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3.24.2004
Thursday, March 25, 2004
This is from Jack Kornfield's book, "The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace." Click on the radiating icon to listen.
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Wednesday, March 24, 2004
"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence." Albert Einstein
3.23.2004
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Today's my little God-son Max's birthday. He's three.
I wonder what kind of world it will be in forty years, when he's my age. I know what kind of world it will be if we let the forces of darkness and fear prevail. It will be a world designed to address as many fears as world resources can afford. It will probably be a largely militarized world, similar to those futuristic projections we have seen in movies like Minority Report and Blade Runner - a dark world full of paranoia and espionage and state oversight of our every movement. People will have GPS transmitters inserted under their skin. We magnetize what we think, and if you notice, most of our movies are magnetic. We imagine them and then we start to create them. Most of our movies also predict a very heavy techno-violence world. Independence Day. Terminator. For God's sake we elected the guy that's the central figure of those films. How much more could we be asking for it?
But it is also possible that Max and the other children could grow up in an entirely different world. A world of flowers and compassion and peaceful cooperation. A world without weapons. A world without need for prisons. A world of inner peace and insight. A world of peaceful technological splendor, with little yellow hovercraft buzzing around and lots of leisure time for everyone to read holographic books and ride jet skis that submerge the surface of the oceans so we can swim with the dolphins. A world where no child is abandoned to foster care for the rest of their lives. Where no children die of hunger or AIDS. Where humility reigns supreme, where the psychological disorders of our manic society have given way to serenity. A world where women lead nations. A world where the inner city is as productive and vibrant as the outer city.
Maybe Max can teach school via video conference to children in Bangladesh. Or maybe he can be an astronaut that walks on the surface of Jupiter. For sure he can be happy. Maybe Max's generation can be the one that looks back on the savagery of the first two millennia of recorded time and offer great prayers of gratitude that finally humanity chose possibility and life and light and enthusiasm over fear and paranoia. And maybe we can be the generation to which he is grateful.
This is the scenario we must begin to imagine, and to design, and to bring into being. America deserves so much more imagination than we are being offered right now. President Bush says he is an optimist. With all due respect, he has no idea what optimism really is. He seems to live in a world of paranoia. He offers us no fantastic vision. A fantastic vision is what will lead this nation once again to greatness. Not the greatness of military might, but the greatness of a true vision. This is optimism. Optimism is the world of Willie Wonka. And courage is the willingness to begin to build it.
Max's parents are a gay couple. That's a nice start toward the world of our dreams. Their courage in building a new kind of family is the same kind of courage it will take to build a new kind of world. There's not a one of us who wouldn't do anything for our children, or for the children of our loved ones. Maybe in addition to some cool toys, we should all dedicate ourselves to getting them a healthy world in which to grow and prosper. Because it is absolutely every bit as possible as our ability to get them cool toys. Let us not allow anyone to tell us otherwise.
3.22.2004
Monday, March 22, 2004
Read this brilliant, brilliant thought yesterday from George Bernard Shaw: "All great truths begin as blasphemies."
So here's a blasphemy for today: We don't need a defense department. And we'd be better off without one.
Imagine what they'd do with that line of I ever tried to run for office. That's why I don't want to run for office - because you can't speak the truth without being run out of town on a rail. But that doesn't mean it isn't the truth. It is by God, and a lot of us know it, and one day the world will live in joy and know it too.
Sunday, March 21, 2004
Have also been reading a little book of excerpts of Norman Vincent Peale. Ever read him? Very sharp and motivating stuff. He writes a great deal about the chatter inside of our heads and how important it is to regulate it and make sure we're not giving air time to self-destructive thoughts. This is what the zen masters call "monkeymind," or "small mind," as opposed to big mind. It's amazing how much our happiness on a day by day basis comes down to what we are saying to ourselves. No one talks to us as much as we talk to ourselves - no one else even comes close. If all that talking is negative, imagine the impact it has on our spirits.
Here are a couple of his excerpts:
"While fear thoughts can destroy creative capacity, and bring to pass things that are constantly feared, faith and positivism can create and develop."
"We are not meant to be worms crawling defeated in the presence of a difficult situation. We are women, men, children of God who can take charge of our thoughts and do what we will with them."
Both by Norman Vincent Peale
Try to practice today saying "no" to the harmful thoughts and self-talk that want an hour of your time. Re-affirm how magnificent you are and know that with faith all the great dreams of your life can and will come to pass. Be good to yourself. Be really good to yourself. That's what makes God happy. That's what will lead to world peace.
Saturday, March 20, 2004
Finally started reading "Illusions" again. In the "Messiah's Handbook and Reminders for the Advanced Soul," a little bible for masters that Don Shimoda has in his tool bag in the book, the following "A cloud does not know why it moves in such a direction and at such a speed. It feels an impulsion...this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reasons and patterns behind all clouds, and you will know too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons." Richard Bach, Illusions
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