Monday, December 26, 2011

embrace the Whole!!!

We sometimes feel life as something simple, almost obvious, something that doesn't demand any thinking: it's simple here, now, and it is as clear as the sky. Let's drink it, live it, fully, and not think about it.

There is, however, a problem with this approach: it doesn't fit the big picture. It fits some kinds of lives: lives where everything is settled from the start. Where you're told what to want, how to behave, what to do, what to expect. And, of course, in that setting, we're like puppets, we don't why, we just know how.

Of course, getting to know other cultures and other people and other ways of thinking and doing things, shatter this obvious way of looking at the world. And if we look even further, beyond the human citadel, we will see even stranger things. Animals and plants, rocks and starts, whole Galaxies swirling around a black hole. New dimensions, unimaginable scales, unimaginable complexity.

What the world as lost now in simplicity and obviousness it has gained in grandeur, and, at least it seems that way to me, in Great Beauty.

So, what are we, minuscule grains of dust, in this immense universe? And how should we live given our minute importance? In fact, none of us is even supposed to be here, we are, each one, the happening of such an improbable set of circumstances, that the probability of me occurring is very close to zero.

I shouldn't have happen, that doesn't mean I'm a mistake, it just means that, if time went back to before the time of my conception, even just a few minutes, and come forth again, I would certainly not exist. The odds would be close to nothing.

Ant yet we all we've got. I'm all that I have. Once the I is gone, then the world will be kept away from me. Even if I do remain as some kind of disembodied soul, I wouldn't be able to smell the grass, to touch anyone's face, not even my own, to talk, to oppose, to submit, to engage, to propel. I will be closed now, and, even if that magical hypothesis is real, I would be almost completely shut off the world, and the only thing that could bind me to it would be the desire to learn, to observe, without being able to change anything, and the desire to keep somehow close to what I love, even by mere observation.

Of course, many of us would laugh at that prospect, like one laughs at the idea of a Santa Claus. Good for children and to keep the spirits up, but a folly, although a comfortable one, they might say.

Whatever the case may be, what seems certain is that we are here now. We can act, at least it seems so. And that's quite rare. We are a kind of universal agent. We can do lots of things. Not in the sense that we are powerful to do them, but in the sense that we at least can imagine lots of things. Perhaps we should say that we, as a species, are closer to be a universal imaginator than any other living creature that we know of.

But in any case, what can or should we do with our lives? Look at the stars, kiss the dogs, make love all day and night, read a lot, make art, watch football on tv? What shall we do then to enjoy, to make the most out of our lives?

well of course, everyone seems to have a different answer to that question. Some people would be miserable to what makes others live in Paradise. And is there something common to everybody?

Well, one thing we have all in common is this: we are all part of reality, we are some of its immense possibilities. We are parts of reality playing with other parts of reality. All a big family, or, perhaps even better, all parts of the same thing.

So I'd say
Embrace the whole
embrace the whole
embrace the Whole
embrace the WHOLE...


embrace it, as far as you can, as deeply as you can, for as long as you can,

and your life will be full, the fullest it can ever be...

Of course, I'm expecting you want to be full,
don't take this in any sexual way...
you might be offended

but, if you're not, take it anyway you want.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Anders Behring Breivik

The guy who killed several people in Norway and who two court-psychiatrists considered crazy doesn't seem crazy at all: he has a huge 2083 manifesto and also this quote:
“Before we can do anything, there must be a we.”

And this we is made from a tight-knit group of persons, for instance they would prefer to live in the 1950's Europe, where there was no promiscuity and weird ideas about homosexuality and love, where women wouldn't get to keep their children in case of divorce, in order to keep them from wanting a divorce! A culture idolizing power and ruled by powerful males, unencumbered by matriarchal influences. Later on (p. 1176) a revealing passage exposes the "myth" about love:

"The myth about marriages based on love must be deconstructed
The illusion about love in a relationship between a man and a woman is the sum of
irrational feelings based on desire. When love fades, and it always does, there is little to
hold the relationship together. The mass media has been allowed to condition people to
believe in a myth that does not exist. A marriage must be forged as an institution for the
raising of children. Marriage must be based on a specific agreement between a man and
a woman who creates an advanced pact which must have a minimum validity of at least
20 years. This pact must be forged upon the mutual interest to achieve a goal based on
cooperation, on friendship, proper communication and on mutual respect - not on love.
The irrational emotions known as desire are often mistaken as love. Irrational desire
must never be the fundament of marriage, however love may eventually come, and it is
something that is built over time.
The problem in our society is that the people are deliberately misguided by the media,
who for various reasons have built a myth and several misconceptions about love. A large
proportion of people who get married are set to fail due to these misconceptions. And it
is not necessarily their fault as they have been misguided by the media and society in
general who are building and continue to maintain false illusions.
The media should not be allowed to continue to misguide people by propagating lies as it
ruins a massive amount of relationships and marriages. The truth about love must
become the new concept and norm:
Love is not about finding the right person, but creating a right relationship. It's not about
how much love you have in the beginning but how much love you build till the end! As for
marriages, a man has to realise that marriage is not an institution for unlimited sex, but
an institution for raising children. This must be taught to people from childhood so they
make fewer mistakes later. Too many people spend their whole life and all their resources
to look for a white rabbit that does not exist. Telling people the truth is the only right
thing to do as it will not only benefit the individual, but society as well."

I am sure that this works well for many people let them have it! But why should I, who don't agree with this, be forced to accept this particular interpretation of what life is for and how it should be lived? Now, any culture who wants to force its ideals on others must be ready for the fight-back. And if these guys are willing to kill anyone who doesn't agree with them, why shouldn't they receive what they are willing to give so generously?

These guys criticize Islam for forcing their culture through violence, but that is precisely what they're doing, they are forcing their ideas on everyone else!

This does not mean that everything they say is wrong. There are many things there that should be discussed and thought about by the public at large. But that should happen in the public arena, presenting facts, arguments and realistic alternatives together with an analysis of their pros and cons. We need a scientific man, not a tribal woosh-woosh branding their arms and weapons.

But whoever is willing to hit and to make violence his main compelling instrument (instead of reason) must be prepared to be hit back. And we should hit this guy really, really bad. He should die at least as badly as the people who died at his hands. Justice as we have it doesn't apply to these kinds of guys. We need to get Medieval on his... (Pulp Fiction quote).

No more "mr. nice guy" with guys that are not nice...

(How can these guys fail to devise the most obvious thing of all: that they are exactly like the people they are criticizing and fighting against, it's only superficial things that change, like the name, rituals and words, the authoritarian base is exactly the same, terrorism, proposed state organization, rule of the stronger, etc, included.)