Ulises Posted January 24, 2011 (edited) A spiritual classic to be retrieved. Kindred spirit with Taoism... "I believe that most of what was said of God was in reality said of that Spirit whose body is Earth." "It was an excitement of spirit for one born in a little country town in Ireland to find the circle of being widened so that life seemed to dilate into a paradise of beautiful memories, and to reach to past ages and to mix with the eternal consciousness of Earth, and when we come on what is new we pause to contemplate it, and do not ...hurry to the end of our journey. The instances of earth memories given here are trivial in themselves, and they are chosen, not because they are in any way wonderful, but rather because they are like things many people see, and so they may more readily follow my argument. The fact that Earth holds such memories is itself important, for once we discover this imperishable tablet, we are led to speculate whether in the future a training in seership might not lead to a revolution in human knowledge." AE Russell http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cov/cov10.htm Edited January 24, 2011 by Ulises Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted January 24, 2011 That is very interesting Ulises. Rather Native American if I may say so. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ulises Posted January 24, 2011 That is very interesting Ulises. Rather Native American if I may say so. Of course! Now we know - if we believe the scholar/mystic Peter Kingsley - that Native Americans, and Gnostics share the same shamanic roots... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phore Posted January 24, 2011 You've gotta love the gaian mind Ive always found native american, celtic, and taoist practices harmonize well. I think that one of the reasons for this must be their closeness to the gaian mind. Observing nature very carefully will usually yield an outlook similar to the nature paths. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ulises Posted January 24, 2011 You've gotta love the gaian mind Ive always found native american, celtic, and taoist practices harmonize well. I think that one of the reasons for this must be their closeness to the gaian mind. Observing nature very carefully will usually yield an outlook similar to the nature paths. I could'nt agree more... ; ) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted January 24, 2011 I could'nt agree more... ; ) Ditto. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zerostao Posted January 24, 2011 being on TTB for a year. and so many great topics looked at. but i have been a little surprised not seeing much mention of native american views and how they harmonize with tao. i am also a bit of a pantheist (quite a bit) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted January 25, 2011 being on TTB for a year. and so many great topics looked at. but i have been a little surprised not seeing much mention of native american views and how they harmonize with tao. i am also a bit of a pantheist (quite a bit) Although my knowledge is very limited I do enjoy discussing NA concepts whenever the opportunity presents itself. Ah! Another Pantheist for me to talk with. I'll be watching for an opportunity to talk with you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ulises Posted January 25, 2011 (edited) Why the end of nationalism is good for you Let’s burn the flags of all nations No more nation-states No more patriotism Try it, you’ll like it Welcome to the post-national future Coming sooner than you think Because we’ve had enough of endless statements Like this one by India’s Environment Minister: “National interest trumps all else.” Or this one by the President of Turkey: “No one should test the power of the state.” But why not test the power of the state? Why does an abstraction come Before the needs and desires of real people? What if there were no Israel, no China, no Indonesia? No Iraq, no Iran, no United States? Too radical for you? Maybe you’d rather remain a glutton for punishment Continue swallowing non-negotiable declarations such as the following:“No government allows any organization to intervene in its internal affairs.” That’s a Thai government spokesman in 2010 During the mass demonstrations in Bangkok Rejecting the Red Shirts’ appeal for peace talks But nation-states are not the same as countries The Mayan or Amazonian or Tibetan people Will get along perfectly well Without an artificial nation-state to define them Because countries don’t wage war, governments do War presents itself as necessary for self-preservation When in fact it’s necessary for self-identification As long as we identify with nation-states We know ourselves by what we oppose Not by who we are And who are we? We are one No need for separation The only way to say it We’re all one All humans on the planet Same heart, same mind, same eyes Or would you rather turn a blind eye To developments such as the following: A Botswana judge has ruled that Bushmen Who return to their ancestral lands In the Central Kalahari Game Reserve Are not allowed to drill wells for water This decision condemns them to having to walk Up to 380 kilometers to fetch water In one of the driest places on earth However, tourists to the reserve Staying at Wilderness Safaris’ new lodge Will enjoy the use of a swimming pool and bar While Gem Diamonds’s planned mine in the reserve Can use all the water it needs on condition None is given to the Bushmen Bushman spokesman Jumanda Gakelebone said, “If we don’t have water How are we expected to live?” No human illegal No more national borders generated out of fear Out of a total failure of trust Arbitrary fictions laid down on the landscape In reality they don’t exist And if you believe they should, tell me this What of all those who came before Swearing fealty to other flags at the cost of their lives? Down through history conquerors, pillagers, colonizers Who are we to claim this land—any land—is ours? Go back far enough and we’re all illegal immigrants But things are different now It’s dawning on us why we’re here We’re here to change our presence on this earth Release the stranglehold of the nation-state Find our way to true community By trusting—can we do that?—ourselves and each other Living democracy in real time rather than in a voting booth No more nationalism Cloud clover for demogogues and racists America-firsters (or Russia-firsters, etc.) What are they afraid of? That they’ll melt into all us other humans? But that’s exactly what’s happening, like it or not Reality of the Internet, everyone alive today our IP addresses Floating in space Just like the planet No more nation-states benefiting those in power Mimicking individual egos in combat Battling for vanishing resources, for territory, lebensraum Using the sentimental hook of tribal identification to maintain order What’s called “The United States of America” a rank hallucination “Russia,” “Myanmar,” “Nigeria,” and on and on Hallucinations generated for profit and control For suppression of the human spirit But the human spirit knows no boundaries No ID cards, no cradle-to-grave oversight It’s time to step outside of the trance Walk among the trees, listen to the birds Do you think they belong to something called the U.S.A.? Do they fall in line behind “Old Glory?” ...And ain’t it strange, hundreds of old glories across the globe Each meant to be defended to the death Tears streaming down the faces of deluded patriots (The chips were installed at birth) Who drop their flag only to pick up a weapon And murder those unlucky enough to be holding a different flag Fiction, trance, rank hallucination Yes, it’s against the law to burn the American flag And how many other flags around the world 192 member states of the United Nations From Afghanistan (when will we ever learn?) To Zimbabwe (the less said the better) Outmoded nationalism, we’re outgrowing it No more electrified fences lit by floodlights of paranoia No more making the nation-state safe for surveillance But here’s some magic for you Burn any of those 192 flags and before you’re arrested You’ll see one of the wonders of the natural world The ashes will form a spiral opening out to the stars Cotton and rayon and nylon and polyester Released at last from their symbols Don’t believe me? Try it for yourself No more patriots marching under One or flag or another, heads held high Legitimizing a myth of separation The myth that we humans who started As a single band in the prehistoric night Now can only act from our differences Beating our chests, teary-eyed In a futile attempt to retrieve Long-lost trust and solidarity Rationalizing mayhem and extermination Forgetting who profits from separation The corporate, political, and military leaders Of fictional entities founded in our name Let’s burn the flags of all nations Either join together or the human experiment dissolves In a flaming brew of war and environmental disaster The curse of nationalism Everyone stuck in their own cultural narrative A cage rather than a playground It’s time to open gates, tear down fences, shred passports Roam wherever we like Along rivers and mountains without end Because we ourselves are those rivers and mountains Our lock-tight identities due for game-changing transformation Here and now time to exhale We’re all one No human illegal Mexicans, Guatemalans, whoever else is out there Let them come, let them swarm over Gringostan’s border What are we afraid of, that they’ll find out what we’re really like? Afraid they’ll compromise the American way of life? But what is the American way of life? Everything for sale Every last one of us prostitutes, hustling something Methamphetamine trailers lighting up the high plains night Strip malls from sea to shining sea All for another slice of virtual pizza While the other nation-states are busy copying us But these campesinos Why are they stampeding across our borders? If their local, village-based mode of survival Were still functioning after corporate capital’s depradations After the bait-and-switch called Free Trade After the drug violence fueled by our cocaine habit Do you really believe they’d leave families and ancestral lands For a life of drudgery in the icy heart of the North? Can you imagine what those who’ve risked their lives To cross the border are thinking As they clean our toilets and mow the lawns Outside our cheesy McMansions While we sprawl in the family room Sucking up doses of radiation from our plasma screens? Hey, that’s not me, man: I’m not watching TV. I’m fixated on my new iPad. I’m pecking away at my Blackberry, dude. I’m cheering myself hoarse for the home team while the world burns... What if, on the contrary, these campesinos secretly envy us What if they want their deracinated children To grow into big-time consumers just like us? What if they can’t wait until their children Turn into dark-skinned versions of our tight white selves? Dios Mio... And democracy, our claim to fame Time for a reality check We don’t live in a democracy Voting means getting lost in make-believe As soon as more than ten thousand people are involved Approximate size of the polis in ancient Greece Where citizens encountered one another face to face Knew their strengths and foibles Knew the skeletons in their closets Their families and ancestors Whereas in modern mega-states Do we know who represents us? Fantasies concocted by spin doctors and handlers If you doubt it (and have enough pull) Approach the leader of any nation-state It doesn’t matter what their politics are The only question is How deep into trance is this person? Wave your hand in front of the face Watch the eyes light up When you say you’ll vote for it Watch the eyes go cold When you say you won’t Only local democracy is real When allowed to function, that is Living democracy of community movements Farmers in Africa planting trees on barren land Cooperative ventures worldwide While left and right, socialist and capitalist Two sides of the same grabby coin Solidifying the delusion that we get somewhere Only at the expense of others And—haven’t you noticed?—the game is never won Over the centuries always a sense Of impending emergency, of corruption and betrayal The open field of existence Tricked into gigantic hoardings of mine and yours The question is Do we have what it takes to clear the deck And work out a new way of life The planet is calling to us in a voice louder than politics Sweeter than vested interests Can you hear her? She’s asking for change That’s the only reason astronauts were allowed up in space To see a global intelligence unfolding A vast gathering of ecologies One flowing into the next Rivers and mountains without end To see that we’re all one Humans and plants, animals and spirits, sky and ocean No more nation-states No more patriotism Try it, you’ll like it MIchael Brownstein http://www.realitysandwich.com/lets_burn_flags_all_nations Edited January 25, 2011 by Ulises Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted January 25, 2011 Many years ago I read some of Albert Camus' work and he wrote on the concept of 'cosmopolitan'. I really like the idea. I had just retired from the Army so my mind was liberated to intertain thoughts such as that. I have often stated that I am a proud American. I don't feel bad saying it. But I would much rather be able to say I am just a person of the world. One world is a beautiful concept. Perhaps one day it will be. I am sure I will never see it. It is still much too far in the future if it ever does happen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ulises Posted January 26, 2011 (edited) Many years ago I read some of Albert Camus' work and he wrote on the concept of 'cosmopolitan'. I really like the idea. I had just retired from the Army so my mind was liberated to intertain thoughts such as that. I have often stated that I am a proud American. I don't feel bad saying it. But I would much rather be able to say I am just a person of the world. One world is a beautiful concept. Perhaps one day it will be. I am sure I will never see it. It is still much too far in the future if it ever does happen. I hear you. I feel more and more in love with the mystery of who we are..of course I have and honor my ancestry, but I feel more and more a human animal, a ecstatic terran,more interested in: "The most ancient Eurasian mystical traditions achieving a state of Communion that discloses the true, single nature of all animate and inanimate entities veiled by the illusion of inherent multiplicity—including Indian Shaivism, Himalayan Bön, Chinese Taoism, Persian Zurvanism, the Egyptian cult of Osiris and the Greek Dionysian mysteries.." from Capriles, E., (enero 2007 ), “From Primal to Postmodern Ecommunism.” http://webdelprofesor.ula.ve/humanidades/elicap/en/Main/BookChapters Edited January 26, 2011 by Ulises Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pennyofheaven Posted January 26, 2011 A spiritual classic to be retrieved. Kindred spirit with Taoism... "I believe that most of what was said of God was in reality said of that Spirit whose body is Earth." "It was an excitement of spirit for one born in a little country town in Ireland to find the circle of being widened so that life seemed to dilate into a paradise of beautiful memories, and to reach to past ages and to mix with the eternal consciousness of Earth, and when we come on what is new we pause to contemplate it, and do not ...hurry to the end of our journey. The instances of earth memories given here are trivial in themselves, and they are chosen, not because they are in any way wonderful, but rather because they are like things many people see, and so they may more readily follow my argument. The fact that Earth holds such memories is itself important, for once we discover this imperishable tablet, we are led to speculate whether in the future a training in seership might not lead to a revolution in human knowledge." AE Russell http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cov/cov10.htm Nice! Thank you Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted January 26, 2011 [media] Well, if there ever is an end, and there will be, there will be a new beginning. I do hold to the Taoist concept of cycles. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ulises Posted January 26, 2011 (edited) I feel more and more that we are - as a species - trough a deep cognitive change. http://kingsleydennis.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/quantum-consciousness-3-hyper-communication-quantum-states/ http://kingsleydennis.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/quantum-consciousness-4-evolutionary-agents-%E2%80%93-our-next-quantum-leap/ The mind-expanding, heart-opening effects of just one gathering with Tim Freke keep rippling in my everyday life.. I hope there will be more midwifes like him facilitating the re-birth of planetary citizens living from the Heart... Edited January 26, 2011 by Ulises Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted January 26, 2011 Yep. Oneness is the underlying principle that stands firm even during our darkest hours, and our most extreme differences. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ulises Posted January 27, 2011 yeah! A web of awakening... A big hug, brother Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted January 27, 2011 yeah! A web of awakening... A big hug, brother See? It is still happening today. All is not lost. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
