MOOT!
My Opinions, Observations, and Thoughts
(Comments/criticisms/questions are always welcome at tansa_menna@yahoo.com.)

Doing something good is always more important than what other people think of you.

There are two kinds of people. Those who have motivations, and those who can see others' motivations. There are those who feel and those who see.
The seers have the power.

The ability to keep people from asking you questions is power.

Do not use people's weaknesses to hurt or take advantage of them.

People make life out to be more complicated than it is in order that they might justify their actions/attitudes later.

The first step towards achieving enlightenment is to dedicate your sole allegiance to Truth. Not to any particular truth (such as the belief that
you are a good/bad person, the rightness/wrongness of capital punishment, the flawlessness of math, the existence or non-existence of a God, or
the flatness of the Earth), not to any particular doctrine of Truth (such as Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, or Wicca), and not to any supposed
qualities of Truth (such as whether it is objective or subjective). Assume nothing, and seek only the essence, the entity of Truth itself. Seek
qualities of Truth, examples of Truth, and applications of Truth, but do not wed yourself to any of them. Anticipate that some of your beliefs
will be validated, others questioned, and others destroyed. Still others will at first be validated, only to be destroyed later, and there is no
way to guess which of your beliefs are at risk of being discarded in your pursuit of Truth. Assume that ALL of your beliefs are at risk. Believe,
with all your heart, that this is okay; that you are capable of living without having all the answers right now, but that you still must always
seek answers, even if they seem impossibly hidden or mysterious. Passionately question all authority, all rebellion, all choices, all existence.
Do not be snobby about the sources of your insight. Truth can be found in everything from reading religious texts to microwaving macaroni and
cheese. Open your mind and your heart to accept whatever truths you find, no matter what pain or joy they may bring. Do not waver in your in your
fidelity to Truth, in your desire to achieve Truth, no matter what the cost. TRUTH can be your only sovereign.

Second, live obedient to the truth, however you perceive it, and even when it is painful.

People are much more impressed by you when other people brag about you behind your back, rather than you bragging about yourself.
Even more impressive is for other people to realize on their own how great you are, without anybody telling them. That impression is
strong and enduring. So, don't brag. Actions speak louder than words. If you can impress people with behavior, without as little speech
as possible, then your defenders will be much more devoted.

When infatuation begins through being impressed by another person, rejection by that person cements (and sometimes intensifies) that
infatuation. This is because, if the infatuation is based on being impressed/intimidation, if it initially made the person feel weak and
unworthy, then a rejection by the object of their affections will only reaffirm their belief that they were reaching beyond their grasp.
Rejection guarentees that they will continue to see the other person as better than themselves. The only cures are for the idol to do
something which the infatuated individual deems morally abhorrent; or the for victim of idolatry to be idolized by others, and (thereby)
understand his or her own condition. Then, and only then, can the rejector be rejected. Care should be taken to avoid this type of
infactuation whenever possible. They are infatuations born of weakness and insecurity. Those insecurities can be manipulated and used by
the person being adored, if they know how. The way to prevent this situation is to have a true, solid, real, stable, hard-earned sense of
identity and self-worth. ... No one has a completely self-sufficient ego. We are all either arrogant or weak, often both, and we all must
be victims for our idols at some stage of life.

The intensely and enduringly devoted fornication of an open mind with curiousity breeds salvation. Curiousity is the philosopher's carnal
knowledge, the driving force to intimately experience life's mysteries, to map the thoughts of god/the universe. It is the exasperating,
tremulous, distressing, disquieting, demanding, immense, intricate, tiresome, humiliating, inconvenient, dangerous, insolent questioning
of the soul which, in time, paradoxically, is the ultimate path to peace and understanding.

Anger does not make you special.

Familiarity breeds comfort, in both the good and bad sense.

There are people who say that you should always give in to temptation. They reason that you'd never be tempted to do something that was
bad for you, so why hold back? These people are missing the point. The nature of temptation is that you are pulled both towards and away
from the action. You are only 'tempted' to do something when there is also something pulling you back. If you knew for 100% sure that it
was something you can and should do, then it would just be something that you wanted, not a 'temptation'. I'm not saying you should never
give in to temptation. There are times when you should, but the nature of temptation is that it's a behavior that deserves more than a
second's thought. Just make sure you know what you're doing. Always deal with that voice in your head telling you that what you want to
do is wrong. It may be a legitimate fear, it might not. It might a completely baseless fear, or even a neurosis. Just be responsible and
give things a second thought when they need it. Regardless if it's the best for you, what you're contemplating doing might not be the
best for all involved.

Constant bragging is a sign of insecurity. People who engage in it want to be bad-ass, want other people to know that they are bad-ass,
and are afraid that people will forget that they are bad-ass if they don't remind them constantly. Or, they are afraid that they are bad-ass
if they do not remind themselves constantly. They need admiring attention to feel validated.

Students are the best teachers. Those who are forever open to learning are to be respected.

Many times during your life you will be doomed to encounter dumb bastards, callous know-it-alls, insensitive jerks and rude asses. With
so many people being born every day, a certain percentage are bound to be irritable, annoying jerks. It's inevitable. Don't be surprised
when you meet them (in fact, expect to meet them, especially when you're already having a bad day), but don't let them ruin belief in
people or change your attitude about life. Realize that they are freaks of nature, identify them when you see them, and let them pass.
Unless there is some practical way to bring their horrible behavior to their attention, then just deal with them as best you can and move
on. It isn't worth letting them bring you down to their level.

Never fear change. Your identity is a process, unrestricted and undefined. Create your own identity before someone else tries to fashion
it for you. Take action to develop your potential for contributing to the world your greatest possible good.

Respect those who genuinely challenge you.

Differences of views does not preclude the existence of right and wrong. Interpretations can be wrong.

Always pay attention. Clues are everywhere. Never close your eyes. Prepare yourself. (Heheh, isn't that beautifully vague? I like it. Still,
good advice for life in general. You want to know the truths of life, just sit back and observe.)

Do not make a habit of either conformity or deviance. Evaluate every behavior (your behavior as well as that of other people) according to
the circumstances surrounding it. Insistent conformists are sheep. Insistent deviants are merely conformists to a different standard.

Feelings/fear of inadequecy breed anger.

If you want something done, and can do it yourself, then just do it. Don't bug other people for favors when you are  perfectly capable of
taking care of yourself.

People who cannot laugh at their own religion are dangerous.

It's not you against the world. It's you against your internal, subconscious, holy prejudices.

Beware those who resort to "you just don't understand" when they fail to convince you in argument. They are assuming that anyone with a
brain would necessarily agree with them. If you don't agree, it's because you're incompetent.

An idea, as long as there is language to express it in, can never fully die. It's permanence is guarenteed as long as there is evidence of
its existence.

We listen to music in order to feel more fully.

Rather than innovative competition, America's mix of capitalism and idealistic equality produces mass mediocrity. The exception: computers.

Exercise helps physically (of course), emotionally (through "venting" physically and by balancing hormones), and, sometimes, philosophically
(by teaching hard work and persistence).

Have emotional and energy priorities. Enjoy simple pleasures, but reserve anger for matters of importance. Don't waste your anger on
pettiness. Let go of the unimportant.

Unless you are free to fail, you are not free at all.

Crushes exist in order to get us interested in things we would not otherwise be interested in, and to motivate us to be better people.

To succumb to jadedness is weak and cowardly.

Strive for omniscience, omnitolerance, and act.

You will never know the whole story of any situation. Individuals are always more complex than they appear.

We are all flawed.

Do not expect people to sympathize with you, your values, or your goals.

Live according to your personal vision of moral behavior, regardless of how other people act towards each other and towards you.

Do not persecute others.

Be radically honest with yourself. Do not allow self-delusion to handicap your ability to interact with the world.

If you challenge another person's thought processes/belief system, do so only with love, compassion, patience, respect, humility, and a total
lack of expectations.

Be compassionate to the unphilosophical people. Do not devalue them.

Live according to your priorities.

You can't choose pain. You can't avoid pain. You can't ignore pain.  Pain is not a choice.  (Suffering is a choice, which is different.) To
experience pain is to be alive.

Life isn't fair, just do what you can.

Accept that other people find fulfillment in different ways than you do.

Do not be arrogant or selfish at the cost of devaluing others.

All people are of equal value and worth because all people have souls.

BLT Theory of Life: The purpose of life is the pursuit of beauty, love, and truth.

Preaching is fueled by doubt. People only insist on something being true when they have a neurotic need for it to be true. If it were
self-evident, there would be no need to proclaim it.


COMPARATIVE RELIGIONS:
(Contains many over-generalizations. I'm just putting down the basics here.)

Christianity
World View: God is perfect, and he loves us as his children. The world, God's creation, is good. People sin. In order for God to allow his
children into heaven, there had to be a perfect sacrifice. The perfect sacrifice was Jesus, the only son of God.
Method of Salvation: Accept that you are a sinner, that Jesus is your savior, and do your best to be a good person.
Life Instructions: Treat all people with mercy, compassion, and love.
My Analysis: 

Buddhism
World View: The world is an illusion, an appealing distraction which prevents people from becoming enlightened. Life is suffering. Each
person will continue to live and suffer over and over again until they reach enlightenment and full unification with God.
Method of Salvation: Understand that only through supressing desires can a person end suffering. Become fully detached from the world
because it is compose of illusion, evil and temptation. Follow the Eight Fold Path.
Life Instructions: Treat all people with mercy, compassion, and love.
My Analysis: 

Islam
World View:
Method of Salvation:
Life Instructions:
My Analysis: 
 
Judaism
World View:
Method of Salvation:
Life Instructions:
My Analysis: 



QUESTIONS:
Christians say we will know them by their love. What happens when a Christian meets a non-Christian with equal or greater love?

Name a core belief. If the person you loved the most disagreed with that core belief, would you still love them? Would you still want to be
around them? Is your love conditional? If not, how do you know when to say that you "love" someone else?

Would you rather be in pain or incapable of feeling pain?

Could Jesus have been greater if he had succumbed to humilty and lack of identity rather than prosetylizing and preaching and being a visible
member of the community?  Isn't being followed a reward? a gratification? Is the need for followers a vice?

Are guys are more likely to streak because they aren't as paranoid about their bodies?


DEFINITIONS:
apathy = the supreme insult
death = the ultimate motivation for living
evil = false promise of benefits with malicious intent
fear = the ultimate demotivator
Hell = self-indulgently insisting upon a falsehood or prejudice, even at the risk of your soul
hypocrisy = self-interest scoffing at the law of non-contradiction
idealism = 1. living according to one's beliefs  2. the only logical way to live
integrity = the ability to see yourself indulging in wrong action, and choosing not to
irony = the fountain of life's meaning
ideas = the most dangerous immortal beings on Earth
mediocrity = a glass ceiling
*pain = being unable to avoid seeing what you do not want to see
personal secrecy = the illusion of power and control (which also prevents growth)
trust = 1. voluntarily shared vulnerability  2. knowing how another person will betray you
truth = exquisitness
*wisdom = the ability to effectively deal with seeing what you do not want to see
words = the clearest conveyors of ideas
--learning and using new words = an expansion of consciousness


[* = Modifications of definitions that a different friend came up with.}


Ways to be Romantic:
"I'm thinking of you." (Saying you miss someone or care for them, or that something that happened earlier reminded you of them.)
"I care about you." (Sacrificing your own time, effort, money, whatever in order to help the other person, or just to be with them. The willingness
to risk oneself and to suffer (when needed).]
"I know you." (Know unique things they like and give it to them. Remembering details about them that they've only told you once. Seeing
someone's thoughts without being told. Understanding someone better than they understand themselves.)
"I want you to know me." (Being open, being vulnerable, being dangerously honest, risking yourself.)
"I want you ... now." (Desire, lust, sexiness, etc.)

Values more prevalent among honors students:
**anti-"girlie"-ism (by both genders)
valuing individuality/independence/free thought/enlightenment
realism
secularism, religious toleration (non-denominational or spiritual without an affiliation), or highly researched and deeply felt spirituality
   (against unthinking, blind, unmindful, naive acceptance of "authorities")
shock valued; enjoying shaking up the unthinking, conforming majority
anti-shallowness
neurotic compulsion to feel in power and in control
**contempt of the masses
bored omniscience
procrastination/apathy/depression
self-glorification out of self-validation need (in self-defense, brought about by early outcast status)

FOUR OPTIONS:
1. Optimists are cowards. They are sheltered people attempting to remain sheltered. They are typically naively shallow and self-focused with
a selective memory. They are afraid of recognizing a significant realm of life: pain through disappointment. They fear faithlessness and
hopelessness, because they need faith and hope to give life meaning.
2. Pessimists are cowards. They are highly-sensitive people who have been burned, and resorted to numb anger as a sheild against future
let-downs. They are typically intentionally shallow and self-indulgent with a selective memory. They are afraid of experiencing a significant
realm of life: pain through disappointment. They fear committing their minds and hearts to an expectation, because to be disappointed again
would be soul-crippling. They fear finding life's meaning, only to have it taken away. They fear faith and hope, because these entail the risk
of disappointment.
3. The realist without attachments to hope is either a sage or a zombie. This person lives without hope-without fear-without expectation-
without assumptions of a good or bad universe. They are devoid of subjectivity and are truly prepared to deal with reality; but they are also
devoid of personal emotional investment. There are no neurosis, no hope, and no fear; but there is also no personal risk involved. It is a
difficult thing to always be at two with the world, and this emotional island becomes lonely. It is our shared vulnerability which brings human
connection, and the benefits of vulnerability are lost on a realist practicing non-attachment. We cannot learn from pain if we do not allow
ourselves to experience it, and we only have pain when we allow ourselves to hope.
4. The emotionally integrated realist is either a naive child or a well-adjusted, fully alive, complete realization of potentiality. This
person lives with hope-with fear-with expectation, but without assumptions of a good or bad universe. This realist wavers between subjectivity
and objectivity. They learn to accept what life throws their way and deal with it as best they can. They continually acknowledge the existence
of good and bad, pain and pleasure, euphoria and agony, violence and peace, success and failure. They know all these are part of life, and they
face their future with uncertainy but with understanding, and that understanding gives them strength. They see their own weaknesses and their
limitations and the risk entailed in an emotionally committed life, but they continue living and working and striving anyway. They are courageous
in their weakness.

In conclusion: Accept pain, relish joy, know that the world is both friendly and scary, live expecting the unexpected (both life-affirming and tragic),
accept your weaknesses and your strengths, deal with each event in your life on its own basis, let go of your neurosis, and reject fear.