Payment every day

If you take the Bible literally, you must pay your employees every day.  Not weekly, but every day they work.  Leviticus 19:13

Change

You can move things around, but you can't really change anything.

Hypocrisy/Non-hypocrisy

If you're in an argument about subject X, and you come to the conclusion it is not profitable, what is the best response:

1. Tell the other person, "You shouldn't argue about subject X!"
2. Stop arguing.

I have read ...

If you do not chafe when pressured into clicking a box that says, "I have read and agree to", when it is so long that the authors know that hardly anyone actually reads it (sometimes including themselves), then you are not an honest person.

Converts

The views of the major world religions about conversion to their religion:

• Christianity:  You should convert to our religion.
• Islam: You must convert to our religion.  (Convert or die, Infidel!)
• Hinduism:  It is not possible to convert to our religion, unless you are descended from one of the four castes.
• Buddhism:  You are welcome to convert to our religion.
• Sikhism:  You are welcome to convert to our religion.
• Judaism:  We may let you convert to our religion, if you really want to.
• Zoroastrianism:  It is not possible to convert to our religion.

The Formula for Worldly Success

s = 4L + 3m + 2p + a + c - i/2

where:

s = worldly success

L = loyalty to one's boss and grandboss (and, by extension, their favored employees)

m = salesmanship

p = performance (actual, not evaluated)

a = ability, intelligence

i = integrity, morality, ethics, good character, respectability

c  = luck

Arranged Religion

Far more people are opposed to arranged marriage than to arranged religion.

You think your religion is the greatest because you know nothing about any other.  I think mine is the greatest because I do.

There are two extreme and false views of religion, that can only survive amidst total ignorance of world religions:

1. My religion is 100% true; all others are 100% false;
2. All religions are the same, or at least equal.

Head monks or nuns

As a Vijnaptivadin (a Buddhist whose views do not entirely conform to any one school), I attend both Theravada and Mahayana* temples.  It seems to be almost universally true that the Mahayana abbots/abbesses make a bigger deal of themselves than their Theravadin counterparts.    Which is ironic, given that they also make "ego" into a thing which needs to be eradicated, or at least seen through.  (The Buddha only spoke of ego, self, soul, atta as something which did not exist.)

*The Mahayana is composed primarily of the four schools of Chan/Zen, Vajrayana, Pure Land and Nichiren.  The Vajrayanists like to think of themselves as above the Mahayana, but they are actually a kind of Mahayanist, since they accept the Mahayana sutras and teachings. 

Not sure where to post this

I didn't want to post this on Facebook, because I didn't necessarily want to alienate my two Muslim friends any more than necessary.  I also didn't want to put it on Twitter, because of the character limits and the extreme impermanence.

I was at the Independence Reception for Sri Lanka in Washington, D.C.  I met a young man who worked under President Obama.  He said that his name (I kid you not) was Jihad (pron. Jeehahd) Saudi.  (He also had a third name, which I didn't catch.)

For those who don't know, Jihad is Mohammad's eternal commandment to Muslims to wage literal war against unbelievers, until all religion is for Allah.

Thought for the Day

The only real measure of a human being is his/her conscience.

The Buddhist View of Abortion

My friends at the Facebook group Pro Life Pagans asked me to share some information on the Buddhist view of abortion.  Rather than post it all to Facebook, I thought I would post a link to this page.

First, some background on Buddhism.  The Buddha was born as an ordinary human being.  His name was Siddhatta, and he was born as a prince, the son of King Suddhodana.  In time, he came to realize that the life of luxury did not bring an end to suffering.  So he left the palace, and followed the path of a self-mortifying ascetic, which was what some spiritual people of his time did. After seven years, he realized that punishing his body did not bring an end to suffering, either.  So he discovered the Middle Way, and eventually attained full enlightenment and an end to suffering.  For the rest of his life, 45 more years, he taught the truths he discovered, The Four Noble Truths, including the way he had followed to attain enlightenment, the Noble Eightfold Path.  It is a path of gentleness and kindness.  He taught the Four Noble Truths first to other ascetics, and they become the first monks.

As the Sangha (the community of monks) became larger, there came to be some monks who did not realize intuitively how a monk should conduct himself, and so the Buddha established rules for monks and nuns, called the Vinaya.  Over the rest of his lifetime, the Buddha came up with about 1000 rules (including 220 basic rules) for the Sangha.

The Buddha realized that Buddhist householders could benefit from a subset of these rules, so he chose the ones that were most important, and called these the Five Noble Precepts.  The Five Precepts begin with the most important, the First Noble Precept, Not Killing. 

Of the approximately one thousand rules for monks, there were four that were so important that if a monk or nun broke one of these, he or she was no longer a monk or a nun and could never again (in this lifetime) be a monk or a nun.  One of those four, as you might guess, was abstaining from murder (the killing of a human).

One time there was a monk who committed abortion.  The Buddha was asked if that was parajika, defeat.  The Buddha said, yes, committing abortion was murder, and so the monk was guilty of parajika, and any monk or nun who ever committed abortion was no longer a monk or a nun and could never be a monk or nun in that lifetime.

In addition, there are other places (which I posted to Pro Life Pagans Facebook page) in the Tipitika (the Three Baskets, the Buddhist canon) where abortion is condemned.

So the Buddha was unmistakably clear on this.  Anyone who suggests that there is more than one Buddhist view on this is either lying or misinformed.  You may hear that there are different Buddhist schools.  While it is true that there have been tangents upon tangents off of the Buddha's teachings for the past 2600 years, no school can change the dhamma, what the Buddha actually taught.  Many of the views of later schools are views which the Buddha explicitly rejected.

Empathy is What Really Sets Vegetarians Apart (at least Neurologically Speaking) | Psychology Today

Empathy is What Really Sets Vegetarians Apart (at least Neurologically Speaking) | Psychology Today

ProLifeBlogs: Testimonials Archives

ProLifeBlogs: Testimonials Archives

The Euphemisms Go On

Channel surfing a few minutes ago, I watched "Cold Case" for a few seconds. The blonde woman said, "My favorite is when they drove a doctor off the road who just got down with a shift at the Women's Health Center."

My favorite is when people don't use euphemisms for atrocities, and portray the bad guys as bad guys and good guys as good guys. They were apparently using the term "doctor" as a euphemism for an abortionist, the opposite of a doctor. They were apparently using "Women's Health" as a euphemism for pre-natal murder (abortion), the opposite of health care. What's more, they were trying to portray the non-violent people, the pro-lifers, as violent, and the violent people, the abortionists, as being the victims of violence. There has never been a case where pro-lifers have tried to drive abortionists off of the road. However, when I non-violently speak the truth in front of abortion mills, it has happened several times that pro-aborts have driven up on the sidewalk trying to run me over, or to run over other non-violent pro-lifers. (The phrase "non-violent pro-lifers" is, of course, redundant.)

For more on violence by pro-aborts, see http://abortionviolence.com/

Quote from Gandhiji

Gift of life is the greatest of all gifts.

Pathetic Television

On Numbers tonight, the curly-haired mathematician was staying at a Theravadin temple. He called a monk, "Brother." I have never seen a Buddhist temple where people call the monks, "Brother." At Theravadin temples the correct term of address for monks is "Bhante." At the Bhavana Society, they reserve the term "Bhante" for upasampada bhikkhus (fully ordained monks), but they still do not call the samaneras (novices) "Brother." (Though, curiously, they do call the nuns "Sister.")

Satan

Killing in the name of God is the fingerprints of Satan (Mara), and murder in the name of God is Satan's thumbprint.

Dukkha

Existence is full of dukkha, i.e. it is unsatisfactory and full of suffering.

In particular, it is not difficult to see that we live in a world full of monsters, people who murder innocent people (in or out of the womb), kill animals (with their own hand or with their money), steal, commit adultery and lie. What is more, they have absurd rationalizations for these harmful actions, and few even try to correct them.

I was channel-surfing a few moments ago, and spent a few seconds watching "House" before switching it off. House said, "There's only one reason to cover up an abortion. Because a woman has a boyfriend who ..." At that point I switched it off. There is only one reason to cover up pre-natal murder: Because one is afraid of others knowing one's crime.

People will commit any atrocity as long as they are allowed to do it in secret.

The Two Kinds of Managers

Managers are seldom if ever corrected by those beneath them. Some managers correct themselves, and others use their position as an excuse for a life of character deterioration.

P.S. Congratulations to Google on "Does negative press make you Sicko?" http://google-health-ads.blogspot.com/2007/06/does-negative-press-make-you-sicko.html. Naturally, the left shed tears because it didn't conform to the Leftist Bull. Sadly, Google then apologized for something that rightly needed no apology.

Extreme Media Slant III

As everyone knows, in the past ten years, tv shows have sold context advertisements. Context advertisements differ from traditional commercials in that they happen during the course of a show, and the characters or hosts will casually drop the name of a product.

For an even longer time, tv shows have had context advertisements for their views. For example, tonight a character mentioned "Our Bodies, Our Selves" in a favorable light. Most people who abstain from pre-natal murder know that "Our Bodies, Our Selves" is to the pro-aborts what "Mein Kempf" was to the Nazis.

You think there will ever be a reasonable character (i.e. a good guy) on TV who uses the M-word to describe abortion? You think they'll ever show a real abortion on TV?

One can only speculate on the change in public opinion if they ever showed a real abortion, complete with the body parts of the victim, etc., on prime-time nation-wide broadcast TV. Of course, they would never do it for this very reason.