15.9.18
– From now onward, I’m gonna do ONLY what I like, and also what I must (as little as possible).
NO MORE ought!
Wouldn’t I then become just another face in the crowd??
Let’s do it & see what happens! okay?
Are you ready to become ugly?!
– Can the Superman die??
– dork
– I feel slightly depressed/bored.
I think I am angry with myself for fucking up the last few weeks. I need to cancel the next 2 freak-out days (whole next week), to compensate.
And I am also uncertain whether my usual routine is the best.
I want to live everyday intensely and purposely, but I don’t think I have what it takes – passion!
I want to (enjoy) do(ing) nothing
Entertaining oneself to death……
Is it possible to live on the edge without falling of? You coward! 😅
– Movies:
“Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind”
– TV series:
The Fall
The Sinner 2
It’s quite difficult, finding something for both of us to watch together!
– The origin of “metaphysics”
– Distinguish:
Theologizing
&
Mystification
– Civil religion
Vs.
Biblical Christianity
Legal violence
16.9.18
– supersnogs
Audre Lorde
(NSFW) Reclaiming Eros: A Heroine’s Journey by Candice Dawn – Book Trailer
petulance
17.9.18
– Instead of having an interaction of equals, let’s try an inverted hierarchy!
1. Body-awareness
2. Responding to social demands/environmental stimuli
3. Principles/values
The degree of spontaneity and flux decreases as you go down this order. So, the most dynamic comes at the top!
– Zeal, zest, lust
Micromaster skills
What does “self-employed” mean, Joe?
Polymathic lifestyle
– SFG revised form:
Make it open-to-all (no membership commitments)! Minimum participants ~ 3, otherwise cancel meeting.
Have a core group of ~3 who are committed for ~70% attendance.
If a meeting is missed, have it next week. Then continue with fortnightly rhythm.
Meeting ~ 2 hours once in 2 weeks.
Timing – have 2 options – mid-week early morning (5:30 – 7:30 am) or late night (9:30 pm – 11:30 pm). Use RSVP to confirm meeting.
As leader, I will prepare beforehand for each meeting, and also coordinate the arrangements. Have 2 plans for every meeting.
5-15 minutes topical presentations.
Sublimewe (experiential sharing)
Teaching sessions ~ mini-seminar (includes art, theory & practice)
Contemplative meetings
Send summaries and continue follow-up via WhatsApp group
No homework
Have separate local & online groups.
F in SFG – back to Formation, from Friendship!
Or maybe I should just drop the regular SFG meetings & shift to conducting only the 3 annual events (seminar, retreat & picnic)
Why should everyone contribute to society by providing a service or product?
This is simply a dogma of capitalism!
Why can’t I just work on myself, and enjoy life, along with others?
But, in this world, that’s not enough, for one’s life to be called useful, worthwhile or significant, because of the problem of money, power & fame……
Being an authentic, original, unique individual is the primary & ultimate vocation/gift!
If others want what I have to give, then let them come after me. I’m done going after people, as if I need their patronage or approval!
I already have adequate economic support (from Chellam), and a few good quality relationships (friends/family)……
18.9.18
– SFG – people are already part of a demanding and rigid system/structure, so whatever ministry is catering to their spiritual need must be light & hyper-flexible.
– Christianity:
Distinguish
Natural
&
Fallen
– The desire to be good/become great is evil!
Let me just focus on living well……
– Uninstall survey
bastardy
The known world
Speculative cartography
Potential masters
ideogram
Zen ~ Tao ~ No-way!
Chi & Chan
Grandmotherly kindness
Iroquois
traceless
Aikido
Suppleness and endurance
Doer-deed dichotomy
“When nothing is done, nothing is left undone”!
Mastering mastery – mastered by the Way
Solitude/independence/transcendence and compassion/solidarity/morality
Confucius and Lao Tzu
pirouette
Junkie ~ rebel ~ dreamer
– GoT
Distinguish:
White Walkers
&
Wildlings
– “Spiritual work” ~ Non-work!
– Every single person, irrespective of how wrong/bad they are, is tracking something real……!
– Society-culture is important, because person-nature matters!
The former is important only because it has a radical bearing on the latter, which alone matters.
– Giving answers to those who couldn’t care less for the questions ~ throwing pearls before swine!
– White rappers & Black rockers
Indie/underground/alternative
Egological idealism
touché
unfinite
irreal
– The complete separation of culture & biology is impossible, but the distinction must be made!
Psychology – enfleshed/egoized sociality
– Have some Bitcoin ready, always!
Future-proof
– Since your body is already fucked up by culture, by just following the body as it is now, you would just be going back into the shadow-side of culture!
You will need to liberate your body from its cultural programming first!
HOW would you do that??
– Today, I was infuriated by the incessant barking of a dog which was causing public nuisance, late at night.
So, when I went for my night stroll, and found out that it was a domestic dog locked in a cage under an outdoor (commercial?) shed, I took the risk of opening the latch and letting it out (without consulting with the owner).
Immediately the quiet was restored!
But the now freely roaming Labrador was in danger of being attacked by the surrounding street dogs……
Actually, I’m also considering getting some rat poison to lovingly feed the neighborly noisemakers 😎
– “The Fall” TV series
WOW! I’m a hunter too……? 😁
Fantasize ~ scheme
Seduce ~ stalk
Fuck ~ kill
19.9.18
– Vacations (annual) are for “working folks”. Not for those like me.
– Satoshi
Binance
Coinmama
VirWox Second Life
– Captain Marvel is female!
Hmmm…… isn’t it more amazing that (almost) all super-heroes are actually just humans (like you & me)?
– I think the best way to negotiate the tension between biology & culture is to have an alternative day rhythm with a mediating third element which is the common base for every day.
The 2 polarities being desires that arise from within oneself and one’s social roles/environmental responses.
The 3rd mediating element is a mindful awareness or “nowness”
FROM
Flesh Vs. Spirit
TO
Self Vs. Society
– Who knows how many rapes have been prevented because of pornography……!?
– Dear friends…
HOW IS IT WITH YOUR SOUL?
(For your private reflection)
Soul = physical + religious + moral/ethical + sexual + economic (includes material & financial) + emotional + relational + intellectual + vocational/professional + cultural/artistic + public/political + ecological + technological
– How is your health in each of these areas, & how do they interact with each other?
– Spirit = common depth (inward/mystic/cosmic) dimension of every aspect of life! The MORE without which nothing else matters…
SHALOM 💢
For periodic self-examination:
– Spiritual disciplines:
Training (& indulging) the body, purifying & intensifying the emotions, increasing relational intimacy, strengthening the will & sharpening the intellect
– Strategy for personal growth:
Celebration of Grace + healthy rhythm of living + vocational fulfillment + developing personal philosophy (self-education) + experiencing friendship & community + responding to social issues
– My problem with the SFG is not merely about getting interested people & committed members.
It is more about me than about them!
I need to find a way of ministry that is more aligned with my own personal lifestyle……
So,
NEW SFG FORMAT:
– Small group meetings ~ 2 hours long, once in 1-2 weeks @ my house (depending on previous meeting response, arrangement issues, etc.). Timing: 2 options – Wednesday 9 – 11 pm or Saturday 5 – 7 am.
Separate groups can be maintained for those in different time zones!
– Open-to-all – no more membership requirements
– Invitees >> participants, based on RSVP
Minimum 3. Maximum 12.
Meeting will be cancelled if < 3.
– Online attendance also included.
– 2 types of meetings (can be mixed) – reflection-response/contemplative/experiential sharing/Sublimewe and mutual teaching (practical & theoretical)/discussion (5 – 25 minute presentations – requires antecedent preparation).
– Follow-up summary, further conversation & coordinating meetings via WhatsApp group (of all invitees/potential participants)
– Annual gatherings (picnic-retreat-seminar) can be planned, if there are enough people seriously interested.
– “yup” & “nope” have dictionary entries
– Plan C – improvised contingent response in the present, when both Plan A & B fail!
– Distinguish:
Biannual
&
Biennial
– Can you relate to an attractive woman without flirting?
Yup.
But why should I? 😛
– Dream:
Appa is playing carrom with me in a dilapidated building. He tells me to play faster, and this pisses me off……
20.9.18
– NOT freedom to do nothing, but to work, uniquely & creatively!
State capitalism
– Literal is figurative is literal!
– GoT
Dragon – Targaryen
Lion – Lannister
Wolf – Stark
Deer – Baratheon
Arya’s kill list & Joe’s fuck list
Karen Horney & self-analysis
Alarming insights and disturbing truths
Greta Van Fleet – fuckin’ awesome (female)!
– Excellence
Vs.
Creativity
21.9.18
– MiUI 10.0 has arrived!
So what……?
– Gaana
Vs.
Apple Music
(Amazon Prime and Google Play music streaming suck)
Is it worth opting for both?!
– “When you know what you want, and want it bad enough, you will find a way to get it.” – Jim Rohn
The first challenge is to clearly define what you want the most.
Second, you need to protect & nourish the desire & clarity you once had.
Third, the way must be provisional and flexible, unlike the goal.
– Deep-sea robots
Orbital telescopes
Digital wellbeing app
Surgical Strike Day
panoply
appertunance
hoplite
Sign in with Google
Daily Bible verse – read previous & next verse also
“If I forget thee, O earth” – Arthur Clarke
pulsars
Cosmic rays
Tetragrammaton
The lucky & the deserving
afflatus
chivvy
pettifog
ionic
aground
Cryptocosmic/blockchain future
Ahead of the curve
– Verses of the day:
As Christians, let us be in the present – continuing to do good for all, imitating (the person, works & teachings of) Jesus – instead of getting tired of life, or being distracted by diverse views, or worrying about our own future.
23.9.18
– Dream:
I have gone to a Christ University program (?academic excursion), in shorts!
A lot of “sound & fury signifying nothing” is going on, as usual.
Salome is also there?
I feel very uncomfortable, and hate (being) there……
– Vocation:
WHY should I try to find out what I want/who I am, independent of my upbringing and context?
WHAT is the self without these (integral elements)??
Nothing!?
– I just feel that I need to cry, weep, mourn……
I wish I could, easily!
Should one examine/evaluate one’s psychic life/mindscape by looking at the variety and balance of all the emotions?
– Character arc
– Distinguish:
Nuisance
&
Danger
24.9.18
– Bittorent Now & Bundles – for creators and publishers!
Ram Dass: Going Home
Movie speeches
Up-&-coming
Thought leaders
Intercultural studies
– Breaking the tyranny/slavery of emotions via wit & will
– SFG – working on oneself, in the company of others.
– Golf – sport + money
Racing – sport + technology
WWE – sport + showbiz
– Event ~ non-being ~ creative novelty
Mytheme & matheme
Mathematics as meta-ontology
Desuturing philosophy
Enabling conditions (for philosophy) – I would differ from, or dare to correct, Badiou, on my 4 – culture (historical-social context – includes science, art & politics!), body (includes sexuality), inter-personal relationships & spirituality/religion
Rigor and innovation
– TV series
Watch only 1 season
Stop & change if 2 continuous episodes flop
Indian stuff – Malgudi Days, Short Stories by Rabindranath Tagore, Mahabharata/Ramayana
– MUBI
Documentaries
Short films on Vimeo
“Undressed” on SBS Australia
Celebrities (sportsmen, actresses, politicians, intellectuals, scientists, etc.) as gurus
– Are you able to say BOTH yes & no to each of your desires, depending on the specific situation?
If not, you’re NOT free!
– Is politics an aspect of economy or is economy a part of politics?
– Distinguish:
Representation (E.g. Theology)
&
Manifestation (E.g. Christ)
– Sublimewe – can the person who triggered, also support, another’s trophy process?
– Chinese & Western zodiac signs
Taijitu
I am Leo/Goat
I’m an Introvert, but I’m NOT timid! 👊🏾
– Intimacy –
Distinguish:
Increase
&
Optimize
– Inter-disciplinary research:
E.g. Addiction
An expert in one discipline + do basic course-work in related field (including research methodology) + guidance from expert in the related field + collaborative focus on the interstitial area (Neuropsychology & addiction)
– POWER
Distinguish:
Coercive force
&
Moral authority
– The purpose of life, is primarily, to become (create/realize) yourself!
Only subordinately – being happy, loving others, saving the world, etc.
– carp
saboteur
compossibilizing
25.9.18
– Angkor Wat – Hindu >> Buddhist >> ?
– Weekly rhythm:
Monday – work (chores + disciplines)
Tuesday – free (with limited restrictions)
Wednesday – fasting + contemplative + disciplines
Thursday – freak-out
Friday – work (chores + disciplines)
Saturday – free (with limited restrictions)
Sunday – freak-out
– I am in a dilemma – whether to conduct annual seminar & retreat or not…
It is better to have regular small group meetings than just the annual macro-programs.
But is the former alone enough?
Am I willing to put in the extra effort/hard work required to prepare for, and arrange, the annual events?
Is it worth altering my weekly routine for?
– Personality (who I am) >> rhythm (how I live) >> ministry (what I do to work/serve)
Align!
– காவு
ஆழி
– Privacy ~ security
– Man has become a casualty/slave of his own creation (systems)!
Dehumanized by civilization
Mechanized by technology
A radical revolution is required……
– exequy
secrete
Slaves, debtors & fools
Microcredit companies ~ corporatizing usury
Communist rebels
Counter-insurgency operations
American-style courses in international educational institutions
Acceptable activism
Ramon Magsaysay
Imperialistic philanthropoids
An international cadre of native elites who are educated to serve their global capitalist masters
The CIA & International Studies
“The gathering of information to control people is fundamental to any ruling power”
Illegitimate, illegible & illegal people
Technocratic obsession of collecting information
Corporate-endowed foundations are the biggest funders of the Social Sciences & the Arts!
Third World elite
Strategic charities
The default/natural/universal ideology
Infiltrating normality, colonizing ordinariness
Cthulhu
What does radical politics have to do with metaphysics? In other words, what does power have to do with reality?
Wildcat strike
Downer-haze & cyber-blitz
frissons
Effective regime of cyber-capitalism
The cultural logic of business ontology
malediction
Negative miracle
Perpetual crisis
Senseless hope
The last big thing
The consumer-spectator
Political exhaustion & cultural sterility
Gangsta
– Most people in this society are slaves & fools, and they even take pride in teaching courses on addiction! 😂
– I think, the chief spiritual/ethical question of our time is, “How do we respond to global capitalism?”
26.9.18
– Independent (distinguish from unorganized) sector
Lilly Endowment
Gates Foundation
Characteristic trappings
habiliment
Salaried activists
“Buying into resistant movements & controlling them from within”
“The transformation of the idea of justice into the industry of human rights has been a conceptual coup in which NGOs and foundations have played a crucial part.”
Intelligent, bold & angry
Women’s issues
Western liberal feminism
NGOization
Botox & burka
Anodyne conversations
Daisy cutters
Professionalized special-interest groups
bundobust
picket
Funding briefs
Hermetic silos
Black Power >> Capitalist Nigger
Repression, infighting & honey-traps (funding)
“The Free Enterprise System: An Agent for Nonviolent Social Change.”
– Can/should two persons who despise each other, live together?
Ideological alienation & sexual intimacy
“If you hate such institutions, then why do you live off the income they provide? You lack the basic integrity & courage to live according to your (so-called radical) convictions!”
“There is no other way, all roads lead to Rome.
Where? What? Show me the alternative……!”
“All you do is read, think & talk great things, there is no change or improvement in your actual life. You’re only getting worse, with the increasing drug use, etc.!”
Certain (precious/inward) stuff should never be shared with another who cannot understand or appreciate them, irrespective of how close he/she is otherwise.
The Kingdom of GOD is like yeast in dough, and mustard seed in the soil – its presence & activity is invisible & silent, but it will bear awesome fruit in the future!
The crux of the issue is not whether one has an alternative (virtually or actually), but whether one has the adamantine audacity to refuse surrendering to the status quo. This is what makes the difference between (spiritual) life and death!
– The alternative – some tentative guidelines for formulating possible solutions:
1. The primary considerations should be unique selfhood, body awareness, nature-friendly, social solidarity & creative leisure.
Not financial viability, material comfort, cultural acceptance, systemic legitimacy, technological advancement, etc.
2. The second set must be made subordinate to the first.
3. Could people exchange their goods & services without the intermediary of these large institutions? What if they could form their own local community organizations for the welfare of the society out of which their members are drawn? Economic interdependence needs to supplant individual income as social security.
– West Bengal strike – the public, caught between the BJP & the government!
– Do not work for corporatized/pro-capitalist organizations.
Divert all charitable giving to support organizations that do NOT have tax-exemption status!
Take all investments from mutual funds and put into other local small businesses, RD, FD, etc.
Create awareness of the crucialty of popular, grassroots anti-capitalist activism in your circle (including the folks in your workplace!) – educate, organize, agitate.
Stop parceling food. Instead, go & eat in the shop, to avoid regular use of packing materials.
Shop at the local supermarket instead of the big brand franchised branch store.
But you can continue buying products of any brand.
What about pornography?
Move to Tier II Indian city
Reduce job hours (paid employment) to ~50% of total waking time per week.
Instead of certain close people in my circle coming together in a physical community, it would be better to create a spiritual community of those who share this common vision/mission. The members could then be connected with weekly/fortnightly online small group meetings for personal growth, and annual/biennial gatherings for enjoying intimacy & reinforcing solidarity……
So, are you ready to move from mid-middle class to low-middle class?
And, in the context of this missional lifestyle, can/should you try to raise a family (get married & have children) too?
– Social work
Vs.
Political activism
Spiritual growth
Vs.
Individual agency
Relational harmony
Vs.
Ideological integrity
– Third World saints canonized by the West
The Washington Consensus
Peaceful transition via structural adjustment
Militant politics >> Dalit capitalism
Anti-imperialist struggle >> identity politics
DICCI
Ambedkar Vs. Dange
The promised revolution
Constitutionalism & capitalism
Stated objectives – “To help develop a consensus in favor of economic reforms.” And to shape and influence public opinion, creating “viable, alternative policy options in areas as divergent as employment generation in backward districts”
Institutional partners & startup grants
Strategic analysts of global think-tanks
“Provide innovative and practical recommendations that advance three broad goals: strengthen global democracy; foster the welfare, security and opportunity of all Americans; and secure a more open, safe, prosperous, and cooperative international system.”
Free-market democracies
“What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable.”
Antilla
Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal & Kiran Bedi are “corrupt” too!?
Reverse reforms & pseudo-liberation
“Village Rockstars”
RBI Vs. Cryptocurrency @ the Supreme Court
Cultural Marxism, postmodernism & late capitalism
Portugal’s legalization of all drugs!
SC Aadhaar judgment
– Would you like to join the Spiritual Conversations WhatsApp group?
I will send you the description & terms of the group. Please read it and say if you agree. Feedback/opinion is also welcome.
Okay?
– I am a member of the bourgeoisie, stuck between the capitalists and the proletariat.
I must take a side!
– Mainstream media
Vs.
Independent journalism
– But what about the (right of) private property that was acquired by stealing??
– Material prosperity/cultural acceptance/systemic position
Vs.
Spiritual vitality/moral integrity/critical courage
– The profits of industry must be divided between the owners and workers by 50-50 ratio!
Maybe 50% of the owner’s share can be reinvested in the organization (ecological infrastructure, etc.).
The owners would still enjoy huge prosperity, and everyone would be fairly compensated too!
– GROWTH
Distinguish:
Quantitative increase
&
Qualitative progress
– Intimate relationships are not just about emotional harmony, but equally also about spiritual compatibility……! ☝🏾
– My life/identity/vocation:
Self-education (education > intellect > academics) >> radicalizing spirituality, transforming sexuality & responding to capitalism
Capitalist politics
Capitalist religion
Capitalist education
What is the essence of capitalism?
This would help clearly define the negative adjective, “capitalist”.
The (endless) pursuit of (unlimited) monetary gain, quantitative growth (size & number) & social position/influence (ranking), by the exploitation of the human & ecological, via technological control & systemic coercion…..
If we promise to cut you a piece of our pie 🥧, do you agree to stop fighting our advancement in your world?
– Stirner
Vs.
Marx
Is egoism a friend or foe of capitalism?
– The homely culture of Madurai + the advanced lifestyle of Europe
Can I not have both?!
– Job hours (includes work done outside the office) ~50% of total waking time per week (6 days).
~ 9 hours (including 1 hour lunch break) per day * 5 days per week.
E.g. 9 am – 5 pm Monday – Friday
9 * 5/16 * 6 ~ 50%
Annual vacation ~ 15-30 days
– These rating agencies evaluate universities, businesses & even countries.
What scale/criteria do they use?
Who holds them accountable??
“Premier” is inversely proportional to “radical”!
– Those who work in large organizations for long become half-human……!
Right?
– Upward mobility >> death!
– What’s the relationship between capitalism & comics?
– SWITCH!
snitch
Tax sleuth
Parent company
Gays can no longer donate blood!?
National Company Law Tribunal
Constitution bench
SC verdict on SC/ST promotions quota
Creamy layer principle
SC verdict on homosexuality
Identity seclusion
Majoritarian views Vs. Constitutional rights
“I am what I am so take me as I am” – Goethe
– I have, in the past been deeply hurt, & rejected, by few people very close to me, from whom I expected understanding & acceptance!
I will never again make the same mistake of intimacy & vulnerability. I must protect myself from further radical insults which could permanently damage my self-esteem & disfigure my self-image.
Irrespective of whether you are married, single or orphan, ultimately, when it comes to facing the demons within, you are utterly ALONE.
The sooner you realize this, the better it is for you and everyone you’re related to.
We must find a way to express the violence within, & between us, without destroying each other……
Immanuel Joseph's Blog 