Tippaporn

"Perhaps we are part of a minority who prefer some uncomfortable truth rather than comfortable lies, . . . " Someone buy this man a drink! Free speech is everywhere under attack at the moment. Only a single version of the world is being heavily promoted and allowed these days. Anything which opposes the chosen narrative is quickly labeled conspiracy theory. A term, BTW, which is said to have been created by the CIA to discredit those who were questioning the Kennedy assassination. The label "conspiracy theory" is used to prevent people from questioning and to discredit those who do. Which is wholly antithetical to this thread. Which is precisely to question everything.

What is happening is easy to follow if one knows where the truth is being told. Where accurate information is being given. And if one is willing to do their own homework. If nothing else life demands responsibility for it and so it is the inherent responsibility of each of us, and it is indeed inherent, to determine for ourselves what is true and what is false. Most receive their information from "trusted" sources, "trusted" institutions, and therefore believe what they are being told without question. They do not do any homework whatsoever and only repeat what they are told. There are definite parallels between what is happening on the world stage today and the adoption process of many of the private beliefs of men and women. In the case of information and narratives regarding world events the masses are fed propaganda from trusted sources. And as this information comes from trusted sources so a great many believe what they are told without question. In the case of private beliefs we are groomed from the cradle about who we are and what the world is and how it works from trusted sources as well. Parents, teachers, and all those who attempt to educate us about the world. And similarly, as the explanations are given by trusted sources we are prone to believe what we are being told as being true without question also. A person who has been fed propaganda and believes the propaganda to be true without question then repeats it to others as being true. The ideas about us and the world which we've been fed since birth and which we no longer question as to their veracity are also repeated by us to the next generation as being true. A cycle which repeats from generation to generation. The lesson here is to show the detrimental effects which follow from the abdication of one's true responsibility in life - to determine what is true and what is false for ones self. In the case of news that abdication comes in the form of unquestioned acceptance of what is being told. In the case of many of the beliefs which an individual adopts throughout his or her life the same holds true. The unquestioned acceptance of what is being told. No one questions "the truth," whatever that truth may be. It is the height of absurdity to question a "truth" once convinced that it is true. And hence we have the astute observation by Mark Twain: “It is easier to fool the people, than to convince them they have been fooled." Once a person is convinced of a "truth" it is neigh on impossible to convince them otherwise. Most of the world's problems can be attributed to people ceasing to question their beliefs. Over a lifetime people collect untold unassimilated beliefs which are damaging to one's well being. Many of them contradictory, I might add. Yet going through the contents of one's mind to see what's actually there and begin the process of "cleaning house" and throwing out the rubbish is, unfortunately, not an appealing task to most. For it means changing ones self. And most abhor change as it requires personal effort. It's kind of comical. People generally want the world around them to change to their pleasing satisfaction without having to change themselves whatsoever. When in reality all change comes from within. It comes from examining one's beliefs and tossing those which are not to one's benefit while adopting those which are. Then, and only then, does the outside world change it's effects.

Tyranny is always doomed to fail. It's inevitable. Why? It defies the laws of existence. By it's very nature tyranny creates untold suffering and sooner or later the spirit inherent in man rises up to crush it. But I do believe it's possible for a civilisation to destroy itself. Powerlessness is one of the main root causes. If people understood the true power they are imbued with they could bring it to a halt literally overnight. But as you can see, even on this thread it is extremely difficult for people to accept that they have any power. The idea that life happens to you, for instance, is an idea that robs a people of their true power. And the idea that life happens to you is directly related a lack of understanding about who you are. We live in interesting times, indeed.

I think you're a clever one, Hummin. That's why you're one of my favourite posters. It's a matter of your perspective.

Noah's Ark is actually factual. It provides the explanation as to why there are no unicorns in the world.

This one is for one of my friends on this thread. You know who you are. 5555555555555555555

Noah's Ark is actually factual. It provides the explanation as to why there are no unicorns in the world.

Just so you understand, it's not my bible and it's not my God. I do not subscribe to the bible as Christians do. I admit that there is a great deal of wisdom within it but there is much . . . too much . . . that I do not agree with. Much of it is, to me, a children's tale. As to God, I do not see him as depicted in the bible or theology. I believe in an entity which is our source but my concept of that entity is quite a departure from the usual accepted idea of what God is. As humans I'm not sure we are even capable of wrapping our heads around what that entity truly is. There are basically two routes to go when considering the creation of life. Either it was all created either by happenstance with no rhyme or reason or purpose or it was intentionally created. The latter is what I subscribe to for there is overwhelming evidence for it . . . despite that evidence being unsatisfactory to anyone else. The former is pathetically wanting in pasting together a cohesive picture in which every facet of existence is accounted for. Many who subscribe to the former do not seem to mind the gaping holes in the overall picture that theory presents because they do not attempt to unify all of the divergent pieces of the picture puzzle which were given to them. The important part of that last statement is "given to them." Whatever your views of how the world works and what ii is were not your original ideas. They were ideas "sold" to you at some time in your life which you accepted without examination. And those ideas became your conviction which you now, in turn, sell to others. You're smart enough. It's only a matter of applying yourself in an honest and objective examination of the ideas you believe to be true. Are they truly true or are they not? That's the never ending question for everything you hold to be true. But undertaking that endeavour is entirely your choice. You can make as many excuses for yourself as you like but any excuses you make are not to fool others but only yourself.

As Sunmaster can attest to, since he's read Carlos Castenada, "know yourself" has been echoed by don Juan as the ultimate human endeavour. I could not get the quote verbatim but it is roughly as follows: There is no other task more worthy to take up than to know yourself. When you understand who you are only then can you understand who is creating the entirety of your experience and the world in which that experience is framed. And once you understand that it is you who creates your life in every facet . . . both large and seemingly insignificantly small . . . then and only then can you begin to play your true role in this world. Only then can you begin to create with full conscious awareness.

There are none. Other than the ones you falsely accuse. save the frogs, you are an intelligent being. Why, then, so many empty posts?

Someone posted this meme elsewhere and I provided my commentary. I repost it here as it is fitting. The difference is this: The official news that everyone watches is assumed to come from an objective and trusted, and therefore accurate, source of information. No one watching the TV need do any of their own investigating or analysis because the news sources have supposedly done it all for them. The individual doing his or her own investigations and making their own analysis does not enjoy the status of being a source of objective and accurate information. The entire propaganda scam rests on the earned trust of the news organizations. The problem is that they've been thoroughly corrupted and thus, like a con artist whose scam relies solely on gaining the trust of his mark, they take extreme advantage of the trust they've earned through the decades. Unlike the con artist whose first mission is to gain trust of the mark the news media have had it already. Regardless, even in the best, or most honest, of times I would not mindlessly rely on another's information and willy nilly accept it as truth. That holds true for me not only regarding the news but for any information which is, in a sense, being "sold" to me. Of all the commerce in goods in the world the one which by far is the greatest in quantity is ideas. Everyone is in the market buying and selling continuously. Going to a deeper level on this issue I see this "Great Awakening," whereby people are waking up to the fact of how things actually work versus how they've been told they work, as being a small representation of an even greater issue. That larger issue is that we've been told how things work in every facet of life. And to a large degree we've accepted, willy nilly, as truth what we've been told by our parents, teachers, friends and all those "trusted" souls in life who have provided us with information as to how life and the world works. And we're all guilty of believing much of what we've been told as true without ever investigating or analyzing it ourselves. I can guarantee that much of that information is as untrue as the information put out by the MSM. We have all here come to recognize that we need to think for ourselves and thoroughly examine that information which is sold to us by the "trusted" MSM as to it's veracity. What we haven't come to recognize thus far though, in my humble opinion, is that we need to go back and re-examine much of what we've already come to believe as being true regarding how life works and reconsider the veracity of those ideas. All of us here imagine, from time to time, the shock which must befall those "suckers" who have been misled by the MSM and others as the unvarnished truth can no longer be ignored or denied and must be accepted. That shock would be the same for anyone who re-examined currently held personal ideas as being true when they discover, to their dismay and horror, that they are equally false. I'm hinting at a much greater awakening than the "Great Awakening" that is upon us now. That greater awakening is waking up to the fact that in many critically important respects the world we've been "sold" is NOT the world as it truly is. Sorry if I took you further than you want to go. Just food for thought, is all. As I've been saying from day one, our temporal reality is a literal physical translation, or mirrored reflection, of our subjective reality. Nothing in this world exists without first existing as an idea in subjective reality. Until that idea is at least given some consideration as to it's validity any understanding as to the true workings of this world will escape those who are currently convinced that life happens to us rather than life being created by us. For that realisation is the ultimate realisation which is the key that unlocks all of the true answers to life. And which leads us back to a true understanding of the nature of ourselves - who and what we really are. As Seth has pointed out, it is impossible to understand our world without an understanding of who we are. For how can one understand how the world works if the premise is entirely wrong? And the current premise is that we have naught or little to do with the creation of our very existence. As Seth has stated on several occasions throughout his writings, the world is at a juncture where the old ideas we accept as being true on a mass level can no longer solve our current problems. For false ideas can never work in practicality as they have no basis in reality and must therefore result only in the manifestation of problems. Lots and lots and lots of problems. Our problems today are massive. Personally, I do not see any solution other than a return to those ideas which are a true and accurate reflection of who and what we are and the true nature of our world and it's workings. Food for thought, indeed.

Here's my challenge to @save the frogs. Be a serious poster. Can you do it? If I were capable of predicting the future I would say keep your eye on stage left folks.

This was in response to save the frogs post. Did he attempt an intelligent, serious reply? Instead we get nonsense like this: Methinks he is only capable of clever and sarcastic ridiculing quips so as to appear to be a profound thinker and so much more intelligent than the stupid wannabe gurus here. But look behind the facade and there's only empty space.

The irony is that these are the same folks who mock and ridicule actual sensical ideas which, put together, form an intelligent and comprehensive picture of the world in which everything is accounted for and many of the workings shown down to the smallest detail. Yes, like Seth. These folks have no clue as to how bizarre their "theories" of life sound. Let alone they couldn't begin to get into any depth whatsoever as to how these bizarre theories actually work in the practical universe. And why? Because those theories have no basis in actual reality and thus can never be shown to work. They ridicule religion due it's demand for blind belief and yet they blindly believe in their own absurdities without requiring a shred of evidence for it's existence. And to top it off they're totally blind to their own hypocrisy. For the life of them they can't see that they do the same as what they ridicule others for doing. Goes right over their heads. Humans are a strange species, eh?

Spot on and an entirely accurate analysis of actual reality. Thanks for that. Saved me from replying directly.

Thank you for the kind words, josephbloggs. I share your sentiments about getting feedback after either giving advice or providing recommendations. Giving feedback on this particular recommendation was enjoyable, though. There's a certain satisfying cruelty in posting photos of succulent dishes to an audience that may well be famished or hadn't had these treats in a long while. A shame we missed each other. Yes, we were sat on the second floor. But we also arrived at 12:30 PM and left just before 2 PM. I will be returning so when I do I'll give you a shout out as it sounds like you're in the vicinity. Though I am located in Bang Phli it was a short and easy drive. Bang Na Trad to Outer Ring road to No. 7. Exit Srinagarindra and Phatthunakan Rd. is right there. From there it's only 2.3 km down Phatthunakan Rd. Almost 30 minutes exactly with the light Sunday noon traffic and motorways 95% of the way. The bangers and mash were truly superb. And a very healthy portion. Between eating it all myself and sampling everything else we ordered I seriously destroyed myself. I would have made use of a wheel chair on my exit had they had one.

Just got back from our superb meal at The Londoner. And to clear up the misconception I had regarding the existence of any British "restaurant," for which I've been schooled here, there hangs a certificate of award on the wall, as well as a gold rimmed dinner plate just below it, from the Bangkok Best Restaurant Awards 2018 or some such organisation which declares The Londoner best in the "Pub" class. 555555555555 The official full moniker is The Londoner Pub and Sports Bar. Not a single reference to "restaurant." I still find it an amazing notion that an entire nation does not have restaurants featuring it's wondrous national cultural foods. Beggars belief. And now without further delay, as promised, photos from our meal at The Londoner . . . My first taste of Shepherd's pie. Never had it before. Awesome. This really deserves a close up . . . My wife does enjoy Italian food and as she is utterly unfamiliar with British food she decided to play it safe with the Scallops and Basil Pesto. My daughter had the chicken, bacon and leek pie with a side of mash and sauteed onions. The chicken melted in my mouth. A close up confirms that this pie is about as perfect as it get. It's flakiness is almost comparable to croissant. And huge. I also ordered the bangers and mash for myself. Another first for me. And now that I've tasted this wonderful sausage along with the mashed and gravy and peas it's a must to indulge in it in the future on a regular basis. It's unfortunate that I've gone this long in life without ever having sampled this beautiful and tasty sausage. That's uncharacteristic of a German who thrives on good sausages. My wife also loves Caesar salad. This was as good as any we've had at Italian restaurants. The portions were all extremely generous. We ordered much more than we could finish but it was all part of the plan. I can feast again tomorrow. The Londoner is one that I would highly recommend. Drumbuie and josephbloggs were right. And just a few shots of what was laying on the kitchen counter that will assuredly make one's mouth water . . .

I'm getting tuned today listening to my daughter's piano performance at a concert this afternoon. And then it's off to The Londoner restaurant in Suan Luang, Bangkok, to celebrate my daughter's recent morphing into a farang. She just received her 1st British passport this past Tuesday and is now officially a British citizen. We're truly an international family now . . . Thai, German, British and multiple representatives of the Great Cat Kingdom. Just goes to show that cosmic harmony can be achieved.

"Our own science instruments are constrained to 3 dimensions." 555555555555555555555555555 That's a teeny weensy bit of a problem, no?

Perhaps your best contribution thus far, save the frogs. I hadn't heard that wonderful tune before. Mick seems to be struggling for understanding. He ain't alone. Human suffering . . . why do we experience it? For surely if God existed he would never have allowed it. And since it is allowed and if God does exist then he is either twisted or has created a faulty universe. So goes the rationale and the conclusions drawn that are often expressed here. Why is suffering allowed and why do we experience it? If there's a reason and purpose for everything then must there be a good reason and purpose for suffering as well? Before I offer my two cents I'll sit back whilst pleasantly enjoying my morning coffee untroubled and observe what answers others come up with.