Length

[nexus100]

My opinion is that many routes to understanding are made longer and more complex than they need to be. I don't believe any sort of strata or rating system is a good idea. But even with it the real steps to knowledge would be few. All one likely needs is the ability to understand with certainty. Once you have that (20 hrs for me in a type of counseling did it) then you can be on the way.

The key was the decision that I wanted to know my place in the universe. Once I made that decision it it wasn't long before I did know. Of course each path is different, that has been mine.

There can be the idea greater understanding and certainty is so huge a project it is either unattainable or doesn't exist. I certainly had that idea when I left the COS. But one is probably very much closer to a holistic understanding than one thinks if that is what one wants.

There's nothing wrong with looking and nothing wrong with not looking and I think that isn't just mouthwash, it is the real situation. But looking has advantages in a bit easier game.

Thoughts?

 

[Yoghurt]

Try Nihilism. Sounds like you want to anyway.

 

[nexus100]

Try Nihilism. Sounds like you want to anyway.

Nihilism has a defintion but also a slant. By defnition, that existence is meaningless, I can agree with. Life is not meaningless, however. And apathy, associated with, nihilism, isn't a harmonic of serenity. It is a harmonic of effort. My opinion.

 

[Yoghurt]

Wait... apathy and effort are harmonious?

 

[Div6]

There was another 20th century fiction writer that created a religion. Bokonism, by Kurt Vonnegut. The basic thesis is that life is a pretty grim proposition, and inherently unfair. It is the duty of religion to tell lies to make it more palatable.

It is my second religion. The fact that it is banned in its home country makes it all the more delicious.

http://bernd.wechner.info/Bokononism/

 

[nexus100]

Wait... apathy and effort are harmonious?

Apathy is a kind of effort to me. But you can make up your own mind.

 

[Power Change]

Apathy is a kind of effort to me. But you can make up your own mind.

Apathy is extremely efforty to me. I accomplished less, I did less, I wanted to do less, it took tremendous effort for me to pull anything off in life being in apathy (post scn period). Apathy and effort seem to go hand in hand as 'state of mind' is to production.

 

[EP - Ethics Particle]

Length you want? Fine.

Wait... apathy and effort are harmonious?

YO again, Ghurt,

You are obviously quite facile in the English language and enjoy its flexibility, charm and ability to baffle and/or enlighten depending on the situation.

There is a thread "SEX is neither good nor evil" and I challenge you to go to post #600 on that thread wherein I posted an essay written in the 19th century which delineates and lays out with clarity almost all of the elements utilized by Hubbard in the development of his grand con game called Scientology. Read it a few times through until it gets all straightened out in your universe and you will thank me for the indication I am sure.

Much Love,

Roy, the EP's EP

 

[Voltaire's Child]

Hi, Nexus,

I'm sure you're well read. You always struck me as such. But I was wondering...have you read anything about Buddhism and if so, how did you like it?

 

[gomorrhan]

One thing oft attributed to LRH was "the power of simplicity", where what is meant is that complexity arises when someone attempts to understand or control something without fully confronting it. Full confront yields the power of simplicity.

Of course, this is a variation on Occam's Razor, and so, really shouldn't be attributed to Hubbard, but William of Ockham.

This is why when there are many competing theories to explain a phenomenon, scientists are wont to pursue the most "elegant" theory: the one that makes the fewest assumptions, the one that is least reliant on acceptance of positions which aren't critical to the function of the theory.

Oh, and as said by someone or another, existence is meaningless, but we can give it meaning.

 

[klidov]

The first time I saw SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, (in the theater, no less!) Hannibal Lecter says "NO, wrong.....simplicity in and of itself".

I LOVE that quote, and it is one I personally should focus on in my personal life.

"Simplicity, in and of, itself".

 

[Yoghurt]

I like the Anonymous mindset.

Anarchism + Hedonism + Socialism

Doing what you want to, as long as it's fun, in a community with no rulers where there is no sense of ownership and everything is distributed freely for the benefit of everyone.

 

[nexus100]

Hi, Nexus,

I'm sure you're well read. You always struck me as such. But I was wondering...have you read anything about Buddhism and if so, how did you like it?

I've read Hesse's Siddhartha, some general information on the net some fiction that probably reflected something of Buddhist philosophy. I haven't investigated it closely.

 

[Zinjifar]

Once you've found the feedbag, it gets harder and harder to find a rational excuse for finding yet *another* way around hill and glenn, through swamp and bog only to return to the same, now admittedly more attractive feedbag.

Zinj

 

[Neo]

I like the Anonymous mindset.

Anarchism + Hedonism + Socialism

Doing what you want to, as long as it's fun, in a community with no rulers where there is no sense of ownership and everything is distributed freely for the benefit of everyone.

Who does the distributing? And who pays for the labour of those distributing?

Neo

 

[Yoghurt]

Who does the distributing? And who pays for the labour of those distributing?

Neo

Anons themselves do the distributing via websites, primarily the chans but anything will do. Labour is unpaid and is only engaged in if enough people care. If the site has indefinite retention (such as YouTube or Photobucket), then it stays around without too much labour from anyone. But the chans don't have much retention and topics are deleted once they pass page 10.

Payment comes from the webmasters who keep the sites running. The content of the sites is entirely user-generated so they just pay for the servers. Money is made back via on-site advertising.

Here's a video that explains how the distribution and Anon in general works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRooLIRLq9Q

So if you make a work of art for example, and you post it onto an Anonymous site, you've immediately lost all ownership over it. If people like it, they'll download it and re-post it around the place as they see fit (or just keep it in their collection). If they don't like it or don't care... Nothing happens. You cannot be credited with anything because every person posts under the moniker "Anonymous" so there's no one to credit (unless the creator is already well known).

 

[Voltaire's Child]

I've read Hesse's Siddhartha, some general information on the net some fiction that probably reflected something of Buddhist philosophy. I haven't investigated it closely.

That is a wonderful book- I remember reading it and really liking it.

I do think there's something to be said for reading up on Buddhism a little. I recently read "awakening to the sacred" by Lama Surya Das and really loved it. He even had a little drill in there that a person could do that had some similarity to TRs. I'm not saying he took it from Scn- in fact, I don't think he did. I think that Das knows his Buddhism and that some of Hubbard's stuff attempts to take from or emulate some of the tenets and goals of Buddhism. Anyway, I am getting a bit interested in Buddhism and think that some of it may be as good as or superior to the elements of Scn which seek to emulate it.

This may or may not be of interest- I'm just throwing it out there.

 

[nexus100]

That is a wonderful book- I remember reading it and really liking it.

I do think there's something to be said for reading up on Buddhism a little. I recently read "awakening to the sacred" by Lama Surya Das and really loved it. He even had a little drill in there that a person could do that had some similarity to TRs. I'm not saying he took it from Scn- in fact, I don't think he did. I think that Das knows his Buddhism and that some of Hubbard's stuff attempts to take from or emulate some of the tenets and goals of Buddhism. Anyway, I am getting a bit interested in Buddhism and think that some of it may be as good as or superior to the elements of Scn which seek to emulate it.

This may or may not be of interest- I'm just throwing it out there.

Thanks Fluffy!

I just had a wonderful visit from my parents-was much closer with both and actually connected with my Dad in a way I never had before. I even told him my model for the universe, which he didn't buy but he looked at it. He showed me an invention of his and he pointed out an issue to solve in an idea of mine that was very helpful.

"One learns wisdom in the company of the wise." Ancient Chinese saying.

I believe we are ALL wise, if we truly share our viewoint.