Even the fool says a wise word sometimes. (Italian)

• NUTS or STUN or . . .?
• Were There Athenians before Athens was Built?

NUTS or STUN or . . .?

From the cantina on the 11th floor in the building S1 at the university in Trondheim, NTNU. The photo appeared in the Adresseavisen newspaper, Trondheim, on 15 August 1986. An engineer at NTNU, Roar Skjervø, appears to be levitating on a table among cups of coffee. Nobody around caught him in any form of cheating. So: Well done. (Click on the picture to see a larger newspaper photo).

Taste the alternatives:

• NUTS for "Norway's University of Technology and Science",
  
• STUN for "Science and Technology University of Norway".
  
• NTNU for "Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet" ("Norway's Technical-Natural-Scientific University").

The last of the three was chosen when the name of the University in Trondheim was changed in the middle of the 1990s. But some thought NUTS was the better choice. NUTS is associated with heads (universities and heads should go well together), it is far, far easier to pronounce, maybe humorous and with delicate irony too - not easy to forget and mispronounce, and so on. It plays a little bit on "nuts and bolts technical", even crackpot scientists, and more. A nut is often a hard undertaking, which a university may be in its ongoing struggle for survival or hegemony - whatever.

One should not play on prejudice of others, though, so NTNU was chosen. It does not evoke associations of foolish, eccentric, or crazy guys. Or does it?

STUN never entered the debate to our knowing. STUN too is very easy to pronounce, and may evoke associations to breakthrough science that shocks and dazes - Well, in the end NTNU was chosen.

And what is NVG in our address? NVG for 'The Network Group' is an association of employees, students, and former employees and students at the technical university. NVG hosts our site, and NTNU hosts NVG. This means the Gold Scales is hosted by an association at the Trondheim university in the middle of Norway.

If you think a university is marked by "easy and loving", think twice. Many students live in periodical fear of exams, and about one fourth of the new students do not thrive, and exit each year. As for employees, in the nineties there was an NTNU institute at the SVT departement of social sciencies with experts in problem handling. It does not exist any longer: the professionals there could not handle one another (!). Cases like that invoke the STUN-NUTS alternative. But frankly, if one rotten apple spoils the whole basket, most employees there could have been "victim apples" at first. The case entered the press, the local newspaper Adresseavisen, and Universitetsavisa. The institute was closed down. That is indeed food for thought.

Other institutes do not go down that road to the end. Maybe not all employees do not excel in outstanding, friendly goodwill, humour and stand-by co-operation, but you could find the right sort of people also, often where you least expect it. Look out for them.

A Himalayan Site

Charity by Rubens

In this setting, Himalayan refers to a breed of cats. The domestic Himalayan is born cream-coloured. It is stocky, has long, soft fur and round blue eyes. Yet there is room for some variations. See how far this is the Gold Scales site figuratively and tentatively expressed as a site breed, sort of.

The site was started in late 1995 at the University of Trondheim, Norway. It contains quality art and Internet books apart from quite home-spun material. Some of the content on the site relies on translations and interpretations of respected scholars, teachers, esteemed translators, and practitioners. Some of the books that appear on this website are also available in print form from various publishers, while others are exclusive for this site.

The Gold Scales has not deemed it fit to profit from selling any material so far; it is all for the taking for personal use, at least. The site also contains pages against authoritarian attitudes and cults.

Feel free to try to contact me by e-mail. However, if you want to ask any questions, check to see if they are already answered: The Site Search may help. Or browse through our thematic surveys and the Site Map.

The possibility of free distribution

If you want to publish things (contribute) on The Gold Scales you may type or scan a work and spell-check it, if you do not write something on your own. Send the file here via e-mail. If accepted, I might do some final proofreading and formatting. There are no strict deadlines. Also, if you want to help the site by other means, be on the lookout for typos and other problems. They include wrong spelling, faulty punctuation, awkward or wrong HTML coding, layout lapses, broken links to external websites, blemishes, and so on.

"Give wherever the mind feels confidence," says Buddha [SN 3.24].

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Gold Scales texts and layout are protected by copyright except for texts in the public domain. Study the disclaimer. You can ask me via email if you have any additional questions.

You may download for private use at leisure. Also, you may copy and/or extract excerpts from any text if you show in your work that they are excerpts or citations: Include a link to oaks.nvg.org and stand by a Fair Use practice.

On-line Medley Teachings Available

Instructions in Way-bulding (gaining some Tao(s) (Way, Ways) are found here and there on The Gold Scales too. Covering a wide range of topics, the pages offer old and newly arranged guidance that is non-dogmatic and often evoking mirth and laughter, aside from being inspiring. Here is guidance for gaining soundness and more giant (spiritual) well-being, and more.

Site Owner and Visitors

The Gold Scales is owned by Tormod Kinnes, MA. There is no account of how many there are who make practical use of the site's Novel Tao teachings and contemplative teachings. They have been freely given for many years. The site could have had up to ten million visitors so far. [More]

There are currently well over 34,000 Web references to the site (Alta Vista, december 2009)

Spiritual Teachings of Tao

We are all part of your Self if that Self exists equally and impartially in all beings. - Beware of faulty guru teachings.

"Mirth seems to foster losses too. Try to believe it."

The Gold Scales embodies Essentialist Teachings and fair counsel from many quarters, and methods of mind-diving (meditation, contemplation) in tune with the "depth" or "height" inside. There is much poignant counsel to look into too.

The site is for publishing and republishing writings of artists, writers and thinkers and great ones such as Gautama Buddha - and well-chosen others. The site hosts a great deposit of recorded talks, books and other items for easy living.

For some in need of physical, mental, or giant (spiritual) aid and harmony, some blunt-looking or candid self-help lessons are here. They include a vast array of helpful flower remedies and beneficial homeopathic remedies from outside the common stock and inside it as well. There are pages that let you in on other sides of natural medicine too, including herbal remedies. There are old contemplation methods without tricks, and humour here and there, both on the lines and between the lines, as the case may be.

The essential teachings of The Gold Scales embody a complete philosophy and way of life, and lessons in deep contemplation that lead to the direct personal inward experience of calm and pleasantness. These and other, outstanding methods help to quiet and elevate the mind to a surprising degree, and make it possible to withdraw very much attention from the usual turbulence of daily impressions, and clarify the deep mind by stages. In the clarity of the divine side, one comes to experience a delightful presence that some call God, and that allows Itself to be plumbed by some.

Were There Athenians before Athens was Built?

They teach, "The greatest tale that did not come down to us is about Atlantis (!)!

I decide which texts to include on the website by evaluations of relevance; entertainment value; and interests. The selection is not all commercially tinged.

For example, I refrain from publishing things that Plato or other famous ones said just because they are called great. They have to be great too, not only look like it, as "Being is better than seeming." And if not true to facts, they had better have entertainment value and perhaps validity and relevance by figurative components and meanings, as many fables have.

WORDS in Plato's Timaeus are instructive. They are about what Plato calls "the greatest tale" of "the greatest action which the Athenians ever did, and which ought to have been the most famous, but, through the lapse of time and the destruction of the actors, it has not come down to us." [Emphasis added]

There is something horribly wrong with that statement: The dialogue is about a tale that "has not come down to us". Still it is told. That is how the story of Atlantis is introduced. The tale contains descriptions of Athenians from thousands of years before Athens was built: That's a bad blister.

It things like these are frankly admitted and handled with cool and calm realistic thinking, there is very little value in Plato's story of Atlantis except its entertainment value. We should stick to that from the onset instead of getting wholly engrossed in mystifying "quack-quack" to the expence of what is of more value to us.

When thousands of writers speculate greatly about Atlantis, they seem to have missed these good marks. Hence, there is little value in stating,

In Plato's Timaeus story of Atlantis, he tells of the inhabitants' advanced state of scientific knowledge. The lost continent is believed to have vanished about 9500 BC. through a cataclysm of nature; certain metaphysical writers, however, state that the Atlanteans were destroyed as a result of their misuse of atomic power. Two French writers have recently compiled a Bibliography of Atlantis, listing over 1700 historical and other references. [Autobiography of a Yogi, Ch 23, note 9 [LINK].

I accept that the amount of bad writers that have speculated and what they have come up with hardly ever matters. That is how things are. But I have not left out Plato's fabulous story of Atlantis, for the tale still captures our imagination, and bears many marks of an engrossing tale. Therefore it is included on-site, although though it is too poorly substantiated.

By the way, new evidence from Egypt suggests that the western empire that Solon heard of in Egypt, was Khaftiu (from Crete), or the Minoan Empire, which had a unique and lively civilization by 2000 BCE. Around 1480 BCE the Minoan state was left in ruined by cataclysms. It happened overnight as the volcano Santorin exploded and caused horrible tsunamis. The volcano has been building up again since.

It should help to discern between fantasy and fiction on the one hand, and non-fiction on the other. Sometimes the two blend, and then it may help to sort out facts from fictions, or judge how likely this and that claim may be.