Power of silence: more quiet (Taoism ☯️)

(Essence of the Tao) Silence is strength: 7 things to always keep secret, according to the Tao

What is the Way of the Tao? Flow like water

Sony PlayStation goes all-digital?! (GMG)

• (@ItsLuke_7) What Grinds Luke's Gears? Sony making #PlayStation digital only is a giant “F-YOU” to consumers #politics #leftist #gaming
• Family Guy: Grinds My Gears (Peter Griffin) #shorts

HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED: Apply to be the new DG

Long ago there used to be a writer calling herself "Dukkha Girl." She disappeared, came back, faded again. We love DG. Where is she today? One can only imagine the fate of suburban motherhood or rural farm life with cats. Maybe, just maybe, she became a nun, forsaking the lower-life of householders for the high-life of striving full-time for the ultimate goal of nirvana. Who knows?

Help wanted. Inquire within (in the Comments)

We're sure she'll eventually be in touch to tell us. In the meantime, there's an attention-[whur] we imagine in the role, now that the original DG's been excluded. But this gal's branded a total "poser" and banned. It's got so bad, she lost her business.

I'm not a pose-er. I'm a trained model.

Beloved vegan yogini with a penchant for makeup, what will become of her? Does anyone out there have Cali Vibes Who is the future influencer, the next MrsBeast, doing yoga, eating at Cena Vegan?

She or he must exist out there. Look, there's Luke_7. If only that person would contact us here. Eris is not the most punk rock girl in the world. Will she never learn? For all we know, s/he's reading this right now ready for a close up, an unsung genius with an attitude. Contact us below in the Comments Section. Yes, you.

• How to be an influencer; win friends (NPR)

Girl genius syndrome?

The Carbonaro Effect: girl genius revealed: How to be discovered? Apply.

Happy? Miserable? Opinionated? Comment

No one imagines s/he could be a reliable correspondent for the despondent, a reporter of all that is dukkha in life. But someone can. Why not you?

Are you drawn to Daria's tone, to snarky commentary mumbled under breath, wishing to get a message to millions. Wisdom Quarterly has millions of views.

There are so many voices that need to be heard.

Great writing skills not a prerequisite, nor is knowledge of philosophy or religion, just opinions. Remember that episode of Family Guy when Peter got a job at the local news station for a weekly segment "What Really Grinds My Gears"? Like that. Do that. Opine. We'll edit and punch it up, make it relevant to the true extent of dukkha.

QUALIFICATIONS: Opinionated, snarky, willful, mad. Gender: open. Race: open. Religion if any: open. Writing skill level: average. Health: have a pulse. Psych: sass. Location: US or expat in Asia. Meditation practice: preferred. Musical taste: alt. Political leanings: open. Sense of humor: a must. Favorite color: should be purple. How to apply: Send writing sample.

• Deep Dukkha - Barre Center for Buddhist Studies
• AUDIO: How to be an influencer; win friends (NPR)
• Wisdom Quarterly Commentators Needed (like Dukkha Girl or The Most Punk Rock Girl in the World)

Nominal "Left" also lies for Israel?

(Katie Halper) Sell out Van Jones destroyed by Jewish surgeon who worked in Gaza

Failed submissions (c'mon, people)

• (@TheRealLifeSkinnyPetahGriffin) Ep. 2: You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? Amazon Video Roadhouse remake
• (@Baby505Doll) On today’s episode of what Grinds My Gears ⚙️ #babydoll505 #petergriffin #grindsmygears
• (@YagizSandal-v8q) Fighting should be illegal: He caught the kick and turned it into a full ride to the mat 😭
• (@QuickCastReel) 😱🫨🤯 “Stop using Vaseline (petroleum jelly) once you hear this” This is actually good, as are these:

• Jewish Max Blumenthal sets delusional Zionist straight on Israel's genocide in Gaza #Israel #Palestine #UK #EU #CIA #Mossad #ShinBet #Congress
• Sen. Blackburn put Meta's Mark "Facebook" Zuckerberg on blast for permitting predatory child exploitation content on his platform [while not tolerating any word deemed "antisemitic"]
• (@chrisbuildspc) How to build a free transparent screen into a PC case
• Joe Rogan reacts to why America is different from all other countries

Mark viral video submissions: "Short Attn Span Theater"

Superhuman silky smooth movements #skills #tiktok

Always 2 wars, never 1 (Peace Class)

Friends, this is the talk I gave last week presented here edited by Wisdom Quarterly:

.

The War of Opinions

Should I write DC a strongly-worded letter?

When we are belligerent and violent, there are always two wars happening simultaneously, the War of Bombs and the War of Opinions.

 

The War of Bombs requires the War of Opinions as its fuel. If we end the War of Opinions, we simultaneously end the War of Bombs.

 

Is this what John Lennon and Yoko Ono meant?

We are all responsible for the War of Opinions, so we can end it at any time. The way we end the War of Opinions is by thinking then saying this: "Whatever opinion you hold, I have compassion for you, and whatever opinion I hold, I have compassion for myself."

 

If we choose these mental positions, we will never have to agree with each other to see the end of belligerence, violence, war, disputes, arguments, and doing harm.

First we disagree then we go to war

(Maron in the Garage) I can no longer talk to my Trump voter friends

 

Talking is easy; doing is a little harder.

The true cause of violence is not disagreement; it is how we think about each other and feel about each other when we disagree with each other.

 

Violence can only happen if it is acceptable for us to withhold compassion from those with whom we disagree. This is the cause of war.

 

Our differences of opinion do not cause violence. What causes violence is that we are willing to withhold compassion from others, any others, because of their opinions.

Jewish Pres. Bernie wants war

(The Financial Express) Independent/Democratic presidential candidate

Bernie Sanders declares political war against Trump and U.S. oligarchs

 

As soon as we become unwilling to withhold compassion from anyone, we will see the end of violence, immediately, at that exact moment.

 

When our compassion ends nowhere, there will be peace on earth.

 

Opinions (holding views)

It's you, Bibi. - No, Donny, you're the War Prez

We are taught to use the opinions of others to justify withholding compassion from them.

• Views (Buddhism)

There is only one reason to withhold compassion from anyone: to actively build more violence on this planet. That's what our withheld compassion does.

 

If we are trying to accomplish something other than that by withholding compassion, then we are using the wrong tool. If we want to build peace, the tool that will build it is compassion-for-all.

Bob Dylan "The Times They Are a-Changin'"

 

These times

Peace Class meets Wednesdays on Zoom at 6:00 pm (PT) Zoom ID: 821 5047 2713. 

.

It's a dog's life these days.

The trouble with these times [is that they aren't a-changin' enough] is that many are trying to build peace by withholding compassion from those who disagree with them. That action builds war. So they are trying to build peace with that which only builds war.

 

That is like saying, "I'd like to build a house to sleep in, a good strong dwelling, so I'm going to build it out of water." [What do we think we are, fish, mermaids, aquatic plants?]

Man builds Water House, uses wood

(President Chay) I built a [waterproof] house and filled it with water

 

Now if we could just nail into sheet water.

Water is useful for many things, but we can't cut it into blocks and build shelters with it. [What if we freeze it first? Igloo ice, sure, but this is water we're talking about, not permafrost ice in the arctic.]

 

Our misunderstandings are so basic to our belief system that we do not see that we are trying to build a house with something we cannot build a house with. That's how elemental our misunderstandings are. But that's also how powerful our opportunities are.

 

All we need to do is say, "Now that I can see that I've been trying to build a house with blocks of water, let me try again, but with blocks of wood, and see what happens." Voila: a beautiful, solid house.

A house made of water would not be nearly so nice or durable...or livable at all.

 

Not by hatred but by...this is an eternal law.

And so it is with peace. We can say, "Let me try using compassion-for-all to build peace, and see if that works any better than withholding compassion." And it will work every time. That is an eternal and universal law.

One can't build walls with wet fluid water; one can't build true and lasting peace with hatred of the people who disagree with us.

 

I had a water house once, called the Sea

Our hatred builds something: It builds more of the Era of Belligerence.

It does not build peace in the world. It also does not build peace for us personally — in our day-to-day experience, our family and circle of friends, our workplace and our minds/hearts.

 

What builds peace for us, in our personal experience, is to say this: "I disagree with that point of view yet still have compassion for the person who holds it."

 

That builds the kind of deep peace that makes it easier for us to do everything we have to do throughout the day. It makes it easier to be a parent, easier to be a friend, easier to be a whatever.

Buddhist/Shinto real "mermaid" from Japan: Ningyo-no-zu (Bunka 2, 1805)

.

A war brings these forces to our attention, but they are always at play, in smaller ways, within our lives. Disagreements break out in the home and the workplace. And we always make more peace for ourselves when we feel and think this:

 

"I disagree with the way my boss (spouse, child, friend, whoever) sees this situation. Still, I hold deep compassion for this person."

The War of Bombs

Pentagon lies, manipulates U.S. press

(The Young Turks) Leaked documents reveal hidden U.S. deployment to Iran for Israel

DIMMU BORGIR "Puritania" (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

That'll teach 'em to disagree with us, eh, John?

The War of Bombs requires the War of Opinions to exist. Without our War of Opinions, their War of Bombs will very quickly lose steam and peter out.

 

A fire requires fuel -- such as wood and oxygen, plus certain conditions, like heat and the absence of rain.

 

War is a Racket. Just ask Fatty Fatpants

Similarly, the fire of war requires certain conditions to ignite and burn and grow.

Remove the War of Opinions and, no matter how many lit matches are thrown onto the fire of war, it will not ignite.

 

Compassion-for-all is like soaking fuel used in the fire of war. No matter how many flames are dropped on wet wood, it won't catch on fire. Our compassion-for-all ends this war and every war.

 

I serve my king with no question, Sir. - Good boy

When our compassion ends nowhere, there will be peace on earth. When our compassion goes everywhere, there is no ready fuel for war.

 

What will happen when we start to pair compassion-for-all with whatever opinion (view) we hold?

 

Could we eat our way to peace, Will Tuttle?

What will happen is that we will spend more time in our Peace Mind, which is the higher portion of our consciousness. And when we do this, we'll see new solutions—solutions that already exist, except that we cannot see them yet because they can only be seen from the more loving portion of consciousness.

 

When we have compassion for others, we free them from our hatred, vitriol, animosity, belligerence, so they visit their Peace Minds more often, too.

 

Republican gals love soldiers who kill for God.

And when we are all in our Peace Minds, new solutions will be so easy to see that we almost won't be able to comprehend how we ever stayed at war or disagreeing for so long.

 

Solutions to our problems already exist. Whether we can see them yet depends on our perspective. Where are we placing conscious attention in our own consciousness? Is it our Peace Mind?

 

It's not that this conflict, or any conflict, is based on an unsolvable problem. It's that we cannot yet see a solution that will resolve this issue from our current perspective.

 

Move our perspective, and the preexisting solution becomes apparent.

 

What's the one thing we can do to serve the world? We can learn to transition our own perspective upwards so we can see more solutions and bring more innovations to humanity.

 

What's another thing we can do? We can pair compassion with everything we think and feel. Compassion can be added to any thought, like this:

 

"I greatly disagree with what that leader has done, and I have compassion for everyone who lives in that country, even for the leader herself," or "I think that's a terrible thing to do, and I have compassion for the person who has done it." Just add one in.

I love you, Yoko. - STFU, John. (Peace❤️Truth)

No consensus of opinion needs to be reached to end the War of Opinions. We can end war without a single opinion ever changing.

 

We end it by adding our compassion-for-everyone to any opinion we have.

 

That ends the war, because now it's not a War of Opinions that we're seated within—it's simply a landscape of opinions that are allowed to exist.

 

It's not a War of Opinions when there is compassion-for-all present. Now it's a community of unique human individuals who compassionately respect each other. We came here to be unique.

 

We did not come here to create a consensus of opinion. We came here to be in a vibrant (lively and diverse) community of original thinkers, coexisting, more than tolerating but appreciating differences.

Peace Class, free, Wednesdays on Zoom

We came here to learn how to do that in peace.

 

What makes that possible is this phrase: Regardless of how we see things, we have compassion for one another. That choice-of-thought builds the kind of peace we came here to build.

In peace, Mandy

• Zoom link to join Peace Class
• Convert our 6:00 pm (PT) meeting to your time zone here: dateful.com/time-zone-converter
• Sign up for mailing list: mandykahn.com
• Learn more about Peace Class and sign up for future free classes (live and online): eventbrite.com/e/peace-class-with-mandy-kahn
• Facebook
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• Mandy Kahn (PRS.org), edited by Dhr. Seven (ed.), Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly

US intel by Scott Ritter: Israel, rave (WOW)

Scott Ritter, Danny Haiphong, 11/3/23; Pfc. Sandoval, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

US Marine Intelligence Officer Scott Ritter: Israel is destroying itself and political Zionism and settler colonialism to get a state is over.

Scott Ritter: Israel in BIG TROUBLE as its War on Gaza inflames regional tensions

(Danny Haiphong) Friend of the show and former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter reflects on Israel's war on Gaza and whether regional forces such as Hezbollah will enter into the conflict in a major way.

• Israel has been lying, spreading atrocity propaganda
• Israel was outwitted by Hamas/El Qassam Brigades
• Israel has been committing war crimes for decades
• Israel uses kibbutz system to steal land, spy on Gaza
• Israeli rave was half attended by armed active military
• The other half was former military young people
• What the US military knows and has warned Israel...

Support independent media by making a paid contribution to keep the work alive on Patreon: dannyhaiphong. This program is being CENSORED. Be sure to get updates on LIVE programs by subscribing to free newsletter: Support the channel in other ways: Substack: chroniclesofhaiphong.substack... for paid annual memberships. One-time donations: BUY A COFFEE: buymeacoffee.com/dannyhai... Cashapp: $Dhaiphong Venmo: @dannyH2020 Paypal: paypal.me/spiritofho. Follow on Telegram and find all work here: linktr.ee/haiphongpress #gaza #israel #scottritter

Music's bad, make it worse: Metal, Punk, Thrash

Finn McKenty, MBA; Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

(Carcass) Vegan British grindcore death metal with a beat? It's classic "Corporal Jigsore Quandary"

The Ultimate METAL Starter Kit

Old Man Finn Mckenty, Aug. 11, 2023: The ultimate metal starter kit is here! From classic metal to death metal to death and grindcore and more -- all the best metal bands that one needs to know are in the metal starter kit.

The Punk Rock Starter Kit

Funny Man Finn Mckenty, Aug. 17, 2022: The punk starter kit is here! Including punk bands like Ramones, Sex Pistols, Bad Religion, Crass, NOFX, Bad Religion, Subhumans, DI, Descendents, Misfits, Operation Ivy, and Nausea. Where to they belong? Find out in the punk rock starter kit.

Thrash Freekin Metal - is it dead?

What killed thrash metal?

COVERED: The Big Four: Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, Anthrax, and other thrash bands like Exodus, Testament, Forbidden, and Dark Angel. There's crossover (from punk to) thrash bands like Suicidal Tendencies, DRI, SOD, and Excel. There's a German thrash scene: Kreator, Sodom, Destruction, and Brazil's own Sepultura. How Pantera and grunge killed thrash, then Municipal Waste, Havok, and Toxic Holocaust brought it back.

🔴 TWITCH: https://www.twitch.tv/finnmckenty -- 🎉 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/thepunkrockmba -- 🔊 PODCAST (Spotify): https://bit.ly/prmbapodcast 🔊 PODCAST (Apple Podcasts): https://bit.ly/prmbapod ▶️ SPOTIFY PLAYLIST: https://bit.ly/prmbalist -- 🕹️ DISCORD: https://discord.gg/9GbTq4d8Pe 📲 INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/finnmckenty 📲 TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@finnmckenty 📲 TWITTER: https://twitter.com/thepunkrockmba 📲 LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnmckenty/ -- 👕 MERCH: https://prmbamerchstore.com/

Eva the European wanders USA and Mexico

Eva zu Beck, Jan. 20, 2023; Crystal Quintero, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

How I see the USA as a European passing through for 6 months

(Eva zu Beck) Culture shock? What are the differences between the EU (Europe) and the USA (America)? Positive surprises, struggles, regrets?

It's good to quickly learn the local language.

I share my impressions of the United States of America after spending six months traveling through the country. Then I dip into the Mexican United States (Estados Unidos Mexicanos), its actual name, which is in a special niche of North America some call Mesoamerica, which is very different from Central and South Americas. There are many Americas.

 

 

Reckon I should come back? → For exclusive news and behind the scenes, support on Patreon: patreon.com/evazubeck → Thanks to my wonderful supporters on Patreon: More

So you want to be a writer? (Here's how!)

Colum McCann (The Guardian.com, May 2017); Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

How to write a killer opening line. Why Google is not research. When to rip it up and start again. Whatever you do, just write! -- lessons from acclaimed novelist and creative writing Prof. Colum McCann.

^{[Anyone can be a writer, but how does one get to be a published writer?]}

Dear Editors, I have lots of Buddhist opinions.

“Nobody can advise you and help you, nobody,” said Rainer Maria Rilke in Letters to a Young Poet more than a century ago. “There is only one way. Go into yourself.” 

Rilke, of course, was right -- nobody but yourself can help. In the end it all comes down to the strike of the word on the page, not to mention the strike thereafter, and the strike after that. But Rilke was taken by the request from a young writer, and he corresponded with Franz Xaver Kappus in 10 letters over the course of six years.

Rilke’s was advice on matters of religion, love, feminism, sex, art, solitude, and patience, but it was also keyed into the life of the poet and how these things might shape the words upon the page.
 

I'm blasting off for a new career or hobby!

“This most of all,” he says. “Ask yourself in the most silent hour of night: must I write?”

 

Everybody who has ever felt the need to write knows the silent hour. I have come across many such people -- and indeed many such hours -- during my writing and teaching life. I’ve been teaching now for the best part of 20 years.

That’s a lot of chalk and a lot of red pencil. I haven’t loved every minute of it, but I’ve loved most. There’s been a National Book award for one student. A Booker prize for another. Guggenheims. Pushcarts. Mentorships. Friendships. But let’s be honest, there has been burnout, too. There’s been weeping and gnashing of teeth. There have been walkouts. Collapses. Regret.

 

All of these students, bar none, are looking, in Rilke’s words, “to say ecstasies that are unsayable.” The unsayable indeed. The job is theirs. The ability to trust in the difficult. The tenacity to understand that it takes time and patience to succeed.

There are no rules?

“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”

- W. Somerset Maugham

There are no rules. Or if there are any rules, they are only there to be broken. Embrace these contradictions. You must be prepared to hold two or more opposing ideas in the palms of your hands at the same time. More

• The planet's most prolific novelist (is dead) and still going
• Who is dreaming Finnegans Wake?
• VIDEO: "Raised by Krump" the dance of Los Angeles

• Want to be published in Wisdom Quarterly? Submit your work or idea marked "submission" in the Comments Section below! If it's something we can use (on some topic we cover), instead of ever appearing as a "comment," we'll edit and polish it then create a post with you as the author.
  

Kenna: Vegetarianism and Buddhism (video)

Simply_Kenna, Jan 8, 2016; Crystal Quintero, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Vegetarianism (My Thoughts and Advice)

Hello, Earthlings. Today we'll be talking about vegetarianism, Kenna's thoughts, experiences, and advice. Hope this helps some because, "It takes nothing away from a human to be kind to an animal." Business email: mckenna.kaelin@yahoo.com.

(Earthlings) WARNING: Graphic and disturbing images for those who slaughter, pay others to slaughter, or eat slaughtered animals as food! Getting butchers to kill for us is a kind of killing.

 

(Simply_Kenna) Let's talk about Buddhism and some other stuff.

Is there an afterlife in heaven or REBIRTH in Buddhism? (Yes!)

• VIDEO: Cowspiracy (Netflix)
• The Best Speech You'll Ever Hear