Follow the bliss
‘I don’t believe life has a purpose. Life is a lot of protoplasm with an urge to reproduce and continue in being… but each incarnation, you might say, has a potentiality, and the mission of life is to live that potentiality.’
Joseph Campbell is an incredible storyteller, spiritual guru, philosopher, academic (comparative religion & comparative mythology), writer, etc etc. Another old dead guy with a wicked sense of humour that I’m sure I would have fallen for in his day.
So “How do you do it?” you may ask. How do you live your life to it’s potential?
Campbell’s advice is: “Follow the bliss.”
‘There’s something inside you that knows when you’re in the center, that knows when you’re on the beam or off the beam. And if you get off the beam to earn money, you’ve lost your life. And if you stay in the cneter and don’t get any money, you still have your bliss.’ [1]
P284-5 Campbell, Joseph, The Power of Myth – Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers (New York: Doubleday, 1988).
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Mapping out religious beliefs and learning to think
I drew this up flowchart / map of religious beliefs about three years ago. I agree with this quote in part. Thinking can be terrifying. At the time I drew up this map I was at the beginning of an emotional process of learning to think – discovering where the worldview of my upbringing fit with the worldview of other people’s upbringing.
Can you see where your beliefs fit?
There seems to be an endless list of ism’s. Have I missed yours? If I’ve missed any to do with key categories of beliefs about the universe then please let me know so I can add it.
It was during this process of surfing wikipedia and exploring different ism’s that I first came across “Panentheism” (from Greek πᾶν (pân) “all“; ἐν (en) “in“; and θεός (theós) “God“; “all-in-God”) – the idea that everything is in that which we call “God” is different from “Pantheism” (πᾶν (pân) “all“; θεός (theós) “God“; “all-is-God”) which equates The Universe or Nature to “God”.
I like the idea of Panentheism so much that I’m now writing a thesis on it.
I like of pantheism too but seeing as we will never know what lies beyond what we know (until we know it) I cannot see a reason to keep the doors of our imagination open for what might exist beyond our universe. For example, the energies/macrososm we call “God” could encompass a universe of universes, or even a universe of universes of universes… we will never know. Ok, now I’ve lost myself.
I guess this is flowchart is the basis of a number of entries that I will post as I research Panentheism and Process Theology (the idea that everything is a process, an event, that nothing (even “you”) is ever a static “thing”). And by combining these ideas with what I told you about the other day – Narratology (the study of narratives) – I hope to see where and how these different ism’s may actually meet, differing mainly in the historical context that the words, images and stories that describe their beliefs developed.
“ISM” means adherence to an ideology.
Ideology refers to ideas that constitute a person’s goals, expectations and actions – what makes up a person’s view of the world.
My hypothesis is that all the above ideologies might actually meet each other in the idea of Panentheism.
That is, I think that everyone – atheists, agnostics, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, new-age people, etc. etc. – are panentheists, they just don’t know it yet.
What would this mean? Well, maybe if we see that our ideologies are talking about the same thing, it will be harder for our identities to get caught up in them. And seeing as misuse of identity-driven ideologies is a major cause of violence, from terrorism to intolerance, maybe some forms of violence will discover a peaceful resolution.
Of course a lot of people will disagree – which is the fun of having a hypothesis and exploring it.
Maybe I will like my conclusions, maybe I won’t, but it is in the process of thinking and exploring that I expect I will learn and grow and get even just a little bit closer to “truth”.
So somewhere in the intersection of philosophy, religion, and science, I have over the last few blog entries, attempted to introduce the narrative-oriented research project that I suppose will (after many years, if not my entire life), be my magnum opus.
Anyway, I’ve spent enough entries telling you what I want to do… now I have to figure out how I’m going to do it.
Any research project (at least any academic research project), starts with a “literature review”. The objective is to learn who has had similar thoughts in the past, what influenced their ideas, how their ideas evolved, how their ideas influenced other people’s ideas, (and so on and so on), and observing what practical actions have come from it.
As a friend said to me the other day, “There are no new ideas… just new applications of old ones. It’s how ideas are used that matters.” Hopefully whether or not we like the conclusions of our thinking, our ideas will be used in ways we can be proud of.
Picture:
Taken at a cafe I often walk past on my way to work – it always has these cool little quotes so sometimes I stand there feeling a little silly taking a photo of it with my phone.
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A deeper exploration of Resolution Theory
Following a question from someone who came across this blog, I was inspired to revisit Resolution Theory – Gregory David Roberts’ philosophical and cosmological model shared through Khader Bhai, the Mafia don, in Shantaram: The Novel.
Roberts writes:
“The whole universe is moving toward some ultimate complexity. This has been going on since the universe began, and physicists call it the tendency toward complexity. And… anything that kicks this along and helps it is good, and anything that hinders it is evil…
“And this final complexity… it can be called God or the Universal Spirit, or the Ultimate Complexity, as you please. For myself, there is no problem in calling it God. The whole universe is moving toward God, in a tendency toward the ultimate complexity that God is…
“In order to know about any act or intention or consequence, we must first ask two questions. One, what would happen if everyone did this thing? Two, would this help or hinder the movement toward complexity?” (Roberts 2007:550-551.)
I think he makes a very good point when relating such philosophies to the various religious traditions:
“Every guru you meet and every teacher, every prophet and every philosopher should answer these two questions for you: What is an objective, universally acceptable definition of good and evil? And What is the relationship between consciousness and matter?… This is a test that you should apply to every man who tells you that he knows the meaning of life.” (Roberts 2007:708.)
Hmmm… I wonder:
1. How do the things I do in my life weigh up? What would happen if everyone lived like me? What impact would this have on our collective movement toward complexity?
As it stands my job is ok (at Sydney university whose mission is growth of knowledge) although when I make a mistake on the photocopier I cringe at the paper I wasted. And I cringe at the fact that my budget meant the other day I ordered Nescafe (definitely not fair trade coffee)… anyway, one step at a time.
My Western lifestyle needs to evolve into a sustainable cradle-to-cradle model (See: Where are we going? And how?) I do see a movement toward this, for example, with the occasional biodegradable plastic bag. It is encouraging to see the directions a growing collective care for our ecosystem is taking (while of course recognising we still have a long way to go).
2. How do I define good and evil? Is this an objective, universally acceptable definition? How do I deal with the relationship between consciousness and matter?
While Resolution Theory relates good and evil to the tendency to move toward or away from complexity, I like to think of it (which is for sure inspired by books I’ve read although I can’t remember which exact ones), as the tendency to be Creative or Destructive.
In the philosophical and cosmological model inside my head, good is defined as what is creative and evil what is destructive, which I suppose is somewhat similar to Gregory’s movement toward complexity model – as the more creative we get, the seemingly more complex we get (although sometimes the most creative solutions are the most simple)… anyway I think creativity and destruction are universal and objective definitions – a measure that can be applied to most ethical and moral dilemmas.
I think maybe inspired by Deepak Chopra and Eckhart Tolle audio books, I imagine consciousness as inseparable from matter. I equate consciousness to the “soul”. I imagine our separate souls as being contained in the separate bodies we encompass and the collective soul (from the most macro-lens possible) as being the “soul of the universe” or if you like: “God”.
These personal answers are surely inspired by a number of books I have read and a basic understanding of different religious and philosophical traditions, which I once summarised in the post: Creativism-a-philosophy-for-life.
While recently I’ve felt like I’m drowning in the academic world, Steve’s reminder of Roberts’ theory has made me realise that my MPhil is largely aimed at providing historical religious and philosophical backing to support this philosophical and cosmological understanding of the world: What makes this understanding “true” from my perspective? and What does this understanding of the world mean for my life?
My hypothesis is that this worldview shared by Gregory Roberts, is actually already shared by the majority of the human population – just most don’t know it. It seems (to me) that this understanding underlies the major religious and scientific paradigms. It’s one thing to see this universal unity in my head, it’s another to communicate that unity with others… I know it will be a long journey. I have started and I will start sharing it with you starting next month (I want to finish the revising of peace and conflict studies first).
For a starting point of reference, I put Roberts’ questions to you:
1. Evaluating your life/choices:
a) What would happen if everyone acted the way you do – in lifestyle, job, investments etc.?
b) Would this help or hinder the movement toward complexity?”
2. Your beliefs:
a) How do you define good and evil?
b) Is this an objective, universally acceptable definition?
c) How do you understand the relationship between consciousness and matter?
They are tough questions, but good ones… so enjoy the thinking process!!!
Credits:
Photo from my time in India – taken by my tour guide (like a Where’s Wally… can you spot the bridge pose?) – part of my “Bridge” series: Bridges in South America
If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend:
Roberts, Gregory David, Shantaram : A Novel (Sydney: Picador, 2007). And more of his philosophies at: www.shantaram.com
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Practicing what I preach
“It’s easier said than done.” I think we all have discovered this at some point or another. A couple of weeks ago I was struggling with a few big decisions and I punched the following rant into my phone on my way to work. In short, I consider the relationship between money, stories, optimal-trajectories, and the dynamics involved in putting these into practice. It’s not always easy to practice what you preach…
When you are happy, it’s easy to say that if you’re not happy you should change something. Figuring out what to change and actually changing it is another thing altogether.
When you have enough money to do the things you want to do, it’s easy to say you don’t care about money. It’s easy to say that you let creative passions & intuitions guide your life, and never money be a driver in your decisions.
When doors are opening as you approach, it’s easy to say it’s because you are “following the signs”, “listening to your intuition”, and “traveling along your optimal trajectory”.That’s easy when you feel like you’re in sync with the universe. During times where everything is falling into place without so much as a hiccup or a sneeze, it’s easy to preach about optimal trajectories. As long as the traffic lights are green, you can keep going. But what happens when you start to get caught at reds? Is this a sign that you’re going the wrong way?
Sometimes “the signs” are blurry. It can seem as though a sign is pointing in many directions, and there is no way to know which road you should take.
I have faced some roadblocks in this last couple of months.
First, I found out I not only missed out on the scholarship, but my grades were 1.5% too low, making me ineligible to even apply for it. Second, my iMac broke. Third, the editor I hired to give me feedback and correct the grammar on my book had been taking forever.
What was “the universe” trying to tell me?
“Maybe that door’s closing,” suggested my Dad. “Maybe it’s time for a career change.” Subtext: go and get a “real job” in the business world, enjoy the money and security it brings.
It did seem like my plans to do a PhD over the full-time for the next three years with a scholarship – was a door firmly closing on me. And how can I survive without income? A part-time PhD will take forever. If not a PhD, what was I supposed to do?
Like always, I gave the business option some thought… Is my dad right? I am 28 now… Does this mean it’s time for me to “settle down”, get married, get a proper job, a mortgage, and start having babies???
Suddenly I wanted to puke.
I hate that word: “settle”…
It implies compromise.
It implies giving up on dreams.
It implies letting fear lead you to live a life you don’t really want to live.
Life’s too short for that.
From these thoughts and feelings I concluded that the “settle down story” is not the optimal trajectory for me.
Is it a sign that I should pack up my apartment, downsize to a backpack, and travel the world some more? Maybe. But then what about the research I so much want to do? What’s more important for me to do at this stage of my life?
My research thus far into narratology led to some interesting self-reflections on these thoughts. I was clearly looking for a new story. I wanted a story that explained these mishaps and which would set me up on a new trajectory, preferably the one that is optimal for my life.
What was I doing even considering the settle down option? After all I write about on this blog: about not letting money guide my decisions; about how I’m happy to live without security or a fixed plan; and about how important it is to follow one’s dreams… and yet another part of me was saying, “it’s too hard, the door is closed, it’s not meant to be.” I guess yin and yang of life means that no matter how much you believe in freedom, the voice of fear will always creep up inside you.
Am I going to let fear guide my future? No-sir-ee I am not.
I observed as my mind processed the variables, and contemplated possible scenarios. I watched as my mind sought more signs, did more research and tried to connect with “that” feeling one gets inside – that feeling of intuitive satisfaction one feels when they imagine living out a particular future.
I observed as my mind selected one story:
I was “meant” to continue my research without a scholarship. I could start with the smaller research degree – a Master of Philosophy – and then, should I feel so inclined, I could use this degree to get a scholarship and do a PhD after that. Yes it means more work, but maybe is part of the journey I am supposed to take. Yes. I would continue. I love what I’m studying, so why should I let a money-related issue stop me from doing it?
After I had decided on this story I suddenly felt great.
I felt relaxed, and full of an energy I hadn’t remembered experiencing in a long while. The kind of energy that seems to appear when you are connected to the universe. It’s almost drug like – this energy that seems to enter you from no-where – similar to when you do lot of exercise, eat a lot of chocolate, or fall in love. It wouldn’t surprise me if when one feels they are on their optimal trajectory, the same happy buttons in our brains light up.
Observing this mental process, and the emotions and feelings that connected with different stories, got me wondering about self-determinism and predestination.
Is your optimal trajectory something that you choose, or something that chooses you?
This entry has gone long enough. So I’ll finish there and revisit this question tomorrow…
Photo credits
Photographer – Gilbert Rossi
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Are the laws of science and “God” the same thing?
”Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist… The question is: is the way the universe began chosen by God for reasons we can’t understand, or was it determined by a law of science?” that you could meet, and ask questions.” [1] he [Hawkings] said. ”I believe the second. If you like, you can call the laws of science ‘God’, but it wouldn’t be a personal God
This is a quote from Stephen Hawking’s latest book, The Grand Design, quoted by Laura Roberts in today’s Sydney Morning Herald in an article entitled “God did not create universe: Hawking.”
While some of the commentary on this newsarticle focused on the lack of newsworthiness of the story (for example, “Shock, horror, leading scientist doesn’t believe in God…really, this non-story is a glib plug for a new book, well done to the publicisit who somehow got this treated as news.”) I still enjoyed the article. And it got me thinking…
I do align God with the laws of science, BUT I’m not so sure that the story begins or ends there…
I think it’s important to recognise the limitations of our knowledge, for example, that we can never know what lies outside the boundaries of our universe. There could be an entire universe of universes we are unaware of. Not to mention the universes within our universe that our senses may not have evolved to sense. Just because we can not see, hear, smell, taste, or touch it, doesn’t mean it’s not there. I’m thinking of the sounds that bats hear, the electrofields that the platypus beak senses, etc etc. We simply cannot know the things we do not yet have a means to sense.
So, while I know it may well be ridiculously arrogent to think I can criticise someone as smart as Hawkings, I do question his statement “you can call the laws of science ‘God’, but it wouldn’t be a personal God that you could meet, and ask questions“.
When I think about the aligning of “God” with the laws of the universe and the idea of a “personal God” – I’m not so sure that the two concepts are incompatible.
In my mind, this aparent contradiction seems completely dependant on your language. It depends on your framing. It depends on your understanding of the universe, and of the connection between the macrocosms and microcosms that lay within it.
You can describe the awe-inspiring force of creative expansion of our universe using mathematical formula, chemistry, and universal laws; or, you can take the whole intricate system and personify it as “God”. And these two ways of describing the same thing, in my mind, are not mutually exclusive conceptions.
Just because you choose to personify the universe as “God”, and speak to it and (possibly) hear answers through your intuition and by reading the omens surrounding you… doesn’t mean that you can’t equate this peronified force “God” to the laws of the universe.
You may wonder: How can anyone feel comforted by a force that they are pretending to be a person? Why would anyone bother to personify it? And talk to it? How deluded! What a waste of time! …. Well I disagree.
Firstly, I don’t think anyone thinks God is actually a person. Even the most radical religious followers don’ think that – do they? I’m pretty sure that while groups may claim ownership of God, and may ascribe their own versions of historical or non-historical events to this God, I don’t believe any actually claim that God is a person. Religious believers (as far as I’m aware) would agree that the question of exactly WHAT is God, is beyond the limits of our knowledge; just as scientists (as far as I’m aware) would admit there are elements of the universe that they do not and may never come to know or understand.
Secondly, I do actually see some benefits of personifying it and talking to it. Largely due the connection that seems to appear between microcosm and macrocosm, there is a need for us to communicate with the whole that we are a part of.
Let me use an analogy:
When I twisted my ankle earlier this year, and ignored the injury for a week of waterskiing and partying, my brain decided to stop communicating with the spacial sensors located in the ligaments of my ankle. A few weeks later I twisted it again. And then again. And then again. It took a lot of time and money on physiotherapy to help reconnect my brain with my ankle, and even now every now and the communication channels are rusty and I almost go over on it.
So let’s apply this to our place within our universe, well to my limited understanding of my place within our universe…
From what I have learned in various books and lectures, every atom that exists as a vibration - electrons and protons moving at different speeds. Einstein showed us that matter IS energy (times the speed of light, squared)… what does this mean?
The line where our body appears to end and that which we sit on or touch seems to begin, is a boundary we perceive because our senses have evolved for us to see the world in this way. It’s like everything that exists is all part of the same piece of fabric, and the appearance of separateness is like a design weaved within it.
Our thoughts are not separate from this permeating fabric. From what I understand (yes it is probably due to books about The Law of Attraction and thought experiments), when we think the vibrations of our thoughts travel into the universe, and like an ankle talking to a brain, those thoughts play a role in the manifestation of the reality we experience. It seems that if you are “on the same wavelength” as someone else, so to say, if you are tuned in correctly you can pick up those vibrations and hear each other’s thoughts. Or maybe “hear” is not the right word. But you can sense them through an intuitive sense inside you – not in a sound, but in the mind.
Similarly if you “pray” to a God, or to The Universe, these thoughts connect to something that maybe similar to the “brain” of the macrocosm we are inside and generally acting within the laws of science, these thoughts attract your requests, your “prayers” are answered.
Maybe this doesn’t work for everyone, but it in an uncanny way it pretty much always works for me. Whether it’s putting in a request for a sunny winter’s day, or a rockstar carpark, and for much larger requests too. Ask and receive. Knock and the door will be opened.
Does this provide me comfort? Sure it does. It is rather like the analogy Christians give of a father’s loving embrace. When you don’t see yourself as separate from the universe, if there is no “other”, then you don’t fear it.
Does it matter whether or not you personify the macrocosm as “God”? I don’t think so really.
It helps me, but maybe that’s because I was conditioned this way since birth. Maybe it strengthens one’s relationship to the macrocosm, helps you sense vibrations at a different frequency, streamlining the communication channels amd making them more personal, or maybe it doesn’t, I’m not really sure.
I guess it’s not so different to an ankle ankleifying the brain. The ankle could say “Dear Mr Ankle that lives up top, there is a stone to the left that I need you to respond to”… or the ankle could try to communicate more abstractly with the Laws of the Body that it has experienced in the past. Maybe I’m taking my analogy too far…
Anyway, it seems that whether you are a theist or an atheist, whether you personify “god” or sciencify “the universe”, in my mind we are all referring to an ecosystem of macrocosms within macrocosms and microcosms within microcosms… we are all part of the repeating patterns that (including ourselves) are all expressions of some an energy that is both nothing and everything at the same time; we are all part of something that we will never fully be able to describe or understand.
Maybe anklifying the brain if you are ankle, or personifying the universe if you are person, is a useful tool for communicating with the whole… or maybe it’s not. What do you think???
- Is the idea of a divine force compatible with spontaneous creation?
- Might “God” refer to a personification of what scientific laws attempt to describe?
- Is it possible (and useful) to communicate with this “personal God”?
Is the question on the Sydney Morning Herald poll too limited? Should there be an option that reads:
“None of the above – spontaneous creation IS a divine force itself, whether or not that divine force extends beyond it.”
That’s the one I’d vote for.
References:
Laura Roberts, Sydney Morning Herald (3 Sept 2010) quoting from Hawking’s latest book, The Grand Design – an extract of which is published in Eureka magazine in The Times.
Picture:
A Sydney Morning Herald poll – to vote go to this site:
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Why I don’t commit suicide
“Camus said there is only really one serious philosophical question which is whether or not to commit suicide,” said Alan Watts, quoting Albert Camus (going on to say he believes there are five serious philosophical questions… see audio book on you tube below)
It is a good question. If we are all going to die at one point or another, then why bother going on? Why not just do it now, get it over with?
What motivates you to get up in the morning, to do something rather than stay in bed all day?
Is it the people you love, or maybe the responsibility of looking after the family you were born into or the one you created, or maybe the desire to create your own? Is it your career, to own your own home, buy your dream boat, or some monetary goals; or maybe your religion, vocation, to help other people, the planet or to manifest some creative idea? Or is it for just to enjoy frivolous fun while it lasts?
What is it that motivates these sources of motivation? Is it for some kind of sense of fulfillment? Is this external or internally determined? That is, are you after some kind of social validation, popularity or acknowledgment from your peers? Or own inner sense of of self accomplishment, self-respect?
For me I think it’s my thirst for knowledge, the process of learning, the ongoing challenges, the brief moments of satisfaction, the creative potential I see around me… and maybe it’s a mix of all of these other things too.
All of these aspects of life seem to culminate into an inner monologue, into a story I narrate to myself, defined by the ups and the downs, and framed by my mind. As long as I can see my life having a purpose, I continue to go on. In sum, I don’t commit suicide because (referring to the ad printed on a car on the picture above) life is good, (even) when it sux.
BTW
Alan Watts is a philosopher / “spiritual entertainer”, who is well worth a listen… this first one where I got this quote:
And this is the intro to his lecture series “Out of Your Mind”
How good is his laugh!!! If you have seen me walking the streets of Sydney listening to my ipod and bursting into laughter, it’s most likely Alan’s laugh that is to blame…
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Inspiration: angels, devils, and suicidal ants.
While in the past I’ve aspired to balance, I’ve come to embrace the imbalance, accepting that balance is found in the wholeness of all that exists, and over time – it doesn’t have to exist in every moment I experience. The yin and yang – the mixture of cold and hot, of love and fear, of birth and death – provide a fertile ground for new ideas to be seeded and creative potentials to be discovered.
I see this dynamic in everything that surrounds me, in the death of stars above, and in the death of tiny ants that decided to share my bed. I don’t think I shared this story when I was away…
In Pokhara I unintentionally killed a few of ants who were on my bed. I spent the next half hour watching the survivors mourn and try to deal with the death of their loved ones:
First the deceased ant’s friend lay it’s head on top of the dead body.
Then it tried to put the carcass on its back and carry it.
When it was too difficult it rolled the body into a ball and tried again.
Then it started to pull and drag it behind.
I don’t know where it thought the nearest ant hospital or grave yard was located.
Eventually it gave up and curled itself into a ball.
I thought it had committed romantic Romeo-and-Juliet-suicide.
But, when I returned from a dinner, I discovered it had pulled itself together and left the bed.
(Lucky there were two beds in my room so I didn’t actually have to share my bed with the ant carcasses lol)
These ant observations left me thinking, not only about the human-likeness of even the littlest insects, but of life and death and where I draw a line between good and bad.
In India and Nepal I had met quite a few people who do not harm an ant or fly in order to prevent a future reincarnation as an ant or fly. Did I feel bad for killing the ant’s friend? No. Not only because it was an accident, and because I don’t believe in karmic reincarnation of individual souls (I do not fear I’ll now be returning as an ant), but because (as I’ve mentioned in other entries) I see death is an intrinsic part of life.
Some forms of life live long lives, others lead short ones, and that is that.
If the ants I killed had a lot to offer our world, then I would be sad. While collectively ants are an important component of Earth’s ecosystem, there are who-knows-how-many billion more ants who will continue this ant’s job. While his friend missed him dearly, the rest of the universe won’t. I guess that’s sad, but it’s the way the universe works, the way “God” works.
Systems on all levels of our reality are microcosms and macrocosms of the systems on other levels. Human society is no different. Killing cows to eat is a product of our present place in the food chain. 60 million years ago we were rodents being eaten by dinosaurs. Life goes on. Systems and species die and new systems and species arise and evolve.
The miracle of human consciousness is the creative choice that sits in our minds – we can actually contemplate, plan and co-create the future of our world. It gives us foresight, hindsight, guilt and conscience. We humans do seem to have the world, sitting in our palms. We humans, in this moment, have the power to create and to destroy.
As agents of “God” we have been given this choice: good or evil, with the definition of these loaded words constantly changing, but what at root appear to somewhat be connected to the harmony and disharmony of the universe as a whole.
The question we face (sorry if I come back to these points too much), is what and how: What do we want the world to look like, and how are we going to get there?
Or… am I giving the human intellect too much credit? Is global warming a sign that the universe, or “God”, has a plan of “his” own; that the laws of nature are more powerful than the laws of man?
Maybe the future of humanity lays in the hands of nature, and not the other way around. Maybe we will be a short-lived species, reaping the karmic consequences of our own neglect and making way for the rise of new species who are possibly a little more ant-like in their sustainable ecosystems and balanced metabolisms.
The future is uncertain. I guess the uncertainty and possibility is part of the fun of it.
Photo:
Photographer – Cade Turner www.cadeturner.com.au
Taken at a fancy-dress charity event I photographed on the weekend. I had to dress as “something or someone that inspires me”. I dressed as an angel AND a devil, with the philosophical justification that the existence of opposing forces keeps me challenged, engaged, and inspired.
It was a fundraiser for The Inspire Foundation – a charity established in direct response to Australia’s then escalating rates of youth suicide. www.inspire.org.au
More photos from the ‘To Be Inspired’ Laneway Ball are on facebook: Click Here
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Microcosms and macrocosms – we are specks of dust in a giant’s eye
“India’s chaos was bigger than your ego,” said Farhad Azad. “You have to remember we are but drops in the ocean.” He was right, India’s incomprehensibility had put me back in my place. Somewhere along the line I came across this song, it’s pretty funny. By Kimya Dawson:
I like it. “I am a speck of dust inside a giant’s eye”
As you can see, over a few rounds of longneck Himalaya (Nepali beer) on two brief occasions, I learned a lot from Farhad. It’s amazing how when you are open to the universe, you meet the right people at the right time in the most random ways. Similarly, I find it amazing how sometimes I come across little you-tube clips like this one, or words or ideas, that stick with you for life. Coincidence? Synchronicity??
As a drop of water in a vast infinite ocean, I am starting to consceitize (as Lederach, a famous conflict specialist would say,) that is, I am becoming more and more aware of myself-in-context.
As I see it I am a microcosms of microcosms, inside macrocosms of macrocosms.
I am a seemingly insignificant yet an utmost essential piece of an infinitely expandable fractal pattern.
If that’s not a paradox, I don’t know what is.
Picture:
Just a photo of a cactus plant a friend gave me for Christmas… it’s still alive!!! (I don’t have a very good reputation when it comes to plants…) But in terms of fractal patterns it’s probably not the most appropriate shot. If I had a photo of a fern, I would have put that up… you’ll just have to use your imagination 
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MOMENTO MORI (remember that you will die) so CARPE DIUM (seize the day)!!!
Whoever we are, and whatever what we have accomplished in our life, we all eventually face the same fears: fears of being old, ill, of being a burden to our families, fears of going insanity, of losing liberty, losing dignity, of being neglected in our old age, and last but not least, the fear of facing the biggest unknown in our lives, death. (Unless, of course, if scientists find a way to preserve our mind in artificial/cloned bodies… but let’s ignore this scenario for now.)
With age we meet the consequences of our youth – the consequences of the way we treated our body, the rewards of our study, our experiences, our toil, and of the memories of our years… and the haunts of the same. We enjoy any assets we have earned for ourselves, or live out the consequences of a lack of them. We suffer the balding and wrinkles of our worry, and the sicknesses of our stress. No matter how well we do in the game of life, as the writer of Ecclesiastes says, “we all share a common destiny”.
How can we transcend these fears? In a way we can’t. Unless we die young, we will all be old one day. Most of us will end up sick, with dementia or disease, fat, ugly, in a nursing home… and all of us will, one day, die.
So I have decided not to run from death. I may as well just accept it – build a bridge and get over it.
Instead I ask myself a new question: How can I make the most of TODAY? If there is something I want to do, then I will try to do it. If I want to go back to Latin America, and if I can save enough money this next six months to do so, then I will.
I ask myself: what is my life purpose? In which direction does fulfilling my physical, mental, and creative potential lie? I try to listen to my intuition, to imagine where my skills and talents could be of most value, and then I try to follow the signs and manifest my vision into my reality.
I have, at times, asked myself if this approach to life – focusing on yourself, seeking to fulfill your creative destiny – is a selfish way to live?
Farhad Azad, my Iranian friend from Nepal, explained the difference between selfishness and what he called “self-love”, with a powerful metaphor:
“Imagine you am a wine glass, full of wine, with empty glasses surrounding you,” he said. “You want to share the wine you have with those who have none, and there are a number of ways you can do it. One way is to pour what you have between the empty glasses. Everyone ends up with a little, but no one has enough. No one is really satisfied, and you am left with nothing.
Alternatively instead of sharing what you have in your glass, you can find ways to continue filling up your own glass with more wine. You can keep filling it so much that it starts to overflow and fill up the other glasses. Eventually all the glasses will be full and they too will overflow into more empty glasses.
That is the benefit of loving one’s self: like the wine, self-love overflows, and causes others to love themselves more, and eventually everyone has a full glass of wine.”
The more we care for ourselves, the more we can care for others. The more we open our minds, the more we will learn, and the more we will inspire others to do the same. The more of us that allow our intuition (instead of money) to take the lead in our daily life decisions, the more of us will enjoy the feeling of fulfillment that comes from working toward our creative potential.
The more others see us do this, the more they will seek their own potential, and like a virus the creativity will spread, causing humanity as a whole to move toward our ultimate peak of collective creativity.
So… I think it’s important to remember:
MOMENTO MORI (we are mortal and will die)… so CARPIDIUM (seize the day). The best thing we can do during our time in this world, is love ourselves, and let our love overflow into the world.
Maybe we can learn from the Mayfly?
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IS LIFE MEANINGLESS?
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun…. There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow…
I thought in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. “Laughter,” I said, “is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?” I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly – my mind was still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees… I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces… I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly… I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness… but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both… For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in the days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool, the wise man too must die!
So I hated life… I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune… a chasing after the wind.
I also thought, “As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both. As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come form dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?” So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?
Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed – and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors – and they (too) have no comforter. And I declared that the dead, who had already died , are happier than the living, who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.
If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields. Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them? The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep... Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand. This too is a grievous evil…
So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no man knows whether love or hate awaits him. All share a common destiny – the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not… This is the evil under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.
Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favor what you do… Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Everything is meaningless!”
The above could quite easily be my words, but they are not. Believe it or not they come from the OLD TESTAMENT of the Christian Bible!!! They come from the BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES, by paragraph: Ecclesiastes 1:2-11; Ecclesiastes 2:1-3; Ecclesiastes 2:4-11; Ecclesiastes 2: 13-26; Ecclesiastes 3:18-22; Ecclesiastes 4:1-3; Ecclesiastes 5:8-16; Ecclesiastes 9:1-3; Ecclesiastes 9:7-11; Ecclesiastes 11:5; Ecclesiastes 12:8.
In times that I feel a little down about life, times where I’m exhausted, times that I see myself using chocolate, coffee or alcohol to give me little highs, times when I feel confused, lacking motivation, or fed-up with the projects I’m working on… Ecclesiastes captures the thoughts I am thinking: WHAT IS THE POINT OF IT ALL? Maybe I am a reincarnate of this old depressed soul…
While they don’t know when or by who the book of Ecclesiastes was written, (their wild guess is King Solomon, which could very well be true but no one really knows), it is pretty clear that it was written by a man who had everything yet felt empty, a man who is bitter about life, who is has been hurt by a woman (or women), and who doesn’t want to get old and die but knows this time is approaching. I guess maybe we can or will all relate, at one stage or another, to the lack of satisfaction that comes from consumption, materialism, love, and the unavoidable death that awaits us.
Ecclesiastes is not a long book – all of ten pages long – and I think it’s a worthwhile read. If you do, then maybe you will notice what I did – a few out-of-place passages that more or less say, that this meaningless life is made meaningful by obedience to God: “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
I don’t blame the editors for adding that – actually I’m more surprised the rest of the book made it in the published version at all. I suppose the publishers of the book wanted readers to confront these philosophical ideas with the conclusion to obey whatever they told them God wanted them to do. I think it’s funny the way in which it was done – with sloppily placed paragraphs that don’t interfere with what appears (to me) to be the key messages of the original writer.
Still I guess a note of something is a little more or a positive finishing point than the depressing note my summary above leaves it…
IS LIFE REALLY SO MEANINGLESS?
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Big History Blog Series: Chapter 1 – The Big Bang
Once upon a time, in the land of Quantum Nothingness, there was a BIG BANG and an infinitesimally small something started to expand, possibly faster than the speed of light.
For some unknown but much talked about reason, matter in the form of quarks (the basic building blocks of protons and electrons) and dark matter (we don’t actually know what this is) appeared, and with it came two forces: gravity (that draws everything together) and electromagnetism (that draws opposites together and pushes the similar apart). At first this combination caused the quarks to annihilate themselves – turning into pure energy. It was from this hot chaotic mixture of quarks, energy, and electromagnetic and gravitational forces, came positive charged protons and negative charged electrons.
As the universe expanded it cooled and the protons and electrons joined to create the first atoms – Hydrogen atoms (made up of one proton and one electron) and Helium atoms (two protons and two electrons). These were electrically neutral and so they were no longer affected by electromagnetic radiation.
Cosmologists estimate the beginning of the expanding singularity, when measured in our earth-centric concept of time, to have occurred around 13.7 billion years ago. Since this time our universe has grown to contain 100 billion galaxies, which contains (taking a conservative number of 100 billion stars per galaxy) approximately 10 sextillion stars (10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) – that’s more stars than grains of sand on earth. Traveling at the speed of light it would take 20 years to travel to our sun and 5 million-years to travel to the nearest star. Ok, you get the picture, our universe is huge! How we got from the first appearance of matter and energy, to this massive universe, will be the subject of chapter 2. For now let’s return to the Big Bang.
It seems it is at this point of singularity that we discover “the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything”. That would be NUMBER 42. What was the question again? (You’ve seen Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy haven’t you?) What does the number 42 that mean??? Hmmm… absolutely nothing…?
For me, the “Ultimate Question” is: how the heck did something come from nothing? What caused “the big bang” to occur? And WHY? Scientists are yet to answer these questions.
Ok, so if we do not how or why the big bang occurred, then how do we know it actually happened?
1. Because we know our universe is expanding. Astronomers observe and measure other galaxies moving away from us – detecting it with the “absorption line” of frequencies in a light spectra. This is called a Red Shift (red light shows parts of the galaxy moving away while blue light shows objects moving closer to us.)
2. You can still actually see the CBR energy released about 380,000 years after the Big Bang. Turn on an old television set – the static you see is “CBR” – Cosmic Background Radiation.
3. The universe is still largely Hydrogen and Helium (99% of all atomic atoms); looking into the universe stars appear “younger”; also nothing seems to be older than around 13 billion years. (It is interesting to note that atomic matter is only a small slice of the universe – the rest of it is dark matter and dark energy.)
If something is getting bigger it must have previously been smaller, right? That’s the key logic behind the Big Bang. Winding back time we imagine our universe contracting back down to an infinitesimally small point of singularity.
Did something exist before this point of singularity? Maybe.
Does something exist outside all that we know exists? Maybe.
Maybe the universe we experience is version of “multiverse” – with all possibilities existing in universes sitting side by side.
Maybe Big Bangs are happening all the time – creating new universes in a space we will never know.
Maybe our universe is like a computer game programmed from inside another universe. Maybe a group of such programmers are competing to see whose universe self-destructs first. Maybe there’s just one programmer to whom some people call “God”.
Maybe the universe is “God”, continually going through a process of expansion and contraction – “God” breathing in, and “God” breathing out, with each breath taking billions or trillions of years.
We may speculate as much as we like, I do not believe I shall ever know these answers. Does that matter? Not to me. I would rather focus on what we do know. What do we know? We know that we are inside a beautiful expanding universe. We know we are a part of a magnificent process of increasing complexity, and the fact that we are intelligent enough to be aware of it, to observe it and discuss it, puts us in (if I do say so myself) the most exciting place any human has ever been.
An extra little interesting note on the Big Bang:
Attempts to observe the early stages of the big bang are occurring at The Hadron Collider on the border of France and Switzerland and also at Fermilab in Illinois – using “Accelerators” to make sub-atomic particles move at close to the speed of light, and smash together… what will this reveal? We have to wait and see.
References:
David Christian, This Fleeting World: A short history of humanity, Berkshire Publishing Group (Massachusetts 2008), pp. xx-xxi.
Picture credits:
The Birth of the Universe, The Kingfisher Young People’s Book of Space, TIME Graphic by Ed Gabel.
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Big History Blog Series: Introduction – Our Story
I wish to share with you a story: The Story of the Universe. My Story. Your Story. A True Story – well as true as true can be. Our Story has gone through many filters: of limited human knowledge developed through our limited human senses, mental constructions, and even our “impressive” technologies. Our Story, as I tell it, will be filtered through my personal perspectives, which have developed through my own past experiences, my limited education, and the general time pressures I face in writing such a narrative.
But this story, I believe, is an important one.
All societies throughout history have had a story of origins – generally using myth – to give a sense of who we are, where we have come from, and where we are going. Science and logical deduction has now replaced myth in our mental constructs, and so our story of origins must also be a scientific one.
The Story of Our Universe is an important story because it gives us a sense of identity that is not based on difference – different nationalities, races, religions, sex, or species – but is based on our intrinsic connection to the each other and our planet.
Each individual person may be small but each one of us is a valuable piece of an awe-inspiring entity of infinitely creative expanding puzzle – call it the Soul of the Universe, personify it as God, or talk about it as a complex combination of protons and electrons – whatever terms you wish to use doesn’t really make a difference as either way we can know we are part of an incredible process.
I share this story as I journey through David Christian’s Big History course at Macquarie University whilst reading a number of fantastic (albeit challenging) books on evolution, quantum physics and process theology. I have a feeling that a trip to India in May, will enlighten my understanding in different ways, and finally as I begin some kind of MPhil/PhD in July, the story will continue.
Our Story is about evolution, and the story itself is evolving. Our Story will always be held tentative to new insights and discoveries. Our human minds shall continue to expand, engaging with the gaps in Our Story, asking questions and seeking answers. As time progresses great thinkers, scientists and gurus will make profound realisations, each which shall bring us closer to the great unknowable “Truth” – an unachievable objective that shall always be our aim.
Our Story is about adaptation. Our Story is about process not results. Our Story is about “conscientization” – awareness of self-in-context, allowing for perception and renouncing all forms of mental, social and political oppression.
Through this journey I hope to understand more about our humble unknown beginnings, the awe-inspiring process of our evolution, the incredible birth of human self-reflective consciousness, and the relevance of these three factors on our lives today and into the future.
My key reference points for now are Prof. David Christian’s two books: Maps of Time and This Fleeting World, his lecture notes, Richard Dawkin’s The Ancestor’s Tale (audio book), Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything (audio book), Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel, Garry Trompf In Search of Origins, John Polkinghorne’s Exploring Reality, and the late Charles Birch’s Biology and the Riddle of Life. Alongside another hundred or so titles from experts I’m yet to discover.
We will step through four stages: the cosmos, earth, life and humanity, each with probably fair few posts spread over a fairly long time as I learn the information, process it, and finally get around to sharing it with you. I will try to provide a rounded perspective that combines my (relatively limited) knowledge of the sciences, philosophy and religion. Please remember all “facts” remain tentative to new discoveries. The first chapter of our story – the “big bang” will be posted tomorrow
Picture credits:
I’m not sure where I got this artwork – I found it amongst my old computer files that I believe I took from random websites - if anyone knows its source please let me know so I can credit them…
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A fear of death. A fear of life.
Juan, my new friend on Galapagos islands saw the look of horror on my face when I saw the iguana carcass.
“It’s part of life,” he shrugged.
As time on the islands passed I would see many more examples of the cycle of life and death, from the crab shell above to baby birds, to the bones of a sea-lion below. What struck me more than the death was the life that these animals live.
On these magical islands, animals live their lives to their full potential – they live their lives without fear. And they accept their fates with grace.
Well, at least that’s what they told me anyway… anyway moving on.
So I’m learning to ride a scooter. Why? Environmental reasons? Monetary reasons? Parking reasons? … Actually, to be completely honest, my main motivation is that scooters are simply SO INCREDIBLY FUN!!! The lesser impact scooters have on the environment, on my pocket, and on my sanity when it comes to parking, are nice little added bonuses.
Today was my first day of the pre-learner course. It was like rekindling a lost love. Air and space surrounding my body as I sped along (at probably no more than 4km per hour so far) whisked me away to some other state of being. Was I once a bird flying in the sky? Was I once a horse galloping in a wild herd? Are these animals more me than I realise? I love scooters. I can’t wait to have my own: to ride to the beach, to uni, to the pilates classes I’ll one day get off my arse and start teaching again.
Alongside scootering it’s been an exciting few days. Yesterday I received an offer to present a paper at a peace conference in Mumbai. Considering I really don’t have to be in Australia for the month of May I figure I may as well backpack around India while I’m there. Maybe I could even write a sequel to my yet-to-be-published book… Ah dreams, gotta have them!
Backpacking alone around India, scootering around the city – am I afraid of killing myself in the process? No, not really. And if I do die, so be it.
I am NOT afraid of dying. I AM afraid of NOT LIVING LIFE TO IT’S FULL.
When it’s my time to go, I’m ready. Is that weird?
…
Death. What do you feel when you hear this word? Death. The last chapter of our life. Does it make you feel scared? Sad? Insecure? Happy?
Death, the only absolute in life, is what many people live their lives in fear of. But why? Is death really so scary? It’s completely unavoidable. One day it will happen to you. And that is that. Is there really any point in worrying about it?
Life & death. Two concepts completely meaningless without the other. Death is the inevitable consequence of life. Without death life on earth would never have evolved. It is through death that adaptation can occur. It is through death that new generations can become more suitable to environments than the previous. It is through death that life survives, thrives, and has lead to the diverse and beautiful flora and fauna that surrounds us and that we are a part of. We have been born into the body that we currently dwell inside, and eventually we will leave that body. When? No one knows. What will it feel like to be dead? People can pretend they know, but if we are sincerely honest with ourselves, we all know that no one knows this either.
…
I think of death as the ultimate peace. Call it “Enlightenment”. “Heaven.” “Oneness with God”. “Rejoining the Soul of the Universe.” “Becoming one with everything that is.” “Returning to a state of nothingness.” … living in a state where there is no separateness. No more ego. No fear-driven consciousness. A place of Balance. Of equilibrium. A place where opposites cease to exist. That doesn’t sound so bad does it? A little boring maybe, but as we live on through the consciousness of everything else that exists, and as we live on in the memory of the lives we lived – death, in my mind, really isn’t so bad.
But on the other hand to not live my present conscious to it’s full potential; to live a life that harms the universe; to deny opportunities; to regret decisions; to not enjoy the moments along the way… that, to me, is far worse than death. That, to me, is torturous. But death…
As long as I have lived each day of my life to it’s full – when it is my time to go I will farewell my consciousness with grace.
…
A few more of my favourite quotes from The Alchemist:
“There was a major battle nearby, and a number of wounded were brought back to the camp. The dead soldiers were replaced by others, and life went on. Death doesn’t change anything, the boy thought.”
“There was no need to be concerned about dying – the Soul of the World awaited him, and he would soon be a part of it. And, tomorrow, his enemy would also be a part of that Soul.”
“The desert takes our men from us, and they don’t always return” she said. “We know that, and we are used to it. Those who don’t return become a part of the clouds, a part of the animals that hid in the ravines and of the water that comes from the earth. They become part of everything… they become the Soul of the World.”
“I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe.”
If I haven’t mentioned it already, this simple allegorical tale is a very effective one, and a worthwhile quick little read.
…
When it comes down to it we are all going to the same place. We are all a part of the same incredible creation. Separateness is but a temporary illusion.
The inter-connections between humans, all life, and the planet we inhabit, are evident. Now all we have to do is open our eyes and see the deeper truths behind reality. As we do I believe we will find our fears (of death and of life) will subside, allowing us to embrace life’s miraculous moments to each moment’s full potential.
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A time for everything
Time is the most valuable asset we have. We count as weeks and years go by, as we get older and our borrowed energy starts to dwindle. There’s not enough time in our day. Not enough time in our weeks. Not enough time in our lives. And yet there is, we just have to accept that there is a time for everything:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.
…
You wouldn’t expect this to come out of the bible hey! So Taoist!!! And so true. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.
A photographic interpretation:
A time for icecream
A time for dropping it
A time for five-second rules? (and pouting)
And I’ll always have time for huskies.
Photo credits:
Bernie de Belles http://debellesimages.com
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Finding treasure
Have you read The Alchemist – by Paulo Coelho? The first time I picked it up it didn’t grab me and I soon put it down. But the second time I picked it up, the simplistic beauty of the allegorical novel suddenly clicked. I’m going to share some of my favourite quotes over the next few weeks.
Paulo describes four obstacles to finding treasure:
“First we are told from childhood onwards that everything we want to do is impossible.”
“The second obstacle: love. We know what we want to do, but are afraid of hurting those around us by abandoning everything in order to pursue our dream.”
“The third obstacle: fear of defeats we will meet on the path. We who fight for our dream suffer far more when it doesn’t work out, because we cannot fall back on the old excuse, ‘Oh, well, I didn’t really want it anyway.’”
“The fourth obstacle: the fear of realizing the dream for which we have been fighting all our lives.”
… BUT we do deserve to get what we want and there’s no reason not to realise your dreams.
“Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him,” his heart said. “We, people’s hearts, seldom say much about those treasures because people no longer want to go in search of them. We speak of them only to children. Later we simply let life proceed, in its own direction, toward its own fate. But, unfortunately, very few follow the path laid out for them – the path to their destinies, and to happiness. Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place.”
Are you following a path to happiness?
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Resolution Theory
So I (finally) finished reading Shantaram!!! It is a very long book, but well worth the time.
My favourite parts, besides Gregory David Robert’s incredible use of adjectives, is the philosophy of life that Khader Bhai, the Mafia don, shares with Lin. Khader Bhai calls it Resolution Theory, and I think it’s pretty similar to my own philosophy that I, for fun, labeled “Creativism”. While Resolution Theory relates good and evil to the tendency toward or away from complexity, I like to think of it (which is for sure inspired by books I’ve read even if I can’t remember which exact ones), as the tendency to be Creative or Destructive. (Click here to check out the post: creativism-a-philosophy-for-life)
“The whole universe is moving toward some ultimate complexity. This has been going on since the universe began, and physicists call it the tendency toward complexity. And… anything that kicks this along and helps it is good, and anything that hinders it is evil… And this final complexity… it can be called God or the Universal Spirit, or the Ultimate Complexity, as you please. For myself, there is no problem in calling it God. The whole universe is moving toward God, in a tendency toward the ultimate complexity that God is… In order to know about any act or intention or consequence, we must first ask two questions. One, what would happen if everyone did this thing? Two, would this help or hinder the movement toward complexity?’ p. 550-551.
And I think he makes a very good point when relating such philosophies to the various religious traditions:
“Every guru you meet and every teacher, every prophet and every philosopher should answer these two questions for you: What is an objective, universally acceptable definition of good and evil? And What is the relationship between consciousness and matter?... This is a test that you should apply to every man who tells you that he knows the meaning of life.” p. 708.
How do your beliefs perform in this test???
Photo Credits:
The creative fusion of photos and art is by: Gustavo Tomas Moreno. Check out more of his work on: www.yacophotographer.blogspot.com
More on Resolution Theory: http://www.julietbennett.com/2010/10/22/a-deeper-exploration-of-resolution-theory/
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We ALL live off a Narrative Of Peace
Ok so I’m laying in the water enjoying an early morning swim at a nearby harbour-pool when all these thoughts stream into my mind. A sign that my mind has had enough vacation? I’m not sure.. Narratives of Peace is a topic I’m looking at doing a research project on in the second half of this year…
We ALL have a Narrative Of Peace (NOP) – that is, a story we tell ourselves will bring us toward a more peaceful place.
Even suicide bombers have one – acting with the conviction that their action will bring about eternal peace for themselves and their families, and bring about a world of greater peace for their descendants.
Religious narratives are quite obviously based on a NOP. If you do this… believe this… say this… then you will go to heaven and live in eternal peace.
In a capitalist world a majority look for the next purchase that they hope will bring them peace. Or maybe it’s a mortgage paid-off, moving to a bigger house, a better street, buying a boat, accumulating a certain digit on a bank statement. After this and this and this, then I’ll be happy, then I will be at peace.
Politics, ideologies, even the histories as told by the winners – are told in a narrative, one said to lead toward peace. Even our culturally defined pursuits of love and success – are narratives with at root a narrative of peace: a desire for happiness, harmony and completeness.
Evolution is a narrative, although the scientific one might not set its sights on peace. Is that the missing link? Over and above whatever other “missing links” exist… what meaning can be drawn from this 14 billion year process of evolution? What is it that we are evolving towards?
Which narratives are right, which are wrong? I guess that depends on the storyteller. It depends on the lens he or she sees the world through.
Is there a “grand narrative” of truth that transcends them all? If a grand narrative does exist we can be sure we will never know it, not in our present conscious anyway.
I understand where the postmodernists come from – the rejection of a grand-narrative, the rejection of absolute truth. I do see their point.
Today I was thinking about post modernism and the (very little) understanding I have of quantum physics… if all possibilities exist simultaneously until the observer observes one or the other, then surely we, as observers, are the creators of whatever individual truth we wish to create? Maybe postmodernists are right – it seems like at least on quantum levels no one truth exists until we select it.
Ok, crap. Now I think I’ve tied myself in a knot.
I do believe there is a grand narrative in the non-quantum dimension we find ourselves in. Sure I will never know for sure, maybe there are millions of grand narratives sitting, awaiting us to select one to observe. But I like to think there is one grand narrative that exists, one we can engage with and move closer to… and let me tell you why.
I suppose it is reasonable to say that some narratives that exist today are more true than others – depending on the sources of one’s data and the mental processes one engages in.
If we were able to look at our world through a lens that sat outside our universe, observing past, present and future all as one… I suppose it is reasonable to say that this non-earthly perspective or “Godly” perspective, we would be closer to the “truth” than any earthly lens we look through today.
If these to propositions are true then shouldn’t we be setting our sights on discovering this grand narrative, and drawing from it a narrative of peace? What would the world look like from the perspective of The Universe or even from a perspective outside our universe?
What is the point? How will it help us?
Ok. Consider the fact that fundamentalist religions are experiencing the most rapid growth they have ever experienced. Why??? I think it is because they offer a grand narrative. Granted they are a grand narratives based on words of historical men misinterpreted in our modernistic mentalities (mythos interpreted as logos, Jewish midrash as literal event, symbolic meanings stripped to create historical “truths” that our degenerating modern minds can understand)… but what they do offer the masses is something that evolution as it stands is often not presented to offer. Religions offer people a sense of wholeness: a sense of completeness; a sense of meaning; a purpose for one’s life.
Ok, now consider the “clash of civilisations” predicted to come from the clash of such fundamentalist movements. And the growing animosity between atheism and theism. Surely that is motivation to identify gaps and seek bridges?
Evolution as it stands, particularly since the dawn of post modernism, has failed to provide such a perspective. Where does my tiny individual consciousness fit into the big monstrous picture of an expanding universe? Evolution provided us a grand-narrative but somehow we abandoned it after WW2. We don’t need to look for a new ideology or new religion to replace it, we just need to take another look – reinterpret what it means to be a part of the grand evolutionary process.
If we little humans are but tiny pieces of a universal puzzle that continuously becomes more complicated as the space expands, what the heck can we do about it? Can we actually have a role to play?
Yes, I believe we can. I believe we do. The self-awareness of human consciousness is more advanced and complex than any other form of consciousness that we are aware of. And rather than running away from this gift we have to embrace it, figure out whatever the heck we are going to do with it in the millions of years to come.
As far as we know this awareness is new, extraordinarily new – given that our bodily shape has only been in this form for 700,000 years, and our minds have expanded exponentially faster through to the speed of change and information transmission we are witnessing today.
Recognising this gift. Living in awe of our awareness. And hopefully preventing it from imminent self-destruction has surely got to be a step in the pursuit of peace.
Have I lost you? I might even have lost myself in this one. Somewhere in my mind this makes sense but the rest of my mind hasn’t quite caught on. Maybe when these ideas are clearer in my own cognition I’ll be able to share this a little better than I’m doing today.
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DREAMS FOR A NEW DECADE
Today is 010110. Another year gone by, we farewell another decade. As a society following a human-made calendar we have reached our century’s teenager years.
Time is ticking on, the completion of a rotation. I count my age, evaluate my place. I think about the future, scenarios I desire, those I hope to avoid. It’s a time to reflect. A time to resolve. A time to dream.
I ask myself where I see myself in ten years? Where will I be come 2020?
Will I be rich? Famous? Am I a writer? An academic? A teacher? A photographer? A student? A mother? A wife? Divorced? Unemployed? Am I satisfied? Am I happy???
Where to I want to be? What do I hope for? What do I dream will come of this decade?
I don’t care about marriage but I would like to be in-love: in a relationship that shares a love that grows stronger every day; a love that asks no questions and requires no promises. A love that is true in every way, one that in every moment we are not together because we have to be, but because every day we choose to be.
Children? They are a big responsibility to bring up properly, but the ultimate expression of creation is one worth it’s pain. To create a new life, to see two lives become three… something I’d like to do once, one day.
I don’t care if I have money. I don’t care about fame. I care about my health. I care fulfilling some kind of purpose, doing whatever it is I’ve been put on this planet to do.
I care about my family and friends, and about the state of our world.
I want to be satisfied with my life. And most of all I want to be happy, with happy people surrounding me.
Come 2020, the most important thing for me is that I am still wearing a smile. How can I best give myself a chance at making this so?
I have big dreams. I have lots of goals. Am I setting myself up for disappointment? What if my dreams are never fulfilled? Won’t I be unsatisfied if I don’t make it?
If happiness is based on meeting expectations, would it not be better to set easy goals, have low expectations so they can easily be met? But if I do this, I won’t get anywhere.
“It is better to shoot for the stars and miss
than aim at the gutter and hit it.”
Decisions gone wrong, opportunities denied, a life of regret. There are many sources of fear, sources of sadness, all of which can be avoided – it all depends on the perspective we take, it depends on the lens through which we see the world. Here’s my theory on the spiritual/quantum mechanical side of dreams, goals, plans, expectations and regret:
I think we should dream, plan and make goals, but hold those plans tentative. Even dreams are transient. Dream and strive for those dreams in the conscious you exist in today and if our consciousness evolves to dream new dreams, strive for those dreams in the same way. Give it our all but don’t try to achieve it in our own might. Let the greater energies behind life guide the way.
I seem to find the most happiness and satisfaction when my dreams are connected with the dreams of the greater good, and my timing connected to nature’s time. It is when I share my dreams with “God” and say to “Him”, “not my will, but Your will” and “in Your time, not mine” – it is then that my dreams seem to come true.
I don’t believe the “power of attraction” means we have the power to bring into our lives ANYTHING and everything we want. I think means we get what we wantif it is also what the universe wants. When analysed in a century’s time I think we would find that what the universe wants in fact what we want too. I don’t actually know much about the power of attraction past documentaries like The Secret, so this is more of a reflective observation of my experience of prayer, dreams and attraction... it seems to me that the power of attraction is not a one-way pull – it is a two-way process. Us attracting something from the universe, and the universe attracting something from us.
So I sit here evaluating my place – my little spec of awareness within an 14 billion-year expansion process, inside a universe of incomprehensible distance, conscious of a shallow number of layers within a deep ocean of frequencies – I feel like I am one cells inside a body. I and you, and everything we can see, and everything we can’t see, all together comprising the body of the universe.
I’m not sure yet if we are cancerous cells, or if together we create a useful organ, maybe the universe’s heart or brain. What I do know for sure is that the six and a half billion of us, together, are a pretty powerful energy. We have the power to destroy the most creative expressions of the universe that we know exists. But also the power to continue this evolutionary expression in infinite new ways, exploring wider and deeper layers of existence.
I guess from the perspective of this body, of the universe’s totality, my wants, your wants, and the wants of the universe are in fact one and the same.
So how will I live my life in this new decade?
Like an actor in a movie I will play out my role, with a director who values his actor’s input. I understand that from where I am standing I cannot see how my scene fits into the final cut. So I must trust the director’s instruction, for he is the one stringing it together. If in 2020 I find myself with dreams fulfilled or with plans that have failed, if I am in-love or if I am alone, if I am a mother, a widow, rich, poor, famous, healthy, or even if I’m dead – whatever happens I trust will be for the greater good, for the benefit of the me inside The Universe, and for The Universe inside me.
…
A note about this photo, taken last NYE on the Bolivian Salt Lakes. This is the original, turned on it’s side:
A friend who has studied Sacred Geometry saw the landscape and immediately identified Angel Wings in the clouds. I rotated it clockwise to check them out closer and on a whim made it black and white. I guess now it’s a bit like one of those pictures where you interpret it for yourself…
What do you see?
In closing, I wish you and your friends and family a very HAPPY NEW YEAR, and HAPPY NEW DECADE. May you DREAM, may you HEAR THE UNIVERSE, and may you FIND FULFILMENT BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATIONS.
And thank you for reading my blog – if you keep reading and I’ll keep writing.
With love,
Juliet xx
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Potentialism: a philosophy for life
Potentialism: a philosophy for life
Discovering your ultimate creative potential: you as your individual conscious, you as your society and you as the universe – playing your role in the creation of a future reality you desire.
Syncretic paradigms:
1. The purpose of life is to discover and fulfill your creative potential in a way that brings the most benefit to others.
This is the purpose of all life
This is “living God’s will”
This is expressing Who You Truly Are and Who You Want To Be
This is discovering your inner being, your intuition, and listening to it
As Shakespeare said, “Above all things, to thyself be true”
2. We are defined not only by our separate identity, but are in fact a collective identity of humanity, of living organisms and of the universe.
In the same way that our body is not separate from the living micro atoms that make it up
In the same way that science describes all matter, us included, as made of the same substance: atoms, which at quantum levels flash in and out of physical existence
In the same way the Buddhists imagine God to be everything
In the same way Christians describe God, as three forms: the father, the son and the Holy Spirit, yet one God; simultaneously omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent ie all-knowing, all-powerful and present everywhere.
These ideas do not contradict – they complement. They are each other’s missing link – the way such abstract concepts maybe by physically actualised.
3. Peace is a state of harmony, when the body, mind and spirit are united
Key principles:
4. Listen to “God”/ The Universe / Your Intuition
Thoughts – ideas, images, and words that come into your mind
Intuition – the deep feeling inside that says ‘yes’ or ‘no’
Omens/signs – notice the things in the world around you that you are conscious of at each particular point in time
Words of other people – be it in conversation, a religious, fiction or nonfiction text, or a song on the radio, everything that enters your world is God communicating with you
5. Minimize fear and maximize love
Fear leads to insecurity, hate, and greed
Love leads to security, generosity, and kindness
6. Commit to the process not the result –
Creative potential is infinite and there is no end. An end means a beginning, and the circle of life continues.
Living in the present – it’s a present, a gift from God, pre-sent to you as an accumulation of all your life experiences and thoughts.
7. Realise that all problems can be solved with:
Will – desire to solve the problem
Honesty – about everything
Empathy – understanding where the other is coming from
Creativity – finding solutions
Transform and transcend:
8. Equal care for self and others
When we understand the inseparable connectedness between ourselves and others, we realise our happiness depends on the happiness of everyone else.
Hence our goal: to maximise our collaborative creative potential – expressing our own creativity, and encouraging others to express theirs
9. Consequences of this paradigm:
Selfishness transforms into selflessness – I want the best for me, and since you are me, I want the best for you.
Greed becomes generosity – I want everyone else to have as much as they can, because everyone else is me.
Jealousy and envy becomes pride and happiness for one another – others achievements are achievements of other expressions of myself
The concept of hate disappears – we cannot hate what is you
Self confidence increases, as we feel other’s trying to bring us up, not put us down
We truly put into action Jesus teaching to “do unto others as you’d have them do to yourself” (check wording + add equivilant teaching from other religions)
10. Self-reflection and self-transcendence
Breaking down defensiveness, building up confidence to critically evaluate one’s self and acknowledge our wrongs or harms we have done to others – allow us to repent and allow them to forgive
Rid yourself of your own grievances and any desire for vengeance for injuries inflicted by others – through empathy with the Other, we learn to forgive and move on
11. Create your own happiness
Make the decision to be happy – it is the biggest decision you will ever make in your life.
Begin with gratefulness, for what you have, even if it is little
Study the past, analyse different perspectives, take lessons from it and use it to expand your creative potential
Don’t cultivate feelings of regrets, everything has happened for a reason, figure out what that reason is, and how the past can help you in your quest for creative potential.
Bad decisions do not exist, that is judgement you make yet instead you can realise that this results may have led you to challenging times, from which you can now learn. These consequences were a small sacrifice, part of the process of discovering your creative potential.
Do not cultivate feelings of guilt. Guilt is of no benefit for you nor for those around you. Forgive yourself and let it go. Learn from the past, but keep your mind in the present, and an eye on the future
12. Cultivating wisdom
Facts are never static, but are the closest statement of the truth, at a particular point in time. If the data changes, facts also change. We must remain open to new data, ready to evaluate it in order to constantly progress towards a more truthful truth.
Taoists belief “what is impossible today may become possible tomorrow, and what is good today may become evil tomorrow; what seems right from one point of view may from another view seem completely wrong.”
13. The pleasure of extremes, and joys of balance
Life and death, hot and cold, love and hate, good and bad – you can’t have one without the other. This is the dualistic nature of life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’d prefer a passionate love, even if it sometimes slips over to hate, than a mediocre love all the time. The extremes are much more fun. Ups and downs are what make life interesting. It’s the challenges that bring the most satisfaction.
Happiness when pushed to the extreme becomes sickly and dull. Beauty overdone becomes ugly. Even too much chocolate makes feel sick…
14. Rid your life of fear
In the same way that millions of skin cells die every day, and yet our human body continues to live
Our consciousness is already connected, and will continue to be connected even when the separateness of our present memory no longer functions, our consciousness will continue to live on through others – that are ourselves
15. Cultivate faith
Faith is about cultivating a state in your heart and mind whereby you give yourself to God* – not about conforming to a set of “beliefs”
Don’t worry, don’t struggle, allow the will of God/ the Universe to be done
Is not about belief in hocus pocus or confession to any kind of autocratic dogma – faith is about a state of heart and mind
Even things that seem to have no reason whatsoever, in time, you will see how it expanded your, or another’s, creative potential
16. Get in-touch with your creative side
We ALL have one, you just have to give it a go
Try everything, don’t be afraid of anything
Know that time and effort are what give results; if you are prepared to invest yourself in something, you can do whatever you want to do.
In order to maximise happiness in life:
17. Right investment
(a) Of your time
Spend it with people who motivate and encourage
In an occupation that allows you to learn and express your creativity
Feelings of daily happiness are essential to stimulate your creative potential
Expanding other’s creative potential, and the creative potential of other forms of life, including the planet
In ways that will provide maximum benefit to the most people
Spend some time in silence, connecting to your conscious and giving it room to create; meditation, walking, driving, prayer
(b) Of your money
Money should be a reflection of the amount of time and effort that you have expended, and can henceforth use in exchange for others’ time and effort.
In your purchases, buying what is good for yourself and good for others
In your financial investments, in businesses that are helping life move toward it’s creative potential
18. Not no conflict but no violence
No circumstance ever substantiates violence
The ideology of Potentialism must never be fought for – this is against the nature of creative potential. Fighting for an ideology destroys creativity, which may be trying to morph into new forms, in which case, this is it’s achievement of creative potential.
Fighting against nature is fighting against the will of God, that is, fighting against the deepest drive of each of us,
Potentialism seeks organic expansion through love, it is never forced or forged, but is the result of a synergy between selfish and selfless – working together for the good of all-life itself, all which is God.
19. The power of the mind
The universe operates through spontaneous creativity, and through patterned phenomena – your role may be to contribute to either
Thoughts are powerful in ways we don’t yet understand. We do know they are measurable on wavelengths, like radio waves, but have not tapped in to harness them yet. Experiments have shown the incredible impact of positive thoughts on plants, water molecules, and even the nature of atoms.
Harness this power. Dream, make goals, pray, meditate, make them reality.
20. The power for world peace lies with you
Each of us have, together, the power to change the world
All it takes is a vision: what do we want the world to look like?
And then in each of us the will to reconnect with our life’s purpose and play out our roles in this transformation.
It begins with finding the peace within ourselves.
Anything is possible!
Some notes on terminology and origins:
What is a Creativist?
A Creativist is someone who sees Creativity as the expression of the Divine Creator present in all life and the universe. Creativity is humanity’s source of greatest pleasure, satisfaction, and act of generosity. Creativity expresses your individual consciousness and shares it with others, simultaneously expressing the collective conscious and providing avenues for your individual conscious to learn.
Creativism or Creationism?
Just to clarify – this is NOT to be confused with “Creationism” which refers to a belief in a 6-day creation 6000 years ago. NO. Creativism is about CREATIVITY and the role WE play in the ONGOING CREATION PROCESS of our universe. These ideas are a work-in-progress (that I wrote one year ago and haven’t touched since) hence I thought I’d put out there. Everything in life always seems to be a work-in-progress, so carpe diem…
Expressions of Creativity:
Creativity is not only for those left-brainers; creativity is for everyone. Analyse the sources of pleasure in your life, you will probably find they involve some form of creation that you contribute to. For example:
- art of any kind: photography, draw, write,
- in numbers, in science, in business: look for creative solutions to problems
- food and wine: play with life’s little pleasures
- breathe: take pleasure in every breath, it feeds your cells and contributes to the production of new ones
- look for improvement: in every aspect of your life, each little bit of creative expression adds value
- in interior and exterior of your house, fashion, self expression
- make babies: the most amazing creation a human can make
Did I make this up?
I think you’ll find there’s nothing really new about what you’re read above … we are all so connected that I have this feeling when you finish reading this, you’ll feel like I’ve just typed out a transcript of your own mind. I may be wrong – all of the following may make no sense to anyone other than myself…
The writings above are a summation of my beliefs around July 2008. They outpoured form my brain as a stream of consciousness and are most likely inspired by all the books I’ve read and all the experiences I’ve incurred, so I don’t take credit for any of it. That’s how ideas grow and form – a culmination of the past, remoulded/stated a little differently, into something that can be used for the future.
I’m not sure how the term “creativism” first came into my head, probably on one of my long walks, where all my other ideas come from, and when I googled it I discovered it was a term being used by a few people to describe a similar concept of what I wanted to use it to describe.
There is even a definition in the Urban Dictionary: Creativism = ‘The theory or practice of creation as a way to live and understand life’ and a Creativist = ‘someone who is attuned creatively to their surroundings; a person who understands and expresses their life through creative works or motifs.’
I came across the term “Potentialist” in an article inside a flight magazine. See: http://www.julietbennett.com/2010/04/26/potentialism/
I couldn’t find a definition of “potentialist” so I made up my own: A “potentialist” is an alchemist of potential – someone who strives to achieve their mental, physical and spiritual potential.
The end and the beginning
Anyway if you have got through this essay then I have to say I’m extremely impressed. Six pages worth of babble… anyway I would really really really love to know what you think. And do you like the title Creativism or Potentialism, or can you think of something better???
Thank you!!!
Juliet xxx
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The memoirs of Willem Van Leeuwen… and the magic of life.
Yesterday at 5pm my Opa (that’s dutch for grandfather), passed away at the ripe old age of 93. Born 20th February 1916 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Willem Frederik Van Leeuwen lived a long and inspiring life. He was a wonderful, caring father and grand-father. Me and my Opa were “house-mates” (as he used to say), and he was my very good friend.
My Opa changed my life. My Masters degree is his Masters degree. My book to soon be published is his book as much as mine. I couldn’t have done either if it were not for him. The peace I shall share with the world I shall share because of my Opa. Living with him was a pivotal chapter of my life. He have opened my mind to new perspectives; he have opened my life to new opportunities. I left Vienna after I dreamt of my Opa – of me spending time at his home as he taught me to paint. Six months later I moved in, and he did just that: I learned to paint a new reality. Opa gave me a new perspective of space and time. He taught me to look beyond society’s facades, to see things for what they are. Through Opa I have come to truly appreciate the temporality of life. Life is short. Very short. We must take hold of it. Live it. Make the most of every moment. And not look back.
One hundred years is not a long time. Go back twenty of such lifetimes it was the year zero, the time where Jesus lived and died. Jesus spoke up against the Jewish dogma and Roman oppression of his time. Almost seventy years ago my Opa too protested against status quo, issuing fake identities to save lives of Jews. This took courage. This makes me proud.
When I was in my teens two thousand years seemed an ancient and irrelevant past, but from my Opa’s eyes, two thousand years is like the blink of an eye. Only fifty of his lifetimes have past since the Egyptian pyramids were built. In the big scheme of things our temporal state in the shells we currently embody, mean nothing.
My Opa used to look out at the stars, in awe of God’s universe, and appreciating the miracle of life. He wondered what other fantastical creatures exist beyond our vision but he didn’t think about it too hard. He didn’t worry about that which we cannot know. “Why think about it?” he said to me, shrugging his shoulders. Opa felt no need to define life’s magic, to humanise it, or to tell himself he knew everything about it. He didn’t question it, he didn’t judge others; he just felt it, embraced it, and played out his role in it. Opa was a man of simple faith.
Opa took pleasure in the little things: a homemade cup of coffee, a black tea, a small glass of port; a smile and a kiss on the cheek; a soccer game, a newspaper or an interesting session of Lateline. I now realise how little we need in order to live. Opa lived through wars eating rosebuds to fill his stomach. Opa left his country in order to create the best life he could for our family in Australia.
Opa has taught me to be grateful for all I have; to live for today; to live in the moment; to accept my limitations, acknowledge my weaknesses, to not let my mind or body cause me too much pain. I have learned from him that luxury is over-rated and unnecessary. He taught me to need little, and want less. Observing Opa I have come to understand that no person or thing can make us happy: happiness comes from within. Happiness begins with being content with what we have. Opa was happy with the life he lived. He was happy with the love he received. He did not want more than he was given. He accepted the jobs that came his way, he didn’t strive to have more or care about how he compared to others. He loved his children, and his grandchildren, and his wife; and he were grateful for all the love he received from us in return.
And now as he has left the physical body I knew him to be, I am reminded that there is more to life than that our individual consciousness of today. I have seen through my Opa’s death that the breathe behind life never dies; it just morphs, transforms, like caterpillars into butterflies.
Our lives are but temporal expressions of divinity. I believe, as many religions do, that our souls leave their human homes to be ”reunited with God”, to be reunited with everyone they have ever loved or known, reunited through the re-absorbing of our soul into the collective soul of the universe – as we return to the oneness from which we came. No more ups and downs; no more fear, no more greed, no more suffering – a heavenly state of harmonic bliss. We are no longer separate, we become one with God; we are one with the past, present and future; we are one with the magical wonder behind our universe, the magic that is our universe and the magic beyond the universe from which we exist within.
Now I type, I can feel my Opa’s energy surrounding me. I can see my Opa’s energy in the trees, I can feel him in the wind, I can hear his heart beat in mine. I know he is with me. He will always be with me.
Opa, I want to say to you: THANK YOU.
Thank you for your part in bringing me into the world. Thank you for taking me into your home. Thank you for making me laugh. Thank you for enjoying my food. Thank you for making me interested in politics. Thank you for putting up with my mess. Thank you for sharing your views on life. Thank you for changing my life. I will cherish my memories of our time together. I will love you forever.
I will miss your bright blue eyes and your wide happy smile.
May you rest in peace, may you live for eternity.
A few years back he wrote his memoirs which some two years ago now we typed up together. I wish to share his words and his story with you today:
…
Reading about all the new findings in the digital world arriving in the market in the near future. So I thought it a good idea to put on paper how life was when I was born half way through the First World War in 1916.
Since that time, so many things have been invented which changed the way of life in many ways and I think you would be interested to know about that.
To start with my birth. As far ass I know that happened at home going into the hospital was an exception in those days and as far as my mother was concerned I must have caused her quite a bit of trouble because I have always heard her say “That was once but never again”. So that was it. I was confined to be an ‘only child.’
To start with my growing up. This happens to be in Amsterdam. I still remember the address: 20 Wetering Dwars Street in the CBD, close to the National Museum.
This is a narrow street, with 3 story home units, like terraces, on both sides. Those units were rented as owning your own place was an exception.
Actually, there were four living quarters because there was a basement half way the bottom part. To enter the more sophisticated part of the building you encountered the so called ‘stoep’ this is a concrete stag of steps to reach the front door for the three units above. To make your arrival known you had to pull the bell cord. One time for the first floor, two times for the second and so on. Then a climb up a steep timber staircase with an ‘overloop’, sort of a landing between floors
The inside of the unit consisted of a kitchen, a ‘back’ or living room, and a front room with windows. In between the two rooms was an ‘alcoof’ – a simple bedroom with inbuilt double bed on one side and my bed on the other side. There were no windows so the ventilation must have been very restricted. The front room was the so called ‘mooie kamer’ and was only used for special occasions. Further there was a ‘waranda’ balcony with an ‘ice box’. In those years there was no gas, electricity, washing machines, dryers, radio, television. Bathrooms with shower recess came many years later.
The body washing procedure was once a week on Saturday in a tub in the kitchen. The heating of water etc occurred on kerosene heater and in winter time also on a big coal and peat theater in the living room. The lighting of the unit was also by kerosene lamps. The washing of linen underwear etc was done by hand in a tub. Food was kept in the so called ice box on the balcony. Bars of ice were delivered once a week in the Summer months.
Although life was primitive in comparison with today’s, we were still satisfied.
I started my education in the elementary school close by, but as there was a small canal at the end of our street, my mother always took me to school as she was afraid I would fall in the ‘dirty’ water.
Schools in those days did not have play grounds so all my ‘playing’ was done in the street.
Most of my school years were very uneventful. Reading books etc. was my main way of life.
I remember my parents having card evenings with a Jewish family from across the street. They had a daughter of my age and we were confined to the alcoof. This was quite fun. The family disappeared out of my life and I never found out what happened.
There were also friends who had a tobacco shop and a private library. I spent many hours reading over there.
I must have been about 8 years old when we moved to a better environment.
Again a unit on the third floor with a ‘view’! Over looking a canal with a lot of ship movements. Barges pulled by tugs and at the other side on industrial area of mainly timber yards. The school was close by but again no playgrounds so life was mainly spent at home and occasional staying with my grandparents in Haarlem.
This brings me to tell about my parents.
My father was born in Amsterdam as far as I can remember, in 1894. He was a builder by trade. He must have been a pretty good one as I remember him building a large school complex later on he built houses on his own accord which had to be sold in time to be able to finance the next project. Often there were financial difficulties which affected the atmosphere at home.
He came from a fairly large family of several brothers and sisters with kids. There was however a little contact so I don’t remember much of it.
His father, I never met my grandmother, lived on his own in the Huidenkoper street in Amsterdam. He was retired from a function in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.
His living quarters were filled with beautiful antiques, which would have been worth a fortune if they had stayed in the family. Still he was not very family friendly and I believe he preferred to see us going than coming. Consequently I did not see much of him.
It was a different matter with my mother’s parents. They lived in Haarlem in Amsterdam street near the Amsterdam Gate. The family name was ‘Van Vreeden’. My grandfather was a retired carriage painter with the Dutch railways. My mother had one brother ‘Oom (uncle) Cor’ who being a bank manager, was the family’s ‘financial pillar’.
In my younger years for some reason or another I often stayed with my grandparents and I remember making long walks with my Opa. I think because Oma got fed up with us and kicked us out.
My mother was, I think, a seamstress, because I saw her sitting behind a treadle sewing machine for long hours. When my grandmother past away, there was great emotion in the family of the question “What to do with Opa…?”
Fortunately my father was building two houses in Haarlem in the Kemp Straat, and he had difficulty in selling one of them (most probably because they were built next to a large cooperative bakery.) The solution of the above question was solved, with the financial influences of Oom Cor, that we moved to Haarlem and Opa was living with us. In comparison with the home units in Amsterdam, this was a considerable improvement. It was a two story house with plenty of rooms, a small back yard with a shed, and even a bathroom. I must have been about 12 years old because I went straight to High school. After leaving school in 1934, my first employment was with Hotel Royal in Haarlem as a receptionist and in the administration.
In 1936 I went for my number in the army with the horse driven field artillery in Utrecht.
After discharge in 1937, I worked with Travel Bureau Lissone Lindeman.
For August 1939 I was called up again for military service in Socstduinen near Utrechet.
This lasted till May 14 when Holland surrendered to the Germans. Luckily we did not fire one shot because we would not have stood a chance with material dated back from before the First World War. The whole exercise lasted a couple of days and ended promptly with the air raids of Rotterdam.
We were discharged and from July 1940 I worked with the Rationing Service in Haarlem. I started a chief in the National Registration Certificate Department. Because of the many Rassias it was important that next to your ‘Stamcard’ you could prove that your work was too important to be missed, preventing you from being sent to labour camps in Germany. So apart from the administration of the registry, we were also occupied with creating of fake Declaration of Requirements for the underground and Jews.
It may be of interest for you to give sort of a survey of life during the German occupation. The first two years we were living with coupons etc. Life did not change too much. We were able to organize Balls, Theatre performances, Youth Clubs etc.
However when the Germans started to persecute the Jews, things became ugly.
We had a group of about thirty boys and girls, with whom we managed to organise bicycle holidays or house evenings. However we had to become more and more careful. You always had to watch your back to prevent from being picked up from the street and sent to Germany.
Life with coupons became gradually more and more difficult as in many occasions the goods in the coupons were simply not available. Especially the last half year became very hard. We had a curfew from 8pm to 7am. The southern part of Holland beneath the big rivers was liberated but the part above the rivers was left to keep on its own. As there was practically no import of food and the Germans confiscated anything edible. Hunger started to lift its nasty head. People went to barter valuables for edibles. Walking with improvised carts to farmers in order to be able to live.
Many did not survive those journeys or got their valuable food confiscated when they returned to their house in the city. On many occasions we hat to resort to eat grounded tulip bulbs as so called cookies. All in all the last year was very nasty.
It was only after the Allies managed to defeat the Germans near Arnhem that life became gradually better. After 1946 I worked in different positions in the Ministry for Economic Control.
My last position was an inspector with an Economist fund for the small goods trade.
After the war the detail trade was practically at bottom level. Stocks had disappeared and ‘new starts’ had not occurred for at least three years.
The retail trade needed an urgent lift and the government was prepared to guarantee loans with the bank for people to finance a new business. For this purpose an organization was created to investigate the viability of the business concerned. I became and inspector with this organization and travelled all over Holland to report about the applicants’ capability and family – determining whether the business could be expected to be viable to pay off the loan within a certain time limit. This report went to a board within this organization and the decision of the application was granted or refused. As a side line I was a manager with an association called Infantex, of about 50 specialist shopkeepers of articles in baby goods. I organized about three market days in Krasnapolsky in Amsterdam and at the Royal Hotel in Urtrecht. There would be about thirty stalls in where the manufacturers would show their newest creations. All this lasted until May 1961 when we departed to Australia.
Coming back to my life in Haarlem. I met your mother on Saturday 29th July 1944, in a swimming pool called Stoop. As she had no ‘transport’, I took her home on the back of my bike and from there on we stayed together.
Her father Jacob Bas had his trade as a plumber and a shop in the Atjeh Street in Haarlem.
Her mother’s family name was Platenga and both came from farmer’s families in West Friesland. Your mothers family name was Agatha Jacoba Bas, born 19th January 1920. She could not get along very well with her father and her mother was always the protective part.
Anyway, we got engaged on 24th December 1944, and on 14th June 1945 we married in Haarlem as one of the first after the war.
The wedding day started very curious as there were no hire cars available. We had to hire horse drawn carriages. They also were very sparse. Anyway we managed to hire two. One would collect the parents from their homes, and one for us.
On the big day, however, only one turned up. The other had been in an accident. You can imagine the consternation to get us all to the Civic Centre. It was decided that the parents were collected first and we last. So we waited in the Atjeh street home. Because of the distances of the addresses, it took quite a while. Finally the carriage turned up. Very late, and to make up time we went in gallop to the City Centrum. The carriage swayed from left to right, and the public looked in amazement to the race. I must say it did not bother us in the least and we had great fun. We still made barely on time.
I had managed to rent a whole house in the Pegasus street in Haarlem, which in those days must have been the envy of many in the neighborhood. Later we moved to the Jan Gyzen-kade in Haarlem Noord, and from there we bought with the help of Opa Bas, a house in Velzen Wustelaan and after a few years we sold the house and bought a house in Ede Arthur Van Schendelaan. This was more central in Holland and more suitable for my work with the financial institution.
This was the last house in Holland till our departure to Australia.
Although I had a very interesting job, we decided that in view of the increases in population in Holland, being new about the size of Tasmania, with a population the same as Australia, the future for the children was better in Australia.
14 May 1961. We boarded the Orange, and 19 June 1961, we arrived in Sydney. We were sponsored by Fien an Piet Voorderhake. They had rented a house on Pittwater road in Collaroy, for 10 pound a week. At that time there was a sort-of economic depression.
Although I had studied English correspondence in Holland, it was not easy to understand Australian English.
Fortunately I met Jan Van Beest, who was chief clerk in Prince Alfred Hospital. He introduced me to the accountant and I was appointed as a clerk in the Administration.
In 1963, Jan Van Beest became an accountant in the new built Mona Vale Hospital. He asked me to come with him. I accepted and became chief clerk and accountant when Jan Van Beest departed to New Zealand.
In January 1974, I transferred to the budget department of Royal North Shore Hospital, where I stayed to my retirement in January 1982.
…
This is where they finish. It is crazy to imagine all of this happening before I was even born. My Opa had enjoyed twenty-seven years of retirement, twenty-seven years of a simple peaceful life in his modest home in Frenchs Forest.
With age comes wisdom. I learned a lot from my wise old Opa, I hope you have been able to learn something too. God bless.
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Shopping malls & traffic jams
Two entries in one day! Don’t know what’s gotten into me but I’ll probably be scaring off any readers if I have any… it won’t happen too often, I promise.
I just got home from Warringah Mall. I was standing in line waiting to return a digital frame to BigW (that said it played AVI files and MPEG4 files and after wasting much of my time creating such files decided it actually would not live up to its specifications) and I looked around to observe the commotion and busy lives of all the people surrounding me. Aisles full of bright coloured junk-foods, clothes, makeup, home-goods, and lines of people waiting to spend their hard-earned money on these things. I know shops play an important role in our lives, and that this “stuff” is what makes our world go round. But waiting there all the good feelings I took away from the pilates class I’d just taken seemed to disappear and my irritation with our capitalistic society began to build up. A pen and paper came out of my bag and I wrote a poem to express it. Random, i know.
Anyway, here it is:
Shopping malls & traffic jams
Is there any worse place to be?
Consuming carbon waste
From trucks to lungs
From aisles to homes
Children in trolleys cry as I wait
I vow never to have more than one
Shopping clerks to scan my items
Swipe my card – more junk is mine
Where does it begin?
Where does it end?
Our addiction to buy
Drives the trucks to deliver
We want more capital
We want more wealth
Our love of things
But do we love our work?
Spend money
Work to earn more
Exploit our earth
Exploit the poor
The spiral of death
Want; Work; Buy; Want; Work; Buy;
Pollute our minds
But WHY? WHY?
What is the solution?
What can be done?
WANT LESS WORK LESS!!!
Enjoy what you have
Share what you’ve got
Love our earth;
Love one another;
Love yourself.
Juliet Bennett – 17 Sept 09
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Meaning of life
Something sure to come up a lot on this blog is the question of meaning – why the f**k are we here on this planet??? It is something I contemplate regularly.
The human condition is a strange one - born no different from other animals we are educated into languages, enculturated into structures of thinking, sets of values, morals, dreams. We grow up and play out our roles in society, dedicating our life to our relationships, our religions, our jobs, the building up materialistic goods, searching for our identity, trying to achieve the world’s ideals, create a family, pay off our mortgages or work for whatever other causes we see as valuable. But WHY??? Only to blink and find ourselves retired then old and dying. We may travel, meet people, enjoy food, beautiful sites, other cultures… still what’s the purpose of it all?
I have come across a fantastic fantastic website that contains interviews with some of the most amazing minds in our world today. www.meaningoflife.tv.
So far I’ve watched Karen Armstrong (a scholar of religion) and John Polkinghorne (a Cambridge scholar of physics and Anglican priest), and I definitely recommend both. Each interview is long but well worthwhile