We are too Advanced to have Simple Slogans!

Yes, that is my new slogan… 

Reading recently in ”The Week,” how the Democrats do not have a compelling message… 

Compared to the Republicans… 

Who seem to be totally behind the simple, and mostly false, slogans of Drumpf… 

Democrats do not have convincing slogans… 

My contention is… 

You cannot have convincing slogans, when the issues are so complicated…   

There is nothing simple about immigration, racism, our economy, international wars, atrocities, trade… 

We seem to be a country divided in half… 

Actually according to an October 2018 Gallup poll:  

Republicans 28%, Democrats 30%, and Independents 39%.   

This is not much change since 2004…  

And… 

Republicans + Republican leaners 40% and Democrats + Democratic leaners 48%

(2004, 48% and 46%, respectively…)

https://news.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx

Yes, Drumpf lost the popular vote, yet is president… 

Blame it on the Electoral College… 

If you want to get into the argument of whether these United States are a Republic or a Democracy, read here:

https://fee.org/articles/democracy-or-republic/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/05/13/is-the-united-states-of-america-a-republic-or-a-democracy/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.bc11f042895d

As I have said before “every one is doing the best they can…” 

http://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2016/10/this-most-precious-gift.html

So my slogan:  “We are too Advanced to have Simple Slogans!” 

Is a paradox… 

Truth is best held within paradox… 

So, yes, I believe everyone is doing the best they can… 

That does not mean we cannot change… 

That does not mean we cannot change the world… 

Right here, right now, really what I am trying to do is ---    

 

I am trying to influence each and every one of you to get out there and VOTE!!!!! 

Vote for peace, hope, compassion… 

That is me trying to influence you… 

Without idiot compassion… 

http://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-second-commandment-love-everything_20.html

About 60% of the US population votes in presidential elections, 40% in mid-year elections… 

Way below most European counties… 

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/21/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developed-countries/

Step up to the plate people!

Vote! Vote! Vote!

But, only once… 

Namaste

Riding your Genes, Surrendering to Source

I think the conversation with my wife started with, “Are you a slave to your hormones?”

That was in reference to that I seem to be always ready to make love with her. 

I replied, “No, I ride my hormones.”

“So, you are driven by your hormones.”

“No, I ride my hormones.  I desire to make love to you, but only when you are ready.”   

I think the rest of the conversation, after that, continued in my own head. 

Sexual desire can be used as a form of energy. 

I love women. 

I have always said that beautiful women are a dime a dozen… 

Walk down any busy street, outwardly beautiful women are common. 

Now, inwardly beautiful women…  that is a different story. 

One thing that I have observed is the most beautiful women I have met, inwardly and outwardly beautiful, were not always outwardly beautiful. 

Often, early on, growing up, they did not feel beautiful. 

Then when they grew into their outward beauty, they remained inwardly beautiful…    

I read somewhere that when men see a beautiful woman, their brains light up in the same place that lights up when they use cocaine. 

I believe that is true. 

That is a jolt of energy to the brain body… 

The question then arises of what do you do with that energy? 

 

Do you chase that beautiful object? 

Or do you bring that energy back to other things in your life?

You can bring that sexual energy back to your partner. 

You can bring that energy to anything you do. 

I am, mostly, the master of my genetic tendencies. 

If I was not the master, if I was driven and a slave to my hormones, then my actions would be that I would have sex with others without discrimination.  As many do, having sex with whoever is available.   I have never had an affair. 

I sometimes give in to my tendency to buy too many things.  I am future oriented, and I am a Seven on the enneagram.  I fantasize about all the fun I will have with the stuff I buy! 

How do we choose what do with our energy?

Many of us are driven by our genes and hormones…  

Many of us are driven by advertisements and social media... 

Many of us are addicted…   to drugs, shopping, work… 

Sometimes even to exercise and meditation… 

By addiction, I mean that what we spend our time doing is, overall, long-term, not good for us personally, or good for the people around us, or for society in general… 

By addiction, I mean that we are not in control, and we feel that we are drowning… 

Now, there is evidence that we are never really in control… 

Our Egos only think we are in control… 

 

The question is who is in control? 

My argument here is that you can be driven by outward stimuli, that often is not in your best long-term interest… 

Conversely, you can listen to the deep inward wisdom that is present in each of us… 

Yes, each and every one of you has a deep inward wisdom… 

You just have to cut through all the noise… 

For me, I have to get quiet… 

I have to get away from work, social media, my computer, my smart phone, television, and usually even music… 

You do not have to do formal meditation, but that is often a helpful way to start… 

So, in the end, the little “i,” my Ego, is not the Master… 

The big “I,” Source is the Master… 

Learn to listen to your inner wisdom… 

Let life flow…   beautifully… 

Namaste

Response from my wife...

Interesting to consider origins of words: 

Old Norse raptr ‘rafter,’ late Middle English (in the sense ‘beam, rafter’): The verb dates from the late 17th century.

Prior to 19th century Raff (perhaps Scandanavian dialect)= abundance;

In English became "raft"=floating mass

So, how do we get from a single entity, solid and supportive

To Abundance

And then become a floating mass??

I think perhaps all of existence is a floating mass, everything-that-is

In relationship (to other humans, other entities, sentient beings, objects, time), there are endless possibilities: abundance!

Each of us, a single raft is a solid and supportive beam of existence, supporting all the rest...

Indra's net, perhaps?

Larger Rafts?

Please read yesterday’s blog first… 

 

Can we extend this metaphor further?

There are certainly rafts of friends, families, and other small groups… 

Are there rafts of local communities, countries, our world, the Cosmos?

How might these differ from individual rafts, and intimate relationship rafts?

Seems that the rafts get looser with increasing numbers of rafts… 

For me, the most important part of this metaphor… 

Is that we are all connected together… 

More loosely, the larger the raft… 

But still connected… 

Perhaps, by contemplating this connection… 

We may become more compassionate toward each other… 

 

Perhaps, with some “deconstructing practices”… 

Even realizing…  

At the core of being… 

There is no Other… 

The Raft of Relationship

I like metaphors… 

Perhaps, because I tend to think in pictures. 

I was thinking about my current intimate relationship (amazing and fantastic)…

And comparing to past relationships… 

Wondering what makes a great relationship… 

The picture in my mind was of 2 strongly built, solid rafts, coming together… 

Perhaps, in the beginning, the 2 rafts take time to examine their interactions, their shapes and compatibilities. 

And contemplate their differences… 

If things seem compatible, they may try to weave their rafts together. 

To see what that looks like… 

What that feels like… 

How smooth does this new combined raft sail… 

What happens when the financial, or other relationship, waters get rough? 

Over time, the 2 rafts may want to change the way they are bound together.

Things change after 5, 10, 20 years… 

Finances change, jobs may change, children grow up, move out… 

Change is the only thing you can count on, along with death and taxes… 

I’ve written before about Conscious Relationship (and see parts 2-5!): 

http://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2013/03/conscious-relationship.html

In this current metaphor, the strength of the initial individual rafts… 

Rises up in importance… 

What are the practices that you have done to become a strong independent raft? 

I’ve also written about methods of self-growth can be like a boat to get you to the next level, and than leaving that boat behind, to take the next path to another higher level:

http://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2013/03/carrying-ocean-around-carrying-source.html

Is it important to use practices that deconstruct the individual raft of personality?

http://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2014/01/deconstruction-and-reconstruction-of.html

Perhaps as said in the words of Adyashanti:

"This teaching is not so much a raft to carry you to enlightenment as it is a fire to ignite the raft you are now holding on to."

http://www.awaken.com/2012/10/adyashanti/

Perhaps we need to burn up our rafts on a regular basis, so that when our rafts spontaneously reassemble themselves…

They may leave out parts that no longer serve us… 

Perhaps these practices may allow our rafts of relationship to come together in new and stronger ways… 

Of course, there is always some risk that your new stronger raft no longer fits into that previous raft relationship… 

I am lucky, my wife and I are on the same page about looking deeply inside… 

Traveling in a variety of boats, often together, sometimes separately… 

Yes, this carries risks… 

 We spend time building stronger individual rafts… 

And a continuously stronger raft of relationship… 

Again, our boats may not be your boats, our rafts may not be your rafts… 

Each of you are a beautiful incarnation of Source… 

If you choose to raft-up with another, you have to find your own ways of weaving your rafts together… 

May it be beautiful… 

Namaste

Shaking Things Up

Another interesting conversation with my wife. 

Physics and philosophy… 

The subject of washboard roads came up. 

 

I was wondering if it had anything to do with the observation that in a jar or bag of objects of different sizes that is shaken, the large objects rise to the top.

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

That led me to bring up Stephen Covey the author of “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.”

Covey puts forth a metaphor about living life.   Where you put the big rocks in first, and then add the gravel in between the big rocks, then you can pour in the tiny grains of sand. 

The big rocks are the important things in life.   You decide what is important.  

But if you don’t schedule in the big things, your life with filled be all the less important things, gravel and sand.  

It turns out that washboard roads are not related to granular convection, where large objects rise to the top when shaken.  

http://perso.ens-lyon.fr/nicolas.taberlet/washboard/

Washboard roads relates to the same movement going over the roads over and over at a certain speed. 

That led me to another, perhaps imperfect, philosophical metaphor. 

If washboard roads are due to the same movement over and over, that is like the grooves we get into, which may not be so healthy for us. 

Resulting in our lives feeling like driving over shaky washboard roads. 

Then what we need to do is find some space in our jar of life and shake things up, so the large objects, the important things, rise to the top. 

Hmmm…  maybe… 

Will have to meditate on this… 

Let me know if this metaphor resonates with you… 

Namaste

Time seems to speed up with age… Can we slow it down?

There seems to be several theories, some are related. 

http://bigthink.com/philip-perry/why-does-time-seem-to-move-faster-as-we-grow-older

The proportional theory makes sense…    

At 5 years, 1 year is 20% of your life. 

At 10 years, 1 year is 10% of your life

20 years, 5%; 40 years, 2.5%

Yet, at 80 years, 1 year is 1.25% of your life. 

So, there is a logarithmic relationship… 

William James, the great psychologist, in 1890, proposed that this feeling of time speeding up with age was a function of fewer novel experiences over time. 

Formative experiences, first love, first car, etc, occurs ages 15-30. 

A related concept is the demands of education, career, family, that “there is never enough time”… 

Although, perhaps, this means that time should slow down when you retire…

I wouldn't know...  

Another psychological concept is “telescopy,” where important events seem closer to the present time, than they actually are…  

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dharma-singh-khalsa-md/aging-process-stress_b_3252864.html

Another proposal relates to slowing metabolic rate with age, along with changes in neurochemicals such as dopamine with age… 

 

Perhaps, relatively low dopamine may relate back to less novel stimulation. 

So, how might we regulate the perceived passage of time? 

Since I am a 7 on the enneagram, I advocate to have more fun!

http://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2013/02/just-stranger-in-strange-land-part-4.html

Mindfulness and meditative practices seem to slow down time. 

Many of us are addicted to our computers, smartphones, TV, the news, and social media… 

Perhaps, taking a break from these, might slow down time… 

Take time to contemplate our lives, and how we might best live… 

Learning something new and creative, keeps our minds healthy and stimulated! 

Perhaps traveling and seeing new places… 

I wrote about my happiness prescription previously:

http://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2013/03/happiness-prescription.html

Always remember, if you are happy, there is no reason to change anything in your life!

Writing this blog is one of the creative things that keeps me happy!

Namaste