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The healthcare debacle

We live in a world in which projected events are highly controlled by the corporate lobby and the Washington cabal so as to elicit a planned response from the people-at-large. The more tuned-in each one of us is to this unfolding course of events (or should I say, the more highly programmed our collective mind is), the more predictable each of our reactions become to these planned events. Of course, on these predictable reactions are what the power brokers have bet their bottom dollars, and these reactions give rise to the proposed "solutions".

Its been awhile since I've taken a look at current events and put forth my two cents within this blog. I for one, have taken a step back and put away the soapbox, to simply live my life as an objective observer to this unfolding set of recent events. However, by using Hegel's dialectic model, we can take apart much of what's been happening here and around the world.

Healthcare, for instance, has been the number one hot button issue lately. The problem = the medical establishment is slowly crumbling under the weight of its own inefficiency, unsustainability, and false promises of immortality/freedom from pain. The reaction = public outcry for healthcare reform. In truth, the government would in turn react to this situation by stealing from Peter to pay Paul, and to simply rearrange the deck chairs on this sinking ship. The system is sick and those who depend upon it for answers remain sick.

Not only does the solution to this outcry offer no real promises, but the power brokers seek to use this set of events to justify their stealing of resources from the people on an increasingly massive scale to pay for more "healthcare". Its not unlike the way they steal from us to pay for the nukes we've never needed. I place this term in quotes, because "healthcare," as a commodity to be bought and sold, as a product and service designed to redistribute the collective fruits of our labor into the hands of the few and powerful, is neither healthy, nor caring. "Healthcare" is a moniker given to what can only be described as a weapon which comes in the form of a beneficial service, a privilege for those with the means, or worse yet, a basic human right. But when this weapon is at risk of exposing itself for what it is, we begin to see a factionalization take hold.

Those who have stake in the "healthcare" system and stand to benefit most from its redistribution of wealth (the so-called "skim"), which is the main force of this weapon's attack, fear any change to the current system. It is indeed the fear of death and threat of losing the comfortable life to which these stakeholders have become accustomed! Meanwhile, those who respond favorably to the government's agenda for change are those who currently have comparatively little to nothing in the way of material wealth, but believe wholeheartedly in the promise of a better future brought to you by a "fixed" healthcare system (fixed, indeed). But what both factions have in common, the one factor that brings them to the brink of ideological warfare, is fear.

Any system that disguises itself as "healthcare", while feeding off of the fear, apprehension, and physiological dis-ease of its consumers, bases itself on false promises, guile, and deceit. The fact is that the "healthcare" system in our society is an abomination and founded upon the false cures not unlike those of the snake-oil and panacea salesmen of a time since past. We all know diabetes, heart disease, and obesity are the chief liabilities of "healthcare", while at the same time, their existence in epidemic proportions serve as "healthcare's" raison d'etre. "Healthcare" would seek to cozy up with the corporate pill peddlers to come up with a quick-and-easy cure-all to fix your problem, charge you some of the most egregiously marked-up rates in the history of the retail market, while purposely and surreptitiously ignoring the lifestyle choices and pathological default behaviors that contribute to our collective dis-ease (and rapidly expanding waistlines). Anyway, this is just a case in point, folks.

In reality, cost containment, efficiency, and process improvement are obtained by removing or abandoning the processes that simply don't work. I need not go into the facts and figures pertaining to the current system's egregious wastefulness, byzantine bureaucratic functions, bloated marketing budgets, princely executive compensation packages, unscrupulous benefit determination guidelines, and other forms of wasteful overhead and wheel reinvention. As a people, we do have freedoms and one of those is to opt-out of this soul-sucking system of greed and false hope. You may actually do better to pay out of pocket and work out a sliding scale payment arrangement with your provider; god forbid you encounter a real health catastrophe which breaks your bank, but if that were to happen, maybe you could write a letter to one of the CEOs of the "healthcare" racket and get him/her to cut you a personal check to cover the bill. Bill McGuire's (embattled ex-CEO of UHG) golden parachute alone could pay for more than ONE MILLION quadruple bypass surgeries. This figure is somewhat approximate, of course, because we still don't know the exact cost of this procedure due to the opaque fee structure of this and every other medical procedure in our managed-care dominated "healthcare" system. In a healthy, caring, system of healthcare, not only would the cost of services be transparent and commensurate with the value of said service, certain procedures like coronary and gastric bypass surgeries would never need to happen ... obesity and coronary artery disease is relatively unheard of in developing nations with plant-based diets. Thanks, McDonalds! Thanks, Tysons! Thanks, Hillshire Farms! Thank you, America!!

Real healthcare (and I now drop the quotes) is obtained by living cleanly, freely, and at one with the earth. It comes from knowing who we are, what we do, and what we put into our bodies. Most importantly, it is for us to abandon the fear that keeps us tuned-in to this unfolding course of events and trapped within the problem-reaction-solution paradigm. Leaving the system behind and emerging from the ashes comes with being aware and seeking the truth!

Of course, there is a slew of ways to productively address this issue in a way that benefits all of us, and that is a subject for ongoing discussion. What is important, though, is to understand the root of a highly complex set of problems, keeping a wider perspective of the larger, often invisible issues at hand, and responding to them intelligently and objectively. What is unfortunate is that most of America finds itself reacting, focusing on the non-issues, and polarizing along partisan lines, as reported and perpetuated by a mass media, which actually possesses a great stake in this ongoing controversy.

Let's propose our own solutions, the one's that come down to rational individual choices, wise public policy, preventive education, and common sense. Let's stage a walk out on the tired forum of the town hall debate, where creative thought is stifled and reality is suppressed. Let's leave no stone unturned in our quest for truth. While the system continues to crumble and the ill-fated public debate devolves into dashed hopes and wasted breath ... while the puppeteers retract their strings when the show is over ... we, as a people, will live on with the light of reason burning within our souls, ready to harness our potential and transcend the event horizon of a new way of being.

http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff07142009.html

Wisdom revealed...

Some provocative quotes:

Beauty is truth, truth beauty, - that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
~John Keats, Ode to a Grecian Urn (1819)

Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.
~Andre Gide

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.
~Aesop

Only that in you which is me can hear what I'm saying.
~Baba Ram Dass

If you think you're free, there's no escape possible.
~Baba Ram Dass

Losing an illusion makes you wiser than finding a truth.
~Ludwig Börne

Death is not the opposite of life. Life has no opposite. The opposite of death is birth. Life is eternal.
~Eckhart Tolle

Before enlightenment - chop wood, carry water.
After enlightenment - chop wood, carry water.
~Zen Proverb

The obstacle is the path.
~Zen Proverb

What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul.
~Yeshua Ben Yosef

Death is not the opposite of life. Life has no opposite. The opposite of death is birth. Life is eternal.
~Eckhart Tolle

What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever... What has been is what shall be, and what has been done is what shall be done; there is nothing new under the sun.
~Shlomo HaMelech

The most excellent Jihad is that for the conquest of self... The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of the martyr.
~Prophet Muhammad

The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice there is little we can do to change until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds.
~Daniel Goleman

Our problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.
~Albert Einstein

Sleepwalking in fear through the labyrinth of deceit.

When one sees the world how he would like it to be rather than how it truly is, then one only sees part of the picture. Getting a visual idea of how everything is connected and linked into the big picture of corporate control is key. This is a resource anybody can "get" - the way everything is connected at the top level speaks for itself:

World Government Chart

Being aware of these connections is like opening the first door. One must walk through it to begin seeing the world in a new light. Nonetheless, a lot of things will have to come crashing down before there is any real change. The people of the world are collectively holding off on this eventuality, pretending nothing is wrong at the "conscious" level, while "unconsciously" living in fear over the fact that eventually this shit will hit the fan and create a good deal of worldwide suffering.

It's that fear that acts as the glue which holds this high-level mess together. It's fueled by psychological operations which keep the consumer-base turned on and tuned in. Oiled by the sweat of worldwide slave-labor, the machinery keeps moving ahead, pushing forward the empty promise of material success for those who work hard to forward its agenda. It continues to feed people poison and pollute the earth with its by-products, as it wastes precious resources. Natural law tells us it has to come to an end at its present course and speed. Meanwhile, so-called short-term "visionaries", blinded by greed and ostensible "mission statements" and "performance guarantees" continue to stay the course, hoping they will have their safe place within the ivory towers built by the original dynasties of corruption. But all towers will eventually fall...it's only a matter of time.

The things we do now are critical in determining the future...but I concede to the fact that the prophecy must be fulfilled. We've come too far and this has gone on too long for there to be no drastic repercussions. From this point forward, no one can claim ignorance as an excuse. Even the most hardened among us know something isn't quite right. To make things right again, it is the responsibility of each and every one of us to know what kind of mess we've collectively generated.

They say time will tell, but time is the illusion that allows us languish...nonetheless, the time is now, as a people, to opt out of the old way and start anew - hopefully before our seas turn into the lake of fire and our skies into sulfurous clouds of brimstone. The question is, what will be the catalyst for change? I know for my part, I don't always do what I can, and as such, I play a part within this tragedy. Yet, the knowledge is present to guide my actions, should I decide to choose a better way.

The truth is within; the answers are written onto each of our hearts. What will be will be, c'est la vie, but the days of assigning blame must give way to knowing the truth and following the doctrine of our conscience.

J

P.S.: In careful consideration of what I've written here, I must take a page from the book of Philip Zimbardo, Stanford University social psychologist, who did groundbreaking research on what I think is a highly relevant subject:

We can assume that most people, most of the time, are moral creatures. But imagine that this morality is like a gearshift that at times gets pushed into neutral. When that happens, morality is disengaged. If the car happens to be on an incline, car and driver move precipitously downhill. It is then the nature of the circumstances that determines outcomes, not the driver's skills or intentions[.] ... [E]xperimental research ... illustrates the ease at which morality can be disengaged by the tactic of dehumanizing a potential victim...

For many, [the] belief of personal power to resist powerful situational and systemic forces is little more than a reassuring illusion of invulnerability. Paradoxically, maintaining that illusion only serves to make one more vulnerable to manipulation by failing to be sufficiently vigilant against attempts of undesired influence subtly practiced on them.

~Philip Zimbardo, The Lucifer Effect (Understanding How Good People Turn Evil)

The real deal with politics.

One thing that's great about being alive is having the right to think how we want. If we are wrong, then nature has its way of correcting us. Granted, this site is expressly for the truth seekers among us, I concede that there is some room for dissent, alternative viewpoints, etc. Debate can be healthy and productive. Yet, it is also critical to point out ignorance.

Plainly and simply, the dominant partisan politics in this country are run by dollars and nonsense. Any politician who rises to the top ranks of this duopolistic system does so at the pleasure of those who hold the purse strings. The media has made this abundantly clear in their constant restatement of how much money each candidate has raised in their campaign for the presidency.

The focus of many a campaign discussion is on the amount of money raised and who contributes the most. Yet, there is no serious, solution-focused discussion about the real issues that affect daily living for most people, beyond superficial rhetoric and the relentless parroting of idiot-friendly soundbytes. The fact is that the solvency of our nation is dwindling...the purchasing power of our dollar is plummeting...resources are being squandered...the air we breathe, the soil we till, and the waterways which are the lifeblood of our planet are being poisoned and people are dying from it...our government continues to flex our geopolitical muscle in this war based on false pretense...those in power maintain a chokehold on the global service and production oligopoly that exists under the guise of a free market economy.

We see these people, these talking heads, the news anchors, the political pundits, the presidential candidates and their campaign managers -- they move their lips and talk the talk, like wooden dummies on the knees of their ventriloquist masters, but when will we ever see real action come from these people? The candidates and their party bosses will pay hundreds of millions of dollars for air time and fatten the wallets of their media-mogul puppetmasters as a sign of loyalty. They will be graded on how much money they can pony up. Yes, this well-oiled machine requires a constant flow of capital to keep its audience transfixed, waiting to see what will happen next. I suppose we have but ourselves to blame as we feed the ugly beast with the crumbs from our own pockets. Yet, behind the scenes and within the periphery of our narrowly focused attention span, the human race begins the process of spiritual starvation as our precious resources are given over to the machine as it builds its factories, up-ends local sustainable economies, enslaves and exploits local citizenry, and creates a system that will force the working class of the world into a global corporate gulag.

For this coming election, it is incumbent upon the American people to vote their choice, not what the media outlets would choose for them. But in the end, it doesn't matter who stands at the pulpit; each and everyone of us our the leaders of our own domain of choices. Use your brain, know the facts, and vote with your actions. If enough of us could adopt this simple shift of Weltanschauung, there's no reason we could not build a better system for ourselves from the ground up. But so long as the media outlets have the hearts and minds of the American masses trapped inside the idiot-box, we really are doomed...no doubt about it.

Need I say more?

J

An ode to the unraveling knot.

Writing is a journey - a collection of snapshots - an expression of the inner experience - a reflection of one's place in time - a momentary flash of eternity. Writing points to many things that exist beyond anything written. Writing is metaphor.

During the past year, I have experimented with thought and form through writing, seeking to express an unfolding process as one observes the loosening of a knot tied by eons of affliction. But it is how the knot becomes untied that writing serves me.

Is it not the knot that unties itself? The knot cares not how it was tied, simply that it exists as the knot that it is. When the knot no longer has substance to which it is tied, its bonds tend to dissolve within their own fading sense of purpose. It is ironic that when force is applied toward the deliberate loosening of said knot, its bonds tend to tighten as a function of the force applied, much like the Chinese finger trap.

What I describe here is the Gordian knot. No force of ingenuity untied the knot; only the stroke of the sword, sharp like Occam's Razor, released its grip upon the addled mind of the would-be king. And the writings, page after page of preponderance, do little to loosen any such knot. They only serve to document the many twists and turns, folds and coils, reticulations and convolutions of an ever-complicated sense of reality.

The inner experience is in a constant state of completion, as a story in the midst of its denouement, yet open to the spontaneous plot twist. The knot is in a constant state of unraveling, and always subject to the stroke of the sword, yet it remains tied to hold fast that which seeks not to be released.

Beyond the knot, its composition of fibers and the friction that maintains its configuration, is the space between – the infinitesimal nothingness to which all things regress. To the space between, all things are material conditional, bound to the laws of thermodynamics. But within the space of nothingness, there are no laws – no tendencies, yearning nor ambition – no rationale, no raison d'etre – only the peace of quiet, complete emptiness.

What does it mean to be truly complete – the single point of light amidst the timeless moment? Knot a thing…

J

****

A vision of things to come...

"Someday I'll be reborn in that great city in another world system, in the past or future, where the single 3-mile high mountain stands against the blue sky - with all my compassion with me, and all I'll need is the wisdom of the land."

Jack Kerouac, Book Of Dreams

Attaining Happiness

Desiderata

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 the 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 as 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 dark 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 cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.

On systemic entrenchment and meaningful change.

In a system that does not, cannot, and will not sustain itself under its present course, what is the use of maintaining any course of action that contributes to this state of unsustainability? This question is rhetorical, but it leads the questioner to ask how this course of action can be modified or outright rejected in favor of a course that leads to meaningful change. Change can take the form of recovery (assuming there is a point at which the system functioned adequately), revision (assuming some degree of change can be beneficial), reconstruction (assuming the parts can be meaningfully reconfigured), or dissolution (assuming the system has never functioned in a sustainable manner and will never do so in the future under any circumstances).

The assumption at present is that the system is clearly unsustainable – unworkable in the long term. It is questionable whether this is by design (as many conspiracy theorists propose and argue quite cogently), or if certain limiting factors have naturally come into play (with complexity of interrelation) that have led to this current state. In any case, the current state denotes a level of inflexibility characteristic of a closed system. Such a system exists to serve itself, and these self-serving elements tend to increase in complexity and demand over time. As such, this system is perpetuated by the actions, and ultimately the way of being, knowingly or not, of its constituents. In physics, this is comparable to the endothermic reaction, or the reaction that consumes more input energy than it produces.

Systems analyses have described phenomena through which closed systems are perpetuated. Generally (and in this case), those who set the agenda manufacture consent at the top levels as they enlist the support of those constituents operating at the lower levels. From the basic operations carried out by the many, to the mission devised by the few, the system is carried forward until consent is dissolved or until its resources are depleted. In the case of the former, resources continue to be available, therefore the options of recovery and revision continue to serve as meaningful avenues of change toward a more sustainable system. In the case of the latter, there is nothing left to sustain the system as it is inevitably reduced to its remaining component parts. The former constituents are left to either pick up the pieces in an attempt to create something workable or let them lie in ruins.

I would prefer to be an agent of dissolution (with regard to manufactured consent), so the options of meaningful change continue to avail themselves. Beyond the interdependence and determinism created by the closed system and thrust upon its constituents, there is a level of freedom, flexibility, and choice that can [always] be exercised by those who are aware and know the truth about the system and the way it functions. While each choice has a consequence that must be fully realized and accepted by the one who chooses, the choice exists nonetheless and will be made based on knowledge of the truth if meaningful change is to occur.

The truth is considerate of every contingency. The truth encompasses the entire situation, reveals the big picture, and leaves no detail undefined. While the truth is materialistic in its grasp of systems theory, the truth is fundamentally nihilistic in that it realizes something must come from nothing, and at the root of all existence and meaning is nothing at all. As such, the material projection is fueled by intent, and as the projection becomes more complex, the intent through which it is projected becomes increasingly diffuse. As intent becomes diffuse, consciousness and deliberateness of action become less defined, potentially less focused on sustainability, decreasingly value-driven, and more open to suggestibility and manipulation from those who are in line with the agenda. The material projection is essentially ego-driven, and the ego (according to Tolle) is concerned with maintaining the projection, for without it, the ego ceases to exist. Therefore, when a system loses flexibility and becomes unsustainable, the ego is increasingly driven to maintain the system knowing that system failure (its greatest fear) is inevitable.

In any system, the ego is a non-localized phenomenon, experienced and carried through to some degree by each constituent. Each constituent may resist the ego-driven capacities of the system to some degree, depending on level of awareness and the degree to which the values of the system come counter to personal values. It is generally those who are aware of truth, espouse the intrinsic value of sustainability, and agree to a system that exemplifies this value, that will work to dissolve the closed system and seek meaningful change. It is those who believe they are served well by the system that serves itself, either through manufactured consent, or ego identification (whereby the personal ego identifies with and feeds into the non-localized systemic ego), that will serve this system and its unsustainable agenda. They will be devoured by their self-consuming nature such as the tail of the ouroboros.

This self-consuming nature is the egoic force with which the resistant constituency will contend. This momentum of this force is sustained by compliance, and it tends to antagonize any intentions that run counter to its agenda. The system itself becomes increasingly resistant to meaningful change as it becomes increasingly entrenched. Efforts at recovery or revision are often thwarted if the powers of those constituents who are invested in the consumption of resources are threatened. Efforts at reconstruction and dissolution will typically encounter even greater resistance from the system, but typically yield even greater meaningful change when enacted. Nonetheless, the efforts of the constituency to enact meaningful change are equal to the level of assertiveness derived from awareness, the inherent value of sustainability, and oneness with truth.

Given the pressures at hand, how does the resistant constituent substantiate his role within the entrenched system through a contradicting value system? The friction created by this misalignment is what results in the impetus for meaningful change, but what form does this change take and how is it initiated? The key, as mentioned, is in being aware of values and assertively communicating them at each juncture with regard to sustaining or objecting to a course of action. Ultimately, each action will be value-driven, without consideration of result, for the result will come of its own accord. The value-driven action will be embraced as the means by which the soul expresses truth, relinquishes the ego, and informs the system of its true purpose, which is to serve those who serve the interests of peace, truth, freedom, justice, and harmonious living.

With the system at hand and all of its complexities, the solution never seems easy or workable when viewed from the entrenched perspective, but the actions one can take at each moment are indeed simple if based on the truth. The truth is simple for it comes from nothing. This is the beautiful simplicity from which all form is derived and to which all things shall return. The system, with all of its dynamic grandeur, is subject to this simple truth, as is its constituency. Regardless of any action taken, no matter how constructive or destructive, there will be a tendency over the long term toward balance. It is not for the constituent to determine which action will contribute to this balance, as balance comes of its own accord, but to simply be in balance so the natural and correct action will produce itself.

This all implies a certain acceptance, or serenity that the action which can be effected to bring balance will come forth; and that it is for the constituent be in balance with this course of action, even if this implies resistance, for resistance and acceptance together generate balance. When all is said and done, there is a certain ease of movement that is sustained, and this ease has its own meta-qualities that can be experienced by the acceptant constituent.

So we see a certain evolution that takes place within the constituent and consequently, the system when awareness is gained about how the system functions, which actions are available to create meaningful change, how these actions are founded in truth, how the truth contributes to resolution, and how resistance and acceptance contribute to balance. Through this knowledge, meaningful change will result in a new way of being, and it will be the choice of each constituent as to how this course of action will unfold.

Be aware.

J

Approaching the essence of truth.

Approaching the point where there is little left to say
Verbal knowledge reaches its limitation
And gives way to truth beyond knowing

The experience of what is real speaks for itself
Yet the essence of truth remains unspoken
Unseen, unheard, untouched, and untasted

The truth moves beyond felt-sense
Into a state of being
That simply is

*** *** ***

What is real?
What is the truth?

Is that which is real all that is true?
Does the truth give way to all that is real?
Is one a manifestation of the other?

Are the two one in the same?
Or are they both nothing?

** *** **

Perhaps no-thing is real
And the truth subjective
And perhaps that which is manifest
Is simply a projection
Of the mind that experiences it

Perhaps all that is experienced
Is the sum total of reality
And all else is only as real
As it exists within the realm
Of thought and perception

Is reality a product of the consensus?
Or is it as unique as what each observer experiences?
Perhaps reality is neither of these things
And the truth nothing at all
But that which remains undefined

***** ***** *****

This logic reduces
To a most conservative shape
That collapses inward
Into nothing
But the singular point of all existence

As the circle comes complete
And continues round eternally
Approaching the point where there is nothing left to say
Verbal knowing has reached its limitation
And given way to truth beyond knowing

***** *****

Be aware. Seek the truth.

۞

J

In the name of progress.

Progress

A goal-oriented society
focused on an end result
An outcome-based approach
With no real end in sight
This is the conundrum
Of Absolute Power
Under the guise
Of Progress

The nadir of a circle
Starts with one group
Joined in a common goal
Of living in prosperity
With a tendency to shift
Along the perimeter
To experience
The circle’s roundness

The direction of the shift
Matters quite little
Yet the goal is established
With momentum generated
In one direction or another
Until the society has come full circle
And gained the realization
Of its wayward journey

And onward to the next link
In a chain of events
That represents
The emergence of power
Inherent to the group
That struggles for prosperity
And envisions progress
As an external event

Yet when all is one
And one is whole
When the group is balanced
In its current state of being
There is no striving
No goals no progress
No wants no needs
All is sufficient

For all of these strivings
Are conditions of deficiency
And as such
Our group is deficient
Fearful in our state of lacking
As we tout our grandiosity
And move with furious pace
To the apex of absolute power

And so this progress
Is itself the goal
Which is never reached
Just as Hell
Destroys itself forever
And Tantalus thirsts
For the drink of freedom
Which will never come

Now is the time
Like no other
To ask ourselves
What indeed we seek
And to relinquish the search
For something better
When all we have
Is who we are

Here and now

J

The Dissolution of Hell

Death is an illusion
Driven by despair
Denial of reality
And everlasting truth

Hell is the making
Of the egoic mind
To escape from the reckoning
Of the false witness of Hell

An infinite feedback loop
Of ultimate destruction
Hell destroys itself forever
And the souls of its inhabitants

So long is it exists
In the minds of the indwelling
Hell hath no fury
As its souls unrepentant

So be it…

Breathe…release
Allow this moment
To span the limitless reaches of eternity
Loosen this knot of egoic design
And allow it to infinitely unwind

Cut all ties
To external attachment
And experience all as it is
Without need or desire
For it to make what is as it is not

There is a reckoning
Not for this to change
Or be different than it is
But an acceptance of what it is
At this very moment

There is no end
Only new beginning
There is no death
Only new life
All is begun and all is alive

Life is
I am
Life
That is all
And all is one

J

Sidestepping

I have been sidestepping the truth time and again. Researching, writing, using language and symbols, coming up with descriptions, pointing my finger, and having intellectual and emotional responses to my experiences: all of these things are actions that are derived from an investment of time and energy, a mission, or a search for something. This is all quite something, but in of itself, it is not the truth, for the truth is no thing.

High-minded ideas, lengthy introspections, and details about what is happening in the world today are worthy topics of conversation. Certainly, many may find points of agreement as others may find points of contention; and certainly, these are topics worthy of considerable exploration and debate. But do debate and conjecture bring us any closer to the truth, or do they only lead to further debate and conjecture?

I believe I have effectively exhausted what the truth is not. Waxing prophetic, engaging in pointed discussion, and aimlessly meandering through countless streams of thought on various issues have helped me to examine my own version of reality. Has it helped you to do the same? For an instant, I have come in contact with the truth, and perhaps, for that very moment, I have become one with truth where there is no I. But like a tangent to a point on a circle, I quickly drift away while attempting to encapsulate and dissect the experience. This experience, and the encapsulation and dissection of such, is not the truth, but an egoic version of the same, based in time and space.

Truth does not exist within these dimensions. It cannot be explained, discussed, examined, or even experienced outside of the formless and timeless moment. Once the explanation begins, the experience of truth ends, as truth itself has neither a beginning nor an end. Yet the explanation is rooted in time, while its symbolic language is rooted in form. For an instant, I wanted to describe truth as a perfect circle or a point of light, but alas this would do it little justice. Certainly the language, the explanation, and the description serve as signposts, but the truth itself is insignificant insofar as no thing can effectively signify what, indeed, it is.

Language and symbolism are fragmentary in nature; things based in form; pieces of matter that exist only as that upon which they are dependent to have meaning. The truth is holistic and all-encompassing, requiring nothing else to provide it with meaning. The truth, of course, is incomprehensible and cannot be ascribed any meaning. Once any meaning is derived from the truth, it simultaneously becomes an illusion generated by the egoic mind.

Alas, I continue to sidestep the truth. This discussion is the tangent that runs astray; it is movement while the truth maintains its stillness. When this discussion ends, when the writings and thoughts cease, the truth will continue to exist. Yet even as this discussion continues, the truth is everpresent and does not require me to give it space to breathe. The truth itself is the breath. It is what gives life to words, thoughts, and actions. It is also what gives way to falsehood, because without the fact of truth, there would be nothing to distort.

At this point, there is little left for me to write. It is enough for me to be aware so as to know the truth, but not as the egoic mind is capable of knowing. True knowing comes without thought, but only in being consciously present in this moment, free to experience that which is the truth…

J

Right back atcha!

America

I’m content to sit back and watch it all come crashing down. I’m content to say I don’t care anymore. I might as well do nothing, for why should I do anything else? What is the point of caring about what happens? (God knows I’ve tried.)

Does this sound negative? Why does it matter? Is it worth fighting for? What power do I have to make any meaningful difference? Why shouldn’t I feel this way? Does it really matter how I feel? Why should it?

In the moment, none of this matters. Cause and effect cease to exist. Power and control are illusions. Emotions are attachments to illusions. Attachments are unnecessary for the moment to exist.

There is no crashing down in the moment, so there is nothing to sit back and watch. It makes no difference to the moment who cares, because it simply exists as it is. Doing comes out of being and does as it is. Caring comes from attachment to conditions; but what happens will happen nonetheless.

Negativity is a material condition, with an equal and opposite positive. Each are requisite to the whole, the Truth. Fighting is resistance, attempting to make a meaningful difference involves effort. Effort and resistance are material conditional, so are the acts of feeling and doing; therefore they matter, but it doesn’t matter why. They simply do as they are. Being here now involves none of these things.

In the moment, nothing matters; there are no conditions. Material projection is manifested by the mind and body, and the mind and body are manifested by the Spirit in an act of Consciousness. It is the material projection that splits into the duality of positive and negative, the illusion of separation.

The duality remains a condition of polarity. When an emphasis is placed on the negative material condition, this is what is described as a depressed state; a phenomenon that correlates with a deep felt-sense. Opposite to this, is the positive material condition. This state of creativity, is also manifested by a felt-sense. Each in balance allows the whole to resonate. Conversely, when the whole exists, each will exist as one; for balance indicates oneness, which is the everpresent moment.

In any case, I have just allowed my original lamentation to regress into some metaphysical discourse so I could digress from being pissed. I went to the library to do some work (pissed as usual) and became sidetracked when I picked up America, by Robert Crumb. As pissed as I was, it had me in stitches while it validated my own perceptions on similar matters, and I read through it in about an hour. Crumb effectively describes existential depression as manifested by dissatisfaction with the establishment, as he questions (and boldly, but effectively lampoons) the relationship of public policy, consumer economics, and popular culture with our personal and collective experience of reality.

He seems to be getting to the deeper argument of conditional reality through his self-deprecating, offensive-to-most, brand of humor. He seems to be to what is illustrated, as Lenny Bruce is to what is spoken. At any rate, this subversively satirical work is a good read for those who are intimately familiar with the real history of the past three decades - and are pissed.

J

On war, violence, and international involvement.

It is interesting to observe how people think and react when confronted with reality (the truth?), as it threatens the ego identity, the perception of permanence, and the illusion of separation. It is interesting to witness the process by which people are fooled and will defend their foolishness tooth-and-nail, not unlike the flat-earth proponents of centuries past.

People will get beyond this and evolve into a new way of being, or they will cause their own extinction; in cosmically simple terms, this is where we are. What it will take to proceed forward is understanding, acceptance, and some personal responsibility with regard to our present collective situation; we all play a part in this, whether we want to believe it or not. But at the very least, I will speak out against unjustified violence, unfettered imperialism, and the erosion of human rights all because of a concocted, ostensible war on terrorism. Plain and simple, violence breeds violence, and I take exception to my tax dollars funding the annihilation of innocent civilians throughout the world.

Communism used the same Machiavellian approach, separating power from morality in the process of achieving what the central administration touted as the "greater good", characterized by false concepts of "freedom", "democracy", "autonomy", and "power to the people". Throughout history, this approach has never directed any administration to the fullness of these glorious propositions. If anything, we've seen a steady erosion of freedom, giving way to the domestication and the institutionalization of the underclass. We've seen growing autocracy and centralization of plenary power under the guise of democracy, and we've seen power-to-the-people give way to increasing power-to-the-few. The "greater good" has given way to a final solution to the question of national sovereignty. The installation of protectorate governments throughout the world helps to serve this new world order.

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for the people to dissolve the bonds with their government, the natural order will enable the people to rise up and fight for their freedoms. Yet, the new world order, which is espoused by the allied military forces, has preempted this process in Iraq and other nations in similar situations by waging war under false premise. Simply enough, this is an indignant act of global domination, to become enmeshed in international matters while flouting international standards and common decency. Need I say there are no WMDs, nor were there Iraqi terrorists threatening the domestic well-being of our nationals? I concede with no hesitation that Saddam Hussein was a brutal strongman responsible for deaths of countless innocent people during his two decades of dictatorship. How many tens of thousands more have been killed since U.S. military intervention? How many more will die throughout the world as a result of genocide, dictatorship, military intervention, or any other forcible measure of exerting mass control over indigenous people?

I suppose none of this matters, for the end justifies the means for any country seeking to protect its unjust exercise of power. I'm simply not sure what end the power elite has in mind. Is it the burden of U.S. citizens to foot the bill for making the world "safe for democracy", or have the people of the world been forced into a game of Risk and hand over the responsibility of freedom, security, personal wealth, and natural resources to the power elite? This is no longer a game, and I'm no longer content to serve the blind interests of those currently in power; because in reality, there is no end in sight until we've reached total annihilation should we continue to "stay the course". Peace begins with laying down arms; no other approach has historically served the interests of the people; any other approach leads to more lives lost. This is not to say we must not fight at times for our freedom, but it is to say our government has been less than judicious, or rather, grossly antagonistic with its use of force.

I love the freedom I have to express these ideas and make them available to those who will listen. I cherish the opportunity to engage in dialog with others who think differently. There are few places in this world where I am afforded such freedom. This is why I become vehement when I learn of the executive powers being exercised to limit these rights, and because I love this land, this is why I am deeply offended when those to whom we entrust the resources of this land wage war on innocence throughout the world. Finally, it is George Washington, during his final address, who wisely warned this country, in its infancy, to be mindful of its involvement in foreign affairs:

"Such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter."

"Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other."

"The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop."

"It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them."

Let us be aware and know the truth, and in the present moment, be guided by the actions of the past to make better choices for the future, individually and as a nation.

J

...an outdated document?

Read this...


Writ of Habeas Corpus
[Article I, Section 9, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution.]

"The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

Should this rebellion or invasion come from abroad or domestically; should it be the will of the people in response to unjust governance or the imposed solution to a problem conconcted by our selected officials, it will (at the very least) result in the suspension of our fourth and fifth amendment rights, guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

While we have a document whose opening statement suggests the American people are well within their rights to oppose tyranny, there is a list of executive orders that have been on the books for decades which give the President full authority to seize all manners of private and publicly held resources, utilities, and means of transportation and egress to essentially "lock down" the entire country and forcibly relocate its citizenry. If one thinks this is unlikely, he should think again. (What is Guantanamo Bay but an internment camp for political prisoners; an off-grid installation designed to strip humans of their basic rights and hold them without charge, representation, or accountability to the centuries-old safeguard of choice for the insurance of personal liberty - Habeas corpus ad subjiciendum. Even the U.N. criticizes the United States government for lacking just cause in maintaining the facility and failure to comply with international human rights standards in it's treatment of detainees.)

In a sense, our guaranteed right to freedom and personal autonomy is only as valid as our willingness to wage war in order to keep it secure. So yes, as long as we allow the Bush administration to wipe its collective ass with our Constitution, we allow our freedoms to be eroded through small order change, i.e. the issuance of unconsitutional executive orders, and the appointment of high ranking officials who would hold unitary executive power in the highest regard. It is quite interesting that Justice Samuel Alito should advocate for plenary presidential power, so as to say the chief executive is above the law (or, rather, is the law), when he makes statements to the contrary. It seems that Alito is willing to adhere to the "rule of law" with regard to his own rulings, but does not see fit to hold our chief executive to the same standard. So much for checks and balances. We'll save the viewpoints of attorney general Alberto Gonzales for another discussion.

In any case, our freedoms are clearly at stake, and anyone who believes "a piece of paper" entrusted to the hands of a tyrannical leader will guarantee liberty and justice for all have another thing coming. True freedom lies within the heart of every human, and its spirit cannot be contained by any document; nonetheless, we are responsible to keep freedom alive by ceaselessly upholding the intentions of its framers.

According to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority compels a minority group to obey, but does not make binding on itself.” This statement may also apply to the power elite and those they attempt to rule.

Be Aware. Seek the truth.
J

Within thine own self know the truth.

Anything not based in compassion and acceptance is an illusion based in fear and denial.

What is fear but a most unconscious instinct to transcend mortality, and an egoic desire for the soul to remain encapsulated within form; such an end would invite any means to attain it. Nonetheless, beyond the illusion, and into the infinite moment, one is simply all that is good, with a central tendency toward compassion and forgiveness. Any motion that denies this equation sustains the illusion.

Growth, with regard to the spiritual being, is the process of amplifying the innate capacity for compassion. That which one cannot change is what one shall accept if one is to experience growth. Acceptance implies forgiveness and frees one’s energy from the egoic capsule and the illusory attachments based in time and form. It is the freed energy that applies to that which is real in the present moment and that with which one experiences as everchanging.

When using the term, change, it shall simply refer to that within one's true self which one experiences as empowerment and the stimulation of growth. The term, change, however, ought not to refer to the desire to become who in fact, one is not; to exert or externalize control, which is based in fear, in order to influence material aims, so as to invest energy and project the ego identity into the elements of time and form.

Growth is a term preferable to the term, change, when referring to the action of the spirit moving freely, or rather, simply being. While the term, change, from the context of unconscious motivation, implies the need to depart from that which is, in fact, who one is not, and direct toward that which is who one instead would become; the term, growth, relates to a state of acceptance of who and what one is now, and how each experience in the present moment is related to the transtemporal cause and effect relationship to every choice one makes and each action one takes. As far as change is concerned from this context, there is a focus and agenda on how the ideal (or the illusory) is separate from what is real at this moment. Instead, the term, growth, simply focuses on a present, everchanging state of being right now. This in turn will result in an everchanging way of being characterized by Compassion and a freedom of movement that transcends space and time. It will furthermore bring about an expansion of the consciousness; an amplified state of being aware, and a focus on seeking the truth.

J

---

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell; my blessing season this in thee!

William Shakespeare

Huh?

Beauty beyond form (part 2).

The word of the day is phyllotaxis.

...encoded in the ancestry of the male bee!

...to the nth degree.

My computer had been out of commission for about a week, but as of last night, it is up and running. Not having it has allowed me to realize how dependent I have become on it as a part of my daily routine. Much of my documentation for the work I do depends on word processing; much of my leisure time is also spent on the computer – journaling, researching, and connecting with the digital world.

Much of our consensus reality exists within a sort of digital projection. At the core, it is a very simple and basic language that comprises this highly complex multidimensional world that lay at our fingertips. For so many, like myself, much of what we do and how we live is rooted in this digital language and landscape. Endless strings of binary code is being generated in ever-increasing production at each moment, forming material conditional statements, developing into logical arguments, leading to a dichotomous mode of operation, translating into meaningful data to be perceived and processed by our organic sensory mechanisms, incorporating itself into our experience of reality, and being assimilated by an increasingly homogeneous data-driven world culture. In a technological sense, the consensus reality can be boiled down to ones and zeroes.

“To what end?” I often ask myself. In my spiritual understanding of reality, which transcends technological reductionism, I often return to the idea of intention. As “necessity” is the so-called “mother of invention”, technology comes forth but to serve a purpose. What was the purpose envisioned by those inventors who sought to bring forth these innovations? A good question; one that answers itself depending on how one perceives the world and moves about within that perception. In any case, a technology of truth, which seeks to bring freedom (from inception to production, from life-of-use to end-of-life, and with regard to its sustainability), will serve humankind, while a technology of falsehood will appear to serve humankind, while its ultimate agenda is to enslave and destroy (especially with regard to its social and environmental impact). All of this will invariably boil down to individual and collectively-held intention - something that cannot be reduced to component parts.

Technology has expanded exponentially – ad infinitum – ad nauseum – at least the sort of technology that has enabled this Western experience of progress. Progress comes as an onslaught to the simple way of being, the natural order of our existence that has kept pace with our collective ability to adapt to the subtle changes within our environment over time. In just an instant – a blink of geological time – the interface between man and machine has become cancerously enmeshed, entwined, and forever established as the means of perpetuating the momentum of progress and the standard we have set as a species moving into the digital age. As the advent of verbal language had distinguished human from animal and endowed us with our anthropocentric concept of consciousness, the advent of digital technology and its data-language that has been imbued into that consciousness has distinguished human from mechanized mind-slave.

Sounds awfully negative, a bit apocalyptic, even. Perhaps it’s a bit one-sided – negating some of the positive things information technology has done for society. Certainly, I wouldn’t be typing these ideas and sharing them with the world, would it not be for my laptop and my high-speed connection to the digital world. (But perhaps I wouldn't feel the desire to do so if things weren't as they are.)

Perhaps the intention that generated this technology (assuming it is at least unconcerned with long-term impact, and at worst, hostile, divisive, and self-serving) need not be the intention of the end-user. Does the use of this technology, regardless of the intentions of the user, nonetheless contribute to the ends intended by its founders? Certainly, there is a bigger picture that must be examined in order to answer this question.

So I have a weblog that I use to share my ideas, and I have the means of gaining seemingly infinite knowledge and awareness of ideas and things at my fingertips – instant and ready access to the body of knowledge contained within the digital realm of reality. How is it that I’ve obtained this computer and continue to use it as often as I like and for the purposes I choose? In doing some simple Google research, I have found some interesting articles that point to the concept of sustainability I have shared in earlier entries.

This article discusses some of the philosophical implications of sustainable progress:
Article 1

This article elaborates on the social and global impact of high-tech manufacturing.
Article 2

"Once computers and other high-tech devices are born, they have to go somewhere to die. Accelerated product cycles and rapid technological change mean that the lifespan of a given IT product gets shorter and shorter. According to a report from the National Safety Council, some 315 million computers have become obsolete in the United States between 1997-2004.

"What happens to all those old computers? Many remain stored in people’s closets and garages. Others end up in local landfills. According to the EPA, only 13 per cent of the 20 million computers which became obsolete in 1998 were reused or recycled. Recycling efforts have been slow to gain momentum, largely because the market for scrap metal and plastic does not pay enough to make disassembly and re-use profitable.

"Computers include a host of substances that make it impossible to safely dispose of them in a landfill, including lead, cadmium, chromium and mercury, as well as brominated flame retardants. Each computer monitor contains an average of four to eight pounds of lead, which can leach into landfills and into groundwater. In China, open burning of wires and other parts is common in recovering metals such as steel and copper. Dioxins and furans can be expected due to the presence of PVC and brominated flame retardants in the electronic refuse."

So, yes, we have this technology that may well be capable of serving humanity for benevolent purposes (to some extent), but because of the intentions through which this technology is derived and continues to be produced, the use of this technology is not without detriment. And this is only one example of the way technology supposedly designed to serve humanity will end up leading to our demise if we fail to be aware and seek the truth in improving the quality of our technological advancement.

I do not deny that technology is integral to the current state of affairs and the direction of progress. Much of our sensory awareness and goal-directedness is driven by information technology. From the time my computerized alarm clock jolts my reticular activating system to reluctant wakefulness first thing in the morning, my computer-controlled vehicle delivers me to my place of unending toil, and my personal computing devices allow me (when functioning properly) to go about the business of oiling the wheels of progress, I have entered into a digital world of technologically-based reality (the rudiments of The Matrix).

This is the reality of our first-world society, the leading edge of our technocratic culture, and the means to no end in sight of progress to the nth degree.

Godspeed,
J

Rocks are cool (part 2).

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Read about The Relationship Continuum
described by Edward Haskell.

Meow.

ACTing and being.

I became aware of this innovative mode of psychotherapy while listening to Voices In The Family on WHYY with Dr. Dan Gottlieb. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), founded by Dr. Steven Hayes, presents us with a rather progressive shift in the way we approach the role our thoughts and words play in finding peace of mind. Instead of changing the way we think (as in the case of CBT and REBT), this holistic and constructivist approach to therapy urges us to observe, accept, and more fully experience our thoughts, emotions, sensations, and the language we use to describe reality. This, in itself, will facilitate personal development and fulfillment. Of course, this description is based on a very limited understanding of ACT, so those interested may want to do their own research.

I have not yet read this book, but it appears to uncover a new dimension to counseling therapy. Here is the reference itself followed by an interesting review on the subject by Dr. Dennis J. Delprato:

HAYES, STEVEN C., STROSAHL, KIRK D., & WILSON, KELLY G. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: An Experiental Approach to Behavior Change. New York: The Guilford Press, 1999. Pp. xvi + 304. ISBN 1-57230-481-2.

I am going to tell you about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, but don't believe a word I say. One must read the book under review here to make sense out of this unorthodox caveat. But perhaps the reader will detect a hint or two in what follows. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an ongoing struggle (ponder the preceding word string) with the dark side of language. The authors appreciate the enormous limitations of language, exacerbated by its great advantages for humans. Whether used for self-description or for communicative purposes such as found in scientific work, language remains unidimensional and lineal. Unfortunately, the natural world, including living a life, is multidimensional and nonlineal (e.g., Ray & Delprato, 1989). Inherent in all language use is a fundamental communicative indeterminancy: When one is speaking about one component of existence, it is impossible to concurrently refer to another. Although not explicitly acknowledged by the authors of this book, ACT is an attempt to build a psychosocial interventive system that addresses communicative indeterminancy that, in turn, underlies a main target of ACT, that is, verbal knowing. The situation is quite confusing from our everyday perspective. Nonverbal knowing is to know intimately by direct contacts with things in their natural complexity. Yet, we primarily rely on verbal ways of communicating knowledge to ourselves and others. No doubt the high regard graduate faculty typically place on standardized test scores obtained from applicants' verbal responses to ordinary verbal and mathematical (a class of language) stimuli reflects the weight given to language in scholarly and scientific circles. Too infrequently do we confront the inadequacy of language for communicating inter- and intra-personally.

ACT therapy takes as foundational the inevitability of language in human behavior, and along with this, the threats to adjustment posed by rule-governed (verbally guided) behavior. One ACT principle recognizes that behavior so established can shield the behaver from direct experiences with their world, resulting in resistance to change. Another principle is a referential-functional approach to language as Kantor (e.g., 1977) long advocated. Hayes et al. built on the view of verbal stimuli as functionally relational affairs by way of stimulus equivalence and relational frame theory. The bottom line of ACT's clinical aim is changing stimulus function to thereby reduce rule-governed responding and increase the individual's sensitivity to directly lived contingencies.

ACT is very much a cognitive-behavioral therapy but has many similarities to the newer constructivist therapies. The approach does not adopt one-way causality required for hypothetical cognitive mediational processes and structures to process information between input and output. Nor does ACT promote objectivism, realism, rationality as natural, or a dualism of sensory and motor. Instead, ACT tends toward the view of cognitive mediation as inherent in human psychological events which are integrated wholes. It follows pragmatism instead of objectivism and realism, accepts the relativity of rationality, and has a place for irrationality as functional. Although ACT does not appear to be dualistic, the authors could have more directly addressed the issue.

The book devotes several chapters to clinical procedures. Most deal with the first part of ACT, acceptance. In the formal framework of ACT, acceptance seems to refer to accepting in the sense of responding to (actually, interacting with) a more complete range of one's world, bodily and otherwise. The assumption is that such accepting will contribute to (or indeed be) alterations of functional behavior segments (integrated response function-stimulus function units). Acceptance development is largely a verbovocal affair, facilitated by therapeutic paradox and metaphor, that focuses on the precurrent phase (attending and perceiving) of behavior adjustments. The commitment part of ACT is where therapist and client work to assist the latter to operate on their environment in more direct ways than the orientational acts of attending and perceiving. The focus is on the consummatory phase of behavior acts, the part most targeted by behavior therapy as we have known it up to the present.

This book is recommended as a progressive attempt to clinically address the distinctive characteristics of human behavior from the perspective of a naturalistic psychology.

KANTOR, J. R. (1977). Psychological linguistics. Chicago: Principia Press.

RAY, R. D., & DELPRATO, D. J. (1989). Behavioral systems analysis: Methodological strategies and tactics. Behavioral Science, 34, 81-127.

courtesy of Dennis J. Delprato, Eastern Michigan University.

Copyright Psychological Record Winter 2001 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.

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Click this link for a more in-depth discussion of ACT and "third wave" behavior therapies: http://www.kognitiva.org/Hayes.htm

America - Land of the Lotus Eaters

"On the tenth day we reached the land of the Lotus Eaters, who live on a food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take in fresh water, and our crews got their mid-day meal on the shore near the ships. When they had eaten and drunk I sent two of my company to see what manner of men the people of the place might be, and they had a third man under them.

"They started at once, and went about among the Lotus Eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave them to eat of the lotus, which was so delicious that those who ate of it left off caring about home, and did not even want to go back and say what had happened to them, but were for staying and munching lotus with the Lotus Eaters without thinking further of their return.

"Nevertheless, though they wept bitterly I forced them back to the ships and made them fast under the benches. Then I told the rest to go on board at once, lest any of them should taste of the lotus and leave off wanting to get home, so they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars."

The Land of the Lotus Eaters

In this tale within Homer’s Odyssey, we come across an early account of addiction and what it can do to the souls of men. The concept of addiction is one of great prevalence within Western thought, and particularly, within American culture. My question is, has America become Land of the Lotus Eaters?

Briefly, addiction can be described as being “devoted” to certain behaviors that are reinforcing; but which end up having a negating and cyclical effect over time. These behaviors range from the hard physical addiction to opiate drugs (the “lotus” perhaps?) at one extreme, or at the other, the emotional addiction to escape and control which tends to be present in many forms of addiction and compulsive disorders. In any case, addiction leads us to something outside of ourselves in an attempt to gain a sense of normalcy and relief from the suffering of everyday life.

I would posit that addiction is a symptom of a more deeply rooted fear-based emotional state. When we become so compelled to seek out these external substances and behaviors that we fear not having them available, this is a manifestation of addiction. The addiction is the means of escape from confronting this fear, yet it only leads to more fear of another kind. This is the cyclical and negating action of addiction.

Let us briefly return to the origin of this myth, so we can better understand the message it conveys with regard to the American way of life. There is a great deal of conjecture surrounding what this land was, where it existed, and what it represented. Homer was not the only ancient literary to describe this place and its people. Both Herodotus and Ptolemy attempted to locate this place geographically, as somewhere along the North African coast. Plato also describes this myth within the Republic, as he attempts to convey his concept of social order. Interestingly, there appears to be no evidence of this culture except through ancient and classical literature. Nonetheless, the myth carries forward into much of our present-day discourse about addiction and social order.

Let us consider the experience of the lotophagi from different perspectives. Here we have a culture with little regard for progress or social development – a hedonistic culture, perhaps, where enjoyment of life and its simple pleasures are held in the highest regard. It seems that this way of life is contrary to the ideals of Western culture, where progress, ambition, competition, striving, and materialism are the main objectives. But by which standard should we judge the behaviors, values, or customs of another culture?

In present day Jamaica, there exists a culture of people known as the Rastafari. They would describe themselves as a deeply spiritual people who find the divinity of creation within themselves and in the world as it was meant to be. Many Rastafari claim they descend from the original twelve tribes of the Israel, and believe Ethiopia to be their Holy Land. The Rastafari live a simple, peaceful, and sustainable existence, and eschew the Western (Babylon) way of life as being imperialistic and unsustainable. An important ritual of Rastafarian life is to partake of the ganja (marijuana) as it provides them with wisdom and direction in their communion with Jah Rastafari (God). They point to Psalm 104:14 as their rationale for using this herb. Nonetheless, they view their idyllic existence on the tropical paradise of Jamaica, as “hell on earth”, as the world as it currently exists crumbles into dust. Yet, they know they will return to their Holy Land on a day yet to be revealed.

Are the Rastafari one of the truly enlightened cultures within a world dominated by the forces of Babylon? Are they the Lotus Eaters described within ancient literature, seeking only to live a simple, humble, self-sustaining existence and enjoy the fruits of the earth? Would Western culture view these people as a contradiction to the norm of social order and progress?

What I do know is that the Rastafari are a hard-working people who recognize suffering for what it is. They do not escape from the truth, but overstand their current situation in hopes of returning home one day. These people uphold the value of world peace, yet they stand up each day to fight the real enemy - addiction to an unsustainable way of life.

Let us consider another perspective. Perhaps the lotus is that which brings ignorance rather than wisdom, and America (Babylon) is actually the Land of the Lotus Eaters. Perhaps we are the land from which Odysseus and his crew fled in great haste, and perhaps we are the ones who remained behind to languish in ignorance, irresponsibility, and moral decadence. Perhaps addiction, a social dis-ease created by our own devices, is a symptom that our way of life is out of balance. The suffering addiction brings points us to the collective fear-based emotional state we seek to escape as we continue to ingest more and more of the sweet lotus that is always diminishing in supply. We have grown accustomed (tolerant) to the lotus, and require ever-increasing doses to avoid the suffering that we must eventually face. The lotus may take the form of material goods and services that placate our desire for more. Bigger televisions, louder stereo systems, faster automobiles, tastier and more readily available meals, larger and more luxurious homes, increasingly captivating forms of entertainment, the latest and greatest forms of consumer technology, and increasingly destructive wars in a quest for world domination – this is the lotus we seek to consume, even as it brings us to the brink of destruction – this is America.

This is the addiction – the spell we are under – the means with which we provide ourselves to continue our languid existence within a state of ignorance and denial. They say addiction is a disease of denial and the first step toward recovery is to admit that our lives have become unmanageable – that we must submit to our higher power if there is any hope for improvement. The Rastafari have already admitted that this current situation is truly “hell on earth”.

Truth be told, I believe America is the Land of the Lotus Eaters, and the addiction to progress, ambition, competition, striving, and materialism is the present-day lotus. The truth within this ancient tale resonates with the current situation we experience – regardless of the perspective one takes. There is a great deal of suffering, and the animal brain is designed to either fight this condition or flee from it. Unfortunately, we spend too much time and energy fighting the wrong enemy and fleeing from the true source of pain. It is time to stand strong, face the suffering, and fight the addiction itself if we are to find recovery.

Many of us will be left behind, and many will weep bitterly when forced to give up the delicious fruit, but we must board the ship and set sail, and we must leave now if we are ever to make it home.

J

Picture this...

Reality is nothing but
The sum of all the awareness
As you experience here and now
The ultimate of science thus appears
As Husserl's unit of phenomenon
And Ehrenfeld's discovery:
The irreducible phenomenon of all
Awareness, the one he named
And we still call
GESTALT.

I do my thing and you do your thing.

I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,

And you are not in this world to live up to mine.

You are you, and I am I,

And if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful.

If not, it can't be helped.

-Fritz Perls (1969)

Affirmations.

***

The purpose of I is to Be Here Now and validate the Oneness of Self in all of Creation.

To relinquish the illusion is to relinquish fear. To realize the Moment is to realize the Self.

To be conscious of that which lies within is the mastery of Destiny. The attempt to control that which lies without is to be controlled by the illusion.

When past experience brings forth lessons unlearned and the future brings forth expectations unrelinquished, the Moment is lost to the illusion and the self identifies with struggle. To learn the lesson and relinquish the expectation is to experience oneness with the Moment.

How do I experience what it is to Be? To live each moment and to allow the divine purpose of the universe to unfold, unencumbered by attachment to form, is to fully appreciate the gift of Creation.

There is no beginning, no end. In the beginning it was as it is now, and the end will simply be a new beginning. It will always be as it was and ever shall be - the everpresent Moment - eternal time without end.

As I incorporate past and future experience into the Moment, I realize there is no past, no future, only Here and Now. I am Master of cause and effect, choice and consequence. I am the Key that unlocks the door.

As the Conscious Self, I come ever closer to embracing the Moment, free to experience what it is to Be - a single point of Light amidst the infinite sea of nothingness.

Peace be unto you,
J

Call off the struggle.

A writing by Adyashanti

Most people are in a constant state of struggle with themselves. Tremendously burdened by the past and in constant anticipation of the future, most human beings are rarely able to be fully present for more than very brief moments. The tremendous openness and intimacy that is required to be fully present is beyond most people's ability to sustain for more than a few moments before they habitually contract back into the familiar condition of separateness and struggle that so characterizes the human condition.

This constant state of struggle manifests as a compulsive and addictive relationship to the movement of thought, emotion, and time. There is great reluctance to stop struggling because in the absence of struggle you suddenly begin to lose your boundaries and definitions of who you are. For many people this causes fear to arise as they experience the loss of their familiar sense of self. Struggling is how the ego-personality maintains its existence. When you cease to struggle, identification with the personality begins to break down and you become aware of your emptiness and lack of boundaries.

The most difficult thing for spiritual seekers to do is to stop struggling, striving, seeking and searching. Why? Because in the absence of struggle you don't know who you are: you lose your boundaries; you lose your separateness; you lose your specialness; you lose the dream you have lived all your life.

Eventually you lose everything that your mind has created and awaken to who you truly are: the fullness of freedom, unbound by any identifications, identities, or boundaries. It is this locationless freedom of being that spiritual people are seeking, and at the same time are running away from because its faceless nature gives no fixed reference point for the personality to hold onto or to seek security in.

As long as you remain identified with the personality, you will always be seeking security to the exclusion of the Truth, and will remain in a constant state of struggle. It is only when your love and desire for Truth outweighs the personality's compulsive need for security, that you can begin to stop struggling and be swept up into the arms of an ever unfolding revelation of the Truth and Freedom of Being.

~ Adyashanti
Copyright ©1998 by Adyashanti. All rights reserved.

Rocks are cool.

I found this beautiful specimen of calcite at a rock shop in West Chester. Notice the rhombohedral formation on the top center. The orange color comes from limonite deposits. Apparently, loads of these crystals were uncovered in a quarry somewhere in York County, PA a few years back. This is one of my favorites!

http://www.mindat.org/min-859.html


Here is an arrangement of polished lepidolite, an amethyst geode fragment, and Mexican danburite covered with calcite druze.

http://www.mindat.org/show.php?id=2380.php?id=2380
http://www.mindat.org/min-198.html-198.html
http://www.mindat.org/show.php?id=1218

J