tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post674746240579339684..comments2024-03-27T11:16:36.951-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Sit Down and Shut Up!, or Cultivating (o) and (–) [2.03.10]Gagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-28933172532640781222008-02-11T08:10:00.000-08:002008-02-11T08:10:00.000-08:00here's one that makes it harder... if not more fun...here's one that makes it harder... if not more fun...<BR/><BR/>http://reverent.org/true_art_or_fake_art.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-76141287179023218902008-02-11T08:04:00.000-08:002008-02-11T08:04:00.000-08:00And hopefully after reading that, nobody else will...And hopefully after reading that, nobody else will get less than a 100, cuz now you know.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-73021057831296697792008-02-11T07:58:00.000-08:002008-02-11T07:58:00.000-08:00Actually that artist vs ape test was incredibly ea...Actually that artist vs ape test was incredibly easy. Every piece by an artist had some patterns to it, repeating shapes or straight lines, or the same repeated lines. It was easy to consciously pick out that an ape won't paint the same shape repeatedly, or even think to draw prominent lines that intersect at 90 degrees or even make a rounded circle. Even then, we find beauty in simplicity, and the use of simplistic layers and shapes should make it obvious even if you can't consciously pick it out. Oh, and of course, another 100, anybody not get a 100?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-19591584612288633342008-02-11T05:06:00.000-08:002008-02-11T05:06:00.000-08:00Ah so...;-)Ah so...<BR/><BR/>;-)Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-89712760676658351422008-02-10T18:13:00.000-08:002008-02-10T18:13:00.000-08:00D'oh! I should have known!D'oh! I should have known!walthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01388218390016612051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-83501739088289312352008-02-10T17:25:00.000-08:002008-02-10T17:25:00.000-08:00Dogen? No, I got it from Yang Chow. We ate there...Dogen? No, I got it from Yang Chow. We ate there Friday night, and it was in my fortune cookie.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-60059403283938783492008-02-10T16:16:00.000-08:002008-02-10T16:16:00.000-08:00Bob, I was trying to track down the source of the ...Bob, I was trying to track down the source of the afore-mentioned high-ku -<BR/>"Body Like Mountain<BR/>Mind Like Sky<BR/>Thoughts Like Clouds"<BR/><BR/>Is it Dogen?<BR/>Care to confirm or deny? (no hurry!)walthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01388218390016612051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-48547250349734797902008-02-10T15:05:00.000-08:002008-02-10T15:05:00.000-08:00You got me to pull Pieper's book down off the shel...You got me to pull Pieper's book down off the shelf, of course I appreciated the way he saw to the core of Kant's follies, but I'd forgotten how much I'd commented, highlighted and underlined that little book - it practically glows from it all. To grab a couple at random while flipping the pages, noting that Kant insists all knowledge and philosophy is the product of work and work alone, and never of leisure and <BR/><BR/>"...the claim <I>made by</I> man: if knowing is work, exclusively work, then the one who knows, knows only the fruit of his own, subjective activity, and nothing else. There is nothing in his knowing that is not the fruit of his own efforts; there is nothing "received" in it."<BR/><BR/>Such a view ultimately collapses, discards and denies hierarchy, elevating the 'here and now' over what here and now are within. Virtue becomes value becomes any of numerous equivalent options.<BR/><BR/>"...And what was this? That virtue makes it possible for us... to master our natural inclinations? No. <I>That</I> is what Kant would have said, and we all might be ready to agree. What Thomas says, instead, is that virtue perfects us so that we can <I>follow</I> our natural inclination in the right way. Yes, the highest realizations of moral goodness are known to be such precisely in this: that they take place <I>effortlessly</I> because it is of their essence to arise from love..."<BR/><BR/>And "The reason why the animal lives in a partial world is because the nature of things is hidden from it. And it is only becase the spirit is able to attain to the <I>essence</I> of things that it has the ability to understand the <I>totality</I> of things... Thomas says, 'Because the intellectual [or spiritual] soul is able to grasp universals, it has a capacity for the infinite'"<BR/><BR/>Just the tippermost tip of the iceberg. The book is itself like an iceberg, the pages are but the small portion above the water, dwarfed by the depths it extends within you. Do I ever owe you one for that book.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-39568844097737655992008-02-10T14:13:00.000-08:002008-02-10T14:13:00.000-08:00Well, between Walt and Ben, all the good stuff's a...Well, between Walt and Ben, all the good stuff's already been taken and reposted... then again one of the good things about being a Raccoon is that the good stuff is taken and expanded upon, and so the commenting 'coon is enriched even further even when he's late to the table.<BR/><BR/>Good stuff... always liked that imagery of the springs. The Haiku pretty much nails it too. <BR/><BR/>Of course the trick is to not let those clouds confuse you into thinking that they are the sky, even if they can can get pretty thick and grey and flash with lightening and thunder.<BR/><BR/>The sky is always above, and whether blue or star'd, more unmovable than the mountain.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-18424441513885290412008-02-10T14:00:00.000-08:002008-02-10T14:00:00.000-08:00I passed the test, but only because I could tell w...I passed the test, but only because I could tell what it expected as an answer.<BR/><BR/>Personaly, it can say that the Yellow, Black and Grey was painted by an artist named Jackson Pollack all it wants, but it seems fairly obvious to me that it was painted by an ape named Jackson Pollack.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-10989578616515784242008-02-10T13:34:00.000-08:002008-02-10T13:34:00.000-08:00Back when I and various other young people underwe...Back when I and various other young people underwent spiritual potty training in the small church of Christian mystics, a phrase I often heard was "Wisdom is won by convenient free time". It was supposedly a quote from some apocryphal Jewish book of wisdom, but I have been unable to find it again (and it probably reads subtly different in English anyway). But still it is one of those self-evident truths that cannot possibly be wrong, much like the sun cannot possibly be black.<BR/><BR/>It could be time off from work and chores, but it could also be time during work and chores and whatever else we do, as long as the mind is not being blown about by what we are doing.Magnus Itlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18445902788427523461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-84515290334003172042008-02-10T08:26:00.000-08:002008-02-10T08:26:00.000-08:00100%I knew that studying at the Cooniversity would...100%<BR/><BR/>I knew that studying at the Cooniversity would be useful someday.<BR/><BR/>Should I put this on my resume?Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-47426300705464433422008-02-10T07:31:00.000-08:002008-02-10T07:31:00.000-08:00You're a hymn Ben...you'reinspi-REAL-ational.You're a hymn Ben...you're<BR/>inspi-REAL-ational.NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-60831245079181450482008-02-10T05:13:00.000-08:002008-02-10T05:13:00.000-08:00Good mornin' Walt! And a fine mornin' to "sit down...Good mornin' Walt! <BR/>And a fine mornin' to "sit down n' shut up!"<BR/><BR/>Or, since that didn't work, to "cultivate (O) and (-)."<BR/><BR/>Sheer pO-itry.USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-82446543764147943592008-02-10T04:03:00.000-08:002008-02-10T04:03:00.000-08:00Slackin' in the X-treme AM! Mornin' Ben!Slackin' in the X-treme AM! Mornin' Ben!walthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01388218390016612051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-35112644365004493112008-02-10T03:53:00.000-08:002008-02-10T03:53:00.000-08:00Have slack, will prevail. (USS Ben's version).List...Have slack, will prevail. <BR/>(USS Ben's version).<BR/><BR/>Listen to the grogarian chant.<BR/>(Skully's version)USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-50401954659110577012008-02-10T03:47:00.000-08:002008-02-10T03:47:00.000-08:00"It may be thought of as the "I" that is to "AM" a..."It may be thought of as the "I" that is to "AM" as Life is to Matter. It is what makes Being come alive. It is what makes you a Lumin Being instead of the slithery kind that keeps messing up the Garden, Homo serpentine."<BR/><BR/>Yeah, crawlin' sucks.USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-88201531792098452072008-02-10T03:43:00.000-08:002008-02-10T03:43:00.000-08:00"As memory reflects the past, silence is like a mi..."As memory reflects the past, silence is like a mirror that reflects and makes present the above, whether it is called heaven, brahman, tao, nirvana, moksha, the One. With all due respect, merely believing in God is a weak substitute. Better to know God, because that is how he ex-ists, that is "stands out" from his otherwise hidden ground. Only humans can manifest the unmanifest God."<BR/><BR/>Reminds me of a verse of song I heard:<BR/>We got a Lord that is alive,<BR/>why would we want to just survive?<BR/>No taboo!USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-71825137526545482712008-02-10T03:37:00.000-08:002008-02-10T03:37:00.000-08:00"Body Like MountainMind Like SkyThoughts Like Clou..."Body Like Mountain<BR/>Mind Like Sky<BR/>Thoughts Like Clouds"<BR/><BR/>I believe that was your first <BR/>high-ku, Bob <BR/>at least in your blogUSS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-57784788295346113612008-02-10T03:34:00.000-08:002008-02-10T03:34:00.000-08:00"Leisure gives access to the unmoved mover within,..."Leisure gives access to the unmoved mover within, the still point of the turning mind, the sabbit hole we may enter, not by grasping and struggling, but by opening and receiving."<BR/><BR/>Slack-O-ramna Dude!USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-71509173242502620522008-02-10T03:15:00.000-08:002008-02-10T03:15:00.000-08:00Anyway, this was my first overtly "spiritual" post...Anyway, this was my first overtly "spiritual" post, in which I attempted to perform a Bobectomy on my ego in real time while engaging in spontaneous (for it can only be spontaneous) O-->(n)."<BR/><BR/>"In his book, Pieper points out that the word for leisure in Greek is skole, and in Latin, scola, both meaning "school." Therefore, leisure, properly understood, is a school, an unhurried realm where some sort of learning takes place; a mystery school, as it were."<BR/><BR/>Bob, you made school cool again! <BR/>A magical mystery tour that keeps us comin' back for more, 'cause it never gets old.<BR/>It's always so gnew n' fresh. Word!USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-10937112263507070882008-02-10T03:08:00.000-08:002008-02-10T03:08:00.000-08:00"For leisure is the gateway to the timeless, to th..."For leisure is the gateway to the timeless, to the Vertical Church of Perpetual Slack -- that is, if you are able to slow down your thoughts long enough to locate one of the little springs dotting the landscape of your mind, pleasantly bubbling down from above. If your religion is working for you, it is because it has helped you tap into one of these springs."<BR/><BR/>Which is why it's always spring for Raccoons! <BR/>O sure, we got the dark night O the soul n' stuff, but those springs spring Eternal!USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-24672434707208598222008-02-10T03:05:00.000-08:002008-02-10T03:05:00.000-08:00"In fact, there is nothing more serious and import..."In fact, there is nothing more serious and important than leisure. The Catholic philosopher Josef Pieper wrote a classic little book on the topic, noting that the very possibility of culture rested on a foundation of leisure -- a sphere of activity that was entirely detached from our immediate wants and needs, free from practical or political considerations -- free from the tyranny of the horizontal."<BR/><BR/>Leisure...is a sphere of activity that is entirely detached from our wants n' needs...free from the tyranny...<BR/><BR/>O man! That is so rad, Bob!<BR/>This was one of your best Bobservations, IMO!USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-33948345486281792922008-02-09T22:51:00.000-08:002008-02-09T22:51:00.000-08:00Speaking of David Roper (Robin), I've been moseyin...Speaking of David Roper (Robin), I've been moseying through a wonderful collection of his writings - <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/SEEING-GOD-David-Roper/dp/157293199X" REL="nofollow">"Seeing God".</A> It's one of those "little" books that I will probably continue rereading until it falls apart (or I do).NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-25905220307880509982008-02-09T21:23:00.000-08:002008-02-09T21:23:00.000-08:00100%interesting that the artist's paintings all co...100%<BR/><BR/>interesting that the artist's paintings all contained circles or "O"...coincidence??Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com