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Oak

@eclecticspirit.bsky.social
292 followers 1.3K following 1.5K posts

Old Millennial dude. Biracial (b/w). Exploring Theravada Buddhism.

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Reposted by Oak
Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 19/06/2025
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
This is the age of RTO and TRO (Return to Office/Temporary Restraining Order).
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David Faris @davidfaris.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
Netanyahu has spent the better part of two decades trying to strong arm the United States into an unprovoked war against Iran and finally found a president stupid enough to do it for him. Unbelievable.
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
I'm not a perfect person and that's why I'm trying to absorb the Dharma.
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Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
Donald Trump does NOT want you to share this footage of his pathetically tiny birthday parade crowd.
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Buddhism Now @buddhismnow.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Importantly, Buddhist practice is not about achieving a future state of awakening, as though it were a distant goal. Awakening is already present within us — not as an idea, but as a capacity for direct knowing. Goodnight everyone sleep tight.
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Um, how about neither? I don't think this "ensure security in the middle east" thing would be too wholesome in practice. More like killing lots of people for Israel.
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God @thegodshow.com · 13/06/2025
I’m so damaged that the more fucked up things get the more hopeful I become that we’re getting closer to the breaking point. It will burn very brightly.
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Chantal James @chantalalive.blacksky.app · 12/06/2025
It really helps to get out of American exceptionalism. That's going to doom us. Look to global fascism & its survivors. Ally with international strugles.
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Ben Sears @bensears.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Summer 2025 edition
A black and white drawing of a sweating ICE agent, looking over his shoulders at a bunch of disembodied eyes watching him. The text reads WE CAN SEE YOU
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Doug Mack @douglasmack.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
not the main issue here but i'd really appreciate it if democratic politicians spoke out in support of big-city life and culture with the same energy and reverence that all politicians have for small towns los angeles is "real america" and so are all the other big cities the president hates
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💢Marx Was Right.🕊 @paulwalker44.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
I have this theory. You may disagree, and that’s fine, I’ve gone back and forth too over the decades. A two state “solution” is a Zionist ploy. In case you missed it, Zorhan said it correctly the other night. There needs to be one state with equal rights and justice for all.
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
How old are you in images?
media.tenor.com
a man with a towel around his neck says " you are roasted , toasted and burned to a crisp "
ALT: a man with a towel around his neck says " you are roasted , toasted and burned to a crisp "
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
Informative vid on Buddhism's different refuges.
youtu.be
Exploring Buddhism's Traditional And Lesser Known Refuges
YouTube video by Doug's Dharma
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Three Marks of Existence (Buddhism): 1. Conditioned things are impermanent. 2. Conditioned things don't satisfy. 3. No thing has an unchanging self.
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Jay Kuo @nycjayjay.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
This is happening in Florida.
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Buddhism Now @buddhismnow.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Morning meditation — To experience the Buddha directly. wp.me/pFy3u-a8c
buddhismnow.com
Morning meditation — To experience the Buddha directly.
‘To experience the Buddha directly is to be fully present with what is, without clinging or resistance. It is to engage with the moment, each thought, each feeling, as an expression of the Dharma.’ Everyday Buddhism
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
This has always been the GOP's strategy: 1) Cut taxes for the wealthy & corporations by claiming they'll pay for themselves. 2) Explode the deficit. 3) Demand cuts to vital programs that help millions. 4) Repeat. They're trying to get away with it again.
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
Started doing 'meditation on the breath' as a teen with some positive results. I'm taking it back up now.
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Maureen Johnson @maureenjohnsonbooks.com · 22/05/2025
The reason you're having trouble concentrating if you are here in the US is because we're basically being chased around by serial killers and being asked to disregard the fact.
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Buddhism Now @buddhismnow.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
Buddhist meditation: If a major fear or worry arises, tell it you’ll give it attention later. Remarkably, this works. The mind, like a restless child, often settles once it knows it will be heard. Goodnight everyone take care of yourself.
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Watermelon is popping right now. Sweet with a slightly grainy texture that I favor.
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Jim Musil Painter @jimmusilpainter.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
My process for SAN DIEGO SUNSET
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
Whoever lets passion, aversion, Conceit, and hypocrisy fall away Like a mustard seed from the tip of an awl, I call a brahmin. Dhammapada (407) [Gil Fronsdal translation]
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Gray hair does not Make one an elder. Someone ripe only in years Is called "an old fool." It's through truth, Dharma, harmlessness, restraint, and self-control That the wiae one, purged of impurities, Is called "an elder." Dhammapada (260-261) [Gil Fronsdal translation]
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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
And a bonus for those enjoying aspects of past reading: here are eyeglasses hidden within the papers! Reading was part of the material worlds of paper usages.

A part of the painting is highlighted: eyeglasses.

A part of the painting is highlighted: eyeglasses.
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
As a smith does with silver, The wise one Gradually, Bit by bit, Moment by moment, Removes impurities from oneself. Dhammapada (239) [Gil Fronsdal translation]
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
You won't believe what this is a reaction to.
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Paul Crider @paulcrider.liberalcurrents.com · 12/05/2025
Insightful thread. We're used to the left-coded antimarket rhetoric of "filthy lucre," and the antisocial nature of selfish transactions in the market. But Trump's hatred of the market is that of the pirate or warlord, who respects gains from domination but has only contempt for peaceful exchange.
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
So true. I find that after a certain point, rolling problems around in my head just causes my brain to overheat (as opposed to revealing potential solutions).
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
Currently reading Shambhala Publications' version of the "Dhammapada" and Penguin's "Buddhist Scriptures".
Pictures of two book covers: "The Dhammapada" and "Buddhist Scriptures".
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 10/05/2025
Noble Eightfold Path for ending suffering (Buddhism): 1. Right view. 2. Right resolve. 3. Right speech. 4. Right action. 5. Right livelihood. 6. Right effort. 7. Right mindfulness. 8. Right concentration.
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
White supremacy is brewing the IRL "planes falling from the sky" scenario.
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Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
So many people have grown up to be the villains of our stories.
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Carmelo Star @carmelostar.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
MET Gala wardrobes (not just this year's) are annoying as Hell. Can't explain why.
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Buddhism Now @buddhismnow.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Thus, Tathāgata is not merely a title but a profound expression of the Buddha’s journey — his departure from delusion and his arrival at truth — serving as an inspiration for practitioners seeking ultimate awakening. Goodnight sleep tight.
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The USA Singers @theusasingers.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
We live in the dumbest timeline ever.
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Jonathan Slater @jonathanslater.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
David Zinn Street Art
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Senator Mark Warner @markwarner.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
It seems like ages ago that Donald Trump turned the South Lawn into a car showroom to boost the profits of Elon Musk’s sputtering Tesla business. But it was just over a month ago. That’s the kind of daily, open corruption that’s just another day in this administration.
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I Scare You Like Sound Dog @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 02/05/2025
Fetterman fit an identity based vision for what the future of the Democratic Party should look like and he was able to attract a lot of support around the idea of his identity being particularly resonant with white male voters. What we’re seeing are some of the risks with pursuing that strategy.
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Oak @eclecticspirit.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Trump taking monies going to those pesky intellectuals and minorities.
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lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Always funny to me that Yarvin is held up as the great intellect of the New Right and then when he argues for stuff it's this - here's some etymology for a synonym of a word you're using, so we gotta have a tyrant -- checkmate libs. Behold the philosopher.
First, the government needs to be run top-down from the Oval Office. This is why we call it the “executive” branch. “Executive” is a literal synonym of “monarchical”—from “mono,” meaning “one,” and “archy,” meaning “regime.” “Autocratic” is fine too. The “executive branch” is the “autocratic branch,” or should be if English is English. Libs: if these words don’t mean what they mean, what do they mean?
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Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Three quick points: 1) Performativity has an extremely valuable place in opposing Trump. 2) Opposing him reflexively is fine, and more than merited by his track record. 3) The idea that the way to oppose him is via a non-ideological coalition free of any belief in anything is a weird centrist kink.
The patriotic response to today’s threat is to oppose Mr. Trump. But it is to do so soberly and strategically, not reflexively or performatively. It is to build a coalition of Americans who disagree about many other subjects — who span conservative and progressive, internationalist and isolationist, religious and secular, business-friendly and labor-friendly, pro-immigration and restrictionist, laissez-faire and pro-government, pro-life and pro-choice — yet who believe that these subjects must be decided through democratic debate and constitutional processes rather than the dictates of a single man.
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Nicole Carpenter @nicolecarpenter.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
I'm getting more sad about getting laid off. My work means so much to me. I'm a really good reporter. I've been getting scoops every single week lately, while also doing in-depth, award-winning reporting. I have good ideas! New email: nicolecarpenterwrites@gmail.com www.polygon.com/23776996/bar...
polygon.com
The untold history of Barbie Fashion Designer, the first mass-market ‘game for girls’
How Digital Domain and Mattel Media built Barbie’s wardrobe
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Edgeoforever🗽 @edgeoforever.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Sometimes it feels that half of the people here are non-voters
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ceej @ceej.online · 30/04/2025
the conservative vision for america: life should be as painful as possible until somebody shoots you to death
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