Symbolising the two “levels” of thinking. [Sunrise in Sri Lanka - edited.]
MO-MENTS or IDLE THOUGHTS
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................12 Almost like hens’ teeth! ......................................................................15 Education and ethics. ..........................................................................15 The cost of time...................................................................................15 The cost of fear. ...................................................................................15 Communication - language. (1) ..........................................................15 Environment and mentality. ................................................................15 Self-justification. .................................................................................15 Nuclear weapons. ................................................................................16 Technology. (1) ...................................................................................16 The rainbow.........................................................................................16 Communication - language. (2) ..........................................................16 The chosen path. .................................................................................16 Migration and opportunity. .................................................................16 Vegetation. ..........................................................................................16 Positive change. ..................................................................................16 News media. ........................................................................................17 Boundaries, flags and conflict. ............................................................17 Unemployment. ...................................................................................17 Modern youth. .....................................................................................17 Prudent saving. ....................................................................................17 A concept of success doomed to failure. .............................................17 Jewellery and religion. ........................................................................17 2
An in-depth view. ................................................................................18 Little things mean a lot. ......................................................................18 Patience and self-control. ....................................................................18 Seedless fruit. ......................................................................................18 Love. ...................................................................................................18 Out of site, out of mind. ......................................................................18 Circulation booster. .............................................................................18 Artificial life. .......................................................................................19 Machines and people. ..........................................................................19 World politics. .....................................................................................19 The title “God�. ...................................................................................19 Waste - the world economic system. ...................................................19 Ethical advertising...............................................................................19 Betting and gambling. .........................................................................19 Housing and land. ...............................................................................19 Toys. ....................................................................................................20 Technology. (2) ...................................................................................20 Speculation. .........................................................................................20 Cleverness and wisdom. ......................................................................20 Deaths. ................................................................................................20 Health of the body. ..............................................................................20 Gaia. ....................................................................................................20 Baby vegetables. .................................................................................20 White tea. ............................................................................................21 Energy fields. ......................................................................................21 The mega rich. ....................................................................................21 3
The giving people. ..............................................................................21 The United Nations. ............................................................................21 Records in sport. .................................................................................21 The mountain builders. .......................................................................21 Cooking and food. ...............................................................................22 Communication - language. (3) ..........................................................22 Aggression and violence. ....................................................................22 Tourism. ..............................................................................................22 National donations. .............................................................................22 Posting on the Web. ............................................................................22 The Holocaust. ....................................................................................22 Animal behavioural research. .............................................................23 The law of cause and effect. ................................................................23 The camel and the rope. ......................................................................23 Aphorisms. ..........................................................................................23 The body. .............................................................................................23 No quick fix. .......................................................................................23 World improvement. ...........................................................................23 The field of dandelions. ......................................................................24 A special day. ......................................................................................24 The Nobel Peace Prize 2012 ceremony...............................................24 Exploitation of labour. ........................................................................24 Titles. ...................................................................................................24 Mass shootings - U.S.A.......................................................................24 Stephen Hawking: “There is no God.�................................................25 The English language and communication. ........................................25 4
Moral and statutory law.......................................................................25 Human failings. ...................................................................................25 The world. ...........................................................................................25 12,000 toys. .........................................................................................25 Game hunting. .....................................................................................25 Compensation for life. ........................................................................26 Household pesticides...........................................................................26 The vacuum in our mentality. .............................................................26 Political nomenclature.........................................................................26 Boasting. .............................................................................................26 Feel good. ............................................................................................26 Contentment with life. ........................................................................26 The media. ...........................................................................................27 Scientific speculation. .........................................................................27 Words and meaning. ............................................................................27 The ubiquitous, advertising “Now�. ...................................................27 A politicians declaration. ....................................................................27 New inventions. ..................................................................................27 Global unemployment. ........................................................................27 Superior attitude. .................................................................................28 The unchristian christian. ....................................................................28 Our pursuit of unnecessary standards. ................................................28 Cash lotteries. ......................................................................................28 A matter of priorities. ..........................................................................28 The value of gold. ...............................................................................28 Fourfold success. .................................................................................28 5
Walled in rivers. ..................................................................................29 Women’s equality at law. ....................................................................29 The rules of cricket. ............................................................................29 Very clever children. ...........................................................................29 Food and drink advertisements. ..........................................................29 Gladiatorial mentality. .........................................................................29 War. .....................................................................................................29 Money and war. ...................................................................................30 Moral decay. ........................................................................................30 Education the solution? .......................................................................30 Chuck it! ..............................................................................................30 Exploitation of farmers. ......................................................................30 Mass delusion. ....................................................................................30 Those expensive garments. .................................................................30 Addicted governments. .......................................................................31 Spiritual values. ...................................................................................31 Sportsmanship in tennis. .....................................................................31 Advertising and station breaks. ...........................................................31 Pink or magenta? .................................................................................31 Earth security.......................................................................................31 Entertainment. .....................................................................................32 World order. ........................................................................................32 Speeches and statements. ....................................................................32 As soon as possible or soon?...............................................................32 Half the world’s food going to waste. .................................................32 Evolution. ............................................................................................32 6
The humble palaces. ............................................................................33 Death by guns. ....................................................................................33 Religious groups. ................................................................................33 Sun glasses and communication. ........................................................33 Emotion in sport. .................................................................................33 Climate change and enjoyment. ..........................................................33 Rare commodities. ..............................................................................33 Good deeds. .........................................................................................34 From natural to unnatural. ...................................................................34 One’s homeland...................................................................................34 Graphene. ............................................................................................34 Inefficiency and slackness...................................................................34 The free market. ..................................................................................34 Physical well being. ............................................................................34 The purpose of human life. .................................................................35 Ancient wisdom. .................................................................................35 Body size and sport. ............................................................................35 Sacrifice and indulgence. ....................................................................35 Cruelty to animals - human prey. ........................................................35 Food waste. .........................................................................................35 Carnivores and meat eaters. ................................................................35 The cost of artificial longevity. ...........................................................36 Moral and ethical standards. ...............................................................36 The drift of modern culture. ................................................................36 Sporting behaviour. .............................................................................36 The spiritual war. ................................................................................36 7
Sports commentary on TV. ..................................................................36 Bottled health. .....................................................................................36 Changing the world. ............................................................................37 Natural event breakdowns. ..................................................................37 War by computer disruption. ...............................................................37 Meddling with nature. .........................................................................37 Walks in nature. ..................................................................................37 None of our business. ..........................................................................38 Buying power. .....................................................................................38 No time for lunch. ...............................................................................38 Just a few decades ago. .......................................................................38 Plastics. ...............................................................................................38 The lucky country. ..............................................................................38 Spiritual and animal success. ..............................................................38 Religions. ............................................................................................39 Economics or people? .........................................................................39 Union of same sex couples. ................................................................39 Mass immorality. .................................................................................39 Disrespect of sovereignty. ...................................................................39 Feel good fantasy. ...............................................................................39 Employment. .......................................................................................40 Advertising generates consumption. ...................................................40 Mass lunacy. ........................................................................................40 Original Milk.......................................................................................40 Creatures of habit. ...............................................................................40 The English language. .........................................................................40 8
Mobile phones and stress. ...................................................................40 Fear and anger. ....................................................................................41 Language. ............................................................................................41 Truth control. ......................................................................................41 The road to success. ............................................................................41 A sign of the times. .............................................................................41 Just desserts. ........................................................................................41 The modern focus of the news media. ................................................42 People power: cohesive coercion. .......................................................42 Education. ...........................................................................................42 Consumerism. .....................................................................................42 The physicist and the theologian. ........................................................42 The health of the human body. ............................................................43 Courtesy. .............................................................................................43 The throw away “civilization�. ...........................................................43 Farmers. ..............................................................................................44 The constant battle. .............................................................................44 Secular laws. .......................................................................................44 Saluting guns and guards of honour. ...................................................44 The high life. .......................................................................................44 Media behaviour. .................................................................................44 Boom, boom, bust. ..............................................................................44 The deep rut. .......................................................................................45 Not good enough. ................................................................................45 Will power. ..........................................................................................45 Scientific study. ...................................................................................45 9
Dates - Use By, Best By etc. ...............................................................45 Lifestyle. .............................................................................................45 The believer. ........................................................................................46 The general state of flux. ....................................................................46 Standards. ............................................................................................46 Full circle. ...........................................................................................46 Equality for women. ............................................................................46 Obesity. ...............................................................................................46 Duty of care versus negligence. ..........................................................46 Material graveyards.............................................................................47 Rooftop safety. ....................................................................................47 Big is better. ........................................................................................47 House keys and security. .....................................................................47 Oratorial words. ..................................................................................47 A new Pope. ........................................................................................47 Advice. ................................................................................................48 Science. ...............................................................................................48 Existing in isolation. ...........................................................................48 Book publishing. .................................................................................48 China - the economy or the environment. ...........................................48 Super bugs. ..........................................................................................48 Buy “national”.....................................................................................48 Charity begins at home. ......................................................................49 Belief. ..................................................................................................49 The GFC and Wall St. .........................................................................49 Evolution and the effect of “man”. .....................................................49 10
The Only Reality. ................................................................................49 Timelessness. ......................................................................................49 What fools we are. ..............................................................................49 It seems so easy. ..................................................................................50 The evolution of advertising. ..............................................................50 Civilization Z. .....................................................................................50 Agriculture and weeds. .......................................................................50 The beauty of nature. ..........................................................................50 Illogical logic - anthropology. .............................................................50 Nature and science. .............................................................................50 Dream homes and office blocks. .........................................................51 Afghanistan. ........................................................................................51 Habits die hard. ...................................................................................51 Principle and convenience. .................................................................51 Principles of marketing. ......................................................................51 Marketing/business ethics. ..................................................................51 Mind disorders of returning service personnel. ..................................51 A sad commentary. ..............................................................................52 Technological innovation. ...................................................................52 Mobile phones. ....................................................................................52 Cruelty to animals. ..............................................................................52 Packaging of products. ........................................................................52 The enemy within. ..............................................................................53
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MO-MENTS or IDLE THOUGHTS INTRODUCTION From The Milk Is White: *Thought creates; Creation manifests; Thought manifests. *These three lines encapsulate the cause and effect of everything relating to life.
What is the Mind? Surely the brain is not the mind! True, the brain is a highly complex organ of the body responsible for the unconscious functions of the body as well as the more abstract functions we need for our mental/ physical bodies. In the latter respect it is more like a computer which consists of the screen, registering thoughts, experiences etc., the disc/s storing these and the system that effects this as well as recall for re-use in many ways. Both the brain and the computer utilise energy for power. Both are 'mechanical' in their function, and both need external input to function fully. This input comes from the Mind except where the autonomous activity is concerned. Both need the 'human element' to function and, when 'the plug is pulled' or 'half pulled' function ceases or goes on standby. The Mind consists of three intermingled elements v.i.z. the conscious, subconscious and superconscious. This terminology implies levels or layers but that is not the reality. To, by description, approximate the reality we can take the analogy of water vapour in the atmosphere which, depending on varying conditions influenced by local and global factors, forms clouds of varying density, colour and potential whilst still being water. The result of what is formed creates shade, darkness of varying density, storms, clear skies or rain. Similarly, the Mind creates peace and placidity, gloom, fear and turmoil, happiness or emotions. The structure, so to speak, of the Mind is formless and in a continual state of flux, responding to the interaction between existing 'data' and the constant influx of new 'data', and underscoring this is the innate 'data' of the soul or, responding to the interaction of the conscious, subconscious and the superconscious. Hence, the brain is not the Mind but a tool of the Mind, and is free to function independently of the mind whereas the converse is not the case. The Mind is a reflection of the soul. The body and the personality of an entity incarnate are not 12
the Mind but only a creation of that part of the soul relevant to the soul's purpose and/or mission in any given life. Like the Great Spirit the Mind is beyond description - it just is. Mental Drift. This is the condition where we, individually or collectively, drift through life without thought; we just go with the flow created by society and culture. Sometimes, thought kicks in and we become aware of our thoughtless drift - and, sometimes, with this awareness we realise that we are on the wrong road and do something about changing direction. Mind/Thought. The mind is that state of Thought which is limited to the five senses. Thinking where the brain is the transformer to the physical (plane) - is an activity of the mind and is Thought in action. Thought itself is a constant. The Soul, Thought & Thinking. When the Buddha said that there is no such thing as the atman or soul he was correct. The soul is merely the sum total of past experiences and is, therefore, not an entity in itself; it is merely an "attachment" to the Spirit entity or, figuratively speaking, the "garments" of the Spirit entity. It is these attachments or garments that are shed in the process of enlightenment. The Buddha posed the question, "What is it that thinks?" and answered it by saying, "It is thought that thinks." The Great Spirit, God, The Creative Force is Thought and we are created in It's image. Hence, although there is no soul as such, we are Spirit, which is Thought; and as humans we are Thought manifest in human form or Thought manifest "in the flesh" (from the Latin in + carno, with carno meaning flesh.) Does the brain think? No, it is only a mechanical organ, a transformer between the soul and the physical being, and a device programmed to perform autonomic physical functions. Does the mind think? Yes, if we consider this activity in terms of mental "thinking", but it is only mental activity which we term thinking. Does the soul think? No, as it is only a bank of experiences. Thus, we arrive at the question "What thinks?" Thinking is not Thought because Thought does 13
not involve activity - it just is, but Thought creates, and one thing it creates is the activity of thinking - it is the origin of thinking but is not, of itself, thinking. If we coined new words such as ment (mental) for 'think' or a 'thought', and menting (mental activity) for 'thinking', we remove the confusion with Thought caused by our use of the words 'think' and 'thinking'. Thought and Thinking. There is thinking and there is Thought. Thinking is a mental process, Thought just is - it is still, it is all-encompassing, limitless, indescribable and allpowerful. Thinking is a soul activity, Thought is Spirit, and from it all knowledge flows. Mind and Thought. As the mind shrinks at the will of the initiate, thought flows in to fill the spaces so created. The Bubble of Thought. If awareness is a pond, a Thought* is the bubble that rises from the depths and bursts at the surface. (*For my definition see Ian’s Dictionary.) Thought and Menting. Regarding other references to menting, ment, mentivity etc. try this: For Thought manifesting one might best refer to the common expressions "It dawned on me." and "It occurred to me." in which is implied the absence of mental activity; in other words no menting or mentivity. NOTE The inquiring mind will wonder why we are the way we are and the wise will read my writings which set out the answers - the same answers which others have set out over at least 2500 years. Quo vadis, my friends? 14
MO-MENTS or IDLE THOUGHTS Almost like hens’ teeth! They may be almost as rare as hens’ teeth but there are some who do not blindly follow the “American Dream” so intensely aspired to by the majority of earthlings and so loaded with negative consequences. ☺ Education and ethics. Worldwide the panacea for all ills is maximum improvement in intellectual education (as opposed to experiential education) whilst there is no mention of ethical/moral improvement. ☺ The cost of time. When time became a cost and convenience was measured in time we became enslaved by both the cost of time and convenience which now are now major drivers of technological innovation. ☺ The cost of fear. When a country is motivated by fear the cost is the loss of moral fibre and the manipulation of declared, moral, legal and spiritual laws in a futile attempt to eliminate such fear whilst only aggravating the consequences of such actions. ☺ Communication - language. (1) When the language we use changes in a way that adversely affects clear communication and we mindlessly adopt the changes we are jeopardising our ability to communicate clearly: something which can cause all sorts of problems. ☺ Environment and mentality. The wilful or unthinking damaging of our environment is not primarily a matter of the environment but one of mentality and attitude. ☺ Self-justification. When, in a country, self-justification, particularly at the highest levels, is entrenched that country is on a slippery slide. ☺ 15
Nuclear weapons. It seems that there is an “I am holier than thou!” attitude prevailing in the countries currently armed with nuclear weapons and it is pertinent to ask on what basis is it decided that a country is allowed to have them or not - even those countries which deny having them but do? ☺ Technology. (1) Boon or scourge? Think fully, laterally and widely. ☺ The rainbow. The aspirational rainbow painted by modern culture is just that - a rainbow. ☺ Communication - language. (2) Structuring of the English language is rapidly breaking down due to the absence of a standard. What the ultimate consequences of this are is unforeseeable. ☺ The chosen path. There are, and probably always have been, those who by inclination or wisdom have eschewed the chosen path of the majority. ☺ Migration and opportunity. Around the world, as people increasingly migrate to cities and, therefore, greater exposure to television and advertising, the scope increases for predatory organizations to inculcate, by any means and with callous disregard for health and other consequences, still more ignorant people to further increase the profits of their organizations. ☺ Vegetation. The plants of today were, or are derived from, the weeds of yesterday and the plants of tomorrow are the plants and the weeds of today. Hence, be mindful of this when creating the next weed eradication mindset. ☺ Positive change. Very often it is the awareness of the negative that is the catalyst for a change to the positive. ☺ 16
News media. The news media loses its validity and credibility when it starts to manufacture sensation to attract attention to itself rather than the news. It started this some years ago and the habit is now well entrenched. ☺ Boundaries, flags and conflict. First there were animals with territorial boundaries, then there were humans with territorial boundaries who later added national flags. Both territorial boundaries and national flags create the mentality which makes the weakness of conflict flourish. ☺ Unemployment. If over the last few decades the mean level of unemployment is, say, 5% it amounts to some 300,000,000 employable people being unemployed today. What does this say about our much vaunted system of world management and way of life either lived or aspired to? ☺ Modern youth. More freedom = more choices = more responsibility to self, others and the Earth. ☺ Prudent saving. In China today we see the official discouragement of the prevalent prudent peoples’ habit of saving money for the sake of the imprudent government policy of spending to sustain growth although even a child knows that bubbles burst. ☺ A concept of success doomed to failure. The world controllers are mired in the quicksand of a concept of success, and a system designed to achieve and maintain this concept, which is unachievable because its foundations are fundamentally flawed from a practical as well as spiritual point of view. Practically, because no system can succeed which is based on consumption of goods (A bit of lateral thinking extrapolating this illustrates this point) and spiritually, because it is based on a spiritual negative desire/craving. ☺ Jewellery and religion. Throughout the years the colossal expenditure on gold and jewels etc. On and in religious buildings is a colossal waste and something that the founders of these 17
religions or philosophies would certainly of deprecated. It was not something even remotely suggested in their teachings. ☺ An in-depth view. When you next see a coastline take a different perspective, mentally remove the water from what you see to expose the land beneath and you will see what is. ☺ Little things mean a lot. We see or hear about so little genuine goodness - positivity - in the world. Are we humans, as a whole, so devoid of “goodness”? We have to stop and think to find genuine goodness but it is there . . . . and that is uplifting to the spirit. ☺ Patience and self-control. Patience and self-control achieve far more than impatience and self-gratification. ☺ Seedless fruit. We find seeds in fruit we eat inconvenient so we breed them out of the fruit. This is our mentality but what are the long term consequences of such foolishness? ☺ Love. Love, that enigma which is almost universally considered to be essential and important to us, the reason, in fact, for our very existence is ephemeral and in various situations it is highly variable: depending on the objects and/or people it is directed at, it lasts for varying periods, exists with varying intensity, and is unpredictable. It is also the cause of anger and hatred. ☺ Out of site, out of mind. How often, if at all, do we stop to consider what is happening to the billions of organisms, vital to the functioning of our world, beneath our feet and the grinding wheels of our vehicles? ☺ Circulation booster. For sale in a pharmacy: Circulation Booster $ 299.95. In other words pay $300 for what you can do by a short walk! ☺
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Artificial life. In the not too distant future some 33% of the population of the developed world will be kept alive by pharmaceuticals much to the glee of the shareholders of pharmaceutical companies although many of them will simply be recouping expenditure. ☺ Machines and people. About 32 years ago I heard a Christian priest talking on radio say, “In the past we loved people and used machines. Now, we love machines and use people.” ☺ World politics. To support a child because of family ties despite its belligerence, paranoia and intransigence neither helps the child nor its classmates who feel the brunt of its negativity. ☺ The title “God”. What is described as “God”, by any name, is a simplification of the reality, or just simplistic, intentionally or through ignorance. ☺ Waste - the world economic system. The world’s economic system is based on waste; waste because it depends on people consuming what they do not need. What people actually need is simply the essentials for fitness, mental and physical health and contentment. ☺ Ethical advertising. Wasn’t there a time when it was a legal requirement that advertising be truthful? ☺ Betting and gambling. In Australia two things are happening simultaneously: • Some politicians and sections of the community are trying to limit gambling because of it’s serious adverse affect on some people and society. • Advertising of gambling and other facilitations of gambling are increasing vastly. ☺ Housing and land. In many countries, particularly the Middle East, people have lived happily and proudly in one house for centuries whereas in the developed world we are not 19
only using up our prime agricultural land for housing but building houses twice as big as those we built fifty years ago. ☺ Toys. As children we played with toys we made or bought and some of us grew up and played with grown ups’ toys like guns for sport, cars, motorcycles etc. Now, for young and old we have Information Technology toys which young and old use often to excess. ☺ Technology. (2) We have made huge strides in technology but have we made even a small step in improving our mentality? ☺ Speculation. The section of the world which is exposed to the media seems to be fixated on speculation. Essentially, this is living in the future which does not make for peace of mind and, therefore, wellness. ☺ Cleverness and wisdom. Clever we may be but are we wise? ☺ Deaths. If we are truly concerned about the number of deaths, discounting those from natural causes, we would prevent the design and manufacture of the causes. ☺ Health of the body. Whilst we are manufacturing and consuming large quantities of unhealthy and processed foods thereby damaging our bodies, where good health is a major factor and attained, we are damaging the body by excessive activity. ☺ Gaia. If what we have already done to cause climate change does not wreck Gaia the other things we have done and continue to do will. ☺ Baby vegetables. Eating baby vegetables is an indulgence of the rich whilst the poor starve. Will this continue when, in the future, there is a world shortage of food - as is predicted? 20
☺ White tea. Black tea contained silver tips which were the result of the apical bud of the two leaves and a bud traditionally picked. These added a special taste to the brew. However, in relatively recent times it became the practice to extract these tips, call them white tea, and market them at exorbitant prices with no reduction in price of the black tea which is degraded. Only the wealthy can afford white tea. ☺ Energy fields. The human body, like any object, is, essentially, energy as in all matter. Energy exists in fields and these fields interact with one another. The consequences, therefore, of the almost continuous exposure of the body to man-made energy fields so common today - fields to which the body is possibly naturally unused are unknown. ☺ The mega rich. The mega rich must have a type of insanity involving ego mania which isolates them from others not having the save psychological needs. ☺ The giving people. Around the world there are people, generally ignored by us and, therefore, the media, because they or their activities lack the component/s that titillate us, giving freely of their skills and/or money and/or time towards helping others who are in need.
☺ The United Nations. As long as the United Nations has members with the power of veto, an elitist and self-elevated few, it will be dysfunctional and undemocratic. ☺ Records in sport. With the evolution over the years of sports laws, equipment, venues etc. the comparison of performances is largely a waste of time. ☺ The mountain builders. Unlike the mound builders of pre-history we in the “civilised” world are mountain builders but, unlike the mound builders, we build mountains of our rubbish in the oceans, under ground, on the ground and in the sky and, not satisfied with that “progress”, we want to colonise the moon, Mars and possibly other planets! We are fiddling while Rome burns! ☺ 21
Cooking and food. In the developed world celebrity chefs have been sprouting like mushrooms and television is replete with their programs as well as other programs about cooking; all this while obesity is rampant and others are dying of starvation. ☺ Communication - language. (3) Circa 1992 a Time Magazine’s Essay was titled “The Demise Of The Humble Comma” and, although the demise of the comma has not been complete its minimal, or incorrect, use has adversely affected clarity of communication. Meanwhile, the subsequent dropping of the word “that”, used as a relative pronoun, and, more recently, prepositions, has had a cumulative effect the results of which are evident everywhere. ☺ Aggression and violence. These days aggression and violence are manifest almost everywhere: in the news, perhaps because we are attracted to it, in sport, in politics and more. These emotions seem to accompany the intensity with which life is now led by so many. This is a sad indictment of our spiritual state - individually and collectively. ☺ Tourism. Tourism is productive, and often necessary, for the economy but destructive for the environment and native culture. ☺ National donations. We plan eight years ahead and invest billions for lavish sporting events but constantly fail to deliver on our promises of emergency aid to suffering refugees from crises. In democratic countries it is the people who have to take responsibility because it is they who vote for the government. ☺ Posting on the Web. How many of us post on the Web with the conscious or subconscious wish for recognition? ☺ The Holocaust. The past event of the Holocaust does not justify the later continuos persecution of another peoples. It should have created the opposite mentality. However, fear is no diplomat. ☺ 22
Animal behavioural research. Too many theories about animal behaviour are too often biased towards the way humans would behave. Thus, there exists not science but the proclivity of the scientist to subconsciously apply this bias. ☺ The law of cause and effect. It is much easier for us to believe in a God who forgives our sins than in a law of cause and effect which brings about spiritual growth. ☺ The camel and the rope. 1. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. 2. It is easier for a rope to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Note: In Aramaic, the language of the Essenes, the word for rope and camel is the same. Take your pick! ☺ Aphorisms. An aphorism, where it relates to a spiritual truth and where it does not appear to fully explain something, can be the wrapping of a precious gift. ☺ The body. When the body gets old, as it must, and starts presenting the painful symptoms of ageing we should happily acknowledge the reality and let nature take its course with only natural amelioration of pain and discomfort as much as possible. ☺ No quick fix. In this life alone my spiritual discoveries took 54 years to coalesce and another 15 years to crystallise. ☺ World improvement. If this world is to become a better place, even one conducive to living in, there has to be a change in the mentality of the collective human psyche. This has to start with each individual and, thereby, to the collective - a change from the in23
ward focus to the outward focus - that is, a change from selfishness to unselfishness. Pie in the sky? Flying pigs? Anything is possible . . . Although not probable. ☺ The field of dandelions. In a field of dandelions there are billions of seeds. They get blown away in the breeze to go about their business - and they do this without a murmur. Why no murmur? No emotions. Why no emotions? No mind! Neither happy nor unhappy - peace. ☺ A special day. A special day for goodwill to others implies a lack of goodwill to others on other days. But then, in modern times we have a plethora of special days - which seem to make little difference to us. ☺ The Nobel Peace Prize 2012 ceremony. Here we see illustrated the farce that our world system is: in one nation the glitterati, including world leaders, gather at an extravagant banquet and ceremony in connection with the presentation of this prize whilst elsewhere, unseen and out of mind, are the millions starving and sick without a morsel to eat or clean water to drink in conditions of acute deprivation. ☺ Exploitation of labour. So, we have it again; big name garment producers demanding, to maximise their profits, unfairly low manufacturing costs from low labour cost countries and thus encouraging, even necessitating, the exploitation of labour, and then purporting to be unaware of the exploitation etc. ☺ Titles. The adjective “millionaire” has almost been supplanted by the adjective “billionaire” but now these adjectives are used as titles such as Doctor, Father, Sir, Count etc. This is how important money is to us - no matter how it was earned. ☺ Mass shootings - U.S.A. “If you live by the sword you die by the sword.” This quote is from the Bible so “Christian prayers” in particular are no remedy. ☺ 24
Stephen Hawking: “There is no God.” Stephen Hawking was correct when he recently said, “There is no God.” but his conclusion would be incomplete if it stems from reasoning, logic and scientific theory. ☺ The English language and communication. Whilst a lot of words have been, and are being, dropped - some with benefit many words have been, or are being, added that are incorrect or unnecessary very often simply tautology. ☺ Moral and statutory law. Where a moral law exists it is not good enough for someone to say, with only statutory law in mind, ‘I/We did nothing illegal.’ ☺ Human failings. Paedophilia and sexual misconduct in the Christian Church is not the fault of the essential Christian teachings but a matter of human failings both in respect of the thoughts and acts as well as the institutionalised cover up due to a misguided defence of the Church. A reference to the teachings would have made this defence untenable. ☺ The world. It is now being said that obesity is a bigger problem than hunger - what an irony . . . . and what an indictment of our constantly much vaunted “progress”. ☺ 12,000 toys. In Australia yesterday, a body connected with children in care announced that in response to a request for donations of toys, with a target of 8,000, the number of toys received, in just the main place, was 12,000. ☺ Game hunting. Normally this term starts with the word “Big” - but let us generalise. This game, called hunting, involves a human animal going into the wild with weapons it has invented, to kill a fellow animal purely for pleasure, whilst ignoring the pain and suffering it can cause to that animal or other animals that escaped wounded - perhaps mortally. ☺
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Compensation for life. Ancient aborigines learned from their life experiences. If one of them died from eating a berry they learned that it was poisonous and did not eat it thereafter. They did not sue the tree or God. When an unwell person was being treated by a shaman and died they did not sue the shaman. They sought no compensation for life. ☺ Household pesticides. What the advertisements do not tell us, and what we do not read, is that these products are poisonous to us and that, therefore, as we kill the insects we slowly kill ourselves in small cumulative ways. N.B. On the label, under First Aid, it may say, “If poisoning occurs etc. etc.” ☺ The vacuum in our mentality. People might denigrate religious or spiritual teachings but it is the absence of them from the mentality of the majority of us that is the cause of man’s inhumanity to man that is so prevalent in recent history and today. ☺ Political nomenclature. In political nomenclature the second largest group of members after the governing group is termed “The opposition”. This designation is fundamentally inappropriate because it fosters, in selfish individuals and groups, unnecessary and/ or irresponsible opposition to the Government. Perhaps the term “The Alternative” would be more appropriate and more conducive to high moral standards. ☺ Boasting. Boasting is an indication of a lack of self-esteem. ☺ Feel good. Many people dress up to feel good yet, if their spiritual state is elevated, they will feel good no matter what they wear . . . . . and think of the savings! ☺ Contentment with life. People are often quite content with life until someone comes along and tell them that they are missing things. ☺
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The media. Because of the increasing unreliability of the information given us via the media, due to a large part to the influences imposed on it, combined with the vast amount of uncontrolled information, of varying degrees of veracity, available at the click of a button, the need for discernment ranks high. Unfortunately, many people are either unable to be discerning or are disinterested whilst a large segment of the young in the developed world has switched off completely. ☺ Scientific speculation. Scientific speculation (theory) far too frequently becomes fact although a discerning listener to comments made on, say, a documentary by a scientist will be aware of this fact. A case in point is anthropological discourse. ☺ Words and meaning. Many words which are now disparaging, or are considered to be disparaging, did not have this quality initially but acquired it over time for various reasons. ☺ The ubiquitous, advertising “Now”. The ubiquitous “Now”, an advertising mantra, is now largely ignored because we are inured to it and because very often, when exposed to it in this context, we can take no such action even if we wished to. However, the advertising industry cannot let go of it - such is its power. ☺ A politicians declaration. What does a politician declare loudly but silently about himself or herself when they put their political life ahead of the loss to others of life itself - perhaps very painfully? ☺ New inventions. How many new inventions are of genuine benefit, directly or indirectly, and how many are merely gimmicks and gadgets which people take to in droves? ☺ Global unemployment. The current global population is estimated at just over 7,000,000,000 and the unemployment rate, according to the current methodology, is just about 7%. This equates to some 490,000,000 who want work but are unemployed. By 2020, as more countries become “developed” and more people become “developed”, can the world’s current “system” provide employment for at 27
least another 140,000,000 - based on a projected global population of 9000,000,000 people - wanting work? ☺ Superior attitude. The imperialism and colonialism of the last few centuries is characterised by the arrogance of superiority of Europeans in assuming the superiority of their short civilizations over those of the conquered which preceded theirs by centuries and even millennia. This arrogance still exists, even if only subliminally, in people, and therefore governments, of the “First World”. ☺ The unchristian christian. Although I am aware of the stupidity and extremism of some religious fundamentalists I was appalled to see an American evangelical priest in Africa vehemently recommending the legally putting to death of homosexuals. Insanity exists in religious circles too! ☺ Our pursuit of unnecessary standards. Washing, sorting and grading fruits and vegetables for uniformity, perceived perfection etc. is both unnecessary and costly - a waste of money. ☺ Cash lotteries. Huge lottery prizes are unproductive and the prizes would do far more good if they are broken down into many smaller ones. Unfortunately, however, this is not likely to happen because common desire blocks common sense. ☺ A matter of priorities. Pensioner defers non-essential dental work for two or three years to enable his periodic contribution of $2,000 towards the education abroad of a poor young man from the East. He told his dentist, “His need is greater than mine.” ☺ The value of gold. In the Christmas Eve Mass at the vatican the predominant single colour was gold - almost flaunted. ☺ Fourfold success. To attempt something positive is success. To persist in that attempt is success. To complete it unsuccessfully is success. To complete it successfully is success. 28
☺ Walled in rivers. When we wall in rivers and streams, or any body of water, we set back, if not kill, all life that would normally live in and around the banks. ☺ Women’s equality at law. The persistent inequality of women at law in most countries stems from the fact that the laws were originally written by men for men and, to date, most governments are comprised mostly of men. ☺ The rules of cricket. For some years the width of the webbing between the thumb and fore finger of wicket keepers’ gloves has been gradually reduced from the liberal width it had attained. This reduction was effected because the extra width was deemed to be advantageous to the fielding side. However, whilst this was being done, no action was taken to limit the modifications to bats which have been to the advantage of the batting side. ☺ Very clever children. Parents creating celebrities of their very clever children are not only creating spectacles of them for their, the parents’, vicarious pleasure and/or self-esteem but exposing them to psychological damage. ☺ Food and drink advertisements. The volume of advertisements for food and drink are an indication of the susceptibility of our minds to the stimulation of our palates and the degree to which it is exploited - too often very efficiently and to our detriment. ☺ Gladiatorial mentality. In the spectators in sports stadiums across the world we are re-experiencing the gladiatorial mentality of the spectators in the Roman arenas of some two thousand years ago. ☺ War. War is the instrument of the weak. ☺ 29
Money and war. Money and war; we just cannot do without them, can we? Specks of wasteland, hitherto lying waste in the ocean, are found to have immense mining benefits so we start a race to claim ownership and threaten war! This is a disgrace, although the mentality is not new, but who will admit it? No government will . . . . . . but will people? ☺ Moral decay. Are so many countries becoming virtually dysfunctional due to a preponderance of crime and/or other moral decay that the world, as a whole, is on the path to becoming dysfunctional? ☺ Education the solution? Education is said to be the answer to everyones future but what happens when all are educated and are then unwilling to accept the menial, but necessary, jobs? ☺ Chuck it! Considering the rapidity with which technology now develops we could be producing for the throw away mentality and the scrap heap thus stimulating, or pandering to, a fast, costly and wasteful “buy, lose interest and chuck it” civilization. ☺ Exploitation of farmers. The unconscionable exploitation of farmers by large companies, many having the power of large market share, is putting the world’s food producers out of business. Whilst this is going on the profits of these companies benefit their shareholders, who should, themselves, be more responsible. In the long term their attitude endangers the food supply of all human beings.
☺ Mass delusion. All the “fun” and “good life” we are fed constantly in all media is simply a recycling of mass delusion which the great majority of us cling to - at least subconsciously. ☺ Those expensive garments. A $5000 suit or dress is no indication of what hides within the wearer. ☺ 30
Addicted governments. Governments too get addicted to addictive products but in their case the addiction is to the revenue from the excise they apply to the product. ☺ Spiritual values. Religious values, except where they correspond with spiritual values, in Scandinavian and some northern European countries seem to have no great affect on the people but spiritual values certainly have. ☺ Sportsmanship in tennis. In great contrast to some of his predecessors and contemporaries Andre Agassi was a true gentleman on the professional tennis circuit and his gestures of thanks to the spectators at matches have been adopted as their own by so many current players of both sexes. This fact is both significant and pleasing. ☺ Advertising and station breaks. Although I rarely watch commercial television and limit my watching of the national channels as much as possible to watching without sound, I am, at times, compelled to watch the former for some sports, and my experience makes me wonder whether the extremely frequent program breaks that occur are causing, or have already caused, a shortened attention span in juvenile and adult humans i.e. causing limited extended concentration. ☺ Pink or magenta? Red + white = pink [or used to be]. Red + white + blue = magenta [or used to be]. Yet many now call magenta pink! So, since magenta is now pink what is magenta? ☺ Earth security. To prevent the invasion of our planet by aliens all we have to do is broadcast into space the daily news of our world. This would deter the most determined aliens! On second thoughts, however, this may not work: it may result in the destruction of Earth by aliens to eliminate possible moral and environmental pollution of the universe as we attempt to further expand our interference in space. ☺
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Entertainment. All indications are that we need a large amount of entertainment and it is probable that this is subconscious escapism; perhaps escape from the need to change our spiritual direction. ☺ World order. Our world systems are unsustainable because they have grown from our unsustainable ideals and aspirations. If the systems are to change, as they must and will, our ideals and aspirations have to change. This being unlikely, there has to be a complete collapse of the existing order and a completely new order established: one with more elevated ideals and aspirations. ☺ Speeches and statements. Speeches and statements of politicians et al are no longer sincere and/or subjective. Instead they are insincere and often scripted and expedient. The truth is not the purpose of the exercise. ☺ As soon as possible or soon? All and sundry now use the phrase “As soon as possible.” when they mean “Soon” This indicates a lack of thought about what is coming out of their mouths: a lack of a connection between what the speaker wishes to say and does. “As soon as possible” means just that and the possibilities are varied and numerous between immediate and infinite whilst “Soon” means, “in the immediate future.” Apparently intelligent people, who should know better, are guilty of this absence of ability to co-ordinate intention with outcome and it seems to stem from a fear of offending some vague someone or something. It points to character weakness. ☺ Half the world’s food going to waste. A news headline this morning : “Half the world’s food going to waste.” and, no doubt, 90% of it is in the so-called “developed world” where we humans have developed some very wasteful and destructive habits. All other animal and life forms waste virtually nothing. ☺ Evolution. As science and technology influences all life on Earth Darwin’s theory of evolution will become inapplicable - if it ever did apply. ☺ 32
The humble palaces. With humbleness being a virtue in Christian teachings what inspired bishops of old to call their abodes palaces - and those of the present to continue to do so? ☺ Death by guns. The U.S.A. declares itself to be staunchly Christian so it should be aware of the Christian principle, “If you live by the sword you die by the sword.” ☺ Religious groups. Religious groups around the world are creating violence but if they were following the teachings of their religion this behaviour would no occur. Too often they are misled by clergy, or pseudo clergy, who are ignorant or have a selfish agenda. ☺ Sun glasses and communication. Human communication is not limited to audio, as we all know, and the eyes communicate in many ways. It is for this reason that, until the latter part of the twentieth century, people wearing sun glasses removed them when talking to someone. This was also a gesture of courtesy. ☺ Emotion in sport. There is something wrong when the emotional reaction of players on the field, in reaction to a success, reaches the levels it now does. These levels often border on the limits of self control. ☺ Climate change and enjoyment. Since those individuals whose huge need for enjoyment is contributing to climate change are enjoying themselves so much doing it, and with so many others aspiring to the same enjoyment, what chance is there for catastrophic change to be averted? ☺ Rare commodities. Customer service and courtesy are rare commodities these days so it was very pleasing to get a call at 8 a.m., from a company whose technician had an appointment with me between 7.30 and 8.30 a.m., to advise me that the technician was delayed on his last job and would be about ten minutes late. ☺
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Good deeds. Most good deeds remain unsung and that is how most of the doers of the deeds would have it. ☺ From natural to unnatural. We have forgotten how to pick a fruit off a tree and eat it - we were huntergatherers then; now we first process it - we are civilised. The body was designed for fresh food so civilisation has brought us ill health. ☺ One’s homeland. Would those countries that have sovereignty over Kurdish lands as a result of the arbitrary division of those lands last century feel and behave as they do if it had been their lands that had been divided? Of course not! ☺ Graphene. So, here comes another magic discovery from which thousands of fantastic things can be made. This discovery, it is said, opens up huge potential but I simply see yet another pointless exercise. All such actions are driven by our inherent discontent with the status quo - all the way back to the beginning! ☺ Inefficiency and slackness. There seems to be a widespread, conscious or unconscious, desire or need for people to make excuses for the inefficiency or slackness of others that adversely affects an organization rather than take action to improve standards. ☺ The free market. Economic rationalists have, over the past half century or so, advocated free market forces as the panacea for all economic ills but the free market is neither free nor a market: it is fettered by the self-interest of the rich and a closed shop for such interests. ☺ Physical well being. Recent and current aspirations of governments and/or the people of the so-called advanced countries, and those in other countries attracted to their principles, consist of good education, health, longevity, employment, comfort etc. But these are worthless if they do not make us better people. We are in much greater need 34
of spiritual growth than in physical well-being; the latter being of spiritual importance in a completely different way than perceived by most. ☺ The purpose of human life. What a waste it would be, and how pointless, if the purpose of human life was merely that some are born to indulge themselves at the expense of others born to be deprived. ☺ Ancient wisdom. Ancient uncivilised peoples learned from their mistakes and changed their ways. We persist with our waywardness whilst, if we think that far, leaving it to science and technology to solve the problems we create - a vain hope. ☺ Body size and sport. Concurrent with the increase in the size of the human body over the last decades there have been developments in science and technology which, in some sports, has resulted in brawn taking over from brain. Guile and skill, which were previous vital to success, are being superseded by sheer power abetted by technological developments in equipment etc. Since guile and skill require more intelligence than brawn we could be losing another positive quality as we develop. ☺ Sacrifice and indulgence. The feeling one gets from giving up something one likes is deeper and longer lasting than the feeling one gets from indulgence. ☺ Cruelty to animals - human prey. The days of the Neanderthal are long since gone but the mentality lingers on. ☺ Food waste. The waste of fresh food resulting from unnecessary selectivity of produce by supermarkets around the world is astonishing yet governments of the world do nothing. ☺ Carnivores and meat eaters. If Homo sapiens was meant to be carnivorous it would have evolved with the physical characteristics of carnivora. We have chosen to be meat eaters. ☺ 35
The cost of artificial longevity. If we wish to be kept alive on a costly diet of pills and expensive medical procedures plus institutional and/or palliative care towards the end we have to pay for it through taxes or other means. ☺ Moral and ethical standards. In the second half of the twentieth century to date there has been a progressive fall in moral and ethical standards in the developed and developing world - that part of the world which has been affected by what is called progress. ☺ The drift of modern culture. The culture of the U.S.A., with all its flaws, is suffusing the world and the U.S.A. Language, with all its flaws, is doing the same . . . . . and the cumulative effect is negative to the spirit. ☺ Sporting behaviour. Earlier in my post titled “Sportsmanship in tennis” I touched on negative sporting behaviour but recently, while watching the Australian Open tennis matches, I was reminded of the high standard of sporting behaviour on display in recent years. In the last decade or so to date there have been, and are, many exemplary players. ☺ The spiritual war. The most intense war currently being fought is a subconscious war; a war between self-interest and the conflicting interests of compassion and peace. ☺ Sports commentary on TV. The commentators on live TV commentary on sports match play seem to feel the necessity to maintain an incessant stream of comment most of which is obvious or irrelevant. This interferes with the connoisseurs’ concentration and enjoyment of the game. ☺ Bottled health. According to the advertisements good health is all there, in bottles and packs, on the shelves. ☺
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Changing the world. It is said that if you wish to change the world you have to change yourself: this is how it works. As in the 100th monkey syndrome the act, influence or thought first spreads within the immediate group, thence to the larger group and then across space to other groups and so on because thought is a “thing” which moves in time and space without hindrance* In modern times we have the added tool of the Internet. *Extract from “The Milk Is White” Chapter 3: However," thoughts are things" as the Cayce Readings say. Thought is a force, energy, a field, as evidenced by experiments conducted by Russian scientist in the early half of the twentieth century. It 'travels' instantaneously **and is not impeded by distance or any known substance. **
'Travel' and 'instantaneous' are a contradiction in terms.
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Natural event breakdowns. When a natural weather event causes disruption to power supply there is no refrigeration, food spoils, no eftpos, no cash, no banking no electric trains or buses etc. at present and in the future we can anticipated thousands of patients hitched up to computers in one way or another who will suffer excruciating pain, even death when power fails. What we call progress comes to a halt in the affected area and the other areas indirectly affected. If this is progress would we not have come up with a solution for such disruption? Or is this inept and irresponsible creation? ☺ War by computer disruption. It is now a recognised fact that the most potent, effective and cheap weapon a country can use upon another is computer disruption. What fools we are - after this surely we are not clever - to create without due care and consideration. Yet we have such an exalted view of ourselves! ☺ Meddling with nature. In the process we call progress we meddle with nature in reckless disregard for possible consequences - without even the precautionary principle applying. Animal cloning and genetic modification are but two examples of this. ☺ Walks in nature. During morning walks one can hear the tumbling of the creek over the rocks, the songs of the birds, the flutter of their wings and all the little sounds of nature yet some people walk with an earplug stuck in one ear, or both, listening to the sounds of man. ☺ 37
None of our business. There is so much we get involved in that is none of our business yet some of us even take umbrage at the reactionNo time for lunch it sometimes causes. ☺ Buying power. Let buying power serve to prevent exploitation of the buyer and not serve to exploit the seller. ☺ No time for lunch. It appears that this has become more of a fact as recent decades have passed. It also seems that the cause is more to do with peoples’ response to an inner demand than pressure at work. Whatever the cause it is not good for body or for mind. ☺ Just a few decades ago. Not that many years ago I used to admire views of the world’s cities at night with their myriads of lights; and in this see signs of progress. Now I am a lot wiser! ☺ Plastics. There is a place for plastics in the modern world but the extent to which it has been foisted upon us - something we have accepted and embraced enthusiastically until relatively recently - by the numerous parties involved in the extraction of the source product, petroleum, and its subsequent conversion into the various plastic products is nothing to be proud of. At present the environment is overburdened by the accumulation of this product in its variety of forms and the situation gets worse. ☺ The lucky country. If this is the lucky country, as so many pronounce it to be, why are so many here either over-weight or obese? What is disturbing them mentally and/or spiritually? It is quite likely that many, at a spirit level [no, that one is a builders’ tool :-) ] are aware of what we humans are doing and, being unhappy about it, are reacting in the flesh. ☺ Spiritual and animal success. Desire, greed, pride, power, physical urges, selfishness, and vanity are the traits needed for animal success and to be eschewed for spiritual success. ☺ 38
Religions. We have the religion, whose god is money, which is more radical than the most radical of the extremely conservative factions of the other religions. ☺ Economics or people? All the talk is about economics and not about people and there is no sense in blinkered commentators and pundits stating that the progress of a country’s economy benefits all its people because this is patently incorrect: the rich benefit at the expense of the poor who are reluctantly dragged along far behind. ☺ Union of same sex couples. The Oxford English Dictionary defines marriage as: The formal union of a man and a woman, typically as recognized by law, by which they become husband and wife. It seems to be the term “marriage” which is the problem in this contentious debate. But why the fuss? Surely it is still possible to coin a new, suitable word such as uniteage for instance? This word contains unity, unite, a bit of the word “marriage”, uni for one sex etc. What more is necessary in a mere word? Surely it is the act that is important and not the word. It is time to let go! N.B. Where laws now exist where the word, perhaps with some qualification, is inscribed in the law it can easily be changed and exist in its own right. ☺ Mass immorality. The positive side to the widespread immorality in the world today is the opportunity it presents to the billions to change their ways. ☺ Disrespect of sovereignty. Some powerful countries and their satellites countries have, for entirely selfish reasons, assumed the right to invade the sovereign space of other countries with scant regard for accepted diplomacy. A current example of this is the use of “drones” for surveillance and attack. This happens with impunity because those who could censure this are themselves desirous of this freedom. ☺ Feel good fantasy. To gain and/or maintain ratings and, therefore, profits television stations subliminally create a “feel good” sense in the viewer. Thus, the majority of viewers 39
live in a partial fantasy and one which favours mindless spending on advertised goods and services. ☺ Employment. If all those unemployed in the EU, Africa, Asia, the Americas etc. find employment w.hat will they be doing and who is to utilise the result of their work? Is this sustainable or is the “system” stuck with the present state of affairs? ☺ Advertising generates consumption. Advertising, for which we all pay ultimately, is the generator of unnecessary consumption. ☺ Mass lunacy. Since early in the last century human beings have progressively increased their desire to protect themselves, and particularly their children, from all conceivable illness and damage resulting in a corresponding erosion of the immune system. This fear has reached the state of mass lunacy. ☺ Original Milk. Amazing as it may seem, in recent times, something called “Original Milk” has appeared on grocery shelves. That says it all! ☺ Creatures of habit. Humans are creatures of habit and, therefore, conservative. The consequence is that the vast majority go along in life blithely ignorant of, and/or disinterested in, what is happening in the world that adversely affects them. ☺ The English language. The enunciation of and emphasis on words recently introduced into the TV media in the last few years, and now migrating to common speech, is confusing because they appear to be meaningless: for example numbers are emphasised because they are numbers as are certain words emphasised. ☺ Mobile phones and stress. It has long been established that one of the causes of stress is not knowing what will happen next i.e. not being in control of one’s situation and an example sited was that of the job of telephone answering. The mobile phone, if left switched on, keeps the owner in a state of constant expectation - conscious or unconscious - which is stressful whether notice40
able or not. Furthermore, having got so used to it being switched on, if it ever has to be turned off the owner is in a situation of deprived expectancy - also stressful whether noticeable or not. This is a lose lose situation. ☺ Fear and anger. Fear pervades Israel and anger pervades the Palestinians. Fear is debilitating and anger destructive. Both can be shed but fear is tenacious. ☺ Language. The proper management of the evolution of language is necessary as the consequence of not doing so is a breakdown in communication which will cause major problems - even disastrous ones. ☺ Truth control. It is not possible to control what people think or believe by proscribing information but it is possible to control what they know by proscribing the truth. ☺ The road to success. Apparently, according to the pundits, the road to economic success is “Buy! Buy! Buy!”, “Spend! Spend! Spend!”. Well, if you have vision, extrapolate this and consider what do you see or sense as the result. ☺ A sign of the times. My unit number is the same as that of a resident in the adjacent block of units and for a number of years I have received mail for that person in my mail box. In days gone by this error would have displeased the postie very much as standards were high. Yesterday, all my written complaints over the years to the postal authorities having failed, I had a long chat with the postie with the result being that as my unit was at the end of his motorcycle run he is tired when he reaches my box and does not notice the error. I asked whether the authorities had come up with any suggestions and he replied that they had not. ☺ Just desserts. Because we now choose out politicians from a shallow basis of TV image and staged performances whilst disregarding true performance over a past period when possible, we deserve what we get. ☺
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The modern focus of the news media. The focus of the modern media away from informing to selling papers and increasing ratings has made the media largely irrelevant to the thinking person. To a large extent the quality of material now apparently important is what the readers want or because the readers will simply read anything (and believe anything?) or are stuck in the groove of the habit of reading and/or viewing. Discernment appears to have vanished. ☺ People power: cohesive coercion. If properly harnessed people power is more powerful than company power so the only reason for the existence of the unethical activities of companies is people - people not acting. Without people most companies would cease to exist so, if they want a change to company culture, all they have to do is act cohesively to coerce the company into changing its culture or go bust. ☺ Education. We have got to the stage where we do not know where our food comes i.e. from cows, farms, soil, trees etc. and this is quite a remarkable achievement: partly due to an education system which decades ago decided to focus on mathematics and engineering at the expense of the humanities and what were considered non essential disciplines. The ideology of the time forsook a rounded education - the myopic view of a culture which was focussed on science and technology as the panacea for all ills. ☺ Consumerism. Everything we need is available in nature. The problem is that there are too many of us using too much and wasting too much of that whilst relying on science and technology to solve the problems we create - a lazy irresponsible mentality. Well, it should be apparent to us that this reliance is misplaced because science and technology create more problems than they solve. It is we who have to take responsibility. ☺ The physicist and the theologian. Today I watched a question and answer program on the ABC where, as a result of a question posed by a member of the audience, a physicist and a theologian got to discussing what came before creation. In a nutshell it became a matter of there being nothing before creation but that nothing was actually something with the theologian seeing that nothing as something viz. God. I sat watching this, to me, impossible effort at realisation and I kept on saying, ‘You cannot resolve this dilemma by use of the mind! It requires the elimination of the mind!’ 42
The fact is that I had already written about this in my book in 1993 and at various times since then. I had no difficulty with doing this because I had, by then, developed the ability to eliminate the mind and free up “Thought” - what I termed “neoption” or ‘seeing without eyes’. All this is available to anyone by simply reading what I have written where this aspect of the reality is but a small part of the whole. Here is an extract of a page as one example: “Each cell is made up of, and contains, material that consists of molecules that, in turn, consist of atoms, then protons and electrons and so on down to a state of subatomic energy now said by physicists to alternate between a state of existence and non-existence. This is the point of Creation of all 'matter', the point at which Spirit becomes matter or, more correctly, the basics from which matter is formed. The "state of non-existence" is the creative intelligence that is the Great Spirit i.e. "Thought", and the "state of existence" the primary state of all matter and all that is derived from it.” And here, also from the book, an enigmatic explanation of the whole in a nutshell: Thought creates Creation manifests Thought manifests.1 The "Quo Vadis?" File 1
These three lines encapsulate the cause and effect of everything relating to life.
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The health of the human body. The human body was designed to be exposed to the elements and derive benefits from them. Consider the lifestyles of the indigenous peoples of the world (with the exception of that of the eskimos where special adaptation is a feature) before exposure to “civilization” and compare that with what this civilization has developed for us and its effect on human health. ☺ Courtesy. It appears to be that the courtesy “Thank you.” has passed out of the vocabulary and minds of people particularly where small courtesies are concerned. By this I do not mean that one should thank all those who send unsolicited jokes, news items etc. by the dozen or everyone who likes a post but the hitherto common courtesy of thanking someone for being helpful to or mindful of one. ☺ The throw away “civilization”. Yesterday there was a news item on the ABC that 30% of the food purchased in this country is thrown away in the home - from cupboard, fridge, cooking, plate etc. What an indictment! What goes on in the minds of so-called advanced peo1
These three lines encapsulate the cause and effect of everything relating to life.
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ple? Almost daily there are news items, accompanied by video, I might add, of horrendous conditions in refugee camps and the like but we, it seems, are too busy care. We deserve what is coming to us. ☺ Farmers. We are putting our farmers out of business by not paying them enough for their produce and this is happening when huge food shortages are predicted for the not too distant future. It is essential that we act to stop this plunder. ☺ The constant battle. The centuries old problem of industry profit at the expense of people and the environment continues unabated to this day . . . . . . . . we do not change, do we? ☺ Secular laws. In the case of secular laws we have, over centuries, made significant progress towards being a civilized society. However, in many countries these are flouted behind the scenes: behind the facade of justice presented to the world and often boasted about. ☺ Saluting guns and guards of honour. Since there is no honour in guns it is time countries discontinued the puerile practice of gun salutes, e.g. the 21 gun salute, and armed guards of honour. ☺ Guns - bearing arms. Anyone claiming that bearing arms is a god given right had better search to infinity and beyond to find that god because none such exists. ☺ The high life. The high life is the froth on a void. ☺ Media behaviour. The reason the media so often behave in a despicable manner is that there is a large number of people who thrive on reading the results - what people crave the media will supply. ☺ Boom, boom, bust. Boom, boom, bust . . . . . so goes the cycle. Constant analysis of this phenomenon keeps millions occupied and millions interested but we persist with this sys44
tem only because we can do no better . . . . and the rich are the only beneficiaries. ☺ The deep rut. It is anticipated that by 2030 air traffic will increase fivefold and the stated solution to high costs and availability of fuel is biofuels. No mention was made of how much of the world’s food producing land will go to feed the aircraft. We are stuck in a rut so deep that we cannot see out - a bit worse than the ostrich burying its head in the sand which, incidentally, is a myth. ☺ Not good enough. Expressions like, “I have always done it that way.”, “My mother did it this way.”, “My father told me to do it this way.” etc. are not good enough; the wise subject their actions to their own critical scrutiny. ☺ Will power. Will power is one thing; wishing to use it another. ☺ Scientific study. The scientific study of things in isolation when nothing exists in isolation is a fundamental flaw. ☺ Dates - Use By, Best By etc. The purpose of the introduction of this system by governments was well intentioned and a boon to producers. Unfortunately, for all but the producers, to most people these dates came to mean “Discard Date” because they were unable, for whatever reason, to logically think through the purpose of the dating and realise that these dates were a guide and not absolute. They instantly forgot what they did before the introduction of the system and millions of tonnes of perfectly good food started on its way to the tip. An example of costly and wasteful mental inertia. ☺ Lifestyle. Some people live life on a high of alcohol and/or drugs and/or their business activities and thus make life decisions from a mind state remote from their actual lives - decisions that are prone to failure. ☺
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The believer. A friend of mine believes that Moses actually smote the Red Sea to make it part and allow him to take the Israelites through. He does not believe the thousand or so of scientists, including some from the highly regarded Australian CSIRO, who state that humans are responsible for the unnatural climate change which is occurring but, when he talks about how terribly unsafe microwave ovens are, he quotes the CSIRO scientists. ☺ The general state of flux. Just about everything humans do has been in a state of flux from its inception but with little adverse effect. In recent times, however, it has been so fast that there appears to be a pronounced negative effect manifesting across the board; an effect highlighting the full range of human weakness. ☺ Standards. Generally speaking, necessity and mentality have lowered standards and are lowering then further. ☺ Full circle. We have just about come full circle this time around and, on completion, we will return to the spiritual restarting point for our next cycle. The character of the end of the cycle is determined by what we created. With each cycle we achieve some spiritual progress individually and collectively as a result of our experiences. Hence, each cycle is an opportunity. ☺ Equality for women. The efforts being made, though tokenistic in many places where it is in the hands of men, to eliminate archaic attitudes towards women are due to welcome enlightenment - both socially and spiritually. ☺ Obesity. Obesity, that increasingly common state of the human physical condition, is not simply due to lack of exercise and unhealthy diet; there must be subconscious contributory factors such as lack of self-esteem, stress - actual or imagined - and dissatisfaction with life. ☺ Duty of care versus negligence. The defining and/or interpretation of duty of care, as against negligence, by courts has been so absurd that it is farcical at times. It has also led to a massive 46
increase in costs in the community because of the disproportionate penalties awarded in the courts. ☺ Material graveyards. Aircraft graveyards are just small examples, in kind, of what is to come. As the speed of invention, technological advances and innovation increases monuments to our ingenuity, and waste, will blot the Earth at massive expense. This will not be paralleled by corresponding spiritual progress, however. ☺ Rooftop safety. In the arab world old style buildings do not have railings surrounding the flat roofs yet few, if any, people seem to fall over the edges despite the roofs being used frequently. Compare that to the fuss made in the developed world over protecting people. In the former people learn whilst in the latter they have to be protected. ☺ Big is better. In business at one time big was best then, some decades ago, it was not best and many very big companies, like Bell Telephone, were split into many parts. Then, more recently, and since, big again became better. However, big is not better trying to get bigger and bigger sends many enterprises to the wall. Also, big creates an advantage and advantage of this sort is unfair, although the big companies will not agree with this, and this is the strategy adopted to maximise profits at the expense of smaller businesses. This is called the free market which should be renamed the predators market! ☺ House keys and security. Around the world people hide the keys to their houses in the same one to three places and expect the house to be secure from burglars. ☺ Oratorial words. Oratorial words are often the spur to unspeakable acts like killing and war. ☺ A new Pope. A new Pope? Will anything change or will he live in splendour whilst millions of his flock languish in poverty? ☺
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Advice. When advice sought, given and taken brings negative results the only one responsible for the results is the one who took the advice. ☺ Science. Is it correct that an experiment in which one factor is not measurable is not scientific? This is not a rhetorical question - I am looking for an answer. I ask this because, a couple of nights ago, I had a neoption that this was so. I suspect, no more, because I cannot remember, that although the experiment may not be scientific it may be true - that science is not the final arbiter. Now, having written the paragraph immediately above, I am more convinced that although the experiment may not be scientific it may be true. ☺ Existing in isolation. Nothing material exists in isolation so whatever we chuck into the water in one place affects water everywhere. So it is with all pollutants but not enough of us care enough for us to stop this in time. Hence, as we sow so we reap - karma, the immutable law of cause and effect. ☺ Book publishing. If major publishers were truly interested in literature for reasons other than profit, they would publish books of valuable content, but without “best seller” potential, and medium demand. ☺ China - the economy or the environment. Pollution or growth? In the economic environment we have created on Earth, and worship, China has no alternative but to opt for growth. ☺ Super bugs. Apparently, medically dangerous super bugs are on the increase. This is happening at the same time that we are ruining our immune systems in a number of ways including vaccination/inoculation, excessive use of pharmaceuticals and protection against numerous things previously tackled by the immune system. ☺ Buy “national”. People of many countries are often exhorted to buy things made in their country but where this exhortation occurs in a developed country it is one of limited, moral, vision because there are other countries struggling to develop and feed 48
their people, let alone give them one tenth of what the developed countries provide for their people. ☺ Charity begins at home. This is a common catchphrase. However, from a moral, or spiritual, point of view it is literally shortsighted because true charity goes where it is needed most and that is not necessarily “at home”. Sadly, it is true that the awareness of many people spreads no further than their eyesight. ☺ Belief. No one has to believe anything because, in the end, everyone will know everything. ☺ The GFC and Wall St. The prosecution of those at the top in Wall St, and deemed to be responsible for the GFC in 2008, amounts to nil. What a farce! . . . . . and this is the country claiming to be the world’s saviour. ☺ Evolution and the effect of “man”. It has taken many hundreds of thousands of years, as far as is estimated, for humans to evolve to their present state. Of this period all but the last couple of centuries have been in a environment free of internal and external pollution and the consequences of these factors, past present and future, will only manifest over generations where this has not already done so even slightly either in humans or animals. ☺ The Only Reality. The only reality is that we exist in Spirit as one and project the perceived reality. ☺
[Neoption at 5.09 a.m. 23.03.13.]
Timelessness. Today is my dog’s birthday but it makes no difference to him because, like all animals except Homo sapiens, he lives in the reality of timelessness. ☺ What fools we are. What fools we are for the rubbish we buy because of the claims made on the labels etc. by the manufacturers. ☺ 49
It seems so easy. These days it seems so easy for someone to stab another - with anything to hand. Quo vadis? ☺ The evolution of advertising. Advertising started as a means to inform the public of the availability and description of something but, human nature being what it is, it did not take long for us to see how informing could be turned into profiting without ethical inhibitions. ☺ Civilization Z. This civilization could very easily be “Civilization Z”. ☺ Agriculture and weeds. Weeds are an integral part of nature and the soil so their elimination in agriculture is not the solution to the difficulties they cause. Instead of continuing to resort to chemical herbicides that are detrimental to the soil we should be looking for ways to incorporate the green manure that is weeds into the soil as would normally occur naturally. If, as a consequence, land productivity plateaus we will have to find more land or regenerate infertile land biologically. We have to get our priorities right: there is no point in trying to improve agricultural production whilst simultaneously misusing prime agricultural land as we do. ☺ The beauty of nature. The dawn of a bright, sunny day after a period of clouds and rain is announced by the chorus of a multitude of birds loudly singing their happiness at the change and lifting the hearts of the humans still able to notice the beauty of nature. ☺ Illogical logic - anthropology. The anthropological theory of human evolution currently followed is only logical because the fact that the logic relates to an assumed starting point is overlooked. ☺
[Neoption at 1.24 a.m. 26.03.13.]
Nature and science. The penis and the uterus of nature are the pipette and test tube of science. [Neoption post 1.41 a.m. 26.03.13.]
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Dream homes and office blocks. The problem with the huge panels of external glass used in the construction of these edifices is that, to reduce maintenance costs, they are self-cleaning on the outside and that this self-cleaning is achieved by coating the glass with chemical which slowly erode and wash away, taking the dirt with them. These chemicals then find their way into the ground. A matter of a solution creating a problem. ☺ Afghanistan. In Afghanistan the West has presumed, from an assumed position of superiority, to artificially move into another time an ancient culture, but things are not that simple because, like water finding its own level the subdued culture will do the same when freed, whatever its actual or perceived shortcomings, and grow from there in its own way. Everything happens in its own time. ☺ Habits die hard. Habits die hard = It is difficult to still the mind (or moul as I call it). ☺ Principle and convenience. Principle is frequently sacrificed to convenience. ☺ Principles of marketing. The principles of marketing dictate that goods are priced according to the ability to pay. Therefore, in a high income country the profit is greater than in a country where the incomes are lower. However, does it follow that some of these profits are devoted to selling at below cost in a country where the population is largely destitute? ☺ Marketing/business ethics. Worldwide, businesses, with few exceptions, are rapacious, exploitative and unscrupulous where their customers are concerned but are completely blaze′ about it - and the shopper pays for it! Sadly, all this is considered good business. ☺ Mind disorders of returning service personnel. The very high occurrence of these disorders is, in all probability, due to a spiritual, or superconscious, antipathy to war and killing - something well beyond the comprehension of those treating them or sending them to war in the first place. 51
☺ A sad commentary. It is a sad commentary that the much vaunted system directing the state of things in the world grows from a worsening cesspool of human morality. ☺ Technological innovation. Technological innovation is now occurring for its own sake followed by buying and updating for their own sake. ☺ Mobile phones. The mobile phone, if its use is not wisely controlled by the user, is an infringer of liberty. ☺ Cruelty to animals. For a long time I have suspected that some dairy farmers in Australia have been shortening (“docking”) the tails of dairy cows but yesterday, having seen that, in a 1500 strong herd of Holsteins in China all the tails were “docked”, my suspicions are confirmed not only where Australia is concerned but worldwide. Depriving the animals of a, to them, vital tool - that of fly swatter, is cruel because without a tail they are like humans would be if they, humans, were unable to wave their hand in front of their face to drive off flies. The result is, of course, stress! ☺ Media culpability. The media is culpable, it has a great deal to answer for in respect of the negative way in which the world and its people have developed and are developing. The reason for this is that its focus has not been on promoting positive thinking and actions: it has had, and continues to have, no moral imperatives or impetus and is driven, by the proclivities of the owner/s or, like most everything else, by profit. ☺ Packaging of products. Within the last two decades there was sufficient concern in the world about excessive packaging and its effects and consequential costs that at least one country, Germany, started making the manufacturers responsible for post-purchase disposal of parts and packaging. This, in Australia at least, is not the case and, frequently, in a single item there is more packaging than product and more packaging cost than product cost with the former cost being an imposition on the purchaser by the manufacturer. We have, therefore, unnecessary cost with negative consequences to the community as well as the environment. 52
☺ The enemy within. Any person, or body of persons e.g. a nation, constantly fearing attack, needs firstly to seek the primary cause of the animosity and act to eliminate it - not the perceived cause but the root cause - that which lies “within”. ☺
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