Wednesday, July 31, 2024

The irony of Dionysus

 


A critical but relatively serious analysis of the recent 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony. Yes, it was a "feast of Dionysus", but that *in itself* is an attack on Christianity (obviously). Also argues that the irony of displays like this ("we are not really Satanists") are part of the problem...   

From Thor to Allah

 

Torsa
Credit: Mark Goodard

This seems to be a cult of some kind, trying to buy land for their cultic compound. However, since fundamentalist Muslims already have closely-knit communities in British cities, it´s not clear how Scotland could stop this...?  

Islamic cleric wants to buy Scottish island and establish "Muslim homeland"

Monitoring spirits

 


Paranoia meets autism in this bizarre clip, another example of the "Chosen One" phenomenon. Apparently, your friends, family and co-workers (or people staring at you in the supermarket) are possessed by demons known as "monitoring spirits". 

Yeah, that´s from "The Matrix", dude, where "the agents" can take over the body of any human inside the interactive simulation.

I didn´t watch/monitor all of it, and perhaps you shouldn´t either. 

Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Snöflingor stretar på


 

Snöflingorna på Aftonbladet stretar på. De noterade visst inte de pedofila inslagen, eller hur Döden från Uppenbarelseboken lämnade över den olympiska flaggan...

Inget att se här, bara en helt vanlig backanal!

"En grekisk gud hånade kristna, tydligen"

The gods shalt not be mocked

 


A chthonic orgie. Death rides a white horse. The olympic flag is hoisted upside down. And now, it turns out that the organizers actually extinguished the olympic fire lit at Olympia itself?! 

Today, it was announced that the triathlon - one of the most popular sports in the Summer Games - has been postponed. Maybe it will be cancelled. It wouldn´t surprise me if something even worse (or even more pathetic) happens to these games.

The Gods of Olympus shalt not be mocked.  

The Kamala Sutra

 


Could be controversial...

Monday, July 29, 2024

Ontological cheating

 

AI´s fantasy version of the
First Universal Common Ancestor (FUCA)

Previously posted on January 3, 2022.

Isn´t it strange that most atheists-materialists believe that the universe is inevitably going *their* way, while claiming to believe in blind evolution and attack teleology as unscientific? And yet, it seems that the blind process of chance and determinism invariably ends up with the English Victorian gentleman with a slight penchant for reform causes...at least if you are, let´s say, an English Victorian gentleman with a slight penchant for reform causes. Funny how *blind* evolution never ends with, say, a militaristic Preussian junker, or a French Bonapartist named Bonaparte. Or a hideous Thugee in darkest British Raj. 

Of course, if you are a libertarian, blind cosmic evolution somehow manages to always end with libertarians, never with Stalinists or Latin Rite Catholics. Or even Kamala Harris. If you are a left-liberal disaster area with California Crazy values, blind evolution will inevitably (at least after 15 billion years or so) take you to the sunny shores of Crazy California, that notorious left-liberal disaster area. Even more weirdly, all the scenarios above always converge on humanity inventing some ingenious machine that can take us to the stars and eventually "become like gods" (hiss). 

But that´s not teleology either. Naaah. Cuz that would be UNSCIENTIFIC!!!

Presumably, it´s not anthropocentrism either, then.

One of the few exceptions to the rule seems to be Richard Dawkins. He actually believes that evolution can turn out in a way we *don´t* like. Which seems pretty reasonable, if the process is supposed to be a blind-folded one. (Or even a teleological one - what the heck makes us think *we* are the purpose of the universe?) Hence his quip: "Let´s try to teach some altruism, since we are born selfish". Dawkins has also said: "I´m not particularly interested in humans. That´s just one species, and a highly aberrant one, at that". Dawkins have drawn the conclusion nobody else dares to draw. Everybody else is engaged in a kind of ontological cheating. I used to think that Dawkins´ perspective was terrible, dark and depressive. Reading "The Blind Watchmaker" almost turned me Christian! Or at least Platonist. Today, I suspect he is on to something. And no, I´m not an atheist-materialist. But the plane of existence we are stuck on in this round, sure as hell seems godless...  

The One Ring, pardon, Spoon

 


Archbishop Elpidophoros is apparently the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States. This super-Orthodox clip of uncertain provenance argues that the archbishop is too liberal! He seems to support Joe Biden, wants a dialogue with the LGBTQ community, defends Ukraine against Russia, and so on. 

More original (?) is the attack on Elpidophoros´ stance during the COVID pandemic, when he called on the Greek Orthodox to stop partaking of the communion wine with one collective spoon, instead recommending that each communicant uses an individual spoon - obviously to protect people from the virus. But this is anathema to whoever made this video, since he believes that both the wine and the collective spoon are supernaturally protected from pathogenes! After all, the wine is the blood of Christ, which blesses even the one spoon...

Dude.

Note also the paranoia against Freemasons. 


Great is Diana of the Ephesians?

 



Maverick Assyrian Christian preacher Mar Mari Emmanuel has achieved a certain level of (herostratic?) fame on the proverbial internets, due to his broadly Alt Right messaging. But while Emmanuel might be generally popular on the far right, his theology creates controversy among the more religiously orthodox. 

The two clips above argues that Emmanuel is a Nestorian (just as other Assyrian believers), which should be anathema to both Eastern Orthodox, Monophysites, Catholics and Protestants! Interestingly, Emmanuel´s small Church in Australia, Christ the Good Shepherd Church, has an ecumenical slant and allows Catholics and Orthodox to partake of its holy communion.

For an even more critical look at the based bishop, see here: 

Dark Halo

Dead men do talk

 


Dude, what´s your problem with necromancy? Just wait until I tell you about Skinwalker ranch!

Oh, and speaking of the Enlightenment... 

Among kings and necromancers

Materialist Monday

 

- Well, I don´t believe in Bayesian equations,
so I kind of exist anyways!

I just realized that I probably never linked to this, left-liberal atheist-materialist Richard Carrier´s counter-apologetics extravaganza. It´s interesting, but contrary to Mr Atheist-Plus, I consider the "prior probability" for the spiritual and paranormal to be quite high, so my equations point towards, I don´t know, God or something... 

Bayesian counter-apologetics: Ten arguments for God destroyed


Those who hate me, love Death

 


So in early medieval India, Tantric Shaivism was the state religion in many of the feudal kingdoms. Complete with orgies, antinomianism and gratuitious violence. 

I always wondered how on earth such a society (or ruling class) can even exist?!

Then, I saw the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic games...and realized that what they showed is backed by the globalist establishment. So it is possible. In fact, we´re there now

For how long, remains to be seen. After all, the Woke extravaganza was topped by Death riding a white horse, handing over an olympic flag which was then hoisted upside down ("by mistake"). Talk about self-hex!

So I´m optimistic.   

Nothing is true, everything is permitted

 



The pros and cons of Chaos Magick. A quite serious discussion by a ritual magician who is mostly into the Golden Dawn tradition. If you believe in magic, that is!  

Behold a pale horse

 


A hooded rider on a pale horse, carrying the Olympic flag...which is then hoisted upside down "by mistake". 

Nothing occult or untoward here, please continue with the show!

The Babbler in the Abyss

 






This is how our boy Thomas Sheridan sounded about five years ago. Scary stuff! 


De galna hundarna

 


Erdogan-regimen gör äntligen något nyttigt...

Miljontals hundar i Turkiet kan avlivas

Sunday, July 28, 2024

All planets and moons are ours...except Europa

 


A short article and a somewhat longer YouTube video, speculating that the octopus is an alien being, perhaps from Europa or Enceladus. In another video, Sheridan claims that Stanley Kubrick knew the truth about the Europa situation. Note also the obvious similarity with H P Lovecraft´s mythos. Sheridan actually wants to worship the octopi as sacred creatures. One reason is to scare the shit out of the Normies! Another is to get the attention of the octopuses and see how they react... 

Fact check: probably not true, since last I looked octopus DNA was of the same type as the DNA of all other organisms on planet Earth. So it´s a native. But yes, its intelligence is a fascinating example of "convergent evolution".  

Europa: Home planet of the octopus...and their cryogenic space ships?

Kamalamania

 


Thomas Sheridan believes that Choronzon, the Demon of the Abyss, has broken through and found a human host: Kamala Harris. Apparently, about 20,000 people have already read this short piece.  

Kamala Harris is here to open the gates to the demon world and keep them opened

A stoner question?

 


Is "how did consciousness arise" actually a "stoner" question? LOL. Well, I´m beginning to suspect something similar!

But what if the answer to stoner questions is, shall we say, psychedelic?  

Gay Games

 


Thomas Sheridan mocks the Christians who are angry at the Queer opening ceremony of the Olympic Summer Games in Paris. "Forgive your enemies, brothers". Sheridan is a crypto-Crowleyan Chaos Magician, so there´s that, I suppose. 

Saturday, July 27, 2024

The black nobility

 


I linked to this two years ago, but here we go again. Thomas Sheridan *knows* who Stanley Kubrick blew the whistle on in "Eyes Wide Shut". Or does he?

Also includes a discussion on "2001: A Space Odyssey".  

Att blunda med öppna ögon

 


En av kabelkanalerna har faktiskt visat den här filmen några gånger de senaste veckorna eller så. Länken nedan går till en av våra ofrivilliga grannbloggar. 

Har också ett (svagt) minne av att någon recensent i Sverige inte ville se vad filmen egentligen handlade om. Jag tror att hon skrev att alla var överens om att scenen med sexsekten var något slags absurt sammanbrott från Kubricks sida. 

Men det är ju *det* filmen handlar om... 

Eyes Wide Shut

Don´t freak, she´s a Sikh

 


"RNC opens with prayer to demon". Trump, right? :D 

Nah, apparently it was an Indian-American woman who offered prayers for the GOP presidential nominee. The Christian fundie above doesn´t even mention her name: Harmeet Dhillon, a former chair of the California Republican Party and a Trump supporter. Nor does the content-creator know that Dhillon is a Sikh, rather than a Hindu...

The man is so angry that his thumb-nail actually shows the Hindu god Vishnu riding an elephant colored like the American flag, obviously intended to symbolize the Republican party!  

The Don is the One, get over it

 


An evangelical Christian protests in vain against the personality cult of Donald Trump among many other American Christians. Trump is the Chosen One, Jesus has his back, Messianic prophecies from the Bible are really about the Donald, indeed, he is a high priest of Jehovah Almighty!

Cry more. :D   

Swastikas of Baal

 


Is this true? Are historians and archeologists really this stupid? Or is it conspiracy theory as usual? 

Be like the enemy

 


If you can´t beat ´em, join ´em. Or at least become more like them. Michael Lind argues that the United States (and the West more generally) can´t win the new Cold War...unless we become more like China. Not authoritarian, but a mixed economy with strong government involvement and an industrial base. 

Good luck with that in a world marked by demographic decline, lower IQ, peak oil and climate change... 

Cold War II 

Missing people

 

Credit: Steve Jurvetson

Soon enough, populations will collapse all over the world (outside Africa). What should be done about it? Michael Lind´s proposal is original: a regulated labor market, strictly legal immigration, and...higher wages. Any takers? 

Missing but wanted: Children

Friday, July 26, 2024

The fire next time: Our own study department!

 

Credit: Bottracker

Explains a thing or two. Note the suspicion that "climate change study programs" are really preserves of the non-Hispanic White middle class left, usually excluded from the broad rainbow coalition. An article by Michael Lind. 

The Left´s Campus Protest Scam

It begins

 

Credit: Benh Lieu Song

Here we go...

Sabotage against French high speed rail network

Tech bros

 



An article from Breitbart News claiming that "tech bros" (super-rich IT moguls) are turning and embracing Donald Trump. Musk might in some sense be ideologically aligned with Trump, but what about all the others? It seems to be about taxes and cryptocurrency!  

"Civil war" between Hollywood and Silicon Valley

Gathering at Zion?

 



The Mormon Church (or its hierarchy) is for open borders. 

Utah in uproar as Mormon Church pulls in thousands of migrants

Thursday, July 25, 2024

When the Anglo-Saxons start to chill

 


Some people broadly on the Trump side fear a civil war if the Democrats win. And some people on the Democrat side probably fear a civil war regardless of whether Trump wins or loses. 

But what if...absolutely nothing happens? After all, nothing happened in 2016 or 2020 either. Correction: nothing even close to an actual civil war. Riots and an attempted storming of Congress by marginal groups aren´t the same thing. Indeed, what could the social base of a real civil war even *be* in the United States today? Antifas? Proud Boys and the Q Shaman? Come on...

Nobody else wants a civil war, or is capable of fighting one even if they would. What if the United States will go through a long, drawn-out decline instead of a "Balkan" or "African" scenario? Maybe fears of a civil war are really romantic dreams of escapism...  

El Gringo Grande

 


You can´t make this shit up. Or can you? Note also the T-shirt ad: "Jesus was convicted in a sham trial. I still follow him". 

Trump hero in Mexican folk songs?

Neverending story

 


The charades continue... 

Hungary demands EU action against Ukraine

Hungary facing a fuel crisis

Baboon sangha

 


The term "baboon sangha" (see previous blog post) is a keeper... 

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

The Lord of the Animals

 

Credit: SajjadF

A fascinating post by Robert Mathiesen over at JMG´s blog Ecosophia just now: 

>>>Chimpanzees and Baboons have each been observed showing behavior that is most easily interpreted as their being overcome by awe or some other numinous experience in nature. Here is the primatologist Barbara Smuts on her own observations:

>>>“One experience I expecially treasure. The Gombe baboons were travelling to their sleeping trees late in the day, moving slowly down a stream with many small, still pools, a route they often traversed. Without any signal perceptible to me, each baboon sat at the edge of a pool on one of the many smooth rocks that lined the edges of the stream. They sat alone or in small clusters, completely silent, gazing at the water. Even the perpetually noisy juveniles fell into silent contemplation. I joined them. Half an hour later, again with no perceptible signal, they resumed their journey in what felt like an almost sacramental procession. I was stunned by this mysterious expression of what I have come to think of as baboon sangha. Although I´ve spent years with baboons, I witnessed this only twice, both times at Gombe. I have never heard another primatologist recount such an experience. I sometimes wonder if, on these two occasions, I was granted a glimpse of a dimension of baboon life they do not normally expose to people. These moments reminded me how little we really know about the ‘more-than-human world’.” — Smuts, “Encounters with Animal Minds,” Journal of Consciousness Studies 8 (2001), 293–309.

>>>Oveer the last 15 or so years, the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture has been publishing academic studies of what seems very much like religious behavior or numinous experience in some species of animals, notably non-human primates. James R. Harrod goes so far as to speak of “chimpanzee religion” in at least one of his articles, and Paul Cunningham makes a good case for what he calls “animal spirituality.”

>>>Since very many species of animals, including non-human primates, have rituals of behavior that serve to maintain their social orders, it seems to me reasonable to suppose a multi-step development over evolutionary time that led to human religions: (1) unsought experiences of awe and other sorts of numinous experience, and (2) ritualized behavior developing in response to such experiences, as it does in response to many other sorts of animal experience. From these develop (3) more or less well organized systems of ritual response, or ceremonies, which are to be exhibited at appropriate times and/or places (leading to calendars and maps of various sorts). And eventually, humans –being human! — eventually try to think about their behavior of this sort, developing philosophies and theologies as a sort of [inherently inadequate, IMHO] intellectualization of their experience. All this, of course, is very much IMHO — basically, just my own [inherently inadequate] intellectualization. 

I´ve heard of Jane Goodall´s observation of chimpanzees worshipping waterfalls, and also of corvid funerals, but this one was new. Maybe God is the Lord of the Animals, after all...

Offended by the euphemisms

 

A guy with ideas that offend 

OK, I can´t let this one go...

The bizarre thing with the Woke is that they use "safe space" euphemisms even when discussing fascism and Nazism. It´s like a sick joke. Maybe it is?

Bro, Mussolini´s fascism wasn´t "an idea that offends". Nor does the name Hitler "have an objectionable sound to modern ears". Nor were Adolph and Benito simply "controversial figures". Geezus. The Nazis were genocidal maniacs, for crying out loud!

And why is Beyoncé mentioned in the same headline as Duce and der Führer? 

They are laughing at us. I´m offended by the euphemisms. Can I file a complaint with the HR department? 

Hitler beetle, Trump moth, Beyoncé fly 

Priorities

A beetle named after Adolf Hitler (!)
Credit: Michael Munich 

 

This is the kind of BS that makes me wanna vote Trump or something...

I´m not entirely surprised that this happens, tbh, but I kind of hoped that the conservative character of scientific names (they are *supposed* to be unchangable) would stop the Wokies in this particular case. 

But naaah, apparently not. That being said, if these are the new rules...well...a number of organisms are named after Greta Thunberg. I´m sure Israelis and Jews might find *that* offensive. Just as offensive as name a living creature after, say, Hitler or Mussolini. Let´s see if somebody is brave enough to mount a challenge!

Botanists vote to remove racist references from plant names

Simple as

 


Overheard on the website of the Revolutionary Communist International: 

>>>In another dramatic twist in US politics, Joe Biden has ended his reelection campaign. His likely successor, Kamala Harris, is yet another devotee of capitalism, and is unlikely to beat Trump in November. The only way forward is to build a mass communist party.

I mean, what could be simpler, right?

A stake in America

 


The Alt Right are weird sometimes. One common argument against Kamala Harris is that she doesn´t have any children of her own, and hence can´t have a "stake in America". But Harris is half-Jamaican, half-East Indian. Funny with all these Alt Right racialists suddenly wanting POCs to have babies...

Note also that J D Vance, Trump´s running mate, is married to an East Indian! You can´t make this shit up. So presumably his mixed race children will have a stake in Amerika, then?

But maybe I´m just misunderstanding something here. Maybe the complaints emanate from the Jewish-Mexican-Kenyan-Azeri-Chinese faction of the Alt Right? As opposed to, say, the gay faction...

Mysteriet Donald Trump

 

Donald Trump i glatt samspråk med Kanye West 


Inte helt säker på om Hübinette verkligen tolkar den här opinionsmätningen på ett adekvat sätt. Visst, det finns ganska anmärkningsvärda inslag. Som att 65% av de vita väljarna utan högskoleutbildning stödjer Trump. Eller att bara 37% av de unga väljarna gör det. 

Men det finns andra siffror som sticker ut också. Exempelvis att 43% av de spansktalande faktiskt stödjer Trump. Han fick ett starkt stöd i den gruppen redan 2020. Vilket inte passar någons "narrativ", verkar det som! Observera också att Trump har 21% av de svartas röster i denna opinionsmätning - en minoritet, förvisso, men Trump verkar vara den ende republikanen på kanske 100 år som lockar åtminstone *några* svarta väljare. Big Man swagger, eller vad?

Och trots Trumps implicit vita profilering, så stöds Kamala Harris faktiskt av 42% av de vita väljarna. 

"Trump dominerar helt bland vita amerikaner"

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Grandmother tradition

 


So Belief-o-Matic now claims I´m a Neo-Pagan?! Well, I suppose that´s a bit better than being Unitarian Universalist, although I have no idea why they changed tack. I didn´t tick the polytheist or Nature-worshipping boxes, for instance!

In other news, July 21 is said to have been the hottest day ever. That is, ever recorded. I could swear it was today, but the figures are preliminary...

Cryptid Antarctica

 


OK, the cryptid monster birds (including a jumbo-sized penguin) were funny, but otherwise, naaah, people just see beaked whales and stuff. 

The New Popular Front, same as the old one

 


A Trotskyist group discovers the blessings of popular frontism, almost a century too late...

Theses on the French elections and the New Popular Front

So you have chosen death

 


Fatah and Hamas recently signed a declaration in Beijing, according to which they will form a transitional government after the war in Gaza is over. Fatah are supposed to be the "moderates" in charge of the Palestinian Authority...

Conclusions have been drawn.  

Monday, July 22, 2024

Infinite Light

 


Don´t worry, one day we will all become One with the Infinite Light. That is my faith. Meditate on this!

Just another Tuesday

 


No real news here, it´s "just another Tuesday" on the web. Still, a good summary of typical scamming and trolling on YouTube and elsewhere. 

Gödel, Escher, Bach

 


And all this time, I assumed *I* was the quasi-intellectually precocious child. Best line: "As a kid, I found `Gödel, Escher, Bach´ by Douglas Hofstader confusing". Dude! But sure, I tried to read a book on evolutionary theory as a kid, so maybe I´m number two? LOL. Oh, and I found Carl Sagan´s "Cosmos" extremely confusing as a kid (insert really weird electronic music here). 

OK, she´s got my vote (LOL)

 


Fact check: Probably not true.  

Global tea party and Tech Trump

 


An interesting article from 2016 about Steven Bannon and Peter Thiel. We´ve met Bannon before, but I never really paid any attention to Thiel, who seems to have brokered Trump´s VP pick Vance. The article is written from a "liberal" perspective and hence never asks the 10,000 dollar question: what if "democracy" really is fucked?  

The Anti-Democratic Worldview of Steven Bannon and Peter Thiel

Sunday, July 21, 2024

Good night, sweet prince

 


I´m not surprised. I knew he would drop out this weekend. Something with the vibes! 

Place holder?

 


Vox Day doesn´t like J D Vance. In case you´re interested...

Note the comments that Peter Thiel will become the real Vice President. And who is Thiel? See Wikipedia link!

No leader of men: J D Vance is a low Delta...if we´re lucky

Two strikes

Peter Thiel (from Wikipedia)

Jag förnekar kännedom

 


Jag förnekar all kännedom om nedanstående!!! :D

Om anarkister och frihetliga socialister som blev högerradikala

Anarko-caudillo

 



Har inte orkat gräva i den historiska sanningen om "Shinmin", men att området skulle ha styrts enligt "frihetligt socialistiska principer" är ju inte särskilt troligt. Sjävklart var General (!) Kim något slags populistisk caudillo. Jag menar, vad skulle han annars ha varit? Detsamma gäller förresten Nestor Makhno i Ukraina. Observera också påståendet att den frihetliga socialismen bara varade i ett års tid.

Den andra länken går till min recension (på engelska) av en bok om den koreanska anarkismens historia, som förresten också nämndes på Hübinettes blogg för x antal år sedan. 

Om den koreanska anarkistiska autonoma zonen Shinmin

Anarchism in Korea: From revolution to reaction?

Scott Carney is the man

 



Note how my man Scott Carney goes from a materialist argument to a form of panpsychism or pantheism. 

But...

According to Carney, Alan Watts said "you are the universe becoming conscious of itself". But surely Watts had it exactly backwards? "You" are the universe *losing* its consciousness of itself as the universe.

You´re not the most imporant part of the whole. You´re its least important part. The Moon eats people.   

Saturday, July 20, 2024

Feel free

 



Scott Carney does some digging into the largely unregulated American nutritional supplement industry and finds...exactly what you might expect. And yes, our old friend kratom is part of the picture. Again!  

Abiogenic and acerbic

 


Sabine Hossenfelder attacks both climate change deniers and activist climate scientists in this video. Meltdown in the commentary section in 10, 9, 8...

Apparently, far right commentator extraordinaire Tucker Carlson has rediscovered "the abiogenic petroleum theory" (or conspiracy theory), which probably isn´t true. And even if it would be true, extracting all that oil might still fuck up the climate.

On the other hand...Sabine Hossenfelder believes that the problem isn´t the use of fossil fuels per se, but rather the carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere. Translation: if we could only find the technology to stop *that*, we might continue using fossil fuels. Not a popular message in some circles. 

Ms Hossenfelder is good at triggering both sides in an infected conflict!

Shitposting for Buddha

 


"Non-dual trolls" do exist. In fact, they seem to be quite common. You know, the kind of guys who show up in commentary sections dealing with non-duality, screaming and shouting "I AM MORE NON-DUAL THAN YOU". Completely un-ironically! I mean, dude?! 

At the pearly gates

 


I admit that Ronald Reagan´s joke *is* funny. Any connection to this year´s presidentials? 

Fina flickor...och de andra

 


Den första länken går till en artikel av Irena Pozar, som spelar Fina Flickan. Och år 2024 ska Fina Flickor givetvis vara PK. Den andra länken går till en krönika av Åsa Linderborg, som absolut inte är någon fin flicka...

Löwengrips inlägg exploderar av exotifiering 

Vance kommer att äta Harris till frukost




Friday, July 19, 2024

Signalen gäller dig

 


Kom över till den mörka sidan, Tobias... 

Allvarligt talat, men Tobias Hübinettes "konsekvensneutralitet" får ibland intressanta följder. Dock inte helt förvånad. Hans sätt att kraftigt ta avstånd från anti-semitismen i kölvattnet på Hamas-attackerna en 7 oktober 2023 gjorde väl nedanstående situation oundviklig.  

Om att uppfattas som något av en förrädare

BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH

 

Credit: AP/Evan Vucci 

My Internet actually started to malfunction *exactly* when I was writing the headline above, but I think the worst is over, guys!  

Thursday, July 18, 2024

Zoning out

 


Mindfulness has taken the world by storm. I happen to know that mindfulness exercises have even been offered to unemployed in Sweden – not clear how on earth that would increase their chances to get a job?! Inevitably, there are people who believe that mindfulness is dangerous and cultic. Like the story about a guy who was followed straight into the men´s room by a chaperon during a meditation retreat. Or what about the urban legend that Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 POTUS elections due to her, or perhaps her staff, constantly meditating according to this method? One of these days, some ethnologist should write a paper about all this!

Meanwhile, we can try to decode two overlapping scholarly articles by Robert Sharf: “Is Mindfulness Buddhist? (And why it matters)” from the journal “Transcultural Psychiatry” 2015 Vol 52(4), and “Mindfulness and Mindlessness in early Chan” from the journal “Philosophy East and West” Volume 64, Number 4, October 2014. Both are available for free at Academia.edu (registration required, but that too is for free). I admit that decoding the articles were quite hard, but I think I got the gist of it.

The practice known as mindfulness isn´t *really* a form of vipassana or Theravada insight meditation, rather having modern roots in a Buddhist revival in Burma (Myanmar). It´s mostly associated with Mahasi Sayadaw (1904-1982), who apparently developed the most well-known techniques. Mahasi wanted a form of meditation that was suited for laypeople, including those who knew next to nothing about Theravada philosophy or liturgy. The result was “bare attention”, a term coined by Mahasi´s disciple Siegmund Feniger. The technique is easy to learn and was rapidly exported to many other Buddhist nations from Burma, both those following Theravada and those practicing Mahayana. Even later, it conquered the world in a secular form and can be used by essentially everyone: Buddhist modernists in the Western world, Christians, prison inmates, hyperactive children, and (perhaps) Madame Clinton´s campaign staff. It´s seen as part and parcel of a universal and non-sectarian Buddhism. It also has a “perennialist” angle, treating spiritual mind-states as cross-cultural. The mystics really did have exactly the same raw experience, although their way of expressing it was culture-bound. And now *you* can get the same experience, almost in your own backyard! Indeed, you can actually get enlightened without following the rather complex and demanding Buddhist path.

Not so fast, argues Sharf. The word translated “mindfulness” is the Pali “sati”, which in turn is the same as the Sanskrit “smriti”. The original meaning is something like “to remember” or “to recollect”. It turns out that the meditative technique bearing this name in Theravada has very little to do with modern mindfulness. In Theravada, “sati” doesn´t mean to observe your thoughts and feelings as they come and go, effectively dismissing them all (the mindfulness approach). Rather, it seems to be the exact opposite: “sati” entails a careful analysis of each thought or feeling, learning to discriminate good “dhammas” from bad ones, according to the moral precepts of Buddhism. Also, the practice of “sati” can´t be isolated from studies of Buddhist scriptures, proper rituals, the communal life of the monks, and so on.

The author further points out that mindfulness is based on a view of the mind not found in Theravada. Mindfulness seems to imply that there is such a thing as “pure” cognition of an object, without any interpretations of the discursive mind. Our consciousness can therefore be trained to look at these qualia dispassionately “from without” (so to speak) and then simply dismiss them. The highest state would presumably be one of entirely pure mind, unsullied by any qualia whatsoever. But according to Theravada philosophy, there is no state like this. Consciousness and its objects arise co-dependently, so if consciousness of objects cease, consciousness itself ceases. At least in this world, that way madness lays. Sharf also points out that modern mindfulness is all about positive thinking (and, I suppose, glossy magazines), while traditional Theravada also sought to cultivate an attitude of world-weariness often bordering depression (by modern American standards). Meditation on corpses is a well-known example. One meditative state was known as “knowledge of appearance as terror” and was likened to a mother witnessing her three sons being executed! No safe space here, bro.

While mindfulness is thus a very modern thing, similar movements have arisen within Buddhism before. For instance within Chan Buddhism in medieval China (Chan is usually known as Zen in the Western world, Zen being the Japanese form of the name). Chan masters who had a substantial lay following developed techniques which seem to resemble “bare attention”. The techniques were attributed to a certain Layman Fu, promised instant enlightenment, did away with monasticism and ritualism, and so on. Sounds familiar? Sharf also speculates that the esoteric Tibetan practice known as Dzogchen may have been another example of such a “dumbed down” practice. He then describes what kind of criticism was leveled against the Chan “bare attention” approaches by more traditional Chan groups. They believed that the radicals couldn´t distinguish between right and wrong, and that their practices led to “falling into emptiness” and “meditation sickness”. This was apparently a dramatic euphemism for the practitioner being cut off from everyday life and society, everything that makes us sane and human. To retain our balance, we have to actively engage with Buddhist doctrine and forms of life. An Indian master named Kamalashila criticized the Chan master Heshang Moheyan during a debate in Tibet by saying that yogis who put an end to thinking end up in the realm of “beings without minds” for 500 eons as mindless zombies!

In sum, then, Sharf´s point is that mindfulness is modern, that similar movements in the past were heavily criticized from more traditional quarters and probably only represented a minority, and that “bare attention” is based on perennialism, erroneous notions about the human mind, fake positive thinking, a chase after sensual pleasure, and commercialization. Almost anything than the actual Buddhadharma. Well, yes, that does sound very modern indeed…

Perhaps we should be mindful of mindfulness? Ashtar Command, zoning out!


Angels and demons

 





Two New Age YouTube clips about Doreen Virtue. I didn´t know that Virtue grew up in a Christian Science or New Thought home. Apparently, as a New Age teacher, she took the Love & Light of this particular brand of spirituality to new heights. Guardian angels, unicorns, mermaids, no 2012 apocalypse...positive thinking, guys! One of her angel card decks is apparently a sanitized version of the Tarot, with all the scary stuff excised (no Death, no Devil, no Tower).

At the height of her popularity, Virtue appeared on Oprah Winfrey Show and made millions of dollars. Indeed, her classes were extremely expensive (the content-creator mentions a class that cost 2000 dollars). Why she later became a Christian fundamentalist seems to be anybody´s guess, and I don´t think this content-creator gets her theology right. But then, Virtue has probably changed it a couple of times anyway. 

It´s a weird story, tbh, more so since Doreen Virtue´s new beliefs are the polar opposites of the fluffy positive "metaphysical" stuff she was promoting for years. It´s like she now believes that only the scary and negative things about New Age are real, with no redeeming qualities whatever. Virtue has even tried to stop further distribution of her old books and card decks.

Did she have a paranoid epiphany, I wonder?   

Where is the Old Master?

 


Another Hardcore Zen video, now about how to demonstrate that you´re enlightened. The main pro tip seems to be: don´t! 

The story of the mind-reading monk who is chastised by his master is interesting. When the old master went into samadhi, the monk´s paranormal powers suddenly stopped working...

"But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man."

Conclusion: don´t seek siddhi powers, for they are still part of the phenomenal world as experienced by the unenlightened mind. Could be of some interest to thrill seekers everywhere. 

Range finder

 


On Tuesday, Joe Biden said that he could consider leaving the race in case of a "medical condition". On Wednesday, Biden got COVID.

Or did he? Maybe this is just the excuse he needs to gracefully bow out of the presidentials.

So what actually happened? Did Barack Obama finally convince Jill and Hunter that Joe Biden isn´t fit for fight? Or did Hillary Clinton strongarm the entire Obama-Biden clique?  

I suppose we´ll see next week or so. Stay tuned for more crazy stuff from the Trump-Biden rematch! Or so my "range finder" tells me...  

Råttan i pizzan

 


Saxat från Aftonbladet i detta nu. Varje land har sina problem, så att säga...

The undiscovered country

 


So I recently read a very scholarly text on Pure Land Buddhism…again. Pure Land Buddhism is a form of Mahayana centered on worship of Amitabha, the buddha of infinite light. The goal is to attain rebirth in the Pure Land in the West, Amitabha´s paradise-world. Once there, enlightenment is said to be extremely easy. Apart from this exoteric understanding, there is another in which the Pure Land is identified with the practitioner´s pure mind. Pure Land practices then becomes aides in meditation.

The text in question is “On Pure Land Buddhism and Chan/Pure Land Syncretism in Medieval China” by Robert Sharf. It was published in 2002. All standard textbooks on Chinese Buddhism apparently depict Pure Land Buddhism as a separate “school” alongside Tien-tai, Hua-yen and Chan (better known in the West under its Japanese designation Zen). This creates the problem of later Chan-Pure Land syncretism, as the Chan Buddhists incorporated Pure Land practices. Sharf argues that this is a chimaera (even apart from the term “syncretism” being problematic in itself) and reflects sectarian Japanese concerns. There, Zen and Pure Land Buddhism are indeed separate and attempt to be “pure”.

Sharf argues that a detailed study of the sources shows that no distinct school or lineage of Pure Land existed in China, nor were there any Pure Land patriarchs. Pure Land practices (known as nien-fo in Chinese) were present in Chan Buddhism already from the start – including in the monasteries - and hence didn´t need to be “syncretized”. Indeed, the practice of reciting names of bodhisattvas to attain rebirth in a pure land or buddha-field comes from Mahayana sutras written in India. The “White Lotus societies” which began to proliferate during the high medieval Sung dynasty are often depicted as lay Pure Land associations, but according to Sharf, even this doesn´t prove the existence of a separate school. Many of the Lotus societies were associated with Tien-tai or Chan monasteries, and some didn´t worship Amitabha at all.

The author also emphasizes that nien-fo was popular among all Chinese Buddhists regardless of school. Some of the putative “patriarchs” of the Pure Land school were really Chan or Tien-tai prominents. The entire concept of a Pure Land patriarchate seems to have been an ideological innovation of the Tien-tai school, who claimed that such a thing has existed for centuries as a way of arguing for strict clerical control of the Lotus societies. The lists of patriarchs are contradictory and frequently make no sense (with century-long gaps between patriarchs of a supposedly unbroken lineage).  

Might I guess that there could be some “sectarian” rivalry between Buddhologists specializing in China, and those more into Japan? As already noted, Sharf dislikes the “long lens of Japanese Buddhist sectarian history” and defends Chan against its Zen detractors, suggesting that the Japanese Buddhists themselves might have some axes to grind, not just the scholars. He believes that the concept of Esoteric or Tantric Buddhism is similar to the idea of a separate Pure Land school. Once again, later Japanese sectarianism (in this case Shingon) has been projected back onto the Chinese mainland. In reality, Chinese Tantrism wasn´t a separate “school”, there is no evidence that its supposed patriarchs saw themselves as such, and so on. Or so the author believes.

Next up: my man Sharf takes on mindfulness!


Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Dude

 


What´s the difference between Immeasurable Life and Immeasurable Light? Asking for a friend taking some weird vows and shit...

Make Hindutva great again

 


This is a slightly bizarre YouTube channel, featuring a White man who looks and sounds like a liberal Anglican cleric. Except that he is really a supporter of the Hindu nationalist BJP in India?! 

Still, it´s interesting that Modi & Co has weaponized Woke in the service of what most liberals and leftists would surely regard as right-wing nationalism...

If it works is, alas, another matter entirely. I´ve heard somewhere that Woke Jews prefer Muslims. Another bizarre video, I´m sure.