Ffolkes,
“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal
with the intent of throwing it at someone else;
you are the one who gets burned.”
~~ Buddha ~~
“All anger arises from obstructed desire.” — Bhagavad Gita
If, in the interests of full and complete examination, these two ideas may be considered to both be true, we find ourselves, in at least one very real sense, in possession of a key ingredient of real happiness, and true inner peace, or peace of mind, however one wishes to describe it. I find it interesting to note that, even though both of these ideas come from different religious doctrines, at different times in history, while from basically the same relative part of the world…. Yet, history itself, given the violent nature of most of it, seems to indicate that practically no one pays any attention to either of them, at least, not on the world stage….
Oh, I know what you’re thinking, that there are millions of good people out there in the world, smart, compassionate people, who try to live good lives, to be productive, and happy…. But, there is another part of humanity, who pays no attention at all to any sort of compassion, acting at all times in such a way as to manipulate & control others, to achieve their own agendas for happiness, which do not take anyone else into consideration at all. These people have no compunction about lying, or cheating, or resorting to violence to achieve those ends, especially when they can do so with societal sanction, such as in a police force, or in the army, where the science of killing is refined, ever to be at the command of those in positions of power….
I’m not sure exactly why the beautiful flower I found on my walk the other day should stimulate such a depressing philosophical discussion first thing, even though it IS the day before today, meaning I started this yesterday afternoon, when the ideas occurred to me…. I intended at first to approach the two quotes, which speak of anger from two directions, according to how they applied to myself, and how I deal with anger….
I’ve known the quote from the Bhagavad Gita, spoken by Krishna to Arjuna, since I was quite young; it played a significant part in molding my personality, as I took it to heart, as a way to control my own temper, which has always been, and remains, in a word, fierce…. Until I learned to handle it, there were a lot of occasions when it got away from me… Learning this concept, and the implication (to wit: anger can be controlled by simply changing what you want, without keeping any emotional attachment to the discarded desire….), helped me to become a better person, in my own mind; the other quote, from the Buddha, describes what anger that is NOT controlled can do….
That is another point the Buddha’s quote acknowledges, which is that anger will always be with us, part of us as humans; I can attest, there are times when knowing how to control the anger doesn’t get rid of it, entirely. It’s simply too powerful an emotion sometimes to dismiss out of hand, and must be consciously addressed to keep from bursting out on the rest of reality, an effect which, as we all know, can have disastrous effects…. I know this…. in my youth, there were times I failed to fully keep my anger inside, which caused a distinct and sudden spike in the number of casualties flooding emergency rooms all over town…
Not really…. I’m not really an ogre, but, I can be a nasty boy when aroused, and don’t like myself much whenever it happens…. So, I’ve always tried to avoid getting close to the edge when it comes to anger…. It just hurts others, and then I feel bad… and why? Because I was afraid I wouldn’t have a desire met? Not good, karma-wise, I should think…. Better, and easier, as I discovered when I first heard the idea, to just CHANGE WHAT YOU WANT…. If we don’t get overly attached to those wants, it doesn’t bother us as much when they’re not met, and life becomes much more pleasant, all the way around…
Pretty simple, eh? Simple enough, one might think even the slowest among us could learn to use the technique, to be able to change what they want, to something they are able, or at least, more likely to be able to achieve at some time…. And, if not, well, we aren’t so attached to having our own way we need to get upset about it…. Easy peasy, but, will anyone do it? Nope, not that I’ve seen….
This simple idea, of how to avoid anger, must be too complicated for anyone whose mind is capable of studying law, or needs to get elected, or becomes a grifter, er, preacher, in order to foist upon society a set of persistent delusions about supernatural forces controlling our lives, thus dividing humans from each other with dogma…. because none of them seem to get it. None of these people seem to get the simple fact of reality, that keeps hitting us in the face, whenever we try to ignore it…
We are responsible for what we do… all of it. The good, the bad, the ugly, all of it is on us, but, most people not only don’t believe that, they actively work to pretend it isn’t so, refusing to listen to any arguments against what they believe, or look at any evidence that disputes their contentions…. In short, most people are…. well, I’m not sure just WHAT they are…. There are elements in our species of ignorance, of stupidity, of cowardice, of actual evil, in a great many people…. But, it is also true that right alongside all of these qualities, there exists so much beauty, created by the hand and mind of Man, it can make our hearts ache just to see it….
Unless ALL of us take responsibility for our actions, Reality is going to exact a price, for allowing the darker sides of our nature gain precedence over that which connects us to the whole of the universe. There is a lot to be said for the Star Wars vision of a universal Force, that connects all living, and non-living parts of Reality, which is there to be utilized, if only we can perceive it…. I suppose the trick is to figure out whether or not the vision can be made real enough to save our asses before it is too late…. No way to tell at this point, but, it doesn’t look good, ffolkes, not at the moment…..
Well, hell…. This turned out to be enough for three entire Pearls, and we haven’t even worked our way out of the intro section…. Huh…. Imagine that…. Oh well, I guess we’ll just have to take things as they come, and deal…. Let’s go see what other damage I can do today, right?….
Shall we Pearl?…..
“We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.” — Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm (1844-1900)
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I believe the rant in the intro might give people the wrong impression, so, here is a piece from the archives which might make things a bit clearer….. Don’t fret, it’s not too long…. I know I got carried away above, but, I’ll try to keep it efficiently sized from this point onward…. Enjoy!….
From 5/18/2012:
“It may be irrational of me, but human beings are quite my favorite species.” — Doctor Who, Ark in Space
It probably seems to most folks reading this blog that I don’t like people very much. I tend to spend a lot of time finding and pointing out the things I see in them that I don’t like, and discussing them at nearly interminable length, which would seem to indicate a lack of affection for the species as a whole. In reality, the opposite is true…. I love people… I love watching them, listening to them, thinking about them, writing about them…. they afford me no end of intellectual stimulation, entertaining comedic genius, and fertile fields of thought and endeavor to explore, virtually and actually.
Human society and culture is an incredibly beautiful, complex tapestry of emotion and creativity; nobility, cruelty, heroes, villains, puppies, cats, love, hate, and all the rest of the things that make people what they are unfolds before us every day, growing and adding length and breadth to that tapestry of existence. I can’t think of anything more interesting than the drama/comedy that is human history in the making….
I might wish it to be a more compassionate world, with less tyranny and oppression, without slavery and starvation. I might wish that my life would not be so complicated by ignorance and intolerance, and I might wish that the small percentage of humanity that holds the remainder in the grip of their own avarice would die horrible deaths worthy of their own evil natures.
But, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Nor would I say that any of these changes are particularly apt to happen without many more people in the world taking an interest in them; most folks just go through life trying to get by, and not be bothered with anything more complicated, and one can’t really blame them, bless their cowardly little hearts…. My own method of dealing with how much I’d like to see reality change is to write about what I see, and what I think can be different, with the right set of attitudes.
This desire to see the changes arises out of my love for my fellow man, not from indignation or outrage, though they are present. But what I write, and what I’m trying to accomplish, is to help folks deal with life in a way that allows them more freedom, of whatever kind they wish to have, whether monetary, intellectual, religious, or physical; my motivation is to share the strength and freedom of thought that I have sought so hard to achieve… Mankind has much more potential than we are exhibiting, and I would love to see more of it fulfilled, rather than stifled, as in current society…. we can be so much more…..
“Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift.” — Albert Einstein
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It could be said that Emily Dickinson’s entire life was spent exploring the power and nuance of metaphor, without sounding too idiotic…. I think her work, all those little pieces of truth in different words, are a constant attempt by her mind to impose some kind of an order upon the universe, according to her own artistic perception of it…. However one chooses to describe what she wrote, it remains exactly what it is, and what it has always been…. bloody brilliant….
A narrow fellow in the grass
Occasionally rides;
You may have met him,–did you not,
His notice sudden is.
The grass divides as with a comb,
A spotted shaft is seen;
And then it closes at your feet
And opens further on.
He likes a boggy acre,
A floor too cool for corn.
Yet when a child, and barefoot,
I more than once, at morn,
Have passed, I thought, a whip-lash
Unbraiding in the sun,–
When, stooping to secure it,
It wrinkled, and was gone.
Several of nature’s people
I know, and they know me;
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality;
But never met this fellow,
Attended or alone,
Without a tighter breathing,
And zero at the bone.
~~ Emily Dickinson ~~
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“If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.” — Mark Twain
http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2014/08/05/dianne-feinstein-says-cia-trying-to-hide-facts-in-torture-report/
http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/GOP-millionaire-Munger-behind-Dem-vs-Dem-smear-5669862.php#photo-3650012
http://blog.sfgate.com/fiore/2014/08/06/camp-do-nuttin-recess-for-congress/
Originally, I had collected these articles in order to rant on them…. but, I fell into the introductory rant…. Now, I don’t need these to provide me with any outrage, though each of them, in their own way, is infuriating, as one more example of how egregiously asinine are those who are now infesting our government…. I like that word, infesting…. it seems perfectly appropriate for describing how the pundits and talking heads all run around D.C. flapping their mouths and pointing their fingers, making enough noise to scare the dead, all while never getting any closer to the truth, or reality, than they feel they must…. about as useful as a handful of fleas….
It may seem as if I am ranting, but, this is merely the explanation of how it is going to go…. I’m leaving the links, as I think you should go ahead and read the articles…. Doing so may start your own rant, or, perhaps just the urge to do so…. Together, these articles, which are, sadly, representations of what is real in this world, make a statement that clearly gives a picture of today’s society, and how UGLY it has become…. I need to go find me some beauty, just to counteract the effect of all this on me this morning…. Before I do that, here is a group of fresh pearls, taking some shots at my favorite targets…. politicians, preachers, and the Asininnies at large…..
“Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance.”~~ G. K. Chesterton,The Speaker, 12/15/00
“Sensors show a moron in this sector, Captain.” — Spock, after running sensors on the White House….
“When one rows, it is not the rowing which moves the ship. Rowing is only a magical ceremony by means of which, one compels a demon to move the ship.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
(Gee…. this sounds just like that press conference when Obama told us how the NSA was NOT spying on US citizens….)
“Has there ever been a society which has died of dissent? Several have died of conformity in our lifetime.” — Jacob Bronowski “The Sense of Human Dignity,”
“Paranoia is only the leading edge of the discovery that everything in the world is connected.” — Smart Bee
“To tell a falsehood is like the cut of a saber; for though the wound may heal, the scar of it will remain.” — Saadi (1184-1291)
(I can see your scars, and I can show you mine….)
“Imagine, if you will, that I am an idiot. Then, imagine that I am also a Congressman. But, alas, I repeat myself.” — Mark Twain
I love ending a pearl with one such as that one from Sam, which might just be the most perfect of all American political pokes…. Twain was, indeed, a master of the subtle jab to the ribs, especially when the target was an elected official…. Not bad for such a crowded morning….
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Well…. In the last few weeks, I’ve written a lot; some of these Pearls are breaking over 3500 words. Some of it has been some pretty good work, too, from what I can tell…. SIGH…. Now, if I could get, oh, say, a couple hundred THOUSAND more ffolkes to drop in to read it, we might just get this message out to some of the people who need to see and/or hear it…. That, unfortunately, isn’t going to happen, not right away, so, I may as well just get on with my day…. Today has some potential, so, I’m going to go meet it, head on….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
gigoid the dubious
gigoid 