Guest Imladil Posted July 2, 2000 Share Posted July 2, 2000 George, that has got to be the funniest s**t I've seen here in some time. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Master Posted July 3, 2000 Share Posted July 3, 2000 Hehe, I must agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest George the Armadillo Posted July 3, 2000 Share Posted July 3, 2000 I try to please ------------------ I've never done a stupid thing in my entire life, with the exception of all that stuff I did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Imladil Posted July 3, 2000 Share Posted July 3, 2000 Ah, me. *(Wiping the tears from his eyes)* I have several different interpretations of the river koan, and I will be discussing each of them. Tonight I will be dealing with the answer "the past." One way of looking at the movement of the river is to focus on the nature of water itself. Unlike solid matter, liquid matter behaves quite differently; it will always have movement, so long as it is unevenly distributed and has the space to move into. Even when still, the slightest variation in temperature is enough to cause internal conductive movement. It can be argued that it simply is in water's nature to move. Anyone about to make an argument based on ice, forget it. Ice is water's solid form, and no longer obeys liquid dynamics. So...if water is always moving (or at least always willing to move), then what is it running from? Well, since water is basically fearless, it probably isn't running from hell-potatoes (although I certainly would!), but it is 'running' in a very fundamental sense that is tied directly to its flowing nature--it is running the course of time. If one could freeze time, water would become non-moving, and if one could reverse time, a river would also flow backward. Since our river can be seen to run 'with' time, then it is following it; and time, by definition, is always moving from the past. So our river is running from the past. Something about tax fraud and an underage secretary... Tomorrow I'll talk about my next answer, "Santa Claus." ------------------ "I sought the true nature of reality but discovered instead the real nature of truth." --Thrustweasel of Earth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Master Posted July 4, 2000 Share Posted July 4, 2000 Oooooooooooooo........ Santa Claus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Imladil Posted July 6, 2000 Share Posted July 6, 2000 Okay, maybe not actually Santa Claus, per se, but rather the north pole. To be even more precise, both poles. As the good commander earlier pointed out, rivers in the northern hemisphere tend to run toward the south. The same occurs in the southern hemisphere, only reversed; in general, rivers tend to flow toward the equator. Why is this? Well...try this. Dip a basketball in water, then twirl it on your finger like a globetrotter. What happens? The water collects around the equator of the ball and sprays out in a fan. Probably got your face wet, too. This is centrifugal force in action, and it's also the force responsible for the Earth being shaped in such a way that rivers flow the way they do. I have more to say on the river koan, but I sense that the rest of you are probably done with it. So: "Do penguins like the water?" Meanwhile, I'll talk about my third answer to the river koan, "Radiation," tonight. ------------------ "I sought the true nature of reality but discovered instead the real nature of truth." --Thrustweasel of Earth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HiddenTalon Posted July 6, 2000 Share Posted July 6, 2000 No! Penguins HATE the water! Take a penguin near the water, and it will cry out in pain! ------------------ Name: HiddenTalon Email: HiddenTalon@mail.com Occupation: Crashing virtual X-Wings Webpage: www.scabmaps.cjb.net =) Don't click on Mr. Smiley! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lt Cracken Posted July 6, 2000 Share Posted July 6, 2000 depends if you could get the penguine to talk, which is unlikely. I think penguines DESPISE water, but use it for a tool, a survival thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Imladil Posted July 6, 2000 Share Posted July 6, 2000 Soldier #1: All right, penguin...out with it! Penguin: *Waaak! Waaak!* Soldier #2: I think he wants some water. Penguin: *Waa-aaak!* Soldier #1: Oh, you want this glass of ice water, do you? Soldier #2: He seems scared of it. Penguin: *Waaak! Waaak! Waaak!* Soldier #1: Of course he's scared, idiot...of us! He wants the water, trust me. Talk, penguin! Officer: Nevermind. This is getting nowhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Master Posted July 6, 2000 Share Posted July 6, 2000 Good peice of humor Imladil! I appreciate, especailly since it goes along with what we are argueing about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Imladil Posted July 7, 2000 Share Posted July 7, 2000 So...why is the river running from radiation of all things? Well, I would. Radiation is scary. Seriously? This answer is based on looking at the driving force behind the water's motion. Why doesn't the water flow to the ocean and just stay there? Because that water is evaporated, forms clouds, which flow back over the land to cause rain. Because of the evaporation process, the water is constantly being funneled back up into the sky, so it can renew the flow process we all see in the running river. The evaporation is being caused by the sun, whose electromagnetic radiation (or sunshine if you will) raise the temperature of the ocean's surface. The radiation impacting the water molecules and raising their temperature to the point where they change form and become gaseous is the whole energizing point in the cycle; every other action the water takes is a reaction to that initial change in nature. Therefore, the river is running from the radiation. So, to sum up, in my opinion the river is running from the past, the Earth's pole and the sun's radiation consecutively. No wonder the river seems to be in a hurry... Curious fact: the Rogue River is about five miles from my house. It is aptly named, and is in much of a hurry. My take on the penguin koan? They seem to. ------------------ "I sought the true nature of reality but discovered instead the real nature of truth." --Thrustweasel of Earth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lt Cracken Posted July 7, 2000 Share Posted July 7, 2000 they seem to what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Imladil Posted July 7, 2000 Share Posted July 7, 2000 Penguins...seem to...like the water. Of course, it's possible that they're just cheerful animals to begin with. Okay, nevermind the penguin koan. I have a new one, an all-time Q-stumper that I think I got from an episode of Dexter's Laboratory (I'm not sure of the precise wording used). Best answer gets tickets on the next spaceshuttle flight. "What is the purpose of meaning?" ------------------ "I sought the true nature of reality but discovered instead the real nature of truth." --Thrustweasel of Earth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HiddenTalon Posted July 7, 2000 Share Posted July 7, 2000 Here goes- The purpose of meaning is to define. A meaning shows you what the object/word you have the meaning of actually IS. A meaning tells you how to use the object. It tells you WHAT the object is. A meaning is to put limits of what an object may be used for (AKA no shooting Penguins with an A-Wing). ------------------ Name: HiddenTalon Email: HiddenTalon@mail.com Occupation: Crashing virtual X-Wings Webpage: www.scabmaps.cjb.net =) Don't click on Mr. Smiley! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chillin Posted July 7, 2000 Share Posted July 7, 2000 Do noy fear Chillin is here!! It's good to be back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Master Posted July 7, 2000 Share Posted July 7, 2000 And it's good to have you back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Imladil Posted July 7, 2000 Share Posted July 7, 2000 Yippee skippy flippy hippy! Welcome back, hu-man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lt Cracken Posted July 8, 2000 Share Posted July 8, 2000 The purpose of meaning is to be mean! (get it? meaning, mean..... oh forget you. at least I'm ORIGINAL) ------------------ Even if you dodge this, Kakarotto, THIS PLANET'S GOING UP IN SMOKE!! Vegeta, DragonBall Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Master Posted July 8, 2000 Share Posted July 8, 2000 Hear that! The commander is origianal! Ya!!!!!!! Finally some one in here is origainal. Wait a moment, I am getting worked up over nothin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Shootist Posted July 8, 2000 Share Posted July 8, 2000 IMLADIL...in your discourse between the soldiers and the penguin, I suggest you change the two soldiers and the officer. Make it two officers and the penguin with the enlisted person telling them "nevermind". Ya see in the real world officers would expect the penguin to speak...the enlistee would KNOW better. Officers in general don't usually know which end of a penguin talks and which end poops. True confessions. ------------------ VERY FUNNY SCOTTY, now please beam down my PANTS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Imladil Posted July 8, 2000 Share Posted July 8, 2000 Actually, the penguin would be the better qualified of all of them for officer school. Okay, I will now attack the purpose of meaning. *(Imladil draws a samurai sword, yells 'BANZAI!' and runs into the jungle.)* Meaning is the sentient consciousness' way of connecting itself to the universe around it. When the mind in question perceives a object, that mind does not think exactly how big it is, what color, what it is made of, etc.; what does register upon the mind is that object's meaning. This is a key insight to understanding the nature of consciousness. We don't see a thing as it really is and then take that information directly into our thoughts. We see the thing, and the mind gives meaning to the image, interpreting what, why and how it is before passing it on to our train of thought. When one looks at a pencil, for example, one thinks 'yellow,' maybe a brief memory of using them in school, how it feels to draw with the soft graphite tip, maybe even how the wood tastes if one nibbles on it when lost in thought...one doesn't simply take in the length of wood and rubber exactly as it is. Say you stumble, quite by accident, upon a space alien in your kitchen. For a split-second, when you first see the alien, you do not react...you wait until the mind has supplied the proper meaning, in this case 'Earth is being invaded,' and then you panic. Here is a simple meditational exercise y'all can try at home, which deals with this very matter. You take an object, preferably one with which you have no personal connection, and set it on the table before you. As you are looking at it, notice the thoughts flowing through your mind. Close down any thoughts about the object as you continue to gaze upon it. When you are seeing the object but generating no thoughts about it, you may experience what some easterners call 'being one' with the object. If one develops the ability to perceive without assigning meaning, one can experience the universe on a direct, personal level. Suddenly, all those little details one passes by can be seen as they truly are...and one can get to the truth of a thing's nature much more quickly without having to cut through one's own preconceptions first. So am I saying we should render all things meaningless so we could understand them better? You bet. ------------------ "I sought the true nature of reality but discovered instead the real nature of truth." --Thrustweasel of Earth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Imladil Posted July 9, 2000 Share Posted July 9, 2000 HiddenTalon, you can pick up your tickets at the shuttle gantry. Fare is roundtrip, and you do understand there are no accommodations... New koan: "How does the wind find its way?" I read a neat story that I'd like to share with you about a taoist master and a shaman in ancient China. The taoists were an order in China who contributed much philosophy to Buddhism, and Zen in particular. The taoist master had a pupil, who learned of a skilled shaman in the village. Impressed by the shaman's ability to read people spiritually, the pupil decided to follow the shaman instead...and told his master so. 'Bring the shaman to me. I wish to meet him,' said the master. The pupil brought the shaman to meet the master. After a brief talk, the shaman whispered to the pupil that the master was dying, and had only days to live. When the shaman had left, the pupil cried, 'O master, I fear that I must tell you now the most horrible news!' The master smiled. 'I am not dying. I had shut down all of my power, and he saw my weakness. Bring him again tomorrow.' The next day, the pupil brought the shaman, who when he saw the master next exclaimed that he had been miraculously healed, and should be glad that his visit the day before had done so. When the shaman had left, the master told his now puzzled student, 'This time I brought all of my powers to their fullness. I wish to see this man again.' The next time the shaman came to visit, he found the master calm but intent, very evenly tempered. He could find nothing to proclaim. After he'd left, the pupil said, 'He does not know what to make of you.' 'This time I blended forces within myself to a state of balance,' said the master. 'He must have seen the source of my power.' Sadly shaking his head, he said, 'I must see this man again, for I have nine such states to show him, and he has seen but three.' The shaman did not visit the master again. The next time they met was by accident, as the master and his pupil were walking in the village. They met and exchanged greetings...and the shaman ran away, screaming in terror. 'What frightened him so?' wondered the pupil. 'This time,' smiled the master, 'I became emptiness, and he was talking to the wind and the sky. Let this be a lesson on the power of the shaman versus the power of the tao.' ------------------ "I sought the true nature of reality but discovered instead the real nature of truth." --Thrustweasel of Earth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Master Posted July 9, 2000 Share Posted July 9, 2000 Nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Commander 5-98 Posted July 9, 2000 Share Posted July 9, 2000 My idea of how the wind finds its way:Its doesn't!!!!!!!!!It justs gets pushed everywhere(except through water and through solid objects)and thats how it gets around.WAIT A SECOND!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm wrong the wind is generated by the turning of the earth.I think?????? Somebody help me out!!!! ------------------ I rule this ocean with an iron fist,an iron tail, and for that matter an iron everything-Metalseadramon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chillin Posted July 11, 2000 Share Posted July 11, 2000 The wind goes to wherever humans are booming out too fast, and it wreaks it's havoc and knocks over a few buildings and posibly takes a few lives. Wing-the anti-overpopulation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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