Rest in peace Demis Roussos
A great entertainer who made people happy even through the RAIN AND TEARS.
Month: January 2015
….on dying….
I don’t know why but this morning I wrote in my journal some thoughts about dying. Thinking about how we as survivors sometimes make dying so difficult for those who ARE dying. And I wonder if technology is not causing more suffering in our ability to hold on to the dying for longer periods of time – in essence, not allowing them to be free.
When we die:
It’s not important what we believe when we die. It is important that we are at peace with what we believe.
If we doubt our belief, death can be a time of great suffering. And survivors are often keen on making sure the dying person believes the same as they believe – so the survivors may be at peace. But that is incredibly selfish and foolish. At time of death, it is the survivors responsibility to make sure he dying person is peace with their own beliefs – their own mind. It needs to be ALL ABOUT the dying person – not the survivor.
How do we, as survivors, smooth the way for those who are dying? How do we smooth the way to pass from this life to the next – or from one state of being to the next? Do we make it easier to slip out of this mortal coil – to free the spirit? Or, does our own suffering take precedence over the person who is dying?
Do we use technology to hold on those who are dying? If we tell doctors to do, “everything within their power” to ease the physical suffering of the individual does that just provide an illusion for the survivor that the dying person is at peace? Is medicine and technology always the best answer? Who ultimately benefits from medicine and technology – the survivor or the dying?
Death is about letting go for those who are dying and for the survivors. Here are some great thoughts on letting go and learning to let go.
One of my favorite artists. Enjoy The Divine Comedy’s LEAVING TODAY. A very poignant song considering the subject of today’s post. Listen to the lyrics as if it is a dying person saying goodbye.
and after the goodbyes have been said….TONIGHT WE FLY….the spirit of the dead survives and can be celebrated by the living in new appreciation of the life that was and the life that remains.
On Ice
An Octet of B&W nature abstracts. Images are simply titled RIVER AND ICE I-VIII. Enjoy these Winter abstracts. And here is a soundtrack for these images.
A Martyr’s Foil
The greatest punishment for martyr-minded people is to allow them to live.
Killing them only fulfills their greatest wish.
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Terrorist’s are made – not born.
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Reacting to terrorism with military and police terrorism, is not defeating terrorism. It Justifies it.
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We create our own enemies through marginalisation, seclusion and economic poverty.
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Fighting martyr-minded people is like trying to heal a heroin addict by giving them cocaine.
Enjoy this scene from a wonderful movie PARADISE NOW (2006) in which the main character, Said, explains why he becomes a suicide bomber.
Sami Yusuf – FORGOTTEN PROMISES
Maher Zain – LOVE WILL PREVAIL
As-salāmu `alaykum
The thoughts listed above are my own. Any similarity to other quotes is purely incidental and accidental.
Capitalism Vs. The Climate
A great lecture. I’ve been a fan of Naomi Klein ever since her books NO LOGO and SHOCK DOCTRINE. This lecture, based on her new book, soon to be a feature documentary film, called THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING. I have to admit that when she talks about fossil fuel companies that I actually work for one of those companies. But our company is exploring wind, biomass, water and solar energy and recently purchased a large Utah – based solar energy generation facility and is adding solar-powered projects. Is the change happening fast enough? Probably not because here in the US there is still little political will and even outright denial that the environment is a concern of the “fringe elements”(i.e. minority) of the population. So without further a-doo I hope you enjoy this lecture by Naomi Klein.
(feel free to skip past the first 5 minutes of introductions).
“Je Suis Charlie”
Some thoughts on recent events:
Has anyone stopped to think that this is exactly what Terrorists want?
Polarization
Solidification
Determination
Reactionary rigidity
A fight
Terrorism CANNOT be prevented
Terrorism CANNOT be fought
Terrorism CANNOT win
Terrorism CAN BE overcome!
Sure people who commit criminal acts should be prosecuted.
But to increase military, police, surveillance is counter-productive.
Profiling an entire group of people under suspicion for the acts of a few is very Hitlerian.
A totalitarian state is what the Terrorists want. Don’t give in to totalitarianism in the name of security.
There is no security in life.
Our politicians, political, military and law enforcement leaders need to completely rethink their
approaches to so-called terrorism.
We need to also ask ourselves about media reporting of these events? Is there bias? How does the media use language that generalizes and therefore seems to implicate a larger group which then seems to make the problem larger than it is?
The biggest problem is that people try to understand (and fight) terrorism as if it were some sort of war between states. But terrorism (as it has come to be known) is nothing more than the criminal acts of a few individuals.
Terrorism by its nature cannot be predicted.
If you try to predict terrorism you end up with a society where people are convicted of crimes before a crime is created. We are getting closer and closer as a society to what sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick called “thought crime” in his excellent story, MINORITY REPORT (also a good movie).
How is terrorism overcome?
I think the best advice (which should be used by politicians, military, law enforcement and prison officials) comes from someone who lived a couple thousand years ago.
“You have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you not to stand up against someone who does you wrong. On the contrary, if someone hits you on the right cheek, let him hit you on the left cheek too! If someone wants to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well! And if a soldier forces you to carry his pack for one mile, carry it for two! When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something from you, lend it to him.
“You have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Love your neighbor — and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! Then you will become children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun shine on good and bad people alike, and he sends rain to the righteous and the unrighteous alike. What reward do you get if you love only those who love you? ~ Jesus, The Christ (Matthew 5:38-46)
That will be the way terrorism is overcome. Again, terrorism will happen – it cannot be prevented but it can be overcome.
MESSAGES FROM THE FUTURE #42
I’M YOUR HOPE
WHAT YOU’VE BECOME
Sure, everyone is praying for the “victims” which is good. But what about the boys who committed these crimes? Are you praying for them to or do you just think they “should get what’s coming to them”.
I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE you pray FOR the boys who committed these crimes.
Don’t pray about them, pray FOR them.
language is a virus
THE ENOCH CODEX
I have long been interested in language. The written and spoken word are abstractions of ideas. Spoken it is a “performance” but when “written” becomes “law”…. To get back to the original idea we must often deconstruct language. Irreverence is the highest form of art. Even language has a life cycle 🙂
Enjoy this…the music of Philip Glass from SYMPHONY NO. 5.
Track#3 – “The Creation Of Sentient Beings”
The image above is another work using my “visual glossolalia” approach to creating digital art. It is comprised of the text from seven different photos of signs etc. Added a couple of texture layers for effect.
About the Title. A codex is simply a book that was written on wood or papyrus etc – in a world before paper. Often a codex is affiliated with ancient and “dead” languages from which a code/law is documented. Who is Enoch? The first disappearing act in history?
Enoch walked with GOD; then he was no more, for God took him. ~ Genesis 5:24 (JPS)
It’s interesting that in these early accounts of lineage in the bible all other descendants of Adam are listed as having “died”. Only Enoch is listed as “was no more…for God took him.”
There are other stories of “magical” disappearances like the later story of Elijah(Eliyahu) in 2 Kings 2:11, “Eliyahu went up into heaven in a whirlwind.” and even the ascension of Jesus (Yeshua) in Mark 16:19, “So then, after he had spoken to them, the Lord Yeshua was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God.” It may be loosely related to the story in acts of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:39) where “the spirit of the lord snatched Philip away.”
All these disappearances in the Bible. But Enoch was the first. What happens when the meaning of text disappears and all that is left is the text itself? Can it still be understood? Is one meaning replaced with another? And when this happens how can we be sure of the right meaning? This is something that also happens with translation where the meaning of something is changed when the language is changed from one cultural context to another.
What do you think?
“Language is a virus from outer space.” ~ William S Burroughs
... on being and becoming ... 