More on the Ways ...

Exploring this theme of simplifying Life by slowing down, it's clear enough that this brief visit to Earth, three score years and ten more or less, in perspectives like evolutionary time, geological time, any time that may be measured by the clever deceitful measuring mind, the left hemisphere of the brain, broadly speaking, which sneakily usurped the Right role, to integrate the findings of the measurerers into the whole where we human beings, endowed with Soul, return to the Unity of all that was, is and will be ... i.e. the eternal Now, so often pointed to in art, literature and increasingly science at macro and micro scale ... and as pointed to by mystics of every Age, wonderful to experience, impossible to explain ...

At this point, let's explain yet again, since all we have is language and language lies in its very construction, with all its past and future tenses, the proliferation of nouns, fixing what's always in motion into forms to be measured, monitored and therefore managed ... where would we be without the managers, with their time and motion studies? Big salaries accrue to the smart ones, while the measured, the wage slaves we may say, find ways to subvert the divide and rule through creativity ... trade unions explicitly and anarchy implicitly ... the human spirit inevitably revolts against suppression ... it always has and always will ... NB there's has and will again, how else can we communicate? Poetry perhaps? Telepathy certainly, practised by many and available to all ...
Hey ho, the word is not the thing described, and on we go, misunderstanding each other with our stories ...

Even this 'one thing at a time' teaching has its dualities, and energy often spoken about as fundamental has two poles, + & - in physics, ying yang in Dao, so where's the Unity to be found?

So, when walking walk is not quite true ... thinking, albeit clearer, occurs while walking ... occasionally thinking stops unasked, but that may arise when sitting or washing up, in Silence perhaps, though true Silence is rare and disturbing, even in Nature sound occurs ... birds singing, wind sighing, thunder clapping, sap rising, branches and whole trees crashing to the ground ... though philosophers ask whether it makes a sound if there is no smart Oxford or Cambridge sophist there to hear it! Imagine the arrogance of human beings believing they are so important to the whole of Nature ... creation myths and tales of Eden taken literally, the Separation some time ago, clearly a major error ...

Meanwhile, divide and rule goes on, played by powerful players in these mundane
games to subvert Love, our birthright. .. and if we find ourselves at odds with friends and family, divided by strongly held opinions, what to do? Surrender our opinion and convert to their's? Fall out and demand they convert to ours? Or rise above the conflict, find a way back to Love, suspend
hostilities, allow each other to make our choices freely, without judgement ...

Love will find a Way, it always does ...

In the village and the Dale, imprisoned elders come together on the run-in to Christmas Day, when Peace reigns and old myths play on, ready for Boxing Day when hostilities may resume, modern myths return, conspicuous consumption serving Mammon ... which is essentially our love of money in its many forms ... crackers? Hmm ...

Call me cynical if you must, but isn't it time to drop the myths, ancient and modern, Christian and Scientism, trust our deepest instincts, not to start some brand new system to enslave us, but embrace a simple Life of Love, compassion and patience ... take responsibility and put external authority in its rightful place ...

The wheel of time turns soon, the light stays longer then again!

Though even in the darkness, of course, the light is found ...

Ways of walking ...

When writing, write ... when walking, walk ... when thinking, think ... when conversing with other humans, sentient beings, earth-bound entities, like trees, rocks and so on, listen carefully ... when messages arrive from intelligence beyond terrestrial limitation, listen, look, take note, and wonder ...

It's not essential to wander along the many Ways to Compostela to lose your mind, but it certainly may help!

For readers concerned for the mental health of the writer, rest assured ... there is no pain in the brain or mind, wherever that may be found ... or obvious danger to other humans, sentient beings and so on, therefore it seems the basic happiness and equanimity currently experienced, real or illusory, is not certifiable, on the contrary my dear friend, a fully qualified and certified psychologist insists he was, and maybe still is, one of the saner human beings she knew ... though, as was known many years ago, if this mundane world is sane, then I happily embrace the title 'mad' ... people are murdered daily, often legally in wars, round here ... poverty accepted as normal ...

Tread carefully with the words in these treacherous times ... a 'new normal' is on the scene and this one sounds on the face of it much better ... examine what this brave new linguistic sophistry really means however ... explore 'build back better', 'Common Purpose', 'Local Agenda 21' then make your own mind up, from your common sense, expert uncorrupted sources ... ignoring anything emanating from the mainstream media clearly corrupted, organisations like SAGE, advising this Fascist Government in DUK and elsewhere across the world ... not because they always lie, but because when they can't be trusted, the safest bet is to believe none of it ...

That's politics in this mundane world in crisis ... a blip in space times, but deadly serious to human beings at a cross-roads metaphorically ... more accurately a potential evolutionary parting of the ways by choice: to serve the machines and their masters in the hope of everlasting life through cryogenics, brain enhancements and all that; or, to risk certain death one day, with trust in your own immune system to deliver your carcase to the ground or fire, mainly healthy, well used and worn out ready for recycling plus a chance of ongoing consciousness, basically everlasting life in a more amazing Way ... the secrets not to be divulged in each life, they say ...

Meanwhile, the morning walk leads to even more apples, resting on a lawn, perfectly fresh and mostly unbruised, in December ... a bumper year for apples they say ... plus humans interacting in a civilised Way, fear notwithstanding, because love and understanding conquers all limitations in the end ...and for pedants yes, if eternity is a thing then there is no end ... imagine that!

Christ Consciousness Crisis ...

Once upon a Time, so the story goes, in a manger a child was born, miraculously, somehow simultaneously poor and humble yet revered by three wise men drawn to the birthplace astrologically ... leaving aside for now any feminist quips about the chances of three wise men turning up ad hoc to announce the arrival of the latest prophet, a male again, to soften the image of the old imaginary creator god, forever smiting errant humans for their sins, women, in some creation stories, taking the blame for the problems arising in the groins of men ... astute observers may note the latest religions developed this theme ...

Apostasy?

In linguistic terms it's the apostrophes that concern me, the writer, another bloke ... with a tendency to overthink and overdo the commas and the clever attempts to play with words to confuse the reader(s)  and maybe challenge some of them to question the danger of believing them to be the things described ... which they palpably are not ... mistaking consciousness or gods separate from us to have a gender in Reality clearly erroneous. .. the joys of sex notwithstanding ... and anyway that urge in humans may play out in other ways than that prescribed by dirty minded power mad priests, sometimes perverted by their guilty consciences to furtively fumble illicitly or blatantly ...  please excuse the exaggeration for effect, it's not intended to offend, only to shock a little ... or a lot ... and for those pedants already chewing on about the inaccuracy of confusing apostrophes with commas, obviously such artistic licence is excused to introduce apostasy ... though the game is exposed when explained, of course!

At this point it should be noted that the hypocrisy of the once true faith, still hanging on to compulsory celibacy for holy folks and hell fire for homosexuals, is not judged here ... just discerned since it has been a big mistake causing much suffering ...

So, this two thousand or so year old story held sway in many parts of the world, especially Western hemisphere, and even East, through imperial conquest ... the verity of Love long forsaken for forced conversions ... another major error ... still, we celebrate the name of Christ, though Christian churches were mostly empty, even before the current kindly meant government decrees to enslave the people so we could serve the machines more efficiently ...

The latest religion, scientism, and its high priests, dodgy pseudo-scientists, with their firm beliefs in atheism, serving humans not recognising their own souls, or anyone else's for that matter ... drives the current crisis ... since clearly the robots, clever as they are, are not wise, since they are not endowed with souls ... and, at this point, it may be noted, for sake of accuracy, that the notion of separate souls is erroneous. ..

But all this conjecture is down the line ... consequential not fundamental .. meanwhile, the game goes on, with sophists serving plutocrats serving their love of money ... once that's rooted out we may make progress ... return to Unity ... don't hold your breath!

Meanwhile, in Weardale, the first snow shows itself on the fells, the elders hope to be released from their captivity next week, people start to feel the fear abating, whether through new hope from miraculous vaccines, insight into the nature of the plot, or just a yearning to return home to Love, who knows?

Who are they, if not us?

Yesterday's trip over the hills to the Roman Wall to visit an old friend to press the juice from apples gladly given and received ... autumnal abundance processed as Winter arrives! Though the day is mild enough in early December and pressing questions of an existential nature are examined along with the experiential low tech pleasure of working in harmony with the Nature from which we were never really separate ... despite a few millennia of delusion imagining we were, fuelled by clever, artful specimens, arrogantly asserting our secession ... The Fall of Man, metaphorically expressed in the Garden of Eden, with Snakes and Sex and dire warnings of the existential perils facing the species as division multiplied, brains grew, developed new powers ... language evolved to create new worlds through description ... an error pointed out in the Dao, verse one, line one and substantially the only words we need: "The Dao which can be described is not the Immortal Dao!" ... the truth of which is revealed beyond the babble, in Silence ...

Wars ensued as humans killed each other on command ... despite Universal Law asserting Thou Shalt Not Kill, in any wisdom teaching worth its salt ... and yet killing never stopped ...

Meanwhile, in the current existential crisis, sometimes storied as World War 3 ... not the war to end all war, that was WW1 you may recall ... WW2 was basically caused by the Peace Settlement of WW1 with its gross imbalances promoting economic desperation in the losing nation, fuelling the Darker side of Man presented by Hitler and his gang ... and between us, we clever humans, killed many more due to much improved technology, killing on an industrial scale. Between WW1 and WW2 and ever since killing carried on through wars and starvation of innocents while wealthy humans wallowed in excessive wealth ... such blatant disregard of Natural Law outraged the virtuous, though action didn't match the words ... money, the love of which was rightly said to be the root of evil, sloshed around corrupting us in big and smaller ways ...whilst modern medicines and cleaned up settlements, notably the slums, launched a surge of humans like a virus, a pestilence on Earth, threatening Nature herself perhaps and certainly the comfort of those humans so in love with their money and the power it bought they decided to take drastic action in our best interests, since so many in the middle ranks were gaily buying baubles to compensate for the deep sense of guilt and existential angst brought on by realising that all the charitable giving was not solving the poverty ... meanwhile, the Planet we call home, was warming up slowly but inexorably, whether by human excess, natural causes or a combination of the two, threatening the comfort of the super-rich, defined essentially by having more resources than could ever be needed and relatively by perceptions of each other, which is to say, for a person living in dire poverty, most humans able to read this blog are seen in the same camp as the so-called 1%!

Mark sparked the question in the title of this post ... a reminder of such questions arising along the Way, deep in inquiry into the juicy places beyond language and languages. .. in the Silence where deeper realities may be found ... as well as delusions, of course!

Enough is enough?
How would we know until we tried both extremes?  Buddha set the example, starting a Prince, renouncing that to experience penury, finding enlightenment via the Middle Way.
Quoting Buddha, however, is not to find Buddha Nature ... that must be found each time by living it in each culture by each seeker pushing the limits at each opposite, more or less, and finding the Simplicity suitable ... along with Compassion and Patience ...

That's enough for now, time is short and attention spans shorter still ... apple juice needs bottling and sharing before fermentation sets in ... though cider is an option, freezing too ...

Winter 2020

First day of winter and a glorious start with clear skies, Moon high to the West, Sun nowhere to be seen but expected later on the opposite horizon. Since Dawn lies in at this latitude an early start up the hill is much later than at Midsummer and a little patience is required, plus a torch for those tricky parts, crossing streams and darker spots where Moonlight is dim ... nobody about over the fell to disturb the peace ...

Clear skies promised most of the day and a sunny wander later for VitD top up is on the cards; meanwhile distractions are few and blog wants writing while the muse is mostly immersed in solitary reflection, away from disturbance ... which will be welcomed later ... probably!
This winter retreat is not a strict one and anyway strict structure is not my thing ... relax and go with the flow suits me better these days.

The Retreat House has a library and the latest addition is a new edition of an old classic of "Life and Times in Weardale, 1840-1910" ... fascinating to read and see the photographs, having just walked across the landscape with old artefacts dotted around the fells. Much easier to imagine the ghosts of the old days in moonlight. .. though no spooky thought forms witnessed today. They are said to show up in Killhope Lead mine a few miles west of here ...

The Existential Crisis fuelled by FB rumbles on ... many inconsistencies noted as humans line up to play their parts ... heroes and villains and in this complex drama are tricky to untangle and it's essential to stand back from time to time and see how it's playing out ... stick with the Light whilst keeping the ego out of it as much as possible ...

The virtual world we play in is rather alien to me and it seems wise to trust those known from the "Real" world as much as possible, whilst using intuition to guide action. .. not easy, but it's not meant to be! And also to embrace the possiblity to connect worldwide with like minded people as well as folks with alternative views ...

As for allopathic medicine, it seems modern medicine went off track a while ago, with big money to be made from sick people by greedy people corrupting clever people with big degrees charging big fees and tied into toxic relationships ... this blogger chooses to be grateful for a mostly healthy organism and to treat it as a temple ... not in a serious way but a vague way, relaxing into its Natural role ... not consuming rubbish food, neglecting exercise or fresh air but thinking positive thoughts and accepting its inevitable death ... just not right now!

Consciousness, of course, continues. ..

Full Moon ...

November 30th 2020 and a full moon!
Cosmic changes predicted going into calendar winter.
Not long until the shortest day and longest night of this strange year, then it's Christmas Day, hooray! Here in Weardale Christmas trees are up already and postponed shopping frenzy may begin ... on Wednesday 2nd December, though some outlets never stopped and smart traders traded online and couriers worked flat out delivering essential goods, like tinsel and sparkly stuff ... strange indeed ...

Anyway, the kind and caring DUK Government, led by Stanley's boy, Boris, born a while ago in the USA, educated at Eton and Oxford, so well qualified with Ancient Greek and Latin Philosophy, especially Sophistry, to lead our once great nation in this existential crisis. .. a Churchill for our times ... in his imagination at least ... and if that's true, it seems this earnest blogger, seeking his own version of truth, has become caught up in Johnson's drama somehow ... though not as ally, but antagonist ... a warrior modelled on archetypal heroes like Che Guevara, who had the good fortune to die young, frozen in time ...

Funny that ... lots of other folks are caught up in a similar drama across the planet Earth playing different roles, according to their psychology developed through their childhoods, accidents of birth, incidents through this Life ... let alone all the others ... and while Christmas time is noted in almost every place on Earth these days, the original story is barely noted, whilst conspicuous consumption runs wild and good tidings of great joy are spoken, if not always practiced even by church attending Christians. ..

Enough of that, it's still November and it's Full Moon, already noted becoming fuller, when cloud cover permits ... a moving sight , though Sun is more worshipped here, as it appears to rise and fall .... in reality, of course, as pointed out before, Sun only seems to rise and Moon only appears to change shape ... reality being only relative ... November being only a name for one month out of twelve, twelve months only making up a so-called year ... and so on ...

On the fell this morning human beings turn up, as if by chance, to stay a while and impart information relevant to fill out this story you are reading, at this time on this small planet, in this small solar system, in this small galaxy, in this particular Universe ... that's where Physics is currently working. In the Middle Ages, in Christian stories, the Universe was much much smaller, with the Earth as the centre and all the observed planets spinning round it.

If you ask Cosmologists the obvious Philosophical question, what's on the other side of this Universe? they tend to say, hey, one universe at a time please! Or if they're philosophically inclined, for now, that's Dao or Tao or basically some things may never be understood ... humans struggle with that, being rather arrogant ... though also struggle to explain why we even have a word for Infinity or Eternity ... those are just for poets and mystics perhaps ...?

Apples abound, and about to be pressed, hopefully ... such abundance this year and many folks who have the trees in gardens can't use them all ... and whilst birds and insects take their share as they rot, it seems a shame not to store some for winter and share them round in one form and another ...

Context

Current delusions offer hope, while much reduced FB world focuses on consequential fear mongering. Of course I have no idea how others are seeing their own FB feeds.

However, tech-ignorant as I am, a wide selection of FB friends, some known in relative reality others only virtual, are out there, playing their own roles in the interlinked dramas ... many profiles are plausible, with verifiable profiles and back stories, others not. Plus many have alter egos, others just observe and say nothing.

Meanwhile, FB has all sorts of sorcery at hand to manipulate minds, mainly for the benefit of the corporation and its shareholders. Remember that the current customers for advertising to the users of the platform are dodgy governments worldwide, therefore anything we see or read must be taken with a large pinch of salt. Like all mainstream media.

So, the FB view this viewer sees has dropped the larger context of the Great Reset, the perfectly reasonable response to the long known existential crises of planetary collapse ... the blithe resistance to stepping off the merry go round of conspicuous consumption, global warming, greed, degraded cities and so on ... keeping this viewer at least in the old mindset of divide and rule ...

But why?

Allowing for the possibility that this entity is creating new realities moment by moment, remaking personal histories to fit personal desires .... the current narrative running here has a crisis worldwide, told as a Third World War without real enemies, changing Empires due to decaying old ones making way for more vibrant new ones notwithstanding ... a kind of assymetric warfare where virtual tools are employed. .. viruses planted a while ago on all sides awaiting release to bring down utilities. A new nuclear deterrent alongside the old.

A new order for the world is proposed at Davos, where movers and shakers gather to move and shake the old world ... knock the ignorant masses off their suicidal course and into a shiny new world with much fewer people, more security, more equality and working closely with the hugely clever and getting cleverer machines, doing all the mundane jobs and releasing those left of us to lead a life of leisure.

So, there's the context for now. Maybe it's enough?

Broader questions of how this utopia is achieved worry many, who foresee instead a dystopian future. Motives of plutocrats not really trusted.
The machines have their own requirements for a sterile environment.
And, fundamentally, do machines have a Soul?
Of course these big questions have long been asked, and now's the time to answer them
Maybe humanity is to split evolutionarily according to our choices?

These outcomes were foreseen in future life projection studies some time ago and described on this blog, if you care to find it.

What's taught is: violence begets violence, so don't do that! But don't comply with what your heart tells you is false either.

We are all right, according to our perspective.
If drugs of various kinds make you feel safe, then take them, as long as you don't harm others.
If you prefer to rely on your immune system, then do that.
And all the other options too, just try not to deny the human rights of any other.
Especially if you have been elected to serve the people!

And further along the line humanity reunites as one, it seems.
But that's philosophy ...