Integral Options Cafe

Thursday, October 11, 2007

China Tries to Discredit the Dalai Lama

This is kind of weird, but not unexpected from a government that fears the influence the Dalai Lama has among the Tibetan people.

Here is a bit of an "article" -- more a propaganda piece -- in The People's Daily:

~ From On the 14th Dalai Lama's betrayal of Buddhism

Firstly, let's look at how he betrayed the precept of no killing. In the late 1950s, Tibetan reactionary leaders launched an armed rebellion in an attempt to permanently maintain the feudal serfdom and their autocratic rule. The 14th Dalai Lama was the chief representative of the feudal serfdom. The armed rebels set houses on fire, looted Tibetan people and raped women. What happened then still lingers in Tibetan people's minds today. In the late 1980s, the Dalai Lama clique stirred up unrest in Lhasa, which seriously harmed people's lives and damaged their property. Moreover, who was behind the mid 1970s assassination of Gung-thangTshul-khrims, one of the leaders of the Group 13, who failed to obey Dalai's orders? Who nodded to plot and implement the assassination of Li-thang A-thar? Who, in the late 1990s, sent killers to the home of Rin-po-che Kun-bde-gling and seriously wounded him? Who threatened to exterminate the "life and activities" of two young Rin-po-ches, Chi-jang and Sun-po? Vjigs-med Tshe-ring, who once was one of the key members of the Dalai Lama clique, said that at least ten Tibetans, who disagreed with the Dalai Lama, had been assassinated.

Secondly, let's have a look at how the 14th Dalai Lama violated the precept of no lying. The Dalai Lama sent a telegram in 1951 after the signing of the agreement on the peaceful liberation of Tibet, in which he said that the agreement, signed on May 23, 1951,was based on friendship and thus won unanimous support from the local government of Tibet, Tibetan monks and the people. But on March 10, 1961, the 14th Dalai Lama said in a speech that the agreement was written fully in the will of the "Red Han" and was signed by his representative, who was put under house arrest. In 1953, the 14th Dalai Lama wrote an article, saying that Tibetans were one of the ethnic communities in China, which enjoyed long and rich history and Tibetan people enjoyed freedom and equality as all the other ethnic groups did in China after they returned to the great family of the motherland. But on March 10, 1960, he said in another speech that Tibet has been "a completely independent country" with its own political system and government ever since the Tibetan people created their own written language.

I find this interesting in so many ways.

Besides the blatant revisionist point-of-view, it's curious to me that something like this would appear so close to the Beijing Olympics. Rather than stirring up controversy, you'd think China might want to smooth things out a bit so as to put their best face forward.

Then there's the Buddhist-led unrest in Burma. As far as China seems to be concerned, all Buddhists follow the Dalai Lama, not just Tibetan Buddhists. It seems that by discrediting the Buddhist leader, they might hope to discredit Buddhism in general.

Mostly, though, I think this is aimed at the Tibetan people, or at least what is left of them. Here is a bit from the end of the article:

In August, he said in public that the "upcoming changes in 1995 or 1996" would benefit his group. As a matter of fact, Tibet did witness "great changes" in 1995. During that year, Tibetan people celebrated the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and most of the 62 key construction projects in Tibet financially supported by the whole nation were completed. Also in 1995, the divine reincarnation of Panchen Lama was successfully completed. The development of Tibet played a joke with the "magic power" of the 14th Dalai Lama, which, perhaps, is the judgment on Dalai Lama for his betrayal of the precept of no lying.'

Did the Tibetan people really celebrate thirty years of brutal Chinese rule? Did the Tibetan people really believe that the Chinese government's installation of a fake Panchen Lama -- after having imprisoned (or killed?) the real one -- was legitimate?

It's amusing, sort of, and also sad that China still believes it can convince Tibetans not to follow their spiritual leader.

World's oldest wall painting unearthed in Syria

From Reuters:

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - French archaeologists say they have excavated an 11,000-year-old wall painting in red, black and white in northern Syria which they describe as the oldest in the world, although it resembles a modern work.

The 2-square-metre painting was found below ground at the Neolithic settlement of Djade al-Mughara on the Euphrates, northeast of the city of Aleppo, mission head Eric Coqueugniot told Reuters.

"It looks like a modernist painting. Some of those who saw it have likened it to work by Klee. Through carbon dating we established it is from around 9000 B.C.," Coqueugniot said.

"We found another painting next to it, but that won't be excavated until next year. It is slow work," said Coqueugniot, who works at France's National Centre for Scientific Research.

Coqueugniot was referring to Swiss-German artist Paul Klee, who had links with the Bauhaus school, a main player in the German modernist movement.

Rectangles dominate the ancient painting, which formed part of an adobe circular wall of a large house with a wooden roof at the 15,000-square-metre site. Excavations have been going on at the site since the early 1990s.

Doris Lessing Wins Nobel Prize in Literature

Very cool.

From The New York Times:

Doris Lessing, the Persian-born, Rhodesian-raised and London-residing novelist whose deeply autobiographical writing has swept across continents and reflects her deep feminist engagement with the major social and political issues, won the 2007 Nobel Prize for Literature today.
Announcing the award in Stockholm, the Swedish Academy described her as “that epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny.” The award comes with a 10 million Swedish crown honorarium, about $1.6 million.
Ms. Lessing, who turns 88 later this month, never finished high school and largely educated herself through her voracious reading. She had been born to British parents in what is now Iran, was raised in colonial Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and now lives in London. She has written dozens of books of fiction, as well as plays, non-fiction and an autobiography. She is the 11th woman to win a Nobel Prize in literature.
Ms. Lessing learned the news from a group of reporters camped on her doorstep as she returned home from visiting her son in the hospital. She declared herself totally surprised.
“I had forgotten about it, actually,” she said. “My name has been on the short list for such a long time.”
On second thought, she said, perhaps she was not entirely surprised, because “this has been going on for something like 40 years,” a reference to the many years when she had been named as a potential honoree. “You can’t go on getting excited every year about this,” she said. “There are limits to getting excited finally.”

Read the rest.

Satire: Live From Congress: New Program Will Defend Against Flesh-Eating (Classified)

From O-Span:

Live From Congress: New Program Will Defend Against Flesh-Eating (Classified)

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

My Personal DNA

Reserved Inventor

I just took this cool personality test (thanks, Gary!).

My personalDNA Report

The reserved inventor sounds about right.

This chart shows thirteen personality traits. Each bar indicates the percentage of test takers who entered a lower value for that trait than you did. For example, if Confidence is at 80, that means that 80% of people entered lower values for confidence questions than you did. Based on a sample of 30,000 users. Click here to learn more about the traits.

Confidence	Low High	56
Openness	Low High	82
Extroversion	Low High	12
Empathy	Low High	44
Trust in others	Low High	46
Agency	Low High	90
Masculinity	Low High	92
Femininity	Low High	44
Spontaneity	Low High	14
Attention to style	Low High	20
Authoritarianism	Low High	6
Earthy/Imaginative	Imaginative Earthy	16
Aesthetic/Functional	Functional Aesthetic	50

Some of it sounds like me, but then some of it (empathy, for example) seems a little off. All in all, this seems like a much more comprehensive test than most of them.

Take it for yourself.

What's Your Halloween Personality?

What Your Halloween Habits Say About You

A bit of an introvert, you like the special occasions just as much as everyone else. You just have your own unique way of celebrating Halloween.

You're weird. You're downright deviant. And you use dressing up in a costume as an excuse to act out.

Your inner child is open minded, playful, and adventurous.

Your fears are irrational and varied. It's hard to predict what you may be afraid of on any given day.

You're logical, rational, and not easily effected. Not a lot scares you... especially when it comes to the paranormal.

You are a traditionalist with most aspects of your life. You like your Halloween costume to be basic, well made, and conventional enough to wear another year.

What's Your Halloween Personality?

Hmmmm . . . .

Speedlinking 10/10/07

Quote of the day:

"The cat could very well be man's best friend but would never stoop to admitting it."
~ Doug Larson

Image of the day:

BODY
~ The Leptin Manifesto -- "From the Greek word leptos, meaning thin, leptin is a bizarre little protein hormone that affects energy intake and energy expenditure. If you can learn to control it, you can pretty much write your physique ticket."
~ The Only Supplements You Need To Build Muscle & Strength -- "I decided to make an article about which supplements you really need for strength training & why. Here it is."
~ Health Tip: The Benefits of Omega-3s -- "Omega-3 fatty acids -- found in fish and certain plant oils -- are crucial for healthy brain growth and development. They can also help protect the body against certain diseases and conditions."
~ High glycemic index diet boosts fatty liver risk -- "People who eat lots of high glycemic index (GI) foods not only risk gaining weight, they also run a greater risk of developing a condition that can lead to liver failure and death, finds a new study in mice. The condition is known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)."
~ Researchers name and shame 11 companies for making 'false health claims' -- "A group of young scientists today challenged the marketing claims made by 11 companies of 'health products' ranging from sandwiches to health spas. In a report they criticised the firms including Nestle and Champneys for making 'pseudo-scientific' statements that did not stand up to scrutiny."
~ Study Of Relationship Between Chronic Diseases And Stress -- "In a review of the scientific literature on the relationship between stress and disease, Carnegie Mellon University psychologist Sheldon Cohen has found that stress is a contributing factor in human disease, and in particular depression, cardiovascular disease and HIV/AIDS."
~ Investigating Link Between Male Testosterone Levels And Marital Status -- "A fascinating new study is the first outside of North America to observe lower testosterone levels among married men. Supporting a growing body of research, the study reveals that even married men who are considered aloof spouses and provide minimal parenting have much lower testosterone levels than single, unmarried men." Damn, that's a good reason to stay single. But then again, the psychological benefits of relationship probably override any negative effects from the low testosterone.

PSYCHE/SELF
~ Are You Just Shy or Do You Have a Social Phobia? -- "There's a 50% chance that you consider yourself shy. But is this 'just' shyness or is it a mental disorder? Since 1980 the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders used by psychiatrists in diagnosis has included the categories of 'social phobia' and 'social anxiety disorder'. This suggests that what would previously have been your particular way of being, has become a 'disorder' with a biological cause which needs some medication."
~ The Relaxifying Secret to Success -- "One thing that has helped me to keep striving towards where I want to go is to focus on the process instead of the outcome. You just focus on what you are doing. You don’t think about the possible outcomes of what you are doing when you are doing what you do. You detach from that. You just keep your mind focused on doing the work."
~ 10 Surefire Ways to Kill Your Crabby Mood -- "Having a happy day is well within your reach even if you are feeling totally down in the dumps. Being happy is a choice and there are things you can do to make it happen. Just like when you feel a decrease in energy, the best thing to do is to get your body moving - the same thing is true with cultivating happiness."
~ Warning: Is the Quick Fix Mentality Killing Your Progress? -- "We live in an age of information over-abundance and finite attention spans. As a result, both writers and readers have come to depend on the quick fix. People don’t have time to read drawn out explanation and analysis. They want answers up front in an easily digestible format."
~ The neurology of Alice in Wonderland -- "I've just discovered a fantastic short article on the curious neurological syndromes that appear in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It was published a couple of years ago in a clinical neuroscience journal and is freely available online as a pdf file."
~ Happier & The Pursuit of Happiness -- "Tal Ben-Shahar's latest book, Happier, brings us the latest positive psychology findings on being happy."
~ Early School Performance Predicts Substance Abuse Rates -- "Drug use and behavioral problems obviously carry the potential to disrupt one's academic life, diverting crucial time and energy from school and blurring students' abilities to focus on their studies. But researchers found the equation more notable when reversed - kids with low grades are more likely to use and abuse various substances when they become available."
~ Can an MRI See God? -- "Research in neuroscience has focused on the biological nature of consciousness. But does science explain away religious experience, or is there a deeper mystery at work?"

CULTURE/POLITICS
~ How Gay Marriage Really Will Change Hetero Marriage -- "In order for our society to accept or even tolerate same-sex marriage, a lot of fairly basic, deep-rooted ideas have to change. The way we define family. The way we think of what it means to be a man, and what it means to be a woman. The importance of sex and sexual fulfillment. What we consider natural and normal. Etc., etc., etc."
~ Generation Q -- "But Generation Q may be too quiet, too online, for its own good, and for the country’s own good. When I think of the huge budget deficit, Social Security deficit and ecological deficit that our generation is leaving this generation, if they are not spitting mad, well, then they’re just not paying attention. And we’ll just keep piling it on them."
~ Use It or Lose It: Why Language Changes over Time -- "The words used the most in everyday language are the ones evolving at the slowest rate, say two new studies published in Nature." See also: Mathematicians predict the future of the past tense.
~ War on Iraq: Unable to Beat Muqtada al-Sadr, the U.S. Tries to Divide his Movement -- "While U.S. officials try to gin up a war with Iran by accusing it of meddling in Iraq's affairs, their real problem is that al Sadr's Mahdi army is determined to end the occupation and is simply too big to be beaten by military force."
~ Newcomers and Old Hands Nominated for Book Prizes -- "God and government were among the themes explored by the nonfiction finalists for the National Book Awards, which were announced yesterday." Among the nominees, in all categories, are Christopher Hitchens (non-fiction), Robert Hass (poetry), and Sherman Alexie (children's books).
~ Utne's Rough Guide to International Opinion -- "The Pew Global Attitudes Project breaks news about ever-shifting world opinion. Here's a look at some of the 2007 report's quirkier findings."
~ Grading the Republican Debate -- "Thompson was shaky but adequate in his first debate appearance, but overall it was Giuliani who dominated in Dearborn."

HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Environmental setting of human migrations in the circum-Pacific Region -- "A new study by Kevin Pope of Geo Eco Arc Research and John Terrell of The Field Museum adds insight into the migration of anatomically modern humans out of Africa and into Asia less than 100,000 years before present (BP)."
~ New-School 'Aether' May Shed Light on Neutron Stars -- "Among scientists, it is widely believed that there is no such thing as an aether - a medium pervading all space that allows light waves to propagate, similar to how sound needs air or water - but a part of its spirit may live on. A group of University of Maryland (UM) physicists have proposed a modern spin on the aether of old and have used it to make new predictions about the behavior of neutron stars."
~ Interoperability in Virtual Worlds: Experts Discuss Possible Futures -- "Linden Labs, makers of Second Life, announced a partnership with IBM and nearly 30 other companies today to work on creating a layer of interoperability across all online virtual worlds. This layer, the plans for which are being discussed publicly for the first time at today's Virtual Worlds Expo in San Jose, would allow users to port identities and other assets from one virtual world to another."
~ Data sharing threatens privacy -- "Analyses of personal information raise spectre of Big Brother."
~ Biofuel: The little shrub that could - maybe -- "India, like many countries, has high hopes for jatropha as a biofuel source, but little is known about how to make it a successful crop. Daemon Fairless digs for the roots of a new enthusiasm."
~ Ancient Roman Coins Found in Portugal -- "Archaeologists excavating a site in northeastern Portugal discovered 4,500 ancient Roman coins tucked away inside a wall."
~ Ethanol Crops Could Threaten Water Supply -- "When it comes to solving the fossil fuel crisis, it seems like every silver lining comes accompanied by a dark cloud."

INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Books on classical learning, my recommendations -- "Classical learning is a more diverse field than I ever imagined. What follows are the books that, so far, have provided the most knowledge, understanding, and wisdom about the classical learning approach. This is a list still in-progress. But I’d go to the mat for any of these selections, though some more than others, as the brief descriptions of each will indicate."
~ Emily Dickenson in a teal hue -- ""I reason, time is short" by Emily Dickenson expresses a level of faith that I think of as teal: existentialist, yearning, open, but reason-bound, and uncertain (I speak not of a fully-formed level of consciousness here, but rather of a station of emergent worldview development)."
~ A note on stations and classic texts -- "I am forced by my description of Dickenson as "of a teal hue" to reflect on the significance of stations as descriptors. Dickenson's poem expresses a sentiment that might have been uttered by any number of ancient Greek or Roman philosophers. Is it appropriate to call this sentiment teal, part of a psychological and cultural developmental meme (or altitude) that is generally taken to be late postmodern? Does doing so strip away the genuine appropriateness of using colors of an Integral Spirituality to describe any phenomena at all?"
~ Godwin's Law -- Hokai blogs about the pseudo-spiritual narcissism that is Gagdad Bob (aka, Robert Godwin).
~ The Matrix, Revisited: A New Myth Emerges in the Struggle for Authenticity -- "Lately, I’'ve been obsessed with finding ways to experience a deeper, truer self, to cultivate the elemental creational force that lies within every one of us. A serendipitous encounter with Nirvana during a meditation retreat in 2003 demonstrated to me experientially that we are so much more than physical bodies."
~ Tenzin Yongdu- The Wheel of Life - The 12 Nidanas -- "A fully ordained monk of the Kagyu lineage, Lama Karma Tenzin Yongdu took vows with His Eminence the Third Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche and became one of his close disciples. He is also a senior student of the late Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche."

Daily Om: Value Your Own Wisdom

[image source]

Today's Daily Om takes a look at what I often refer to as Soul -- the inner wisdom that can align us with our best possible life. When we can learn to listen to that voice, we are less likely to take wrong turns in our lives or choose bad relationships. It is also the voice that helps us find the learning and growth from those times when we do make bad choices.

The Truths Within
Value Your Own Wisdom

Throughout our lives, we will encounter individuals who presume to know what is best for us. The insights they offer cannot compare, however, with the powers of awareness and discernment that already exist within us. From birth we are blessed with wisdom that cannot be learned or unlearned. It exists whether or not we acknowledge it because it is a gift given to us by a loving universe before we chose to experience existence on the earthly plane. Yet for all its permanence, it is vital that we value and honor this incredible element of the self. It is when we do not use our inborn wisdom that we begin to doubt our personal truths and are driven to outside sources of information because we are afraid. What we know to be true in our hearts is invariably true, and we discover how intensely beautiful and useful self-trust can be when we recognize the power of our wisdom.

Inner wisdom is not subject to the influences of the outside world, which means that it will never demand that we surrender our free will or counsel us to act in opposition to our values. We benefit from this inspiration when we open ourselves to it, letting go of the false notion that we are less qualified than others to determine our fate. The wisdom inside of us is the source of our discernment and our ability to identify blessings in disguise. When we are unsure of who to trust, how to respond, or what we require, the answers lie in our inner wisdom. It knows where we are going and understands where we are coming from, taking this into account though it is not a product of experience but rather a piece of our connection to the universal mind.

In the whole of your existence, no force you will ever encounter will contribute as much to your ability to do what you need to do and be who you want to be as your natural wisdom. Through it, you reveal your growing consciousness to the greater source and discover the true extent of your strength. If you heed this wisdom with conviction and confidence, the patterns, people, and fears that held you back will be dismantled, paving the way for you to fulfill your truest potential.

Christopher Hitchens Interview by Anderson Cooper

Christopher Hitchens talks about his book, God Is Not Great. I was pleased to hear him say two things -- 1) he reads and likes some religious poets, and 2) if religion were gone he would miss it.

Good interview.

via videosift.com

Queens of the Stone Age - Hangin' Tree (live)

That's Mark Lanegan on vocals, and I think the song is from one of his solo albums.

via videosift.com

Satire: Cost Of Freedom At All-Time High

From The Onion:

Cost Of Freedom At All-Time High

October 10, 2007 | Issue 43•41
WASHINGTON, DC—According to a report released Monday, the cost of American freedom has soared from its previous 1779 high of bravery, sacrifice, fighting for what's right, and 25,071 human lives, up to a record bravery, sacrifice, fighting for what's right, 321,932 human lives, personal privacy, peace of mind, honor, liberty, comfort, and $14.2 billion. Even as it reaches unprecedented levels, most Americans have no choice but to pay for the intangible commodity.
"I suppose you need freedom," said Nancy Holstrom, who was forced to send her two eldest sons to Iraq last month to help defray rising freedom costs.
Government officials said they are committed to exploring all viable alternatives to freedom, including converting to a military dictatorship.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Gratitude 10/9/07

Today I am simply grateful to be alive.

Life is a mystery and an adventure -- as it should be.

Are you grateful to be alive today?

Wise Words from Friedrich Nietzsche

[image source]

Some cool quotes from Friedrich Nietzsche:

The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.

You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.

Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself.

I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time.

Without music, life would be a mistake.

What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.

The overman...Who has organized the chaos of his passions, given style to his character, and become creative. Aware of life's terrors, he affirms life without resentment.

Maturity consists in having rediscovered the seriousness one had as a child at play.

~ Friedrich Nietzsche
German philosopher (1844 - 1900)

The man was a bit crazy sometimes, but he was also sometimes pretty clear in his insights into human nature.

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Thursday, October 11, 2007

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Cost Of Freedom At All-Time High

Tuesday, October 09, 2007