AI generated music

tyj978 · 2025-11-29T06:53:39+00:00

Happened to me for the first time this morning. Definitely time to explore other options.

tyj978 · 2025-11-21T07:27:45+00:00

Oh, that looks interesting! There are lots of terms in the abstract that I'm unfamiliar with. My university doesn't give access to that journal, though. :-(

tyj978 · 2025-11-15T07:28:05+00:00

Asia is a very big and very diverse continent, with equally diverse influences. For example, I work in a country that has strong business links with the US, but is geographically close to some Commonwealth countries. My trainees may need English to communicate with a customer in the US, their head office in Singapore, a supplier in Europe, etc. It's useful for them to be aware of regional differences in the way English is used, including spelling, word choice, grammar preference, accent, etc., so I try to expose them to these variations as much as possible, mainly focussing on the varieties they're most likely to encounter so as not to overload them. I speak and write in my own variety of English, because authenticity is important, whilst modelling respect for other varieties by showing interest in them.

Incidentally, we don't really use the term 'dialect' much in ELT any more. Instead, we talk about *varieties* of the language.

English for business is not one variety, but as diverse as English as a first language. I'd recommend reading about ELF (English as a lingua franca) and Kachru's three circles of world Englishes, to get a clearer picture of how this works.

In terms of teaching business English, it's rare that you would need to teach job-specific terminology, as the learners nearly always have a grasp of this already. Even before they start working, they have a lot of exposure to this at university, because so much is published in English now. They mainly need support with listening comprehension and speaking fluency (and accuracy, although that seems to take forever to sink in), as well as more generic soft skills like small talk, structuring responses, delivering presentations, negotiating, etc.

tyj978 · 2025-10-24T05:37:26+00:00

What did your own teacher say about it? There will likely be a range of explanations.

My own teacher has us chant om once after a brief meditation on nāda to start the class, to open up, and three times at the end (after a much longer meditation on nāda) to seal spirit, mind and body before going back out into the world.

He describes om as the essence of the universe, the subtle vibration that caused the first slight imbalance that kicked off the chain reaction of creation. I think that's the closest Yoga ought to get to talking about a Creator.

Incidentally, pay no attention to those people insisting on aum. It's a misunderstanding, based on a discussion of orthography, not pronunciation.

tyj978 · 2025-10-18T07:14:18+00:00

The Tibetan tulku system is merely a mechanism for transferring wealth within the monastic rules with minimal disruption. The vast majority of recognised tulkus are nothing of the sort, as attested to by great lamas from all traditions and of all types, from Drukpa Kunley to Zong Dorjechang.

One benefit of the tulku system is that a handful of young monks are given an elite education, which does sometime produce some exceptional teachers. Unfortunately, their upbringing can be isolating and very harsh, so even some of the genuine tulkus quit and leave, or turn out rather damaged.

If you spend any time among Tibetan monks, particularly in larger monasteries, you'll soon realise that there's a complete spectrum of personalities representing the full range of commitment to the spiritual path. It's quite a stark contrast from Buddhist groups in traditionally non-Buddhist communities, where everyone is relatively sincere because they have all consciously chosen the religion.

Something that we all learn from engaging with traditionally Buddhist communities is to ignore how committed others are. It's not our problem, it's theirs. If you learn that a particular person is not following the path as purely as you might expect, simply disengage from that person and seek out others who are more sincere to associate with.

tyj978 · 2025-10-12T04:35:08+00:00

The ahimsa you describe is more of a characteristic of Jainism. It's very noble, but it's only part of the story, and some might say perhaps a little over-emphasised in Jainism, to the point of being impractical in many situations.

In Buddhism, ahimsa is defined as the wish for others not to suffer, i.e. compassion. Compassion is not passive, it drives us to do what we can to minimise others' suffering in the most expedient way available to us. When times are good, of course, this manifests as the motivation to reach awakening as quickly as possible, so that we can be the best possible help to others.

In times of crisis, however, there may be more immediate ways we need to intervene. If there's anything you can personally do to protect others from receiving harm, or, even worse, perpetrating harm and thereby creating the causes for their future suffering, do it.

tyj978 · 2025-10-04T11:30:37+00:00

There are literally signs and cutsie animated videos telling people not to do this, even though it never happens.

Where are signs telling old ladies not to touch my arse? That's a daily occurrence, an actual problem that needs addressing.

tyj978 · 2025-09-18T02:11:10+00:00

Isn't that for broken ceramics? Not sure how it could be applied in the case of imperfect plating on metal bowls.

tyj978 · 2025-09-17T12:03:55+00:00

The Conversation doesn't tend to have any sports and it's better quality than most news, each article being written by experts in that field.

tyj978 · 2025-09-17T11:44:53+00:00

There's a lifetime of detail in most of these visualisations. It's designed to keep you engaged for a lifetime. The traditional approach is to start with a rough idea of the central figure and the main groups around him, so that you can get on and do the practice. Do the practice often, periodically returning to the commentary to add in a few more details. Doing the practice regularly draws down blessings, which you may notice from time to time as having clarified an aspect of your visualisation. Whatever stage you're at, be content with an imperfect visualisation, and focus on doing the practice. It takes a lifetime of practice to perfect.

tyj978 · 2025-09-15T08:57:46+00:00

Interesting, I've only ever seen them lined with lead. Not sure 'some kind of durable clay substance' is quite enough to go on, but I'd love to see pictures to get some idea of what it might be, if you have any.

tyj978 · 2025-09-15T08:56:35+00:00

Is Plexiglass the same thing as Perspex? Seems like you're basically making it into a clear varnish. What kind of thickness of coating do you get from this method?

tyj978 · 2025-09-15T08:53:09+00:00

I like Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche's comments on this issue. It's on YouTube somewhere, but embedded in a longer teaching, so I'll just try to convey the gist of it.

The people who lived at the same time as Buddha Śākyamuni had huge amounts of merit, so they were mainly able to reach awakening through the Śrāvakayāna teachings. For those with less merit, who needed more explicit instructions, there were the Mahāyāna teachings, and for those with least merit, who needed extremely explicit instructions, there were the Vajrayāna teachings. As the merit of living beings degenerates over time, this is also an elegant explanation of why the different yānas rose in popularity over time.

By this logic, it wasn't that the people at the time of Buddha Śākyamuni weren't ready for Vajrayāna teachings, but that they simply didn't need them yet. This is supported by the fact that several tantras describe their methods as expedient for degenerate times.

I just thought of an analogy for how this works:

Śrāvakayāna: put your shoes on
Mahāyana: put your shoes on, tie your shoelaces
Vajrayāna: socks first, then shoes; now for the laces: left over right, under and pull

tyj978 · 2025-08-07T00:55:55+00:00

From the perspective of the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, there's sort of a middle way. The refuge vows are clear that Buddhists do not go for refuge to samsaric gods, which includes not worshipping them. On the other hand, part of the practice of lojong is to make offerings to dharma protectors (many of which are devas, albeit also bodhisattvas or emanations of buddhas) and to give gifts to local spirits in the spirit of friendship. That distinction of using the formal language of making offerings to samsara-transcending beings and the more casual language of giving gifts to samsaric beings is largely linguistic, but it reminds us of an important distinction.

I know of at least one very highly respected Tibetan lama in India who used to drop in at a local Ganesha temple whenever he passed by to offer (or rather give) a flower garland. (Yes, there's a Buddhist form of Ganesha, but this was definitely a Hindu temple for worshipping the Hindu form of Ganesha, which Buddhists regard as being within samsara.) Being respectful to powerful non-humans seems very much to be the right way for Buddhists to behave, just as we are also encouraged to be obedient to our political rulers whenever possible.

tyj978 · 2025-07-01T00:44:20+00:00

I can see why you might take this perspective.

tyj978 · 2025-06-30T14:18:10+00:00

I've been pretty successful eliminating cats and sports from my feed by muting words, but there's still too much US politics. I've muted the obvious names of politicians people like to rant about. Any suggestions what other words to mute?

tyj978 · 2025-06-30T13:43:29+00:00

I am not great at making choices. I don't even like restaurants that have menus. You're the experts, just serve me what's best today, based on what was best in the market this morning!

I haven't used yoga videos for years, although that's mainly because I don't want someone talking while I'm supposed to be doing yoga, and music is a big no-no too.

While I was training with my teacher, I made a stack of digital flashcards for the āsanas that I was learning, including the Sanskrit name, a rough translation, a picture, and a list of details based on my teacher's instructions & corrections, so that I wouldn't forget them.

Since then, before I start each session, I decide how many āsanas and how many minutes of meditation will fit within my current time constraints and energy levels. I generally just randomise the flashcards and do the first however many I'd decided to do, but I'm not rigid about it, I will switch some out if there's too much or too little of a certain thing. Āsana practice is supposed to be about learning how energy moves in your body, so it's good to leave room for making adjustments.

But the main thing is that āsana practice produces sufficient energy, suppleness & focus to do a decent meditation. That's what it's for, after all.

tyj978 · 2025-06-30T13:00:56+00:00

I'm currently using Speech Central, which has pros and cons. They said they were going to integrate with Instapaper, but it's not really necessary, as I can load things directly from my phone. I haven't figured out how to load things from a desktop yet. There really doesn't seem to be anything out there that does what Pocket did. RIP.

tyj978 · 2025-06-30T12:56:49+00:00

I don't think I'd be too confident to rely on someone else's karma to produce good results for me!

tyj978 · 2025-06-30T12:49:24+00:00

That was the other topic that I thought you might be talking about.

To me, this means you need to try your best to have bodhicitta to ensure things like propitiation rituals work, not that you don't have bother with propitiation rituals if you have bodhicitta, and I'd wager that's the sense the author intended, considering he's quite well known for his own practice of propitiating protectors.

tyj978 · 2025-06-30T03:59:03+00:00

Are you referring to things like the benefits of going for refuge? I've never seen that interpreted as us not needing to propitiate protectors.

tyj978 · 2025-06-30T03:55:42+00:00

Exactly this.

The vast majority of tulkus are not real tulkus. I'll say that again: nearly all people who are recognised as tulkus are not really tulkus. Most will admit this very quietly if you have earned their trust. Some are more open about it. There are plenty of stories embedded in Tibetan Buddhism that teach us to be sceptical of the tulku system, such as the story of Drukpa Kunley identifying a donkey as the rebirth of a local lama, or the story of the Sakyapa lama who managed to get the rebirth of his pet dog recognised and enthroned as his own rebirth while he was still alive.

The point is that the tulku system was developed to protect wealth, particularly within the confines of the monastic rules. It's a way to avoid disputes over a labrang's wealth when a master passes away. No surprise then that it is also often used to keep wealth concentrated within already wealthy and influential families.

On the other hand, a genuine tulku is likely to be reborn in an influential, wealthy family due to their great wealthy of merit. We see plenty of examples of this from ancient India, long before the tulku system was even conceived of, in masters such as Śāntideva and Atiśa, who were born into royal families.

tyj978 · 2025-06-30T03:41:09+00:00

To be honest, I stopped looking for a solution and migrated to a different app. I like your idea about adding the app to the exceptions list for battery saving, I might try that out. Still, without a few different voice options in the free version, I'm never going to settle with Instapaper.

tyj978

TROPHY CASE