3Gen Systems

Flossing with Limes

It's a blog about figuring it out, where even the smallest of thoughts might have major implications on your daily life. It's a bit abstract, but it's aim, again, is to "get it less wrong" - if the abstract proves to be "more" wrong, then I'll have to ditch it.

It represents the thoughts I have in relation to spirituality, the metaphysical, and the "big picture" of the world, and as such, is a constant work in progress. Comments are encouraged, nay, REQUESTED, that we might help each other out.

So come on over, grab a lime, and clean those hard to reach places.

Okay, can i just say this is retarded?

This dude, Hart, tries to set up a platonic dialogue between Jesus and Socrates.  First off, you KNOW what that means - socrates is gonna do a dance around jesus' incompetence.  What a bold fucking move to make, you know?  How insulting!  He's got some nerve...

Secondly, he doesn't even do it WELL!  I mean, I'm not christian, so trying to attack God or Jesus really doesn't offend me, but this guy just does a great deal of dishonor to BOTH parties - first, his socrates impression is poorly worded.  second, he does NOT grasp the platonic dialogues at ALL if he thinks this is even a passable attempt at tribute. thirdly, he uses jesus to talk FOR ALL OF CHRISTIANITY.  I really think that jesus would say something more than just "Angels are angels," when asked what angels are, you know what I mean?  Don't get me wrong, it always bothered me that Socrates' opponents were always ready and willing to cave in before the might that was socrates, but in this case it's just ridiculous!  It's almost like Thrasymacas (spelling?  christ it's been awhile, lol) in the Republic - you think he'll put up a fight but he fails miserably - except that Jesus here is made out to be stupid and entirely incompetent.  if you're going to play socrates, use logic to defeat your enemy, not mere absurdity!  You can't make a sound argument by merely saying, "dude, what you're saying is absurd, so it obviously can't be true."  That's just... hell that's half of what bothers me about talk radio and the media and politics in general!  People miss the point!

Argh!!!

lol.

[/rant]

Sorry.  had to do that.

The Paradox Of Our Age


We have bigger houses but smaller families;

more conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees but less sense;

more knowledge but less judgment;

more experts, but more problems;

more medicines but less healthiness.

We’ve been all the way to the moon and back,

but have trouble in crossing the street to meet our new neighbour.

We built more computers to hold more copies than ever,

But have less real communication;

We have become long on quantity,

but short on quality.

These are times of fast foods but slow digestion;

Tall mean but short characters;

Steep profits but shallow relationships.

It’s a time when there is much in the window

But nothing in the room.

                                            His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama.

The compy is being packed up, and I will be INCOMMUNICADO until around the 28th.

LATER BOI! WHAT! WHAT!

In the meat-time, enjoy this video...

'Cause we're too busy dying
to bring anybody down

A common misconception (one that I held until just recently) about Buddhism is that it requires you to become emotionless.  lovethelogos expressed something similar to this in my last post about my experiences with Anatta.  Over the past week, I have been reading The Places That Scare You, by Pema Chödrön.  In it she provides useful meditation techniques and bodhichitta ("awakened mind" or "enlightened heart") trainings. 

Specifically, I've discovered that emotion is in fact your gateway into enlightenment.  When you experience emotion, it is critical to be aware of that fact and to attempt to trace the emotion to its source (generally a "soft spot" within yourself, such as fear).  By learning how your emotions work, you can learn to foster good will and compassion for all beings.  You take the sharp edge of anger and fear and embrace it, becoming intimately familiar with it until you can shape it and instead project the four limitless qualities of compassion, loving-kindness, joy, and equanimity.

The Fact-Value Distinction, as found in covert_me

This is interesting, and something that i've argued for extensively without realizing it - normative statements are inherently unprovable because they are based on the subjective, while positive statements exist as solid fact.

I'm not exactly sure if this is relevant to Buddhism, but it certainly encompasses my own feelings on the matter of morality (that morality is subjective and therefore you can have no positive statements about right or wrong). This community is extraordinarily interesting... I enjoy reading it thoroughly.

Today, just a few moments ago, I went to the bookstore.  As I stood in line to pay for my items, I found "The Secret Lives of Men and Women" - the newest PostSecret book.  I picked it up, of course, and headed out.  But upon reflecting on PostSecret, I recalled something that made the Buddhist concept of Anatta even clearer!

The phrase "You are not alone," is a common enough one in instances of trauma support.  The entire PostSecret project, perhaps more clearly than anything, gives the phrase definitive, physical meaning - when C, Seth and I went to the PostSecret exhibit, I noted how you could divide out the cards into groups based on the secret the contained.  In other words, hundreds of people consistently shared the same secret.  It was uncanny to me, that so many different people could all feel the same way. 

But with that recollection and my mind focused towards Buddhism, I was able to see it as a clear cut example of the Third Mark of Existence, No-Self.

Man this stuff is fascinating.

::EDIT:: I forgot to mention a note about impermanence... when we were reading Shelley's poetry (Ode to the West Wind), I encountered this line...

"O Wind, / If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?"

It struck me as the epitome of impermenance, Anicca - Not only do you accept that things change, but know that everything comes full circle. This ties back into karma as well!

Though the sun sets, it will rise again.

Damn. This shit is so cool.

( Marks of Existence )

These are the Three Marks of Existence in Buddhism. They are the core of Buddhism, and just like the First Noble Truth (existence is full of suffering), when you can acknowledge and fully accept these Marks, you are moving along the path to enlightenment.

The particular Mark I feel that I have had particular insight to recently is the third, the concept of No-Self. In Buddhism, everything in the world is one, and there is "no central core" like a soul or spirit. Instead, the lives of each thing are tied to the lives of every and any other thing. In this way, by accepting that everyone is a piece in a larger framework, you begin the path to enlightenment.

It is important, however, to remember that there is a difference between knowing something intellectually and accepting it in your heart. I thought that I understood this particular Mark upon reading it several days ago, but today, there were just too many instances in which it truly shone through for me to ignore it. As such, I'm posting my "breakthrough" (if I can indeed call it that - perhaps it will fall under the test of time and I will find that I really had known nothing at all).

( The Turtle Code )

It may seem tacky or hackneyed, but it was like a floodgate burst open in my mind - the parallels between my approach to programming and Buddhism were uncanny. It's an incredibly liberating experience, programming, and I feel that the creativity and scrutiny that are involved in it will certainly help my in my own self-examinations as I further investigate Buddhism.

( The letters on the board are N, G, G, E, R, and S )

All the anger and frustration in the world is understandable, but reacting aggressively and with such force just polarizes people. While you think you are healing the wound at the source, you are in fact just ensuring that the wound will never heal. Instead of responding with threats and anger (deserved though they may be), you must instead approach it with a willingness to forgive and educate.

In Buddhism, this is the way of the bodhisattva - you seek to improve the world through helping others to become enlightened. You acknowledge the one-ness of the universe and that by helping others to become enlightened, you are likewise becoming enlightened. Though I was unaware of it, many of my paths of logic contain traces of Anatta, No-Self.

( Memory, Rape, and the Ecosystem )

Each of these instances was accompanied by an amazing feeling of understanding and euphoria - it had all made sense before, but now, it made sense in a very different way. It's incredibly liberating and encouraging - I can't wait to explore this further.

I would really like feedback on this - I can never be entirely sure if I sound loopy or not. Perhaps I should find an lj community.

::EDIT:: I think I'm going to make some of my posts on Buddhism public.

I was listening to Audio Dharma today, specifically on the Four Noble Truths, and on aspect of the second Truth (The source of suffering is attachment).

One manifestation of this Truth is that you must be free from the desire for both existence and non-existence.  So in essence, the first part of that makes a lot of sense:  you essentially free yourself from addiction (desires that consume you).  The last part, however, was a little confusing for me - free yourself of the desire for suicide?  While that's a part of it, it is more realistically the opposite of the first - freeing yourself from aversions that consume you. 

My consistent and repetitive statement, for example, that I do not want to be in college is incredibly damaging - the more I harp on this, the more I am attached to this, the more harmful it becomes.  If I free myself from this desire for the non-existence of college in my life, I step closer to accepting the impermenance of life and achieving enlightenment (at least in buddhist terms - I have yet to come to an understanding of enlightenment that I like).

Though it may seem painfully obvious, hearing it put in this way was incredibly uplifting.

Buddhism continues to fascinate me.

So now, with a gimped spring break, I must take on the tasks I had dropped in order to return home.  Let us list these tasks:

1. Junior Sem Midterm; 8 - 10 page paper.  STATUS: Rough Draft complete.
2. Romantics Midterm; 5 - 7 page paper.  STATUS: Not started
3. Italian Midterm; Exam.  STATUS: Delayed until further notice.
4. Emergence; Book Presentation  STATUS: Book Unread.
5. Work; Resume  STATUS: Unfinished
   

*yawn*

So yeah, it's kind of a big deal.

As you may or may not recall, one of my new years resolutions was to explore spirituality and religion.  Well, yesterday, I found this firefox add-on that randomly finds a web site based on the interests you select.  As such, I found this website on all of the world religions.  I started exploring Buddhism and I find it extremely fascinating.  It's only barely a religion (in some cases, at least) and it varies incredibly from one culture to the next.  There's a form called Pure Land Buddhism in which the practitioners believe that a Buddha, the Amitabha Buddha, from the past made a promise to his guru that, upon enlightenment, he would create a world (the "Pure Land") for all those born after him to go to upon death for instant enlightenment.  Essentially, everyone is able to become enlightened, and all that they need to do is have faith in this Buddha in order to achieve it.  Similar to Christianity, no?


Here are some facets of Buddhism I find incredibly appealing:

• Emphasis on healthy skepticism:  Buddha teaches that you shouldn't accept anything at face value - instead, put it to the test of your own experience and make a determination.  This fact is so heavily emphasized that Buddha applies it to his own teachings as well!  If you don't feel that something he says is true, test it out, and if it doesn't fit, discard it.
• Your mind is the source of suffering:  Because the only thing we know to be true is that we perceive, the source of all suffering is identified as our perceptions.  By modifying the way we view things, we can make ourselves happier, and, eventually, enlightened.
• Kinship is key:  It's a practice of kindness to everyone - the eightfold path (right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration) will help you not only to become better yourself, but to foster a caring relationship with others as you live your life.
• Disregards the metaphysical:  Questions like, "Why are we here?" or "What is answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything?" (it's 42, btw :-P) are unimportant.  The parable to attend to these questions is as follows:  A man is shot with a poisoned arrow, and a doctor rushes to help him.  But before he'll let the doctor help him, he insists to know who fired the arrow, how he managed to do so without being caught, why he fired the arrow, etc.  The man, continuing to ask such questions succumbs to the poison and dies.  The answer lies within in you - don't worry about these larger, unanswerable questions.

I have to go food shopping now, but it's pretty damn amazing.


I've determined I'll do my work at night and enjoy these fucking AWESOME days - the weather has been gorgeous!

Contact me if you want to be my friend.
Mi contatti se vuole stare mi amici.
Haz contacto conmigo si quiere estar mi amigo.

-Frankiel-
CEO of 3Gen Systems.
"Yeah, we're that good."