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middleway.bsky.social
david @ middleway
@middleway.bsky.social
440 followers 800 following 1.1K posts
#middleway
@middleway
Believe nothing, as you have been told it.
Jumble & windbaggery, buddhism philosophy & opera. Some hamsters too.
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middleway.bsky.social
david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · Feb 6
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche giving Pointing Out instructions

"To stop thinking, you need to recognize your essence. It’s like seeing the sun in the sky just once—forever after, you know what the sun looks like ... " 🔆

🙏🏻

#rinpoche #dzogchen #dharma #buddhism #tibetan #mahamudra
#nyingma #tibet
middleway.bsky.social
Peter Hujar
Palermo Catacombs #11, Rows of Bodies
1963
#Hujar
whitney.org/collection/w...
Skip to main content Whitney Museum of American Art Menu Collection Peter Hujar Palermo Catacombs #11, Rows of Bodies 1963 A black and white photograph displaying a collection of mummified bodies dressed in decayed clothing, positioned upright against a wall with shelves containing more bodies in the background. Not on view Date 1963 Classification Photographs Medium Gelatin silver print Dimensions Sheet: 20 × 15 7/8in. (50.8 × 40.3 cm) Image: 15 1/2 × 15 1/4in. (39.4 × 38.7 cm) Accession number 2011.31 Credit line Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Photography Committee Rights and reproductions © 1987 The Peter Hujar Archive API artworks/38779 Peter Hujar 39 works in the collection, 15 exhibitions API documentation Images & permissions Open access Sign up for our newsletter Email address Here to help Contact us FAQ Press Accessibility Get involved Support us Membership Jobs & internships Independent Study Program Mission & values About us Land acknowledgment Privacy policy Terms & conditions About whitney.org Dark Reduced motion © 2025 Whitney Museum of American Art
November 21, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Reposted by david @ middleway
christrekkin.bsky.social
Felt like a good time to do another singing video, so here's me singing 'Vanish into You' from Lady Gaga's Mayhem album

Hope you enjoy it 😀💜🎵
November 16, 2025 at 1:55 PM
middleway.bsky.social
Chinese intelligence assets still operating in UK.

“They kissed a lot of frogs,” one Whitehall source told The Times.

www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Keir Starmer to approve Chinese embassy plan & prime minister to visit #China
@tsamtruk.bsky.social
Keir Starmer to approve Chinese embassy plan with blessing of MI5 He also plans to be the first prime minister to visit the country since 2018, despite warnings that Beijing is carrying out mass espionage against UK targets China had warned of “consequences” if the development at Royal Mint Court, near the Tower of London, was rejected DAVID CHIPPERFIELD ARCHITECTS Steven Swinford, Political Editor Friday November 21 2025, 7.53am, The Times Share Save Sir Keir Starmer is expected to formally approve a new super-sized Chinese embassy in the heart of London next month after being given the green light by MI5 and MI6. The Times has been told that the Home Office and the Foreign Office will not raise any formal objections to the plan, providing that appropriate “mitigations” are put in place to protect national security. The two departments, which represent the security services, are expected to submit their formal responses to the planned embassy in the coming days before a decision is made on December 10. A Whitehall source said the embassy’s approval was likely to be a “formality”. Starmer is also expected to travel to China next year as Britain seeks to bolster economic relations with Beijing, despite concerns that it is carrying out large-scale espionage against the UK. Sir Keir Starmer and President Xi at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in November last year STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA Tensions between Britain and China have grown since the collapse of a spy trial in which two men — Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry — were accused of passing information on to Beijing. The pair deny wrongdoing, and the case was brought to a halt after the government refused to describe China as a threat to national security. ADVERTISEMENT China had warned of “consequences” if its new UK embassy was not given planning permission. A decision on the development at Royal Mint Court, near the Tower of London — above a vast web of fibre-optic cables used to carry informatio…
November 21, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Reposted by david @ middleway
anonopin.bsky.social
Books. No cookie preferences. No cookies. No GDPR. No pop ups. No bots. No floating videos. No AI. No ads. No trackers. No misinformation. No fascist techbros. No distracting animations. No paywalls. No influencers. How good are these things? Books are frickin awesome
October 23, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Reposted by david @ middleway
jonathanwebber.bsky.social
✨✨

The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy

edited by me

is published today in the UK!

(Australia and North America publication is next February.)

✨✨
The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy
'Superb ... I can't imagine a better way of meeting the existentialists in all their variety' - Sarah Bakewell, author of At the Existentialist Café ‘We are thrown into the world at every moment, an...
www.penguin.co.uk
November 13, 2025 at 2:08 PM
middleway.bsky.social
Hoarfrost on the blades of grass,
Harbinger of the cold winter wind

by the Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso
The season of flowers is finished, But the turquoise bee is not sad; Our love's delights have ended, Neither have I any reason for sadness. Hoarfrost on the blades of grass, Harbinger of the cold winter wind, The winter wind that breaks the bond Between the flowers and the bee.
November 20, 2025 at 6:35 PM
middleway.bsky.social
The season of flowers is finished,
But the turquoise bee is not sad
The season of flowers is finished, But the turquoise bee is not sad; Our love's delights have ended, Neither have I any reason for sadness. Hoarfrost on the blades of grass, Harbinger of the cold winter wind, The winter wind that breaks the bond Between the flowers and the bee.
November 20, 2025 at 6:33 PM
middleway.bsky.social
"Break the silence" slogans can harm more than help BJPsych argues silence in mental illness isn't always stigma, sometimes it's a symptom (depression) or a coping strategy (mania) We need space for "positive silence" instead of pressure
#WorldPhilosophyDay2025
#philsky #philpsy #epistemicinjustice
lisabortolotti.com Lisa Bortolotti @lisabortolotti.com · 2d
On #WorldPhilosophyDay2025, read Jae Ryeong Sul and Dan Degerman's opinion piece in the British Journal of Psychiatry: Why we need a new understanding of silence in mental illness www.cambridge.org/co... #philsky #philpsy #epistemicinjustice
cover of the journal issue where the paper was published EPIC logo
November 20, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by david @ middleway
philosophyblogs.bsky.social
On #WorldPhilosophyDay2025, read our most popular blog posts in the last year: Sally Latham introduces Fantastic Philosophy imperfectcognitions.... #philsky #edusky
Fantastic Philosophy
A blog about imperfect cognitions, such as delusional beliefs, distorted memories, confabulatory explanations, and implicit biases.
imperfectcognitions.blogspot.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:01 PM
middleway.bsky.social
A pair of harvest mice pop up from the head of sunflower in Dorset to view their surroundings
MARIA KULA/TWO POINT O MEDIA
November 20, 2025 at 2:19 PM
middleway.bsky.social
From Loot to Legacy: Rethinking “Tibetan Art” in Western Museums
Thupten Kelsang

The large-scale Imperial looting campaigns by the British in Tibet like the invasion in 1903–4 by Francis Younghusband (1863–1942), has received comparatively limited academic attention.

post.moma.org/from-loot-to...
From Loot to Legacy: Rethinking “Tibetan Art” in Western Museums - post
Debates around the ownership of cultural heritage and decolonizing museums have become increasingly visible and polarizing in the public domain, leading to attempts to redefine the term “museum” itsel...
post.moma.org
November 19, 2025 at 7:40 AM
middleway.bsky.social
1911, Spielrein presented a bold theory to the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society at an event hosted by Freud.
During her talk, she proposed that the same inner forces that drive people to love, desire and create can also make them want to destroy — even themselves

cysfib.livejournal.com/15052.html
archive.today webpage capture Saved from https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/obituaries/sabina-spielrein-overlooked.html history 14 Nov 2025 22:24:31 UTC All snapshots from host www.nytimes.com WebpageScreenshot sharedownload .zipreport bug or abuseBuy me a coffee Skip to contentSkip to site indexSection Navigation Search Log in You have been granted access, use your keyboard to continue reading. “My Name Was Sabina Spielrein” (2002), directed by Elisabeth Márton. Credit: Facets Video. Overlooked No More: Sabina Spielrein, Visionary Lost Between Freud and Jung She maintained a triangular correspondence with the two men, who overshadowed the significant contributions she made to the field of psychoanalysis. “My Name Was Sabina Spielrein” (2002), directed by Elisabeth Márton. Credit: Facets Video.Credit... Listen to this article · 9:04 min Learn more By Nina Siegal Nov. 14, 2025 This article is part of Overlooked, a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times. Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung — and Sabina Spielrein. As the field of psychoanalysis was emerging in the early 1900s, those scientists were linked in a triangular dialogue that included letters, scholarly articles and debates. Yet for decades, Spielrein’s contributions were overshadowed by the two men. Only recently has her role begun to be fully acknowledged. In 1911, Spielrein presented a bold theory before the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society at an event hosted by Freud. During her talk, she proposed that the same inner forces that drive people to love, desire and create can also make them want to destroy — even themselves — a notion that became the focus of her 1912 paper “Destruction as the Cause of Becoming.” When Freud published his essay “Beyond the Pleasure Principle” (1920), he gave a label to the urge — Thanatos, or the death drive — that acted in opposition to the sex drive, which he called Eros. He cited Spielrein in a footnote and, for many d…
November 18, 2025 at 5:25 PM
middleway.bsky.social
Join Kasur Lobsang Nyandak, a prominent Tibetan leader and former Minister of the Central Tibetan Administration, now serving as Executive Director of the Norbulingka Institute in Dharamsala

www.thebuddhistsociety.org/page/the-dal...
The Dalai Lama and the Future of Tibet: A Vision for Compassion and Resilience
www.thebuddhistsociety.org
November 18, 2025 at 1:57 PM
middleway.bsky.social
China is simply bored of Europe’s hectoring and feels able to ignore it.Indeed, China sees little reason to worry about a souring of its relations with Europe. Policy officials in Beijing have already outmanoeuvred Mr Trump in the trade war, and think that dispatching Europe will be even easier.
The Economist ● Insider The Economist Skip to content ● Insider Weekly edition The world in brief War in the Middle East War in Ukraine United States World Ahead 2026 The world economy Business Artificial intelligence Cartoons & games Explore The Economist Insider. ● China | Chaguan Europe sees China as a rival. China sees Europe as a has-been Yet China may be underestimating Europe’s willingness to push back Saved Share A man on top of a moutain looking at boxes and rounds in the background. Illustration: Cornelia Li Nov 17th 2025 | 5 min read Listen to this story AI Narrated European leaders reserve some of their fiercest criticism for themselves. They are admirably blunt in diagnosing their political and economic problems, if sadly not as adept at fixing them. Yet if they are feeling especially masochistic, they should consider travelling to China. There they will find much of their own self-criticism broadcast back to them—but amplified and in even harsher tones. Europeans endlessly debate how to avoid becoming trapped between America and China. For many in China that seems needless, because they already view Europe as an American pawn. “Europe is incapable of truly breaking free from America to become independent,” opined a scholar from Fudan University in a recent article. Europeans obsess over their competitiveness. In China many see that as laughable. “Europe simply lacks the strength to meet the challenges” in many technological domains, declared the Economic Daily, a Chinese newspaper. As for challenges to European unity, Eurocrats love to navel-gaze. In China critics go a step farther. “Whether the European Union can even survive until 2035 is a question,” Zhang Weiwei, a nationalist academic, said on television in September. And these are just the public comments. In private, as Chaguan recently heard from a range of Chinese scholars, the opinions are often more scathing. Europe is a bit like an ageing concubine who cannot accept that she has b…
November 18, 2025 at 1:55 PM
middleway.bsky.social
A view that possesses the confidence of the natural state is like a vulture soaring through the skies.

Tulku Urgyen
Here are the six sets of view and meditation with the confidence that comes with wisdom: A view that possesses the confidence of the natural state is like a vulture soaring through the skies. A meditation training that possesses skillful means and vital points is like a strong glue to which flies stick. To possess remedies acquired from experience is like a skilled doctor diagnosing the disease. Experience that possesses the signs of progress is like a young maiden tasting pleasure. Conduct that possesses stability is like using a spur on a strong, fast horse. A fruition that is free of hope and fear is like a traveler return-ing home. First, the view is like the simile of the vulture that must use its wings to climb until it has reached the vast expanse of sky but upon reaching the open sky may soar without effort or anything to gain. Similarly, in this case, you should establish certainty in the view by means of three things the Conqueror's words, your own intelligence, and a sublime master's instructions until you have realized the natural state. Then you can repose in the realization of the ultimate view of the natural state and be beyond effort and gain in body, speech, and mind.
November 15, 2025 at 7:59 PM
middleway.bsky.social
On a Clipped Wing, Flamingo Escapes a British Zoo for a Life in France www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/w...
On a Clipped Wing, Flamingo Escapes a British Zoo for a Life in France
www.nytimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 7:27 PM
middleway.bsky.social
www.thetimes.com/world/asia/a...

How a hunt for ‘Himalayan viagra’ laid bare China’s iron grip on #Tibet
A man detained for months after being found searching for a valuable fungus tells of his harrowing experience at the hands of Beijing’s ruthless security forces
https://www.thetimes.com/world/asia/article/how-a-hunt-for-himalayan-viagra-laid-bare-chinas-iron-grip-on-tibet-6plrjpnz3 How a hunt for ‘Himalayan viagra’ laid bare China’s iron grip on Tibet A man detained for months after being found searching for a valuable fungus tells of his harrowing experience at the hands of Beijing’s ruthless security forces Rapke Lama posing for an interview in Kathmandu, Nepal. Rapke Lama says he was held for seven months without trial after being arrested near the Nepal border Arjuna Keshvani-Ham | Ankit Tiwari Friday November 14 2025, 8.35am, The Times Share Save On a mountain pass on a Himalayan peak straddling the precarious and remote border between Nepal and Tibet, two men charted a treacherous path through the freezing darkness. In Rapke Lama’s pocket was a set of Tibetan Buddhist prayer beads and a buti — a small, sacred amulet blessed by the Dalai Lama. Rapke and his friend, Karma Cheden Lama, were harvesting Yartsa Gumba, a species of cordyceps found only in the high-altitude subalpine meadows of Tibet and Nepal, and the world’s costliest fungus. “Himalayan viagra” fetches as much as $100 per gram in global luxury markets, which makes harvesting it the most economically important activity for the people of the Tsum Valley. The pair had made their way from Chhaikampar, a small village in the valley, and ascended to an altitude of more than 5,000m. At the Ngula Dhojyang pass, a crossing point that once facilitated cross-border trade, they began the gradual climb down towards Drakar Gonpa, a monastery five hours walk from the border, and into Tibet. Rapke planned to meet a friend there after chatting with her on WeChat, China’s most popular social media platform. It was about midnight when Rapke heard the gunshot. “People started running from all possible directions,” he told The Times. “I hid inside this bush. I could feel a few of the people step over me as they ran towards my friend. I stayed hiding for the whole time but …
November 15, 2025 at 3:37 PM
middleway.bsky.social
Jacques Lacan famously remarked that there must surely be something ironic about Christ’s injunction to love thy neighbour as thyself, because actually people hate themselves.
Jacques Lacan famously remarked that there must surely be something ironic about Christ’s injunction to love thy neighbour as thyself, because actually people hate themselves. Indeed, it seemed rather as if, given the way people treat each other, they had always loved their neighbours in the way they loved themselves. That is, with a good deal of cruelty and disregard. ‘After all,’ Lacan wrote in Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, ‘the people who followed Christ were not so brilliant.’
November 15, 2025 at 2:42 PM
middleway.bsky.social
When north Durham had its own zoo, complete with dancing bear.
STANLEY, in north-west Durham, once had its own zoo. It was established in the grounds of Harperley Hall, midway between Stanley and Annfield Plain

www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/history/1688...
November 15, 2025 at 11:20 AM
middleway.bsky.social
A dossier compiled by Lord Alderdice alleging abuses of clergy and laity, was sent to the NI Charity Commission “several years ago” with no visible outcome. McCreary quotes Alderdice calling for investigation and due process for those named.
middleway.bsky.social david @ middleway @middleway.bsky.social · 8d
Belfast Telegraph
Alf McCreary
Dr Trevor Gribben’s sudden departure has left Presbyterian Church in Ireland with major headaches and challenges

Any resignation by a church leader is rare but the resignation of a Presbyterian Moderator is unheard of.

archive.today/0vz2R
Gribben has been Deputy Clerk and Clerk for some time, and he has gained the reputation of being a clever administrator who takes a firm line with people in all the major issues involved. He has had to deal with a serious division between so-called hardliners and liberals within the PCI, which has become alarmingly conservative. This is witnessed in its attitude to same-sex relationships which has led to accusations that the PCI is regarded as a “cold house” for the LGBT community. Recently also, Lord Alderdice, the son of a Presbyterian minister, and others have compiled a dossier of alleged and serious abuses to some clergy and laity within the Church. This was forwarded several years ago to the Northern Ireland Charities Commission, but so far no action has been taken. As Alderdice rightly said: “At the very least the Commission should investigate, and those who are named as abusers be given the opportunity to deny or explain.” Another serious issue is the failure of the PCI to elect the first woman Moderator in its long history, which is an insult to the many women who serve it so faithfully and are the backbone of the Church. All of this prompted me to claim recently that the PCI has been shaping a Church for the 17th century and not the 21st. Given all of this, Dr Gribben had a crucial task in helping the Church to face many urgent challenges, which are just as important as the failure on safeguarding issues which have led to his shock resignation. His sudden departure from the top role in the Church he has served so faithfully for most of his adult life has left the PCI with major headaches and challenges. It is undoubtedly a serious blow to the Church.
November 13, 2025 at 2:59 PM
middleway.bsky.social
Belfast Telegraph
Alf McCreary
Dr Trevor Gribben’s sudden departure has left Presbyterian Church in Ireland with major headaches and challenges

Any resignation by a church leader is rare but the resignation of a Presbyterian Moderator is unheard of.

archive.today/0vz2R
Gribben has been Deputy Clerk and Clerk for some time, and he has gained the reputation of being a clever administrator who takes a firm line with people in all the major issues involved. He has had to deal with a serious division between so-called hardliners and liberals within the PCI, which has become alarmingly conservative. This is witnessed in its attitude to same-sex relationships which has led to accusations that the PCI is regarded as a “cold house” for the LGBT community. Recently also, Lord Alderdice, the son of a Presbyterian minister, and others have compiled a dossier of alleged and serious abuses to some clergy and laity within the Church. This was forwarded several years ago to the Northern Ireland Charities Commission, but so far no action has been taken. As Alderdice rightly said: “At the very least the Commission should investigate, and those who are named as abusers be given the opportunity to deny or explain.” Another serious issue is the failure of the PCI to elect the first woman Moderator in its long history, which is an insult to the many women who serve it so faithfully and are the backbone of the Church. All of this prompted me to claim recently that the PCI has been shaping a Church for the 17th century and not the 21st. Given all of this, Dr Gribben had a crucial task in helping the Church to face many urgent challenges, which are just as important as the failure on safeguarding issues which have led to his shock resignation. His sudden departure from the top role in the Church he has served so faithfully for most of his adult life has left the PCI with major headaches and challenges. It is undoubtedly a serious blow to the Church.
November 13, 2025 at 2:50 PM
middleway.bsky.social
CIDP Community: Sanofi is recruiting for the real-world, non-interventional ORBIT-CIDP study (NCT06968975)! If you have a confirmed #CIDP diagnosis, are 18+
​#CIDP #RareDisease #ClinicalTrial #Neurology

clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT069...
ClinicalTrials.gov
clinicaltrials.gov
November 9, 2025 at 12:58 PM
middleway.bsky.social
The Buddhist Society & Zoom

Robert Thurman - Understanding the Four Noble Truths (correcting the overemphasis on suffering)

www.thebuddhistsociety.org/page/robert-...

Wednesday 5th November at 6.30pm
Held at The Buddhist Society and online through zoom

@buddhistsociety.bsky.social
Robert Thurman - Understanding the Four Noble Truths (correcting the overemphasis on suffering)
www.thebuddhistsociety.org
November 5, 2025 at 2:08 PM
middleway.bsky.social
“Once one finds the elephant, one does not need to search for the footprints.”

The Mahāmudrā Devotional Prayer BY RANGJUNG DORJÉ

Pointing Out the Great Way: The Stages of Meditation in the Mahamudra Tradition
Daniel Brown Ph.D. & Robert Thurman
Let me understand the truth of phenomena to be unelaborated: Holding this blissful state without attachment becomes self- liberation in its own right. Any attachment to harmful, mistaken concepts becomes purified in the realm of the mind’s real nature. This is the knowledge of the ordinary, free from taking up and abandoning, without anything to attain. The real nature of all beings is buddhahood. Let it come forth evermore for all sentient beings who wander endlessly in saṃsāra, and who, through their ignorance and their incessant misery, can no longer stand it! Let compassion arise with the mental continuum for all of them! Let there be continuous meditation, inseparable from the [relative] attributes. This is the supreme path, the pair, without straying, And when unobstructed, there comes the skill of infinite compassion. When this kindness has arisen, do [not] forget the truth— emptiness. Let there be ripening of enlightenment, reaching maturation with the well-purified buddha fields, With the special psychic powers that arise from the force of meditation, With the complete purification of buddhahood, whose actions ripen [for the sake of all] sentient beings, And with the perfect devotional prayer, which produces the Buddha’s teachings. Following enlightenment and path-walking there is no need for further spiritual practice, outside of living daily life fully. “Once one finds the elephant, one does not need to search for the footprints.
November 5, 2025 at 2:05 PM
middleway.bsky.social
William, the Prince of Wales and faith-lite heir is unimpressed by its cover-up of sex abuse & in favour of disestablishment of the #ChurchofEngland
Sir Keir Starmer is apparently in "listening mode".
King Billy's reign to focus on 'him, Kate and the three heirs'.

#RoyalFamily #PrinceWilliam
COURT CIRCULAR IT'S no secret Prince William wants his reign to be all about him, Kate and the three heirs. Lesser royals will have to go out and earn a living, although King Bill won't miss them. Instead of spreading the royal net wide, he and Kate intend to support just a few patronages of personal interest. The military, sport and children will take priority while culture, business, animals and science will struggle. Naturally the reform agenda doesn't involve downsizing the royal estates or bank balances. If William pushes ahead, it will impact hundreds of charities great and small who enjoy royal patronage. The perks – a royal ribbon-cutting, garden-party invites for volunteers or a gong for a stalwart supporter – shouldn't be underestimated. William and Kate have already shown the old ways are doomed by not taking on any of the late Queen's hundreds of patronages, despite Brian asking them to share the load. Also heading for the exit is the global reach of the throne. William is happy to hop on a plane to watch football, support his Earthshot Prize and enjoy holidays in the sun. But he hasn't undertaken a full-scale international tour since the disastrous trip to the Caribbean in 2022, where it was made clear he wasn't welcome. He will not be disappointed if he isn't invited to succeed Brian as the next head of the Commonwealth. And what of the monarch's role as supreme governor of the Church of England? William, who sidestepped an investiture ceremony as Prince of Wales, is planning an achingly modern coronation and the idea of a series of oaths declaring he is a faithful Protestant and pledging to uphold the privileges of the Church grates for the faith-lite heir. He is unimpressed by its cover-up of abuse. He's keen at least for the oaths to be substantially rewritten – or preferably abolished, which would lead to the disestablishment of the Church of England. Sir Keir Starmer is apparently in "listening mode". Did anyone brief new Archbishop of Canterbury …
October 20, 2025 at 9:36 PM