First: read this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7693501.stm
This man is the sole killer of Meredith Kercher.
Next Google Amanda Knox.
Looks like Meredith's parents have fallen for the Italian police lies implicating Amanda without evidence, based on how she behaved under questioning.
As well her ex-BF is baffled why he was convicted. I'm going to go with revenge by Kercher's parents after being groomed to believe the police's false evidence against Knox.
In short, this is a witch hunt due to poor police forensics and a few narcissistic personalities in the Italian police department.
Reference:
Amanda Knox's ex BF says he's not innocent because he was her BF: http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/24624338/amanda-knoxs-ex-im-not-guilty-because-i-was-her-boyfriend?utm_content=buffera42ba&utm_medium=social&utm_source=plus.google.com&utm_campaign=buffer
20140203
The Moors Declined Due to Economic Competition with the Holy Roman Empire (satire)
I once checked the genetic map for Spain. It turns out that the ancestry of Spanish men were likely to be Greek, Berber, and what used to be called Moorish, along with a few Normans, Carthaginians, and Visigoths.
On the female side, the mitochondria assaying shows a predominantly Western European gene-pool e.g. Christian Hispanics (of Norman and Visigoth ancestry) sealing trade deals with the Moors by marrying off their daughters to predominantly Berber and a few Arabic Muslims.
Indeed, Spain and a part of France, and Sicily was conquered by the Moors, who soon settled into fiefdoms, only to conquer their neighboring Moorish governor if he kept his borders unguarded.
Once the Moors began to encroach on the Christian northlands of the Iberian peninsula, Christian knights in France were beseeched by emissaries of the Pope to rid Hispania of the Moors.
However, during the Moorish domination of Hispania, increased trade led to alliances between Christians, Jews and Muslims. IMO the reason for the Inquisition was originally to ensure piety and forced Christian conversion, so that the Pope's coffers were full of the faithful's tithes (and property when they died without heirs).
So the Colonial Period of Europe was probably due to economic competition with the Muslims. And it is not preposterous to have the Muslims discover America first.
Once the Catholics had the Moors leaving Spain, they at first let the Moors alone, being told they would give up Islam for Christianity along with a few of the Jews. In the end, a mass exodus of Jews left Spain for Constantinople and Asia Minor.
Meanwhile the Moors were forced to accept Christian or be burned at the stake after being tortured by the Inquisitors from Rome, who were Jesuits.
So, it was not just the lust for gold in China that led to Colonial powers of Europe sailing west. It was also the fact that a lot of gold left with the vanquished Moors, and Spain became somewhat impoverished just as the Dark Ages were falling.
Without the Moorish presence, the King and Queen of Portugal had to send explorers to find more gold to rebuild Spain for Western European tastes.
A pity though. The Moors were a cash cow for Europe but the Pope's anti-Muslim bigotry led to the rise of the Plague, since the storehouses of grain probably had less cats keeping the rats at bay due to the wars that drove the Moors out.
Now today, the average European is ignorant of Muslim culture and its history in the Levant and Arabia. So are a great many Americans, whose hatred is unfounded and much Islamophobia is concentrated among neo-conservative religious folk some of whom can barely read science or do their income taxes. As for any sense of history, even their GOP leaders are simpletons about Arab history in the Middle East.
In my opinion, this is probably why 911 happened: to smarten the West up to the fact that it was not Muslims who bombed the World Trade Centres but Islamists and al Qaeda who have made a mockery of Islam by using Salafi and Wahhabi Islam rhetoric in perverted ways.
Meanwhile, these political ideologists are not truly religious but fanatical about Sharia without any compassion or mercy whatsoever. If the descendant of Moors were more organized, then they'd teach the fanatical terrorists about what real Sharia actually is. But alas! They are in an unofficial civil war in Liberia, or dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood west of Tripoli to Morocco.
Indeed, the Arab Spring has yet to bear any fruit of democracy, due to the perversion of Salafi and Wahhabi ideology into its political ideology consisting of being so pious everyone else is an unbeliever and only worthy of death.
Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are their bankrollers, and America and Canada their propagandists.
On the female side, the mitochondria assaying shows a predominantly Western European gene-pool e.g. Christian Hispanics (of Norman and Visigoth ancestry) sealing trade deals with the Moors by marrying off their daughters to predominantly Berber and a few Arabic Muslims.
Indeed, Spain and a part of France, and Sicily was conquered by the Moors, who soon settled into fiefdoms, only to conquer their neighboring Moorish governor if he kept his borders unguarded.
Once the Moors began to encroach on the Christian northlands of the Iberian peninsula, Christian knights in France were beseeched by emissaries of the Pope to rid Hispania of the Moors.
However, during the Moorish domination of Hispania, increased trade led to alliances between Christians, Jews and Muslims. IMO the reason for the Inquisition was originally to ensure piety and forced Christian conversion, so that the Pope's coffers were full of the faithful's tithes (and property when they died without heirs).
So the Colonial Period of Europe was probably due to economic competition with the Muslims. And it is not preposterous to have the Muslims discover America first.
Once the Catholics had the Moors leaving Spain, they at first let the Moors alone, being told they would give up Islam for Christianity along with a few of the Jews. In the end, a mass exodus of Jews left Spain for Constantinople and Asia Minor.
Meanwhile the Moors were forced to accept Christian or be burned at the stake after being tortured by the Inquisitors from Rome, who were Jesuits.
So, it was not just the lust for gold in China that led to Colonial powers of Europe sailing west. It was also the fact that a lot of gold left with the vanquished Moors, and Spain became somewhat impoverished just as the Dark Ages were falling.
Without the Moorish presence, the King and Queen of Portugal had to send explorers to find more gold to rebuild Spain for Western European tastes.
A pity though. The Moors were a cash cow for Europe but the Pope's anti-Muslim bigotry led to the rise of the Plague, since the storehouses of grain probably had less cats keeping the rats at bay due to the wars that drove the Moors out.
Now today, the average European is ignorant of Muslim culture and its history in the Levant and Arabia. So are a great many Americans, whose hatred is unfounded and much Islamophobia is concentrated among neo-conservative religious folk some of whom can barely read science or do their income taxes. As for any sense of history, even their GOP leaders are simpletons about Arab history in the Middle East.
In my opinion, this is probably why 911 happened: to smarten the West up to the fact that it was not Muslims who bombed the World Trade Centres but Islamists and al Qaeda who have made a mockery of Islam by using Salafi and Wahhabi Islam rhetoric in perverted ways.
Meanwhile, these political ideologists are not truly religious but fanatical about Sharia without any compassion or mercy whatsoever. If the descendant of Moors were more organized, then they'd teach the fanatical terrorists about what real Sharia actually is. But alas! They are in an unofficial civil war in Liberia, or dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood west of Tripoli to Morocco.
Indeed, the Arab Spring has yet to bear any fruit of democracy, due to the perversion of Salafi and Wahhabi ideology into its political ideology consisting of being so pious everyone else is an unbeliever and only worthy of death.
Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are their bankrollers, and America and Canada their propagandists.
Lindsay Lohan: Alcohol Was a Gateway (to Other Drugs) (satire)
Lindsay Lohan's candidness proves alcohol to be a gateway drug, but brewing companies keep brewing more of the harmful and life-threatening drug.
Most lives have been ruined by alcohol and prescription drugs. Yet the mainstream media is mum about this fact while showing alcohol advertising in some regions of the US and other parts of the world.
As for cocaine, it leads most recreational users believing it is harmless and not addictive, until they met someone who believes otherwise. Then their addiction gets worse because of their drug-induced delusion that cocaine is safer than a 26oz bottle of Scotch.
Of course, it is worse to binge on either drug alone instead of sharing it with the whole dance floor. Though, it is legal to serve alcohol to young adults over the age of 21 in most parts of the US, a holdover from prohibition days.
When American youths under 21 but over 18 get thirsty, they usually cross the border into Canada to party, sometimes with tragic results due to being in an alcoholic blackout in Canada where a lot of the street people won't put up with American bravado.
Sadly though the Border patrol never catch the partiers, because a breathalyzer is not standard issue.
Anyway, it is possible Lindsay Lohan might have partied hardy in the UK. When I was looking for pictures of Scots lassies, I happened across a picture of one who had LiLo's hair color and freckles, though the lass whose picture I closely perused appeared to be clean-shaven and pleasingly plump.
Perhaps some Scots with mad computer skills Photoshopped LiLo's head on this Scots wrench.
Though, the fact that some rich Arab prince paid for her to come to one of his big parties in the UK makes me wonder if Lindsay had an alcoholic blackout and some cocaine and entered a temporary psychotic delusion in which she fancied herself to be a model.
Nah, that couldn't have happened because there's been nary a peep from the Daily Mail and other trashy tabloids like the Sun. Maybe that Arab prince likes snapping pictures of pretty starlets like Lindsay.
Who knows?
Anyway, I have been searching high and low for the incriminating picture in my photo stream. Maybe one day I'll find it, crop a closeup of the Scots lassy's face, and ask if it looks like Lindsay.
Anyway, I refer any interested reader to Google Tallulah Bankhead to give you an idea of the role model for scandalous behavior among a certain group of young celebrities. Tallulah makes Lindsay seem like an innocent choir girl, but she kept her coke binges under control in the 1930s-1950s, and managed to become a talk show host in her prime in the 1960s.
So if Tallulah can handle her drinking and drugs, then I can't see why Lindsay can't.
Reference:
Lindsay Lohan's interview with Oprah: http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/arts/scene/blog.html?b=arts.nationalpost.com/2013/08/19/it-was-a-gateway-to-other-things-lindsay-lohan-admits-to-alcohol-addiction-discusses-cocaine-use-in-oprah-winfrey-interview
Most lives have been ruined by alcohol and prescription drugs. Yet the mainstream media is mum about this fact while showing alcohol advertising in some regions of the US and other parts of the world.
As for cocaine, it leads most recreational users believing it is harmless and not addictive, until they met someone who believes otherwise. Then their addiction gets worse because of their drug-induced delusion that cocaine is safer than a 26oz bottle of Scotch.
Of course, it is worse to binge on either drug alone instead of sharing it with the whole dance floor. Though, it is legal to serve alcohol to young adults over the age of 21 in most parts of the US, a holdover from prohibition days.
When American youths under 21 but over 18 get thirsty, they usually cross the border into Canada to party, sometimes with tragic results due to being in an alcoholic blackout in Canada where a lot of the street people won't put up with American bravado.
Sadly though the Border patrol never catch the partiers, because a breathalyzer is not standard issue.
Anyway, it is possible Lindsay Lohan might have partied hardy in the UK. When I was looking for pictures of Scots lassies, I happened across a picture of one who had LiLo's hair color and freckles, though the lass whose picture I closely perused appeared to be clean-shaven and pleasingly plump.
Perhaps some Scots with mad computer skills Photoshopped LiLo's head on this Scots wrench.
Though, the fact that some rich Arab prince paid for her to come to one of his big parties in the UK makes me wonder if Lindsay had an alcoholic blackout and some cocaine and entered a temporary psychotic delusion in which she fancied herself to be a model.
Nah, that couldn't have happened because there's been nary a peep from the Daily Mail and other trashy tabloids like the Sun. Maybe that Arab prince likes snapping pictures of pretty starlets like Lindsay.
Who knows?
Anyway, I have been searching high and low for the incriminating picture in my photo stream. Maybe one day I'll find it, crop a closeup of the Scots lassy's face, and ask if it looks like Lindsay.
Anyway, I refer any interested reader to Google Tallulah Bankhead to give you an idea of the role model for scandalous behavior among a certain group of young celebrities. Tallulah makes Lindsay seem like an innocent choir girl, but she kept her coke binges under control in the 1930s-1950s, and managed to become a talk show host in her prime in the 1960s.
So if Tallulah can handle her drinking and drugs, then I can't see why Lindsay can't.
Reference:
Lindsay Lohan's interview with Oprah: http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/arts/scene/blog.html?b=arts.nationalpost.com/2013/08/19/it-was-a-gateway-to-other-things-lindsay-lohan-admits-to-alcohol-addiction-discusses-cocaine-use-in-oprah-winfrey-interview
Meditation - Journal Entry: September 30, 2013 at 10:02 PM
Be excellent in all
That you do, and accept
Everyone as Buddha
Without question. O!
No one is as splendid
As the bodhisattvas.
Egoless due to daily meditation,
I hold no delusions about being a god.
For what is ego but a tool to wield for liberation?
He who wields Ego wisely uses it to benefit everyone.
What is evil but utter confusion?
What is good but true understanding?
Although all of what I write
Is metaphorical, it is
For the good of us all,
Even the white lies which hold
The Truth occulted by evil karma.
Truth arises from
The pure mind, cleansed of evil
Through daily practice
Of calm abiding and
Mindful reflection on Truth.
Achieve the pure mind
By letting go of desire
Through skillful means.
All it takes is to repeat
The Nembutsu sincerely.
For the Nembutsu
Is the tool of cleansing, and
Purifies the mind.
Wield it kindly when saying
The Nembutsu, the Name-that-calls.
He who utters the Name-that-calls
Is merely moved by the Buddha
Calling to all of humanity.
With each calling his mind is
Cleansed of anger arising from
Desire until the Pure Mind
Arises, shining bright like
The moon rising after sunset,
And the sun rising in the morn.
All things in the universe
Are impermanent,
And there is no soul at all.
Instead, there is but
The Eightfold Consciousnesses.
That you do, and accept
Everyone as Buddha
Without question. O!
No one is as splendid
As the bodhisattvas.
Egoless due to daily meditation,
I hold no delusions about being a god.
For what is ego but a tool to wield for liberation?
He who wields Ego wisely uses it to benefit everyone.
What is evil but utter confusion?
What is good but true understanding?
Although all of what I write
Is metaphorical, it is
For the good of us all,
Even the white lies which hold
The Truth occulted by evil karma.
Truth arises from
The pure mind, cleansed of evil
Through daily practice
Of calm abiding and
Mindful reflection on Truth.
Achieve the pure mind
By letting go of desire
Through skillful means.
All it takes is to repeat
The Nembutsu sincerely.
For the Nembutsu
Is the tool of cleansing, and
Purifies the mind.
Wield it kindly when saying
The Nembutsu, the Name-that-calls.
He who utters the Name-that-calls
Is merely moved by the Buddha
Calling to all of humanity.
With each calling his mind is
Cleansed of anger arising from
Desire until the Pure Mind
Arises, shining bright like
The moon rising after sunset,
And the sun rising in the morn.
All things in the universe
Are impermanent,
And there is no soul at all.
Instead, there is but
The Eightfold Consciousnesses.
20140202
Hostilities Are Stilled
Hostilities aren't stilled
through hostility,
regardless.
Hostilities are stilled
through non-hostility:
this, an unending truth.
-Dhammapada, 1, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Contrast the above quote (Verse 5 of Chapter 1 of the Dhammapada) with Venerable Acharya Buddharakkhita's version:
5. Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal.
To this I add: loving-kindness is a perfect expression of non-hatred.
With practice, the wise are able to abandoned hatred and cease hostilities. Having abandoned hatred, they are able to put a stop to hostilities.
Through meditation, the calm mind is achieved which enables the power of love to replace hatred with love of humanity.
Originally posted: December 19, 2005 7:24 PM
through hostility,
regardless.
Hostilities are stilled
through non-hostility:
this, an unending truth.
-Dhammapada, 1, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Contrast the above quote (Verse 5 of Chapter 1 of the Dhammapada) with Venerable Acharya Buddharakkhita's version:
5. Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal.
To this I add: loving-kindness is a perfect expression of non-hatred.
With practice, the wise are able to abandoned hatred and cease hostilities. Having abandoned hatred, they are able to put a stop to hostilities.
Through meditation, the calm mind is achieved which enables the power of love to replace hatred with love of humanity.
Originally posted: December 19, 2005 7:24 PM
Forgiveness the Economy of the Heart
Forgiveness is the economy of the heart... Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits. — Hannah More
Moderation is encouraged by forgiveness. When for anger is spent, hatred is cast away, and the spirit is redeemed.
Just as gold is refined by fire, so too do we pass through the hells of life to transcend and encounter briefly the momentary joy due to the power of love, namely loving-kindness which is the wellspring of human compassion.
Due to the working of the Primal Vow, which is enabled through the power of love, it is said in Pure Land Buddhism that the Buddhist is truly assured of rebirth in the Pure Land of Bliss.
With this mantra am I reborn there: Namu Amida Butsu.
Original posted: January 7, 2006 8:56 PM
Reference:
Primal Vow: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primal_Vow
Moderation is encouraged by forgiveness. When for anger is spent, hatred is cast away, and the spirit is redeemed.
Just as gold is refined by fire, so too do we pass through the hells of life to transcend and encounter briefly the momentary joy due to the power of love, namely loving-kindness which is the wellspring of human compassion.
Due to the working of the Primal Vow, which is enabled through the power of love, it is said in Pure Land Buddhism that the Buddhist is truly assured of rebirth in the Pure Land of Bliss.
With this mantra am I reborn there: Namu Amida Butsu.
Original posted: January 7, 2006 8:56 PM
Reference:
Primal Vow: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primal_Vow
The Metaphor of Burning in Hell (satire)
If you are Christian and a Islamophobe then you may be a bigot and, according to certain Christian sectarian dogma, you might burn in hell.
If you are a Christian and believe non-Christians will burn in hell then let me assure you that your literal interpretation of the Bible has blinded you to its metaphorical content.
For hatred of Muslims implies unbelief in the ever-loving Christ, regardless of your so-called belief in Him. Hatred of non-Christians is implied by Christian doctrine but not by the Bible.
Furthermore, no one Christian or otherwise knows what awaits them in the afterlife but hatred cuts everyone off from a true and sincere love of humanity, regardless of creed or faith.
Please note that I don't believe in hell as eternal torment but as a temporary destiny after death. Nor do I believe in bigotry and hatred towards Muslims.
For it was not Muslims who committed the tragedy on September 11, 2001. Rather, it was political Islamists who too are just as much unbelievers as anyone who has a large board of hatred blocking the last shred of love left in them. Though such militants claim belief in God, it might be Satan working through them.
Most Muslims were just as shocked as you were, and consider al Qaeda and like-minded Islamists politically radical militants but not Muslims.
Indeed, Islamist implies the political ideology of Sharia that runs counter to Islam.
If a Christian were to radicalize and hold an ideology of the Ten Commandments and consider anyone resisted him to be an unbeliever and worthy of death then he would be considered a potential domestic terrorist by the US government.
This includes anti-abortionist shooters, anti-government militias and even certain groups motivated by ideology i.e. radical right who use violence.
Indeed, anyone who wishes death on anyone else and affiliates with any God-fearing religion that stresses love and submission before a higher power than himself has occulted himself from belief in God and substituted it with a belief in death.
And who knows death more than Satan does? Even those lost sheep who have chosen him may know of death.
Hatred inflames the heart and places the hater in a metaphorical hell. Thoughts of death to other people complement that hatred.
Thus hatred causes the hell of your own making, regardless of your faith.
On the other hand, the love of which a wise man speaks is not humanity's love of God but rather the merciful compassion that calms all hearts because our love for all things good in life.
Peace of mind is the ideal of all things good in life. Such a mind at peace calmly abides in the clarity of mind that is free of anger and hatred and soon becomes full of the truest love of all, our love for each other, regardless of religion.
He who fears another is ignorant of that love. She who loves knows the power of love. Before that power of love, even he who loves power confesses his ignorance of love.
What if that tragedy in 2001 was the last chance for Americans to show humility before the world? What if the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq was the hope that that humility be shared by the conquerors with the conquered?
These two questions are but rhetorical, and may result many more questions than can be addressed in this article.
However, the metaphor of burning in hell refers to the anger at being caught unaware in 2001 which resulted in the so-called War on Terror. It also refers to the hatred that consumed a few people who — out of ignorance — chose to unjustly blame others for causing two passenger jets to destroy the Twin Towers, including the tragic deaths in America of Sikhs killed by two men consumed by anger and hatred.
When anger consumes a person, it causes mental instability. When hatred consumes such a person, that unstable mind will find a target upon which to vent his rage. In the case of 911, that target became the Muslims. Yet I do not consider the madmen who piloted those jets to be Muslims but criminal terrorists.
It is illogical and irrational to scapegoat Muslims around the world for 911. A better use of our time would be in studying the perversion of Salafi ideology in Islam that results in the violent militancy of al Qaeda, home-grown domestic terrorism and related criminal terrorism such as the recent bombings by militant Chechens in Russia.
As well, the Boston Massacre may have been inspired by Chechen militancy but it was also fueled by the fear perpetrated by conspiracy theorists who deny the official version of 911.
In any case, such acts of terrorism are often perpetrated by men and sometimes women who burn with hatred for a targeted enemy who is nothing more than a scapegoat for their rage.
Thus, the metaphor of burning in hell is apt.
Yet those of us who know of love know that the power of love triumphs over love of power. Non-violent confrontation of life that is both its fruit and its seed is planted when we fall in humility before that power.
It is possible for love to transform a would-be killer into a humble man who chooses life over death. Indeed, when we let unconditional love guide us, compassion and mercy promotes loving kindness towards other people. All anger and hatred is forgotten, and replaced by meekness.
Thus, the antidote to hatred is love, for it quenches the thirst for revenge without blood being shed. For the power of love is so great that it calms the mind and snuffs out the anger.
All that is left is a calm mind abiding in peace.
Now, that is better than letting hatred cause the hater to feel like he is burning in hell.
20140201
Insomnia and Its Effect on Borderline Personality (satire)
This article is related to what I read about borderline personality disorder e.g. the ability to idealize or fantasize about another person without even have to interact with them.
However, I am also writing this article because I don't like imagining how life would be without Googleplus. It'd be fit as a Hollywood script but most of the plots I have seen on TV or on the big screen are unrealistic, except maybe for Criminal Minds.
Sometimes borderline people would have a fantasized relationship where it all exists in her imagination.
I think our grandparents used to call it daydreaming.
Mundanes seem to ignore their fantasies unless they are in the same room with each other.
Perhaps a few of the emo kids fit the typical borderline personality disorder, which can mimic all the other mental disorders, though not the mood disorders.
A borderline person would have to have a real mood disorder, though the hysterical suicide attempts usually are not fatal, unless they cut too deeply and other morbid stuff like that.
I am pretty lucky to have been born Asian and Buddhist. When diagnosed in 1991 with borderline, my doctor and I agreed the medication route would not be in my best interest, in light of the fact that SSRIs do not work on a personality disorder.
Most doctors often mistake the side effect of akathisia for anxiety and wrong-mindedly choose to up the SSRI dosage, which causes more akathisia.
If such restlessness is present, then it might feel like anxiety but anxiety has one hidden feature to it: it is due to anger that is so suppressed it comes out as a panic attack rather than rage.
Akathisia may lead to thoughts of suicide and morbid ideation about suicide choices. Usually that happens when a dose is missed or doubled.
Thus the additional SSRI dosage could cause a crisis.
However, there is a solution: 15-30 mg of Remeron, which is a antihistamine based sedative. However the mental health consumer can encounter sleep-eating experiences on the higher dose (30mg).
Personally, I think an orgasm could solve more of the mental health issues since a few severely mentally ill American women on the self help web forums are so jaded from past failed relationships, they don't want to handle a relationship anymore. Possibly they got fed up with men. I do not doubt a lot of them become lesbians, but don't have a healthy sex life because they are too ill to enjoy it anymore.
Mainly because the pleasure feels more like pain, though I am certain Lexapro and Celexa have mild painkiller effect.
Guys are not built like that. If the little head anticipate a sexual encounter, the libido will kick in and rule their lives. E.g. the 40 yr old man who gets 25 yr old mistress and lies to his wife about the lipstick on his collar.
Though I have heard of a marriage that led to divorce because the wife was a homophobe who didn't understand her husband's bisexual urges. Scary.
Yet us guys do not think girl-girl sex is inherently gay unless they are both lesbians. Often though, one of the so-called lesbian is a bisexual in the closet.
I can see a lesbian blow up if her bisexual lady lover get a little dick on the sly and accidentally gets pregnant. She would be hurt her lover didn't at least introduce him.
As a rule, misogynist males and androphobic women are extremes. Yes, men haters and women haters are extremes and thus rare. For most people, hate does not ferment into bigotry because it's just unthinkable.
However, we tend to have neurotic tendencies, while the narcissistic person could be our worst nightmare.
Indeed, neuroses are NORMAL. Depression is a normal reaction to negativity in a person's life. Anxiety is a normal reaction to repressed anger that morphs into a panic attack or "the inability to leave the house to the point of coming up with excuses never to leave the house" aka agoraphobia, which too is a neurosis of the worst kind.
As long as a person isn't self harming, be it drug addictions or worse, cutting, neuroses will rarely kill you, with the rare exception of being scared to death.
I like all people in my circles on Googleplus. Your humor might outrage my mom so I like you even more.
Personally though I find horror movies to be hilarious. I know what real blood looks like. Most of the fake blood in horror does not get close to the real thing. However, I am grateful for that because then horror would stop being funny.
It might be my personality to laugh under stress like embarrassment or fear.
If you look over my earlier post on Blogspot about my mental health, then you'd learn that I got diagnosed in 1991.
Today I am certain that psychiatrist just wanted to convince me into thinking I was schizo-something. Schizoaffective which is comorbid with a mood disorder appears with schizophrenic symptoms of paranoia and hallucinations. Schizotypal indicates probable schizophrenic symptoms when under stress. Since schizotypy refers to eccentricities of personality, it is stress that causes the initial effects of schizotypal disorder before adulthood.
After adulthood, all it takes is a drug addiction to hide anxiety and depression. Since alcohol and tobacco is legal, these drugs are often used to self-medicate by people who eventually become mentally ill. Though both of them need careful moderation to reduce side-effects.
According to the anti-marijuana propaganda, smoking lots of marijuana before adulthood leads to anxiety, which presents as temporary paranoia in full-blown anxiety attacks. Indeed, in a certain portion of users, marijuana is known to induce feelings of paranoia and can cause hallucinations which will make an anxious person freak out.
An example is the 911 call by that cop who share a doob with his wife. He complained of experiencing time slowing down and wondered if he was going to die. It makes me wonder if he checked out what the side effects of THC are. Erowid is your friend for that.
So I got diagnosed with borderline personality. Since I have chosen to treat the insomnia rather than the borderline symptoms, the disorder is less of a problem and more of a blessing.
Since borderline is associated with the myth of a flawed personality, perhaps in my case it is a bogus diagnosis. The European description of the same disorder is called Emotionally Unstable Disorder. Both descriptions are stigmatizing. It's still in the DSM-V because shrinks plan to make a lot of money diagnosing hysterical people, once they filter out the funny kind of hysterics.
Emo kids would fit the borderline diagnosis, even the ones that learn to cut from their mentally ill peers who probably suffer depression and anxiety. I'm certain depression could result psychotic thoughts about suicide if a kid's anxiety keeps her homebound.
Me, I'm on two absolutely safe drugs I can get by script, Neurontin (gabapentin; low dose of 200 mg daily for neurasthenia-related pain) and Flexeril (cyclobenzaprine; 10 mg daily for pain from osteoarthrosis of left shoulder). Additionally, I also take two amino acids, lysine for anxiety and arginine for the cardiovascular system. Then there is n-acetyl cysteine (NAC) for liver detoxification (500 mg daily), Vitamins B-50 for stress, C (500+ mg) and D (1000+ IU daily) for the immune system, Calcium (350 mg daily; works in synergy with Vitamin C and lysine for bones and collagen formation), and Ocuvite (to preserve eyesight).
As well, I have recently confirmed the diagnosis of borderline personality because one of my friends in my circles has blocked me due to taking an earlier edition of this rant too seriously. Since this is good material for a blog post, I have edited the private rant to target a great audience.
Most of this article was written earlier in January while suffering insomnia. The reason why it jumps all over the place because it is a rant — not an essay — about living with my borderline personality.
I am glad to have found friends within most of my circles on GooglePlus and appreciate the silent yet sometimes vocal support from my circles on GooglePlus. Currently, I have just woken up an hour ago to post this article after editing it into what you are reading now. Since using the lysine and arginine (1000 mg each) for the past week, I have been getting enough sleep at night.
My motive for writing this rant in its current form is to document what living with my borderline personality is like on my worst days. Sleep hygiene is important in reducing stress, which keeps the dark side of the personality at bay. YMMV.
For your entertainment, I present the following video playlists to show you how I make light with my borderline personality.
First I dance...
And dance some more...
And dance yet again...
Though I've been too busy to dance with work and all.
Sometimes I make music...
Most of the time, I blog and have been on Blogspot for eleven years. Blogging serves as a creative outlet for me. Sometimes an article is popular, but often it is not. I am clueless to what actually works, but realize that none of these article I write are cast in stone.
That means when I find an article needs references, it'll get references and more rhetoric added based on those references. In the case of this article, the tags and the videos above are all that is needed.
Reference:
My Mental Health So Far: http://gandhara.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-mental-health-so-far-satire.html
However, I am also writing this article because I don't like imagining how life would be without Googleplus. It'd be fit as a Hollywood script but most of the plots I have seen on TV or on the big screen are unrealistic, except maybe for Criminal Minds.
Sometimes borderline people would have a fantasized relationship where it all exists in her imagination.
I think our grandparents used to call it daydreaming.
Mundanes seem to ignore their fantasies unless they are in the same room with each other.
Perhaps a few of the emo kids fit the typical borderline personality disorder, which can mimic all the other mental disorders, though not the mood disorders.
A borderline person would have to have a real mood disorder, though the hysterical suicide attempts usually are not fatal, unless they cut too deeply and other morbid stuff like that.
I am pretty lucky to have been born Asian and Buddhist. When diagnosed in 1991 with borderline, my doctor and I agreed the medication route would not be in my best interest, in light of the fact that SSRIs do not work on a personality disorder.
Most doctors often mistake the side effect of akathisia for anxiety and wrong-mindedly choose to up the SSRI dosage, which causes more akathisia.
If such restlessness is present, then it might feel like anxiety but anxiety has one hidden feature to it: it is due to anger that is so suppressed it comes out as a panic attack rather than rage.
Akathisia may lead to thoughts of suicide and morbid ideation about suicide choices. Usually that happens when a dose is missed or doubled.
Thus the additional SSRI dosage could cause a crisis.
However, there is a solution: 15-30 mg of Remeron, which is a antihistamine based sedative. However the mental health consumer can encounter sleep-eating experiences on the higher dose (30mg).
Personally, I think an orgasm could solve more of the mental health issues since a few severely mentally ill American women on the self help web forums are so jaded from past failed relationships, they don't want to handle a relationship anymore. Possibly they got fed up with men. I do not doubt a lot of them become lesbians, but don't have a healthy sex life because they are too ill to enjoy it anymore.
Mainly because the pleasure feels more like pain, though I am certain Lexapro and Celexa have mild painkiller effect.
Guys are not built like that. If the little head anticipate a sexual encounter, the libido will kick in and rule their lives. E.g. the 40 yr old man who gets 25 yr old mistress and lies to his wife about the lipstick on his collar.
Though I have heard of a marriage that led to divorce because the wife was a homophobe who didn't understand her husband's bisexual urges. Scary.
Yet us guys do not think girl-girl sex is inherently gay unless they are both lesbians. Often though, one of the so-called lesbian is a bisexual in the closet.
I can see a lesbian blow up if her bisexual lady lover get a little dick on the sly and accidentally gets pregnant. She would be hurt her lover didn't at least introduce him.
As a rule, misogynist males and androphobic women are extremes. Yes, men haters and women haters are extremes and thus rare. For most people, hate does not ferment into bigotry because it's just unthinkable.
However, we tend to have neurotic tendencies, while the narcissistic person could be our worst nightmare.
Indeed, neuroses are NORMAL. Depression is a normal reaction to negativity in a person's life. Anxiety is a normal reaction to repressed anger that morphs into a panic attack or "the inability to leave the house to the point of coming up with excuses never to leave the house" aka agoraphobia, which too is a neurosis of the worst kind.
As long as a person isn't self harming, be it drug addictions or worse, cutting, neuroses will rarely kill you, with the rare exception of being scared to death.
I like all people in my circles on Googleplus. Your humor might outrage my mom so I like you even more.
Personally though I find horror movies to be hilarious. I know what real blood looks like. Most of the fake blood in horror does not get close to the real thing. However, I am grateful for that because then horror would stop being funny.
It might be my personality to laugh under stress like embarrassment or fear.
If you look over my earlier post on Blogspot about my mental health, then you'd learn that I got diagnosed in 1991.
Today I am certain that psychiatrist just wanted to convince me into thinking I was schizo-something. Schizoaffective which is comorbid with a mood disorder appears with schizophrenic symptoms of paranoia and hallucinations. Schizotypal indicates probable schizophrenic symptoms when under stress. Since schizotypy refers to eccentricities of personality, it is stress that causes the initial effects of schizotypal disorder before adulthood.
After adulthood, all it takes is a drug addiction to hide anxiety and depression. Since alcohol and tobacco is legal, these drugs are often used to self-medicate by people who eventually become mentally ill. Though both of them need careful moderation to reduce side-effects.
According to the anti-marijuana propaganda, smoking lots of marijuana before adulthood leads to anxiety, which presents as temporary paranoia in full-blown anxiety attacks. Indeed, in a certain portion of users, marijuana is known to induce feelings of paranoia and can cause hallucinations which will make an anxious person freak out.
An example is the 911 call by that cop who share a doob with his wife. He complained of experiencing time slowing down and wondered if he was going to die. It makes me wonder if he checked out what the side effects of THC are. Erowid is your friend for that.
So I got diagnosed with borderline personality. Since I have chosen to treat the insomnia rather than the borderline symptoms, the disorder is less of a problem and more of a blessing.
Since borderline is associated with the myth of a flawed personality, perhaps in my case it is a bogus diagnosis. The European description of the same disorder is called Emotionally Unstable Disorder. Both descriptions are stigmatizing. It's still in the DSM-V because shrinks plan to make a lot of money diagnosing hysterical people, once they filter out the funny kind of hysterics.
Emo kids would fit the borderline diagnosis, even the ones that learn to cut from their mentally ill peers who probably suffer depression and anxiety. I'm certain depression could result psychotic thoughts about suicide if a kid's anxiety keeps her homebound.
Me, I'm on two absolutely safe drugs I can get by script, Neurontin (gabapentin; low dose of 200 mg daily for neurasthenia-related pain) and Flexeril (cyclobenzaprine; 10 mg daily for pain from osteoarthrosis of left shoulder). Additionally, I also take two amino acids, lysine for anxiety and arginine for the cardiovascular system. Then there is n-acetyl cysteine (NAC) for liver detoxification (500 mg daily), Vitamins B-50 for stress, C (500+ mg) and D (1000+ IU daily) for the immune system, Calcium (350 mg daily; works in synergy with Vitamin C and lysine for bones and collagen formation), and Ocuvite (to preserve eyesight).
As well, I have recently confirmed the diagnosis of borderline personality because one of my friends in my circles has blocked me due to taking an earlier edition of this rant too seriously. Since this is good material for a blog post, I have edited the private rant to target a great audience.
Most of this article was written earlier in January while suffering insomnia. The reason why it jumps all over the place because it is a rant — not an essay — about living with my borderline personality.
I am glad to have found friends within most of my circles on GooglePlus and appreciate the silent yet sometimes vocal support from my circles on GooglePlus. Currently, I have just woken up an hour ago to post this article after editing it into what you are reading now. Since using the lysine and arginine (1000 mg each) for the past week, I have been getting enough sleep at night.
My motive for writing this rant in its current form is to document what living with my borderline personality is like on my worst days. Sleep hygiene is important in reducing stress, which keeps the dark side of the personality at bay. YMMV.
For your entertainment, I present the following video playlists to show you how I make light with my borderline personality.
First I dance...
And dance some more...
And dance yet again...
Though I've been too busy to dance with work and all.
Sometimes I make music...
Most of the time, I blog and have been on Blogspot for eleven years. Blogging serves as a creative outlet for me. Sometimes an article is popular, but often it is not. I am clueless to what actually works, but realize that none of these article I write are cast in stone.
That means when I find an article needs references, it'll get references and more rhetoric added based on those references. In the case of this article, the tags and the videos above are all that is needed.
Reference:
My Mental Health So Far: http://gandhara.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-mental-health-so-far-satire.html
20140130
Buddhist Mysticism: The Art of Surrendering
Surrendering
Quotations from Dennis Genpo Merzel
In our practice, really to fail, once and for all, to fail absolutely and completely: that is it.
(p. 112)
"Practice" refers to Zen meditation. Failure is the essence of surrender.
When you give it all up, you get it all. You end up losing absolutely nothing, other than some well cherished opinions and ideas.
(p. 39)
"Give it all up" refers to surrendering. By surrendering the ego to Zen meditation, the rewards are many: happiness, love, patience — these are all transformed into their positive forms.
The very effort to stop the ceaseless movement of thoughts keeps us stirred up. Just give up all this effort to stop thinking! Fruitful effort is to let go of effort. Strive to stop striving! When you do, everything settles by itself.
(p. 31)
Why try to stop the ceaseless movement of thoughts then? There is no point in trying to stop thinking. It is easier to follow each thought as they come and go. By letting go of "stop thinking", the calm mind arises eventually. This is what is meant by "everything settles by itself."
And what really happens the moment you say, 'OK, thoughts, come up, I welcome you!' Suddenly there are no thoughts! What is happening? 'Come on, thoughts, where are you?' Except for an occasional blip, they stop arising.
(p. 96)
When the Zen practitioner becomes open to the ceaseless movement of thoughts, all of his thoughts will leave him less stirred up. In the end, he shall achieve "no-thought" with little effort. Even when he goes looking for them during the practice, the movement of thought no longer distract him.
It is a simple fact: whatever you resist will persist. If you are resisting suffering, you suffer more. If you are resisting confusion, you remain confused. If you are looking for peace, you find yourself constantly disturbed. If you are seeking after clarity, you are in a muddle. If you do not want to be angry, you are going to walk around angry. If you do not mind being angry, you will never be bothered about anger, because you will not be holding on to it. Having no opinion for or against, just being open to whatever comes, you are free.
(p. 97)"
By resisting change, the thinking mind will continue. That which you resist may cause its opposite to arise, be it suffering, confusion and even peace. The Zen practitioner ought not mind being angry until he is no longer bothered about it, due to letting go of it. Likewise, to neither be for or against the opinions you hold dear, is true liberation.
By surrendering to the ceaseless movements of thoughts, I develop the ability to rise above them and not let them stir up my feelings.
Thus, letting go of "thinking" by returning to "breathing", no-thought is achieved.
Despite the ebb and flow of "just thinking", it is still possible to be free of their influence. By not minding being angry, I am able to let go of anger.
By not clinging to anger, I am free of it.
Indeed, by not clinging to thoughts, true freedom arises.
This is what the art of surrendering is about.
Originally posted: October 17, 2003 3:27 AM
Quotations from Dennis Genpo Merzel
In our practice, really to fail, once and for all, to fail absolutely and completely: that is it.
(p. 112)
"Practice" refers to Zen meditation. Failure is the essence of surrender.
When you give it all up, you get it all. You end up losing absolutely nothing, other than some well cherished opinions and ideas.
(p. 39)
"Give it all up" refers to surrendering. By surrendering the ego to Zen meditation, the rewards are many: happiness, love, patience — these are all transformed into their positive forms.
The very effort to stop the ceaseless movement of thoughts keeps us stirred up. Just give up all this effort to stop thinking! Fruitful effort is to let go of effort. Strive to stop striving! When you do, everything settles by itself.
(p. 31)
Why try to stop the ceaseless movement of thoughts then? There is no point in trying to stop thinking. It is easier to follow each thought as they come and go. By letting go of "stop thinking", the calm mind arises eventually. This is what is meant by "everything settles by itself."
And what really happens the moment you say, 'OK, thoughts, come up, I welcome you!' Suddenly there are no thoughts! What is happening? 'Come on, thoughts, where are you?' Except for an occasional blip, they stop arising.
(p. 96)
When the Zen practitioner becomes open to the ceaseless movement of thoughts, all of his thoughts will leave him less stirred up. In the end, he shall achieve "no-thought" with little effort. Even when he goes looking for them during the practice, the movement of thought no longer distract him.
It is a simple fact: whatever you resist will persist. If you are resisting suffering, you suffer more. If you are resisting confusion, you remain confused. If you are looking for peace, you find yourself constantly disturbed. If you are seeking after clarity, you are in a muddle. If you do not want to be angry, you are going to walk around angry. If you do not mind being angry, you will never be bothered about anger, because you will not be holding on to it. Having no opinion for or against, just being open to whatever comes, you are free.
(p. 97)"
By resisting change, the thinking mind will continue. That which you resist may cause its opposite to arise, be it suffering, confusion and even peace. The Zen practitioner ought not mind being angry until he is no longer bothered about it, due to letting go of it. Likewise, to neither be for or against the opinions you hold dear, is true liberation.
By surrendering to the ceaseless movements of thoughts, I develop the ability to rise above them and not let them stir up my feelings.
Thus, letting go of "thinking" by returning to "breathing", no-thought is achieved.
Despite the ebb and flow of "just thinking", it is still possible to be free of their influence. By not minding being angry, I am able to let go of anger.
By not clinging to anger, I am free of it.
Indeed, by not clinging to thoughts, true freedom arises.
This is what the art of surrendering is about.
Originally posted: October 17, 2003 3:27 AM
20140128
R.D. Laing and Psychosis (satire)
Laing's view on psychosis:
"Laing argued that the strange behavior and seemingly confused speech of people undergoing a psychotic episode were ultimately understandable as an attempt to communicate worries and concerns, often in situations where this was not possible or not permitted. Laing stressed the role of society, and particularly the family, in the development of madness. He argued that individuals can often be put in impossible situations, where they are unable to conform to the conflicting expectations of their peers, leading to a 'lose-lose situation' and immense mental distress for the individuals concerned. Madness was therefore an expression of this distress, and should be valued as a cathartic and transformative experience."
Fear arises and evolves into anxiety regarding a threat against the psychotic. Often psychosis begins with fears, leading to anxiety which then leads to insomnia that morphs into hypomania. When insomnia leads to mania, that often occurs due to inadequate rest, both of the body and of the mind.
Indeed, it is anxiety and possible repressed anger that precipitates insomnia which might escalate into hypomania and evolve further into psychosis. However, this is not always the case since the experienced mental health consumer learns the importance of sleep hygiene.
My counter argument to Laing is that psychosis is a resolution of the classic double-bind in a manner that is sometimes incomprehensible to society, due to conflicting desires and expectations on each of us.
In most cases, psychosis is non-violent and harmless.
Rather, it is the ignorance and fear of all involved parties including the mental health consumers and her concerned family members, friends and lovers which contributes to any co-morbidity of violence, be it harm to others or self-harm.
When psychotics do habituate towards violence due to what is dismissed as abnormal fear, that violence has been learned either from within the family environment originally or due to social interactions with the public and privately with care workers. Once learned, violence may become a co-morbid behavior associated with the psychiatric disorder of which psychosis is a symptom.
Thus it is imperative that an anxiolytic agent or physical action occurs to relive the anxiety so that any remaining fear motivates the mental health consumer in a positive and non-violent manner. This may consist of a tranquilizer or a non-violent action that relieves the anxiety.
Then the "best cure" for the psychotic is self-talk that counteracts negative self-talk, i.e. positive affirmations which calm her down, and thus removing the fear and the anxiety that it sometimes causes.
If a concerned family member or friend truly wishes to help a psychotic, then it is best to either believe in her even when her confused state of mind gives reason to fear for her grasp on reality, and to graciously remove oneself from the situation when one feels threatened.
In order to have rapport with the psychotic it is best to calmly facilitate positive non-violent confrontation, even to the point of supporting their belief in their limited world-view as delusion, with the intent of gaining compliance.
Direct confrontation with the psychotic is not often recommended since the subsequent anxiety due to negative adaptation during the resolution of the double-bind will only lead to reinforcement of the very delusion the care-giver is trying to "cure." Indeed, it is not helpful to cure the delusion of the mental health consumer while maintaining her psychosis.
Indeed, the wise care-giver should never patronize or belittle the psychotic lest it threaten their limited worldview. Instead, it is best to wait out the psychosis after treating it with a sedative when calm, non-threatening discussion with the mental health consumer fail to resolve the crisis.
Time is a better medication for most acute displays of psychosis which have little or no violent aspects.
In the case of serious (chronic) psychosis, it may be necessary to commit the psychotic to a psychiatric ward and for the use of the appropriate medication (usually atypical anti-psychotics such as seroquel or Abilify.
However, sedation resulting from anti-psychotic use may result in weight gain and its associated effect on the cardiovascular system.
Consequently, a weight-maintenance program may be useful as directed by a medical professional.
When the mental health consumer has stabilized mentally, it is necessary to provide mental health education including the use of coping strategies which relieve anxiety due to stress. Mental health professionals who omit such education by psychologists and psychotherapists merely set the stage for possible future relapse.
Indeed, psychiatric professionals and their support staff are still required to provide the minimum of self-care training of patients in their care. While sedatives might reduce symptoms of the mental health consumer, medication itself is not therapy.
In my opinion, on-line self therapy usually consists of a careful research and practice of coping strategies to reduce the impact that stress has upon the consumer.
Regarding the discussion of medication by my fellow mental health consumers, only the experienced consumer supplies correct information regarding psychotropic drugs. When a consumer's reaction to a drug appears to be clouded by their feelings about it, I usually consider it anecdotal and a possible emotional reaction rather than a physiological one.
Due to the density of emotional reaction to a particular medication, it is impossible to determine the physiological response to the drug. Therefore I tend not to value anecdotes on how the drug makes the consumer feel. Rather, it becomes more interesting to sift through the consumer anecdotes to find the rare anecdote that displays the physiological response.
I suppose this is why I would rather read the abstract about a medical trial than read discussion of medications on a mental health consumers forum. My impression of such candid on-line discussions is that most psychotropic drugs make people with a mental illness feel like crap because their mental health is compromised by seeing the glass half-empty.
Since they expect medication to dull their senses and otherwise impair their positive appreciation of life, it is no wonder that their impression of medication paints a negative picture of psychotropic medication.
Even so, I am touched by the emotional responses to medication because most mental health consumers would rather be treated as human beings. That is why the medications make them feel like crap: not one medication offers psychotherapy.
In the case of the psychotic mental health consumer, their mental health crisis requires treatment lest their psychoses threaten their safety or the safety of other people, both patients and care-givers.
I merely question the over-prescription of medication and especially the idea that a mental illness requires the long-term use of medications.
Thus it makes better sense to accept the psychotic's delusion as real until the psychotic explains her reason for creating it to not deal with the world realistically. Until then, it makes no sense to sedate the psychotic since most psychoses are harmless and resolve themselves on their own over time.
While I am not suggesting that Seroquel and Abilify are useless, I am adamant that the rights of mental health consumers be protected by informed consent when not psychotic, while obligations by mental health professionals be honored by providing psychotics with fast-acting sedatives which are not habit-forming.
Even if such a drug protocol meant the use of sedatives such as mirtazapine, then the doctor should not reject them because they are reserved for depression. Instead, the drugs used should be based on the criteria of least harm to the consumer.
As for therapy, the risk of burnout from stress has put off most psychology students from deciding to become psychotherapists. I am sure that a part of the reasoning behind this aversion to become a psychotherapist might have to do with the fear of people with mental illness and associate stigma associated with mental illness. It is rare that a psychology graduate is able to empathize with a psychiatric patient because he is apparently more mentally healthy than the patient.
However, on the average, there is actually no difference between a psychology graduate and the patient, except in degree of mental health. A dedicated psychotherapist is in service of the client seeking therapy. Any professional relationship between the client and the therapist is threatened by any overt superiority by either of them.
Thus there is need to emphasize that throughout the post-secondary education of a psychotherapist, the therapist is not the master of the client. Rather, the professional relationship between them implies equality. Without such humility, neither the patient not the therapist will benefit greatly from their relationship.
With regard to R.D. Laing and psychosis, it is important to emphasize that professional service by therapists and psychiatrists to all their patients requires that their clients understand the importance of the professional relationship that underlies therapy. This in no way is a personal relationship.
While the client may think she is under no obligation to behave professionally with her therapist or psychiatrist, it might be useful to consider this: would she think it is appropriate to expect her butcher to be at her beck and call?
Thus, it is important for mental health consumers to understand that the client is obliged to treat the therapist or psychiatrist with the respect she reserved for her favorite teacher in school, be it public or post-secondary.
I myself am thankful to my psychotherapist who provided me with welcome advice when he told me that I would never report to the Emergency ward of the local hospital if I was undergoing a psychosis. I take this to be advice that my mental health is determined by appropriate sleep hygiene and its positive effect of reducing insomnia.
To conclude this blog post I present a quote from psychiatrist Adolf Meyer to temper our reliance on medication to treat mental illness:
"Those who imagine that all psychiatry and psychopathology and therapy have to resolve themselves into a smattering of claims and hypotheses of psychoanalysis and that they stand or fall with one's feelings about psychoanalysis, are equally misguided".
Originally posted: May 5, 2005 6:03 PM PDT
References:
Adolf Meyer, psychiatrist - legacy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Meyer_%28psychiatrist%29#Legacy
"Laing argued that the strange behavior and seemingly confused speech of people undergoing a psychotic episode were ultimately understandable as an attempt to communicate worries and concerns, often in situations where this was not possible or not permitted. Laing stressed the role of society, and particularly the family, in the development of madness. He argued that individuals can often be put in impossible situations, where they are unable to conform to the conflicting expectations of their peers, leading to a 'lose-lose situation' and immense mental distress for the individuals concerned. Madness was therefore an expression of this distress, and should be valued as a cathartic and transformative experience."
Fear arises and evolves into anxiety regarding a threat against the psychotic. Often psychosis begins with fears, leading to anxiety which then leads to insomnia that morphs into hypomania. When insomnia leads to mania, that often occurs due to inadequate rest, both of the body and of the mind.
Indeed, it is anxiety and possible repressed anger that precipitates insomnia which might escalate into hypomania and evolve further into psychosis. However, this is not always the case since the experienced mental health consumer learns the importance of sleep hygiene.
My counter argument to Laing is that psychosis is a resolution of the classic double-bind in a manner that is sometimes incomprehensible to society, due to conflicting desires and expectations on each of us.
In most cases, psychosis is non-violent and harmless.
Rather, it is the ignorance and fear of all involved parties including the mental health consumers and her concerned family members, friends and lovers which contributes to any co-morbidity of violence, be it harm to others or self-harm.
When psychotics do habituate towards violence due to what is dismissed as abnormal fear, that violence has been learned either from within the family environment originally or due to social interactions with the public and privately with care workers. Once learned, violence may become a co-morbid behavior associated with the psychiatric disorder of which psychosis is a symptom.
Thus it is imperative that an anxiolytic agent or physical action occurs to relive the anxiety so that any remaining fear motivates the mental health consumer in a positive and non-violent manner. This may consist of a tranquilizer or a non-violent action that relieves the anxiety.
Then the "best cure" for the psychotic is self-talk that counteracts negative self-talk, i.e. positive affirmations which calm her down, and thus removing the fear and the anxiety that it sometimes causes.
If a concerned family member or friend truly wishes to help a psychotic, then it is best to either believe in her even when her confused state of mind gives reason to fear for her grasp on reality, and to graciously remove oneself from the situation when one feels threatened.
In order to have rapport with the psychotic it is best to calmly facilitate positive non-violent confrontation, even to the point of supporting their belief in their limited world-view as delusion, with the intent of gaining compliance.
Direct confrontation with the psychotic is not often recommended since the subsequent anxiety due to negative adaptation during the resolution of the double-bind will only lead to reinforcement of the very delusion the care-giver is trying to "cure." Indeed, it is not helpful to cure the delusion of the mental health consumer while maintaining her psychosis.
Indeed, the wise care-giver should never patronize or belittle the psychotic lest it threaten their limited worldview. Instead, it is best to wait out the psychosis after treating it with a sedative when calm, non-threatening discussion with the mental health consumer fail to resolve the crisis.
Time is a better medication for most acute displays of psychosis which have little or no violent aspects.
In the case of serious (chronic) psychosis, it may be necessary to commit the psychotic to a psychiatric ward and for the use of the appropriate medication (usually atypical anti-psychotics such as seroquel or Abilify.
However, sedation resulting from anti-psychotic use may result in weight gain and its associated effect on the cardiovascular system.
Consequently, a weight-maintenance program may be useful as directed by a medical professional.
When the mental health consumer has stabilized mentally, it is necessary to provide mental health education including the use of coping strategies which relieve anxiety due to stress. Mental health professionals who omit such education by psychologists and psychotherapists merely set the stage for possible future relapse.
Indeed, psychiatric professionals and their support staff are still required to provide the minimum of self-care training of patients in their care. While sedatives might reduce symptoms of the mental health consumer, medication itself is not therapy.
In my opinion, on-line self therapy usually consists of a careful research and practice of coping strategies to reduce the impact that stress has upon the consumer.
Regarding the discussion of medication by my fellow mental health consumers, only the experienced consumer supplies correct information regarding psychotropic drugs. When a consumer's reaction to a drug appears to be clouded by their feelings about it, I usually consider it anecdotal and a possible emotional reaction rather than a physiological one.
Due to the density of emotional reaction to a particular medication, it is impossible to determine the physiological response to the drug. Therefore I tend not to value anecdotes on how the drug makes the consumer feel. Rather, it becomes more interesting to sift through the consumer anecdotes to find the rare anecdote that displays the physiological response.
I suppose this is why I would rather read the abstract about a medical trial than read discussion of medications on a mental health consumers forum. My impression of such candid on-line discussions is that most psychotropic drugs make people with a mental illness feel like crap because their mental health is compromised by seeing the glass half-empty.
Since they expect medication to dull their senses and otherwise impair their positive appreciation of life, it is no wonder that their impression of medication paints a negative picture of psychotropic medication.
Even so, I am touched by the emotional responses to medication because most mental health consumers would rather be treated as human beings. That is why the medications make them feel like crap: not one medication offers psychotherapy.
In the case of the psychotic mental health consumer, their mental health crisis requires treatment lest their psychoses threaten their safety or the safety of other people, both patients and care-givers.
I merely question the over-prescription of medication and especially the idea that a mental illness requires the long-term use of medications.
Thus it makes better sense to accept the psychotic's delusion as real until the psychotic explains her reason for creating it to not deal with the world realistically. Until then, it makes no sense to sedate the psychotic since most psychoses are harmless and resolve themselves on their own over time.
While I am not suggesting that Seroquel and Abilify are useless, I am adamant that the rights of mental health consumers be protected by informed consent when not psychotic, while obligations by mental health professionals be honored by providing psychotics with fast-acting sedatives which are not habit-forming.
Even if such a drug protocol meant the use of sedatives such as mirtazapine, then the doctor should not reject them because they are reserved for depression. Instead, the drugs used should be based on the criteria of least harm to the consumer.
As for therapy, the risk of burnout from stress has put off most psychology students from deciding to become psychotherapists. I am sure that a part of the reasoning behind this aversion to become a psychotherapist might have to do with the fear of people with mental illness and associate stigma associated with mental illness. It is rare that a psychology graduate is able to empathize with a psychiatric patient because he is apparently more mentally healthy than the patient.
However, on the average, there is actually no difference between a psychology graduate and the patient, except in degree of mental health. A dedicated psychotherapist is in service of the client seeking therapy. Any professional relationship between the client and the therapist is threatened by any overt superiority by either of them.
Thus there is need to emphasize that throughout the post-secondary education of a psychotherapist, the therapist is not the master of the client. Rather, the professional relationship between them implies equality. Without such humility, neither the patient not the therapist will benefit greatly from their relationship.
With regard to R.D. Laing and psychosis, it is important to emphasize that professional service by therapists and psychiatrists to all their patients requires that their clients understand the importance of the professional relationship that underlies therapy. This in no way is a personal relationship.
While the client may think she is under no obligation to behave professionally with her therapist or psychiatrist, it might be useful to consider this: would she think it is appropriate to expect her butcher to be at her beck and call?
Thus, it is important for mental health consumers to understand that the client is obliged to treat the therapist or psychiatrist with the respect she reserved for her favorite teacher in school, be it public or post-secondary.
I myself am thankful to my psychotherapist who provided me with welcome advice when he told me that I would never report to the Emergency ward of the local hospital if I was undergoing a psychosis. I take this to be advice that my mental health is determined by appropriate sleep hygiene and its positive effect of reducing insomnia.
To conclude this blog post I present a quote from psychiatrist Adolf Meyer to temper our reliance on medication to treat mental illness:
"Those who imagine that all psychiatry and psychopathology and therapy have to resolve themselves into a smattering of claims and hypotheses of psychoanalysis and that they stand or fall with one's feelings about psychoanalysis, are equally misguided".
Originally posted: May 5, 2005 6:03 PM PDT
References:
Adolf Meyer, psychiatrist - legacy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Meyer_%28psychiatrist%29#Legacy
Confession of a Japanophile (satire)
Genetics does not explain why I am obsessed with martial arts, ninjitsu, yakuza and samurai. For I am a Japanophile not just because I am Japanese, but because I — a Westernized Canadian-born Japanese person — am interested in my ancestors' culture.
Genetics likewise does not fully explain why I am usually heterosexual, and like mostly women and very few men. Being born male is only a part of the reason.
Perhaps society — being mostly heteronormative — subtly favors males who are heterosexual, though the LGBT lobby has a positive cultural, political and social influence on consumerism today. Before modernization, and even today, Japanese culture occasionally discouraged open practice of homosexuality yet condoned the practice, provided two people who are in love keep it discreet.
Indeed, none of the major Japanese religions were openly hostile to lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders.
Even so, the modern-day Japanese government, being conservative, does not guarantee civil rights to LGBT persons. As a result, in cases of spousal abuse, the victim does not have a refuge into which to flee.
In Japan, gay marriage isn't going to be in the Japanese law books for now.
The occasional admiring of a buff male body isn't genetic as much as physiological and an honest desire on the part of the observer to compare physical attributes, which is similar to a pissing contest.
Like the majority of Japanese males, my libido is repressed, due to cultural, physiological, psychological and religious influences. Being essentially in a culture where shame is used as a tool of social control, the behavior of a Japanese person may range from almost schizoid lack of sexual expression to discreet displays of sexuality tinged with shame and the fear of exposure of sexual deeds and the embarrassment resulting from such exposure.
With respect to animé and manga, which I read from time to time, yaoi and yuri are the same-sex flavor of relationships, along with mecha (robots), magical girl and harem genre. While yaoi and yuri present displays of sexuality for mass consumption by fans, robots may represent the hidden aspect of the libido with less overt sexuality; the magic girl, the fantasy element with humorous depictions of awkward moments involving sexuality; and the harem, the fantasy of a man with a lot of potential girlfriends.
Perhaps animé and manga could end up saving the world from utter boredom and anguish for teens and young adults. So I urge my fellow Japanophiles to help spread the word. 0_o
Returning to my confession of being a Japanophile, it was in my youth that I first discovered Shin Buddhism to be meatier than the teachings offered after Sunday service at the Central Fraser Valley Buddhist temple.
This discovery of the roots of Buddhism inspired me to learn Japanese so that I could recognize the characters. In addition, I developed an admiration for martial arts, particularly ninjitsu, as well as respect for samurai and the Yakuza.
Samurai are of interest to me since there were rumors that my father's ancestors may have been related to samurai. Indeed, this is most likely since my grandmother's maiden name was Tanaka, and my father's eldest sister married into the Nakamura family. For both Tanaka and Nakamura are well-known clans of Yamaguchi Prefecture.
As for Yakuza, it is rather interesting that a bad hand in Gaji — a popular Japanese flower card game — became the slang for Japanese criminal societies. However, mass media representations of Yakuza are often exaggerated for the blood and guts on film and in books — especially in manga, and on TV.
As well, the reports that when the city of Kobe was shaken by an earthquake some years ago, it was the Yakuza who first responded to the crisis before the municipal government did. However, I am not so naïve as to consider them to be the "good guys" as long as overt violence continues to be associated with the Yakuza.
Today, as a Canadian-born Japanese who is also a Japanophile, I do not favor the Japanese culture over the Westernized moderation of that culture which I internalize. While it would be admirable to be a perfect blend of Eastern and Western mores, I prefer the simpleness of the "less is more" philosophy with regard to both aesthetics. Thus, the less I try to be Japanese and Westernized, the more I emphasize the subtle qualities of both cultures.
Indeed, the blend of East and West is imperfect within my psyché yet useful to my life due to its simplicity.
Originally posted on January 25, 2004 at 0137H
Updated on February 12, 2013 at 0415H
Japanophile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanophile
LGBT rights in Japan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Japan
The Tanaka & Nakamura families of Yamaguchi Japan: http://www.tanakamura.com/
Samurai: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai
Yakuza: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakuza
Animé: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime
Manga: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga
Genetics likewise does not fully explain why I am usually heterosexual, and like mostly women and very few men. Being born male is only a part of the reason.
Perhaps society — being mostly heteronormative — subtly favors males who are heterosexual, though the LGBT lobby has a positive cultural, political and social influence on consumerism today. Before modernization, and even today, Japanese culture occasionally discouraged open practice of homosexuality yet condoned the practice, provided two people who are in love keep it discreet.
Indeed, none of the major Japanese religions were openly hostile to lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders.
Even so, the modern-day Japanese government, being conservative, does not guarantee civil rights to LGBT persons. As a result, in cases of spousal abuse, the victim does not have a refuge into which to flee.
In Japan, gay marriage isn't going to be in the Japanese law books for now.
The occasional admiring of a buff male body isn't genetic as much as physiological and an honest desire on the part of the observer to compare physical attributes, which is similar to a pissing contest.
Like the majority of Japanese males, my libido is repressed, due to cultural, physiological, psychological and religious influences. Being essentially in a culture where shame is used as a tool of social control, the behavior of a Japanese person may range from almost schizoid lack of sexual expression to discreet displays of sexuality tinged with shame and the fear of exposure of sexual deeds and the embarrassment resulting from such exposure.
With respect to animé and manga, which I read from time to time, yaoi and yuri are the same-sex flavor of relationships, along with mecha (robots), magical girl and harem genre. While yaoi and yuri present displays of sexuality for mass consumption by fans, robots may represent the hidden aspect of the libido with less overt sexuality; the magic girl, the fantasy element with humorous depictions of awkward moments involving sexuality; and the harem, the fantasy of a man with a lot of potential girlfriends.
Perhaps animé and manga could end up saving the world from utter boredom and anguish for teens and young adults. So I urge my fellow Japanophiles to help spread the word. 0_o
Returning to my confession of being a Japanophile, it was in my youth that I first discovered Shin Buddhism to be meatier than the teachings offered after Sunday service at the Central Fraser Valley Buddhist temple.
This discovery of the roots of Buddhism inspired me to learn Japanese so that I could recognize the characters. In addition, I developed an admiration for martial arts, particularly ninjitsu, as well as respect for samurai and the Yakuza.
Samurai are of interest to me since there were rumors that my father's ancestors may have been related to samurai. Indeed, this is most likely since my grandmother's maiden name was Tanaka, and my father's eldest sister married into the Nakamura family. For both Tanaka and Nakamura are well-known clans of Yamaguchi Prefecture.
As for Yakuza, it is rather interesting that a bad hand in Gaji — a popular Japanese flower card game — became the slang for Japanese criminal societies. However, mass media representations of Yakuza are often exaggerated for the blood and guts on film and in books — especially in manga, and on TV.
As well, the reports that when the city of Kobe was shaken by an earthquake some years ago, it was the Yakuza who first responded to the crisis before the municipal government did. However, I am not so naïve as to consider them to be the "good guys" as long as overt violence continues to be associated with the Yakuza.
Today, as a Canadian-born Japanese who is also a Japanophile, I do not favor the Japanese culture over the Westernized moderation of that culture which I internalize. While it would be admirable to be a perfect blend of Eastern and Western mores, I prefer the simpleness of the "less is more" philosophy with regard to both aesthetics. Thus, the less I try to be Japanese and Westernized, the more I emphasize the subtle qualities of both cultures.
Indeed, the blend of East and West is imperfect within my psyché yet useful to my life due to its simplicity.
Originally posted on January 25, 2004 at 0137H
Updated on February 12, 2013 at 0415H
Japanophile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanophile
LGBT rights in Japan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Japan
The Tanaka & Nakamura families of Yamaguchi Japan: http://www.tanakamura.com/
Samurai: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai
Yakuza: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakuza
Animé: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime
Manga: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga
Legalize Cannabis! (satire)
Am I for legalization of some drugs? Yes.
Which ones?
Marijuana, because it is less harmful than cigarettes; entheogens such as LSD and ibogaine, for drug rehabilitation which lasts; MDMA, which in pure form is safer than methamphetamines and other stimulants, though not as safe as caffeine; Salvia, which is a kappa opioid agonist with some disassociative properties, but is the only carbohydrate with mild and moderately brief hallucinogenic properties -- mainly for entheogenic purposes involving rehabilitation from other drugs; and two banned drugs which never got to market because the State fears pro-social drugs which are safer than alcohol and tobacco, because no one in power wants to lose profits and sales, and also because sociability is supposed to be learned, not medicated.
The last two drugs never got out of a lab setting, because today's State is afraid of a pro-social drug which is safer than alcohol and tobacco. Alcohol and tobacco companies would lose profit if the government had a safer alternative to alcohol and tobacco such as pagoclone.
Note that I am promoting the legalization of some drugs for medicinal use. I do not endorse the recreational use of any drugs mentioned previously, because it involves drugs which are currently being manufactured illegally.
I do not include marijuana manufactured by State-sponsored industry such as the crappy medicinal marijuana (MM) as it is not being produced in a manner which enhances its medicinal properties.
Sativex consists of cannabinoids from a blend of marijuana, and is superior to gov't-approved MM. But it is only approved for pain by cancer victims, because no doctor would prescribe it off label. That'd be illegal.
However, a variant of Sativex could be recommended for psychoses caused by mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, if they moderated the THC and raised the CBD level a tad.
CBD is a natural sedative, the use of which is known to demonstrate marked changes in schizophrenics, whereas THC consistently may cause psychoses, sometimes requiring sedation by benzodiazepines such as Ativan.
It is for political reasons that cannabis is illegal in Canada, due to the fear-mongering about psychosis and drug-induced schizophrenia in a gross attempt of social control by the State of mostly-harmless pot smokers.
Marijuana consumption may cause anxiety among certain users which might appear as psychosis and their behavior may be moderated by THC, resulting in clinical observation of schizophrenic-like behavior. However, such behavior is not permanent and thus is not consistent with schizophrenia.
In most cases of recreational use, marijuana is safer than alcohol and prescribed psychotropic medication used to control behavior associated with psychosis arising from the purported drug-induced schizophrenia. Indeed, chronic users of pot do not experience psychosis or schizophrenia. Their behavior can be explained as acute and specific to recent marijuana use.
Yet stricter cannabis laws criminalizes behavior among a small proportion of the People (the medical marijuana growers) due to an unfounded fear by the State of pot smokers of psychosis and associated behavior.
Indeed, the marijuana section of the narcotics control act does nothing to protect recreational drug users from dealers, but actually reduces their access to a safe method of distribution via medical marijuana growers, who now cannot produce marijuana legally.
I also object to the assumption by the police of the fallacy that all marijuana grow-ops are the work of drug gangs. This character assassination is used to criminalize medical marijuana grow-ops that are safe and known to be "mom & pop" operations.
As well, the marijuana laws promote the assumption that all grow-ops are the work of gangs.
While marijuana legalization is slowly happening in the US, all across Canada, marijuana legalization is far from becoming a reality, due to its heavily politicized nature.
Even so, the legalization of marijuana will not result in more cases of drug-induced schizophrenia since that diagnosis is sometimes used to profit the psychiatry industry. Considering its role in social control, this scare tactic regarding regular consumption of marijuana from an early age may be used by the State to control the drug-seeking behavior of young mothers and other cannabis users.
Therefore, the marijuana laws appear to be designed to raise drug crime with increased risk of death for gang members. On the other hand, the growth of marijuana dispensaries is a much needed harm reduction strategy which should not be criminalized as "illegal distribution" of marijuana.
State control of marijuana potentially places more people at risk than legalization.
Legalize cannabis now!
Originally posted: December 9, 2012 4:29 PM
Reference:
Pagoclone, the "banned" pro-social drug: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagoclone
Bretazenil, another pro-social drug: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretazenil
The cannabis conundrum: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/oct/29/cannabis-david-nutt-drug-classification
A clear danger from cannabis: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/oct/29/cannabis-schizophrenia-classification
This article proves that chronic use of marijuana does not promote psychosis or drug-induced schizophrenia. http://jop.sagepub.com/content/26/1/144
Which ones?
Marijuana, because it is less harmful than cigarettes; entheogens such as LSD and ibogaine, for drug rehabilitation which lasts; MDMA, which in pure form is safer than methamphetamines and other stimulants, though not as safe as caffeine; Salvia, which is a kappa opioid agonist with some disassociative properties, but is the only carbohydrate with mild and moderately brief hallucinogenic properties -- mainly for entheogenic purposes involving rehabilitation from other drugs; and two banned drugs which never got to market because the State fears pro-social drugs which are safer than alcohol and tobacco, because no one in power wants to lose profits and sales, and also because sociability is supposed to be learned, not medicated.
The last two drugs never got out of a lab setting, because today's State is afraid of a pro-social drug which is safer than alcohol and tobacco. Alcohol and tobacco companies would lose profit if the government had a safer alternative to alcohol and tobacco such as pagoclone.
Note that I am promoting the legalization of some drugs for medicinal use. I do not endorse the recreational use of any drugs mentioned previously, because it involves drugs which are currently being manufactured illegally.
I do not include marijuana manufactured by State-sponsored industry such as the crappy medicinal marijuana (MM) as it is not being produced in a manner which enhances its medicinal properties.
Sativex consists of cannabinoids from a blend of marijuana, and is superior to gov't-approved MM. But it is only approved for pain by cancer victims, because no doctor would prescribe it off label. That'd be illegal.
However, a variant of Sativex could be recommended for psychoses caused by mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, if they moderated the THC and raised the CBD level a tad.
CBD is a natural sedative, the use of which is known to demonstrate marked changes in schizophrenics, whereas THC consistently may cause psychoses, sometimes requiring sedation by benzodiazepines such as Ativan.
It is for political reasons that cannabis is illegal in Canada, due to the fear-mongering about psychosis and drug-induced schizophrenia in a gross attempt of social control by the State of mostly-harmless pot smokers.
Marijuana consumption may cause anxiety among certain users which might appear as psychosis and their behavior may be moderated by THC, resulting in clinical observation of schizophrenic-like behavior. However, such behavior is not permanent and thus is not consistent with schizophrenia.
In most cases of recreational use, marijuana is safer than alcohol and prescribed psychotropic medication used to control behavior associated with psychosis arising from the purported drug-induced schizophrenia. Indeed, chronic users of pot do not experience psychosis or schizophrenia. Their behavior can be explained as acute and specific to recent marijuana use.
Yet stricter cannabis laws criminalizes behavior among a small proportion of the People (the medical marijuana growers) due to an unfounded fear by the State of pot smokers of psychosis and associated behavior.
Indeed, the marijuana section of the narcotics control act does nothing to protect recreational drug users from dealers, but actually reduces their access to a safe method of distribution via medical marijuana growers, who now cannot produce marijuana legally.
I also object to the assumption by the police of the fallacy that all marijuana grow-ops are the work of drug gangs. This character assassination is used to criminalize medical marijuana grow-ops that are safe and known to be "mom & pop" operations.
As well, the marijuana laws promote the assumption that all grow-ops are the work of gangs.
While marijuana legalization is slowly happening in the US, all across Canada, marijuana legalization is far from becoming a reality, due to its heavily politicized nature.
Even so, the legalization of marijuana will not result in more cases of drug-induced schizophrenia since that diagnosis is sometimes used to profit the psychiatry industry. Considering its role in social control, this scare tactic regarding regular consumption of marijuana from an early age may be used by the State to control the drug-seeking behavior of young mothers and other cannabis users.
Therefore, the marijuana laws appear to be designed to raise drug crime with increased risk of death for gang members. On the other hand, the growth of marijuana dispensaries is a much needed harm reduction strategy which should not be criminalized as "illegal distribution" of marijuana.
State control of marijuana potentially places more people at risk than legalization.
Legalize cannabis now!
Originally posted: December 9, 2012 4:29 PM
Reference:
Pagoclone, the "banned" pro-social drug: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagoclone
Bretazenil, another pro-social drug: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretazenil
The cannabis conundrum: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/oct/29/cannabis-david-nutt-drug-classification
A clear danger from cannabis: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/oct/29/cannabis-schizophrenia-classification
This article proves that chronic use of marijuana does not promote psychosis or drug-induced schizophrenia. http://jop.sagepub.com/content/26/1/144
A Priscilla Ahn Medley (satire)
At the moment, I am listening to Priscilla Ahn's "A Dream". It's a clever song about the life of a woman.
However, it is "Lullaby" that I really love as it describes a small town. Priscilla's voice is remarkable whether she is singing lyrics or just the melody.
Finally, her song "Rain" was used in the drama Grey's Anatomy, which stitches together the intertwining love story between Alex, Cristina and Meredith.
It is a wonder Priscilla isn't famous. Perhaps it is because she's not as white bread as Jewel or Taylor Swift.
In any case, I feel that Priscilla Ahn deserves closer scrutiny.
Korea loves her, so why not America?
Reference:
Priscilla Ahn: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priscilla_Ahn
Why I Turn Back to Reflect on God (satire)
My reason for reflecting on God was due to the early influence of a spiritual yearning sparked by a Mennonite youth fellowship group. I remember the reason for falling out with the Christians was due to the error a few young men have with self-will. This led me to make statements which led me astray. As well, there was influence from my parents to choose them over the youth group.
I am attracted to Christianity because that community is sometimes outside of the mainstream of society, due to group dynamics motivated by aversion to "worldliness".
Worldliness means knowing the ways of the world. In contrast, godliness is living a God-centered life. This is a life-long quest, yet few people know of it.
Of the people who know of it, only a few of them dare follow it, for it is a strait path i.e. each and everyone of them who enter heaven pass through a narrow door that represents the Christ.
Even though I am a human being, subject to error, my belief in God does not mean I am perfect or holy, only that my actions sometimes center around God and other times, around the world.
Thus this is a personal conviction which is based on a spiritual belief in God, tempered by my Buddhist upbringing. For the Buddhist concept of the Absolute closely resembles the Christian Heaven, which the closest the faithful gets to God that any person can imagine.
Although God has no physical form, my faith in a high power helps rationalize the Godhead thusly:
"I fear God out of respect for all sentient beings. Therefore I am fearless before the world."
Recently edited: January 28, 2014 0727H
Originally posted: January 12, 2011 0140H
I am attracted to Christianity because that community is sometimes outside of the mainstream of society, due to group dynamics motivated by aversion to "worldliness".
Worldliness means knowing the ways of the world. In contrast, godliness is living a God-centered life. This is a life-long quest, yet few people know of it.
Of the people who know of it, only a few of them dare follow it, for it is a strait path i.e. each and everyone of them who enter heaven pass through a narrow door that represents the Christ.
Even though I am a human being, subject to error, my belief in God does not mean I am perfect or holy, only that my actions sometimes center around God and other times, around the world.
Thus this is a personal conviction which is based on a spiritual belief in God, tempered by my Buddhist upbringing. For the Buddhist concept of the Absolute closely resembles the Christian Heaven, which the closest the faithful gets to God that any person can imagine.
Although God has no physical form, my faith in a high power helps rationalize the Godhead thusly:
"I fear God out of respect for all sentient beings. Therefore I am fearless before the world."
Recently edited: January 28, 2014 0727H
Originally posted: January 12, 2011 0140H
Everything is beautiful (satire)
No, that's not a statement a manic makes. For everything is beautiful in life unless we suck the life out of it.
Most likely, there shall be complaints galore about the ugliness in life, and the punchline may be dropped. "I have a secret plan to make my life beautiful!"
Yet there will not be any coherent elucidation of that plan.
Why not? Because it's "a secret."
A person who is more holistically connected with the world would admit that he does not know why everything is beautiful.
A manic would question beauty because of the secret hatred that he possesses like a piece of rock crystal.
All around him, the world is sparkly like a diamond, yet out of reach.
Almost everyone else is enjoying the view, and finding gems of wisdom in the silver lining of Heaven itself.
Only the pessimist would call Heaven "the clouds above."
Even so, it is true that everything is beautiful in its own way.
Originally posted: September 10, 2011 12:29 PM PDT
Anything is Possible (poem)
When you think it is going
to rain, it shall rain.
When you know it's all sunshine
and lollipops, shine! —
for the world is your oyster.
If I know of this,
then what shall become of it
but knowledge I use
to change my world everyday —
even when that change is small?
When you see the cup half-full,
never half-empty,
even a rainy day is great
despite the wetness —
for every day is golden!
How do I know this?
Because my experience
Taught me to see through
positive and negative
as though it was all neutral.
When you feel the moment has
produced the best of
possible worlds, remember:
there are exceptions
to each and every rule now.
With knowledge comes this:
the knower and the known are
entwined by close bonds
of knowing truth as it is —
anything is possible!
to rain, it shall rain.
When you know it's all sunshine
and lollipops, shine! —
for the world is your oyster.
If I know of this,
then what shall become of it
but knowledge I use
to change my world everyday —
even when that change is small?
When you see the cup half-full,
never half-empty,
even a rainy day is great
despite the wetness —
for every day is golden!
How do I know this?
Because my experience
Taught me to see through
positive and negative
as though it was all neutral.
When you feel the moment has
produced the best of
possible worlds, remember:
there are exceptions
to each and every rule now.
With knowledge comes this:
the knower and the known are
entwined by close bonds
of knowing truth as it is —
anything is possible!
Alice Miller and Transcending Sexism
"That woman, as nature has created her, and man at present is educating her, is man's enemy. She can only be his slave or his despot, but never his companion. This she can become only when she has the same rights as he and is his equal in education and work." — Severin, a character in Venus in Furs by Sacher-Masoch
By writing thusly Sacher-Masoch represented 19th-century mores and the enlightenment prior to suffrage of women circa the 1890s and throughout the first 72 years of the 20th century.
Even today, women are still not treated with equality through education and work in certain parts of Eastern Europe including the Balkans, as well as as Turkey, the Middle East and most of Asia.
Until that happens by allowing girls the choice to choose non-traditional paths of freedom before the age of majority, any inequality is due to a rigid dualism of male-female with men in the dominant role which is artificially constructed as a result of the patriarchalism that underlies each society which practises such traditions.
The solution is not matriarchalism, which itself is a rigid dualism of male-female with women in the dominant role.
Rather, both the sexes must endeavour to transcend the artificial construct of the male-female dichotomy and especially transcend the dominant-submissive dichotomy and truly become democratic and egalitarian without preference for the limited dichotomy be it of the sexes or of control. Although sexism is inherent in any system which supports either patriarchal or matriarchal power structures, it loses its power in a gender neutral power structure where power is shared by capable men and women
Thus there is a way out.
It starts with Alice Miller and goes beyond the December 6 Massacre to the sole purpose to emancipate men and women alike from the perils of child abuse, the root of human violence learned in family. The solution is not to break up families but to provide counselling to let survivors tell their stories without censure.
By sharing it is possible to help heal psychic wounds, thus beginning the road to recovery to help renew a sense of hope.
For gylanic egalitarianism is the way out of sexism.
Originally posted: December 23, 2010 4:27 AM
By writing thusly Sacher-Masoch represented 19th-century mores and the enlightenment prior to suffrage of women circa the 1890s and throughout the first 72 years of the 20th century.
Even today, women are still not treated with equality through education and work in certain parts of Eastern Europe including the Balkans, as well as as Turkey, the Middle East and most of Asia.
Until that happens by allowing girls the choice to choose non-traditional paths of freedom before the age of majority, any inequality is due to a rigid dualism of male-female with men in the dominant role which is artificially constructed as a result of the patriarchalism that underlies each society which practises such traditions.
The solution is not matriarchalism, which itself is a rigid dualism of male-female with women in the dominant role.
Rather, both the sexes must endeavour to transcend the artificial construct of the male-female dichotomy and especially transcend the dominant-submissive dichotomy and truly become democratic and egalitarian without preference for the limited dichotomy be it of the sexes or of control. Although sexism is inherent in any system which supports either patriarchal or matriarchal power structures, it loses its power in a gender neutral power structure where power is shared by capable men and women
Thus there is a way out.
It starts with Alice Miller and goes beyond the December 6 Massacre to the sole purpose to emancipate men and women alike from the perils of child abuse, the root of human violence learned in family. The solution is not to break up families but to provide counselling to let survivors tell their stories without censure.
By sharing it is possible to help heal psychic wounds, thus beginning the road to recovery to help renew a sense of hope.
For gylanic egalitarianism is the way out of sexism.
Originally posted: December 23, 2010 4:27 AM
The Sexism of Pure Land Ideology
Vow 35:If, when I attain Buddhahood, women in the immeasurable and inconceivable Buddha-lands of the ten quarters who, having heard my Name, rejoice in faith, awaken aspiration for the Enlightenment and wish to renounce womanhood, should after death be reborn again as women, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment. — 48 Vows of Amida Buddha
In Pure Land Buddhism, I notice women who get reborn as women cause Bodhisattva Dharmakara not to attain perfect Enlightenment. They have to renounce womanhood, and subsequently be reborn as men.
This makes me wonder where women get reborn, because it is not any of the Buddhist heavens.
It is quite possible that lust may prevent both male and female Buddhists from finding true peace of mind. Yet gender differentiation itself is an impediment to spiritual growth and the eventual enlightenment of Nirvana.
Indeed, gender differentiation may lead to sexual temptation. This explains the need for the Buddhist vow regarding sexual misconduct.
In the Soma Sutta, the bhikkhuni Soma states:
"Anyone who thinks 'I'm a woman'
or 'a man' or 'Am I anything at all?' —
that's who Mara's fit to address".
Thus, gender neutrality is linked to the Buddhist concept of no-self, which is a strategy the Buddha taught to relieve suffering.
Indeed, the Pure Land Buddhist seeks to be reborn in the Pure Land of Bliss, not as a man or woman but as a Bodhisattva.
48 Vows of Amida Buddha: http://venchinkung.com/48-vows-of-amitabha/
Women in Buddhism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Buddhism
In Pure Land Buddhism, I notice women who get reborn as women cause Bodhisattva Dharmakara not to attain perfect Enlightenment. They have to renounce womanhood, and subsequently be reborn as men.
This makes me wonder where women get reborn, because it is not any of the Buddhist heavens.
It is quite possible that lust may prevent both male and female Buddhists from finding true peace of mind. Yet gender differentiation itself is an impediment to spiritual growth and the eventual enlightenment of Nirvana.
Indeed, gender differentiation may lead to sexual temptation. This explains the need for the Buddhist vow regarding sexual misconduct.
In the Soma Sutta, the bhikkhuni Soma states:
"Anyone who thinks 'I'm a woman'
or 'a man' or 'Am I anything at all?' —
that's who Mara's fit to address".
Thus, gender neutrality is linked to the Buddhist concept of no-self, which is a strategy the Buddha taught to relieve suffering.
Indeed, the Pure Land Buddhist seeks to be reborn in the Pure Land of Bliss, not as a man or woman but as a Bodhisattva.
48 Vows of Amida Buddha: http://venchinkung.com/48-vows-of-amitabha/
Women in Buddhism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Buddhism
20140127
Eye of Wisdom
Having obtained the eye of wisdom,
I will remove the darkness of ignorance;
I will block all the evil paths
And open the gate to the good realms. — Bodhisattva Dharmakara
"Having obtained" refers to years of study (of the three sutras of Amida Buddha) and meditation (particularly Nembutsu or Buddha Recitation) which uncovers the "Eye of Wisdom".
"Eye of wisdom" refers to the eye that sees the Dharma and the inner spiritual world. Also known as the Dharma Eye, the Eye of Wisdom is the complement of the physical eye that sees the external material world, which is called the Worldly Eye.
"Darkness of ignorance" refers to the state of the unenlightened mind that delights in sensuous desire and the evil passions which distract the Buddhist from the spiritual journey. Evil in context with the passions refers to any confusion and distraction from that journey due to wrong action resulting in wrong-mindedness.
"Evil paths" refers to the many paths which distract the Buddhist from achieving calm abiding and peace of mind. Calm abiding refers to the mind that is content with itself and is free of evil passions.
Through regular meditation, it is possible to "remove the darkness of ignorance" and "block all the evil paths" through calm abiding and continued reflection on Enlightenment. By removing the darkness of ignorance and blocking all evil paths, confusion and distraction from the spiritual journey is dispelled. As a result, the clear mind is achieved in which calmness abides.
With calm abiding, it is possible to "open the gate to the good realms" of spiritual contentment, which prepares the way to the Pure Land of Bliss.
Juseige - Verses confirming the 48 Vows:
http://web.mit.edu/stclair/www/larger.html#Juseige%20-%20Verses%20confirming%20the%2048%20Vows
Eye of wisdom: http://www.buddhapadipa.org/dhamma-corner/the-eye-of-wisdom/
True Happiness (poem)
Most happy is the one who
Make a chaste life hers,
With unquenched desires
And wanton passion
Conquered through perseverance.
Child-like innocence
Helps in the discovery
Of the life divine
Which resists all temptation
In the name of the Buddha.
Even though she is alone,
The most happy one
Meditates upon the truth
That the Pure Mind be
Achieved through mindful practice.
Be like that small child
Who alone sits quietly,
In meditation,
Remembering the Buddha
Through careful recitation.
With each call, not alone is
She who does recite
The name of the Buddha 'til
He does call through her,
"Namu Amida Butsu."
Sincerely the child
Does recite the Name-that-calls
As the Buddha calls
Through her until her mind is
Pure and her life left divine.
True happiness is this: the love
that compassion calls
respect for your fellow man,
and the devotion
shown towards a Buddhist friend.
Make a chaste life hers,
With unquenched desires
And wanton passion
Conquered through perseverance.
Child-like innocence
Helps in the discovery
Of the life divine
Which resists all temptation
In the name of the Buddha.
Even though she is alone,
The most happy one
Meditates upon the truth
That the Pure Mind be
Achieved through mindful practice.
Be like that small child
Who alone sits quietly,
In meditation,
Remembering the Buddha
Through careful recitation.
With each call, not alone is
She who does recite
The name of the Buddha 'til
He does call through her,
"Namu Amida Butsu."
Sincerely the child
Does recite the Name-that-calls
As the Buddha calls
Through her until her mind is
Pure and her life left divine.
True happiness is this: the love
that compassion calls
respect for your fellow man,
and the devotion
shown towards a Buddhist friend.
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