If fear is the mind killer, what is cowardice? What is cowardice but the perfect excuse for anything and everything? We can look the other way, or join a citizen's militia. We can watch FOX News and blame feminists, immigrants, blacks, and Democrats for every problem... and we can open our beer and watch the Game of the Week with a clear conscience... Still, there is a very special place for fear in the pantheon of stark naked realities that dictate to us the terms under which we live... A human being who lives -- day in and day out -- in fear will one day wake up without knowing that his / her humanity has been disabled -- put on hold, perhaps for life's duration...
Fear creates: reactions and justifications without end... "Enough" as a word and deep philosophical concept loses all validity: there can never be enough greed, violence, sexism, racism, nationalism, hate, oppression, injustice, or exploitation in a world in which fear dominates: each and all require fear to seed its power... When "enough" has disappeared (our current condition), then every single "event" proves each of the requirements of fear... every act of violence justifies an ever-increasing act of counter-violence... and the deadly spiral spins out of control...
On the other hand, wisdom still abides... deep in our consciousness the seeds of wisdom lie dormant... waiting... waiting... oftentimes, a spectacular moment propels the activation of wisdom which will then manifest itself as a supreme act of compassion and mercy: earthquakes and every natural calamity inspires the sudden manifestation of heroic endeavors: when we forget about ourselves we can do incredibly gracious, brave, and seemingly "stupid" things to save the life of a "perfect stranger"... Here's the thing: this "forgetting about ourselves", in truth, re-creates us, giving us a chance to become who we really were all along...
Wisdom is communicating to all of us right now through all of the events of the world: this is our "spectacular moment". Don't wait for the earthquake because you just might get it! Don't wait for a howling wind to probe the depths of your mind and heart! Don't wait for the panic of a possible last breath to wake up to your splendor! You were made for your life -- for this moment in time! All that wisdom requires is an active use of the word and concept of "enough"! You could summarize it all with a rough "enough of this shit!" if you wish... or you could say...
"Enough of unlimited greed and unrestrained profit! Enough of weapons and violence without end! Enough of justifications for retribution and terror! Enough of sexism, racism, and nationalism! Enough of economic exploitation! Enough of political oppression! Enough of disregard for this precious blue Planet! Enough of the folly of consumerist culture! Enough of hunger, poverty, and homelessness! Enough of the misuse and abuse of power! Enough already! Fear is the mind killer -- we may not be entirely free from fear yet, but we are choosing to rise and stand and walk towards the future that both we and our children deserve! Violence is ugly: we want peace and beauty: we want take-it-to-your-limit education: we want guaranteed jobs with dignity for all: we want full and equal rights for everyone: we want a culture of goodness, kindness, and compassion: we want power and profit to serve everyone's full development and liberation into all of their divinely human possibilities! We want to write a brand new story of what it means to be human on this Planet: and we are the one's who will be doing the writing!"
Fear may very well be the mind killer: but it is nothing in comparison to the liberation inherent within our resurrected hearts! Every moment and every act of love has within it the seeds of wisdom; and infinite power that is in no way dependent upon the suffering of another being: holy moly! We can be free: not the libertarian freedom of self-congratulation: but the freedom of the lovertarian-in-action! We can imagine paradise and practice beauty! We can place our liberated minds at the service of compassion for every other... we can, as the Master suggested, love our enemies and watch them transform with us into friends and fellow wayfarers... rising, standing, and walking towards our beautiful possibilities... rEvolution without end...
Fear creates: reactions and justifications without end... "Enough" as a word and deep philosophical concept loses all validity: there can never be enough greed, violence, sexism, racism, nationalism, hate, oppression, injustice, or exploitation in a world in which fear dominates: each and all require fear to seed its power... When "enough" has disappeared (our current condition), then every single "event" proves each of the requirements of fear... every act of violence justifies an ever-increasing act of counter-violence... and the deadly spiral spins out of control...
On the other hand, wisdom still abides... deep in our consciousness the seeds of wisdom lie dormant... waiting... waiting... oftentimes, a spectacular moment propels the activation of wisdom which will then manifest itself as a supreme act of compassion and mercy: earthquakes and every natural calamity inspires the sudden manifestation of heroic endeavors: when we forget about ourselves we can do incredibly gracious, brave, and seemingly "stupid" things to save the life of a "perfect stranger"... Here's the thing: this "forgetting about ourselves", in truth, re-creates us, giving us a chance to become who we really were all along...
Wisdom is communicating to all of us right now through all of the events of the world: this is our "spectacular moment". Don't wait for the earthquake because you just might get it! Don't wait for a howling wind to probe the depths of your mind and heart! Don't wait for the panic of a possible last breath to wake up to your splendor! You were made for your life -- for this moment in time! All that wisdom requires is an active use of the word and concept of "enough"! You could summarize it all with a rough "enough of this shit!" if you wish... or you could say...
"Enough of unlimited greed and unrestrained profit! Enough of weapons and violence without end! Enough of justifications for retribution and terror! Enough of sexism, racism, and nationalism! Enough of economic exploitation! Enough of political oppression! Enough of disregard for this precious blue Planet! Enough of the folly of consumerist culture! Enough of hunger, poverty, and homelessness! Enough of the misuse and abuse of power! Enough already! Fear is the mind killer -- we may not be entirely free from fear yet, but we are choosing to rise and stand and walk towards the future that both we and our children deserve! Violence is ugly: we want peace and beauty: we want take-it-to-your-limit education: we want guaranteed jobs with dignity for all: we want full and equal rights for everyone: we want a culture of goodness, kindness, and compassion: we want power and profit to serve everyone's full development and liberation into all of their divinely human possibilities! We want to write a brand new story of what it means to be human on this Planet: and we are the one's who will be doing the writing!"
Fear may very well be the mind killer: but it is nothing in comparison to the liberation inherent within our resurrected hearts! Every moment and every act of love has within it the seeds of wisdom; and infinite power that is in no way dependent upon the suffering of another being: holy moly! We can be free: not the libertarian freedom of self-congratulation: but the freedom of the lovertarian-in-action! We can imagine paradise and practice beauty! We can place our liberated minds at the service of compassion for every other... we can, as the Master suggested, love our enemies and watch them transform with us into friends and fellow wayfarers... rising, standing, and walking towards our beautiful possibilities... rEvolution without end...
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