Posts tagged "thoughts":

"Do you believe in God?"

Sometimes there is a problem with the way that questions are asked. Those are the questions to which our response is sure to get someone upset. Perhaps they should not be asked? Perhaps they need to be asked differently?

The meaning of purpose; the purpose of meaning

Purpose or lack of purpose is something that exists in the human plane. To escape suffering that is caused by war, famine, climate change, a person risks his life with the purpose of reaching a better place. Purposes relate to cause and effect; to agency. A subject acts and an object receives the action. By virtue of our lived experience, we interpret the universe in terms of separation; we see causes and effects and we look for purpose. If we find it, we decide that there is meaning to our lives, to the universe. If we do not find it, we may decide to believe in a supernatural or an unknowable purpose: "mysterious are the ways of God…" Or contrarily, we decide that there is no purpose, neither meaning. It's all a blank.

A good citizen; hamsin; musical performance

Being a good citizen of the 21st century requires knowledge and awareness so that we can make good decisions on an individual level, about what products to buy, what to do and what not to do.

Our truth and our persona

Are we just who we think we are, or do we always represent something - some group; some nation; some identity? There are things we would like to say, but then we remember that as a "privileged white male" or as a citizen of a former colonial power, or something else, it is probably better to keep our mouths shut. That's what I'm reflecting on now, with regard to that Israeli film director who raised a furor at the Goa film festival (see my previous post). What he said, regarding the "vulgarity" of the film ("The Kashmir Files") may (or may not) be true. On the other hand, if one is a foreigner and, on top of that, speaking about a highly sensitive issue - well, maybe there are places you might not want to go.

Walks, thoughts

It being the eve of the Day of Atonement, when the roads become quiet and the sounds of nature come to the forefront, I enjoyed my afternoon walk through the woods and fields, without the distant roar of traffic.

Animals

There are two or three cats that pass at every hour by the pateo screen door, on what look like regular patrols. Their pace is unhurried, as if they have all the time in the world. If the door is open behind the screen, they take a moment or two to peer in; no doubt if they could enter they would do so. I don't want to discourage their patrols. One day on the path we found a dead snake; perhaps that was their doing.

2022-07-14

Last night I was reading through the archives of their semi-internal weekly news sheet "News and Notes", and I see that the township is still in turmoil; a situation that seemed to start at the end of last year when the new Secretary tried to roll over all objections to complete the Crown Road project.

2021-11-27 - Distraction

Distraction is considered in a negative way by those who are "serious". The "serious" are those who embark upon a career, would-be absolute rulers, sadhakas and mumukshutwis, and all others who are taking the steep path up the mountain.

Reality

Up at sunrise again. Actually I was up twice in the night too, so my days and nights are similar periods of rest and wakefulness. I'm still reading "The Earth of the New Sun", and am enjoying Wolf's conception of a universe where space and time and creatures inhabiting these worlds are highly flexible, and tend to flow into each other. Genders, strange creatures, androids, all are in a fluid mix. I could well imagine a similar combining of time periods in our own world, where wisdom from past times augments the knowledge of the present, with intimations from the future. This is very much the universe of science fiction writers, an embracing of all that is possible, and a refusal to reject anything outright.

False views

The universe was never created. Matter, energy and consciousness are one. There is no center, no periphery, no end to time and space. Seeing is interpretation. All statements about ultimate truth, including this one, are a lie. There are multiple ways to apprehend reality But not taking into account the error of our seeing, and not glimpsing the unity in the diversity, Leads us astray.