people's minds. Fear can be used to coerce obedience, suppress dissent, and manipulate behavior. It can create a psychological environment where individuals feel compelled to conform to a particular ideology or authority in order to avoid negative consequences or harm. In the context of menticide, fear can be a powerful tool to weaken individual autonomy and foster compliance with the desired narrative or belief system.
Watch from the beginning or start at 9 minutes in....
Shoshin1
Re: Dementia and Buddism
FWIW…. I also disagree with the ‘letting go’ nature of advice/POV pertaining to this specific issue.
Common sense would mean knowing this is a complicated medical/mental health issue….not a retreat exercise. One also does not ‘lose believing’…. Having experience with both long term/terminal dementia and temporary dementia/psychosis in my loved ones…I assure you there are times they fully believe what the mind is telling them is true….contrary to reality.
ETA… in fact, it’s giving me real “thoughts and prayers” vibes. Got a serious medical issue you’re dealing with??? Just be grateful that it’s a blessing in disguise….or your effort for nirvana/salvation has been given a curve…….. SMH. Cmon guys. That ain’t it!
Vastmind
Re: Dementia and Buddism
@Jeroen said:
@IdleChater I think you’re exaggerating, considering what’s actually been said… use common sense, what’s written here doesn’t come close to ‘medical advice’, and there’s no need to come down hard on people for an imagined infraction of your local laws.
Look at it this way:
Someone here suggests a course of action to a person suffering from dementia, that includes "letting go". Let's say that person starts trying to "let go" and in so doing, without proper and considered mentoring / care, causes even more psychological problems. Ask your Dutch lawyer how the Dutch courts would deal with such a thing. I don't think you'd get off all that easy.
Re: Meditation / Zazen question
Fidgeting is a defensive response by one's ego structure when it's fiefdom feels threatened by one's meditative efforts. Fidgeting is a bluff charge by the human condition to ward off any challenge to its kingship. Fidgeting is just ones conditioned responses to phenomena being in fear of being seen for the prison, the bars, and the jailer that each of us has allowed them to be.
Fidgeting is just the precursor to either letting go or hanging on to the suffering that brought you to meditation.
Here, like anywhere else in a meditative practice, it's not about its existence, so much as it's about how you relate to it.
how
Re: Meditation / Zazen question
@how said:
If the human condition is a dream state of our ignorance, then an awakening from that dream can be described as being truly alive when compared to one's former imitations of the walking dead.
Here, the meditations that manifest such awakenings can equated to deathlessness.
It does get a bit uncomfortable and does make me become very hermit like to be able to follow precepts. The real world is truely tough but this is the epoch we live in and we all cannot/want go to the woods, abandoning the lay life, and entering homelessness; as if items in a bucketlist.
What I meant by uncomfortable is realising, in my experience, automatic and unwholesome traits, conducts. Self-criticism becomes ripe and the burden of sin and blame. I know these last concepts are very far from Buddhist knowledge, but ingrained in my cultural upbringing.
Very intellectual the understanding, but at practice level still fidgeting.
Time to practice right now 
Kotishka
Re: The Other Elephant In The Room
@Shoshin1 ….. my respects to you for all the UN/news postings and keeping this thread going.
✌🏻
Vastmind