Archive for September, 2006

Free Thinking

Tuesday, September 19th, 2006

I was thinking the other night. Always dangerous.

Anyway, I was reading a certain kind of Indian philosophy, were they believe that this human life is nothing but intense suffering, and we should devote hours every day to rising above it so that we can move on to the next level. They have a sense of urgency about it, as if everything else is a waste of your time.

While most of what they talk about I know is very true, there is something about their concluding stance that does not sit easily with me. And that is why I love one of the tenants of the philosophy I follow – I don’t call myself by the name of any one religion or set of beliefs, because by so doing, I would bind myself to the limitations inherent in every one of these religious or belief systems.

There must be limitations, because these are systems of thought devised by man, and man in his state of development is simply not able to comprehend everything. And that is precisely what God is – EVERYTHING.

I found it quite ironic that when I did a search of the phrases “Free Thought” and “Free Thinking” and learned that the common use of those phrases is an extreme form of atheism, where the people involved think that they have freed themselves from the shackles of conventional thinking, and religions that they see as false.

I am sorry, but if you can not spot the Divine Hand in your daily life, then you are right back at the very start of your journey of consciousness, and there is not much else that can be discussed with you.

mauritius free

I view Free Thinking as something very, very different. I view it as the ability to read and study all religions, all cultures, all societies, all ways of life, and gain from them insights into the nature of life, and into the power and intelligence that is behind it all. Because each society has learned some important lessons over the years, and you absorbing this can lift and grow your understanding. It is like the Vedas, where the teachings are a bunch of short phrases, written with the intent that some of them will suddenly highlight a point of Reality in your mind when you read it, and for a moment illuminate a part of the Universe for you, or a part of your Self.

As I always repeat, the different forms of religion are just different societies ways of interpreting God, moulded to some extent to their form of thinking. Invariably, these religions are started by an exceptionally enlightened being who comes to their society and blasts it wide open with his visionary thinking and closeness to God. But just as invariably, after the passing of the Master, human interpretations and limitations and start to cloud the shining messages brought by the Master. However, these systems still leave a good guideline and support system for some people, and for that reason I am not against religions. What I am very against, is people thinking that there dogmatic views are the only correct view, and everyone else is wrong and damned as a result. It is a pathetic way of thinking and deserves no time.

Anyway, let me get back to my point. It was regarding the viewing of this life as a trap which we must escape at all costs. I think that there must be more calmness about our current position. We are here, because it is exactly where we belong. Yes, there is a path ahead of us, and yes, we can but only evolve over the thousands of years ahead of us. We can not wallow in the same state forvever. But here I enjoy the Buddhist view, that we have eternity to evolve, and will end up enlightened, so we may as well enjoy the ride. So they have calmness and equanamity, and are hereby able to live with satisfaction an entire life as a peasant and take one tiny step closer to perfection. This, even though the first teaching of Buddhism is “Life is Suffering”.

I think I enjoy this Buddhist view because it teaches me some patience. We must not hate where we are, or who we are. We have worked for millenia to get to this point. That is quite a potent thought, isn’t it?

That is why I like to be unfettered by set ways of thinking, and why it is important for me to sculpt my own understanding of the Universe. Because while I fully understand the illusion of this Earthly life, and know that only the true spiritual joys are real and lasting, there are some real and simple pleasures in this life, that it is worth cherishing. Lying under the stars with one for whom you feel affection. Watching the sun set over the sea. Waking up on a morning that you have all for yourself. Listening to fine music. Sitting down to a delicious meal in good company. Setting off on an exploratory trip. Achieving some difficult professional goal.

While we are in this human life, we must make the very most of it. And in so doing so, we will make the very most of ourselves too. And that is where our free will really lies. How much will we make of this life, of this divine opportunity to know ourselves, and to know God?

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I was wrong.

Saturday, September 2nd, 2006

I was wrong. There is something worse than spam.

Gay Spam.

Why is the world such a shitty place sometimes?

Posted in The lighter side | 2 Comments »

Modern “health”

Saturday, September 2nd, 2006

The last few weeks have made me look really hard again at modern life and the medical industry in the west.

I had a minor ailment, so I went to see a specialist. While he was accurate in diagnosing the symptom, his prescribed treatment left a lot to be desired. First of all, a symptom is just that, an indication of an underlying cause. So, surely it makes sense to treat the cause, and not the symptom? Well, his prescription was aimed solely at the symptom, and he did not even try to consider what the cause was. Secondly, his treatment consisted of prescribing anti-histamines and cortisone, two substances that you do not want to be putting in your body. And thirdly, the items he prescribed were very expensive. So, I left not feeling satisfied. It reinforced my view on the big shortcoming of the traditional western medical services. There is an industry about treating the sick. It should be about keeping healthy, a state of wellbeing. Like with the Ancient Chinese, where your doctor received a retainer and had to pay you if you became ill, because he was failing.

I knew the symptoms were due to allergic reactions, and this at least he could confirm. But what he missed, is that our allergic reactions are pronounced when our bodies are in a toxic state. When our bodies are in a clean and healthy state, we would have hardly any allergies. Or hardly any ailments, for that matter.

Anyway, I knew that my system was not at its cleanest, mainly because I have not had my annual week long fast in more than a year. And while I live fairly healthily, for a while I am being very strict to give my physical system a chance to catch up. Absolutely no alcohol, coffee, sugar, fried foods, white bread, red meat. The coffee and sugar were most difficult for me to avoid.

Being removed from it, and watching the way people eat with a keener eye, has been a slightly stomach turning experience. I just can’t believe the crap that people put into their bodies. I am at the point where I stop and have outbursts at people I hardly know – “Dammit, look at the crap you are putting in your body. Haven’t you heard that expression, that your body is your temple?”

Because, it really is. It is our tool for this life. The material body that together with the mental system, provides the spirit with the vehicle it needs for this life. While grosser than spirit and not as sacred, it is still a divine gift, and the way we treat it is nothing else but negligence. Our own actions are vandals, and the spirit inside us must wince at what we do to it. Our bodies are designed to work perfectly in a natural setting, but look how we abuse it.

Preservatives that give the suppliers longer shelf life but sit in your body.
Colourants that serve no practical purpose but make the food a garish colour, and then pollute your body.
Huge quantities of highly processed sugar that give you a buzz, and then a dump so you need more.
Heavily processed food, completely lacking in nutrients and prana (life force) so you may as well not even eat it.
Fried food, saturated in fat.
And then we keep our bodies trapped all day in large steel structures of sky scrapers, with the same effect as a Faraday cage, preventing any electric charge reaching our bodies so our batteries literally run flat. Living sedentary lives, getting no exercise, our bodies wasting and becoming soft and fat and weak.

It is not right. I want to spend a lot of energy in my life working on this, not just my own habits, but those of others. Help them find a better alternative. I think a chain of healthy food outlets is a good idea later.

Like everything I write about, there is nothing better to assist with this than yoga practice. They say that the food a person eats is a direct reflection of their state of development. As you get more in tune with your body and spirit, you can no longer tolerate certain things. And as you improve your diet, this also improves your spiritual position.

The food we eat directly affects our state of being. Apart from the physical health aspects, it directly affects our minds. Delinquent children taken off sodas and burgers, suddenly calm down. A mind in a body that eats bacon and other assorted crap, can simply not vibrate at a higher level and be able to perceive finer aspects of life. Through poor living, we trap ourselves in our own morass, and then wonder why we get stuck.

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