Thursday, January 24, 2008

More Ron Paul

DP sent me another Ron Paul vid, this one talks about the dangers of fear and conservative values in America.



One of my favorite Authors Ernest Becker talks a lot about this in his book Escape from Evil.
http://www.amazon.com/Escape-Evil-Ernest-Becker/dp/0029024501/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201127721&sr=8-1

"Since men must now hold for dear life onto the self-transcending meanings of the society in which they live, onto the immortality symbols which guarantee them indefinite duration of some kind, a new kind of instability and anxiety are created. And this anxiety is precisely what spills over into the affairs of men. In seeking to avoid evil, man is responsible for bringing more evil into the world than organisms could ever do merely by exercising their digestive tracts. It is man's ingenuity, rather than his animal nature, that has given his fellow creatures such a bitter earthly fate (pg. 5,Becker)."

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Ron Paul for president?

DP passed this along, this guy Ron Paul has created a bit of a storm on the internet generating over $4 million in one day for the Presidential Campaign.

Very interesting talk, one thing I find challenging is how left wing yet openly pro capitalist he is. Some of the comments on removing social safety nets is a pretty ambitious statement. However his belief in the constitution and the individual is a breath of fresh air.

On a side note I find it interesting how he draws lots of parallels to historical and other data, he's even complimented for his historical knowledge. Gandhi one of my fav thinkers was always against historical data when it comes to social remedy, his opinion was that it limits our possible potential. Whilst this may seem dangerous Gandhi still had a profound knowledge of people and how societies work, some of his insights into the failures of socialism are quite profound especially given the time he lived. I can't say which is the better way to go, historical vs an understanding of human nature, probably both. But something struck as a bit off with the way Ron draws some of his social parallels, especially the mobile phone analogy.

Friday, November 30, 2007

Think and Grow Rich, on Conscience

This is from Think and Grow Rich, a self help classic by Napoleon Hill. I loved this book because although it does reference money it's much more philosophical and has some great insights. It was written in or around the end of the great depression which I found fascinating, a time when everyone was blaming the corporate leaders, Napoleon contradicts this and points out that the responsibility was also in the masses, and the way they thought about their situation.

I'm really interested in the idea of conscience, this excerpt talks about a lot of what I've been thinking about lately, but in a strange metaphorical way. I'm also reading the book, Blink which is about intuition that DP recommended, I'll post a review of that one I'm finished too.

Genius is developed through the sixth sense.
The reality of a “sixth sense” has been fairly well established. This sixth sense is “Creative Imagination.” The faculty of creative imagination is one, which the majority of people never use during an entire lifetime, and if ever used at all, it usually happens by mere accident. A relatively small number of people use, with deliberation and purpose of afterthought, the faculty of creative imagination. Those who use it voluntarily, and with understanding of its functions are genii.

The faculty of creative imagination is the direct link between the finite mind of man and Infinite Intelligence. All so called revelations, referred to in the realm of religion, and discoveries of basic or new principles in the field of invention, take place through the faculty of creative imagination.

When ideas or concepts flash into one’s mind, through what is popularly called a “hunch,” they come from one or more of the following sources:-

  1. Infinite Intelligence
  2. One’s subconscious mind, wherein is stored every sense impression and thought impulse which ever reached the brain through any of the five senses.
  3. From the mind of some other person who has just released the thought, or picture of the idea or concept, through conscious thought, or
  4. From the other persons subconscious storehouse.

There are no other known sources from which “inspired” ideas or “hunches” may be received.

The creative imagination functions best when the mind is vibrating (due to some for of mind stimulation) at an exceedingly high rate. That is, when the mind is functioning at a rate of vibration higher tan that of ordinary, normal thought.

When the brain has been stimulated, through one or more of the ten mind stimulants, it has the effect of lifting the individual far above the horizon of ordinary thought, and permits him to envision distance, scope, and quality of thought not available on the lower plane, such as occupied while one is engaged in the solution of the problems of business and professional routine.

When lifted to this higher level of thought, through any form of mind stimulation, an individual occupies, relatively, the same position as one who has ascended in an aeroplane to a height from a height which he may see over and beyond the horizon line which limits his vision, while on the ground. Moreover while on this higher level of thought, the individual is not hampered or bound by any of the stimuli, which circumscribe and limit his vision while wrestling with the problems of gaining the three basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter. He is in a world of thought in which the ordinary, work a day thoughts have been as effectively removed as are the hills and valleys and other limitations of physical vision, when he rises in an aeroplane.

While on this exalted plane of thought, the creative faculty of the mind is given freedom for action. The way has been cleared for the sixth sense to function; it becomes receptive to ideas, which could not reach the individual under any other circumstances. The “sixth sense” is the faculty, which marks the difference between a genius and an ordinary individual.

The creative faculty becomes more alert and receptive to vibrations, originating outside the individual’s subconscious mind, the more this faculty is used, and the more the individual relies upon it, and makes demands upon it for thought impulses. This faculty can be cultivated and developed through use.

That which is known as one’s “conscience” operates entirely through the faculty of the sixth sense.

The great artists, writers musicians, and poets become great, because they acquire the habit of relying upon the still small voice” which speaks from within, through the faculty of creative imagination. It is a fact well known to people who have keen imaginations that their best ideas come through so called “hunches”.

There is a great orator who does not attain to greatness, until he closes his eyes and begins to rely entirely upon the faculty of creative imagination. When asked why he closed his eyes just before the climaxes of his oratory, he replied, “I do it because, then I speak through ideas which come to me from within”.

One of America’s best known financiers followed the habit of closing his eyes for two or three minutes before making a decision.

When asked why he did this he replied, “With my eyes closed, I am able to draw upon a source of superior intelligence.”

The late Dr. Elmer R. Gates, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, created more than 200 useful patents, many of them basic, through the process of cultivating and using the creative faculty. His method is both significant and interesting to one interested in attaining the state of genius, in which category Dr. Gates unquestionably belonged. Dr. Gates was one of the really great, though less publicised scientists of the world.

In his laboratory, he had what he called his “personal communication room.” It was practically sound proof, and so arranged that all light could be shut out. It was equipped with a small table, on which he kept a pad of writing paper. In front of the table on the wall, was an electric push button, which controlled the lights. When Dr. Gates desired to draw upon the forces available to his through his creative imagination, he would go to this room, seat himself at the table, shut off the lights and concentrate upon known factors of the invention on which he was working, remaining in that position until ideas began to “flash” into his mind in connection with the unknown factors of the invention.

On one occasion, ideas came so fast that he was forced to write for almost three hours. When the thoughts stopped flowing, and he examined his notes, he found that they contained a minute description of principles which had not a parallel among all the know data of the scientific world.

Moreover, the answer to his problem was intelligently presented in these notes. In this manner Dr. Gates completed over 200 patents, which had begun, but not completed, by half baked” brains. Evidence of this statement is in the United States Patent Office.

Dr. Gates earned his living by “sitting for ideas” for individuals and corporations. Some of the largest corporations in America paid him substantial fees, by the hour, for sitting for ideas.

The reasoning faculty is often faulty, because it is largely guided by one’s accumulated experience. Not all knowledge, which one accumulates through “experience”, is accurate. Ideas received through creative faculty are much more reliable, for the reason that they come from sources much more reliable that any which are available o the reasoning faculty of the mind.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

What would Jesus Buy?



I've always found it interesting that the one time Jesus really lost it and got mad was with the money lenders. When they had turned his church (and now his birthday) into a temple of shopping. Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) brings us the tale of Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping. Humour can be the most powerful way to handle serious issues.

Oscar Wilde once said "If you want to tell someone the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they will kill you."

The hunger for goods here is amazing. Now that I am living in the States I can see the light and dark side of this Consumerist Culture. Personally I don't think it's all bad. As a Liberal person I know that we tend to focus a little too much on the doom and gloom of an imagined future, rather than enjoying the moment at hand. There is something to be said for sitting around with your mates and watching Sunday Night Football and eating chicken wings.

The dangers I see though is in that self same short-sightedness. We are encouraged to live in the moment with no thought for the future. The message is always the same... "Be Young and Beautiful." That is what is drilled into us. It's an impossible mantra, as everything ages and everything dies. We know this, yet somehow we are seduced by this classic piece of 'Double Think'.

What we are told is that we can 'buy' youth and beauty. If you are a man and make enough money/success you can 'buy' a beautiful woman, and if you are a woman all you have to do is
be beautiful and a man with wealth and power (Prince) will sweep you off you feet to lands unknown. LA is the capital of this concept.



Although I am an Atheist and proud of it, But I have a lot of respect for the Christian Church and other religions in General. At their heart is an intent to do right by humanity, at there core is a desire to be good. Yet churches are subject to the same failing we are as people. Why? because at the end of the day, I believe they are based on and translated by people, not Gods. To me, God is the source, that if we are close to, then we are on the path to doing what needs to be done.



The reason I believe Christians and a lot of other religious groups seem so content with themselves is that they 'allow' themselves to be happy. They say, let us focus on 'Glory' on 'Good' on 'Smiling' on celebrating creation. What a wonderful thing to allow into your life. I
think we just need to give ourselves permission to discover on own best state. Allow yourself to be happy, to be grateful, to get close to the Source. Whatever that may be for you. If it's art, if it's music, if it's love. Be close to it and let it full up your soul. Allow yourself to just be happy, for no other reason, than the sake of being happy.

Amen.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

The Game by Neil Strauss

Well every once and a while I come across a book that alters the way I think about things, I think The Game has done that for me. Mostly it confirms my respect for Gandhian philosophy (my thoughts haven't changed much on that), but it's the details, insights, clarity and warnings of the book that really set it apart from the crowd.

I heard once that if we want to write, we should read the best authors, not to replicate their writing, but to find how they discovered their own voice in their writing. Our task then is to find our own voice. This for me is the message of The Game. What I found so admirable about Niel's journey is the discipline and passion that Niel works on himself, the way he strives for change, even if its ultimately so wasted on such a superficial endeavour.

Ever since I read Tony Robbins Awaken the Giant Within (which despite it's shortfalls has a lot of great stuff in it) I've always thought about doing NLP and learning more about conversation. There's a couple of short courses at NSW Uni, maybe I should give them a go?

A new blog

So here's a new blog, this one's dedicated to wisdom and the mind. Topics can be pretty broad... philosophy, psychology, evolution, science, self help, religion etc. Should be an insightful blog ;)