The passive frame and Buddhism

http://singularityhub.com/2015/08/02/think-your-conscious-brain-directs-your-actions-think-again/

Stream of consciousness

"The Abhidharma philosophers agree that the mental stream is always changing, but they argue that it appears to flow continuously only to the untrained observer. A deeper examination indicates that the stream of consciousness is made up of discontinuous and discrete moments of awareness." http://philosophyofbrains.com/2015/07/29/is-consciousness-a-stream.aspx 

Christian resurrection: BBC documentary

http://www.bbncommunity.com/jesus-buddhist-monk-thought-provoking-documentary-bbc/

"Sometimes your mind can be so open, your brain falls out."

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/01/boomer_parents_destroyed_us_i_needed_rules_and_boundaries_not_parents_who_want_to_be_friends/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Empathy learning

http://startempathy.org/blog/2014/05/6-ways-teach-yourself-empathy

The writer George Orwell is an inspiring model. After several years as a colonial police officer in British Burma in the 1920s, Orwell returned to Britain determined to discover what life was like for those living on the social margins. So he dressed up as a tramp with shabby shoes and coat, and lived on the streets of East London with beggars and vagabonds. The result, recorded in his book Down and Out in Paris and London, was a radical change in his beliefs, priorities, and relationships. He not only realised that homeless people are not “drunken scoundrels” – Orwell developed new friendships, shifted his views on inequality, and gathered some superb literary material. It was the greatest travel experience of his life. He realised that empathy doesn’t just make you good – it’s good for you, too.

http://startempathy.org/blog/2014/05/8-ways-cultivate-empathy-kids

ISIS Dreams: apocalypse

"a dark, bloodthirsty theology that revolves around an apocalyptic narrative in which ISIS’s black-clad soldiers believe they are playing a pivotal role." http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/02/18/3624121/atlantic-gets-dangerously-wrong-isis-islam/

“…simply denouncing the Islamic State as un-Islamic can be counterproductive, especially if those who hear the message have read the holy texts and seen the endorsement of many of the caliphate’s practices written plainly within them.” Wood writes. “Muslims can say that slavery is not legitimate now, and that crucifixion is wrong at this historical juncture. Many say precisely this. But they cannot condemn slavery or crucifixion outright without contradicting the Koran and the example of the Prophet.”

Although Wood qualifies his claim by pointing briefly to the theological diversity within Islam, Islam scholars argue that he glosses over one of the most important components of any faith tradition: interpretation.

Purity: "The group's ideology demands total and absolute adherence to its narrow and extremist interpretation of Islamic law. In their view, nobody — including al-Qaeda — is sufficiently pure. " http://www.vox.com/2015/2/23/8085197/is-isis-losing

Inequality: capitalist Calvinist

http://aeon.co/magazine/society/peter-turchin-wealth-poverty/

The glorification of competition and individual success in itself becomes a driver of economic inequality. As Christopher Hayes wrote in Twilight of the Elites (2012): ‘defenders of the status quo invoke a kind of neo-Calvinist logic by saying that those at the top, by virtue of their placement there, must be the most deserving’. By the same reasoning, those at the bottom are not deserving. As such social norms spread, it becomes increasingly easy for CEOs to justify giving themselves huge bonuses while cutting the wages of workers.