Brazil Is About To Show The World How A Modern Democracy Collapses Far-right president Jair Bolsonaro is a threat to Brazilian democracy — and a model for authoritarianism that leaders around the world will follow.
"We are not here to see through one another. We are here to see one another through."
I turn 72 this August and, except for people's kindness, find less and less reason to focus wisdom except as it is incarnated in behavior.
There is "talking the talk."
And "walking the walk."
And often it seems that focusing the former distracts from the latter. (Not always, but often.)
My limited involvement with meditation suggests that the mind is a "bubble machine" and our thoughts are the bubbles.
We attach to them because they are distractions. https://www.etymonline.com/word/distraction (It is not coincidental that "distraction" is central to the phrase "driven to distraction" - a kind of low level lunacy.
Distraction "takes us away" from the "straight shot reality" of our lives and how that straight shot -- taken "neat" (as Brits say when drinking liquor straight) -- can be the place where "we" meet.
But make no mistake.
Meeting is seldom (rarely?) easy.
For me - and for many - meeting seems too real.
"The bubbles," on the other hand, provide (or seems to provide) protection, insulation, escape.
Begging the question... protection, insulation and escape from what?
Towards the door we never opened Down the passage which we did not take Footfalls echo in the memory Point to one end, which is always present. What might have been and what has been Time present and time past Are both perhaps present in time future And time future contained in time past.
I
Into the rose-garden. My words echo Thus, in your mind. But to what purpose Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves I do not know.
I
Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children, Hidden excitedly, containing laughter. Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind Cannot bear very much reality. Time past and time future What might have been and what has been Point to one end, which is always present.
I
At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless; Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is, But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity, Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards, Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point, There would be no dance, and there is only the dance. I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where And I cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time.
II
Time past and time future Allow but a little consciousness. To be conscious is not to be in time But only in time can the moment in the rose-garden, The moment in the arbour where the rain beat, The moment in the draughty church at smokefall Be remembered; involved with past and future. Only through time time is conquered.
II
Words move, music moves Only in time; but that which is only living Can only die. Words, after speech, reach Into the silence.
V
Or say that the end precedes the beginning, And the end and the beginning were always there Before the beginning and after the end. And all is always now. Words strain, Crack and sometimes break, under the burden, Under the tension, slip, slide, perish, Will not stay still.
V
Desire itself is movement Not in itself desirable; Love is itself unmoving, Only the cause and end of movement, Timeless, and undesiring Except in the aspect of time Caught in the form of limitation Between un-being and being.
V
Sudden in a shaft of sunlight Even while the dust moves There rises the hidden laughter Of children in the foliage Quick now, here, now, always— Ridiculous the waste sad time Stretching before and after.
V
I only recently discovered the life and work of Baba Amte, "A Man With An Oil Can."
PS What is the sound of one hand slapping? Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
On Thu, Jan 3, 2019 at 2:37 AM LJB wrote:
Alan and Carol The people I am relating to now are in retirement age and/or passing away. Especially my friends with disabilities .
I find myself taking stock of the things I have or have not done or planned for.
I know that the doctrine of karma exists but a person cannot foresee complications or outcomes of choices we make or of expectations of oneself and others in life in general. I would think by now I'd be wise and understand these things? But reality slaps everybody in the face. Happy New Year
Sent from my iPad
cs
3:26 AM (6 hours ago)
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Hi Larry - and Alan -
We do think karma exists… but like most things, there is no way of proving it. My out-of-body experience (unbidden or planned for - I was supposed to be killed and was not - I asked to come back - mainly to spare my family) left me with certainty that consciousness of all of us, goes on, forever. There is a ‘higher power’. That has given me some peace of mind. What you may have wanted to get accomplished in this life, will be rectified over many lives. Take some comfort from this.
It is very hard to know if we had a ‘successful’ life this time. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Live as good a life as you can… be kind and forgiving to others in your life — while never losing track of the people and things that need to be corrected… this does not give a pass for accepting the cruelty of some people. But recognize that the good people far outweigh the evil. The evil takes a bigger focus because of the damage they do to us and this world. The world is transitory but the soul is not. The feelings I had on the other side, were peaceful and warm. We endure as best we can. And keep going forward.
Yes, you would expect (hope??) that wisdom comes with aging… haha maybe not. But learn what you can and especially, be kind. Others suffer and we should bear up as best we can and have great sympathy for all who do. Life is meant to be a learning experience… some of us just undertake more ‘lessons’ than others… maybe it hastens our release from the Wheel in shorter order. All our questions will be answered.
We look forward to seeing you in chat whenever you come in. They are your friends too. Many suffer more than others. But we will look out for each other.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. The Hard, Central Truth Of Contemporary Conservatism
The hard, central "fact" of contemporary "conservatism" is its insistence on a socio-economic threshold above which people deserve government assistance, and below which people deserve to die.
The sooner the better.
Unless conservatives are showing n'er-do-wells The Door of Doom, they just don't "feel right."
Almost "to a man," contemporary "conservatives" have apotheosized themselves and now -- sitting on God's usurped throne -- are rabid to pass Final Judgment.
Self-proclaimed Christians, eager to thrust "the undeserving" through The Gates of Hell, are the very people most likely to cross its threshold.
Remarkably, although they are prone to believe all manner of Trumpeted nonsense, none of them are tempted to believe in their own spiritual peril.
Alan: Trump -- who launched his presidential campaign with the birther hoax and supposed need for a xenophobic, largely ineffectual wall -- is the ultimate beneficiary of conspiracism.
Even though a few conspiracy theories may have truth in them, the overwhelming majority of these theories work to advance the cause of Trumpism and other forms of unhinged, existentially-destructive conservatism.
Even though I recognize that "something" does not "square" between "The Official Story of 9/11" and "facts on the ground" -- and although I respect the Kennedy family's suspicions concerning "The Warren Report" -- I will go to my grave resisting almost all manifestations of the conspiratorial swamp.
Note well:
Conspiracism is fundamental to America's unraveling, a political, social and cultural deconstruction which for many conservatives -- particularly "conservative""Christians" -- is The Goal.
Just eliminate the "built-up" evils of earth, and God - ex machina - will make it all "better."
Alan: Ultimately, Trump supporters are enemies of Civilization itself.
As haphazard and broken as civilization may be, it is "something to work with," not the apocalyptic "purging of the earth" that aspires to "start over" through "purifying conflagration" - a "fire next time" that will be no more successful than The Garden of Eden, or Noah "re-starting" the world with his own "righteous kin," people who within a generation, were at least as degenerate as the antediluvian world.