For action [[film]] , have the protagonist start out losing so that every move helps the plot go forward. Make each part of the fight, chase, etc, move the plot forward. You may need to shoot a stunt two hundred times, until you get it right. Consider the stunt of kicking a grenade back- you may have to attempt the kick two hundred times. Let all the character get hurt a lot- show the [[pain]]. When someone hits someone hard, cut to the hit- show it twice. A wide [[camera]] angle and steady frame allow the audience to see the movement of skilled stunts. Use objects where possible. Have action and reaction in the same shot. Use crowd [[movement]] and reaction to emphasize the conflict of the scene. Use [[weather]] where possible. To make something in a [[film]] feel big, put lots of moving things in the same [[camera]] shot. [[Move]] the character to follow movement to emphasize a movement. If your [[characters]] are looking off-screen in a [[camera shot]] that already has a lot of moving parts, it gives even more [[scale]] to the scene.
[[People]] are only open to [[manipulation]] after a series of [[losses]]. One [[source]] shows this in other primates, such as Chimpanzees. Sánchez-Amaro, A., Tan, J., Kaufhold, S. P., Fernández-Navarro, S., & Rossano, F. (2021). How environmental unpredictability and harshness affect chimpanzees (pan troglodytes) in risk-choice and temporal discounting tasks. Journal of Comparative Psychology. doi:10.1037/com0000261
It is [[probable]] that a successful [[political]] [[revolution]] only needs about 10% of the [[population]] to back it.
In [[ritual]] [[design]], ask: how does [[movement]] play a part?
When [[fighting]] (and so when doing anything), ask: how is the [[body]] [[moving]] in [[space]]? This is an example of [[knowing The Way broadly]].
To [[conquer]] something points at the ability to [[take]] something. To take something is rooted in [[touching]] something. So, to conquer something is to touch that thing. To conquer something is to [[relate]] to it. This may be why we must accept the [[void]]. By accepting the void, we touch it. By touching it, we conquer the void. It is the function of [[life]] to incorporate the seemingly [[random]] [[uncertainty]] of empty [[space]] by consuming it.
[[War]], the word, comes from the [[Proto-Indo-European]] word ‘wers-‘, which means to mix up, to confuse, to beat, to thresh. So war is a [[blending]] process.
When you’re at the [[top]] of your [[status]] [[hierarchy]] (your [[scene]], your [[game]]), you may only get more [[energy]] from other games/scenes/status hierarchies.
A [[core]] [[skill]] of the [[warrior]] is to have accepted [[death]]. This is reflected in the [[samurai]] saying, "he who leaves his house intending to live will die; and he who leaves his house intending to die, will live." There is a story of a founder of a [[sword]] school, [[Yagyû Tajima no kami Munenori]], who met a student who did not study any sword techniques. His only skill was having accepted death. Yagyu said that all the skills come from this fundamental skill, so he accepted him as a member of the school.
In [[The Seven Pillars of Wisdom]], [[TE Lawrence]] mentions that because the [[Ottoman]] [[military]] relied on [[top-down]] directives and their officers were not allowed to exercise [[initiative]], they became a leaderless mob as soon as the [[Bedouins]] cut off their communication to central command.
If you amp up [[excitement]], you amp up [[anxiety]] in those who are anxious and [[aggression]] in those who are aggressive. This is reflected in [[dogs]], as shown by [[Cesar Milan]]. So, too, if you correct someone when you have [[tension]], you will not correct them, you will escalate their [[fear]].
When you become the best of the best at something, let go of it. [[mastery]] [[exploration]]
The more a society is ruled by [[priests]], the more it is disgusted by [[fights]] because a fighting culture ( a culture of [[warriors]]) is an even bigger tax on [[bullshit]] than a [[betting]] culture (a culture of [[merchants]]), and priests need a certain amount of bullshit to maintain a [[monoculture]].
You may sabotage an internally [[misaligned]] person who is trying to [[control]] you by asking them how they would do what they want you to do and then doing it.
The closer you are to the [[endgame]], the more [[linear]] things can be. [[Play]] helps us hone our opening gambits.
[[Bertrand du Guesclin]], successful [[commander]] on the French side of the Hundred Years [[war]], lived by "no [[attack]] without [[surprise]]".
[[Steven Fan]] said, "What if [[halos]] are infrared spectra [[light]] thrown off from high performant [[computation]] in the heads of divinely [[inspired]] beings?"
In [[Vajrayana]] [[Buddhism]], those of the long hair and white skirts are neither the bald ones (typical [[monastic]] order) or laypeople. They are [[sexually]] (and so romantically) active practitioners.
You may only share in [[love]] if you [[let go]] of what you defined yourself as and what you want to [[define]] yourself as.
If you view what is happening as something that is caused by something outside you, you get attached to the [[category]], the [[form]] of what has happened. The [[categorization]] freezes it, makes it solid, makes it rigid, and so it breaks and you lose it.
[[Masculine]] and [[feminine]] are ‘split’ within men and women, not between.
[[Nonduality]] can be touched through [[romance]], sometimes more easily than in [[emptiness]] [[meditation]].
For those who walk [[untrammeled]], [[linear sequence]]s make little sense. [[Everyday]] practice is not well-suited to [[linear sequence]]- which is why linear sequences make the most sense for ascetic groups but not someone living a life outside a monastery.
A [[dance]] of [[emptiness]] and [[form]] happens in every moment. From emptiness, find the [[thread]] of life, from the thread of [[life]], find emptiness.
The [[mind]] arises from [[emptiness]], so all things come from emptiness.
We practice [[emptiness]] by noticing the emptiness in our [[relationships]] and [[experiences]].
When you think something is [[good]] or [[bad]], [[notice]]. Allow what is there to be what it is.
Relax with [[uncertainty]].
Can I drop what I think I know about this person, and simply sense how we are [[relating]] now?
[[Romance]]: story cultivated flux expression, story of a genuine work of art
[[Growing]] with [[outward]] each other is the story of [[awareness]].
Finding [[uncertainty]] is a step toward noticing [[emptiness]].
Answers are an [[impermanent]] [[creation]] from [[permanent]] [[emptiness]].
"we could wake up with unbridled [[lust]]" for our exact situation. For [[reality]] as it is.
Any attempt to [[categorize]] or [[define]] will eventually [[fail]]. Disorientation without judgement- something unexpected could happen at any moment.
The dance of [[emptiness]] and [[form]] is a key to [[relationship]]. You can find it in the dance of insecurity and security. [[Excitement]] and [[fear]] are practically identical- which is why they are a good place to find the dance of emptiness and form. If you form a reason to fear, it is fear, if you form a reason to be excited, it is excitement. Similarly, falling in love is the same as a panic attack.
Find [[emptiness]] by noticing thing and anti-thing present at once.
[[Security]] is a feeling we derive from the meaning we make of our being.
What makes you feel [[secure]] but makes someone else feel [[insecure]]? What makes someone else feel secure but makes you feel insecure?
You will never feel [[secure]] if you try to feel secure from a base of [[insecurity]]. If you try to do that you will simply be someone who appears to be secure according to what an insecure person thinks a secure person looks like.
[[Security]] [[contains]] insecurity (since you can be insecure from a base of security and that’s okay) but insecurity does not want to contain security.
[[Security]], then, is the ability to accept insecurity as a part of yourself.
[[Security]] cannot make an insecure agent secure, and insecurity cannot make a secure agent insecure.
[[Insecurity]] cannot play with [[emptiness]], while security can play with emptiness.
[[Insecurity]] feels it is cut off from security.
[[Insecurity]] wants [[well-defined]], eternal security with no insecurity, and so cannot be secure.
For [[insecurity]] to become security, it must [[let go]] of itself.
Your [[lover]] is [[unknowable]].
If we turn a [[love]] into a [[form]], we make that love appear [[knowable]], but that also kills love since love is [[life]], and to turn things into a form, to make them more solid, is to make them change at a slower rate than the rest of life.
Thing+anti-thing: this is what [[attraction]] is built on. It needs the [[tension]] between [[security]] and [[passion]]. There is no [[linear]] way to accept this. When we [[accept]] both at once, we become the dancefloor on which they both [[dance]]. The world in which they live. The [[arena]] in which they perform.
[[Passion]] compromises [[Security]] by letting you do things that you would not normally allow yourself to do, like staying up too late or a missing an appointment, etc. Passion [[opens]] you up to more [[change]].
[[Panic]]: lots of [[energy]] that does not know where to go. [[Love]]: lots of [[energy]] that does not mind where it goes.
When we [[lose]] someone, we have lost an imaginary [[future]] with them, but we have also lost [[touch]] with them.
[[Jealousy]] is a fear of [[losing]] an imaginary future in which we had touch with someone.
You can reach out for someone in the spirit-world. If you believe, it is [[Form]]. If you don’t, it is [[Emptiness]]. Either way, if it is a form, it is a form of Emptiness. And if it is Emptiness, it is an emptiness of Form.
There are [[Vajrayana]] versions of emotions, what an [[emotion]] is when it is [[aware]].
[[Pride]] carries a sense of [[richness]] in the world, of being in a [[body]]. [[Rage]] is [[clarity]] that unclothes the world. It cuts through [[politeness]]. [[Lust]] is freedom from constraint and pretense. It [[opens]] itself to all beings through [[compassion]] without a hint of [[security]]. [[Paranoia]] explores every form carefully, relying on nothing [[dualistic]]. [[Ignorance]] does not have to understand, interpret according to a [[value]], or to be cunning or scheming.
"more [[form]], more [[wealth]]; means more [[emptiness]], less appreciation of [[value]]."
"A space occurs in which our senses begin to speak in each other’s languages. We comprehend through seeing, and speak with our eyes. We communicate with touch, and hear with physical sensation. We taste each other’s words, and inhale the perfume of each other’s dance steps."
Exploring [[sexuality]] [[reveals]] [[self]]. You can’t reveal something unless it is already there.
[[Sexuality]] is living [[information]] in [[union]], adjusted through the senses.
Reality plays through a [[nondual]] [dance]. In this, [[sexuality]] is the meaning in everything that exists.
Sex is not separate from existence because [[existence]] is [[Sex]]. In noticing [[Emptiness]], we may find clues in which the Thread of Sexual Existence is always there- when we fall in love, it is in the seeming paradox of simultaneous [[desire]] and [[fear]].
[[Duality]] always separates. Since [[separation]] is created, clues about [[union]] will recur.
[[Bodhicitta]]: tickling the clitoris of the heart.
Acting from [[compassion]] results in [[wisdom]], acting from wisdom results in compassion
[[Wisdom]] display is the [[feminine]] unfinished knowing that arises from [[Emptiness]].
[[Method]] display is the [[masculine]] activity of awakening everyone (which is called compassion) that arises from [[Form]].
[[Men]] are externally method display and internally wisdom display, [[women]] are externally wisdom display and internally method display.
What happens when a dualistic [[consciousness]] expresses itself as split from itself? What happens when it’s inner and outer experiences are split? What are the consequences for men and women?
Without contact between our inner and outer displays, we are [[split]], and so feel [[incomplete]]. Typically, we try to complete ourselves through someone of the opposite gender, which often fails because the completeness we’re looking for is actually within ourselves.
[[Separation]] is experienced as an external sense of what we are, and a deep feeling of [[loss]]. [[Duality]], binary thinking- analysis- always separates, and so leads to the desire to unify. It is hard to figure this out, but we do notice that we often experience [[union]] in the arms of someone else, of the other. Sensing [[loss]], we try to find the thing outside ourselves- in the other, where we have most recently experienced unity. However, it is not in the other- it is in us.
We try to [[complete]] ourselves through contact with a reverse-other, an inside-out version of ourselves.
We misunderstand our [[insight]] by attributing it to external agents.
When we are [[attracted]] to someone, it means something inside us is [[reflected]] in their image.
Anyone can [[reflect]] the inner of the other, but many usually [[separate]] themselves from doing it.
The outer-inner reflection of [[attraction]] is simultaneously neurotic and [[enlightened]].
[[Women]] are typically attracted to a man who reflects their inner power (agency) and method display. If her attraction is returned, the man lets her feel powerful by submitting to her. The more [[power]] she thinks she has access to, the more [[energized]] she feels. The more energized she feels, the more open she becomes to her own agency and method display. The more open she is to her own method display, the more attractive she becomes. She is hooked by the possibility of abandoning herself to power, but mistakes dependence on the man’s power instead of her own.
Once she [[surrenders]], the [[mirror]] begins to grow opaque. They stop reflecting each other. As soon as he stops seeing her with awe, she begins to withdraw from him. Since he tries to possess her, she feels caged and stops displaying her inner freedom. She tries to get back the feeling of power she had in the beginning. The more she tries to get it, the more the man resents her and stops submitting to her. The less he submits to her, to more she asserts herself. Eventually she starts undermining him passive-aggressively.
She can’t experience power vicariously without being overpowered. Of course, power experienced vicariously is not power, and so the cycle continues.
One becomes more [[attractive]] when one is more [[reflective]]. One becomes more reflective by connecting one’s inner and outer displays.
[[Men]] are typically attracted to a woman who reflects their inner mystery and wisdom display. If he was connected to his inner wisdom, he would enchant himself automatically, but since he is not, he relies on the woman to enchant him. The more wisdom she reflects to him, the more dazzled he is, and the more open he becomes. The more open he is to his own wisdom display, the more attractive he becomes. He is hooked by a need to [[possess]] the [[mysterious]], free beauty he experiences through her. At some point he possesses her, and when he possesses her he captures her. Having captured her, he loses her, because she is only feminine mystery when she is free. So she stops shining, and he loses interest. So he tries to exploit what he has captured, to extract value out of her.
The [[desire]] to [[capture]] cannot be satisfied by capturing, so he captures her again and again. Each capturing is less satisfying, and she grows resentful of all his capturing. He blames her for this, not knowing that it was his [[openness]] and [[kindness]] that allowed her to be free in the first place. It was his retraction of openness and kindness that stopped from being free and mysterious. He tries to get that mystery from other women, and comparing her to other women.
It is not actually possible to [[possess]] [[wisdom]] display because wisdom display is [[free]] rapturous mystery, and you cannot cage freedom or define mystery. It seems possible, but actually it’s not. If she was nondual, she would not collude with his fantasies. If he was nondual, he would not be trying to experience mystery and freedom by caging it.
By [[trying]] again and again to get what they want [[romantically]], people lose what they want.
Samsara: going around in circles. The endless [[loops]] and [[cycles]] of [[attachment]]. The cycle occurs because needs are attempted to be met in ways that they cannot actually be met, like someone trying to live on twinkies alone and wondering why they’re always hungry.
Any sort of self-protection works against [[passion]]. After couples commit, they typically solidify [[expectations]] in a way that reduces [[uncertainty]]. This reduction in uncertainty results in a sense of security, and through that security people feel safe to be less kind and open (since [[insecurity]] necessitates more kindness and openness- for the same reason that social networks are the best predictors of survival in wars and disasters).
[[Commitment]] appears to guarantee [[closeness]], but it does not actually result in closeness. Closeness comes from [[openness]] and [[kindness]]. If we feel that commitment guarantees closeness, then we will use the relationship as a source of [[stability]]. In doing that, we will very slowly and stealthily start taking our loved for granted.
When aware, [[romance]] is simply [[play]]. For the [[aware]], romance is effortless and attends on benefiting others. The display of play is itself beneficial, by and for itself.
The first symptom of [[love]] in a man is often [[tenderness]], and the first symptom of love in a [[woman]] is often [[aggression]].
"[[Vajrayana]] is beyond individual culture, but each culture accesses Vajrayana in its own unique way."
[[Emptiness]] is often what is [[exciting]] about [[romance]]. A hint of open-ended possibility, of wondrous [[surprise]].
The [[tighter]] and more [[controlled]] you are, the harder it is to fall in [[love]].
We look outside to avoid looking inside.
If you [[analyze]] a movie while watching it, you [[kill]] it. You cannot be captured by the movie while trying to capture it. The same goes for going to some place as a tourist and snapping pictures. It prevents you from letting yourself be in that place. It kills the elephant and takes it home as a trophy, instead of being with the elephant in its habitat.
To experience [[power]], a [[dualized]] [[woman]] will subjugate and [[cage]] herself.
The strongest experience of [[power]] to the powerless is being on the edge of getting [[captured]]. She uses borrowed power to feel powerful, which the man lends her because he’s hypnotized by her freedom and mystery. To stand next to power, she has to be equal in power or have no want for power. If she experiences her own power, she has no want for the man’s power. Power is most attractive to her right before she is caged. After she is caged she sees it as weak and is resentful.
As soon as the relationship is made solid, [[Emptiness]] re-aaserts itself as the relationship being not what was bargained for.
When are you [[grabbing]]? When are you being grabbed?
It’s uncomfortable not to [[hold]] on, but once you hold on to your [[lover]], your lover becomes your [[property]], your owned [[land]]. And so your lover is no longer [[free]]. And the relationship becomes your owned land, and it is no longer free. You start walking on it, because it is solid. And walking on it, you take it for granted. You let it [[die]].
Deciding to be [[selfless]] leaves the self that decided to be selfless, and so is secretly selfish. True selflessness is not conscious.
Be kind, and be [[kind]] to what is being kind.
There is no how-to, you just let it happen. If you try to follow a how-to, you will try to fit a [[form]] and cut off everything that does not fit.
"If you cannot caress your canvas, or your sculpting medium, you cannot caress your[[love]] r’s body – and if you can caress your lover’s body, you are an [[art]]ist."
[[Romance]] is everywhere, [[attraction]] is everywhere, but you don’t have to act on it [[sexually]]. Acting on it is a decision. Typically, the [[decision]] is based on an unmet [[need]].
The [[neurosis]] is always there, we can simply [[accept]] it as a part of us rather than as the most important [[form]].
[[Therapy]] works with [[neuroses]] by talking about them. [[Sutra]] cuts through neuroses with [[Emptiness]]. [[Tantra]] hugs neuroses to [[transform]] them into wisdom. [[Dzogchen]] simply lets neuroses be, to [[free]] themselves.
Neurotic [[infatuation]] sees the acceptance or rejection by the lover as heaven or hell, salvation or damnation. [[Openness]] and constriction are simultaneously present in these points. So heaven and hell are simultaneous and inseparable.
"[[Hope]] and [[fear]] arouse each other. Pleasure and pain tantalise each other. Gain and loss excite each other. Meeting and parting stimulate each other." This can all be experienced simply and directly.
In the same way that you learn how to take on [[mental]] states of [[drugs]], you can learn to take on the [[Openness]] and [[Kindness]] of being in love into every aspect of living.
Openness -> Emptiness -> Wisdom Kindness -> Form -> [[Compassion]] ([[action]] to wake everyone)
To be unkind or uncaring is to reject your [[love]]r’s [[energy]].
We are [[kind]] because we are naturally kind.
[[Love]]rs become [[saint]]ly to each other, which in turn extends to everyone else around them. They become [[prestigious]], and others seek their company.
[[Couples]] become insular only when they are neurotically [[insecure]] and enter into a codependent contract. In these contracts, lovers control each other and see this control as proof-of-care.
Real romance allows people to [[Expand]] into something seemingly "more" than they were. [[Marriages]] of convenience, on the other hand, constrict them into "less" than they were.
"Those who cling together in shared [[hatred]] of others do not experience [[romance]] – even though their need for each other may be considerable."
"we always put [[dualistic]] [[identity]] at risk when we enter a [[relationship]]."
[[Romance]] arises most powerfully from spaciousness. To be open to others even without a [[relationship]]. If we actively seek out a partner, we trap ourselves in a samsaric relationship.
[[Compartments]] are not tight, they leak into each other in the face of [[Emptiness]].
From a [[nondual]] perspective, all discrimination is discrimination against ourselves. It has its roots in a discrimination against reality.
[[Duality]] is discrimination against nonduality.
It’s possible to be in love indefinitely, but not easy. It’s easier to fall out of [[love]], in a painful cycle. Determined effort and brave openess are what is required to be in love indefinitely.
Wanting [[more]] is not as worthy as being ready to give more, and to surrender more.
The [[teaching]] from your [[lover]] is found through their [[presence]]. The [[learning]] happens without a felt sense of learning having happened.
The pawo learns threat in the presence of the khandro. [[Emptiness]] threatens [[form]]. The khandro learns challenge in the presence of the pawo. Form challenges emptiness.
We do not set out to teach our [[lovers]]. If we try to [[teach]], we will only transfer [[dualistic]] conditioning. The teaching happens without trying to teach, without consciousness. [[Pawo]]: he who commits himself to the texture of war. An awake woman also has the qualities of a pawo. A pawo draws power from knowing he is already dead, and fights for a cause with compassion and honor. A pawo does not escape at other’s expense. He has self-respect inasmuch as he lives by his word. A pawo is worthy of admiration- he has done hard things. He is genuine because he is already dead. No pretense is needed. He respects the warrior in others with no rivalry. Seeing and respecting the warrior in others gives the warrior authority and influence. So his capacity for praising and celebrating others is constant. The warrior’s rank is self-evident from his living. As such he is a graceful noble. As a [[noble]], he is courteous. All these qualities make him incredibly delicate in his actions. The [[warrior]] is dedicated to Life, and so knows he will die.
As a [[lover]], the [[warrior]] has accepted the death of his [[form]], of his image. As he is open to change, he is [[open]] to being threatened by his lover. She is the open sky in which he falls to his death.
[[Identity]] is what a group remembers about past actions. Identity comes from past [[conflict]]. An [[energy]] from an identity For becomes an identity From. [[Social]] [[order]] is never [[stable]], identities join and separate continuously. This creates a social space.
We do not have [[control]], we are control.
[[Social]] processes and structure are leftover bits from control efforts.
[[Context]] is experienced, not designed.
[[Misinformation]] is noise. Noise is fake news. Fake news is getting us [[freedom]].
[[Paradox]] is the [[blindspots]].
If you use [[forms]] (or a marketing demographic) to identify people, those who don’t can take on the [[identities]] of a form to fool you.
Freeze-frame Revolution emphasizes that [[AI]] [[fears]] are primarily fears that a powerful father has of his son.
When a home owner in [[China]] wanted to protect his building from being torn down, he put posters of [[Xi Jinping]] all over his house. This is a form of [[peasant]] [[resistance]]. In [[India]] they put pictures of [[gods]] on walls to prevent urination on walls. Some places had people spraying swastikas on portholes to get those portholes fixed.