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The Free Republic Koan
4/14/12 | Self

Posted on 04/14/2012 11:40:37 PM PDT by Talisker

It's struck me that JimRob's absolute RomneyZot has created a situation rarely seen in the world, especially on a mass scale: a koan.

A koan is a technique used in Zen Buddhism to stop the endless thoughts of the mind, and thereby enable a genuine spiritual breakthrough when the ego finally shuts the hell up. Traditionally, this is done by giving the acolyte an impossible question, and demanding an answer.

While somewhat inverse tactically, JimRob has created a similiar situation on Free Republic. Freepers are already faced with an impossible situation politically, and JimRob has (at least on FR) removed the easiest answer.

Real koans are not merely trick questions, as most people think (you can even buy books with "answers" to traditional Japanese koan questions, so clueless is what passes for understanding these days). Rather, koans are a method by which a person is forced to examine their most fundamental assumptions, in a desperate attempt to resolve the pressure of the paradox. As result, a more profound understanding is eventually reached that sheds light on what usually is realized to be a self-created cycle of delusion. In politics however, cycles of misery are exactly what the Left was created to maintain, precisely to deny the clarity that would lead to freedom.

So JimRob's making Freepers sweat it out. This is a remarkable thing - and rare. And I predict it will lead to a whole new level of clarity about political dynamics here, because that's what happens when you stand your ground and say: "Enough." You drop the self-indulgence, because you simply can't afford it anymore. And isn't that a perfect paradigm for what needs to happen in America?

Which brings me to my trademark mixed metaphor. Once upon a time, two frogs fell into a cup of milk. They could paddle around, but couldn't reach the rim. As time went on, they grew exhausted, and one of the frogs decided the whole effort was pointless, and despite the entreaties of his friend, he gave up, and drowned. But the other frog kept going, determined never to quit, despite how bad things looked. To that frog, it was the principle of the thing, even if he drowned too. So he paddled on... and just when he was about over, to his amazement, he felt something under his foot. It was a clot of cream he had churned through his incessant paddling. And he was able to brace upon it, and hop out.

So here's another koan: after going though that experience, who did the frog vote for?


TOPICS: Cheese, Moose, Sister
KEYWORDS: kungfupanda
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To: wardaddy
Surgery next week is a given....i did not want to be warehoused at hospital over weekend

Dosed up on percs for pain and augmntin


Hey WarDaddy, I'll be praying for you.
21 posted on 04/15/2012 12:31:59 AM PDT by SoConPubbie
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To: An.American.Expatriate

My guess was Captain America.


22 posted on 04/15/2012 12:37:27 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
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To: wardaddy
"Not my best night ever to be honest...."

Wow, I feel bad you are having to go through what sounds like a completely unbearable experience wardaddy. Here's to hoping you find relief soon!

The percs probably help but in my experience they don't really "relieve" any pain, they just make it so you don't give a "biden" about it, or at least make your hair go numb which can be entertaining.

23 posted on 04/15/2012 12:37:44 AM PDT by voteNRA (A citizenry armed with rifles simply cannot be tyrannized)
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To: wardaddy

Prayers up for your abscess.


24 posted on 04/15/2012 12:39:14 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
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To: Talisker

I agree.

It took a great deal of honesty to make this declaration, especially while running a fund raiser.

Shows me he is honest about his position even though it will make Free Republic smaller- for a while.

Conservatives need to let go of the GOP. One good offering every 100 years or so should be a strong indication that they are not conservative by choice but rather by convenience.


25 posted on 04/15/2012 12:41:21 AM PDT by KSanders
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26 posted on 04/15/2012 12:45:00 AM PDT by devolve (------- ------------insanity_is_alive_and_malignant------------)
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To: Talisker
Why didn't frog #2 just brace himself on the dead frog's corpse and jump out?

Sorry, I'm Vajrayana not Zen. ;^)

27 posted on 04/15/2012 12:46:18 AM PDT by TigersEye (Life is about choices. Your choices. Make good ones.)
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To: wardaddy
Going thru a bad prolonged chill about now
Sheet drenching sweats to come later

Does your physician know about the chills/sweats? You could be septic, and if so, that can kill you. It sounds like you belong in a hospital.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2341561_identify-sepsis.html

28 posted on 04/15/2012 12:49:15 AM PDT by TChad
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To: wardaddy

Sounds horrible... I hope you get the right treatment and feeling better soon. Prayers.


29 posted on 04/15/2012 12:53:24 AM PDT by Alt Right (Voted for Clinton in 92 (my first election) and the Republican Revolution in 1994!)
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To: TChad
I know what you're trying to say. Why don't you just come right out and say it?

If 0bama had a son he would look like frog #2.

30 posted on 04/15/2012 12:55:49 AM PDT by TigersEye (Life is about choices. Your choices. Make good ones.)
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To: re_nortex

I Love the song. Here it is, Enjoy.
http://youtu.be/yQxjmsRo_UU


31 posted on 04/15/2012 1:09:01 AM PDT by Colorado Cowgirl (God bless America!)
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To: TigersEye
If 0bama had a son he would look like frog #2.

That's good, and I would normally be happy to play, but wardaddy's posts have me worried.

Wardaddy should to go to the hospital immediately unless his physician knows about the chills and fever and has OKed him staying at home. Not all bacteria are killed by Augmentin.

32 posted on 04/15/2012 1:13:06 AM PDT by TChad
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To: Talisker

The frog voted conservative down ticket where possible.

Then he fished out his dead buddy and gave him a proper Christian burial.


33 posted on 04/15/2012 1:16:33 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper (If you quit you don't get your miracle.)
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To: Yardstick
William F. Buckley had a solution to this koan: vote for the most conservative candidate who has a real chance of winning.

Voting for the lesser of two evils means you're still voting for evil. The question becomes - do we embolden conservatives in Congress by being the opposition party, or do we empower RINOs into shoving even more liberal dung down our throats?

I'm voting for Newt. Piss on these lesser of two evils, I'm choosing a good man.

34 posted on 04/15/2012 1:20:36 AM PDT by kingu (Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)
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To: zipper
And we will then be forced to ponder the what-ifs from our re-education camps.

Why would they do that if you vote for a liberal? Obama or Romney, both think that Mommy Government is the best, and will rule your lives with the power of your tax dollars, and when that's not enough, they'll hawk everything you own, and then add more debt atop it, just in case you earn more later.

35 posted on 04/15/2012 1:22:53 AM PDT by kingu (Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)
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To: TChad

I know but I can’t do much about that. I’ve been doing practice for him since I read the post.


36 posted on 04/15/2012 1:24:03 AM PDT by TigersEye (Life is about choices. Your choices. Make good ones.)
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To: wardaddy

Assuming that your doctor doesn’t know about those sweats and chills, let me add my voice to the get-to-a-hospital chorus. Immediately. Seriously.


37 posted on 04/15/2012 1:26:10 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows (You can't have Ingsoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
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To: wardaddy

You might look into taking oregano oil for it, topically and by mouth. Oil of oregano can wipe out infections... I had a bad MRSA infection that antibiotics couldn’t touch, and oregano oil beat it in two days. Health food stores carry it in little blue bottles. Ask for doctor first, just in case it might conflict with something you’re already taking.


38 posted on 04/15/2012 1:29:57 AM PDT by PastorBooks
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To: Slings and Arrows; wardaddy

wardaddy, I’m with Slings and Arrows on this one. If you’re having chills that bad you need to get to a hospital.


39 posted on 04/15/2012 1:33:40 AM PDT by PastorBooks
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To: Talisker
The frog voted for Obama because the frog is Obama. There was no created ball of cream from his hard work, just a selfish, lying, Marxist frog that convinced the masses both frogs were the same because they had landed in the same glass of milk. He quickly dispatched of his foe and used his floating dead body to jump out. After disposing of the body of his enemy, he redistributed the milk and spent another Trillion to get more milk and cups to those on the liberal Lilly pads, to be used drown all of the in- fighting conservative and GOP frogs and declare himself King.

But all is not lost! A wayward frog happened to come across the “dead” frog and performed CPR. The Obama frog was to stupid to be sure his foe was truly deceased, and counted his tadpoles before they were
hatched. The supposed dead frog was reportedly seen drinking Tea at some sort of Party.

40 posted on 04/15/2012 1:45:00 AM PDT by MacMattico
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