The Alternative View

 Who wrote that namby-pamby Blog yesterday!  

Walking in the world with acts of kindness and compassion…  

We are all One…

What a load of crap! 

What is he thinking…  

Feels more like a War out there!  

People are protesting and plotting against each other… 

Calling each other Demons and Deplorables… 

People are suffering…  

The prices of everything are going up… 

Have you seen the prices of groceries and gas!!!

Real wages are down…  

Who has time for contemplation…

We are just trying to survive here… 

That guy just makes me angry!  

Both these individuals live inside…  

This Ego contains multitudes…  

Yes, I absolutely agree with voting out the GOP…

We need both House and Senate, then we can impeach Drumph and then the little V…   

But I also worry about the Democrats…  

With the rising antisemitism within the Democratic party, and the rabid hatred of the those that do not believe in their perhaps radical progressive politics…  

I do not see a way to reconcile these groups more toward a compassionate center…  

I do not see a rational middle ground of respect for each side… 

I found these two articles in this last issue of the Atlantic of August 2026 to be incredibly fascinating.   

The first one entitled:   “The Demons of Maryville” by Stephanie McCrummen, tells the tale of a married couple of “charismatic Christians” who moved to this small town and founded a church that moved to a storefront nearby a liberal bookstore, and started accusing the bookstore owner of demonism, the author was using this story as an illustration of a wider movement of Christian sects seeing widespread satanic activity and needing to engage in spiritual warfare(!)   A subtext that I noticed was of many individuals falling into trance states and hearing the voice of G-d and having feeling of great peace.  Perhaps a similar mind state as those seeking contemplation and arriving to a place of feeling we are all One, but instead arriving at a very different destination where they know evil where they see it, and feeling these other people need to be saved or destroyed…  

Horrifying…  

The second article:  “The Slave Ship and the Mayflower: Can the story of America be told by two vessels?” by James Traub, is a review of a new book by David S. Reynolds.  Mentions the book Albion’s Seed, documenting 4 British cultures, Puritan, Cavalier, Quaker, and Scotch-Irish, seeding the new world and resulting in 4 different American cultures often at odds with each other.  Reynolds argues that there were only 2 lineages, the Puritans arriving on the Mayflower and the Cavaliers arriving on the slave ship the White Lion.  Traub writes “…Reynolds contrasts his two on ideological and ultimately moral grounds.  He presents American history as a perpetual struggle between a Puritan North dedicated to liberty and equality and a Cavalier South predicated on hierarchy and domination.”  Ultimately Traub does not buy Reynolds’ thesis.  

Nonetheless, even if the origin story is untrue, there still seems to be a growing divide in America.  Perhaps not quite as black and white as Reynolds presents.  

As a self-designated Heretic, I must take up a multitude of sides, depending on the day and my mood swings, somedays I just like taking up those sides that might seem to be most unpleasant.    

Unfortunately, it seems as though all these various groups wish to do is shake up the System, because they are all unhappy…  

Yet, for me in the end, as my friend once said about his psychedelic work, “I just really want Unicorns and Rainbows for everybody…”  

So, what are the steps we can take to be more of one family, how can we take steps to sit down with one another and hammer out peaceful solutions, so we can work together for a common good?  

I do not know the answers…  

I am hoping there may arise leaders that can bring both sides together… 

Those that might stop the labeling of people as Demons and Deplorables… 

Those who might help us see that we are all in the same Lifeboat…  

Bringing us more together over time…  

Namaste

Why is enlightenment so difficult?

More observations and questions than answers…

Personal observations, not necessarily Truths:  

We are all part of The One… 

Source…

The Ego helps us to survive, by differing ourselves from Source, creating a self.  

Billions of selves…  

To paraphrase Ken Wilber:  “Because is it less fun having dinner alone…”  

Most individuals are not interested in seeing any further than the small self…  

Some of us are compelled to contemplation, to attempt seeing Truth. 

This contemplation may allow us to see through this Ego.  

Initially seeing through this Ego can be very painful… 

Like being torn asunder…  

Has been described as swallowing a red-hot ball of iron…  

The pain passes…  

Perhaps a great sense of peace arises… 

A sense of resting within Source.  

Many methods…

https://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2013/04/enlightenment-part-5-final-secret.html

After contemplation… 

The Ego spontaneously reforms.  

But, with time spent in contemplation, we see the ephemeral nature of this Ego…

Constantly changing and morphing…

Realizing this Ego is only a construct of this Mind-Body.  

Keeping a toe dipped in Source, during daily living…  

Resting in Source, perhaps arises a feeling that everything is One Thing…

If we are all one, compassion for all arises…

Everyone is in your family…

We can put on this comfortable coat of Ego, and walk in this world with compassion…  

Humans may not be the only beings on this Earth that rest within Source…

Perhaps the whales consciously rest in Source…  

All living beings rest in Source, likely in deep dreamless sleep…  

Animals that are forced into states without sleep, they die…  

Resting in Source unconsciously, may be a requirement for living…

Resting in Source, in the conscious state, may be healing…  

Making the unconscious now conscious, is often healing…  

Perhaps Source needs us as well…  

We are the sensory organs of Source…  

We are also the hands of Source…  

We can put on this Ego overcoat and walk in the world… 

Performing good deeds, actions of kindness and compassion…  

It is a privilege to be incarnated…  

We can feel when we are aligned with Source…   

Check in with your own questions and observations…  

Check in with your own truths…  Are they Truths?  

Namaste

Religion and Rebellion

My wife was sitting on her meditation cushion last night before bed and reading one of our myriad books on spirituality, this one was: “Food for the Heart:  The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah.”  

We were discussing various ways of holding the Buddhist teachings around “The 4 Noble Truths” and the 4th Truth which is “The 8-Fold Way.”  

https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/understanding-the-four-noble-truths-and-walking-the-noble-eightfold-path/

An interesting note that I did not realize is that “The 4 Noble Truths” are a spiritual guidance in the form of a classical Ayurvedic medical prescription!  

I usually think about Buddhist writings and teachings as, in its purest form, not a religion, instead as a logical unfolding of a method of living that results in continued growth on the evolutionary scale.  

https://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2013/02/just-stranger-in-strange-land-part-2.html

Unfortunately, humans tend turn stuff into religions…    

Buddhism seems, at least in part, to be a rebellion against the then Hindu caste system that taught that only the Brahmin can become enlightened.  

Perhaps in parallel of religious rebellions, Jesus’ rebelling against the then Jewish elite, Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation, I am no religious scholar, but I’m sure that list goes on and on...      

I did some internet searching about origins of religions, interesting reading on the varying interactions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, in China, and how leaders would pick and choose amongst the various religions to support what they wanted to do.  Also interesting readings on how Buddhism had to merge with Shintoism in Japan.  

That brought me to this Blog, and asking what is the next religious rebellion?  

I do see the Humanistic Psychology movement as a modern form of religion in rebellion against current religions:  

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-lifespandevelopment/chapter/the-humanistic-perspective/

In 2015 I proposed a new religion based on the works of Ken Wilber, see a bunch of my posts from 2015:  

https://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2015/05/integral-new-religion.html

https://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-church-of-integralism-three-basic.html

No small amount of sarcasm is contained in my Blog postings, yet perhaps, some deep truths as well…  

And I like to repeat my 3 Commandments whenever I get the chance…   

https://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-second-commandment-love-everything.html

As I say, I am no guru, I propose ideas for people to examine, or not…  

Up to you to make up your own damn minds about what is True and important for your own path, or no path at all…  

I have only one job…

… being the Heretic!  

Namaste

Merry Christmas!

Never thought I would write those words…  

When I was young, Xmas was an anathema to me. 

I am a child of parents who survived the Jewish Holocaust.  

They lived through horrible times…  

Yet, they had good childhoods.  

My mom’s father owned a bookstore; she grew up immersed in books and learning.  

My dad’s father owned a candle making factory, sold much of their wares to churches.  

Both families were well off.  

When Germany invaded Poland in 1939 my father was about 30 and my mother was about 16.  

Growing up I heard tales of other bad times for the Jews, way before the Nazis, times of pogroms, often initiated during the Christian holidays…  

Hence, I associated Xmas with a history of horror for my Jewish ancestors.    

My mom had a distain for all religions…  

She grew up in a nonreligious Jewish home.  She spoke of her family as Bundists, Jewish Socialists.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundism

She was well read, I remember she had on her bookshelf:  The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Eric Hoffer (1951).  And she spoke about the fanaticism of religions.   

My father grew up in a religious family, probably Orthodox Jewish.  In the US, as I remember it, my father only went to High Holy Days services at the local Synagogue.  

My sister and I were brought up in between these 2, I was sent to a Conservative Jewish Hebrew school at my father’s Synagogue, to become a Bar Mitzvah.   My sister had some training at a different Synagogue, however, did not become a Bat Mitzvah.   

I hated Hebrew School, barely made it through my Bar Mitzvah.  

When I was quite young, I asked my mother if she believed in G-d?  She answered (paraphrasing here):  “How can I believe in G-d, when such an atrocity such as the Jewish Holocaust could happen?”  

So, I adopted my mother’s religion, Atheism.  

Starting on my road to being a Heretic!   

I was not exposed to much antisemitism, I grew up in a town that was about 50% Jewish.  

In high school I ran into a young Jewish woman who became a “Jew for Jesus,” her insistent proselytizing gave me my first experience of speaking to a fanatic, I quickly realized there was no dialog or conversation that could occur.  

Over time my scientific mind, wanting to learn everything about everything, lead me to look more deeply into my own beliefs.  

Reading Huston Smith, The World's Religions, outlining the mysticism at the core of all religions, and later Ken Wilber, led me to explore mysticism in more depth.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huston_Smith

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Wilber

When asked about my religion, I would say, “I am an atheist, and when I am feeling religious, I am an agnostic.”  

 23 years ago, I met my life partner, now wife, who grew up as mostly as an atheist, who then had a desire to explore many religions.   

When I asked her about her religion, she said:  “I believe in all religions.”  

She celebrated Christmas as a winter celebration, not as a Christian holiday.  

So, I celebrated with her.  

She sings the blessings with me as we light the Hannukah candles.  

My sister and my kids are all with non-Jewish partners, so they all celebrate Xmas, but none are religious.  

And I like that so many famous Xmas songs were written by Jews:  

https://www.kveller.com/11-iconic-christmas-songs-that-were-written-by-jews/

And Jesus was a Jew, probably named Joshua.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus

Probably, he was a religious Jew, i.e., following the Jewish laws, eating kosher, etc.:  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halakha

However, he was a Heretic, rebelling against the Jewish elite of his time, preaching love and compassion.  

Culturally I am Jewish, therefore, I do not believe that Joshua was the Messiah.  

However, I can accept him as a fellow Heretic Teacher.  

And as a Jew I can enjoy Xmas, as an extra day off, to hike and maybe eat Chinese food, watch a movie…  

I can enjoy others enjoying Xmas…  

And just to get Political, I can observe how the MAGA movement is so unlike those following the purported teachings of Jesus.  

“A FAITH HIJACKED BY HATE: WHY MAGA CHRISTIANS ARE A CULT OF POWER DISGUISED AS RELIGION” 

https://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/editorial/faith-hijacked-hate-maga-christians-cult-power-disguised-religion/

Would I have followed Joshua in biblical times?

Probably not, I would likely be my own heretic, and still unknown…  

That is probably why one of my favorite movies is Monty Python’s Life of Brian:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python%27s_Life_of_Brian

And maybe I just chose a good movie to watch on Xmas!  

To all who celebrate have a very Merry Christmas!”  

And to all that do not celebrate Xmas, enjoy this day, and each and every day, as a celebration of life!  

Namaste  

Mean Bullies vs Honorable Servants

A very interesting set of articles in The Atlantic of Nov 2025 “The Unfinished Revolution,” commemorating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.  

Importantly, also contrasting the origins of our country to our current unfortunate administration…  

No, the founders were not without their faults, and these are also highlighted…

In one article I heavily underlined passages, that written by David Brooks, “The Rising,” subtitled “The country needs a mass social movement – now – to save itself from autocracy.”  

He writes that we Americans, do not understand the risk of the Drumph administration…  

Brooks writes, on page 140:  “Populists and Progressives need each other - and still do.  Without populists, progressives can turn into a bunch of affluent, out-of-touch urbanites who have little in common with regular Americans.  Without progressives, populists can turn into anti-intellectual, paranoid bigots.  The progressive valorizing of cultural diversity is balanced by populists’ emphasis on cultural cohesion.”   

He argues, since Americans have a 2-week attention span, we “need to stage a series of two-week mini-dramas, each with high-stakes confrontations and surprises.”   And, citing Alinsky’s 13 “Rules for Radicals” adds, “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.”  

I won’t outline his whole article; you can read it if you have access…  

I am not sure Americans have a taste for sustained repeated protests…  

And the protests seem to be arising from the college-educated elite, not from the working-class people most affected by the erosions of healthcare and economic growth, with the clear transfer of wealth from the lower classes to the upper classes…  

Have we as a nation stagnated, losing ourselves in sycophantic and addictive social media and AI “black holes,” sucking away our attention…  

The progressives have written that they want to highlight “Kindness,” as an alternative to the Meanness of this administration.  

What came up for me in reading this article was the lack of Honor in this administration, I keep a quote from a fantasy novel, Kagen the Damned, page 154, where he lists characteristics for warriors to have:  Honor, Compassion, Loyalty, Honesty, Benevolence.    

My view of the trickle-down values from this Administration is we all should be Mean Bullies… 

Bullying may arise from:  Emotional trauma, insecurity, have been bullied, poor social skills, feel anonymous, lack empathy…  

https://www.verywellmind.com/common-reasons-why-people-bully-5496259

Wow, wonder who that describes?  

Seems to me to be the exact opposite of Servant Leadership… 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbooksauthors/2025/12/02/is-servant-leadership-dead/

When I Google “Honorable Servants,” I get a lot of Christian junk…  

I am hoping that enough of the working class will realize this country is being run by Mean Bullies who do not have their best interests in mind…  

What I would like to see is a return of Honorable Servants to lead our country…  

They are out there, these Honorable Servants, and they need to tie together both Populist and Progressive ideas, and sell these to the people of all classes…  

We shall see if our country will continue a stagnated downslide into authoritarianism versus a return to Democratic Republican values…  

The midterm elections are arriving soon…  

Taking The Thousand Year View

I have written about this before:  

https://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-second-commandment-love-everything.html

I came across this picture on CrackBook:  

It struck a note with me… 

An illustration of how little time humans have been on this Earth.  

In this time of fear and chaos…  

To realize how primitive we still are…  

A terribly young species, us Homo sapiens…  

This illustration shows us the age of the Earth superimposed on a clock face of 24 hours.  

First life, as bacteria, appearing at 8:00 hours…  

First plant life, as green algae, appearing at 18:40 hours…  

First fish at 21:20 hours…  

First land plants at 21:36 hours…  

First dinosaurs at 22:47 hours…  

First mammals at 22:56 hours…  

Dinosaur extinction at 23:40:48 hours…  

First Homo species, Homo habilis, at 23:59:12 hours…  

First Homo sapiens at 23:59:56 hours…  

We appear on this Earth at about 4 seconds, on this clock of the age of this Earth of about 4.6 billion years…  

The age of the Universe is estimated at 14 billion years…  

It is estimated that the Earth will be uninhabitable in 1.3 billion years, due to the changes in our Sun, that is if we do not make the Earth uninhabitable before then by our own hands…   

Homo habilis evolved from our more ape-like ancestors about 3 million years ago…  

Homo sapiens evolved from our more primitive ancestors only about 300,000 years ago… 

We were hunter gatherers until about 12.000 years ago…  

The first City-States arose about 4,000 years ago…  

So, if we can avoid making the planet uninhabitable for humans by our own blunderings, we have about a billion years or so to evolve…  

I like to think we, as a species, could, at least socially, evolve…  

Maybe even physically evolve…  

I know, what an eternal optimist!  

For me, taking the 1,000-year view, or even the 10,000- or 100,000-year view, maybe even the 1-million-year view, gives me the perspective of coming so far from our early roots as hunter gatherers…  

Humans slowly exploring the near and the far, the small and the large, uncovering the secrets of the Universe, discovering ways to keep us healthy, building libraries, passing on knowledge to the next generations, for them to build upon…  

Today’s Blog is about seeing vastly forward into the future…  

With hope for a slow evolution toward a society that takes care of all individuals…

Namaste

Miracle

OK, enough hand wringing.  

Time to speak about Joy!  

I tend to get “ear worms,” you know, those songs that catch you and play over an over in your head.  

Yesterday, just before going out for my bike ride, it was The Joker, Steve Miller band, I caught a few bars someone was playing on the radio, pretty much played most of the whole 30 miles, 2 hours and 13 minutes, somewhat on and off.   

This morning was Miracles, Jefferson Starship, don’t recall how that one came up.  

I don’t always remember all the lyrics; sometimes I must look them up. 

Ear worms bother some people, I don’t mind them.  I do not listen to music when bike riding outside, I also like to listen to the sounds of the world, this time of the season the birds are so vocal, wonderful!  

I also like to look around, take in the budding trees and bushes, seeing the spring flowers.  

I also enjoy looking at the cars and buildings, old crumbling buildings and fresh new buildings in progress…  

I am a bit of a car guy, as teenagers, my friend Neil and I, would try to identify all the cars on the road, make, model, and year, I still try to keep up…  

Neil was always more knowledgeable than I, probably still is…  

This morning, I was perusing an article from The Atlantic, Five Joyful Ways To Spend Time Online, collected 5 writers’ recommendations, I resonated with none of them!  

I suspect that they are all younger than my kids and my wife’s kids, all 37 and older, but older than my grandkids…  

I usually start my day reading the New York Times online, at least perusing the “The Morning” and “Today’s Headlines,” if I don’t have to go to work, Wed-Fri, or have something pending early I might open a few articles to read completely.  Today there is an article in The NYT Magazine on ADHD, I might try to get a copy in print to read.  

I usually stretch out and do some lightweight strengthening exercises, almost every morning for about 20 minutes…  

Much of my days I spend reading, novels, I have several magazine subscriptions, I like print!  

I usually have a few projects to attend, astronomy, ham radio, loading ammo, projects around the house, there is always stuff to organize…  

Sometimes I play with our dog, or he needs a walk, or my wife and I take him for a longer hike.  He is older now and does not require as much attention, more time to think and Blog!  

If I don’t go for a hike or bike ride during the day, before dinner, I try to work out for 1.5 hours or so every other day, indoors, some karate bag work, light weights, 10 minutes on the rower, then an hour on the elliptical usually watching a silly or violent action movie or show, then shower.  

When out, or at home, I try to take time to notice…  

I’ll look through the windows, step outside to look around at what is growing, do some house inspections…  

I’ll put down what I am reading and just contemplate…  

So, from that song playing in my head with the line; “If only you believe in miracles…”  

I started thinking about miracles this morning…  

Merriam-Webster online defines Miracle as: 

1: An extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs

the healing miracles described in the Gospels.  

2: An extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment

The bridge is a miracle of engineering.

3: Christian Science : a divinely natural phenomenon experienced humanly as the fulfillment of spiritual law.  

I like to think about everyday miracles…  

When taking time to contemplate, I see that everything is a miracle!  

Just being alive is a miracle, yes, there is horrible suffering in the world, but that subject is for another day…  

Today’s Blog is for looking at everything with Awe, Wonder, Joy…  

I will refer to the Third Commandment:  Have fun!  

https://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-third-commandment-enjoy-yourself.html  

(As an aside, a Google search for my Blog no longer finds my Blog, even though it is on Google Blogger!  I have switched to Duck-Duck-Go!)  

I have written before about how our eyesight, our brain’s connection to our eyes is such a miracle:  

https://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2022/04/seeing.html 

So, those 20-30 year olds in that The Atlantic article found Joy doing certain things online, things that have absolutely no interest for me…   

Wonderful!

Everyone can find their own ways into a joyful life!  

This morning, I am writing this meandering Blog to encourage you to stop, and notice, perhaps drop all the stories you have running in your head, perhaps look so intently, that even your ear worms drop away, look at yourself and at everything around you with fresh eyes, with “Beginner’s Mind,” as the Zen Buddhists would say…  

Look closely at this life you have been given…  

Maybe you do not like everything about your life…  

Then contemplate how can you take that first step toward greater Love for this one life you have been given…  

Perhaps, even a tiny step in another direction…  

Any step toward greater Awe, Wonder, Joy, Love, Compassion, is a sacred step…  

Each step you take is an Everyday Miracle…  

Namaste