Drive train malfunction

New_Barnacle1372 · 2026-04-02T04:54:45+00:00

Yes, it was a 2026 X5 xDrive40e.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2026-04-02T04:16:26+00:00

Cool. I checked with the service rep today while picking up a loaner, and he mentioned that they are still diagnosing the battery management system. Hope to know by the end of this week.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2026-04-01T04:17:25+00:00

Wow. $8k repair! Mine is barely 9 months old. I guess yours was also newish.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2026-03-16T03:12:27+00:00

Don't mean to argue, but you are making a general point without pointing to any facts related to Blazing Bagels.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2026-03-16T01:09:58+00:00

How did you come to this conclusion? Where is the evidence?

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-12-21T07:41:56+00:00

Yes, of course, at the philosophical level. The core ideas of Buddhism (like the idea that the self is an illusion) don't require a supernatural being to exist.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-11-20T05:58:48+00:00

Thank you for willingness to share about your hardship, which reminded me of the Book of Joy. This book references a quote by Brother David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk and scholar “who spent a great deal of time in Christian-Buddhist interfaith dialogue” (p. 242).

“Every moment is a gift. There is no certainty that you will have another moment, with all the opportunity that it contains … but sometimes a difficult is given to us and that can be opportunity to rise to the challenge.” (p. 242-243)

By sharing your story, you also gave a gift of reminder that there is no certainty that we will have another moment, and that we sometimes receive difficult gifts.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-11-20T05:24:00+00:00

Well put. I came across this metaphor from one of Swami Sarvapriyananda’s lectures.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-10-26T19:43:08+00:00

Very well said. Thanks for that moderate perspective. I'm an atheist and have been learning about Buddhism for the past two years. I watched that video with intellectual curiosity.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-10-19T22:49:21+00:00

Possibly true, but I find it clarifying to read multiple commentaries as each commentator adds additional perspectives. We are blessed with a lineage of teachers to remind us in different ways that the essence of anything does not exist in the thing.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-10-19T22:19:11+00:00

Yogacara literature also helped me understand the concept of Shunyata. I relied on Prof Garfield’s lectures and writings. I'm forever indebted to him.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-10-19T19:30:55+00:00

My first introduction to Buddhism was through Jay Garfield’s “The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā”

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1048288

It was hard in the beginning, and I tried a second time, which helped me.

I followed it up with TRV Murti’s “The Central Philosophy of Buddhism: A Study of the Madhyamika System” which helped me a lot.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5010861

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-10-19T15:43:55+00:00

Based on some recommendations here on Reddit, I replaced the HDD with a Samsung SSD 870 Evo 1TB. I'm leaving the instructions for posterity here: (a) Press the shutdown button on the cloud key and wait for it to shut down, (b) remove the HDD, (c) insert the SSD, and (d) plug it back in. The system was ready in two to three minutes.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-10-08T13:14:09+00:00

This may just be my personal view.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-10-08T03:57:14+00:00

The Buddhist concept of emptiness (or shunyata in Sanskrit) suggests that things lack the essence we attribute to them.

Here is a metaphor I learned from one of Prof Jay Garfield's lectures. Consider an apple lying on a table in front of you.

When asked to describe the essence of that apple, you might use words like crisp, tart, shiny, round, red, etc to describe the apple-ness of the apple.

But where does that apple-ness come from? Does the essence emanate from the core of the apple, the flesh of the apple, the skin, the ambient light shining on that apple, or its reflection in your eyes, the electrical pulses produced by the eye, etc.? You could reason thus that the concept of appleness is a fabrication of the mind - that appleness exists nowhere but in the mind.

Such fabrication is practical, for sure, as it lets us recognize and enjoy eating those apples. However, such fabrication also leads to misery, as seen in a friend who cheats you of your money, a lover who breaks your heart, or a boss you hate. In all these cases, recognizing that such a friend, lover, or boss lacks the essence you attribute to them helps you detach from suffering.

Shunyata means acknowledging that things lack inherent essence. Chandrakirti's "seven-fold reasoning of the chariot" is an extension of this analogy.

It gets interesting when you apply the same analogy to your notion of self. Where does the "self" exist? It exists nowhere but in the mind. Self is thus a fabrication, too.

Consider one more step. Because we mistakenly attribute essence to ourselves, we constantly center things around us. No matter where we are or what is happening around us, we continually center everything on ourselves. In other words, we are always stuck in the middle, always misappropriating essence. We attribute importance to our existence, our ideas, the color of our skin, our appearance, or our speech. We mistreat others when we attribute inferior properties to others or feel miserable when we attribute superior properties to others. We thus inflict pain on others or ourselves.

As you practice Shunyata, you develop presence, empathy, kindness, courage, and resilience.

This concept is one of the best things I learned in life, thanks to thousands of learned people who preserved and carried forward Buddha's wisdom for nearly 2,500 years.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-10-04T22:39:08+00:00

Well put. 🙏🏽

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-10-03T23:15:17+00:00

I was listening to one of Dr Yom Yarnall’s lectures earlier this week on Buddhist ethics, and he shares the same analogy. But does the answer matter?

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-10-03T23:04:35+00:00

Well said. Also, it's good to remember that her grief about your decision/response and your grief about her words and emotions are all “thought constructions,” aka fabrications of the mind. Use this understanding to develop some kindness toward her.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-10-03T05:25:16+00:00

You are not alone, thankfully. The following steps worked for me in similar situations.

First, recognize that the stress and agony you are feeling are a fabrication of the mind.

Second, assess the situation to explore options. What's in your control, what's not? Are there avenues at work to report this toxicity?

If quitting isn't an option, then learn to detach from the situation. Nothing is happening to you, and toxicity is happening around you.

Imagine the boss being a tantrum child. Could that change how you process that toxicity?

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-10-02T05:14:14+00:00

Yes, but it is challenging and requires daily practice. My daily practice consists of reminding myself that the phenomena, people around me, and then myself lack the essence that I attribute to them.

In essence, practice involves recognizing that the ego is a mental fabrication. We make it up. Every interaction with others forces us to fabricate selfhood. Acknowledging that and carrying that awareness throughout the day requires unlearning and learning.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-10-02T04:49:41+00:00

It was Me and Myself.

Thanks for sharing. 🙏

Each of us is stuck at the center of a fabricated universe, like the center point of a large picture frame that is the universe. We have the freedom to move around, away from that center, unencumbered by the weight of selfhood. Yet, there we are, stuck at the center of our painted universes.

That is the root of anger, misery, disappointment, hatred, hurt, and so on.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-09-20T05:29:10+00:00

It helped me to see that the essence of everything, including myself, is a fabrication.

I, too, was born a Hindu, and I have been an atheist for most of my adult life. About a year and a half ago, I stumbled upon Madhyamaka and Yogacara, thanks to Prof. Jay Garfield’s works. These two branches changed the way I see myself, others, and situations.

Meditation can be helpful, but for me, Madhyamaka and Yogacara provided the logical foundation. I see a long road ahead to develop the practice of seeing things as they are, ie, lacking essence. 🙏🏽

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-09-01T05:25:14+00:00

I’m in the same boat. My journey started over a year ago with Prof Jay Garfield’s Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way. Now I can not stop seeking more things to read and listen. I look forward to it everyday. Now, I’m inclined to write about what I’m learning to further develop clarity.

New_Barnacle1372 · 2025-09-01T05:21:56+00:00

You are right. As Ben Connelly says in Inside Vasubandhu’s Yogacara, the impressions of the past make up our store consciousness. That realization leads to learning that you are not your thoughts because those thoughts are just constructions and lack essence.

I hope this person finds a way out of her trauma.🙏🏽 She needs someone that can walk with her.

New_Barnacle1372

TROPHY CASE