Sonntag, 31. Oktober 2021

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—

Only this and nothing more.”

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;

And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow

From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating

“’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door—

Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;—

This it is and nothing more.”

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,

“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;

But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,

And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,

That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door;—

Darkness there and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;

But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,

And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”

This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!”—

Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,

Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.

“Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;

Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore—

Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—

’Tis the wind and nothing more!”

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,

In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;

Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;

But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door—

Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door—

Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,

By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,

“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,

Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—

Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,

Though its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore;

For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being

Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door—

Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,

With such name as “Nevermore.”

But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only

That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.

Nothing farther then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—

Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before—

On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”

Then the bird said “Nevermore.”

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,

“Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its only stock and store

Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster

Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore—

Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore

Of ‘Never—nevermore’.”

But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,

Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;

Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking

Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore—

What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore

Meant in croaking “Nevermore.”

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing

To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;

This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining

On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,

But whose velvet-violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,

She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer

Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.

“Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee

Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore;

Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—

Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,

Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—

On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—

Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!

By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—

Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,

It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—

“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!

Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!

Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;

And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,

And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted—nevermore!

Post Religious Era for Millenials

Analyzing Evil: Walter White from Breaking Bad

Wikipedia bans Chinese Editors for Manipulation

I read some about manipulation here in general. Seems hypocritical.

Samstag, 30. Oktober 2021

Sound of Music My Favorite Things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

The World Smells Different Now

Portugal Colonial History and Sea Expansion Plan

Freitag, 29. Oktober 2021

Inner Beauty

Leaves strew the sidewalk like a wet carpet of brown and yellow beneath my feet

Like your disheveled dark blonde hair as you climb out of bed by sunrise

The pink on the horizon turns to a glistening arrow burning my brain

Much as your deep gaze penetrates my consciousness,

First warming my heart then cutting through to my bones

Warming me gradually just like the rising sun its work performs

The curves of your figure violate my weak sensibilities

Seducing me after your orbs have turned their glance aside

Connecting our figures sensually in unity from part to part

Without the effort of integrating our forms as one on this gross plane

How often you have altered moods expressing through unique mimicry

The subtlety of your spirit' s contents

And posing oh so slightly differently as you grew into the confidence

You have gained by the many eyes casting their love upon you as mine

Just as the sun must have been once new and shy became

Brighter knowing we depended on its graces for our sustenance

So your inner light outshines every external attempt to increase or decrease

Through the artifice of beauty learnt by the weaker sex

Psychic Phenomena and Quantum Mechanics

Confirmation Bias or Facts don' t Matter Belief Does

Military Uniform History WWII and Propaganda

American Residential vs Work Segregation Mapped, Analyzed

Donnerstag, 28. Oktober 2021

John Coltrane - My Favourite Things

Tesla is a Joke

https://wolfstreet.com/2021/10/26/teslas-market-cap-gigantic-v-next-10-automakers-v-teslas-global-market-share-minuscule/

Tulip Bubble

EV Charging costs relative to normal car driving per mile and year

https://amp.freep.com/amp/6110815001

Einstein' s Spooky Demon Haunted Quantum World

https://bigthink.com/13-8/einstein-spooky-action-at-a-distance/

Spooky Action at a Distance can work for people too, not just particles. Separated twins studies show results but also twin flames experiences. Boo!

Millions leave hometown smallness everywhere and nowadays it is easier to move abroad, becoming an expatriate. Like some say they are trapped in wrong sex body but many many more are dissatisfied where they are or with career choices. 40% of young adults 30-45 globally are switching jobs, millions of Americans have moved,started a new life due to rethinking life during Covid. It is easier to start anew when your background was already mutinational or multilingual. As the world gets more complex this helps your adaptability anyway in accepting new ways of living, ideologies, languages. Finding a fixed identity is harder however. Local populations where one settles are generally more rooted over many generations and finding the same degree of acceptance from them as they feel for each other is difficult if impossible. Immigrants from one culture tend to cluster together. I find it personally easier to identify with people from varied backgrounds, whose parents were not same ethnic or language origin, as this is how I grew up. However one hardly finds people with exactly the same multicultural background. My wife has a different one than I do but this very flexibility is important. Monoethnic, monoreligious, grew up same town, culture, church, etc parentage is limiting. Notice in the video the man is seeking expansion of worldview. Typical at young age. I and others like me grew up with a broad worldview and spend our whole lives trying to reconcile that and our core identity to how most people are not essentially multicultural. Marrying someone similar helps a great deal. While difficult to find, just disappearing as relationship is going sour is not as easy as there are so few similar partners, whereas if you are a multigenerational local like everyone else your mating pool is much larger. Being a freak culturally is hard. In mother' s home country of England I am American. In America or Alaska where I grew up I never really fit in. In Germany where I live I never really made friends or got deep social contacts perhaps due to my shy habits coming from being a " stranger in a strange land" growing up. My kids remain loners. But this has forced my focus on my self development, spirituality. Perhaps I am just now catching up with relaxed social feelings others had in childhood but for this I needed to work from inside out, learning who I am really. I fear that politically such mass immigration makes for deep instability, mental problems, although in long term it is healthy.

Escape Climate Change by Moving to US Rustbelt

Black Ivy League Experience

Psychedelics are the New Psychotherapy

This looks like going totally mainstream

The Mind Extends Beyond the Body - Rupert Sheldrake Interview

OK History

Blood Chocolate : Child Labor in West Africa

Mittwoch, 27. Oktober 2021

Tai chi benefits

https://www.forbes.com/health/healthy-aging/tai-chi-for-seniors/

German Health Care

Albinism Explains Racial Differences

Why Men Stopped Wearing Hats

Modern Mental Illness

The Way of the Boddhisattva by Shantideva

pdf book

https://zbukarf1.cf/read.php?id=XfkvtJSlf2UC

Futures Change

Eco- Fashion

Behavioral Changes after Tik Tok consumption

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/tanyachen/young-women-reporting-concerning-behavioral-changes-from

from my POV of a pisces who picks up on everyone' s vibes easy I would say this is normal but still...

Dienstag, 26. Oktober 2021

Psychedelics Trip

Marijuana legalization and now psychedelics. The 60s rebooting 20 years early I think according to generational time schedule but perhaps it is just a small avant garde testing the waters. By 2040 this will be a standard experience. Perhaps this is the path to reprogram materialist civilization fast to accept the inevitable collapse and lowered expectations. Once we have no energy and clothes, furniture, etc have to last for years or decades and entertainment consists in card games and quiet conversations then for a while the generations addicted to internet will need massive readjustment. For many others older or 3rd world poor this will be no problem. Escaping inside ourselves due to overstimulation is not an issue. It really seems that the rebirth of chemically induced spirituality as a quick answer to something others devote decades to is a normal stage. This will wear off just like any other experience. Long term change is over many lifetimes, reincarnations I imagine. The stuff I am into is likely due to karma over many lives forcing me into a corner of the inevitability of spirituality after having tried everything else and failing( or succeeding very well but being unhappy at it over hundreds of years). The 60s hippies became materialist yuppies who want to squander the world before they die. Will the millenials take a similar path? I am very glad boomers opened up esotericism, yoga path for me to take after I was about 30 and hitting a certain fork in the road ofmeaninglessness. I see millenials and youngers starting on this path and react cynically. Perhaps this will be more than a passing fad. Very few stay for life as an ascetic. Movements become repetitive, boring. How to integrate spirituality into general life, morality, govt structures?

Grocery Haul in Russia with Minimal Russian Girl

Afro- German

Fashion and Environment

The Arrogance of Power in China

Skin Whitening Injections

Cynically speaking is this and cosmetic surgery the solution to racism? If everyone has the same facial features and skin tone and through leg lengthening the same height then perhaps brain reprogramming to get same language capabilities and social attitudes will be last hurdle after of course TPTB form a one world govt and make bitcoin global reserve currency.

The Greatest Films You Don' t Know

More Effective Practices Bring Better Results

1. Meditation Posture - I have been using siddhasana with right heel pressing on perineum and arms crossed over chest, tongue back to throat, eyes upward. Due to circulation I had left the left foot in front of the right leg but now I have correctly pressed it against my right inner thigh. With both feet pressing against thighs and foot chakras open, downflowing energy moves back upwards causing much more ingense and balanced energy in the body core, trunk. Arms crodsed over chest push energy up through chest and neck to head. Tongue does this inside throat.

2. Tai chi. Last year I started extending my splits in yoga further but now I am doing this deepening, lowering of stance in tai chi. The energy flows more efficciently. This helps to translate static energy in yoga, meditation into daily motion when I work and improves flexibility in action where I bend and crouch a lot.

3. Reading Savitri - I had gotten used to getting a strong energetic buzz by reading Sri Aurobindo' s epic poem. I noticed looking at his photo on the cover that I now get a huge surge of energy like from Babaji. This is like darshan I guess. Never been to a guru' s ashram or cave so how else am I going to deepen my practice?

13 yr old tai chi champion

siddhasana

Guru yoga

In Vajrayana, guru yoga (Tib: bla ma'i rnal 'byor) is a tantric devotional practice in which the practitioner unites their mindstream with the mindstream of the body, speech, and mind of their guru.^[1] Guru yoga is akin to deity yoga since the guru (who can be a Buddha, a historical figure like Padmasambhava, or a living person) is visualized in the same manner as with a meditational deity. The process of guru yoga may entail visualization of a refuge tree as an invocation of the lineage, with the 'root guru' channeling the blessings of the entire lineage to the practitioner. The guru may be visualized as above the meditator, in front of them, or in their heart. Guru yoga may also include a liturgy, prayer, or mantra, such as the "Seven Line Prayer" of Padmasambhava, or the "Migtsema" (a prayer to Je Tsongkhapa).^[2]

Thangka depicting the Refuge Tree of the Karma Kagyu Lineage by Sherab Palden Beru, c. 1972

BackgroundEdit

As in other Buddhist traditions, an attitude of reverence for the teacher, or guru, is highly prized.^[a] A guru or lama is seen as an essential guide during tantric practice. Without the guru's example, blessings, and guidance, genuine progress in tantra is held to be impossible for all but the most keen and gifted.^{[citation needed]} One particular feature of the Tantric view of teacher student relationship is that in Tibetan Buddhist tantra, one is instructed to regard one's guru as an awakened Buddha.^[3]

At the beginning of a public teaching, a lama will do prostrations to the throne on which he will teach due to its symbolism, or to an image of the Buddha behind that throne, then students will do prostrations to the lama after he is seated. Merit accrues when one's interactions with the teacher are imbued with such reverence in the form of guru devotion, a code of practices governing them that derives from Indian sources.^[b] By such things as avoiding disturbance to the peace of mind of one's teacher, and wholeheartedly following his prescriptions, much merit accrues and this can significantly help improve one's practice.^[citation