Anti-virus?

[donq]

The first computer I used around 30 years ago was old PC with two big floppy disks (about 8-inch) drives. One for boot it, another was a very simple word processing. Then, I used Mac classic that looked like a white box. :-)
Cannot remember how many PC (desktop) and notebook (Mac and PC) I ever used over the last 30 years. Maybe more than 15? This was because I often bought a second hand one (it was cheap. hahaha) and naturally, it could not last very long. But it was still worth using.
Anyway, as for PC (Mac doesn't seem to have virus problem much), what I do remember is I had to reinstall windows many times because of the virus. And most virus came AFTER I surfed the internet.
It seems anti-virus program is a must. But is it? I mean when I didn't surf the internet, it seemed I didn't have any problem about virus at all. If my computer was broken, it was only about its hardware (fan, cpu etc.) not virus that destroyed its operating system.
I used to tried many anti-virus programs. (let me skip their brand names, I'm sure you already are familiar with them, more or less). But again, my computer still was broken. This time not because of the virus, but the anti-virus program. lol. After finishing a very long time scanning, it (I mean I myself) accidentally deleted something that should not be deleted. And boom! My computer was broken and had to go to see a technician, to reinstall windows.
Another problem is, most of my computers are the old ones (with little RAM, speed and capacity), they cannot bear with any good anti-virus programs. Those good anti-virus programs (and internet/malware protection) literally slow my computer down in every way.
One day I read somewhere that we didn't need those protecting programs at all, if only we were very careful when we surfed the internet. That was all.
Is that true?
And what about spiritual anti-virus?
Do we really need so many spiritual dogmas/disciplines to protect us from any spiritual malware/virus?
And those dogmas/disciplines could make us feel more comfortable? Or slow us down?
Hmm....

[aceofcups]

HI Monty... like the metaphor.. I think the process of Spiritual Discernment in the spiritual life acts as an anti-virus protection tool for our growth.  If we get the right program and really use it.  Some say anti-virus protection programs have become better over-time and repeated reprogramming.  So does our discernment over time give us greater clues to what ideas and teaching resonate with us at a deeper level and which one's do not.

As we hone our discernment.. our spiritual programming goes thru tons of data which we quickly realize,,, may be true or even relatively true ,, and which ones are really right for us at any moment or cycle we are under.  And which ones should just be put in the little garbage can on our human desktop of our life.

[gruntal]

It's funny how people make some predictions or assess some situations and make utter fools of themselves. I remember reading an opinion some years ago about the folly of internet or at the time computer BBS virus propagation. The author said very explicitly practically ALL computer contamination came from swapped discs from lax software sales. Just because the computer game was shrink wrapped didn't mean it was new; if some one bought and returned it previously the store just repackaged it never suspecting it was contaminated.

The beginning days in the computer revolution were so exciting! Also very naive. Except for a few computers my brother gave me all of mine were built by me from cobbled together parts and accessories. I used the Scott Mueller books as my bible but when things did not work at first I never dreamed it was a virus on my hard drive. I remember once getting a "ticket" from my internet provider for "abuse". I tried to scan but was prevented from doing so and just assumed the Norton Site was not functioning at their end. I had a number of experimental computers all tied together on an ethernet circuit and discovered I could use one uncontaminated to disinfect the others via the router box. I won!

I started with a primitive PC and a Commodore 64 plus taking a computer class with Radio Shack trs-80. From then on Intel XT; 80286; 80386; 80486; Pentium socket 7; socket one; socket PGA; black and white; CGA; EGA; VGA; Vesa local bus; AGP; now PCI express.

And I am still out of date!

As above so below: some of my favorite computers like some past lives were more or less successful because of the pleasure or contentment they gave me at the time. But the SOFTWARE ( or metaphorically life experiences ) was always the challenge! It never stood still even if I was willing to stagnate. That newest game beckoned if only my computer could handle the graphics. This was not so much insatiable greed as never ending progress and innovation. Looking at past computer machines was like the first verse you memorized from the Bible or your first real meal of pablum. It got you on your feet or past the door. As for the Nigerian Scams and CryptoVirus: all I can say is "poor baby". The bully across the street is now replaced by the cyber thief on the other side of the world. Assuming it is our lot to eventually break out of our spiritual straight jacket and project ourselves all over the Cosmos what do we think we will encounter then? Cute little space rabbits made of marshmallows? Or beings just as devious as we are if we only had the power? They do and much more.

Well we could just shout for help each time we got into trouble but I tend to think we were born to eventually be able to render assistance ourselves.  

If it gets too bad I just reformat the hard drive and use one of my system discs to reinstall an operating system. That is easier for me then painfully removing the virus and Trojan Horse and things get stale and corrupted over time anyway. Alas as human beings we can never start all over from scratch.  But then unlike old obsolete machines we can't get scrapped and turned into land fill. We always get repaired and upgraded.  They say the original IBM PC was basically a rather large almost empty box with many expansion slots that you could use to  expand it. If you knew how to do that ....

Due to backward compatibility the most modern IBM clone computers are still at some level just like the original ones but more modern. Think about that next time you meet an Ascended Master!  From humble beginnings I guess ...

[donq]

Hi Ace,
I like your words, "hone our discernment." very true.

Hi Gruntal,
Hahaha, I enjoy reading that. You are a real deal. :-)

Thanks both of you.

Both of your posts remind me of our discernment (as Ace said). Here's something I was thinking about.

Someone used to suggest me, if I got many problems at the same time, I should solved the less tough ones first. For example, I was a student sitting for my examination, says, 100 questions, the more I solved them, the more I would get high score, as each one, no natter how easy or difficult it was, could get me the same score, just one score.
However, whenever I had to handle many problems at the same time, I liked to solve the most difficult one first. My thinking was, with the certain time/hours I had, if I could finish solving the toughest one, even with a little time left for me, it was still enough to solve the rest ones which were less tough.
Besides, problems in the real life are not like student's examination. There are important problem, emergency problem, necessary problems etc. (to be fixed). Or even important-emergency-necceary problem, all in one. So it has something to do with (good) time management. Or choosing wisely.

But does it really work that way? Or it's only like Chuang Tzu's "Three in the Morning?"

Once there was a monkey keeper who fed his monkeys nuts. One day when he said, 'I'll feed you three in the morning, and four in the afternoon', the monkeys went nuts. (lol) So he offered instead to feed them four in the morning and three in the afternoon and the monkeys were delighted.
The actual number of the nuts remained the same, but there was an adjustment to meet to the likes and dislikes of those concerned. Such is the principle of putting oneself into subjective relation with externals.
Therefore a wise man, while regarding contraries as identical, adapts himself to the laws of nature. This is called following two courses at once.