It's most intelligent to design deflationary systems which do not rely on infinite growth and consumption through debt expansion.

That said, as technological capacity and energetic capacity increases humans can do more and more with less and less, as buckminster fuller often talked about.

A lot of the motivation behind human social interactio is motivated by a desire to be loved, seen, accepted into the group.

This has been weaponized by social media to get individuals to identify with groupthink and to self censor the individual's true being in hope of being accepted, seen, and loved. I feel this is Major contributor to the epidemic of mental illness we see in the world around us.

Perhaps it has always been this way, but becoming aware of what motivates our actions gives us power to make a choice to be truly authentic with ourselves and others.

From a friend.

On kunje gyalpo and the nature of mind and phenomena

Longchenpa makes an astonishing commentary on a portion from the Dzogchen Semde root tantra, the Kunje Gyalpo. I have included both Longchenpa's commentary and the relevant text from the Kunje Gyalpo. Quotes are from Longchenpa's The Precious Treasury of the Basic Space of Phenomena, published by Padma Publishing. My comments are beneath the KJG quotes below.

"Spontaneously present meditative stability, settled in its own place, is understood to be ongoing, like the flow of a river, without having to be deliberately cultivated. Within that context, everything arises as the true nature of phenomena, and so there is no error or obscuration, no dullness or agitation, no distraction or even the lack of it, **because any object of distraction arises as the display of that nature."**

From the Kunje Gyalpo:

To ignore what is inherent and seek afar for something else,

eagerly trying to arouse the bliss that requires no effort... there is no greater debility than this.

Undistracted meditative absorption is a stake that tethers one to reification.

With respect to what is and always has been , there is no distraction, nothing to be lost.

Undistracted meditative absorption seduces one with hope.

Such are the Mahayana approaches based on either causes or results,

which reveal what is provisional....

With respect to what is and always has been, there is no distraction, no loss.

The state in which nothing need be done transcends all effort and achievement."

Jackson: Notice above where Longchenpa says "any object of distraction arises as the display of that nature." In other words, whatever you are distracted by is itself the display of Rigpa and so you are actually still noticing Rigpa's display.

As an example, when you are simply present to the here and now observing the sky, while observing the sky, a strong distracting thought or image enters your mind. Suddenly you are no longer in the here and now noticing the sky, but rather you are observing this thought. This is in traditional Mahayana vehicles of meditation considered to be distraction and is taught to be avoided and corrected. One is taught to stay in here and now awareness. But Longchenpa is saying those distracting thoughts are themselves just as valid as the sky as 'objects of experience'. Those thoughts are also occurring in the here and now, so when you are observing thoughts or images you are also fully in here and now presence. Both the sky and thoughts are equally Rigpa's pure display.

So in this way it is understood that distraction is impossible. If this extremely subtle and vital point is understood, all effort at trying to maintain an undistracted state drops away. All experiences of every kind are equally the display of Rigpa. Then one may ask: Well, ok ... then what exactly do I do when practicing Dzogchen? Great question! But it must remain unanswered, or else the answer will be turned into a new something to do. In Dzogchen the notion that there is something to do or practice is considered an illness. You are already Rigpa Awareness, what would be the point of doing something in order to become what you already are?

Be mindful of your thoughts, feelings and perceptions. They create the self identity that you believe yourself to be.

There are no true thoughts, feelings, or perceptions that define you except those which you believe yourself to be.

To be liberated is to see clearly that no thought, feeling, or perception ultimately defines who you are. They come and go, having no true existence.

They sacrifice their season every year 🤣🤣🤣

Oh no you came to Colorado to watch our baseball team? I feel sorry for you lol.

Killing it!

Dammit Ska-makazies

Ska-makazies

Someone on Twitter asked these questions about how our world views are shaped.

"A worldview typically consists of at minimum 4 components involving answers to these questions:

1) What is good?

2) Where do good and bad come from?

3) Who deserves the good?

4) How can you do good or be good?"

I answered from my point of view, as it is right now:

1. a mind that doesn't fix on views and beliefs for identity, thus capable of working towards mutual wellbeing by actions of mind, speech, and body.

2. Good and bad are conceptual designations based on the interpretations of action in mind, Speech, and body. Actions deemed to be good generally create mutual wellbeing, whereas actions deemed to be bad creates suffering for self/ others.

3. All beings deserve the good, only thought coverings or mental inertia create blockages to acting with understanding/ compassion. This is generally due to ignorance to the true nature of mind/ phenomena as a continuum of all life systems being inseparable and empty of true self existent qualities.

4. You can develop the ability to do good by learning to witness the mechanations of mind and examine fixedViews and beliefs about self/ phenomena. There comes a point where the subject/object split falls away from simply witnessing. Witnessed and witness dissolve into pure witnessing and all "good" qualities arise from this basic nature.

Of course I must add that it's impossible not to have a view and that's not what I'm saying. Just that our thoughts, feelings, and perceptions are constantly changing from moment to moment. The ability to be able to change views with new info and see from many perspectivesIs most helpful in adapting to an ever changing life that is always discovering more and more information about itself. So if we fixate on views and beliefs, it can become a barrier to growth in one's world view.

Yes I read it on my teens, interesting stuff. IDK either but I feel like it's similar to the Cayce situation where the channel was able to connect to deeper alaya levels of awareness.

Seemed very clear to me. It was very well put together!

Twitter used to be pretty cool for a while when I first joined, I was able to have lots of conversations but there was a point where I noticed after a few months that they cut me off. I often wonder how prevalent the shadowbanning is.

Really appreciate your civil disobedience position O'Dell! Many like me have been shadowbanned for years on the other platforms. Nostr is for me one of the first times that I've actually felt I've been able to communicate with people.

From a friend,

Getting Behind the One That's Behind

We can sit in meditation watching the various mental events, feelings and sensations arise and subside, yet all the while not noticing that the one who is observing all the projections is itself a projection. You thought you were the actual aware and knowing one that was just observing the show.

But it can happen that suddenly a shift occurs and the show is suddenly seen to include "you" watching the show. "You" as the witness of the show are suddenly seen to be also a projection; a projection as a complete gestalt or vignette of "me watching the show".

When this insightful shift occurs, the subject/object dichotomy collapses. What remains is a non-dual state of knowingness without a "witness observing its projections".

I think very few meditators are familiar with this shift. That's why meditators can practice for 50 years and never really break through the mind's looping projections. The state of mind can become very quiet and relaxed, but the one enjoying that state is not noticed to also be the mind's projection.

This is much like our dreams at night. In the dream we see things and hear things along with having a body, but we have no idea that our self in the dream is being projected as a "someone seeing and experiencing the dreamscape." The subconscious aspect of mind is the projector of our self and the dream scape.

Likewise in waking life and especially when meditating, it's possible to notice that our current self as the "observer", is only a mental event or a projection of being a self-existing, and observing "me"; along with all the other thoughts and images being mentally projected.

The "me" that feels so real in waking life is no more real than the self experienced in dreams. Both are subconscious mind-projections.

But indeed, this shift out of the karmic mind loop can and does occur. But it's not helpful when teachers and doctrines validate this false self position as being "who" you are. It's a bit like a teacher character in your dream at night simply telling you how to improve your dream self, instead of pointing out that the self you believe yourself to be is a fictional projection of mind and thereby triggering the "awake" state. The dreamed identity disappears in that moment along with all its story content.

This is what "bodhi" means; awake. But in this condition of "awake", no one woke up, but rather the projection of an imaginary self as "me" just ceased. That is the moment of anatta or no fictional self. What remains is a center-less field of transparent consciousness that has no subject or object. It's a moment of inexpressible joy, insight and release.

The ordinary mind is stuck tightly in this karmic, self-reenforcing loop of bewildered grasping and rejecting, propelled by the twin engines of hope and fear.

Metaphorically speaking; taking the step behind the one "taking that step", is a rare dance step indeed!

The first step is to simply ponder this in vipassana contemplation by observing the mind's projection of "me" in the act of contemplating this.

That's a fair assessment. They are really incompetent at their jobs.

Well I'm no whale so I still might. Depending upon how long adoption takes.

But you Cypherpunks and developers are the real superheros. I hope someday I can learn enough to contribute!

I'd live in that. I just want a zen garden and a pool someday with it. Prefer to spend money traveling and experiencing!

Then again there are many stories of astronauts, pilots, and government workers that come out as whistle blowers. Perhaps it's just for attention, but what if it isn't?