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Guest Post - The Majesty of Mindfulness
The Majesty of Mindfulness
By Joe Withrow
Author of "The Individual is Rising"
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Mindfulness is a rare quality in our world today. There is little need for Mindfulness within the halls of the great and mighty institutions of society. There is little time for Mindfulness within individuals due to the demands of the rat-race, the allure of consumerism, and the overload of electronic stimuli. And there is outright disdain for Mindfulness from the ruling class sitting atop the collectivist pyramid.
Yet Providence smiles favorably upon the Mindful.
Mindfulness is neither flashy nor fashionable and its power is not of worldly nature. Mindfulness does not presume superiority and it does not seek recognition. Mindfulness seeks only harmony – harmony of body, mind, and spirit.
Mindfulness is careful, but not timid. Mindfulness is confident, but not arrogant; strong, but not domineering.
The one who is Mindful understands the power of consent and thus does not consent to anything which disrupts the harmony of Mindfulness. The power of consent is derived from the fact that one’s reality is ultimately a construct of one’s choices. The Mindful one recognizes he has dominion over his thoughts, emotions, and actions. Reality is merely an intersection of the three.
Because s/he is aware of the power of consent, the one who is Mindful chooses everything; he is not swayed by external forces. The one who is Mindful takes great measures to avoid all manner of toxins that would serve to disrupt his harmony. He avoids toxic food, toxic drugs, toxic thoughts, toxic words, toxic schools, toxic music, toxic television programming, toxic news, toxic people, and toxic government.
The one who is Mindful embraces self-education, self-employment, self-reliance, and self-governance and he rejects those who would seek authority over him. The Mindful one recognizes the hubris and the ignorance of those who claim worldly authority over others. S/he knows what they do not – that this life is not a trivial event in search of fame, fortune, and power. Nay, this life is an interconnected part of the very fabric of the Universe through which the individual spirit has the opportunity to grow in transcendent knowledge and wisdom. It is an opportunity to observe a very small section of Space-time within this massive Universe.
Those who seek power and dominion over Mindfulness are the same ones who seek power and dominion over the human spirit. They claim authority over the Mindful one and seek to govern every aspect of his life. They ultimately seek to convert the Mindful one’s infinite potential into blind servitude.
Look back through history and you can see that they who seek power over humanity have been at it for a very long time. The dominion-seekers are responsible for all of the wars that have raged since the dawn of human civilization, for the institution of overt slavery that existed for most of human history, and for the modern institution of covert slavery that is perpetuated by central banking and fiat currency. It is they who murdered the most enlightened of the Mindful throughout history, from Socrates to Gandhi, and even the one called Christ. The power seekers revel in fear and servitude and they hate individuals who practice the art of Mindfulness.
Despite this Mindfulness remains calm and centered. Mindfulness understands that worldly power is irrelevant in the bigger scheme of the eternal Cosmos. Mindfulness recognizes that the external worldly battle is but a reflection of the battle that rages within each sovereign individual. It is the inner battle that matters, for the external battle will fade from existence once the inner battle is won. Mindfulness quietly focuses on winning this inner battle without any need of praise or recognition.
To the worldly onlooker Mindfulness appears weak, callous, and cold. Mindfulness offers no refute or explanation to these charges, but the Mindful one is fully aware of the strength that flows within and the flame of love that burns at the core. The Mindful one understands that the same flame burning eternally within him also burns eternally in others. Mindfulness knows that all of life is interconnected; that each individual is nothing less than an eternal spirit of humanity manifesting in a gloriously unique way.

The Mindful one recognizes there is no ‘left’ or ‘right’; there is only Liberty or Tyranny.
Liberty leaves the individual free to wander in whatever direction calls out to his spirit. Liberty recognizes the individual’s right to discover and cultivate his passion, whatever that may be. Liberty respects the sacredness of human life and presumes no superiority over the human spirit. And Liberty leaves the individual free to discover his destiny and ascend to a higher state of being.
Tyranny sets forth to funnel the individual into worldly systems of enslavement and to regulate all manner of individual activity. Tyranny sees the individual and presumes to know what’s best for him. Tyranny looks upon the infinite human spirit with disdain and seeks to cage and dominate it. Tyranny attempts to inundate and distract individuals with all manner of worldly fear, power, and entertainment so as to disconnect the individual from the spirit. Tyranny places all individuals into collective groups, labels them accordingly, and then proclaims that individuals are meaningless outside of the collective. Individuals who fall for this deceit then see themselves as part of a group and they see other groups as their enemy.
Mindfulness cuts through Tyranny like a fiery blade and the Mindful one sees right through these distractions and deceits. Mindfulness knows that Liberty is required for harmonious individual interaction. Mindfulness maintains amor fati - a respect for Fate.
This is why Tyranny holds an eternal hatred for Mindfulness: it cannot exist where Mindfulness is present. Tyranny understands it actually has no power; it must be chosen by individuals. Thus Tyranny must convince individuals of its ability to deliver a better future. History shows that Tyranny is fairly adept at selling this illusion, at least until Mindfulness rises in opposition. History also shows that Tyranny is never capable of delivering the better future as promised. Instead, Tyranny always disrupts the lives and plans of individuals, families, and friends – always for its own benefit and not theirs. Tyranny disrupted or ended the lives and plans of billions of individuals in the twentieth century alone.
Tyranny, for the life of itself, cannot understand the Mindful one. Despite being in touch with their tremendous individual power, the Mindful ones do not use this power against others. Nor is the Mindful one ever interested in negotiating with Tyranny; s/he simply refuses to stray from her/his chosen path. Tyranny is befuddled when the Mindful one refuses all manner of bribes, deals, and kickbacks. Tyranny is frustrated when the Mindful one is not deterred by slander and ridicule and it is enraged when the Mindful one does not respond to intimidation and threats of force. Through it all the Mindful one stands tall, confident in the validity of his/her principles. Tyranny has learned there is very little it can do to deter the Mindful one other than kill him. But the eternal spirit of Mindfulness can never die.
Tyranny comes in different sizes, shapes, and colors and these different forms often compete with one another in the political arena. Politics is simply the art of Tyranny, and a clever one at that. Many an individual has strayed from the Mindful path for the allure of politics; often with good intentions.
Mindfulness understands, however, there are no political solutions to political problems. Political solutions always begin with “we must” or “you must” but this is a dead-end road. “We must” and “you must” are unsustainable because they are not grounded in Mindfulness; they are grounded instead in some combination of self-interest, short-sightedness, ignorance, fear, and/or exploitation. All true solutions must stem from “I must” first. That solution is then amplified if multiple “I musts” come together in harmony. But the inspiration has to come from within first – from the “I must”.

Applying Mindfulness
The Majesty of Mindfulness is the solution to the major problems of our time. Mindfulness is simply a choice and anyone can choose to put it on their mantle. Mindfulness cannot be forced upon others, however, as free will is a vital part of the Universal code. Thus, Mindfulness is latent within each individual seeking to unlock its power for them.
The first step to awakening the Mindfulness within is an honest assessment of the System. We are told at a very early age that the key to success in this life is to master the System’s power game. We are herded into schools to pledge allegiance to the System and learn how to play by its rules. We mindlessly rush off to college to further our education on how to succeed inside the System. Then we pursue jobs in corporate America or maybe even an MBA from a public university. The MBA, we are told, is the key to unlocking and gaining entry to the higher tiers of the System. Similarly, each corporate job is a platform to prove our ability to operate within the System so we can get raises, bonuses, and then move up to the next rank within the System. And there is always a higher rank in the System.
This is not the Mindful path.
There is nothing inherently wrong with pursuing this path within the System, but it is much more likely to lead to stress, confusion, short-sightedness, small-mindedness, physical exhaustion, mental atrophy, family problems, and depression than it is to enlightenment. Now there are certainly those who have achieved self-defined success and happiness from within the System. There are plenty of people who have used the System to provide a quality life for themselves and their families. But past experiences are not indicative of future results and the System is becoming more and more fragile, and suffocating, by the day.
The System was easy to support in its adolescence as there was ample room for growth to mask the ill-effects of exponentially expanding credit-based money. The hockey-stick graph of credit expansion has now eclipsed the rate of economic growth, however, and the System is teetering as a result. The owners of the System must now resort to iron-fisted measures to keep it from tipping. If you follow the System’s predefined path, your every move will be subject to restrictions, licenses, regulations, taxes, and prohibitions. This is not a formula for success and it is certainly no way for a sovereign individual to live.
An honest assessment of the System will likely lead you to conclude that you would be better served by exiting it, but you will probably be unable to immediately make your get away. Unless you have a tremendous amount of resources at your disposal, you will have to distance yourself from the System one step at a time. This is not easy for someone who has spent their entire life doing the ‘right’ things – getting an education, working hard, and saving some money for retirement. It is very difficult to accept the fact that the System has been structured to plunder the honest people who follow the predefined path and it is normal for this realization to lead to depression or anger, or both.
But Mindfulness cannot coexist with depression or anger. The next step to awakening Mindfulness is to learn to be calm and accept the worldly injustices for what they are – an opportunity for growth. Liberty and Tyranny swing on a pendulum. As do Justice and Injustice. One or the other is inescapably present at all times in all places. There is a fundamental balance that seems to exist in the Universe which suggests that opposite and contrary forces are always interconnected. In order to know one you must also know the other. This is expressed as the yin and yang principle in Eastern philosophy.
The System currently represents Tyranny and Injustice but it is becoming extremely fragile and one day the pendulum will swing back towards Liberty. And later the pendulum will reverse course once again. There is nothing we can do to change this process at the macro level. All we can do is learn how to move away from the System and become a positive force in our local reality - our families, friends, and communities.
The Mindful one does not seek to change the world; he seeks to change himself. The end goal is admirable, but it is the journey that is most important. The obstacle is the path.
Opportunities for earning income outside of the corporate cubicle arise as Mindfulness grows. This income is still subject to the regulations and taxes of the System, but some of it can be legally sheltered before the System gets to it. One must develop these meaningful sources of income in order to move away from the System. Yes this means paying taxes that the System will use against you. Yes this means accepting dishonest fiat currency that is used to transfer wealth from the outsiders to the owners of the System. But what other options are there currently? It is difficult to grow in Mindfulness if one’s life is a constant struggle just for sustenance.
As your non-wage income grows you will need Mindful strategies for protecting and investing your money. The System suggests you trust government approved retirement plans and government licensed Wall Street brokers to handle your asset management needs. Those moving away from the System prefer some combination of a more diversified approach: gold in the basement to hedge against currency collapse, specially structured high-cash value life insurance to hedge against future bail-ins and wealth taxes, domestic real estate, farm land and other locally-controlled hard assets that cannot be inflated away, offshore real estate to hedge against domestic political risk, a bitcoin wallet or two in case crypto currencies have a role within the next monetary system, and/or a contrarian approach to the stock market with the assistance of real (non-licensed, non-commissioned) investment analysis. And of course it is prudent to keep a little cash on the sidelines for the times when assets are dramatically oversold due to herd-mentality investors rushing for the exits.
Mindful investments are not based on greed or on the hopes of future luxury; they are made to sustain individual freedom. Mindful investing is not about making money; it is about converting money into income streams and hard assets so as to be free from the need to work as a wage slave for basic necessities. The specifics differ with each individual but the idea is the same: to blend Mindfulness with practical self-reliance so as to strengthen the synergy between mind, body, and spirit. This approach enables you to get rid of ‘life pockets’ and adopt a more holistic approach to living – instead of having a ‘work life’, ‘social life’, and ‘family life’ you just have ‘life’.
The Mindful path is steep and rugged with lots of twists, turns, and forks. Rumor has it the path also has no defined end. But those who choose to walk the Mindful path find that their problems seem to fade from relevance with each additional step taken. So they trod on, confident in the validity of their journey and respectful of the eccentricity of the Universal code.
Where does the Mindful path lead? Who knows…? Such is the Majesty of Mindfulness.
Joe Withrow aka ZH's Joe Galt

For more of Joe’s thoughts on the “Great Reset”, the global paradigm shift, and regaining individual sovereignty please read “The Individual is Rising”. The book is also available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle editions.

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“When we free ourselves from physical disabilities, emotional disturbances, and mental distractions, we open the gates to our soul.”
B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life
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“The union of nature and soul removes the veil of ignorance that covers our intelligence.”
B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life
"Nor is the Mindful one ever interested in negotiating with Tyranny; s/he simply refuses to stray from her/his chosen path."
I cringe every time I see this "s/he" "her/his" PC crap. If the author's male, just use HE, if female, use SHE. Why is that so difficult?
Here's an idea! Use the third person:
Nor are the Mindful ever interested in negotiating with Tyranny; they simply refuse to stray from their chosen path.
See how I did that?
And what the hell is this?
"The one who is Mindful takes great measures to avoid all manner of toxins that would serve to disrupt his harmony. He avoids toxic food, toxic drugs, toxic thoughts, toxic words, toxic schools, toxic music, toxic television programming, toxic news, toxic people, and toxic government."
Besides the FDA, who gets to say what is and isn't toxic? I mean seriously, toxic music? Say what?
Toxic is in the eye of the beholder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUmNmpGnKp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvLAKrVbCBM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QAjj20wbdU
An effective method for practicing mindfulness involves intense awareness of body sensation. If one engages in something that causes dis-ease in the body, one could consider that action toxic. Mind/body are so interconnected that even toxic thought will reveal itself in bodily sensations. The way one habitually "holds" their mind, has as much to do with chronic disease as any outside influences ( most of the time).
Too many people here have opinions about mindfulness without ever engaging in the practice. Sprirtualism from a purely conceptual aspect is religion. One can believe all/anything they want. To know is something completely different.
While religion has usurped spirit for its own benefit, true spirituality has no religion and does not benefit from religion. Buddhism was build upon the words of Buddha just as Christianity stole Jesus' wisdom. Neither advocated for a level of authority between the individual and his spirit. The Pope and the Dalai Lama were created by man for the benefit of man, not the spirit. Preachers and monks are neither disciples nor masters, merely advocates (and fund-raisers) for religion.
Oh my lord! I'm sorry but this is just such an awful bastardization of mindfulness that it can't go without comment. If you can find me a book by a serious student of mindfulness that expresses this sort of manichaean garbage I'll eat a durian!
This statement summarizes the inane, closed-minded, self-deluding stupidity of the author (apart from the tell that he calls himself "Joe Galt")...
Rubbish! For the mindful one there is only liberty! The mindful one observes mindfulness in whatever circumstance obtain, and the very foundation of that mindfulness is the exploitation of the freedom to be mindful. It does not consist in the identification and repudiation of the other, it does not seek to establish its superiority, it simply is.
What you have in this piece of classic libertarian faux-intellectual claptrap is an attempt to justify the selfish, arrogant, dishonest greed of Ayn Rand's moronic ramblings by shrouding them in eastern mystical practices. That sort of uniquely American brand of stupidity has made the term "evangelical" synomous with greedy, sanctimonious arrogance and will do little more for anyone who tries to jamb the ugly wolf of libertarian greed inside the lambswool of eastern meditative practices.
I almost never arrow, and I've only used the red one a half-dozen times in my time here, but I used it on you!
First off, you try to obfuscate and generally confuse with "academic speak" when Fuck Ayn Rand and Ron Paul would'a sufficed. Why'd ya' bring the "evangelicals" into this? They are clearly not the focus of this article.
Most of what you wrote is unintelligible, but for you to claim that for "the mindful one there is only liberty" is simply the very claptrap you accuse this author of.
Make no mistake, you obviously over-educated-shit-for-brains, there is no yin absent its' ever present yang.
There, that's my contribution to mindfulness for ya'.
Ya, thanks for making my case. Much obliged.
perhaps you are being too harsh versus libertarianism. which is imho a very nice philosophical-political stance. in fact one of the best, if it wasn't for the real human problems for which it has no answers. for example, classical libertarianism is still struggling with:
- what do you do with a big enemy invasion? how do you cope with borders? international or economic? other people's borders?
- what do you do when the moral setup on which it's based breaks down? what do you do with religious or social influences?
and, interestingly... children
do children belong to their parents? if yes, to the father, the mother or... both? is one of them the ultimate judge over them? like the Spartan father, allowed to throw unfits out like rubbish? like the Roman paterfamilias, allowed to call in a consilium of friends/allies to give him sensible advice before taking the decision to kill or not one of them? what if they disagree, or split? Is there an external judge for that? if yes, who? The Tribe? The Gens? Religion? Society? The State? If the state, at what level, the village, the province, the federation?
note that I'm talking here about the sovereignty of the household. it really existed in earlier times. the walls and threshold of a house were sacred, literally so, then the house was a temple to the genius - the spirit, the will - of the chief of this household
neither community nor society nor religion nor state or polity (or police) had any business about trespassing that threshold
you hear cries of women or children being beaten? not your business, nor the community's, nor society's, nor the state's, nor religion's, then the father is the high-priest, the high judge and the high executioner of his household. this was Patriarchy, btw (though there were other cases of matrilinial clans/households, or even households focused on who is born in it staying forever there. yet the principles applied in the same way, what happens in the household stays in the household, and is nobody else's business... or war)
this is the real root of our civilization. the sacred household. since then, we have... progress. and some progress is in the thoughts and feelings of everyone of us... making that threshold less sacred, and more anyone's business
contrast this past extreme with various other extremes, like one where religion is the ultimate arbiter on how children are raised, or society is the ultimate arbiter on how both adults and children ought to behave, or with Hillary Clinton's statism of "it takes a village to raise a child" meme, where the state must take care of the children, even taking them away from their parents, or judging how they have to be tought, so the state taking over from what used to be the most literal (Roman) familia, but was in part taken over by either religion or society, or... "the village" that used to be the American neighbourhood of people of all kind of social strata living together with various voluntaristic associations, but mostly broke down for several reasons, including the American propensity of moving around, living only among "similar people"...
... and fostering an individualism that has little touch for reality, then the systems were based on citizens being adults with free will and agency and children being wards of adults that were nevertheless under the spell of society/religion asking them to be responsible adults and castigating them when they failed to do so.. within reason and bounds, but not always so
but by making the adult a pure individual unfettered by neither society nor religion and the child a free citizen, you suddently have a state that reacts to this, that treats all citizens like children, spoilt brats only capable of fulfilling their instant desires, and needing guidance
as I was pointing out to Cognitive Dissonance, not long ago, we still have sovereign individuals, in Europe. we call them... Princes
a good example for one is the Prince of Monaco. Who had not long ago a bride that wanted to run away shortly before his wedding. Well, he called His Police, and had her collected before she exited His Borders, and brought her back to Him. A perfect example of sovereignty of one individual. He could have also called one of His judges to write a sentence about that. Because sovereignty is nothing else then: "you and which army?". I have My rules. I call them sovereign laws. I make My deals with other sovereigns. They are called treaties among sovereigns. Note that the girl is now Princess of Monaco, bound by marriage to His House. If let's say France wanted to do something about it, it would have been at least a diplomatic incident, if not... war. I wonder what Mrs. Cog thinks about this bride abduction, though I can imagine she shudders about the sheer romantic appeal of it
this is sovereignty. My Army, My Police, My Jugdes. My laws, My treaties. My Bride, My Wife, My Children, My Will. If you do not agree... My War with you
republican sovereignty is exactly the same, exchanging My with Ours and I with We. And then, bitching about how this We and Ours ought to be: politics
the Achille's Heel of the Majesty of the Individual is that nobody is or can be born sovereign, with free will and agency and capable of fending for himself. nobody. even the future prince is born as a... near slave
You and I were all born as children, with very little agency, no responsability whatsoever, and dependent on everything, be it from family, society, religion, clan, sept, genos/gens, tribe, community or... the state
"The Mindful one does not seek to change the world; he seeks to change himself. The end goal is admirable, but it is the journey that is most important. The obstacle is the path."
Yes, I agree. Though the journey starts from no responsibility to responsibility, from no agency to agency, from no idea about the world to what you are thought... by others. In the middle of the road - which starts with being born - you have a responsible adult, as such already an admirable goal... and the product of your environment. Half-educated, then not yet self-educated, btw. From there, you can start to change yourself. Though by the very act of changing yourself you do change the world. In fact, it's the only way to change the world...
I believe he's referring to the distinctly right-wing libertarianism to which many "anarcho-capitalist", Rand-loving, Austrian School ZH'ers subscribe, a position that deserves every bit of scorn it receives as it is essentially Orwellian doublespeak for fascism. For these individuals there is simply no other concept of Liberty, so effective has the right-wing propaganda machine been in America. Their model has already been tried (France post Enlightenment, pre Revolution) and it collapsed in a rent-seekers' paradise of inequality, much like the world today.
You, being a European, are afflicted by this bizarre tendency to view the axis of Liberty-Authority as independent of the axis of Left-Right! How strange!! (Sarcasm). It would confuse many of the "libertarians" around here to know that Europe has experienced this thing known as left-libertarianism, that Socialism and Liberty can, in fact, coexist. Not only that but shock! horror! such related constructs can even operate successfully within a capitalist nation (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondragon_Corporation and http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Semler ).
Their brains may well explode should they find out that one of their poster boys for liberty, George Orwell, was actually on the ground as a militia member of the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification during the Spanish Revolution. Ssssshhhhhh!
there is one phrase like very much, here: "Tyranny comes in different sizes, shapes, and colors..."
and one I dislike very much, here: "Politics is simply the art of Tyranny, and a clever one at that..." particularly coupled with the end of the previous phrase, ""...and these different forms often compete with one another in the political arena.""
why I dislike the phrases? because the dear author is trying to make an universal discourse, valid for all humans, alls societies, all environments
I visited, not that long ago, a classic oasis in the desert. inhabited since at least 5'000 years, very isolated, very autonomous, truly a (human) world apart
politics, there, was always shaped by... water. limited water. breakdown of politics, there, was always shaped... by blood
the oasis tried, in it's long history, all kinds of political setups, from liberal (including libertarian) to conservative to socialist to tyranny to democracy to oligarchy
the resulting justice was always about getting water, the resulting injustices were always about not getting water
order, there, is having a system that allocates water. disorder, one that does it inefficiently, and results in chaos which results in blood
order, there, was always about having politics. which is nothing else than how people cooperate - in this case about one critical common resource which can't be allowed to become a "tragedy of the commons" without going back to shedding blood
and there you have it: if you do live in a place without any possible or potential "tragedy of the commons", you have the luxury of thinking this way about politics
but if there is a potential "tragedy of the commons", be it critical, limited common resources, or an enemy behind the horizon, or whatever... you reach very quickly the point where you have either politics... or death
when you reach this point, then it's all about what kind of politics, and what kind of fruits those kind of politics bear, with it's resulting justice or injustice
now I ask you: do you really live in a place of plenty? where there are no limitation whatsoever? do you live in the Garden of Eden or in a kind of oasis? because if you do live in a kind of oasis... then politics matters. and then it's about the quality of politics, not it's presence or absence
-----------
in case you wonder about how successful politics look, there, and fear that they have some kind of socialist setup... the funniest thing is that there is a second critical resource, there: salt. that has to come from elsewhere, generating a trade of dates vs salt that was old even in the bronze age
this critical external trade generated a political thinking finely attuned to prices, and markets. and so they have one of the oldest regulated markets of dates, salt and water
success, there, always meant being a good farmer of dates, or a good trader of salt and dates and other items, or a smith or whatever including a sensible speculator (and warehouser) on dates, salt, water and other items... without choking the general economy of the oasis. yes, this oasis usually had (and still has) the best out of capitalism, markets and a social setup and smart regulations. well, it has to. it can't afford to be careless about those things. it can't afford to be careless about politics
breakdown of politics was always shaped by blood
What exactly is in place after the breakdown of politics, in your opinion?
Only possibility is complete, unlimited anarchy?
You swallowed the false definition (distributed by TPTB) hook, line and sinker.
Those who liked the article above may enjoy watching this 2 hour video that is free here:
http://www.innerworldsmovie.com/
That documentary Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds has high production values, and is quite entertaining to watch merely for the aesthetic appeal of that show. It is well researched, relatively insightful, and interesting, however, I do not think it does a good enough synthesis of ancient mysticism inside post-modernizing science, because it still cleaves to the old-fashioned moralities which eschew taking more responsibility for human artificial selections, as those necessarily develop out of the natural selections.
Similarly with regard to the article above, regarding Mindfulness ... I found it almost universally continues to be the case that those who make entertaining videos tend to not consistently approach solutions with unitary mechanisms, instead of their solutions collapsing back to false fundamental dichotomies, and the related impossible ideals, which do not provide for better death controls or better done human murder systems.
I do not agree that such distinctions made in the article above between "Tyranny versus Liberty" are useful, although that kind of transcendental poetry language has a relatively high public approval rating in some circles.
Of course, I have that kind of attitude towards many, many others who are relatively famous within some of the "alternative" communities. E.g., here is a link to another shorter video, that may appeal to those who liked reading the article above:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=IEQl2LvqWjk
Michael Tsarion - Zero Tolerance For The Lie
Excessive psychologizing is popular with people,
especially since it justifies them ignoring politics
which IS applied human ecology, that includes
psychology, but also looks at the environment.
Groups of human beings are gangs of robbers,
organized by the social stories which they tell.
The tests of militarisms were real wars &
battles, in which different systems of lies,
backed by violence, were then competing.
It is not merely whether one freely chooses
to believe in some lie, or has "bought" that.
It is much more the ways that people were
forced to accept lies, due to being INSIDE
situations were they were rewarded for an
agreement with bullshit, while punished,
if they would not agree with the bullshit.
I despise the notions of "zero tolerance."
"Zero tolerance of lies" displays a profound
ignorance toward how everything we 'know'
must be some relative illusions, built by
our brains, that developed in cultures.
Human psychology manifests via systems,
where there are different groups of people
which are like relatively organized gangs,
that benefit and/or suffer from doing that.
Excessive psychologizing tends to ignore
the survival schedules of reinforcement!
'Political parties' are attempts to organize
a gang of people to work towards the goals
that they can agree upon through whatever
the systems of organized lies & robberies
that they can agree upon, which naturally
manifests as the dominant bullshit inside
of those groups, which were doing that!
Obviously, "joining the armed forces" is like
joining an organized crime gang, which one
agrees (more or less) to then operate within.
Military battles backed up monetary systems.
Control over access to resources is achieved by
combined monetary/military systems working.
All human psychology exists inside of that, since
human psychology depended upon living brains,
that need, air, water, food, & shelter, etc., etc.!
Excessive psychologizing indulges in taking for granted
the previous battles which have made the current ways
that people can operate inside established systems of
legalized lies, backed by legalized violence, and so use
money actually backed by murder to buy their food, &
so on and so forth ...
However, from intellectual points of view,
it has no integrity, but is obviously wrong,
to ignore the physical world, and violence,
& the ways that conditioned psychological
adaptations to systems of triumphant lies,
especially legalized lies, that were being
enforced with severe legalized violence,
to make and maintain the psychological.
You hit on something here RM that I think is very important. It's this very Western tendency to use the word versus, which is indicative of a tendency to view things in a linear sense and polarise into those false dichotomies. Contrast to the Asian way of seeing things in cycles / circles / balance that I think is more "mindful" than the vibe of the OP, and is a good mindset for better accepting reality. (Yes I recognise the irony in what I just said...this is a Western mind).
A simple example to demonstrate this (and also reinforce what I perceived to be your core (new) point) is this: simply to survive I must be a tyrant of the highest order. Whenever I eat, something else had to die (and another move closer to death as it lost a meal to me). Multiple threads of life, each with chemical continuity tracing back up to 3 billion years, had to be ruthlessly terminated just so my thread could continue. Multiple pockets of low entropy had to be dispersed into heat just to maintain my pocket of low entropy.
The supreme tyranny of reality (physics, chemistry, biology, etc) constrain my thoughts and actions in vastly more ways than I can express free action. They require me to embrace Tyranny in order to survive (same for the group).
Now I can either over-psychologise, create a false linear dichotomy, and ramble about the wonder of how Free I am because of my Mindfulness, or I can quit telling myself comforting lies, look at the yin yang symbol and accept that my (largely illusory) Liberty is a product of my pure Tyranny, and the more Liberty I have, the more of a Tyrant I must have been (often indirectly).
To truly reject Tyranny requires a rejection of Life itself, but this is a hard concept to accept using versus thinking. Killers we all are (out of heterotrophic necessity), and liars we all are too when we sugar-coat our brutality.
Well expressed, Mediocritas, &
parenthetically LOL regarding:
"(Yes I recognise the irony in what I just said...this is a Western mind)."
Here is a mathematical metaphor:
Minus 1 is the only number which can not be proven to exist, however, the process of subtraction creates all other numbers. That insight then applies to the perception of your observation that:
"Multiple pockets of low entropy had to be dispersed into heat just to maintain my pocket of low entropy."
Reconsider the meaning of that after examining how the currently taken for granted entropy equations in thermodynamics and information theory had an arbitrary minus sign inserted, so that the resulting measurements would generate positive numbers for amounts of power and information, rather than generate what the mathematical physics itself stated was the case, which is that all measurements of power and information result in relative negative numbers, because they are all relative subtractions of parts from the Whole. The war on consciousness waged by the ruling classes against those they rule over have reversed the meaning of everything into a totally packaged Bizarro Mirror World, where everything is understood in proportionately backwards ways!
Consider how, within very ancient animism, people felt there was a living spirit in everything, and hunter/gatherers tended to have ways to apologize and express gratitude to the animals and plants that they killed to live. The triumphs of Neolithic Civilizations' social pyramid systems manifest the extreme paradoxes of pumping energy, through systems of organized lies operating robberies. In peculiar ways, it makes perverse sense that we understand entropy as backwards as possible, and therefore, understand general energy systems, including the combined money/murder systems in as backwards as possible ways.
I believe that greater MINDFULNESS should be attempting to remember the degree to which we are thinking through our culture, taking that too much for granted, while not comprehending how backwards that truly has become, due to having been dominated by the biggest bullies' bullshit so much, for so long! I find the series of articles that Cognitive Dissonance has presented on Zero Hedge, including calling our attention to this article above, are attempts to point us towards remembering and being more MINDFUL of these observations, which I agree with, but which I think go WAY DEEPER, into the basic ways that the English language, and orthodox philosophies of science, are set up at the present time, as has been expressed by Cognitive Dissonance in these ways:
"Control the Language and You Control the Mind! ... It is the effective manipulation of our belief systems that enslaves us to the present day insanity. ... The absolute best controlled opposition is one that doesn't know they are controlled."
It is profoundly paradoxical to attempt to recognize that time and space do not actually "exist" in the way that energy exists, but yet, all experience is necessarily only through the limits of time and space. The special theory of relativity, that made atomic bombs possible, was based on understanding that time and space depend upon energy, and the experience of those changes, while energy continues to be constant. The material world is extremely concentrated energy. If one attempts to appreciate that Energy is Spirit, while entropy does not actually "exist," but rather is the way that energy is distributed through time and space, which do not exist, but which provide the processes of subtractions, through which all relative experiences are made possible, then one may be approaching some creative synthesis between post-modernizing science and ancient mysticism.
The Whole is an existenceless-Existence. It is necessarily so that we can only experience the processes of subtractions, NOT that from which those are subtracted. However, our kind of culture has reversed the meaning of that, making the negative appear to be positive. Hence, private property is actually based on claims backed by coercions, while money is measurement backed by murder, in basically the same ways that human animals killed and ate other living organisms, in order that those human animals could continue operating as entropic pumps of energy. However, our culture, as dominated by the biggest bullies' bullshit, has presented making a killing as a positive thing, rather than as a negative thing.
All living beings can be perceived in time and space as toroidal vortices, nested inside of others, and nested outside of others. Human beings are basically tubes of flesh, whose brains are similarly channeling flows of information. However, like whirlpools or tornadoes, there is no water in the center of the whirlpool, and no wind in the center of the tornado. A vortex is actually made of infinite loops of energy and matter flowing from the environment, back to the environment. The imaginary axes through the center of ourselves, as tubes of flesh, are like the mathematical metaphor of the imaginary square root of minus one.
In that way, I find those who set up a false fundamental dichotomy regarding "looking within" to be mistaken, since when one "looks within" enough, one rediscovers that one is everything. That is same sort of transcendental poetry that ancient mystics have been repeating for as long as human beings have been traveling through their abilities to make models of their world, which included models of themselves within their models of their world. However, there have been differences due to the development of science and technology, advancing the ways that those models were checked and double checked, by asking more and more, how do we know, and therefore, how confident are we about what we know.
In that context, it is extremely important how and why the biggest bullies' bullshit social stories have distorted the natural languages that we use, and inverted the meaning of the mathematical languages that we have developed. Any being that can build a mental model of its world, which includes a model of itself within its model of the world, is going to discover there infinite tunnels. In the case of human civilizations, one discovers there infinite tunnels of deceits. The established systems of legalized lies, backed by legalized violence, which enable the government to be the biggest form of organized crime, controlled by the best organized gang of criminals, are falsely presented in almost perfectly backwards ways to what they actually work. Due to that profound error, it becomes practically impossible to develop better dynamic equilibria between the different systems of organized lies operating robberies, because the biggest and best organized of such systems are the most fanatical, which makes perverse sense, but which makes negotiating better balances extremely problematic!
Of course, one has to have a sense of humour about that, because one is necessarily like a dog chasing its own tail: "(Yes I recognise the irony in what I just said...this is a Western mind)."
So many threads of conversation to follow. I already penned two long replies then deleted them as they were too waffly and broad ranging. I'll spend more time trying to be concise...complexity is a bitch.
While I do that, and before I forget, here's a website that I think is fascinating browsing for an RM wavelength: http://www.dirac-was-right.com/dirac-equation.php
I strongly suspect that Dirac was indeed correct, but that his social inability prevented him from getting his "balanced" view across. The implications for physics (and philosophy with a physical interest) are significant. I wouldn't mention any of this if I didn't think that it's very relevant to the conversation.
Again, yes, I admit the hypocrisy of me complaining about the complexity of this discussion and then proceeding to add more.
"We cannot check what an individual electron or positron would do in both tests."
Indeed, human political experiments can consume entire life-times, and yet still not be conclusive!
All of the above is a well thought out explanation of human behaviour for the last 4-5 millenia. But the aspect of human mind that plays along with gravitating towards a common lie in order to form a society is what is under seige when attempting a practice of mindfulness and equanimity. This core sense of separateness and fear is what facilitates behaviour in such ways. But the fear and separateness is a lie as well. It is the mother of all lies!
I agree, juangrande, that there is a "core sense of separateness."
However, I have found my attempts to overcome that have not so much transcended my ego, but rather sort of dehydrated it. I feel that the harshness and indifference of nature could be infinitely bigger than the cruelty and stupidity of people. I do not think we are separate, but I feel that I am. C'est la vie!
Thanks for the link RM, and thanks for the article JoeGalt. There are many ladders to the same realisation.
it boils down to one simple question, and it is not the thousand yard stare of the Cambodian Buddhist. It is not asian, not akido, not Karate. It is Saxon. Stop with the asian mind set- none of you are asian. It comes down to the decision to fight or not to fight. The mindful way is an escape, if you admit that, at some point, you will kill when threatened. Ignoring this option is a cop out. If you admit there is a point you would kill others that threaten you, than you just have to decide at what point that comes. the rest is bull shit. If you can say, if they came for me or my family, i will kill them. that is the start. if you cant say that, than fuck you- you are not being honest. so, at what point, is the threat close enough to you or your family? If they come and kill your friends, your cousins, will you kill back? If they threaten to imprison you, will you kill? If they imprison your friends? There is a line, where humans will kill when threatened. see that line, and do not make it murky. If you can not make the line, admit it, and stand down. The history of people who will not stand up and fight is unwriteten, because they were all killed. What is wrong with modern diallect that a person cant say they will kill someone for treatening them? Just because the world is horrible, does not mean we have to lose our ability to kill without explanation. If you can not say there are circumstances where you would kill someone, then you are not worth talking to. I am not being an internet brave guy fake warrior - I am not advocating violence, but, I am pretty sure I would kill very easily, if threatened, and this conversation should start there, and work back towards pacifism. Mindfullness is great, right up to the point someone is gonna kill you. Is there a single US soldier in Afhanistan now that has mindfulness on his mind? No, no there are not. They are in a state of threat, and the actions are clear. Dropping out is fine, but it is not a solution, it is an escape.
That is bullshit black-and-white "philosophy."
Everybody will at some stage fight, and if it is only for his/her own life and nobody else's - otherwise that person is practically dead.
But you deliberately left out the odds of surviving any such fight, and how it influences the likelihood of starting to fight.
The mindful one -in my understanding- when deciding the moment to fight has arrived, cares very little about the odds as the consequences of not fighting are as bad as losing the fight.
Joe, thanks for writing this!
And CD, thanks for sharing it!
Great contribution to our community.
This stuff is wearing on us all in some psychological aspect and we need this wisdom. A lot of folks are going to have a hard time with this physically, but more importantly, spiritually, mentally. I for one drink too much when I contemplate this, so my apologies for any offensive posts made on ZH while under the influence. Please forgive me. Coping, but also preparing in a tangible way despite limitations.
Thanks Cog and Joe.
Been visiting zh for years, but only became a poster recently. This was the most useful article I've read yet. Since 2010 BTW. The money part was kinda goldcore-ish, but IT forgive that part.
The obstacle is the path.
The obstacle is the path.
Why?
Because mindfulness is difficult. Leaving the matrix where your enlightenment makes you rarer than a Goldman Executive takes more than courage, it takes reason and critical thinking in an age where there's very little left.
So the obstacle is your inability or unwillingness to get on the path. That is quite different from the path being the obstacle. Perhaps, then, it is a misunderstanding of what the obstacle is that is the true obstacle. At any rate, the obstacle is not the path.
The path isn't THE obstacle, but it is nonetheless an obstacle. THE obstacle is ego, but you must navigate a difficult path to overcome it. It really isn't that difficult to understand once you discard dogma.
I once worked with a guy named Ivan, who could seemingly converse with customers worldwide, regardless of language or dialect. I asked how he did it. His answer was both simple and quite daunting- "Once you know Latin, the rest is easy."
THAT, is difficult!
Man, I needed to read something like this today. Been feeling very frustrated at all of the "system" insanity I constantly read about and how people seem oblivious to it. I try very hard to be mindful everyday, but sometimes I slip. Sometimes I allow myself to get sucked into the illusion and I have to come to my senses, take a step back, and allow it to fade from my emotions. Free will and choice. We all have it and it is a constant battle to make the right choices and maintain mindfulness.
Also, the obstacle is not the path, the obstacle is failing to take the path. If you want to take a cruise to Europe, is the ship an obstacle?
Mindful investments? Not sure that the financialization of another man's labor fits the ancient wisdom of mindfulness.
Don't forget Mindlessness...
Truly the greatest conjurer of the modern era
nice piece much appreciated the question it begs for me and is actually the only question imo is where is justice why is there so much injustice and why is there so much suffering and why do those who are unjust prosper. ha ha there is no answer i am not really lookiing for an answer that has to be answered by each one for themselves but if i ever figure out those answers to my satisfaction i will feel better. in the meantime my motto is if u want to see it be it
just balances of opposing forces playing out billions upon billions times adding to the swing of the pendulum.
oh, if only it made sense(the individual events)....ha
You really knocked it out of the ball park with this one Joe. Thanks so much for all your time and willingness to share. And please give our very best to the Mrs. :-)
Well thank you kindly Mrs. Cog. I hope all is well up on the mountain... I am hearing it is going to be a rough winter. I will pass along your regards to the Mrs. as well, much appreciated!
Steely Dan Bodhisattva 1973
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAEphHf0P-c
See the glory..... See the glory of....... of the Royal Scam!
Excellent read Cog. Thank you.
this here is of interest, relevance and import.
.
http://www.swamij.com/pdf/yogasutrasinterpretive.pdf
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Interpretive Translation
Presented by
Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati
.
history that just won't quit?
Nice talk on a Sunday.
I really like simple sentences. I salute you, my long-thinking fellow.
MASTER who lived as a hermit on a mountain was asked by a monk,
"What is the Way?"
"What a fine mountain this is," the master said in reply.
"I am not asking you about the mountain, but about the Way."
"So long as you cannot go beyond the mountain, my son, you cannot
reach the Way," replied the master.
THE STUDENT Doken was told to go on a long journey to another
monastery. He was much upset, because he felt that this trip would
interrupt his studies for many months. So he said to his friend,
the advanced student Sogen:
"Please ask permission to come with me on the trip. There are so
many things I do not know; but if you come along we can discuss
them - in this way I can learn as we travel."
"All right," said Sogen. "But let me ask you a question: If you
are hungry, what satisfaction to you if I eat rice? If your feet
are lame, what comfort to you if I go on merrily? If your bladder
is full, what relief to you if I piss?"
for the next generation,
if nothing else, the soul can wait.....
.
Bodhisattiva (a version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAvYHXz7XsA
.
Classic Albums: Aja by Steely Dan 1977
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8GwEX7nn6o
Jeff "skunk" Baxter on guitar and mustache! He probably played it on the Steely Dan original!
"The covers of this book are too far apart." —Ambrose Bierce
"Think" covers the whole subject admirably and succinctly .
Great Sunday read!
Cog, Thanks for posting this. I've always been able to follow and understand Joe's writing the first I read it. I'm at the point where I do feel great peace about my future even though things around me are in the "going to hell in a handbasket" stage. Some folks in my sphere don't get it yet but that doesn't deter me any more. Articles like this help me articulate to them what's happening within me.
I got to experience the tyranny first hand this summer. Mrs. Stengel and I sold our house to our son and daughter in law in July. We made it very affordable by financing it for 20 years at zero % interest. When I went to the lawyer to have all paperwork completed I was informed I couldn't legally finance it at 0%. I then checked with the CPA. Same story. Its illegal to sell my house to my son by letting him pay over 20 years with no interest. The penalty for getting caught doing a 0% deal was explained to me. For 2 days I walked around in a state of disbelief. I experienced another step in mindfulness though, as I processed the reality of what actually IS in this country rather than the pleasant memories of what WAS.
Hope you enjoy all the tomato soup and zucchini pickles this winter. Tell Mrs. Cog we said Hi.
There you are. :-) Tomato soup once a day whether we need it or not lol. We are looking forward to tales of your latest adventures. Warmest regards to Mrs. Stengel.
So I assume it was because the market interest on a 20 year loan would exceed the yearly gift limit?