tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-98852902024-03-24T01:50:10.356+08:00Malc's BlogComments on and descriptions of everyday family life in a tropical country, plus other interesting stuff that takes my fancy. May contain explicit sexual material so if you are offended by such or under the legal age, please leave now.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.comBlogger261125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-44451713847065812832015-07-05T15:27:00.004+08:002015-07-05T15:46:30.254+08:00Transformations<table style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #e4e4e4; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; width: 100%px; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody>
<tr><td>Aa very interesting site is http://www.conscious.tv/ I reproduce here some of the page, and leave it you.</td><td><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="http://conscious.tv/consciousness.html?bcpid=2439355001&bclid=18673093001&bctid=4291498717001" style="color: #263893; text-decoration: none;"><img align="right" alt="Heath Thompson - 'Returning To The Source Is Stillness' - Interview by Iain McNay" src="http://brightcove.vo.llnwd.net/v1/unsecured/media/1321328037/201506/250/1321328037_4291591772001_th-557a2b22e4b0bdeddf1da7b0-782203298001.jpg?pubId=1321328037" height="60" hspace="10" width="80" /></a><b>Consciousness<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>-<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="conscious" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><b>Transformations</b></span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>(loaded 12 June 2015)</i><br />
<span class="conscious" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Heath Thompson - 'Returning To The Source Is Stillness' - Interview by Iain McNay<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://conscious.tv/consciousness.html?bcpid=2439355001&bclid=18673093001&bctid=4291498717001" style="color: #263893; text-decoration: none;">(watch this programme)</a></span><br />
Heath's spirituality began by joining a Buddhist practice under the teachings of the Vietnamese Zen monk Thich Nhat Hahn. He joined a two-year distance learning course called Foundation of Buddhism but quit believing that if there is an Absolute Truth it would be simple and not require academic discussion to find it. His Realisation occurred over two, perhaps three 'moments'; the first happened the day he quit the course, 'I was sitting in the garden absent-mindedly watching bees and insects flying around while drinking tea and I suddenly noticed a feeling appear in my stomach that vanished the moment I witnessed it, and an inner voice said to me "you will never feel that again." So he decided to simply sit without a real reason and just be silent and see if it returns - and it did, long enough for him to realise what was being expressed; an endless pool of stillness. 'My life totally changed a month later when getting out of bed I glanced through the window at the sky and saw, felt, heard the same Presence I had felt on the inside and I knew at once all is One, there is no inside or outside, no here or there, no birth or death, nowhere to go, nothing to do - all is as it is. I laughed at myself for even though I suspected the Truth to be simple I had not expected it to be ablaze wherever I looked. This happened in October 2009 and I spent until February 2011 feeling unable to express what I knew as my sangha had people with over 20 years experience of practice who didn't like my attempts to question some of the teachings. In the end I decided to leave and spend my time learning from nature.'<br />
</td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="http://conscious.tv/consciousness.html?bcpid=2439355001&bclid=18673093001&bctid=4248954153001" style="color: #263893; text-decoration: none;"><img align="right" alt="Debra Wilkinson - 'Awake And Ready' - Interview by Iain McNay" src="http://brightcove.vo.llnwd.net/v1/unsecured/media/1321328037/201505/1212/1321328037_4248982944001_th-555dcf92e4b0deee85c6a851-767904722001.jpg?pubId=1321328037" height="60" hspace="10" width="80" /></a><b>Consciousness<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>-<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="conscious" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><b>Transformations</b></span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>(loaded 06 June 2015)</i><br />
<span class="conscious" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Debra Wilkinson - 'Awake And Ready' - Interview by Iain McNay<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://conscious.tv/consciousness.html?bcpid=2439355001&bclid=18673093001&bctid=4248954153001" style="color: #263893; text-decoration: none;">(watch this programme)</a></span><br />
Debra was the child of an alcoholic Mother who started seeking because she could not live with her mind's conditioning anymore. She was a mass of anxiety, hurt and plagued by the past and terrified by the future. She started to meditate which helped to lift the heavy energies she had acquired. She developed a very painful nerve condition and learnt to be with the pain. Found that a dreadful curse became a true blessing. She would spend 5 hours a day in meditation and got to the point where, 'I was done.' 'I thought I knew who I was but suddenly I wasn't that anymore. So I sat with it and asked 'Who Am I?' 'Who or what is that?' And the answer came 'I am God!' I realised in that moment I am God in expression and now my mind was free. Now there is just me and God and me knowing that I am God.'<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://conscious.tv/nonduality.html?bcpid=45947084001&bclid=46629186001&bctid=4249207019001" style="color: #263893; text-decoration: none;"><img align="right" alt="Linda Clair - 'I Am Enlightened' - Interview by Renate McNay" src="http://brightcove.vo.llnwd.net/v1/unsecured/media/1321328037/201505/2532/1321328037_4249319280001_th-555df30ce4b07d01a520d3c4-1083021587001.jpg?pubId=1321328037" height="60" hspace="10" width="80" /></a><b>Non Duality<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>-<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="conscious" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><b>Awakenings</b></span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>(loaded 29 May 2015)</i><br />
<span class="conscious" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Linda Clair - 'I Am Enlightened' - Interview by Renate McNay<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://conscious.tv/nonduality.html?bcpid=45947084001&bclid=46629186001&bctid=4249207019001" style="color: #263893; text-decoration: none;">(watch this programme)</a></span><br />
Linda was born in Sydney in 1958. She had virtually no interest in meditation or spiritual matters until the age of 37, when she was introduced to Peter Jones, who became her first teacher. This meeting was an intense experience for her. There was a depth to the communication she had never experienced before, and it triggered a search for freedom, which was soon the major focus of her life. At this time she had two teenage children and was running a small business, but she managed to make time for intensive meditation. In 1997 she had a profound awakening during a ten-day retreat in northern New South Wales. She later described the experience as 'deeper than bliss'.There was a marked change in her after the awakening, which was really a very strong glimpse of enlightenment. She knew now what was possible, and she also knew that she would not be satisfied until that state became permanent. She maintained the humble attitude of a student and continued to practice.During this time she met the Japanese Zen Master, Hogen Yamahata, who also impressed her with his deeply enlightened presence and humility.In 2004 she travelled to Japan and spent six weeks at a Zen monastery with Hogen-san's Master, Harada Tangen Roshi, known as Roshi Sama. Her time with him was intense. She sensed she was close to the culmination of her journey. She returned to Australia in a deeply detached, peaceful state. Roshi Sama gave her the name Dai'an Jishin, which translates as 'deep peace, compassionate heart/mind'. Her search ended during a ten-day retreat with Hogen-san at Springbrook, in the mountains behind the Gold Coast in Queensland.'Everything changed. All fear disappeared. I was left with nothing and nothing to lose. The depth of peace and satisfaction overwhelmed me, and it continues to deepen every day. Life is immediate. There is no desire for anything more or different. This is enough.'<br />
<br />
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<tr><td><div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Consciousness<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>-<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="conscious" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><b>Transformations</b></span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>(loaded 19 June 2015)</i></div>
<span class="conscious" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Rory O'Connor - 'I Can't Do This Anymore' - Interview by Iain McNay<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://conscious.tv/consciousness.html?bcpid=2439355001&bclid=18673093001&bctid=4248915670001" style="color: #263893; text-decoration: none;">(watch this programme)</a></span><br />
Rory
was the youngest of 8 children and raised in the Catholic tradition. 'I
remember looking at my parent's life and thinking that it seemed like a
kind of hell, a trap that they 'believed' they could not get out of.
From where I stood, frustration seemed to dog their lives.' He became a
drummer in a heavy metal band but became very depressed and stopped
playing music. But he kept searching, reading, started TM, and openings
started to appear. 'At some point in my late thirties I had a real
moment of clarity, a paradigm shift. I realised that what I understood
of quantum science and the eastern traditions was essentially describing
the same thing ie. the concept of everything appearing out of nothing
through the observer. From then on 'reality' seemed a lot less 'solid'.
'Concurrent events in my personal life had also conspired to create an
actual 'breakdown' moment where the pain of trying to keep everything
'together' caused me to smash the kitchen table to pieces with my bare
hands only to find myself sitting in the rubble saying repeatedly "I
can't do this anymore". It may not sound like it but this 'moment of
surrender' was the best thing that ever happened to me.' 'When you know
that you know nothing then you are free to consider anything and believe
nothing. It doesn't matter how you describe it or label it life simply
is what it is and the description/label is meaningless'<br />
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Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-15848900228600983102015-06-03T20:06:00.001+08:002015-06-03T20:13:13.154+08:00Home made tomato soupI have been remembering the Heinz tomato soup I used to enjoy in England (I once worked for Heinz in their London factory and used to get staff discount on slightly damaged cans.) Unfortunately we cannot get Heinz soups here; some Heinz products - vinegar, ketchup - but not soups.<br />
<br />
It occurred to me that I might be able to make tomato soup using tomato paste. Heinz used huge cans of tomato concentrate, so I figured tomato paste was something near what they use. I would need onion powder, garlic powder, milk powder, spices. salt, pepper. No problem with the garlic powder, but onion powder was more expensive than I was prepared for (sold in small jars, that's why I guess) so I sliced up a medium onion and diced it small, thinking I might put the soup through the blender, a messy business. <br />
<br />
First I cooked the onion over low heat in a little oil, then when it was soft I opened the tomato paste (75 g) and warmed it in the same saucepan. I added some baking soda, to make it somewhat less acidic so the milk didn't curdle so easily. Not much, though, half a teaspoon or so. Then a heaped teaspoon of garlic powder.<br />
<br />
In a separate saucepan I transferred about half the tomato paste/onion mixture over low heat and added water till the mixture was something resembling soup, but still thicker. I stirred in a couple of heaped tablespoons of milk powder (actually "Bear Brand" which is a product containing some milk but mostly other substances such as vegetable oils. It's used a lot here as a milk substitute and is rather sweeter than milk, but since we are making tomato soup and might even want to add some sugar I thought that would be ok.)<br />
<br />
This mixture tasted rather too milky so I added more tomato paste, tasting as I went. When there seemed the right balance I added a pinch of cloves, about half a teaspoon of oregano powder, salt, heaped teaspoon of brown sugar and more pepper. I wanted to add paprika but my paprika jar was unnaccountably empty so that had to be left out.<br />
<br />
I recently bought some balsamic vinegar. Our store occasionally does have unusual products and I bought this because I had never seen it before. It's delicious, made from grape juice and very concentrated, somewhat viscous and I like to put a teaspoonful in a shot glass and sip it. I put about half a teaspoon of this balsamic vinegar into the soup and I think it made an improvement.<br />
<br />
Only remained to add a little more water, re-heat and serve. Two servings (there's just Rose and me.) It's all gone so it must have been OK, and it never went through the blender!Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-66631649725476833622015-03-14T10:19:00.001+08:002015-03-14T10:22:14.434+08:00Who are you? Re-blogged from Graham Ellis's blog at grahamellis.net<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
August 18, 2014</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
HOMEward Bound</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s the dude Joe Kenny – currently chilling in a wooden
beach house in Japan with a bottle of fine wine – with HOMEward Bound. As
always, enjoy . . .</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dear Reader,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, we have Rene
Descartes to thank for the notion – apparently accepted wholesale among the
population of planet earth – that an I must exist to be the thinker of
thoughts. “I think, therefore I am.” Tosh!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly, old Rene
decided where he wanted to end up – defending and maintaining his ego-centric
view of the world – and then described at great length how he arrived there.
Little did he know, his famous adage does not resonate with the actuality of
the “awakened” state.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One who considers
herself to be an individual is reinforced in that belief by adopting the
assumption that nothing but the individual could possibly be the thinker of
thoughts. According to this reasoning, it must follow that the individual is
doing the thinking; generating thoughts and making observations and decisions
mentally. The one who makes this assumption and accepts this conclusion as
valid<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is what I call the assumed
individual.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, dear
non-seekers,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>your most fundamental
notions of who you are condemn you to the basic error of identifying yourself
with the assumed individual. Based on this apparently reasonable but fatally
flawed conclusion about yourself, your every perception and experience is
personalized as “your” thoughts; your perception; your experience; your fame
and fortune; your this and your that.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As such, the
individual is the epicentre of her own cosmos and the mistaken identification
with the assumed individual deepens constantly and ever distracts you from
suspecting the reality of what you are. Accustomed to this world view, it
appears to be madness to question its validity. After all, you might say, is it
not self-evident?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To which one might
answer: yes, it certainly seems to be so. Doesn’t everyone accept this? Surely,
it is a given in every human’s life?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, not quite
everyone. Those who have apperceived the holographic nature of the assumed
individual, those who have come to rest in their identification with the
Absolute, know the ego-centric view of the world to be false. These abide in
their non-individuality and know themselves to be none other than ALL THAT IS.
In other words, those who have found themselves at HOME know with extreme
clarity that the assumed individual is a fiction.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many know from
experience that it can be frustrating to reach a mental understanding of the
falsity of the assumed individual, only to find that the fictional individual
can never awake because what it really is has never been asleep. So, what’s all
this talk about awakening? This is merely word play. Words intended to point to
the reality – let us not speak of “truth” – can be misinterpreted when taken
more literally than was intended. Therefore, be like a child attending a
pantomime; suspend your disbelief and just go along with the notion for a
while. Your worries and your life will be waiting for you when you return.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, of course
there is – or seems to be – a human living in the world. We may say that person
is real enough, relatively speaking, as we know too well its suffering the pains
and enjoyments of life as we know it. However, it is the one that you think you
are that is no more real than a pool of water in a mirage. No amount of
thinking will enable you to see this and no amount of effort will enable the
assumed individual to see that it is not in actuality the water in the mirage
that it has always believed itself to be.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some non-seekers –
such as once I supposed myself to be – feel helpless and cheated to be led to
the threshold of the pathless path only to find that there is nothing they can
do to travel the path to the destination on the far side of the gateless gate:
HOME. They are told repeatedly that any striving, any action and any practices
would merely reinforce the falisty of the assumed individual which would be
futile, at best, if not counter-productive. In short, there is now way to get
themselves HOME.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But is this
necessarily the case? It most emphatically is not the case! Take heart.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may have read
on this blog and in the potent mini-books of Graham Ellis, that there is
something that anyone can do to reveal that the assumed individual is not who
and what they really are. That is: to deepen one’s awareness of being to the
point where one’s apparent point of perception slips back, as it were, to a
state in which there is a silent knowing of beingness and of what it is in
reality.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a seeing
that the assumed individual is observed and hence one cannot be that. Thoughts are
merely observed and hence one can neither be the thoughts nor the mind. It is
only when the habit of claiming thoughts as “your” thoughts is discarded that
one opens to experiencing that one is not the thinker; one is not in reality
the originator of thoughts. Thoughts merely arise.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The apperception
of the Reality seems to be facilitated by stepping back through this shift of
awareness from involvement in everything that is happening inside yourself to a
state of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>beingness which is devoid of
personality. At some point, the awareness seems to step behind the mind (agh,
words!) and in an instant there is only knowing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As this state is
not experienced by or with the mind, it cannot be reached by thoughts and
cannot be comprehended in relative terms. Equally, as this state exposes the
assumed individual as merely the water in the mirage, this knowing cannot be
known by the assumed individual in its ego-centric centre of perception. For
this reason, you are told in various texts that the you that you think you are
can never be “enlightened”. The dreamer cannot be awake whilst lost in a dream,
so to speak.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The old cliche may
serve our understanding once more: when the light appears the darkness is
dispelled. Darkness is merely the absence of light just as the assumed
individual is merely the absence of the certain knowing that one is not the
fictitious person one had always assumed oneself to be. There is no water on
the road ahead; it is merely the appearance of water where there is none. The illusion
of the mirage stands exposed for what it is; the notion that one was the
assumed individual fractures and falls away.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If, metaphorically
speaking, what you are in reality is like a lamp that shines with extraordinary
clarity and brightness, then one’s accustomed – ego-centric – perspective of
perception is misled by the darkness prevailing as a result of the concealment
of the lamp by an impenetrable covering.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lamp, as it
were, is not something to attain. It is what you have always been in reality.
Metaphorically speaking, all that needs to happen is for the impenetrable
covering of the lamp to be chipped away until it becomes more transparent and
fractures. Openness to the concept that one is not the thinker and therefore
not the assumed individual seems to set in motion a mechanism that brings about
the catastrophic failure of the lamp covering. This is not “your” doing, though
“you” may facilitate the process by switching your awareness in the manner
described above (and elsewhere on this website).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thoughts arise and
you may allow them to pass by without taking delivery of them. The more often
you do this, the easier it seems to get. Knowing this, switch your awareness
away from the thoughts to your fundamental beingness and abide in the space
between thoughts. It is not easy at first as it is an exercise to which you are
not accustomed. Persevere until you get the hang of it and don’t beat yourself
up if you are distracted time and time again. At some point, you may find that
it is obvious that you are not the assumed individual; thus begins the process
of dis-identification.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Experiencing
dis-identification with the assumed individual may be an unsettling process.
Suddenly, the familiar context of being who you think you are is displaced – as
if you have stepped into a vacuum. You might feel like an astronaut cut loose
from the space ship whilst on a space walk; tumbling through space. Your
habitual frame of reference disappears and in the word-free silence that ensues
your awareness may come to rest on breaths not thoughts; not memories; not
hopes or fears. None of that head noise!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do not be
troubled; when this happens you are HOMEward bound. Settle into the peace and
enjoy the ride. Bon voyage!</div>
Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-20035686517392461702014-10-31T09:07:00.000+08:002014-10-31T09:07:42.231+08:00Hands off the tillerOver the past two years or so this blog has completely changed. It's because my whole way of life has changed. I am letting my life steer itself.<br />
<br />
This started when I began to realise that the notion of free will that almost everyone believes they have is a mistake. Give that idea up and your life will run more smoothly. Plus, you won't be regretting choices or wondering what to choose, or debating with yourself over the correct course of action. Just do what appears to be appropriate to do, it may seem like I am making choices but I am not worried about whether they are good choices or not, which I certainly often used to do.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-53832662635781190382014-10-31T08:56:00.000+08:002014-10-31T08:59:34.555+08:00The Nature of Reality II1. It's hard to imagine what the world would look like if we weren't there to experience it, simply because the act of imagining it involves our presence. Would there necessarily <i>be</i> any world if we were not there to experience it? It would be simply a matter of assertion, about which there could be no direct evidence.<br />
2. Since we cannot demonstrate the existence of the world when we are not experiencing it, we have to doubt it.<br />
3. We cannot even demonstrate the existence of the world when we <i>are</i> apparently experiencing it. I have already said in the previous post that we perceive only images. Even if we were to concede the existence of eyes and a brain, what we are perceiving must be created by us somehow, there's no way of establishing that those images represent some reality external to us.<br />
<br />
There is a big mental problem here. For someone like me who has been interested in the scientific view of the universe for a lifetime, it's a very big change to start questioning the very existence of that universe. It's an exciting feeling but how can I actually start to <i>believe</i> in what logical enquiry is telling me? For eight decades I have been believing stuff that now, upon careful enquiry, starts to look like mere assumptions, mental constructions - for there can be no doubt that that is what our "knowledge" of the universe amounts to.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-5809884054052150192014-10-28T16:42:00.000+08:002014-10-31T05:20:04.877+08:00Philosophical thoughts about the nature of reality<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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For a while I am going to use this blog to clarify my
philosophy regarding the nature of the world by writing it down as clearly as possible.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Contact with objects in the world is through our
senses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I only know the perceptions of
those objects coming to me through my senses, I do not know the objects
directly, since I have no direct contact with them. </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>I seem to have direct contact with my senses,
though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You might even say I <i>am</i> my
perceptions. They are at least a part of me, if not all of me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t really <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have</i> a perception, since without someone
to perceive it there can be no perception.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>For a perception to exist, there must be
something perceived, real or imaginary. Now I come to think about this, there does not seem to be any way to tell the difference between a real object of perception and an imaginary one. That at least suggests that all percepts could be imaginary and we would never know it.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>So a perception needs a perceiver and something
to be perceived, otherwise there is no perception.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Without any perceptions, I am just potentially
aware.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can hardly say I am aware if
there is nothing to be aware of.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>But perhaps I can be deep asleep, not
dreaming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Am I aware then? I don’t
know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My senses are ready to work, I can
be woken by a sound or a touch, or even a smell. So there must be some
awareness, even though there isn’t anything to be aware of.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Since perceiver-perception-perceived cannot be dismembered
without disappearing, all I know about the world is a part of me by virtue of
its being perceived by me.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>But the world does not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">feel</i> to be a part of me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
over eighty years I have been<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>used to
regarding it as separate from me, and arguing that it isn’t, as I have just
been doing, isn’t enough to convince me. I am a creature of habit.</div>
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<![endif]-->Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-47338735593939752622014-10-19T20:56:00.000+08:002014-10-19T20:56:44.555+08:00Radical teachingI ask you only to stop imagining that you were born, have parents, are a body, will die and so on. Just try, make a beginning — it is not as hard as you think.<br />
<br />
<i>Nisargadatta Maharaj</i><br /><br />McKenna, Jed (2010-02-28). Spiritual Warfare (The Enlightenment Trilogy) (p. 119). Wisefool Press.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-11978516229100593492014-10-15T11:04:00.000+08:002014-10-15T11:05:14.418+08:00Our little fish pondRose likes to keep fish and breed them. One female Swordtail has recently given birth to more than 80 babies. I am amazed at the number she manages to keep in her body, she is about two inches long and the babies are about 1/6 inch long. How are the babies fed in her womb, I wonder?<br />
<br />
The fish normally live in our pond which is a little less than two metres square, but when a female looks pregnant and might be about to deliver, She is put in a tank, then when she has finished delivering her fry, she is returned to the pond and not kept with the fry because parents sometimes like to eat their children. The fry will be transferred to the pond when they are big enough not to be eaten - perhaps 3/4 inch long.<br />
<br />
Th pond itself is one foot deep at one side, sloping to two feet at the other. There are three water lily plants (they multiply) and a large quantity of Acharis, a fast-growing plant that can choke up the whole pond and has to be severely pruned from time to time to give the fish room to swim and us the possibility of observing them.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-2536353823681590662014-10-14T10:25:00.000+08:002014-10-14T10:37:06.593+08:00I have re-blogged this from Goran Backlund's excellent blog http://www.uncoveringlife.com/<a href="http://www.uncoveringlife.com/" target="_blank">http://www.uncoveringlife.com/</a><br />
<header>
<h1 class="entry-title">
Free Will: How Would It Actually Work?</h1>
</header>
<br />
<div class="entry-content">
<b><img alt="Free Will" class="img-with-border alignright wp-image-662 size-full" src="http://www.uncoveringlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/chains-e1401431911431.jpg" height="225" width="300" /></b>The notion of free will simply doesn’t make sense. Having realized the <a href="http://www.uncoveringlife.com/objective-reality/">fictitious nature of objective reality</a>,
the question is a non-starter—there’s simply no entity to possess
it—but even if, for the sake of discussion, we grant the existence of a
material universe, there’s still no way in which “free will” could ever
be an intelligible notion. That is, if we ask ourselves what we actually
mean by the word “free,” we can’t seem to come up with an answer.<span id="more-648"></span><br />
Commonly, the notion of “free will” means something like: <b>To be able to have chosen otherwise. </b>In other words, “I did <i>this</i>, but I <b>could</b> have done <i>that </i>instead.”<br />
But what does it mean that ‘I could have done differently?’<br />
Let’s say that I chose vanilla ice cream. But I firmly believe that I
could have chosen chocolate instead. I believe that the choice to take
the vanilla flavour came from myself, that the choice was mine. Sure, I
may have been <i>influenced </i>by external forces, but I alone ultimately decided whether I wanted vanilla or chocolate ice cream today. Right?<br />
But if the choice to take the vanilla was caused by me, what then
caused me to cause that choice? There has to have been a prior cause;
some force making me decide what to eat—whether internal or
external—otherwise that choice to take the vanilla ice cream is simply
indistinguishable from a random one. In other words, unless I decide to
decide, or something decides for me, the choice is simply random.<br />
So, do I decide to decide? Of course not. Then we would have to admit
another decision, one that decided that we were going to decide to
decide, and so on <i>ad infinitum.</i><br />
The only possibilities left are either that choices are random, or
they’re caused—their causes themselves being caused, and so on, “all the
way back,” so to speak—but neither of these alternatives fit what we
mean by the word “free.” So, what <i>do</i> we mean?<br />
Well, there’s the problem. When we truly try to comprehend the
concept of “free will,” we realize that we don’t even know what we <i>mean</i>. The notion is literally inconceivable.<br />
<b>Either choices depend on something, in which case they’re not
“free,” or they don’t, in which case they’re indistinguishable from
random ones. There’s no third alternative here.</b><br />
Even if we grant the existence of some kind of “soul” that exists
outside of the chain of causation, yet with the ability to inject
decisions <i>into</i> it, we would still be unable to come up with an
idea of how ‘free will’ would actually work. If we as the source of a
decision exist outside of the chain of causation, how’s that decision
any different from a merely random one? And do we really mean to say
that our souls are uncaused? We usually think that some force put us
here; but if anything, whatever is responsible for putting us here would
then also be the ultimate cause for any decisions that we come up with.<br />
Does all of this mean that there’s no possibility of choice? That
there aren’t a multitude of possible outcomes? That everything is “on
rails,” so to speak? Yes it does.<br />
The idea that anything could be different than it is<b><i>, </i></b>is
simply delusion. The idea that there were multiple possible outcomes to
an event is nothing but a way of thinking. We call events “random” when
we couldn’t predict what was going to happen, mentally creating a
plethora of “possible outcomes” – but all of that is just <i>in thought</i>. It’s just a way of thinking. None of that exists in reality.<br />
The way things are, is simply the only way they could be.<br />
When you realize this—that nothing could be different than it is—the
habit of incessantly worrying about past and future decisions can
finally come to an end. Thoughts surrounding the notions of selection
and choice need not to occupy our consciousness anymore; instead, their
absence signifies a newfound freedom: <b>anything but constant perfection is starting to become unthinkable. </b>In
the absence of these thoughts surrounding the notion of “free will,” we
can at last rest assured that everything is always unfolding exactly as
it should.</div>
<span class="meta-sep">by</span> <span class="author vcard">Göran Backlund<a href="http://www.uncoveringlife.com/" target="_blank">http://www.uncoveringlife.com/</a></span><br />
<br />
<span class="author vcard">I strongly recommend Goran's book "Refuting the External World" , the clearest exposition of what reality is that I have yet read.</span>Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-11008127889785966362014-10-01T14:15:00.000+08:002014-10-01T14:15:35.178+08:00The cause of human suffering and conflict<b>I have re-blogged this from <a href="http://the-wanderling.com/zen30.html">http://the-wanderling.com/zen30.html</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
The cause of human suffering and conflict is our commitment to
the illusions we call values, morals and ethics. Values, morals and
ethics do not exist outside of our cultural- existential minds. They do
not exist in reality and are therefore a figment of our culturally and
existentially indoctrinated imagination. We believe or think values
exist when in fact they do not. This describes the schizophrenic mind.
The schizophrenic mind is separated from reality and centered in
unreality or what psychologists call fantasy, believing this fantasy to
be real. Cultural/existential humanity exists entirely within the
framework of illusionary values, morals and ethics and is therefore
absolutely schizophrenic. We are either affirmatively committed to the
existence of values, morals and ethics or we are not. If we are
committed to the existence of values, morals and ethics, we are
schizophrenic and consequently insane. If we are not committed to
values, morals and ethics, then confusion, conflict and insanity are not
a part of our psychological nature. The term insane is used to describe
the personal and social actions of the schizophrenic personality. There
can be no conflict without the values of right or wrong being offended
or defended. There can be no guilt or repression without the values of
right or wrong, good or bad having been applied. There can be no
psychological neurosis or psychosis without the fears associated with
the loss or gain of that valued. There can be no anxiety without the
anticipation or expectation concerning future uncertainties about
success or failure. There can be no frustration without a desired goal
being thwarted. The illusionary concepts of values, morals and ethics
exist so that we may judge, separate and divide, and then pit the one
side against the other. This enables the persons involved to feel either
superior or inferior as the case may be. This is the underlying
motivation for all cultural-existential activity. Due to the divisive
and conflicting nature of duality, cultural/existential humanity can be
described as being not only sociopathic (anti-social) in its attitude
and response to humankind, but also psychopathic (aggressively
anti-social) much of that time. Since confusion, conflict and insanity
are the consequence of our commitment to values, morals and ethics, and
peace exists when there is no confusion, conflict or insanity present,
it can be concluded that peace is the consequence of having no values,
no morals and no ethics. If values, morals and ethics are the direct
cause of all human suffering and conflict and do not exist in the
tao/eden/reality, and if peace and sanity are to be realized, we must
refuse to take part in their use.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-36778512274745867362014-09-19T03:02:00.000+08:002014-10-02T19:22:01.845+08:00 "Like and dislike is the disease of the mind." Hsin Hsin Ming by Seng-ts’an from the 6th century. Thanks to Graham Ellis, grahamellis.net.<blockquote>
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The Great Way is not difficult, for those who have no preferences. <b>Let go of longing and aversion</b>, and it reveals itself.<br />
Make the smallest distinction, however, and you are as far from it as heaven is from earth. If you want to realize the truth, then hold no opinions for or against anything.<br />
<b>Like and dislike is the disease of the mind.</b><br />
When the deep meaning (of the Way) is not understood the intrinsic peace of mind is disturbed.<br />
As vast as infinite space, it is perfect and lacks nothing.<br />
Indeed, it is due to your grasping and repelling That you do not see things as they are.<br />
Do not get entangled in things; Do not get lost in emptiness. Be still in the oneness of things and dualism vanishes by itself.</div>
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When you try to stop motion to achieve quietude, the very effort fills you with activity.<br />
As long as you hold on to opposites you will never know the One Way.<br />
Those who do not understand the Way will assert or deny the reality of things.<br />
Deny the reality of things, you miss its deeper reality;<br />
Assert the reality of things, you miss the emptiness of all things.<br />
The more you think about it, the further you are from the truth.<br />
Cease all thinking, and there is nothing that will not be revealed to you.<br />
To return to the root is to find the essence, but to pursue appearances is to miss the Source. The moment you are enlightened, you go beyond appearances and emptiness.<br />
Changes that seem to occur in the (empty) world, appear real only because of ignorance.<br />
Do not search for the truth; only cease to cherish opinions.</div>
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Do not hold to dualistic views, avoid such habits carefully.<br />
If there is even a trace of right and wrong, the mind is lost in confusion.<br />
Although all dualities arise from the One, do not cling even to this One.<br />
When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way, everything is without fault.<br />
When things can no longer be faulty, it is as if there are no things.
When the mind can no longer be disturbed, it is as if there is no mind.
When thought-objects vanish, the thinking-subject vanishes.<br />
When the mind vanishes, objects vanish.<br />
The arising of other gives rise to self; giving rise to self generates other. Know these seeming two facets as one Emptiness.<br />
In this Emptiness, the two are indistinguishable and each contains in itself the whole.<br />
When no discrimination is made between this and that, how can you prefer one to another?</div>
</div>
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The Great Way is all-embracing, not easy, not difficult.<br />
Those who rely on limited views are fearful and irresolute; the faster they hurry, the slower they go.<br />
Clinging, they go too far, even an attachment to enlightenment is to go astray.<b> Just let things be in their own way as they are,</b><br />
and there is neither coming nor going.<br />
Be in harmony with the Way<br />
and you will be free of disturbances. Tied by your thoughts, you lose the truth, become heavy, dull, and unwell.<br />
Not well, the mind is troubled.<br />
Then why cling to or reject anything?<br />
If you wish to move in the One Way, do not dislike even the world of senses and ideas.<br />
Indeed, to accept them fully is identical with true Enlightenment. The wise attaches to no goals, but the foolish fetter themselves.</div>
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There is but one Dharma, not many.<br />
Distinctions arise from the clinging needs of the ignorant. Using mind to stir up the mind<br />
is the original mistake.<br />
Peaceful and troubled derive from thinking; Enlightenment has no likes or dislikes.<br />
All dualities come from ignorant inference.<br />
They are like unto dreams or flowers in the air, the foolish try to grasp them.<br />
Gain and loss, right and wrong, abandon all such thoughts at once.<br />
If the eye never sleeps, all dreams will naturally cease.<br />
If the mind makes no discriminations, all things are as they are, of One-essence.<br />
To understand the mystery of this One-essence is to be released from all entanglements.<br />
When all things are seen without differentiation, you return to the origin and remain what you are.</div>
</div>
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Consider the movement in stillness and the stationary in motion, both movement and rest disappear.<br />
When such dualities cease to exist even Oneness itself cannot exist.<br />
This ultimate state is not bound by rules and descriptions.<br />
For the Realized mind, at one with the Way, all doing ceases.<br />
Doubts and irresolutions vanish and the Truth is confirmed in you.<br />
With a single stroke you are freed from bondage; nothing clings to you and you hold onto nothing.<br />
All is void, clear, and self-illuminating, with no need to exert the mind.<br />
Here thinking, feeling, knowledge, and imagination are of no value.<br />
In this world of “as it really is” there is neither self nor other. To swiftly accord with that, only express nonduality.</div>
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In this nonduality nothing is separate, nothing is excluded.<br />
The enlightened of all times and places have personally realized this truth.<br />
The Truth is beyond time and space, one instant is eternity.<br />
Not here, not there - but everywhere always right before your eyes.<br />
Infinitely large and infinitely small, no difference, for definitions have vanished and no boundaries can be discerned.<br />
So too with “existence” and “non-existence.”<br />
Don’t waste time in arguments and discussion, attempting to grasp the ungraspable.<br />
One thing and everything move among and intermingle without distinction.<br />
To live in this Realization is to not worry about perfection or non-perfection.<br />
To put your trust in the Way is to live without separation, and in this nonduality you are one with the Way.</div>
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Words! Words!<br />
The Way is beyond language,<br />
Words never could, can not now, and never will describe the Way.</div>
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</blockquote>
Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-8881116092919199532014-08-06T12:25:00.000+08:002014-08-07T19:56:45.735+08:00How come this book is so popular?A couple of days ago I stumbled on <a href="http://www.aholyexperience.com/ann-voskamp/" target="_blank">this site</a>. Ann Voscamp, the owner of the site and author of a best-selling book, and her family are such an attractive bunch of people, so I looked on Amazon for the book and reviews. I took advantage of amazon's "look inside" facility, and read some, but the style was so difficult to read and the subject-matter so - in my philosophy - (as in Hamlet I mean) blindly Bible-believing and dangerously misguided that I started wondering (for the thousandth time) how such lovely people could espouse such impossible beliefs. Perhaps it's just Ann, but most likely her husband, too, and then inevitably at least some of the children, some of whom are old enough to have developed beliefs of their own or at least abandoned those of the parents.<br />
<br />
Then I started reading some of the reviews. As it happened, the reviews were shown in order of "helpfulness", and the most helpful ones turned out to be generally unfavourable, often reflecting my own views especially as to style and readability. I found it astonishing that such a difficult book should become a Number 6 best seller on amazon. I also felt anew the very familiar feeling of puzzlement about a large number of apparently sensible people adopting such apparently non-sensical beliefs and using those beliefs as guides to an apparently useful and fulfilling life.<br />
<br />
This is the whole problem of religion, for me. To religious people (and I think that means the majority) belief is all, it doesn't have to make sense, but it has to appeal to the emotions. Glaring inconsistencies, such as the existence of other religions with different beliefs underpinning them, are ignored or treated the way I treat all religions: they are mostly mistaken and their adherents misguided.
The fact is that life treats everybody with indifference, whatever religion or lack of religion they espouse. Life does not care whether you are a Christian or a Muslim or an atheist, whether you are a philanthropist or a mass murderer. People want to see order and reason in life (though there is really no necessity for it) so they invent stories which seem to justify their situation or the situations of others; but I don't believe such stories. Karma, the wrath of God, Satan's tempting, past lives, judgement after death etc - all stories, pure invention.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-7334884261653682732014-08-04T13:44:00.000+08:002014-08-05T03:34:46.575+08:00Growing old<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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One thing about getting old in this country, people go out
of their way to help quite often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I
am standing at the back of a long line at the supermarket, I may find one of
the male staff suddenly appearing at my side, taking my cart and gently pushing
it and me right through the checkout and towards a cash desk in another area of the store which for some
reason does not have anyone waiting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then again, I went into the bank last week to withdraw some cash and many of their lights
weren’t working.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took my withdrawal
slip to an area where there seemed to be more light (my vision in poor light is
bad and writing by hand has been very difficult for me for the past three or
four years due to tremor) and Joyce, one of the tellers, immediately came round
to me with a pen and withdrawal slip in her hand, asked me what my requirements
were, wrote out the slip herself and a minute later the other teller was giving me my cash in the assorted denominations she knows I like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was all done with smiles into the bargain.<br />
I have never regretted leaving UK and settling in this country. </div>
Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-31610633181106640692014-08-01T06:58:00.002+08:002014-08-01T06:58:34.266+08:00Reality againWhen considering the substance of reality, what things are actually made of, how about considering the substance of what dreams are made of? What is the scenery of your dreams made of?<br /><br />Could it be the same with the substance of our “real” world?<br />Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-43570198369941069732014-07-31T03:35:00.000+08:002014-07-31T03:35:23.788+08:00Suggestions for Happiness (practical and philosophical)<br />1. Eat what you like, but no more than you need<br />2. Spend money only if you have it. I have a credit card but the balance is paid in full automatically every month. It’s a convenience mainly for shopping online.<br />3. Life happens, so it’s best to accept fully whatever Life brings to you. Non-acceptance is called suffering.<br />4. Assume you do not actually control anything. It’s very likely nobody controls anything, anyway. If you think you are controlling your life, you may be mistaken. Just do what is there to be done. There can be no evidence that you have or had any choice in the matter. This will save you a lot of worry. Giving up the illusion of free will is a radical step, but don’t you think some radical steps are needed?<br />5. Understand that the past does not exist. Memories are thoughts and feelings and if they arise they are happening now. Life, including thoughts and feelings, can only be happening now. Even the concept “now” implies some other time, but there is no other time. The future does not exist, either; hopes, fears, expectations are thoughts and feelings only. They are happening now.<br />
<br />(If there is inconsistency in these suggestions, please don’t expect a tidy scheme. Take it or leave it.)<br /><br />
If there is no other time than now, then there can be no actual time, it wouldn’t make sense. The whole idea of time is just that – an idea. A convenience for everyday living. For scheduling stuff.<br /><br />
I have found it very instructive lately, very helpful, to investigate carefully the nature of what is seen as reality. Just going by my actual experience, without making any assumptions, I can see that everything I have been used to thinking of as “out there”, outside me, is really inseparable from my perceptions – in other words, a part of me. So I could say that my world is inside me. Or is me. What I have been used to thinking of as “reality,” separate from me, is a thought construct, a set of assumptions.<br /><br />
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</xml><![endif]-->Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-62873539105549576072014-07-25T09:27:00.000+08:002014-07-28T21:32:33.210+08:00The Sense of “I”<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">There’s something very strange about the sense of “I” each of
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">There are a (relatively) few people who have lost this sense
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universal question, but in many cases just suddenly and unexpectedly without
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">No paths lead to it, you cannot get nearer to it just because the
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Enlightenment doesn’t result in a life free from pain and
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</span>Life happens, normally we think we are controlling our little bit, at least to
some extent; but this, too, is part of the illusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And you don’t need enlightenment to realize that
not having any free will is a distinct possibility, because it is impossible to
demonstrate that you could have done something differently at the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>time you did it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If something can never be demonstrated, it is
probably just an assumption and not true at all, but that doesn’t stop most people from believing it, because
belief in free will is one of the important aspects of the game <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>of being a human on planet Earth. I sometimes
try to imagine what life would be like if everyone knew they had no free will.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Absence of free will means, of course, absence of any agent
capable of exercising it. This alone reduces our personhood to very little – a completely
passive thing, obviously not a person in any meaningful sense of the word.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Philosophers of every persuasion have had something to say
about free will, so it seems that a little thought will give us pause and cause
us to wonder if we really have such a faculty.</span> <span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Here is a link to a
discussion of the matter of free will in the Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/freewill/%3eHere">http://www.iep.utm.edu/freewill</a>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The great majority do not wish to apply their thinking
abilities to these tricky questions, they just prefer to get on with life as
they believe it to be normally lived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
My wife is a good example: when I ask her to show that she really has free will, she cannot, or she will assert that merely saying she is going to do something and then doing it means she has free will</span>. Anyway, she believes she has it and that's enough for her! She, like most, wants to use thinking to work out how to play the game more successfully, not to question the whole setup. Thinking too closely may seriously interfere with the rules of the game!</span></div>
Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-69114881751247858812014-07-13T12:18:00.000+08:002014-07-13T12:18:48.010+08:00Real Life? or dream?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Most people, however bad their life might seem from time to
time, don’t want to leave it. The fact is, people are addicted to this human game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see it as a game that we, for mysterious
reasons, have decided to play. After all, what else is there to do?! We don’t
know.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what happens when
we die – leave the human game?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many
people have beliefs, perhaps strongly<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>held and even exclusive, but few have certainties, based in experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My personal belief takes its source in what
happens to a dream character when we wake up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The character is seen to have had no real existence, though we didn’t realize
this while we were dreaming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that’s
what happens when we die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cannot say “I”
will see that I had no real existence, since “I” will be seen to have never
really existed – to have been imaginary, with a body somewhat like a counter in
a board game, enabling me to play, collect rewards and forfeits, compare
myself with others etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We call this “real
life” since that’s how it appears to us, and if we understood that it is no more
real than a dream, it might lose some of its excitement. Like the follower of
this blog who unfollowed me when I queried “is life important?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life, to her, still relatively young, was
vividly important.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Who, then, will see that I was only a dream character?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have to resort to impersonal verbs: “it
will be seen” – like that. The really fascinating thing is that for
some, this seeing has occurred while they were still actively playing this
dream game. They tell us that though life is transformed, it still continues much as before, though since it's apparently a dream in which they no longer have a personal identity, they see it very differently.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Should anyone be interested in acquiring this “seeing,” it seems it
cannot be commanded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I may continue this
subject in a day or two.</div>
Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-47785438565046335062014-06-29T14:48:00.000+08:002014-06-29T14:48:05.844+08:00Try this Mandelbrot program I have writtenDuring the last three weeks I have been amusing myself learning the java programming language. It hasn't been so easy as at the age of 84 learning and remembering new stuff is harder than it used to be! I have had some help from my son Claude.<br />
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To give me inspiration I decided to use my interest in the Mandelbrot set to get to grips with the java language. I created a program which displays the whole set and you can outline any area you think might be interesting to examine it more closely.<br />
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There is a limit to the minimum size of area, due to the limitations of computer precision and it's unavoidable. However there is plenty of interesting stuff there.<br />
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I believe that to see the Mandelbrot set as anything more than a pretty picture or a boring mathematical formula, you need to be mathematically inclined. The fascination, for me, lies in the mysterious ability of this formula to produce extraordinary patterns from apparently humdrum repetition of a formula. Looking at the patterns, I am struck by the similarity to many natural forms: Could it be that natural forms, such as a leaf or a flower, have as their formal basis a mathematical formula? Is mathematics more pervasive in the universe than we have heretofore imagined?<br />
<br />There is also the weird phenomenon of little pieces of the set cropping up at some distance from the main chunk, similar in shape but facing in different directions and connected to it by untraceably fine filaments (there are no isolated pieces, they say, and I also suspect that every distant piece is connected to the main by only one path.)<br />
In case anyone wants to explore for themselves, <a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9924893/Mandel5.jar" target="_blank">this is a link</a> to the file of my program which I have placed online for anyone to download and try. To run it, or any other java-based program, you need "java runtime environment" which you probably already have on your computer, but you can download it at the <a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jre7-downloads-1880261.html" target="_blank">Oracle website</a> if you don't have it.<br />
Once you have opened my program, use your mouse to draw a rectangle somewhere interesting, then press ENTER. Drawing the rectangle is largely automatic as it has to be horizontal and have certain proportions, so you only need draw the top side of it. A little practice will soon give you the idea. Email me if you need help. Read the info on the left of the screen. "Page Up" increase the precision at high magnifications, but also takes longer to draw the picture - perhaps ten seconds or more depending on your machine's speed..<br />
<br />Possibly you can also open the file in a text editor such as Notepad or Wordpad, if you want to fiddle with it and make alterations.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-76535612820264370422014-06-20T09:07:00.001+08:002014-06-20T17:08:01.074+08:00More Mandelbrot<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Mandelbrot set holds endless fascination for me. Who would have thought that repeated iteration of a simple mathematical formula could show such intricate, repeating patterns? For the first picture I used 5,000 iterations as the maximum necessary for determining whether a given point in the complex plane is a member of the set (shown black) or not. This means that every tiny pixel in the black areas is black because the formula has been iterated 5,000 times to make it so. It takes 3 or 4 seconds for my laptop to generate this picture, and roughly, say, a quarter of the picture is black and there are nearly a million pixels in the picture. So that alone necessitates 1,250,000,000 <i>iterations</i>, and each iteration means a lot of work for the computer. What an amazing thing a modern laptop is! Without such devices at our disposal, we never could have guessed at the intricacies depicted here.<br />
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The parts which are not black are points which have been rejected before 5,000 iterations have been performed for them, and their colour is dependent on the number of iterations necessary to decide they should be rejected.<br />
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By the way, I read somewhere that it has been proved there are no isolated pieces of the set, every little black bit is connected to the main chunk, even though we may not be able to see the connection because screen resolution is not fine enough or perhaps because we have not used enough iterations, resulting in a pixel being shown black when it shouldn't be. <br />
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Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-59654262092050581952014-06-03T11:18:00.000+08:002014-06-03T11:44:11.807+08:00Do I exist?The question of the near-universal restricting sense of "I" afflicting humans is a highly interesting and puzzling one. I say "near" universal because there are some people - let's call them "No-I"s - who don't have this restricting sense of "I", they have lost it either intentionally or fortuitously; and "afflicting" because it seems to be at the bottom of nearly all the suffering in human society. The No-Is can still say "I" but it doesn't mean the same thing for them as it does for us unregenerates.<br />
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Taking myself as an example, how is it that I have this particular sense of "I" and not some other person"s sense of "I"? Of course, if I had some other person's sense of "I" I would not be aware of that, I would believe I <i>was</i> that other person, so it seems like a very silly question. But give it some thought. It can have an effect rather like some of those drawings by M C Escher.<br />
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The sense of "I" seems to go with a particular body. As far as I am concerned, this body I am associated with is the centre of my universe. But is this restricted sense of "I" really necessary? Some - those who have lost it - say that it's a handicap, and life is infinitely better without it. Sure, the body-mind organism is still there for use as necessary, but the sense of their personhood has gone. It's an illusion we would be better discarding. Each of us thinks that he/she is a person, with goals, problems, etc. but, say the No-Is, this is simply an illusion which dramatically restricts your life and is the cause of all suffering. It sticks, too. You can't get rid of it easily, because you really do think you are a person - don't you? It would be like committing suicide!<br />
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The Buddha, it is said, sat under a bodhi tree and vowed not to get up until that illusion had released its hold on him. It did so release, and he did get up, to teach others. He is famously supposed to have said, "Events happen, deeds are done, but there is no doer thereof."<br />
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Many will become very indignant when I suggest that the belief that they are a person may be mistaken. It's just a suggestion, but it deserves some thought.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-2262800782330023322014-06-01T10:12:00.000+08:002014-06-01T10:48:47.294+08:00MandelbrotThis picture is a very tiny detail from an image of the Mandelbrot set, a set of complex numbers defined by a simple recursive formula. I made it in the course of modifying Daniel Schiffman's program written in the "Processing" programming language ( I love playing around with programming, especially graphics.)<br />
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The Mandelbrot set has fascinated mathematicians and scientists - and other kinds of people, too - for some decades now, especially since the advent of powerful computers made producing its image very simple. Magnifying any interesting-looking area will simply produce more fascinating detail, and there's no end to it - in theory. In practice, it's limited by the ability of the computer to deal with many decimal places. The image above is a portion of the image below, much magnified (and colour added.)<br />
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When I first tried to make the Mandelbrot set image, 23 years ago, my PC had to be left on all night in order to give it time to draw it. I programmed it in the language called "C." Now, my very ordinary laptop takes just a few seconds to produce a colour image. Here is an image of the complete set: Those filaments wandering out from the main mass can be magnified to show the kind of detail in the first picture.<br />
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<br />Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-78802245758742986552014-05-24T15:23:00.000+08:002014-05-24T19:52:35.896+08:00Mango delightTwenty years ago Rose planted mango seeds, from which three or four trees have been allowed to grow.<br />
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It's the mango season here now, and they are plentiful in the stores and on the streets. Our trees have excelled themselves, and every flat surface in and around our house is covered in big, fat mangos.<br />
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Our mangos are the best. No exaggeration. I have eaten a great many over the last twenty-three years and no mangos commercially available are as good, flavourful and juicy as those from one of our trees. They have thinner seeds, too, which means more of the weight is edible flesh. You will notice from the photos that our mangos do not necessarily have the clear yellow colour the commercially grown product usually has. I don't know how the growers get them that way, but our dull skins do not detract in any way from their eating qualities<br />
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They have to be harvested carefully as if they are allowed to fall they get damaged, and left on the trees the fruit bats enjoy them. Fortunately Sonny Lopez, our part-time helper, is small, strong and agile and can go up the trees as necessary to bring the mangos down. He can then take a big bag of them home for himself and his family, and Rose has to give away as many as possible as fast as possible.<br />
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Sonny: <br />
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We have known Sonny for almost twenty three years and he has has been a great help to us in many ways, building and maintaining much of our house and willing to do almost anything. He has never learned to read paper plans, which has been a slight disadvantage but since I can read them easily it doesn't matter much. During the years I spent building and sailing boats here, he was a frequent companion in my trips to other islands, besides being a great help in the boat-building process. For a number of years we employed Sonny full time, but he began to develop other interests and take on social and community duties - elder in his church and president of a local association, plus a small business of his own - so the arrangement morphed into part time. It's enough, as it happens, as we have no big projects in hand now.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-8827043387233435042014-05-12T09:45:00.000+08:002014-05-12T09:45:24.890+08:00Yogurt makingI happen to be very fond of yogurt. None is available in this town, so I have tried various methods of making my own. We can easily get through a litre of yogurt every day between the three of us, as we like to use it in cooking.<br /><br />The first try I used powdered filled milk ("Alaska" brand) with some skimmed milk powder added. I mixed it in water, about 1.5 litres, heated it to 180 deg F, and after letting it cool to 115 deg I added a teaspoon of Lactopafi (a kind of horrible health drink we can buy here), which I was hoping might contain suitable live bacilli. I transferred all to a clean vacuum flask and after about eight hours I opened it to find and enjoy some excellent yogurt! I was surprised.<br /><br />I made another successful batch, and yet another using Yakult as a starter, but then things began to go wrong and I could never duplicate my first attempts successfully. Instead of yogurt, I got cheesy curds and whey.<br /><br />After three unsuccessful attempts, I gave up and decided to buy a yogurt maker. I chose "Easiyo", and it came with a packet of milk powder and starter mixed.<br /><br />This device is very simple and consists of an external insulating container, into which you pour boiling water. You mix the powder with water to one litre in a separate inner container, which is closed tight and lowered part way into the hot water, then the lid is put on the external container and after 8 to 12 hours (8 hours for me, our climate is warm) there you have your yummy yogurt. Couldn't be simpler.<br /><br />The next day I made another batch from Alaska powder, skim milk and a spoonful of the first batch for starter. That was successful, too.<br /><br />I will just go on using previous batches as starters until that stops working, then I will try Yakult again. If that doesn't work I will just buy another ready-mixed packet from the original vendor.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-36379330133957832052014-05-04T01:02:00.001+08:002014-05-04T01:45:13.306+08:00Done it again: woke after two or three hours sleep with "The Whistling Gypsy Rover" running through my mind. I like the little story. Wasn't long before the record was changed for "The Wraggle Taggle Gypsies," a song whose melody I prefer but whose words I had to get out of bed and go online to check.<br />
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<i>Three gypsies stood at the castle gate, they sang so high, they sang so low. <br />The lady sate in her chamber late, her heart it melted away like snow. <br /><br />They sang so sweet, they sang so shrill, at last her tears began to flow <br />And she laid down her silken gown, her golden rings and all her show. <br /><br />She plucked off her high-heeled shoes, a-made of Spanish leather-O <br />She would in the street in her bare, bare feet all out in the wind and weather-O. <br /><br />Saddle to me my milk white steed and go and fetch me my pony-O <br />That I may ride and seek my bride who’s gone with the wraggle taggle gypsies-O! <br /><br />He rode high and he rode low, he rode through woods and copses-O <br />Until he came to a open field and there he espied his a-lady-O. <br /><br />“What makes you leave your house and land, your golden treasures to forgo? <br />What makes you leave your new wedded lord, to follow the wraggle taggle gypsies-O?” <br /><br />“What care I for my house and land? What care I for my treasures-O? <br />What care I for my new wedded lord? I’m off with the wraggle taggle gypsies-O!” <br /><br />“Last night you slept on a goose-feathered bed, with the sheet turned down so bravely-O. <br />Tonight you'll sleep in a cold open field along with the wraggle taggle gypsies-O!” <br /><br />“What care I for a goose-feathered bed with the sheet turned down so bravely-O? <br />Tonight I’ll sleep in a cold open field along with the wraggle taggle gypsies-O!” <i></i></i>
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Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9885290.post-31324451363928996222014-04-16T12:59:00.000+08:002014-04-16T12:59:29.767+08:00Coconut HoneyOne can buy imported honey here, it usually comes from USA and it's expensive, of course. However, other honey can also be bought, in Max's vegetable and grocery store (Max always manages to find pretty young girls to serve in his store, I don't know how he does it; his wife works there, and she's beautiful, too.) This honey comes in bottles recycled from their original Rum contents, is about one third the price of the imported product, is very sweet and thick and has a woody flavour, quite unlike the usual clover or heather flavours. Much of it - perhaps all of it - is from wild bees, harvested by intrepid local men willing to climb into the heights of the forest trees here and rob the bees up there. I have seen and heard these bees, but certainly wouldn't dare to try to take their honey! As there are many thousands of coconut palms around here, the honey is sure to come largely from them.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18156162412655551672noreply@blogger.com0