Love & Social Change discussion
Our Response to the World
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For the lovers and the lost
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Beautiful post, Paul! I enjoyed reading it.
Obviously, we have a medley of cultures, commercialism, religions, media, politics, etc. in this world, in our society. While it makes it all the more colorful a place, it also makes it more chaotic.
Thus, it becomes far too easy to deviate from our own path and higher purpose with all of these external forces bombarding our senses from every direction.
A peaceable meshing of we, as a race, unified into 'Oneness' would be ideal and would, of course, mean that we have attained a Utopian society. Instead, we have wars over culture, religion, politics and the earth's various commodities.
I believe that most people are 'soul-sick' (I among them) in at least one facet of their existence (most problems stem from the etheric body). Personally, I am intent upon becoming whole again because I know where I strayed from my own path and what it is I seek in my own life. I have a long way to go yet, but at least I have my 'itinerary'.
I do not like how the world has become with its technological marvels ad infinitum with the masses too focused on things such as 'texting' and talking on their cell phones rendering many too busy to notice the beauty in a tree or the grace in the sky above them.
On the ferry I board, at times--in my travels to the mainland and back again--the percentage of people 'tuned in' to their little electronic devices far outnumber those who are simply sitting in their seats and staring out to sea, or who are conversing openly with their companions, or who are even sleeping. I find this disconcerting and I find it sad. Many are overloaded by shopping bags from various merchandisers.
As a race we are forgetting our 'roots'. We are losing our connection to the earth and what 'Gaia' has given us. We are obsessed with technology, availability, convenience.
I too am American and while I miss my home country (more specifically the gorgeous area I hail from which is nature-imbibed) there are things about it which I fail to miss.
Among all of the countries in Europe, England (where I am residing now) is more akin to America in ways than is mainland Europe.
Small, remote villages abound in mainland Europe. People grow and raise their own food. They know no other life than the simplicity of say, tending to their olive groves, whipping their own butter, seeing how well they may do at the weekly market with their home-grown, home-spun produce. They go home and have a siesta after a meal, perhaps, of wine made from the grapes in their cousin's vineyard, of a rustic country loaf baked by their grandmother that same afternoon, of fish caught by their uncle in his own boat, of wild greens which grow along the edges of their gardens. None or very few of their foods are 'packaged' and 'commercialized' (yes, these places do still exist though they are endangered).
Such people do not worry about having 'the latest' anything, nor do they worry about 'getting too much sun,' or about the wrinkles on their skin or the greying of their hair. They have been born into this simple, beautiful life and their outlook is a positive one and everything from cooking, thinking, to ageing is done in a relaxed and graceful way.
Most stores and supermarkets in mainland Europe close by four o'clock in the afternoon and many restaurants close by seven or eight o'clock in the evening (especially those which exist outside of the bigger cities).
Children in these places grow up knowing where it is their meat actually comes from instead of from, "MacDonald's" or, "Safeway". They help their mother to milk the goats, to gather mushrooms from the forests and to pick oranges from the groves.
It is not only good to 'look for other things' but it is wise and even advisable. How many people sit under trees, or take a nature walk, or even escape to whichever room in their house may be their sanctuary just to muse over their lives and themselves, listen to music, write in a journal, read a book, do yoga, or meditate? How many of them do this every day?
We all have to tune into our inner voice, commune with 'Higher Self' and it is in those quiet times that we are most apt to do this. Then we become less prone to the 'disorientation' which you spoke about in your post. We become less distracted and less overwhelmed.
Of course, there is no one 'right way' of living, or of thinking, or of believing for we as a race. We each have different ways of doing these things and with higher guidance, what exists around us becomes less 'noise' because we become attuned to what speaks to us, what leads us toward our path and ultimately, to our higher purpose.
Most of us our going about life filled with fear, hate, greed, confusion, sadness, doubt, competition and a whole range of other negative, ego-based emotions. We then fail to see that the 'apple under the tree' is connected to each and every one of us on this planet as we are each connected to one another.
Pax et lux...
Obviously, we have a medley of cultures, commercialism, religions, media, politics, etc. in this world, in our society. While it makes it all the more colorful a place, it also makes it more chaotic.
Thus, it becomes far too easy to deviate from our own path and higher purpose with all of these external forces bombarding our senses from every direction.
A peaceable meshing of we, as a race, unified into 'Oneness' would be ideal and would, of course, mean that we have attained a Utopian society. Instead, we have wars over culture, religion, politics and the earth's various commodities.
I believe that most people are 'soul-sick' (I among them) in at least one facet of their existence (most problems stem from the etheric body). Personally, I am intent upon becoming whole again because I know where I strayed from my own path and what it is I seek in my own life. I have a long way to go yet, but at least I have my 'itinerary'.
I do not like how the world has become with its technological marvels ad infinitum with the masses too focused on things such as 'texting' and talking on their cell phones rendering many too busy to notice the beauty in a tree or the grace in the sky above them.
On the ferry I board, at times--in my travels to the mainland and back again--the percentage of people 'tuned in' to their little electronic devices far outnumber those who are simply sitting in their seats and staring out to sea, or who are conversing openly with their companions, or who are even sleeping. I find this disconcerting and I find it sad. Many are overloaded by shopping bags from various merchandisers.
As a race we are forgetting our 'roots'. We are losing our connection to the earth and what 'Gaia' has given us. We are obsessed with technology, availability, convenience.
I too am American and while I miss my home country (more specifically the gorgeous area I hail from which is nature-imbibed) there are things about it which I fail to miss.
Among all of the countries in Europe, England (where I am residing now) is more akin to America in ways than is mainland Europe.
Small, remote villages abound in mainland Europe. People grow and raise their own food. They know no other life than the simplicity of say, tending to their olive groves, whipping their own butter, seeing how well they may do at the weekly market with their home-grown, home-spun produce. They go home and have a siesta after a meal, perhaps, of wine made from the grapes in their cousin's vineyard, of a rustic country loaf baked by their grandmother that same afternoon, of fish caught by their uncle in his own boat, of wild greens which grow along the edges of their gardens. None or very few of their foods are 'packaged' and 'commercialized' (yes, these places do still exist though they are endangered).
Such people do not worry about having 'the latest' anything, nor do they worry about 'getting too much sun,' or about the wrinkles on their skin or the greying of their hair. They have been born into this simple, beautiful life and their outlook is a positive one and everything from cooking, thinking, to ageing is done in a relaxed and graceful way.
Most stores and supermarkets in mainland Europe close by four o'clock in the afternoon and many restaurants close by seven or eight o'clock in the evening (especially those which exist outside of the bigger cities).
Children in these places grow up knowing where it is their meat actually comes from instead of from, "MacDonald's" or, "Safeway". They help their mother to milk the goats, to gather mushrooms from the forests and to pick oranges from the groves.
It is not only good to 'look for other things' but it is wise and even advisable. How many people sit under trees, or take a nature walk, or even escape to whichever room in their house may be their sanctuary just to muse over their lives and themselves, listen to music, write in a journal, read a book, do yoga, or meditate? How many of them do this every day?
We all have to tune into our inner voice, commune with 'Higher Self' and it is in those quiet times that we are most apt to do this. Then we become less prone to the 'disorientation' which you spoke about in your post. We become less distracted and less overwhelmed.
Of course, there is no one 'right way' of living, or of thinking, or of believing for we as a race. We each have different ways of doing these things and with higher guidance, what exists around us becomes less 'noise' because we become attuned to what speaks to us, what leads us toward our path and ultimately, to our higher purpose.
Most of us our going about life filled with fear, hate, greed, confusion, sadness, doubt, competition and a whole range of other negative, ego-based emotions. We then fail to see that the 'apple under the tree' is connected to each and every one of us on this planet as we are each connected to one another.
Pax et lux...
Paul wrote: "I recently joined goodreads, and I have garnered joy and wisdom from some of the posts here. I would like to offer these words to you all. I live in America, a country that often avoids the del..."
Hi Paul,
What you write is beautiful. I hope you will also read my story and comment accordingly.
I was born in El Salvador in Central America and grew up in San Francisco, California. Living in the Americas was grand until my hard earned tax money was used to finance a civil war aimed against religious leaders in my homeland. One third of the population in El Salvador was either killed or exiled.
Democracy in the US has allowed me to voice my objections to war, but I have never experienced true religious freedom here. It was not until we moved to Singapore that I realised what true religious freedom is, and why that fundamental democratic right is failing in the United States.
Today is my first day as a member of this group. Really, about 15 minutes ago marked the first time I came to explore what's on Goodreads since I signed up months ago. Why? Time, my friend, Time. Or shall I say - lack of time. So, everything we have and are being sold to us are things designed to help us race against time. What would we do now and what will become of our gadget lifes and with our Dow Jones(s) and NASDAQ(s) if we all lived the life of Central Europeans? I have known that life and I miss it. The fact is we have transited from that life and never going back to it. The task we have is to preserve something of it as archives of human history, sort of a place where we can go, when time permits us, to reminisce on the way we used to be. Sad, isn't it? You are rare if you still know that taking time to notice the beauty around has value for life itself. If its possible, someday maybe like-thinkers can get together and embark on a "train ride" blowing our trumpets along the way about the dangers of our misguided life of this age. Not that it will change much. But maybe, just maybe, a lot more people may decide to abandon the "race" and pause to smell the way it was made to be. Just a thought for now, my friends.
Till next time
Hereigns4E
I live in America, a country that often avoids the delicate lateral motions of the soul in deference to manic, vertical ambition. I sit silently under trees, and I often close my eyes to retreat from a culture that threatens the development of my soul, my growth as a thoughtful organism. It is too easy to look around and acknowledge the symptoms of a larger disease, a shared soul sickness, so I have learned to look for other things.
I see shared mental space, and uncountable angels dancing on a needle, a mosque down the road from a temple, down the road from a library, down the road from a Methodist church, down the road from a Unitarian meeting house, down the road from a Buddhist meditation room. They are all glowing out there, but if one is not careful, the variety can be disorienting, a supermarket of spiritual inflection.
I got rice from Lao Tzu, and I got yoga burger patties and Talmudic thyme, carrion Koran, milk from Mother Mary, all on sale today, and Buddha’s almond buttery succulent sutra sticks on sale, and it came with Dhammapadda pad thai peanut oil, Egyptian cinnamon, a ten pound bag of holy kola nuts cracked from Cameroon. The milk chocolate chakra drops, bible broth, transcendental dental floss. My cart got too full, and I just wanted to go outside again, get out of the market.
I see now the value of an apple under a tree.
I look forward to what this group contributes, and I hope to make some friends here.
-Paul