My IH0051 instructor gave us a take home final that we had to email him. Â I doubt he will read the whole thing so I’ve included the following in the section Compare the historical and theological Jesus. “Finally, Jesus is often portrayed as peaceful and while Yeshua of Nazereth was the father of modern ninjutsu and is called the shinobi of God by theologically minded ninjas especially during the pre-Tokugawa dynasties of feudal
Tag: IH 0051
Fat + Physics > Thin + Asian Metaphysics
For the last day of IH 0051, my Asian instructor told us how the western paradigm of science failed to explain a number of things that could be done by people. Â One of his examples was how one could draw energy from the Earth Mother to grant people strength. Â This demonstration started with me sitting in a chair and three men and the instructor trying to lift me just using two fingers. Â They failed as the instructor stated, but after a few minutes of meditation they tried again. Â I thought they were going to succeed until I heard the first grunt of pain and felt myself falling onto the floor. Â It appears that Eastern meditation and the Earth Mother simply can’t overcome the powerful combination of a fat white man and physics.
Fat + Physics > Thin + Asian Metaphysics
For the last day of IH 0051, my Asian instructor told us how the western paradigm of science failed to explain a number of things that could be done by people. Â One of his examples was how one could draw energy from the Earth Mother to grant people strength. Â This demonstration started with me sitting in a chair and three men and the instructor trying to lift me just using two fingers. Â They failed as the instructor stated, but after a few minutes of meditation they tried again. Â I thought they were going to succeed until I heard the first grunt of pain and felt myself falling onto the floor. Â It appears that Eastern meditation and the Earth Mother simply can’t overcome the powerful combination of a fat white man and physics.
Let us raise upon the Lord a joyful noise, w00t
Yet more IH 0051 religion presentations but this was without humorous mispronunciation. Â Instead, I learned of SGI Meditation and about the religion’s founder Daisaku Ikeda. Â A central practice of SGI meditation is the chanting a of a mantra numerous times during the day and the belief that doing so will bring peace and success. Â The founder has received 200 honorary doctorates and 150 honorary citizenships. Â While I appreciate the simplicity of the doctrine, I doubt its validity: Â I’ve been yelling “w00t!” as a prayer unto the Lord a few times a day for the last few years and no divine gifts have befallen me.
Let us raise upon the Lord a joyful noise, w00t
Yet more IH 0051 religion presentations but this was without humorous mispronunciation. Â Instead, I learned of SGI Meditation and about the religion’s founder Daisaku Ikeda. Â A central practice of SGI meditation is the chanting a of a mantra numerous times during the day and the belief that doing so will bring peace and success. Â The founder has received 200 honorary doctorates and 150 honorary citizenships. Â While I appreciate the simplicity of the doctrine, I doubt its validity: Â I’ve been yelling “w00t!” as a prayer unto the Lord a few times a day for the last few years and no divine gifts have befallen me.
A hymn for high men
In IH 0051, instead of doing a 2nd paper, someone could visit a church of a religion family he or she is not and write a report on their experience.  Two folks from the Indian subcontinent did such a project by visiting a Reformed Lutheran Church.  The presentation was going fine except every time the presenter tried to say “hymn” it came out much closer to “hymen”.  So, I got a few stares when ater hearing “going through hymn after hymn got repetative” and I said under my breath “not for me”.
Weird, or wired? No, just weird.
In IH 0051 we’ve been reading the Old Testiment and to win the frequent Biblical pissing matching I’ve been toting the 14 lb. Oxford New Revised Standard Version (with Apocrypha) around Temple. This isn’t too odd as based on my size it looks like I’m a smaller person perusing Reader’s Digest. While reading Genesis I’ve had the score to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat running through my head and I finally got my umbrella back after 3 weeks of use by some smelly-pirate hooker for which I felt sorry in my stat class. After class, I mount the R3 to go home and there are infinite people, mostly in shitty costumes, and there’s no place to sit. So, I’m standing there reading the giant Bible humming show tunes carrying an umbrella on a clear 70° day on Halloween in shorts and sandals with socks when I notice everyone around backing away and getting quiet. I’m used to this to a certain extent as there is a certain surreal quality to a 380lb man whistling on a train, but the clincher was when I made eye contact with a 10 year old dressed as a skeleton leans over to his mother and lips the words “he’s weird”. Welcome to Philadelphia, kids.
Weird, or wired? No, just weird.
In IH 0051 we’ve been reading the Old Testiment and to win the frequent Biblical pissing matching I’ve been toting the 14 lb. Oxford New Revised Standard Version (with Apocrypha) around Temple. This isn’t too odd as based on my size it looks like I’m a smaller person perusing Reader’s Digest. While reading Genesis I’ve had the score to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat running through my head and I finally got my umbrella back after 3 weeks of use by some smelly-pirate hooker for which I felt sorry in my stat class. After class, I mount the R3 to go home and there are infinite people, mostly in shitty costumes, and there’s no place to sit. So, I’m standing there reading the giant Bible humming show tunes carrying an umbrella on a clear 70° day on Halloween in shorts and sandals with socks when I notice everyone around backing away and getting quiet. I’m used to this to a certain extent as there is a certain surreal quality to a 380lb man whistling on a train, but the clincher was when I made eye contact with a 10 year old dressed as a skeleton leans over to his mother and lips the words “he’s weird”. Welcome to Philadelphia, kids.
Ascension in 20 minutes or less
Today in IH 0051 the instructor emphasized the importance of mystery and the unknowable as a part of the Hindu faith. Â Without enbracing the ineffability of Brahman, one is incapable of creating a detached notion of self-action. Â After about 20 minutes of such high-minded talk on the lack of a direct path to realizing the Atman, the reality of a mandatory introductory philosophy class set in when the next slide was titled “The Three Definited Steps to Ascension”. Â What took mystics a lifetime of ascetic self-focus is now doable in 20 minutes by an Asian humanities instructor. Â It must be tough to move around the Ivory Tower with heads that big.