Anagārika Alāra, PhD
@anagarikaalara.bsky.social
Theravāda Buddhism 𑀧𑀝𑀺𑀲𑁄𑀢𑀕𑀸𑀫𑀺𑀦̇, science in general, IT, statistics, investing
Pinned
Do people care about you, or about what you can do?
Endless small conflicts like this are probably why many Buddhist-majority countries remain small, poor, and weak. If only they could get over their differences and unite, they could be a superpower.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
www.theguardian.com
December 12, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Endless small conflicts like this are probably why many Buddhist-majority countries remain small, poor, and weak. If only they could get over their differences and unite, they could be a superpower.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
Only if it were actually my dead grandmother. Usually, when one of my family or friends dies, I see them in dreams, for several months. Then, those dreams stop, which Buddhism says is because they were reborn somewhere. Then, I see them only in memories.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
www.independent.co.uk
December 12, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Only if it were actually my dead grandmother. Usually, when one of my family or friends dies, I see them in dreams, for several months. Then, those dreams stop, which Buddhism says is because they were reborn somewhere. Then, I see them only in memories.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
This shows you Amazon views human workers are mere tools, which is also how colonial slavemasters viewed their slaves.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/t...
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/t...
Amazon wants employees to call AI agents 'Teammates', not tools; Says: This is where the world's workforce is… - The Times of India
Tech News News: Amazon is championing AI agents as autonomous coworkers, not just tools, predicting they'll drive 80-90% of enterprise AI value. This vision emerges a
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
December 12, 2025 at 7:08 PM
This shows you Amazon views human workers are mere tools, which is also how colonial slavemasters viewed their slaves.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/t...
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/t...
In ancient Rome, slaves were usually people whom the Romans had conquered, and were often well-educated or skilled (doctors, craftsmen, etc). It wasn't so much about racism, as in colonial times.
www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
New discovery uncovers Ancient Roman slaves’ surprising diet
The findings expose ‘the absurdity of the ancient slave system’
www.independent.co.uk
December 12, 2025 at 6:55 PM
In ancient Rome, slaves were usually people whom the Romans had conquered, and were often well-educated or skilled (doctors, craftsmen, etc). It wasn't so much about racism, as in colonial times.
www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
'…America's reliance on advanced and expensive weapons makes it vulnerable to China's rapidly manufactured cheaper ones….'
So, the West collectively outsourced their manufacturing to China, which gave China the knowledge/capacity to mass produce cheap weapons.
www.independent.co.uk/asia/china/c...
So, the West collectively outsourced their manufacturing to China, which gave China the knowledge/capacity to mass produce cheap weapons.
www.independent.co.uk/asia/china/c...
www.independent.co.uk
December 12, 2025 at 6:49 PM
'…America's reliance on advanced and expensive weapons makes it vulnerable to China's rapidly manufactured cheaper ones….'
So, the West collectively outsourced their manufacturing to China, which gave China the knowledge/capacity to mass produce cheap weapons.
www.independent.co.uk/asia/china/c...
So, the West collectively outsourced their manufacturing to China, which gave China the knowledge/capacity to mass produce cheap weapons.
www.independent.co.uk/asia/china/c...
'Do other countries make such demands?'
'Not for… mere holidaymakers.'
www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-...
'Not for… mere holidaymakers.'
www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-...
www.independent.co.uk
December 12, 2025 at 6:45 PM
'Do other countries make such demands?'
'Not for… mere holidaymakers.'
www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-...
'Not for… mere holidaymakers.'
www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-...
The large countries increasingly seem to be only paying public lipservice to people-oriented (democratic, libertarian, populist, socialist, etc) ideals, whereas the truth is they've all become autocracies or oligarchies.
www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/new-...
www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/new-...
New red flag
The red flag still waves over Beijing — but the bearer is not the bicycle-riding factory worker, the rural peasant, or the miners’ collective. It is held aloft by the Party-State
www.telegraphindia.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:38 PM
The large countries increasingly seem to be only paying public lipservice to people-oriented (democratic, libertarian, populist, socialist, etc) ideals, whereas the truth is they've all become autocracies or oligarchies.
www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/new-...
www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/new-...
Over and over again, in these Cyclone Ditwah stories, I see the same misperception: people wanting/expecting stability from a constantly changing, impermanent world (and self). It's an unreasonable expectation, a fundamental contradiction, as Buddha taught.
www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-new...
www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-new...
www.dailymirror.lk
December 10, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Over and over again, in these Cyclone Ditwah stories, I see the same misperception: people wanting/expecting stability from a constantly changing, impermanent world (and self). It's an unreasonable expectation, a fundamental contradiction, as Buddha taught.
www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-new...
www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-new...
And does G-d, by any definition of the word 'G-d', stop the rich and powerful from subjugating and oppressing the world's poor? No.
www.theguardian.com/inequality/2...
www.theguardian.com/inequality/2...
www.theguardian.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM
And does G-d, by any definition of the word 'G-d', stop the rich and powerful from subjugating and oppressing the world's poor? No.
www.theguardian.com/inequality/2...
www.theguardian.com/inequality/2...
When many Judeo-Christians want to take lots of time off during December, who is it that keeps many businesses and agencies open? Non-Judeo-Christians. I have often been one of those people keeping things running. You're welcome, Judeo-Christians.
December 10, 2025 at 3:49 PM
When many Judeo-Christians want to take lots of time off during December, who is it that keeps many businesses and agencies open? Non-Judeo-Christians. I have often been one of those people keeping things running. You're welcome, Judeo-Christians.
My aunt, an editor, always hates the news media, this time of year. Every December, she says, 'Here come the retrospectives.'
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
The 50 best TV shows of 2025: 50 to 41
Howlingly funny comedy, jaw-dropping documentaries and astonishing drama … it’s been another fantastic year of TV. Our countdown of the very best kicks off here
www.theguardian.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:46 PM
My aunt, an editor, always hates the news media, this time of year. Every December, she says, 'Here come the retrospectives.'
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
Or it's a $2.2tn benefit to the healthcare industry. Are ultraprocessed food manufacturers in league with healthcare companies (ie, creating more customers/patients for them)?
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Synthetic chemicals in food system creating health burden of $2.2tn a year, report finds
Scientists issue urgent warning about chemicals, found to cause cancer and infertility as well as harming environment
www.theguardian.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Or it's a $2.2tn benefit to the healthcare industry. Are ultraprocessed food manufacturers in league with healthcare companies (ie, creating more customers/patients for them)?
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Some things never change: 'PM: I fear that this has become a bad relationship… a relationship based on the President taking what he wants and casually ignoring all those things that really matter to, um… Britain' (Love Actually, 2003).
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Some things never change: 'PM: I fear that this has become a bad relationship… a relationship based on the President taking what he wants and casually ignoring all those things that really matter to, um… Britain' (Love Actually, 2003).
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Sport, in general, is unfairly biased in favour of those who are, naturally or unnaturally, bigger and stronger (ie, more masculine). Notice how most top female and male professional athletes, including Ms Sabalenka, are very masculine.
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...
www.theguardian.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Sport, in general, is unfairly biased in favour of those who are, naturally or unnaturally, bigger and stronger (ie, more masculine). Notice how most top female and male professional athletes, including Ms Sabalenka, are very masculine.
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...
These days, phones are such pernicious surveillance devices that the best way to avoid being tracking/watched by your phone is to leave it somewhere and you go somewhere else. Soon, eyeglasses are going to become just as bad, but people need those to see.
youtube.com/shorts/yp_SE...
youtube.com/shorts/yp_SE...
youtube.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:17 PM
These days, phones are such pernicious surveillance devices that the best way to avoid being tracking/watched by your phone is to leave it somewhere and you go somewhere else. Soon, eyeglasses are going to become just as bad, but people need those to see.
youtube.com/shorts/yp_SE...
youtube.com/shorts/yp_SE...
Of the Three Unwholesome Roots (called the Three Poisons in Mahāyāna; ie, lobha/greed-lust, dosa/aversion, and moha/self-delusion), self-delusion is the most basic: because of misapprehending a stable self in changing phenomena, people cling to the pleasant and reject the unpleasant.
December 7, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Of the Three Unwholesome Roots (called the Three Poisons in Mahāyāna; ie, lobha/greed-lust, dosa/aversion, and moha/self-delusion), self-delusion is the most basic: because of misapprehending a stable self in changing phenomena, people cling to the pleasant and reject the unpleasant.
Though New Age people criticise Europeans for invading Native lands, they rarely seek to join a tribe, instead living out in nature (ie, on stolen lands) and holding Western views, which is still colonialism. Eg, Robin Greenfield: www.youtube.com/@robin.green...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.youtube.com
December 7, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Though New Age people criticise Europeans for invading Native lands, they rarely seek to join a tribe, instead living out in nature (ie, on stolen lands) and holding Western views, which is still colonialism. Eg, Robin Greenfield: www.youtube.com/@robin.green...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
A contradiction in the Abrahamic religions: G-d is omniscient and omnipotent, and, therefore, is the only truly fair and capable judge. However, in the Torah, G-d mandates the creation of human courts, which are corrupted by subjective or social biases, partial evidence, and persuasion/charisma.
December 7, 2025 at 7:42 PM
A contradiction in the Abrahamic religions: G-d is omniscient and omnipotent, and, therefore, is the only truly fair and capable judge. However, in the Torah, G-d mandates the creation of human courts, which are corrupted by subjective or social biases, partial evidence, and persuasion/charisma.
In the most literal reading of early Buddhism, there should be no courts or prisons; only bodyguards and karma, which is an objective natural law, should be relied upon to defend, punish, or reward people.
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/dec...
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/dec...
‘A move towards an authoritarian state’: what those with trial experience think of removing juries
David Lammy plans to cut the number of jury trials in England and Wales. A defendant, a victim, a barrister, a KC, a judge and a juror have concerns
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 7:41 PM
In the most literal reading of early Buddhism, there should be no courts or prisons; only bodyguards and karma, which is an objective natural law, should be relied upon to defend, punish, or reward people.
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/dec...
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/dec...
For G-d so loved the world, He starved 60,000 African penguins to death (or gave their usual food source, sardines, a break from being routinely slaughtered).
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
60,000 African penguins starved to death after sardine numbers collapsed – study
Climate crisis and overfishing contributed to loss of 95% of penguins in two breeding colonies in South Africa, research finds
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 7:33 PM
For G-d so loved the world, He starved 60,000 African penguins to death (or gave their usual food source, sardines, a break from being routinely slaughtered).
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Even nonhuman mothers understand (conditional) love... a mother bear risking her life to save her cubs from drowning:
www.youtube.com/shorts/tPVb_...
www.youtube.com/shorts/tPVb_...
Sow rescues 2 drowning bear cubs. #epic #wildlife #wildliferescue #beauty #bears
YouTube video by Traveling Thru
www.youtube.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Even nonhuman mothers understand (conditional) love... a mother bear risking her life to save her cubs from drowning:
www.youtube.com/shorts/tPVb_...
www.youtube.com/shorts/tPVb_...
I see Trump as a Confederate president -- not trying to eliminate all non-White (and poor White) people, but returning them to poverty and servitude, which is accurate American history. The America he seems to want is one where the Confederacy won the Civil War.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Trump wants to recreate a white America that never existed | Rebecca Solnit
The persecution of brown people and mass deportations will not create the white country of far-right fantasy
www.theguardian.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:32 PM
I see Trump as a Confederate president -- not trying to eliminate all non-White (and poor White) people, but returning them to poverty and servitude, which is accurate American history. The America he seems to want is one where the Confederacy won the Civil War.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
'Europe's combined economy is 10 times the size of Russia's.'
Therefore, Europe should be easily capable of defending and developing both the Ukraine and the rest of eastern Europe. The author lists several reasons why they're failing.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Therefore, Europe should be easily capable of defending and developing both the Ukraine and the rest of eastern Europe. The author lists several reasons why they're failing.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Only Europe can save Ukraine from Putin and Trump – but will it? | Timothy Garton Ash
Whether using frozen Russian assets, ramping up defence production or deepening the relationship with the EU, it’s up to us to secure Ukraine’s future, says Guardian columnist Timothy Garton Ash
www.theguardian.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:26 PM
'Europe's combined economy is 10 times the size of Russia's.'
Therefore, Europe should be easily capable of defending and developing both the Ukraine and the rest of eastern Europe. The author lists several reasons why they're failing.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Therefore, Europe should be easily capable of defending and developing both the Ukraine and the rest of eastern Europe. The author lists several reasons why they're failing.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Beyond the alliance of oligarchs (Modi and Putin), the Indian public also isn't very kind to poor Ukrainian tourists. Watch from time 2:20: www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0Mw....
www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/trus...
www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/trus...
www.youtube.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Beyond the alliance of oligarchs (Modi and Putin), the Indian public also isn't very kind to poor Ukrainian tourists. Watch from time 2:20: www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0Mw....
www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/trus...
www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/trus...
The US government breaks up monopolies only when they are very large corporations. How does that help small, mom-and-pop businesses?
www.youtube.com/shorts/pf2X4...
www.youtube.com/shorts/pf2X4...
www.youtube.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:22 PM
The US government breaks up monopolies only when they are very large corporations. How does that help small, mom-and-pop businesses?
www.youtube.com/shorts/pf2X4...
www.youtube.com/shorts/pf2X4...