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Remembering to Remember
Remembering to Remember
By
Cognitive Dissonance
Do you remember how it is supposed to be? Would you even know to remember that we can remember how it once was and can still be? For so many of us, all that is left behind is a vague unformed memory that once we knew something of great importance. Like an unfamiliar object in a darkened room, we know it is there only because its’ black is a shade off of the overall gloom, a mere shadow of a shadow. All of us carry a memory that springs from deep within and that whispers of something unfulfilled and incomplete. Dare we to believe that we are capable of Remembering what that memory is? Let me be perfectly clear in stating that I am Remembering and so can you if you wish.
Hogwash you say. This is the only way it can be because this is the only way it has ever been. And sure enough, all around us, everything we see confirms this blind belief. The ultimate in confirmation bias is when everything you are told matches everything you see, and everything you see confirms everything you believe. Yes, it all looks pretty normal to me. So why would I pursue the vision of a different world, of a sovereign we? And because of this many do not, blissfully ignorant of being slaves, happy to be bound and delivered to the dock. Except that way back in our mind and deep down in our soul, not only is something telling us things are not right, but that nearly everything is terribly wrong.
Blinded by our confirmation bias and unable to see how it can be, how then do we change direction when the memory is incomplete? What do we do when we have no clear course charted through the rough sea? I have found that if we wish to see something that is missing, rather than focus on what we cannot perceive, clearly an impossible task considering our present state of spiritual and emotional disrepair, we should instead recognize what is there, but should not.
Take a long look at our world and tell me what you see, what you perceive? Does it feel right or does it not? I suspect we already know the answer to that because you’re trying to see and thus to remember, otherwise you would not be searching for it here within my words.
So what is it that I’m Remembering, and that you will too if you listen carefully while looking deeply within? The specific answer is unique to each of us simply because our view within, which is often how we initially discover our inner knowing and the Remembering, is deeply influenced by our perception of reality. And while this perspective is molded by our individual life experience and conditioning and therefore has no real meaning except to us as individuals, there are common themes I can try to express.
But in order to do so I must see what is already here, but should not, for this is what triggers the Remembering. We must want to want to remember, to be completely open to the concept of Remembering, even if we don’t know what or how to remember. We must want to urgently grasp for the understanding that our inner sovereign has all the answers we will ever need, answers no external authority could ever hope to match, despite the conditioned belief that this is impossible. We must allow ourselves to be vulnerable to the knowing so that we may remember, for it is the rejection of our inner sovereign and its’ knowing that has us all hopelessly lost in the insanity.
What I see is a human population completely out of balance with itself and its environment, the only species on Earth to live in this condition for an extended period of time without ending in self extermination…….at least so far. I see the vast majority of us deathly ill, not just physically sick from a toxic environment and the processed food we eat, but emotionally and spiritually savaged as well. For this condition to exist for this length of time, it must be forced. And anyone who tries to tell me that what I am seeing is natural and normal exhibits neither of these conditions.
We cast about for meaning in our lives, for direction to guide our souls, to connect so deeply and completely that it changes everything. We know this is possible even though we are told it is not because this knowing springs from within and cannot be stopped, only repressed. The proof is the emptiness we all sense within and the knowing that it can be filled.
We are not instinctive or innate slaves, inclined to blindly follow mind control orders, but instead we are natural sovereign spirits who have lost our way simply because we fail to remember. We want to remember how to live fully and intimately with all that surrounds us rather than to exist as beasts of burden or (economic) cannon fodder for the latest act of Empire. And we are all terrified that no matter what we try to do, it just might be too little, too late. Thankfully it is not, because we are so very close to Remembering to remember.
But most of all I see a world where we are tragically lost; lost to ourselves and to each other. Devoid of compassion and empathy, moving from work cubes to boob tubes and back again, we are now unable to recognize the pain and dysfunction within our Self, let alone each other. It is now perceived as nothing worse than normal, simply how the world works as it grinds us down and spits us out, a self indictment worse than death of our failure to remember.
Because we are not Remembering who we are, and most importantly what we once were, we cannot imagine what we can be. By not first releasing, then expressing our inner sovereign, by not declaring ourselves free from our own self imposed bindings, we just exist within someone else’s world, a world populated by repressed and stunted slaves. Simply put we are unable to create a healthy future because we do not remember our ‘knowing’, we do not remember ourselves and what we were and are, we are not Remembering to remember.
Rather than creating, then living within, a vibrant community of interdependence that nature intends as the only way to live a sustainable and healthy life in communication with everything around us, we have become a zombie species, a parasitic entity that mindlessly consumes and ruthlessly exploits the physical world, all while feeding upon the life force of first the natural world, then each other and finally our Self.
And you and I dear reader are very much a part of all this, a realization denial can no longer help us avoid because we are now Remembering to remember. We are awakening; a process that once started cannot be stopped, only derailed or dead ended. You and I are resisting our Remembering because it feels so foreign and contrary to what we are told is ‘real’ via the idiot box memes. In turn this feeds the inner conflict and thus the outer decay. The world is falling apart because we have been rendered incapable of creating a new world to replace the recently departed. This does not have to be. By embracing our Remembering we will naturally know how to grow and build.
The evidence of all this is the ongoing insanity whose decay rate has now gone exponential. I used to think war was the ultimate state of self destruction and I suppose that based upon certain definitions it still is. But war expresses as an outward projection of our inner insanity. This……this utter squandering of our inner sovereignty, of the very essence of being human; this is mass suicide on an unprecedented scale. Only we don’t ever really die, but instead just aimlessly drift, empty meat Popsicles emotionally dead and spiritually bereft. Modern science now keeps our bodies alive longer, allowing the inner decay even more time to fester and devour.
At one time or another we have all used the word ‘sovereignty’ as a positive, as something that should be achieved or regained. But have you ever really thought about the meaning of ‘sovereignty’ at its most basic level, where it all begins? We understand that the winners make the rules and write the textbooks, so it isn’t surprising that standard definitions all refer to an external authority and territory as imbued with sovereignty. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy quickly refers to the following phrase, “supreme authority within a territory”, something I have always seen as the territory within, before going on to link it to an external political authority.
External.Political.Authority.My.Ass.
This is the language of the false profit Conquers, the fakers of the very sovereignty they claim to possess. Our power has always, and will always, spring from within. Our power is ours to give away if we choose, as well as to repossess any time we wish. We are the source of the power that creates the universe and what we only now are beginning to remember is that without us, without our innate source of power freely and willingly handed over, the false gods are powerless and impotent.
When we hide from ourselves we freely invite them in, like air rushing in to fill a vacuum. Where we falter, where we are beaten, broken, and then sold at the dock, is when we are not Remembering to remember. Please allow me to repeat myself here. Where we falter, where we are beaten, broken, and then sold at the dock, is when we are not Remembering to remember. I did not say we could not remember or that it was useless to remember, only that we are not Remembering and that this is the source of our willingness to subjugate ourselves to external masters and false Gods, all of whom claim sovereignty over us.
Stop listening to their lies and false promises, their propaganda machine and their divide and conquer memes, including the one about how if only we would just “do” something everything would get better, as if we could actually do battle with our own ghosts. This is the enslaving self deception we all practice, for when we believe this we firmly plant ourselves within their world where they make the rules of their controlling game.
The game is rigged folks, not just the markets or the economy, but everything artificial we interact with on a daily basis. As long as we ignore this fundamental fact, this supreme truth, nothing substantial will ever change because we enable and support the rigging. Our individual sovereignty can only be applied to free ourselves when it is released from within, not applied externally by the keepers of the false realty myth. And we do this by searching within so that we can begin the Remembering to remember.
11/16/2011
Cognitive Dissonance
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Today being Aug 23 2012 and this post from 2011:
CD - Looking through your old posts via the link you left in the comment section a few days back. Enjoying every bit. Doubt anyone will see this but I know it is here!!!! I will remember. You have redefined for me what freedom means in a meaningful way. Thank You Sir!!!
keywords and concepts:
mal-investment, miss-allocation of resources, delusional expectations.
also faulty assumptions, denial and general apathy and lack of discernment
with other peoples time and money. also called the american dream or
the right of kings or god's gift or the infallibility of the church
or overpopulation. ..
i miss place this here as i have lost my way! ..
so it seems remembering is of the past, forgetting (being) is of the present and imagination is of the future. no?
Only part of our problems stem from remembering what we ourselves negotiated away. The other part stems from learning what our forebearers negotiated away. Our society is tottering from a long accumulation of judgement errors, all of which are based on our cumulative lust for unearned rewards.
The only thing to remember is who we are! Check this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_pnFhFjNtY
When we stop "becoming" we come to "being" and being is NOW-HERE and nowhere else.
too simple , that's the problem cos we like it complicated as adults teached us
be like the little ones
Blind obedience to officialdom is a seriuos threat to ones well being.
"For this condition to exist for this length of time, it must be forced."
Forced? I prefer allowed, encouraged, rewarded.
Operant conditioning on a grand scale.
Hook Line and Sphincter ( ! )J
PEOPLE
The Preamble does not specifically define the word "People." Nevertheless, the definition becomes apparent in the context of the other words and prior history.
HISTORY
Before the United States existed, there was no legal government. A group of representatives, acting "in the name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies," declared the independence of the colonies from the British Crown and the state of Great Britain.
From the beginning, in the 1776 Declaration of Independence, the people were acknowledged as the source of authority, i.e. the sovereignty which authorized the Declaration of Independence.
Next came the 1778 Articles of Confederation. The states that existed by the authority of the people, created those Articles while in Congress assembled. That didn't work as well as expected.
In 1787 the people themselves came forth "to ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America" [see Preamble]. On September 17th, 1787, the states held a convention and all those present unanimously joined in. [see last paragraph of U.S. Constitution]
So, in 1787, unanimous concurrence was achieved and the Constitution was born, later to be ratified.
PREAMBLE
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
STRUCTURE OF PREAMBLE
TRUSTOR: We the People [trustors]
VENUE: of the United States
PURPOSE: in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty
BENEFICIARY: to ourselves and our Posterity,
ENABLING ACTION 1: do ordain [declare the law]
ENABLING ACTION 2: and establish [bring into existence]
WHAT: this Constitution [articles of incorporation for trust]
TRUSTEE: for the United States of America. [trustee]
ANALYSIS OF PREAMBLE
The Preamble defines the context in which the remainder of the Constitution must be interpreted. Most of it is self explanatory. Here's an explanation that points to popular sovereignty:
After the Declaration of Independence, but before the ordainment and establishment of the Constitution, the people of the United States pretty much handled their own affairs using the common law. They were not subject to any higher authority other than the authority of the common law as administered by the people themselves (self governance). Although the states did exist, they only existed by the authority of the people. Every man was a king, and every woman a queen--and none had any subjects. Upon declaring our independence, we all became sovereigns and members of the peerage (nobility).
"The people of this State, as the successors of its former sovereign, are entitled to all the rights which formerly belonged to the King by his prerogative. Through the medium of their Legislature they may exercise all the powers which previous to the Revolution could have been exercised either by the King alone, or by him in conjunction with his Parliament; subject only to those restrictions which have been imposed by the Constitution of this State or of the U.S."
Lansing v. Smith, 21 D. 89., 4 Wendel 9 (1829) (New York)
"D." = Decennial Digest
Lansing v. Smith, 4 Wend. 9 (N.Y.) (1829), 21 Am.Dec. 89
10C Const. Law Sec. 298; 18 C Em.Dom. Sec. 3, 228;
37 C Nav.Wat. Sec. 219; Nuls Sec. 1`67; 48 C Wharves Sec. 3, 7.
NOTE: Am.Dec.=American Decision, Wend. = Wendell (N.Y.)
The enabling actions in the Preamble are significant because there is simply nothing in the use of those words to imply that the People relinquished any of their own power and authority. The People declared the law (ordain) without taking away from themselves the authority to declare law again in the future. The People established the Constitution without taking away from themselves the authority to establish anything else in the future. In other words, the people gave birth to the Constitution without giving up any of their own power and authority.
What was before, continues to be so today.
From the context of the Preamble, one may conclude that the laws of the United States do not apply to People. The People, as ordainers and establishers of the country are sovereigns of the country, may not be involuntarily subjected to the laws of the United States.
Because of Amendment X ("The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people," the government has no authority, and cannot assume any authority over the People. Government powers may not reach beyond that which is constitutionally granted. In order for the government to subject People to its law it is necessary for the People to relinquish their sovereignty. Sovereignty is a natural right which cannot lawfully be relinquished involuntarily. Any removal of sovereignty must be accomplished voluntarily by the subject himself.
DEFINITION OF CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATESHISTORY
Before ratification of the Amendment XIV , there was no legal definition of the term "citizen of the United States." The term was used, but only generally. After the Civil War the slaves were freed but there was no legal basis to recognize them as having any rights. Amendment XIV partially solved that problem.
"Free the slaves," was the rallying cry combined with the Civil War that resulted in Amendment XIV. Amendment XIV created a new class of person called "citizen of the United States." Any ex-slave could now claim citizenship, and, by the way, so could any of the People if they so chose to do. Amendment XIV made possible the voluntary relinquishment of personal sovereignty.
It was also during the mid 1800's that the various governments took control of the school systems. The curriculum shifted from civics (the study of natural rights and common law) to American government (the study of civil privileges and statutory law). Emphasis was also refocused on "good citizenship". To blunt the people's perception, the civil privileges were called civil rights. The transition from teaching "natural rights" to teaching "civil rights" took about 100 years (from the 1850's to the 1950's). During the 1950's the school systems changed the courses named from "Civics" to "American Government." Hardly anyone now is aware of the subject of civics as a school course.
The phrase, "citizens of the United States," is defined in the Constitution for the United States of America, Amendment XIV:
AMENDMENT XIV
Section 1. "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Section 5. "The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article."
STRUCTURE OF AMENDMENT XIV
WHO: All persons
QUALIFICATION:
(A) born or naturalized in the United States, and
(B) subject to the jurisdiction thereof
PURPOSE: No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
ENFORCED BY: The Congress
ENFORCEMENT METHOD: Legislation
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF AMENDMENT XIV
As discussed above, the People are sovereign. The People are not subject to the jurisdiction of the federal government, even though they are born in the United States.
Amendment XIV inverts the relationship. One of the qualifications to be a citizen of the United States is that one must be born or naturalized in the United States. Another qualification is that one must be, "subject to the jurisdiction thereof." It is not possible to be a citizen of the United States without being born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof. But, if you are born or naturalized, and if you are subject to the jurisdiction, then you automatically qualify as a citizen of the United States.
From the point of view of the federal enforcers, the qualifications are worked in reverse. They reverse-interpret Amendment XIV as saying that if you say you are a citizen of the United States, then that automatically means you are totally subject to its jurisdiction [and have been born or naturalized]. This opinion is not shared by the judicial branch. See 14 C.J.S. 426, 430:
In any case, if you fail to object to the government's view of citizenship, then you will most certainly be subjected to the laws of the government. That means no rights, only privileges. To see a list of privileges granted or denied to the citizens (there is no list for the People's natural rights because the People automatically have all rights), see People's rights vs citizen's rights
ONE OF THE PEOPLE OR ONE OF THE CITIZENS?
The first issue to be resolved in any court proceeding is that of jurisdiction. Does the one entity have jurisdiction over the other entity? One should never go into court without a clear understanding as to whether he is there as a citizen, or there as one of the people.
If you claim you are a citizen of the United States, then it is strongly implied (though not necessarily true) that you are subject to the laws of the United States. On the other hand, if you are one of the People, then it is legally implied that you are a legal king, with a sovereignty superior to that of the United States, and subject only to the common law of the other kings (your peers). In short: the People are superior to the government, the government is superior to the citizens. That is the hierarchy.
PEOPLE ---> GOVERNMENT ---> CITIZENS
As a king you "are entitled to all the rights which formerly belonged to the King by his prerogative." You can do what you want to do when you want to do it. You have your own property and your own courts. There is no limit as to what you may do other than the natural limits of the universe, and the sovereignty of a fellow sovereign. You should treat the other sovereign in accordance with the Golden Rule, and at the very least must never harm him. Your sovereignty stops where the other sovereignty begins. You are one of the owners of the American government, and it is their promise that they will support your sovereignty (i.e. they have promised to support the Constitution and protect it from all enemies). You have no allegiance to anyone. The government, your only [public] servant, has an allegiance to you.
As a citizen, you are only entitled to whatever your sovereign grants to you. You have no rights. If you wish to do something that would be otherwise illegal, you must apply for a license giving you special permission. If there is no license available, and if there is no specific permission granted in the statutes, then you must apply for special permission or a waiver in order to do it. Your only allegiance is to your sovereign (the government), and that allegiance is mandated by your sovereign's law (the government, though not absolutely sovereign, is sovereign relative to you if you claim to be a citizen of the sovereign).
Here is a typical example:
As one of the People you have a right to travel, unrestricted, upon the public highways. You have right to carry guests with you in your automobile. You have a right to own a gun and that right shall not be impaired by your servant, the government. You have a right to a grand jury indictment and a trial by jury, that is a trial directly by the people, not the government.
As one of the citizens, you may not travel by automobile unless you are either a licensed motor vehicle driver, or you are a passenger with permission to be on board. Gun ownership is a privilege subject to definition and regulation. You do not have a right to a jury trial in all cases, and no right to grand jury indictment--a trial is a trial by the government, not the people.
http://1215.org/lawnotes/lawnotes/pvc.htm
-Chumblez.
Who the fuck would mark this down?
only a whack-o, aka your peers.
"...at the Revolution, the sovereignty devolved on the people; and they are truly the sovereigns of the country, but they are sovereigns without subjects (unless the African slaves among us may be so called) and have none to govern but themselves; the citizens of America are equal as fellow citizens, and as joint tenants in the sovereign." - Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 US 419 - Supreme Court 1793
-Chumblez.
This article is the Valley of Childish Things.
This is why the System tries to Snatch you way from your home and your 'personal life' and Draft you as quickly as possible into a Labyrinth of False Truths and Deception, this is why you are Required to attend School from as early as 6yrs. old and not let out till 25yrs. old(after College). Imagine a FULL 20 years Locked In a 'Padded Cell' of a Government Building being spoon fed everything the Government(and Society) wants you to Absorb ... very few manage to stay sane long enough to resist and that is 1 of the reasons there are so few of us here on ZH and why we are such a small minority in society
Imagine a FULL 20 years Locked In a 'Padded Cell' of a Government Building being spoon fed everything the Government(and Society) wants you to Absorb . i say it starts soon after birth with your Programed Parents , who are programed to send you on into this morrass because they have been indoctrinated and Hynotized ..Few are ever fully aware..
Love Pink Floyd, but that's a bit dark. Lightening it up a bit. I always thought John Prine had it right all along: :-)
"Blow up your tv
Throw away your paper
Move to the Country
Build yourself a home
Dig a little garden
Eat a lot of peaches
Try to find Jesus, On your own."
I remember to remember, CD. Thanks. Another thoughtful and provocative essay.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG0-iWCKjsw&feature=related
prine is a great word man
The real trick here is not about remembering at all. The trick is to learn how to forget.
Let us consider what forgetting does for us: it swipes away all our memories and leaves us with the present. In most cases, the present is quite an enjoyable state to exist in. You can look out of your window and see a grey November day that is none too warm but still nice enough to run around in (which I will be doing soon on my bicycle).
When you forget, you start to see things – like grass, blue skies, people. You no longer have a reference for them, and so they appear fresh, new and more importantly – - – delightful. It is the way one is able to enrich one’s soul. The most important thing here is that it has no need for anything else but you, yourself, right here and now. No money, no debts, no timetables or rush. It is pure freedom.
There comes a time of course when the electricity bill needs paying, and of course the problem is when we become too immersed in these pressing needs that one simply cannot forget. One’s diary is full until nine tonight, and tomorrow too. There is this TV programme and that meeting, a computer download that needs doing and yet another bill pops through and falls onto the mat. Your consciousness becomes restricted to the thing you are focussing on, in its entirety. Do this for too long and you will find that it becomes habitual – and as is usual in these cases – it assumes a greater form in that you think that it is the only way to exist. You become trained to the serial input of diary notes that require you to execute duties – even your hobbies get pencilled in and become subsumed into this clock-ticking world.
So how do you escape? Do you know that there **is** an escape at all? For consciousness has a nasty little habit of being self-confirming. Trying to break out of a circular argument is pretty damned hard, and breaking out of your apparent conscious state is even harder. That does not mean that it is impossible though.
Take five minutes each day – it is a long time if you are in a rush! – and start forgetting. Of course, if you start forgetting that you are in a rush, suddenly the rush stops. A little more practise will lead to an ability to plan and execute your days better: not for nothing do the masters reccommend fifteen minutes of meditation a day!
Ah! I remember now, I put the tea on five minutes ago … must dash
Thanks CD.
My personal testament about inner remembrance comes from knowing/feeling who I was and essentialy remain, before my life fell apart when I was four years of age, due to war and death in the family
These events could have destroyed me, but they did not and, at 68, remembrace of who I essentially am still sustains me.
Socrates: "Know Thyself." "The unexamined life is not worth living." "To thyself be true."
These just about sum a perspective that has prevented cognitive dissonance within myself.
I do not expect many to understand what I am writing, but I write it anyway.
I do not expect many to understand why and how I cannot divorce my own losses in life from what Libyans are suffering, Palestinians and a myriad others - including people "closer to home" who have lost jobs and houses.
It is a paradox that I am mainly a very tolerant man, but cannot tolerate intolerance.
Thank you Setarcos.
When we are settled within, when we search for and then find inner peace, nothing can move us off our feet. Nothing!
When I first decided to disengage, I was fearful. I knew I was about to leave behind all notions of who I was, all definitions I had of myself. It was then that I realized the role that my relationships with others played in my self delusion. Other people in your life react to a version of who they think you are, and insist that you fullfil that role. So that was the really hard part. In order for me to take my soveriegnty back I had to abandon my past, all of it.
Being lonely is not too big a price to pay, because, as I soon discovered, I was always alone, and the only thing I was really giving up was a shared delusion of belonging. You know, that game we play to delude ourselves into thinking that somehow we are "normal", (whatever that is).
The funny thing is, once the process is started, the anxiety lessens, and disengagement becomes easier as you realize that what you are feeling is really not life threatening, even though it feels like it at times.
Thanks CD, I truly enjoy your writing, it inspires.
nowhereman
Sozan, the Chinese Zen master known for his poetry and calligraphy, was about to start a talk with his students. Just then, a student asked him, “Teacher, what is the most valuable thing in the world?”
Without any hesitation, Sozan responded, “A dead cat’s head.”
The student was baffled. Perhaps his Master hadn’t heard the question correctly. He repeated the question.
“Master, I asked, what is the most valuable thing in the world?”
Again Sozan promptly replied, “A dead cat’s head.”
By this time, all of Sozan’s students were puzzled.
“Why is a dead cat’s head the most valuable thing in the world?” a student inquired.
Sozan simply said, “Because no one can name its price!”
I gel with your thoughts.
Love your work, CD. Keep it comin'.
We live in a world of FUCKWITS!
Example
Sherlock Holmes, Clinton, Gates on PBS"Yul Kwon of "Survivor" will be host of "America Revealed" starting on April 11. He'll try to show how infrastructure is changing traffic and food production, for example."
FUCKING SURVIVOR cast member on PBS. Jesus Christ I understand now why some people stop watching tv.
Another piece of worthless narcissistic mental masturbation from CD, and total waste of ZH resources.
Individual sovereignty in relation to government is a myth. Governments simply don't care about anyone's alleged sovereignty nor alleged rights.
Freedoms people have come only by government permission or violent overthrow of government, and in the later case are soon forgotten by a subsequent government.
If congratulatory comments expressed here are indicative of the population at large, it is easy to understand why there will be no revolution against the present government. People pacify themselves with their illusions of sovereignty.
The Founders said government gets its authority from the people. That has never happened in human history. Even the American government was created by a small group of people purporting to speak for all Americans. As soon as that authority was conferred it started being used to abuse and oppress the people it allegedly came from.
Today people in government (at all levels) recognize no individual sovereignty and few or no rights. Quite the contrary. People in government more or less look down their noses at citizens, viewing them as inferior beings. I challenge anyone to find someone in government who truly views themself as a servant working for their public masters, with rare exceptions like Ron Paul, and they truly are rare, nowhere near numerous enough to sway the tide of government in that direction.
That is why violent overthrow is the only way to stop the abuse and oppression. And it would be short-lived. Any subsequent government would quickly revert back to abuse and oppression, repeating the cycle all over again.
Your illusion of sovereignty and rights cannot be imposed on other people who care more about themselves than you, and that describes pretty much everyone in government.
CD's illusion of sovereignty fits the textbook definition of cognitive dissonance, making his moniker quite appropriate.
Ye old cranky,
The premise that you set forth stems from a slightly different definition of 'sovereign' than CD promotes in context of the article.
Indeed, we tend to get what we deserve, there is huge spill over to those who may not deserve, and governments mirror the governed. The variety of action that results from such realizations by the governed (ie violence, pacifism, non-compliance) is one of many choices such realization may take oneself. Note that specifically, the article never spelled out nor implied that such actions are left out of the realm of possibiities, although it's obvious that the action of your preference and 'reason' is the former. Is this a realization of yours or a decision Cranky? it would be a shame for you not to know.
Hook Line and Sphincter ( ! )J
You misunderstand all of CD's point, making a sad expose of how you yourself are a victim, caught up in the puppethandlers' matrix of spiritual disempowerment.
Your sovereignty doesn't care if governments agree or not, if they recognize your rights or not; it will keep on existing. Government is a powerless institution. It only has mere force at its disposal, and inner sovereignty in all its power brushes it off like dust on its shoulder.
What I intend to say here, is that by going within, by learning to forget what you think you know as another poster said, you start seeing your real essence. You see how your relationships cannot define you, how your habits cannot define you either, you even see that your own mind cannot define you. You are something deeper, sovereign in itself, which exists only in the present moment yet which is boundless and which fundamentally cannot be controlled or threatened from outside, but only obfuscated by the matrix in which the contemporary mind resides.
We're talking about the great spiritual truths which spiritual trailblazers came to show us. This is dwelling in Jesus' Kingdom of God, this is Zen's here-now, this the flowing path of Lao-Tsu's Tao.
This is what gives a buddhist monk the sheer power to set himself on fire as an act of protest and sit peacefully, completely aware of his burning body yet meditating without a whimper, in a display of ultimate compassion to the suffering of the people around him.
It reveals your power to be as you are, free from conditionnings, free from social mores, free from the orders of government, free from any fears, including of death. It liberates one from the chains of consumption, greed, suffering, despair, hate, while opening the door to an inner compassion which compels one to do whatever is just to appease this suffering in others.
Your solution is not a solution and you acknowledge it yourself. Violent overthrow is hard enough, as you would be trying to oppose force against an entity which has plenty of it. And then, even if it was successful, it would quickly be revealed to be yet one more abusive institution, because nothing that is imposed by force can be free from oppression. Force in itself is violence and cannot create anything nonviolent.
But power is liberation. Force gives way to power, as force is a way to exert control, spending energy to extract work. Power cannot be exhausted, as it radiates might out of the mere merit of its being. This is how one man, a beggar that by your view had "nothing", defeated the British Empire (which had plenty of force) by the power of his ideas (btw I'm not advocating for or against pacifism here, only illustrating the basic concept). Sovereignty's power empowers, inspires, teaches acceptance and understanding, unlocks love, joy and peace. It leads the way to the prime and ultimate revolution, compassion.
That you cannot see the stored potential energy in this, the rushing surge of might asking to be liberated in people, that you think inner sovereignty is an illusion over which the material world has any relevance whatsoever, only tells those of us who understood CD's point that you have not experienced this liberation; that the mere lack of it is as a wound instilling scorn, blame, regret, anxiety, despondency. I can only wish that you be liberated from it, that you might discover the boundless power that comes from the inner Self. After all, it is the only thing we truly have, it is the only thing we truly are - and it cannot be taken away from you.
Cranky old geezer
I agree with everything you said about government.
however CD's article was not about government - it was about people's failure to become enlightened.
anybody who is familiar with history will agree that the only way to improve government is via organised, well armed, resistance - but an enlightened individual is a prerequisit for this to happen.
you get a minus from me beacuse of your first sentence. not a good opening statement.
...sigh...
You miss the point "...they can't make you think. They're minds are in the gutter, they're sperm in the sink" Jethro Tull
Things change by a collective consciousness shift that is brought about by mass awakenings. In this sense, the macro delusion is a presentation that is seen through, and changes from the bottom up- first in our freedom to think from our minds. The awareness is starting to take hold collectively. Just look what is happenning everywhere. The delusion is being overwhemed. It starts in your head.
Implicit simplicit
"Just look what is happenning everywhere."
Gee Billy people are unhappy. Unfortunately people are unhappy for DIFFERENT reasons. There is no vast swell of consciousness, there is no great push for the rights of man. Somedipshits are not happy because their modern dance masters will NOT get them a part time job at Starbucks. Others are unhappy because those same master credentialed citizens occupy public spaces.
Bunky the real problem is government kept up a near fifty/fifty division of people so they would be easier to manipulate. That reasoning is blowing back on them.
But there isn't any great "collective consciousness shift".
I read that Australia needs miners and starting pay is 100k a year. How many OWS protestors will be heading Down Under? How many Tea Partiers?
In ther end they don't want to better their own lives, they want to conntrol everyone elses. They all want to tell you and me how we should live and what rules we should follow.
Fuck that shit.
Militant: Dig it, dope peddler. We're out here building a new nation for black people. It's time for you to start payin some dues, nigga!
Youngblood Priest: I ain't givin' you shit! I'll tell you what you do, you go get you a gun and all those black folks you keep doin' so much talkin' about get guns, and come back ready to go down, then I'll be right down front killin' whitey. But until you can do that, you go sing your marching songs some place else. Now we're through talkin'.
........
[Black Dynamite walks into the militant group's hideout]
Black Dynamite: Excuse me, brothers.
Militant #3: [Gets up] The militants turn, startled. This is private. How'd you get in here?
Black Dynamite: I walked in.
Militant 2: So you one of them sneaky brothers, huh? Or maybe you an undercover pig. Or maybe you just a federal hitman.
Black Dynamite: If I was, you cats would already be dead. Now let me speak to the man in charge.
Militant #3: Sarcastically, I'm in charge.
[Exchanges hi-fives with the other militant]
Black Dynamite: If you were in charge, the people might as well surrender to whitey right now, because your survival skills ain't worth a damn.
Saheed: Black Dynamite.
[Walks into the room]
Saheed: It's been a long time, my brother.
Black Dynamite: [Exchanging hi-fives with Saheed] What it is, Saheed?
Militant 2: You know this Uncle Tom?
Black Dynamite: Listen sucka, I'm blacker than the ace of spades and more militant than you and your whole damn army put together. While you out there, chanting at rallies and brow-beating politicians, I'm taking out any money-fronting sucka on a humble that gets in my way. So I tell you what, when your so called revolution starts, you call me, and I'll be right down front showing you how it's done. But until then, you need to SHUT the FUCK UP when grown folks is talking.
Militant 2: I'm sorry.
Saheed: Yeah, we heard about what went down at the Hip Pocket. That was righteous.
Black Dynamite: That was personal, brother.
Saheed: Personal or not, you saved a lot of brothers and sisters. You need our help,
[pounds chest with right fist]
Saheed: we're here.
Black Dynamite: I can dig it.
[Black Dynamite pulls the bullet casing from his pocket]
Black Dynamite: What can you tell me about this?
[Saheed takes the casing, sniffs the inside for gunpowder and licks the outer casing]
Saheed: I ain't seen one of these in a while.
[Black Dynamite and Saheed walk out of the room]
Militant 2: [Whispers] I was gonna fuck him up.
...........
Droz: These, Tom, are the Causeheads. They find a world-threatening issue and stick with it for about a week.
.......
Many people becoming not happy with the way things are, during the same time period, for what ever reason, is a colloctive consiousness shift. The commonality is the disparity of income between the wealthy and everyone else.
Did you write the dialogue Gully?
"Freedoms people have come only by government permission or violent overthrow of government, and in the later case are soon forgotten by a subsequent government."
The assertion of your rights & freedoms only comes with the acquiescence of government. You are born with them. Mans governments cannot revoke or give any of them to you. This is an important distinction.
No government would give you the freedom or right to violently overthrow it...so freedoms & rights come from within.
'No government would give you the freedom or right to violently overthrow it...so freedoms & rights come from within.'
Precisely. Our sovereignty begins within. When we abdicate our responsibility to our Self, when we abandon our Self by the side of the road, this is when we slip on the chains that bind us to our servitude.
Hey Cog, glad to see you're still about.
I have been reading a bit of Sydney Banks which you might find interesting. Check him out if you don't know of him - very simple & straightforward assessment of humanity and what it takes to have a knowledge of inner self.
We are not instinctive or innate slaves, inclined to blindly follow mind control orders, but instead we are natural sovereign spirits who have lost our way simply because we fail to remember.
Unfortunately I must disagree. In any band of chimps, or pack of wolves there is one alpha male; the other males submit either by choice or because they lose in the process of trying to conquer #1 place.
Early human beings banded in tribes and accepted a leader as long as he would lead them to the better hunting grounds or to a more beneficial territory. Many folks today "choose" to believe that The Appointed will lead them to some better life, because that piece of "information" has been genetically transmitted from generation to generation and has lodged itself in the most ancient folds of our brain.
THAT needs to be reprogrammed. Unfortunately IMHO, many spinmeisters in politics and in advertising (one and same thing) are in the process of getting better in creating and controlling our new psychological environment, and are honing their skills on handling the "primordial BIOS". Why we are collectively forgetting to remember is more a function of the puppeteers being particularly adapt at throwing volumes of new scenes (aka irrelevant and useless infromation) that eventually overload the brains of the audience and clog the memory that would otherwise be available and manageable by the critical individual.
I think that the puppeteer's ideal organization is a cross between chinese slavery and ant or bee colonies... which leads me to remember Mussolini's famous "Believe, Obey, Fight" meme...
Paul
Idealista
What you are suggesting is fine if you act at the level of an animal. Wolves are not conscious in the way a human is, and instinct tells them who is boss: the one that bites hardest.
Napoleon was a small not very strong man - yet he was a man who could command the loyalty of ten thousand men any one of whom could have beaten him flat without a second thought. Had it crossed their minds.
Napoleon did not want those men to fight for him, but to fight for what he stood for. He inspired those men by telling them not to fight for Napoleon but to fight for an ideal "la France". Any man fighting for Napoleon was fighting for himself.
A wolf cannot do that.
Yes.
BUT.
I am also talking about the Brain's deeper recesses, because that is where our ancestral, "un-remembered" (but latent), animal reactions reside.
I share with you the awareness that we are all "men" - sentient, conscious huma beings. HOWEVER a multitude of men and women, as amply commented on these pages (an brutally often referred to as "sheeple"), still choose to follow the alpha leader, as much as they are potentially capable of understanding that their best interests are otherwhere.
The most successful leaders (aka populists?) are capable of tickling that "un forgotten" animal and to conveniently direct it.
in your earlier post you wrote:
I wonder, if the men who decided to make the correlation of a past never experienced to a current reality's perspective, and tell a story of what "tribes" and "leaders" and how "men" act/react. . . I wonder if the story is told differently, can the resulting excused behaviours be different?
if the learned men who wrote the books on reality didn't all agree on what reality IS, how fascinating! (and just for the record, they don't, ha.)
"How can you bring about a change in consciousness-which-has-no-limits, which has no boundaries, which has no frontiers?" - UG Krishnamurti
literally
That which was always there does not need to, cannot be brought about. The suggestion itself doesn't make sense - by its own quality it cannot stop being, it is limitless. It has only been occulted, like clouds temporarily blocking the sun. The sun doesn't care, it still shines even if you cannot see it.
The only thing to be done is to realize your own being, and the clouds will start to vanish.
Thank you for that and for having the guts to end it.
There IS literally nothing to fear ... we already are that which is literally endless ... not a thing is necessary, but to discover what that is ... the whirld of thought is not our friend ... it's the most ruthless enemy of the innate truth beyond the 'thinking' anti-mind ... it's the very meaning and the sum total of the very inadequate mere word, 'vanity', for its very process is based on the assumption of a pointless lie - that you are 'finite' - in an existence in which finite is actually not even physically possible.
In order to 'think' you must first assume finite is real, and a part of your rational material existence.
And that subconscious process, of generating this internal fake 'finite', where there is none at all outside your skull, is at the very heart of "our collective insanity".
Forget the classification and interpretation of the shadows on your internal cave wall, forget the arguments about the "real" things that cast these extraordinary shadows, that we fret over and maintain. Just break the chains of this fake 'finite' anti-mind of you, and get out of that dead cave of thought, and have a look at what's really inside/outside.
Human beings are not born to die.
That was only the logical conclusion of the anti-mind - our failed 'thinker', that seems so clever and intelligent.
Human beings were born to discover what they already are - they were NOT born to 'become' something, via some process of cerebral refinement or planning to get somewhere developmentally.
That cerebral refinement process is only the worthless outer wrapper, it's nothing compared to what it obscures inside, which is in need of nothing at all from the thinking and false anti-mind.
On the contrary, the thinker needs it, so that it knows it actually has no basis, and can not be taken seriously at all.
That is literally losing your mind ... even as you discover the ACTUAL mind ...
Which has always been there, all your life, you just didn't know it's aways been with you.
We always assumed or were told we needed to develop, or be or become something, or come from from somewhere, but surprise surprise ... it's already there ... you just keep betting in the way.
Because 'you' are a fake conjured 'finite' mechanism.
And it's not ... its actually here ... it's not a fake.
My understanding is in agreement with yours. I live the backpacker's hostel life in South America so lots of people get to see my lifestyle and often ask me what my meditation is. I usually explain it along the following lines:
"The mind is a little finite conceptual calculator. It tries to deal with the boundlessness of reality by cutting it up in convenient little pieces which it can then play around with in its calculations. This dividing of the infinite into parts is the source of the illusions that create suffering in our lives.
The first piece that the mind tries to define is a sense of me, so that it may define the non-me; through this the ego concept takes rise. This is the first violence that the mind perpetrates on the Self: it tries to constrain the freedom of its existence in the herenow according to the ego - the limitations of past conditionnings and future expectations.
Here's a spiritual practice for you: stop trying to label things, experiences, attitudes - stop taking your thoughts so seriously."
Indeed, virtually all of the 'issues' that create conflict and damage in the world, that are not related to primary physical needs (i.e. not greed or wants) are sewn up in the process of creating and verbalising false-ideas.
The reality is there is nothing TRUE, that can also be verbalised.
All we say is, in fact, implicitly incorrect and false - which is a completely mad suggestion, to the average thinker.
What everyone who has not personally gone beyond the wrapper to discovered this, doesn't get, is that that these Truths, and Ideas we are so keen on are ALL ultimately wrong, misleading and false.
100% of them - no exceptions.
All thinkers are creating or repeating these false notions, all of the time, in 'real'-time, that appear obviously true and self-referencially and inescapably 'valid'. All are using this fake-mind as a process to create nothing that seems to be something - but remains forever nothing. Only the attachment to the seductive verbal notion/illusion, which we maintain and polish, can remains, once the verbal utterances die away.
We use that memory to maintain that state of implicit falseness, as the 'real' and the 'true' and the 'verified'.
The very act of verbally communicating from a memory and the linking of these mental abstractions together in phrases, to communicate with the objective 'others' we encounter, is to not actually communicating anything, that is not ultimately, profoundly and implicitly false.
And almost all humans to not even realise they do this, constantly.
Indeed, that's how the thinker comes to believe it knows what the shadows flickering on the cave-walls of the mind's-eye are, but the things it discusses 'materially', aren't actually there, in the stark objective terms that thought conceives of them, and links them up, and implies and asserts verbally that 'they' are real things being discussed.
But the thinking mind powerfully and easily creates this wonderful verbal illusion within our memory that what we say has real meaning and depth ... I'm doing right now, and so are you.
And if you do it 'right', if you are really skilled, and disciplined in its use and classification and referencing, at a physical level, you can manipulate materials and build an object that will take you to the moon and back again, and you could even build a video recorder, to re-live that process of achievements, as a profound cultural memory.
And we will feel mighty chuffed about this mental and verbal and physical accomplishment of this great feat of science and engineering, and the indomitable human spirit, etc.
This is what is meant by the ancient saying, "vanity of vanities, all is vanity".
Because it actually works on that level, we thus assume such objectivity is actually valid, at all times and in all places, and in all situations. But this is in vain.
THAT is a devastating mental trap we have fallen for. Then we take its accomplished and proven objectiveness very seriously, all of the time. Because the alternative, that it is ultimately invalid, is far too scary, indeed, it seems totally utterly mad to us - and on a personal level seems a very dangerous conclusion, or rather, it's a potential discovery of something that was already there.
The literal discovery that our thinking aspect is anti-thetically to our best interests, to take thoughts and verbal communications and communicators seriously, all of the time. To not immediately dismiss their verbal spells, in the first instance. It is of no significance, but we are forced to regard it with importance, and evaluate it seriously, and remember it in a process that subconsiously conditions our actuions and responses. That occurs, not matter what you do. That is what the thinker does, and feels it MUST do.
The path to question the ultimate validity of the entire process of our education and culturalisation, is the most radical and patently mad of all the steps a human can take. It is not a safe path, and it can easily destroy any person, from an objective point of view.
And it IS the path to always take.
This discovery does not drop into your lap. You must drop/stop the mind's artifice before you can find the real - and you may not go all the way. You may not really give a shit. It might just sound interesting in the good times. This takes total commitment, a mad crazy sort of commitment to see it through, no matter where it takes you.
It requires faith. (and that is not something with 'religious' connotations, it's just necessary to have faith)
It is a genuine leap of faith, and also an act of pure desperation, of not being able to stay within the madness any longer, of the need to end its influence, to be free of it, and also of a deep and necessary honesty to risk it all and be willing to do so without regard to other considerations.
And the reality is that almost no one has the guts to take that leap - this is why it so rarely occurs today, and through the generations, and when it does happen it pulls the existing order apart, and renders it impotent.
That's why I thank you, and others, for daring to take that path, to actually end it - at least for you.
It's actually impossible to communicate anything real to anyone who has never seen past the gift-wrapper outer of the refined thinking mind, to see DIRECTLY that it's a complete fake, via taking this committed leap of faith, into what seems on the face to be an act of madness.
Our lack of freedom is remaining dead within us, rather than being expressed, because we are too afraid to take that leap into what our thinking anti-mind says should not exist, or be possible, and would be a logical mistake.
But there is actually ultimately no danger at all, there is nothing whatsoever to fear, for you are not actually able to lose anything, as you already have it all, it's already been there all along. And that is the greatest shock.
In earlier times this discovery of our actual mind's operation, hidden by this false verbalising one, seems to have lead to Priests, Shaman and Wise-men etc., who were mistaken to be 'religious' figures, sent of 'God', rathr than just ordinary people, who had the guts to go all the way, internally, and see directly what they really are.
These understood all of this. Many called them Mystics or Enlightened, or Masters. And they often wrote about it, even though they clearly knew the truth could never be written down or transferred to another in any way. Their 'followers' either did what was necessary themselves, or nothing happened.
Mostly nothing happened, the core followers never discovered it, they were fakers.
And then their 'followers' and the 'religious' orders that sprouted from their writings came to realise they could use these un-utterable insights, and the implicit falseness of verbal constructs, to very easily manipulate the thinkers and the proles, to maintain a political and religious control -- the early orderly and regimented political-economic and cultural State has resulted.
This occurred all over the planet. Humans everywhere discovered this, some used it to try and awaken others, while others used it to exploit those asleep, and to keep them asleep.
If words are all invalid anyway, and you acutely know this, and others are totally oblivious to it, and you can guide them specifically in obedience, so that they never discover what they really are, so thus you can control them internally, and thus externally, why not use that to advantage yourself, and your family, over the generations? Why not if they are basically willing idiots?
And that's roughly what's been happening to humanity for thousands of years.
The result today is the global systemic failure and the elites.
And people are beginning to (again) be ready to make this leap of faith, they feel that something much better is possible, they sense it, they yearn for it, they are desperate for it, and they are ready to demand it be permitted to take place, to be free of the expert and the overseer. They are so ready they are almost willing to risk it all now.
And that's what it takes to go there. Faith, and no fear of the outcome.
Let it be.
And the power manipulators of our time are determined to keep them from taking that leap, to their actual inner freedom, that they will then express in the whorled, and will seek to awaken others to have faith in that great inner leap towards human sanity and dignity, which is being portrayed as a leap into complete madness and danger, by the manipulators of our existing dangerous collective madness, which they desire to maintain, through a false-fear of that process of freedom, from their parasitic slavery and control.
As they can not conceive of a life that is not parasitic, and necessarily, therefore, mentally manipulative of ALL of humanity, ALL of the time.
Congratulations ... first time I've ever agreed with you!
However, while your conclusion of what is required is sound, your assessment of how many are ready for any leap of faith into their own readiness to be free of manipulation is way out of whack!
Even on ZH, I can count on the fingers of one hand how many are talking anything other than rearranging the deck chairs at the next election on their respective prison farms. And that's the "truth"!
I did say many will not go all the way, even then, once they get down to the nitty gritty. Most won't, and they will settle to rearrange their mind's furniture, then think they did something, and then forget about it. That's how it goes.
It's always been a very small number who will end it. But where there are more people, there will also be more people who will aspire to free themselves. The nastier the oppression cycle gets, the greater the desperation level.
Whether that leads to a rise in the propensity for the 'leap of faith' to go find what they are, I don't know.
On an unrelated note, looking back from the future, this might be one of the most awesome discussions I've had yet. By consciousness, how do I love ZH!
Now listen carefully to what I have to say and remember it well: forget what I just said.
williambanzai7
I caught the references to Aristotle, the old man of the tribe with his unfortunate epistemological paresis, and also to that feisty lady I always imagine is really lost Anastasia, but I still didn't grok. "What do you mean?" I asked, grabbing a wet handkerchief as some of the teargas started to drift to our end of the park. "Chairman Mao didn't say half of it," Hagbard replied holding a handkerchief to his own face. His words came through muffled; "It isn't only political power that grows out of the barrel of a gun. So does the whole definition of reality. A set. And the action that has to happen on that particular set and on none other." "Don't be so bloody patronizing," I objected, looking around a corner in time and realizing that night I would be Maced. "That's just Marx: the ideology of the ruling class becomes the ideology of the whole society." "Not the ideology. The Reality." He lowered his handkerchief. "This was a public park until they changed the definition. Now, the guns have changed the Reality. It isn't a public park. There's more than one kind of magic." "Just like Enclosure Acts," I said hollowly. "One day the land belongs to the people. The next day it belongs to the landlords." "And like the Narcotic Acts," he added. "A hundred thousands harmless junkies became criminals overnight, by Act of Congress, in 1927. Ten years later, in '37, all the pot-heads in the country became criminals overnight, by Act of Congress. And they were criminals, when the papers were signed. The guns prove it. Walk away from those guns, waving a joint, and refuse to halt when they tell you. Their Imagination will become your Reality in a second." And I had my answer to Dad, finally, just as a cop jumped out of the darkness screaming something about freaking motherfucking fag commies and Maced me, as was certain to happen (I knew it as I crumbled in pain) on that set.
Sorry, I forgot what you just said.