719 Let the fateful events pass through me smoothly | The beast loves wisdom

The Beast was reading Liu Yu's new book "The Art of Possibility: 30 Lectures on Comparative Politics" for the past two days. She mentioned:

"What is social science insight? It is first and foremost the ability to defamiliarize the familiar, the ability to turn a period into a question mark, the ability to connect the "here and now" with the countless "hes and moments." Ability is related to everyone's sensitivity and everyone's knowledge. If you are a frog in the bottom of a well, then you will never get that perspective of yourself, and you may even be arrogant because of this narrowness.

Why did the Industrial Revolution happen in Britain and not in other countries? North traced the problem back to the Glorious Revolution in Britain. The Glorious Revolution succeeded in "putting power in a cage" and brought "credible commitments", which enabled the people to gain an unprecedented sense of property security, and created opportunities for investment, production, and innovation. power, which eventually triggered the industrial revolution. "

Throughout the hundred years of China, the glorious revolution in China has never been completed. Instead, it is power that "puts citizens in cages".

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Secular life is full of hectic, distracting, and tempting pursuits, and people are always in an endless pursuit of joy and avoid boring themselves. But a troubled heart is easily tired and tired. When a person decides to devote himself to the practice, he has already taken the first step towards liberation, out of the existing predicament. Such a process may be painful and frustrating at the beginning, because the accumulated habits, desires and fears will hinder spiritual growth. Ajahn Chah pointed out that some people imagine the life of being a monk as a liberation, but after the actual monk, when they face themselves for the first time and have nowhere to hide, they realize that they are caught in a storm.

Ajahn Chah's teachings do not emphasize any particular method of meditation, nor do they encourage people to take accelerated Vipassana or intensive meditation courses. He taught people to first observe the in-breath and out-breath to adjust the mind, and then continue to observe the changes in the body and mind when the mind is settled. Maintaining a simple, natural attitude to life and observing his mind are the essentials of his practice, in order to cultivate a balanced state of mind that is neither attachment nor self. Whether it is meditation or daily life, it is a practice. As long as you watch it patiently, wisdom and harmony will emerge in a natural situation.

Ajahn Chah's wisdom naturally revealed itself through many skillful means, inadvertently leading his disciples to liberation. At the beginning of his practice, he emphasized morality and self-discipline. At rallies, he often cites anecdotes and allusions, or asks koan-like incisive questions. Regarding the delusions of the world or his disciples, he has a humorous and humorous attitude. His teachings are cordial and lively, based on compassionate understanding and wise dialogue, with no gaps between him and his disciples. Although his practice method includes strict training in morality, discipline, renunciation and meditation, it does not stress people, and naturally leads people to wisdom and liberation. His meditation teachings point directly to liberation, never beating around the bush.

In teaching the various traditional practices of mindfulness and meditation, he always tries not to mention special experiences such as samadhi, concentration, or enlightenment. Meditation is nothing but a tool, a way of sitting upright and examining oneself, for the sole purpose of subduing and expanding the mind. He instructs students to "rest in awareness" and discover the natural peace within. He pointed out that on the basis of meditation, we will be able to see the reality better, that is, the "true face" of things. We will be able to see the nature of life's impermanence and non-self; to discover suffering, its cause, and its cessation. He sees meditation as a way to free us from bondage, to stop fighting, to let go of our attachments and to be at ease with whatever comes our way.

He did not encourage hunger strikes, silence, or isolation from the world. He said, "We should open our eyes and practice. If isolation from the outside world can make people enlightened, the blind and deaf people will have awakened long ago." Wisdom should be in sensory contact To find, the world is transcended by knowing, not by escaping. Interacting with people in a regular life, day in and day out, is the way of life in his monastery. In this way, one can expose one's own habits, and one can observe the way in which suffering arises. He often said, "If it's hot and troublesome there, that's right, it's a good place to practice."

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In official discourse, "public opinion" has long been regarded as a social body that needs to be recuperated and treated, and the so-called "public opinion outbreak" is undoubtedly a pathological manifestation of this social body. This line of thinking is evident from the official use of the words "public opinion" and "public opinion" and the subtle differences between the two words. Different from "public opinion" in a broad sense, the word "public opinion" has a top-down governance meaning.

In the implementation of public opinion work, the government has long regarded society as a patient who needs monitoring, testing, and even isolation and treatment at any time. The top government officials themselves, on the other hand, claim to be doctors with advanced science and technology. The doctor has the power to decide what is the standard of health, what is the goal of treatment, and has the power to take what he thinks is scientific treatment. The truth is only in the hands of this doctor. If it is not from the doctor's scientific conclusion, it will inevitably become "rumor" or "bad information", and the patient under the scalpel, no matter how painful it has been, needs "" Wait for the official rumors to be refuted", "subject to the official conclusion", "adhere to positive energy".

Public opinion monitoring is not only concerned with whether an individual's political expression touches taboos and how it needs to be corrected, but how social public opinion is trending as part of daily life and how to bring it back to "normal". The idea of Chinese public opinion governance is actually the "governance technique" pointed out by the French philosopher Foucault in his book "Security, Territory and Population".

Foucault believes that the logic of "governance" is different from the logic of "governance", and there is a dialectical difference between the micro and macro. For the "ruler" of a traditional society, the rule is macroscopic, the ruler is high above, and does not intervene in the microscopic operation of the ruled society; at the same time, the ruled object is individual, and they are not regarded as An entire "society" is analyzed and monitored, but only individuals are punished when they commit crimes.

The "governance" of modern countries is different. The governor needs to precisely control the microscopic operation of the society in order to obtain the highest work efficiency and maximum stability. And this in turn requires the rulers to take the society as a whole, monitor the society in real time, and carry out constant discipline, so as to interfere with people's consciousness and shape the main body of people.

Over the past few years, all words that have a "negative" effect on national governance have not escaped the three-pronged interrogation of the propaganda machine: rumors, foreign forces, and negative social influence. These three concepts are like Sun Wukong's hair. In the face of "public opinion events" that are difficult to respond directly, just take a breath to make the machine continue to operate, or at least achieve "turn over" as soon as possible. Even in many cases, these three kinds of interrogation do not necessarily need to come from the official, they have become the premise and bottom line of many people's thinking.

These concepts may not point to any systematic and single ideology, but their significance lies in exclusion, which is actually the primary purpose of ideological work and the ideological foundation of “dynamic clearing.” "Rumors" exclude unofficial and non-authoritative information, "social influence" excludes the expression of negative emotions, and "foreign forces" exclude news that can be used to "smear" and "hand over knives." When the harmful content is "cleared" in time, the "truth" is firmly in the hands of the propaganda machine.

Perhaps it is inexplicable why some people identify with those spectators on the Diaoyutai. On the one hand, perhaps trying to keep an indifferent distance from other people's misfortunes is also a way to maintain one's "mental health"; on the other hand, in recent years, the "big picture" has almost become an epidemic, making People are blinded unconsciously. More and more people who speak out on the Internet have begun to empathize with those in power, rather than ordinary people who are related to their own destiny. It is under such circumstances that the words "handing knives" and "smearing" spread.

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The role of the traditional astrologer is to tell people's fortunes, as if the natal chart can reveal the future situation, and these external situations can be predicted and even cannot be changed. But obviously the predictions of things change because of their complexity, and human beings are the least predictable because he has a certain level of reason, will, the ability to disengage, and the ability to respond in a variety of ways.

If one's awareness develops more acutely, it becomes less predictable. Furthermore, a person with a high level of awareness may only need a hint to learn a lesson or gain an insight, while a person with a lower level of awareness must rely on specific external events and situations to obtain the same understanding and insight.

A person can be accurately predicted because of his lack of awareness, and on this basis, modern astrology is obviously the object of those who have taken action to increase self-awareness.

Everyone does have their own natal chart, specific karmic patterns, or various inclinations at the emotional, mental, physical, etc. levels, but the situation a person will face is largely set by the way he presents it Certainly. In other words, you get what you give; everything goes back to its source.

If a person is acting impatient or self-righteous, then she or he is bound to induce others to react the same way. It is futile to blame the misfortune of one's own creation on the natal chart. Therefore, the modern and constructive application of astrology should be to transform and correct the energy pattern of the natal chart, so that the most positive manifestations can be displayed.

In fact, the main reason why most people get stuck in a certain life encounter and become in a dilemma is that they don't know how to deal with it. Due to the lack of comprehensive understanding, it is only possible to react negatively from an inertial model and a narrow perspective that is beyond one's control.

Astrology can connect the small universe and the large universe, allowing us to gain insight into the extremely precise karmic context behind events from the built-in unity and simultaneity of life, and then accept and face challenges with a positive and open mind in order to achieve Purpose of purification and growth. Therefore, anticipating the challenges that may be faced in the future does not limit the individual's free will, but instead makes people more able to make the destined events smoothly pass through them, and also through their own will and choices.