My life on The Rainbow Arc

Photo by James Wheeler on Pexels.com

I must be extremely fortunate and/or lucky. I have known and reflected about the great rainbow arc of my life over many years, marveled at the wonder of it all and rejoiced in the adventure.

As a child of about three or four I remember the wild joy of exploration: running away from my mother in a park – seeing around the bend. And the distinct memory of carefully climbing over tree roots.

This translated into a love of reading, writing and learning all that I could. This remains with me to this day. Since grade school I longed to be a therapist and author. Later therapist gave way to becoming a healer.

How did it give way?

I was already working in an Alternative Mental Health Crisis Residential Treatment program…

I was “called” by Spirit to become a healer. One night I asked God what I was supposed to do with my life and the next morning I got an answer. That answer led me to assisting a woman in saving her from committing suicide. She saved herself, I was there to reflect and support her through her grief.

The point: I have always examined my choices and looking back, noticing patterns and choices of the past my dreams and visions have led me to where I am now: an adventurer in consciousness.

I would not say this has been a conscious life, but one where awareness has been applied. I am still working towards waking-up through the layers of sleep and comfort.

The Illusion of Democracy

I think the late George Carlin in one of his ominous stand-up performances said that we live under the illusion we live in a democracy since our representatives have been bought by conservative and liberal corporate interests and we are slaves to them. That’s the largest part of the bad news going on now for many years since the late 1970s.

Part Two: Trump belongs to a cult of personality. His rhetoric is childlike with matching intellect. He is like a commoner with an over-stuffed ego. The people that identify with him see a path to The American Dream Myth* because they believe in the strong individualist akin to “John Wayne”. Trump and the “strong individualist man of the 1950s” are seen as saviors from a fiendishly complex world of the rich controlling the world and the existential climate crisis, etc. So whether they are the MAGA common folk or the aspiring rich and greedy they favor Trump-like characters.

The good news is the progressive wave amongst young people that have not yet been bought by money, greed and power are slowly taking office. The bad news is that this will take a long time to fulfill and we don’t have much time because the effects of the climate crisis are upon us.

Still, I have faith that eventually “we will overcome”.

___________________________________________________________

*The American Dream is a myth except those born into privilege – mainly those who are white, highly educated males who are have inherited money, real estate or assets. Most people fall into believing that anyone from any walk of life who is an American Citizen can achieve the American Dream. We have been taught and the MSM (main stream media) reinforces that there is no class structure in the United States of America. But in fact there are classes as there must be in this patriarchy – a hierarchical means of organizing the world based on the ownership of women, ownership of children and the ownership of people as slaves. It means owning land and by proxy owning mineral rights, oil rights, water rights as things for use and to discard what no longer makes money into garbage dumps, toxic waste dumps such as rivers and streams. You get the idea. Classes are based on skin color, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, gender, level of education, and sexual orientation. Based on over-population and the factors stated above very few achieve the American Dream.

Many are fooled into thinking that they can achieve this myth in a world-side system that is stacked against the majority of the population.

Our Place in Systemic Racism (emphasis – being white)

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

 

What is it?

Systemic Racism clearly exists but as a white male living in a mostly white, small city I have known this kind of racism exists. Because, currently I have no black friends, one Asian-American acquaintance; I am not confronted by systemic racism daily so I haven’t felt it, until recently. But I am a part of white male privilege and I have used compartmentalization to screen out the privileged system I am a part so I don’t feel its affects until recent events: the brutal murder of George Floyd. And the constant barrage of bigotry against people of color, non-Christians, Hispanics and so on.

This makes me a racist.

I am part of the system and up until now I have only been tacitly fighting against the systemic injustices (monthly donations to the SPLC, ACLU etc.). I have not used my privilege to help level the playing field. Inaction while pleading ignorance is inaction, indifference and systemic racism.

Anyone who is different is often shunned by their community and/or persecuted.

Most white people don’t think they’re racists when they are; because of prejudices of an exclusion mentality (us and them). On an individual basis of meeting a black man, woman, an Asian man or woman, or an indigenous American there is a kindness that may exist and treating people as equals in-person (taken out-of-context of “privilege”). As a group whether the people are thought of as different or consigned to a lesser-than position than another group then this is part of systemic racism and is most likely an unconscious response.

One reason we may not be aware of as members of a white privileged class is one of systemic laws that arise out of the Jim Crow Laws after the Civil War to redlining (economic denial of people of color based on segregation and location for private sector benefits as well as government benefits thus keeping people of color — mainly blacks — in economic slavery). In 2013 the Supreme Court struck down part of The Voting Rights Act of 1965 on the assumption that racism had been eliminated and as a result opening up states’ rights to discriminate against blacks and people of color. This along with gerrymandering to keep politicians in power — mainly Republicans currently. These are examples of systemic racism — and have been hidden from well-meaning liberals by Mainstream Media. Once again, here is the out-of-sight / out-of-mind rubric at work. It’s easier for privileged whites and white males to say they are not racist because of the body of laws that exist systemically to keep black people and people of color enslaved are hidden from public view.

“pull yourself up by your bootstraps”

Anyone who is different is often shunned by their community and/or persecuted. They may take up positions of isolation to feel safe. This is a two-tiered process of racism at work. Isolation in more obvious examples lead to segregation. Those who are shunned from the white communities are put in positions of “out-of-sight / out-of-mind”. However black people have contact with white people in the course of daily life. Due to many hundreds of years of oppression / slavery from injustices related to: economic, educational, social, police harassment, brutality and death and the (in)justice system including needless incarcerations of young black males, voting rights prejudices, bias and bigotry (written into law) are some of the examples of systemic racism.

If you were born into white middle- and upper-class culture you and I are a part of systemic racism whether we admit it or not. The first step in resolving a problem is admitting there is one.

 

The “Pull-Yourself-Up-By-Your-Bootstraps” Metaphor

What does this mean?

If it were so simple that’s what people with profound depression, or people of color would easily do if circumstances were fair or the playing field was all equal and level. The “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” metaphor is usually spoken offhandedly by those that consider themselves strong individualists often from white middle class or upper-class families (or disenfranchised white male members of Right-Wing or Neo-Nazi radicalized groups). They are firm believers in the American Dream: work hard and achieve your dreams. They have no idea that the American Dream is only available to those with privilege and wannabes (see end notes on wannabes). Being so entrenched or enamored with(in) the system of privilege they deny their place in it.

I didn’t want to give up the privilege of wearing a man’s body

So, they make idiotic, cavalier statements without understanding their so-called “superior” status in the world of privilege and dismiss others without it who often find themselves in positions of slavery.

 

Privilege and Exploitation

We shun or are afraid of others for their differences most times unconsciously. It has been my choice to isolate and privilege has allowed that option. From privilege comes advantage. From advantage comes exploitation.

Let somebody else do it.

Privilege, advantage and exploitation can easily be rationalized away as a racist stance by power-possessors and those who have money and the power that massive accumulations of money create. The bubble of Republicans before and after Trump has been one of male white power in a world being transformed by an influx of non-whites in numbers to the United States. Fear, prejudice and bigotry have been and are being manipulated by many Republicans to hold onto their power. Blame the Blacks, Hispanics, the Muslims, the Asian-Americans, the immigrants, the other to foment racist furor in those afraid of the changes.

 

Money and Transformation

And yet everyone who has some money would like to hang-on to it even if it means depriving others that may need it. The thought is – let the rich pay for the changes needed for economic transformation. Let somebody else do it. And so everyone thinks the same way whether its economic justice for all or remedying the climate crisis.

There may be an unconscious element at work in electing a president and other representatives. When we elect them, we trust them to do the right thing much the same as a child trusts a parent. We the people often leave the practice of democracy to others to our elected representatives and activists rather than joining with activists in a truly participatory democracy. After all we have had a marvelous tool to help us in participating in democracy computers and the Internet – but again for the privileged who can afford it.

If everything isn’t addressed at once from my pocketbook and yours. By everything I mean:

• Replacing Privilege with the Public Good
• Economic equity and justice
• Healthcare for all administered by Government through heavily regulated Insurance, Big Pharma, the AMA.
• Justice for All (especially for those that can’t pay for it)
• Prison Transformation
• Investments in Public Education
• Investments in the Postal service
• Investments in Public Infrastructure
• Balancing Police and Defense Spending with Public Investment
• Investments in Methods that Save the Planet from the Shortsightedness of Predatory Capitalism from industry and consumer/citizens point of view
• Replacing Predatory Capitalism and its singular focus on profit to the expense of all else, to a longer-term system based on human and planetary health.
• And more… (I’m sure I’m leaving something out.)

 

Let’s not leave anybody out because we cannot embrace our shadow and own the darker elements of our psyche.  The first step in solving a problem is the admission that we have one.

 

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*Wannabes – are people who live outside the American dream who may or may not be privileged. They are often NOT people of color. They believe so strongly in The American Dream and being the strong individualist that the public good does not enter their rubric of the American Dream. They look to and worship those that – in their eyes have achieved the American Dream and sacrifice all for either worshiping their heroes or amassing more and more money to achieve the Dream. But “More” is never enough.

Mercury Retrograde – Be a Change-Agent

In other words don’t play the Mercury retrograde blame game

planet Mercury

[This a reprint of an article from 2015 with current events added]

Mercury is retrograde from July 7th through July 31st 2019

Introduction

As an astrological practitioner I used to think that astrology was a correlative system developed by the ancients to match astronomical phenomena to current Mythos. According to an article by a physicist, astrology is the study of the relationships of electromagnetic fields around planets, stars, solar systems and galaxies. It feels that both are true. However since astrology is a tool, I don’t want to be thought of as just an Astrologer. I work as a Shaman with the tool of astrology in my bag.

Astrology is a tool to help us take charge and be a change-agent especially during the intensity of retrograding planets. Now’s the time, so take charge!

An astrology teacher once advised me not to go backpacking into Desolation Wilderness in the High Sierra of Northern California because of a Saturn transit which indicated a possible fall and broken bones. I told her: “I’ll be careful.” I didn’t fall nor did I break any bones.

I know people that use astrology to justify their fears and stop them selves from doing this or that because of what planet is this way or that way. I call this Victim-Astrology, the use of astrology as a way to curb behaviors as if there were a giant code in the sky that could tell us the right or wrong way to do something.  This could be an example of becoming a tool of astrology rather than using astrology as a tool.

Retrogrades and Mercury Retrograde

The term retrograde is applied to all planetary bodies in our solar system except Earth, the Moon and the Sun.  Retrograde is the apparent motion of a planet that appears to go backwards against the zodiac from the point of view of being on planet Earth.  A retrograding planet is an optical illusion. The planet is not going backwards in the sky (see the link at the end of this report for a visual demonstration and a second link for more information on retrograde motion). During a retrograde motion the planet is as close to the Earth as it will get during its orbit.

Western Astrologers claim that during Mercury retrograding communications become more difficult as if they weren’t already difficult enough. In addition to that thinking, contracts, machinery breakdowns (especially computers and automobiles), and travel snafus are more common during this time. Often times clients will call me to ask if Mercury is in retrograde because communications are off in their lives and more often than not the retrograde is not happening.

The complexity of our culture, the speed in which technology and change occur and the institutions that we once relied on for stability have been for many years have been destabilizing. Climate-change, growth of the power of Corporations, failures of governments are examples of the destabilizing factors. Looking to a phenomena beyond our control is a good way to – at the very least – explain what is happening and at worst is a way to abdicate our sense of responsibility and put the blame on Mercury retrograde.

Are we making a self-fulfilling prophecy when we blame Mercury Retrograde for our problems?  Probably.  If so this is an error in judgment when we blame Mercury retrograde for problems that could happen at any time.  What about all the events that go right during the Mercury retrograde period?  When you look for problems through the filter of Mercury retrograding are you not more likely to find them? Western Astrologers make the problems of Mercury Retrograde worse by playing on our fears. They write about adversity and those wishing to know more feed into these fears and make matter worse. Western Astrology assumes that the energies of a planet in retrograde make the energies go inward. This is deductive logic at work. Communications are difficult as I look for all the examples that make my case.  But logic is does not always reveal truth, for example – if all cops wear blue than if I am wear blue I must be a cop. When we fall victim to astrology, mainly Mercury Retrograde we may unwittingly fall into victim-think. Is it not better to rise to a challenge by meeting it when we feel able to do so, than running away because we are afraid?

Since Mercury is the closest planet to Earth and it is closer still during a retrograde period (usually 3 weeks 3 times per year) it follows that the electromagnetic influences may be more intense than when Mercury appears in direct motion (going forward against the background planets and stars). There seem to be three choices that could be made with regard to Mercury retrograding.

1. Engage in the intensity
2. Remain neutral, observing oneself and acting from a neutral base
3. Retreat, and meditate

I have come to see this as an empowering choice for clients and myself instead of a way to limit our actions due to a certain point of view. And in fact Vedic or Jyotish Astrology interprets retrogrades in the much the same way.

Other Planets Retrograding or going Retrograde / Direct in 2019

Jupiter remains retrograde until August 11 at 6:37am PDT at 14 Sagittarius 30

Uranus goes retrograde August 11 at 7:2 pm at 06 Taurus 37

 

Saturn remains retrograde until September 18 at 1:47am at 13 Capricorn 55

 

Pluto remains retrograde until October 2 at 11:39pm PDT at 20 Capricorn 38

Neptune remains retrograde until November 27 at 4:32am 15 Pisces 56

 

Mercury retrogrades on October 31 at 8:41am PDT at 27 degrees 58 seconds Scorpio

Mercury goes direct on November 20 at 11:12 am PST at 11 degrees 38 minutes Scorpio

 

An animation for retrograding Mars:

Animation Gif of Retrograding Mars

 

Learning & Transformation Part 2 of 4 – Struggle

Introduction

Most of us look at struggle as one or more odious tasks that must be completed on a regular basis. Our bias is a dislike of struggle. Psychological theory tells us that humans are pleasure seeking or at least avoidant of displeasure. The dislike of struggle builds a resistance to which our physical body is a receptacle for this tension.

The purpose of struggle is creating energy

Besides dislike, resistance to struggle is the second rationale to let odious tasks lay fallow and undone.

The Physical Body

Our physical or corporeal bodies represent a bank where all habits that we deem as good or bad are held in deposit ready for our use. When we are younger we tend to ride roughshod over the limits our body presents us with by employing our intellect and our will. A youthful body is quite flexible growing and changing. A plateau of growth is reached in middle age. Entropy accelerates with increasing age.

Without seeking truth, a higher ideal or employing inner work we may, using our dominant processing facilities; our prefrontal cortex/ cognitive brain to ignore and/or objectify our body as a projection of our minds. If we follow this rational to the exclusion of somatic knowing then we may miss the memories our body holds and the wisdom therein. We may also miss the speed in which our body learns and remembers actions especially gross physical actions such as riding a bicycle, dance steps or hang-gliding for example. By allying body memory with a neutral cognitive observer learning motion-oriented activities can be accelerated. Our culture is overly focused on the actions produced in the prefrontal cortex so body knowing is often discounted or objectified. This constitutes a loss and produces illusions that the cognitive self or ego uses to obfuscate somatic knowing and memory.

The battle between “yes” and “no”

Many memories that are forgotten, suppressed or repressed are recorded in the body and may never enter consciousness or may return to consciousness as isolated or fragmented snapshots of memory. Almost all experiences are recorded by the body and may be recalled as memories through associative thinking. Associative recall includes memories of actions that have become habits stored in body memory. When we execute habits our conscious attention recalls the actions stored in body memories which flits across our cognitive realms. Body memory associated with olfaction and other sensory organs allow quick access to our to interpretative cognitive faculties.

The Core of Struggle

All struggle is felt on a physical level via stress, anxiety and ending with resistance because we dislike and sometimes loathe struggle. The backstop of struggle is the physical body. Struggle itself is the battle between “Yes” and No”.

The third force in a battle of opposites is invisible.

The purpose of struggle is creating energy, but most of us get caught in a battle between “Yes” and “no” or the back and forth of dislike versus like. The result of this dichotomous battle depletes us so that no energy is created or goes unnoticed and is wasted.

Cultivation of the neutral observer is key

The battle between “yes” and “no” like any fight between opposites must have an out or endless squabbling is the unresolved end result. This is the nature of compromise. However most struggles don’t create energy are analogous to obsessive thinking patterns or circular thought. The third force in a battle of opposites is invisible. Just as atoms contain many waves and/or particles there are positively charged particles, negatively charged particles and particles that have no charge. The no-charge position could be referred to as neutral.

Cultivation of the neutral observer is key to recognizing the struggle between “yes” and “no” and the energy that is created. Energy that is is created once recognized is usually spent by the automatic process of habit. If the energy is saved then it may be used for further work in effective struggle.

Using the body as a starting point to cultivate the neutral is a way to dispassionately observe our self

Effective struggle begins with noticing its effects in how our bodies react to the battle between “yes” and “no”. If the neutral observation of struggle is not observed in the body then the mind / ego makes the struggle into illusion and fantasy. Detaching struggle from the body where ultimately all struggle is felt and remembered somatically allows the experience to float into the illusory “likes” of the mind/ego allowing whim and tangential / associative thought to run wild without a grounding to the body.

Autogenic Training is the place to begin cultivate the neutral within ( see End Notes below).

Using the body as a starting point to cultivate the neutral is a way to dispassionately observe our self and begin to gain information without opinion or judgment attached. As information is gathered and struggle observed then energy may be tracked and utilized more effectively in our quest for truth and evolution in consciousness into higher realms.

Guidelines for work with Struggle

1. Remember that struggle is felt in the body. Staying in the present moment is important in working with Struggle because our physical bodies exist only in the present.
2. Any beginning in the work with Struggle is best done with simple acts of the body. Without working from the body struggle becomes lost in an intellectual exercise or emotional fantasy of the past and future and is lost in terms of its ability to generate energy.
3. Most of our awareness in the present moment is caught up in attachment. This awareness cannot aide in the work with Struggle.
4. Choose a simple action-oriented task to in which to struggle. Organize struggle, in other words keep it simple don’t take on too much. Be persistent. Repeat the struggle often.
5. Do your best. This is especially important when we experience doubt.
6. Let go of regret when you experience failure. Regret and analysis of regrets removes us from the present moment and can become a trap.
7. Emotions change, intellect is often wild jumping from one topic to the next. By employing Autogenic Training, we can allow a neutral territory for out body to grow in knowledge.*

Some Notes

Learning and struggle belong to the mundane realms of linear reality and work. Work effectively and advancement can be expected given a relationship with a Teacher, guide or instructor.

END NOTES:

*Transformation by J.G Bennett p. 37-38, published by The Claymont Society for Continuous Education copyright 1978.

for further reading: A Primer – Autogenic Training

Learning_and_Transformation–Part_3

Learning and Transformation Part 1 of 4

 

Introduction to Learning and Transformation

Learning is the foundation for peak cognitive processing, interpreting modes of perception and whets the appetite for knowledge. Knowledge is the foundation for understanding and lays the groundwork for transformation through the four sources. The four sources [1] are:

• Learning
• Effective Struggle
• Sacrifice
• Help

 

Understanding the function, process and structures of thought is a beginning to perceiving the place of cognition in a quest for knowledge. Understanding and developing cognition is a good first step in exploring consciousness on all levels. Thought and cognition lay the groundwork for all learning.

Let us start where we are.

 

The Function and Process of Thought in Learning

PREREQUISITES OF CURRENT HUMAN THOUGHT PATTERNS:

Without a verbal language thought may not exist or exist in a way vastly different than we can currently comprehend. Written language assists in associative memory and an imaginative re-construction of “past” memories. When memories fall outside immediate personal experiences it is referred to as history. Belief often springs from the recording of mutual so-called “past” experiences or histories. All of human thought in our current stage of development is linked associatively. Associative thought is a binary linking of one thought with another. The legacy of associative thought is predicated on memory, without which identity is severely disabled and may even be obliterated. As you might surmise memory and time are linked within the context of an unfolding present moment. Within the context of associative thought the Western Mind presents two different sets of logic: deductive and inductive. A sense that is not connected to a specific biological function that is necessary for comprehension and memory is attention. Vision for example is connected to the eye and interpreted in our neo-cortex. Attention and memory cannot exist without the other. Nevertheless attention is a key process that aids in thinking, but there is no “Attention” organ that acts as an intermediary (like the eye) to the neo-cortex. Attention utilizes many perceptual inputs – from eyes, ears etc. and are organized as a continuum of unfolding memories.

[Note – the “past” doesn’t exist in the “past” it only exists as memories in the present. The “past” is a construct of language and time, which are inventions to manage life efficiently.]

Within the context of associative thinking is deductive and inductive logic or reasoning. Deductive logic follows from a premise seeking truth. A statement can be logical but not true:

• The police wear dark blue clothing.
• That woman is wearing dark blue clothing.
• Therefore that woman is a policewoman.

The logic is valid but the premise is not specific enough to illicit truth therefore the argument is unsound.

• Doctors at ERs wear white lab coats, carry stethoscopes and talk to a patients about  medical diagnoses.
• That woman in the ER wearing a white lab coat with a stethoscope is talking with a patient about a medical diagnosis.
• Therefore that woman is a doctor.

The logic is valid the premise is specific enough to illicit truth therefore the argument is sound.

Traditionally inductive logic observes data within a field and draws conclusions based on that data. In a revised definition of inductive logic the results may be proved as false based on some premises. Results of inductive logic are probable and are thought of as “strong” or “weak”. If they are ‘strong” they are either cogent or uncogent. If they are weak they are uncogent.

LEARNING

“Learn for the sake of learning!”

A teacher of mind was fond of saying.

In other words:

Learning is its own reward.

When learning arises from an on-going thirst to know and renew, then the process of continuous learning becomes an aim belonging to infinity. Aims are goals that can be repeated endlessly without being completely fulfilled and are inherent rewards. A goal has a beginning, middle and end. Goals belong to a finite world and could be about learning a skill where instruction is primary for example. Goals under the rubric of learning are not about “knowing” or connecting with people of knowledge but are about learning with a small “l” often learning by rote. Learning with an aim in the process of eternity in the moment is a creative leap that is self-renewing. When goals are connected to aims they help support continuous learning. Infinity learning is “learning for the sake of learning”. Learning is fueled by play and curiosity, which aid in the work.

Both finite and infinite learning are necessary for navigating our world. For the purposes of this exposition I am excluding most finite and infinite learning that does not pertain to transformation processes.

Infinite learning has many qualities that originate with childhood pre-language skills. Children when brought into a room without toys begin to play reflecting the facile and developing application of curiosity and invention. Below are some of the qualities of infinite learning:

• Curiosity
• Exploration
• Wonder
• Beginner’s Mind
• Questioning
• Answers that lead to more questions

When infinite learning is applied to truth seeking or a quest for truth a certain kind of knowledge is sought. In the past when a seeker read a book by a person of knowledge they would seek out the author to study with him or her, as in the time honored tradition of student-teacher. In our current time this is rarely true because of the volume of books published and the self-proclamation of the author as an expert. An expert may seem like a person of knowledge but if they are promoting it, it is usually not the case. A teacher can only teach a student when the student enters the relationship with “beginner’s mind”. If a student has too much information or has a bravado that purports to have more or as much knowledge as the teacher then the relationship won’t work. Students and teachers must have a “good fit”.

Here are some guidelines to learning when in search of truth:

1. A good first step in reading a book that speaks to “knowing” is to test this knowing on one’s own experience. Do you trust the source of the knowing? If so then the knowing may be accepted or temporary accepted until more evidence is gathered. Can you verify it? If you cannot, use your intuition to choose whether to discard it or put it aside until more information or experience is gathered.

2. There is no final or permanent knowing. All knowing is subject to change based on an array of variables including changes in your perspective.

3. Cross-reference what you have learned in two ways: 1. Compare information within the same system or the same “teaching” with one another; and 2. Use your intuition along with your common sense to verify the information or bit of knowledge that you’re examining.

3. Cultivate and practice a compassionate and neutral witness within without indulging in “likes’ or “dislikes”. Work to avoid theorizing. Theorizing takes you out of the present into worlds of imaginative speculation, illusion and fantasy.

4. Begin to utilize your intuition with your rational mind. Besides cross-referencing, intuition can go straight to a truth without “rational steps”. Later as you exercise the intuitive muscle you may open to a deeper method of exploration or utilizing somatic or “body” knowing.

5. Use the action questions of “how” and “what”.

5.1 – Banish “why” questions from your vocabulary. Why questions are about ultimate answers.  “Why” questions linger in a transcendental higher consciousness state which cannot be accessed at the beginning or middle of the journey towards truth. Why questions are intellectual traps that keep us cycling in a “cognitive only” understanding, which is ultimately limited due to its continuous circular focus. Avoid re-wording “why” questions into “how” questions.

5.2 – “How” questions and “What” questions are inexorably linked. Knowing “how” could result in endlessly doing something without purpose unless you know “what” you are doing.

5.3 – “How” questions belong to the practical and are instructional. “What” questions initially belongs to the theoretical and meaning. If I know how to do something and what purpose I am doing it there is a completion process thus closing a loop.

6. Growing in knowledge is never completed. Even if you cannot grasp where a fragment of specific or partial knowledge belongs in a bigger picture doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to expand yourself to meet its challenge. Beware of theorizing about partial knowledge – this can lead to imaginative fantasy and illusory beliefs.

7. Sharing what you have learned with others is valuable because it grows with interpersonal interactions. Teaching what you have learned when done from “beginner’s mind” exponentially increases new learning in both teacher and student. [2]

ATTENTION

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines attention:

1.
a : the act or state of applying the mind to something Our attention was on the game. You should pay attention to what she says.
b : a condition of readiness for such attention involving especially a selective narrowing or focusing of consciousness and receptivity. Students, do I have your attention?        

2.
: observation, notice; especially : consideration with a view to action, a problem requiring prompt attention

 Attention is an action of the mind, the will, of short sets of time linked by memory and strung together along the lines of binary association. When our attention is said to wander does this not break the bonds of a focusing of consciousness on a topic or line of reasoning through tangential and/or straying thoughts? When attention becomes focused we can follow the rigors of a logical deductive discourse or gather evidence to make an on-going argument with inductive reasoning to make a strong cogent conclusion.

Modern culture and primary education does little to support the cultivation and the skill of focusing attention. Understanding attention is a building block towards free thinking, superior reasoning, mastery and higher consciousness. Elementary through secondary education the word “attention” connotes a harsh disciplinary action or punishment delivered by teachers to students. Modern culture through the tech of smart phones, tablets, laptops, chats, social media and internet searches contributes to shattering attention spans in order to condition students into consumers under Predatory Capitalistic models of behavior. A vicious cycle occurs for developing attention spans into smaller diffuse focused packets and thus destroying opportunities for critical thinking, free thought and creativity.

Building attention is not an easy task even under the best of circumstances. Consumer (or predatory) capitalism is about dividing and pulling attention with lures of immediate gratification whether that be the allure of sexuality, sensual imagery, solving puzzles and mysteries, or the greed / lust to know more. The Internet as playground is a good example of attention reducing stimuli to manipulate and shorten attention along the paths of tangential thinking. This kind of conditioning is designed to hook the user / viewer into buying stuff. Maybe the reason you started an Internet search is lost by the time you’ve allowed your attention to dissolve into whims pulled by desire down the rabbit hole.

When I was in college my housemate gave me a book to read that she thought would be exciting for me. It wasn’t. The writer made it nearly impossible to read the book – very loosely – a science fiction novel, but it was more an allegory than anything else. He wrote paragraphs in long run-on sentences. My fascination with the book was supposed to whet my appetite to go to group meetings of this “cultish” group. It became clear that she wasn’t going to leave me in peace until I went to her group where I could then tell her I wasn’t interested.

Of course as you might have guessed I became interested. I had to wade through prejudices I had about the “spiritual”. I was invited to listen as this book I had previously tried to read was read aloud. I was called to read some aloud too. It tended to confirm my suspicions that the people there seemed insane. When I thought the group was winding down there was one more part of the session that changed my mind about the meetings.

Later I discovered that reading these paragraphs long run-on sentences that strained my comprehension of the material at the very least stretched the capacity of my attention and increased my ability to concentrate. The book was written by G. I. Gurdjieff and was called “Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson”.

I learned how to focus and shift attention. I read many books on spiritualism, Sufis, and the Gurdjieff Work. I learned through experiences and through books that attention was the first building block to higher consciousness. Although there is no such thing as multitasking it is possible to shift attention rapidly from one focus to another. The rapid shifting of attention gives the illusion to the person that they are multitasking when they are not engaged in doing something that is impossible. This harks back to binary – associative thinking.

All of us are trained to reason and rely on mind or cognitive activities to the exclusion of emotive and somatic processes. We know (cognitively) that we have emotions and that we have a physical body but we objectively identify them intellectually rather than acknowledge and explore these emotive and somatic sensations. The ego / cognitive self believes that it exists in a certain way so that it obscures emotional and somatic elements that it doesn’t want to acknowledge so that illusions can be created to view so-called reality. The ego engages in deductive logic looking for what it believes itself to be both positive (to grandiosity for example) and negative (to fears and depressive emotions) states. Beliefs that are personal, generational, cultural, genetic, and species oriented float in an unconscious realm where ego seeks to find truth. The truth that is discovered is transitory and impermanent. Ego must continue a life-long search that becomes fruitless. Ego proves what it believes based on fears, prejudices, biases, and so on.

Attention is the key to finding a place in our self that may become a semi-permanent steward in a continuing quest for learning, effective struggle, help and surrender/sacrifice. The Steward is close to the core of our being and helps ego find an enduring peace and a compassionate neutrality instead of the temporary gratification that is never sufficient.

The use of attention is essential to learning, effective struggle, help, and surrender/sacrifice of which memory is the binding force. Memory is a content and process oriented sensation. The content of memories are obvious and basic to identity: “I remember my name.” “I remember who I am based on…” The process of memory is time, which has been conveniently defined and invented as linear: past, present and future.

Notes

1. Transformation by J.G Bennett p. 27-60, published by The Claymont Society for Continuous Education copyright 1978.
2. Transformation by J.G Bennett p. 32-33, published by The Claymont Society for Continuous Education copyright 1978.

 

3. for further reading: Fields of Perception – belief and attention

 

4. for further reading: We are the Matrix and The Wider Consciousness

 

5. for further reading: A Primer – Autogenic Training

 

Next in the Series is:

Learning and Transformation: Struggle Part 2 of 4

 

 

 

 

The Light, the Dark and Earth “Below”

Happy Solstice

A possible way of looking at Solstices and Equinoxes as the function of a patriarchal separation of people from planet earth to a reorientation based on the sun and light.

life was under stewardship

In the matriarchal times the beginning of the Zodiac was Taurus, the sign denoting the womb with the Fallopian tubes on top and not the bull. At the equatorial zones and in the northern latitudes the seasons of planting began after the frost towards the end of April -the beginning of spring for earth. Worship of earth as womb and creator of life was honored and built into an agrarian based culture / civilization. Though women nurtured life and men were thought to be vessels of the Goddess of an earth based deity the culture was communally oriented, nothing was owned. All was shared with the group and life was under stewardship.

honoring the Goddess

It could also have been that the Southern Hemispheres were grounded in a culture where the beginning of the zodiac was Virgo, based on spring there. Jeffrey Wolf Green, astrologer suggests that when men began realizing they contributed sperm and were not just vessels used by the Goddess they rebelled and the patriarchy was born – in reaction. Men owned property, women and children. Male children passed on the ownership and legacy of men etc.

a hierarchy took root

The focus moved away from nurturing earth, honoring the Goddess into worship of a God in the heavens thus the solstices and equinoxes, seasons divided into four quarters by amounts of light. Agriculture continued under the increasingly greater control of men and eventually science (an extension of men) but the focus was shifted from Earth to Sky and a hierarchy took root.

a sky God that meshed with the patriarchal structure of leadership

Goddess as Earth was a bountiful civilization with a nurturing structure of stewardship that maintained a mostly horizontal structure with the exception of the dimishment of the importance of the male. In the European and Tigris-Euphrates Rivers of Turkey, Syria and Iraq the overthrow of the matriarchy though violence was easy, as Attila the Hun swept across Asia – conquering. The matriarchy wasn’t prepared for the sudden change. In the Americas the changes in the indigenous population was more gradual from matriarchy to patriarchy. The patriarchal tribes retained many of the matriarchal transitions before they were albeit destroyed by the Europeans.

pure Goddess / Matriarchy roots

 The patriarchal God was a reactionary and vengeful God that came from above – a sky God that meshed with the patriarchal structure of leadership. This seemed to be a rageful reaction to the oppression by the matriarchy and the systemic misogyny based in the newer system. It wasn’t until the patriarchal God sent male saviors that retribution was supplanted by other forms of leadership though that appears to have been largely unsuccessful.

Wicca and Pagan celebrations though influenced by the patriarchy were still rooted in the matriarchy and may have tried to combine Solstice and Equinox traditions with pure Goddess / Matriarchy roots. The patriarchy sought to demonize them on many occasions, early Christians hid their celebrations by blending them with Pagan and Wicca celebrations and later demonized them via the Roman Catholic Church, for example.

Nevertheless, below in figures 1 through 4 are 3 representations of the upcoming Winter Solstice and one of the Summer Solstice:

The gap between the patriarchy and the next epoch of which we are on the cusp is about a balancing and/or healing of the patriarchy with the matriarchy to help co-create an age of cooperative partnership.

Interpretations of each solstice chart will be coming very soon.

 

For more about my work visit:  Ontario’s The Kai

The Perils of Greater Visibility

seamless invisibility

In the 1990s I became locally well known in Marin County California due to offering intuitive readings at the New Leaf Bookstore in Larkspur. I had always considered myself a private person until that point so I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.

Groupies:

The original term came from rock stars that had followers of young woman worshipers who wanted sex. However due to more people entering a greater degree of visibility and/or becoming leaders their“followers” project what they want to see on their leader and then fall for the projections. This is a more accurate definition of groupie psychology. The newly visible person whether a blogger with thousands of followers, a tech entrepreneur, a socially responsible business executive, sustainable green company CEO, or an author with a small following these people attract golden and dark shadow projections from their admirers and / or followers.

At first golden projections put one on a pedestal like a goddess or god. The Divine don’t make mistakes, but humans do. I was treated like a god / holy person by a household of adoring women. A woman asked for a private phone session and I let her know about my 24-hour cancellation policy. She did not keep the appointment, said something else came up and that I had never told her about cancellation policy. I displayed restrained irritability and was barred from this household and was treated as less than human. I went from a holy person to untouchable when they experienced a negative emotion from me.

I quickly recognized the golden projections of others and reminded people I was just as imperfect as they were and did not deserve the degree of praise given. Of course some praise was humble and genuine and I accepted that gracefully. I made some errors in judgments and was stalked three times, all of which were corrected by me and made right.

Projections and Darker Attacks

In my healing practice now I deal with the groupie worship that my clients experience. The greatest challenges are interdimensional attacks that come in a wide array of forms from projections to darker elements. If you are experiencing projections and / or attacks there are ways to recognize the kind of attack and work on healing, defending against future attacks or getting help.

Empathic Protection

For more about my work visit:  Ontario’s The Kai

Movies in the 1960s…

Photo by Skitterphoto on Pexels.com

Steven Soderbergh just completed a second feature film using an iPhone exclusively. Very cool. This could be a big break for budding filmmakers and continue to flood the world of film / movies with even more.

The Hollywood blockbuster ruled.

Before streaming, film experts reported that there were more films made than there were screens to display them on – that was the late 1980s. Enter streaming and millions of films. The amount and size of flat screens increases and even though 4-walling movies (on theaters) does not begin to cover the volume of film home theater is attempting to meet the challenge.

As a Boomer I remember when cinema was a big deal. The Hollywood blockbuster ruled. There was a theater in a city south of my little town named the CineMart. They had ushers in red uniforms and hats that seated folks. Movies like “The Sound of Music”, Lawrence of Arabia” and Dr. Zhivago” played for a whole month or more.

“You can’t make movies, they only do it in Hollywood.”

Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” played for a whole summer in 1968.

Music from the film played before the movie started. There were no short subjects, no previews and no ads – for anything. When the logo of Metro Goldwyn Mayer Lion appeared on the screen the curtain parted as the film played.

There was an Intermission announced across the wide 70 mm screen and for 15 or 20 minutes music from the film played. People stayed until the credits ceased and the house lights came up. Even in my small town we saw Oscar winning shorts before the feature and slews of cartoons – mostly “Looney Tunes”.

That didn’t stop us

Movies were special. And of course there was a catch. My friend Paul and I made movies, mostly very bad movies. When we tried to get classmates to be in our very bad movies they invariably said: “You can’t make movies, they only do it in Hollywood.”

That didn’t stop us. Our High School Art teacher Mrs. Bernarzyk told us about the Fordham’s Young Filmmaker Festival in NYC in February 1968. Our bad movie – The Chase was our ticket in. It was very cool – movies day and night for 3 days. I met these geeky guys from Long Island that made 3-D animation Godzilla films with models in their basements. The first YFF was during the first garbage strike in the cold and snow of February.

We saw a pre-screening of The Planet of The Apes, cool.

I went home and made films with 3-D (pixilation) animation with chairs, sneakers, laundry baskets, rocks and sometimes with people too.

The last film I made in those days – King Chair that was 3 minutes long and took 3 eight hour days to make was distributed with 2 other shorts and the only project where I made a $45 profit.

…. Later I adapted a James Thurber story – Unicorn in the Garden to a 20-minute plot-boiler of “Alien in the Refrigerator”

Making It Simple

 

Why making it simple is dangerous:

When I look back to my childhood things seemed idyllic and I often long for those simpler times. The operative word regarding the simplicity of childhood is seemed. Childhood seems simpler for two reasons – our minds have not developed enough to grasp complex ideas, notions and systems; and two as the population increases with technological advances, climate change not-withstanding the world has become mindbogglingly complex.

a desire for “the good old days”

In my family I have noticed in my sibling that the loss of our father marked a shift in her to embrace the conservative values of my father and the nostalgia of my mother’s romanticisms. She may have thought she had fully processed her grief, but her reversion to a desire for “the good old days” became evident in her insular attitudes and an increased right-wing conservative political stance as well as a refusal to see that the world has changed around her.

These models of individualism while admirable create winners and losers

I suspect that those that embrace the desire for simpler times (of the past) are intellectually and/or emotionally stuck at a variety of childhood ages. They often long for parent-figures that will lead them to the Promised Land [1]. This longing is often expressed in ideologies that emphasize past philosophies of mythological successes such as rugged individualism, rags to riches stories and the like – mirrored in “The American Dream”.

President is a father figure that can solve all our problems

These models of individualism while admirable create winners and losers that in our current world fall apart. Winners either want to assist “losers” or they wish to punish losers for the most part. This is a longer discussion based on the failings of the patriarchy and its new god of consumer capitalism.

Simple answers are not enough for a prosperous people

The childhood longing for simplicity in a complex world leads individuals with antiquated beliefs to vote for Presidents that offer simple solutions to complex problems. Extreme examples of leaders with a simple answers philosophies lead may lead to fascist states. Part of the idea of a President is a father figure that can solve all our problems and make the world safe whether it be simple or complex especially in a failing patriarchal system [2]. (Even a woman president plays by patriarchal rules so that it’s impossible for any of us to escape patriarchal thinking.)

ensure the survival of the human species in the face of climate change

I used to think after President Clinton and President Obama were elected that I could “relax” and that things were taken care of. In hindsight neither of these Presidents did not institute enough nor the right kind of reforms to represent the majority of people economically, to adequately address the role of the military, or aggressively pursue the problems of climate change – though Obama did make some initial strides here.

Simple answers are not enough for a prosperous people. A president alone is not enough. Our representatives are not enough. As a citizen (and not a consumer) it is my responsibility to take an active role beyond merely voting for representatives and a president.

 

Major issues that need to be addressed and worked towards solutions:

• To ensure the survival of the human species in the face of climate change
• Superlative secondary education
• Income equality
• Housing
• Corporate / Big Money out of politics
• Fair agriculture
• Addressing the future of work especially with regard to automation and robotics
• Healthcare

 

These are complex and inter-related issues that can be solved when communities work together.

 

NOTES:

 

1. The Greeks looked to the Elysium Fields of the west as the promised land of paradise. The west as myth woven with The American Dream was never equally accessible by former slaves. Even for those that felt they have achieved or are on their way of the American Dream they must belong to an educated upper class and have extraordinary luck. Also the Dream is based on the acquisition of “more” money of which there will never be enough.
2. The patriarch system is a hierarchical structure with the Alpha male on top. It is based on power-over dynamics. There will always be someone over you and someone under you whether you are the most powerful person in the world or someone without any seeming power. The dangers in this kind of system is a focus on its internal criteria to the exclusion of those “objects: that ensure survival – the “object” that is a sacred being and the context of our home – Earth. Even though the patriarchy could be shaped to include earth and her bounty in a capitalistic economy the internal dynamic of winners and losers belies community systems