That's a pretty damn good strategy - had not thought of that. -------------------------------------------- On Fri, 1/10/14, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:
Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] RE: "If Another Country Was Doing This To Our Kids, Wed Be At War" To: [email protected] Date: Friday, January 10, 2014, 4:45 AM And yet you have had experiences that you would put in the spiritual category, IIRC. And I think I have as well. If I had a technique now, it would be to pretty much ignore those experiences if they come about, and even push back against them somewhat, to see if they continue to assert themselves. And it has been interesting to see what sticks around, and what goes away. Not to be too cryptic about it. ---In [email protected], <mjackson74@...> wrote: You know, I do appreciate your views on this. I too used to be a starry eyed TM fanatic who absolutely believed that TM was the answer to everything (even though it obviously was not, as I saw and ignored especially when I was living in Fairfield and working on staff at MIU.) After that I rubbed elbows with a vast number of people all of whom engaged in various sorts of alternative spiritual endeavors - everything from Sedona folks who banged on a Native American drum every time the moon showed a sliver of itself in the night sky, to folks who believed the "Galactics" were gonna come down at juuuuuuuust the right time and save us all, to the wiccans most of whom have no idea where wicca actually comes from, to people who claim to have the inside track to God, to those who are determined warriors on the war path with all things tech and money based and on and on. If only I had known about UG Krishnamurti in those days a talk or two from him might have saved me a lot of time. These days I feel that about 90% of all this new agey spiritual doings is about as much use as tits on a bo' hawg. That is southern slang for a male hog, a boar. Not that there is not some use in what all spiritually minded folks do but most of it just seems designed, albeit unconsciously, just to make us feel better. And that is all it does, it makes us feel better emotionally, even though our lives suck. And what better way to feel better than to believe our very special and wonderful chosen path will lead to some sort of salvation for all humanity. Its good to feel good, but when I see that most of the practitioners of all this new agey stuff are STILL unhappy, still unhealthy, still un-wealthy and still having crappy relationships, I see that even with the practices, beliefs, icons and things and people to follow it doesn't seem to do the trick except that we fool ourselves into believing if we stay on the path, we will eventually get to where we want to be (really happy). As Edg would say "Bah!" -------------------------------------------- On Fri, 1/10/14, steve.sundur@... <steve.sundur@...> wrote: Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] RE: "If Another Country Was Doing This To Our Kids, Wed Be At War" To: [email protected] Date: Friday, January 10, 2014, 3:24 AM Thanks for your comments. (I wish I could still do the interspersing) I've been reflecting on how my outlook has changed over time. From being an energetic foot soldier in Maharishi's Army confident I could change the world, to having now a much more sober vision of how things really are. And I thank God for that more sober outlook. And although I'm afraid to say that the opposing forces, broadly defined as materialism, are going to prevail, there are still going to be many inroads made by those of a more spiritual bent. ---In [email protected], <noozguru@...> wrote: Remarks below. On 01/08/2014 06:51 PM, steve.sundur@... wrote: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=CLDgDxHNu1oC&source=productsearch&utm_source=HA_Desktop_US&utm_medium=SEM&utm_campaign=PLA&pcampaignid=MKTAD0930BO1 I listened to several interviews with this guy. Among the things he writes about is that income disparity is pretty much here to stay. But instead of 1% and the rest, it is more likely to be about 15% who have resources, with most everyone else just scraping by. Indeed lots of people I talk to are just scrapping by. A lot of people are too proud to admit it though. You have to pry sometimes to find what their case is. A lot of the unemployed are highly educated and have a lot of experience. People's futures have been stolen and they should not be depressed, they should be downright angry. He also points out, (either correctly or incorrectly) that the catalyst for social upheavals in the past was because people did not have enough to eat, and that is not likely to be the case now. The riots in Spain and Greece are do to people not being able to afford food. Do you do the grocery shopping in the family? Have you notice food prices going up faster than the rate of inflation? Or food packages getting smaller but still the same price? Or the ingredients in something now are cheaper or more fillers than when you bought the product several years ago? Also, technology, being so accessible, is able to provide enough comfort and satisfaction so that people will be okay with a lower standard of living. The last time the US economy was in balance was in the 1970s. After that it started going wacko. Much of the "prosperity" of the country was based on credit and people tricked into buying things they really didn't need. It's like there was a scheme to put everyone in debt. Yes, technology is one thing that has gotten cheaper. But people don't need to be activists 24/7 so some recreation is fine. A lot of folks wanted to downsize too as they got older but it has been difficult to sell their homes and renting something smaller often costs as much as the mortgage they are already paying. It's crazy. Another thing said is that stats will continue to drive most decisions. Just as in sports stats have become dominant in measuring every nuance, this will continue in one's personal life, determining credit worthiness, and into areas not yet so affected in this way. And a lot of stats aren't at all, many stats are propaganda. Be sure to consider the source.
