Revisiting Rebirth

O.K. Some people don't get it.

Try reading a little. THIS book is a start.

Hell, even THIS article is a start. [a PDF]

What would cause young children to think they remembered living before—and dying before? For the past forty years, doctors at the University of Virginia Medical Center have tried to answer that question. Researchers have investigated more than 2,500 cases of young children who reported memories of previous lives. Now, Jim B. Tucker, M.D., a child psychiatrist who currently directs the research, shares these studies with the general public.
Children who report past-life memories typically begin talking about a previous life when they are two to three years old. The children tend to show a strong emotional involvement with the apparent memories and often cry to be taken to the previous family. In many cases, parents have taken their children to the places they named, where they found that an individual had died whose life matched the details given by the child. During the visits, some children have recognized family members or friends from that individual's life. Many children have also had birthmarks that matched wounds on the body of the deceased individual.

This isn't voodoo mojo Feng Shui. It's science. Thinking allowed is thinking aloud.

Don't believe* it, consider it.


The Boy Who Lived Before: This documentary screened in 2005 as part of the television series ”Extraordinary People” broadcast in the UK. “The Boy Who Lived Before” featured the investigation of the case of Cameron Macaulay by Dr. Jim Tucker, an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia.

*Belief is an emotional disease in my lexicon - akin to pork for the Jews and Muslims.

Wecome to hell - now suffer!

Women don't get it. Newborns have big eyes and they look so cute.

But what is going on is that the wheel of dharma is being turned by desire and yet another salient being is condemned to the continuance of hell (the seemingly endless cycles of birth-death).
In just one city, there are three babies born every hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That's actually a bit more at 75 babies a day and 27,375 a year.

That's 5 Woodsides or almost an entire Monterey added to the planet each and every year!

Play the VIDEO

And the photographer, not to be outdone, was seven months pregnant when she visited Delhi's baby factory! It's up to the men in the world to detach from fathering children. Women can't do it alone and a monastic order of monks (who swear and keep an oath not to touch a woman) is just a small start on the right path.

Am I saying that EVERY man should reject the idea of fathering children?

YES!
Looking for the tabernacle [body] maker,
through the many cycles of birth.
And in not finding him,
painful are the cycles of birth.

No more, maker of tabernacles [embodiments],
for you [Mara] have been seen.
You shall make my tabernacle [body] no more.

The rafters [ribs] are broken
the ridge-pole [spine] is sundered
the mind [understanding] approaches the Eternal.

[For] I [now] understand peace is the extinction of desire.

Zen Practice is Zazen

"Studying Zen (sanzen) is zazen. For zazen, one should have a
quiet place. Spread a thick sitting mat. Do not let in drafts or
vapors; do not admit rain or dew. You should secure and maintain
the spot where you place yourself. There are traces from the past
of those who sat on a vajra [seat] or sat on a rock; they all spread a
thick layer of grass to sit on. The place where you sit should be
bright; it should not be dark either day or night. The technique is
to keep it warm in winter and cool in summer.

Cast aside all involvements and discontinue the myriad affairs.
Good is not thought of; evil is not thought of. It is not mind,
intellect or consciousness; it is not thoughts, ideas or perceptions.
Do not figure to make a buddha; slough off sitting or reclining.
You should be moderate in food and drink. Hold dear the passing
days and nights, and take to zazen as though brushing a fire from
your head." source

academic source

Truth-on a sliding scale

The above is my favorite illustration from any book that I have ever encountered.
Perhaps I will delve into it just a bit. At one extreme, you have "hot" emotionalism which leads people to _scream_, _cry_, _shout_, _fart_, and dance with snakes. At the other extreme you have "cold" rationalism where people reflectively think, reason, and dare to understand. Revelation comes not from emoting but rather from reflective thinking.

Emotionalism knows no wisdom. Rationalism needs no wisdom.

Now I am not addressing ENTJ personality types here. Nor am I addressing INTJ folks. Nor am I even referring to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®. There is some value to the MBTI® assessment. Especially where you are trying to cure a "sick company" or dysfunctional board of directors.

I am talking about a party of one - YOU. And I am talking about how you are going to cope in an increasingly difficult world - one where poverty is the norm.

"The prognosis for the next few years is bad with a chance of worse."

Today I am a:

slightly expressed Extravert
slightly expressed Sensing personality
moderately expressed Thinking personality
moderately expressed Judging personality

Other days, I am other things than slightly ES and moderately TJ... personality is dynamic and, like everything else in nature, subject to change. I am most often ENTJ. Not that it matters because it doesn't. I'm retired. If my conversation at PEET's offends thee, rip out your ears. But, please, go somewhere else to do it.

It's the "T" part - THINKING over emoting. I recall one incident at the SFZC when Brad gave a talk about Shobogenzo (and his book Sit Down and Shut Up). During the questions period, a woman went on and on in a testimonial about how sitting Zazen had brought her compassion to full fruition. I studied the absence of reaction in the room and eventually she noticed it also. This was clearly not a cry-in.

Thinking people have to throttle their ability somewhat to get along with groups. Emotional people have to curb their emotions to get along with groups. It's like the ANS and Nishijima... balance.

Sick joke:

What do 5,000 battered women have in common?

(Pounding fist on table and screaming) "They just won't learn to listen!"

Analysis: Battered women are often paired with insecure men who lack emotional maturity, coping skills, and often have severe anger control issues (the anger arises from a general lack of ability to compete in the job market, gain and keep the respect of others, hold one's own ground in a conversation, and a propensity to self-medicate with alcohol or narcotic substances). These women often have serious issues of their own - co-dependence being one.

Battered voters have an instrument of revenge - the ballot. If and when these voters wake up to the realization that they have been battered by the emotionalism of right wingnut radio and other republican thugs, they will tune them out, cast them out, and never return their support.

the Oxford Comma

Why the Oxford comma is important. The Oxford comma is found before the final "and" in a series of nouns, e.g., "We bought apples, oranges, and pears." The Oxford comma is even more important in a string of nouns such as this, "We like soup and sandwiches, peaches and cream, and cookies and milk."

Besides following some in-house "book of style" or "accepted practice", there's no reason not to use the Oxford comma, unless it's to confuse readers!

<< http://unlikelywords.tumblr.com/post/10316821782/why-the-oxford-comma-is-important-via-peterc >>

In the translations of archaic languages, the matter of punctuation, usage, and context do matter. Punctuation, by use of additional little marks or character embellishments, was used by the ancients. The use of ancient (archaic) punctuation is not well understood.

Let's face it. Subtle changes in punctuation can make profound differences in meaning (cognitive content).