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ben

I am here for Friends

About Me

"In this day, to thank God for His bounties consisteth in possessing a radiant heart, and a soul open to the promptings of the spirit. This is the essence of thanksgiving. As for offering thanks by speaking out or writing, although this is indeed acceptable, yet when compared with that other thanksgiving, it is only a semblance and unreal; for the essential thing is these intimations of the spirit, these emanations from the deep recess of the heart. It is my hope that thou wilt be favoured therewith. Regarding one's lack of capacity and one's undeserving on the Day of Resurrection, this does not cause one to be shut out from gifts and bounties; for this is not the Day of Justice but the Day of Grace, while justice is allotting to each whatever is his due. Then look thou not at the degree of thy capacity, look thou at the boundless favour of Bahá'u'lláh; all-encompassing is His bounty, and consummate His grace."
i want to punch materialism in the face.
Some pictures of my paintings and some photos i've taken: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=5360&l=a5c9e&i d=511430119 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=5391&l=d6501&i d=511430119

My Interests

Ping pong, Religion, Philosophy, Painting, People, Milkshakes, and Donuts.

I'd like to meet:

myself... but probably not hang out.

Music:

Duke Ellington, Joe Satriani, Tears for Fears, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Jurassic 5, Gabriel O Pensador, Seals and Crofts, Outkast, Depeche Mode, The Beatles, Lauren Hill, Cat Stevens, Deep Forest, The Cranberries, Talib Kweli, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Roots, Talvin Singh, Common, Bix Beiderbecke, Gnarls Barkley, Bach, Beethoven, Mahler, Rameau, Berlioz, Verdi, Brahms, Strauss, etc.

Movies:

Waking Life, Spanglish, My Sassy Girl, Star Wars, Fight Club, ET, Ikiru, Old Boy, Dr. Strangelove, The Seven Samurai, Flight of the Navigator, Punch Drunk Love, Finding Nemo, Braveheart, SLC Punk, Back to the Future, A Clockwork Orange, Gladiator, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Contact, Kung Fu Hustle, Forrest Gump, Adaptation, The Matrix, Talented Mr. Ripley, The Professional (Leon), Ghostbusters, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, God of Cookery, Stranger than Fiction, etc.

Television:

The Daily Show, Colbert Report, The Office, The Cosby Show.

Heroes:

My belt holds my pants up, but the belt loops hold my belt up. I don't really know what's happening down there. Who is the real hero? -Mitch HedbergOne day, Mulla and his son went on a journey. Mulla preferred to let his son ride the donkey while he walked. Along the way, they passed some travelers.
"Look at that healthy young boy on the donkey! That's today's youth for you! They have no respect for their elders! He rides while his poor father walks!"
The words made the lad feel very ashamed, and he insisted that his father ride while he walked. So Mulla climbed on the donkey and the boy walked by his side. Soon they met another group.
"Well, look at that! Poor little boy has to walk while his father rides the donkey," they exclaimed.
This time, Mulla climbed onto the donkey behind his son.
Soon they met another group, who said, "Look at that poor donkey! He has to carry the weight of two people."
Mulla then told his son, "The best thing is for both of us to walk. Then no one can complain."
So they continued their journey on foot. Again they met some travelers.
"Just look at those fools. Both of them are walking under this hot sun and neither of them is riding the donkey!"
In exasperation, Mulla lifted the donkey onto his shoulders and said, "Come on, if we don't do this, it will be impossible to make people stop talking."

My Blog

Humans transcend the Animal: Reason is Supernatural

"If it be claimed that the intellectual reality of man belongs to the world of nature -- that it is a part of the whole -- we ask is it possible for the part to contain virtues which the whole does n...
Posted by ben on Tue, 05 Sep 2006 05:18:00 PST

Materialism, Spirituality, Mystic Feeling, and Prayer

"The problem with which you are faced is one which concerns and seriously puzzles many of our present-day youth. How to attain spirituality is indeed a question to which every young man and woman must...
Posted by ben on Thu, 31 Aug 2006 12:53:00 PST

Man is Organic with the World

"We cannot segregate the human heart from theenvironment outside us and say that once one of these isreformed everything will be improved. Man is organic withthe world. His inner life moulds the envir...
Posted by ben on Thu, 31 Aug 2006 12:52:00 PST