ANONYMOUS IS A WOMAN

This entry is a simple reminder of how far we have come and how this reflects the events of the moment in 2009. As late as the nineteenth century it was a common practice to bury female members of a family with the inscription on the tombstone reading "ANONYMOUS". It is hard for us today to understand the mind that could simply erase the identity of a female member of ones family. But this was not uncommon. Of course, in Islamic culture all are buried in unmarked graves symbolizing the final passage from this world and the wait for the judgement day. Also, in that culture, except in the very privileged classes we have no record of the passing of female contributors to society. Where and who are they? In a short time after death we are all forgotten, and all that remains are the results of our work while here, and the contribution of our collective impact on planet Earth as "she" has become known. The disturbing thing is that there are still those who would return us to another century where women were seen as useful processions without legal rights over their bodies, where the color of your skin could provide a life of continuous pain and fear, where only the privileged class of males could receive an education and vote for the leaders, where sexual expression had to conform to a specific proscribed cultural model, where movement was restricted by passage permits, child labor, etc. Remember, this was just, in some of these cases, only 50 years ago and in others less than 100 years. Our culture has opened the way for us and others to explore in a legal and safe way broader expressions of our humanity. The system we call democracy also known as the system of "Advise and Consent"was created by a class of privileged, highly educated, and for the times, enlightened souls. They did not establish a static idea of rulership, but rather, an organic and inspired system of governing that would protect the expression of thought and original ideas. They pondered the misdeeds of centuries, in fact, millennia, of despotic rulerships both secular and religious, and consciously discarded those models. Taking the best they could find from those ideas and forming a dynamic expression based on classical Greek and Roman structure, but offering the opportunity to all citizens. Of course, it took more than a century to bring women, people of color, and others into the system, but that has been achieved. This is how it works. The idea of "Original Intent" by the framers is a moot issue. The actual result has been a growing organism and it would be impossible to turn back the clock without destroying all that has been gained. Essentially, destroying the America we live in. We can only go forward. The past was not very nice. The good should be honored and spoken of nicely and buried with a beautiful marker citing the achievements of the outstanding members of our collective family. Anonymity is not an option any longer. There is the INTERNET and He/SHE is watching us all.................

AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

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.

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.

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.

THE NARRATIVE VOICE

Lately I have been challenged by several people close to me in my life about the way I communicate. The intensity of emotion expressed by these very significant people has caused me to look closely at the way I share my life with my fellow humanity. I start with the idea that there are no secrets, and even that is open to discussion. Culturally the art of communication is approached in a variety of ways. In the east the psychology of the person is not important. The outward expression is the most important signature of the person. If you are able to "hold that together" you are embraced and honored. Very little is spoken of the inner life of the individual. It is expected that your inner landscape will express itself outwardly regardless of the circumstances. My teacher in India once said, "any fool can look good until they open their mouths". (sic) I took that as a sign that I should immediately "open my mouth" and take the chance of making a complete fool of myself so that I could really discover how much of a fool I am and grow.
From an earlier time I noticed that the "hip and groovies" didn't talk much. They looked good, but seemed to think that talking was some kind of an "ego trip". There was some kind of code that I didn't "grok". Of course, they listened with rapt attention to the many muscians, yogis, american indian elders, psychedelic gurus, and others waxing endlessly many ancient stories. Then they went about their way doing exactly the same things they were doing before meeting these "sages" with their sage advise. It seemed incongruent and rude to me that so little was gleaned by these exercises in listening. Why didn't more happen in the lives of these seemingly cool people? I thought that maybe they already understood everything and that these teachers were just a reminder of lessons already learned. Then one day it occurred to me that there was not going to be any action, because all of this posturing was to prop up uncertainty caused by lack of action. These were not the models I was looking for, but simple souls frozen by fear, and possibly induced paranoia. It was then that I noticed that those who had not been drained by fear and still had the courage to extend themselves were successful in finding their dreams. I also remembered that those in school who asked the seemingly stupidest questions became the most successful whereas, I who was afraid to appear stupid didn't speak up and struggled daily with achieving my dreams. AH HA !!! Now the problem was how to "speak up"?
The most ancient form of verbal intercourse appears to be story telling. Not just long stories with mysterious meanings, but actually telling a story about our activities or experience. ("Hey, know what? I killed a brontosaurus today and now we will have food for the winter!".) Now, for those of you who are thinking that just by mentioning this there appears a lack of sincerity, and an agenda on the part of the speaker (i.e. me), you are wrong. The obvious is always the most mysterious. The unseen is just unseen. Duh. All communication is a form of narrative. It is just a matter of clarity and success. Have I communicated this, or my needs, or my enthusiasm, or whatever clearly enough? Is there enough artistry included that it is of interest? Can you hear the Love and excitement in the sharing? Then the narrative is successful. The narrative voice has been heard. Practice, Practice, Practice ! I guess I need more practice so that I will not be thought of as a "know it all". How can anyone really know it all?

LIVING LIFE BETWEEN YOUR EARS

So much of how we view the world we live in is how we "Think" our world. In fact, we become conditioned, and, if I may say, addicted to "thinking" our way through life. Thoughtfulness is just what it implies; full of thought. We equate this with virtue. This is a cultural pattern derived from the roman and greek social mores. The romans and greeks had a refined materialistic view of life and how it should be lived. Their Gods were "Order Suppliers" only. Other cultures operate in other ways. Often relying on omens, non-verbal signals, listening, and nature-based guides before making decisions. Who is to say which is better? A culture that can create microwave ovens, cell phones, synthetic polymers, and other comforts and conveniences that eventually will have a limit on what can be invented, or ongoing cultures that have an infinite number of guiding choices emanating from the forces of creation and ever changing dynamics of energy? This is not to demonize the advances of science, but rather to add greater choices that have been tried and true for millenia to improve the quality of life. Learning how to listen and observe the messages nature sends that can help humanity is a laudable opportunity. Just as any learning event develops, this can grow gradually in small steps by practice. I.E. taking a silent walk through what is left of our wilderness or neighborhood parks. Sitting silently watching our breath, and letting our thoughts pass before our inner eye un-acted upon. Listening to the heart of another person and not just the meaning of the words. Remember: words are thoughts between the ears. Words are magnificent, but inadequate to convey the real meaning. Trying this should gradually provide us with a "spiritual" foundation for living our lives. This can include beliefs, but really operates in our life far beyond the help of belief. When someone says that they "Believe" in something this is only a partial explanation of the operating principle in their lives. What they believe is unimportant to the listener. This doesn't really tell us much. What are they are experiencing in the whole expanse of their lives is what is interesting or how this belief impacts daily events is interesting. What they "Believe" may be of some interest, but how does this work for them, and possibly for us? What goes on "Between the Ears" is very pale in contrast to what goes on in the heart. This spiritual (not religious) place is what gives us a ground of operation, and allows us to feel safe in a real sense and confident among others in our tribe of humanity. This is the source of confident Jolliness. Jolliness based on our latest conquest, acquisition, etc. will eventually fade into despair. The ground we walk on must be firm.

ACCOUNTABILITY / EMOTIONAL VOCABULARY

This is a difficult one to discuss. There are many dimensions to this topic so I will limit my attention to the underlying theme and its application to our everyday culture. A child doesn't feel accountable to anyone, and in fact, is really not accountable to anyone until socialization begins. Generally this is after the toddler phase as the cognitive process broadens to include a greater world than mothers' breast or bottle, and dads' smell. Slowly the individual learns how to socially negotiate the bumps and scrapes of interaction with similar beasts. Finally life unfolds and we begin to "civilize" and become responsive to others' needs as well as our own finding a middle ground that works for all parties concerned. This is the beginning of accountability for the social human. Again this process appears in early adolescence after puberty begins. It is as though the child is again no longer accountable to anyone but themselves. They seem to be learning social skills all over again, and questioning all previous ideas. Most of this is not conscious, and thus the danger. This is the time when we develop what I call our "Emotional Vocabulary". If trauma occurs the individual can become "frozen" emotionally at any given stage in this process. Here I am not speaking only about extreme trauma. Even subtle unconscious attacks to the central nervous system can create a profound impact to the ability to communicate emotions. This is where the subject of this entry "ACCOUNTABILITY" became apparent to me. We live in our moment of crisis(es) most of our lives. That is, the various points in our emergence from adolescence where we became stuck. This can be caused by strong influences like anger,fear,sex,physical abuse,attack, substances of all kinds in a toxic amount, diet, etc. In order to move on we need to develop an "Emotional Vocabulary" and an ability to be accountable to others in society both intimately and collectively. Fortunately or unfortunately we always are accountable to others, seen and unseen, in this journey of life. Be strong and courageous and begin to write and practice your Emotional Vocabulary so that you can fearlessly be accountable to all in your path. Great things will begin to happen.