Unity Descends From Above

Them:
i read most of it
its pretty good^^

Me:
Does it get better? I've tried twice now, but I just can't seem to get into it.

Them:
i dunno, read most of it, but i dropped it cause i couldnt get into it

so i guess the answer is no

This is amusing, it is a Pokemon battle featuring Obama, McCain and Hilary.

“Realistic Action is Self-development”
Morita psychotherapy was developed by Japanese psychiatrist Shoma Morita in the early part of the twentieth century. He was chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Jikei University School of Medicine and was influenced by the psychological principles of Zen Buddhism. His method was initially developed as a treatment for a type of anxiety neurosis called shinkeishitsu. In the latter part of this century the applications of Morita therapy have broadened, both in Japan and North America.

The Naturalness of Feelings (Arugamama)
If we find out that we have just won the lottery, we may be excited and happy. But if we find out about the death of a loved one, we may feel sadness and grief. Such feelings are natural responses to our life circumstances and we need not try to “fix” or “change” them. Arugamama (acceptance of reality as it is) involves accepting our feelings and thoughts without trying to change them or “work through” them.

This means that if we feel depressed, we accept our feelings of depression. If we feel anxious, we accept our feelings of anxiety. Rather than direct our attention and energy to our feeling state, we instead direct our efforts toward living our life well. We set goals and take steps to accomplish what is important even as we co-exist with unpleasant feelings from time to time.

Feelings are Uncontrollable
There is an assumption behind many Western therapeutic methods that it is necessary to change or modify our feeling state before we can take action. We assume that we must “overcome” fear to dive into a pool, or develop confidence so we can make a public presentation. But in actuality, it is not necessary to change our feelings in order to take action. In fact, it is our efforts to change our feelings that often makes us feel even worse.

“Trying to control the emotional self willfully by manipulative attempts is like trying to choose a number on a thrown die or to push back the water of the Kamo River upstream. Certainly, they end up aggravating their agony and feeling unbearable pain because of their failure in manipulating the emotions.”
Shoma Morita, M.D.

Once we learn to accept our feelings we find that we can take action without changing our feeling state. Often, the action-taking leads to a change in feelings. For example, it is common to develop confidence after one has repeatedly done something with some success.

Self-centeredness and Suffering
In Western psychotherapy there are a great many labels which purport to diagnose and describe a person’s psychological functioning - depressed, obsessive, compulsive, codependent. Many of us begin to label ourselves this way, rather than investigate our own experience. If we observe our experience, we find that we have a flow of awareness which changes from moment to moment. When we become overly preoccupied with ourselves, our attention no longer flows freely, but becomes trapped by an unhealthy self-focus. The more we pay attention to our symptoms (our anxiety, for example) the more we fall into this trap. When we are absorbed by what we are doing, we are not anxious because our attention is engaged by activity. But when we try to “understand” or “fix” or “work through” feelings and issues, our self-focus is heightened and exercised. This often leads to more suffering rather than relief. How can we be released from such self-focused attention?

“The answer lies in practicing and mastering an attitude of being in touch with the outside world. This is called a reality-oriented attitude, which means, in short, liberation from self-centeredness.”
Takahisa Kora, M.D.

Ultimately, the successful student of Morita therapy learns to accept the internal fluctuations of thoughts and feelings and ground his behavior in reality and the purpose of the moment. Cure is not defined by the alleviation of discomfort or the attainment of some ideal feeling state (which is impossible) but by taking constructive action in one’s life which helps one to live a full and meaningful existence and not be ruled by one’s emotional state.

The methods used by Morita therapists vary. In Japan, there is often a period of isolated bedrest before the patient is exposed to counseling, instruction and work therapy. In the U.S., inpatient Morita therapy is generally unavailable, and most practitioners favor a counseling or educational approach, the emphasis of which is on developing healthy living skills, learning to work with our attention, and taking steps to accomplish tasks and goals. For this reason, Morita therapy is sometimes referred to as the psychology of action.

“In general, the stronger we desire something, the more we want to succeed, and the greater our anxiety about failure. Our worries and fears are reminders of the strength of our positive desires....Our anxieties are indispensable in spite of the discomfort that accompanies them. To try to do away with them would be foolish. Morita therapy is not really a psychotherapeutic method for getting rid of “symptoms”. It is more an educational method for outgrowing our self-imposed limitations. Through Moritist methods we learn to accept the naturalness of ourselves.”
David Reynolds, Ph.D.

---

It seems interesting. Of course Wikipedia has an article. This text is from the "To Do Institute." Whether this is a viable alternative to the West's over medicated therapy industry or just another way to hide from ourselves is unknown.

1. Accept everything just the way it is.
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
5. Be detached from desire your whole life long.
6. Do not regret what you have done.
7. Never be jealous.
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself nor others.
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
11. In all things have no preferences.
12. Be indifferent to where you live.
13. Do not pursue the taste of good food.
14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need.
15. Do not act following customary beliefs.
16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.
17. Do not fear death.
18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age.
19. Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.
20. You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour.
21. Never stray from the Way.

by Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵)

Musashi's school is still in existence.

I had quite a few things waiting for me today.


First we have two books by Yukio Mishima, the first of which is Spring Snow, the first book of the Sea of Fertility series. Next to that is The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea. Both look to be quite interesting. Next to the Mishima is a Young Adult book by Fuyumi Ono called Sea of Shadow which is the first book in The Twelve Kingdoms series. This is primarily for my children to read. Rounding out the books is a piece of non-fiction recommended a little while ago by keith418  called Lucifer's Court. It's a travel diary of Otto Rahn, who was an occult investigator/researcher who worked for the SS until he retired in 1939. He died shortly thereafter from apparent suicide.

I also received the Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection, a set of five Bruce Lee films. They are The Big Boss (1971), Fist of Fury (1972), Way of the Dragon (1973), Game of Death (1972/1979) and Game of Death II (1981). Bruce Lee died in 1973 at the age of 32. He could knock a man down with a punch that moved no more than an inch. He founded two schools of martial arts and starred in movies and TV.

Finally, thanks to keith418 's timely head's up, I ordered a copy of the Thoth Deck via the German Publishers AGM. I'd like to share some pictures and initial impressions.


Here we have the entire contents of the German Thoth Deck. I included a standard playing card I had laying around for size comparison, and three cards from my Large Swiss OTO deck. I could not find my standard size Swiss Deck nor my US Games Deck (I never use them, so they are packed away somewhere). It would have been nice for size comparison.

The initial impression was "Yeah! The Thoth Deck is in print." I also felt that the packaging was nice. At the same time, I felt that it was awfully small. As you can see, the cards are slightly smaller than your standard deck of playing cards. An almost negligible size difference. This is smaller than I recall for the standard Swiss or US Games deck. If anyone with either of these decks could comment, it would be appreciated. Obviously, the cards are far smaller than those of the Large Swiss Deck. I like that the ubiquitous Unicursal Hexagram and OTO advertisements are included (the Hexagram card was not present in the Swiss Deck, but as compensation, we received two alternate versions of the Magus card).


I apologize for the flash, if there is a real interest, I'll scan the cards for a better comparison. As you can see, the artwork for the German deck is softer than that of the Swiss deck. The darks are lighter and the actual image is less distinct. If I remember correctly, one of the selling points for the Swiss deck was that the artwork was improved when compared to the (at that time) readily available US Games deck. I wonder if the artwork in the German deck is the same as that of the US Games deck. I don't pretend to know all the vagaries of printing artwork, but it is a but disappointing to see the lesser quality of the artwork. None of it is bad enough to impair its functionality, but I like things that look nice. The fact that a deck that came out in the 1990s has better artwork than a deck issued a decade or so later is puzzling. Did they misplace the proofs?

There isn't really a lot more to say, it is great that the deck is available. The fact that all of the text is in German is fine, as the numbers and suits are readily understood. I'm a bit disappointed by the poor art quality, but without comparing to the Swiss deck, most would probably not notice. Having the German Thoth Deck is better than not having a Thoth deck, and I cannot think of a better tarot deck than the Thoth deck. I am pleased that AGM (hopefully with the knowledge and assistance of the International Grand Lodge) has made available the Thoth Deck to the next generation of aspiring Thelemites. All other decks, even those by Thelemic practitioners, are piss-poor substitutes for the Thoth Deck.

The following is a "reflection paper" (two pages, double spaced) on the animated movie The Grave of the Fireflies which I wrote for my Japanese Culture 260B class.

The Grave of the Fireflies

Grave of the Fireflies is an animated film adaption of Akiyuki Nosaka's semi-autobiographical novel 火垂るの墓 (Hotaru no Haka). It was adapted by Isao Takahata and released by Studio Ghibli in 1988. There are many fascinating elements of the story, however due to the constraints imposed by the length of classroom discussion and the length of this paper, I will only be discussing the symbolism of the firefly and the conflict of the main character.

On an aesthetic level, I am most fascinated by the meaning of the reoccurring symbol of the firefly. It has a long history of positive association in Japanese culture. In the 8^th century, it was used as a metaphor for passionate love in the Man'you-shu, a twenty volume anthology of poetry. I am not capable of determining whether the title “Hotoru no Haka” is a reference to the children's song “Hotaru no Hikari,” however given the fact that the main characters are children and that it is sung when bidding farewell – graduation, closing ceremonies, end of the year, etc. – I think the association likely. Fireflies are commonly associated with the human soul and, according to one reference, to the souls of the war dead in particular. The firefly can also been seen as a metaphor for life itself, beautiful in its brevity.

Seita, the older brother, is the main character of the film. The story is, in a very real sense, about the dilemma with which he is faced. Early in the film, his pride is wounded. It is easy to miss this as his anger is somewhat justifiable. After selling off his dead mother's things so that his aunt can buy food, she nags on his unproductiveness. Perhaps this is incorrect, but it seems to me that his aunt is somewhat justified. He isn't doing anything all day but playing with his sister and some time has passed, as indicated by the reference to when he was working at the steelworks. The aunt is also trying to take care of her immediate family, who all seem to be contributing to the “war effort.” Add to these difficult times two more mouths, one of which is capable of work but who is not working and seems to have no interest in working, and we have an aunt who may have been trying to do nothing more than prod Seita into getting off of his butt and finding something to do that would benefit their town or Japan.

His decision to take his little sister (Setsuko) and leave the home of his aunt resolved the attack on his pride. However, this brought about an even more serious conflict, the war between his pride and keeping Setsuko alive. If his pride had of been less, he would have heeded the words of the farmer who told him to return back to his aunt – or to at least place Setsuko in his aunt's care. Instead he chose his pride and Setsuko died. Later, Seita followed Setsuko into death. I can't help but think that his guilt drove him to this fate as his whole purpose for living at that point had been his little sister. Some mentioned that this might be an allegory for WWII, with the Japanese government as Seita and Japan itself as Setsuko. I am sure that this take on the story is intended by the film, but we know today that the US refused Japan's surrender so as to demonstrate the atomic bomb and deter the Soviet Union.

Grave of the Fireflies is a fascinating look into Japan near the end of WWII. I Highly recommend that people watch this movie at least once.

References

Grave of the Fireflies ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_of_the_Fireflies )

Relationships with Nature: The Firefly

( http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/aa022603a.htm )

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law

When I saw this, I was initially amused. I mean, who would take such a thing as anything other than satire, a joke? I mean these are the things I did when I was 21 and high. However, I like to buy things, and things with Crowley's face mesh well with my impulse shopping needs. I picked up a few things & because I thought it amusing, I pointed it out to others on my Facebook and LJ.

Later, while in an argument with Theibes, he let me know that he was behind the AC 2012 thing by publishing my purchasing history from the AC 2012 shop. In context he seems to consider this a serious and legitimate method of proselytization, or as the OTO calls it, promulgation. Now I admit that I was very annoyed when he published my purchasing history, an act for which lawsuits have been filed before. It is a violation of privacy and of questionable legality. An act fully in keeping with his rather base nature. Anyway, I digress.

Evidently, the idea is that the AC2012 will reach people and “convert” them to Thelema (they may describe it differently, but the actions are the same). This is, frankly, stupid. The only people to recognize the face & associate it with the AC to mean “Aleister Crowley” are those who are already interested in Crowley or the more informed of our opposition. At the best, it is preaching to the choir.

Now, let us go to the actual items. Of the items available, one is a T-Shirt. I own one. This seems like a good place to explain why I have the t-shirts I do. I am misanthropic. I dislike people and I generally want them to leave me alone. I select my t-shirts with an eye toward what will offend people and drive them away. That is why I have the printed t-shirts I do. The more accessible ones are probably my Dethklok & “I support gay marriage if both chicks are hot” t-shirts. The Crowley shirt, with its lurid red and “Oz” sigil works admirably in making people uncomfortable. Somehow, this is supposed to bring people into the fold? A bunch of people wearing black T-Shirts with giant red faces and inverted seven pointed stars surmounted by a phallus? Yeah, that will reassure the masses.

Finally, let's sum up another problem. They sell these shirts to anyone. Any person, no matter how well they know Crowley, are committed to Thelema or dedicated to the OTO can buy these T-Shirts and be a “representative” of the AC2012 movement/group-think/whatever. Let me tell you a true story. Last term, in my Japanese 101 class, I was wearing the AC 2012 t-shirt. Another student asked me about Crowley. He already knew about Crowley and was interested in Thelema. I am used to this sort of thing, people who are interested in Crowley seem to realize that I am familiar with him. I began with my usual response, but I had to stop. Normally, I find out what books they have read, suggest a few more and offer to introduce him to the local OTO. I can't do that anymore. He's read almost nothing, he can't get the books and I was totally unimpressed with the local body the last time I attended.

If you want to promote Thelema, drop the scary goth-occult t-shirts and publish the damn books so that people can read the material. The OTO is on the fast track to becoming yet another worthless bunch of idiots, Christians under a different name who glomp onto the Thelemic equivalent to the cross and can't be bothered to study their bibles.

I realize this may be giving the AC 2012 thing more attention than it deserves, but it allows me to combine so many things: how the efforts of “promulgation” are stupid, how the OTO is failing in its duty by letting the books go out of print & detailing more scurrilous behavior by Theibes.

Love is the law, love under will

Nexist Xenda'ths

“What is European is [...] the manifestation of all energies, including the individual ones, in the form of monuments, plastic representations, words, institutions, parties; the personal experience of every tendency of spiritual life; the aspiration of the spirit to make known everything it contains, never surrendering without protest to world monarchies or theocracies, as they do in the East.”
- Jacob Burckhardt, quoted by Lionel Gossman in: “Basel In The Age of Burckhardt: A Study In Unseasonable Ideas”.

Increasing your knowledge of practical Japanese: でんきあんま (Denki Anma): "Electric Massage." A wrestling move where you pull on your opponents ankles while pressing your foot between their legs.

Evidently, I've been missing out on an entire section of fandom. Evidently, almost every OS has a "OS-tan." I discovered it with the Windows 7-tan.



There is Hello Kitty Money. I want some. Just one of the 1000 Yen & one of the 500 Yen would be enough.

One has to wonder, while I do read MegaTokyo, I am not such a fan that I regularly cruise the MegaTokyo forums nor do I even have an account there. Now, I did watch the anime "Kanon" mainly because the author of MegaTokyo is a fan of the series, and I admit that I did enjoy it. Why is it that the "Fans" don't realize that it's based off of a "dating sim" so when the comic mentions the "Shiori walkthrough," they are referring to the scenario in which the protagonist gets it on with the girl Shiori (who is often in the hospital). It's been annoying me seeing page after page of people not getting the joke... What's wrong with these people? What's wrong with me for caring about such a thing?

And to finish the High quality of this post, I include the Flying Pantsu song...

Just as 2001 was the start of the new Millennium, 2011 is the start of the new decade. We do not start our counting with 0.

First pet peeve touched for the new year.

I just realized my Christmas post was hosed by LJ choking on the You Tube video. It tried to do that with todays post as well. C'est la vie, no more YouTube for some time

"If you can't understand me, I'll also give the universal sign for 'Don't give me any bullshit' by brandishing a dangerous weapon in your general direction." - Jon (Errant Story)

So evidently Joe is a part of the AC 2012 thing.

I know this because in the course of an argument he decided to post a list of all the things I had purchased from his shop. I dislike having my purchasing habits published in a public or semi-public forum.

As such, I rescind any comments about purchasing items from the AC 2012, and now counsel against it. Since I don't know what else he is able to access, I'd have to counsel against buying anything from Sekhet Maat or any other group & or body with which he is working.

Actually, I am beyond annoyed.