metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor

writer | game designer | animist mythhacker | jianghu technopagan
metapunk = genre + metarelational jkd

he/him

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@meaning_enjoyer this. and everyone chasing absorption states and mindful productive flow and not one word about metta practice. lopsided, misconstrued buddhism easily lends itself to western technocapitalism-induced sociopathy.

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@gnopercept this seems reasonable to me :)

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@gnopercept Two potential reasons occur to me:

1: putting things into space takes precise aim & timing requiring a stable launch platform; i'd expect balloons just drift & spin too much & rockets can't carry enough fuel to correct

2: Helium is maybe too costly & hydrogen is volatile

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@FelixDelong thank you as well, Felix. Enlightening for me as well. always a pleasure chatting with you. Until next time! 💚🙏

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@FelixDelong oh wow--that's new to me; thank you for sharing that.

but yeah -- total paradox. everything flows into and out of everything else, reversing and returning as it goes. a paradox or a dance; either way, we can only dance too, maybe turn in time where we want to go; or get dragged.

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@FelixDelong exactly this. to realize that pain and challenge is a part of life, but we do have choices about how to respond to it--and with mindfulness & the precepts, we can regulate our thinking & emotions more effectively, in turn giving us a lot more "optionality" with those responses.

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@FelixDelong Yes--very much so! and likewise; less so Buddhist maybe, but esp in the West, a lot of people struggle to make clear distinction between happiness/overall well-being and momentary gratification & sense-pleasure. A lot of post-Protestant toxicity in particular runs on it.

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@FelixDelong indeed! i still struggle with listening to it immensely in most parts of life. but in a situation like that, when the teaching is so egregious; or -- maybe in terms of the philosophical domain specifically, my instinct & intuition are always on point; always serve me well.

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@FelixDelong exactly. although i think if one lived in a monastery, it'd be easy to overlook those effects. but when you've got to make your own way out in the world, without meals, shelter, and regimented lifestyle all taken care of, you notice very fast where that kind of thinking leads.

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@FelixDelong we all do sometimes; part of that paradox.
if we didn't do it, we wouldn't be able to grow.

evolution runs on mutation -- life itself, in all it's glorious complexity, literally happens by endless mistakes. or as the Boddhisattva known as Bob Ross would say, "happy accidents"

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@FelixDelong it's such a paradox. but i mean, that was the whole reason the Buddha did his thing right? he was trying to solve suffering too; he maybe just didn't expect the solution to be mainly in realizing that so much of our suffering is illusory; more about our definitions than facts.

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@FelixDelong but like you say; suffering is--well, kind of part of the journey maybe--but it still sucks; and there's still nothing wrong with trying to reduce it, even though it's a moving target, and even tho we have to be careful not to struggle too hard against it, or we generate more.

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@FelixDelong so i pretty much left that group immediately; and why i have absolutely no problem with debating, arguing with, or simply walking away from traditions, teachers, or anyone that doesn't sit right with my own heart and guts--i.e. my first and only real gurus.

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@FelixDelong which is frankly fucking awful. not mindfulness, or metta at all; attempting to strong-arm the mind & emotions, while cultivating a horrifying attitude toward another living person, as well as myself. massive distortion. but it's a real traditional practice in some old monastery.

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@FelixDelong that difference of knowing the path and walking it is universal -- and we're kind of all working through that gap in our own way; sometimes a little more ahead, sometimes a little more behind. part of the suffering of life we can't really control--only learn to laugh about. 😁

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@FelixDelong for sure. but like anything. how many self-identified and even dedicated Christians can we say really grasp what Jesus talked about? And I can think of many famous critical thinking & science popularizers who suffer from Dunning-Kruger effect far more than anyone else...

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@FelixDelong well, and sometimes life really hard. sometimes really really hard. i can't blame anyone who has doubts about if the whole thing is worth it, or even real.

but ideally we don't want to dwell there. good news is it's at least empty enough that we can shift our relationship to it.

[metapunk/zero | reality is only a metaphor @metapunkzero]

@danielbrottman 🙏💚😄 all good. working through it. i'm honestly on the downward slope of it all now.