Philosophy Now Forum

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Moved to the point of self-immolation.




A 29 yr old Tibetan Monk, Tsewang Norbu committed the ultimate act of protest.


Dying for your philosophy:

"Tsewang Norbu drank petrol, sprayed petrol on himself and then set himself on fire," Free Tibet said in an emailed statement, citing an unnamed witness.

"He was heard calling out: 'We Tibetan people want freedom', 'Long live the Dalai Lama' and 'Let the Dalai Lama Return to Tibet'. He is believed to have died at the scene," the group said.


(Reuters) - A Tibetan Buddhist monk burned himself to death on Monday in southwest China calling for the return of the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader condemned by Beijing as a separatist, a group campaigning for Tibetan self-rule said.

Read the full article;
http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/08/1 ... 2120110815




I guess when words are not enough...


We, casually speak about minuscule terms or authors here at this site.

Fanning our importance.


Fanning our perceived importance.



When words are not enough,


we are Moved: to action.




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So is this post you moving to action Bill?

Will we see you immolating yourself for 'The Way' soon?

Or is it fanning your perceived importance?

Because you could have just posted the info without the implied criticism of others.

There's a fair history of Buddhist monks doing this as what else can a Buddhist do?

I seem to recall one in Saigon doing this in protest at the US backed S. Vietnamese govts persecution of buddhists. Suceeded in getting rid of their president in a military coup but where did it all lead to? Now let me think?

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Thank you for mentioning again, The Way.


I am confident The Way will change many individuals, as The Way is changing me. All for the better.



Siddhartha Gautama had a few words to say about The Way...

The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.
~ Buddha ~


As for action, again Siddhartha Gautama has some poignant words,

However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?
~ Buddha ~



Inspiring,

I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.
~ Buddha ~


Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.
~ Buddha ~


No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
~ Buddha ~



Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
~ Buddha ~



Never have I heard such simple, meaningful, philosophical, non-political thoughts purely stated, not for individual gain but for the benefit of the reader.



Pure philosophy.



Thank you Siddhartha Gautama.




Peace to Tibet.



God's speed Tsewang Norbu. I wish you a final peace and victory.




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You really are a sanctimonious pompous prig at times Bill.

So will this monks death cause you to do anything other than post on a little visited forum? Will you be joining the Free Tibet cause? Going on any protest marches? Writing to your Senator or Congress or Govt to demand they stop dealing with China until they leave Tibet? Anything?

That you also tag your 'The Way' to him just shows your depths. As do your little digs at this forum and those who post here.

How about addressing things you might be able to influence such as your nations policy of treating its satellites as its own backyard, much as the Chinese think about theirs.

Unless it missed your attention he was a Buddhist!! So no 'God' and he died thinking he'll be coming back and that he's earnt brownie kama points for this act so he'll be coming back a rung higher.

Oh! And do you think the huge white space you put between your sentences adds some kind of extra import to them? I think you should change your name to Bill Posters or Stickers.

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Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.
~ Buddha ~



Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
~ Buddha ~




Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.
~ Buddha ~





What we think, we become.
~ Buddha ~






You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.
~ Buddha ~






The Way creates an economic and emotional shelf that signatories refuse to travel below.
~ Bill Wiltrack ~



Thank you for allowing me to clarify myself.




Respectfully,
Bill Wiltrack





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Does it?







Care to say how?









Will it be as ineffectual as the Vietnamese buddhist priests were against the Americans?


















Where?

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Thank you for allowing me to again share with you the outline of the virtues of The Way in a real-life setting.


In it's core, The Way is a spiritual path that begins with a simple, philosophical question. Allow me to explain...




THE WAY; SELF-PERFECTION THROUGH THE ART OF ORGANIZED LABOR

There is an inherent, inseparable good within Organized Labor.


Although at first glance the words Organized Labor and self-perfection may not seem to be congruent. The art of Organized Labor can and will lead you to self-perfection if you believe in the inherent good found within Organized Labor.


The Way is the third form of union organizing. It is a system of organizing oneself from the inside-out. Following The Way union organizing system provides the knowledge, understanding, and ability to allow one to transform their life and change their reality. In this way, through conscious effort, the discipline of Organized Labor can lead to self-perfection in one’s lifetime.

Below is a linear case in point.

Whenever the presence of Organized Labor is infused within a reality the moments become inherently better.

For an example, four individuals are sitting around a table together at a local pub eating and drinking.

There is a difference as to whether these four are members of a free, independent, recognize labor agreement or if they are not represented by a union at their place of work.

If the four individuals are members of a union, all other factors remaining constant, the moments will be inherently better than if they were four non-union employees.

We know that these four union members receive the highest wage and benefit package negotiable in the area for the work that they perform. Thus they should be more apt to feel more free to socialize and less concerned with the prices on the menus.

If the four are sitting in a union built building this could indicate a more better – more perfect, reality for this could reflect that the area has a heavy influence of union related jobs promoting a stable living environment with a thriving local government.

Should the four customers that we are picturing were enjoying foods and beverages that were produced and sold using workers that were part of a collective bargaining agreement this too would infuse a more perfect moment in a more perfect world. There is serenity, calm, and binding hope in knowing that other individuals, in their world, could be enjoying the most benefit and opportunity within their moments in their realities earning at least a prevailing wage.


If this particular table of four were being served by individuals that were members of an AFL-CIO recognized association like UNITE HERE this too would be a more perfect reality in knowing that service workers are, in this envisioned reality, able to make a living wage engaging in an extremely demanding job.

Our group of four would be enjoying a more better – more perfect reality if one or more of the four made the conscious effort of wearing union made clothing as opposed to if they were supporting companies that openly exploited workers located in the country that paid the lowest wages in exchange for work done in relation to that particular service.


Mentally, physically and emotionally our four friends consciously maintain a positive composure towards the concepts and contracts of Organized Labor this too would infuse a more perfect effect into their moments.

If our four associates were practicing members of The Way union organizing system they could correctly identify their direct relationship to Organized Labor in every moment of their evening and throughout their individual lives. Their individual efforts to transform their outer life through their outer recognition of an inner belief they could guide themselves towards self-perfection…

With conscious effort The Way union organizing system has the ability to transform one’s life from the inside-out.
The Way form of union organizing can lead an individual to self perfection…

All of us live within a multidimensional continuum and for some who are mentally and emotionally prepared, there is but one filter to make one’s life better, more perfect, and that is the concepts and contracts found within existing Organized Labor agreements.




When following The Way linear travel is imperceptible; nonexistent.


The only travel perceptible is when we are able to consciously change our life path.

The only travel is when we move either closer to or further from the concepts and contracts of Organized Labor.

Through The Way, union organizing system we are able to consciously understand our position in relation to the concepts and contracts of Organized Labor in each of our moments and thus move within this continuum.


This is a brief explanation of a facet of The Way union organizing system.

This is not the system.

There is one question you can ask yourself if you have read this far, “Do you believe in the inherent good of Organized Labor?”



Thank you for this opportunity. My day is better now that I have revisited these ideas. Thank you.




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At last!! This does sound cracking.

One question before I answer yours.

What happens if there are four other geezers at another table who do the same job, produce and buy the same stuff but have agreed to work at a lower cost since capital has said they need to so that they can sell more to raise investment to build bigger and better goods than the place where the believers work?

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If this scene that you are outlining happens in a Communist country or a country that does not support human rights, including the right of free association, we witness an economic and emotional race to the bottom where everyone looses.


GREAT question!




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Glad you liked it. But lets assume its in a free-market capitalist system. What happens then?

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Again, if the scenario is happening in a Liberal Democracy or even just a Democracy that legally supports individual human rights and civil liberties then odds are Organized Labor will thrive creating the economic and emotional shelf that ALL INDIVIDUALS, their immediate community and even the greater area benefit from.


GREAT question!

I am Moved: by your sincerity and inquisitiveness.




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Glad I've moved you. So when Capital finds those who'll work cheaper than your four guys, what happens?

What happens if Capital decides to offer those serving you your beers your jobs at less than you but they are getting less than you at present but what is offered is more than they get now? What happens then?

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I believe I have mentioned this upon another thread...


Envision China or India where 1/3 of the world's population is unable to literally feed itself.

Today we find ourselves in the most awkward position in the history of man. Today, we, as a worldwide collective community, are unable to accept the fact that, though intellectually man has never been so attached, so saturated in information we are, in fact, grazing deeper into the most ignorant, estranged pasture of our entire evolution. This moment will be looked back upon as the most wildly destructive and darkest moment of man.


Never before in the history of mankind has the proletariat demanded to receive less and less from their aristocratic overseers.





This would be you..........

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You've got your head up the ass of a cow searching for food, stroking it's dick. Without the presence of Organized Labor this is the restaurant that you would be eating at. Hope you are hungry.Bone-appetite'









What do you see as we demand less wages, demand that our overlords earn more profit from our sweat, undermine our very children, donate our food, clothing, & shelter directly to our very earthly deities; our cruel idols, who want not but demand all, ethereal pinups who hold us with the invisible steely chains of social acceptance?



I feel sorrow for all of us...

For all of us who;

• work longer than a 40 hr. week and is not compensated for such


• labor as a child and is robbed of our youth


• work full-time and is not able to afford health & safety insurance


• are compensated less than a living wage with no account for overtime


• will work a career without a Social Security thus will never retire


• work with fear for there is no unemployment insurance present in our reality


• will not ever benefit from proper training in an advanced career


• will never be able to join me in a work related social network


• do not enjoy the benefit of a daily lunch break


• does not know the definition of the words paid vacation


• work without recognition of minority equality


• do not understand that broadly shared profits are healthy for a strong economy


• do not believe in a level playing field for employers


• hunger for an equal, solid tax base for local communities



For us, mankind, I beg an ego. No. Rather, we must bargain a shell. A cover from this storm.

But there is nothing left to bargain with. We must pass. Will we, mankind, not weather this storm.

What do you see? Are you as short sighted as me?


Would you graze in a different pasture if you found another heard?



Would you?


Or would you have already?

We who sit here, are we whores?

Are our bodies removed from our brains? I don’t think so.


Is our intellect so estranged from compassion, so removed from our feelings?


We are ghosts within this ether.


We cannot sever our emotions without killing this beast…this man; this ghost who we are.




If you are unable to understand this, I no longer am able to help you.

Good luck in your future.





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You never were Bill as your model is flawed, even Stalin knew that your model only works if its international, not the parochial one you propose but you could try the Greens. You just wanted your 50's America back. But the problem is now so does all the world. Apart from some Muslims and the Chinese. Maybe, just maybe they are the future now, who knows. But I'll be working for something different for my nation. Try reading or re-reading Marx, as he wasn't a Marxist.

Your posts are very emotive and powerful but its your country that you are mainly describing, its mainly your country that has and is exporting such ideas and consuming the bulk of the resources, look at your avatar. Try changing your country first and buck-up as you may well get the chance if a depression hits, see Lenin on revolution, you may well get your way if you grab the chance if it appears, but I think you'll need better answers than you've given here so far.

Wish you luck.
p.s.
Because from the looks of things we may shitting well need it.

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Amen.


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