this blog is the continuation of a genuine mystical tradition, unless you get in daily contemplative time and abstain to a significant degree from "entertainment" then you are just wasting your time and mine !
When Bitcoin rises, it (also) means capital from outside of crypto is pouring into crypto. Once that growth settles, the gains usually trickle down on other alt-currencies; currently, Decred is in "silent mode" as the most important features are being developed (proposal system, LN integration, etc.) - this is the time to accumulate, if you ask me. Personally I think 2018 will be the year of Decred; when the development of those features will be complete and it will become clearer to the general crypto- public why Decred's coin voting system is the winning technology. Problem right now is that many see Decred as too idealistic. They like the idea but they think it's just idealism... nothing could be further from the truth: it is very pragmatic... but it needs some more time to become manifest/apparent to people, more voting rounds, more features implemented... it will be a gradual process. I still believe Decred has the potential to take over Bitcoin, as crazy as this sounds. - Other than that, I am very happy with BlockNet, my second largest holding after Decred.
Bitcoin is up because after the hard fork it boosted confidence in it... and this confidence reflects negatively on Decred, I guess --- however this cannot go on forever. - Let me just give you an example. A drastic one. Bitcoin uses the SHA256 hashing algorhithm - now suppose someone breaks it... not even a quantum computer, I mean just someone finds collisions... what would happen? It would be catastrophic. Now if the same happened to DCR's BLAKE256 algo, DCR would just be able to quickly vote on a new algo. and fork. - This ability to adapt quickly WILL sooner or later make it the winner; it's just a matter of patience and endurance, I am positive about that. My conviction hasn't changed - I am absolutely confident because it makes sense from a purely logical perspective, now how long it will take exactly it's hard to say as markets are volatile/crazy and so is everything else in this field. But my gut feeling says 2018 will be the year when DCR goes mainstream.
In general, when something grows very quickly, it means irrational exuberance and one should be careful... but when a good project's price is falling down: that is a buy signal.
I will go on retreat in beautiful Tuscany region Italy in Europe, but with the FPMT organization. - The Tibetans are incredibly successful around here, especially in Italy. It's incredible how successful they are at marketing/exporting their spirituality compared to how unsuccessful much bigger nations like Japan and China have been. In fact Tibetan Buddhism is a "fad" even in China now; the young Chinese aren't interested in their own Chan traditions but prefer the more "exotic" Tibetan one. - What is paradoxical here is also that the Tibetans, the most ancient, almost feudal society, was able to modernize/adapt itself so aptly... and is in a weird way so consistent with the Western way of thinking. - While the East Asian forms are constantly clashing with the Western way and resulting in incompatibilities.
The Tibetans are everywhere... when my wife's family came to visit Slovenia and we went to Tolmin Gorges:
Wife's family loved it--- interesting fact: nearby there is Dante's Cave. It's where Dante used to write the Inferno part of his Divine Comedy! Not gonna link a pic. as it doesn't do it justice. Incidentally, other than being the place where Dante wrote his Inferno, it's also a popular suicide spot for Slovenes. Slovenia has one of the highest suicide rates in the world and this is a popular place to do it.
So, when I went into that Dante's cave I saw that a group of Tibetan monks was there just before us and they put those Tibetan prayer flags, which actually looked good - it improved the atmosphere of the cave.
When I first got into this stuff... Buddhism etc... I thought "I will try everything except Tibetan" - because it looked so corrupted, superstitious, baroque, "catholic"... But now the same thing attracts me. Vajrayana/Tantra is built on a very simple idea: since humans are naturally attracted to illusion and not to truth (they only PRETEND to want truth) - can we use illusion in a way that it would serve the truth? So they bring back all the stuff that Buddhism threw away: deity worship, ritualism, colorful idolatry, etc (mostly imported from "Hinduism") --- they use these illusions that naturally attract the human mind but they make it serve another purpose - at least on paper.
I only did 1 retreat in my life and that was with Soto Zen in Japan. I'll try now with the Tibetans and see how it goes. FPMT is the most mainstream organization in the world, they have a worldwide network that is a mix of online study and retreats. It's consistent with my work because I can take time off for retreats almost any time now.
Truly impressive! What do you think, Andrew? I'm afraid Andrew won't approve but you need some kind of structure... it's hard to just go in nature and... do what? walk and then... go home?
There's a reason the retreat structure exists and the Tibetans have perfected this art with millenia of uninterrupted practice! (I do know Tibet was a slave-owning, feudal society , I am not idealizing them.)
interesting post zakaj, i can see why the tolmin gorge resonated with dante !
i have stayed at two tibetan retreat centers, i found the people nice which is a bit different from zen, but it is a cultural religion . . . its a basically a bit stupid, but as i say the people are nice and the centers in interesting rural places !
bitcoin is up and decred down, any predictions zakaj ?
ReplyDeleteWhen Bitcoin rises, it (also) means capital from outside of crypto is pouring into crypto. Once that growth settles, the gains usually trickle down on other alt-currencies; currently, Decred is in "silent mode" as the most important features are being developed (proposal system, LN integration, etc.) - this is the time to accumulate, if you ask me. Personally I think 2018 will be the year of Decred; when the development of those features will be complete and it will become clearer to the general crypto- public why Decred's coin voting system is the winning technology. Problem right now is that many see Decred as too idealistic. They like the idea but they think it's just idealism... nothing could be further from the truth: it is very pragmatic... but it needs some more time to become manifest/apparent to people, more voting rounds, more features implemented... it will be a gradual process. I still believe Decred has the potential to take over Bitcoin, as crazy as this sounds. - Other than that, I am very happy with BlockNet, my second largest holding after Decred.
DeleteBitcoin is up because after the hard fork it boosted confidence in it... and this confidence reflects negatively on Decred, I guess --- however this cannot go on forever. - Let me just give you an example. A drastic one. Bitcoin uses the SHA256 hashing algorhithm - now suppose someone breaks it... not even a quantum computer, I mean just someone finds collisions... what would happen? It would be catastrophic. Now if the same happened to DCR's BLAKE256 algo, DCR would just be able to quickly vote on a new algo. and fork. - This ability to adapt quickly WILL sooner or later make it the winner; it's just a matter of patience and endurance, I am positive about that. My conviction hasn't changed - I am absolutely confident because it makes sense from a purely logical perspective, now how long it will take exactly it's hard to say as markets are volatile/crazy and so is everything else in this field. But my gut feeling says 2018 will be the year when DCR goes mainstream.
DeleteIn general, when something grows very quickly, it means irrational exuberance and one should be careful... but when a good project's price is falling down: that is a buy signal.
DeleteI will go on retreat in beautiful Tuscany region Italy in Europe, but with the FPMT organization. - The Tibetans are incredibly successful around here, especially in Italy. It's incredible how successful they are at marketing/exporting their spirituality compared to how unsuccessful much bigger nations like Japan and China have been. In fact Tibetan Buddhism is a "fad" even in China now; the young Chinese aren't interested in their own Chan traditions but prefer the more "exotic" Tibetan one. - What is paradoxical here is also that the Tibetans, the most ancient, almost feudal society, was able to modernize/adapt itself so aptly... and is in a weird way so consistent with the Western way of thinking. - While the East Asian forms are constantly clashing with the Western way and resulting in incompatibilities.
ReplyDeleteThe Tibetans are everywhere... when my wife's family came to visit Slovenia and we went to Tolmin Gorges:
https://www.dolina-soce.com/mma/Tolmin%20Gorges,%20Tolmin,%20Soca%20Valley/2012040215115545/mid/
Wife's family loved it--- interesting fact: nearby there is Dante's Cave. It's where Dante used to write the Inferno part of his Divine Comedy! Not gonna link a pic. as it doesn't do it justice. Incidentally, other than being the place where Dante wrote his Inferno, it's also a popular suicide spot for Slovenes. Slovenia has one of the highest suicide rates in the world and this is a popular place to do it.
So, when I went into that Dante's cave I saw that a group of Tibetan monks was there just before us and they put those Tibetan prayer flags, which actually looked good - it improved the atmosphere of the cave.
When I first got into this stuff... Buddhism etc... I thought "I will try everything except Tibetan" - because it looked so corrupted, superstitious, baroque, "catholic"... But now the same thing attracts me. Vajrayana/Tantra is built on a very simple idea: since humans are naturally attracted to illusion and not to truth (they only PRETEND to want truth) - can we use illusion in a way that it would serve the truth? So they bring back all the stuff that Buddhism threw away: deity worship, ritualism, colorful idolatry, etc (mostly imported from "Hinduism") --- they use these illusions that naturally attract the human mind but they make it serve another purpose - at least on paper.
I only did 1 retreat in my life and that was with Soto Zen in Japan. I'll try now with the Tibetans and see how it goes. FPMT is the most mainstream organization in the world, they have a worldwide network that is a mix of online study and retreats. It's consistent with my work because I can take time off for retreats almost any time now.
This is the place they have here in Italy:
http://www.drumayoga.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/iltk-drumayoga.jpg
And this is that land:
http://www.iltk.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC_0980-1024x429.jpg
Truly impressive! What do you think, Andrew? I'm afraid Andrew won't approve but you need some kind of structure... it's hard to just go in nature and... do what? walk and then... go home?
There's a reason the retreat structure exists and the Tibetans have perfected this art with millenia of uninterrupted practice! (I do know Tibet was a slave-owning, feudal society , I am not idealizing them.)
interesting post zakaj, i can see why the tolmin gorge resonated with dante !
Deletei have stayed at two tibetan retreat centers, i found the people nice which is a bit different from zen, but it is a cultural religion . . . its a basically a bit stupid, but as i say the people are nice and the centers in interesting rural places !
Thanks Andrew.
Delete