waysider

AQUALUNG----Jethro Tull

maybe he caught it on surveillance cam.

That's a good point. Use FLO as an example. I have no idea what Limb HQ cost to acquire or what it was sold for. (I do know that it is very prime real estate at the moment.) But, at any given moment in time you had a group of 50 individuals who contracted (Yes, we had to sign a contract that stated we must ABS to remain in the program.) Plus, we paid into a rent fund, a Fellow Laborer fund, paid our own utilities, financially participated in a mandatory food co-op and provided all the various and sundry items necessary to run each house without the financial aid of TWI. AND, we took care of and improved the Limb HQ for free as part of the program. They had to have been realizing a profit by our mere participation.

See? That's the problem. At 52, you're still just a kid trying to sort it out.

It's like everything else. You have to temper it with good sense and a cautionary eye.

No-- At least not as the whole chimichonga. But, I think genetic makeup must factor into the equation somehow. Do we know why one identical twin is a "natural born jock" while the other is intent on creating prose? Maybe there is a genetic component and maybe not. When two dogs are of the same breeding stock, the similarities are usually pronounced. Yet, two humans can be of the same breeding stock (ie: identical twins) and be as different as night and day in the way they express their true self. Perhaps the genetic nuances that cause the dogs to be so similar are akin to the genetic nuances that cause the identical twins to be uniquely different. At any rate, I think the human "authentic self" must be far more complex than the instinctive similarities we see in animals.

Here's an interesting post I found on a music forum: "LOSS OF EMOTIONAL ENGAGEMENT WITH MUSIC One thing that has not been mentioned is that in the last 10 years there has been a seismic shift in the sonics of music. Parallelling the decline of the music industry has been an increase in the loudness of records. By loudness I am talking about the increase in rms (average) volume of a disc in comparison to peak volume. The difference between the two is the dynamic range. The smaller the difference, the louder a disk will sound when compared with a disk with more dynamic range. The music industry thinks this will make a record stand out when on a playlist or in a CD changer. Up to about 1996, dynamic range was almost always 12 dB or more. Between '92-'99, isolated releases began reducing their dynamic range in an attempt to sound louder. Starting in 1999, this isolated trend became generalized. Today, we see major releases with a dynamic range of 2 dB (Metallica). Virtually no major release today has more than 6 dB of range. And just like listening to a monotone speaker is dull because no emotion or sense of dynamism can be transmitted without fluctuations in volume, so too music has become increasingly boring and unengaging. I am not talking about the type of music or the quality of the music itself, but the type and quality of the sound. Musical qualities are things like lyrical content, chord structures, beats etc. Sound qualities are things like volume, dynamic range, distortion, etc. So I am not saying that the music is worse or somehow less creative than it was 10 years ago, only that the sound quality is worse. It's not that people are listening to less mainstream music, it's that they are listening to less music period. And those that do listen to music, do not listen to it with the same degree of attention or emotional involvement. Music has lost it's passionate followers, and become sonic wallpaper to most. And I think part of this is because the music released today contains little to no dynamic range, and has digitally induced distortion and clipping from the process of dynamic compression. To my knowledge, the music industry has not acknowledged the lessening of people's emotional engagement with music, nor have they sought to find an answer to it. And without being able to captivate and emotionally involve their listeners, their customers won't buy their products." - Fritz Gerlich http://harp-l.org/pipermail/harp-l/2009-May/msg00404.html

Yup. Hard to go back (to pre-TWI days) when you've burned all your bridges. I know that feeling quite well myself. (edited for 2x post)

You might just be on to something here. I do think dogs, as well other animals, have an "authentic self" and a "conditioned self" (ie: identity) Domestic cats, for example, have a "true self" that is born with the desire to stalk and kill prey. It's born into them. Ironically, though, they don't quite understand this behavior to be linked to survival. That's where conditioning comes into play. The mother cat not only helps the young ones to hone their skills, she teaches them that their quarry is a source of food and necessary for survival. If those lessons are missed, the cat will grow up to be one that hunts and kills but doesn't quite understand it's supposed to consume its bounty. There are oodles of similar examples in the animal kingdom. I suppose they are most obvious in domesticated breeds. The recent tragedy involving a chimpanzee attack underscores this premise. As much as the owner tried to modify his behavior into one that suited her liking, the chimp eventually reverted to his "true self". Now, of course, it's a good deal more complex with humans because, not only can we think and reason, there are so many more varied and widely diverse examples of humans than there are of chimpanzees, or tabby cats, or snow leopards. So, yes, in a sense, you might say we are denying dogs the opportunity to be their true selves.

It doesn't sound familiar to me.

How about his "revelation"regarding the original sin that he decided to share with us in CF&S? I think about those times when, in the middle of a teaching, he would pretend that God was whispering in his ear. It makes me want to barf. What a shyster!

SUPER CHIKAN

Reckless discharge---no malice intended. Potentially tragic, none the less.

The Way insisted we deny our genuine "self" and adopt an "identity" that was TWI created, as if it were our "self"---- one that was focused on selling PFAL, Everyone was supposed to be the same. That's not real. Each and every one of us is unique in our own special way. We were encouraged to suppress that reality with the concept of likemindedness. Here we are now, decades later, exploring places that were once off-limits. Sometimes we agree. Sometimes not. But, it's tempered by a voice that speaks from a place we continue to explore as if for the very first time. And it's OK.

I got a feeling these more aptly depict what VPW had on his mind.

It was a money making scam. Period. The video cassette players (not recorders) became a fixture of the TWI A/V equipment inventory in about 1972 or 1973. That may not be an exact date, but it's close. I remember shopping for a used car in about 1973 or 1974. One of the requirements I insisted on was a trunk that was large enough to transport the video tape player (not recorder). At one point, VP made a "prediction/prophesy" <_< that someday every home in America would one day own a tape player (not recorder). Wouldn't you know it? Not long after that, he "made it available" for anyone interested, to make a special purchase of a Beta player for the mere cost of $800.00. That's a bundle of money here in 2009. Just think how exorbitant it was in 1979 or so. But, hey, you could be the first on your block, "dontcha know"? There was no "revelation" involved. He used his MOG status to promote the con. I, of course, wasn't making anywhere near the kind of money needed to get in on this "special" deal. I did know some people who got sucked in on it, though. VPW must have laughed all the way to the bank. What a huckster.

I can remember wading hip deep in the creek behind Ohio limb HQ and removing rocks. Yes, rocks. When I exited the creek, I had to stop and remove the leeches that had decided I was their buddy. What benefit, in Heaven's name, could have possibly come from that nonsense, other than the limb leader solidifying his position as "alpha dog"? What a useless exercise in futility! The whole two year program was like that.

Anyone who has ever taken music lessons knows that the rests have just as much value as the notes. Sometimes what you DON'T play is every bit as important as what you DO play. There are occasions when "less" is really "more".

Let's face it, when your from a place with a river that has a history of catching fire because of all the pollution, it's hard to be offended by this stuff. http://www.clevelandmemory.org/SpecColl/croe/accfire.html "The Cuyahoga will live in infamy as the only river that was ever declared a fire hazard." - Congressman Louis Stokes :)

'nother concept to ponder. "Self" is who you are deep down inside, at your very core, before factoring in experiential shaping. "Identity" is who your "self" has become BECAUSE of experiential shaping. (At least in part) When the two clash, the results are not always pleasant. For example, consider a person whose real "self" is that of an artist or poet but whose "identity" has been defined by years spent working in the family's plumbing business. Maybe this explains why people in the '60s were so intent on discovering their self before settling on an identity.

Just make sure your undies are all properly folded and your socks are all stored facing the same direction. You just never know when some pipe smoking lunatic will sneak in for a mid-day inspection. <_<

BINGO! WHEN I WAS YOUNG

Nope. Same era, though. My faith was so much stronger then. I believed in fellow men. And I was so much older then.