Sunday, January 22, 2012

2012 Superstition

Some people believe that the world will go under this year because the Mayan calendar ends 2012.

More than 40 % of the Americans believe that God created the world about six thousand years ago. They believe that this job took him six days.

Two thousand five hundred years ago, some desert tribes in the Middle East believed that that they had to suffer because a snake had duped them. I suppose Christian literal believers today are still clinging also to this idea.

Thousands of years ago, people in India believed that good and bad deeds in this life influenced the next reincarnation. They believed that oppressed and suffering people suffered the consequences of their bad deeds in a previous lifetime. Well, Indians are still stuck in this kind of thinking, what I understand.

The Bible, the Bhagavad-Gita and the Koran are out of date and so is the calendar they used in Central America two thousand years ago.

The ethics and morals that seemed sensible in the Middle East and India two thousand five hundred years ago are madness today, slavery, widow burning, stoning and eye for an eye justice. We live in another era.

To hang on to outdated beliefs is not to be spiritual. It is to be deluded. Astrology, alchemy, religion and esoteric claptrap should belong to the past.

It’s time to wake up now.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

No self

I am not religious. Religions and religious sects create artificial divisions between us, I believe - war, suicide bombers, oppression of women and children, sharia laws, cast system. All religions create and disseminate superstition, bigotry, hypocrisy and lies.

I am not political. I am not a member of any political party or political organization. I vote, but I don’t vote for someone or something. I vote to do what I can to prevent the right-wingers and the fascists, to gain too much power. Because I vote against the right- wingers others label me leftist, but I’m not a leftist. I don’t label myself.

I am not a supporter of any sports team and I have no particular style of clothing.

I don’t belong to any particular sub group. I am not a hippie relic, not a non-dualist, not a careerist. I am not a wino, not a pot smoker not a body builder…

However, I am not nothing. I am not indifferent. I have opinions, values and preferences. I don’t like cruelty, inequality and hypocrisy, for example.

The idea that awakening implies a loss of the sense of being someone with plans, values and beliefs is wrong, I believe.

If I, who has an ego, am a permanent and eternal entity or a constantly changing stream, is not an important question, as I see it. To brood over this leads nowhere. It is much more important, I think, that we raise awareness about our values.

Which are your true values that guide your actions, which values ought to guide your actions, and which values is just wishful thinking?

Do you buy cheap meat from factory farms because you don’t care how animals are treated? Is there nothing but selfishness in our true nature? Is it wrong to exploit other people in order to get rich and successful? Is it good to know as much as possible about what is going on in the world or is it better to turn off the news reports?

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

We see different aspects of the reality.

Some people have to carry heavy loads. Others need not carry anything. To them is the trek simply wonderful and relaxing. The snowy mountain peaks, the crisp air and the lush valley make them ponder the beauty of creation.

The porters and the donkeys long for home.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

The kingdom of heaven is not inside of you

You’ve probably heard that the kingdom of heaven is inside of you. This is a mistranslation from ancient Greek, or a misunderstanding. There is no kingdom inside of you, and no king and no subjects.

You have a serious problem if you are looking for a kingdom inside of yourself, even if you use the word kingdom in a metaphorical sense.

The deeper you dig into yourself, the more self centered and fucked up you will become. I’m not kidding. You will not find anything down there or in there. I don’t understand why also spiritual teachers are going on and on about this. They have probably heard this claptrap from some prominent guru, and then they pass it on, like priests and preachers do, in good faith.

If all your attention is focused on the outside world, on career and politics or whatever, then you also have a problem. The kingdom of heaven cannot be found on the outside either.

So, where is this kingdom, you may ask, if it’s not on the inside, and not on the outside? Yes, where is it?

The kingdom of heaven, Shambala, Shangri La, Lemuria, Atlantis, Avalon, where are those places?

Friday, January 13, 2012

The end

I don’t believe in a future for Homo sapiens. We will never create an environment friendly civilization here on earth. Those who believe that we will wake up one day and begin to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases and toxic waste are living in a dream world.

An exponentially increasing number of people consume more and more oil and we are emitting more and more toxic waste and greenhouse gases. We are like nicotine addicts who know that smoking is dangerous and causes cancer, but keep on smoking anyway.

I’m not alone in my belief that there is no future for our species. I think most well-informed people would agree with me. Some people still pretend though, that they have not given up yet, and some still believe that science and technology will find a solution.

Small groups of people still believe that all problems can be solved if we simply became vegetarians and began using bicycles instead of cars. Yes, it would be wonderful if everybody suddenly became nice and kind environmentalists. Then we would not exploit the earth’s resources as hard.

Environmentalists have almost always grown up in protected areas. They have never seen the ugly sides of life. How are they to know that the world is pretty rough outside their lovely little town or outside their campus?

People can think whatever they like about these things, but I have given up hope on humanity. Humanity will not stop driving cars and we will not limit our emissions. They don’t care at all in China, India and USA if we in Europe would succeed in limiting our toxic emissions to some extent.

One consequence of my disbelief in a future for humanity is that I no longer care about trying to live in an environmentally friendly manner. I no longer sort my garbage. I don’t mind driving an old gas-guzzling car. I don’t waste money on organic food.

Another consequence is a background pessimism and cynicism. My beliefs color my worldview. When I look at the world, I see it filtered through my beliefs.

Many people try to hide their pessimism and cynicism behind a cheerful facade. I don’t blame them. I also hide my real beliefs behind a facade. If you meet me, you will see me smiling.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

It's all in the mind

The past and the future are created in the brain. The present moment is also created in the brain. Thoughts, ideas, beliefs, values, views, emotions, hunches, dreams, the observing self, practically everything is created in the brain, I believe.

The outside world is also a creation in the brain. You see something. Light waves are detected in the back of the eyes where they are transformed into nerve signals. The nerve signals then travels into your brain where they are processed and an image is formed. This image is not the real world. It’s an image of the real world, a representation of the real world. What you see is not the whole picture.

The idea that consciousness, or the observer of all this, is not created in the brain is of course also a belief. If you claim that your consciousness is not created in your brain, then you have to produce at least some form of evidence for this idea; otherwise it’s just an idea, a belief, a hypothesis- created in your brain.

Maybe the brain is like a radio receiver that receives consciousness waves from outer space. You may be right. But, how did you come to this conclusion? Do you have any proof for this statement? Do you have personal experience? Have you read about it or heard about it. Is it a guru, a priest or a scientist that have provided the information?

I can’t prove that the observing self is created in the brain and you can’t prove that the observing self is not created in the brain; none of us knows anything about these things. It’s important, I think, to realize that we don’t know anything about the metaphysical reality. It’s also important to realize that we don’t know much about the physical reality either.

Many people with a spiritual outlook on life cannot accept the idea that the thinking mind, the observing self, love and hate, heart and soul, are created in the brain. To me is the brain an amazingly mysterious thing. Life is an amazing mystery. Everything is an amazing mystery - even if I don’t live on after death.

It’s not that important, as I see it, where consciousness stems from. The division between a material and a spiritual world is a construct in the thinking mind. What is important is how we live our lives.

The problem I have with my belief that the true self is created in the brain and that it will not live on after death is that it makes suffering meaningless. Many people have to suffer so much. To many people is life nothing but suffering, physical pain, loss, injustice, anger, resentment…

It just can’t be that creation is evil. It just can’t be that people and animals have to suffer so much for no reason.

Suffering is the reason why people become religious. The problem is that all religions are corrupt and dishonest. People with hidden agendas use religion as a way to control the minds of other people. Most people are gullible. This is a huge problem.

It’s time now for a new religion, without right-wing views attached, without doctrines and clergy, without gurus, mullahs and leaders.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Multiverse

Many prominent physicists believe nowadays that there may be numerous universes, not just one. Their mathematical calculations points in this direction. Maybe there are an infinite number of universes out there; maybe they have simply made a calculation error, who knows? However, without evidence are the Multiverse ideas nothing but fantasies.

Some people believe that there are plenty of universes, but they do not base their beliefs on mathematical calculations, physics or experience. They simply like the idea. “Cool. There are tons of copies of me out there.”

Speculations and fantasies such as these can serve two purposes. For the first, they allow an escape from what is happening here and now, in this dimension, on this planet, in this world of madness.

Secondly, they can create a sense of wonder. Everything is a mystery. We have no idea of what the reality is like, really.