A Guided Meditation Journey Through Stoicism, Sufism, and Buddhism...

 


When you run after your thoughts, you are like a dog chasing a stick: every time a stick is thrown, you run after it. Instead, be like a lion who, rather than chasing after the stick, turns to face the thrower. One only throws a stick at a lion once.

Milarepa
“Just as it is known that an image of one's face is seen depending on a mirror but does not really exist as a face, so the conception of "I" exist dependent on mind and body, but like the image of a face the "I" does not at all exist as its own reality.

Nagarjuna


"Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible."    Nagarjuna

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Top Posts

On Raising the Debt Ceiling...

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation U SA Purveyor of Truth Is anybody, and I mean ANYBODY in either party really serious about controlling the explosive rate of debt growth we have experienced since the 2008/2009 meltdown? I really think not. Mitch McConnell talking to Chris Wallace about raising the debt ceiling. Below the fold THINK PROGRESS weighs in. Content as expected from a far left publication. Meanwhile, over at CBS and Bob Schieffer's FACE the NATION Ted Cruz chimed in and actually made a bit of sense. Assuming of course he, and anyone else is really concerned with debt control or reduction. BOB SCHIEFFER: Well, now, just a minute. Just a minute. The government is approaching another deadline February 7, when it will run out of money unless Congress agrees to raise the debt ceiling. Will you agree to raise the debt ceiling, or will you demand something in return. SEN. TED CRUZ: Look, of course, we should do something. We shouldn't just write a bl
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As the Liberal/Progressive Media and Blogosphere Attempt To Destroy Governor Chris Christie...

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth As the liberal/progressive media and bloggers attempt to trash Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey over the George Washington Bridge lane closings, ostensibly because he is a formidable threat to their darling would be 2016 democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton, there remains NO EVIDENCE he had any involvement or was aware of the actions by his underlings. If Governor Christie indeed had no involvement in the closings, and at this point is is prudent to assume he didn't, the valid question is... should he have known? If we believe an executive sets the tone and culture for his administration then indeed the actions of his loyal staff at least become somewhat understandable. Wrong, but understandable. From NorthJersey.com Nothing in the approximately 2,000 documents released on Friday by the Assembly committee investigating the matter suggest that Christie knew of the lane-closure scheme beforeh
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Recommended Reading, Thomas Piketty’s best-selling new book, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”...

From: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth Time to shed the right -vs- left, socialism -vs- capitalism hyperbole and purchase Thomas Piketty's new book " Capital in the Twenty-First Century. " PARIS — Thomas Piketty turned 18 in 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell, so he was spared the tortured, decades-long French intellectual debate about the virtues and vices of communism. Even more telling, he remembers, was a trip he took with a close friend to Romania in early 1990, after the collapse of the Soviet empire. “This sort of vaccinated me for life against lazy, anticapitalist rhetoric, because when you see these empty shops, you see these people queuing for nothing in the street,” he said, “it became clear to me that we need private property and market institutions, not just for economic efficiency but for personal freedom.” (emphasis mine) But his disenchantment with communism doesn’t mean that Mr. Piketty has turned his back on the intellectual
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Illinois Democrats Move To Tighten Firearm Regulation/Restrictions...

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by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny As the country struggles to understand, and come to grips with random acts of firearm violence by unstable and unbalanced individuals Illinois is already taking action to further regulate firearms. Like the millions of law abiding citizens I am torn between the right to bear firearms and finding the point at which it makes logical sense to restrict that right. In a modern society in which the tools of warfare are advanced beyond what the founders could possibly have envisioned, and the efficiency of modern armies are such that the citizens would stand no reasonable chance against the modern army, does the possession of semiautomatic assault weapons have any real purpose for the homeowner and sportsman? If deemed they do should they not be highly regulated and restricted to HELP reduce the incidents of tragedies like Sandy Hook? I certainly do not have the answers, nor do I believe the anti-gun crowd has the answers eith
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Is President Obama Preparing To Back Warren For 2016 Democratic Nomination For Prez?...

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth The New York Post is reporting that President Obama is quietly trying to convince Massachusetts extreme progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren to make a run for presidency in 2016. He has reportedly expressed privately concerns that his former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would if nominated and ultimately elected undo some of his policies. While Obama has publicly been non committal this report should surprise few given the aggressive campaign Hillary waged against Obama for the democratic party nomination in 2008. Clinton, while certainly a liberal is more centrist than her ex boss. Should Warren choose to toss her hat in the ring for 2016 with the President's blessings it will certainly energize the right and moderates who are given pause by her leftist views. It has been said by many talking heads and bloggers on the far right that Obama was the far left's socialist candidate (some even said he is a comm
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As the Melodrama Continues...

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by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny As the nation watches (as well as the world at large) the United States House, led by the rEpublican false conservatives have us serfs standing at the cliff's edge as we look into the abyss. Perhaps, just maybe, the intransigent false conservatives are running out of time and their true motives are being recognized by the many who heretofore believed them. As more disgruntled past supporters turn their backs on the false conservatives maybe, just maybe they ought to look to history to find the ultimate result of their type of behavior and intransigence. Even a staunch Ayn Rand Objectivist has the ability to see beyond the present as he peers into the future. At least this one does. Echoes of our founding fathers are ringing in my ears as I write this. Eric Cantor, the intelligent yet blind House Majority leader may very well, and soon find himself the object of ridicule. As difficult as it might be for some to acce
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The Losing of Iraq...

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth When the administration of George W. Bush made it's decision to invade Iraq ( using questionable justification it helped set up the scenario we see unfolding today. Ultimately the decision destabilized the region further, created more anti American sentiment in the region, and set up Iraq for civil strife and internal political instability. All for a cost of billions in U.S. taxpayer dollars, loss of American life, and loss of Iraqi life. I could go on for a very long time but Fareed Zakarian does a better job of presenting the evidence if you will than I might. The Washington Post - It is becoming increasingly likely that Iraq has reached a turning point. The forces hostile to the government have grown stronger, better equipped and more organized. And having now secured arms, ammunition and hundreds of millions of dollars in cash from their takeover of Mosul — Iraq’s second-largest city — they will build on these
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Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal Speaking Out...

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Purveyor of Truth As the nation's Governors display the national partisanship political mood and mentality.  You rock Bobby! Keep on pressing the agenda for American economic growth, personal responsibility, opportunity for all, and while you're at it please spend some time working on getting your republican associates to get on board moving into the 21st century. Thank you for your patriotic efforts. Read the ENTIRE ARTICLE BELOW the FOLD . Via: Memeorandum Louisiana  
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Political Quotes To Ponder...

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by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth Tired of the daily political bull**it? I don't know about you but I sure as he*l am. With the growing partisanship kn America and the resulting rancor between the wings of both g-damn major political parties perhaps you'll enjoy the following. On second thought, maybe not. Here goes anyway... The most perfect political community is one in which the middle class is in control, and outnumbers both of the other classes. Aristotle The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists. Ernest Hemingway There will be no end to the troubles of states, or of humanity itself, till philosophers become kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into
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