What if the polarizing mess of social media, clickbait headlines and addictive algorithms isn’t a breakdown of media but a transition to something better? Substack cofounder Hamish McKenzie explores how independent creators are growing a new media “garden,” where trust beats engagement metrics and audiences matter more than ads. Learn why clicking “subscribe” doesn’t just signal support; it gives you power.
SAN FRANCISCO—Open-air preacher “Brother Sam” Hilson rescued more than 300 of God’s children from appreciating a cloudless spring day at Golden Gate Park Tuesday by informing them of their sins and the swift approach of Judgment Day.
A former building superintendent, Hilson said he was directly called by God to bring Christianity to San Francisco’s unholy cyclists, tai chi practitioners, and dog walkers.
“All of you will burn in hellfire, so sayeth the Lord,” Hilson said to a stroller-bound toddler and her picnicking parents.
For nearly five years, his highly personalized, one-on-one style of lay sermonizing has been among the most effective in the city, as virtually all park-goers within Hilson’s range of vision are delivered from their conversations or badminton games within minutes.
After telling a novel-reading Berkeley student that there was “no book but the Good Book,” Hilson bore witness to a woman strolling by in a sundress.
“Harlot, dare ye bare your shoulders when the Rapture is nigh?” Hilson said.
Many of those who have been singled out by Hilson confirm the attention had a direct impact on their lives.
“It was my first weekday off in a while, so I thought I’d enjoy the nice weather, maybe head down to the waterfront too,” said Russ Tiderington, 25, who, according to Hilson, “sashay[ed] [his] hips like a painted Jezebel.” “But I decided to go home and catch up on some chores instead.”
Hilson’s bullhorn, which he often employs to bring recreation-seekers into the light of God’s grace and drown out their iPod music, forced one-third to one-half of the souls to spurn the path they had chosen for that afternoon.
At one point, Hilson ministered to a family of Indian-Americans, whom he mistakenly identified as “Muslim demon-worshippers.”
His photo-collage display of aborted fetuses, Hitler, Oui magazine centerfolds from the 1980s, and the rock band KISS spared at least 10 others the temptation of the fresh April breeze.
“Someday our jealous and vengeful God will make you regret watching your aerobics sex tapes!” Hilson told a group of kite flyers, who rapidly walked away from him as he strayed momentarily in their direction. “Your kites may reach the sky, but they cannot get you into Heaven! Only Jesus can! Jesus is the One True Kite!”
Though he is not formally recognized by any church, it is estimated that Hilson has reached nearly 75,000 wayward souls on college campuses, at state fairs, and in bus terminals around the Bay Area.
NEW YORK—In a groundbreaking new study published Friday in The Journal Of East Asian Studies, a team of leading historians has proved that meditation originally spread from ancient China because a single, highly annoying monk went around telling everyone how much it had changed his life.
Analyzing documents uncovered across the Eurasian continent, researchers determined that the monk, who lived in the seventh century A.D. and learned rudimentary breathing and visualization exercises from a group of Mahayana Buddhists, traveled widely and talked constantly about how practicing meditation for only a week had fundamentally altered his personal outlook. From the Korean peninsula to the Central Asian steppes, he is believed to have aggravated people everywhere he went, inevitably shifting every conversation to the importance of mindfulness and being centered, even when it was clear no one was interested.
“Our research shows that from Mongolia all the way down to Java, everyone hated this smug prick.”
“There are mentions of an unbearably irritating monk in many texts from the period, and once we realized they were all referring to the same person, we were able to conclude that much of the Eastern world learned about meditation from this one sanctimonious asshole,” said study co-author Sheila Ryan of New York University, explaining that contemporary accounts indicated the monk would travel the Silk Road via merchant caravan, nagging his drivers about the value of observing one’s negative thoughts without resistance or judgment. “For example, scrolls from Asuka-period Japan indicate the island nation’s first exposure to the practice was this monk droning on and on about all the insight he’d gained from a weekend spent meditating in Tibet.
“Our research shows that from Mongolia all the way down to Java, everyone hated this smug prick,” Ryan added.
In the fragments that remain of their written correspondence, traders who traveled the same routes as the monk remarked upon how every time a person said something negative, the exasperating little shit would invariably chime in with unsolicited advice about how they just needed to accept their worries for what they were and learn to appreciate the present moment. Three separate diaries found far apart from one another in present-day Cambodia, Bhutan, and Afghanistan independently verify that whenever the monk bragged about his morning meditation routine, people secretly wanted to punch him in the face.
According to the historians, the evidence they amassed has allowed them to confirm that a figure who appears in several gombi-style paintings from the period is in fact this same monk. In one typical depiction, which places the monk in the ancient city-state of Srivijaya around 680 A.D., he is seen sitting on a mat and meditating in the middle of a busy market square as visibly annoyed passersby shuffle past, many of them appearing to shake their heads, roll their eyes, or stare at him in quiet derision.
To this day, scholars have observed, oral histories passed down for centuries in remote parts of rural China tell of a monk who pestered the fuck out of everyone he could find until they reluctantly agreed to attend his shitty introduction to mindfulness course.
“In his extensive travelogues, the Tang dynasty writer Yi Jing describes an episode in which a man we now believe to have been this monk continually disrupts a hard-at-work blacksmith with lectures about how the mind is a muscle that must be exercised just like any other,” Ryan said. “Apparently, the only thing this pain-in-the-ass ever talked about was how spending 10 minutes a day focusing on his breathing had made him more relaxed and productive. He kept badgering everyone to let him lead them through a guided meditation so they could see how great it was. Some people even tried it just to get him to shut the fuck up.”
“Our findings suggest he spread meditation to as much as 40 percent of Asia,” she continued. “He might have kept going, too, but after the monk told the Khmer emperor Jayavarman II that his empire would be much larger if he just tried a few simple stress-reduction techniques, he was beheaded on the spot.”
The Lord of Completion has two separate, and yet closely interlinked, effects. The inner, and more complex, matter that this card rules is that of the establishment of right order. When things are balanced in life, they flow more easily. When apparently contradictory forces come into equilibrium, the powers inherent in each is available to be utilised to their fullest degree.As a result, when this state of balance is achieved, we become very effective in any area to which we apply ourselves. There is no time-wasting inner conflict, nor indecision. We can simply direct our energies in a single minded and competent fashion.From this inner effect, arises the more common definition of the Four of Wands – that of completing cycles, finishing projects, achieving new stages of development and insight. This is because we have been able to isolate and prioritise those things which we see as most important.So on a day ruled by the Lord of Completion, aim to finish up any outstanding matters, freeing yourself to move into new challenges. You should find yourself very efficient and single-minded. Use this clarity to your best possible advantage. The sense of satisfaction you derive will be immensely valuable to you.Also attempt to define where you want to go next – whether in a personal or a professional sense, so that you can, in days to come, set new targets and goals.
Translation is a 5-step process of “straight thinking in the abstract” comparing and contrasting what seems to be truth with what you can syllogistically, axiomatically and mathematically (using word equations) prove is the truth. It is not an effort to change, alter or heal anything.
The claims in a Translation may seem outrageous, but they are always (or should always be) based on self-evident syllogistic reasoning. Here is one Translation from this week.
1) Truth is that which is so. That which is not truth is not so. Therefore Truth is all that. is. Truth being all is therefore total, therefore whole, therefore complete, therefore ready to go, therefore ready, willing, able, available. I think therefore I am. Since I am and since Truth is all that is, therefore I, being, am Truth. Since I, being, am Truth, therefore I, being, have all the attributes of Truth. Therefore I, being, am total, whole, complete, ready to go, ready, willing, able, available. Since I am mind (self-evident) and since I (being) am Truth, therefore Truth is Mind. (Two things being equal to a third thing are equal to each other.) Since Truth is Mind, therefore Mind has all the attributes of Truth. Therefore Mind is total, whole, complete, ready to go, ready, willing, able, available.
2) Pain is my internalized self-defense mechanism.
Word-tracking: pain: punishment, penalty internal: external, outside self: as distinct from others defend: fend, fencing, strike, offend, protect protect: cover mechanical: do something without thinking
3) Truth being all is therefore one. Since I, being, am one and there is none other than I, being, there is not need for protection, covering up. Therefore Truth is not defensive. Since Truth is Mind and since Truth is all, therefore Mind is all. Therefore Mind is all-knowing. Mind being all-knowing cannot be hidden from Itself, therefore Mind is always open, always uncovered, always obvious. Truth being Mind and Mind being all, there is nothing done without thinking (without Mind), therefore there is nothing mechanical in Mind. Sometimes doing what is right can be a threat to others.so a possible punishable offense. Since Truth is all that is, therefore Right is all that is. Therefore being right, doing right is always right and since there are no others in Truth who might be threatened by doing right, therefore Truth is always a non-threatening rightness.
4) Truth is not defensive Mind is all. Mind is all-knowing. Mind is always open, always uncovered, always obvious. There is nothing mechanical in Mind. Right is all that is. Truth is always a non-threatening rightness.
5) Truth is always an obvious, non-mechanical, non-threatening rightness.
Weekly Invitational Translation Group invites your participation. If you would like to submit a Translation on any subject, feel free to send your weekly Translation to zonta1111@aol.com and we will anonymously post it on the Bathtub Bulletin on Friday.
New Thinking May 22, 2025 Karl Friston is widely regarded as one of the most influential neuroscientists of our time. Some peers consider him the foremost neuroscientist in history. As a professor at University College London, Friston has made groundbreaking contributions to neuroimaging and theoretical neuroscience. His most significant contribution is the Free Energy Principle, a foundational framework in neuroscience stating that biological systems minimize surprise (or uncertainty) by continuously updating their internal models to predict and adapt to their environment. From predictive coding and attachment theory to affective neuroscience, meditation, and nonduality, Friston explores how the brain builds models of the world—and how those models shape our experience of suffering and liberation. He discusses early developmental imprinting, the SEEKING system in affective neuroscience, and the possibility of parapsychological phenomena, all through the lens of self-organization and synchrony. This conversation bridges science and spirit, offering insights into healing, transformation, and a return to the ground of Being. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:06:19 Exploring existence and beingness 00:11:13 Dual aspect monism and the embodied brain 00:19:08 Safety, uncertainty, and development 00:27:36 Resilience and coping with change 00:31:17 Yoga, meditation, and uncertainty 00:38:28 Consilience across disciplines 00:49:13 Optimizing human systems through education 01:04:26 Parapsychology and synchronization of chaos 01:08:20 Final thoughts Definitions: Free Energy: Free energy is the difference between what we expect and what we actually experience—it measures surprise or uncertainty in a system. Markov Blanket: A Markov blanket is like an invisible boundary that separates a system (like a living being) from its environment, allowing it to sense and act while maintaining its own integrity. Bayes Optimal: Being Bayes optimal means making the best possible decisions based on all available information and past experience, continuously updating beliefs as new information comes in. Active Inference: Active inference is the process of taking actions that reduce uncertainty—constantly adjusting what we perceive and how we behave to better match the world around us. Epistemic Motivation: Epistemic motivation is the deep drive to seek information and reduce uncertainty, like a built-in curiosity that helps systems learn, adapt, and survive. New Thinking Allowed Guest Host Leanne Whitney, PhD, is a depth psychologist and transformational coach based in Los Angeles, CA. Her website is https://leannewhitney.com/ Producer: Elena McNally Editor: John Hartmann (Recorded on March 12, 2025)
New Thinkin • May 21, 2025 Debashish Banerji, PhD, is Haridas Chaudhuri Professor of Indian Philosophies and Cultures and Chairman of the East West Psychology Department at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. He is author of Seven Quartets of Becoming: A Transformative Yoga Psychology Based on the Diaries of Sri Aurobindo and also The Alternatate Nation of Abanindranath Tagore, a book about his great grandfather. He edited an anthology about his great uncle, Rabindranath Tagore in the Twenty-First Century. His newest anthology is titled Critical Posthumanism and Planetary Futures. In this interview, rebooted from 2019, he discusses the different approaches toward the siddhis in Tantra and Vedanta. He argues for a balance between these; and notes that, in the yoga system of Aurobindo, balance itself is considered one of the siddhis. He describes the cultural impact of colonization and eventual liberation of India as it influenced and, conversely, was influenced by the long tradition of yoga. He points out the enormous, potential social utility of the siddhis — such as the ability to convert pain into pleasure. New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in “parapsychology” ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is also the Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Bigelow Institute essay competition regarding the best evidence for survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. He is Co-Director of Parapsychology Education at the California Institute for Human Science. (Recorded on May 24, 2019)
The 47th president seems to wish he were king—and he is willing to destroy what is precious about this country to get what he wants.By J. Michael Luttig
Photo-illustration by Alma Haser. Source: Chip Somodevilla / Getty.
The president of the united states appears to have long ago forgotten that Americans fought the Revolutionary War not merely to secure their independence from the British monarchy but to establish a government of laws, not of men, so that they and future generations of Americans would never again be subject to the whims of a tyrannical king. As Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense in 1776, “For as in absolute governments the king is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other.”
Donald Trump seems also not to understand John Adams’s fundamental observation about the new nation that came into the world that same year. Just last month, an interviewer from Time magazine asked the president in the Oval Office, “Mr. President, you were showing us the new paintings you have behind us. You put all these new portraits. One of them includes John Adams. John Adams said we’re a government ruled by laws, not by men. Do you agree with that?” To which the president replied: “John Adams said that? Where was the painting?”
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“The Vision of Christ that thou dost see is my vision’s greatest enemy.” –William Blake in The Everlasting Gospel
“The Universe was created by three forms of expression–Numbers, Letters, and Words.” —Zohar
“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!” –spoken by President Merkin Muffley (played by Peter Sellers) in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”
Elvis reading list:
The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by Levi H. Dowling The Mystical Christ by Manly P. Hall Old Testament Wisdomby Manly P. Hall The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden by Rutherford H. Platt The Hidden Wisdom in the Holy Bible, Volumes I and II, by Goeffrey Hodson The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception by Max Heindel
The “wounded healer”
The wounded healer “must suffer through the sickness in order to cure it.” Only those who truly suffer can alleviate the suffering of others. These healers “have healing abilities not in spite of their wounds, but because of them.” –Paul Levy in Understanding Wetiko
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