Game of
Thrones
It is interesting how much of a leveling out happens when Mother Nature decides to bring us to our knees, with one of her dynamic expressions of power, that reminds us how vulnerable and dependent we are to live and sustain our species. In this time of snow bound, slow down, stay warm, keep it safe and simple, we are forced to come to terms with our dependency on frenetic, techno, bottom line, change the world, keep up my face book image, life style that defines the 21st century.
The simplicity of shoveling snow, building a fire, riding a sled, cooking a meal, and spending time with loved ones, becomes heightened during these times, and we are wise to reflect. Man's many modes of existence should also be reflected and prioritized so that we can return to 'normal' life with some semblance of sanity. One of the take aways can be how really little control we have in life. Herein lies some semblance of serenity.
The mystic and rabble rouser G.I. Gurdjief, regarded true knowledge and wisdom to be “knowledge of being,” and he saw this as a stream that flowed from remote antiquity. He summarized different approaches to spiritual transformation in three categories; the “way of the fakir,” which centers on mastery of the physical body; the “way of the monk,” based on faith and religious felling; and the “way of the yogi,” which concentrates on developing the mind. Gurdjief presented his teaching as a “Fourth Way” that requires work on all three aspects simultaneously.
Gurdjief has greatly influenced my thoughts and experience of Being, which could also be described as presence. This is something that our modern world is draining us and our children of vampirically with the pace, intensity, and technology designed to distract. On these days where we are forced to slow down, tune in and pay attention, we can have a reminding taste of our being and presence if we choose to pay attention.
Another mode of man is socio/political mode. At this time we are all in a political, social frenzy due to our delusions about electoral politics, the masses project their idealized and demonized parts of themselves onto candidates, and then like sharks, attack the enemy and froth at the mouth over their particular heroic idle. All this really does is create more polarity and displace the real democracy we have, which is to rally ourselves to live harmoniously both within ourselves, and among our fellow brothers and sisters, this is all 'social/political' man can do, everything else is hype, like what is displayed throughout the media. Real democracy is being in right relationship with all the dimensions of yourself and your environment, this takes getting to know who you really are, and taking the time to find out who your kids, wife, dog, and neighbors are. Go check on them today and see if they need anything.
Another huge influence on me was reading Gandhi's autobiography “My Experiments with Truth” in high school. I became convinced that he was a living embodiment of what he believed, and it grounded in me the idea of the potential unity of one's thoughts, beliefs, and being as an expression of how one lived. I could also see the huge influence Gandhi had on Martin Luther King, and how his “I have a dream” speech was influenced by Gandhi's philosophy. Just like Lennon's song Imagine, all these men were assassinated by the fear and hatred of ignorance that Gandhi described as violence. The consciousness of violence becomes very threatened, fearful, and aggressive when it is confronted with the infinitely more powerful state of love.
Gandhi was a constant faunt of wisdom because his words were aligned with his being and life so any of his 100's of quotes can be studied and mined for a wealth of timeless wisdom. Here are but a few;
“Be the change you want to see in the world. My life is my message. The best way to find yourself is to loose yourself in the service of others. Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. Act as if your every act effected all beings. Civilization is the encouragement of differences. Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it. God has no religion. In matters of conscience, the law of majority has no place. The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve the world's problems. Intolerance is itself a form of violence and itself an obstacle to the growth of a democratic spirit. To believe in something and not to live it is dishonest. Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not even one man's greed. Faith becomes lame when it ventures into matters of reason. All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family. When you want to find Truth as God, the only inevitable means is love, that is nonviolence. Love is the strongest force the world possesses, yet it is the humblest imaginable. Nothing has saddened me more in life than the hardness of heart of educated people. What is truth? A difficult question, but I have solved it for myself by saying that it is what the “Voice within” tells you.”
So in our time of political frenzy keep these ideas of Gandhi in mind, it is noble to want to effect change in the world, but we must begin with ourselves and the quality of our mind, body, soul, emotions, spirit, and relationships.
As a general rule I would say the leanings people have toward anarchy are a psychological abdication of their own sense of power. They fear their own power so they don't want to see any others exercise power. This includes both liberals and conservatives. On the other extreme, we have those that abdicate their own power by wanting others (government) to take care of them and make them safe. Both of these extremes are adolescent in their psychology and indicate an immaturity to both own and exercise one's own power as well as entrust others use of power appropriately. This is the basis of our constitution, and it has been completely subverted by corporate greed. Something must be done about it!! Electing Bernie Sanders is not going to solve it, look at the pipe dream we had about Obama, how much was he able to accomplish in today’s Oligarchy? See the show Mr. Robot.
The philosopher Kant summarized 4 kinds of government:
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Law and freedom without force (anarchy).
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Law and force without freedom (despotism).
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Force without freedom and law (barbarism).
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Force with freedom and law (republic).
The evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker writes;
“Adjudication by an armed authority appears to be the most effective violence-reduction technique ever invented. Though we debate whether tweaks in criminal policy, such as executing murderers versus locking them up for life, can reduce violence by a few percentage points, there can be no debate on the massive effects of having a criminal justice system as opposed to living in anarchy. The shockingly high homicide rates of pre-state societies, with 10 to 60 percent of the men dying at the hands of other men, provide one kind of evidence. Another is the emergence of a violent culture of honor in just about any corner of the world that is beyond the reach of law. ..The generalization that anarchy in the sense of a lack of government leads to anarchy in the sense of violent chaos may seem banal, but it is often over-looked in today's still-romantic climate.”
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