Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Rise and fall of civilisations

Civilizations rise and fall. I believe that we are living in the last years of this civilization. I have no idea of how many more years we will have before the end of it all, a hundred years, fifty years, three years, but for sure, this civilization will disappear. What goes up must come down. It is a natural process. Babylon, the Indus valley civilization, The Roman Empire, the Maya kingdom, they all disappeared.

Ninety eight percent of all species that have ever lived here on earth have disappeared. The dinosaurs, the mammoths, the sable tooth tigers… They’re all gone.

All of us will die.
This is not negative thinking. This is a fact.

I have changed my mind. If you feel that you need a religion or some kind of comforting belief to carry you thru, OK, go for it. If you believe in Jesus, Mohamed or reincarnation and it makes you happy, why should I interfere? It is your business. I don’t care any longer if you guys believe in science, astrology, a free unregulated market, racism, success, competition, whatever. I can’t change your beliefs. I can’t even change my own.

Do as you like. If the fairy tales don’t turn you on, don’t bother about them. If you no longer believe in Santa Claus, drop him. No one knows for sure what the best way to look at things is. Try to stay as happy as possible. If you like to drink a lot of alcohol, drink as much as you can. If you like to smoke pot, smoke as much as you like. When you have had enough, give it up. Hang on to your crazy love affairs as long as you can. Escape if you feel like it. Come back when you have had enough of self-deception and nonsense.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Self deception

Some people have a bad breath but they are not aware of it. Some people are not aware of their extreme selfishness. They think they are good because they go to church on Sundays and sometimes spend money on charity. Stupid people think they are smart. Some people feel, deep in their hearts, that they are miserable losers, when in reality they belong to the fortunate winners.

How can you get to know if you are stupid or selfish? How can you get to know if you have a bad breath? What if you have fooled yourself.

What if you are fooled. Maybe he will not pay you back next week. Maybe he’s right now on his way to Buenos Aires.

How can I get to know if I am fooling myself? I have made a fool of myself many times, what if I am a stupid fool right here and right now? Is there really no way that I can get to know?

Monday, September 14, 2009

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Materialism

What does it mean to be a materialist nowadays? What does it mean to be spiritual? What is matter, really? According to modern science, matter consists of empty space to more than 99, 99%, empty space between the electrons and the nucleus of the atom, and empty space between the atoms. And, as if this is not enough, electrons are either tiny, tiny little particles, or energy waves, depending on which instruments we use to detect them. The reality is almost nothing but empty space, with tiny, tiny particles whirling about -or energy waves. This “knowledge” is more than 70 years old and we learn about it in school as teenagers. It makes no sense any longer to think of oneself as a materialist. Nor does it make any sense to think of oneself as a spiritual person. The division between the spiritual world and the material world is outdated since more than 70 years. What is important today is to become aware of ones mindsets and beliefs. If we cannot see our own mindsets and beliefs, how can we expect to be present here and now? What has beliefs in reincarnation, angels or communication with dead spirits to do with living in the now? Arn’t such beliefs like believing in a free unregulated market or believing that the dead will rise up from their tombs on the judgment day? Aren’t all beliefs made of the same stuff, thoughts?
 
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Red sunflower.
 
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Saturday, September 12, 2009

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Uncertainty

When I was younger I knew it all. I am 54 years old now and now I can see that I didn’t know what I was talking about when I was younger.

Today I'm not sure about anything. I really don’t understand what is going on. I don’t know what will happen to me when I die. I don’t know if I will end up in heaven or hell, if I will reincarnate or if I will simply disappear for ever. I don’t know if this universe is the only universe, if it has been created or if it has always existed. Life is a complete mystery to me. What is real and what is illusion? What would the reality be like if no one was here to observe it? Would it be just an endless emptiness with a few electric quarks or strings floating around here and there? Is there a reality out there or is the reality a creation in our heads? How shall we live? What is right and what is wrong? When I was younger I was completely clear about all these things.

And dreams, aren't dreams strange? When did the universe begin to dream and why? When did the universe begin to think? When did the universe begin to sing silly little songs to itself?

I don’t know what to do. I don’t know which political party to vote for. I have a haircut every once in a while, I work and try to make both ends meet. I can enjoy conversations and small talk with workmates and friends, however, I don't want to give the impression that I'm completely lost.

Everything is a mystery to me. In that sense I feel like a mystic. It is not many people I can tell how I actually look at things. They find my uncertainty wierd. How can you live like that, they say, without anything to hold on to?
 
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Knowledge?

It is meaningless to discuss life and death with a Jehovah’s Witness, an evangelical right winger, a Catholic or a devout Muslim. They’re already clear about everything. They know, deep in their hearts, that they have found the truth.

It is also pretty meaningless to have a discussion with a devout economic liberal about the environmental problems or the horrors in Asian sweatshops, which are the results of a free and unregulated market.

It is, in fact, almost always meaningless to discuss almost anything, with anybody, because we all know it all, already. We are all completely clear about everything. Isn’t this amazing? How often do you meet someone who says that he has no fuckin idea about anything anymore? From where do we get all this knowledge? How is it possible that so many people know what will happen to us when we die, what dreams consist of or where consciousness is located? How can so many people be so deeply convinced and arrive at so many different conclusions?

Saturday, September 5, 2009

 
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7:03AM. On my way to work.
 
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A shell.