Thursday, October 15, 2009

Our Sacred Trust and the Greater Promise

Dog Poet Transmitting.......

Being as I am in a philosophical frame of mind lately, I thought I might take this opportunity to clarify the position of Smoking Mirrors. You can see in the masthead above what the intention is but... I suspect that, not infrequently, there are readers who feel the blanket is much too big for the bed. No doubt there are people who believe that I have aversion and contempt for the material plane and more of the same for those who traffic in it, as if it were as real as they think it is. From this, you might also assume that I don’t think it’s as real as it seems to be. I’ve banged my head on enough low-hanging door lintels and other things, designed for people of average size, to know that it’s real enough.

On my way to doing what I now do, on my way to doing what I will soon do and on my way to whatever I’m going to do or not do after that, I’ve owned a few failed businesses and worked for people who had successful businesses. Some of the finest people I ever met were full on members of the business community and served to make my life a lot easier than it might have been. Some of them created an environment where fun and enthusiasm were the order of the day. They were generous, honest and often pleasantly eccentric.

Independent of the fact that I prefer other dimensions and the worlds inside my head, I’ve had a lot of fun in this one. I’ve been brutalized by it too. The one who oversees me saw fit to toughen and tenderize me in the gladiator schools of this tormented realm. It’s also been the springboard to other worlds and without a launching pad you will always be short of a launch. Conflict has made me strong and taught me the secret resolutions that are hidden within it. I’m only at a certain point on the spiral staircase to the stars but I’m far enough along that I can look over the railing and catch vertigo. As I’ve said a time or two here before, the key is not to piss over the railing.

I want to make it clear that there are a lot of really good people here that are struggling to do the right thing, even when no one is watching them.

I watch a lot of movies and read a lot of books; not so many of the latter as was once the case. Without the business people who labored to bring these things into form, I wouldn’t have been able to do either. Without the people who built the roads and the rails and the airports and planes, I would not be in Europe today. Let’s not forget the ships at sea. Without this world, I would have had no venue in which to learn the important lessons that I needed to learn, so that one day I could travel to the other worlds that draw me like I draw the very breath of life.

Without those who have opposed, betrayed and imprisoned me, I would never have had the opportunity to make the decision not to be like them. I’ve profited from bad examples every bit as much as I have from the good ones. The tales of epic struggles for liberty and redemption have inspired my soul. The lives of the great hearted ones who have gone before have shown me the possibility of the human state. The tragedy of those who failed in their humanity, still remain as icons of what not to be.

I owe the snake in the grass as much as I owe the eagle in the sky. This world is a tapestry that is made beautiful by the contrast in colors. There is no lasting satisfaction in the endless stream of products and events that flow from the cornucopia of matter but the awareness of that is its greatest gift.

Even though people have tried to kill me and imprison me for the extent of my natural life and intended that I suffer even worse than either of these, I can honestly say that I bear them no ill will. I owe them for what they helped shape me into. Resentment and enmity are ship anchors that will keep you here as long as you bear them. I’m not going to rattle my chains. I do believe it is necessary to rattle the cages though.

The reality of what I try to do, within the limitations and restrictions of my ability, is to point out the dangers that I have been exposed to. Having been through some portion of these things, it is my desire that others will be spared these things. It’s foolish to imagine that I have any real ability at this but one can’t help but try. One will develop no ability further on unless they work at it now. In some ways, suffering is a real gift because it brings with it empathy and compassion, which one might otherwise have not acquired. This is not to say that suffering confers this on everyone. Quite often people choose to reap resentment and enmity instead.

I look at the terrors of the past as playground scraps now. You become old when you begin to look back upon your life more than you look forward. We do this because we are attached to things we failed at and cannot change. We cannot change the past which is why we work to alter the facts of it in our minds. Lying to yourself is a fool’s gambit. We’d be spared a lot of grief if we were more honest with ourselves.

What I am trying to say is, though we get into strong language here, even though we pen the endless Jeremiads and rail like Savonarola, it is not for the purpose of making a villain out of anyone. That effort is very effectively achieved by those so engaged. The purpose is to state what many others state in these days; some things are wrong and an offense against humanity ...and whatever there may be that can be called divine.

We are all confused... some more than others. Whether our crimes are great or small, we all have them. However, as soon as one admits they were wrong, they open the door to being right. As soon as one departs from selfish and offensive actions, they are on a different course than they were. While we breathe it is not too late to change.

My methods may not suit everyone. I’m still learning as I go and am a work in progress but some things need be said because lies can kill you. The few of us with the stones to speak out against the psychopathy of Zionism and Israel are labeled as what we are not. On the other hand there are some number of bloggers and pundits who accuse me of being too soft on the Jews because I don’t condemn them as a whole. You can’t win. You can only say what you know; never forgetting what you do not know. I will add that silence is a form of complicity.

It is past disputing that Israel was involved in plotting 9/11. It is past disputing that there are serious exaggerations in the historical records of events long gone. It is past disputing that Operation Cast Lead was a war crime and that the Palestinians are victims of genocide. It is past disputing that Israel is a much greater danger to the world than Iran ever will be. The insidious daily lies of the catamite press seek to twist reality into something it is not and unless some number of us expose these lies, these lies will go on being carved into the stone that hangs around our collective necks.

People may not want to hear the truth but some of us don’t want to hear the lies either. I have as much of a right to be here and to speak as anyone. I am not going to look back at my life with regret about what I did not say and what I did not do. I am going to look forward to the day when these lies have been hung out to dry before the eyes of the world, exposed for what they are and a testimony to the darkness in us all.

There’s nothing wrong with business and entertainment. There’s nothing wrong with taking certain temporary enjoyments and pleasures one might find along the way, so long as they are not at the expense of our fellows. There is nothing wrong with being rich and in a position of prominence and power. There can be a great deal wrong with how one applies and uses them. We are stewards and nothing more. We can lose all that we have in an instant and curse the day these things ever came our way. We have a duty to one another and our first duty is to speak the truth regardless of the consequences. It is on this that we will be judged in the aftermath. It is better to consider this now than to discover it later at a much greater cost.

I want to thank all of you who have been a part of this experiment for making me much more effective and capable than I would have been on my own. This has been a group effort and it is going to be a group effort. As soon as we make up our minds to engage in this effort with every particle of our being, just that soon will angels fly to our side. The battle is already won. This is the critical point.


End Transmission.......

Visible sings: 911 was an Inside Job by Les Visible♫ Have I Got This Right? Talking 9/11 Blues ♫
'Have I Got This Right?' is track no. 2 of 10 on Visible's 2002 album
'911 was an Inside Job'

Lyrics (pops up)

911 was an Inside Job by Les Visible


To my correspondent from Ulaanbaatar, please send me an email that is not restricted by government software.

Smoking Mirrors Mirror.

55 comments:

ThinkingWolf said...

I would just like to say that I like Les. I find so few these days that I care to say that about.

Anonymous said...

Hi Les i've written down some of your words tonight so i can look at them before work tomorrow you are a real help.thanks again tony

shiloh1862 said...

As always, illuminating brother.

Pickdog
III

Anonymous said...

You're the shizzle, Les. I don't know what anything means anymore, but I do know that visiting here (and your other blogs) is a welcome respite in this mad, mad world. Carry on!

Anonymous said...

Les,
Thanks
I still worry as I shouldnt that Zionism and Israel are golems for you? Im saying the past is gone? The future a hope, and we all know what hopes do? Sorry, Im saying this with a smile, no downer at all!!! I thank you and would have to stand next to you in not wanting lies to be told to me, but Im the one with the ears, why hear what isnt? Too easy to say, I know.
As you shared this week, the face of oneness is in all people and events, and for that Im thankful to walk the world. Its much harder to judge these people or events, they moving to fast? An idea or object has a background to it, or is looked at in relationship to another idea or object, a dance? When we see patterns we take note, but dont let that note become the answer. Smoke and mirrors this world is!!!
LeMat

William Wilson said...

Hi Les, best

Your service as a reminder is appreciated. The despair and anger over personal and outer situations appear to reduce when I'm reminded of such things.

Matthew - South Africa said...

Thanks Les. You are doing us all a great service writing down what goes on in your head. You speak directly to my heart and I feel what you write deep down. It is a pleasure being a part of your mission.

God Bless, Keep it up.

Hank said...

As always, your words inspire many thoughts Les. They remind me of struggles I have had, and some I am still having. As you have noted, these struggles have brought me to where and who I am today, and I have no regrets about that.

I know that the wheel of life goes around, and what is deposited on it will multiply and be returned to sender, but there are times when I am still very impatient. I want that wheel to hurry up, and satisfy my desire for retribution. I want to SEE that ton of shit come down on those who deal in manure. Unfortunately the wheel is like the old dial telephones. You can dial it forward as fast as you want, but it comes back in it's own sweet time. Push as you will, it did not move any faster. It was hell trying to be the third caller, and win the tickets, but I digress.

I also still have a problem dealing with people, some very good friends, that are obsessed with stuff, and the acquisition of it. I have never been materialistic and have little understanding of how or why people determine their worth as a human, and the worth of others by what they have. Everything in this life, including life itself is transient. It's that fatty that comes down the row at the concert, that you hit, enjoy and pass on. I've never understood those that lament the passing of it, especially since there will be another along any second. I love concerts.

I mean, there is stuff that I enjoy but I seem to lack the ability to become attached to it, and always have. As far back as I can remember I seem to have been engaged in the search for something I CAN take with me when I go. Of course I have no idea what that might be, but if it is experience or memories or feelings then I believe I will be well attended.

I am afflicted and blessed with this human condition, and the gamut of experience that that entails. I want to experience the world the way it is, and I want to change it for the better, and am torn between the two. In the end I know there is only one place I can do either, and that is within myself. Joy comes from me, and evil cannot be defeated in the world, but only in my own heart.

Les, I love the thoughts and feelings your words inspire, not only in me, but in all who come and share here. I have no idea whether you are fulfilling your destiny here, but you may be helping me fulfill mine. In any case I thank you for what you do. Peace to you and all.

Anonymous said...

Ameerikagulag said:

"....There’s nothing wrong with...."

Indeed. Everything in moderation - including moderation.

This life is the physical expression of the divine mind. How could I dare to dislike it?

Thanks for the inspiring words Les.

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to thank you Les. People who tell the truth are depressingly rare in this world.

Anonymous said...

Rock on Les!
Thank you.
Mouser

Anonymous said...

When the play is over only a memory remains....return of Pahana

Ahrooooooooooooooooooooo!

Anonymous said...

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Gosvami once famously remarked that "This world is no place for a gentleman,"

You Les, are a gentleman.

Anonymous said...

Some of your very best work occurred just a few days ago at Visible Origami. Here is an abbreviated summary of your words for the 90% of readers who do not make it over to that site.

These thoughts are fantastic. Prose and poetry in motion that seem truly inspired by God and could only be channeled by one who is humbly seeking the true meaning of life.

"Any changes you want to make in yourself and your outer world have to come about through inner restraint. The moment you change your mindset by reining in behaviors, the world will change around you. The world is a mirror.

Impatience is an automatic obstacle that manifests before you at the intensity of your impatience.

It’s in the simple things that we do in every moment that brings success or failure. It is in our relationships with those around us; our daily chores, the thoughts and emotions that we entertain where we display our readiness to be advanced in understanding.

Harmony is what you want. If you are lacking these you want to get them first.

A wise soul does not project their limitations upon the divine or ascribe human characteristics to it. This is anthropomorphism and this is how you get people who commit all manner of crimes in the name of god because their god is just a bigger version of themselves. This is true ass backwardness. Don’t do this.

Impress upon yourself the fundamental awareness of your own ignorance and helplessness and work toward a complete and utter inner surrender to that which is- and always will be- beyond your comprehension. Only god can know god.

Where is god? God is in everything. We live in a world of brutal, selfish and impatient lovers. A true master, in concert with the one, can make a simple gesture and transfer more in the way of lasting satisfaction than any act of physical intercourse you will ever engage in.

We need to investigate the subtle dishonesties of our selfish nature. We hide a lot of this from ourselves because it compromises our assumptions about ourselves.

Cultivate a love affair for the divine. Pine and long for the divine. Speak to the divine as a lover and you might be very surprised how quickly you get results you were not getting before. Abandon your anthropomorphic projections, while still maintaining the understanding that the divine is present in everything and everyone. God actually looks at you through the eyes of others and often speaks to you through others but you are not hearing the divine. This is the greatest curse of materialism. It trivializes something that is beautiful beyond human understanding. Every human activity has divine implications but we have ‘earthed’ them to serve our appetites and desires.

We become like that which we love and admire. “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. People may think they are going to win by doing it their way and the world gives the impression that they are winning but they are eating sand for breakfast."

May God continue to bless you Les in your work.

Anonymous said...

Les, now if only aesops dog could learn from your wise words. http://jta.org/news/article/2009/10/14/1008512/house-passes-iran-sanctions-legislation

Anonymous said...

God is present everywhere from the smallest particle to the largest sun, light penetrates darkness....and illumination brings forth truth...
Les you are a Sage.....

Anonymous said...

Yes, "return of Pahana"!

Oh man, I wake every am. with positivity mostly, but today I've got Mars transiting my Sun-Saturn. So the impatience thing is really gettin to me. I don't think we can thwart the natural cycles, even with great discipline.
My 'friend' said to me recently: "look in the mirror and bow to the one who is within that 'shell' you see. That One is the very one you seek. You are your own swami." Ancient and true words.

After the joy of awakening with my consort, seeing my beloved animals, and the beauty of the land here, the next best thing is seeing what Visible has gifted us with this day. And also the feedback of this great community.
But, today my rage is off the charts. Don't think I can stand one more day of war, torture, lies, poison, omnicide, sentient suffering...I want to burn down mallwart and unsafeway, like now.

"This" world is both heaven and hell simultaneously. I find the 'other/inner' world much less brutal (scary, but surrenderable). But I don't want to "escape" this world either.
I just want to curse/condemn all the Gaia-unworthy to some dead barren hell-planet on the far side of the cosmos for 108 trillion yugas.
I so love this "beautiful tapestry", but if I died today, I would still go out pissed.

respects,
bholanath

ekist said...

Les - I've been finding my way to your musings for some time now and just want to say thanks. Your work is important to me because I've found very few kindred souls who I can talk to about 9/11 and the other major lies of the age of mass illusion. In fact, I can count the number on my two hands with fingers to spare, and I know a lot of people. I hope you're right about the mass awakening you see out there. From where I sit, I just don't see it. Some of the more intelligent people I know are the most blind. But there are different kinds of intelligence I guess. Your kind of intelligence resonates with mine, and I'll keep coming back because I find affirmation and solace in your words. Please keep on keeping on.

Best,

Ed

kikz said...

i thank you, for your efforts...

Medusae said...

Well said, as always.

Thank you for speaking for us - we do love you for it.

Eugene said...

Still loving what you write Les!

Isnt all this so surreal?

I brought presents for the occasion!

Hierosalyma Est Perdita!

Hillside said...

"The purpose is to state what many others state in these days; some things are wrong and an offense against humanity ...and whatever there may be that can be called divine.While we breathe it is not too late to change."

Thank you.

Oh, your words sparkle, stir, and sustain the spirit, in this too, too sullied world.

There are no coincidences, so those who read your blogs have been brought there as part of a larger plan, both to draw from you and give to you.

Even a few minds in tandem, with thoughts of gratitude, compassion, peace, goodwill, and a desire for betterment all round, will create an atmosphere which entrains others, and make a difference for the better.

"Twenty-eight vials of DNA were given to 28 researchers, who were specially trained in how to generate and feel strong emotions on demand. The results were astounding.

Each DNA sample changed shape according to its researcher’s feelings:

When the researchers felt love, joy, and gratitude, the DNA responded by relaxing: the strands unwound and actually lengthened.

When the researchers felt anger, fear, frustration, or stress, the DNA tightened up, became shorter, and even switched off many of its codes!

When the researchers felt love, joy, and gratitude again, the codes switched back on.

The experiment was later followed up by testing HIV-positive patients. Here, researchers discovered that feelings of love, joy and gratitude resulted in the HIV patients becoming 300,000 times more resistant to the virus than when they were not feeling these emotions." - this from an article in Dr Mercola's website.

In an altered state of intense focusing, I was given a gift of a white spiral with ever-widening unending gyres by a tall figure on a mountain-top which I had just climbed. The memory of that keeps me going.


On your personal spiral staircase, may you always go onward and upward. And I also wish that for this community, and, in horizontal gyres, for all on the planet.

dsquared said...

Hi Les, I too understand that Israel is a Rothschild construct that has been used to deceive the world and foment terror and war throughtout the world. To state this fact, as you know, does not win you any populartiy contests. Nevertheless it is true and must be exposed. And to think I used to be a Zionist Christian. It just shows that there is hope for even the most blind of sheeple.

gelatru said...

Les, thank you! You really know how to put it into words. I appreciate your writings very much! You always make me feel better. I know the truth about what is going on and I do believe you that the evil will lose in the end.

Gelatru

Anonymous said...

I think this was your best, and I have been a reader sev. years....
I tune in to the latest Transmission, and never fail, the dogpoet is speaking directly to me and looking me in the eye.... LV is a reincarnated Alan Watts without the alcohol (and then much more, I think).
I have been SEETHING from a great injustice recently done me and lost focus on everything else. Then this line: "Resentment and enmity are ship anchors that will keep you here as long as you bear them." Better said than anything I ever heard in an NA or AA meeting!

Rebel 4E said...

I have no idea what the hell is going on anymore....(O__o)
But I draw strength from the knowledge that there are others out there who feel the same way.
I take each day as it comes and try to see the good in everything.

Respects,

Anonymous said...

The planet , and us, are about to go through major changes. The kinds of people who use men like Al Gore to exploit the natural process don't care that Nature has a way of showing just who really is boss around here.

I kinda picture them all as that character in the Forrest Gump , the really angry dude who lost his legs. After they ride out the storm, just maybe they will find peace with God. If not, in the final end, they can slip under when the gates are locked up for a thousand years and be stuck grasping at those piles of gold and jewels that burn their greedy hands , and the unseen force that brought them there will compel them to do so over and over again.

William G.

Anonymous said...

Most Americans live in 'their own private Idaho.' Like all the 300lb. whales one sees recumbent on the ground at the 'pro healthcare' rallies. Taking personal responsibility for one's health, the value of preventative medicine, never even enter into it. Amongst the other things 'they' use them for, I think the healthcare and swine flu memes are toward this end - create more helplessness and fear and better sheep. To paraphrase the saudi prince again, of all people, Americans have got the econ. paradigm down pat - living a life of leisure and sloth on other people's money, with no productive output or labor of their own!
Word verif.: Cripp

Hillside said...

" Here, at one of the world-class universities today, I've just returned from a walk where I saw a demonstration against the man who ordered the atrocities in December 08, who was the invited speaker at a big lecture. One of the top law schools is here, so they know the relevant legal definitions. Only one member of the faculty, who belongs to their faith, wrote protesting this invitation. Earlier this week, the former rep to the united nations, JB, was here, advocating using the most horrible weaponry on Iran.

No one dares to say anything publicly or even to friends for fear of repercussions on themselves and their families. The mentor of many of those who formulated the policies over the past eight years, which are still being followed, has strong support here.

This below is an eye-opening documentary."

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/194794-Video-The-New-American-Century

Kevenj said...

I know I am not anybody on this blog which doesn't matter.It's not about me or my vanity or yours or the top 10 on the Forbes List this year. It's about truth.
It is funny how I tend agree with you and others who comment on many issues that are spiritual, societal and economic.Surreal really.I would much prefer to make alot of money,watch football, drink beer, get laid and never have known. Well, OK, not really.

In my humble opinion you are meant to be here at this point in time and are a "special" gift; be it from your hard work, sacrifice, from a Calvanistic ideology, I don't know. But as far as that word goes without giving you a head,I believe it and which i'm sure you know where its coming from.
To put it bluntly you have a gift that many enjoy and can relate to.
Thank you. Very well written.

catnic said...

Les,

Thanks for the poetry of your words, the beauty of your soul and for sharing some of the lessons you've learned along the way. And thanks to all of you of like-mind who come here to read and share your comments. It's a comfort to know you are out there.

Anonymous said...

Kevin John
That is one of the first things I thought when I stumbled onto the dog poet reading Stewart Rixon's site. I thought you know this guy is actually telling the truth and doing it some areas some are not qualified to address.

I can't do a lot of things right but I am very good at recognizing when somebody is telling the truth. A friend of mine used to telll me that some people are actually afraid of me because I look into their eyes and it is like I see through them.

It is interesting three of the best friends I have had in life from grade school on, 2 out of 3 were musicians and all of them did some time for smoking the ganja. All three were what I would call lightweight versions of Will Rogers. (I often referred to all of them as grasshopper.) Liver problems got two of them and lungs the third one.

One after he divorced his third wife, I asked what went wrong and he said "she just wouldn't do right."
If you knew him you would know that was most likely a long and entangled story wrapped up in that statement.

It ranks right up there with what someone said here, "most people if they are not lying they are usually wrong."

But anyway Kevin I don't think making money, drinking beer, watching football and getting laid have been officially forbidden here. I do some of those except the making money part. I usually have the five gallon pot of chili ready for the last week of the month.

Ahrooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Anonymous said...

Bholanath
I am going to attempt to paste the article you noted on origami. I have read it several times it is one of the best I have ever seen.

For one who has perception,
A mere sign is enough.
For one who does not heed,
A thousand explanations
Are not enough

Hajji Bektash Wali
13th Century Persian Mystic,

During the past twelve months, it has been reassuring to see vast numbers of individuals in the United States awaken to the reality that life on this planet has profoundly shifted and will never be the same. Many have radically altered their career goals, spending and saving patterns, and their long-term priorities. When I witness such changes in human behavior, I am encouraged, and I become cautiously optimistic about our ability to read the signals and respond wisely.

At the same time, however, the majority of citizens, greatly enabled by mainstream media, remain clueless about what is happening around them, or even adversely in their personal lives. Marinated in denial and entitlement, they naively await a "return to normal" and persist in doing more of everything that hasn't worked, isn't working, and never will. So I must ask, how is that humankind, supposedly "the measure of all things" can behave with such recalcitrance and oblivousness to reality?

For the past two decades, alongside engaging in exhaustive research on empire and all that has brought us to civilization's collapse, I have been a student of myth and archetypal psychology, as well as indigenous traditions. The fact that for the most part, these topics are foreign to our culture as a result of Western civilization's inculcation, speaks volumes about our behavior toward ourselves, other humans, and the earth community. So-called "civilized" humanity has been exiled from its rootedness in nature and the organic process of human development so conscientiously observed and nurtured by indigenous peoples. Consequently, the culture of modernity is not only disconnected from the earth, but in a large sense "developmentally disabled". An integral aspect of the disability is modern humanity's disavowal of the initiatory process in the care and training of children.

As I have explained in my book Sacred Demise: Walking The Spiritual Path of Industrial Civilization's Collapse, most indigenous cultures have elaborate initiation procedures for their young people during the age of puberty; however, in the modern world, one does not have to be a member of an indigenous community to experience initiation. In fact, Carl Jung asserted that initiation is an archetype or fundamental motif inherent in the human psyche. That is to say that something in us wants and expects engagement in the initiatory process, not only at the age of puberty, but throughout our human experience. The process is so fundamental, Jung believed, that even if we do not participate in a formal rite of passage ceremony as we transition from youth to adulthood, our human journey will provide us with initiatory events for the purpose of deepening our humanity and our connection with the cosmos and something greater than the human ego.

Anonymous said...

Part II Carolyn Baker


Examples of initiatory events which humans frequently encounter are loss of meaningful work, loss of livelihood, loss of home, loss of health, loss of relationship, loss of future security, loss of life, or loss of place. I have intentionally reiterated the word "loss" because loss is the hallmark of modernity. The irony is that civilization has promised us inestimable gain but fundamentally delivered infinite loss at every turn of our path toward embracing its demands.

In tribal cultures where formal rites of passage are practiced, it is understood that life on earth is fraught with loss-that in fact, loss is the hallmark of human experience but that the bone-marrow ordeal of the initiatory process grounds the young person moving toward adulthood, by way of loss, into his or her permanent place in the community. Thus, regardless of what losses one may endure, for the initiated man or woman, one's connection with community and with the sacred are constant. As a result, one is equipped to face and navigate loss with remarkable fortitude and grace, not alone, but supported by elders and peers in the process.

I do not wish to idealize tribal cultures or imply that they are without challenges or devoid of dysfunction. Indeed, the more they are encroached upon by civilization, the more dysfunctional they become. My intention is not to focus on indigenous peoples per se, but on the archetype of initiation that I believe inhabits the human psyche. If my premise is correct, then much of how we as a species have arrived at the current predicament of committing planetary suicide makes perfect sense.

Moreover, if the reality of initiation is deeply embedded in our humanity, it is likely that survival and navigation of the collapse of civilization will be enhanced by our perception and response to collapse as an initiatory process.

Furthermore, in our fundamental human origins, we are all indigenous people. Whether or not we claim our indigenous roots, "white roots" do not exist. We are either actively acknowledging our indigenous roots, or we are ignoring them, but in fact, all of humanity has been colonized by civilization, the collapse of which offers us the opportunity to reclaim our heritage and liberate ourselves from conquest.

This then leads to the question: How does an uninitiated species respond to the predicament it has created, and conversely, what is the initiated response to the collapse of civilization?

Anonymous said...

Part III
Carolyn Baker

Capitalism: A Children's Story

The capitalism to which I refer is not that of the small business enterprise which began flourishing in the Middle Ages, but rather corporate capitalism, which is synonymous with the proliferation of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of an elite oligarchy. It is rooted in a world view antithetical to the common good in which certain individuals, by virtue of privilege and a sense of specialness and entitlement, exert influence on neighboring entities and institutions in order to deploy myriad varieties of economic and social control. It is the apotheosis of uninitiated, puerile engagement with the world.

Unfortunately, our awareness of corporate capitalism's treachery and even our contempt for it, does not exclude us from its seductive manipulation, for its roots penetrate our psyches deeply and insidiously. We have been conditioned by industrial civilization far more profoundly than we may ever be able to consciously discern, by a legacy that extends far back in time through innumerable generations. Thus, if we are to astutely prepare for the demise of civilization, we must critically ponder the myriad ways in which we have internalized its fundamental world view and attendant values. Detached as we may be from the day to day trappings of civilization, even as we rail against the evils of corporate capitalism, it behooves us to notice our physical and emotional responses to the topic of the collapse of the systems we proclaim to disavow. Understanding that no sane human being welcomes suffering, death, and untold misery, our emotional responses and ensuing attitudes to the unraveling of civilization may reveal our level of awareness regarding the initiatory process and our participation in it.

Anonymous said...

Part IV
Carolyn Baker


What Does Developmental Durability Look Like?

Conversely, what some responses to collapse from the initiated perspective?

**Non-special engagement with humanity: Yes, I've worked hard in my life. From that experience I have gathered many skills which will be useful to me as the earth community undergoes enormous shifts. Because I am not separate from that community and because we are all deeply connected, I am being called, along with all other beings who inhabit the planet, to not only experience these momentous changes, but to contribute my talents and skills to enhancing our common well being in this process.

**A willingness to confront what is, not how I'd like it to be: I do not enjoy looking at unpleasant realities, but if I don't look, then I cannot see, and if I cannot see, I am not serving myself or anyone else. I will look, and I will feel the feelings that surface as I do so. I will remember that within the word "emotion" is the word "motion" which means that feelings are fluid and shift and change like the flow of water. Feeling sad today does not guarantee that I will feel sad tomorrow or that I will become frozen in any one emotion. I will ask my community to look with me, and we will support one another as we do so.

**There may be no solutions to the issues created by humanity's greed, self-absorption, and cruelty. We may be encountering a predicament that cannot be solved but only responded to. How can I and my loved ones and community best respond to these daunting challenges? How can we work together to minimize loss of life and care for each other? If there are no "solutions", then what does this mean? What is the message in this unprecedented reality?

**The crisis the planet now faces is far more immense than responding with mere sustainability. Sustainability means that something lasts, and living sustainably is a natural and inevitable response to living in connection with the earth community. Living in this way at this late hour is unlikely to prevent the collapse of civilization. I will not feed the puerile paradigm of civilization for the sake of supporting green products because it's "the right thing to do" or because it makes me feel good. I want to live sustainably not because it will "save" the earth but because my connection with the earth community compels me to do so.

**I am willing to deal with both the present and the future. It is foolish to only live in the present moment. Time is a tapestry of past, present, and future, and I need to prepare for the future as well as enjoy the present moment. Because I am an adult, I need to be mindful of the well being of myself, my loved ones, and my community, as well as generations that will succeed me, and therefore, I cannot afford to live exclusively in the present.

**Ironically, the more I consider the likely consequences of the future, the more I appreciate the here and now. Each moment, each meal, the reality of having food, shelter, health, friends, and my faculties I savor more intensely because I am aware of the likelihood that in the future, these gifts will be much harder to acquire than they are now. In fact, humans have the capacity to read the indicators of how the future might be based on compelling evidence; not to do so or having done so, then choosing not to prepare would be mentally, physically, and emotionally unhealthy.

**I will not polarize the emotions of love and fear. Fear in humans serves an evolutionary function-to warn of impending danger so that one may take action to prevent harm. From the initiatory perspective, love and fear are complementary, not conflicting, emotions. Through fear, humans often tap into layers of courage that were previously unknown and unused. The word "courage" has its roots in the French word la coeur which means heart. To have courage is to have heart and to be motivated by love and compassion.

Anonymous said...

Part V
Carolyn Baker

In a recent interview with author, Barbara Ehrenreich, she asserts that "positive thinking is permeating our society, from medicine to business, and is even contributing to our financial crisis." Although she does not frame her objections to positive thinking in terms of an uninitiated perspective, her description of positive thinking and its impact on modern civilization accurately describes a world view devoid of initiation. While I do not wish to champion cynicism or clinical depression, the positive thinking craze, which in this country grew out of the Victorian transcendentalist movement, is a hallmark of privilege and has been utilized by the entitled ruling elite to pacify and manipulate the remainder of society.

In indigenous traditions, positive thinking is held differently than in modernity because from the initiated perspective life is a holistic mix of positive, negative, and everything in between. In fact, in its purest application of the indigenous perspective, experiences are what they are, and humans are not wise enough to determine at the outset whether an experience is "good" or "bad." Only from hindsight can we begin to evaluate them. The qualities of joy and celebration are fostered in indigenous traditions, particularly as antidotes to human suffering, but not as positive thinking per se. Rather, one looks squarely at the challenges confronting oneself and the tribe, but a cornucopia of emotions are allowed in the process.

I'm reminded of repeated scenes in the movie "Dances With Wolves" in which medicine man, Kicking Bird, asks his white ally, John Dunbar, how many more white people will be arriving on Lakota land and when. The medicine man's question is typical of what Native Americans in those days who were aware of the burgeoning presence of the white man were asking. While some nineteenth-century Indian people may have turned to alcohol to help them forget the conquest, many did not and wanted to know the specifics of the very bad news of European invasion. Had Dunbar given Kicking Bird anything but the honest answer of, "there will be as many as the stars" or encouraged him to "think positively", the Lakota holy man would have at least lost trust in Dunbar, or worse, decided that he was completely crazy.

The initiatory process of indigenous peoples has developed organically throughout their history as a result of their intimate connection with nature. Anyone closely observing nature comprehends its capriciousness, volatility, uncertainty, and inherent inequities. One species painstakingly nurtures its young only to have a significant number of its offspring annihilated by another species. From the human perspective, nature is extraordinarily cruel. Initiation evolved in part as an attempt by humans to make sense of nature's uncertainties and serves to teach the initiate that life is a series of challenges which evoke all manner of emotions and opportunities for finding meaning in multifarious, bewildering adversity. Thus the initiated person views all harsh conditions as part of the initiatory process-even the conquest and ultimate extinction of his or her tribe.

But initiation in indigenous cultures have served an even more momentous purpose than any of those mentioned above. It was a necessary and pivotal preparation for elderhood, which had little to do with age and everything to do with wisdom. Male and female elders were the overseeing parents of the tribe-guardians of the community's purpose and destiny. All initiatory roads led to becoming an elder whose fundamental function was to mentor new initiates and keep the process of birth, initiation, elderhood, and death intact, for the benefit of present generations and those yet unborn.

Anonymous said...

Part VI
Carolyn Baker

American Date Rape

To be uninitiated, psycho-spiritually, is to remain an emotional adolescent in the modern world. Civilization perpetuates the anti-initiation process which fixates human beings on the world of puerile pursuits and guarantees that civilization's mission and values will never be closely examined. Consumerism and fostering the identity of the citizen as consumer, attended by the mandate of positive thinking, delivers the end-product of the eternally adolescent adult who is literally, putty in the hands of the corporate capitalist rapist.

Ehrenreich notes in her interview, as does Michael Moore in "Capitalism: A Love Story", that the interminable, tantalizing carrot held out to the middle and working classes by corporate capitalism has been the hope that "you too can be rich someday" alongside the Horatio Alger "anything is possible in America" delusion. The fantasy has been brilliantly wielded to evoke envy and unfounded admiration for the titans of affluence, holding at bay bone-marrow resentment against the ruling elite for fear that exposing their insidious machinations might permanently preclude the lowly worker from joining their exclusive club. In other words, maybe if I don't criticize the filthy rich, I'll have a better chance of being one of them some day. Or in the words of Barbara Ehrenreich:

I'm saying this is an ideology that takes away all the indignation there might be about extreme economic polarization.

If you think you're going to be rich someday, why would you be resentful of million-dollar bonuses or $10 million CEO salaries, you know? You're going to be there, so it would be against your own self-interest to stand up for your class interests.

Hence, the perpetually adolescent citizen in awe of the wealthy, with internally blathering litanies of positive thinking a la Oprah, Suze Orman, or The Secret reverberating in the mind, is fundamentally incapable of discerning the lethal essence of corporate capitalism or penetrating its odious marketing skullduggery. Thus when the rapist slipped the ruffies of "riches in real estate" or "turn your home into an ATM machine" into the middle class American lexicon, the result was collusion: the sharing of a catastrophic illusion that resulted in colossal financial plunder, leaving the adolescent victims battered, burglarized, and bewildered to awaken and discover that they had participated in the largest transfer of wealth in the history of the human race-at their own expense.

At this point, two things should be self-evident: It is time for the human species to grow up, and it is time for us to frame our experiences of humanity's converging crises through the lens of planetary initiation.

Anonymous said...

Part VII
Carolyn Baker

Tribal initiations always involve some type of ordeal in which there is no guarantee that the initiate will physically survive. It is, in fact, an intentional brush with death. In some instances, the initiate has a choice about when to engage in the ritual and always has the choice not to participate at all. However, most choose to participate as a result of a lifetime of preparation for it by the community. And while a young man or woman may have fear or dread of the experience, he or she is well aware by the age of initiation of the personal and community consequences of opting out of the ritual.

In no way am I suggesting that individuals not raised in tribal cultures should participate in literal initiation rituals, but I am proposing that perceiving the collapse of civilization as an initiatory experience is a meaningful, salutary, appropriate, and empowering response to it.

While on the one hand I agree that everyone is at a different level of awareness regarding the demise of Western civilization, I also believe that this should not excuse us from incrementally educating our minds and cultivating emotional resilience in order to navigate future crises. Not all children at the age of five may be ready for kindergarten, but a ten year-old who has never begun a grammar school education is a walking tragedy.

Although many of us speak freely of living in a post-peak or post-industrial or post-petroleum world, we have no clear picture of what that world will look like. What we do know, however, is that navigating the transition to that world and surviving in it is not for the faint of heart. To accomplish either or both will require something beyond a five years' supply of food. In fact, it will demand that we perceive the crisis as an evolutionary threshold-a crossroads in the odyssey of our species that I believe is most accurately understood as an initiation.

Only collapse as initiation can illumine, at the deepest levels of our being, the choices we make as we attempt to transform a devastated civilization. The transition is utterly dependent on inner transformation. Otherwise, we are unlikely to create anything but a mirror image of industrial civilization.

So what might a world forged by initiated adults look like?

Surely it will be a world in which every aspect of human functioning will be carefully designed and lived in intimate connection with the non-human world. (A specific design system, permaculture, is ideal, and it behooves anyone contemplating life after civilization to become familiar with its principles.) It will be a society in which relationships have been transformed and honed by collective suffering and mutual support. The most anxiety-producing events will not be about being stuck in traffic gridlock, being forced to change one's weekly hair styling appointment, or discovering that one's internet server is down. Rather, world views and values will be dictated by having or not having food, water, shelter, personal safety, clothing, physical health, and supportive friends and neighbors.

The world to which I am alluding is a world in which every moment, every encounter, every experience is an initiatory exercise challenging its inhabitants to practice gratitude, compassion, kindness, alertness, discernment, and be present in the body and emotions. These realities will be doorways, not merely to a new society, but most importantly, to a new strain of humanity-a planet protected and nurtured by initiated elders.

No one needs to wait for the dire repercussions of collapse in order to begin the initiatory journey. One need only open the eyes and heart to a deeper level of perception so that "a thousand explanations" will not be necessary.

James Ledyard said...

Thank you for the inspiration, Les.

I still carry daggers in my back, from years of dealing with dead-zombie co-workers and supervisors in the so called 'real world' market place. I carried a hatred for these back-stabbers for a long time, but as you point out, "they showed me where I didn't want to be and they helped me along the way."

I have been out of work for over a year now.. and I don't know if I have the will power to return? Yes, hunger is a great motivator, but the workplace is getting more violent by the day (and dangerous).

Those who still have jobs, will do anything to keep them, no matter what the crime or insanity required. (Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap)

I also find that I have zero tolerance and little patience left, in dealing with 911-Dummies and zio-turds.

I know, I hear you. "Change begins with me".... but if these 911 sleep-walkers haven't caught on to the truth by now... I can't waste any more time on them. As Jimi Hendrix once said, "All along the watchtower, let us not talk falsely now... the hour it's getting late".

With Pluto (the planet of dissolution and transformation) now in Capricorn and turning direct, (as we head towards 2012) the sky will crack and sunlight will stream in.. exposing the rat-bastard politicians and their corporate over-lords for all they are worth, for all to see. The roaches will run and the rats will scurry.

Fox News and CNN will have continuous Live Updates:

This just in..the man behind the curtain is really a 500 pound gorilla who smells like dead fish and sits in his own fecal matter.

Breaking News: The Emperor, well, not only does the Emperor have "no clothes", the stupid bastard has been standing there naked and masturbating for the last 100 years! (film at 11:00)

It's all bread an circus from here on out.. just hang in there one day at a time.

Thanks again to the dog poet.

Anonymous said...

The soup kitchens here are full; the food banks are always empty; the foreclosure signs are innumerable; the food stamp application line is out the door.......
REAL unemployment is 21% So could anyone tell me why Howdy Doody, the lying campaigner/scammer, to whom peace is war, spends all his time yammering about Afghanistan (like Bush yammered about Iraq) when things are so horrid here? Gee, could it be.......Israel? His master's voice!

DumbGoyNot said...

Hi Les,

I used to read a lot of books and watch a lot of movies, but for the last ten years or so I've been most interested in reading the alternative news and the blogs following the articles (especially the blogs) because so often I find that the articles and the blogs carry the most up-to-date voice of truth, which I believe many times to be the Holy Spirit speaking through them. The most important information available in other words.

Visible said...

There is a new Petri Dish up-



Up their Sleeve on All Hallows' Eve.

Anonymous said...

They say 'a picture is worth a thousand words'. You certainly are an excellent painter with words.
Thanks mate.
Tony

Anonymous said...

Speaking of sacred trust and the lack thereof. This young woman is was permanently crippled after a flu vaccine. There is actual video of it. This is unbelievable. Yet they keep pushing the stuff.

http://www.insideedition.com/news.aspx?storyId=3514

Mauiguy said...

Les, you are always inspiring and very much appreciated. I gain a fresh sense of the things that are and the things that could be each time I read your work. I see you as a touchstone of sanity in a world gone wildly astray.

Mahalo Nui Loa, Les. Malama pono

Anonymous said...

very zen. outstanding.
am

Unknown said...

Hey! How's tricks?

Just a quick few bits to say thanks, and to tell you that your work is a real inspiration. It's been 2 weeks since our last translation on News of Tomorrow, I'm at the cusp of the next one now... I'll send you a link when it's up!

Very much like this piece!...

Visible said...

Daniel Guimond;

Please send me the link to that translation site. I lost it when I had to reinstall windows.

I'd like to put it in the menu at the various blogs. Thank you for your wonderful assistance here and that includes the penetrating comments you make.

Anonymous said...

Hello Les
Ref: WRH
“We are now setting out to delegitimise those who try to delegitimise us, Netanyahu was quoted on the Ynet website as saying.
We will not tolerate it and we will respond on a case-by-case basis.”

The more they struggle the tighter the noose
Tony

Vaughan said...

Hoo, hoo. Have you read this week's Kunstler? Methinks he's going senile.

copy/paste/click/whatever:

Booby Prize (Oct. 12, 2009)

http://tinyurl.com/yzwgz3g

KennedyAssassination said...

A very interesting article with related links occured at WRH a few days ago.
I've been mulling it around in my mind these past days and I would like to share it now.
The end of America began with the inception of the Rothschild controlled Federal reserve at the beginning of the 1900's.
We received an honest warning in Eisenhower's speech about the dangers of the military-industrial complex gradually taking control over everything.
The real de facto end of America occured with the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
Here's where it gets interesting.
Just prior to Kennedy's inside-job murder he and his government were very actively involved in two specific areas.
They were the following:
1. A concerted attempt was being made over the 1½ years prior to the Dallas deed to have the "Zionist council of America" to register itself as a foreign government organisation. The reason was that the Zionist council was receiving millions of dollars in seed money from the Israeli government to lobby US elected officials to vote according to Israel beneficial laws in the US congress.
Registration of the Zionist council would have made illegal the accepting of lobby money from the Zionist council by US members of government.
The Zionist council refused to register because they said it would severely thwart Zionism.
So the justice department, under Kennedy's direction, was preparing to legally shut them down.
Then Kennedy was killed and Lyden Johnson became president and the proceedings against the corrupt Zionist lobbying ceased.
The Zionist council changed it name to AIPAC and have had a free hand since then to "buy" votes on any law passed which influenced Israel.
2. Kennedy was active, right up until his death, in trying to control the nuclear development in Dimona. He was openly upset that the "sons of bitches" in Israel "kept on lying" to him about their nuclear program. It was originally ONLY supposed to be for nuclear energy.
Fast forward to the present:
A) The entire house of representitives in Washington, including the president, are wholly "lobbied", that is to say, bought and paid for by the Israeli government through AIPAC and other Israeli lobby groups like the ADL.
B) Israel has 200-500 nuclear warheads 'ready to go' even though they are not supposed to have ANY.
In summary, let us answer the question of qui bono concerning the assassination of Kennedy in 1963 in Dallas.
The Cubans? The CIA? The mafia? Israel?
It is Israel who gained exponentiallly through the killing of president Kennedy.
They (Israel) now control the 'democratic' USA politically and economically, and they now have a nuclear bomb arsenal which they are planning to use to take over the whole world through threat of use (including the Samson option).
Fait accompli.
The Zionists in Israel, who were created and are a direct arm of Rothschild and the international banking cartel, are now poised to try to take over the world.
Qui bono?
History very strongly suggests it was the Israeli Zionists who killed John Kennedy.
His famous speach just prior to his assassination confirms he knew exactly what the Zionists were planning to do.
The truth set him free - literally and physically.
The America which was good and God-fearing "died" that afternoon in Dallas.
A bit of all of us died along with him. Since we have turned a blind eye to what really happened, we are now reaping our just desserts.
Rothschild and Zionist Israel are actively taking over the world and enslaving all earth's citizens as modern day serfs.
Not a joke.
This is the truth to the very best of my knowledge.
Mouser

Anonymous said...

When you tell people how much control they have they can't comprehend. They put things in water and food, spray the skies and when you get sick they lie about it and don't give you what cures, but only what big pharma makes hundreds of billions of dollars on. It is their crap that makes you sick. If you didn't have these diseases 100 years ago, then they were created by big pahrma and the food companies.
Now that we are learning the truth they are going to regulate the Internet and soon they will declare martial law. The only way we could win is everyone shoots the bastards in authority when they try to take our guns. patriot9878@gmail.com

more_cowbell said...

The smoking gun evidence that Israel was behind the events of 9/11 are already piled so high that even the Zionist controlled media cannot stop it. If brought to the Hague, those responsible would be found guilty and sentenced to life behind bars. It's only a matter of time.

more_cowbell said...

Israel was behind 9/11 and if the evidence was brought to the Hague the house of cards would come crshing down.





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