“It’s fate”
“What can you do?”
“It’s out of my hands”
“It’s the will of God / Allah / Buddha / Fate / Jesus / Whatever”
How many times have we heard sayings like this, which are nothing more than the surrender of individual will? Why do people wish to consider themselves as helpless as leaves floating in a stream?
We all have the capacity to enact change in our environments! OF COURSE we are all influenced by others and physical reality, but we also have the power to control our own lives if we are brave enough to use it!
…and through the wise use of this *individual* power, we will all be better off in the end.
We make our fortunes, and we call them fate.
Earl of Beaconsfield
Tags:
fate, free will, individual power, religion, surrender
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Every once in a while, I consider a question that will improve my understanding of self and interaction with the world. It is in the form of a bit of a muse, but I thought I would share it in this posting as a challenge for others:
Look around, and think about the place that you’re living now. Think about your home or apartment. Think about the neighborhood, and the others living around you. Think about the city that you’re in—it’s climate and culture. Think about your nation. Realize that all of these groups are sources of belonging and make you unique as a person.
But remember: You are also a source of uniqueness and value in each of these cases. You bring a uniqueness to your home, your neighborhood, your city, your country, your culture.
Now, the question is: What will I do today to recognize this value?
Tags:
belonging, challenge question, life, unique, value
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On a whim, I decided to re-visit the work of G. I Gurdjieff. It is relevant here, especially as facilitating the conscious life was the main goal of “The Work” he proposed for all of us.
His masterpiece series of writings “All and Everything” is written not only to instruct, but also to expand the limits of your consciousness–partially by the effort required to comprehend the complexity of his verbiage (he explicitly points out that he avoids “bon ton literary language”):
“In trying first to understand the basic thought and real significance hidden in this strange verbal formulation, there must, in my opinion, first of all arise in the consciousness of every more or less sane-thinking man the supposition that, in the totality of ideas on which is based and from which must flow a sensible notion of this saying, lies the truth, cognized by people for centuries, which affirms that every cause occurring in the life of man, from whatever phenomenon it arises, as one of two opposite effects of other causes, is in its turn obligatorily molded also into two quite opposite effects, as for instance: if “something” obtained from two different causes engenders light, then it must inevitably engender a phenomenon opposite to it, that is to say, darkness; or a factor engendering in the organism of a living creature an impulse of palpable course also palpable, and so on and so forth, always and in everything.” (First Series, p. 11)
Wheeew! If that sentence doesn’t stretch your ability to comprehend written material, I’m not sure what will…
Tags:
All and Everything, Conscious Living, Consciousness, Gurdjieff, The Work
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Well, another baseballer has been found out for juicing on steroids. One of the many stories/commentaries can be read here, and there will be more, so much more to come. I think by this point, I have less of an issue with Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds or any particular player, or even baseball as a whole; it is more about the culture of professional sports celebrity-hood that has developed over the last few decades: Do anything to get ahead, be famous, make millions. Generally, a sad commentary on a number of different aspects of our society…
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A-Rod & Drugs — created at www.wordle.net
How much are we fans to blame for tolerating and supporting this behavior? …by spending millions of dollars, not just on tickets, but other paraphernalia, including supporting the sponsors of MLB? Is observing this sort of behavior the best return we can get on our earnings? It would seem that our entertainment dollars shouldn’t be going to support the cult-of-personality machine that is the world of professional sports. There are plenty of other leagues where the athletes demonstrate infinitely greater sportsmanship, though there is a 12-and-under age limitation on most of these. The bottom line is that I find that our money would be better spent on more honorable endeavors, especially in these economic times…
Then, perhaps we would wonder why in the world the behavior of a ‘professional athlete’ would be newsworthy at all.
Tags:
A-rod, alex rodriguez, baseball, economy, steroids
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Hello, world, indeed! I am excited to begin what promises to be a new, fascinating and exciting journey of the mind, heart and spirit! …and what better way to begin such an endeavor as this than with a mission statement:
The primary mission of this site is to explore, facilitate, and promote conscious living amongst a body of socially and ecologically aware individuals; to increase our communication and networking within and without; to share our personal expressions, including music, visual art, poetry, prose fiction, expository and other writing; to educate and enlist the willing aid of others at local, national, and international levels.
It is my hope and purpose that these goals will flourish and that we will work together in crafting a better world community for us all.
Peace!
Brian
Tags:
Conscious Living, first post
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