Habits of Happiness
January 21st, 2008
Real Reality
January 12th, 2008
Reclaim Your Mind
October 25th, 2007
Myth of Myself
October 15th, 2007
Forms of Government
September 16th, 2007
From the Tao Te Ching, 57 and 58:
Applies to both the current state of capitalistic republic in the US and the religious republic in Iran:
“If you want to be a great leader,
you must learn to follow the Tao.
Stop trying to control.
Let go of fixed plans and concepts,
and the world will govern itself.The more prohibitions you have,
the less virtuous people will be.
The more weapons you have,
the less secure people will be.
The more subsidies you have,
the less self-reliant people will be.Therefore the Master says:
I let go of the law,
and people become honest.
I let go of economics,
and people become prosperous.
I let go of religion,
and people become serene.
I let go of all desire for the common good,
and the good becomes common as grass.If a country is governed with tolerance,
the people are comfortable and honest.
If a country is governed with repression,
the people are depressed and crafty.When the will to power is in charge,
the higher the ideals, the lower the results.
Try to make people happy,
and you lay the groundwork for misery.
Try to make people moral,
and you lay the groundwork for vice.Thus the Master is content
to serve as an example
and not to impose her will.
She is pointed, but doesn’t pierce.
Straightforward, but supple.
Radiant, but easy on the eyes.”
Focusing Intent
August 18th, 2007
Focusing intentions into action is a very powerful act. Most of our mental energy is spent thinking how to get what we want, worrying about the past and future, anxiety about losing what we have, our relationships and shortcomings, etc. If one is able to see this from a third-party perspective, it may seem ridiculuos as it usually leads to mental anguish and no positive results. As we age, our mental baggage and negative reflection only increases with our experiences. A certain amount of thinking and pre-planning is necessary, but running the same anxieties over and over is detrimental and debilitating. Instead, if we choose to clear our head, determine a logical path, and focus our will on action, we will bring to fruit much more in life.
Easier said than done! This step is one that requires consistent awareness of thought, and to achieve this, one must practice. Like anything, it will get easier with time. At first it will be difficult, but all that is required to start this is a seed of intention. So go for a long walk, find your true calling, practice awareness, and then focus your intention on it.
On another note, I’m off to Iran for three weeks to visit family. Every time I go it’s a life-changing experience, and I’m sure this time it won’t be any different.
Peace
Neitzche and The Self
August 1st, 2007
Carrying on on The Paradox of Choice post, Arthur Schopenhauer was an influential figure on the philosophy of Neitzche:
Neitzche’s is a story of quest for truth outside the constraints of traditional religion (in his case Christianity). He managed to kill the notion of a judging God who intervenes, and replaced the vacuum with his own powerful yet suffering mind to navigate the path of life. Obsessed with the idea of overcoming the ordinary life, he advocates a free existentialism that helped plant the seeds of the ideals of freedom in Western society today. One of unlimited progress and choice, yet ultimately nihilistic, void of happiness and morality as we saw Adam Curtis videos. Neitzche advocates transcending the self, yet he attempted to achieve this through the use of the self, which creates a unique conflict of interest. His attempt to create a new system of values to replace the old was his downfall that led to madness.
How can we not fall into the trap of Neitzche’s selfish search for meaning through the self? The self can be thought of as a master that controls us, a never satisfied beast that leads only to a path of aimless wandering.
Taking it one step further, UG describes the root of this thirst:
You are interested in the self, not I. Whatever it is, it is the most important thing for man as long as he is alive. If you don’t think it never occurs to you that you are alive or dead. The very birth of thought creates fear and it is out of fear that all experience springs. Both inner and outer worlds proceed from a point of thought. Everything you experience is born out of thought.
So everything you experience or can experience is an illusion. The self-absorption in thought creates a self-centeredness in man—that is all that is there. All relationships based upon that will inevitably create misery for man. These are bogus relationships. As far as you are concerned, there is no such thing as a relationship. And yet, society demands not just relationships but permanent relationships.
-UG Krishnamurti from The Natural State
