Disqus - Latest Comments for laboratorian

Re: Ultraculture: Aryan People Only Please

laboratorian — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:47:27 -0000

@ Jason: The "Aryan" thing is definitely a low-blow and pretty much fulfills the usual internet pattern where someone calls their opponent a Nazi. That said, I have to disagree with you.

"That would be like saying that if a person does not like some Kosher food, they are a brown-shirt Nazi. I think Louv and Shivanath are providing only their impressions of other practices based from the perspective that theres is a better way"

I'd advise going back to the original thread on Google. Louv and "Shivanath" are stating, in no uncertain terms, that Haitian Voodoo is outright evil from all perspectives and involves little more than feeding never-satisfied "hungry ghosts." Maybe there's some credence to that, but frankly, reading all the gory details convinced me that even if they are correct in that regard, they are simply paranoid and following a victim-script something along the lines of "look at how powerful those evil things are! therefore, we must also be powerful and important because they victimized us!"

"It sounds more like someone simply trying to find fault in something that is succeeding."

At what are they succeeding? A failed attempt at applying the MySpace model to an initiatory body? I am more than happy not to have fallen in with this crowd, which I followed for some time. The more of their material one reads, the more they paint themselves into a paranoid corner. Since some of the prominent "Ultraculture" figures have made significant parts of their exploits and biographies part of the public record, you're free to look into it, and it's not a pretty, or even successful picture. Look at, e.g., Louv's self-imploding review of "Shadow of the Dalai Lama" another classic work in the paranoid (e.g., it implicates Tibetan monks in the destruction of the WTC) Unfounded Occult Panic genre, and it's clear that Louv is, at best, conflicted in his thinking.

Re: The “Dangers of Meditation”

laboratorian — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:12:18 -0000

It is true, meditation can be "dangerous" or destabilizing. If it weren't depicted as an entirely sacred, holy object, it'd be okay. If you lift weights, your muscles get sore and sometimes you get injured. If you do the mental equivalent, crap can happen too. I tend to think that people who are going off on an "ohmigod i'm seeing angels and hearing voices" trip need to just calm the fuck down. "I started shaking uncontrollably!" Oh no. Did you meditate and start shaking while you were driving and crash the car? No? Stop whining. It's not like that never happened to anyone (to which I ask: uh, did you miss that class in Sunday school? what about the psilocybin, or did you miss that part of your education, too?) and--surprise--it's not that important, either. Even if you get abducted by aliens, fairies or the Bush administration, guess what? You still have to pay the rent. Here's a one step "centering and grounding": log on to your bank account. But since some people don't realize that meditation can lead to some unpleasantness (is life without unpleasant aspects?)--and largely because teachers don't talk about it--someone's going to get the message out, and might not do it in the best way.

Re: The Suits

laboratorian — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:23:31 -0000

spot-on. it's pretty rare to find this sentiment. i also feel like a space alien, what with having a college education and now earning more a year than most families but my dad not having finished 9th grade. it kind of makes you wonder what the fuck you're supposed to do with all the crap you learned when you grew up, since it's entirely irrelevant. that, and being sensitized to class basically evicts you from public discourse in america

that said, I don't like calling them "the suits" because I think most people dress like slobs.

and ivy league grads... went in illiterate brats, came out illiterate brats.

not really sure how to tie any of this into a spiritual practice, save to say that they're all suffering on the inside too

Re: The Suits

laboratorian — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:21:21 -0000

"I dunno. In a way, it is hypocritical for me to be critical but I still feel this weird class-like divide with these people when I’m sitting in a meeting with them at work or interacting with them at events and this feeling has lasted more than a decade now."

That's not hypocritical. You've just recognized that class exists and that it's real. A friend of mine was sitting in the cafeteria as an undergrad and overheard a conversation. "What's the average income? $150,000 a year?" That's a real divide, and to think that it's hypocritical to acknowledge it is being hard on yourself. It's not hypocritical to acknowledge that you can't really relate to a wife-beating alcoholic redneck, so it's not to have trouble understanding a banker, either. It's just that we're not supposed to alienate up, just down... that's a primate-game too. But if you are actively developing compassion for everyone then it doesn't matter.

Re: Washington Mutual Seized and Sold Off by the Government

laboratorian — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:25:26 -0000

"This is the first time I've worried about my FDIC deposits."

--Partner in downtown Manhattan law firm (i.e., multi-millionaire) four days ago

Re: Vegetarianism and Food or Backsliding

laboratorian — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:44:31 -0000

I was vegetarian for two years.. I don't ID as a "Buddhist" but my Theraveda practice informs much of what i do, at least as much as the time I spent reading the Frankfurt School or trying to figure out some of the problems of modern life. I also have spent a lot of time reading about nutrition and exercise, as well as toying with those things.

I think vegetarian diets work because most people don't regulate their diet at all. The moment they start to control what they eat and pay attention to it, their health improves. Likewise in the States, going vegetarian means cutting out pepperoni hot pockets and most fast food and garbage like that. Any system is better than no system.

That said, I feel much healthier now that I eat meat again. I'm not cold all the time and I have significantly more energy. The best I've ever felt was eating paleo-style, i.e., unprocessed meat, vegetables, nuts, berries, but no grains, beans or starchy plants. That can be difficult to manage, and, likewise, I can't justify eating 2 lbs of beef a day. It'd be different if I could buy a quarter-cow carved by a butcher and put it ina deep freeze, or knew someone who hunted, because then I know i'm only responsible for one dead animal, not the twenty-five that went into a hot dog. Right now almost all the meat i do buy is locally farmed.

It is a very difficult balance, because I have to respect my own omnivore nature and treat that with compassion, but that means harming something else.