View allAll Photos Tagged Understanding
Where is that fine line,
Where a pixl becomes a focus,
And the image looses the honor of the photograph, but moves out of illustration because no artist held a brush?
For me it's about trying to find meaning in the visual world, about detecting what Rupert Sheldrake called 'morphic resonance' the evolving sha ping of time space.
According to the UNESCO Website:
Located on the west coast of Greenland, 250 km north of the Arctic Circle, Greenland’s Ilulissat Icefjord is the sea mouth of Sermeq Kujalleq, one of the few glaciers through which the Greenland ice cap reaches the sea. Sermeq Kujalleq is one of the fastest and most active glaciers in the world. It annually calves over 35 km3 of ice, i.e. 10% of the production of all Greenland calf ice and more than any other glacier outside Antarctica. Studied for over 250 years, it has helped to develop our understanding of climate change and icecap glaciology. The combination of a huge ice-sheet and the dramatic sounds of a fast-moving glacial ice-stream calving into a fjord covered by icebergs makes for a dramatic and awe-inspiring natural phenomenon.
Brief synthesis
Located on the west coast of Greenland, 250 km north of the Arctic Circle, Greenland’s Ilulissat Icefjord is a tidal fjord covered with floating brash and massive ice, as it is situated where the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier calves ice into the sea. In winter, the area is frozen solid. One of the few places where ice from the Greenland ice cap enters the sea, Sermeq Kujalleq is also one of the fastest moving (40 m per day) and most active glaciers in the world. Its annual calving of over 46 cubic kilometres of ice, i.e. 10% of all Greenland calf ice, is more than any other glacier outside Antarctica, and it is still actively eroding the fjord bed. The combination of a huge ice-sheet and the dramatic sounds of a fast-moving glacial ice-stream calving into a fjord full of icebergs make for a dramatic and awe-inspiring natural phenomenon.
The Greenland ice cap is the only remnant in the Northern Hemisphere of the continental ice sheets from the Quaternary Ice Age. The oldest ice is estimated to be 250,000 years old, and provides detailed information on past climatic changes and atmospheric conditions from 250,000 to around 11,550 years ago, when climate became more stable. Studies made over the last 250 years demonstrate that during the last ice age, the climate fluctuated between extremely cold and warmer periods, while today the ice cap is being maintained by an annual accumulation of snow that matches the loss through calving and melting at the margins. This phenomenon has helped to develop our understanding of climate change and icecap glaciology.
Criterion (vii): The combination of a huge ice sheet and a fast moving glacial ice-stream calving into a fjord covered by icebergs is a phenomenon only seen in Greenland and Antarctica. Ilulissat offers both scientists and visitors easy access for a close view of the calving glacier front as it cascades down from the ice sheet and into the ice-choked fjord. The wild and highly scenic combination of rock, ice and sea, along with the dramatic sounds produced by the moving ice, combine to present a memorable natural spectacle.
Criterion (viii): The Ilulissat Icefjord is an outstanding example of a stage in the Earth’s history: the last ice age of the Quaternary Period. The ice-stream is one of the fastest (40 m per day) and most active in the world. Its annual calving of over 46 km3 of ice accounts for 10% of the production of all Greenland calf ice, more than any other glacier outside Antarctica. The glacier has been the object of scientific attention for 250 years and, along with its relative ease of accessibility, has significantly added to the understanding of ice-cap glaciology, climate change and related geomorphic processes.
Integrity
The property is of sufficient size to adequately represent the geological process of the ice fjord, i.e. the fast-moving ice-stream, the relevant portion of the inland icecap, the glacial front and the fjord. The boundaries of the property are clearly defined in relation to the logical topographic criteria of the natural watershed, and the settlements of the nearby villages of Ilimanaq and Ilulissat are excluded from the property. Along with climatic limitations and the fact that no roads exist at the site, the area’s physical features retain a high degree of natural integrity.
The property has effective legal protection and a sound planning framework, including the prohibition of any mining in the protected area. However, increased management will be required as pressures from tourism and resource harvesting continue to grow.
Protection and management requirements
The property is protected and conserved by an established framework of government legislation and protective designations and by local planning policies. The main legislative measure is the Greenland Parliament Act No. 29 of 18 December 2003 on nature protection. This act is the foundation framework for the protection of species, ecosystems and protected areas. Ilulissat itself is protected under the Greenland Home Rule Government Order No. 10 of 15 June 2007 on protection of Ilulissat Icefjord. The area bordering the property is further controlled by national regulations on waste disposal, use of snowmobiles, building constructions and landscape protection. Extensive hunting and fishing occurs in a portion of the property, and a special hunting law is enforced and monitored to ensure that the exploitation of biological resources in the area is sustainable. The property itself is managed cooperatively by a Board consisting of representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Nature and the Municipality of Ilulissat.
A comprehensive management plan has been developed and the property will benefit from a monitoring programme. Particular attention was paid to the rapidly increasing tourism in the area, and in particular pressures emanating from cruise ships visiting the site and helicopter traffic. Regulations concerning visits to the property by boat, foot, helicopter and dog sledge; the management of waste and waste disposal; building constructions; exploitation of biological resources in the area, and protection of the cultural heritage sites within the property have been put into place. Signage and visitor infrastructure have been upgraded, and a visitor centre in the town of Ilulissat is planned.
All land in the reserve is state-owned and no permanent settlements are allowed. Nearby construction is also strictly controlled. Visitor access to the area is limited by the wilderness character of the landscape, with no roads or human-made structures. Management issues such as crowding (from cruise tourism) and erosion are limited to a small area close to the town of Ilulissat. The protection of the property will be further enhanced when a planned buffer zone is adopted.
This is the view from above the trail on shore.
This 360° High Dynamic Range panorama was stitched from 78 bracketed photographs with PTGUI Pro, tone-mapped with Photomatix, processed with Color Efex, and touched up in Affinity Photo and Aperture.
Original size: 25000 × 12500 (312.5 MP; 1.29 GB).
Location: Ilulissat, Greenland
Inspired on Ben Horne's photographies, took this image trying to find the definition of contrast. Still can't find it haha
Please check my youtube channel!
www.youtube.com/channel/UCDnxqSil6aC7ReT6Wowdv2A
Hope you like it and suscribe!
...to reveal the individual before his camera, to transfer the living quality of that individual to his finished print...Not to make road maps but to record the essential truth of the subject; not to show how this person looks, but to show what he is. - Edward Weston - Edward Weston's definition of the role of the portrait photographer. "The Portrait in Photography", Reaktion Books, London 1992, Mick Gidley, p136 - 137.
Navid Nuur – Untitled (Never Mind the Map Never Map the Mind) at the exposition Navid Nuur "Lube Love", Bonnefantemuseum, Maastricht
I hung out with Professor Bikenstein last night in Wicker Park.
We had a cool conversation as we watched the craziness of the world roll by on a Saturday evening.
Bikenstein thought I was foolish to get the surgery on my finger for that spider bite.
He said it would have healed on its own and that I let fear be the thing that made me decide to have the surgery.
The Professor doesn't have much faith in the medical system.
He's got some health problems that he doesn't think the doctors are treating properly.
I dig where the dude comes from.
I mean... he's got some crazy theories... but I can understand why.
We disagree on a lot of things.
But that's cool because I always respect his viewpoint.
Bikenstien's become one of those 'constants' in my life.
Almost a reference point on the journey.
I really appreciate the conversations we share.
Rock on Professor Bikenstein!
My understanding is that a ‘Brass Monkey’ should contain 30 Cannon Balls … the one in my photograph contains a lot more than thirty.
When I was young I was sent home from school because I used the expression “Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey” when complaining on behalf of the class that the classroom was cold.
My father was really annoyed with the school insisting that a brass monkey was something used to store cannon balls and that he could not understand why I had been suspended from class.
After my visit to Elizabeth Fort in Cork I decided to investigate further and came across two different stories that do not agree.
[FIRST EXPLANATION] According to the United States Navy Historical Center, this is a legend of the sea without historical justification. The center has researched this because of the questions it gets and says the term “brass monkey” and a vulgar reference to the effect of cold on the monkey’s extremities, appears to have originated in the book “Before the Mast” by C.A. Abbey. It was said that it was so cold that it would “freeze the tail off a brass monkey.” The Navy says there is no evidence that the phrase had anything to do with ships or ships with cannon balls.
[SECOND EXPLANATION]Every sailing ship had to have cannon for protection. Cannon of the times required round iron cannonballs. The master wanted to store the cannonballs such that they could be of instant use when needed, yet not roll around the gun deck. The solution was to stack them up in a square-based pyramid next to the cannon. The top level of the stack had one ball, the next level down had four, the next had nine, the next had sixteen, and so on. Four levels would provide a stack of 30 cannonballs. The only real problem was how to keep the bottom level from sliding out from under the weight of the higher levels. To do this, they devised a small brass plate ("brass monkey") with one rounded indentation for each cannonball in the bottom layer. Brass was used because the cannonballs wouldn't rust to the "brass monkey", but would rust to an iron one.
When temperature falls, brass contracts in size faster than iron. As it got cold on the gun decks, the indentations in the brass monkey would get smaller than the iron cannonballs they were holding. If the temperature got cold enough, the bottom layer would pop out of the indentations spilling the entire pyramid over the deck. Thus it was, quite literally, cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.
'COURSE, TODAY none think of wearing a fine silken gown … but she may put on a cheerleaders uni, or hit the beach in a bikini, sport a low-cut top, wear leggings she was poured into … whatever.
But her weapon for attention will be to VISUALLY attract THE MALE.
In a blatant NUTSHELL:
MALES respond to VISUAL stmuli.
FEMALES respond to VERBAL (or, effective communication specifically)
So don't take it personally or have a fembot male-hating freakout because of instinctual male sexuality.
Chill.
Get over it, male-haters—
Male sexuality just IS.
"And if a woman wants to understand MALE SEXUALITY … she has to understand the power of the visual" (Dennis Prager)
A 5 MINUTE quickie further explaining this phenomenon is HERE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9WZFeA4FzI
WOMEN often feel betrayed by their significant other, or feel THREATENED when guy, well, notices (looks at) the attractiveness of another woman.
Chill.
MEMORIZE THIS: He has forgotten about her a few minutes later …
So let yourself have peace of mind.
Another 5 MINUTE overview explaining this HARMLESS phenomenon is HERE:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlZsGpWJmos
The poem is Canadian and some day I'll feature the whole wham thing.
Kamera: Nikon F3 (1989)
Linse: Nikkor-S Auto 50mm f1.4 (1970)
Film: Cinestill BWXX (Kodak 5222) @ ISO 200
Kjemi: Xtol (stock / 8 min. @ 21°C)
I WILL NOT BE SILENT. NEVER AGAIN.
For those of you who want a better understanding of the ongoing genocidal Israel-Hamas war, it is imperative that you educate yourself on the current political situation inside Israel itself, and especially on how American extremist zionist jews to a large degree have been instrumental in exporting their extremism into Israel and radically transforming Israeli society ever since the start of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights after the Six-Day War in 1967.
For this very reason, you need to know about one very important key figure: American-born jewish fundamentalist fascist terrorist and extremist Meir Kahane (1934-1990), his legacy and his followers; past and present.
Mad 'rabbi' Kahane´s racist, fascist, ultranationalist, supremacist and religious theocratic ideology - Kahanism - lives on like never before and has grown immensely among his many supporters in Israel - not only among extremist illegal settlers any longer, not only among the odd ordinary Israeli citizen - No, today, this ideology permeates Israeli society itself.
Today, Kahane´s followers are even represented in the jewish fascist Benjamin Netanyahu government; many holding quite influential and powerful minister positions - like (and these are just a few of them):
1.) The infamous terrorist and so-called "Minister of Security" Itamar Ben-Gvir (b. 1976 and hailing from the extremist jewish fundamentalist and religious zionist settlement of Kiryat Arba in Hebron, Occupied Palestine)
2.) The terrorist and so-called "Finance Minister" Bezalel Smotrich (b. 1980 and hailing from the extremist jewish fundamentalist and religious zionist settlement of Kedumim, Occupied Palestine)
3.) The old-skool Moshe Levinger (1935-2015) follower and Gush Emunim settler extremist and so-called "Minister of Settlements" (!) Orit Strook (b. 1960 and hailing from the extremist jewish fundamentalist and religious zionist settlement of Kiryat Arba in Hebron, Occupied Palestine)
4.) Yitzhak Wasserlauf (b. 1992), so-called "Minister for the 'Development' of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee".
Therefore, here for your consideration I will present to you three important lectures held on the subject by what must be one of the bravest men in the world: David Sheen [his website is no longer available], an exceptional Israeli Canadian former journalist of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz; now an independent investigative journalist.
This is all very well researched and explained.
In his lecture ‘Kahanistan’ you will get a broader understanding of political thought and development in Israel and how in the past few decades it has become more and more deeply connected to the Kahane movement:
- David Sheen: Kahanistan (2022)
In the lecture ‘Messiah Mode’ you will become much more familiar with the history of Meir Kahane himself, the Jewish Defense League in the USA and the Kach party in Israel; in addition to several other influential kahanist religious figures and politicians:
- David Sheen: Messiah Mode (2019)
In his latest lecture, ‘False Messiah’s Donkey’, David Sheen delves deeper into the Kahane movement´s influence on U.S. society and politics in general and the Democratic party in particular:
- David Sheen: False Messiah’s Donkey (2022)
A TRULY SHAMEFUL LIST OF JUST A FEW PEOPLE MENTIONED:
- Baruch Goldstein (1956-1994), american-born jewish extremist physician and religious mass-murderer from Brooklyn, New York. Goldstein immigrated to Israel in 1982 and moved to the jewish extremist settler hub in Kiryat Arba / Hebron. In 1994 during Ramadan on the Jewish holiday of Purim he perpetrated the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in Hebron. Wearing an IDF uniform and armed with an IMI Galil assault rifle, he opened fire on 800 Muslim worshippers inside the Ibrahimi Mosque, managing to kill 29 and wounding 129 before he was beaten to death by the survivors. Baruch Goldstein was a follower of Meir Kahane and a member of terrorist organization Jewish Defense League. Goldstein was number three in the Kach party after Meir Kahane (1932-1990) and Yisrael Ariel (b. 1939). Goldstein´s grave has become a site of pilgrimage and veneration for Jewish extremists, especially during Purim. The tomb of Baruch Goldstein is located in the Meir Kahane Memorial Park in the illegal extremist jewish fundamentalist and religious zionist settlement of Kiryat Arba in Hebron, West Bank, Occupied Palestine.
- Itamar Ben-Gvir (b. 1976), the current Minister of Security and party leader of Otzma Yehudit since 2022. Son of a mother active in the Irgun terrorist organization. Previously convicted of supporting the Kach terrorist organization. Exempted from service in the IDF due to extremist political background. Lawyer known for representing far-right Jewish activists suspected of terrorism and hate crimes; most notably representing the american-born extremist settler Baruch Marzel (b. 1956 in Boston, USA) in Hebron, the «right-hand man» of american-born rabbi Meir Kahane (1932-1990) and a fellow Otzma Yehudit party member. Known for displaying the portrait of american-born extremist settler and terrorist mass-murderer Dr. Baruch Goldstein (1956-1994) in his living-room. Itamar Ben-Gvir has 6 children and is a permanent resident of the illegal extremist jewish fundamentalist and religious zionist settlement of Kiryat Arba in Hebron, West Bank, Occupied Palestine.
- Baruch Marzel (b. 1959), american-born kahanist originally from Boston. His family immigrated to Israel when he was 6 weeks old, when he was 13 he joined the Jewish Defense League. At the age of 14 he was arrested for the first of many times, and when he was 17 he was imprisoned for the first time. An early member of the Kach party, he was Meir Kahane´s parliamentary aide in Knesset and the spokesperson for Kach for 10 years. Marzel is a physically violent man who has been harassing, threatening and assaulting countless Palestinians in Hebron for decades in addition to police officers, left-wing activists, peace activists and journalists. Marzel is known to have shot and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy and he has been arrested for conspiring to bomb a Palestinian school. He has also advocated violence against homosexuals in Israel and calling for religious war against them. Together with Bezalel Smotrich (b. 1980) - Israel´s Finance Minister - he arranged the «Beast Parade» in 2006, leading goats and donkeys through the streets in opposition to the Jerusalem gay pride parade.
Marzel is an important and instrumental figurehead for the extreme right in Israel. After the Kach party was banned in 1994, he founded the party Jewish National Front in 2004 and ran for Knesset. After not winning enough votes to enter Knesset, he joined the National Union party and served as fellow extremist and kahanist Michael Ben-Ari´s (b. 1963) parliamentary aide. Together with Bentzi Gopstein (b. 1969) he started Lehava in 2005, a jewish supremacist organization that stricly opposes jewish assimilation, objecting to any relationships between Jews and non-Jews - in 2010 he was urging Israeli model Bar Refaeli (b. 1985) not to marry her non-jewish boyfriend at the time, Leonardo DiCaprio (b. 1974). In 2013 he ran for Knesset again, this time for the Otzma Yehudit party, which had splintered from the National Union party; again not winning enough votes to enter Knesset. In 2015 he ran for Knesset again, but the Election Committee disqualified him from running in the election because of racism. Otzma Yehudit was not extreme enough for Marzel, so in 2022 together with Michael Ben-Ari he started the process of launching a new party to the right of Otzma Yehudit. Baruch Marzel has 9 children and is a permanent resident of the illegal extremist jewish fundamentalist and religious zionist settlement of Tel Rumeida in Hebron, West Bank, Occupied Palestine.
- Michael Ben-Ari (b. 1963); Ph.D. in Land of Israel and Archaeology studies. If you have ever heard about Gustaf Kossinna (1858-1931) and Nazi archaeology - that´s the kind of scholar Michael Ben-Ari is. Previous member of the Kach terrorist organization; Ben-Ari was banned from running in the 2019 elections due to his extremist political views. He was also a member of the Jewish National Front, a political party founded by american-born extremist settler Baruch Marzel (b. 1956 in Boston, USA) in Hebron, the «right-hand man» of american-born rabbi Meir Kahane (1932-1990). When Jewish National Front merged with the far-right religious Eretz Yisrael Shelanu, Ben-Ari gained a seat in the Knesset 2009-2012, electing Marzel and Ben-Gvir as his aides. Eretz Yishrael Shelanu was not extreme enough for Ben-Ari, so together with Marzel and Ben-Gvir he founded the Otzma Yehudit in 2012. Ben-Ari has been denied US visa several times for his extremism. After he was banned from Knesset in 2019, he has since found that Otzma Yehudit was not extreme enough for him, so he has recently started planning a new party together with Baruch Marzel. Ben-Ari has 9 children and is a permanent resident of the illegal extremist jewish fundamentalist and religious zionist settlement of Karnei Shomron, West Bank, Occupied Palestine.
- Baruch Ben-Yosef and Israel Fuchs, both of them american-born jewish Israeli kahanist settlers whose names are originally Andy Green and Keith Fuchs. Together with convicted murderer Robert Manning they are the suspected assassins of Alex Odeh (1944-1985), a Palestinian activist in the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. In Israel in 1980, Ben-Yosef was subjected to administrative detention for 6 months together with Meir Kahane for plotting to blow up the Dome of the Rock. In 1983, on the Jewish holiday of Purim, Fuchs sprayed a passing Palestinian car with bullets. Ben-Yosef later studied law and together with Fuchs he established the lawfare American Center for Civil Justice. Fuchs later mentored Simcha Rothman (b. 1980), a settler and religious zionist member who now serves as chairman of the Constitution, Law and Justice committee in the Knesset. Ben-Yosef mentored kahanist lawyer Itamar Ben-Gvir (b. 1976), current leader of the Otzma Yehudit party and Israel´s Minister of Security. In 2004, Ben-Yosef was one of 20 extremists who carried out the black magic kabbalistic curse of Pulsa diNura at the gravesite of Irgun terrorist Shlomo Ben-Yosef (1913-1938) in order to kill prime minister Ariel Sharon because of the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza. Both Ben-Yosef Green and Keith «Israel» Fuchs are permanent residents of the illegal extremist jewish fundamentalist and religious zionist settlement of Kiryat Arba in Hebron, West Bank, Occupied Palestine.
- Mike Guzofsky, american-born jewish extremist from New York and a former member of Terror Against Terror, a militant organization that was active in Israel that openly espoused the ideology of perpetrating terrorism and committed several violent attacks directed at Palestinians, ranging from vandalism to mass shooting, bombing and murder. The group consisted of many Jewish-American settlers living in Hebron who considered themselves acolytes of ‘rabbi’ Meir Kahane. About mass-murderer Baruch Goldstein he said: «He was the sweetest jew who have ever lived.» Also known for, among other things, being a breeder of fierce patrol dogs with the purpose of instilling fear in the Palestinian population. Guzofsky is a permanent resident of the illegal extremist jewish fundamentalist and religious zionist settlement of Kfar Tapuach, West Bank, Occupied Palestine.
- Bentzi Gopstein (b. 1969), american-born jewish extremist who got away with murder in 1990, an ardent anti-christian and founder of the Lehava movement, a jewish supremacist organization that stricly opposes jewish assimilation, objecting to any relationships between Jews and non-Jews. Gopstein advocates the expulsion of Christians and the banning of celebrating Christmas. He is a member of the Otzma Yehudit party, has 8 children and is a permanent resident of the illegal extremist jewish fundamentalist and religious zionist settlement of Kiryat Arba in Hebron, West Bank, Occupied Palestine.
- David Ha'ivri (b. 1967), american-born extremist orthodox jew whose real name is Jason David Axelrod. About the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin he said: «It was not a jew who was murdered; it was a traitor who was liquidated. The liquidation of an enemy is a positive thing.» Today, David Ha'ivri acts as an Israeli diplomat and is a spokesperson for Israeli illegal settlements. He has 8 children and is a permanent resident of the illegal extremist jewish fundamentalist and religious zionist settlement of Kfar Tapuach, West Bank, Occupied Palestine.
- Ovadia Yosef (1920-2013) was the chief rabbi of Israel and spiritual leader of the religious orthodox Shas party. Ovadia Yosef had many controversial remarks; among them the following: «Gentiles were born only to serve us. Without that they have no place in the world, only to serve the jewish people. Why are gentiles needed? They´ll work, they´ll plow, they´ll reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat.» His son Yitzhak Yosef (b. 1952) is now the chief rabbi of Israel; a man who has likened people of black African descent to monkeys and has compared secular women to animals because they dressed immodestly.
- Ya'akov Yosef (1946-2013) was another son of Ovadia Yosef, also a rabbi and a Knesset representative for the Shas party 1984-1988. In the Knesset Ya'akov Yosef worked ardently on changing and doctoring the laws of Israel so that racism would be allowed so long as it was justified by religious arguments. Ya'akov Yosef openly endorsed rabbi Yitzhak Shapira´s book ’The King's Torah’ (2009) where it is argued that it is permissible for Jews to kill non-Jews, including children, under certain circumstances, and that there may be a reason to kill babies on the enemy side, even if they have not violated any laws, due to the potential future danger they might pose based on the assumption that they will grow up to be evil like their parents. ’The King's Torah’ also proposes that indirect killing of children could be justified as a means of exerting pressure on enemy leaders or if the children are obstructing a rescue operation and their presence contributes to murder.
- Yonatan Yosef, son of Ya'akov Yosef and also a rabbi, an illegal settler in East Jerusalem and former spokesman for the settlers in Sheikh Jarrah. He has been a Jerusalem City Council member since 2018, representing the ultra-orthodox religious zionist party Yachad. When he was 18 years old, he smuggled and collected caches of weapons from the army, plotting to murder Palestinians. He was arrested, but was tipped off by a government minister that the Shin Bet was coming for him; so he managed to get rid of much of the evidence and got off easy. In 2023, he was marching in Sheikh Jarrah with a group of supporters, chanting «We want Nakba, Nakba now!»
- Aryeh King (b. 1973) is the current Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, representing the ultra-orthodox religious zionist party Yachad. In 2014, he was inciting a group of hundreds of ultra-orthodox men by telling them "This Sabbath we will read about Zimri and Kosbi. Phineas committed the act; he was zealous for God. He got up and committed the act - It´s like that today. Every single person here is like a small Phineas. I call out to all the small Phineas's here! I call on all of us to make a great commotion, wake up! The Lubavitcher rebbe is here with us - I have no doubt he expects us all to commit acts of Phineas." Zimri and Kosbi is a story in the bible, and according to this legend there was a jewish man and a Midianite woman, in other words, it was an interracial relationship. And this priest, Phineas, was so incensed, so disgusted at this miscegenation, at this interracial love that he actually took a spear, according to legend, and he murdered them in the middle of the act of lovemaking. In fact, according to the Talmud it says exactly what that act was: "Miracles were done for Phineas... His aim was through the penis of the man and the vagina of the woman" - that is; he pierced them in their intertwined genitals. Hours later after Aryeh King's speech; religious jews went out and mutilated and murdered 16-year old Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khdeir. They kidnapped him outside his home, stuffed him into a car and drove him out to the forest, where they forced petrol down his throat and they burned him to death from the inside out. Aryeh King is the father of 6 and is a permanent resident of the illegal settlement of Ma'ale HaZeitim in East Jerusalem, West Bank, Occupied Palestine.
- Moshe Feiglin (b. 1962), a kahanist, Likud politician and former Deputy Speaker of the Knesset. As Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, during the 2014 Gaza war he said that «The IDF shall designate certain open areas […] in which the civilian population will be concentrated subsequent to the elimination […] Gaza […] will become part of […] Israel and will be populated by Jews.» Also in 2014, he was inciting for Jews to go and take over the Al-Aqsa mosque. Feiglin has made so many controversial statements that he was banned from entering the United Kingdom in 2008. Moshe Feiglin has 5 children and is a permanent resident of the illegal extremist jewish fundamentalist and religious zionist settlement of Karnei Shomron settlement, West Bank, Occupied Palestine.
- Yoel Lerner (1941-2014), american-born extremist from Brooklyn, New York who grew up in South Africa. In 1960 he immigrated to Israel where he became a linguist and translator. He became a student of Meir Kahane and a member of the Jewish Defense League; and later became an aide to Kahane. In 1973, Lerner was arrested in a case of arson involving a fire in a shop selling Christian missionary books. In 1975, he was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to harm Henry Kissinger (1923-2023). Newspaper reports said that Lerner «had expressed threats to assassinate Kissinger». In 1978 he was imprisoned for 3 years for conspiracy and illegal possession of weapons. He had founded an underground ring of militants called ‘Gal’ with the aim to overthrow the government and establish a state based on religious law, and kill Arabs. In 1982, Lerner had formed a small youth organization whose aim was to destroy the Dome of the Rock in order to rebuild the Temple Mount, and for this he was sentenced to 5 years in jail, but 2 ½ years of his sentence was suspended. Lerner was married and had eight children.
- Alan Goodman (b. 1945) american-born extremist who moved from Baltimore to Israel in 1977. On Easter morning 1982, wearing an IDF military uniform and armed with an M-16 automatic rifle, he shot his way into the Dome of the Rock, killing two and wounding 11 Palestinians. Sentenced to life imprisonment plus 40 years. Goodman was released after 15 years.
- Yisrael Ariel (b. 1939), number two in the Kach party after Meir Kahane; these days he is propagating the re-introduction of ancient Sanhedrin rabbinical courts in Israel. Arrested several times; in the early 80s for sedition because he was planning to dig a tunnel under the Al-Aqsa mosque in order to take it over and turn it into a jewish settlement. Today, he is the chief rabbi in the state-sponsored Temple Institute, which has a focus on educating children on jewish temples and the establishing of the Third Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
- Craig Leitner, american-born lawyer and former terrorist member of the JDL and Kach who served 30 months in jail for firebombing the Palestinian newspaper Al-Fajar and being involved in the shooting at an arab bus in Ramallah in 1984, injuring 6-7 Palestinians. Together with his lawyer wife Nitsana Darshan-Leitner (b. 1973) in the Shurat Hadin lawfare organization he is mostly involved with legal matters defending terrorists like for instance Yigal Amir (b. 1970); the assassin of Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995), and Jonathan Pollard (b. 1954); an American-Israeli civilian-employed US Military intelligence analyst who in 1986 was sentenced to life in imprisonment for spying on the United States of America for the State of Israel. It is sickening to see that this man, who betrayed ALL of the NATO countries at the HEIGHT of the Cold War, not just the USA, but ALL WESTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES has been living as a free, war-mongering, obvious and public kahanist in Israel since 2021.
- Rafi Peretz (b. 1956), chief military rabbi of the IDF, Minister of Education 2019-2020 and Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister of Israel 2020-2021.
See also:
- Unpacking Israeli History: Baruch Goldstein - Legacy of a Massacre (Nov. 2020)
- David Sheen: «Three Decades After his Death, Kahane’s Message of Hate is More Popular Than Ever», Middle East Report Online, February 02, 2021.
- Jeff Halper: «How Israel Undermines International Law Through ‘Lawfare’», The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, August 18 2014.
- Wikipedia: 2021 ban of Palestinian human rights organizations
Mans understanding of Woman, the first step is to realize you know nothing, in knowing nothing you know everything,and now that you know everything the fact is you know nothing! steve.
Beautifully patterned pathway made out of stone in front of the Kaisando. The whole section is being called Keisokuzan 鶏足山 - japan-kyoto.de/ryogenin-subtempel-daitokuji-kyoto/
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2019-03-23 (Saturday)
2019_023
2019#344 Damita (Julia) 534035 as Nazgûl from Lord of the Rings
2019#344 ____ (Kerstin) _____ as Nazgûl from Lord of the Rings
Thank you for any group invites which I'd be glad to accept. However, if I can't check the content of such groups ("This group is not available to you") I'd rather not add any of my photos. Thank you for your understanding.
"Things that I love in my beloved"
: her tiny feet :
Project 365 - A one year daily shot.
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Understanding the size of pot sizes and cultural preferences is critical to the development of a successful cookstove and fuel intervention.
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© DM Parody 2020 (www.dotcom.gi/photos) These images are protected by copyright. You CANNOT copy or republish any of these photos without written consent of the photographer even if you retain the watermark (if present) and/or credit the photographer. You cannot use on any media including social media either. You CAN post a link to the page where the image appears without reference to the photographer only if not promoting a commercial product or service. Copyright infringements will be followed up, legally if necessary. Thank you for your understanding.
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I don't sell my dolls. Thank you for your understanding !!!
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This is a merge of 10 captures with 8000x1680px, the full size is 15750x3200px.
Praia das Dunas e Foguete.
Dunes and Rocket, are secluded beaches (well, almost) good option for those who wants to get away from the famous and busy Praia do Fort (Fort beach) which you can see in this photo, far in the background with all its apartments buildings.
Location: Praia das Dunas - Foguete - Cabo Frio - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil - BR - South America - SA
Equipment: Nikon D3100+18-55Lens
Photoshop Camera Raw Filter + Photo Merge + Panoramic
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Always Learning... Critiques are very welcome.
Official opening of the International Space University’s Space Studies Program on 25 June 2018, at ESA in the Netherlands.
The opening ceremony was attended by HM the King of the Netherlands and addressed by ESA Director General Jan Wörner.
The nine-week programme will see more than 130 participants representing 37 nationalities take part in lectures, workshops and team projects to gain an interdisciplinary understanding of all aspects of the space industry.
This year’s ISU programme is co-hosted by the Technical University Delft and the Netherlands Space Office, in close cooperation with ESA and Leiden University.
Two groups of participants will focus in particular on issues of space safety and sustainability as they prepare project reports on the role space should play in human adaptation to global climate change and on new ideas for the removal of space debris from Earth orbit using ecologically sound technology.
Credits: ESA - G. Porter
U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden, left, signs a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with NASA's Deputy Administrator Dava Newman, right, that highlights and solidifies the commitment to inspiring young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and agriculture on Monday, October 5, 2015 at USDA's People's Garden in Washington, DC. The MOU is an annex to an agreement between USDA and NASA to better protect America's working lands, predict and prevent natural disasters, and encourage youth to pursue careers in the STEM and agricultural fields. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Win Sky Hotel, Seogwipo, Jeju Island, South Korea
A real smile from the heart has the power to remove barriers and convey trust, kindness, openness, forgiveness, understanding, hope and any other life-giving quality.
Most of our lives pretty tied up as we pursue so many goals; both personal and professional. If you truly recall back, when was the last time you truly smile? As the age rolled by, things we worried triple up compare we were teenagers once.
Although trying hard reminding ourselves to have a wider perspective on our life and our work, when the rock lies on our back and shoulders, barely could breathe properly and gradually pressure and later become stressed out.
There is a difference between pressured and stressed, my way of interpretation, pressured is something we have a workaround and steer towards the direction given the super tight timeframe. But stress is something we stuck with no solution nor workarounds, therefore if we stuck with long period of time will eventually become depressive disorder.
I'm relief that finally you can smile from your bottom heart (you know what I meant), you found your way to counter and work towards that direction. You always have my full support and let's strive towards the direction and smiling from the heart more often. (I am speaking to myself too)
#d3s
#nikon
#jejuisland
#seogwipo
#nikkor50mmf14
#southkoreatravel
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1. The spiritual entity Qalb
Prophecy and knowledge relating to this was granted to the Prophet Adam
In the Urdu language the fleshy meat, (the heart) is known as dil, and in Arabic it is called fawad. The spiritual entity that is next to the heart is the Qalb and according to a Prophetic statement the heart and the Qalb are two separate entities.
Our solar system is the physical human sphere. There are other realms and spheres, for example the realm of the angels, the realm of the throne of God, the realm of the soul, the realm of the secrets, the realm of unification and the realm of the essence of God. These spheres and life forms inhabiting these spheres have existed before the eruption of the ball of fire, our Sun, which created our solar system. Ordinary angels were created alongside the creation of the souls when God commanded "Be" but the Archangels and the spiritual entities (which are placed inside the human body at birth) have existed in these realms before the formation of our solar system.
Many planets in our solar system were inhabited but subsequently these life forms became extinct. The remaining planets and their inhabitants are awaiting their destruction. The Archangels and the spiritual entities (of the human body) were created seventy thousand years before the command "Be."
Of these spiritual entities God placed the Qalb in the realm of love. It is with this that a human being is able to become connected with God. The Qalb acts like a telephone operator between God and the human being. A human being receives guidance and inspiration through it. Whereas the worship and the meditation done by the spiritual entities themselves can reach the highest realm, the Throne of God, with the aid of the Qalb. The Qalb itself, however cannot travel beyond the realm of the angels, as its place of origin is the Khuld, the lowest heaven in the realm of the angels.
The Qalb’s meditation is from within and its vibrating rosary is within the human skeleton (the heartbeat). People that failed to achieve this meditation of the Qalb in this lifetime will be regretful, even though they may be in paradise. As God has stated regarding those who will go to paradise, that do they, the inhabitants of paradise think that they will be equal to those who are elevated (reached higher realms by practicing the spiritual disciplines and becoming illuminated). As those that have achieved the meditation of the Qalb, they will enjoy its pleasures even in paradise when their Qalb will be vibrating with the Name of God.
After death physical worship ceases to exist and the people whose Qalb and spiritual entities are not strengthened and illuminated with the light of God are afflicted and distressed in their graves and their spiritual entities waste away. Whereas the illuminated and strengthened spiritual entities will go to the realm where the righteous will wait before the final judgement.
After the day of judgement a second body will be given, the illuminated spiritual entities along with the human soul will enter that body. The people that taught their spiritual entities, meditation, whereby the entities chanted the Name of God Allah in this life time will find that the spiritual entities will continue with this meditation even in the hereafter. Such people will continue to be elevated and exalted in the hereafter.
Those that were “blind of heart” (not illuminated) in this life time will be in darkness in that realm also, as this world was the place of action and effort. Those in the latter category will become quiescent.
Besides the Christians and the Jews the Hindu faith also holds a belief in these spiritual entities. The Hindu faith refers to them as Shaktian and the Muslims know them as Lata’if.
The Qalb is two inches, to the left of the heart. This spiritual entity is yellow in colour. When it is illuminated in a person, that person sees the colour yellow in their eyes. Not only this but there are many practitioners of alternative medicine who use the colours of these spiritual entities to heal people.
Most people regard their heart’s word, “inner feeling” to be truthful. If the hearts of people were indeed truthful, then why are all the people of the heart not united?
The Qalb of an ordinary person is in the sleeping or unconscious state and it does not possess any appreciation or awareness. Due to the dominance of the spirit of the self, the ego, and the Khannas, or due to the individual’s own simple- mindedness the heart can make judgements in error. Placing trust in a sleeping Qalb is foolish.
Only when the Name of God Allah, does vibrate in the heart does an appreciation of right and wrong and wisdom follow. At this stage the Qalb is known as the awakened Qalb. Thereafter due to the increase in the meditation by the Qalb, of the Name of God Allah, it is then known as the God-seeking Qalb. At this stage the heart is capable of preventing the person from doing wrong but it is still incapable of making a right or just decision. Thereafter and only when the Light and the rays of the Grace of God (theophany) start to descend upon that heart, is it known as the purified and illuminated Qalb that stands in the presence of God (witnessing Qalb).
A Prophetic statement:
“The mercy of God descends upon a broken heart and an afflicted grave.”
Thereafter when the heart reaches this stage then one must accept whatever it dictates, quietly without question because due to the rays of the Light and the Grace of God the spirit of the self, (ego) becomes completely illuminated, purified and at peace. God is then closer to that individual than that person’s jugular vein.
God then says, “I become his tongue with which he speaks and I become his hands with which he holds.”
2. The Human Soul
Prophecy and knowledge relating to this was granted to the Prophet Abraham
This is on the right side of the chest. This is awakened and illuminated by the meditation and one-pointed concentration on it. Once it becomes illuminated, a vibration similar to the heartbeat is felt on the right side of the chest. Then the Name of God, Ya Allah is matched with the vibrating pulse. The meditation of the soul is done in this way. At this point, there are now two spiritual entities meditating inside the human body, this is an advancement in rank and status and is better than the Qalb. The soul is a light red in colour and when it is awakened, it is able to travel to the realm of the souls (the station of the Archangel Gabriel). Anger and rage are attached to it that burn and turn into majesty.
3. The spiritual entity Sirri
Prophecy and knowledge relating to this was granted to the Prophet Moses
This spiritual entity is to the left of the centre of the chest. This is also awakened and illuminated by the meditation and one-pointed concentration on it with the Name of God, Ya Hayy, Ya Qayyum. Its colour is white and in the dream state or by spiritual separation from the physical body “transcendental meditation” it can journey to the realm of the secrets. Now there are three spiritual entities meditating within a person and its status is higher than the other two.
4. The spiritual entity Khaffi
Prophecy and knowledge relating to this was granted to the Prophet Jesus
This is to the right of the centre of the chest. It too is taught the Name of God Ya Wahid by meditation. It is green in colour and it can reach the realm of unification. Due to the meditation of four entities one's status is further increased.
5. The spiritual entity Akhfa
Prophecy and knowledge relating to this was granted to the Prophet Mohammed
This is situated at the centre of the chest. It is awakened by meditating on the Name of God, Ya Ahad. It is purple in colour and it too, is connected to that veil in the realm of unification behind which is the throne of God.
The hidden spiritual knowledge relating to these five spiritual entities was granted to the Prophets, one by one and half of the knowledge of every spiritual entity was granted from the Prophets to the Saints of their time. In this way there became ten parts of this knowledge. The Saints in turn passed this knowledge on to the spiritually favoured (Godly) who then had the benefit of the sacred knowledge.
The apparent knowledge of the seen is connected to the physical body, the spoken word, the human realm and the spirit of the self, this is for the ordinary mortals. This knowledge is contained in a book that has thirty parts. Spiritual knowledge was also given to the Prophets by revelation brought by Gabriel and for this reason it is known as the spiritual Holy Scripture.
Many of the verses of the Qur’an would sometimes be abolished, since the Prophet Mohammed would sometimes mention matters relating to this “hidden spiritual knowledge” before ordinary people, which was only meant for the special and Godly. Later this knowledge passed on spiritually from the chest of one Saint to another, and now it has become widespread by its publication in books.
6. The spiritual entity Anna
This spiritual entity is inside the head and is colourless. It is by the meditation on the Name of God Ya Hu that this spiritual entity reaches its pinnacle. It is this spiritual entity that when it becomes illuminated and powerful it can stand in the Presence of God, face to face, and communicate with God unobstructed. Only the extreme lovers of God reach this realm and station. Besides this there are a few and extremely exalted people who are granted additional spiritual entities, for example the spiritual entity Tifl-e-Nuri or a spiritual entity of the Godhead, Jussa-e-Tofiq-e-Ilahi, the spiritual status of such people is beyond understanding.
With the spiritual entity, Anna, God is seen in the dream state.
With the spiritual entity of the Godhead, God is seen in the “physical meditating state” when the spiritual entity itself leaves the human body and transcends to the essence of God.
Those possessing the spiritual entity, the Tifl-e-Nuri, see God whilst they are fully conscious.
It is these people who are the majesty and power of God in the world. They can either occupy the people by prescribing worship and austerities or by their spiritual grace send a person straight to the realm of God’s love. In their sight, concerning dispensing spiritual grace the believers and the non-believers, the dead and the living are all the same. Just as a thief became a Saint, in an instant, by the passing glimpse of the Saint Sheikh Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani, similarly, Abu-Bakr Havari and Manga the thief, became instant Saints by the passing glimpses of such Saints.
The five major Messengers were given knowledge of the five spiritual entities separately and in order of their appearance, as a result of which spirituality continued to prosper. With whichever spiritual entity you practice meditation you will be connected to the corresponding Messenger and become worthy of receiving spiritual grace (from that Messenger).
Whichever spiritual entity receives the rays of the Grace of God (favour), the Sainthood granted to that spiritual entity will be connected to the corresponding Prophet’s spiritual grace.
Access to seven realms and gaining elevated spiritual status in the seven heavens is obtained through these spiritual entities.
The functions of the spiritual entities inside the human body
Akhfa: Due to the spiritual entity, Akhfa a person is able to speak. In its absence a person may have a normal tongue but will be dumb. The difference between human beings and animals lies in the presence or the absence of these spiritual entities. At birth, if the entity, Akhfa was unable to enter the body for whatever reason, then a Prophet appointed for the rectification of this ailment would be called to treat the condition as a result of which the dumb would start to speak.
Sirri: A person is able to see due to the spiritual entity, Sirri. If it does not enter the body the person is blind from birth. An appointed Prophet had the duty to find and place the spiritual entity into the body, as a result of which the blind would start to see again.
Qalb: Without the spiritual entity of the Qalb, in the body, a person is like the animals, unacquainted, far from God, miserable and without purpose. Returning this entity into the body was the task of the Prophets also.
The miracles of the Prophets were also granted to the saints, in the form marvels and mystical wonders as a result of which even the impious and liberal became close to God. When a spiritual entity is returned by any allocated Saint or Prophet, the deaf, dumb and the blind are healed.
Anna: When the spiritual entity, Anna, fails to enter the body, a person is regarded as insane even though the brain may be functioning normally.
Khaffi: In the absence of the spiritual entity, Khafi, a person is deaf, even if the ears are opened wide.
These conditions can be caused by other defects in the body, and can be treated. There is no cure in the case, where the defect is caused by the absence of the associated spiritual entity except where a Prophet or a Saint intervenes and cures the defect.
Nafs, self: As a result of the spiritual entity of the self (ego) a persons mind is occupied with the material world and it is because of the spiritual entity Qalb that a persons direction turns towards God. For more detail visit www.goharshahi.org or visit asipk.com and for videos visit HH rags
Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.
~ George Eastman
Leipziger Buchmesse 2015
2015-03-13 (Friday)
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Sturmtochter (Melli) 319719 as Supergirl from Supergirl (DC Comics)
Thank you for any group invites which I will be glad to accept. However, if I can't check the content of such groups ("This group is not available to you") I'd rather not add any of my photos. Thanks for your understanding.
This is my new look. I am learning to be a respectable househubby for my wonderful, loving and understanding RL wife.
As a child I loved looking at the covers and the illustrations within my dad's old science magazines. I didn't actually read any, just looked at the pictures. It's still absolutely inspirational stuff.
Image licensed under Creative Commons by S!nky: http://www.flickr.com/photos/s1nky/3428388793
Quote source: Learning and Understanding (2002) Principle 6
The Dome in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress. It took a little maneuvering to get this shot, as the figures in blue (at the very top of the dome) can only be seen from certain angles.
From the LOC website:
On the ceiling of the lantern, which rises above the highest part of the dome, is a painting of a beautiful female figure representing Human Understanding, in the act of lifting the veil of ignorance and looking forward to intellectual progress. She is attended by two cherubs: one is holding the book of wisdom and knowledge and the other seems, by his gesture, to be encouraging viewers beneath to persist in their struggle toward perfection.
The decoration on the base or collar of the lantern consists of a ring of twelve seated figures, male and female, ranged against a wall of mosaic patterning. They represent the twelve countries, or epochs, which in 1897, when the building was constructed, were thought to have contributed the most to modern civilization.
• Egypt represents Written Records.
• Judea represents Religion.
• Greece represents Philosophy.
• Rome represents Administration.
• Islam represents Physics.
• The Middle Ages represent Modern Languages.
• Italy represents the Fine Arts.
• Germany represents the Art of Printing.
• Spain represents Discovery.
• England represents Literature.
• France represents Emancipation.
• America represents Science.
Thanks for looking!
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Comments and constructive criticism always appreciated.
Generated by me, Tool used AI Stable Diffusion
a story about a young woman named Maya who lives in a futuristic world where advanced technology has made it possible for people to simulate and experience emotions and sensations that they've never had before. Maya, who has always been interested in understanding the inner workings of the human mind, becomes obsessed with this new technology and decides to enroll in a program that promises to enhance her empathic abilities.
As she delves deeper into the program, Maya begins to experience a wide range of emotions and sensations that she's never felt before, from intense pleasure to profound sadness. She also starts to develop a heightened sensitivity to the emotions of those around her, which leads her to become more empathetic and compassionate.
However, Maya soon realizes that there's a dark side to this technology. She discovers that some people are using it to manipulate others for personal gain and that the lines between reality and simulation are becoming increasingly blurred. Maya finds herself caught up in a dangerous web of deceit and betrayal, and she must use her newfound empathy and understanding of human nature to navigate the complex world around her.
As Maya delves deeper into the dark side of this technology, she begins to question whether the benefits of simulation are worth the potential risks. Ultimately, she must decide whether to continue down this path or to turn her back on the technology that has forever changed the way people experience and understand their own emotions.
Photographed by the very nice saleswoman at a wine shop. It's always a pleasure to talk with friendly, understanding people.
My understanding is that this church has been converted into apartments and office space.
St. Kevin has three churches in this area named after him so he must have been popular. This church is on Bloomfield Avenue and the South Circular Road.
The Church of Ireland built a fine gothic church with red sandstone trim to designs by Sir Thomas Drew who also produced two alternate designs. The Irish Builder, mistakenly, described it as of “County Dublin granite, with dressings of Portland stone”.
St Kevin's Church, Harrington Street is the local Catholic church and it is still active.
St. Kevin's Church in St. Kevin's Park, Camden Row, dates back at least as far as the 13th century, and was dedicated to Kevin of Glendalough.
Awakening from the dream of conceptual thinking follows a certain route and process. The Zen Circle of Enlightenment is a useful way of understanding this. This post does not cover the practices that help this evolve. It simply shows the route and process of what happens for freedom from the conceptual world to be directly experienced and lived. Click here to download this graphic: Zen Circle of Enlightenment
Zero Degrees – The Beginning
We begin in this map at zero degrees. We are completely attached to our thoughts. We see the world and ourself completely through thoughts, concepts and beliefs. We don’t yet realize that these are just abstractions of reality and not reality itself. We believe this conceptual world IS reality. We believe our thoughts ARE reality. In spiritual terms we might say we are living completely in a dream or illusion.
90 Degrees – The First Step Toward Freedom
When we begin a spiritual practice, we move to 90 degrees on this map. We start learning new concepts, spiritual concepts. We leave some of our old concepts and beliefs behind and pick up new ones. If we read and study The Heart Sutra, for instance, we might now say that Form is Emptiness and Emptiness is Form, where at zero degrees we were believing that Form is Form and Emptiness is Emptiness.
We can get very excited about our new discoveries. They feel very liberating. We find new friends who are also practicing these new ways of thinking and experiencing. We find new teachers who lead us deeper into these new ideas and beliefs. It’s a very exciting time. But it can also be a little frustrating. We’ve got all these new and exciting concepts and beliefs, but somehow we’re still not awake. Somehow we still experience suffering in our lives. We may even tell ourselves that we are free and awake because we’ve had some amazing experiences, but deep inside we know this is not true. Deep inside, we still experience an incompleteness.
That’s because, even though these are new and exciting thoughts and beliefs, they are still only thoughts and beliefs. Reality is completely beyond all thoughts and beliefs, even spiritual ones. Given the powerful conditioning we’ve all undergone, it may be hard to accept this. But eventually, through frustration and continued suffering if nothing else, we break through. We break through the barrier of thought.
180 Degrees – The First Glimpse of Freedom
In Zen koan practice, we call this The First Gate. The purpose of our koan practice is to introduce this impossible impasse, barrier or gate that the mind of thought cannot get through. No matter how hard we try, none of our usual mental strategies work. The only way through is without the mind. Finally, in that great breakthrough, body and mind drop away. Because this is beyond the mind, there is nothing we can say about it. None of our mental labels can describe what this is. In Zen, we call this Emptiness. It is completely beyond all words and thoughts. It is not nothing. It is not everything. It is not inside. It is not outside. It is not duality. It is not nonduality. It is not self. It is not other. It is not existing, nor is it not existing. There is absolutely nothing we can say about this.
Now we have come face to face with reality, but we don’t yet know what this is. All our words, concepts, beliefs, knowledge and previous experiences cannot touch this. All the spiritual knowledge and experiences we accumulated at 90 degrees cannot touch this at all. We are completely emptied out and all there is is reality itself.
Quite often people become a little unsettled and resistant to this complete freedom at first. They may quickly resort to thoughts in an attempt to exert at least a little imagined control. That’s unfortunate, but it’s the nature of the conditioned mind. The longer we stay in this freedom from thought, the more wonderful we realize it is. Here we are directly experiencing life, reality, without any thoughts getting in the way. The longer we stay here, the more we realize that this is the very source of the peace, love, contentment, freedom, creativity and wisdom we have been seeking. This is it. This is our True Self, even if there is not a thing we can say about it.
Because this freedom from thought is so liberating, we can also become attached to this stage and not move on and embody it in the world for the benefit of all beings. Eventually most of us do want to do this. We realize we are not separate from any being, unconditional love is our very nature, and so we move on.
270 Degrees – Embodying Freedom
At 270 Degrees, we’re free to use language, concepts, and thoughts without any attachment to them. They’re just language, concepts and thoughts. They have no reality or validity beyond that. When they’re useful, beneficial and appropriate, we use them. Otherwise we remain silent. Great creativity flows through some of us in this stage. But we’re not attached to it. It doesn’t even feel like we’re doing anything. It’s simply happening by itself. It’s simply life happening.
Some us find ourselves as spiritual teachers here. We feel called to help others discover this great freedom and liberation from suffering. Although people may become attached to our words, we never are. And we do our best to encourage them to see all our words as merely pointers to something beyond words and thoughts. It is never the words we are pointing towards. It is always the freedom beyond words and thoughts.
Although we’ve learned to use words and concepts again to communicate, the underlying emptiness and freedom remains. In the Zen tradition teachers often say things that sound like nonsense to the conditioned mind in an effort to help serious students break free of the prison of their conditioned thoughts. That’s the purpose of Zen koans. When we’re free of the conceptual dream world, what appeared as nonsense is completely understood as pointing directly at reality. It’s often a time of great hilarity, without any thoughts about why it’s so funny.
Here we’re free to use words, thoughts and actions in any way they are truly beneficial without having the slightest attachment to them. It’s like being a bucket without a bottom. Whatever pours in immediately leaves without a trace. In this way, we live in freedom. In the Christian bible, it’s called living in the world but not of it.
360 Degrees – Returning Home As Freedom
At 360 degrees on this circle, we have returned home. We live fully in the world, but without any attachment or resistance to any of it. We live in complete freedom. Now we can say that “mountains are mountains” without any attachment or belief in these words. The difference between saying “mountains are mountains” at zero degrees with attachment and belief and saying “mountains are mountains” at 360 degrees with complete freedom is profound. From the outside, it may appear that these are the same, but they are not at all. No longer imprisoned by our thoughts, no longer imprisoned by a sense of separation, we are free to be fully in the world and act in the highest benefit for all beings.
That doesn’t mean our journey has ended. In one sense it has just begun. But it’s no longer a personal self with needs and goals taking this journey. The journey is happening by itself. In every moment it is unfolding fresh, new and alive. Whatever arises in each moment is the journey. And each moment is fully complete in and of itself. There is no longer a desire to get something or get somewhere. The fullness of life is revealed in every moment. What more could be asked for? This is returning home.