Ruminations from the Temple

Think you can just delete your account from Facebook and escape data collection? Think again. I deleted my FB account quite a while ago. It was not easy, and took a couple of sessions of attempts prior to actually 'deleting,' including a waiting period (cooling off period?). When, in the course of my Masters study I was alerted to a private student group, I saw a definite need to jump back on Facebook. Yes, I have benefited from the group, but I also learned that Facebook had retained all my information. More than that, it reminds me regularly that I was another 'identity' at one time, and that I may want to meld the two. But wait...I thought I deleted. Think again. Take a look at this from the NYT - I think you would need to have a post-grad degree in comp-sci to actually accomplish what so many think they are doing by deleting their account: How disheartening. This is where we are now, watched and milked for demographic data like a herd of cows, but wher...

There are times that, while in the midst of struggle, wisdom appears. This is one of those times. Every morning we start our day by reading a small book called Everyday Tao , by Deng Ming-Dao (1996). Taoism is credited with being, by far, the oldest of human religions, with its sacred text attributed to Lao Tzu, a person who may have been real or simply legend. The name Lao Tzu simply means old wise one, so basically the Daodejing could be thought of as the oldest recording of human wisdom on the planet, or at least to our current and limited knowledge. So, why is all this important? Because I need wisdom. We all need wisdom. Because we all suffer, either by pain inflicted outside our control, or by reliving and ruminating (yes, ruminating) over the pain that has been inflicted. We cause our own pain and suffering. And, heaven help us, we just can't seem to get out of our own stupid way. Sound familiar? My beloved read the following excerpt to me this morning. I have been ...