Bodhipaksa's Blog, page 78
February 3, 2012
God's advertising powers less than omnipotent
There are times, living in the US, that I miss my native Britain's robust consumer protection legislation.
A Christian group has been banned from claiming that God can heal illnesses on its website and in leaflets.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it had concluded that the adverts by Healing on the Streets (HOTS) – Bath, were misleading.
It said a leaflet available to download from the group's website said: "Need Healing? God can heal today!"
The ASA said it had been alerted to the adverts by a complainant, and concluded that they could encourage false hope and were irresponsible.
Related posts:
Powers of 10
February 2, 2012
Dhammapada word cloud
[Click on the image for an embiggened version.]
I thought it would be an interesting project to paste the entire text of the Dhammapada into Wordle in order to see what language the Buddha (or at least that text, which is generally reckoned to be one of the older Buddhist suttas) used.
I used Buddharakkhita's translation from Access to Insight.
The language strikes me as being predominantly positive and humanistic. "One" here is the presonal pronoun. "Man" is the main subject. "Wise," "holy," and "good" are the main adjectives. "Like" is common because the Buddha used a lot of similes, so this is "like" as in "fortifying this mind like a well-fortified city" not as in "I like ice cream."
"Evil" is a prominent topic, as are "craving" and "suffering."
"Mind" and "monk" are common terms, speaking to both the sociological and psychological leanings of Buddhism.
"Samsara" doesn't make the cut.
Related posts:
A handy Microsoft Word trick
The weasel word, "Misspoke"
The Dhammapada and vegetarianism
The top five regrets of the dying
An Australia palliative nurse has recorded the most common regrets of the dying, and among the top ones is "I wish I hadn't worked so hard."
I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
I wish I hadn't worked so hard.
I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.
I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
I wish that I had let myself be happier.
In Buddhism there's a list of five reflections, which are, basically, that I'm going to get old, get sick, die, be separated from all that's dear to me, and (and here's the kicker) that I'm responsible for everything I do and for the consequences of those things. Basically this amounts to reflecting on the fact that we're going to die, so that we choose to act with that in mind. Most people, when they reflect on death, realize that what they thought was important (working harder, spending more time in the office) isn't the most important thing after all. It's delusion and anxiety that tell us these things are vital. In the long run it's integrity, joy, and love that are important.
Related posts:
Greater than 1 in 7 chance of McCain dying in next four years
My top five email pet peeves
The top ten random but deep and meaningful things I did today
Stop Ron Paul
So, is this the work of a Ron Paul opponent, or a not very smart Ron Paul supporter?
February 1, 2012
I like writing endorsements, and it's nice to be at the top of the page.
2/1/12 - 1
January 31, 2012
Artificial telepathy comes one step closer
I know the Pentagon was keen on creating artificial telepathy, so that soldiers on the battlefield could compose and send messages by means of pure thought — and that prospect is closer now, as you can tell from this video, where the decoded thoughts are almost understandable.
Of course the thoughts that were translated were recorded with probes inserted into the brains of people undergoing neurosurgery, and it's not likely many of us will be queueing up to have electrodes implanted so that we can text while driving, but it's obvious that the technology is moving in the direction of our actually being able to "read" thoughts. Here's the full New Scientist article.
But I would like to be able to write without typing 
The clip below, which did the rounds a few months ago, and which you've probably seen, is in a way even more amazing:
Related posts:
Wildmind: A Step-by-Step Guide to Meditation
Army developing 'synthetic telepathy' – Discovery.com- msnbc.com
Loving Lana
I love this Lana Del Rey video, even if it does appear that she's had her emotions surgically removed.
There's a minimalist version here, which is hypnotically entrancing.
I stayed up until midnight so that I could buy the album on the first day it went on sale.
Related posts:
More Lana Del Rey. Love it.
A valentine's day thought on loving ourselves
I've been listening to this album obsessively since downloading it last night.
The end of health insurance companies?
This is the second article I've seen predicting that Obama's health care act is the nail in the coffin of the health insurance companies. I hope that one day we'll look back on this era and wonder how people could have allowed anything so monstrous to flourish.
And people may also regard Obama as a political genius to have sneaked this past the GOP.
The End of Health Insurance Companies Accountable care organizations will shift the focus of medicine away from treating sickness and toward keeping patients healthy.
January 30, 2012
Disturbing news about ADD medication.
"To date, no study has found any long-term benefit of attention-deficit medication on academic performance, peer relationships or behavior problems, the very things we would most want to improve."Children's A.D.D. Drugs Don't Work Long-Term
Millions of children take drugs to help them pay attention — but do they really help?
January 28, 2012
I just watched and enjoyed "Monsters," which is a low-budget (almost home made) Sci-Fi movie with…
