Life is accumulation - death is discharge (dispersal). Whether it is building relationships, homes, jobs, families - individual lives or civilizations, wealth, power or position. When death (The end) comes to call, we lose them all and are forced to move on. The fear and the anger that precedes this (frustration at not finishing something/ worry about where this is all going to lead) is phenomenal as we try to hold on - only equalled by the joy when we trust and and let go of all things we know and that weighs us down, and we return to the pristine state of childhood (Drink the waters of Lethe) and mystery - an empty mind full of nothing and a life full of possibilities: All certainties gone, all adventures before us - a new world, a new life, a new me. Chaos and confusion is the end result of movement (change). Order comes from stability. This is why a leap of faith is so frightening because it means throwing all caution to the wind and abandoning everything you've ever known, owned and believed in (trusted): Every thought, every possession. Nobody can 'try' for us and in the final analysis, the experts (Those who have gone before us) can only give us advice and information but the final gamble (decision) has to be ours. The future (heaven) beckons - are you ready and willing to leap into the unknown void?
As they say in Zen - The future is in our hands, the past is at our feet - walk on!
The Beeblebrox Paradox: The joy of achievement is in finally bringing together all the separate parts that make up an organic whole (going from the despair of seeing the gigantic totality you've got to deal with, to realizing and producing the end product i.e. putting the spread out parts gtogether again, one step at a time).
Feeling overwhelmed by the immensity of your vision is the natural first stage of anything (dispersed despair) but shrinking down your choices through action (concentrated effort), leads to completion of of your dream in real time, component by component, until the whole is created and vision becomes reality.
What makes us sick to the stomach initially though is the sheer enormity of what we face. It brings out the fight/ flight response in us i.e. hold onto our stomach contents desperately or vacate them as rapidly as possible (through one orifice or the other - that is vomit or defecate as a revolt at being here and avoidance of confronting its payoff - conflict with others and living off the fruit of the land versus starvation and a sharp exit).
Seeing the size of the job before us, we fear we will not have enough time to complete it. We forget that apart from the infinite we face before us, we also have eternity (immortal time) inside us, working to complete whatever task God gives us to do. It is the fear that we don't have the time or resources to do something, that sabotages our ability to act and so we fail (Fear shrinks the world to nothing and us with it but realizing we have nothing to fear but our own minds and what we program it with, we can change the outcome from negative to positive, on a whim - and often do, to make life more or less exciting than it is i.e. rest on our laurels or act).
We think things are insane when we don't understand them and think they're sane when we see the reasoning behind them (It is this that converts us from anti to pro something and vice-versa - in other words, simple belief or disbelief changes our perception of everything [The Stockholm Syndrome] - shutting out or letting in the possibility of the existence of an idea or entity). Our beliefs are dangerous - not because they are 'necessarily' wrong or right but because we act on them as 'though' they were (and that we have the 'right', morally to do what we do, based upon this belief in our rectitude in judgement and attitude towards the matter in hand). To act or not to act, that is the question? The more intelligent think things through in depth (question their perception/ the evidence, the evidence plus their own motives i.e. the results and why they want them) before acting, whereas the less thoughtful react before getting to the bottom of things (finding the truth) or questioning their own actions.
Seeing limit we despair at finding answers/ surviving - this is why we need 'God' (eternity/ infinity) in our lives. Death of the spirit is giving up hope - this is displayed in terminal depression - that is giving up effort to build or control, socially or individually, thereby destabilizing our lives/ society as a whole. We become violent to destroy all links with that which we've run out of patience with, so that we're not tempted to engage in exchange with it again (eradicate it in order that we don't have to communicate with it i.e. learn of existence again or anything about it and vice-versa with regards to it learning about us [Mutually exclusive agreement to deny the existence of each other, to ourselves and third parties - the Ostrich Effect ]): Free exchange of information/ materials comes with understanding - resistance comes when it isn't mutual.
When we're in the ascendency, we're on the path of material gain (affirmation of life/ peace) - letting go of old beliefs. When we're on the descending slope, we're in denial because we don't want to admit to ourselves (or anyone else) that we're losing our hold on life (loss of control/ feelings of weakness, displayed as acts of violence). Gentleness is therefore strength because it displays generosity of spirit (see 'God' quote above) as violence is just an act of despair (giving up), be it by a country or an individual: Violence is frustration at our own ignorance and therefore helplessness because what we don't know (understand) we can't control. What do we fear most? Change as it betrays us all as blundering incompetents, which is a blow to our pride (arrogance is thinking we know - humility is discovering you don't). On the sensory level this is displayed as 'vision' (tension/ elation/ proximity (detail)) and 'sound' (relaxation i.e. letting go and therefore drifting away from something you've given up on - that is depression as a state/ generalisation). Patience is freed attention (forward motion available through time or space) as impatience is attention held in thrall (drawn within to thoughts (questions) about the past). This 'movement' of attention, within and without, is known as The Artist Effect or stepping back to observe and forward to act (intellect to see and emotion to feel i.e. enjoy (experience) your endevours ).
Intelligent people face their fears (study and learn from them, by seeking to understand their own reactions within (motives) and the actions (behaviour) of that which they're afraid of - the scientific approach). The frightened try to eradicate what they're scared of ( suppress - out of sight, out of mind - the political approach: Witch hunts, pograms etc)
The Sleeper Syndrome, is where the terror/ joy effect of the 'unknown' , enters our life. It is down to joining a different world/ reality as a plant (spy) and having blended in so well that you think you're a genuine member of that community, until disturbed by the 'other side' again (ghost/old friend/alien abduction reaction - denial of pre-birth or walk-in agreements etc (spirit world/ other dimensions). It's the same thing as The Stockholm Syndrome or identification dilemma's (Who am I? Why am I here? What am I doing or supposed to be doing, here?).
When you catch somebody 'doing their act' (trying to create an impression/ project a particular image) they usually become embarrassed because they know it isn't the genuine them but pretense (Kids games). Games players become so focused all other realities/ viewpoints (outside distractions) are ignored: By the way, all games are guessing games, that is being inside and knowing/ doing, and being outside, looking in and wondering what's going on (self and other illusion).
The unknown is a tap on the shoulder that wakes up to the reality of the bigger picture, that we miss from focusing on one particular part of reality (missing the forest because you're concentrating on one particular tree).
The unknown is the escape route from the barrier of the known (sensory world). It is nothing at all and that is what is so frightening about it. It is total freedom and the chance to explore endless possibilities, rather than a single certainty.
It's easier to distinguish between things you love and hate, than those you're indifferent to. This is the whole basis of learning. If you have no interest in certain subjects, they blur into the background (fade to grey) but our prejudices, pro or anti, bring things clearly out into the foreground and hold our attention (distinctly black and white - stand out from the crowd)
The Future has no identity. It is turning upwards and outwards and facing the unknown. The past is nothing but identity and is hanging onto the certainty of what was, rather than facing what is or what will be. It is turning our backs on the challenge of change, by turning downwards and inwards into thought as opposed to action. It is being afraid of The Undiscovered Country because it means stepping into an uncertain world, based on nothing more solid than trust. It is being afraid of returning to a state of childhood (innocense) and exposing ourselves to the change of status this entails (learner, not leader i.e. professional/ adult - no longer competent and knowledgeable in the world but at the bottom of the pile again, starting from scratch: You can't take it with you/ It is as easy for a camel to go through the eye of a needle as it is for a rich man to enter paradise).
Life is voluntary - death is obligatory. What this means in practical terms is that if you try to force somebody to do something, they'll dig in their heels and resist because your action will lead them to question your motives ('If it's so good, why aren't you volunteering to do it, rather than trying to force me to do it?'). This is also why gentleness is strength because you are resisting the urge to try to push somebody into doing something and instead allowing them to make up their own mind about the situation instead. Bullying shows distrust and allowance, trust.
You can't manipulate someone that doesn't want anything from you - this is the whole basis of freedom. Dependency equals addiction. Remember - addiction isn't addiction, if it isn't unsatisfactory or unsatisfying in some way: If it doesn't last or you want to change it as an effect, then it's addictive. Misery and a sense of injustice (all negativity in fact) is addiction - whereas happiness, satisfaction, and longevity of effect isn't (positive mental attitude). Addicts are slaves (weak) - only non-addicts are free (Slaves believe, not in justice but revenge against others for what they imagine life has done to them - innocents, who know they are the guilty i.e. responsible for their own actions, blame no-one else but themselves for their predicament and therefore don't project their fears onto others outside but try to understand their own motives inside, for all that they've done and so stay free as spirits (adults not addicts)).
The only cure for addiction is freedom (letting go of the certain past in order to embrace an uncertain future: This is why in shamanic circles death is embraced as a friend because it is this sense of release (leap of faith, where the old is let go so that the new can be reborn from its ashes, like a phoenix).
Life is an addiction which addicts don't want to give up because it means parting with their illusions and societal pimps don't want them to either as that is the source of their livlihood (predator and prey/ carnivore and herbivore: The chain or heirarchy of one flea on the back of another flea, ad infinitum). The only cure is death but this doesn't mean of the body necessarily but of old ideas, old habits, ways of living.
Life is a cycle of binge and revolt (loving your addiction or being tempted into it again, then repulsed at the 'sense' of degradation you have over it and the price you pay for involvement in this particular way of life you've choosen: 'All that glitters turns out to be mold' /life in fairyland). Disgust can be physical at the condition you find yourself in or mental at knowing you've been tricked into actions you later regret (Fool me once - shame on you; fool me twice - shame on me). We're always defeated by our own feelings, never the actions of others in this respect. Doubt is the mechanism that leads us to withdraw as certainty leads us into action (addiction).
Pimps are not interested in curing addicts (Their bread and butter), however they do pander to their 'wants' in order to give the illusion they care. Both are trapped in fear of going beyond their present condition. Attention addiction (Shallow, short lived celebrity status i.e. not earned but actively sought as opposed to the creative, heroic people who are just plain ordinary and either love what they do or think nothing of their acts) is the worst form of it in many respects as it is this that forms the chain of command.
A religious martyr dies for their beliefs - not kills others for theirs. Another thing is that they don't go out to die deliberately but are killed by others trying to shut them up (the jealous or frightened (suppressives)). All they want to do is pass on their message to mankind and won't be silenced by fear of death, only by the act itself and even then their message of hope and change is so powerful that it lives on after them .
Anybody who claims to be religious and isn't tolerant, isn't religious at all. Tolerance (putting up with) means being happy with what you have. Rebellion and greed (wanting an easy, wealthy life of notoriety) is the opposite of religion and tolerance. It's being driven by fear, to destroy what others have and interefere in their lives. It is not allowing them to be self-determining adults, giving their services to the greater community, voluntarily. It is instead trying to force rather than allow action to occur, naturally. Long suffering or short tempered? Builder or destroyer of worlds?
Apology (forgiveness) is the act of trying to reconnect to those we've severed relations with, in thought or deed. It is trying to rebuild bridges to those whose actions we've feared because we could not understand them.
Superstition is the opposite of faith (trust). It's holding onto the past (certainty/ habit) out of fear, of what the future (the unknown) may bring, instead of embracing it.
SHORT THOUGHTS
The only thing we ever truly fight is our own ignorance
Fear forces - courage allows
Life is voluntary - death is obligatory
As we go through the universe, the universe goes through us (Things don't so much change as ex-change)
Religion is not a football match - it's not our team versus your team but us up against our own ignorance as individuals and groups
Heaven is release up and out - hell, binding down and in
We make Go(o)d in our unity and the (D)evil by our disunity
God is a mirror - if we walk towards him, he'll walk towards us; if we turn our backs on him and walk away, he'll turn his back on us and walk away
Thought stops action - action stops thought
Doubt leads to answers - certainty, to action
Yesterday was the nightmare, tomorrow, the dream and today the reality
Nothing matters and every-thing doesn't (Zen)
You either spend money to save lives or save money at a cost to life
How anything works is how everything works
Life is a joke and death is the punchline
A modest life creates modest problems - an immodest one, big ones
Violence is not, not caring enough but caring too much
Fear is always of the unknown - horror, of the known
Time is spiritual wealth
The frightened are frightening
Panic is fearing that you don't have the space to act or the time to think things through
You can't reason with an unreasonable man (solid barriers/ physical manifestations are the only things that hold back the insane, illiterate or ignorant (can read but won't - too angry/ rebellious to obey warning signs i.e. children/ animals/ criminals)
The addicts dilemma - how much is too much? how little is not enough?
Greed is fear of not having enough
What we take seriously, we attack - what we take lightly, we dismiss (leave alone)
Intelligence = life/ Ignorance = death
We take things apart to understand them (analysis) and put them back together again, to make them work
Sound expands our attention up and out (releases it/ relaxes us) - sight draws it down and in (binds it/ creates stress)
Prejudice is hiding from possibility (The challenge ofchange/ adaption)
Fear 'inter-fears' - courage leaves alone
Everytime we move our position, (literally or figuratively) hope is renewed - Everytime we settle, despair is rekindled
If we didn't feel inferior, we wouldn't act superior
Truth is spontaneous - lies have to be rehearsed (genuineness splutters in shocked confusion - pat answers appear on the lips of the guilty because they expect to be accused of that which they've done in actuality)
Life for the spirit is a size ten foot in a size five shoe
Life is hide and seek - death is being found
All the wrongs in the world are committed by people who think they are right
