Workmates

Abstract nouns

I know exactly what you mean when you talk about apples or bananas. However, when you talk about God, love or consciousness I can never be sure what you have in mind. Abstract nouns have different meanings to different people. So when we discuss consciousness, for example, maybe we are not talking about the same thing. Maybe it is like if you talk about lavender in southern France and I talk about cherry trees in Scandinavia.

What is consciousness?

The word consciousness is used in many different ways.
One definition is, "the part of us which is not unconscious",
the part of us which wakes up in the morning
like if the light is switched on.

Animals have consciousness but no language.
They don't have a word for consciousness.
They don't have any words for anything.

Can consciousness exist without a body and a brain?
What is it made of?
Electro chemical reactions?
Is it made of spirit?
What is it good for? Why did it evolve?
Did it evolve?
Was it created trough a Darwinian evolutionary process,
like the eyes and the ears
or did it exist before life here on earth?
Is it a side effect?

Anesthetics can make you unconscious in a second.
Another chemical can wake you up again.

I believe that my consciousness will disappear forever when I die.
It seems logical to me. I mean, I disappear every night.
Spiritual people say that I am not awakened yet.
Our beliefs separate us, like left-wingers and right-wingers
are separated by opinions.

Consciousness is a very mysterious flame, as I see it.
Isn’t it amazing to be alive and conscious?
What difference does it make to your life
if it is a material or a spiritual process
which brings the consciousness about?

Gurus

There are so many gurus, spiritual teachers and preachers on the market, so many psychotherapies, self-improvement methods and meditation techniques to try out.

There are so many religions, ideologies and belief systems, so many different ideas about what is true and what is false, what is right and what is wrong.

There are so many signposts pointing in different directions.

Christianity is not a religion. What we call Christianity is in fact many different religions with completely different interpretations of the Bible. However, all Christians believe that they know which interpretation is the right one. Have you ever heard a Christian say that he is not sure about if he's right or wrong about the teachings of Jesus. How is this possible? Some of them have to be wrong, haven’t they? Some of them have to be deluded.

Therefore, the question must be, if you are interested in the truth, who is right and who is wrong? Who was the first to meet Jesus after the resurrection, Peter or Maria? Was there a resurrection? Is Jesus but a mythological figure, like Narcissus or Hercules? Are people suffering from cancer because their faith in Jesus isn’t strong enough? Are rich people rich because they are blessed? Is AIDS Gods punishment of the sinful?

For many years the self-improvement gurus was preaching the importance of goal setting. You have to have a goal. You have to become something. You have to strive for something. Success is of utter importance. Beautiful girls don‘t want to marry losers. “Reach for the stars.” “The sky is the limit.” Nowadays these ideas are passé. Nowadays the self-improvement gurus are teaching mindfulness and how to live in the now.

It doesn’t matter what is right or wrong, you might argue, as long as it makes you happy. Maybe you are right. I don’t know. If Nazism makes someone happy why complain? A lonely guy might find some buddies among the Nazis.

My point is that it is possible to wake up from delusions. It is possible to give up smoking. It is possible to beat a drug addiction. It is possible to leave an abusive cult and it is not necessary to replace it with a new one. It is also possible to leave a cult even if it's not abusive. It is not necessary with a religion or a belief system. You don't need a religion or a philosophy to make yourself a cup of tea. You don't need a religion or a philosophy to pick up your kids from school. You don’t need any Gurus. Be very apprehensive and skeptic when Gurus and spiritual teachers point out the way for you. If you ask another Guru he will point in another direction. A third Guru will give you a third direction.

 

My Guru

False ego

Some people dress themselves up as bohemian artists and some dress themselves up as as secretaries.

They begin to talk like bohemian artists or secretaries. The tone of their voice change; the words they use, the way they carry themselves. They begin to act like artists or secretaries. They begin to think like artists or secretaries. And the other artists and secretaries do the same.

After a number of years, they no longer remember that their role is but a role, a small part in a play. They have lost themselves.

"All the world's a stage." Welcome to an audition. Be what you want to be. An intellectual, a rock star, a Hollywood wife, an evangelical Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist monk, a truck driver, an alcoholic, a gangster, a priest… There are endless possibilities.

Ego

Ego is the Latin word for I.
"Ego sum rex Romanus" means “I am the king of Rome.”

I am hungry. I am 55 years old. I am born here. This is an uncomplicated way of using the word I.

I am a stupid old fool. I am too fat. I have a big ugly nose. This is not a very smart but still a comprehensible way of using the I-word.

He has a big ego. My ego reacted. This way of using the word ego is weird I think, though it is common in every day language. It sounds like the word I denote something, a part of a person, like an organ, like a kidney or an eye or a big nose or something.

He is very egoistic. I got very upset and angry when she called me a stupid old fool. I had a wonderful thought today. I have crazy thoughts popping in to my head. This way of using the word ego or I makes more sense to me.

I have an ego. I have an I. When did this strange way of talking begin? Did it begin with Freud?