Today's discussion question

[David Morris]

Prejudice is often born out of bad experiences generalized from an
incident, transformed into a rule.

On Wednesday, August 14, 2013, Joseph Tracy wrote:

> Prejudice means pre-judging. Ian indulged in postjudice based on direct
> experience. I have witnessed similar shit with the whole born again
> Christian thing where people keep their complex  neuroses, prejudices and
> inclinations to mass violence despite the teachngs of Jesus.  Now everybody
> chill and chant Om Mane Padme Hum ten times, say ten Hail Mary's and
> compare results. What Menken fails to mention is that wisdom is not on tap
> anywhere. So what? If there is wisdom,  and admit I think so,  it seems to
> enter human consciousness and experience from many directions and be marked
> by paradox.
>
> Back to Alice's question, I do think that the whole ultra chutzpa of
> western science and of most religions has been tried and found wanting.
> Less guns, less priests; more vegetables, more humility, more friendliness.
>  Or are we betting on Ted Talks and free trade to save the world?
>
> Lenin said all political power comes from the barrel of a gun. That is a
> truth I have never been able to reconcile myself with. It constitutes the
> hard fact behind a lot of B.S.  Is Gravity's Rainbow at least partly
> describing the emergence of corporate Leninism?
>
>
>
> On Aug 13, 2013, at 8:15 PM, David Morris wrote:
>
> > My point to Ian was about his prejudice re. Western Buddhist.
> >
> > On Tuesday, August 13, 2013, David Morris wrote:
> > Again, your response ignores the context of my question to Ian, who
> generally condemned Westerners who have adopted Buddhism and said he'd "run
> afoul" of their I'll-fitting said adoption.  All of Ian's personal
> experiences in that regard were on Western turf, where your answer to my
> question is irrelevant at best.
> >
> > On Tuesday, August 13, 2013, Bekah wrote:
> > By that logic no Christian could hate his neighbor because  "love" is a
> fundamental goal of Christianity.   As far as I know,  all religions have
> members whose behavior falls short of the goals of their creed.    That's
> why these basics are goals and admonitions,  not penalized by expulsion
> (therefore not a Christian) if the followers (members/believers)  fall
> short.
> >
> > Bekah
> >
> >
> > On Aug 13, 2013, at 4:47 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Please refer to my response to Malignd.
> > >
> > > On Tuesday, August 13, 2013, Bekah wrote:
> > > Or on the Pakistani border or the Delhi slums where the Hindus clash
> with the Muslims regularly.
> > >
> > > Sunday:
> > >
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10236064/Kashmir-Violence-escalates-between-Hindus-and-Muslims.html
> > >
> > > Bekah
> > >
> > > On Aug 13, 2013, at 2:06 PM, malignd at aol.com wrote:
> > >
> > > > You live as a Muslim in Burma.
> > > > How does one run afoul of any Buddhist, of whatever stripe.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
> > > > To: Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
> > > > Cc: alice wellintown <alicewellintown at gmail.com>; pynchon -l <
> pynchon-l at waste.org>
> > > > Sent: Mon, Aug 12, 2013 8:07 pm
> > > > Subject: Re: Today's discussion question
> > > >
> > > > How does one run afoul of any Buddhist, of whatever stripe.  Did
> someone criticize your words or behavior?  Did you cruely squash an
> innocent bug in his presence?  Or is it that the Buddist ran afoul of your
> prejudices?  From your harsh judgement of their aspirations, I would guess
> the later.  "Equanimity" is a foundational goal of Buddhism.  Tolerance is
> equanimity toward others.
> > > >
> > > > David Morris
> > > >
> > > > On Monday, August 12, 2013, Ian Livingston wrote:
> > > > Well, I still wouldn't dare speak for P, but, parsing the statement
> just a little, I will speak for myself, as someone undoubtedly influenced
> by Pynchon rightly and wrongly by turns.
> > > >
> > > > I have had the great displeasure of running afoul Westerners in
> Buddhist robes. These people who go bowing to the East in the certainty
> that they will attain enlightenment through Eastern teachings take with
> them all the shit they already believe, all the bunk they have learned in
> school, and all their prejudices and try to shoehorn those into teachings
> from sages who had no relation to the world we live in. They're like
> Cinderella's step-sisters but that they go on believing that they are
> wearing the glass slipper that never fit on their foot in the first place.
> The whole delusion results in comically tormented psyches. It's a lot like
> the people in the big Bible-thumping cults calling themselves Christians.
> They are ruled by their own Shadows, living in darkness that wastes the
> good any of them might accomplish in the world.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 8:47 AM, alice wellintown <
> alicewellintown at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > Mencken was, as is the average western philosopher, satirist,
> pundit, blogger, spirit-hungry westerner...what have you, ignorant of the
> tra
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