We once celebrated those who pushed back against greed, from Dickens’ Christmas Carol to the Grinch: we must condemn greed and again celebrate community, love & selflessness
Wonderful piece; such great references to the forgotten perennial wisdom.
And why greed? Simply because when connection is left, there is an ever increasing drive to fill up the resultant inner emptiness.
And why connection left? India names this universal occurrence as The Dance of Lila, which I may have already shared. There is a drive in the universe for connected consciousness to become occluded, beginning a cycle to seek this forgotten fulfillment. The Prodigal Son, Siddhartha’s journey, and The Giving Tree, all stories of the life drive away from the initial blissful gift of connection, the subsequent increasing stress and near demise in erroneous attempts to regain it somehow, and the final, on the brink, realization of what gift we left behind, now to be reclaimed and owned.
We are here; inner and historical wisdom
starting to resurface, with a clear view of sky and virgin earth calling us, indigenous wisdom practices renewing, and subsequent pure spiritual teachings
recognized as speaking those truths and inherent values of life connection gifted us originally as part of the creation.
Our problem is that the greediest of the greedy possess the power to perpetuate their greed, so they will continue to cause enough of our poorly educated citizens to choose poorly educated public sector decision-makers. In addition, their greed is turbocharged by their equally toxic hubris which kills like no other of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Isn't there an old fable about the ant and the grasshopper, wherein the ant is prudent because it accumulates provisions against the Winter, and the grasshopper has to go begging to the ants when it gets hungry....something like that. There may be plenty of primitive DNA supporting a drive to have more stuff, and to compete, violently, to that end, in perpetual conflict with what we "dreamers" hope are our better instincts. Where is the "norm" to which there is retracement?
Earth is our only home, visually beautiful but harsh and unforgiving, death a constant companion. Still, despite impossible odds, fleeting and delicate, the seed of life has thrived and proliferated. This amazing feat of existence in the void and violence of space defies explanation. How is it possible? Why is it possible? What binds together all other forms of life in a holistic whole? Truly, what is intelligence?
The evolution of the body IS the evolution of the mind, IS the evolution of that state of being beyond thought, a thing we are forever defining and redefining that can't be defined, that ethereal consciousness we have labeled "soul." And the arrogance of "Man" has claimed "it" as their own, exclusive, isolated, deluded.
Thankfully, the larger reality in microcosm constantly alters one's perceptions. "My Octopus Teacher," a remarkable true story is now available on Netflix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s0LTDhqe5A
Wonderful piece; such great references to the forgotten perennial wisdom.
And why greed? Simply because when connection is left, there is an ever increasing drive to fill up the resultant inner emptiness.
And why connection left? India names this universal occurrence as The Dance of Lila, which I may have already shared. There is a drive in the universe for connected consciousness to become occluded, beginning a cycle to seek this forgotten fulfillment. The Prodigal Son, Siddhartha’s journey, and The Giving Tree, all stories of the life drive away from the initial blissful gift of connection, the subsequent increasing stress and near demise in erroneous attempts to regain it somehow, and the final, on the brink, realization of what gift we left behind, now to be reclaimed and owned.
We are here; inner and historical wisdom
starting to resurface, with a clear view of sky and virgin earth calling us, indigenous wisdom practices renewing, and subsequent pure spiritual teachings
recognized as speaking those truths and inherent values of life connection gifted us originally as part of the creation.
Our problem is that the greediest of the greedy possess the power to perpetuate their greed, so they will continue to cause enough of our poorly educated citizens to choose poorly educated public sector decision-makers. In addition, their greed is turbocharged by their equally toxic hubris which kills like no other of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Isn't there an old fable about the ant and the grasshopper, wherein the ant is prudent because it accumulates provisions against the Winter, and the grasshopper has to go begging to the ants when it gets hungry....something like that. There may be plenty of primitive DNA supporting a drive to have more stuff, and to compete, violently, to that end, in perpetual conflict with what we "dreamers" hope are our better instincts. Where is the "norm" to which there is retracement?
Earth is our only home, visually beautiful but harsh and unforgiving, death a constant companion. Still, despite impossible odds, fleeting and delicate, the seed of life has thrived and proliferated. This amazing feat of existence in the void and violence of space defies explanation. How is it possible? Why is it possible? What binds together all other forms of life in a holistic whole? Truly, what is intelligence?
The evolution of the body IS the evolution of the mind, IS the evolution of that state of being beyond thought, a thing we are forever defining and redefining that can't be defined, that ethereal consciousness we have labeled "soul." And the arrogance of "Man" has claimed "it" as their own, exclusive, isolated, deluded.
Thankfully, the larger reality in microcosm constantly alters one's perceptions. "My Octopus Teacher," a remarkable true story is now available on Netflix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s0LTDhqe5A
Blow your mind.
Severe COVID tied to high risk of death, mostly by other causes, within year | CIDRAP:
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2021/12/severe-covid-tied-high-risk-death-mostly-other-causes-within-year