In the last decade of the nineteenth century in America there was a significant battle going on for the soul of the culture. This event had a number of expressions. The experimental utopian communities (Shakers, Quakers,Oneida Community, etc.) had existed for some time, and in their own way contributed to the landscape of American culture through simple manufacturing systems, useful gadgets (washing machines, sewing machines, etc.) However, these communities were beginning to decline due an interest in Free Thinking, Spiritualism, lack of births, and a trend of population movement to the cities, etc. In fact, these were just symptoms of a much more serious dilemma facing the growing wealth and importance of America on the world stage. The nature of this time in history saw a polarization of important thinkers divided roughly into two camps. It was in effect a spiritual dilemma. Henry David Thoreau had expressed his musings, The James brothers theirs, and many other thinkers of the era. For the purpose of this entry by way of example I am concerned with the dialogue of the healers and the healing professions. Plural. During, and after the Civil War medicine struggled with the questions of how the body heals and what should be the underlying approach to the healing arts. Profound damage had been done during the civil war to life and limb and the "soul" of the new America. Big rifts occurred between those who professed a mechanistic approach to healing using all the technologies developed during and after the war. They believed that the body was essentially a machine that could be manipulated in a variety of ways that would bring about healing. The other general group did not totally denigh the development of new technologies of healing (surgical, inoculation, etc.), but they observed that regardless what was done to the body externally the individual either got well or not according to some other factor. They attributed this to energy. Some felt that this had a supernatural source I.E. God, and others that is was magnetic or cosmic in origin.
This became a pitched battle between the "Mechanistic Healers" and the "Magnetic or Energetic Healers". Science as we know it today was still in its infancy in America. Medicine was a mix of both of these ideas being based on the Greek, Roman and European models. The Greek leaning more to a divine origin and the European more nature based and mechanistic. Gradually these two camps (Mechanists and Energetic) became so polarized that the idea of "Empiric" Science (I.E. Mechanistic approach) became the stronger camp, and organized into what we know today as Medicine. The Magnetic Healers became Osteopaths, Chiropractors, Naprapaths, Herbalists, etc. Still the question of why and how we heal has never been answered. Mysteriously the patient would get well or die.
There are those who feel that by some external or artificial method we can change our nature or condition and mold ourselves into some idea of ideal health. These individuals or groups believe that some change of activity, removal of an organ, even a psychological change of view, or choice of behavior will heal the problem. Still we have no actual "Empiric" proof of these results, only percentage data. Even that has widely varied results. Again the question of actual "Change" remains a mystery.
I love to use friends as examples in these entries because they are the most important to me in my journey. Recently one friend has made it clear that all behavior is a "choice" and thus we are, in this way, responsible for our behavior. I have found that generally these types of people think that they maintain a "moral high ground" for the rest of us. Yet I see their behavior is a vain struggle to artificially change their lives. It appears to be an artificial attempt at change. A "Mechanistic" attempt. I cry for them in my heart. They are so sincere and simple, and ultimately tortured. There are others that totally "go with the flow" and they get carried away for years in a fog of temporary delights. Haven't we all been here? They are enamoured by the illusion of the texture of life, and can't understand why the rest of us just don't take a vacation from our "productivity" to experience the "Now". This is the other extreme, "Energetic" attempt to be happy. Neither approach seems to bring successful results. So I have been pondering this problem for some time.
I have always said that "you can lie to anyone, but if you lie to yourself this is the greatest sin". I still think this is true. Please understand that I don't encourage lying. Anyway, it appears that if we spend sometime every day observing, and listening to ourselves we will come to know ourselves both mechanistically and energetically. We will see what we can change a bit, and what is our "nature". We will find intuitive ways to stay healthy or make healthy decisions. Also I have observed that we can learn from this approach to Love others less defensively knowing who we are, and not being threatened by someone else's questionable behavior. It seems that Health is a combination of taking care of the machine inside and out, and energetically keeping the flow of life lively and loving. Not developing an "Artificial Intelligence" to artificially change our nature.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
9/11 AND THE ISLAMIC THING
Attention everyone: We as a nation have always been under attack! Oh, and we have always been attacking someone as well. First it was the British attacking us, and then a series of others including the Russians during the Cuban missile crisis,etc. At the same time we began systematically slaughtering the native tribes of North America. The British returned to burn down the White House in 1812, and so forth. History is important even if always written by the victor. Still there is some kind of a picture to look at although hand-colored by various interest groups. In my own life there has always been a social upheaval or war. It has never stopped.
Human history is a series of wars, and a dance of power. The ancient Peloponnesian Wars to the present. Even the great epic tome, the Bhagavad Gita (Song of God) was written on the battlefield of Kurushektra near what is now known as New Delhi, India. There are a multitude of examples. Where is the question of non-violence in human history? There has, and will always be a class of people who specialize in warfare for the benefit of their cultures.
The 9/11 event that shook our culture to the core is another example of this constant desire of humankind to impose it's view of truth upon another. Of course, we know now that these characters who played a part in the 9/11 event were religious fanatics, and generally considered to be full-blown narcissists according to their psychological profiles. They didn't come out of the great military colleges of the the great nations of the world, but were born out of social discontent. They were and are disruptive, and dangerous loose canons on the deck of the ship of destiny, but ultimately destined to be contained or thrown overboard.
Another player in world history is commerce. This player, in some ways, poses the greatest threat to the stability of humankind. When the balance of wealth shifts too much in one direction, and the privileged class becomes too indifferent to the suffering of others we can be assured that trouble is brewing. Then, the core demon of human nature, Envy, enters the picture and attempts to level the playing field albeit blindly and cruelly. The "have nots" imagine that their share of the mother- lode is theirs for the taking. Rarely, if ever, in history do we see them fairing better after the carnage. The powerful still remain in some form, or they change their coats in smart ways to conform to the new regime. I.E. the great Communist experiment (Manifesto), and the subsequent failure backsliding into the marketplace of human suffering, Russia today/China today. Oligarchy is the first step back to a free marketplace.
The central question that remains is how can a major world religion be the cause of such crazy actions? Actually, the history of many great religious traditions have seen this same problem emerge. Why this quandary? Certainly, Christianity has its track record of madness and mayhem. Virtually all major religious traditions show this demon of exclusivity. Generally, we find that those followers who reject the personal mystical responsibility to purify and refine their thinking and lives and see the greater connection of all life fall prey to fanaticism. A mideastern Moslem friend of mine who defines himself as a Sufi (mystical muslim) recently was confronted by a fanatical fundamentalist Christian at a very nice dinner party given by my Moslem friend. He listened to the ire of this young, innocent bigot and then replied. Pointing to his head he said 'in our tradition we say that the longest journey that a man takes in this life is the journey from here (pointing to his head) to here (he pointed to his heart)'. I was watching this and literally this moment briefly took my breath away. The young man didn't respond, but just sat quietly and shortly left the party. Hopefully, he began his journey of the Heart?
9/11 is not an Islamic Thing, but a human failure of great proportions. However, in so many ways it broke open the Heart of humanity, and made us all face our fragile passage on this planet. Now we can contemplate how to live life in a more inclusive way with more kindness toward each other, more intelligence, and wisdom. Or we can react with righteous anger, bigotry, and lash out to destroy the face that is actually us staring back at ourselves from another culture. You decide.
Human history is a series of wars, and a dance of power. The ancient Peloponnesian Wars to the present. Even the great epic tome, the Bhagavad Gita (Song of God) was written on the battlefield of Kurushektra near what is now known as New Delhi, India. There are a multitude of examples. Where is the question of non-violence in human history? There has, and will always be a class of people who specialize in warfare for the benefit of their cultures.
The 9/11 event that shook our culture to the core is another example of this constant desire of humankind to impose it's view of truth upon another. Of course, we know now that these characters who played a part in the 9/11 event were religious fanatics, and generally considered to be full-blown narcissists according to their psychological profiles. They didn't come out of the great military colleges of the the great nations of the world, but were born out of social discontent. They were and are disruptive, and dangerous loose canons on the deck of the ship of destiny, but ultimately destined to be contained or thrown overboard.
Another player in world history is commerce. This player, in some ways, poses the greatest threat to the stability of humankind. When the balance of wealth shifts too much in one direction, and the privileged class becomes too indifferent to the suffering of others we can be assured that trouble is brewing. Then, the core demon of human nature, Envy, enters the picture and attempts to level the playing field albeit blindly and cruelly. The "have nots" imagine that their share of the mother- lode is theirs for the taking. Rarely, if ever, in history do we see them fairing better after the carnage. The powerful still remain in some form, or they change their coats in smart ways to conform to the new regime. I.E. the great Communist experiment (Manifesto), and the subsequent failure backsliding into the marketplace of human suffering, Russia today/China today. Oligarchy is the first step back to a free marketplace.
The central question that remains is how can a major world religion be the cause of such crazy actions? Actually, the history of many great religious traditions have seen this same problem emerge. Why this quandary? Certainly, Christianity has its track record of madness and mayhem. Virtually all major religious traditions show this demon of exclusivity. Generally, we find that those followers who reject the personal mystical responsibility to purify and refine their thinking and lives and see the greater connection of all life fall prey to fanaticism. A mideastern Moslem friend of mine who defines himself as a Sufi (mystical muslim) recently was confronted by a fanatical fundamentalist Christian at a very nice dinner party given by my Moslem friend. He listened to the ire of this young, innocent bigot and then replied. Pointing to his head he said 'in our tradition we say that the longest journey that a man takes in this life is the journey from here (pointing to his head) to here (he pointed to his heart)'. I was watching this and literally this moment briefly took my breath away. The young man didn't respond, but just sat quietly and shortly left the party. Hopefully, he began his journey of the Heart?
9/11 is not an Islamic Thing, but a human failure of great proportions. However, in so many ways it broke open the Heart of humanity, and made us all face our fragile passage on this planet. Now we can contemplate how to live life in a more inclusive way with more kindness toward each other, more intelligence, and wisdom. Or we can react with righteous anger, bigotry, and lash out to destroy the face that is actually us staring back at ourselves from another culture. You decide.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
HEARING WITH BIG EARS
I was born with big ears, and as time has gone by they have gotten bigger, longer, more important. Having a big head and big ears led to some uncomfortable moments in childhood when perchance the sun would hit the head in a particularly dramatic way. This would create an opportunity for others to laugh and make up strange words like "bulbus". It actually never really bothered me, and in fact made me want to be an actor. Not a clown. Of course, keeping these big ears clean as a child was a conscious effort and an exercise in concentration. I was proud of the elephantine nature of these strange things on the side of my head. As I grew people from various cultures came into my life and made pronouncements about my ears publicly. Long life, strong constitution were some of the things thrown at this frail little "toe head" with the big shiny head and ears. I wasn't bald yet, but secretly could see my own face in the picture of my grandfather with his severely receding hairline and pronounced presence with spectacles that I also shared. My high school picture was the precursor of things to come. Bright and shiny with big ears was the obvious future.
As life took its course I became acquainted with many different cultures and life philosophies. My own struggle to be happy and successful caused me to make some effort to be introspective. That lasted for sometime, but not having the strength of mind to endure the rigours of serious internal discipline I moved on to simpler tasks such as eating, sleeping, fighting and as much mating as possible. This led to desperation and a myopic fixation on my unfortunate emptiness. Gradually, because of a sincere desire to be happy and connect to the greater good, I started to notice that I could hear nice things such as the wind in the trees, birds, music from a passing car, a particular complex series of notes at a Jazz event, etc. Other opportunities came into my world. Chanting ancient holy mantras profoundly moved my inner core from a fixated place to a grand stage with many wondrous events playing out their purpose. I could hear this cacophony in the center of my chest. How was this I wondered? Slowly I tracked this "hearing" to the area of the Heart. I wondered if this is what so many poetic texts and seers were talking about? Another thing was happening about the same time, and that was that I found myself in particular conversations listening to the mood of the conversation. The intention seemed to be more important to me than the actual words. Although not neglectful of the words and purpose the feeling within my chest came more into focus. A sort of blending of intellect and emotion is how I would describe it now. A new way of hearing. The big ears were still important, not vestigial, but hearing now involved both the ears and the Heart. Metaphorically the outside and the inside. I could hear and pay attention so much better, and seemed to navigate through my life in a more secure way. Trusting in the walk of life and myself became stronger. I was listening from a different place. A place where the wisdom of many seemed to gather. The mythical place talked about by many, and now by me. My big ears actually helped me become aware of the world around me and the importance of keeping them clean with nice sounds and the inner ear, the Heart, clean also. Gradually, I am now listening with much bigger ears, laughing and crying but for bigger reasons.
As life took its course I became acquainted with many different cultures and life philosophies. My own struggle to be happy and successful caused me to make some effort to be introspective. That lasted for sometime, but not having the strength of mind to endure the rigours of serious internal discipline I moved on to simpler tasks such as eating, sleeping, fighting and as much mating as possible. This led to desperation and a myopic fixation on my unfortunate emptiness. Gradually, because of a sincere desire to be happy and connect to the greater good, I started to notice that I could hear nice things such as the wind in the trees, birds, music from a passing car, a particular complex series of notes at a Jazz event, etc. Other opportunities came into my world. Chanting ancient holy mantras profoundly moved my inner core from a fixated place to a grand stage with many wondrous events playing out their purpose. I could hear this cacophony in the center of my chest. How was this I wondered? Slowly I tracked this "hearing" to the area of the Heart. I wondered if this is what so many poetic texts and seers were talking about? Another thing was happening about the same time, and that was that I found myself in particular conversations listening to the mood of the conversation. The intention seemed to be more important to me than the actual words. Although not neglectful of the words and purpose the feeling within my chest came more into focus. A sort of blending of intellect and emotion is how I would describe it now. A new way of hearing. The big ears were still important, not vestigial, but hearing now involved both the ears and the Heart. Metaphorically the outside and the inside. I could hear and pay attention so much better, and seemed to navigate through my life in a more secure way. Trusting in the walk of life and myself became stronger. I was listening from a different place. A place where the wisdom of many seemed to gather. The mythical place talked about by many, and now by me. My big ears actually helped me become aware of the world around me and the importance of keeping them clean with nice sounds and the inner ear, the Heart, clean also. Gradually, I am now listening with much bigger ears, laughing and crying but for bigger reasons.
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