This story of the effect of karma related to a pure act, (an act done without attachment or any hidden agenda), that was done by me. As part of a background to this story, I want to explain an affinity I have with American Indians. It started when I was about seven years old. I was at a movie theater with my father watching a movie about Jim Thorpe, a famous American Indian athlete, in track and field, football, and baseball; the movie starred Burt Lancaster, as Jim Thorpe. In the opening scene a young Jim Thorpe, about seven, was running, full tilt across a wide field, jumping over creeks and hurdling log fences. Seeing that young boy running so joyfully and in complete freedom immediately attached me to the boy, his enjoyment and freedom, and his Indianess. This attachment has had an enduring affect with me. I grew up on the South Side of Chicago, where there were few open fields to run through, creeks to jump, or log fences to hurdle. However, I knew joy and freedom, when my friend, Tim Brennon and I raced every block on our way to school. We had equal speed, and the winner of the race would aways be the one who would start the race with the words, "ready-set-go." As for jumping and hurdling , the closest I came was climbing to the roof of a garage and jumping off and a one hand flip over a neighbor's fence, or a two hand flip over a mail box. When watching Cowboy or Cavalry and Indians movies, I always empathised with the Indians: their horse-men-ship, their nobility, and their fearlessness; even though my greatest hero was a cowboy named, Roy Rogers.
As I got older my affinity grew stronger by reading books like, "Black Elk Speaks," "The Memoirs of Chief Red Fox," "The Education of Little Tree," "The Man Who Killed the Deer," and many others. My empathy also gained strength when I moved to Minnesota in 1970, and became interested in the history, culture, and spiritual practices of the local Indian tribes: the Dakota, Lakoda, Mdewakanton, Ogalala. In the late 70's my Indian affinity inspired me to write a poem. The title was
"Lament."
"Great Indian, the wind whistles long,
lonely, sadly, searching for his lost brother.
'O my brother, come ride my currents
as the eagle.
'O my brother, listen to my lonely
song forlorn as the wolf.
'O my brother, sour with me, sense the
earth, touch the mountains, remember
my ways as your ancestors once knew.'
O Great Indian, fly with your brother
the wind once again, and share your
wisdom with me."
It was my step-son Albert who brought me into the Mdewakanton community in Shakopee, Mn.
Albert did work for some of the Indians families on the reservation, and over a period of years became a trusted worker. I was having chronic pain in my right hip. I asked Albert if he would ask his Indian friends if they knew anyone who could perform a healing ceremony. My alternative to a healing ceremony was having total hip replacement surgery, so I was highly motivated to participate in the less invasive healing ceremony. One of Albert's friends recommended a pastor of an Indian/Christian church, on the reservation named Jerry. Albert gave me Jerry's phone number. I phoned Jerry, and set up an appointment.
Jerry did not live on the reservation, but in a home in Shakopee. On my way to his home I happened to see a bald eagle flying west in the same direction I was traveling. This I took as a favorable and reinforcing sign. At the door, Jerry and is wife meet me and welcomed me in. Jerry showed me to a lounge chair, and before I sat down, he put a colorful blanket with Indian symbols around my shoulders. He asked me what is was that needed healing. I told him it was my right hip. He walked around me saying prayers in an Indian language. I believe he was invoking the powers of the North, East, South, and West, plus the Great Spirit in my healing behalf. Then he began to fire up a bundle of sage, and smoked me from head to toe, and side to side, all the while saying prayers. The healing ceremony had now been completed, the blanket was removed, and I sat down in the chair. We then spend time talking about our individual lives in relation to our spiritual path.
I had four additional healing sessions with Jerry. I must say I was feeling better, and my pain was more bearable. On my last session, I had brought a gift for Jerry. It was a print that was given to me by my daughter for my birthday. The print was mounted on a wood board, that was trimmed with a dull, red paint. The print was a creation by a Native American named, Nakoma, and was called, "The Circle is My Path." It was written in verse, and was a blend of poetry and prose, with drawings of Native Americans and animals native to North America. It is a kind of autobiography and spiritual evolution of Nakoma. He is a taste, one verse of its poetry and prose:
"We are all on the rim of the world and at its center at the same time.
We are attached to the ripples that emanate from its center-life is so.
We ride the waves-the wind turns us.
We flow as the prairie flows, and we are bound to the sacred land-
walking our path in a sacred manner."
I loved that print. It had brought me great joy, insight, and understanding. Truthfully, I struggled intensely with myself to give it up, but in the end I was able to release all attachments to it, and gave it to Jerry with a pure heart of gratitude.
Two years after my last healing session with Jerry, I attended, along with my wife and step-son Albert, a Pow Wow, on the Mystic Lake complex. It was a North American gathering of Indian dancers. The dancers were there to compete for prizes. There were also tents where food was sold, and various arts and crafts were displayed and for sale. As we were looking at the various arts and crafts displayed in the tents, I found a tent with not only arts and crafts, but also historical artifacts, and portraits of old chiefs. One of my deep affinities was with an Ogalala, Indian named Crazy Horse. I have a strong desire to draw the likeness of Crazy Horse. I thought this might be an excellent place to ask about a portrait of Crazy Horse.
My eyes set on a short, middle aged man, black hair in a pony tail, and a thin black mustache, who I supposed was the owner. I moved to where the man was standing and asked if he had a portrait of Crazy Horse. He said , "Yes," and I followed him to the corner of the tent where he pointed to a sketch on a wall. "Is that Crazy Horse," I asked dubiously. He answered, "Yes., I drew it." I asked, "What did you use as a model?" He replied, "My imagination."
I explained to the owner that I got to know something of Crazy Horse's history by reading, "Black Elk Speaks" and "The Memoirs of Chief Red Fox." The owner walked me back to the center of the tent and picked up a book he was currently reading and handed it me. It was about Custer's last stand at the Little Big Horn River. I do not recall the title. As I handed the book back to the owner I caught sight of the print, "The Circle is My Path." I had told the owner that I had had this print, and how much I enjoyed it. He told me that when he created it there was confusion about the direction the verses should be read; he said "That the verses should be read left to right, and not down and up." Surprise and excited, I said, "Your Nakoma!." He said, "Yes." I immediately pushed out my right hand and shook his hand vigorously. I really wanted to give him a huge. I told Nakoma the story of my healing sessions with Jerry, and how I gave Jerry my beloved print of, "the Circle is My Path." Unknown to me at the time, Albert, after hearing my story of giving my copy of the print to Jerry, had purchased a copy of the print, and Katie, Nakoma's wife handed me the print.
There in that magical moment, all seeming incidental points were magnetically made to connect, and there I stood with the return of my print, and Nakoma, the creator of the print. This was the effect of the eternal law of Karma, initiated by my pure act of gratitude.
If there is any reader that would be interested in purcharsing a copy of "The Circle is My Path" you may contact Nakoma at, nakomaarts@yahoo.com.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
the origination of evil and the devil-part two
How did good and evil become innate characteristics of the human composition? The moment
"mankind" was lit by the fire of self consciousness and saw its nakedness, the consciousness of duality was born along with all opposites, thus the idea of good and evil. The ignition of self consciousness is allegorically represented in Genesis of the Old Testament, by the story of Adam and Eve's actions in the Garden of Eden. Lord God allowed Adam and Eve to live blissfully in the Garden of Eden, but imposed one condition , not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. (much to reason about in this story) Eve is tempted and enticed by the serpent to eat of the forbidden fruit. She succumed and ate the fruit and then in turn tempts Adam, who succumbed and also eats the fruit. Prior to the ignition of self consciousness, "mankind" existed in a mindless state of consciousness somewhat akin to the current state of instinct exhibited in the animal kingdom. This state of consciousness is described as "bliss" in this biblical story. "Mankind," at this stage of evolution0n was amoral, could no more do immoral acts then could deliberately and self consciousness do moral acts. Adam and Eve's allegorical eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolized "mankind's" psycho-spiritual evolutionary transition of consciousness, from the former psycho-spiritual, blissful, amoral state of consciousness, to the struggles and confusion of self-consciousness- the knowing and choosing between the opposites, good and evil.
***The above understanding puts the origination of good and evil on a more comprehensible level, but the philosophical difficulty delineating where Infinite God disappears to make room for evil still remains. This is a very difficult doctrine to comprehend. Its greatest difficulty however, is not so much in its comprehension, but in clearing the mind from the commonly held anthropomorphic ideas of God and the devil. The idea of a Causeless Cause, an Infinite God, is an abstraction of the very highest order, and regardless of skills in metaphysics and philosophy, human reason would have to be stretched to its ultimate limits in order to attain a shadow of comprehension. Can there be any wonder why attempts at such a great feat of comprehension would be loaded with projections of human personality and attributes? Notwithstanding such difficulties an explanation is forthcoming by using teachings from some of the ancient sages and seers of our world.
***A fundamental point to keep in mind through out this explanation is that Infinite God cannot create because of its infiniteness. Creation , in all of its forms, is a manifestation of the finite.
For an Infinite God to create, It must some how transform Its infiniteness into the finite, which is a logical absurdity. The Uncaused Cause does not issue forth manifestation, but periodically exhibits different aspects of Itself. The same idea expressed another way is, the Unknowable, as It could not create, conceived, breathed out, issued forth a thought that emanated manifesting Powers. The adjectives used here to describe the deific process of the manifestation of the point of first manifestation are inadequate. "Breathed in or out" is the expression used by ancient Hindu texts, and probably come the closest to an acceptable description of this great process. Keep in mind however, that the moment one begins an explanation of the Unknowable- a logical impossibility, it immediately brakes down, no matter how well words or symbols are used. These emanating Powers that are breathed out from Infinite God, become the matrix for the building of our planetary system, and it is these emanated Powers that the human intellect deals, not with the Infinite God. After breathing out the emanated Powers, infinite God remains , irrevocably fixed in Its sphere of divinity, letting the emanating Powers architect and build the worlds.
The thought thread, breathed out from Infinite God remains within the emanating Powers as the bases, foundation, unity of all manifested multiplications and permutations that issued forth. A useful analogy for this process can be drawn from our Sun and its emanating rays. The Sun sitting irrevocably in its orbit, emanates its life giving essence, as rays, which in turn build, grow, and maintain the many manifested forms within our solar system. Another useful aid in gaining insight into the process is studying the Pythagorean Tetraktys.
-------------------- ---0 apex
---------------------- 0 0
-------------------- 0 0 0
------------------ 0 0 0 0 total 10
-----------------Tetraktys
***The Tetraktys are a paradigm representing the process of manifestation from its apex, representing the point of first manifestation- the point at which Infinite God's thought takes form- and the vertical hierarchy of relation between Unity (Infinite God's thought) and emerging multiplicity. The same idea expressed in another way is, the Tetraktys are an image of unity (Infinite God's thought) starting at the One, proceeding through four levels of manifestation, and returning to unity, the sum, Ten. Wherein, One represents the point, Two represents the line, Three represents the surface, and Four represents the first three-dimensional form.
***Again a reminder, the most important point to be taken out of this very difficult discussion is to keep separate Infinite God from "hands on" creation of our Solar System, and more particularly Earth. The architects and builders of our Solar System are the thoughts forms or emanating Powers issued from Infinite God. These Powers are set in a hierarchy, starting from the highest, the first manifestation or the One, the most ethereal, through a multitude of substantive gradations to the lowest, the most material. It is they, directed by Infinite God's thoughts forms, who architect, build, sustain,and evolve our solar system. It is in this process of manifestation-the crystallization of spirit, that produces the force of opposition, and it is this force of opposition that provides a matrix, a sheath, a soul around which spirit can be manifest, ... "and the word was made flesh..." The consequence of this cosmic, adversarial tension is self-awareness. Infinite God's pure essence remains within Its sphere of divinity, Its ray is clothed, or skinned or veiled by increasing gradations of matter, until the veil is lifted high enough for the fire of self-consciousness to be ignited-following the Great Cycle of Evolution. It is the self-awareness of our own life, our own ego life, that produces the idea of separateness. It is that idea of separateness which is the initiator of evil.
***The concept of the devil as a substantive being and adversary of their God is so basic to the doctrines of Christianity, that any inquiry into his existence seems to most Christians, heretical, even blasphemous. The devil is wrapped so thick and tight with fear that most Christians are troubled by the mere thought of him. Most Christians adopt an attitude of fearful avoidance when it comes to any conceptual contact with the devil, leaving such to the demon "experts" the preachers, evangelists, and priests. Not only are most Christians fearful of any association with the devil, but also terrified by the wrath incurred by their God and by their Church for such association, (remember the history of the religious inquisitions). The only condition under which the devil can be related to without fear and terror is to use him to "scape goat" some of the responsibility of sinful conduct. "The devil made me do it. I take some responsibility for my conduct, but the devil initiated my will to act badly, thus releasing me from full responsibility."
***Keeping in mind the great fear, the divine and ecclesiastical wrath, and the ironic, moral relief surrounding the concept of the devil, it isn't difficult to understand the great volatility inherent in any examination. I am certain that many Christians reading this essay will believe me to be a dupe of the devil or worse, that I am a voluntary companion. I can assure the reader, I am no dupe or companion of the devil, since I have no belief in such an being.
***Yet, regardless of the great fear, horror, and volatility present in the traditional doctrine of the devil there is a great need for close examination of this concept. For as it presently stands, it represents one of the greatest obstacles on the pathway towards spiritual growth and development.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
the origination of evil and the devil-first part
I wrote this essay on evil and the devil some eight years or more ago. It was an attempt to clarify my understanding of these two mind potent ideas. My only intent was to seek the truth, where ever it led, to bring to me a satisfactory conclusion.
My hope is that you, the reader, will follow my findings and logic, and bring insight into these dogmatically cluttered ideas of evil and the devil. I am not affiliated with any religion, therefore I am clean of any religious prejudice.
The original essay was one continuous piece. I am splitting this presentation into two parts. These two ideas are covered by deep emotion, dogma, believe, superstition. and metaphysics; challenging to say the least. There is much to process and by splitting it in two parts will, I believe, ease the process.
FIRST PART
In the fifth grade, my teacher, a Sister of Mercy, (let the irony fall where it may), would tell our class stories about the saints and how they were tempted and tormented by the devil. She would graphically describe scenes of the devil, horned biped, half goat, and half monkey, with cloven feet and a tail, tempting the particular saint during a series of unsolicited appearances. Before hearing these stories my concept of the devil was an interior voice of temptation coaxing me towards evil thoughts and actions. After hearing these stories, my concept of the devil had expanded to include a menacing, substantive being, capable of making appearances at will, to whom ever he may choose. This new expanded concept of the devil, together with my fertile imagination caused me many sleepless nights of fearful anticipation of an appearance by the devil right in my bedroom. What is more, I knew that if the saints and Jesus the Christ were vulnerable to such visitations, how could I resist? It seemed to me just a matter of time before my sin infested soul would be made to submit to the devil's will, and than ultimately reap eternal damnation in hell's fire. **Note I could not get the blogspot word processer to space some of my paraigraphs. I will put two ** before the first word of a new paragraph.
**Recounting the above experiences might seem humorous to some readers, but there was for me, no humorous feelings in those experiences, only long nights of terror. I can testify that a belief in an omnipotent entity, essentially evil is a concept that cripples the aspirations of the human soul towards advancement. It puts such an entity on attributal par with the God of Goodness. If it were true that the playing field for the capture of the human soul was set equitably, we humans could grin and bear it, "half eased in that a Powerfuller had willed and meted us our fate." But not so. By any one's calculation, there is more evil than good in the world, and in such regard the devil has a definite home court advantage- a debilitating condition for those humans aspiring towards good. Thus the best hope ever sown for good has a greater chance to be unfulfilled. Add to this unfulfillment of hope, the belief of suffering eternal damnation in hell's fire for even an involuntary encounter with the devil, and you have a peripheral glimpse at the debilitating affect such a concept has on a soul's spiritual progress.
**A disturbing fact is that a belief in the devil as a separate, personal, and omnipotent evil power is a fundamental doctrine of most Christian sects. Every Christian preacher, evangelist, and priest the world over proclaims the devil as the fountainhead for all the evil manifested on Earth, and in their next breath declare that they are the sword of the righteous hand of God that can smite down that evil being. No devil could be more spiteful in his hatred than the preachers, evangelists, and priests are in cursing the devil as the Father of Evil. In an ironic twist, their spite, rage, and vehement denouncement of the devil represents the very evil, on par or exceeding any alleged exhibition of spite and rage perpetrated by the devil. Directing their spite and rage at the originator of evil, doesn't by some esoteric occult law, distill those evil emotions and desires into righteous indignation. Further, this display by the ecclesiastical agents of the Christian sects, of fighting evil with evil, seems to be in direct opposition to the fundamental compassionate essence and expressed doctrines of the God of Goodness and His Son, Jesus the Christ. The obvious disunity and confusion of the Christian doctrines concerning the devil exposes a philosophical rift and lack of metaphysical depth with regard to understanding the origination of evil. Where does the devil originate? Where does evil originate?
**Under the prescription of Christian doctrine all things, visible and invisible, were created by Infinite God. Logically then, evil must be included in "all things," and therefore the obvious conclusion is God, the creator of all that is created evil. There is an old Latin adage that supports the above idea, "Demon est deus inversus." It means, demon is god inverted. The adage defines evil as the lining of God. If God is the Universal Root of all things, where comes evil if not from the same root? How can this obvious conclusion be reconciled with the teachings concerning the Christian God of Goodness, and from Him therefore can proceed only good? The Christian exegete affirms the pure goodness of God by using James of the New Testament, (Gen. Ep. of James, i, 13) for the authority: "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." If evil does not come from God, than from where? Evil cannot be a random creation, like something from nothing, because nothing can exist without the divine permission of God's Will. The early Christian Fathers must have been confounded by such a deep paradox. Here they have Infinite God, the creator of all things, and here too included in the all things created is evil. It would be an untenable idea to them that their God of Goodness could have created evil. Their most difficult problem would be how to keep Infinite God separated from the creation of evil. Their solution was the installment of the devil. They found their solution and its authority in the complex, biblical allegory of the "Fall of Lucifer" and his hosts from heaven. Lucifer, the wisest and most beautiful of Lord God's archangels, decides, as Milton suggests, "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven..." Because of his pride, Lucifer is punished by Lord God and made to "fall" from heaven to the nether sphere, from which he established his evil kingdom and from which spews forth all terrestrial evil. Now under this newly evolved doctrine the Christian's God of Goodness has an initiator of evil, an adversary, an opposite, the Prince of Darkness, and can from hereafter hold legitimate claim to His Infinity and absolute Goodness.
**The installment of the devil as the archenemy of God blended in perfectly with the Christian syncretistic development of an anthropomorphic, personal god, but did not successfully bridge the philosophical rift. It only deflected attention away from the philosophical, logical flaws towards the more flexible and amenable field of human experience. The more attention the devil received for his roundup and turning souls towards evil, the less attention and thought could be directed towards philosophical inquiry. For instance inquires like, if Lord God caused the devil's "fall," isn't Omniscient God the efficient cause of the devil's appearance on Earth, and mustn't God then accept responsibility for the devil's spread of evil? Further, if Infinite God is the supreme power, but sets the devil as His arch opponent, isn't that action at least contrary to the idea of an infinite god, and at most an absurdity since Infinite God can have no opposite? The Christina Doctrines of the origination of the devil and evil becomes even more murky when the "Lord's Prayer" is carefully analyzed. In the "Lord's Prayer," Jesus teaches his apostles to beseech the Father to, "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from all evil," "Lead us not into temptation" is addressed to "Our Father, which art in Heaven"... It is implicitly clear that the petitioner of that prayer is invoking God the Father, who he (the petitioner) believes to be an initiator of temptations and troubles, 'to lead him not into temptation but deliver him from all evil.' This prayer also implies that Jesus the Christ, the creator of the prayer, sees evil not as originating from the devil, but from of the inverse of God.
**Through out the world, with every people except the Christian people, evil is treated as a force, not an entity. Evil is the opposite of good, expressing the essential dualistic nature of all life. In all of life there is spirit and matter. This dualistic nature of life creates a tension between the opposites, that ignites the fire of our self awareness. With self awareness we humans can discriminate, judge, and decide. Good and evil, explained from this point of view, are then conditions through which human beings must pass through in order to evolve. Evil is disharmony, a failure to consciously live in accordance with Universal Nature- the fundamental law of unity of all beings and entities embracing the Spirit that originates them. Good is harmony, a deliberate desire to live in full accord with Universal Nature. The only incident of evil originating from an individual being , is if it is restricted to human evil doing. Evil originates from a human's will arguing with Universal Nature, and arrogantly acting against the natural order of things. In canto, XII, page 165 of the Dhammapada, (oral and written traditional sayings of Buddha), Gautama the Buddha explains that the expression of evil lie within the heart of human beings:
**..."By self alone is evil done, by self alone is one defiled; by self alone is evil not done; by self alone is one purified. Purity and impurity depend on oneself; no one can purify another."
**End of first part; second part will appear on next post.
Friday, February 24, 2012
fantastic voyage within
The Kingdom of God is ever present, for those that have eyes to see, and ears to hear. What did Jesus the Christ mean? I have eyes to see and ears to hear, yet I don't see or hear the Kingdom of God. Were do I look? Were do I turn my head to hear?
As I look and hear from eyes and ears of the flesh, I can only see and hear things from the visible. material world. The phenomenal world has beauty and uniqueness, and a certain vague, universality about it; like a snowflake, its pattern is distinctive in all cases, but its structure always has six points. How many different pattern, permutations, can nature create? Answer, How many grains of sand are there? However, regardless of the almost infinite possible patterns, it is that hint of unity that attracts us. We therefore, can occupy an entire life time searching for the one pattern that leads us to the essence of the snowflake. Take science for an example, they have been searching for the "missing link," that spices of ape-man that bridges the gap between ape and man. They have been searching since Darwin. Or, 'once we map the human Geno of the brain we will understand the human essence.' Or, 'once we find the "god particle" we will understand the mysteries of the Universe.' However, all science can really find is more paradox. Our rational mind is not capable of penetrating paradox to find satisfactory understanding. That which is beyond the phenomenal world cannot be known through the rational mind, but we need the self-awareness of the rational mind to take us to the threshold of the world within, the spiritual world. In order to know the world beyond the material world we must see and hear with spiritual eyes and ears. Rumi, a Sufi poet put it this way, "We rarely hear the inward music, but we are dancing to it nevertheless."
We humans have begun to search, what we call the "last frontier," outer space, not full well understanding its great risk and difficulties, but the idea of searching inner space is beyond, even our imagination. Even the most bright and courageous of our race would stop and hesitate at the paradox of using their consciousness as a light to explore the depths of their unconscious. Meister Eckhart, a philosopher, mystic of medieval Germany, explains "The soul has two eyes, one looking inwards and the other looking outwards. It is the inner eye of the soul that looks into essence and takes being directly from God." Who has the spiritual and moral courage to look God directly in the eyes? Turns out, that going back 5000 years or more there were ancient sages who had found a way into the inner circulations of the unconscious, traveled there at will, and came back to tell of their great adventure. Not only did they tell of their adventure, but also told of their method of entry into to the unconscious, and have passed down that method to generation after generation in an unbroken chain, to those who are prepared to walk the inner path. Pythagorus, an ancient Greek philosopher, and one of those later travelers into the inner world, used the letter Y to explain and distinguish the two paths. Maximinus, an ancient Romeman poet wrote a poem using the Pythagorean Y as the object of his poem:
The Pythgorean Letter two ways spread,
Shows the two paths in which Man's life is led.
The right hand track to sacred Virtue tends,
Though steep and rough at first, in rest it ends;
The other broad and smooth, but from its crown
On rocks the Traveller is tumbled down.
He who to Virtue by harsh toils aspires,
Subduing pains, worth and renown acquires.
But who seeks slothful luxury and flies,
The labor of great acts, dishonor'd dies.
What these brave, ancient voyagers of the inner world found is that the manifest Universe is issued from and sustained by the Infinite. Remember now, that this Infinite is called by many names, God, Vishnu, Jehovah, etc. but each name gives no meaning to It, because a name is finite. It is absurd to use the finite to describe the Infinite. If you try to objective the Infinite you will wind up within a paradox. If these ancient voyager's discovery wasn't sublime and fantastic enough, they also discovered that the Infinity, wonders of wonders, is within us. We in It; and It in us. St. Paul, in his Letter to the Colossians, Chapter 1, verses 25-27, centuries later echos the ancient voyagers findings: ..."It is the task of fully proclaiming his (God's) message, which is the secret he hid through all past ages from mankind but has now reveled to his people. God's plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God."... The Christ Principle, the Buddha Principle, the Infinite, the face of God is within you; you are It, you are That. There also is an echo of this profound thought practiced every day by way of a pose, usually practiced in India, but not strictly. It is also practiced in our country, as also in many other countries. The pose is taken when meeting another person: hands are placed together in prayer position and placed by the heart, there is a head bow at the same time saying a Sanskrit word, "namaste." Namaste means, 'the divine in me, recognizes and acknowledges the divine in you.'
It is because we are essentially a spark of the divine, that the Kingdom of God is ever present. It is the outward looking eye of the soul that captures our attention and builds a veil, dimming the vision of our inward looking eye of the soul. We must learn that the inward eye of the soul sees into essence, and is the vehicle that can unite us with the Divine. We will let Jakob Bohme, the Mystic Cobbler, have the last word, "For the Book in which all mysteries lie is man himself; he himself is the book of Being of all beings, seeing he is the likeness of the Divinity. The Great Arcanum lies in him; the reveling of it belongs only to the Divine Spirit."
As I look and hear from eyes and ears of the flesh, I can only see and hear things from the visible. material world. The phenomenal world has beauty and uniqueness, and a certain vague, universality about it; like a snowflake, its pattern is distinctive in all cases, but its structure always has six points. How many different pattern, permutations, can nature create? Answer, How many grains of sand are there? However, regardless of the almost infinite possible patterns, it is that hint of unity that attracts us. We therefore, can occupy an entire life time searching for the one pattern that leads us to the essence of the snowflake. Take science for an example, they have been searching for the "missing link," that spices of ape-man that bridges the gap between ape and man. They have been searching since Darwin. Or, 'once we map the human Geno of the brain we will understand the human essence.' Or, 'once we find the "god particle" we will understand the mysteries of the Universe.' However, all science can really find is more paradox. Our rational mind is not capable of penetrating paradox to find satisfactory understanding. That which is beyond the phenomenal world cannot be known through the rational mind, but we need the self-awareness of the rational mind to take us to the threshold of the world within, the spiritual world. In order to know the world beyond the material world we must see and hear with spiritual eyes and ears. Rumi, a Sufi poet put it this way, "We rarely hear the inward music, but we are dancing to it nevertheless."
We humans have begun to search, what we call the "last frontier," outer space, not full well understanding its great risk and difficulties, but the idea of searching inner space is beyond, even our imagination. Even the most bright and courageous of our race would stop and hesitate at the paradox of using their consciousness as a light to explore the depths of their unconscious. Meister Eckhart, a philosopher, mystic of medieval Germany, explains "The soul has two eyes, one looking inwards and the other looking outwards. It is the inner eye of the soul that looks into essence and takes being directly from God." Who has the spiritual and moral courage to look God directly in the eyes? Turns out, that going back 5000 years or more there were ancient sages who had found a way into the inner circulations of the unconscious, traveled there at will, and came back to tell of their great adventure. Not only did they tell of their adventure, but also told of their method of entry into to the unconscious, and have passed down that method to generation after generation in an unbroken chain, to those who are prepared to walk the inner path. Pythagorus, an ancient Greek philosopher, and one of those later travelers into the inner world, used the letter Y to explain and distinguish the two paths. Maximinus, an ancient Romeman poet wrote a poem using the Pythagorean Y as the object of his poem:
The Pythgorean Letter two ways spread,
Shows the two paths in which Man's life is led.
The right hand track to sacred Virtue tends,
Though steep and rough at first, in rest it ends;
The other broad and smooth, but from its crown
On rocks the Traveller is tumbled down.
He who to Virtue by harsh toils aspires,
Subduing pains, worth and renown acquires.
But who seeks slothful luxury and flies,
The labor of great acts, dishonor'd dies.
What these brave, ancient voyagers of the inner world found is that the manifest Universe is issued from and sustained by the Infinite. Remember now, that this Infinite is called by many names, God, Vishnu, Jehovah, etc. but each name gives no meaning to It, because a name is finite. It is absurd to use the finite to describe the Infinite. If you try to objective the Infinite you will wind up within a paradox. If these ancient voyager's discovery wasn't sublime and fantastic enough, they also discovered that the Infinity, wonders of wonders, is within us. We in It; and It in us. St. Paul, in his Letter to the Colossians, Chapter 1, verses 25-27, centuries later echos the ancient voyagers findings: ..."It is the task of fully proclaiming his (God's) message, which is the secret he hid through all past ages from mankind but has now reveled to his people. God's plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God."... The Christ Principle, the Buddha Principle, the Infinite, the face of God is within you; you are It, you are That. There also is an echo of this profound thought practiced every day by way of a pose, usually practiced in India, but not strictly. It is also practiced in our country, as also in many other countries. The pose is taken when meeting another person: hands are placed together in prayer position and placed by the heart, there is a head bow at the same time saying a Sanskrit word, "namaste." Namaste means, 'the divine in me, recognizes and acknowledges the divine in you.'
It is because we are essentially a spark of the divine, that the Kingdom of God is ever present. It is the outward looking eye of the soul that captures our attention and builds a veil, dimming the vision of our inward looking eye of the soul. We must learn that the inward eye of the soul sees into essence, and is the vehicle that can unite us with the Divine. We will let Jakob Bohme, the Mystic Cobbler, have the last word, "For the Book in which all mysteries lie is man himself; he himself is the book of Being of all beings, seeing he is the likeness of the Divinity. The Great Arcanum lies in him; the reveling of it belongs only to the Divine Spirit."
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
air jordan's
My local T.V. news station reported about the frenzy, holiday shoppers displayed over the purchase of particular items. The report I want to focus in on was the new Air Jordan gym shoes. I am not certain of what city or the name of the store of the report, but it showed young males lined up, waiting for hours, to be able to buy a $180 plus, pair of gym shoes. The report showed the doors of the store being opened early in the morning as the young males pushed and shoved their way in, and sprinted to the place of purchase. I had witnessed other T.V. reports about the "Black Friday" crazed consumers, but none reached the ferocity of the gym shoe group. Of course these were young, aggressive males playing a game of who can buy the shoes first, but as I was witnessing the frenzy, it seemed there was something more going on. Part of the frenzy could be easily placed on the use of marketing strategies, the implication that there was a limited supply of shoes for sale, and the opportunity for very enthusiastic consumers to get first crack at the scarce items by a 6:00am openings. These strategies amped up the frenzy by many degrees, but there seemed to me to be a deeper cause, a primary cause for the greater ferocity.
I had to ask myself the question, "What was the motivation for these young men to stand out side for hours, in front of a store to purchase a pair of $180 gym shoes?" On a deep psychological, level these young men where motivated by a desire to bolster and ease the pressure on their low self-esteem. The "sporting" of the "Air Jordan's" would bolster their self-esteem on several levels: it would express their "with it" fashion sense, it would express their savvy decision to affiliate with the greatest, basketball super star, Michael Jordan, and would express and enhance their male prowess.
As I contemplated this process of compulsive behavior, I remembered I have witnessed it many times, under many different guises. For instance, two people arguing over politics, one a progressive the other a conservative, and inevitably the argument erupts into an exchange of anger. How about, co-workers on the same level, where one makes a remark about the other's job competency. The co-worker whose competency came under question is seething to the point of revenge. These examples are quick scenarios that compulsive behaviors are played out with great frequency in our every day lives. Compulsive behaviors are ubiquitous through out human interactions because their origination lays deep within the human psyche and once developed, cannot be willfully contained.
There is a Sanskrit word, samskara, which describes this condition of deep compulsion: deep conditioned tendencies to particular ways of thinking and acting, usually negative or self-willed, which have been dug in the mind through many years of repeating the same thoughts over and over. I should add, that these mind-molds are so acute and ripe that when they are triggered, can manifest unconsciously. This unconscious manifestation of deep seeded mind-molds reminds me of a old, 1956 science fiction film called, "Forbidden Planet." The plot, with out getting too detailed was, an earth scientist, Morbius was sent to a planet to study the race of beings that resided there and seemingly, with out a known cause, vanished. He was to find the cause of their mysterious disappearance. It turns out that the race of beings were the Krell. A highly advanced race that had created a massive energy depot that supported their own mental capacity. They were able to materialize any desire they might have thought. The unintended consequence, however was that not only did they create their desires, but also unconsciously created "Monsters of the Id." These monsters of the id were created from deep seeded, self-willed mind-molds, and manifested unconsciously as destroyers of any force or resistance that stood in the way of fulfilling the primary desire. Eventually the Krell's entire civilization was destroyed by their unconscious creation of these Monsters of the Id.
Above we have discussed the definition of mind-molds, using the Sanskrit word "samskara." More interesting and enlightening is an inquiry into the process of development of mind-molds. Here it should be no surprise we use another Sanskrit word, "asava" to aid in our quest for understanding. Asava means, an intoxicant distilled from fruits, flowers or trees, and is used in the Dhammapada, (a Buddhist book of the teachings of Buddha) as a reference to the process involved with human sensations.
The Buddha would say that for cognition to happen three elements must come together: the eyes, the object, and the act of attention. When all three come together there is sensation The initial times you indulge your senses in a particular way there is only a sensation. It has no emotive energy behind it. When however, you start thinking about the pleasantness or pain of the sensation over and over the process of asava begins. The fermentation of that sensation begins and the craving is brewing until intoxication appears. Then it cannot be classified as a sensation, but as an obsession. At that point you cannot help thinking about it; it cannot help thinking about itself.
If the Buddha said that now that I have exposed and brought your awareness to the process of mind-molds my job is over, I turn the work of dissolving them to you. That would be like giving a lighted candle to some one who is ankle deep in gasoline, and say ' now that you can see where you are try not to burn yourself.' The Buddha being a master psychologist and the Compassionate One would not leave us in the lurch, but would reach back his hand and teach us tried and true practices that would assist us in changing negative mind-molds into positive mind molds. He would remind us however that success rests in our hands.
One of the most effective practices for change is meditation, for it is a practice that gets to the heart of behavior, the mind. The practice of meditation trains and disciplines the mind, (read my blog on "meditation-a discipline of mind). Another practice is changing one thought for another; changing a negative thought with a positive thought. A perfect example of this is The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:
Lord, make me an instrument of thy Peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;...
There are other practices and strategies, but the above two are powerful. You could gain a synergistic effect by combining the two; using St. Francis's prayer as a point of focus with your meditation. Memorizing the prayer and saying it silently to yourself at a pace where you can give one pointed attention to the meaning of each word.
So! Are you, an ordinary person, ready to open and enter the door to the "fantastic voyage within;" where you search with the light of consciousness into the depths of the unconscious, and come back whole to tell the tale.
I had to ask myself the question, "What was the motivation for these young men to stand out side for hours, in front of a store to purchase a pair of $180 gym shoes?" On a deep psychological, level these young men where motivated by a desire to bolster and ease the pressure on their low self-esteem. The "sporting" of the "Air Jordan's" would bolster their self-esteem on several levels: it would express their "with it" fashion sense, it would express their savvy decision to affiliate with the greatest, basketball super star, Michael Jordan, and would express and enhance their male prowess.
As I contemplated this process of compulsive behavior, I remembered I have witnessed it many times, under many different guises. For instance, two people arguing over politics, one a progressive the other a conservative, and inevitably the argument erupts into an exchange of anger. How about, co-workers on the same level, where one makes a remark about the other's job competency. The co-worker whose competency came under question is seething to the point of revenge. These examples are quick scenarios that compulsive behaviors are played out with great frequency in our every day lives. Compulsive behaviors are ubiquitous through out human interactions because their origination lays deep within the human psyche and once developed, cannot be willfully contained.
There is a Sanskrit word, samskara, which describes this condition of deep compulsion: deep conditioned tendencies to particular ways of thinking and acting, usually negative or self-willed, which have been dug in the mind through many years of repeating the same thoughts over and over. I should add, that these mind-molds are so acute and ripe that when they are triggered, can manifest unconsciously. This unconscious manifestation of deep seeded mind-molds reminds me of a old, 1956 science fiction film called, "Forbidden Planet." The plot, with out getting too detailed was, an earth scientist, Morbius was sent to a planet to study the race of beings that resided there and seemingly, with out a known cause, vanished. He was to find the cause of their mysterious disappearance. It turns out that the race of beings were the Krell. A highly advanced race that had created a massive energy depot that supported their own mental capacity. They were able to materialize any desire they might have thought. The unintended consequence, however was that not only did they create their desires, but also unconsciously created "Monsters of the Id." These monsters of the id were created from deep seeded, self-willed mind-molds, and manifested unconsciously as destroyers of any force or resistance that stood in the way of fulfilling the primary desire. Eventually the Krell's entire civilization was destroyed by their unconscious creation of these Monsters of the Id.
Above we have discussed the definition of mind-molds, using the Sanskrit word "samskara." More interesting and enlightening is an inquiry into the process of development of mind-molds. Here it should be no surprise we use another Sanskrit word, "asava" to aid in our quest for understanding. Asava means, an intoxicant distilled from fruits, flowers or trees, and is used in the Dhammapada, (a Buddhist book of the teachings of Buddha) as a reference to the process involved with human sensations.
The Buddha would say that for cognition to happen three elements must come together: the eyes, the object, and the act of attention. When all three come together there is sensation The initial times you indulge your senses in a particular way there is only a sensation. It has no emotive energy behind it. When however, you start thinking about the pleasantness or pain of the sensation over and over the process of asava begins. The fermentation of that sensation begins and the craving is brewing until intoxication appears. Then it cannot be classified as a sensation, but as an obsession. At that point you cannot help thinking about it; it cannot help thinking about itself.
If the Buddha said that now that I have exposed and brought your awareness to the process of mind-molds my job is over, I turn the work of dissolving them to you. That would be like giving a lighted candle to some one who is ankle deep in gasoline, and say ' now that you can see where you are try not to burn yourself.' The Buddha being a master psychologist and the Compassionate One would not leave us in the lurch, but would reach back his hand and teach us tried and true practices that would assist us in changing negative mind-molds into positive mind molds. He would remind us however that success rests in our hands.
One of the most effective practices for change is meditation, for it is a practice that gets to the heart of behavior, the mind. The practice of meditation trains and disciplines the mind, (read my blog on "meditation-a discipline of mind). Another practice is changing one thought for another; changing a negative thought with a positive thought. A perfect example of this is The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:
Lord, make me an instrument of thy Peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;...
There are other practices and strategies, but the above two are powerful. You could gain a synergistic effect by combining the two; using St. Francis's prayer as a point of focus with your meditation. Memorizing the prayer and saying it silently to yourself at a pace where you can give one pointed attention to the meaning of each word.
So! Are you, an ordinary person, ready to open and enter the door to the "fantastic voyage within;" where you search with the light of consciousness into the depths of the unconscious, and come back whole to tell the tale.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
addendum to my two cents-again
I am back with more frustration.
I'm leaving behind the rest of my kind, and removing myself from the race.
I'm washing clean society's scene, and rinsing my mouth of bad taste;
Withdrawing from muzzled mouths, machine-gunning blanks words with each round;
From too polite salutations and too contrived departations;
From the printed accounts of gruesome, terrible crimes;
From the noise and the dirt and the slum and the grime,
I'm leaving this ocean of bullshit far, far behind.
As the earth spins in orbital glide, the sun shades its back and lights its front side.
Untolded lives end with the night, untolded lives begin with the light.
Life seems to float on a pool of extremes,
Flowing from best to worst or worst to best, with occasional levellings.
I'll not be swayed. I am determined to leave, and once gone there will be no weeping on
my shirt sleeve.
Withdrawing from an economic mutation: freeze enterprise, castlepolism, and presschasing
power; from increase the exports, decrease the imports, tariff davenports, duty free
whiskey quarts; from inflate the dollar, deflate its value, tax all the income-who is the victim?
From grow with the country-consume a T.V.; use a lawyer regularly to gain a 3% rate in G.N.P.
From inflation, taxation, and money orientation, I am taking leave of it all, and I'll burn my credit cards as a symbol of withdrawal.
As the earth spins in orbital glide, the sun shades its back and lights its front side.
Untolded lives end with the night, untolded lives begin with the light.
Life or death, dispositions of mind, where place the emphasis?
The decision is mine.
I'll not bend. My mind is made up. I'm withdrawing from a political circus that features
corrupt; from the codes and statutes obstructing my time; from the courts and their
justice, mentally blind; from the in-forms, the out-forms, the forms for forming forms, and the formed forms from forms. Take all the forms, roll into a wad then blast it into orbit and form a new moon.
I'm leaving. I tell you, and it isn't too soon.
As the earth spins in orbital glide, the sun shades its back and lights its front side.
Untolded lives end with the night, untolded lives begin with the light.
There are flowers that open full bloom to the sun, and close tight to the moon;
Accommodating the change of day in a most thoughtful way.
I'm leaving! and when I'm "safe in my sylvan home, I'll tread on the pride of Greece and Rome.
Safe I'll be, without ambiguity. Safe I'll be separate from society. Safe I'll be withdrawn from
that which annoys me.
Egad! I am a fool. To escape is mad. I am only accepting the good part of the world while
withdrawing from the bad.
I'll use flower wisdom: accept life's extremes, then accommodate the differences as my
awareness deems.
I am going to stay; mingle with my kind; accept all behavior as human and where I can,
adjust and refine.
I wrote a poem in the early 80s called, "Withdrawal," It was a general rant about the political and economic conditions. There was a phrase "dropping out," a carry-over from the 60s, and it spoke to my feelings then. I would picture myself up north in Minnesota, some where by Lake Superior, breathing the fresh air, reading Emerson, and just being, "...safe in my sylvan home, I'll tread on the pride of Greece and Rome..." At the same time I was reveling within my imagination, their was a nagging thought of "copping out," another 60's carry-over phase. I could not step away from the feeling of responsibility I had for my family, neighborhood, city, and country, and the poem expressed that paradox. My great urge was to leave all that frustrated me behind and withdraw, but at the same time I felt a deep responsibility to stay put and work it out. Here is the poem:
I'm leaving behind the rest of my kind, and removing myself from the race.
I'm washing clean society's scene, and rinsing my mouth of bad taste;
Withdrawing from muzzled mouths, machine-gunning blanks words with each round;
From too polite salutations and too contrived departations;
From the printed accounts of gruesome, terrible crimes;
From the noise and the dirt and the slum and the grime,
I'm leaving this ocean of bullshit far, far behind.
As the earth spins in orbital glide, the sun shades its back and lights its front side.
Untolded lives end with the night, untolded lives begin with the light.
Life seems to float on a pool of extremes,
Flowing from best to worst or worst to best, with occasional levellings.
I'll not be swayed. I am determined to leave, and once gone there will be no weeping on
my shirt sleeve.
Withdrawing from an economic mutation: freeze enterprise, castlepolism, and presschasing
power; from increase the exports, decrease the imports, tariff davenports, duty free
whiskey quarts; from inflate the dollar, deflate its value, tax all the income-who is the victim?
From grow with the country-consume a T.V.; use a lawyer regularly to gain a 3% rate in G.N.P.
From inflation, taxation, and money orientation, I am taking leave of it all, and I'll burn my credit cards as a symbol of withdrawal.
As the earth spins in orbital glide, the sun shades its back and lights its front side.
Untolded lives end with the night, untolded lives begin with the light.
Life or death, dispositions of mind, where place the emphasis?
The decision is mine.
I'll not bend. My mind is made up. I'm withdrawing from a political circus that features
corrupt; from the codes and statutes obstructing my time; from the courts and their
justice, mentally blind; from the in-forms, the out-forms, the forms for forming forms, and the formed forms from forms. Take all the forms, roll into a wad then blast it into orbit and form a new moon.
I'm leaving. I tell you, and it isn't too soon.
As the earth spins in orbital glide, the sun shades its back and lights its front side.
Untolded lives end with the night, untolded lives begin with the light.
There are flowers that open full bloom to the sun, and close tight to the moon;
Accommodating the change of day in a most thoughtful way.
I'm leaving! and when I'm "safe in my sylvan home, I'll tread on the pride of Greece and Rome.
Safe I'll be, without ambiguity. Safe I'll be separate from society. Safe I'll be withdrawn from
that which annoys me.
Egad! I am a fool. To escape is mad. I am only accepting the good part of the world while
withdrawing from the bad.
I'll use flower wisdom: accept life's extremes, then accommodate the differences as my
awareness deems.
I am going to stay; mingle with my kind; accept all behavior as human and where I can,
adjust and refine.
You can see that the writing of my poem seemed to quite my frustration, but did not dispel it. I have learned to put the objects of my frustrations into fluid concepts, realizing that there is a dynamic process operating that shifts all things alone a circular path. For instance, if the liberal, political bar has current impetus and exuberance, it will not be long before the conservative, political bar will over take the liberal bar, with its own impetus and exuberance. The particular energy of one extreme has within itself the seed for the creation of its opposite, and as prescribed by nature, the wheel will also land at the center. There is an ancient Chinese symbol called Tai-Chi Tu (diagram of the supreme ultimate). It is a very common symbol and most people know it as the symbol of Yin and Yang. It is a precis symbol showing the movement of the principle of extremes and the inherent cosmic balance. So the best remedy to political frustration is patience. When the conservative have political dominance, their own energy will create impetus for their liberal replacement and visa, versa. Its inevitable!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
my two cents-again
Back in March 04, 2009, I wrote a blog entitled, "my two cents." Its intent was to relieve some of my frustration about the "great recession." Well my frustration has swollen again, and I am feeling the need to let some of it out.
What is troubling me is the ideas coming from the presidential candidates. With all of their professed experience and political wisdom I assumed they would understand more of the process of law making; especially since some candidates are or were members of Congress or governors. There seems to be no connection with the platforms they aspire to as a possible president and the process to enact their ideas. This is baffling to me. Also baffling to me, is that the guardians of our democracy, the press and we the people, let this pass without saying, 'Will your ideas be able to pass the 435 members of the House of Representatives. and the 100 members of the Senate?' With the entrenchment currently locking up our Congress, I believe that that question is vital, and to put a wobble into the mix, who really knows what the 2012 political make up of Congress will turn out to be. Yet, the candidates go on like their ideas will automatically become law merely on the strength of their vocal declarations. It seems that in their zeal to become president they unconsciously display their ignorance, and in like manner, our non-questioning displays our unconscious ignorance. Any ideas without the will to enact them are impotent.
Another troubling point comes from the candidates use of sarcasm and criticism. They seem to think that if they use sarcasm and criticism, on any level, it some how shows their wisdom, and of course, if they say these wise things, repeatedly in a sarcastic and critical tone they can sway the minds of the voters. The voters who hear these sarcastic and critical opinions over and over tend to use these opinions as "talking points" for arguments, and they can become strengthen when other people they relate to reinforce these opinions. It is my experience that a critic is not the wise man or woman. The critic is unconsciously exposing his low self-esteem and the accompanying crutch of arrogance. The sarcasm is used like an adjective providing an emotional power to his criticism. A wise man need not use criticism, because he washes all opinion through the strainer of his center of authority, his heart of hearts. He washes opinions clean, contemplating their validity, and either discards, accepts or rewashes them. Here is a suggestion in light of our discussion from Gautama the Buddha: "Do not accept something as true because of repeated hearings; nor because it is in scripture; nor because of logical arguments; nor because of philosophical reasoning; nor because it agrees with a preconceived idea; nor because of a person's seemingly ability; nor because it comes from your teacher."
"Be lamps unto yourselves. Betake yourselves to no external refuge. Hold fast to the truth, as a lamp."...
Here is a list of troubling ideas candidates say:
"The American people want this, that, and the other thing." When they say what American people want, they are not talking about all 35o,000,000 million of us. They are talking about what a relatively small minority of ideological sympathetic people want. What the majority of the American people want is, according to poles, for elected officials and corporate businesses to do their public and civic duties and find solutions to our country's domestic economic problems and bring economic justice for all.
" We must get government out of the way of business in order to grow our economy. Then the market forces can self-regulate our way back to economic health." The self-regulating markets are seen as some kind of mystic entity with omnipotent powers of balance. These markets are man made, and are therefore subject to the greed, hubris, and mistakes innate in the human condition. I do not know about you reader but my retirement account took a 50% decline, while it was in hands of the smartest money managers. I don't trust self-regulating markets.
"We are so many (put in your own percentages) away from the GDP before the "great recession." Using the GDP output of the middle 2000's as a bench mark goal for our economy to return to health, is insane. Why would we use a mark of high risk, closed eye regulation, and greed as an economic bench mark. Lets set realistic goals, sound goals set by healthy standards for the common wealth, in which to grow our economy.
Lastly, as a way of tribute, I like to hail the democratic movement for economic balance and justice coming from the "Occupy Wall Street-the 99%" group; especially those from the Oakland, Cal. area.
What is troubling me is the ideas coming from the presidential candidates. With all of their professed experience and political wisdom I assumed they would understand more of the process of law making; especially since some candidates are or were members of Congress or governors. There seems to be no connection with the platforms they aspire to as a possible president and the process to enact their ideas. This is baffling to me. Also baffling to me, is that the guardians of our democracy, the press and we the people, let this pass without saying, 'Will your ideas be able to pass the 435 members of the House of Representatives. and the 100 members of the Senate?' With the entrenchment currently locking up our Congress, I believe that that question is vital, and to put a wobble into the mix, who really knows what the 2012 political make up of Congress will turn out to be. Yet, the candidates go on like their ideas will automatically become law merely on the strength of their vocal declarations. It seems that in their zeal to become president they unconsciously display their ignorance, and in like manner, our non-questioning displays our unconscious ignorance. Any ideas without the will to enact them are impotent.
Another troubling point comes from the candidates use of sarcasm and criticism. They seem to think that if they use sarcasm and criticism, on any level, it some how shows their wisdom, and of course, if they say these wise things, repeatedly in a sarcastic and critical tone they can sway the minds of the voters. The voters who hear these sarcastic and critical opinions over and over tend to use these opinions as "talking points" for arguments, and they can become strengthen when other people they relate to reinforce these opinions. It is my experience that a critic is not the wise man or woman. The critic is unconsciously exposing his low self-esteem and the accompanying crutch of arrogance. The sarcasm is used like an adjective providing an emotional power to his criticism. A wise man need not use criticism, because he washes all opinion through the strainer of his center of authority, his heart of hearts. He washes opinions clean, contemplating their validity, and either discards, accepts or rewashes them. Here is a suggestion in light of our discussion from Gautama the Buddha: "Do not accept something as true because of repeated hearings; nor because it is in scripture; nor because of logical arguments; nor because of philosophical reasoning; nor because it agrees with a preconceived idea; nor because of a person's seemingly ability; nor because it comes from your teacher."
"Be lamps unto yourselves. Betake yourselves to no external refuge. Hold fast to the truth, as a lamp."...
Here is a list of troubling ideas candidates say:
"The American people want this, that, and the other thing." When they say what American people want, they are not talking about all 35o,000,000 million of us. They are talking about what a relatively small minority of ideological sympathetic people want. What the majority of the American people want is, according to poles, for elected officials and corporate businesses to do their public and civic duties and find solutions to our country's domestic economic problems and bring economic justice for all.
" We must get government out of the way of business in order to grow our economy. Then the market forces can self-regulate our way back to economic health." The self-regulating markets are seen as some kind of mystic entity with omnipotent powers of balance. These markets are man made, and are therefore subject to the greed, hubris, and mistakes innate in the human condition. I do not know about you reader but my retirement account took a 50% decline, while it was in hands of the smartest money managers. I don't trust self-regulating markets.
"We are so many (put in your own percentages) away from the GDP before the "great recession." Using the GDP output of the middle 2000's as a bench mark goal for our economy to return to health, is insane. Why would we use a mark of high risk, closed eye regulation, and greed as an economic bench mark. Lets set realistic goals, sound goals set by healthy standards for the common wealth, in which to grow our economy.
Lastly, as a way of tribute, I like to hail the democratic movement for economic balance and justice coming from the "Occupy Wall Street-the 99%" group; especially those from the Oakland, Cal. area.
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