Year: 2013 Page 2 of 3

Once there was a big frog that lived in a large well.

He was a happy frog, content with his home and proud of his role as master of the big well. He was always ready to boast and brag about the vastness of his domain.

Now, one day, his cousin from the sea shore came to visit.

The big frog said, “What do you think of my well? Isn’t it magnificent?”

“Yes,” said the cousin frog, “It’s very nice.”

“Very nice?!” said the big frog. “Surely you’ve never seen a body of water as big as my well.”

“Oh,” said the cousin frog, “it is very large, indeed, but I come from the sea, you understand, so I have seen large bodies of water before.”

“What is this ‘sea’ you speak of? Is it very big?”

“Oh yes,” said the cousin frog, ‘it is very, very big.”

The big frog pondered this for a moment and then said, “This sea of yours, you say it is large – is it about a quarter the size of my big well?”

“Oh,” said the cousin frog, “it is much bigger than that.”

The big frog thought for a moment and then said, “Do you mean it is about half the size of my big well?”

“Oh,” said the cousin frog, “it is much, much bigger than that.”

“Now look here,” said the big frog, “do you mean this sea of yours is just as big as my big well?”

“Oh,” said the cousin frog, “it is much, much bigger than your well. It is the sea. It is vast.”

The big frog pondered this information in silence for a moment and then shook his head.

“This,” he said, “I cannot believe. Surely nothing is bigger than my well. I must look at this body of water for myself. Take me to your sea.”

And so the frogs set off for the sea shore, which was quite a distance away.

And when they got there, the big frog looked around and said, “Now, cousin frog, where is this ‘sea’ you spoke of? Where is this vast body of water larger than my well?”

The cousin frog smiled and pointed out past the sand. “There,” he said, “there is the sea. All of this is water as far as the eye can perceive – all the way to the edge of the world.”

The big frog looked out at the water. He tried to focus and concentrate and make sense of what he was seeing, but his mind seemed to freeze and all he could do was look out at the vastness without any understanding of what was there.

Then slowly his eyes began to bulge as he stared at the vastness of the water.

His body began to shake and, suddenly, without warning, his head just exploded.

With all the current so-called social uprisings in places like Egypt and Brazil getting media coverage, it is easy for many people to come to believe that militant action is justified and effective. There is a strong perception forming that good wars should be fought and will be successful and only bad wars need be avoided. This is a tragic fallacy. There are certainly good motives for action – however, wars and revolutions are only initiated for one reason – economic gain. No war, revolution, militant movement or uprising can be maintained without financial backing. War is an investment and no one with substantial resources is going to invest in something that has no potential for strong returns. You can be sure that the protests in Egypt were not started by the poor or down trodden masses, but by a segment of the influential elite who were looking for opportunities to promote their own interests. People will definitely benefit from a change in leadership and it will definitely NOT be the common people.

In the past, wars have been fought under the banner of liberation –but who was being liberated? And how long did the liberation last? Realistically, it makes little difference to the poor who they pay taxes to – only the well-off notice a difference in their life-style. Banners, slogans and ideology are used as tools to justify warfare. The common people, brainwashed by centuries of rhetoric, accept the idea that wars are sometimes fought for freedom or to liberate the people from tyranny – they site revolutionary wars and peasant uprisings or foreign wars to eliminate evil dictators as examples of this kind of “good war.”

If wars were actually fought for these reasons, there would be some validity to the suggestion that good wars are possible. However, no war has ever been fought for any reason other than economic gain. Peasants, serfs, slaves, the downtrodden masses – none of these ever make war. Wars are started by people who have an interest in expanding their own income base. They might indeed stir up the masses to join them and spout one ridiculous cause or another as their motive – but war is a rich man’s game. Perception of warfare has more to do with the level of dishonesty of the combatants. If warrior chiefs are honest, they are fighting for money and power, and not for justice, freedom, equality or religious ideals.  People start wars only for monetary gain. The current string of public protests around the world is no exception – such actions could not be maintained without support of at least a segment of the State. The world would barely have been aware of the Egyptian protests if not for the military backing. Is anyone naïve enough to believe that the Generals in this action have the best interests of the people at heart?

In earlier times, there was more honesty about the true motives for war. Barbarous hordes, Vikings, and marauders of all races plundered the world for gold – It was simple.  In the history of open warfare – Egyptians vs. Hittites, Persians vs. Greeks, or Rome vs. the world – the motives were clear and all the same – nations fought for economic gain, to expand trade routes, to bring more resources to their countries, to increase the king’s coffers in plunder, taxes, and tribute.

Perhaps the policy of dissembling in warfare began with the Crusades and the actions leading up to them. The Crusades had little if anything to do with religion – the Crusades were fought on both sides to promote and protect mercantile interests. The movement of goods and services between East and West and the profits gained through the movement were the only real issues at stake. The wars were about trade routes. The Roman Catholic led forces were just as likely to raid and pillage Eastern Christian cities as they were Muslim strong holds.  Control of the roads and seaways and access to Asian markets was the only goal. The Muslims had this control and were not willing to trade fairly with Europe. Now few men would willingly die so that their king could wear silk and use pepper spice – but they would die for the glory of God. And thus the God card was played by both forces. But God had nothing to do with this long series of conflict.

Look at the history of the legendary Knights Templar. Their stated aim was to protect pilgrims as they journeyed to the Holy Land. But the Knights became fabulously wealthy providing safe passage for merchants and developing modern banking methods for transferring funds from country to country. This and not heavenly glory was their prize. And when the Knights became powerful enough to challenge the establishment, they were crushed and their wealth confiscated.

The Crusades were purely an economic enterprise but the Big Lie about Holy War and freeing sacred lands from the control of Infidels has persisted. Why? Because people want to believe it. They don’t want to believe that men are going off to die for the cause of making their leader wealthy. They want to believe that their deaths will somehow make the world a better place – Or at least that their sacrifice will make them famous and memorable.

Napoleon came to this realization in his own wars of conquest. He observed that “men will die for ribbons.” The chance to win a medal will inspire a man to all kinds of bravery bordering on the stupid. Convincing people that dying in war makes them important is a frightful deception. Religions and Nationalists use this deception all the time. It is an evil lie.

Thankfully, people are waking up to this deception. It is a slow process but people are starting to see that dying for some corporate expansion is not a good idea. And dying in a foreign war is the stupidest idea ever.

I believe there are things worth dying for and I believe that people should struggle against their oppressors and seek to liberate themselves, and I support people who are willing to take a stand and march off to face some perceived evil and do battle with it – this is why when the media shows images of multitudes rising up in protest anywhere in the world there is a swelling of human pride at the sight, or when a statute of some hated dictator is toppled over a shout of joy rises to our lips.

Unfortunately, the reality is that the only so-called “successful’ uprisings are those that have the backing of equally ruthless and ambitious individuals and collectives.  No uprising can succeed without the backing of some faction of the State. Just as no massive evil, such as genocide, can be carried out without the backing of the State. And the STATE – politicians, bankers, corporations, religious organizations – must gain a substantial benefit from the investment of support in any action.

People are waking up to this reality. Hopefully, the time will soon come when false altruism will be rejected and people will realize that violent upheavals do not produce real change. Trading one greedy dictator for another is not real change. You still end up with the same phoney leadership. Remember the words of the song “Won’t Get Fooled Again” – ‘meet the new boss; same as the old boss.” Wake up and make war no more.

The other day I was stopped in the street by someone asking for money. They were collecting for UNICEF, a fine charity, but still I don’t like this new policy of aggressive solicitation adopted by charities. I understand these groups want more money and need to come up with new ways of getting it. Everyone wants more money these days – Even I want more money.

But here’s my question: Why does everyone want MY money? Why am I expected to pay for everyone’s plans and projects? The government wants my money; corporations want my money; the rich want my money; the poor want my money – it goes on and on. Why am I targeted?

I guess I represent a specific economic unit once known as “the Middle Class.” In this New World Order that has grown up around us, the job of the Middle Class seems to be to work its ass off for the sake of the rest of the world – rich and poor alike. But we seem to have no say at all in how our support is distributed or used.

My day job is not that different from most people’s in my economic class. My income has been all but frozen these past few years at the behest of GOV-CORP (the government – corporation cabal). Meanwhile, the State and all its friends – the politicians, the banks, the corporations, the franchises, the monopolies, the conglomerates, the charities, the schools, the so-called non-government organizations, and all the various vested interests – have the freedom and in fact the mandate to raise the fees and prices on everything possible. Real estate prices, mortgages, cost of borrowing, bank fees, property taxes, utilities rates, public transportation, gasoline, telephone, cable TV, Internet fees, clothing, food (even cat food!), and every other product or service cost in the world has increased. Even the minimum wage has increased – but NOT middle class salaries. So where does the money come from to pay for all the increased prices? According to recent statements by politicians the middle class tax payer should be happy to bear the extra burden. Why not? We have no power to refuse.

The rich and powerful simply steal what they want; the poor – to be blunt – beg for what they want. And both upper and lower classes are subsidized by the government. But the Middle Class – those of us who will never truly be rich and who work just enough not to be poor – must fend for ourselves. We are made to pull the wagons and pay the fare for the people who ride in them. Stand up philosopher George Carlin put it this way: “the upper class keeps all the money and pays none of the taxes; the middle class pays all of the taxes and does all of the work; and the poor are there just to scare the shit out of the middle class – keep them showing up at those JOBS.”

Am I making this up? Think about this – where do you keep whatever money you have? In the bank? in some investment fund? In real estate?  Who actually controls that money? Even self-directed investments are at the mercy of those who have set up the banks and trust companies in the first place. Those people take the lion’s share of the returns and brush the table scraps off in your direction. Then you take your meager earnings and spend it on products and services that benefit the bankers and their friends.

Look, I have nothing against money or even rich people. I can fully appreciate wanting to amass a few million dollars – even a few hundred million dollars – maybe even a few billion dollars. But I can’t understand why anyone would ruthlessly try to amass hundreds of billions of dollars. I mean, really, what can you do with it? Take over the world? It’s been done.

Even the Roman emperors – including the crazier ones – had enough good sense and decorum to use the money they accumulated to give the people free bread and circuses.

Recently, the president of the sinisterly named World Bank, Jin Yong Kim, said that there was a plan in place to eliminate poverty by the year 2030. Of course his definition of poverty is in itself is suspect. Poverty means people currently living on less than a dollar a day. This, of course, leaves out everyone in the so-called free world. But, unfortunately, it still represents over a billion people on our planet. Basically the generous World Bank, run supposedly, by the intellectual and moral elite, has a plan to give a half a loaf of bread a day to anyone without the capacity to beg, earn or steal a dollar. And it will take them 17 more years to put whatever this plan is into effect.

Thank you World Bank!

Maybe if we give them another 100 years to work on the problem they will figure out a way to give everyone the occasional free circus as well.

Oh and by the way, guess where they plan to get that extra dollar a day per person (plus administration fees) to fund their generous campaign? That’s right – it will be extracted from you and me – by force of taxation if necessary.

How do you battle against this world economic abuse of the middle class? Apparently we are told to use only the weapons and strategies sanctioned and provided to us by our enemies. Makes sense.

The Gov-Corp determines the rules of engagement, they choose the time, place and conditions of battle, they control the length of the fight, they provide us with the tools to participate in the contest and they even tell us who the winners and losers are predestined to be. Heads I win – tails you lose.

If the middle class is to survive it must come up with a more effective strategy. Gov-Corp will NEVER give us any effective methods to fight them.  We have to think like revolutionaries. We have to BECOME revolutionary in our approach. This is a difficult concept. So first we should shake ourselves out of the sleep walking state most of us are in. We have to wake up. We have to wake up anyway we can. We must wake ourselves up and then wake up everyone else. This is the only way we will have the chance and ability to develop a plan that will let us survive and thrive in the current materialistic world regime.

In honour of the Solstice, here’s a little posting about summer.

Science fiction author Robert Heinlein tells a true story about his cat that formed the basis for one of his best books.

He and his wife were living in a big house in Connecticut with their cat. The house had eleven doors – twelve counting the cat’s private door.

Every day, throughout spring and summer, the cat would go out to the yard and play. Mostly he would use his own door but sometimes, just to assert his authority, he would make one of the humans open a regular door for him. Eventually he knew all the doors and where they led and knew how to get people to open each of them. He was having a great summer.

But one day he went out his private door and saw snow on the ground. He came back into the house, visibly upset, and demanded that Heinlein should open another door for him. Again he saw the snow and came back in. Then he systematically badgered Heinlein into opening one door after another – each time seeing the snow and having the same reaction.

Finally Heinlein turned to his wife and said, “What’s up with this cat?”

Mrs. Heinlein studied the situation for a minute and then smiled. “He’s looking for the door into summer.”

I think we each have our own “Door into Summer” that we’re always looking for; a magical door that will take us back to happier times; a door to a place that will once again give us the feeling of love and contentment we might have had to leave behind. But this door might also take us to an unknown or future time when our lives can finally be complete; a time and place in which we can experience love, satisfaction, vitality, and total self-expression.

When we bustle about our regular lives we might forget about that door or think of it as some impossible dream. It’s easy to let ourselves get wrapped up in the cold, hard, so-called reality of life and accept that the long winter ahead is the only world we can ever know.

I think the door into summer is real. And like Heinlein’s cat, we should never give up trying to find it. We can step through this wonderful door whenever we are ready and there experience a life we can love. The trick is to understand what constitutes “summer” for us:  to understand what we are actually looking for when we step through that portal into the unknown.

Is the summer we seek just a season of frivolity and play? Or is it something more, something unconnected with physical conditions?

Summer is a time when we have passed through the youthful exuberance of spring and have become mature enough to appreciate a slow, sun filled life of active pursuits of our goals. A time we can see clearly, in the bright sunlight, what our lives can be. Summer is the time when we can prepare ourselves to undertake initiations into an even richer life to come – A life beyond the concern for the uncertainties of mere weather, where we are fully in control of our own actions and destiny.

How do we prepare ourselves for such a life?

First we must think about abandoning the urge to sleep-walk through our days. We must commit to waking up. We must wake up by whatever means we can find. Wake ourselves up and then wake up everyone around us. Only by becoming fully awake and enlightened can we appreciate all that our personal “door into summer” has to offer and experience an everlasting life of fulfillment.

Have a happy Solstice and a summer worth remembering.

Happiness is found in the awareness and acknowledgment of our DIVINE ASPECT. To the degree we can accept and consciously live from the presence of our own Inner Divinity we will have a true experience of happiness.  This happiness is the kind the mystics of old enjoyed, the beatific happiness of the saints, the bliss in the eternal Lotus. It is the source of all good in life, and it is ours by right – we have only to claim it.

Study this famous poem by Max Ehrmann and seek to apply to your life any part of it that seems good to you. Notice especially the last three verses.

DESIDERATA (Desired Things)

Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace there may be in silence.  As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.  Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.  If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.  Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.  Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery.  But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.  Especially, do not feign affection.  Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.  Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.  But do not distress yourself with imaginings.  Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.  Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.  And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.  Be careful.  Strive to be happy.

There are always possibilities available to us in life. Whatever the world throws at us, we should never lose hope. Our circumstances can change and improve if we just keep working at attaining our desires.

There’s an old Sufi legend about a man named Mullah Nasrudin. This wise old philosopher was once condemned to death for saying things that upset the local Shah.  When told of the sentence, Nasrudin immediately offered the Shah a proposition. He said, “Hold off the execution for a year and I will teach your horse how to fly.” The Shah was amused and intrigued. He thought about for only a minute and then agreed to the bargain.

Later, Nasrudin’s friend asked him if he really thought he could escape death with this crazy plan.

“Why not?” the wise man said. “A lot can happen in a year. Maybe there will be a revolution and a new government that’s more in tune with my thinking. Maybe there will be a foreign invasion and a new Shah will come to power.  Or, maybe the present Shah will up and die of natural causes or get poisoned. If that happens, then according to tradition, the new Shah will have to pardon all prisoners awaiting execution. And besides, my captors might get careless and I’ll be able to escape – I’ll always be looking for opportunities to do that.

“And finally, if no other possibilities manifest, maybe I actually CAN teach the damned horse to fly!”

A key element of the Sufi world view, expressed here by Nasrudin, is that each person is an incarnate part of God, with infinite possibilities to improve his or her circumstances and in the process improve the world.

“Maybe the damned horse can fly” is a Sufi proverb that points out it is always a mistake to abandon hope.

Looking around, it seems we are living in tumultuous times, in a world full of strife. It’s easy to see the bad and forget about all the good that is also around us. By keeping hope alive and always being on the lookout for opportunities and possibilities, we can work at moving forward in our lives and bring ourselves blissfully closer to our heart’s desire day by day.

Back in the 80’s I saw some graffiti that read “Eat the Rich!”

The words were very clearly written and everything was spelled correctly – not like today’s graffiti which is legible only to some strange, disenfranchised elite that requires no knowledge of spelling, grammar or penmanship to exist. To me, modern graffiti is more like the territorial markings of dogs rather than an attempt at communication. I could be wrong. I suppose dog pee is a form of communication.

Anyway, the phrase “eat the rich” is probably derived from a statement made by French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He said something like – “When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich.”

The sentiment was popular during many uprisings including the Russian “October Revolution,” and the Chinese “Cultural Revolution.” In these cases, the statement might have been acted upon:  Something for rich people to remember in our troubled times.

I can’t recall for sure if I saw the graffiti before or after the 1987 British movie by that name came out. The phrase might just have been a cool trope back then – I have not researched it.

I do recall that I disagreed with the statement. My response was – “we should eat the poor, there are so many more of them.” At the time I still thought I might be rich one day and I didn’t want the masses getting any ideas about putting me on the menu. I don’t know when I actually came to the realization that I would never actually be rich – not like Carlos Slim Helu or Bill Gates – not rich in any material sense – but one day I figured it out.

There’s a wonderful book by Kurt Vonnegut called God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater in which some concepts of riches are spelled out. In the story a son argues with his father about wealth and responsibility. The son begins:

I think it’s terrible the way people don’t share things in this country. The least a government could do, it seems to me, is to divide things up fairly among the babies. There’s plenty for everybody in this country, if we’d only share more.

“And just what do you think that would do to incentive?”

You mean fright about not getting enough to eat, about not being able to pay the doctor, about not being able to give your family nice clothes, a safe, cheerful, comfortable place to live, a decent education, and a few good times? You mean shame about not knowing where the Money River is?

“The what?”

The Money River, where the wealth of the nation flows. We were born on the banks of it. We can slurp from that mighty river to our hearts’ content. And we even take slurping lessons, so we can slurp more efficiently.

“Slurping lessons?”

From lawyers! From tax consultants! We’re born close enough to the river to drown ourselves and the next ten generations in wealth, simply using dippers and buckets. But we still hire the experts to teach us the use of aqueducts, dams, reservoirs, siphons, bucket brigades, and the Archimedes’ screw. And our teachers in turn become rich, and their children become buyers of lessons in slurping.

“It’s still possible for an American to make a fortune on his own.”

Sure—provided somebody tells him when he’s young enough that there is a Money River, that there’s nothing fair about it, that he had damn well better forget about hard work and the merit system and honesty and all that crap, and get to where the river is. ‘Go where the rich and powerful are,’ I’d tell him, ‘and learn their ways. They can be flattered and they can be scared. Please them enormously or scare them enormously, and one moonless night they will put their fingers to their lips, warning you not to make a sound. And they will lead you through the dark to the widest, deepest river of wealth ever known to man. You’ll be shown your place on the riverbank, and handed a bucket all your own. Slurp as much as you want, but try to keep the racket of your slurping down. A poor man might hear.’

When I first read this I thought – “Vonnegut’s a hippy.”

Later I came to realize he was probably correct. Only a few people in the world have access to the Money River. Most of us will never see it. And some rich people are closer to the river than others.

There are three classes of rich people: first there are the truly rich, the generational wealthy, people who have been adding to and accumulating their money over hundreds of years. These people keep their names off the Forbes lists of wealthy folk – the common people don’t need to know about them. They are above all governments and law and pay no attention to the billions of humans they habitually exploit.

Next, there are the mid-level rich. These are the people that like to see their names on the Forbes Lists. They are the ones we hear about most often. For the most part they are greedy, unscrupulous, money grubbing, self-serving pricks – but they also fund art exhibits, hospitals, schools, orphanages and other charities so they have some usefulness.

Finally there are the upstart nouveau riche class that everyone despises – rich and poor alike. They are ambitious, overreaching and desperate to be accepted – but their vulgarity keeps them out of real society. These are the loud slurpers of which Vonnegut speaks. This class ruthlessly plays the game of “Hog at the Trough.” They force their way to the food trough and cram their faces and bellies full of everything they can until someone stronger and more ruthless pushes them out of the way. They cause all the public financial problems in the world because they are stupid enough to want attention. But when the poor rise up, these are the people who will be eaten.

Clearly, if you look at the state of world, it is not the poor who create financial insecurity and social unrest – the poor have no such power. It is the rich that create conflict for the furtherance of their plutocratic agenda. The rich control the governments and own the military – it is not possible to blame any other class for the troubles of the world. The blame rests squarely at the feet of the rich and the corrupt politicians that worship at the shrine of their backsides.

Why do the masses tolerate this situation? It’s simple – most of the population is sleepwalkers just waiting to become zombies. They are sluggish, desensitized and delirious. When on those rare occasions the people are stirred to action what do they do? They ask the rich to help them fight the rich. This is craziness. This is why whenever a reigning plutocracy is deposed it just gets replaced by another one.

The solution is to give up fighting using weapons and tactics donated to us by our enemy. We need new weapons – weapons the enemy cannot overcome.

How do we develop such weapons? First we have to WAKE UP. Wake up using any means available. We must wake ourselves up and then wake up everyone else. This is the only way to save the world from the zombie slave state those ambitious few dream of ruling.   

In the forests of the world, the humble ant plays a significant role in the ecosystem. Ants clean the forest floor of dead and dying insects and even larger animals; they clear away the debris of fallen leaves and brush; they help circulate the nutrients in the soil by tunneling under and building up their ant hills; they allow for better soil irrigation and basically act as recyclers and pollinators helping the earth stay fertile and preparing the ground for new growth. Ants have a very specific and important purpose in the life cycle of the planet.

Squirrels also have a special purpose on Earth. They bury a variety of seeds and nuts in the ground to be eaten later. But they tend to bury more then they eventually eat. This means the seeds stay planted in the fertile ground prepared by the ants and, thus, are allowed to grow into plants and trees.

The trees that grow in this way have their own special purpose. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and purify the air while releasing oxygen back into the world. Since ants, squirrels and other animals – including humans – need oxygen to live, we see that trees serve a vital function in the maintenance of life.

Everything in nature seems to have a special purpose – perhaps even a mission in life.

But is this really the case?

It is highly unlikely that ants, squirrels and trees have any idea of how they interact. They don’t choose their actions, nor are they concerned with the consequences of their behavior. They just do what they do with no concept of a mission or purpose and no regard for how they might benefit others.

The only thing that makes their actions seem meaningful or relevant is human perception. Only humans are inclined to interpret some occurrence as having a function or purpose in the greater scheme of things. It is only humans that even have a concept of “the greater scheme of things.”

But in this, it seems we can find the specific purpose of humanity: humans give meaning to everything else. Humans strive to make sense of the world and in doing so fill it with meaning and purpose. Humans are basically meaning making machines. They look out at the world with all its intricacies and beauty and insist on finding patterns, structures, plans and systems. As author James Gleick observed humans have a need and potential to “create islands of meaning in a sea of information.”

The Universe and all it contains is completely meaningless without us – at least from our own perspective. And this perception and valuation of existence might be all we bring to the table of life. After all, we seem to destroy more of the land than we cultivate; we consume more than we produce; and we often suck the very life force out of nature itself. But at the same time we fill the world with stories and connections that explain, define and rationalize everything. This central facet of human nature has always been acknowledged if not actually understood by spiritual philosophers and mystics. In the Book of Genesis, after God created Adam, He paraded all the other living things in the world before Adam so that he could name and classify them. This is our uniqueness – the thing that links us to divinity.

Look up at the night sky. See the billions of points of light. They are just random stars. They just exist. But humans have given them all names and connected them with patterns that form pictures called constellations and each star and constellation is given a colorful story and history. This is what humans do. If humans have a purpose it is to bring meaning to the world. Someday we will travel out to those stars and when we do we will bring meaning and purpose to the entire universe. If the ant’s purpose is to till the soil, the squirrel’s is to plant the tree and the tree’s is to fill the world with life sustaining oxygen then the purpose of humanity is to link all these actions, explain them, define them, give them value and significance and bring meaning to all creation. This purpose might make us as physically close to divinity as it is possible to get. 

OK.

Even I get the blues sometimes. It’s hard to keep on working through all the slings and arrows life aims at you without occasionally feeling discouraged. I mean, here I am, generating superhuman, paranormal efforts, almost single handed trying to stave off a zombie apocalypse and what does it get me? Does anyone even care? Despite my actions the zombie population is clearly on the rise. I see them everywhere – on the streets, the subways, in offices and work sites, in the schools and especially in government – so what’s the point? Why should I keep working?

It’s not like anyone is even reading these blog posts or anything. Well, OK, maybe a few people read them – maybe a few people scattered across the World Wide Web are getting some benefit. But are those few reason enough for me to keep up the fight?

I think so – after all is said and done – yes it is worth it.

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the Starfish and the idea that if even one person gets the point of all this stuff and finds a way out of the darkness – then a difference has been made.

It’s not really the best motivation but it is something. And sometimes all we need is a tiny impulse to push us into action again.

So, OK, I’ve accepted it. Thoughts of the futility of my actions might slow me down from time to time -but I think I won’t let those thoughts stop me. I’ll keep sending my tiny beams of light out into the void and hope for the best.

With that said, here is my new post:

Ten Reasons to Get out of Bed

(and get into action)

1/  Whatever problems or difficulties you’re having can be better solved by taking action rather than giving up. Whatever hopes or aspirations you have can be better achieved by taking action rather than lying dormant.

2/  It’s just as easy to feel hope as it is to feel despair – but hope leads to better results. Taking on the challenges of life at least gives you the chance for success.

3/  The nature of the universe is possibility and potential. Anything can happen. The problems of the world could all be solved today. You never know. There are more scientists alive and working right now then in all of past human history combined. The big breakthroughs can come at any moment and you can be a part of it.

4/  Even if the big breakthroughs don’t come today, they could come very soon; certainly within our lifetimes. Life expectancy right now is longer than it has ever been. And there is an excellent chance we will double the human lifespan in the next 20 years. And old age is not what it once was. People are healthier and fitter now well into their 90’s than they have ever been. With all those scientists at work, disease and all manner of human illness and disabilities can soon be eliminated. Today can be just the start of a long and productive life for you if you make the effort to be in the game.

5/  Not only will old age and disease be eliminated in the near future, but it is possible for humans to be modified – evolved- to be more intelligent, aware and spiritually motivated. Think of the possibilities that will generate. We could be on the verge of eliminating poverty, war, violence, social inequality, and all the other plagues of mankind. We could solve the problems of energy and economic tension and open up access to space migration and galactic exploration. Imagine if the world of Star Trek were real – but it actually can be-and sooner than the pessimists of the world can imagine.

6/  With increased intelligence, longer lifetimes, and the elimination of social issues – we could put an end to all the drudgery and monotony of labor and work struggles. Imagine the real freedom of being employed only in the tasks you want to perform. Technology could take over all the thankless jobs and humans could be free to create, explore and basically enjoy their lives. This is becoming ever more possible with each passing day.

7/  And how about a more off the wall reason to get out of bed and get into the game of life: what if space aliens are out there just waiting for enough of us to wake up and get involved with the greater adventures of life so they can contact us and welcome us into the galactic community? This isn’t so off the wall as it sounds. Scientists are finding new planets every day: more and more all the time. It is very possible that there are hundreds of billions of planets out in space right now. Not all are earth-like or capable of supporting life as we know it – but certainly there are a few hundred or even a few thousand. All we need is to encounter one friendly alien race to change everything about our lives for the better.

8/  If nothing else, we can agree that there is a lot of tension in the world right now. Tension leads to crises, which leads to change. World tensions will eventually force a change in the human condition and I believe that it will be a change for the better, a change in a positive direction that will make all the other items on this list a reality.

9/  Our attitudes and opinions make a huge difference in how the world appears to us. If we believe crappy things will happen, then they probably will. But what if we believe that good things are possible for us and we take action to encourage those things to happen? Surely they will happen. If we just believe in something positive, get out of bed and get working on that belief, there is a great chance we will actually experience that positive world.

10/  Finally, even if you continue to believe the world is crap and life’s problems are just too powerful for you to overcome – think about this: we need you. The world needs you and other people to keep it going. The world needs you to sustain the future.  Get out of bed and get into action – if not for yourself then for the rest of the world.  Get out of bed for all the people who have ever lived and hoped for a brighter future; all the people that kept up the dream until they died. And get out of bed for all the people that will live after you. We need you on the side of hope and action if any of the dreams of the past, or of the future are ever going to come true. You don’t have to do anything great or particularly important; you don’t have to do anything terribly brave or difficult. All you need to do is get up and be yourself and move in whatever direction life calls you. Just doing that will make all the difference.   

Enlightenment isn’t about being super good or kind all the time. It doesn’t mean you have to be all brooding and silent like some golden statue of the Buddha. It certainly doesn’t mean you have to suffer in any way. In fact, Enlightened people never suffer – they might experience great pain from time to time – but they never suffer. Enlightened people are simply free of the pressing need for material satisfaction. And Enlightened people are among the happiest most joyful people in the world.

There are also many paths to Enlightenment and no one group, religion or school has a monopoly on the process. The path to Enlightenment exists within each of us. Our task is to look within ourselves and awaken to our true and natural identity. Enlightenment makes us born in the Spirit. It reveals our authentic self.

With Enlightenment we are free of the burdens of the material desires. We are free of fear and free of the imagined limitations to achieving are greatest self. With Enlightenment we come to know and understand reality and the nature of the universe – we come to know and understand ourselves.

So how does one find Enlightenment?

1/ First we must accept that the past, and any mistakes we feel we’ve made in the past, or any hurts we feel we have experienced in the past, should remain in the past. What has happened has happened. All we can change about it is our attitude towards it. Living in the present – in the here and now – is the first great freedom we can claim.

2/ Associate, as much as possible, with others who are also seeking Enlightenment. Read books, watch movies, listen to music, participate in society all with the aim of experiencing the Enlightened state. The various lists found on this website can be helpful in this practice. Begin to immerse yourself – gently- in a world of enlightened ideas and images.

3/ Give yourself the space and opportunity, on a regular basis, and as often as possible, to open yourself up to living a fully conscious, wakeful life.

4/ Learn to relax, cleanse yourself of stress and worry and simply notice how good it feels to be calm and at peace.

5/ Allow yourself the simple pleasure of experiencing different scents, colors, sounds, tastes and feelings. Start to become more and more aware of your surroundings and expand your awareness beyond the mundane world into the cosmic world that is the true basis of authentic living.

6/ Meditate. There is no getting around this. In the entire history of enlightenment no one has achieved the favored state without meditating.  How they meditate and what they call the practice differs from culture to culture, century to century. But all who are Enlightened meditate. Find a simple method first and let the practice grow with you over time.

7/ Make every day and every action you take, however simple, a part of the Enlightenment process. Act as though everything around you is a special message that urges you to experience your full capacity for living – your full capacity for life. The Master Jesus said that with Enlightenment, with full wakefulness, you will have Life, LIFE IN ABUNDANCE.

Enlightenment is a natural part of the Human experience – we are meant to be AWAKE, if we are meant to be anything at all. There is really nothing to ATTAIN; it’s just a matter of rediscovering our authentic way of being. But getting caught up in the mundane, material world is so easy we tend to forget that there is another way of being. The world of material existence encourages us to remain asleep and content with our condition. Most of us learn at an early age that the systems of Government, Religion, Education, Industry and even family life prefer us to stay asleep and unconcerned with the greater world outside our tiny sphere of activity. You rarely hear of a fully conscious person who frets about the price of sugar, oil or gold. Enlightened people have other things on their minds and tend to define power, glory and riches in ways the so-called “masters of the universe” fear.

To find Enlightenment you should be aware of it and go looking for it. Look within yourself, for, if it is anywhere to be found it is there. Open yourself to the possibility of wakefulness and embrace your authentic life to the fullest.