Category: Uncategorized

 

 

                                                              Physics learned more from the steam engine

                                                                  than the steam engine ever did

                                                                       from physics.

 

 

 

I think about how ideas move.  And, for some reason, I also think about thermodynamics – how heat moves.  (and other things)   I think about the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

 

The 2nd law is – that in a closed system, spontaneous changes will result in an increase in entropy.  “Closed system” means – that no energy or material can go in or out. Entropy is “disorder”, or chaos.

So – the 2nd Law is generally thought of as – the (inherent) “drive” toward Disorder.

 

When I was a kid, I (even so) had a ‘connect’ to the realm of SCIENCE.  This is because I had an older brother (Dan. He’s still older than me; and still more of a scientist) and our next-door neighbors (Sam and Bud Bitler) were a little older than Dan.  The Bitlers had a ham radio (which we could hear through our television) and were scientifically inclined.

 

There was a point in time – when the scientific community realized certain implications of the 2nd Law.  The reasoning went like this – “The Universe must be a ‘closed system’ (since, by definition, it includes everything) … and therefore – it MUST BE DECAYING.  The Second Law of Thermodynamics SAYS that IT MUST be.

 

I remember, (when this notion was still Fresh and Hot within the Scientific Community) that – in my own basement – it was discussed … in HUSHED TONES.

 

The tones were hushed because we felt trapped.  We felt we had been FORCED to conclude something very unpalatable – that we somehow lived in a world which is DECAYING … Dying !

 

Well … I think this conclusion turned out to be a bit rash.

 

At this (early) point, not much thinking had been done – regarding how the Drive to Chaos (the 2nd Law) contributes to the Drive toward Complexity.

 

If you put sand into a box, putting white sand in one end and black sand in the other end, then you (randomly) stir the contents, the sands will get more and more mixed together.  And eventually you will have (what appears to be) just a box full of grey sand. In the beginning there was order. Here it was white, and there it was black. Then you subjected the system to (nothing more than) random perturbations … and the order was lost.  This is the functioning of the 2nd law.

 

If people walk into your house, they’re going to bring a certain amount of the world (whatever’s on the ground, outside – dirt or snow) INTO your house … and your house will (automatically)  get dirty or wet. This is the 2nd law at work.

 

Now let’s think about what happens when we wash our clothes.  (Many people in this world do not have a machine which will automatically wash their clothes for them … but many of us do.)

We put our dirty laundry into our Automatic Washing Machine, add some soap (and whatever),  turn the machine on … and after a while, the clothes are “done”.  They’re clean. (and we didn’t have to wash them!)

Our clothes (pretty much ALWAYS) get DIRTY through the functioning of the 2nd Law … and (when we throw them into our Washer) they get CLEAN through the same law.  How is this possible?

It’s because our laundry gets ‘systematically processed’.

The machine (automatically) fills with water.  And when it’s full, the twisty post in the center of the tub (called the ‘agitator’) begins to move (according to the design of that particular machine).  In any case, its job is to subject the clothes to (many and moderate) acts of random violence. (Remember that time when you didn’t set your machine on ‘Delicate’ … but you SHOULD have?)

Then they go through a similar cycle … only THIS time – with no soap – the Rinse Cycle.  Then they are centrifuged – to remove as much water as possible. Then they are “done”. Clean!

But what would happen if we filled the machine with (instead of CLEAN water) – water that was Very Dirty?  

In SUCH a case – your clothes would come out – about as dirty as the water you washed them in.  They may come out DIRTIER than when they went in. Mmm?

 

In THAT case – the 2nd Law would still have been functioning faithfully; it’s just that the GRADIENT got reversed. (The clothes were ‘clean’ compared to the water … so they came out dirtier than they were when you put them in.)

 

The 2nd Law functions BECAUSE OF A GRADIENT.  And it always works “downhill”. Mmm?

 

If you never cleaned the floors of your house … eventually they would cease getting dirtier.  As much dirt would get tracked OUT as was being tracked IN.

If your house had a dirt floor (dirt inside, dirt outside), you wouldn’t have the same problem that you have – if your house has ‘clean’ (non-dirt) floors.

 

The 2nd Law is functioning all the time and everywhere (like all the other Laws of Nature).

 

Our clothes get dirty (and our bodies get dirty) because of the 2nd Law.  And we make these clean again … also by the 2nd Law.

 

I suspect that there are important Contextual Realities which are Unacknowledged by physicists:

particularly (I am thinking) – the door.

 

If you build yourself a house, it will have walls and a roof … and (no doubt) – a doorway.  It will have an opening so that you may come and go. And (if you are serious about the walls) that doorway will have a door.

A door is essentially ambiguous.  A door (when closed) is part of the wall.  And (when open) it’s a hole in the wall. When it’s open, there’s a ‘doorway’.  Then you may walk through your wall. Then you may close it again … and again it’s a wall.

 

The valves in your washing machine (and the lid on the top, or the front) are doors.  The lid (on top) or the door (on the front) are important. They allow us to put clothes in … and take them out again.  The valves are important. They are ‘doors’ in the plumbing, which open and close as needed (for that cycle). Within each cycle – the machine and its contents comprise (for practical purposes) – a Closed System.  Between cycles – it’s an Open System.  Clothes are going in or out. Water is going in … or it’s being pumped or is being thrown   out. The status of the System is in a continual state of flux – Now open. Now closed. Open again.  Closed again.

This is what allows the laundry to be (systematically) processed.

 

The copper bottom on (some) cooking pots – is there as a special sort of ‘door’.  It is put there to facilitate heat transfer – from the stove top, through the pot, and into whatever you are cooking.  And it does this while maintaining its integrity as a container.  Water does NOT escape through the walls or bottom of the pot, yet heat passes through.  That’s why it’s a kind of ‘door’.  It’s selective:  Water, you stay here. Heat, you may come through.  Mmm?

 

Doors are important.

 

What about the mouth?

 

If we’re thinking about the 2nd Law, the mouth is very important.  And it’s also a door, Mmm? Everything with a mouth – is an Open System (at least sometimes).

 

So, the 3rd Law is All-Pervasive … but does it not offer us the recipe for Spontaneous Evolution?  I think it DOES. Perhaps this would be a corollary to the 2nd Law – “Spontaneous Evolution must occur through Open Systems – systems which throughput material and energy.”

 

After all – the Universe is big.  (Surely physicists have also noticed this.)  There is plenty of room for creation to exist in hierarchical layers.  Plenty of room for Open Systems. Plenty of room (and plenty of time) for interaction and for evolution.

 

It took a long time for single-celled organisms to appear.  Then, a long time again – for cooperation (multi-cell organisms) to occur.  But once they did – this was a whole New Ball Game!

Now!  Just have a look around!  It’s out of control!

Creatures exist which we would never think of.  Yet – HERE THEY ARE.

 

As G. K. Chesterton ably points out –

“The whole order of things is more miraculous

than any miracle which could presume to violate it.”

 

 

Let us consider the arrival of the Luscious Fruits.

 

I suspect that the luscious fruits (plums, apples, cherries, oranges, grapes, bananas, tomatoes, blackberries, persimmons, peaches,  pawpaws, mangoes, etc.) these did not show up … till there were “customers” – creatures who wished to eat them – (raccoons, ‘possums, mice, bears, pigs, deer, goats, etc.).

With the arrival of a Customer Base – there was a pressure for the plants (fruit trees, etc.) to produce seed-coverings which were tasty and nourishing.  These fruits became (more and more of) a bribe – to entice the customers into assisting with seed dispersal.  

The berries are the specialists who “want” their customers to eat their fruit (seed and all) … then poop the seeds out somewhere else.  Good for the plant species.  Good for the ones who eat the fruit.

 

Now it’s a new situation.  Living creatures (including humans) do not operate merely through the functioning of the 2nd law of thermodynamics.  Such laws do not go away, but new laws come onto the scene … and join in.

The mammals I have mentioned are sentient beings, creatures with consciousness.  We have needs and desires.

 

Tony Robbins says – We’re going to find a way to get our basic needs met.  Then, down the line some, desires become important.

 

No doubt – there are thousands … millions  of vital processes within our own bodies  which make use of the 2nd Law.  But in the complex interaction between hungry and discriminating customers and the plants which are feeding them … pushing the plants to produce fruits which are ever more luscious, tasty, and nourishing … there’s a lot more happening than just the 2nd Law.

Such interactions are highly complex and tend to push the whole world … in the direction of heaven.  Mmm?

 

So … the idea – that the universe must be a Closed System and (therefore) it must be heading toward entropy – is wrong for the same reason that many of our ideas are wrong:

The conclusion was drawn in the direction of the evidence.  But the conclusion turns out to be wrong, because it imagined a world which was (much) simpler than the real world.

 

John Burroughs says –

It is good that fire should burn, even if it consumes your house; it is good that force should crush, even if it crushes you; it is good that rain should fall, even if it destroys your crops and floods your land.  Plagues and pestilences attest to the constancy of natural law. They set us to cleaning our streets and houses and to readjusting our relations to outward nature. Only in a live universe could disease and death prevail.  Death is a phase of life, a redistribution of the type. Decay is another kind of growth.

 

So what? – if we have to wash our clothes pretty often, and our bodies daily?  We can handle that.

 

The 2nd Law gets us dirty … and it gets us clean again.

Not a bad deal, really.

 

And the 2nd Law is certainly NOT sweeping us to our doom.

 

WE … WE are the ones we need to be worried about.

 

What would happen if one woman told the truth about

       her life?

    The world would split open.

                                  –   Muriel Rukeyser

                                               (from her poem – Käthe Kollwitz)

 

 

 

Businessmen, they drink my wine

Ploughmen dig my earth.

There’s not one among any of them

Knows what any of it is worth.

                              –    Bob Dylan

                         [from “All Along the Watchtower”]

 

 

 

 

In the Minoan civilization (re 2700 – 1600  BC) – men and women were equals. Women (as well as men) owned businesses.  They vaulted bulls in the arena (as did the men).

There was a lot of art (and none of it was signed).  There was elaborate plumbing. Tall palaces. The people there were happy.

 

It would be nice if we could say – that we live in a gender-balanced world … only we don’t.

 

According to NPR – in this world

         women   do ⅔  of the work,

                              bring home 10% of the pay, and

                                   own 1% of the property.

 

It was not all that long ago – that women were regarded as property.

 

Western Civilization is a Warrior Cult and an Old Boy’s Club.  Mmm?

 

Our relationship with the Feminine (with women) – is reflected reliably into our relationship with the Earth … the Great Mother.

These things are all bound together.

 

As it is, everything is run by (a handful of) multinational corporations.  And THOSE are run (I’m pretty certain) – by a few MEN.

 

And these men live in ‘a world’ wherein MADNESS is commonly accepted as the ‘Normal Way We Do Business’.

 

Our laws favor the super-rich (the Ruling Corporations).  The future of our grandchildren is being sold … in favor of short-term gains to the 1% … (probably a TENTH of 1%).  We are handing over the welfare of our planet … for profit (simply). And that profit is going to people who do not need it anyway.

 

It is unclear – who is the more insane :  the Super Rich (for ruining the earth) … or WE (the 99%)  – for ALLOWING IT.

 

We should NOT THINK … that there are NO ALTERNATIVES !!

 

Here is a little excerpt from Ernest Thompson Seton’s “The Gospel of the Redman” –

 

The Old Onion Seller

In a shady corner of the great market at Mexico City was an old Indian named Pota-lamo. He had 20 strings of onions hanging in front of him.

An American from Chicago came up and said: “How much for a string of onions?” “Ten cents,” said Pota-lamo.

“How much for two strings?” “Twenty cents,” was the reply.

“How much for three strings?” “Thirty cents,” was the answer.

“Not much reduction in that,” said the American. “Would you take 25 cents?” “No,” said the Indian.

“How much for your whole 20 strings?” said the American.

“I would not sell you my 20 strings,” replied the Indian.

“Why not?” said the American. “Aren’t you here to sell your onions?” “No,” replied the Indian. “I am here to live my life. I love this marketplace. I love the crowds and the red serapes. I love the sunlight and the waving palmettos. I love to have Pedro and Luis come by and say `Buenas dias’  and talk about the babies and the crops. I love to see my friends. That is my life. For that I sit here all day and sell my 20 strings of onions. But if I sell all my onions to one customer, then my day is ended. I have lost my life that I love – and that I will not do.”

 

You see?  

 

Sanity is a possibility.

 

We should all commit – to (truly) loving our women … and loving the Great Mother

(‘cause – if Mama ain’t happy … ain’t NOBODY happy)

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Chris Hedges says he lived with the Super Rich.  He watched them. He found out how they think.

[If you haven’t watched it yet, you should watch his talk  –

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6unS2JF8TA  

               (Chris Hedges –  The Pathology of the Rich)]

 

 

Also … you may wish to see the film – “Iron Jawed Angels” (2004, w/ Hilary Swank).

 

O bad treachery!  Is it for joy you sit in the broker’s den, thou pale man?  Has the attorney enchanted thee?

                       p. 298 (the last page of)  “The Crock of Gold”

                                          by James Stephens

 

We have for too long accepted a traditional way of looking at nature, at nature’s creatures, which has blinded us to their incredible essence, and which has made us incomparably loney.  It is our loneliness as much as our greed which can destroy us.

                                                                                                 –    Joan McIntyre

 

 

 

A wise little girl, when asked what a ‘myth’ is … explained – that a myth is a story which is false on the outside but true on the inside.

Mmm?   … (Pretty good!)

 

We do not mind whether “A Christmas Carol” (by Charles Dickens) is literally true, we like the story anyway!

The Main Character of the story is (of course) – Scrooge.  Ebenezer Scrooge was a successful and wealthy businessman … a business owner.  Bob Cratchit was one of his employees.

And, while it’s easier (for most of us) to identify with Bob than with Scrooge … we still need to regard Scrooge as the Main Character.

We would not say that Scrooge was malevolent, but he was stingy … miserly, even … and quite unhappy.

He had (long ago) given up on love … and had made material wealth his goal.  He was materialistic.  Greedy. Intelligent … and he was successful. But alone … and wretched.

 

When Joan McIntyre (in the epigram) says that we have become “lonely” … what she means is – that we have become ‘alienated’.

As a (quite common) human experience Loneliness is inherently painful.  The pain of it can (very easily) be … somewhere between ‘excruciating’ … and ‘unbearable’.

‘Alienation’, on the other hand, is NOT painful.  It’s a disease. A Spiritual Disease. But no one ever complains of it.

Someone might say – “I’ve had a migraine all morning.  It’s horrible!”

But NO one ever says – “I’m feeling altogether alienated … and I just can’t stand it!”

 

Ironically – Loneliness can be very painful … but it’s not a disease.  Whereas, Alienation IS a disease … but it’s not painful.

 

The (many) life-support systems of our planet keep us all alive … 24/7.  But the array of litter along our roads attest to our alienation. We do not FEEL the connection.  Our hearts are, I suppose, ‘broken’ … they’re damaged. And so we do not feel a Heart Connection with the very life-support systems (filtered sunlight, water, air, and so on) which uphold us.  If we did, we would never throw our trash onto the skin of our earth.

 

We are alienated.

 

Scrooge was alienated.

 

Dickens invents (and develops the character of) Scrooge – as an extreme case of Alienation.  He creates tension between Scrooge’s life and the life of Bob Cratchit (and his loving family).  He then sets out to redeem Scrooge.

Admittedly, he finds he must resort to some spirit personalities, which, in turn, pay Scrooge a visit – The Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.  And these three are introduced, as it were, by the ghost of Marley, Scrooge’s late partner (who had died seven years earlier – that very night … which was Christmas Eve). Marley’s ghost had been wandering the earth dragging heavy chains forged by his own avarice.  And he warns Scrooge – that his fate will be similar if he does not heed the spirits which are about to visit him.

While it’s true that Scrooge’s education and redemption are facilitated by (fanciful) spirits … they do not show Scrooge anything beyond the truth.

And when Scrooge wakes in the morning (Christmas morning) … he is a new man.  His humanity has been restored to him.

(And as to whether the spirits which that past night … were real or not … [maybe just his own imagination] … it makes no difference.  He had the experiences … regardless of their cause. And it was enough.)

 

Rumi says –

Someone who does not run

toward the allure of love

walks a road where nothing

lives.  But this dove here

senses the love hawk floating

above, and waits, and will not

be driven or scared to safety.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmZbRBox0uk      (Power of Love  – If I Stay)

 

Make Love your goal.

 

Mmm?

 

Scrooge was (already) dead.  But when he awoke that Christmas morning … he was alive again.   Mmm?

 

Alienation is (as Rumi suggests) … equivalent with death.

 

Most of us live in a state of hopelessness … beneath despair.  Despair is painful (because it contains hope … desire, yearning.

I suspect – that we CHOOSE the anesthesia of hopelessness … to escape from the pain.

 

We also live in the anesthesia of alienation.  But as to whether we got there by making a choice (to escape from pain) … I don’t know.  I suspect that it’s merely a RESULT of our (unenlightened, uneducated, narrow, habitual, agreed-upon) way of looking at the world … at ‘Reality’.

 

In any case, though … it’s a kind of death.

Mmm?

 

In the film “Avatar” – we are meant to see that the earthlings who show up on Pandora …  are Scrooge.  They are us.

Mmm?

 

[As James Stephens would say – they are the ‘awful people of the Fomor’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6unS2JF8TA    (Chris Hedges  – The Pathology of the Rich) ]

 

 

 

The times in which we live are complex; and, it is NOT EASY to understand (even) the Basics.  For this reason – those who have studied our situation long and intensively (and who do their best to speak the truth) are of particular value to us.

 

I regard Noam Chomsky and Chris Hedges to be such people.

 

[I recently came across some (short) recordings of these two … and it’s THESE that I’m hoping you will take the time to watch/listen to –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkcDT4l7e4o    (Noam Chomsky  – “Future of Capitalism”)   [This is actually not a video; it’s a sound recording.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1JF94vovww     (“Urban Poverty in America Made Me Question Everything” – Chris Hedges on Reality Asserts Itself)   ]

 

Most of us have been busy with other matters (our career, our family, surviving / just making ends meet) … or whatever).

 

So I am particularly grateful for people like Chomsky and Hedges; and I think I should say some things – as to WHY I trust them –

 

Chomsky’s film, “Manufacturing Consent” came out in 1992.  (Certainly it is worth watching. ANYTHING with Chomsky in it is worth seeing.)

 

In the spring of 1989 I happened to attend a conference (in Nanaimo, British Columbia) at which Chomsky was the keynote speaker (and I also attended small-group sessions which he led).  I recall him saying – that he and his wife gave up on ‘entertaining’ … many years ago. There just was no room. He subscribed, he said, “to everything”. And their house was awash in magazines and other publications.

 

[from Wikipedia] :

 

Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, and social critic. Sometimes described as “the father of modern linguistics”, Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He holds a joint appointment as Institute Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and laureate professor at the University of Arizona,[22][23] and is the author of over 100 books on topics such as linguistics, war, politics, and mass media. Ideologically, he aligns with anarcho-syndicalism and libertarian socialism.

…

Chomsky vocally opposed U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, believing the war to be an act of American imperialism. In 1967, Chomsky attracted widespread public attention for his anti-war essay entitled “The Responsibility of Intellectuals“. Associated with the New Left, he was arrested multiple times for his activism and was placed on Nixon’s “Enemies List”. While expanding his work in linguistics over subsequent decades, he also became involved in the Linguistics Wars. In collaboration with Edward S. Herman, Chomsky later co-wrote an analysis, which articulated the propaganda model of media criticism, and worked to expose the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. Additionally, his defense of freedom of speech—including free speech for Holocaust deniers—generated significant controversy in the Faurisson affair of the early 1980s. Following his retirement from active teaching, Chomsky has continued his vocal political activism by opposing the War on Terror and supporting the Occupy Movement.

One of the most cited scholars in history, Chomsky has influenced a broad array of academic fields. He is widely recognized as a paradigm shifter who helped spark a major revolution in the human sciences, contributing to the development of a new cognitivistic framework for the study of language and the mind. In addition to his continued scholarly research, he remains a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy, neoliberalism and contemporary state capitalism, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and mainstream news media. His ideas have proved highly significant within the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements. Some of his critics have accused him of anti-Americanism.

 

I also heard him say once (I think he had been asked whether he had any regrets) … that, when he was in grade school, there occurred an incident where one of his classmates (a boy who was fat) was being bullied … and he did nothing to defend him.

THIS, in my opinion, is indicative of a healthy emotionality … of a Good Heart.  Chomsky is not merely a scholar. His HUMANITY is intact. (to a RARE degree, I think.)

 

You might want to have a look (on Wikipedia) at the list of Chomsky’s output – his publications.  It’s astonishing.

 

 

I’ve been aware of Chris Hedges for only about 10 years, maybe less.  But I still have a very high regard for his thoughts. I feel he is courageous, intelligent, dedicated, and authentic.

 

[from Wikipedia] :

 

Christopher Lynn Hedges (born September 18, 1956) is an American journalist, Presbyterian minister, and visiting Princeton University lecturer. His books include War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction; Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle (2009); Death of the Liberal Class (2010); Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt (2012), written with cartoonist Joe Sacco, which was a The New York Times best-seller; Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt (2015); and his most recent America: The Farewell Tour (2018).

Hedges is a columnist for the progressive news and commentary website Truthdig.[1][2] He is also a host for the television program On Contact on RT.[3] Hedges spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, West Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans. He has reported from more than fifty countries, and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, NPR, Dallas Morning News, and The New York Times,[4] where he was a foreign correspondent for fifteen years (1990–2005).

In 2001, Hedges contributed to The New York Times staff entry that received the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for the paper’s coverage of global terrorism. He also received the Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism in 2002.[5] He has taught at Columbia University, New York University, the University of Toronto and Princeton University, where he is a visiting lecturer in African American studies.[4][6][7][8]

Hedges has taught college credit courses for several years in New Jersey prisons. He teaches a course through Princeton University in which the class is composed of half prisoners and half Princeton undergraduates.[5] He has described himself as a socialist[9] and more specifically as a Christian anarchist,[10][11] identifying with Catholic activist Dorothy Day in particular.[12]

 

 

 

As far as I can tell, both Chomsky and Hedges have lived their lives … NOT for personal gain, not for money, or power, or personal aggrandizement.  They have striven consistently – to make the world a better place.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

• Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992)
• Last Party 2000 (2001)
• Power and Terror: Noam Chomsky in Our Times (2002)

          Distorted Morality – America’s War On Terror? (2003)

[:en] 

 

During a Rose Bowl game, when some company runs a 30-second commercial, and pays a million dollars for that spot (or perhaps: 1.3 million) … what is it that’s being bought and sold?

 

It’s YOU!

It’s US!

 

Our consciousness … our attention.

 

But I am not trying to establish – that Consciousness is a (valuable) commodity.  I’m merely trying to establish that Consciousness … that attention … is REAL.

 

Well … the people paying (in excess of) a million dollars per half minute … it’s evident – that THEY think it’s Real.

 

And I think – they are RIGHT.   It IS real.

 

Here’s a little Exercise … an Experiment which should allow you to convince yourself that your “attention” is more than a mere figure of speech.  That it’s Real.

 

Turn your TV off.  Sit quietly. Gaze at the center of the screen.  Relax.

Then – without moving your eyes – put your Attention on the upper-left corner of the TV.  And once you’re satisfied with that, shift your attention to the upper-right corner (again, WITHOUT moving your eyes) … then the lower-right corner … then the lower-left.

(It is, of course, NOT Necessary that you use a TV for this exercise.  You could use almost anything [that’s stable])

 

Most of us are accustomed to having our Visual Focus FOLLOW our Attention.  (which it DOES, and Very Quickly)  And this gives us the impression – that they are the SAME THING. But they ARE NOT. 

And such an exercise as the one above makes it clear – that Attention has its OWN INDEPENDENT REALITY.

 

A good Point Guard is a master of this distinction.  He well knows that his eyes can easily communicate to his opponent – the player guarding him – what his intentions are.  When the point guard is dribbling the ball (and planning the play) he pays close attention to the position of his team-mates, but NOT BY LOOKING AT THEM.  He does not want to ‘telegraph’ his intentions to his opponent.

 

A good point guard does not allow his visual focus to follow his attention.

Some cards must be played ‘face up’.  This one does NOT.  Here’s an example.  Jokic is the best I’ve seen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WetOYfJ1fGM    (Nikola Jokić    Passes)

   

 

Now I want to talk about the difference between ‘normal, ordinary’ attention … and Complete Attention.

 

When, after high school, I went ‘off to college’ … I attended University of Idaho.

 

In the Student Union Building was a room where one could listen to (recorded) music.  There was a staff member who worked there and would assist you (and take care of the LP’s.  This was 1964; so vinyl records were the state of the art.)

You could choose what music you wished to listen to, inform the attendant … and he would provide you with earphones, or perhaps a soundproof room with a good speaker system … and then play that record through the system you were on.

 

I find it a little hard to believe – that when I (first) made use of this facility (for listening to music) – that it was the First Time I had ever given a piece of recorded music my full and undivided attention

but

I can tell you – that I was astonished.

I was amazed at what music sounded like – when I gave it my complete attention.  It was as though I was on some psychotropic substance … only – I wasn’t. The intensity of my ‘experience’ was evidently (entirely) due to my giving the music my Full Attention.

 

It was shocking, really.

 

When we grow up, we will be less materialistic.   Mmm ?[:de] 

 

During a Rose Bowl game, when some company runs a 30-second commercial, and pays a million dollars for that spot (or perhaps: 1.3 million) … what is it that’s being bought and sold?

 

It’s YOU!

It’s US!

 

Our consciousness … our attention.

 

But I am not trying to establish – that Consciousness is a (valuable) commodity.  I’m merely trying to establish that Consciousness … that attention … is REAL.

 

Well … the people paying (in excess of) a million dollars per half minute … it’s evident – that THEY think it’s Real.

 

And I think – they are RIGHT.   It IS real.

 

Here’s a little Exercise … an Experiment which should allow you to convince yourself that your “attention” is more than a mere figure of speech.  That it’s Real.

 

Turn your TV off.  Sit quietly. Gaze at the center of the screen.  Relax.

Then – without moving your eyes – put your Attention on the upper-left corner of the TV.  And once you’re satisfied with that, shift your attention to the upper-right corner (again, WITHOUT moving your eyes) … then the lower-right corner … then the lower-left.

 

Most of us are accustomed to having our Visual Focus FOLLOW our Attention.  And this gives us the impression – that they are the SAME THING. But they ARE NOT.  (And such an exercise as the one above makes it clear – that Attention has its OWN INDEPENDENT REALITY.

 

A good Point Guard is a master of this distinction.  He well knows that his eyes can easily communicate to his opponent – the player guarding him – what his intentions are.  When the point guard is dribbling the ball (and planning the play) he pays close attention to the position of his team-mates, but NOT BY LOOKING AT THEM.  He does not want to ‘telegraph’ his intentions to his opponent.

 

A good point guard does not allow his visual focus to follow his attention.

Some cards must be played ‘face up’.  This one does NOT.

 

Now I want to talk about the difference between ‘normal, ordinary’ attention … and Complete Attention.

 

When, after high school, I went ‘off to college’ … I attended University of Idaho.

 

In the Student Union Building was a room where one could listen to (recorded) music.  There was a staff member who worked there and would assist you (and take care of the LP’s.  This was 1964; so vinyl records were the state of the art.)

You could choose what music you wished to listen to, inform the attendant … and he would provide you with earphones, or perhaps a soundproof room with a good speaker system … and then play that record through the system you were on.

 

I find it a little hard to believe – that when I (first) made use of this facility (for listening to music) – that it was the First Time I had ever given a piece of recorded music my full and undivided attention

but

I can tell you – that I was astonished.

I was amazed at what music sounded like – when I gave it my complete attention.  It was as though I was on some psychotropic substance … only – I wasn’t. The intensity of my ‘experience’ was evidently (entirely) due to my giving the music my Full Attention.

 

It was shocking, really.

 

When we grow up, we will be less materialistic.   Mmm ?[:]

 

She’d teach them [her children] these things are nothing, the clothes, toys, and furniture.  These things fool people into thinking they must stay where the things are. Leave it all, she’d teach them even . . .  all your dreams of safe, calm places. Go with what is most terrifying. … Always choose love over safety, if you can tell the difference.       

                                                                             – Josephine Humphreys         Dreams of Sleep

 

 

 

Last week’s essay was okay, but it did not go far enough.  (It did not, in fact, go as far as it promised to.)

Let me try again – to see if I can clarify the Essential Principles which underlie our Choices.  As, when we are weeding our garden, we need to be clear on – WHICH are the crops … and WHICH are the weeds.

(or, as Ms. Humphreys says, in the above epigram – “choose love over safety [if you can tell the difference]”)

 

When we make a choice, WHAT should we look for?

What are the principles which must be upheld if we are to Survive? (… and Thrive)

 

For me, the most succinct way to express the Primary (most essential) principle is – Family.

 

With this (simple) word, I mean to invoke the best qualities of a healthy family –

 

Love

Respect

Honesty

Open communication

        Cooperation

Mutual support

Sharing

Trust

 

 

Let’s work through last week’s examples to see how Family contextualizes those choices.    Mmm?

 

 

War –

 

War is so far in violation of the principles of Family, that it may not be (conceptually) easy to see them at the same time; but, the way one treats ‘the enemy’ (in time of war) will likely constitute the grossest and most extreme violation of love and family.

 

By the time one finds oneself fighting in a war … someone else has already decided that the principles of Family are to be forsaken.

 

Bierce (who, by the way, fought in the Civil War) offers:

 

Gunpowder, n.  An agency employed by civilized nations for the settlement of disputes which might become troublesome if left unadjusted.

 

And, (as I have shared with you earlier) … Bierce also instructs us as to the cause of war :

 

Peace, n.  In international affairs, a period of cheating between two periods of fighting.

 

If, instead of regarding others as would (any) predator, we considered that everyone is a part of our Family (Bierce is suggesting that) – we could have peace (instead of recurring wars).

 

And (since, as a planetary family, we’re still in the awkward stage where we have outlawed killing but still have not outlawed war) … any war (these days) must be seen within the context of our choice – to pursue profits rather than peace.

 

Greed / unbridled selfishness, deception, and exploitation … these things are antithetical to Family.  Indulging them … is the alternative to Family (and is the path to destruction.)

 

 

Our laws –

 

Good parents never give up on their children.

 

What kind of father would deliberately choose a path knowing that it will lead to a world wherein his own grandchildren will be hard put just to survive ? (in order to favor short-term profits to huge corporations) ?  ? ?

 

Mmm?

 

Well … this is how our laws are currently structured.

 

Such a choice is more than simply antithetical to Family … it’s criminal (on a vast scale).

 

It’s madness.

 

(and we must find a way to change it !)

 

 

 

The non-distribution of Wealth & Power –

 

One of the crucial Battles in the Great War of Ideas – is whether it is necessary to exploit others (in order to prosper).

 

In the (1986) film – The Mission,  the Church in Rome  (which was in bed with the Slave Trade) made a decision – to shut down the missions (in South America) which were prospering even though they were not based on slavery, but on respect and cooperation.  (It was bad for business. Better just to get rid of them. Profits were at stake.)

 

Any time a person or a group exploits another – the principles of Family are being violated.  And such a choice leads away from Sustainability.

Americans are fond of the idea that it is a basic human right – not to be exploited.  ‘If you (who govern us) are determined not to respect us [and treat us like Family] – then we will revolt!’  

[Remember the Boston Tea Party?]

This why our country was formed.

 

“If you refuse to treat us like Family, then we will leave your family and form one of our own [so that we won’t have to endure being systematically exploited by you]”

 

Mmm?

 

The reason that mistreatment and exploitation are not sustainable – is because people have limits as to how much abuse they are willing to tolerate.

[We’re all the same, after all.  (in the important ways)]

 

Since the wealthy 1% deliberately maintains the (already exorbitant and still-widening) gap between themselves (the super-rich) and ‘everybody else’ … this treatment constitutes (willful) mistreatment and deprivation.  They treat the 99% in the same basic way that a (more powerful) nation treats a weaker nation which they happen to be occupying.  [and those who rebel are labeled as “insurgents”.]

And, while this unenlightened and greedy minority has arguments [which they may believe] -as to why this is necessary … I do not believe it.

(They are wrong – both morally and philosophically.)

 

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.  All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people.  You have never talked to a mere mortal.

                                                            –    C. S. Lewis

                                                                                                              Screwtape Proposes a Toast

                                                                                                                        and Other Pieces

 

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who are going that way.”

                          Matthew 7:13-14

 

I’ve now posted 34 blogs / (essays) … not counting this one.  And this morning I was thinking – “What’s missing? What do I need to say?”

And what came to me is – that we need a way, a conceptual framework, which will allow us to steer … to conduct ourselves from where we are now … to a desirable future – one which includes Survival, a Healthy Planet … and Thriving.

 

Perhaps such a conceptual framework is within our grasp.

 

We are (of course) going to ignore all the ‘predictions of certain Doom’ (which have already been made).  We’re (simply – as a Working Hypothesis) going to assume that survival is Possible.

 

Let’s look at three (major) aspects … choices  (and practice on these) –

 

war,

our laws … and the (precarious)

non-distribution of wealth & power.

 

 

War is destructive.  People die. Families are wrecked.  Cities reduced to rubble. War is (currently & recently) our chief means of ‘self-created Hell’.

 

Besides that (the unfathomable agonies) – war constitutes a gross inefficiency.  If war was a non-reality, an enormous amount of resources would then be available for activities which actually make life better – such as Education … better roads … reversal of desertification, etc.

 

Also – war is (mainly) unnecessary.

 

HOW (for example) does a Municipality (London, say) deal with the problem of Human Misbehavior?  It establishes and maintains a Police Force. If a “gang” (some group with overly narrow and selfish values and ambitions) should become a threat to the society at large, then the entire resources of that society are mobilized to preserve order and safety.

 

We could do the same thing on a planetary level.  Mmm ? (And we WILL, if we live long enough.) It’s the only sensible solution.  Establish a World Government … and prohibit War.

 

I’m pretty sure we COULD have had World Peace at least 50 years ago; but, as of now, war is still not illegal.  It’s still permitted. This is because Peace would require relinquishment of our precious Military Might to an impartial and benevolent world government.  And this is in conflict with our ambitions to exploit (covertly, of course) the whole world, and profit from controlling as much of the world’s resources as possible.

 

This choice will reverse … when our priorities clear up.  Once we realize that Peace is more valuable than Profit (unchecked Selfishness) … we’ll have Peace.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Here are three excerpts from the 2008 version of the film, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”  –

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Professor Barnhardt: There must be alternatives. You must have some technology that could solve our problem.

Klaatu: Your problem is not technology. The problem is you. You lack the will to change.

Professor Barnhardt: Then help us change.

Klaatu: I cannot change your nature. You treat the world as you treat each other.

Professor Barnhardt: But every civilization reaches a crisis point eventually.

Klaatu: Most of them don’t make it.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

Helen Benson: I need to know what’s happening.

Klaatu: This planet is dying. The human race is killing it.

Helen Benson: So you’ve come here to help us.

Klaatu: No, *I* didn’t.

Helen Benson: You said you came to save us.

Klaatu: I said I came to save the Earth.

Helen Benson: You came to save the Earth… from us. You came to save the Earth *from* us.

Klaatu: We can’t risk the survival of this planet for the sake of one species.

Helen Benson: What are you saying?

Klaatu: If the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth survives. There are only a handful of planets in the cosmos that are capable of supporting complex life…

Helen Benson: You can’t do this.

Klaatu: …this one can’t be allowed to perish.

Helen Benson: We can change. We can still turn things around.

Klaatu: We’ve watched, we’ve waited and hoped that you *would* change.

Helen Benson: Please…

Klaatu: It’s reached the tipping point. We have to act.

Helen Benson: Please…

Klaatu: We’ll undo the damage you’ve done and give the Earth a chance to begin again.

Helen Benson: Don’t do this. Please, we can change. We can change.

Klaatu: The decision is made. The process has begun.

Helen Benson: Oh God.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Seated at a McDonald’s, Klaatu begins speaking to Mr. Wu in Mandarin]

Klaatu: You’ve been out of contact for a long time.

Mr. Wu: I had a dangerous assignment. This is hostile territory.

Klaatu: I’ve noticed. I was hoping I could reason with them.

Mr. Wu: I’m afraid they are not a reasonable race. I’ve been living amongst them for seventy years now. I know them well.

Klaatu: And?

Mr. Wu: Any attempt to intercede with them would be futile. They are destructive, and they won’t change.

Klaatu: Is that your official report?

Mr. Wu: The tragedy is, they know what’s going to become of them.

[Both Klaatu and Wu turn to look at Helen, Jacob and Wu’s grandson who are seated at another table]

Mr. Wu: They sense it. But they can’t seem to do anything about it.

Klaatu: It’s decided then. I’ll begin the process as soon as possible. We should make preparations for our departure.

Klaatu, Mr. Wu: [They switch to speaking English]

Mr. Wu: I’m staying.

Klaatu: You can’t stay here.

Mr. Wu: I can and I will.

Mr. Wu: If you stay, you’ll die.

Mr. Wu: I know. This is my home now.

Klaatu: You yourself called them a destructive race.

Mr. Wu: That’s true. But still, there is another side. You see, I… I love them. It is a very strange thing. I… I… I can’t find a way to explain it to you. For many years I cursed my luck for being sent here. Human life is difficult. But as this life is coming to an end… I consider myself lucky… to have lived it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

In the above scene Wu makes it clear – that the humans on this planet do not expect to survive.

 

What we expect – shows up in our laws.  And, as it is, our laws support profits  (instead of Life).

 

It COULD (of course) be Illegal – to destroy the planet … but it is NOT.

 

If we change our minds … and decide to Survive, one of the First places we should start will be in the field of Law.  We will make a choice. We will make it illegal to destroy our planet … (and in so doing – to commit self-genocide.)

 

 

 

A future characterized by Sustainability will NOT be one where wealth and power are concentrated and in the hands of a small minority.  Given our Materialistic mindset, the temptations (which confront the 1%) are, I suppose – understandable. But the situation (which imbalance the 1% works hard to maintain) is NOT Sustainable.

 

We must find a way to move AWAY from the Great Imbalance of Wealth (& Power).

 

Power needs to be in the hands of the Stakeholders (not merely the shareholders).

 

We should redesign our corporations so that they take aim at a better target (than cost displacement and short-term gains).  We (all … even the corporations) need to aim our sights on Survival.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I selected the epigrams for this essay (the one by C. S. Lewis … and the one from Matthew) mainly because they urge us to choose.

 

The stakes are High.

 

Nor should we not be surprised (having chosen rightly) – to find ourselves going ‘up the down staircase’.

 

With ordinary consciousness you can’t even begin to know what’s happening.

                                                                               –    Saul Bellow

                                                                                                                 The Dean’s December

 

 

It is one of the commonest of mistakes

to consider that the limits of our power of perception

is also the limit of all there is to perceive.

                                                  –      C. W. Leadbeater

 

 

 

I wish to relay to you what I regard as a fine example of “a shift of consciousness – allowing an ‘abnormal’ experience to occur”.

The account below is from  “A Book of Angels”  by Sophy Burnham (pp. 23-26) –

 

“It was not Christmas, it was not even wintertime, when the event occurred that for me threw sudden new light on the ancient angel tale. It was a glorious spring morning and we were walking, my wife and I, through the newly budded birches and maples near Ballardvale, Massachusetts.

Now I realize that this, like any account of personal experience, is only as valid as the good sense and honesty of the person relating it. What can I say about myself?

That I am a scholar who shuns guesswork and admires scientific investigation? That I have an A.B. from Harvard, an M.A. from Columbia, a Ph.D. from Hartford Theological Seminary? That I have never been subject to hallucinations? That attorneys have solicited my testimony, and I have testified in the courts, regarded by judge and jury as a faithful, reliable witness?

All this is true and yet I doubt that any amount of such credentials can influence the belief or disbelief of another.

In the long run, each of us must sift what comes to us from others through his own life experience, his view of the universe, his understanding. And so I will simply tell my story.

The little path on which Marion and I walked that morning was spongy to our steps and we held hands with the sheer delight of life as we strolled near a lovely brook.

It was May, and because it was the examination reading period for students at Smith College where I was a professor, we were able to get away for a few days to visit Marion’s parents.

We frequently took walks in the country, and we especially loved the spring after a hard New England winter, for it is then that the fields and the woods are radiant and calm yet show new life bursting from the earth.

This day we were especially happy and peaceful; we chatted sporadically, with great gaps of satisfying silence between our sentences.

Then from behind us we heard the murmur of muted voices in the distance, and I said to Marion, “We have company in the woods this morning.”

Marion nodded and turned to look. We saw nothing, but the voices were coming nearer—at a faster pace than we were walking—and we knew that the strangers would soon overtake us. Then we perceived that the sounds were not only behind us but above us, and we looked up.

How can I describe what we felt? Is it possible to tell of the surge of exaltation that ran through us? Is it possible to record this phenomenon in objective accuracy and yet be credible?

For about 10 feet above us, and slightly to our left, was a floating group of glorious, beautiful creatures that glowed with spiritual beauty. We stopped and stared as they passed above us.

There were six of them, young beautiful women dressed in flowing white garments and engaged in earnest conversation If they were aware of our existence they gave no indication of it. Their faces were perfectly clear to us, and one woman, slightly older than the rest, was especially beautiful.

Her dark hair was pulled back in what today we would call a ponytail, and although cannot say it was bound at the back of her head, it appeared to be. She was talking intently to a younger spirit whose back was toward us and who looked up into the face of the woman who was talking.

Neither Marion nor I could understand their words although their voices were clearly heard. The sound was somewhat like hearing but being unable to understand a group of people talking outside a house with all the windows and doors shut.

They seemed to float past us, and their graceful motion seemed natural—as gentle and peaceful as the morning itself. As they passed, their conversation grew fainter and fainter until it faded out entirely, and we stood transfixed on the spot, still holding hands and still with the vision before our eyes.

It would be an understatement to say that we were astounded. Then we looked at each other, each wondering if the other also had seen.

There was a fallen birch tree just there beside the path. We sat down on it and I said, “Marion, what did you see? Tell me exactly, in precise detail. And tell me what you heard.”

She knew my intent—to test my own eyes and ears to see if I had been the victim of hallucination or imagination. And her reply was identical in every respect to what my own senses had reported to me.

I have related this story with the same faithfulness and respect for truth and accuracy as I would tell it on the witness stand. But even as I record it I know how incredible it sounds.

Perhaps I can claim no more for it than that it has had a deep effect on our own lives. For this experience of almost 30 years ago greatly altered our thinking.”

                                                                                         –     S. Ralph Harlow

 

 

 

I happen to know someone (a long-time meditator) who is able to see angels and fairies routinely.   His life, by the way (because most people think he’s weird) is not an easy one.

I suspect that the Harlows were able to have this experience because several factors conspired to upshift their consciousness.  And besides that – their consciousness was probably a bit higher than “average”, even on an ordinary day.

 

We should (certainly) resist the temptation to believe that our society’s generally accepted notion of Reality is ‘the way it is’ … or to believe that our own sense of reality is equivalent to ‘the way it is’.

 

 

The conclusion forced upon me in the course of a life devoted to natural science is that the universe as it is assumed to be in physical science is only an idealized world, while the real universe is the spiritual universe in which spiritual values count for everything.

                                                                                                                      –    J.B.S. Haldane

 

I seem to have a (natural) interest in Ideas & Beliefs.  I’m interested in how ideas MOVE in a culture. I’m interested in Who believes What Ideas are TRUE.  I’m interested in our Resistance to believing (some particular) idea is true.

For example – WHY is there such strong and widespread resistance in our culture against believing that Crop Circles are (mainly) extraterrestrial in origin and are intended for us as a form of communication ?… that they are ‘messages’.   Or – why do most Americans NOT believe that BigFoot-type creatures EXIST and live here with us on this world ?

 

One reason – for clinging (tenaciously) to our ‘current’ paradigm – is that we are basically ‘HardWired’ to do so.

 

From the age of One (or a bit less … at that point when we believed that were “Seeing the World”) … we have been forced to ‘make sense’ of our experiences.  So … what happens when we see something which we never seen before?

 

Suppose a young child knows Cat (and Dog … and a few other creatures) … and then one day, for the first time  – he sees a Squirrel. How will he make sense of it?

He might get get quite excited, point to the squirrel and say – “Funny Kitty!”

 

Our first attempt to account for (any) anomalie – will ALWAYS be to try to make sense of it USING our Current BeliefStructure.

 

For our Entire Life – we rely on our Belief Structure / our Personal Paradigm – to make sense of our Experience.  And we amend it ONLY GRUDGINGLY.

 

And a DRASTIC Overhaul?  Well … people would rather DIE !  In fact we DO die. That is – the main way some Major paradigm shift occurs  – is that the people who held the Old Paradigm simply get old and die … and they are REPLACED by the oncoming generation –  by people who grew up with the new paradigm!

 

It wasn’t so long ago – the everyone believed that the World is FLAT.  (I mean – it’s OBVIOUSLY FLAT! How could anyone think Otherwise? Suppose, for example – it were ROUND … people on the other side of the world would FALL OFF,  wouldn’t they? Of COURSE they would! The world is most Certainly FLAT! ANYONE can SEE that it’s flat!)

 

Those WHO SAILED were probably the first Group of people to believe – that the earth is a ball.  One could OBSERVE a ship gradually disappear behind the curve of the earth (even the hydrosphere).  Only the top of the mast will remain visible … after the rest of the ship is hidden behind the curve of the sea.

Also (during a lunar eclipse) when one may OBSERVE the shadow of the earth as it moves across the face of the moon.  The shadow is ROUND … like the shadow of a BALL !

 

I just now consulted Wikipedia (about Christopher Columbus) –

 

“He formulated a plan to seek a western sea passage to the East Indies, hoping to profit from the lucrative spice trade.

After years of lobbying, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain agreed to sponsor a journey west, in the name of the Crown of Castile. Columbus left Spain in August 1492 with three ships, and after a stopover in the Canary Islands made landfall in the Americas on 12 October (now celebrated as Columbus Day).”

 

Only to one who believed that the earth is ROUND – would it make sense   to (from Europe) journey WESTWARD … in order to arrive in The EAST !

 

ALWAYS will our paradigm determine – not only our Values … but also – ‘what seems like a reasonable option … what seems to be Possible’.      Mmm?

 

 

Besides the Habitual reason (for looking to our BeliefStructure to make sense of anything)  there is ALSO a Psychological reason … a “philosophical” reason.

It’s because of an Illusion … a Very Important illusion.

 

During our Waking State, whenever I “look around” … it seems to me – that what I am seeing is (actually) – THE WORLD.

Now, in a Practical Sense – this is True.  But in a Strict Sense – it is NOT TRUE.

 

Strictly speaking, what I see (whenever) I look around me – is NOT the World.  It is MY DREAM of the World. In an OF – my Own Consciousness. In Real Time.

 

Our consciousness produces this “dream” for us (as though it were no trouble at all) … we look at this dream … and we “recognize” it – AS the World.

THIS is the MEANS by which the World ‘becomes visible’ to us.  (and all the Animals too. EVERYBODY. We ALL ‘see the world’ by the Same Method.)

And (even though it’s NOT HAPPENING) – I seem to see things “out there”   where the things ARE.

THIS is what makes the dream so (completely) convincing.

 

When Elizabeth Peabody (1804 – 1894) was walking one day in the woods … she happened to walk Smack into a tree.  And when she was asked – ‘didn’t she SEE it?’ She said, “Yes, I saw it; but I didn’t Realize it.”

 

So – what HAPPENED was – she was ‘seeing’ everything the Same Way she always did … but she (temporarily) forgot – that she HAD a BODY !  She did (not really) forget that the Tree was Real … she forgot that SHE was Real.

(I can only WISH – that I had access to the nature & substance of the reverie that she was in at that moment !)

 

Anyway … the Great Illusion (that we “See the World” … DIRECTLY.   And this happens All Day, Every Day) – REINFORCES the (secondary) Illusion – that we are ‘In Direct Contact with Reality’ … that ‘What We See’ is EQUIVALENT to ‘What Is’!

And would not this (simple) Illusion account for a good deal of our tendency to believe – that “I’m Right” (always)?

 

 

Now (over the past few decades) I have conducted an (informal) survey/enquiry – into “Why do we make mistakes?”

And here is what I have found –

Many of our Mistakes were in the direction of the Evidence! … but, it turns out that the World is more complex than we had reckoned it was.

 

In other words – the World (as we THOUGHT we knew it) was actually a grossly Simplified Caricature of the World as it really is.

 

 

William Irwin Thompson says –

 

We are like flies crawling across the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel: we cannot see what angels and gods lie underneath the threshold of our perceptions.  We do not live in reality; we live in our paradigms, our habituated perceptions, our illusions; the illusions we share through culture we call reality; but the true historical reality of our condition is invisible to us.

 

Everyone knows the image (and the metaphor) of the Iceberg … that the part that is above the surface of the water – amounts to only about 10% of the Whole.

Well … here’s what I suspect :   It’s my guess that our Idea of Reality amounts to about 1% of What’s Real … Maybe 1/10th of 1%.   Maybe a HUNDREDTH. Maybe even Much Less !

And if that’s the case, we should probably rethink our (arrogant) belief – that we “know” Reality.

 

 

If we find ourselves  –

Spiritually immature

NOT love-oriented

and

Uneducated

we should not be surprised … because, after all, we have grown up in a culture wherein these values are not shared (to any wide-spread and general extent).

Western Civilization (in general) and the American (United States) culture, in particular – is Devoutly Materialistic.  From the Roots.

I am NOT saying that NO one in this culture is Spiritually oriented.  I’m just saying that such people are still a MINORITY, and that the faction of the culture which shapes the institutions and controls the Values – is (still) Materialistic.

 

We SHOULD (of course) work to humanize the culture.  But meanwhile, we should (also) take responsibility for own Inner State.  We need to ‘take on’ – as a life-long Project – the development of our own Character, Heart & Emotions, Education, and (in general) – our entire Inner State.

Because, you know … if YOU don’t chew your food … WHO WILL?

 

If we want Spiritual Maturity, we need to Pursue it.

Pursue Unselfishness

Pursue Humility

Pursue Self-knowledge / (enlightenment)

 

All such things require Practice.  (And, as far as I can tell … self-knowledge requires Meditation.

 

And (if you can figure out that you’re Alienated) you should pursue Love.  Foster Love & Connectedness. Orient your life (more & more) around Love & Service.

(There is, by the way, so much trash along our roads BECAUSE we do NOT feel connected to those life-support systems which, all day / every day, keep us alive.  Mmm?)

 

When Rumi was alive, he had 10,000 students.

 

Rumi says –

 

“Someone who does not run

toward the allure of love

walks a road where nothing

lives. But this dove here

senses the love hawk floating

above, and waits, and will not

be driven or scared to safety.”

 

 

And here’s some counsel from Hafiz –

 

“Go for a walk, if it’s not too dark.

Get some fresh air, try to smile.

Say something kind

To a safe-looking stranger, if one happens by.

Always exercise your heart’s knowing.

You might as well attempt something real

Along this path:

Take your spouse or lover into your arms

The way you did when you first met.

Let tenderness pour from your eyes

The way the sun gazes warmly on the earth.

Play a game with some children.

Extend yourself to a friend.

Sing a few ribald songs to your pets and plants —

Why not let them get drunk and wild!

Let’s toast

Every rung we’ve climbed on Evolution’s ladder.

Whisper, “I love you! I love you!”

To the whole mad world.

Let’s stop reading about God —

We will never understand Him.

Jump to your feet, wave your fists,

Threaten and warn the whole Universe

That your heart can no longer live

Without real love!”

 

And here is a comment (on Education) by William Cory –

 

You go to a great school not for knowledge so much as for arts and habits; for the habit of attention, for the art of expression, for the art of assuming at a moment’s notice a new intellectual posture, for the art of entering quickly into other person’s thoughts, for the habit of submitting to censure and refutation, for the art of indicating assent or dissent in graduated terms, for the habit of working out what is possible within a given time, for taste, for discrimination, for mental courage and mental soberness.  Above all, you go to a great school for self-knowledge.

 

Our own “Institutions of Higher Learning” are, for the most part, full of people who imagine that they are ‘buying their ticket’ – to ‘a good way – to make money’.

(And, while I suppose this is not surprising, it is dismaying.)

 

In the Urantia Book [paper 149:4.6 (p. 1674.2)]  Jesus says –

 

While it is true that many men and women must assiduously apply themselves to some definite pursuit as a livelihood vocation, it is nevertheless wholly desirable that human beings should cultivate a wide range of cultural familiarity with life as it is lived on earth. Truly educated persons are not satisfied with remaining in ignorance of the lives and doings of their fellows.