Saturday, December 10, 2016

postmortem art

"A new exhibition at the American Folk Art Museum recalls a time when portraits were seen as a way of remembering and celebrating life outside of mere memory."

1 comment:

  1. There was a young man presumably 21 years old that wanted to pick a fight with me. In Buddhism we call such characteristics not devas but asuras. Asuras are a strange group of people, a lot of them are in heavenly or human blisses. Yet they are not in the "advanced" stage of bodhisattvas. In other words when we give them heavenly or human blisses, they feel inclined or obliged to oppose the devas and bodhisattvas even. They want to fight "wise ones", bear grudges, tempt lords, challenge authorities, and start their own schisms. Once in a while there are a few female asuras that marry male devas, etc, but generally the asuras simply are stuck in their states of jealousy.

    So I asked them, are they educated? If I have a tertiary education, they get upset because they are still schooling. They are educated, yet they are upset because they are still schooling.

    If I have a "better" honours degree, they get upset because they got a "lower passing degree". They are educated, yet they are upset because their degree is not higher than mine.

    If I have enrolled in a masters programme, they get upset because they got a bachelor programme. They are educated, yet they are upset because their education is not up to par with mine.

    If I have enrolled in a long distance learning programme with Harvard, they get upset because they got a vocational programme. They are educated, yet they are upset because their extended education is not going to put them in the same job as mine.

    I can go on and on, but the thing here, is that even if we live till let's say 81 years old, they are still upset because some were born either a few hours or a few years younger than me!

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