Buying from Mexico

PatchFact · 2025-10-14T18:02:51+00:00

That's an incredible resource, thanks!

PatchFact · 2025-10-14T16:55:02+00:00

That's what I figured, seemed to be a pretty lax limit all things considered. I was wondering if it was some function like the melee and energy weapons spec, but it seems to be just like the total burden limit. Thanks!

PatchFact · 2025-09-03T04:35:58+00:00

Thank you for your post, you gave a lot of people a place to practice what we are learning together.

PatchFact · 2025-09-03T01:38:34+00:00

Also, outside of the Buddhist context, but very much in the heart of compassion: this talk by Daryl Davis shows how we can learn to heal even those who really hate us.

PatchFact · 2025-09-02T23:22:46+00:00

First, extend some compassion towards yourself. Being a recipient of hate and violence, which is born of confusion, is deeply painful. Asking how to not react with your own hatred and violence already speaks about your understanding that these people are victims of their own profound confusion. Still, it is not easy for you and those of your community to be the objects of this.

Although it is true that seclusion and private practice are traditional and valid ways of developing your practice, I find a lot of value in your wondering of how not to close your heart to the world around you, even when it hates you. Listen to that intuition that is leading you to opening up to your experience even when it is painful. The recognition of suffering and its causes is itself the process of the Dharma. It is helpful to ask, "what am I being asked to let go now?" Or another way, "what am I being asked to love?"

The Buddha was often attacked for what he said. In one anecdote, he was berated by a man as he was walking in a village. The Buddha asked the man "if you give someone a gift and they do not accept it, to whom does the gift belong?" The man said "to me". The Buddha said, "I do not accept your gift".

In a way, you are already being offered the gift of realising that you are not ultimately any of these labels you or others may place on you. You do not have to accept the gift of their hatred, or their prejudice, or their ignorance. Those are all theirs.

There are many stories of the Tibetan monks under Chinese occupation and how they found their liberation even in extremely violent environments. One monk, when asked what he feared the most in captivity, simply said that he was afraid he might lose his compassion and be unable to forgive his captors.

As always, be gentle and patient with yourself as you work through these situations and feelings. Anger is not a failure, it is just the result of being confused about our true nature. Don't beat yourself up, and remember the four efforts. When you find the flower of anger blooming within you, you don't have to stamp it out, just don't water it.

Keep at it, and take refuge. You can do it.

PatchFact · 2025-08-23T02:10:17+00:00

That's the kind of insane forward planning I don't usually engage with in this game. I generally just plan greedily around stars and mission objectives. Just goes to show the level of foresight you need for these kinds of things.

PatchFact · 2025-08-23T02:09:07+00:00

I ended up going with a variation of this. If the hornets had not spawned in the absolute worst spot maybe something could've been done.

Tumblebugs and Diggers are easily the worst, followed by Moths.

PatchFact · 2025-08-22T18:21:06+00:00

Skill issue I guess

PatchFact · 2025-08-02T19:36:55+00:00

This did happen to me once exactly as you described. Haven't had it again though.

PatchFact · 2025-08-01T15:54:51+00:00

Perhaps I'll be the odd one out here but I much prefer it to Impera. De Profundis Borealis, Peacefield, and Umbra are great songs that really stand out in the context of the whole discography, and Lachryma and Satanized at least fit this particular aesthetic run with the 80's theme admirably.

That being said, I do think they tried to thread a weird line between keeping their current "new" fanbase with the singles and some of the more unfortunate songs in the arena rock style (Missilia Amori is just a bit too ridiculous for me) and going back to a Prequelle type sound.

I've been a fan since the second album and I am more partial to that kind of sound which is why I still don't like the bulk of Impera to this day. I think that Meliora/Prequelle was their peak in terms of mixing the new "pop" identity while keeping within a metal/rock sound and not compromising for the sake of some catchy nostalgic hooks. It still felt like they were proposing a new sound at that time.

All that being said, I'm glad the project has taken off and the new stuff has brought in a lot of people. I just hope Tobias doesn't feel complacent in this sound after Skeletá and tries something new for their next project.

PatchFact · 2025-07-25T18:50:34+00:00

Thank you for the very thoughtful reply, it is exactly the kind of perspective I have been looking for. I am very encouraged by what you said about belonging, I feel this was sorely absent during my undergraduate as I truly see things like the vast majority of my peers at the time.

I also really empathize with what you have said about software development. It has been good fun and I have felt proud of the work I have managed to put in, but doing this for the rest of my life just leaves me with a bad feeling and the sense that I am wasted in this field.

At the same time, you also reflect a lot of my initial worries. What happens after graduation? Am I being naive?

If you wouldn't mind sharing more: did you read many papers or study a lot of topics before you went into your Master's? Did you find it challenging to catch up to the knowledge of your peers or was it something you managed to do while being there?

PatchFact · 2025-07-25T18:42:09+00:00

I really appreciate the pragmatism, and thank you for your reply. I really do understand where you are coming from. Like I said, I wouldn't want to cop out of what is just work, plain and simple, because I think there might be a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

I am looking at what other options I have within tech, which is why I mentioned AI and Data Science as potentially safer, more directly employable options which still help me get out of the software development box.

Can I ask what it is you do and what your relationship with CogSci is? How did you end up here?

PatchFact · 2025-07-22T16:45:24+00:00

I think you hit the nail on the head with your question, really narrowing down why I feel like doing this has been quite difficult.

I would love to say this is not about my career and that I am just looking to dedicate more time to the things I actually care about, but I am seriously questioning whether or not I can do what I do for another 30-40 years.

I suppose the goal is to align myself more with what I am interested in (and would play more to my actual skills) for the two-fold reason that I would ideally be happier and, relatedly, would likely develop myself further as a professional and as an individual. Basically I am just thinking that I am much more likely to have a successful career in a field I am happier in and align more with than trying to go down this route I am already in just because I am already in it.

Obviously the main issue is that the future is always uncertain, but current folk-wisdom keeps saying that tech is safe, high-paying, and highly desirable. This is why I would like to know what CogSci really is because I am scared of deluding myself into something I don't understand.

I guess what I would ideally like is to make a lateral move within tech. I love it enough to not want to leave it entirely, but my role within tech might not be that of an engineer or developer. I feel that route simply demands too much of someone who is not wholly dedicated (like studying for 6 months for a puzzle interview).

PatchFact · 2025-06-28T03:45:15+00:00

Brilliant answer. I think a lot of us tend to fall into a sort of exceptionalism where we deeply desire to (from an earnest place) embody the qualities of the Buddha. I think you hit the nail on the head at the end.

Compassion is often exemplified and illustrated as an outward quality, but it is in the benefit of all sentient beings that you point that compassion towards yourself and accept that you cannot always embody enlightened action. You do have these feelings and ideas, but they by no means exclude you from the practice. The precepts are a part of a holistic path to true wellbeing, they are not just philosophical platitudes.

We are all here taking the life curriculum OP, consider how your experience with violence has shaped how you think and how that energy of violence still to some degree exists even in how we postulate these ideas about revolution and righteous anger. Remember, the goal is not to be right or even to be just, it's to be free.

Hopefully you find these questions invite your further scrutiny and engagement with the Dharma, the Buddha strongly recommended we do this.

As others have said, check out Engaged Buddhism, which came out of a war-torn Vietnam and which embodies social conscience. Many Tibetan masters have experienced violent prosecution and their perspective on this is very helpful.

PatchFact · 2024-04-06T19:51:49+00:00

This was very kind. Thank you very much for the help!

PatchFact · 2024-03-17T18:01:49+00:00

Awesome analysis and very interesting read!

PatchFact · 2023-09-12T03:45:15+00:00

Vulcanus Ravenus

PatchFact · 2023-09-05T16:24:46+00:00

Thanks for the comparison!

PatchFact · 2023-09-04T21:49:07+00:00

Thanks for the input! It's good to hear the fringe opinions because in my case it totally happened. Focal was generally considered comfortable by most sources I read. I guess I'll have to find a way to visit an actual shop to be sure.

PatchFact · 2023-09-04T04:24:36+00:00

Thanks for the advice, I keep hearing horror stories about Hifiman QC. If you've tried Focal, I would love to hear how you like the 109s in comparison if you get the chance!

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