Torii

These are some of my experiences and views.
My main influences are Buddhism, psychology and natural science.

SPIRITUAL

eyes

Eyes are the Window to the Soul

...I could look straight into the soul of the other. With that I refer to an experience we all know, but it was much clearer and deeper than in ‘normal life...’
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shift

Why Spiritual Enlightenment Cannot be Permanent

...Anything that arises in time and anything that is personal, is part of ‘the manifested’ and therefore transitory. So the manifested realization (of your true nature) in and of itself is impermanent...
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chain

How I Freed Myself from Christianity

...In that moment I saw that conventional religious belief is a dictatorship of the mind...
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grace

Grace

...So when he went completely downhill, doing everything that he was not supposed to do and didn’t try to get enlightened, the result of that was enlightenment...
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lightning

Eddie’s Transmission

...I saw that the fact that there are difficulties in life is not a problem, but the fact that you WANT TO GET RID of those difficulties make them into a problem...
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gate

Sincerity

...Clinging to materialistic life goals is a deluded attempt at trusting that which cannot be trusted; it will all turn out to be fleeting and empty...
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sign

Morality is the Pleasure Principle

...During this, I rose above that polarized state and experienced that my primitive indulgent side and my higher moral side are ONE AND THE SAME...
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inspiration

The Meaning of Inspiration

...So the impersonal, natural creative process that created this universe and this earth so beautifully and profound is the greatest artist. Yet there is no one there, no person...
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cult

Gurus, Cults and Scandals

...At a certain point, after hearing one ‘corrupt master’–account after another, I even got the impression that being corrupt is a prerequisite to becoming a renowned master...
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buddhists

Why Buddhism is a Religion

...Religions are characterized by laying claim to having the definitive answers to the great questions of life...
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PSYCHOLOGICAL

projection

Real Projection

...You are convinced that you are angry at the other person while you are actually angry with yourself...
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humor

Humor is the Glorification of a Concept

...So humor has to do with something that makes humans unique. What makes humans unique in comparison to animals is our highly developed ability to think in concepts...
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intelligence

Human Intelligence is not Artificial

...The fundamental difference between human intelligence and AI is human sensitivity. This is because sensitivity is an integral part of human intelligence...
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illusion

How the Mind Constructs Reality

...This experience was very revealing as far as becoming aware of how much of my reality that I normally take for granted as being ‘The Reality,’ actually is a relative reality which is constructed through putting memories together...
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frustration

Anger and Frustration are Caused by Ignorance

If we knew the complete cause of all phenomena that we encounter, we would never become angry or frustrated with anything or anyone...
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conspiracy

The Mechanism Behind Conspiracy Theories

...the notion of a conspiracy was more comforting than the absence of it. Because if there is a conspiracy, at least there is a plan and therefore some form of control...
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communication

Communication: C’est le Ton qui Fait la Musique

...The emotional level of communication between people is essential, because communication is a form of human contact. Human contact is an inherently emotional experience...
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psychodynamics

Anecdotal Evidence for the Psychodynamic Model

...A lesson that I took away from my regression experience is that a healthy mind has no ‘blockades,’ which means: savoring life...
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game

The Confidence Game

...There are very negative sides to how a group identity substitutes our basic insecurity about how to behave and what to believe...
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PHILOSOPHICAL

oneness

Oneness is Not Cruel

...I did not want to believe that nature, reality and the universe for that matter, were cruel in essence...
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question

Not Knowing

...So the necessity of having an identity is caused by the same mechanism that causes the necessity of having a concept of God...
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view

The Overview

...All ‘evil’ in the world can be traced back to attachment to an identity, from wars between nations to discrimination in society to inner conflicts...
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god

The God Concept and the Meaning of Life

...Have you ever seen an ecological food chain? Have you ever really seen it, like a tangible object that you can point to, pick up and say “Look, here it is..?”...
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human

The Relativity of the Human Condition

...This does not mean that a mystical experience has no value in terms of being liberating, but it does mean that any interpretation of it is highly dubious...
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life

The Darwinian Abyss and the Fullness of Life

...It is only logical that when you’re braindead, all faculties connected to the brain, like memory, perception, emotion and consciousness will perish...
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free will

The Matter of Free Will

...But if I want to become the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or the president of the United States by using my free will, it’s a different ball game...
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SOCIETAL

skull

Why Capital Punishment is Wrong

...Punishing people by killing them is not the way of understanding. Killing people as a punishment is the outcome of NOT understanding...
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promise

Why Politics Seldom Works

...Naïve in the sense that they really believe, like a child, that the new government is going to put everything right...
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narcissist

The Dark Triad – The Biggest Problem in History

...it is right to say that the personality disorders and Machiavellian traits of these people have been and still are the biggest problem in history...
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war

How Ralph Nader Caused the War in Iraq

...So if Nader would not have entered the 2000 presidential race, the war in Iraq would very likely not have happened...
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vote

The Cornerstone of a Healthy Society

...I have the impression that freedom of press, democracy and judicial independence, together are the cornerstone of a healthy society...
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money

Money is a Token of Evil

...We could live exactly the same lives and not use money at all...
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rebel

The Youth of Today

...Adults have a tendency to label the youth of today as kids who don’t have any respect, who should be taught some manners and who are heading nowhere fast...
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populism

Populism: Man and his Symbols

...The mind of a child needs games and fairy tales in order to understand reality. In other words, it needs a lot of symbolism...
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jury

The Jury System is Wrong

...In the jury system, with some bad luck, you have jury members who are not very bright and have never had any training in legal matters. And they decide whether you live or die...
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companies

Why Big Companies are Dictatorships

...So if the employees are at least as important to the company as the bosses, they should at least have an equal say in how the company is run. That is the democratic way, as opposed to the dictatorial way...
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fashion

Fashion is Fake

...Fashion always superficially borrows from reality, but it never IS reality. Because as soon as it IS reality, it becomes ordinary and boring...
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commercial

The Commercial Lie

Making as much profit as possible is the chief aim of a lot of businesses. Their commercial activity is based on greed and deception...
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CONTROVERSIAL

woman

Why Good Girls like Bad Boys

...Women have two kinds of needs: An “emotional need” and a “physical need,”...
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poverty

The Main Cause of Poverty

...I think that the culture of a country is a very important factor in the prosperity of a country...
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