Jump to content

User:Juniperol

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I like to contribute to Wikipedia on my free time.


Interests

[edit]

Theravada Buddhism

[edit]

I've been interested in studying Buddhism since around 2023 and have learned much of it via the teachings of Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu.

The cover of the book "Handful of Leaves: An Anthology of the Samyutta Nikaya"

I think that it brings a very different perspective on the workings of the mind, the way we organize and interact socially, and moral situations than what's thought about in the west. In that way, I think it has a lot of power not only to change yourself for the better, but the world around you. It seems to have a very explanatory and helpful perspective on mental and social phenomena especially when western thought seems to lack an explanation. I find that its insights run very deep.

I enjoy studying the suttas and study guides, and I see that there's always some deeper understanding that can be found by looking at the teachings in a new light that explains something in a whole new way.

Libertarian Socialism

[edit]

I see the main idea of society being that people band together so that we can provide what we all need, material or immaterial.

I think throughout history, we see that the power we give to leaders and institutions to provide these things always ends up benefiting themselves rather than the people who they are supposed to be accountable to, yada yada. This applies not only to the way government is set up, but also to industry, which is integral to what societies are established to do. There can't be one all-powerful body that makes everything free and equitable for everyone because the power vested in them to do so corrupts them. I think that any person who's serious about engaging politically and learning about politics & history should have more direct control of the society they participate in, which includes not only government, but industry too.

I think more authoritarian ideologies of socialism or leftist ideologies have been earnestly tried and tend to enable oppression, although the brutality of countries like the USSR and China were true but over-exaggerated. When we see a certain system tried many many times, we need to have the honesty to reexamine their validity. That's not to say Marxism is completely wrong or incorrect, just that certain conceptions of it have to be grappled with ideologically.

Anyone interested living in the US should look into your local DSA chapter no matter where you lie politically on the left. I think more than anything, it's important to remember that one's ideology is in pursuit of a system that works for everybody and that we need to be true and honest if the ideology might lack that in some way. It's not about being loyal to a party or ideology but to making a system that works.

Miscellaneous Interesting Things

[edit]

Favorite Songs, Albums, & Artists

[edit]

Songs

  • Frown - Title Fight
  • Ode to Viceroy - Mac Demarco
  • If Tomorrow's Not Here - Denzel Curry
  • Rehab (Winter in Paris) - Brent Faiyaz
  • Like a Ritual - Title Fight
  • Crew - GoldLink, Brent Faiyaz, Shy Glizzy
  • MakeDamnSure - Taking Back Sunday
  • The End - Kid Cudi, GLC, Chip The Ripper, Nicole Wray
  • If I Could Find You (Eternity) - The Holydrug Couple
  • Whatever She Wants - Bryson Tiller
  • Chlorine - Title Fight
  • So Good at Being in Trouble - Unknown Mortal Orchestra
  • Cariño - The Marías
  • Money - The Drums
  • F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X - The Fall of Troy
  • The Root Of All Evil - RX PAPI
  • Frequency - D Smoke, Lucky Daye

Albums

Artists

Photos & Places

[edit]

Books & Study Guides

[edit]

Buddhism-Related Books

The Wings to Awakening: An Anthology from the Pāli Canon

Four Noble Truths

Handful of Leaves: an Anthology from the Sutta Piṭaka

A Burden off the Mind

Desires: A Study Guide, compiled by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu

Beyond Desire & Passion: The Buddha’s Training for Freedom

Right Mindfulness: Memory & Ardency on the Buddhist Path

The Shape of Suffering: A Study of Dependent Co-arising

The Paradox of Becoming

Poems

[edit]

One Art - Elizabeth Bishop

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Then a certain devatā, in the far extreme of the night, her extreme radiance lighting up the entirety of Jeta’s Grove, went to the Blessed One. On arrival, having bowed down to him, she stood to one side. As she was standing there, she said to him, “Tell me, dear sir, how you crossed over the flood.”

“I crossed over the flood without pushing forward, without staying in place.”

“But how, dear sir, did you cross over the flood without pushing forward, without staying in place?”

“When I pushed forward, I was whirled about. When I stayed in place, I sank. And so I crossed over the flood without pushing forward, without staying in place.”

The devatā: “At long last I see a brahman, totally unbound, who without pushing forward, without staying in place, has crossed over the entanglements of the world.”

That is what the devatā said. The Teacher approved. Realizing that “The Teacher has approved of me,” she bowed down to him, circumambulated him—keeping him to her right—and then vanished right there.

— Crossing over the Flood - Ogha-taraṇa Sutta (SN 1:1), Pali Canon

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Juniperol&oldid=1360449377"