Posts by Introspection

24

When you left the JW's, did you remain a Christian

by kenpodragon in

jw
friends

when you left the jw's, did you remain a christian?

the reason i ask, is that when i left the witnesses i explored all kinds of concept and religions and even attended a few churches.

i soon found that i was attracted to new age and pagan believes.

Introspection

Hi Kenpo,

Well, when I left and what I am now are very different. Unlike many I didn't leave because I found out about some error in chronology or certain doctrinal matters, it was more on a personal level, a gut feeling if you will. However, having said that I should note that I am not interested in something because I happen to like it. And as you said, it's not about titles or labels and I feel the same way. It seems to me a person who needs to have a religious label to size up how spiritual or how kind and friendly someone is just has no sense.

To me it isn't even relevant whether you're religious or not. If some stranger does a kind deed toward you, are you going to go out of your way to find out whether they are religious in any way, what exactly they believe and so on? Does any of that change the fact that they were being kind just for it's own sake? Yet we have to get into these "intellectual" debates as if all that matters so much. I wouldn't say an individuals behavior represents the religion which he or she may subscribe to, but that's something that is actually real. On the other hand, all the concepts you read about, religious or not, is only theory. Now I think that's important too, but most people don't understand it or don't want to talk about it, so that's fine. Ideally the two would complement each other, but realistically I think we tend to be on first base or need to get there first. I guess it's like SaintSatan's quote: He that doesn't live his faith doesn't have any. And again it realy isn't even about faith, but for all the scholarly research and all the intelligence a given person may have, what good is it if they don't even have a clue about being a decent human being to start with? Maybe most of the world just needs to get their heads out of their asses and start worrying about that rather than taking sides. I'm this, I'm that, nah nah nah.. How special.

15

Been playin PC Games since the 80's

by D8TA in

list of my favorite games:(tops of my list, played 1000's of games).

no special order:.

zork i-iii ---a heck, any infocom game from the late 70's to early 80's (oh those days of text adventures, and they kept me up all night).

Introspection

Sounds like you didn't get into the later generation of games, they really improved the graphics and such.. It's been a long time, but as far as RPG did you ever play Bard's Tale?

2

Lovingkindness

by Introspection in

taken from insight meditation - the practice of freedom by joseph goldstein:.

in his book love's executioner, the well-known stanford psychiatrist irwin yalom writes: "i do not like to work with patients who are in love.

perhaps it is because of envy.

Introspection

More on metta, from "The Vision of Dhamma" by Nyanaponika Thera:

Love, without desire to possess, knowing well that in the ultimate sense there is no possession and no possessor: this is the highest love.
Love, without speaking and thinking of 'I', knowing well that this so-called 'I' is a mere delusion.
Love, without selecting and excluding, knowing well that to do so means to create love's own contrasts: dislike, aversion and hatred.
-------
Love, but not the sensuous fire that burns, scorches and tortures, that inflicts more wounds than it cures - flaring up now, at the next moment being extinguished, leaving behind more coldness and loneliness than was felt before.
Rather, love that lies like a soft but firm hand on the ailing beings, ever unchanged in its sympathy, without wavering, unconcerned with any response it meets. Love that is comforting coolness to those who burns with the fire of suffering and passion; that is life-giving warmth to those abandoned in the cold desert of loneliness, to those who are shivering in the frost of a loveless world; to those whose hearts have become as if empty and dry by the repeated calls for help, by deepest despair.
-------
And what is the highest manifestation of love?
To show to the world the path leading to the end of suffering.

6

Safety Precautions

by patio34 in

i received this e-mail and thought it had value to share here.. "i know some of you, especially my married friends, are not going to think you need to read this.

you are wrong.

please educate yourselves, even if you live in a small town.

Introspection

As far as physical defense is concerned, it's probably not a good idea to take time to grip the neck as if you're wrestling with them. A quick chop to the throat (which is the area where you want to focus on) may be enough to disorient them and get you out of there. Although an open palm gives you slightly more reach, you might also use a panther paw type fist with the 4 fingers bent half way, the first two join flexed, the one that connects the fingers to the palm straight, thumb straight and touching the palm, also keep the wrist straight so that it's solid.

A couple of other vulnerable spots are the ears and the groin. You can slap one ear with the palm and it can be very disorienting. (just try it lightly on yourself) With any of these sometimes speed is more important than power, after all you have to actually make contact for it to do anything. There is a balance of course, but just don't feel you have to kick his balls into his chest cavity for it to do anything. Of course, if you really want to learn any of this correctly it would be helpful to atleast get a video, and maybe take a class.

12

Burger King and Going Out in Service

by teenyuck in

jw
friends

as i stepped out of the shower yesterday the phone rang.

thinking it was my husband, who had just left, i answered without checking caller id.

it was my mother.

Introspection

She wanted to tell me about going out in service yesterday. I was truly confused on why she would call to tell me this. Then she told me about the "rest" they took in Burger King.

But isn't it obvious? At Burger King, you can have it your way..

41

How many Bikers we got here? (fluff)

by Geordie in

jw
friends

just wondering how many of us "apostates" have gone all the way and become bikers.. i have just bought a yamaha xjr 1300cc and i also own a vw trike.. any one else out there into leathers/heavy drinking/rock music/rallys/drugs?

oh yeah and bikes?

Introspection

I still have this really cool BMX, does that count..?

15

Been playin PC Games since the 80's

by D8TA in

list of my favorite games:(tops of my list, played 1000's of games).

no special order:.

zork i-iii ---a heck, any infocom game from the late 70's to early 80's (oh those days of text adventures, and they kept me up all night).

Introspection

Did you have many games for the Commodore 64? BTW after Everquest did you get into any other massive online multiplayer game?

26

True religion - anyone have a clue?

by Tin Man in

jw
friends

what is the true religion anyone have a clue?.

i would love to know, if anyone does have a clue; being a witness most of my life it gave me this feeling like i really was in the true religion and god really was with me cause i belonged to the "true religion.. i have noticed that witness's say the elders were appointed by holy spirit, how do they know did they see it, it just dawned on me that all of it has been based on the premise that i had to have faith in what they say rather then substantiated facts; all of what they say simply put is nothing more then words, contrived by men only, if you tell them this you get the treatment like your going to be destroyed which is paramount to going and burning in hell.

Introspection

There are in fact religions which do not involve the concept of God, that is why some Christians will also consider themselves Buddhist and read people like Thich Nhat Hahn, for example. Perhaps the reason that we think it is a requirement for religion is because that is all we know, and we insist upon our own definition of the word, consciously or unconsciously.

26

True religion - anyone have a clue?

by Tin Man in

jw
friends

what is the true religion anyone have a clue?.

i would love to know, if anyone does have a clue; being a witness most of my life it gave me this feeling like i really was in the true religion and god really was with me cause i belonged to the "true religion.. i have noticed that witness's say the elders were appointed by holy spirit, how do they know did they see it, it just dawned on me that all of it has been based on the premise that i had to have faith in what they say rather then substantiated facts; all of what they say simply put is nothing more then words, contrived by men only, if you tell them this you get the treatment like your going to be destroyed which is paramount to going and burning in hell.

Introspection

What is the true religion anyone have a clue?
I would love to know, if anyone does have a clue;
I have noticed that Witness's say the elders were appointed by holy spirit, how do they know did they see it, it just dawned on me that all of it has been based on the premise that I had to have faith in what they say rather then substantiated facts;

Given what you already said above, how do you know if anyone who thinks so does in fact have a clue? Tao and others have already made the more important points. If anyone does "have a clue" it would mean you also knew enough to recognize there's something in what they're saying. Just don't allow your healthy skepticism to turn into an arrogance based on ignorance, you'll never learn anything then. I will say one thing, some of the more reasonable religions, even though they are called religions are not considered religions by some. They are only religions simply if you define religion as things which people hold as sacred.

24

If you were to start a religion....

by KJV in

jw
friends

if you could start a religion what would it be?

how would you go about setting it up?

what agenda would you have?

Introspection

*sigh* KJV, there is much more to being a Freshmaker than sweet smelling breath, I see I have a lot of work to do..