Apech

Oh yes ... soooo clever!!!!!!! You win again.

Mmmm no not quite.

It has never been As perfect as it is now, Raindrops on water.

From the perspective of Buddhist philosophy I agree that the credit crunch is exactly the product or phenomena of samaric existence driven by desire, ignorance and hate. Desire for wealth and the power it brings but in ignorance of its true nature; and hate arising when the object of desire is withdrawn or turns out not to deliver what it is perceived to provide i.e. some form of satisfaction. I would say that the world generally, both the natural world in terms of climate change and the social world in terms of the world financial crisis is in a period of decay. By this I mean that it is declining so that new things can emerge. Just as death is needed for life. Although I understand this it is quite scary in the sense of individual security. The big world changes, such as the fundamental political power shifts following the end of the cold war threaten any security which we might have had for ourselves and our loved ones - security that is which arises from the worldly situation. At one stage I became quite worried about things but then as a practitioner of meditation and 'inner work' I had to ask myself what I really believed - what I was really here for. And although I still worry I found that the inner security which comes from centering on spirit instead of the world was very reassuring. I felt that I had done enough ground work for this to happen and that in itself was a helpful feeling. The world is complex and chaotic - and two good examples are economies and the weather systems - but they still follow simple rules (see chaos theory). And I am sure that there are people and groups of people who seek to capitalize on the situation to gain more power and they do this through manipulation. Ok they are deluded and confused because they do not really understand the nature of reality but they still operate. I do not think this is really a conspiracy theory but more a realistic assessment. People who are of the power seeking mind set are not interested in the welfare of other sentient beings but only in what advantage they can gain.

Thanks vortex that's really interesting.

OK Scientists have proven that cats have more hair on one side then their other side. Some people believe that this is because when cats lay on their side they need insulation from the cold on the floor or ground. Which side of a cat has more hair? ??????????????

I can see where you are coming from Hagar in terms of good government but my original point was to ask if anyone had considered if it was possible that the current difficulties were brought about deliberately in order to create popular support for increased global government. If this was the case, and I am not saying it definitely is, then the motivation is not really that benign. It was a genuine question. While you may favour increased federal involvement I personally only want government at a level at which I can influence in some way. This is absent in institutions such as the European Union where decision making is opaque and non-consultative. I do not object to the Union in principal but just the actual union which we have ended up with. It is definitely true that it seems beyond the power of national governments (even the USA) to directly influence the money markets. Even if they pour $700b into it! In Britain, Gordon Brown came up with quite a sensible package but the market failed to respond as hoped, which just leaves everyone crossing their fingers and hoping. But you have to ask what brought about the credit crunch. The answer lies in the deregulation of the sector, the promotion of greed - and even more in the need to create the appearance of growth in the economies of the US and Europe over the last 10 years through investing and reinvesting in the housing market. In other words we had to seem richer than we really were for reasons of international power politics and the rise of China and India as economic powers. What has happened now is that the bubble has burst and the value of everything has deflated down to where it should have been in the first place (or will eventually). Well - who created that situation? Not us - it was created by 'them', whoever they are. We are the victims of it and how do we know that the solutions proposed by the same people who created the problem will be any more benign, or any less manipulative?

That's the way the cookie crumbles.

simply go the way that the old man has shown you the most secret path.

jammy dodger !!!!!!!

Is it a member of the British Royal Family?

If that is what we get then your arguments make sense. But actually what we will probably get is a central bank run by the same vested interests which are manipulating the situation to bring it about. I agree that not all government is bad and I also think that if you are interested in inner work then you have to work within the existing system - whatever that is. But it is also important to be as aware as possible of the mechanisms which are used to control society because this is part of learning about the human condition.

Correct! 5/10 for spelling. Anyway you have the riddlestick. Hurrah

Agreed Rabbit

neither bank nor book holds enough money for me I've crunched my credit.

Stig, Thank you for the riddlestick. "What has a skin and more eyes than one? It's very nice when it is done." ??????????????????????????

Actually I agree with you Paradise - what counts is the effect on us. BUT if by understanding what is happening we get less shaken up by it - well then this might be a good thing. I guess all of us on here are interested in internal working and believe that what counts is our individual level of realization or enlightenment and that there is an opportunity, even in stressful times like these to wake up our awareness to better levels of understanding. It doesn't have to be either or and can be both/and. Li Jiong, Surely the problem is that we are paying for other people's greed over which we have no control.

Has anyone else considered this, that the current financial instability and banking crisis may well be deliberate. It is part of a long term strategy to introduce global institutions like a real world bank. That is a single body which controls money and business world wide. In order to get 'us' to agree to this plan 'they' have to make us sufficiently frightened - so that we will sign up to emergency measures. Already governments in America and Europe are nationalizing or part nationalizing what were private banks. My prediction is that they will soon start saying that national governments are not enough to deal with the crisis and that we need an international body with both reserves and regulatory powers which will ensure 'stability' in global finances.

just 'The way we do' could be a Taobum's motto. We did it our way.

How about .... fire?????

Yeeeeeeesssssssssss !!!!!!!!!!!! Your turn.

Nope!

I never was, am always to be, No one ever saw me, nor ever will, And yet I am the confidence of all To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball. What am I?

Edam

Riddlebump?