A fitting response

I have been indignant. And very annoyed. But I am proud of myself that I kept it together.

The past two weeks have been very strange. I was subjected to some angry outbursts from members of the Soto Zen Facebook group. The very first day I was there, I received some extremely inappropriate private messages. You can get a sense of how bad these messages can be from Tutteji Wachtmeister Dai Osho's page. I decided very quickly that I would leave the site, but not without clarifying each and everything that needed to be clarified. I had already gotten into a few discussions. Over the subsequent days, I got into discussions on even more topics: the place of narcotic substances  in Buddhism, Buddhist monism, et cetera.

The trouble with these discussions is that you are often discussing matters which require many years of education. It is impossible to convey the answers to questions that you have arrived after years of study in a two or three sentences. Or even two or three paragraphs (example: quantum tunneling).  The bigger issue was this: there was the constant annoyance of insinuations and allegations. I was accused of trolling the very first day (I was simply questioning concepts like "karma"). What really happened was that as soon as I received the first two messages, I decided to leave the group - but not without quashing the allegation and insinuations that had by then been made. (Another constant was the insinuation that I was actually somebody else. The name "Mary" was thrown around.) I have mentioned elsewhere what I did as soon as I was told about this. I used some fairly vehement language. I told anyone that was not getting it right quite directly that they were wrong. This is not something I have ever done before. But given the vehemence of the responses (many Buddhists believe quite sincerely in karma, for instance), I had to be even more vehement in my replies. Instead of resolving any issues, this simply escalated matters since the people who held these ideas (such as karma) close to their hearts were not going to easily give up said ideas. What's more- within a week, I was also accused of an instance of anti-Semitism by the admin Alasdair Gordon-Finlayson, and this was really the last straw. It crossed the line. This time I decided that I would not simply reply to specific comments, but would actually form a strategy.

This strategy was as follows: (1) I would post a notice stating clearly what steps I would take; (2) I would respond to every allegation, accusation or insinuation; and (3) I would clarify every single issue that may have been laid at my door.

It ended up being a matter of deploying some very aggressive tactics to ensure that I could get out okay. Without such tactics, things would have been worse. But I will tell you this: if you, as an admin, accuse someone of anti-Semitism, you should expect some pretty aggressive tactics in response. So, that's the full story.

That was a fitting response. And I am sure glad I got out of that Facebook group.

Gordon-Finlayson versus Tutteji Wachtmeister Dai Osho

I repeatedly told Gordon-Finlayson to stop the blame game. Now that I have left the Soto Zen Buddhism Facebook group, I would like to make some comments to those of you who may have read that discussion.

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Hey folks,

I did receive messages of encouragement from many of you, but the venom in one of the messages from a commenter on the forum was so much that I decided that it would be best to leave. I don't have time for all this pointless banter. At the end of the day, it is just a pointless waste of time.

 At the end of the day, as I made it clear to Gordon-Finlayson, I believe in equality for all. The sort of deliberately obtuse reading that Gordon-Finalyson gives my public message which was seen by many people gives the game away. It turns out that Gordon-Finalyson basically does not care for any sort of equality. And after Googling, it turns out that Gordon-Finlayson is some type of middle manager in some political apparatus. Anyway, this whole thing is just a waste of time. Best wishes to all. Don't forget to pay respects to His Holiness Tutteji Wachtmeister Dai Osho. He will shower you with His Bliss.

Best, Anand

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Also read:
1. The one in which Tutteji Wachtmeister Dai Osho says to Gordon-Finlayson & company: "Keep Calm and Ban Everyone" : http://tuttejiorg.wordpress.com/2014/03/18/keep-calm-and-ban-everyone/

2. The one in which Tutteji has for Gordon-Finlayson & company an "Update" : http://tuttejiorg.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/update/

3. The one in which Tutteji speaks about his argument with Soto Zen:
http://tuttejiorg.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/my-arguent-with-soto-zen-or-how-i-learned-to-fear-the-x/

"The Stupidest Man Alive" award goes to Alasdair Gordon-Finlayson

It looks like Brad DeLong has not given the "Stupidest Man Alive" award for a little bit now. Further research is required to ascertain how long it has been since he gave out the award. Apart from the award given out in July, 2013 (this he gave to himself for making an error that is actually quite forgivable), the previous one, as far as I can see, inthe first 10 hits on Google takes it away from Donald Luskin and gives it to Steven Landsburg.

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Yet another gift to our public sphere from Jacob Weisberg and Michael Kinsley… 

Cord Jefferson has the report: 

Steven Landsburg… economics professor at the University of Rochester. Formerly a Slate columnist…. March 20… "Censorship, Environmentalism and Steubenville," the post attempts to compare and contrast potential "psychic harms" associated with pornography, environmentalism, and being raped while you are passed out. If one of those things, prima facie, doesn't sound like the others to you, well, Landsburg would like to understand "what is the key difference among them?"…
After describing a scenario in which a character named "Farnsworth McCrankypants" is mentally traumatized by knowing other people watch porn ("Question 1"), and another in which "Granola McMustardseed" is distressed by the idea of wilderness desecration ("Question 2"), Landsburg poses "Question 3," which references the recently closed Steubenville rape case:
Let's suppose that you, or I, or someone we love, or someone we care about from afar, is raped while unconscious in a way that causes no direct physical harm—no injury, no pregnancy, no disease transmission. (Note: The Steubenville rape victim, according to all the accounts I've read, was not even aware that she'd been sexually assaulted until she learned about it from the Internet some days later.)… Ought the law discourage such acts of rape? Should they be illegal?… I'm having trouble articulating any good reason why Question 3 is substantially different from Questions 1 and 2. As long as I'm safely unconsious and therefore shielded from the costs of an assault, why shouldn't the rest of the world (or more specifically my attackers) be allowed to reap the benefits?…
Every time someone on my street turns on a porch light, trillions of photons penetrate my body… if those… caused me deep psychic distress, the law would continue to ignore them… bodily penetration does not seem to be in some sort of special protected category… 

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Without getting into that particular debate, I would like to point out that the award now has a new contender who, as far as I know, is so far ahead of the pack that there is not a single competitor in sight.

The new winner of the award is (envelope please): Alasdair Gordon-Finlayson of the University of Northampton. Here were my previous comments on this matter.

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I think Alasdair Gordon-Finalyson by virtue of his statement regarding my supposed anti-Semitism and subsequent refusal to issue an apology has simply gone beyond all parameters of reasonable discussion. The very idea of insulting people like this is revolting.  And I'm sorry, there are no two ways about this.
As for me, I'm glad that I got out of the Soto Zen Buddhism forum within days of having joined it. The Internet is a very strange place.

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 What led to Alasdair Gordon-Finlayson to call me out on supposed anti-Semitism was, I believe, a reference in a sentence to "the Nobel Prize Awards Ceremony, or as I like to call it, the World Jewish People Appreciation Day". This statement was somehow anti-Semitic to Gordon-Finlayson. This statement obviously implied pride/achievement for the Jewish people (in winning so many Nobel Prizes). Nothing negative. Not only was reading this statement as anti-Semitism a very bizarre reading, at the time I posted this comment, another person did say that he understood this sentence in the way I intended it once I brought this matter to the attention of the forum. So, there is absolutely no question there. Absolutely none at all.

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Sorry. There are no other contenders. No one even close.

A vote for Tuttejiorg

I moved over to this blog a whole bunch of posts from my other blog "Ask the Delphic Oracle". I had to write a number of posts on this topic very quickly - many of them not even spell checked correctly. I was trying, at various times, to be ironic or humorous or oddball or some other thing, but at the same time, was trying to be, at least, scientifically accurate. Everything you read here is correct, except that one or two posts could be improved. It is quite possible that I did not quite succeed with some of them.

I am just moving this stuff all here to give you an idea of what is going on on the Internet with religious groups. Also, I don't want to clutter my main blog with all this nonsense. This Soto Zen Facebook group was something I stumbled into but the problems being pointed out are symptomatic of a much bigger phenomenon - viz., that of cults on the Internet and that of the sociology of religion on discussion forums.

I think Tutteji Wachtmeister Dai Osho's website is much funnier (I think I may have called him Tutte Jiorg before- I thought that was his name then). Just go there. It is at : tuttejiorg.wordpress.com. You will get more out of reading that than reading this not-quite-fully-baked blog.

Meme du jour

For the record - what to do if you are called a troll

For the record, I was not banned from the group. I Googled for more information on the group within a day or two of joining it. I didn't like what I saw. I told them that I was leaving. As mentioned in my previous post, here is what I did in response. It was quite effective.

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I put a process in place there on said forum. My advice to people: if you are accused of trolling, the first thing you should do is tell others what you plan to do next. Clearly, state that : (1) you are going to leave the group any way. (2) You are in the meantime going to resolutely respond to any and all pointless accusations; (3) You are going to use truth as an absolute defense against all insinuations, allegations and accusations.

And that is exactly what I did. I posted a message like the one above over on their Facebook. Then I proceeded to do exactly what I said I would do. Trasparency is the only way to make people accountable.

Hindu-Buddhist Studies Post 13 : Keep Calm and ban everyone

A repost of a post on Tuttejiorg.wordpress.com.

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Two other friends of mine, Arne Chosfer (cultural critic and bon vivant extraordinaire) and Galley Trot (an accomplished Buddhist scholar and expert in the treatment of Post-Buddhist Stress Disorder) recently joined the Soto Zen Facebookgroup, offering their perspectives. Hardly surprising, both were banned within a few hours.

Galley Trot
I just joined this site. I havt say: beschizzlefoschizzle, bitches! Good shit. This Tutteji dude and this Erica Sagn are not the site admin in disguise. I mean, everything else here is lame and platitudinous by comparison. Yawww!

Lana Berrington (admin)
Galley – yup.. lame and boring and without drama… that’s what this place is all about. Some people won’t like that.. but you can’t please everyone. ps: please watch your language,

Galley Trot
Oh, forgive me Mother Lana Berrington. “Dude” = “Gentleman”

That final comment apparently made Mother Superior jump the gun, and Galley Trot was swiftly banned from the group. Let’s see what happened with Arne Chosfer:

x-buddhist 1
Like most failed comedians, this “gentleman” [Tutte Wachtmeister Dai Osho] wants to make it about the audience. It’s not. His act flopped on it’s own merits.

Another Voice of Sanity
Your absolutely right Number 1, Whoever posts a thread that does not receive the desired response that the contributor intended, then that group member should be banned.

Another Voice of Sanity 
Whoops! Please strike my last post from the record. I accidently used sarcasm AKA lying. Hopefully I don’t receive an infraction or get banned.

x-buddhist 2
Ah, c’mon now lads! Wouldja ever ‘man’ up at all, for Christ’s sake? Ye’re all acting like a bunch of petty-minded schoolkids!

Another Voice of Sanity
Number 2,With all the cursing and name calling you’ve opportunistically added to Tutte’s thread my first impression was that you were the troll everyone was talking about in the deleted threads of his. Then I thought you were his little buddy just joking around with him. When I realized that you were a part of the opposition against him is when I started to not see his threads as trolling. I’m serious. Your comments were the most offensive part of this whole thing. Talk about school kid mentality.

x-buddhist 2
AVoS, I’m neither for nor against anyone, anything, or any one view.
That is clearly confusing for one such as you, which is presumably why you were struggling to work out whose ‘side’ I was on.

But that’s what gives me the freedom to comment as I do. If you feel offended by my neutral comments then I guess you feel offended. Feel free to sit with your offense if you can. :)

Arne Chosfer 
So, Number 2, as a good little Soto Zen altar boy, you’re “neither for nor against anyone, anything, or any one view.”

Still, you don’t hesitate to tell someone: “Now fuck off and take your pathetic attempts at trolling someplace else! Ya … twat, ye!” and “My ’associates’ are currently tracking down the ID and physical location of ‘Tutte’ and his supporters.”

What does this say about your character?

x-buddhist 1
AVoS, my friend, here’s how it should go: whoever attempts comedy and fails should be called out for bad material or bad delivery. If they then compare themselves to Lenny Bruce, i.e. a “misunderstood” genius, they should be banned from polite company.

Arne Chosfer 
Listen now, Billy boy [x-buddhist 1], and I’ll tell you how it is. First, the ”comedy” worked just fine, and the fact that you and [two other x-buddhists] don’t get this and keep posting your irrelevant (but highy revealing) nonsense, makes it better and better. As for Tutte’s tounge-in-cheek comparison with Lenny Bruce, it was an explicit reference to Bruce’s *late* performances – another point which you completely missed.

x-buddhist 1
Yes, Arne, me wee lad, I did not read the gentleman’s explanation; just as, when I dislike a performance, I don’t buy a ticket for the next. I’m sure it was all quite “tongue-in-cheek” and, for some, may have been hilarious.

Arne Chosfer
I see, you didn’t read, you just quoted. Great performance, Billy boy!

x-buddhist 2
Arses should be firmly and regularly placed on cushions.
They serve no purpose on FB.

Arne Chosfer
May I suggest you go crawl back from under your zafu. And keep your “neutral” comments to yourself

x-buddhist 2
Suggest what you like Arne. I wasn’t talking to you!

Lana Berrington (admin)
Arne and Number 2, will you both just knock it off… !

Arne Chosfer
And now Billy boy’s comments are disappearing, Spooky!

Arne Chosfer 
Not with a ban but a whimper.