Tag Archives: love

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The Taming Power of the Small

Le chemin est long qui mène à l’acceptation de soi, mais il est nécéssaire pour se réaliser pleinement

The path is long to the acceptance of the self, but it is necesssary for achieving full self realization.

[I Ching speaks](http://wengu.tartarie.com/wg/wengu.php?l=Yijing&tire=776876&no=60&lang=en):

Text logo featuring the words 'Hsiao Ch'u' with a striped design.

The hexagram presents a configuration of circumstances in which a strong element is temporarily held in leash by a weak element. It is only through gentleness that this can have a successful outcome.

in limitation we must observe due measure. If one should seek to impose galling limitations upon their own nature, it would be injurious. And if they should go too far in imposing limitations on others, the others would rebel. Therefore it is necessary to set limits even upon limitation.

A lake (filled with water) is something limited. Water itself is inexhaustible. A lake can contain only a de-finite amount of the in-finite quantity of water; this is its peculiarity. In human life too the individual achieves significance through discrimination and the setting of limits. Therefore what concerns us here is the problem of clearly defining these discriminations, which are, so to speak, the backbone of morality. Unlimited possibilities are not suited to human beings; if these existed, our lives would only *dissolve in the boundless*. To become strong, one’s life needs the limitations ordained by duty, and voluntarily accepted. The individual attains significance as a free spirit only by surrounding themselves with these limitations and by determining for themselves what their duty is.

the tormented body will rebel against excessive asceticism. On the other hand, although ruthless severity is not to be applied persistently and systematically, there may be times when it is the only means of safeguarding against **guilt** and **remorse**. In such situations ruthlessness toward oneself is the only means of saving one’s soul, which otherwise would succumb to **irresolution**. and temptation.

The wind can indeed drive the clouds together in the sky; yet, being nothing but air, without solid body, it does not produce great or lasting effects. So also an individual, in times when they can produce no great effect in the outer world, can do nothing except refine the expression of their nature in small ways.

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Up and away

Saw a man wearing a North Face shirt with a Starbucks jacket and carrying an Adidas bag He was too old to be a brand whore? Hey, who’s the judge here?

“Fury said to a mouse that he met in the house, ‘Let us both go to law: _I_ will prosecute _you_. Come, I’ll take no denial: we must have a trial: for really this morning I’ve nothing to do.’ Said the mouse to the cur, ‘Such a trial, dear sir, with no jury or judge, would be wasting our breath.’ ‘I’ll be judge, I’ll be jury,’ said cunning old Fury: ‘I’ll try the whole cause, and condemn you to death.'”

I keep on puzzling about this (like Alice): what motivates that guy? I mean, what motivates him to buy and wear those branded clothes? And why so many at the same time? I don’t think he knows.

I used to wear Adidas – like a freak. There was a shop on South Beach called Addidas Style, or some shit, and they specialilzed in specialized (Addidan stuff). I don’t do this anymore. Occasionally these days I slip back – like wearing 59/50 baseball hats – bought like 20 of them last year – not only 59/50, but with Boston RedSox and Celtics logos! What motivates me?

Then there was the frightened white girl with her Muslim headware (*hijab*) and presumably Muslim baby. She so frightened that she will be rejected, always has been rejected, until some Muslim guy found her, collected her, implanted his seed. She clinging to some myth or image – that being Muslim is cooler, at least more noticble, than being just another plain white girl. Nothing against her or Islam. The hijab DOES make her look cooler. But it does not maker her cooler, and, why is she trying? She’s not just trying – it means all the world to her, because no one ever told her how to look inside (to find her cool identity). At first the baby was losing i – crying, 6 a.m. in Boston Logan, but then, good mom, got her quiet (safe), cooing, happy.

But all is well us long as we have faith. Without faith there is no meaning – assume there is no meaning, fundamentally, then get faith and you will feel yoursself a part of the greater universe – that someone (the all-in-one) loves you. Your mother still loves you, dead or alive. Your father the same. All your long-dead realitive love you and want the best for you – they always did, but during their lives, they were possibly consumed by fear, manifested and hate and judgement – but neither was true. Every emotion is created solely by biochemical reaction – emotions are feelings, wholly biological. When you die, then, they all disappear. If, while alive, you blocked your adrenalin, you would not/could not get angry. We all take beta blockers, don’t we? We are blocking the hormones, and there is NO OTHER CAUSE for emotions. Except for love.

Why do I say that? Take a moment and figure out what an emotion really is. Start with anger – it’s easy. Somebody says something, and then, all of a sudden, you feel anger. You argue and yell for 20 minutes – and you realize that you have strayed far from “the cause” of the anger, or, you fogot it altogether. The words were not the cause – they were the sensory input, which the brain connected to adrenalin, and produced a physical (literally) feeling – and then you were off! The mind checked out. Only the body kept the feed going.

But love? A feeling? No, a thousand feelings, one of which is hate – you can’t hate someone you don’t love (because it would make no difference to them or you, if there weren’t love). Do you hate Trump? Well, something triggered you at some point, there were chemicals, the dumb brain had to do something, and it settled on “hate” – but is hate the opposite of love? Think about it carefully. Doesn’t hate feel like anger? Or love? Does hate really have a unique quality, or is it just anger, with a narrative context?

I don’t know. But love doesn’t come and go, with a little self-control. The love I know consumes you, mentally, physically, and spiritually. You stutter to define it. You feel it in you and all around you. No text causes it. Nothing that is said or done. Do you ever say “I am in anger with you?” “I am in hate with you?” Right? Feel me? I am in LOVE – in it! Can’t get out, can’t breath. Said Eminem:

“With you, I’m in my fucking mind. Without you, I’m out it”

Ok, it’s “with”, not “in” But tell me what that song is about. Love. All the other things, the violence, the words, the pain, the endless self-pity – all instigate by love, or, love as an excuse? Because all those things come and go, and yet you stay – in love.

May you always stay in love. Open to it. That is faith.

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Why G*d doesn’t answer your prayers.

Because G*d isn’t a business. G*d is not an old man with a beard, unless that’s how you imagine him. G*d is omniscient – knows everything; omnipresent – everywhere; omnipotent – all powerful. Surely you’ve heard this before. But even the priests, ministers, pastors, who say this in one breath, in the next breath tell you to ask G*d for help, for favors, Christmas presents… The two notions just don’t match.

You don’t need to tell an omniscient consciousness your needs or wants – because “all knowing”.

You don’t need to pray “to” an omnipresent being, because “everywhere.”

G*d is responsible for everything everywhere – your cell mitosis and your cancer diagnosis. “responsible” does not equal “cause.” As far as we know, we exercise freewill. So if you pour garbage into the clean body you were given, G*d lets those cells do their thing. Don’t pray for that to change.

Then there’s G*d’s plan. G*d is also ineffable. Sorry we’ve lost that word through our poor educational system. It means it’s not possible to explain G*d. Doesn’t mean we just don’t know how to explain G*d – it means there is no human with the capacity to explain the Creator of Everything. So, might be smart to stop trying. Anyway, what good would it do you?

These are the building blocks. But the best building block is this: Jesus actually told you how to pray! Jesus didn’t really leave us a lot of information – or, you could say, he left us just enough. First, he pared down the 10 commandments – they weren’t his, and were probably made up by Moses, or the politburo that represented Moses – these “commandments” seem a lot like human laws, and coincide neatly with the Jewish norms at the time. Always gotta be suspicious when some guy says “G*d agrees with everything I say.” Convenient for an authoritarian system.

But totally the opposite of what we said above: free will. No, G*d doesn’t tell you not to do anything. Go for it! And for sure, the human machinery – the way humans work – will deliver to you the consequences of your actions – not G*d.

Jesus said you only need two “commandments”: love G*d with all your heart, mind, spirit. Any questions? And then: “love your ‘neighbor’ as much and in the same way as you love yourself.” And then the kicker: “on (just) these two commands hang all the law and the prophets.” The Jewish Torah is divided into the Law and the Prophets (so is the old testament: Deuteronomy means the (second) law; and all the books with names on them are Prophets). So, this is also a hard thing for us modern dummies: it’s called (in math) a “discreet system.” Means you don’t need ANY MORE RULES than the two I gave you. All other rules you could think of derive from those two, so you don’t need to add them.

Jesus told you how to pray. The Lord’s Prayer. That’s the only thing you need. There are no other prayers in the New Testament – except for a couple of little ones, but again, they are connected with the Lord’s Prayer.

  1. “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” This is Jesus choking up just before he is nailed to a crucifix, saying, “skip me on this one.” But – and this is the big but – he adds the clause from the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy will be done.” He doesn’t expect G*d to not go through with the great plan, which requires a sacrifice – but, never hurts to ask.
  2. “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.” A prayer-lite for the sake of the Love of the Neighbor. Also – directly from the Lord’s Prayer!

That’s it! No “please give me that bike for Christmas”, or “please let my son get into Harvard.” Zero (0) requests! It’s not Oprah! Not Grant a Wish! It’s like this

  1. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done. Do what you intend to do – not what WE ask you to do. On earth, just like in heaven. Even if you escape earth, the same deal is in heaven for you.
  2. Give us today our daily bread. Ok. Maybe this is an “ask” – except in the original language – Aramaic (remember Jesus was not a Hebrew) – it’s not “daily” – people argue about this a lot, but mostly about the translation from Greek – which is not the language Jesus said it in. Give us today maybe our last meal – ever. Remember, it’s ok and entirely possible that we will die TODAY, and that’s a good thing. “Daily” is really the wrong word, and confuses the whole meaning. Look at what follows: 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them… 34 Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself…
  3. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Again, back to the “commandments.” First thing is to US: You there! You forgive everybody. Forgiveness is the rule, thy neighbor as thyself. But we can and should ask G*d for forgiveness.
  4. Lead us not into temptation. Again, this is more you talking to yourself – don’t let yourself be led by something else – into something that will harm you.
  5. Deliver us from evil. Not sure on this one. Reminds by of George W. and the “axis of Evil.” Not sure that this was passed down correctly. But ok. G*d does indeed have the power (all-powerful) to quash “evil.” The main point is, it does not mean ” make that car swerve out of the way of my child in the street.” That’s not evil: it’s freewill – your child knows the rules, and still goes out into the street. Something painful might happen. Not G*d’s deal.

That’s it: 1) let it happen 2) get me through today 3) let’s forgive one another 4) let us choose wisely 5) let us choose wisely. It’s a “personal oracle” – a conversation with everything around you, that echos back to YOU. You are G*d, as long as you are Love.