aquascoot wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2018 at 10:00am:


Yes. You are absolutely right there Aquascoot.
But thankfully, the 'Ferals' here in Australia who live a more 'southern' lifestyle than those northern 'Hippies' tend to base their 'fashionable' spirituality of wearing dreadlocks  upon getting a uni degree or trade and enjoying the occasional beer rather than smoking a joint and wearing arty-farty fashions to think themselves 'Spiritually' superior because the pot subdues them like Ritalin does to a fatherless ADHD kid.

Most of the great philosophical works of the 'near' past are deeply flawed, especially when the writers themselves were flawed examples of existence. But hey, since the advent of the USA, the World seems to have 'fallen' back into the past and until Australia is 'officialised', the 'equilibrium' will continue to be flawed.

btw - shouldn't this Thread be flushed to Philosophy?

To be honest. I'm a Buddhist.

BUT

I'm a 'Southern Hemisphere' Buddhist of Australia (region: Sahul) and so my (our) ways are different to the cliché Northern Hemisphere ways of the Buddhists there.

For one thing. We are not 'Pacificists' and we have long flowing 'Fabio-like' gorgeous hair. In fact, us 'Southern Buddhists' are completely 'opposite' to the 'Northern Buddhists'.

It's a basic rule of thumb. You live in Australia (the Now) as Australian (Buddhist), not as an Asian (Buddhist) ...the 'past'.

We go by the knowledge that the Northern Hemisphere may be 'up there' in the Penthouse. But we 'down under' here are actually 'First in Line' (the Future).
So Heaven might be Heaven, but its back there in the Past.
Hell might be down here in Hell, but it is the Future.
Because the Glory days of Old where life was mentally 'simpler' for want of physically harder,
is now the days of Tomorrow are being faced for being Mentally 'complex' for want of machines making life in the future physically easier.
...hence why 'Mental' disorders and discord and people on welfare because of Mental Health etc are increasing here in Australia.

In the Old Days, being 'mentally' superior was what was needed to rise above the mass 'primitive' societies. Mental Knowledge was Power.
But now, in the New Days (and New Worlds) - such information overload is for the weak and the unempowered. It's those that attain 'Physical Health' and empowerment that are rising above the mass.

So, here in the NOW of Australia ...its best not to 'think' like a Northern Hemisphere cliché Buddhist and Zen, etc.



Here in Australia ...its better to 'reign' in Hell, rather than 'serve' (down under) in Heaven. 

freediver wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2018 at 8:01am:


This is a site about race and sustainability, FD. Islamic criticism versus spineless apologism.

Meditation is homework. One doesn't disclose one's insights, show off or preach. When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

Religion/Fashionable Spirituality


...of the Northern Hemisphere is for the Poor, the Breeders, the dysfunctional, the mass-production of quantity.

...of the Southern Hemisphere is for the Rich, the Powerful, the functional, the quality of the few. 


Australia has 2/3rds more 'paperwork' than any other nation. That's a 'serious' non-fictional Religion in itself 

Jasin wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2018 at 1:35pm:


Where did you get that figure?

I'm curious.

A lasting calmness came over me when I discovered the Feast and Famine Variable back in the late 1970s. Before that, I wasn't sure what to think about society and religion

The Variable is the beginning mechanism of our minds. It's much like alternating current, constantly switching from feast (+) to famine (-)  Life is not possible if it was only one or the other

At the same time I discovered the Cyclical Moods and Emotions cycle in our subconscious minds


Knowledge of these are what settled me down and made me realize that many problems, arguments and accidents could be averted if we accept the fact that famine is necessary in order to go into feast, and when we are in feast, inevitably famine will came around again

The important thing to remember is that in the Feast and Famine Variable, feast and famine are in constant flow and are linked together, they can not be separated, just as the + and - in alternating current can't be separated

So how do I make this work in my life, to be of benefit? Well, it's a matter of balancing out the feast and famine ... because the feast and famine is balanced in the Variable, I reject "lust" for anything. I reject "excess", I reject expediency and extremist attitudes. I reject any view that we can always be in feast, we can't and we might as well accept that right now. I except that I must make reasonable sacrifices now and then

In the pursuit of happiness, I'm reluctant to copy what others do. I access what famine I'm in first and if that famine is more than what it should be, I then make an effort to fill some of that famine with feast, returning back to balance. My mind is peaceful when I maintain that balance

freediver wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2018 at 8:01am:



I don't believe that words alone can make people feel better -
wellness comes from within.

For instance if someone has lost a leg you can tell them
that they're lucky as many people have lost both legs.
Will that make them feel better?

Yes well, us southern 'Australian' Buddhists enjoy wealth, prosperity, high achievement, hetero-sex and nice long 'Fabio' hair.

Think of us much like what a 'Vulcan' would be like, except long hair instead of long ears 


[edit]
You see, we Buddhists here worked out the flaw of the original Buddhism.
For one thing, its easy to 'be at peace' when one isolates oneself from all the trials, tribulations and modern influences of today and just hangs out in a monastery up in the Himalayas.
No. We 'Aust' Buddhists venture out into the modern and hectic world of today (now) and not reside back in some 'ancient Buddhist past'. The irony of the original post is all about 'NOW', but Northern Buddhism is still locked in the past, still adhering to the old originalism ...it lacks change into the modern world. Even the Dalai Lama needs much help to transcend through the Veils (quote "Veils of Azlaroc") by way of more 'modernised' people around him. But he too is much of a 'relic' in his ways and beliefs.
Buddhism as 'you' all know it, is NOT in the NOW. It's still stuck in the past and even stuck in a part of the world, not the 'whole' of the world.

Even us southern Buddhists might change so much away from the past version, to become something more better and different to be 'ourself' as something new.

Easy to be at peace, when shut away from life's worries, up in some hidden mountain retreat.