We talked stuff that works you up, how about things that you do to calm down? What techniques, activities, mantras, stims, etc. do you do to keep yourself comfortable and safe? Feel free to share what you’d like - and something kinda cool is that you might end up helping someone else down the line.
I’d like to think we might all have certain pieces of the puzzle but we might not have the big picture view. Likewise I think it’s incredibly healthy to accept things as what they are, but to be honest (and this is a hot take here) I think a lot of westerners overly-idealize Buddhist philosophy. But as a mixed kid, eh! I like it, but I don’t sit in any one camp. People talk about how humble monks are only eating what they are offered. But honestly, it’s a social expectation. In a different space, monks would not thrive because it might not be something so readily being offered and in turn they would experience a level of stressors that push their very beliefs to their core. That’s why there’s a lot of jokes about things like meditating in isolation on anger only to be annoyed when those practices actually get pushed. In theory all individuals regardless of background, personality, stressors - etc should be able to reach enlightenment. But I think in actuality, it takes a certain alignment of the stars and it’s fool-hearty to think otherwise. But that’s just me, and what do I know? I’m a messy human. (I always anecdotally remember that one of the most materialistic people I’ve met in my life was a former Buddhist monk =P!)
I will say though, that in my travels the happiest people I’ve ever met in my life were a SE Asian Islamic/Buddhist combo. They didn’t have much, but they had each other. And to be honest, it really taught me how to mind my ps & qs when it comes to want vs need and what one truly needs to be happy.
But at the end of the day, it’s shown over and over again that meditation in some form helps people much like exercise and doing it in any capacity is worthwhile =)!
yeah im not much for it as a religion but since I was young I have been obsessed with philosophy including in religion and truth. Currently the four noble truths are about the closest I have come. Take out the rebirth thing but otherwise seems like it. My cuirrent form looks at accpetance a lot which you had right in your second sentence. All the same one of the big acceptances for me is I will likely finish up my time without understanding truth in the purest sense.
I totally feel this. See, I don’t think any one religion has the beginning, the middle, and the end. Which you could say about anyone, because how the hell is anyone right about everything 100% of the time. Or have 100% of the coverage of consensus. We try to mimick this with observation and study (basically learning), but we don’t have all the answers. I think for sure right now we’re all in this giant space of walking the unknown. And if we don’t let stuff like this go from time to time it’ll drown our minds.
im moved from any religion not having 100% to pretty much all of them having close enough to 0% to be 0%. The Qanon thing made me reasses how groupthink works.
I get so worried when I think about what isolation, silent suffering, and groupthink does to people. It fucks me up, because I didn’t entirely understand it until I did. Then I realized how vulnerable we all are, and how many sharks are out there looking to get a power-trip at minimum adding a little chaos into the world and trampling on people’s hearts. If addiction is a social disease, I think in the future they’ll have some kinda diagnosis for people suffering from what they do to people like incels. But we’re not making it any better in this world acting like we’ve got the answers - the other side doesn’t and all the people listening to them are fuck-nuts. I think about the guy who killed his mixed kids. It was super sick how he did it, but he was also terribly unwell. And what got him to that point? I wish we created a society built on understanding, instead of ridicule. And I often wonder is it just a part of us? An intrinsic part of us? Cause a hundred years back I was listening to NPR and I remember the guy talking about how he wanted to find more commonality between all people yet he was profoundly affected in realizing that even he himself had this elitist edge of feeling better than others due to his educational standing. It made him question if it was something built in, if people need to feel superior to another group of individuals that they see below them in order to thrive. And it kinda gave me the thought to. I mean I’ll be the first to say “Hey, at least you’re not that asshole!” and point at Trump. And I think you know, feeling sorry for the global elite as a whole is kind of a pointless affair (as in celebrity worship on the whole) but I will say this…
I do feel sorry for Trump in some sense. He seems to be stuck in some kinda doddering space that is clearly exacerbated by the circuit he’s being run through in order to pretty much guarantee his failure pending that AMERICANS VOTE (!!!). People are pointing and laughing and saying look at him, he’s fucking up all over the place. What a fuck! But I don’t really think it’s fair to tax a human on that level and then pretend like the playing field is level. But also he’s a fuck, so ultimately - eh. But I am not going to celebrate cutting someone off at the knee and then laughing at their inability to stand.
Mind you, I am for sure not pro-Trump in any universe. I am just a humanist, and I think there’s something really twisted about stuff like that as a whole. Like, when people want power only to subjugate their oppressors. Or like - how a ton of portrayals of white guys in the media started to look like absolutely idiots or be fetishized or harassable. Cause fuck off with all harassment, but for sure you can’t put the shoe on the other foot and then start doing the same FUCKING thing that you hated previously. That’s just dumb.
But eh, here’s a super rant. Either way it sounds like you’ve got a solid and level head on your shoulders and I think that will take you further. At least emotionally, in this world. Idk about anything else. So kudos =)~
I sorta get you on the feeling sorry for him. I have that with a lot of folks but that level playing field is in his favor so I might feel a bit sorry for him and musk. stuck in the same system that they desperately want to shore up because they are on top yet missing out on what humanity has to offer because they can’t get passed having the most money points. all the same I feel way more sorry for someone just trying to be a good world citizen and contribute to the extent they can but want a bit of fun and niceness for themselves to.
I feel like I know Musk, because I was friends with him. As in, someone who was like him. And I know that sounds weird, but he seems just like your standard autistic anime nerd. I mean of course there’s layers, because he’s freakin’ rich and he’s for sure doing the world dirty right now. But I think ultimately he’s in the soup too. He seems to be keeping poor-bedfellows and it’s really pushed his brains past the limits. But further more he suffers from what my former friend suffers from - which I saw on here Mr. Beast suffering from too. He can’t seem to take criticism. And I don’t think it’s because he was around a bunch of yes men. And my sibby has this too. Criticism sends the two I know into INSTANT critical meltdown. Where they just break as a whole, and start throwing shit and their eyes get crazy and they just…idk. I can’t describe it any other way than - if you’ve been around it you know. Stuff gets broken, they’re decent folks but their brains just can’t handle that kinda talk. It’s like it causes the most painful cognitive dissonance they can experience.
I don’t think there’s any free land left on this Earth, but I always heard if you find yourself a patch - you shut the hell up about it and keep your head low. I think about this a lot when I think about the politics of the West. Because I think people in the west are hyper-liberal and their views are wonderful at face value (cause fuck all the isms) but are unrealistic in application. I always thought I was liberal, but coming out here I can see I am not a) the “right” kind of liberal and b) not this kind of liberal (which leads back to a). I am not conservative by any means, I would say my political ties might even lean towards socialism. I just don’t understand how a majority of these well-wished systems are supposed to functionally be implemented. Let alone with what money?
And I’ve likewise heard you tax the rich, they leave the country - the entire country loses power as a whole. Which I think is why you’re seeing so few countries implementing said systems. But eh, I mean I am not saying that shit’s not messed up as a whole. I guess more so I am just saying that (in Trump’s instance) anyone put under the extreme stressors he’s been being put under this past year would show signs of it. Also in Musk’s case, his dumb ass just needs to stop being on blast - take a seat and stop trying to look cool. Especially to men who have the mindset of teenage boys. He’d do well going on a meditation retreat or three. He just needs some grounding.
Also all celebrity worship needs to stop. In The Simpsons they’ve got a Tree House of Horror where all the town’s mascots come to life and start wrecking havoc. What kills them is people stop paying attention to them. And it’s actually why I created a PieFed account in the first place (and got off of Reddit as a whole). Because I don’t give a fuck about Trump, Taylor Swift, and Elon Musk and for some reason scores of news were just surrounding those three with fifty people saying the same thing and grinding on each other for all being so “righteous.” Just bums me out.
I don’t have a link to it but there is a video about how rich people get caught up not just in the race to wealth but also the limitations. Like they can’t cash our their net worth because of contracts and it would just crash out the companies and such. It gave an example though of a dot com guy who sold out for a few hundred mil and lives the good life. someone in the fediverse responded to another comment I had around this subject and said his name which I can’t recall but it sounded like it was the myspace creator (which unfortunately I liked but it died just like my first website I liked was excite but yahoo steamrolled them)
I had no clue, but it does make sense if you actually think about it. But that also shows that there’s some seriously bad rigging issues in this world. I will say that I honestly know nothing, but I do realize that with the right team behind you - you for sure could even get away with murder and come out clean. I think the concept is that the package would be the incentive to be a CEO, but honestly I think there would be individuals lined up to be CEOs with or without such a fine package.
I often think about this sweet woman I met once while down south in Chicago. She was begging outside of RUSH in the freezing cold with absolutely nothing to really keep her from getting frostbite. She was in such a bad way, I don’t really believe she’s with us anymore, but my heart went out to her then too. I never was a person of means, but I got by okay. I grabbed her what I could, I gave her a hug and kiss, and went on my way. But she was such a sweet woman even though she was missing a hand and begging with one of those fountain drink cups. She had jack squat inside the cup, and the intersection was large and lacked any real point of entry for her. I think about her a lot because I can’t really understand why we can have things like marble countertops in this world and not feed and house our people. So in that sense, I get really wigged out. But like I said I don’t think we’re getting anywhere with anyone by pointing at rich folks and saying “YOU GUYS FUCKING SUCK, GIVE US MONEY!”
Also on the homeless brigade, I met Fred Hampton’s brother. He was also stuck begging, and probably not of this world anymore. His feet looked like two lumps of frozen shit. They were mashed up so badly that he had to hobble to get anywhere. He was a loving sweet guy, but hot damn it’s crazy how this world assigns the haves and the have nots.