Rogue had it rough

Gotcha -- hopefully this clarification helps:

The way I understood Buddhism was that samsara involved reincarnation. I apologize if I'm mistaken. I really didn't know much about Buddhism. My branch of yoga borrowed very heavily from Buddhism but was its own thing (advaita)

I am generalizing that religion can lead to abuse. You're right that other things can as well.

To me supernatural means anything metaphysical, anything that cannot be disproven by observations in the physical world.

At my yoga place, they had a Hindu priest who did fire puja from time to time. This has a social function, but the idea that it appeases actual gods that will help us is supernatural thinking, in my opinion.

We mentally or physically chanted mantra. These are supposed to protect the mind, etc.. I'm sure there is a real component to this. But the idea that a word invokes a literal god that will help you is supernatural in my opinion.

There were indeed Christians who believed in Jesus's teachings but not in the supernatural aspects. Stuff like love your neighbor, love your enemy as yourself, forgive people, help people, we are all human beings. They were called Gnostics and they were persecuted by authorities. (EDIT: I might be wrong about the name, but I have heard that they existed).

I was sort of involved a yoga cult for a while. I did basically a vedanta boot camp, twice, and while there were good things they did at the organization, the base model was authoritarian and manipulative.

I'm sure that there are plenty of people who find a lot of positive aspects of religion. But there are definitely people who use it to abuse their power over others, in any religion. That is why I don't choose to believe in anything supernatural.

That's why I'm trying to forge a path of respecting where Buddhism and Yoga come from, while not believing in the supernatural aspects. I don't think it removes the culture, it just rejects the supernatural part. Which I get is anathema to a lot of people practicing those religions, since they give you meaning.

And with yoga, it rejects the caste-division part as well. We had a lesson about how society was divinely ordered into different roles, and we shouldn't judge it by today's standards. That sounds like priestly apologia to me. There were literally stories in the mythos about lower-caste peoples devoting themselves to learning and the gods, and then the gods ordering them to cut off their own hands, for stepping out of line. No thanks.

We learned a lot about karma and divine grace, but it is not really part of the universe. And it is definitely used by the powerful to enrich themselves.

Like I said I don't think there is anything wrong with people who do believe finding meaning in their religion and not harming others. I think that's great. But I do not think I would be ashamed for not believing in it.

I have a memory of somebody asking the Dalai Lama what he thought of people bringing meditation and mindfulness to the West without bringing the Buddhist cosmology, and he was in favor of it -- meditation helps everyone.

Here's a link to that original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQJL3htsDyQ

I hadn't seen it before.

In all the jobs I've ever worked, "downtime" is something that happens because we're all human and can't work at 100% all the time, but something that doesn't exist on paper.

Besides the union-won legal breaks like a 30 minute meal break and two 15 minute breaks, there is always something you could be doing that's work related.

But there are unspoken norms among workers like "even though we could be doing X, nothing that bad is likely to happen if we don't" and a constant push and pull been management and staff between working and downtime vs always working. Supervisors don't want to pressure their reportees to do busy work unless they have some incentive to do so, etc.

This is where the social dimension comes in which is so complicated. People that are generally liked can get away with taking downtime because they have a good reputation. Usually they keep that reputation by making sure the important work gets done, being reliable, caring about quality, being fun to work with, or whatever. But if somebody new or unpopular seems to be "slacking off," they don't have that reputation to protect them.

I am not that good at being well-liked by my colleagues, but I try. I care about most of them and try to get along so we all have an enjoyable day and keep things running.

From your post, I'm inferring that people looked down on you because you were reading at work when there was downtime, or they just didn't like you because you weren't like them, and that's immature. Maybe there is a social expectation to not read, but instead be social with your co-workers. I don't know if that's true. That sounds exhausting to me, but I've done things like that to try and fit in and make work friends. Maybe when people know you better, they won't mind if you excuse yourself and say, I'd like to catch up on reading these journal articles or whatever.

Sorry if any of this is obvious. It wasn't to me and I'm still trying to figure it out. Your current coworkers sound like jerks, but that doctor sounds great, and I hope you can find a good match of workplace soon.

To me the image looks like a combination of a screenshot of the first post, with a screenshot of the reblogged reply underneath.

But I haven't been on Tumblr for years so idk

Definite boring dystopia vibes

It doesn't make sense logically but still nice in a "be nice to other people, reduce suffering" sense.

No it's to exploit the cybersecurity holes of others

Especially the musical redition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6oUz1v17Uo&t=35

Y'all have a sink in your fume hood? We just had waste bottles.

Unfortunately, it's trump squinting his eyes, and saying "China!" with a pause and a scowl. Rent free in my brain.

Second thing I guess is some bullshit where they were cracking down on Ramadan in a news article.

Third I suppose is the rich history and cultural tradition.

They are saying the bastard cops will not like it

Dodge, Dip, Duck! _(Dive&Dodge)

If the reply is in a screenshot then what was reblogged?

I'm not saying it wasn't safe, it just wasn't as safe as the other ones lololol thanks for this

Not sure how to convince a sovereign power to give up its power over others without war, any suggestions?

Implying engineers are normal

And not only is it a reply, it's a reply after OP boosted their own post (so it would bump the feed again).

Edit no wait I'm wrong. They boosted a reply they got. What even social media is this ?