The Science of Koans

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Sunday August 25, 2024 · 9:16 AM PDT

2024/08/25 · 09:16

This will be my last koan post at least until the election. We talked about koans from brain strokes. Here is a koan of goodness.

Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness

Jamil Zaki

Associate Professor of Psychology

Curriculum Vitae PDF

Ph.D., Columbia University, Psychology (2010)

Cynicism is making us sick; Stanford Psychologist Dr. Jamil Zaki has the cure--a "ray of light for dark days" (Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author).

In 1972, half of Americans agreed that most people can be trusted; by 2018, only a third did. Different generations, genders, religions, and political parties all think human virtue is evaporating. Cynicism is an understandable response to a world full of injustice and inequality. But in many cases, it is misplaced. Dozens of studies find that people fail to realize how kind, generous, and open-minded others really are. Cynical thinking deepens social problems: when we expect the worst in people, we often bring it out of them.

We don't have to remain stuck in this cynicism trap. Through science and storytelling, Jamil Zaki imparts the secret for beating back cynicism: hopeful skepticism--thinking critically about people and our problems, while honoring and encouraging our strengths. Far from being naïve, hopeful skepticism is a precise way of understanding others that can rebalance our view of human nature and help us build the world we truly want.

Book blurb

Those who have declared us their enemies are certain that we can’t be trusted, and on our side we don’t trust the Ultra-MAGA and the gazillionaires and the corporate price gougers and Denialists, so these changes from 1972 to 2018 make sense. But we shouldn’t go beyond facts in evidence. Even Ultra-MAGAS want to do good in accordance with their twisted understanding, and are out to torture us for our own good, as has been the case under every authoritarian despot the world over.

Jamil Zaki: A Hopeful Skeptic

A professor of psychology at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Laboratory, Jamil Zaki is the author of The War for Kindness. His second book, Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness (Grand Central, September 3, 2024) is a striking blend of science and storytelling on the harmful effects of cynicism that explores strategies for rebuilding trust on a global scale.

It remains a journey. As I write in the book, I've studied the science of empathy, kindness, and human connection for 20 years. Much of my research points to a simple conclusion: there is good in us, and it does good for us. But knowing something is different than feeling it, and, personally, I've long struggled with cynicism--the belief that people are selfish, greedy, and dishonest. I'm not alone; over recent decades, people around the world have lost faith in each other and in all sorts of institutions, from government to science to education.

Stupid wars have been on the decline since the collapse of the Soviet Union, especially in Africa and Latin America. There are several more being negotiated, and only a few that are at present totally intractable.

The Koans of the Ideal and the Actual

Mokurai

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Sunday August 18, 2024 · 9:01 AM PDT

2024/08/18 · 09:01

no image description available — What rank is he? Don't get caught in picking and choosing.

In the supposed world of Samsara, beings ignorantly imagine that they are victims of birth, old age, disease, and death, and that they need to cross over to the other shore to escape them. From the other shore, the awakened see that there are not two shores, and that ships and rafts are a past dream. But how do we put this to the perplexed and confused in a way that actually helps? Are the actual and the ideal two things, separate and apart, that have to be brought together from both sides, or are they one and the same?

Say a word of Zen, if you can, but don’t muddy the water with mere opinion.

Dongshan Liangjie (Japanese: Tōzan Ryōkai)

Soto Zen Buddhist Patriarch Tozan Ryokai/Dongshan Liangjie

Mokurai

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Sunday August 18, 2024 · 4:01 AM PDT

2024/08/18 · 04:01

There are no Conservatives, only mostly White patriarchal Christianist Nationalist Supremacists like Matthew Sping here. There are no Conservative principles. Those who loudly proclaim their Conservative credentials are deluding themselves.

GOTV.

Project 2025 Private Training Video: Conserving America

YouTube Video

Mokurai

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Sunday August 04, 2024 · 9:01 AM PDT

2024/08/04 · 09:01

Ananda asked Makakashō, “My elder brother in the Dharma, when the World-honoured One Transmitted the kesa of gold brocade to you did He pass on anything else?” Makakashō called out, “Ananda!” When Ananda acknowledged the call, Makakashō said, “Chop down the flag pole in front of your temple gate!” and Ananda awakened to his TRUE SELF.

The matter of ‘chopping down the flag pole in front of the temple gate’ is as follows. In India the custom was that, when the Buddha’s disciples entered into a debate with non-Buddhists, both sides would raise a flag. When one side was bested, their flag was taken down; the defeat was thereby signaled without recourse to sounding drums and bells. In today’s story, too, it is as though Makakashō and Ananda had raised flags in debate.

Ananda was the Buddha’s attendant for 20 years, memorizing all of his discourses. If hearing and repeating the words of the Buddha were enough, he would have been an arhat long before. We are invited to ask ourselves what more there is that Ananda had not received, and why at this point he awakened.

Note that Ananda is not invited to take down his flag in defeat. He is to chop down the flag pole entirely, so that there is no place for a flag of disputation.

Mokurai

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Sunday July 28, 2024 · 11:03 AM PDT

2024/07/28 · 11:03

Single cat ladies are in the news due to a misogynistic pronouncement by JD Vance, who is exceedingly proud of himself and devalues all sorts of others. The reaction has been swift and ferocious, as in the DK group Cat Ladies for Kamala, but Internet-Wide, particularly in the Presidential campaign.

JD Vance responds to the backlash to his “childless cat ladies” comment by apologizing to cats and then doubling down on attacking women: “I’m sorry, it’s true” pic.twitter.com/JZjqZJOp5y
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) July 26, 2024

But enough of him. We have a koan of another sort to tackle for ourselves.

The Cat Who Went to Heaven

The Cat Who Went to Heaven is a 1930 novel by Elizabeth Coatsworth that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1931.^[1] The story is about a penniless Japanese artist and a calico cat his housekeeper brings home.

The storyline is supposedly based on an old Buddhist folk tale, and includes, as asides, a short telling of the Buddha's life, and brief accounts of some of the Buddha's previous lifetimes as animals, as in the Jataka tales.

At the end of each of the eight chapters is one of the housekeeper's songs, her insightful commentary on what is happening.

Towards the end of the painting process, and after painting many other animals, the painter realizes that his cat, who he now sees as a truly noble being, cannot be represented in the painting. The story says that the traditional belief in his time was that cats are supposedly cursed, because of their pride and sense of superiority, which apparently caused them to refuse to bow before the Buddha in his lifetime, and that this therefore means they are barred from achieving Nirvana. Consequently, the prevailing thought is that no cat may go to Heaven.

Naturally, a miracle occurs. A Buddha shows that he really means it when he says compassion for all sentient beings.

Mokurai

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Monday July 22, 2024 · 4:01 AM PDT

2024/07/22 · 04:01

Various of us on DK and around the InterWebz are dissecting Project 2025 and related plans for FASCISM TODAY, FASCISM TOMORROW, FASCISM FOREVER!! I have pulled out hundreds of quotes, and assembled those relating to abortion today. I have also done going off fossil carbon, Wrong-Wing insistence that karma doesn’t apply to them, and their use of Orwellian Newspeak, language as a substitute for thought. We will have much more to say about all of this meshugas right up to Roevember 5, and if necessary beyond, including other notable misogynists in the movement, notably including JD Vance.

FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance applaud on Day 2 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 16, 2024. REUTERS/Callaghan O'hare/File Photo — Or JD Wentworth, as Trump recently called him.

Mokurai

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Sunday July 21, 2024 · 9:01 AM PDT

2024/07/21 · 09:01

I like to talk about how you and I can approach a koan with unselfishness, but today I am going to explain something different: What could go wrong with Project 2025, taken as hundreds of anti-koans? And so often does, in so many ways, among those who deny that they are subject to karma, and those who have declared war on wokeness (empathy, DEI, ESG, CRT, ZOMGBBQ).

We begin with their spiritual ancestors, fighting the eternal battle with themselves, but claiming that we are the enemy. The self-appointed mission of the Asuras in Hinduism and Buddhism is to invade and take over the highest heavens, as you see here at the top left.

Mahakala, the personification of time in Hinduism and Buddhism, and of karma coming to fruition in Buddhism, holdng the Wheel of Time, containing the Six Worlds, the 12 steps of Dependent Origination, and the representatives of the Three Fires of Greed (pig), hate (cock), and delusion (snake).

Storming Heaven is a widely known koan, including in the Tower of Babel myth. In the Genesis version God confuses the languages of the Earth, but in Zen understanding, the Heaven Storm Troopers fall into chaos and infighting all on their own, strictly from karma, and find that they cannot understand each other’s use of words. In our situation today that includes “Freedom” and “Democracy”. Nor can anyone else make out what they think they mean, other than hatred and privilege. Donald Trump is the least comprehensible of all, and many MAGA take that, too, as an essential Presidential virtue. See Newspeak “++duckspeak”, as I wrote about recently. Syme explains to Smith in 1984 that it is a compliment to one of yours, and an insult to your enemies.

Zen is about letting go, not grasping, and about not having a self that can either grasp or let go.

So what’s the deal?

Mokurai

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Monday July 15, 2024 · 4:01 AM PDT

2024/07/15 · 04:01

Truth is, in law, a complete defense to lies. In politics, it’s numbers, and boy howdy are we getting them. Normally, when I get hold of an active political topic, I can fit the results of a Google search into a story draft. Not this time. Project 2025 is suddenly the hottest topic in searches by far, way above Taylor Swift. We are no longer massively ignorant of what it says and what it means.

Project 2025 searches now surpassing Taylor Swift and NFL football pic.twitter.com/AJWlxvX2nW
— Parker Butler (@parkerpbutler) July 9, 2024

Us

THE BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION’S HISTORIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Biden Harris Issues

This looks a lot better than Donald Trump’s Project 2025 plan, doesn’t it? pic.twitter.com/8Qm9gRiNn2
— Harry Sisson (@harryjsisson) July 13, 2024

I don’t have anything like enough room here for this.

(Google results page 1) Vox, The Hill, WaPo, AP, CBS, Forbes, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, Maother Jones, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, (page 2) BBC, CNN, NPR, Democracy Docket, Reuters, YouGov Today, (page 3) Bloomberg, WSJ… (30 pages before they break off, with multiple contributions from many sources).

Just MSNBC: Nicolle Wallace, Ari Melber, Joy Reid, Chris Hayes, Jen Psaki, Rachel Maddow, Alex Wagner, Lawrence O’Donnell, Stephanie Ruhle…

Mokurai

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Sunday July 14, 2024 · 9:01 AM PDT

2024/07/14 · 09:01

Chinese legend tells us that Ōbaku Kiun/Huangbo Xiyun taught the koan of Fame and Gain to the Tang Dynasty Emperor himself. It is of course not true because of who said it, but because we have plenty of evidence for it, if we are willing to look, as so many are not. This is not one of the incomprehensible koans you hear so much about, but one with a clear surface meaning. The hard part is wanting to do it.

I cite as part of the evidence our current politics, divided as it is between

the devotees of privilege
the devotees of doing the maximum good for all, even for those who hates it forever!!!!

Group 1 has defined Group 2 as their enemies, indeed the enemies of everything important (fame) and valuable (gain). I will say no more of them today, but you can follow their doings everywhere, including my posts on Project 2025/Agenda 47/the Republican Party platform meant to be adopted at their convention this week.

Verses from the Dhammapada 251: “There is no fire like hatred, no rushing like craving.”

Master Obaku was standing on the banks of the Yellow River with the Chinese Emperor. The Emperor looked out across the water and admired all the ships crowding it. He pointed them out to Obaku as evidence of the greatness of his empire. But Master Obaku replied "I can only see two ships." The Emperor was amazed and said "What do you mean? The river is full of them.” The Master repeated "I can only see two ships, the ship of gain and the ship of fame.” This caused the Emperor to rethink his policies and as a result a new golden age was ushered in.

Mokurai

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Sunday July 07, 2024 · 9:01 AM PDT

2024/07/07 · 09:01

The Zen priest trainees at Shasta Abbey were set to study both of these Catholic Saints, whose works we recognized as authentic spirituality. I am going to give you a tip-of-the-tongue taste here, but encourage you to go as far into their teachings as suits your training. Just don’t philosophize about what you haven’t experienced.

Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross were the founders of the Discalced (shoeless) Carmelites in Spain during the Counter-Reformation. Both were named saints, and later Doctors of the Church. Teresa was the first woman so honored. Their lives and careers were complicated, difficult, and fascinating, but those events are not our topic here.

Ecstasy of Saint Teresa Gian Lorenzo Bernini — Saint Teresa pierced to the heart with God’s love

GoodNewsRoundup

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Tuesday June 25, 2024 · 5:58 AM PDT

2024/06/25 · 05:58

When Joe Biden was comforting the families of the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, he had paid his respects to the parents of a victim when the victim’s son ran up to him, desperate for comfort. This is what happened:

I had never seen this clip before today, and now I’m sitting here wiping tears from my face. Joe Biden is a good man, and he is our only hope to heal and restore the soul of our nation. pic.twitter.com/l7IuFx75QV
— Michelle Kinney 🏴‍☠️ (@MichelleKinney) October 21, 2020

That is the kind of person Joe Biden is. He hugs back. He offers comfort. He gives support.

We are a country in need of healing. We need an empathic leader who leans into a hug. We need a leader who offers encouragement. We need a leader who gives love as easily as breathing in.

Here is the family talking about Biden and what that meant to them:

I’ll never forget the comfort that @JoeBiden brought Corey after he lost his dad in the Parkland shooting. This powerful new ad from @Your_Americans illustrates Joe’s character. He has the compassion and leadership to bring this country together. pic.twitter.com/40Uy6mXyDd
— Gabrielle Giffords (@GabbyGiffords) September 16, 2020

As a nation, we need comfort, and Joe Biden gives comfort extremely well. It is part of his empathic nature and comes from a lifetime of learning from difficulty.

What’s more, Biden’s empathy shapes how he governs — and how he asks his staff to govern.

AP’s Josh Boak talks about how Biden leads his team to take a caring approach:

Biden tries to put himself in the scuffed shoes of a worker and asks Ivy League-educated aides to do the same. He repeatedly tells them that real people must be able to easily apply for the government resources being created for them.

When Gene Sperling took on the role of overseeing the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief programs in 2021, the president gave him direct instructions.

“When you are guiding implementation of these programs, I want you every time to imagine a couple of parents coming home from a 10-hour shift, trying to make dinner and help a child with homework,” Sperling said Biden told him.

That meant helping in personal ways as well as with broad steps. Sperling worked with Treasury and the IRS to ensure that the child tax credit’s monthly payments arrived on the same day each month. He told the team it was something of a victory if someone complained on Facebook or Twitter that their payment was late, since it meant people knew about the program and valued it.

Joe Biden is a great president.

Is there still more work to be done? 100%! Lots more work. But Biden dhas done so much more than many people guessed could be done. He deserves a lot of credit. AND he deserves to be re-elected.

What can you do to help?

Donate to re-elect Joe Biden!

Your donation will come bundled with others from our Good News community and will show Biden that there are many of us who support him and combine hard work with optimism in our battles for a better America!

Want to do something else?

Rec and comment on these posts to keep them alive at DKos and share them with others who might not realize how great a president Joe Biden has been.

Looking for something else? Here are some other ideas:

Get involved with the Democratic party. We aren’t perfect, but they are fucking evil.
Get involved with the States Project. They are working on turning state legislatures blue.
Get involved with Swing Left. They are working on races right now!
Get involved with Postcards to Voters. Influence voters in key areas from the comfort of your own home!
The ACLU plays a key role in filing lawsuits that often stop voter suppression. Get involved with them at this link.
Volunteer with Black Voters Matter at this link. They have work on the ground in progress in 10 states, and people from other states can write postcards, phonebank, fundraise, and text.
Sign up at Democracy Docket to stay informed about the fight against voter suppression and the fight for voter rights.

This is an entry in my ongoing series Boosting Biden.

Check the comments for more information on how to find other entries and subscribe.

These posts are written by Goodnewsroundup (Goodie),
edited by Matilda Briggs, supported by 2thanks and WolverineForTJatAW,
and reinforced by several other notable Kossacks!
As with all good things, it takes a village.

President Biden Is an Optimist: Boosting Biden Day 118

GoodNewsRoundup

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday June 20, 2024 · 10:59 AM PDT

2024/06/20 · 10:59

Barack Obama has said on more than one occasion that one of the things he loves about Joe Biden is his optimism.

Biden has a well-deserved reputation as someone willing to offer comfort and support to Americans who are grieving. But, while acknowledging their awful pain and suffering, Biden also offers optimism that things will get better. You can see it in this letter he wrote to a constituent.

“I know, with faith and family to help, that you will reach that day of healing, when you can remember your husband and smile, with joy for what he shared with you and for his enduring spirit.”

Biden is an optimist by nature. Despite the awful things he has lived through — or maybe because of them — he knows that life can improve and that people can heal. That belief goes to the core of who he is.

When things are really difficult, an optimist doesn’t quit. When things are difficult, an optimist assumes that there is some way out and keeps searching until he or she finds it.

And when people need hope, an optimist is there to provide leadership that moves people forward.

And we see that optimism in him now, even in these tough times. Just read his own words during one of his 2020 town halls with George Stephanopolous:

When I said I was running because I wanted to unify the country, people said, "Well, those are the old days." Well, we'd better be able to do it again.

. . . Usually, you know, the President [Trump], in my view, with all due respect, it's been divide and conquer, the way he does better if he splits us, you know, where there's division.

And I think people need hope. I think — look, George, I've never been more optimistic about the prospects for this country than I am today. And I really mean that. I think the people are ready. They understand what's at stake. And it's not about Democrat or Republican.

If I get elected, you know, I'm going to be — I'm running as a proud Democrat, but I'm going to be an American president. I'm going to take care of those that voted against me as well as those who voted for me, for real. That's what presidents do. We've got to heal this nation, because we have the greatest opportunity of any country in the world to own the 21st century. And we can't do it divided.

Joe Biden has an optimistic vision.

Joe Biden is a great president.

Is there still more work to be done? 100%! Lots more work. But Biden has done so much more than many people guessed could be done. He deserves a lot of credit. AND he deserves to be re-elected.

What can you do to help?

Donate to re-elect Joe Biden!

Want to do something else?

Rec and comment on these posts to keep them alive at DKos and share them with others who might not realize how great a president Joe Biden has been.

Looking for something else? Here are some other ideas:

Get involved with the Democratic party. We aren’t perfect, but they are fucking evil.
Get involved with the States Project. They are working on turning state legislatures blue.
Get involved with Swing Left. They are working on races right now!
Get involved with Postcards to Voters. Influence voters in key areas from the comfort of your own home!
The ACLU plays a key role in filing lawsuits that often stop voter suppression. Get involved with them at this link.
Volunteer with Black Voters Matter at this link. They have work on the ground in progress in 10 states, and people from other states can write postcards, phonebank, fundraise, and text.
Sign up at Democracy Docket to stay informed about the fight against voter suppression and the fight for voter rights.

This is an entry in my ongoing series Boosting Biden.

Check the comments for more information on how to find other entries and subscribe.

These posts are written by Goodnewsroundup (Goodie),
edited by Matilda Briggs, reinforced by 2thanks and WolverineForTJatAW
and supported by several other notable Kossacks!
As with all good things, it takes a village.

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The Science of Koans

The Koans of the Ideal and the Actual

Weird Project 2025 Secret Training Video: Conserving America

The Koan of Knowledge without Understanding

A Cat Koan

Project 2025 et al. on Abortion etc.

Koan: Project 2025 Karma

Our Defenses Against Project 2025, Agenda 47, Etc.

The Koan of Fame and Gain

Carmelite Koans: Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross

President Biden Knows How to Provide Comfort: Boosting Biden Day 121

President Biden Is an Optimist: Boosting Biden Day 118