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Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
The newsletter says the meeting will start at 7pm, but the website says 8. I guess I'll log in at 7 and see if anything's happening. Would be lovely to see any of you fine folks there
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
I’ve attacked my beard with the new beard trimmer, on its shortest setting it’s now nearly all gone, bar a little fuzz. It will take a few attempts to become familiar with it, I think.
@Kerome said:
I’ve attacked my beard with the new beard trimmer, on its shortest setting it’s now nearly all gone, bar a little fuzz. It will take a few attempts to become familiar with it, I think.
Can't decide which category this belongs to: just for fun, random, or useless. Perhaps it's all three
Walking along the track back to my place this afternoon ( the track runs past where a guy keeps some bee hives) I spotted Mother Nature's recyclers busy at work...Wasps devouring a dead bee..
1
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Bees are dying as a direct act of deliberate mass murder, all over the world. People with large urban gardens need to consider keeping bees....
Yesterday I picked up my new glasses( the transitional coating was coming off my old ones)...They cost me the equivalent to a oneway ticket from Auckalnd to London (well they were actually around a $100 more than the cheapest airfare=China Southern airways)....and yes I went to specsavers ...
I’m attending this weekend retreat in Sheffield from the 14th to the 15th of September. Ajahn Sucitto is teaching. I think there are still places available—it would be lovely to see any UK NewBuddhists there. I can offer a lift from Liverpool or Manchester. Let me know if you’re interested!
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Ah... So another teacher passes on into the unknown Bardo of transition to another existence....
I have two copies of his book... It is what led me to place my first step on The Path...
I read the article this morning...
Sadly just think of the amount of people in similar situations in prisons in the deep south...Very few people it would seem are interested in looking into the injustice, possibly too many cases ...locked up out of sight...out of mind and forgotten...left to rot...
When it comes to the judges & juries back then ( and I guess now in some parts) ignorance comes to mind, especially when it comes to how to treat fellow human beings...I'm reminded of this...
A bigot's mind is like the pupil of the eye...The more light one shines upon it, the more it will contract!
Sad and sobering to read this post from Justin Beiber. We all know it already, but goes to show that fame and money can’t buy you happiness. In fact, quite the opposite
1
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Well I just got my first wasp sting of the Spring season and what an unpleasant surprise it was...
I just got back from walking into the village...I went to open the door to my apartment my hand brushed against a scarf I was wearing, it's not cold out but I was wearing a light scarf ( more so to stop the pollen that's floating around) and as I was reaching for the door handle.... wham, a short sharp electrifying shock (well this is what I first thought)...then painful burning sensation just above the inside of my right thumb joint...
The culprit, an Asian paper wasp, was hanging on my scarf and is now lurking somewhere inside my apartment, perhaps planning its next attack....I'm sure it was smiling when it stung me...
0
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
I have, in the last month, approved new member applications for 20 people. Not a single one - after submitting eager, enthusiastic and rational reasons for wishing to join - not a single one has actually come onto the site.
Oi....
3
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
That’s very strange... you’d think that if they were genuine people they would actually show up and join in?
I’ve noticed on another forum that people there were making accounts in order to put a link into their account signature. They wouldn’t post anything, but because on their member page the signature was visible it would be indexed by Google’s search engine and hence would increase the link’s page rank. They are very sneaky these SEO folks.
0
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
I think @Linc has put a techno-block on things like that - spam-bots and the like. But I haven't had any of those for quite a while since he tweaked the controls and the filter was strengthened. (I have no idea what I'm talking about, which is why thankfully, he's in charge - I'm not! )
However, all these applicants seem to be completely legit... I have declined applications when the 'reason to join' was so garbled as to be a possible total random-word post, but other than that, I think all the applicants so far have been real...
The ancient Chinese were said to state, when angered by another, "May you be reborn in interesting times." It seems we now live in "interesting times". We are in a chaotic period, both in Geo-political and climactic terms. We seem to have great tragedies on a daily basis. Yet this is the very time we have the greatest opportunity as individuals and as a species to make our world whole. we have toe opportunity to fix the plumbing, to make the improvements which we will pass on future generations. while this is a time of extreme peril, it is also. if we choose, the time of/for great advancement and the unifying of our varied peoples. We can be the Lions who unite or the Sheep who divide.
The choice is ours to make.
Te Hononga Maunga was part of a set of carvings standing guard over the Ballance-end entrance to the Manawatū Gorge, protecting the domain where the Ruahine and Tararua ranges meet.
The figure offered welcome and safe passage to hikers on the reserve's walking tracks and its phallus was said to reflect the regeneration of the forest and its descendents.
Wainwright said the carving "disgusted" him and promoted sex for pleasure, which he believes has led to the degeneration of society.
7 weeks in to my new swimming regime. 4x per week and I’ve upped it to 1200m each swim, 12lb lost so far. Swimming meditation is the best, 750 breaths in and out with a constant rhythm over about 35 minutes followed by 5 mins deep breathing in the steam room. ‘Tis wonderful.
5
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Interesting walk this afternoon...On the beach I came across what was left of a stingray that had been eaten by orcas, orcas are active around the island this time of year...
The impermanent nature of all things...
Then closer to home I spied a kererū (sitting on a twig to the left) looking at a bunny who was looking at a pukeko standing on top of shrub to the right ...It was funny to watch, at one stage the bunny was up on its hing legs neck stretch ears up nose up sniffing the air...
0
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
edited September 2019
President Jimmy Carter, former President Ford, Henry Kissinger, a priest and a hippy were in a plane together. There was a storm, and the pilot rushes into the passenger cabin. He says, “we’ve been hit by a lightning bolt and the plane is going down. The co-pilot and crew are dead. Here are four parachutes, sort out among yourselves who gets them.” With that he bails out. Jimmy Carter speaks first. “As President the fate of the free world is on my shoulders. I’m sure you’ll agree I should survive”, and he dons a parachute and jumps. Ford speaks next, “well I never did anyone any harm, and I have a golf date next week,” and he bails out with a parachute. Then Kissinger says, “I am the smartest man in the world, I should live”, and he jumps out. The priest then says to the hippy “I have had a fulfilled life and am not afraid to meet my maker, go ahead my son”, to which the hippy replies, “but father, there are two parachutes left, because the smartest man in the world just jumped with my rucksack.” Intellectuals are not always the smartest after all.
— Osho
2
JeroenLuminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlandsVeteran
Try it... when you look at a flower, don’t allow language to arise in your mind. Just look at the folds, at the shapes, at the colours, at the textures, without letting naming take over. You will find a new clarity, a new relating to the flower...
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
I'm all for peaceful protests but to not have cleared it with the store beforehand does them no favours. While I "get the message", acting that way towards other people and behaving in such an 'in-your-face' manner, wouldn't either convince me or endear me to them, no matter how righteous they may be.
1
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
@Shoshin said: Vegans peaceful protest at a supermarket's animal flesh section turns nasty.
I'm of the opinion it was anything BUT peaceful, to add a point. It was provocative, hostile and passive-aggressive. To actually block and attempt to impede people from doing their shopping used excess coercion, and was tantamount to common assault. You can't do that.
If you're going to protest 'peacefully' do it in a way that highlights attention to the cause, but doesn't form an aggressive front and become objectionable. I think the last time such a protest happened was...oh yes. Yesterday. How many millions of people managed to protest without a single incident of hostile aggression on their part?
I think they made their point, which was...."Publicity for the unnecessary suffering of animal & the barbaric/inhumane practices" (no doubt born out of frustration)..... and right or wrong... it's all relative...publicity is publicity ...it sparks interest and debate...
Different strokes for different folks...I guess...
On an after note...
The perfect protest is one of no need to protest... but in order for this to happen universal compassion must be in place... a compassion that is free from ignorance and self interest...
For the time being protesters will protest for what they feel is right, and what's right.. is relative (being in the eye of the beholder ...so to speak)...such is life's conundrum
0
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
@Shoshin said:
I think they made their point, which was...."Publicity for the unnecessary suffering of animal & the barbaric/inhumane practices" (no doubt born out of frustration)..... and right or wrong... it's all relative...publicity is publicity ...it sparks interest and debate...
Nope, it sparked hostility, anger and resentment. I honestly thing the publicity did them no favours. Vegans have come under fire with a lot of ridicule, much of it unjustified. This doesn't help matters, it just confirms in people's minds that Vegans are fanatic crackpots. Not a good image.
I'm not saying they're wrong. I'm saying they've gone the wrong way about it.
Different strokes for different folks...I guess...
Currently, Vegans are seen as a minor irritation. Just like Greta Thunberg was. Look how she went about gathering support. People sat up and took notice. Look what happened this past weekend. The people who spoke out against her were the minority and came under fire for doing so. THAT'S how you organise a noticeable protest. That's a 'diff'rent stroke' if ever I saw one.
On an after note...
The perfect protest is one of no need to protest... but in order for this to happen universal compassion must be in place... a compassion that is free from ignorance and self interest...
For the time being protesters will protest for what they feel is right, and what's right.. is relative (being in the eye of the beholder ...so to speak)...such is life's conundrum
This protest is nothing like the cartoon. This isn't the same argument seen from different angles. This is a life-or-death, conservation, preservation anti-cruelty confrontational and unpopular stance. There is no making light of this, and calling it a difference of opinion. This is critical.
No one is making light of the situation @federica ...Animal cruelty is a serious matter, hence why I've been a vegetarian for over 40 years...This is my peaceful protest...no fuss no big deal....
Peaceful protest against cruelty to animals has been going on for many years, but sadly many animal flesh eaters turn a blind eye to the plight of the animals and their suffering, no matter how much one tries to educate them...
Conditioning can do this to people ( a case being, the appearance of the pieces of animal flesh look nothing like the actual sentient being that's been butchered and the packaging does not show how the sentient beings are killed (in their prime of life) and then cut into pieces)...Hence why we are now seeing many animal activists are starting to up the ante and have taken a more in your face approach...I guess this approach does make some animal flesh eaters feel a little uncomfortable...
People protest about many different things and in many different ways...each feel that their way is the best way ( no doubt it is the best way for them at that given moment in time)... hence the Different strokes for different folks
0
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
I'm not saying I disagree with the premise. I'm not saying they're wrong. I simply think the way they went about this particular, specific protest, was misguided and TOO aggressive.
Their point, I totally take.
Their method.... Not so much....
Comments
As I was leaving the property this afternoon for my walk...I came across a kingfisher just chilling on a fence...
...and I do mean chilling... even though it was sunny there was a chill in the air..the cold snap has hit the island....13C
The Kookaburra is a member of the Kingfisher family.
Not many people (over here) know that.
Yes....The Sacred Kingfisher
And there's a big storm a brewing...
The beach was deserted and the tide right out....Should I be worried ???
Buddhist winemakers.....who knew?
Gaia House, one of the UK's most popular Insight Meditation retreat centres, is starting an online sitting group today:
https://gaiahouse.co.uk/online-sitting-group/
The newsletter says the meeting will start at 7pm, but the website says 8. I guess I'll log in at 7 and see if anything's happening. Would be lovely to see any of you fine folks there
The meatless Whopper has arrived at Burger King
https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-06/impossible-burger-patties-worrying-farmers-over-definition-meat/11378282
I’ve attacked my beard with the new beard trimmer, on its shortest setting it’s now nearly all gone, bar a little fuzz. It will take a few attempts to become familiar with it, I think.
Can't decide which category this belongs to: just for fun, random, or useless. Perhaps it's all three
Thanks for sharing, @Kerome
Walking along the track back to my place this afternoon ( the track runs past where a guy keeps some bee hives) I spotted Mother Nature's recyclers busy at work...Wasps devouring a dead bee..
Bees are dying as a direct act of deliberate mass murder, all over the world. People with large urban gardens need to consider keeping bees....
These are the kind of arrogant s**ts we have in charge of our country these days.....it makes my blood boil!
https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-22/mccormack-apology-pick-our-fruit/11438312
Holy Fekkin' Mckerel... I read some of the other headlines. It makes me wonder whether Guy Fawkes shouldn't try again...
A picture speaks louder than (a [Parliament Speaker's) words ...It's a breath of fresh air
Jokes about white sugar are rare, jokes about brown sugar … Demerara
We’ve decided to upgrade our aquarium from 28l to 123l...
That stuff's better to watch than the telly....
Yesterday I picked up my new glasses( the transitional coating was coming off my old ones)...They cost me the equivalent to a oneway ticket from Auckalnd to London (well they were actually around a $100 more than the cheapest airfare=China Southern airways)....and yes I went to specsavers ...
I’m attending this weekend retreat in Sheffield from the 14th to the 15th of September. Ajahn Sucitto is teaching. I think there are still places available—it would be lovely to see any UK NewBuddhists there. I can offer a lift from Liverpool or Manchester. Let me know if you’re interested!
http://www.sheffieldinsightmeditation.org.uk/retreats/embodied-wisdom-ajahn-sucitto/
Thought this was fun...
https://www.dharmacrafts.com/02_cb/childrens-books
RIP Sogyal Rinpoche
Ah... So another teacher passes on into the unknown Bardo of transition to another existence....
I have two copies of his book... It is what led me to place my first step on The Path...
Not sure where to put this so... here you go:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-49522501
No words, what a terrible thing to have been allowed to happen.
I read the article this morning...
Sadly just think of the amount of people in similar situations in prisons in the deep south...Very few people it would seem are interested in looking into the injustice, possibly too many cases ...locked up out of sight...out of mind and forgotten...left to rot...
When it comes to the judges & juries back then ( and I guess now in some parts) ignorance comes to mind, especially when it comes to how to treat fellow human beings...I'm reminded of this...
A bigot's mind is like the pupil of the eye...The more light one shines upon it, the more it will contract!
Sad and sobering to read this post from Justin Beiber. We all know it already, but goes to show that fame and money can’t buy you happiness. In fact, quite the opposite
Justin Bieber wrote that...? Wow.
Wonders will never cease.
And I mean that in a kind way.
Well I just got my first wasp sting of the Spring season and what an unpleasant surprise it was...
I just got back from walking into the village...I went to open the door to my apartment my hand brushed against a scarf I was wearing, it's not cold out but I was wearing a light scarf ( more so to stop the pollen that's floating around) and as I was reaching for the door handle.... wham, a short sharp electrifying shock (well this is what I first thought)...then painful burning sensation just above the inside of my right thumb joint...
The culprit, an Asian paper wasp, was hanging on my scarf and is now lurking somewhere inside my apartment, perhaps planning its next attack....I'm sure it was smiling when it stung me...
I have, in the last month, approved new member applications for 20 people. Not a single one - after submitting eager, enthusiastic and rational reasons for wishing to join - not a single one has actually come onto the site.
Oi....
That’s very strange... you’d think that if they were genuine people they would actually show up and join in?
I’ve noticed on another forum that people there were making accounts in order to put a link into their account signature. They wouldn’t post anything, but because on their member page the signature was visible it would be indexed by Google’s search engine and hence would increase the link’s page rank. They are very sneaky these SEO folks.
I think @Linc has put a techno-block on things like that - spam-bots and the like. But I haven't had any of those for quite a while since he tweaked the controls and the filter was strengthened. (I have no idea what I'm talking about, which is why thankfully, he's in charge - I'm not!
)
However, all these applicants seem to be completely legit... I have declined applications when the 'reason to join' was so garbled as to be a possible total random-word post, but other than that, I think all the applicants so far have been real...
The ancient Chinese were said to state, when angered by another, "May you be reborn in interesting times." It seems we now live in "interesting times". We are in a chaotic period, both in Geo-political and climactic terms. We seem to have great tragedies on a daily basis. Yet this is the very time we have the greatest opportunity as individuals and as a species to make our world whole. we have toe opportunity to fix the plumbing, to make the improvements which we will pass on future generations. while this is a time of extreme peril, it is also. if we choose, the time of/for great advancement and the unifying of our varied peoples. We can be the Lions who unite or the Sheep who divide.
The choice is ours to make.
Peace to all
And meanwhile in Thailand......
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-13/calls-for-artist-to-be-prosecuted-over-painting-of-buddha/11508054
Today is both a full moon and Friday the 13th.......be prepared!
Sadly another extreme point of view....
Just like this from a religious fanatic (AKA nutjob) a so called devout Christian who defiled a Maori sacred carving at the entrance to a bush walk...
Who is the real dick in all this ???
7 weeks in to my new swimming regime. 4x per week and I’ve upped it to 1200m each swim, 12lb lost so far. Swimming meditation is the best, 750 breaths in and out with a constant rhythm over about 35 minutes followed by 5 mins deep breathing in the steam room. ‘Tis wonderful.
Well done @Lee82
Interesting walk this afternoon...On the beach I came across what was left of a stingray that had been eaten by orcas, orcas are active around the island this time of year...
The impermanent nature of all things...
Then closer to home I spied a kererū (sitting on a twig to the left) looking at a bunny who was looking at a pukeko standing on top of shrub to the right ...It was funny to watch, at one stage the bunny was up on its hing legs neck stretch ears up nose up sniffing the air...
President Jimmy Carter, former President Ford, Henry Kissinger, a priest and a hippy were in a plane together. There was a storm, and the pilot rushes into the passenger cabin. He says, “we’ve been hit by a lightning bolt and the plane is going down. The co-pilot and crew are dead. Here are four parachutes, sort out among yourselves who gets them.” With that he bails out. Jimmy Carter speaks first. “As President the fate of the free world is on my shoulders. I’m sure you’ll agree I should survive”, and he dons a parachute and jumps. Ford speaks next, “well I never did anyone any harm, and I have a golf date next week,” and he bails out with a parachute. Then Kissinger says, “I am the smartest man in the world, I should live”, and he jumps out. The priest then says to the hippy “I have had a fulfilled life and am not afraid to meet my maker, go ahead my son”, to which the hippy replies, “but father, there are two parachutes left, because the smartest man in the world just jumped with my rucksack.” Intellectuals are not always the smartest after all.
— Osho
Try it... when you look at a flower, don’t allow language to arise in your mind. Just look at the folds, at the shapes, at the colours, at the textures, without letting naming take over. You will find a new clarity, a new relating to the flower...
Vegans peaceful protest at a supermarket's animal flesh section turns nasty...
I'm all for peaceful protests but to not have cleared it with the store beforehand does them no favours. While I "get the message", acting that way towards other people and behaving in such an 'in-your-face' manner, wouldn't either convince me or endear me to them, no matter how righteous they may be.
I'm of the opinion it was anything BUT peaceful, to add a point. It was provocative, hostile and passive-aggressive. To actually block and attempt to impede people from doing their shopping used excess coercion, and was tantamount to common assault. You can't do that.
If you're going to protest 'peacefully' do it in a way that highlights attention to the cause, but doesn't form an aggressive front and become objectionable. I think the last time such a protest happened was...oh yes. Yesterday. How many millions of people managed to protest without a single incident of hostile aggression on their part?
Exactly.
I think they made their point, which was...."Publicity for the unnecessary suffering of animal & the barbaric/inhumane practices" (no doubt born out of frustration)..... and right or wrong... it's all relative...publicity is publicity ...it sparks interest and debate...
Different strokes for different folks...I guess...
On an after note...
The perfect protest is one of no need to protest... but in order for this to happen universal compassion must be in place... a compassion that is free from ignorance and self interest...
For the time being protesters will protest for what they feel is right, and what's right.. is relative (being in the eye of the beholder ...so to speak)...such is life's conundrum
Nope, it sparked hostility, anger and resentment. I honestly thing the publicity did them no favours. Vegans have come under fire with a lot of ridicule, much of it unjustified. This doesn't help matters, it just confirms in people's minds that Vegans are fanatic crackpots. Not a good image.
I'm not saying they're wrong. I'm saying they've gone the wrong way about it.
Currently, Vegans are seen as a minor irritation. Just like Greta Thunberg was. Look how she went about gathering support. People sat up and took notice. Look what happened this past weekend. The people who spoke out against her were the minority and came under fire for doing so. THAT'S how you organise a noticeable protest. That's a 'diff'rent stroke' if ever I saw one.
This protest is nothing like the cartoon. This isn't the same argument seen from different angles. This is a life-or-death, conservation, preservation anti-cruelty confrontational and unpopular stance. There is no making light of this, and calling it a difference of opinion. This is critical.
No one is making light of the situation @federica ...Animal cruelty is a serious matter, hence why I've been a vegetarian for over 40 years...This is my peaceful protest...no fuss no big deal....
Peaceful protest against cruelty to animals has been going on for many years, but sadly many animal flesh eaters turn a blind eye to the plight of the animals and their suffering, no matter how much one tries to educate them...
Conditioning can do this to people ( a case being, the appearance of the pieces of animal flesh look nothing like the actual sentient being that's been butchered and the packaging does not show how the sentient beings are killed (in their prime of life) and then cut into pieces)...Hence why we are now seeing many animal activists are starting to up the ante and have taken a more in your face approach...I guess this approach does make some animal flesh eaters feel a little uncomfortable...
People protest about many different things and in many different ways...each feel that their way is the best way
( no doubt it is the best way for them at that given moment in time)... hence the Different strokes for different folks
I'm not saying I disagree with the premise. I'm not saying they're wrong. I simply think the way they went about this particular, specific protest, was misguided and TOO aggressive.
Their point, I totally take.
Their method.... Not so much....
Hindsight is something we all ( if aware) learn from...
Buddha on a bed of nails nows
Does anyone know what became of @Kundo?
From what I gather she was banned...what for I'm not sure..