Posts by hiddenpuma75

hiddenpuma75 said:1. To really drive home just how murky the whole LHP vs. RHP theory is, I’m going to have to shock you a little bit
with a practical example rather than just empty words.

2. As you all know—even if you don't quite remember it—we all arrived in this world via our mother's biological rocket ship, landing on a slippery airfield known as the vagina.

3. It’s also common knowledge that, theoretically speaking, the Catholic Church represents the RHP, while old man Aleister Crowley represents the LHP.

4. Or, to put it in the words of our friend Alistair—the Catholic Church is the one true religion on Earth, while Crowley is a Satanist.

5. But honestly, it is absolutely staggering how the extreme right and the extreme left constantly collide in an infinite loop, finding themselves thinking exactly the same thing about certain life issues. 🙏

6. For instance, the Catholic Church is quite vocal in stating that a forced termination of pregnancy is a vile and shameful murder...

7. And yet, Crowley says the exact same thing in his writings! 😲

8. You would naturally expect a "Satanist" like Crowley to champion "individual rights," but nope!! He was just as clear-cut as the Pope.

9. Forced termination of pregnancy is a low, despicable murder! 😲

10. Or, to put it in aviation terms: anyone who prevents passengers from completing their landing through the vagina is a terrorist. 😲

(P.S. I am intentionally avoiding the popular term "abortion," which feels like it doesn't actually mean anything anymore. Using the phrase "forced termination of pregnancy" actually carries some weight. 😉

I actually tracked it down:

In his book Equinox, Crowley writes:

" I consider abortion to be the most shameful form of murder, and I despise the social codes that encourage it."

Quincy:

Joseph Bailey41 As specified by: Just a quick correction on an inaccurate quote: When Crowley spoke about ritual childlessness, he was really just talking about plain old masturbation. You know, the usual—wasting seed, solo play, whatever you want to call it. He framed it as being done for "ritual purposes," of course. But the core idea for an LHP practitioner is simple: instead of using that vital energy to create a new life, you redirect all of it inward toward your own personal evolution. in Your faca god / Evolution. 🙂

I'm not quite sure whose quote you think I'm correcting, but I can tell you one thing for certain—it definitely wasn't mine.

To be clear, I wasn't even talking about masturbation or ritualistic childbearing and Crowley—that’s a completely different conversation, and honestly, I actually agree with what you wrote regarding that topic.

I recall mentioning that I’ve gone through Crowley's works, and I found an explicit stance regarding the violent termination of a pregnancy that aligns perfectly with the teachings of the Catholic Church, Islam, and Judaism. I suspect Buddhism holds a similar view as well, though I’m mostly just speculating on that part.

Look, I’m asking you please to stop mixing those two things up and trying to "correct" what isn't actually incorrect.

By the way, back when I was a young student in Moscow, I’ll never forget the look on my conversation partner's face when he realized from our chat that I viewed materialism as a limited paradigm and felt it was actually quite likely that God exists. I told him I wasn't exactly a "practical" believer, but that everything pointed me toward the idea that a Creator does exist. To put it more philosophically, God doesn't exist in the same banal, mundane way that everyday objects do, but He is certainly there 😉 ..
His expression was this strange cocktail of contempt, bewilderment, and pity...

He just muttered, "But how can someone as much of an intellectual as you believe in such nonsense..." 😲

Then he handed me a little booklet called *The Young Atheist's Dictionary*—which I actually still keep. (I do happen to speak Russian quite well 👍 )

It's funny to notice how a Jehovah's Witness and a young American atheist student would both push their propaganda with that exact same level of fervor.

mistyscout2 said:What subject are we talking about here, "Atheism"? Do you actually have a source for that, or are you just talking nonsense?

A little piece of advice: try to avoid communicating late at night, otherwise you start getting a bit unpleasant.
Exhaustion eventually takes over, and your true nature tends to leak out once your rational control starts to slip.😉

My source is a good friend of mine from Mexico City who ended up studying at the College of Physical Culture in Moscow. (She’s actually the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met in person.)
She’s a bit of a "semi-public figure," so there are plenty of photos and videos of her out there, but I’d rather not share them.

Anyway, she mentioned in a public interview that her toughest subject back in Moscow was Atheism, simply because she was a devout Orthodox Christian.

But honestly, why is anyone surprised?
The plan to dismantle religion within the Soviet Union was never a secret.
China and the Russians systematically worked to destroy religion and fought against it; so, acting surprised that Atheism was an official university subject is just as silly as being shocked that Marxism was taught at technical colleges in America.
For what it's worth, I even had to pass it myself under the famous Boris Vuskovic and the even more well-known Marina Jurjevic (a little legend), both of whom were staunch Marxists.🙄

Here is a small glimpse into the shame and the crimes the Russians committed against their own people and culture regarding religion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_religion_in_the_USSR

It’s actually quite interesting how some people argue that Crowley was more of an RHP figure than an LHP one 😲

For instance, it seems like Gurdjieff might have been "more LHP" 🙄 than Crowley himself..

Regardless, while it’s helpful to have some sort of framework, these things remain pretty murky.

Take my colleague Baphomet, for example; he maintains that he’s an atheist. He might truly believe that, but I once wrote to him and, in my opinion, "proved" 🙄 that he isn't an atheist at all—and that given the nature of his work, he would have ended up in a Soviet Union gulag... even though Atheism was the official state religion and that subject was taught at EVERY university in the USSR!

Of course, I realize that when Baphomet claims to be an atheist, he probably means he doesn't belong to any organized religion and doesn't subscribe to their gods or rules. But to 99% of atheists, he wouldn't qualify as one 😉 because most atheists view Baphomet's practices as being just as much of a series of eccentricities and bizarre antics as those practiced by religious believers.

1. To really drive home just how murky the whole LHP vs. RHP theory is, I’m going to have to shock you a little bit
with a practical example rather than just empty words.

2. As you all know—even if you don't quite remember it—we all arrived in this world via our mother's biological rocket ship, landing on a slippery airfield known as the vagina.

3. It’s also common knowledge that, theoretically speaking, the Catholic Church represents the RHP, while old man Aleister Crowley represents the LHP.

4. Or, to put it in the words of our friend Alistair—the Catholic Church is the one true religion on Earth, while Crowley is a Satanist.

5. But honestly, it is absolutely staggering how the extreme right and the extreme left constantly collide in an infinite loop, finding themselves thinking exactly the same thing about certain life issues. 🙏

6. For instance, the Catholic Church is quite vocal in stating that a forced termination of pregnancy is a vile and shameful murder...

7. And yet, Crowley says the exact same thing in his writings! 😲

8. You would naturally expect a "Satanist" like Crowley to champion "individual rights," but nope!! He was just as clear-cut as the Pope.

9. Forced termination of pregnancy is a low, despicable murder! 😲

10. Or, to put it in aviation terms: anyone who prevents passengers from completing their landing through the vagina is a terrorist. 😲

(P.S. I am intentionally avoiding the popular term "abortion," which feels like it doesn't actually mean anything anymore. Using the phrase "forced termination of pregnancy" actually carries some weight. 😉

bluemason3 said:So, by that logic, Tantra doesn't really fall under the Left Hand Path anymore, does it?😁

Ryan Wilson2, why are you picking on the kids?😁

Concepts like definitions and domains or even overlapping sets are all incredibly hazy, fluid, and constantly shifting things...

I remember well when I was diving deep into Gnosticism and came across that famous global symposium of Gnostic scholars. The entire result of their seminar ended up being

they couldn't even reach a consensus on what Gnosticism actually is. 🤣

So, just to save face, they released a joint statement offering

both a broad and a narrow definition of Gnosticism, though not everyone actually signed off on it. 🤣

In short, don't be quite so certain about what constitutes Tantra versus Mantra, or where Bob or Pop fit into the mix.

After all, even Christianity has about 800 different major denominations, sects, and theological branches—so watch out, or you might end up running into the Seventh-day Adventists of Tantra or the Jehovah's Witnesses of Tantra. 🤣

And here I am, acting as a grand Druid representing my small brotherhood of Reformed Druids in America.

Amy Bennett said:Look, I never said I didn't get what the "left-hand path" is—I just meant I can't make heads or tails of Ryan Wilson2's nonsensical rambling. The guy writes like he’s having some sort of hysterical breakdown; everything is disjointed, and honestly, I feel like I’d need a PhD just to decipher what he’s actually trying to say.

Anyway, I think you realize that those "lefties," as you call them, are pretty much on par with literal devils in my book.

Christ is God. Judaism is essentially the rejection of God. That's why Jews are waiting for the Antichrist. I agree—it's ridiculous to call God a Satanist. But the Jews... well, they're playing a different game entirely.

I think you're pretty far off base here.
If anyone on this forum manages to be concise and clear, it's Ryan Wilson2.
It’s obvious you haven't really followed his writing or his work closely, whereas I've been keeping tabs on him for 18 years now, so I know what I'm talking about. Once you look past the smoke screen of his casual chat posts and TV series analyses 🙄, and actually pay attention to his work regarding religion, spirituality, and magic, you can learn a tremendous amount—stuff the average American Christian has likely never even heard of.
Once you actually get to know your "enemy," you'll see he isn't nearly as terrifying as his avatar suggests. 😁

So, my advice? Follow the work of Ryan Wilson2, bluemason3, and Yakuzza; when it comes to religion, spirituality, or magic, they are truly the best in the business.
I’ll also shamelessly recommend 🙂 hiddenpuma75 🙄.
That one is a bit too smooth for his own good. 🙂

There are others worth reading, but in my opinion, these guys are the top tier.

Look, you clearly believe that these "Left-Handers," as you call them, are essentially on par with Satanists.

Well, you're right about some, but you're wrong about most. Take Ryan Wilson2, for example.
Sure, he might be a "Satanist," but not in the way you mistakenly think Satanists are.
Don't forget, you once told me that I was spreading "Luciferian poison" 🤣, meaning you identified Satanism within me as well. 😈

Besides, back in the 18th and 19th centuries, many European bishops branded both Muhammad and Buddha as Satanists—something that perhaps 99% of modern Christians and bishops wouldn't dream of thinking today. 😉

Christ is God. Judaism is the rejection of God. That's why Jews are waiting for the Antichrist. I agree it's foolish to say God is a Satanist. Jews are a different matter entirely...

Now we're getting into theology, and I'd rather not go down that rabbit hole...

One thing is certain:
99% of Christians, yourself included, hold a caricatured view of those who follow the Left-Hand Path.
That stems from ignorance and a lack of critical thought—or, as Žižek suggested to those on the left:

don't just label everyone who thinks differently than you as a fascist—that's too easy. It's better to actually think...

The same applies to Christians as well...

Just because someone thinks differently than a Christian or doesn't particularly care for Christianity, doesn't automatically make them a satanist. 🧐

Amy Bennett said:I’m actually having a hard time following what you're getting at here. You seem completely incoherent to me.

Let me try to translate that for you...

What is COMPLETELY (and I mean 100%) shared by Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and even slaves (for instance, back in ancient Rome or generally speaking) is the simple FACT that the ideal believer or the ideal slave is expected to be submissive to a set of rules imposed by SOMEONE ELSE.
These rules and theologies are often vague, contradictory, demeaning, or even "impossible"... but their goal is to weaken or dismantle the ego we all possess, aiming to harmonize the individual with "something greater than themselves."

When a follower of the Left-Hand Path realizes this fact (whether consciously or not), they decide—either intentionally or instinctively—not to follow anyone else's rules. Instead, they choose to follow themselves, their own principles, and their own independent journey.

In my view, both paths are valid and achievable, but both are incredibly demanding. The Right-Hand Path is difficult because it requires total self-denial, while the Left-Hand Path is tough because you end up "standing apart" from the crowd. You're essentially alone, and being in the minority makes it hard to navigate the standards others have set.

Both paths offer plenty of examples of massive successes and inspirations, as well as huge failures, tragedies, and sheer absurdity.

It’s also easy to see how those on the Left and those on the Right generally fail to understand one another. They tend to despise each other, convinced that their own path is the only viable one, while viewing the other as "evil," bizarre, or pathetic.

Beyond that, there are internal differences within "each hand." For example, Buddhism stands out from other religions because it "has no God," yet a Buddhist still submits to dharma, sangha, and "
Buddha.
On the Left-Hand Path side, we have both atheistic and theistic versions of the way.
Essentially, every atheist is a follower of the Left-Hand Path by default, even if they've never heard the term. It isn't because an atheist does what Christians *think* they do (like sacrificing children 🙄), but simply because they refuse to be "obedient" to a narrative that feels untruthful or externally forced upon them.

(Of course, all of this is incredibly brief and superficial to someone who has no clue about the subject.

And Amy Bennett, you don't really know anything about the "Left-Hand Path," so to you, it's just "Satanism"—basically the caricature that mainstream Christianity created.

But if we acknowledge the fact that Jesus followed a Left-Hand Path in relation to Judaism, then it becomes foolish to claim he was a Satanist.
To the Pharisees, he *was* a Satanist, which is exactly why they executed him.

Similarly, Buddha was considered a heretic by Hindus, yet it would be just as ridiculous to call Buddha a Satanist.

This is a fascinating topic because every single one of us has been, at various times, a "Left-Hander" and a "Right-Hander."

boldsailor2 said:I saw a documentary about her on TV—they mentioned that she basically used the I Ching to make every single life decision.

I did a little digging online... found a tiny bit of something:

She’s spent her life making pilgrimages to all sorts of gurus—most of them total frauds, really—who promise everything from physical healing to pure energy or salvation. And then there’s her relationship with the I Ching—she claims she has this creative, positive connection with the ancient book, treating it like her one true, solitary advisor.

Lately, I’ve been feeling pretty fed up—with the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, and even those fake friendships—so these days, I only really "hang out" with her songs. 😍
Either "I'm traveling" — or just "on the road." Desire—it’s just everything. All over the world—everywhere, really. 😬

So, I ran into an old childhood friend on the street the other day—just passing through—and he doesn't even ask "how are you?" or "how's life?" Instead, he immediately starts talking trash about Jesus. He's rambling on about God and love... then drifts into Hare Krishnas and all this half-baked nonsense. There I am, just standing there like an idiot in the middle of the sidewalk, clutching two CVS bags full of cat food, basically waiting for him to trip into a manhole or for some invisible hand to toss him straight into the universe. It’s been eight years since I’ve bothered socializing with anyone, and honestly? I don't miss it at all. I'm perfectly happy hanging out with my cats and feeding the squirrels in the yard. 😬

So, I actually went to visit the Smith family at Arlington National Cemetery recently—just so it doesn't look like I'm avoiding everyone. 🤣

Thanks for such a detailed, fascinating, and truly excellent response! 👍

I moved it over to that fantastic thread about the I Ching started by one truly outstanding forum member. 👍
I was thinking about how we often approach our spiritual journeys, almost like we’re trying to conquer a mountain or complete some kind of checklist. There’s this constant pressure to "do" more, to achieve a certain state of being, as if enlightenment were just another item on a busy professional's to-do list. But honestly, looking at the teachings of people like Jiddu Krishnamurti, it feels like the opposite. It’s less about adding things to ourselves and more about stripping away the clutter. We spend so much energy building up these complex identities—our careers, our social standings, our little ego-driven narratives—that we forget how to simply *be*. It reminds me of that idea that man is free; God won't force anyone to do anything. That freedom is actually quite terrifying, isn't it? If there is no external force pushing us, then the responsibility for our own inner stillness falls entirely on our shoulders. We can't blame our upbringing, our environment, or our circumstances once we realize that true peace comes from within, not from changing the world around us. I've been reflecting on the concept of being peaceful as the ultimate foundation for any spiritual practice. It’s easy to talk about seeking the Light when everything is going smoothly, but maintaining that internal equilibrium when life gets messy—when you're stuck in traffic on the I-95 or dealing with a difficult boss—that's where the real work happens. Maybe we should stop trying so hard to "find" something and instead focus on clearing the space so that what is already there can finally be felt. It's a bit humbling, realizing that all our striving might actually be the very thing standing in our way.

boldsailor2 said:Vesna Parun


A "crazy old lady" who lived among the clutter and loved tossing the I Ching 😍

Evening Star

Low in the sky, the evening star shines bright.
The summer hum still lingers in the valley.
It’s night—and we’re wandering through the wildlands
where the glow of transience lights our way.

How silent the ocean feels in the distance!
Its vastness is so incredibly lonely.
Somewhere nearby, tucked low in the grass,
the croaking of a frog just won't stop its lament.

It’s night—and we’re heading out into the open.
Our youth is setting behind the mountain.
The star fades. The mountain glows, rising up.
And our path simply vanishes into the silence.

Where on earth did you get the idea that she loved throwing I Ching? I'd really love an answer here.

Benjamin Taylor6 said:I first met Lawrence back in Zadar, which is why I started that thread about him:

But honestly, he isn’t exactly a true Christian. Instead of marrying some widow with three kids, he goes and picks a model. 😬

Word on the street is that his lady friend dumped him pretty quickly!
Here he is with his boss:

I have no idea how he even pays his bills. When he gave a lecture here in Zadar, there were maybe ten people in the room at most.
I highly doubt he managed to pull in enough donations to even cover the hall rental.

Women used to go absolutely crazy for Lawrence.
I remember back when he was about 20 and we used to hang out...
In just one hour, he'd get three or four different girls calling his phone...

I heard his lady friend dumped him pretty quickly!
Here he is with his boss:

I heard he got married, but I didn't catch anything about a divorce, though? 😲
Do you have any juicy details? It wouldn't be very polite for me to call him up and ask. 😁

I honestly don't get how he funds himself. Back here in Zadar, there were barely ten people at his lecture.
I highly doubt he managed to pull in enough donations to cover the hall rental.

He was an only child to very elderly parents.
He inherited his wealth early on, though I couldn't tell you the specifics regarding his current financial situation or how he manages his money these days...

Everything he did, he did with such intense passion...
If my enthusiasm for something is a 7 out of 10, his was always a solid 10 out of 10.
True, my own enthusiasm might have dipped to a 5, but I'm still going; his dropped all the way to zero, and he walked away from what he once loved so deeply.

And when it comes to religion, I think he’s still driven by that innate 10-out-of-10 intensity.

I haven't met many people in my life who give 100% of themselves quite like he does.
Most people are aimless, and even those who know what they want rarely commit with that kind of 10-out-of-10 energy.

Once, when I showed up late to one of his lectures and visited that amazing venue for the first time, he actually caught me off guard by introducing me to the crowd as one of the most significant people in his life. I felt incredibly awkward being thrust into the spotlight like that. 🕺

He's definitely over the top!

Since we haven't seen each other in about 15 years and everyone went their separate ways,

but, hey, the brilliant and enlightened Blake says that exaggeration is the only path to the palace of wisdom.

Not Krenino's bookkeeping, though. 😁 🙂

I actually know this trio personally:

(The official Catholic response to Lawrence is quite interesting—it manages to be both complimentary and critical at the same time)

=========================

====================



They aren't my "official" gurus or teachers, 😁but I do consider them such because I truly value their lectures.

I have the most respect for Zharak since he’s "certified."

George is definitely the most likable one in my book.🙂

As for young Lawrence, he still has to prove himself since he's essentially a "freelancer"—or rather, self-proclaimed—but being a teacher is a calling that I hold in very high regard.

It bugs me how gurus and teachers in this field are usually portrayed in such a negative light. From an aerial view, it's obvious that everyone needs a teacher, a mentor, an advisor, or if you prefer, a guru.

Of course, you need one if you want to make any real progress in anything, including spirituality.

Sure, a person can grow on their own, but it's certainly going to be slower and much harder than learning from someone who is further along in that specific field.

Ultimately, though, our most important guru is the one within us.😉

copperhound12 said:

Dr. Josef Mengele (Springfield, March 16, 1911 - Boston, February 7, 1979),

Helen and Pearl, twin sisters who managed to survive the horrors of the death camps at Auschwitz, share their memories of the infamous doctor Josef Mengele in a new book.
- He was tall and incredibly handsome. Honestly, he should have been an actor or something, rather than a killer of Jews. And those boots of his... they were so polished you could practically use them as mirrors.
They cleaned them three times a day. He’d switch up his uniforms constantly, too. He always looked his best—Helen recalls.
- Yes—Pearl confirms. Some of the female prisoners actually fell in love with him—Helen says, remembering the monstrous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, who would frequently stroll past the endless train cars arriving at Auschwitz, deciding the fates of thousands with a single glance.

The twins, Helen and Pearl, were 23 years old when they were brought to Auschwitz from Czechoslovakia along with their father, brother, sister, and her children. They were torn away from their family, who were sent straight to the gas chambers, and placed in the barracks. Fighting just to stay alive, they spent their time moving lifeless bodies and cleaning out the gas chambers.
- They would take our blood every single day. One assistant would draw blood from one side, while another would inject us with something we still don't even know what it was. We will never know—they recount.
Despite everything, they claim Mengele was never cruel to them. He acted almost paternal. - We knew he wouldn't hurt us. We just knew—the two sisters say in unison.

- Because he was so handsome. Just forget everything else—Helen explains. He was, she adds, like an angel. - We were friends with him. Truly—Pearl adds to her twin sister's words.
- He was brilliant. I'm not joking—Helen adds, describing how Mengele would pat children on the head, only to send them to the crematorium moments later. He would order the testicles of twins—his favorite subjects for research—to be removed, or kill one twin if the other died.
(Source: The New York Times)
_______________

Questions...☕

Even now—even after all these years—I simply cannot shake this horror. It is an undeniable, gaping paradox of evil; this descent into the absolute depths of the human soul (reaching the level of a beast). This conversation between sisters about an "evil angel"—Josef Mengele. I realize many people will dismiss this or speak flippantly—saying that elderly women or young women literally lost their minds; that it was a necessary psychological defense mechanism they built just to avoid going insane from the terror of Auschwitz.

But—but there is something deeper hiding in here, isn't there?
His necrophilic character (from the Greek word *nekros*, meaning corpse, dead man, or inhabitant of the underworld. In Latin, *nex* or *necs* refers to violent death or murder. To be clear, *nekros* doesn't refer to the act of dying, but to the corpse, the cadaver, or the murdered person whose death is visibly distinct from natural passing. "To die" or "death" carries a different meaning; it refers not to the corpse, but to the act of dying itself. In Greek, *thanatos*; in Latin, *mors*. The words "die" and "death" trace back to the Indo-European root *dheu, dhou* (E. Fromm, The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, Vols. I & II)).
Man possesses the psychology of a predator. It is easy to teach humans how to kill, yet it is incredibly difficult to cultivate customs that oppose it. Many people find pleasure in watching other human beings suffer, or enjoy killing animals; public beatings and torture are common across various cultures. (S.L. Washburn)

Do you share this feeling with me? How do you—really—feel after reading this?

2.. Sometimes people try to argue that sadistic perversion is actually healthy, claiming it serves as an innocent outlet for the sadistic tendencies that are supposedly inherent in everyone. If you follow that twisted logic to its conclusion, then the guards at the Nazi concentration camps were actually being kind to their prisoners, just so they could vent those inner sadistic urges through sexual outlets. (-). (E. Fromm, *The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness*, Vol. I/II).

So, was Josef Mengele actually "kind" (if you listen to his female prisoner-sisters) because he was simply relieving himself of his own sadistic impulses? Or did his necrophilic character truly prevail (which is that malignant form of the anal character—occurring before sadism, and certainly before necrophilia)? Or perhaps he just possessed some sort of (evil) masculine charisma ?

3. The new wave of fascists won't show up wearing swastikas or running death camps; instead, they’ll arrive with smiling faces and, if they can help it, their very own TV shows. Those are the 21st-century fascists, and they are the ones who will take control. "(M. Moore, director of "Fahrenheit 11/9"—an allusion to the classic "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury—referring to the temperature (451 degrees Fahrenheit) at which book pages burn best, which is the temperature at which freedom itself burns away)." What exactly is M. Moore getting at here?

Personally, I feel like this topic aligns perfectly with my own understanding—a realization that has ripened through my own experiences and observations.🙂

I noticed it with my own two eyes long before 🙏 Leibniz claimed this world is the best of all possible worlds.....

Now, someone who’s a bit slow on the uptake will inevitably ask:

How can my friend Leibniz-Parsifal claim this world is the best when it’s filled with the repulsive topics posted by someone from California, or when it's crawling with worms, filth, and the primal evil of the Democrats and Republicans? 🤔

Well, I’ve explained it once, and I’m happy to explain it again:

1) Life is fundamentally good. If it weren't, 95% of people would just end it all. Since only about 1-5% of people actually do that, it stands to reason that the other 95% find life worth living. That gives life a solid rating of 9.5 out of 10!!👍

2) Beyond that, life and the universe—much like the number 42—are like a beautiful lotus flower. Just because a lotus grows out of the mud doesn't diminish its beauty, right?
The fact that it feeds on the muck of these dark topics doesn't take away from the elegance of the bloom.🙂

3) Furthermore, the universe is like a stunning mosaic. Sure, maybe the bottom-left corner is shattered, and the top-right looks a bit ugly, but AS A WHOLE, this mosaic—this cosmic Holodeck we call the universe—is absolutely magnificent.

BRAVO, AUTHORRRRRRRRR!!!🙏 🙏

Amanda Jackson5 said:Parsi, I found myself strolling past that sketchy little bookstore over on Shakespearean Street yesterday. I finally took that first step.

Well, looks like you’ve fallen right into my trap. Curiosity just emptied out my philosopher’s wallet. 😁

The next inevitable stage is aimlessly browsing the shelves. It’s like a siren song—you won't be able to resist, you'll end up buying something, and then you'll have to deal with the wife's inevitable side-eye. 😁

I highly recommend this postcard I couldn't pass up; she'll love it because it serves as the ultimate, universal rebuttal to any complaint.

bluemason3 said:You're completely off base. Totally wide of the mark.

I'm a little lost here, but what I do get is that you still haven't offered

a) our specific term for a paradox

and
b) explained why using "ambiguity" is incorrect instead of just sticking with "paradox."

Amanda Jackson5 said:Fine then, I suppose we don't always have to cling to this unbearable obsession with complexity, common sense, and boring facts like a drunkard clings to a lamppost. After all, if we let our guard down, we might actually stumble upon a correct conclusion by accident. Just imagine if that happened to Parsifal; he’d probably spiral into some kind of inauthentic existence.

So, what was this philosopher actually getting at? 🤔
He’s started imitating Heidegger's prose style. 🙄 😛

Could the author, or someone else, or even nobody at all, help me out here? What exactly was the poet Sigmund trying to tell the prosaic hiddenpuma75?🤔

bluemason3 said:Not really. Ambiguity and paradox aren't even in the same ballpark.

And then there’s this guy, a walking masterclass in bad teaching.

He’s busy criticizing things without actually explaining what's wrong or offering a single correct solution.🙄

It reminds me of something > once said:

They won't enter the kingdom of heaven themselves, but they sure love lecturing everyone else who wants to! 🧐

(By the way, hiddenpuma75 claims the Gospels are just mythology.🙄
What an absurd take. To most people, myths are just boring old stories that don't mean much anymore. I mean, does anyone actually care what Zeus or the Flying Spaghetti Monster had to say?

But look at the Gospels—they are incredibly engaging, universally applicable, and deeply profound lessons for life.🙂
Myths just don't carry that kind of weight or literary merit.
Why?

Because myths are products of the imagination—even if that imagination is deep and inspiring—whereas the events in the Gospels actually happened. It’s as simple as that.

Wikipedia is great for facts, but let’s be honest—it can be a total snooze fest!
I’m looking for some good examples of (philosophical) paradoxes

========

A PARADOX

Think of it as an original take that flies in the face of common sense and clashes hard with mainstream opinion. It’s that weird logic where you're somehow "both naked and freezing" or "too wealthy to afford cheap goods."

One of the most clever ways this plays out is in a dialogue by LeBron James in his work *The Man from Ozark*: "Mom, why is it so cold in our room?" "Because we're out of coal, honey." "But why don't we have any coal?" "Because Dad doesn't have a job." "And why doesn't Dad have a job?" "Because he has too much coal."

Unlike an oxymoron or simple irony, a paradox doesn't just rely on two direct opposites. Instead, it’s built on elements that are simply fundamentally inconsistent with one another.

I just had a little epiphany that maybe our best way to describe a paradox would be
AMBIGUITY, and I really felt compelled to share that thought with you all 🙂