Category Archives: POETIC NONSENSE

Poetry by Lawrence R. Spencer. Poetic nonsense by Lawrence R. Spencer and others. Haiku poems by Lawrence R. Spencer.

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ILLUSIONS OF SENTIENCE

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In the philosophy of consciousness, “sentience” can refer to the ability of any entity to have subjective perceptual experiences.  This is distinct from other aspects of the mind and consciousness, such as creativity, intelligence, sapience, self-awareness, and intentionality (the ability to have thoughts that mean something or are “about” something). Sentience is a minimalistic way of defining “consciousness“, which is otherwise commonly used to collectively describe sentience plus other characteristics of the mind.

Eastern religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism recognize non-humans as sentient beings.According to Buddhism, sentient beings made of pure consciousness are possible. In Buddhism, the concept is related to the Bodhisattva, an enlightened being devoted to the liberation of others. The first vow of a Bodhisattva states: “Sentient beings are numberless; I vow to free them.”  Sentience in Buddhism is the state of having senses (sat + ta in Pali, or sat + tva in Sanskrit). In Buddhism, the senses are six in number, the sixth being the subjective experience of the mind. Thus, an animal qualifies as a sentient being.

In Buddhism the skandhas (or aggregates in English) are the five functions or aspects that constitute the human being.  The Buddha teaches that nothing among them is really “I” or “mine”.  Suffering arises when one identifies with or clings to an aggregate. Suffering is extinguished by relinquishing attachments to aggregates.

The five skandhas:

  1. “form” or “matter”  external and internal matter. Externally, is the physical world. Internally, this  includes the material body and the physical sense organs.
  2. “sensation” or “feeling”, sensing an objectas either pleasant or unpleasant or neutral.
  3. “perception”, “conception”, “apperception”, “cognition”, or “discrimination”, registers whether an object is recognized or not (for instance, the sound of a bell or the shape of a tree).
  4. “mental formations”, “impulses”, “volition”, or “compositional factors”, all types of mental habits, thoughts, ideas, opinions, prejudices, compulsions, and decisions triggered by an object.
  5. “consciousness” or “discernment”

The Buddhist literature describes the aggregates as arising in a linear or progressive fashion, from form to feeling, to perception, to mental formations to consciousness.  In the early texts, the scheme of the five aggregates is not meant to be an exhaustive classification of the human being. Rather it describes various aspects of the way an individual manifests.

  1. Understanding suffering: the five aggregates are the “ultimate referent” in the Buddha’s elaboration on suffering in his First Noble Truth: “Since all four truths revolve around suffering, understanding the aggregates is essential for understanding the Four Noble Truths as a whole.”
  2. Clinging causes future suffering: the five aggregates are the substrata for clinging and thus “contribute to the causal origination of future suffering”.
  3. Release from samsara: clinging to the five aggregates must be removed in order to achieve release from samsara, literally meaning “continuous flow”, is the repeating cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth (reincarnation)

— I HAVE EXCERPTED THE TEXT ABOVE FROM VARIOUS ARTICLES AND LINKS FOUND IN WIKIPEDIA.ORG  (LRS)

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THE SECRECY OF EVIL

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SECRECY

“…Secrecy is the keystone of all tyranny. Not force, but secrecy… censorship. When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, ‘This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know,’ the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives.”  –Robert A. Heinlein

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I’ve been reading the website for the book titled, “Political Ponerology“.  It’s about time someone wrote a book about “evil” and the manifestations of psychopaths in politics and in society!  With very few exceptions down the ages, discussions in moral philosophy – the study of “right conduct” – have failed to systematically investigate the origin, nature, and course of EVIL in a manner free from supernatural imaginings.

Evil was often considered something to be endured rather than something that could be understood and eliminated by rational measures.  A “scientific” approach is called “ponerology”:   or, the study of evil, comes from the Greek word “poneros” = evil.

Historically, in human society, secrecy has been the universal tool of priests, politicians and bankers to control civilizations for personal power, control and possession.  For me, personally, I have a very  simple view of “good” and “evil”.  The lion and the zebra is a simple analogy:   What is good for the Lion is evil for the Zebra!

One is the Predator, the other is the Prey.  Predators and Parasites are everywhere in the “natural” environment.  The simple fact is that Predators and Parasites ARE what they ARE!  They cannot behave in any other way.  It’s what they Do, and how they Think, it’s how they Survive!  They cannot be changed unless they are removed from their natural environment and controlled, in a zoo or prison.

A common problem with “normal people” is that they expect the Predators and Parasites to NOT BE WHAT THEY ARE!  It’s a simple inability to see what is front of their faces.  The fact is that “Predators Kill Prey”.  So, if you don’t what to become Prey for a Predator or Parasite, there are two option:   1) kill the predator or  2) stay away from them!

However, we must first recognize a predator when we see them!  By nature the are sneaky, covert, stealthy.  They hide in secrecy… They live among us, everywhere, blending into our environment, into the routine of our daily lives.  They forbid us to LOOK at them!!!  Then, when you least expect it, they POUNCE and devour their “food”.  Their “food” is US!

It’s really not too hard to understand….  But we must be continually AWARE of predators and parasites…. they are hidden by secrecy.”  —  Lawrence R. Spencer.

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Learn more about “Political Ponerology”  at http://www.ponerology.com/