Monday, February 23, 2009

The Sun does not Revolve around the Earth

A comment before we get into this most recent Origami. A long time reader here has asked me what I know about locations and/or communities/ashrams or the like where he might migrate to. He’s middle-aged with a son who needs care which he provides. I told him that I’m across the sea and thousands of miles away; he’s in the U.S.

Until I am involved in forming a community which may or may not occur in the not too distant future I am at a loss as to any recommendations that I could make. I’m out of the loop and I don’t like tossing out possibilities that I am unfamiliar with in terms of their day to day operations and the general ambiance of their situation. In other words, if I haven’t been there I wouldn’t be in a position to recommend anything.

If any readers out there know of a situation- any situations- that might begin the process for this man I would appreciate it if you would share your ideas in the comments section. Sometimes in the trading of ideas a possibility will emerge that wasn’t even directly connected to what was indicated or said. You know how these things work... mysteriously. So... any help would be much appreciated. He’s not the first person to ask me about this so I imagine there’s some general interest in this and it may benefit others who haven’t said anything but are thinking in that direction. Now we go to Origami already in progress (grin)



At the various blog endeavors where I am engaged, I have noticed a particular phenomenon. It happens even more so at other locations where entries get published. It’s nothing epidemic and maybe it’s been happening all along and I’m just noticing it now. It takes various shapes. One shape is where the reader deliberately distorts what’s been said. An example would be my post on 2012. Certain individuals have indicated that I stated that the world was going to end on December 21st of that year. This is nonsense and even more so given the care I invested in what was an effort to make people think; no more than that. I’ve no idea what will happen in any specific way. I do note trends and I’ve got some grasp of history.

Another shape is where the reader extrapolates on what I said as if I actually said it. Yet another shape is where the reader thinks I’m talking about one thing when I am talking about another. These shapes are all pretty similar and all have to do with not paying attention or lacking the capacity to focus. In a few cases it’s the product of malice based on personality conflicts or a basic intransigence to change. These cases rarely show up at the blogs but they do show up somewhere. Some of us are hardwired into various forms of denial and nothing short of serious trauma is going to alter that. Well... that trauma will eventually manifest. There are laws that govern our existence and no amount of indifference, resistance or bargaining is going to influence them even a little bit.

This puts me in mind of something to talk about which impacts on all of these perspectives... on all perspectives across the board. It affects everything but it is affected by nothing. It’s too small to see yet it contains the entire universe... composes it and remains beyond it all at the same time. It’s conscious of every movement near or far, the way a spider senses a tremble on its web. Most people think of themselves as an autonomous self-contained unit. In a way you could say that they believe that they are this mysterious thing of which I am speaking. In many cases they certainly act as if this were so. The difference is that they have no power whatsoever and this mysterious thing has all power always. Any power we possess as individuals all comes from this mysterious thing.

This thing lives in everything, always awaiting and seeking a deeper communication with each of us. On rare occasions some of us will reach toward it and, if we are persistent, eventually a certain realization takes place. It is much less common in these days than it has been at other times. Because of sensory apparatus, the general focus of most people is outward and it is there where they spend their brief hours between the twin unknowns of whence they came and whither they are bound.

The human ego is a usually inept and dysfunctional God. Because it assumes it possesses things which it does not, it acts against the interests of itself and others as a normal operating procedure. There’s a wide middle of the ordinary and a narrow band of the extraordinary to either side. On one of these sides are the psychopaths and on the other side are the altruists. Both of them engage in most of the various occupations available to all of us with two distinctly different impacts. Depending on the times, there may be more in one band than in the other or it may only be that there is a greater appearance of power in one or the other. The middle stays the same. It doesn’t change much except in times of extremity. The middle is shaped by its reactions to the influence coming from the bands of the extraordinary.

If the times are less materialistic then the altruists have a greater sway upon the mind of the middle. In times of greater materialism, the psychopaths hold a greater sway and in each case, the culture reflects this influence.

Most people are attached to their culture the way they are attached to their temporary families. Their world revolves around the twin focus. They seem to believe, despite all appearances to the contrary and despite all of the evidence of history, that their families and their culture will always be with them. They always seem shocked and surprised at the loss of any part of either, even though every indication and record from the past tells them in no uncertain terms that they and their families and their culture will one day be a thing of the past. As long as they prevail in this illusion it is impossible for them to contemplate anything outside of it in any objective way.

The story of Noah and the ark is much like a movie made about real life events or one based on a book. The movie is not going to reflect the exact details in either case. It’s like a metaphor. Unfortunately for most people they base their lives, their understandings and the decisions they make on a metaphor and you can work out in your own mind what that may mean.

Let us imagine that the story of Noah happened just as it is told, although it certainly did not. One of the features of the story is that the other people who were around at the time considered Noah to be mad. They laughed at him. It’s a matter of historical record that people have always laughed at the thoughts and behaviors of those who did not operate as an example of the middle. In a certain way these strange individuals embarrass them just as the psychopaths confuse and frighten them... though there is more than a little dreadful fascination as well.

People who pay no attention to the warning signs in a culture are deserving of pity and compassion. They can’t be helped and it can be dangerous to try. Even though every culture in the past is now gone and even though many, many cultures preceded these and others preceded these ...as the records of their existence grows ever fainter until they have become only legends and still more cultures preceded these legends... still... they do not imagine that theirs will pass.

Given the temporary nature of manifest life you would think that more people would be curious about the deeper possibilities. Yes, they embrace religions. They embrace them in the same way that they support a particular sport’s franchise; the same way they engage in patriotism and any allegiance they may have selected or had placed upon them, whether it is to family, country or God. The deeper implications of any of these escape them... frighten them... mystify and confuse them. They are mostly along for the ride without much more than hope and a broken paddle, devoid of landmarks and charts, to plot and navigate their course.

Most people look at things but not into them. Peer pressure confines them in concentration camps where no concentration takes place. They would sooner follow their oppressors than any liberator. They freely give themselves to those who hold them in contempt, who use them and throw them away and they mock and abuse those who admire them. Perhaps they know which of the two sees them for what they are.

It is best to pay attention before you are required to pay attention. Paying attention is often, quite literally, the difference between life and death. When a culture has declined and fallen into the inevitable morass of low level sensuality and cheap entertainment, it is on the precipice of doom. It is through the door to enslavement ...and tyranny will always be at hand in these times.

Once the way is lost it moves further and further off course. It does not suddenly find its way back. All manner of bad behavior begins to prosper and becomes the norm. Justifications appear for most anything and the occupation of the learned seems to be tuned to finding more convincing arguments for excess and immorality. What is contrary to the best interests of the whole becomes legitimized as normal behavior. After awhile it even becomes more than normal until no one knows what normal means any longer.

This mysterious thing has a collection of immutable laws which apply to conditions. The further a condition is from the course of an immutable law, the greater is the sensation of the impact of the law upon the condition. This would seem to be common sense, were common sense a common feature anymore.

Things will sort themselves out. They always do. It is more or less pleasant or unpleasant depending on where you are standing and how the sorting out affects your attachment to what is being sorted. Present time is a time of sorting and it does seem that the wiser course would be to sort oneself out ahead of time, rather than waiting to be sorted. Those who cannot hear must feel.

Visible sings: God in Country by Les Visible♫ God's Not Dead ♫
'God's Not Dead' is track no. 3 of 11 on Visible's 2001 album 'God in Country'
Lyrics (pops up)

God in Country by Les Visible

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

But wait, you said everything was going to be alright if I brushed my teeth after every meal and went to college--oh, and if i got married in a church, and paid my taxes--and kept my nose clean--and had a white picket fence--and bought a mini-van--and--and--oh, fuck--where is that lifetime guarantee--I know it was around here somewhere--I never actually saw it, but i was told it came with every red-blooded american birth--the white ones anyway--ok, not the rednecks and hillbillies, but, well, you know, us suburbanites--

and, and retirement, yeah, retirement--die for years and then get to live--
heck, the church told me my reward would be in the end
and my asshole is sore now
did they say "in the end"or did i just not hear it right

This can't be happening to me---cuz, well, I'm me--you know, the guy who left 100% of my nose on the grindstone--shuffling papers
and now my wife wants out and is going to take me to the cleaners in the divorce cuz of that damn Oprah, and, and,

this isn't the way it was supposed to be

what else might not be true
perish the thought
or just perish

As a gunfighter approaches Clint Eastwood in one of his movies, Clint asks him if he's a gunfighter and the guys response is "well, it's a living" to which Clint responds "well, dying ain't much of a living boy"

What is your definition of living--just a thought for the day--

Jj

Anonymous said...

les
love the title here, the sun revolves around me as too the moon in a silly dance open for the viewing and swimming

"The human ego is a usually inept and dysfunctional God. Because it assumes it possesses things which it does not, it acts against the interests of itself and others as a normal operating procedure."

Thanks, this is a soft clear voice or a key that I needed to hear outside my own mouth, my darn ego wounldnt let me believe this before...

longer post but closer your are becoming to the source, I feel. To the future and whats not yet before us!!!

Matt durkeematthew@hotmail.com

m_astera said...

A few thoughts on intentional communities:

The key word is intent, as in common intent. Let's get specific. Survival isn't specific, nearly everyone wants to survive.

Believing in the same myths is a little more specific, but isn't guaranteed to help much. We could gather together a whole bunch of Cthulhu devotees with no promise of accomplishing much.

I like the idea of two different approaches: that of the expedition crew, and that of the family business.

Let's say the goal is to get over a very high range of unexplored mountains and find a fertile valley on the other side. One is not going to get far by taking along everyone who says they would like to go. It's much wiser to recruit those who have some expedition experience and have skills that will be needed on the expedition.

The family business aspect relates more to what will happen once the mountains are crossed and the fertile valley is reached (keeping in mind that these are metaphors, and one may not be "going" anywhere physically).

What sort of family business interests you? What needed skills do you have to offer the group? What skills don't you have that would add to the prospects of a successful enterprise? If, for instance, the family dream is to make music, it would be wise to recruit those who have spent some time learning to make music, rather than those who always thought it might be fun to play music. And it might be wise not to only recruit harmonica players.

Once these two aspects are pretty clearly defined would be a good time to start looking at personalities, keeping in mind that one can put up with considerable irritation as long as the irritant is a valuable contributor in other ways, while someone who is harmonious and easy-going might not contribute anything of much value.

Anonymous said...

I really enjoy reading your blog. Your definition of people in the middle is spot on. You are definitely an enlightened being. Carry on.

Love, light and kindness,
Eleni

Ben There said...

Les you always finish these pieces with a great closing line. This particular closer was up there with the best of them.

Jj - Priceless.

Anonymous said...

Michael,
I have been looking and lurking around the same thoughts lately but in a different way--I'll let you know what comes of it--if it is of my mind, it will die--if it comes from the source, it will flourish in it's own way and time--

Jj

Anonymous said...

Yeah I've found it very hard to focus & get easily distracted with all the bad craziness going on. Reading yr
essays gives me a chance to try to focus again. Yes, have to admit, if Im not careful sometimes I come away from them w/ something other than what you wrote... esp. anything to do with Palestine. I'm hard- and hot-wired for anger there! You have never written anything 'anti-Semitic' though, although I was probably thinking it
on my own and it was coloring my interpretation.

m_astera said...

Right On, Jj.

I'm looking forward to hearing what your ideas are.

Anonymous said...

Before I could be of any value I had to individualize. That meant being delivered from all the mind traps even my family and friends were buying. It was many years I slogged the trenches of altruistic victimhood, believing the mythologies of the world, I tried to live the conventional virtuous life. What a failure I was. Ricky Nelsons lyric was spot on. "You cant please everyone, so you got to please yourself'. But if all "yourself" is is a bag of bones what incentive to be good is there? The challenges to discover the core of divinity and to transcend the hype they shovel 24-7. Well guess what I did and there is and its Me[in part]. Just by simply being unabashed I am saving this world. America is where the Psychopaths set up their enterprise and its where the real action is. I cant run off to some safe haven somewhere and be real . so here is where I make my stand. Dixie. Tell your correspondent that he will have an eternity of glory if he or she doesn't run from this shit. I want to look down the asssasin who has the contract. Its the least I can do to pay up what was paid in advance so that I could really be HIGH FOR THE GAME. Attention readers!

su said...

Les.
About the dysfunctional ego : "We do not possess an ego, we are possessed by the idea of having one. It is wholly imaginary" Nisargadatta.
Well I find for something imaginary it is vast and infinitely manipulative.

Michael, I like your points. The problem is it is the wanna be musician has the passion and the desire and that is always a temptation. That is until you get to the valley and click for the maestro - that can be a bit of a bummer.

Jj - My definition of living - Funnily enough have been pondering that. Don't feel very alive of late so I don't know if any answer will be forthcoming. For now it will be "we are being lived".

And Les once again YES.

Anonymous said...

www.gaysagainstobama.org/

m_astera said...

susana-

I'm reminded of a story I heard some time back. Some people in S. California bought a good-sized sailboat and wanted to sail to Hawaii. They were good enough sailors but didn't know navigation, so they put the word out that they needed a navigator. Someone showed up and convinced them he was their guy. About a week offshore they figured out that this fellow knew nothing about navigation, he just wanted a free trip to Hawaii.

So they floated around lost in the Pacific for some weeks until they finally crossed a shipping channel, where they flagged down a Korean vessel. The Koreans didn't speak much English, but they gave the sailors some fresh water and pointed up in the sky at the airplanes passing over on their way to Hawaii.

So that's how they finally got to Hawaii, by following the commercial flights.

I'm all for passion and enthusiasm; that's the sort of apprentices one wants, assuming the passion is lasting and not just that of a dilettante. When you need the job done, though, you want at least a competent journeyman.

m_astera said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
m_astera said...

Anonymous @4:57am

I applaud your stance, but I don't think this battle is going to be won face to face or on a battlefield; the battle is more one of consciousness, and that goes on wherever one happens to be.

There really are few "safe" places in the world, though some are safer than others. You say you are in Dixie, but I doubt you plan to make a stand in downtown Montgomery or Baton Rouge. The wise general chooses the time and place of battle himself.

I don't get the impression that Les's correspondent is looking for a place to escape to outside the USA, but rather that he is looking for a community of like-minded people who plan to survive and thrive right there. If he has a clear vision, perhaps he could create the dream himself, rather than trying to find someone else's dream to fit into.

I left the USA in 2006 when the message became unmistakeably clear that it was no longer the place for me, and if I wanted to continue my work I needed to do it from elsewhere. No doubt the message you have gotten is different than mine, and hopefully it is equally clear.

Since leaving the USA my project has expanded practically worldwide, a necessary move that would have been much more difficult to achieve from there with the opposition I was facing. I still see no evidence of more than an infinitesimal number of Americans waking up enough to change anything at all. I think they need the hard knocks much more than I do, and it's not my role to get my ass shot off for people who don't give a damn.

As I've said many times, when I see the stirrings of revolutionary awakening happening in the USA, I will likely be back. I have yet to even hear a peep. And in the meantime I have a job to do.

http://thenewagriculture.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Different drummers all. Each with a different calling at different times--I see the transformations I have gone through the past 8 or 9 years and have stopped trying to guess what my purpose is--I don't think there is one as in the end of the rainbow gold- but it is in the purpose you are in now-so do it well-
I have stopped worrying because I'll be where i am, when i am in a source type of way--a tool of the purpose--a loved purpose--not invincible or with super powers but one armed with a small bag of wisdom, insight, and patience--the young strong backs will be there if they need be
re:m-astera, yes michael, like che' said never take anything on you can't 100% win--anything else, lay low--he had the same problems in trying to rally the "peasants" in the beginning--he relied on them for silence, a bit of food from here and there, and new recruits--sure took a while for the momentum to swing--no overnight sensations being produced--it takes the work for anything of value--
You are also dead on when it comes not only to knowledge, but to wisdom and sustainability--sure will be a 180 and soon--looking forward to the garden this spring--it will be for us, and many others, a garden, that with these economic times, will be literally life giving--don't know how many people have given thought to the canned stuff running out pretty quickly--
sustaining spirit and body--

Jj

Anonymous said...

Les,

Excellent article as always.

many of us have watched the effluent slowly approaching the air displacer over the past couple of years and i was one of those who trembled at the thought ala chicken little. Over the last few months I have been 'trying' to look inside, to become aware of my true potential/reason for being. I, (is it I or should I cut myself for saying that(?)), have found enormous encouragement from your Origami articles and the comments of the readers, they just seem to resonate with my vibration at this time.

I would be gratefull if you could/would list some books that you reccommend ie. consciousness, mind, meditation. I only ask as my internet connection disappears this week and i would like a list to order at the local library.

many thanks for the insight you have given me and the (real) 'change' you have helped bring to myself.

I AM
John C.

Anonymous said...

IN THE STILLNESS OF TIME ...


The sun
- does it ever rise ? and does it really set ?
Or are we the ones that go round and round
and for our convenience we choose to forget ?


Time
- does it really fly ? does it ever pass ?
Against the flowing sand of our mind
it stands like an hour-glass



Our questions,
- can test the faith in things sublime.
Shall we wait for the answers to come ...
some day , in the fullness of time ?

notamobster said...

John C. - I hear there are some fans of Ekhart Tolle in this room...

vis - nice. Sorry, I haven't been spending a great deal of time blogging as of late... terribly busy 'storing nuts for winter' - that damned grasshopper may freeze, but I am preparing. I'm spending much more time figuring out who I am, as well - and basking in the joys of my better half and our chirren. When the balloon goes up, I want to know that I spent my time loving them.

kikz said...

hey y'all..

i'll second nota...

john C in UK...

eckhart tolle :)

just avoid the hype...i think you can find most of his stuff on youtube...

enjoy*

Anonymous said...

First, I dislike using "Anonymous" but I'm not logging in through the devil's tool "Google."

I'm the man Les mentions at the beginning of this article. I'm searching for a place of like-minded people, somewhere in the southeastern U.S., who understand that while not everything is the way it would appear, there is comfort in preparing for the much better times coming once we've all gotten through the damage(s) yet to come.

I know that 'the beast' is lose in the world. Mankind proves it so minute-by-minute by the fact that mankind has not even been able to combat the forces that keeps him from coming to terms with "self" or how to appreciate and love "self." But I KNOW that the 'greater days' are coming.

I've been around, so far, 61 years. And if there is one thing that life has taught me it is this - A man is no better within self than the love he gives with out self. (I know that sounds all kinda prophetic and Bible-istic but something, or rather someone, helped to compose that as the thought was 'given' to me. Ya gotta love our guides, he he.)

The soul of my 33-year old son, who lives with me, chose to come into this life with 'special' lessons to learn. I've thought often about what his and my 'soul connections' might be but so far I'm not entirely certain. Sure, I can speculate but the bottom line is that I know it to be my duty to protect and help him. So the thought of my quitting on him would not be an option.

If any of you good folks know where I can possibly relocate to that would allow me and my son to make our contributions while we prepared 'for better times', I would be most appreciative. You can contact me at skyguy777@hotmail.com.

I pray for all our souls to be as one when the time comes.

Thank you. Bob

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the recommendation chap(esse)s.

Anonymous said...

There's this pithy little saying in rooms of recovery. When people talk about stinkin' thinking they often say "I'm the piece of crap the world revolves around." (Usually a different expletive is used.)

I've learned to question my own language a lot. I have also come to accept, sometimes bitterly holding my tongue, that so much is determined by the ears of the receiver, and sometimes those ears are ultra-sensitive to intemperate words, even some that really aren't that offensive. I have learned that I'm not that person, I don't have their experiences, their nervous disposition, their hormonal interactions, etc., and that "how important is it? do I want to be right or do I want to be happy?" And I zip the lip and move on.

The theme of this post, which is about how people misperceive what is said intrigues me. I also find it interesting when it's the other way around, when someone gets what I'm saying, but they don't use a language that I can get with. They get the context, they get the essence, but where they come up with the words? All their gray matter are belong to Klaatu!

I too hope that I am getting what each person is trying to say, but I am not afraid to ask the dumb questions. There's a political blog I go to called "Pam's House Blend," which is owned by an African-American woman. Her policy about racial matters is to not censor and to encourage people to ask questions, even ones that some people might find offensive. I think fora are needed where people are able to pull out their ign'anz and expose it to others so that it can be transformed into something useful.

People sometimes don't know they're hurting someone else, and can't understand why people don't like them until someone says, "you know this behavior here? Can you please stop it?"

And then that person can say, "I've been doing that for years. Have I been hurting you? Oh. Why didn't you tell me?" And then they have the choice to make a change. (Or to go all Bill-O'Reilly on our asses, but hey, that's what moderators are for, right?)

On the 2012 theme, my own take: I do feel we're collectively headed for ... something. I intuitively feel though that at that point in time, it will be just another day. 2 years and 9 months doesn't seem like there could be a lot to happen, but I sense my perceptions are a bit befogged by printer fumes and industrial cleaners. On my own blog, I have been musing about being impatient to get patient.

The Hudson River, Oshun, Obatala, different deities and guides (particularly the otter for some reason), this site, people in my food fellowship--these all help to return me to a cool head and refreshment.

Just a smattering of a gratitude list there, I realize. Acceptance and Gratitude hold great power in and of themselves. (Ergo the initial-capitalization of both.)

m_astera said...

Bob-

Have you done a web search for intentional communities? Lots to find there.

john c and others-

My vote for essential book on consciousness would go to P D Ouspensky's In Search of the Miraculous.

su said...

My vote for essential writing on consciousness would undoubtedly go to this man http://avastu0.blogspot.com/.
That is if you want to go the truth straightaway.
But be warned there are no rewards for the seeker, for the seeker is eliminated as being the illusion itself.

Anonymous said...

I'm off reading books for now--I am in a more interactive state and even that isn't enough posting comments here and at some of the other connected blogs--
I like the neighbors and have no reason right now to venture further than the high plains, Venezuela, and SA--oh, and Italy/Germany--and a few other locals

Jj

Ben There said...

John c -

I don't see how you could possibly go wrong with Eckhart Tolle but I'd also add another suggestion that cuts through the extraneous material:

"Awareness Watching Awareness"

http://www.amazon.com/MOST-DIRECT-MEANS-ETERNAL-BLISS/dp/0979726786/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235664251&sr=8-1

m_astera said...

Wow, Ben. This appears to be one great book. I read the reviews and it looks like this is going to get my $15 plus whatever it takes to get it here. Thanks for the tip.

I don't spend much time these days figuring out where I want to go, but better and more efficient ways to get there interest me always. I'm very curious to read about the method for 'how to awaken the extreme desire for liberation'. I consider mine pretty extreme already but even more would be even better. :)

As a side note, AWA and the self-preservation tricks of the false ego are the central themes of Ouspensky's book as well.

Anonymous said...

keep reading tolle--he's not trying to sell anything and it's not mystical--keep reading if at first it is a bit over your head--it was for me but it came together--i've read "The Power of NOW" quite a few times--a morning or evening setting of my spirit--so much has become habit with me now, looking back--I ended up underlining the whole book--
read his newer one too--it's good also--depending where you are with things, I also highly recommend reading Thomas Paine--Age of Reason--you can find it on the net--none of it works if you don 't apply it though--
cheers--

Jj

Visible said...

There is a new Reflections in a Petri Dish entry up.

The Serious Disconnect of Modern Culture.

Also there is a preliminary effort at a Wordpress mirror site that has to be tinkered with yet. It is also up-

Wordpress copy of the same article.

Anonymous said...

yall will enjoy latest comment here






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