tetrapod.sapien

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Posts by tetrapod.sapien

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  36

  bookworm?

  by John Doe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was just counting, and i've read 16 books over the last three months, not counting text books.

  average length is 550 to 600 pages, which means i've read 8800 to 9600 pages this summer, plus another 1000 or so of textbooks, plus all the online bs i read.

  think i'm going to wear my eyes out?

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  tetrapod.sapien

  Or, is that an average amount?

  completely average, john. completely avereage. lol...

  tetra
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  33

  The peace racket

  by John Doe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a growing movement is pushing a worldview that ignores history's lessons about strength and appeasement.. by bruce bawer.

  september 2, 2007.

  'if you want peace, prepare for war," counseled the roman general flavius vegetius renatus more than 1,600 years ago, echoing the sage advice given nine centuries earlier by the chinese military strategist sun tzu.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  Peace through superior firepower.

  perhaps JD was dropped on his head by a yogi when he was a baby. his statement shows that no attention has been given to the difference between peace and security. physical security, not peace, comes from superior firepower. to say that peace is acheived by superior firepower ignores the fact that the individual (and society) with superior fire power do not experience inner peace. security does not lead to peace. the two aren't even related.

  outer peace comes from inner peace. outer war comes from inner war.

  that said, it's not that wanting peace will bring more war, it's just that it won't stop it. so, indeed, prepare. why? because wanting involves having. having involves owning. and owning involves war. even if it is inner war.

  if you "want" peace, cease simply desiring peace and become it, regardless of what others are doing around you.

  -- (the heavy load of history that the snail pulls)

  tetra
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  155

  What Do You Do for Work / Career?

  by BlackPearl in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been on the board for quite a while now and was wondering, what do my fellow jwdr's do for work, employment or career?

  me, i'm in probably one of the most hated careers in america right now.

  (not gonna tell you what it is either) but how about you, what do you do to earn a little coin?.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  bike courier. da dopest job EVAH!! ha!

  peace,

  tetra

  ps: i'm not in the pic. these are couriers from chicago.
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  56

  Adventures in Meditating......

  by freedomloverr in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i know a lot of you do meditation and i thought i would share a recent experience with you all.

  it's been almost 2 years since i left the mental bondage of the org.

  and it's been a journey with lots of twists and turns.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  hi amanda! sorry i have taken so long to reply to this thread. the summer has been full of all beautiful days out in the sun and rain and under the stars! :)

  it sounds like meditation has been working so well for you! congrats! same here! as a witness it would have been impossible to even imagine the dimension my life has taken on, and the healing that has taken place thanks to meditation. and yet, i guess that is why all us exwits are here: because we had it in us all along, sleeping though.

  peace and blessings SISTA!!

  tetra

  
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  9

  Babylon the Great

  by JH in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  now that you don't share jw beliefs anymore, who do you think babylone the great represents?.

  do you think its a religious entity, a country, the dollar?.

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  tetrapod.sapien
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  24

  Page 6666

  by exwitless in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i don't have anything inspiring or funny to say.

  i just thought it was cool that we're on page 6666 on jwd.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  
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  15

  Earthlings(Animal Cruelty)

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  earthlings is a feature length documentary about humanity's absolute dependence on animals (for pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and ...scientific research) but also illustrates our complete disrespect for these so-called "non-human providers.

  " the film is narrated by academy award nominee joaquin phoenix (gladiator) and features music by the critically acclaimed platinum artist moby.

  i had a hard time watching it to the end.. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1282796533661048967&q=earthlings&total=682&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  homo sapiens confuse being at the top of the food chain with being at the top of some evolutionary pinnacle, even though there is no such thing. Jains are on to something with their respect for *all* living things.

  i mean, life cannot survive without feeding on other life. such is the way of nature. perhaps if there were a creator, we would all be eating magical manna. not living, not dead. like nutritional water.

  and since we are ourselves ANIMALS, i do not think we will ever have peace with ourselves unless we again bow to the animal powers. they are within us, and yet are dormant until we behold an animal. when we treat them with disrespect, we are treating ourselves with disrespect. this furthers the separation between "ourselves" and nature, psychologically. and the violence gets worse. we treat nature with contempt because we think we are not nature.

  thanks for the trippy vids frankie!

  tetra
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  16

  Secular theology

  by DeusMauzzim in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  modernity - nietzsche's prophetic age of nihilism:.

  we have come to know that the bible can not be taken literally anymore.

  we have come to know that the unity of the bible is a myth.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  Deus,

  i like your style dude!

  some of my thoughts:

  Secular theology

  that's one label. once you come to the secular place though, it sort of becomes anthropology at that point. ;)

  Science knows of no sacred things.

  except for the method in which it arrived at it's knowledge. parsimony runs deeper than mathematicians give it credit for.

  Our universe has become radically profane.

  your response to the universe has become profane. in other words, it may seem profane to you, but it doesn't mean it is. after all, it just is. neither profane or moral. the universe for me has become radically indifferent. but my acceptance of the indifference has shown me that if i smile compassionately at it, there is a slight smile i receive in return. it's slight, but you have to be already smiling. why? because you are a god, and so is the universe. why? because there is no separation between you and the universe. don't let your ego convince you there is, for there is where the profanity resides.

  We live in the light of already extinguished stars (Nietzsche, fragments)

  and to a giant black hole all our atoms shall return!!

  And in all this existential angst , even atheistic nihilists like myself look up to the image of Jesus on the stauros, his arms stretched out to embrace all of humanity, even in his hour of suffering.

  our egos have much angst. they want to literally be in knowledge of every literal atom in the cosmos. which is to say that they want control of every atom in the cosmos, and will not stop until they have it. but you are not your ego. jesus (or the man we have invented to represent the label called "Christ") understood that. we don't have to look at the form of jesus nazareth on the cross to transcend the angst. we just have to understand the archetype in ourselves that "Christ" represents. if you represent that archetype well, without ego interference, then you will probably talk like jesus even though you are an "atheist" (to all but the God that you are, right? hehe)

  Can there be a theology without God?

  yes. it depends what your definition of God is. if God is the Cosmos to you, then what is its theology?

  Can one stand before God in unbelief?

  yes, because it is only via the unbelief of one literal God, that you come to understand your own divinity/godliness that resides no where else than inside you. your disbelief in one thing is belief in another. might as well make it worthwhile.

  What of those who want to believe, but cannot?

  you should only believe what you know. if you cannot "know", then you don't exist.

  i mean, don't waste your time trying to believe in something that doesn't exist. just believe. no trying. just doing. turn inward and you will find that the word "cannot" is replaced with "know". self-knowledge is the knowledge of God. don't go looking for it anywhere out there.

  tetra
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  34

  Shattering the Sacred Myths

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  enjoy!.

  evolutionary metaphysics means to contemplate the existence of the universe in light of the theory of evolution.

  natural evolution depends on random mutation, and some people believe this proves that consciousness has no higher purpose.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  interesting thread.

  and although i have personally had what i define as ecstatic mystical experiences by setting my mind upon the existential implications of evolution (chain of causation), i still see a paradox in "evolutionary metaphysics".

  what we know of biological evolution is come upon via scientific method, which is inherently a literal thing about our literal world. and yet metaphysics is a mystical understanding that all seemingly exclusive physical things are related (inside is outside, there is here, then is now). which is certainly true for living things on planet earth. and while all physical things are related, it's not the theory of evolution that sheds light on that relatedness, but physics. so perhaps a contradiction. evolution is about literalness. metaphysics is meta. metaliteral.

  hardcore reductionists and materialists will usually deny, on principle, that evolution (and science in general) is a modern system of mythologicalization. and while i agree in principle, i also know that people who turn to science to discover the "explanations" that are closest to "reality", are in turn making myths themselves based on the implications found in the data (actually found in themselves). i have done it myself. so whether science ever intended it or not, there are new stories with new mythological motifs because of science.

  i mean, i look in the mirror and i understand that my genome is the one in control of my form and most of my brain. it is the historical survivor, not me. i learned this from science. and yet i do not define myself with my form. this comes from mystical knowledge, not scientific knowledge. afterall, i don't think it was ever the intention of our genomes to give us brains so powerful that we came to understand evolution. and yet, here we are talking about it. definately falls under the auspices of "transcendent". and maybe i am wrong. perhaps the organism / ecological niche relationship is not the ultimate duality. perhaps it's the ultimate monad. perhaps the genome and it's relationship with the cosmos (via earth) is actually father and mother in one. perhaps at the base of the tree of life is the same light that that is at the root of all. the tree of life (evolution) is but a branch on the tree of the cosmos anyways.

  tetra
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  44

  Which gender has things better, and why?

  by John Doe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ;-)

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  tetrapod.sapien

  there were no typos in what i wrote. LOL

  tetra

  ps:

  Sometimes, I feel like a lesbian trapped in a man's body.

  LOL! that's it. you get it! ha ha!!