Notions on Towards Freedom

Perplexity

Wed, 30 Oct 2024 10:49:18 -0700

There Are No ‘Ethical Alternatives’ To A Plant-Based Diet arv

Answer (Default):

Peter Godfrey-Smith’s recent article in The Guardian explores his experiences with a “near-vegan” diet and the ethical implications of animal consumption. He reflects on the challenges of adhering to a fully plant-based diet, suggesting alternatives like humanely farmed meat, wild-caught fish, and conventionally farmed dairy as potential compromises for those concerned about animal welfare but unable to maintain strict veganism¹.

Godfrey-Smith, a professor focused on animal consciousness, grapples with the cognitive dissonance surrounding dietary choices. He acknowledges that while some may argue for humane farming practices, the fundamental act of killing animals remains ethically contentious. He raises questions about societal speciesism, highlighting that the treatment of animals considered pets versus those raised for food reflects deep-seated biases².

Critics argue that Godfrey-Smith’s reasoning lacks coherence, particularly when he suggests that humane treatment justifies continued consumption. They emphasize that regardless of farming methods, the end result is still death for the animals involved. The article also critiques the notion that fishing practices are acceptable based on historical precedent, asserting that modern ethical standards should not be dictated by ancestral behaviors³.

In terms of health, Godfrey-Smith reports negative experiences with his diet, which included fish oil supplements rather than being strictly vegan. This raises questions about the adequacy of his dietary planning and whether his symptoms were related to dietary changes or other factors like illness⁴.

Ultimately, the article concludes that for those motivated by ethical concerns regarding animal welfare, true alignment with these values necessitates a commitment to veganism, as any compromise fails to address the core issues at stake⁵.

Citations:

Animals Can Work Together arv sci

Answer (Default):

The article discusses various examples of animal cooperation and mutualistic relationships in nature, challenging the common perception of the animal kingdom as purely competitive and ruthless. Here are some key points:

Types of Symbiotic Relationships

There are three main types of symbiotic relationships:

Commensalistic: One species benefits while the other is unaffected
Parasitic: One species benefits at the expense of the other
Mutualistic: Both species benefit from the interaction

Examples of Animal Cooperation

Coral Grouper and Moray Eel Coral groupers recruit moray eels to help them hunt by using specific body movements to communicate⁶. The grouper signals the eel to follow and then indicates the location of hidden prey. This collaboration increases hunting success rates for both species.

Coyote and Badger Coyotes and badgers work together to hunt ground squirrels and prairie dogs⁷. The badger digs into burrows while the coyote waits at the exit, covering all escape routes. This teamwork improves hunting success for both animals.

Tarantula and Dotted Humming Frog Tarantulas allow dotted humming frogs to live in their burrows⁸. The frog gains protection from predators, while the tarantula’s eggs are protected from ants, which the frogs eat. This mutually beneficial relationship ensures the safety of both species.

Pistol Shrimp and Goby Pistol shrimp and gobies form a lifelong partnership⁹. The shrimp builds and maintains burrows, while the goby acts as a lookout due to its superior eyesight. This collaboration provides safety and shelter for both species.

Unexpected Interspecies Interactions

The article also mentions several instances of animals helping other species without apparent benefit:

An Indian rhesus monkey adopting and caring for a homeless puppy
A Bornean orangutan rescuing a drowning bird
A bear saving a drowning crow
Humpback whales defending smaller fish from orcas

These interactions demonstrate that animal behavior can sometimes extend beyond simple survival instincts, showing compassion or altruism across species lines¹⁰.

Conclusion

While competition and violence exist in nature, the animal kingdom also exhibits numerous examples of cooperation and mutualism¹¹. These relationships highlight the similarities between animals and humans, demonstrating that different species can work together for mutual benefit or even act altruistically.

Citations:

Animals Can Work Together 2 arv sci diy

Answer (Default):

Types of Symbiotic Relationships

There are three main types of symbiotic relationships:

Commensalistic: One species benefits while the other is unaffected
Parasitic: One species benefits at the expense of the other
Mutualistic: Both species benefit from the interaction

Examples of Animal Cooperation

Coral Grouper and Moray Eel Coral groupers recruit moray eels to help them hunt by using specific body movements to communicate¹². The grouper signals the eel to follow and then indicates the location of hidden prey. This collaboration increases hunting success rates for both species.

Coyote and Badger Coyotes and badgers work together to hunt ground squirrels and prairie dogs¹³. The badger digs into burrows while the coyote waits at the exit, covering all escape routes. This teamwork improves hunting success for both animals.

Tarantula and Dotted Humming Frog Tarantulas allow dotted humming frogs to live in their burrows¹⁴. The frog gains protection from predators, while the tarantula’s eggs are protected from ants, which the frogs eat. This mutually beneficial relationship ensures the safety of both species.

Pistol Shrimp and Goby Pistol shrimp and gobies form a lifelong partnership¹⁵. The shrimp builds and maintains burrows, while the goby acts as a lookout due to its superior eyesight. This collaboration provides safety and shelter for both species.

Unexpected Interspecies Interactions

The article also mentions several instances of animals helping other species without apparent benefit:

An Indian rhesus monkey adopting and caring for a homeless puppy
A Bornean orangutan rescuing a drowning bird
A bear saving a drowning crow
Humpback whales defending smaller fish from orcas

These interactions demonstrate that animal behavior can sometimes extend beyond simple survival instincts, showing compassion or altruism across species lines¹⁶.

Conclusion

While competition and violence exist in nature, the animal kingdom also exhibits numerous examples of cooperation and mutualism¹⁷. These relationships highlight the similarities between animals and humans, demonstrating that different species can work together for mutual benefit or even act altruistically.

Citations:

What are some other examples of mutualistic relationships between animals

Answer (Default):

Here are several examples of mutualistic relationships between animals, highlighting the diverse ways in which different species benefit from each other:

Oxpecker and Rhinoceros or Zebra

Oxpeckers, a type of bird, land on rhinos or zebras and eat ticks, flies, and other parasites from their skin. The oxpeckers gain food, while the rhinos and zebras receive pest control and warning calls from the oxpeckers when predators are near¹⁸¹⁹²⁰.

Clownfish and Sea Anemone

Clownfish live within the protective tentacles of sea anemones, which are poisonous to most other fish. The clownfish clean the anemone’s tentacles, keeping them free from parasites and luring prey within the anemone’s reach. In return, the anemone provides the clownfish with protection from predators²¹²²²³.

Pistol Shrimp and Goby

Pistol shrimp and gobies form a mutualistic relationship where the shrimp maintains and digs burrows, while the goby, with its better vision, acts as a lookout for predators. The goby alerts the shrimp to danger, and in return, the shrimp provides the goby with a safe place to live²⁴²⁵²⁶.

Termites and Intestinal Flagellates

Termites have intestinal flagellates that help digest the cellulose in wood, which the termites consume. The flagellates get a meal, and the termites benefit from the digestion of their food. This is an example of obligate mutualism, where neither species can survive without the other²⁷²⁸²⁹.

Acacia Ants and Bullhorn Acacia

Acacia ants live in the thorns of the bullhorn acacia tree and receive food and shelter. In return, the ants protect the tree from browsing animals and other herbivores. This is another example of obligate mutualism³⁰.

Hermit Crabs and Sea Anemones

Hermit crabs attach sea anemones to their shells, which serve as bodyguards, protecting the crabs from predators with their barbed tentacles. The anemones benefit from the free ride across the seabed provided by the hermit crabs³¹.

Colombian Lesserblack Tarantula and Dotted Humming Frog

The tarantula allows the frog to live in its burrow, providing the frog with protection from predators. In return, the frog eats carnivorous ants that threaten the tarantula’s eggs³².

Drongos and Meerkats

Drongos act as lookouts for meerkats, warning them of predators. While the drongos sometimes exploit this relationship by raising false alarms to steal food from fleeing meerkats, the primary benefit is mutual, with meerkats gaining protection and drongos often receiving genuine warnings and occasional food³³.

Sharks and Pilot Fish

Pilot fish swim alongside sharks, cleaning parasites and food fragments from the shark’s teeth and skin. In return, the pilot fish receive protection from other predators³⁴.

Coyote and Badger

Coyotes and badgers hunt together, with the badger digging into burrows and the coyote waiting outside to catch fleeing prey. This cooperation increases the hunting success for both species³⁵.

Spider Crab and Algae

Spider crabs have algae living on their backs, which provides camouflage, protecting the crabs from predators. The algae benefit from a stable and protected environment to live and grow³⁶³⁷.

These examples illustrate the varied and often intricate ways in which different animal species can benefit from each other through mutualistic relationships.

Citations:

[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[Mutualistic Relationships - New England Complex Systems Institute](https://necsi.edu/mutualistic-relationships) ↩︎
[Mutualism: Symbiotic Relationships - ThoughtCo](https://www.thoughtco.com/mutualism-symbiotic-relationships-4109634) ↩︎
[Mutualism | Types, Examples, & Facts - Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/science/mutualism-biology) ↩︎
[10 Mutualism Examples - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRn62gtgntY) ↩︎
[Mutualism: Symbiotic Relationships - ThoughtCo](https://www.thoughtco.com/mutualism-symbiotic-relationships-4109634) ↩︎
[Mutualism | Types, Examples, & Facts - Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/science/mutualism-biology) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[10 Mutualism Examples - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRn62gtgntY) ↩︎
[Mutualism: Symbiotic Relationships - ThoughtCo](https://www.thoughtco.com/mutualism-symbiotic-relationships-4109634) ↩︎
[10 Mutualism Examples - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRn62gtgntY) ↩︎
[Mutualism | Types, Examples, & Facts - Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/science/mutualism-biology) ↩︎
[Symbiotic relationships in ecology - Wild Earth Lab](https://wildearthlab.com/2022/09/28/symbiotic-relationships/) ↩︎
[Mutualism | Types, Examples, & Facts - Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/science/mutualism-biology) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[6 Surprising Symbiotic Relationships - Wildlife Woods](https://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2018/8/23/6-surprising-symbiotic-relationships) ↩︎
[10 Mutualism Examples - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRn62gtgntY) ↩︎
[Mutualism | Types, Examples, & Facts - Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/science/mutualism-biology) ↩︎

Going and Coming Back

Tue, 27 Jun 2023 22:25:06 -0700

This is a story we often tell to those who feel they have suffered a loss of a loved one of any species.

When my son Kyron was about 7, he and I were having a discussion concerning death. Suddenly he said, “If you don’t go, you can’t come back.”

It was a surprising moment because we had never broached the subject of reincarnation before. Then again, the young have left the source of wisdom more recently, so perhaps these things are still fresh in their minds and hearts.

Since we rescue animals (including the humanoid kind), we are constantly having to say good-bye, but we find it interesting that repeatedly those who leave, seem to re-appear within the personalities of those who haven’t left.

So always keep watch, because I don’t think any being who is cherished ever goes too far away.

Honey Sheperd

Sat, 11 Feb 2023 10:29:16 -0800

Honey Sheperd (1957-2006) wrote several songs and poems that we hope to make others aware of. You can find out more here and from there go to her website Thru Bambis Eyes which has mp3s of Honey performing.

Some of her poignant and inspiring works are:

Blessings to the Mare

… the mare no longer runs
no more does the wind
kiss her mane
her eyes are cloudy
her world so buried in pain …
Dead and Buried

… maybe when youre older
you will be a soldier
a spirit brave & wise
a hero in disguise …
In God’s House

… now some they don’t believe
in making one last flight
but He will guide you
and you won’t fear the night …

Pradictionary

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 12:24:09 -0800

This is the official (albeit still incomplete) pradictionary which contains all things related to prad. If anything useful has been overlooked, please point out the omission and it will be pradealt with.

apradpriate (credit angel)
aprardle (credit angel)
arthoprad
darthprader (credit angel)
epradicate (credit david)
impradable: unlikely
impradster: there is only one prad!
inpradible: difficult to believe or comprehend
jeoprady: risk one takes when encountering prad
lilyprad (credit angel)
lonewolf mcprade: i work alone
noteprad (credit angel)
orthoprad: have no idea what this could mean yet
peppradmint (credit angel)
pra (credit angel)
prabbreviate: minimal documentation resulting in cryptic communication
prachiavellian: skilled in appropriately unscrupulous tactics
pracorder: recording many things
pracrastinate
pracreation: creation a la prad (Queen Rhae for example)
practivation (credit angel)
pradad (credit angel)
pradaemon
pradagio: with pradanini, pradvorati, praderewski, pradigorsky …
pradagogy (credit kyron)
pradagon: as in paragon?
pradagonist: protagonist in accordance with prad
pradagony: infliction by or affliction of prad
pradameters (credit angel)
pradance (credit angel)
pradapple (credit angel)
pradaptable
pradaptation: an adaptation by or to prad
pradarth: to the darkside
pradata
pradation
pradator
pradbury’s banana chutney (credit angel)
pradcasts (credit angel)
pradcticing (credit angel)
praddictive
praddington bear (credit angel)
praddition (credit angel)
praddle (credit angel)
praddling (credit david)
pradeal: efficient purchasing
pradealer
pradealism: idealism that is also pradtical
pradebate
pradegy: tragic non-pradish state
pradelay
pradelete
pradeley: a sequence of pradagio compositions
pradeli: a vegan delicatessent with healthy victuals
pradelicious
pradeliction
pradelightful (credit miriam)
prademon
prademonena
prademonstration
pradendipity
pradenomenon
pradepot: a headquarter or haven
prader: one who engages in trading
pradercise: a form of exercise
pradernize: update to prad standards
pradeserve: reserve for those who deserve
pradesigner: various design including pragramming
pradespot: pradirected tyranny for the right causes
pradessential
pradestal: a suitable pedestal
pradestination: a desired outcome or location
pradestine: sneaky like prad
pradestroyer
pradestruction
pradevil(ish)
pradformance (credit angel)
pradharma
pradhere: stick to task
pradi: may the force be …
pradialect
pradialectic
pradialectric
pradiance
pradiant
pradiarism (credit david)
pradiary
pradiations
pradiator
pradibberish
pradical (credit david)
pradicament
pradicate
pradicator (credit anne)
pradictation
pradiction
pradiculous
pradigal (credit angel)
pradigious (unintended miriam credit)
pradigy: a particularly advanced prad
pradilection
pradiminish
pradimple
pradirection
pradirective
pradiscern
pradiscretion
pradiscussion
pradishes
pradism: what is brought on to others by pradistic action
pradisrupt
pradissection
pradistance
pradistant
pradistic: one who enjoys what is brought onto others by pradism
pradistics: logistics properly carried out
pradistinction
praditate
pradition (credit angel)
praditraitor
praditto
pradivisible
pradize: give something pradistinction
pradjucate: correct judgement is important
pradjustment (credit markus)
pradlete
pradlindrone (credit kyron)
pradlock (credit angel)
pradlog (credit angel)
pradmin
pradminister
pradmission
pradmonition (credit angel)
pradmunitions (credit kyron)
pradnastycator: to be nasty in a pradish way
pradness: multiple possibilities with this one
prado
pradocumentation (credit angel)
pradogma
pradolf
pradolution
pradon (credit angel)
pradonable
pradopia
pradorable
pradoracle
pradoyen (credit miriam)
pradpaya (credit angel)
pradragon
pradragon flight: a variant of the hindu squat
pradriot (credit angel)
pradroid
pradsimmon (credit angel)
praducate
praduct
praduction (credit angel): musicals by pradagio
pradulation (credit angel)
pradulations
pradusa: who can turn others to stone
pradvent
pradventure(r)
pradvertise(ment)
pradvice
pradvisement
pradvocate: speak on behalf of
pradvocative (credit angel)
pradypus
prafer: a typically sensible preference
pragenda
pragerize: intellectual theft of prad creations
pragnacious: the pugilistic quality of prad
pragram: program a la prad
prajection (credit angel)
prajects (credit angel)
prajudice (credit angel)
pralific
pramongous
pramonition: advanced insight into things
pramordial
prampathy (credit fuzzball markus)
pranctuary: a safe haven
pranipulate: a la prad manipulation
pranktuary: a not-so-safe haven
pranormous
praority
praoud (credit angel)
praradise: coming on many fronts!
prarauder: a roving pradestroyer
prardon (credit angel)
prardsley (credit angel)
prardsnip (credit angel)
prarganize: organize with simplistic complexity
prarma: karma a la prad
prasidential
prassionfruit (credit angel)
pratend (credit markus)
prational: typically pradlike reasoning
pratorial: a tutorial by prad
pratorical: a rhetorical question by prad
pravider
pravocado (credit angel)
praware
prazard: as in hazard
prizzard (credit angel - though unclear what it is)
repradmand (credit angel)
sheprard (credit angel)
sleeprard (credit angel)
tempradlate (credit angel)
the pradas touch: gold is not all that glitters

Honey Sheperd

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 23:19:52 -0800

Honey Sheperd (1957-2006) was an actress who starred in the movies Club Life and It Came from Hollywood.

She has a page on AncientFaces.

A talented songwriter and singer, her work still helps those who “suffer unseen” in many ways.

We were fortunate to be able to create a website for her intense words and strong music that cover a wide range of topics and events. Her work is poignant yet inspiring.

for all God’s creatures
who die alone
who suffer unseen
and far from home
the Angels still wait
at Heaven’s gate
where all wounded souls
find a better fate…

You can find her poems and songs at Thru Bambis Eyes which was dedicated to her rescued dog Bambi.

Markus Rafael Nylund

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 12:06:56 -0700

Markus is a musician from Finland and runs the ViceVoids youtube channel.

You can find his page on this site here.

Below we list some of his videos.

VICEVOIDS - timehigh

“this song is like going to church on monday morning. thank you!”

Master of Puppets (Metallica cover)

“Suddenly Metallica’s Master of Puppets started playing through me … Birds flew in the trees and for a moment took a break from their shenanigans …”

Cosmic Soulmates

Mon, 28 Mar 2022 20:50:29 -0700

While I tend to be agnostic, there are many aspects of various religions I admire, a viewpoint which permits one to not hold arrogant perspectives like ‘my religion is better than yours’.

This competitive attitude has been largely responsible throughout history for barbaric behaviour in the name of God who would be least appreciative of having One’s ‘children’ slaughtering ‘children’ - with self-proclaimed Christians mutually slaughtering self-proclaimed Muslims mutually slaughtering self-proclaimed Hindus mutually slaughtering self-proclaimed whatevers etc etc

This is not religion - it is politics … and of the worse kind.

I have found, when properly interpreted, there is much beauty in pretty well all religions. The faiths I have some idea about include Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jain, Bahai and of course Zen (which isn’t really a faith, I suppose).

One of the most endearing descriptions of God, I have ever seen, is by Sister Nivedita (Margaret E. Noble) regarding Shiva. In the Hindu trinity, Brahma is the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva is the Destroyer. Now you may think that makes Shiva a rather nasty sort of fellow, messing up the work of the others, but one must be clear about what this guy is really doing and Nivedita presents Shiva’s character in a memorable way. For brevity I have summarized and rephrased parts of her writing:

In wild and lonely places, one may chance on the Great God. Once seen, there is no mistaking Him. Yet He has no look of being rich or powerful. His skin is covered with white wood-ashes. His clothing is but the religious wanderer’s yellow cloth. In one hand he carries the begging bowl, in the others His tall staff, crowned with the trident.

High amongst the Himalayas is Shiva throned, rapt in silence, absorbed in his own eternal meditation. He is full of radiance and can cast no shadow. With each breath of His, it is said, worlds are created and destroyed! Yet He has nothing of His own, for in all these that He has created, there is nothing - not kingship, nor wealth, nor power that could for a moment tempt Him to claim it. One desire alone, has He, to destroy the ignorance of souls, to dispel the darkness so that in all the worlds, there is no longer blindness and sin.

It is by the face of the Great God, that we may know Him. One look is enough: that radiance of knowledge, one glance from the pity and tenderness in His benign eyes. It is impossible to think of the Great God as being angry. He sees only two things, insight and want of insight. Whatever be our sin and error, He longs only to reveal to us its cause, that we may not be left to wander in the dark. His is the infinite compassion.

In matters of the world, He is but simple, asking nothing in worship. His offerings are only bael leaves and water. And He will accept these in any form: the tears of the sorrowful are to Him like the pure water of his offering.

He keeps for Himself only those who would otherwise wander unclaimed. He rides, not on horse or elephant, but on a shabby old bull. Because the serpents were rejected by all others, did He allow them to twine about His neck. And amongst human beings, all the crooked and hunchbacked and lame and squint-eyed, He regards as His very own. For loneliness and deformity and poverty are passwords sufficient to the heart of the Great God. And He, who asks nothing in return, He the Lord of the Animals, who refuses none that come to Him sincerely, He will give His very Self, with all its sweetness and illumination, merely on the plea of our longing or our need.

Now, I hope you don’t, for a moment, think this guy’s a sissy. I would give a path of wide respect to anyone who can create and destroy entire worlds with a single breath! All the other gods certainly did!

Ever the destroyer of Ignorance, Shiva arises to slay our ‘beloved’, which is our vanity, our greed, and our fear. In the middle of His brow shines the great Third Eye of spiritual vision with which He pierces all hypocrisy and sham. With one glance, He can burn to ashes, that which is untrue, for though simple in worldly matters, in spiritual things He can never be deceived.

Yet, this is only half the story of the divine. In Shiva manifests the concept of perceptive knowledge, known as Jnana. However, standing with him is his consort, Maha Shakti, the Primal Force. Together, He and She, Insight and Strength are perpetually entwined, each part of the other, each honoring the other, and together giving meaning to existence itself … cosmic soulmates engaged in the eternal dance of the universe!

Pradbird

Sun, 27 Mar 2022 19:26:32 -0700

We used to live near the water when we moved in 1995 to Duncan, BC on Khenipsen Road, beside a First Nations area. It was a very nice place, except for the hunting and fishing that took place there.

Unfortunately, not only were these activities legalized, but there were many instances of illegal killings as well. That’s what this is - killing regardless of the euphemisms used or the appeal to Indigenous ‘rights’ that are often put forth as an excuse to commit murder. [For more thorough discussions on this Indigenous issue, see KG’s FAQ.]

Admittedly, some of the First Nation population do kill animals necessarily for food, because our dominant ruling class stole their lands and forced inexcusable indignities upon them. Our politicians pay mere lipservice, bravadoing putrid political properness, accomplishing little else to improve the often horrible living conditions. No amount of redundant repetition of “We greet you from the unceded lands of …” blather does anything useful for those who can’t subsist on such well-meaning words.

On the other hand, some murders in societies are for cultural and traditional reasons, indefensible by any deplorable debate.

The person we rented our house from was a lawyer and had made some attempts to ban hunting in the area at least for non-Indigenous individuals. However, he was in favor of fishing. When my son Kyron, who had recently turned six asked him why killing fish should be allowed, he provided an anthropocentricity remarkable in its absurdity: “The fish would just go to waste if we didn’t harvest them.” Adults lie to kids a lot which is likely why many kids grow up to be adults who lie to kids a lot, repeating the cycle in perpetuity. Kyron gave the lawyer a sincere look of disgust and decided he wasn’t worth talking to any further.

The shooting of eagles, at that time, had been made illegal.

In late November 1995, we witnessed such a illegality. Kyron and his friend Leia drew our attention to an eagle they saw plummeting into the estuary, just in front of our house. The bird was flopping around in the water.

Fortunately, the property had a canoe (in dubious condition) that I utilized to go out to the bird. The eagle actually helped me to put him into the canoe by grasping the side with his beak as I used an oar to lift him in.

By now, the canoe was starting to fill up with water. Trying to manoeuvre a half-filled boat apparently made quite a sight. I was told that Leia started to laugh and asked Kyron why I was going around in circles. All Kyron said was “My daddy is doing good.” This is one of the best gifts any parent can ever receive from his or her child.

Providence kept the boat barely afloat till we got to shore, but it was evident that the eagle was going to need medical help. That night, I drove him to Nanaimo where there was a eagle rehab facility.

I thought the bird would be safe now, but was astonished to learn that the veterinarian there, was inclined to kill him, because he thought the bullet had broken a wing bone beyond repair, making the bird unable to fly. He wouldn’t let me take the bird elsewhere either. He was a high-profile vet who had set many of the wildlife guidelines through the government.

He kept saying he was powerless to make any other decision, but didn’t seem too pleased when I offered to break into the facility to take the bird without his knowledge, thus relieving him of this burden his conscience was so weighed down with.

Therefore, the next day I started phoning around trying to see what the actual laws were, only to learn that the vet had the upper hand, legally.

On the same day, we also found out, from a conservation officer named Jamie that the eagle had likely been shot because some brave braves, no doubt were upholding their rite of passage into bravehood, by plucking eagle feathers. It was likely that they didn’t come for the eagle they shot, because they saw I was heading out and didn’t want to risk being caught for their illegal activity. The officer took down any details I could provide, because he was keenly interested in going after these culprits.

When the law is there to work against you, it is necessary to create alternative approaches.

I found 5 facilities throughout North America (including one within 50km of where the eagle was at), who were willing to take the bird, even if he couldn’t fly. These facilities were sanctuaries for animals who could not be released into the wild. I also tried to put some pressure on the government’s Ministry for Wildlife as to the ridiculous position they were upholding, specifically fly or die!

After many exchanges (part of the effort is to wear down the opposition with argumentation and revelation of possible legal, publicized future actions), I received a phone call from the Ministry saying they would only kill the eagle if amputation was absolutely necessary … so the sanctuary finding effort likely paid off.

However, our eagle had other ideas!

The next day, I received a call from the Nanaimo rehab facility saying that the surgery had been done and our vet felt that amputation was not necessary. He wanted to give the bird a chance to recover before release into the wild.

Several weeks later, the facility called me again asking if I would like to come up to see the release of whom they had named, Pradbird!

Kyron, Ranjana and I drove to Nanaimo on the appointed day and just before they released Pradbird, the person who ran the sanctuary held him right in front of us. The eagle looked straight at me and gave a cry. Then they threw him into the air and he flew off, landing on a branch of a distant tree!

Ranjana likes to think that it was a cry of recognition. Perhaps it was.

The Spirit of the Tao

Sun, 27 Mar 2022 13:10:37 -0700

A small book with many large ideas that are universally valid.

Taoist teachings have arisen in many forms: abstract aphorisms, philosophical discussions, legends, fables—even jokes. All are represented here, culled from the most popular Taoist classics: the Tao-te Ching, Chuang-tzu, Huai-nan-tzu, and Wen-tzu, stories from the “Tales of Inner Meaning,” and teachings of the Taoist patriarch Ancestor Lu. The spirit of the Tao manifests in myriad images, brought to life in this superb translation—from the ever-keen blade of a Taoist butcher to the mechanical miracles of inventor Ken Shiwa, from little boys baiting the great Confucius to mountain hermits disappearing in the mist, from the six robber organs that obscure the primordial to the ineffable mystery of mysteries.
Amazon

The Stone

Sun, 27 Mar 2022 13:06:37 -0700

Nanak was a travelling guru. He visited many places in India, Arabia and Mesopotamia.

In Mecca is the Ka’aba, the sacred stone of the Muslims.

One morning nanak was found sleeping with his feet turned to the stone! Some Muslims were furious!

“How dare you be so insulting! How dare you sleep with you feet towards the face of God!”

Gently, Nanak says: “Very well then. Turn my feet to where God is not.”

Source: Pictures From Mystics

The Ailment

Sun, 27 Mar 2022 13:03:23 -0700

The following is a well-known tale from the Liezi attributed to Taoist Lie Yukou.

It appears in various translations such as A.C. Graham’s The Book of Lieh-tzu (p82 pdf) and Eva Wong’s Lieh-tzu: A Taoist Guide to Practical Living. The following is quoted from the Thomas Cleary translation (details provided at the end):

Lung Shu said to the physician Wen Chi, “Your art is subtle. I have an ailment; can you cure it?”

The physician said, “I will do as you say, but first tell me about your symptoms.”

Lung Shu said, “I am not honoured when the whole village praises me, nor am I ashamed when the whole country criticises me. Gain does not make me happy, loss does not grieve me. I look upon life as like death, and see wealth as like poverty. I view people as like pigs, and see myself as like others. At home I am as though at an inn, and I look upon my native village as like a foreign country. With these afflictions, rewards cannot encourage me, punishments cannot threaten me. I cannot be changed by flourishing or decline, gain or loss; I cannot be moved by sorrow or happiness. Thus I cannot serve the government, associate with friends, run my household, or control my servants. What sickness is this? Is there a way to cure it?”

The physician had Lung Shu stand with his back to the light while he looked into his chest. After a while he said, “Ah! I see your heart; it is empty! You are nearly a sage. Six of the apertures of your heart are open, one of them is closed. This may be why you think the wisdom of a sage is an ailment. It cannot be stopped by my shallow art.”

Source: The Spirit of the Tao - Thomas Cleary (1998) - Shambala IBSN 1-57062-370-8

We think there is much merit in not being affected by things like criticism (praise is merely criticism in disguise), reward or punishment. Also, the wisdom of this budding sage seems to be much preferable to some sages in Hindu mythology who would fly into remarkable rages (ie sage rage) leading to very uncivil behaviors. However, being a sage does not mean one is exempt from action - the only exemption is from attachment to the result of the action.

Thousandfold

Sun, 27 Mar 2022 10:50:39 -0700

There is a fine story of a poor old lady who was selling some fruit she had gathered in order to make ends meet.

As she walked back and forth on the streets calling people to come and buy, the child Krishna, disguised as a beggar boy, walked up to her asking to eat some fruit from her basket.

She was a kind one and though it would cost her, she didn’t refuse him. The child ate every one, thanked her and left!

As she wondered about her loss, she looked down at her empty basket to find it was filled with jewels.

So it is that when you give selflessly to Krishna [or to something truly worthwhile], you are returned a thousandfold!

Source: Pictures from Mystics by T.L. Vaswani

Here is another version of this famous story.

Pictures From Mystics

Sun, 27 Mar 2022 10:36:25 -0700

A beautiful collection of short stories cross religions and cultures told by Swami Vaswani that often show the way to living properly. It is from the East and West Series.

The book is no longer in print as far as we know, but may possibly be found in some collections.

The Poor Rich Girl

Sun, 27 Mar 2022 10:15:25 -0700

Buddha asked his disciples to help the poor during a great famine. A very wealthy man spoke up, “Not all my wealth can feed the hungry - there are so many!”

Others talked loud and long with great consternation wondering how they could possibly solve such a dilemma even for the Buddha!

Then a young girl rose to speak, “Master I am a beggar. I shall feed the hungry as you ask!”

“You?”, many sneered. “You who are so poor. You can barely feed yourself. How will you feed so many?”

Calmly the girl answered, “Yes I am the poorest in your midst, but am I not also the richest, too? Have I not my share in the wealth of the wealthiest who give me alms. I shall call at every home and ask for my share to go the service of the poor.”

All were moved by her devotion to Buddha’s request and gave out of their abundance to feed the poor and the true famine was thus overcome.

Source: Pictures from Mystics by T.L. Vaswani

Radical Zen

Sat, 26 Mar 2022 23:45:55 -0700

An intriguing book with many items about and attributed to Joshu.

… many of our standard stereotypes of the Zen Master can be traced to this figure–irascible and blunt, down-to-earth and practical, prone to answer religious questions with seemingly off-the wall non-sequiturs and paradoxes if not a good sharp smack in the face.
Amazon

(Also available for previewing as a pdf from here.)

Zen Comics

Sat, 26 Mar 2022 23:36:07 -0700

Truly an excellent way to encounter zen, these cartoons present many of the koans delightfully!

Comics communicate the Zen spirit perfectly. Laughter deflates pretension and a good rap on the head sometimes transcends so-called logic. In the words of Zen, “Nothing is left for you but to laugh!”
Goodreads

Prazen

Sat, 26 Mar 2022 13:55:56 -0700

These are zenish short stories merrily modified from various sources.

Zen Comics by Ioanna Zalajan
Radical Zen: The Sayings of Joshu by Youl Hoffmann

A man of enlightenment and wisdom

Student: Oh master, where does the man of enlightenment and wisdom go after he dies?

Master: How should I know?

Student: Because you, master, are a man of enlightenment and wisdom!

Master: That may be so, but I am not dead.

Become a Buddha

Zen master Baso, when he was young, was caught meditating all over the place by his teacher who asked him “Why are you meditating so much?”

Baso answered, “To become a buddha.”

His teacher pick up a piece of slate and started polishing it.

Baso asked, “Why are you polishing the slate so vigorously?”

Teacher replied, “To turn it into a mirror.”

Baso laughed, “No amount of polishing is going to turn a slate into a mirror?”

Teacher replied, “No amount of cross-legged sitting is going to turn one into a buddha”

Baso then understood.

But just to be sure, his teacher hit him with a staff on the head.

Detachment

The student went to the zen master in elation!

“Oh master,” he joyously exclaimed, “I am so happy and feel so free. I have achieved detachment at last!”

The master hit him on the head with a stick.

“Owww!! Why did you do that?” whined the student rubbing his head.

The master said, “To detach you from your detachment”.

Empty

The elated student rushed in to see his master!

“I am empty! I have released my attachments!”, he exclaimed.

“Indeed.” said his master.

“I have no desires! I have no yearnings! I have no ego! I am empty!”

The master hit him on the head with his staff.

“Owww!!!”, yelled the student in pain and anger. “Why did you do that, old monk?”

His master asked: “If you are so empty, where did all that anger come from?”

Essence

Monk: What is the essence of essences?

Joshu: Just how long have you been essencing yourself up like this?

Monk: My concern for discovering essence has been going for a long, long time.

Joshu: A fool such as you are lucky to have met me just in time, before you completely essenced yourself out!

Go away!

A would-be student knocked on the gate of a zen master. The master opened the gate and asked: “What do you want?”

The student answered: “O master you are so learned. I beg you to teach me!”

The master slammed the gate shut.

The student knocked again.

“What do you want now?”

“Please, please I must have you as my teacher.”

Again the master slammed the gate shut.

Once again the student knocked.

“What is it now?”

“Master please! i really want to learn!”

The master said: “Very well then” and open the gate.

Once inside, the elated and beaming student asked: “Master! what are you going to teach me first?”

The master replied: “To go away!”

and promptly threw the student out and slammed the gate.

Knowledge and Understanding

When the ordinary man gains knowledge, he becomes a sage.
When the sage achieves understanding, he becomes an ordinary man.

There was an episode in the Kung Fu series from the 70s where young Kwai Chang Caine had lost his parents. He was very sad and complained of loneliness to his blind teacher, Master Po. “Do you not hear the birds singing?”, Po asked, “Do you not notice the crickets jumping or the snakes moving in the grass? In such a crowded place, you feel you are alone. Now tell me, which one of us is the more blind?”

Seeing the tao

Student: Master why can I not see tao?

Master: So long as there is an I, there is no seeing tao.

Student: Master can you see tao?

Master: So long as there is you and I, tao cannot be seen.

Student: Then if you and I disappear, can tao be seen?

Master: If you and I disappear, who is there to see tao?

So what boy?

A monk in training says to the zen master: “Greetings master! I have travelled much and studied under many acquiring much guidances and insight. I come now to you for illumination!”

The master scratches his head and picks up a twig on the ground. Without saying anything, he gives the student the twig. The student assumes the zazen posture and meditates deeply. In his mind, the twig grows into a tree and then is produced a beautiful orchard which gradually blossoms into a field, a country, the planet and finally the universe!

He goes back to the master and relates these wonders: all life is one in its eternal existence with everything else animate and inanimate - such is the ubiquitous unity of the universe!

The master scratches his head again, takes the twig from the monk’s outstretched hand and asks: “So what boy?”

The duel

An aikido master was heading to a town where he knew there was someone insisting on challenging him. He could have taken the person down easily, but he would not let ego dictate and he passed through the outskirts avoiding his would-be opponent.

Thus the master won the real duel.

The flag

A zen master and two students were walking on a path through the forest. as they came out of it they saw a flag pole with a large flag fluttering in the breeze.

One student exclaimed, “Look the flag is moving!”

His companion thought for a moment and suggested, “The wind is moving!”

The master said, “The mind is moving.”

The precious stone

When two dragons fight over a precious stone which one wins?
The one who loses lacks nothing. The one who gains does not need it.

The two dragons

The student went to the master with what he found to be a wonderfully enlightening story:

An old man told his grandson, “There is a battle between two dragons inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, apathy, lies, ego and fear. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, kindness, humility, empathy and truth. The boy thought about it and asked, “Grandpa, which dragon wins?” The old man quietly replied, “The one you feed.”

“Such a great story, is it not master?”, concluded the student.

The master smiled and said, “It is that, but what makes you think either dragon is hungry?”

Praphorisms

Fri, 25 Mar 2022 12:08:14 -0700

This is an ever-growing list of quotations attributed to various individuals throughout history.

Al-Khafaji Amir Wadi

To my brother Faiz, whose ideals are like the stars: I could never reach them, but I chart my course by them. (dedication in Numerical Methods In Engineering Practice)

Adams Samuel

“Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt.” essay in The Public Advertiser, 1749

Angelkate Rose

(Aka meangel; paingel; derangel; strangel; spongel because she’s such a softie when she wants to be; braingel when being intellectual; pungel when being punny.)

I was eternally safe in the stillness of forever, which was the ultimate truth.

Guided by your hand, illuminated by your light
You give me courage to do what is right

Love from beyond now I understand
You only want to give when you hold out your hand

When a fork is tuned… it is tuned.

I wasn’t sure if I would be able to take a pic of the source of creation on a sony/canon.

Hm… then neither do I!

Is it so much about what I think… or is it pure joy at the gift having been received with pure joy?

Perhaps not so much invisible… because when I point it out… you look in that direction and see it too! Sees the same rainbow

I had a pretty good devil around whom I feel angelic. ;)

The song of your soul crystalised into music. It is like there is such a deep connection to the still centre… that all movement is grounded in that… as that.

Hymn to Her is the perfect title because it is her singing his lyrics… just the way that he wrote them… because tracing his steps makes her feel closer to him… as if they were singing together. She is not making the song her own… she is hearing his song through her own lips… as if their minds are one in that moment.

He continues to lecture himself through her… Lose the image of being ‘someone who doesn’t do this often’… because it is not even about music… it is about channelling… and when channelling… there is no time… and no image… and no music.

Well… while she’s on a role… When one is on the right side… one need not hit home with accuracy… but merely acknowledge that one is already home!

it is about accepting the seemingly extraordinary as ordinary.

== From: Angelkate Rose <angelkaterose@aol.co.uk> Subject: Re: Hey :) To: prad@towardsfreedom.com Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2012 16:59:35 -0400 (EDT)

I have been looking at my false-self because I cannot live with it and have been trying to ‘change’ it… but I have realised that when I change a perception of myself to it’s opposite and supposed ‘positive’ alternative, I still feel uncomfortable, disconnected and still in ego, plus it doesn’t feel authentic because I am also sometimes the ’negative’ thing that I am attempting to escape having a part of my identity. So I realised that any identity is a limitation, because I am not just one thing- I am two opposites and I am neither of them, I am everything and I am nothing. An identity is a set of labels and that is my suffering… so perhaps by seeing that I am both I can realise that I am nothing and therefore I can choose what to be in each moment… any preconceived idea that I have of myself veils my awareness of what I exist as in the moment… of what arises.

From: prad <prad@towardsfreedom.com> Subject: Re: Hey :) To: Angelkate Rose <angelkaterose@aol.co.uk> Date: Mon, 09 Jul 2012 18:12:55 -0700

why not just pick an image that you find worthwhile and just be it. ==

Bach Richard

And then you will be ready to begin the most difficult, the most powerful, the most fun of all. You will be ready to begin to fly up and know the meaning of kindness and love.

Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they’re yours.

Don’t be dismayed by good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.

Here is a test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: If you’re alive, it isn’t.

Jonathan is that brilliant little fire that burns within us all, that lives only for those moments when we reach perfection.

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life. Rarely do members of the same family grow up under the same roof.

Bentham Jeremy

The question is not, Can they reason? nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?”

BigG

Thanks just came back from Thompson no wonder this province is ranked high for many diseases. Obesity is rampant. I honestly believe most humans are not being humans anymore with all the gmo processed foods, meds, booze and drugs the light is on but no one is home in many of them. I think we are in the age of gmo humans.

Bridgeman Percy William

The operational approach demands that we make our reports and do our thinking in the freshest terms of which we are capable, in which we strip off the sophistications of millenia of culture and report as directly as we can on what happens.

The attitude which the man in the street unconsciously adopts towards science is capricious and varied. At one moment he scorns the scientist for a highbrow, at another anathematizes him for blasphemously undermining his religion; but at the mention of a name like Edison he falls into a coma of veneration.

Coincidence is what you have left over when you apply a bad theory.

[He believed that through such pursuit humanity really will improve, that it would acquire a “courageous nobility”]
And in the end, when man has fully partaken of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, there will be this difference between the first Eden and the last, that man will not become as a god, but remain forever humble.

Cowper William

Life owes us nothing. We owe life everything. The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a [worthwhile] purpose.

Dijkstra Edsger

The question of whether machines can think is about as relevant as the question of whether submarines can swim.

Dunham Barrows

Historically speaking, the content of philosophy is what is left over after the sciences departed. Nobody took ethics, not even the sociologists; nobody took logic; nobody took esthetics, nobody took (for who would want?) metaphysics. These subjects, therefore, remain part of philosophy’s content, despite the fact that the mathematicians eye logic covetously and the gentlemen of the fine arts would like to ravish esthetics. The subjects themselves, I am happy to report, have thus far resisted all blandishments. (from Man Against Myth p.11)

Emerson Haven

[The following gem is from an address given in 1928 by Dr. Haven Emerson, Columbia University]

Youth is not a time of life. It is a state of mind. It is not a matter of ripe cheeks, red lips and supple knees. It is a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the motions. Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 50 more than in a youth of 20. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old only by deserting their ideals. Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair - these are the long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust. You are as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair.

Emerson Ralph Waldo

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.

Einstein Albert

As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.

Although I am a typical loner in daily life, my consciousness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice keeps me from feeling isolated. (Courtesy of Miriam)

Cinderella (Disney 2015)

I believe that animals listen and speak to us if we only have the ear for it. That’s how we learn to look after them … I have to tell you a secret that will see you through all the trials that life can offer. Have courage and be kind.
~ Ella’s mother

Just because it’s what’s done doesn’t mean it’s what should be done!
~ Ella

And so Kit and Ella were married. And I can tell you, as her fairy godmother, that they were counted to be the fairest and kindest rulers the kingdom had known. And Ella continued to see the world not as it is, but as it could be, if only you believe in courage, and kindness, and occasionally, just a little bit… of magic.
~ Ella’s fairy godmother

Francis of Assissi

All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.

If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who deal likewise with their fellow men. Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission - to be of service to them wherever they require it.

Lord, grant me the strength to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love, Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive, It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Frank Anne

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.

Women should be respected as well! Generally speaking, men are held in great esteem in all parts of the world, so why shouldn’t women have their share? Soldiers and war heroes are honored and commemorated, explorers are granted immortal fame, martyrs are revered, but how many people look upon women too as soldiers?…Women, who struggle and suffer pain to ensure the continuation of the human race, make much tougher and more courageous soldiers than all those big-mouthed freedom-fighting heroes put together!

I know what I want, I have a goal, an opinion, I have a religion and love. Let me be myself and then I am satisfied. I know that I’m a woman, a woman with inward strength and plenty of courage.

Boys will be boys. And even that wouldn’t matter if only we could prevent girls from being girls.

Earning happiness means doing good and working, not speculating and being lazy. Laziness may look inviting, but only work gives you true satisfaction.

People who have a religion should be glad, for not everyone has the gift of believing in heavenly things.

Franklin Benjamin

Debates [should] be conducted in the sincere spirit of inquiry after truth, without […] desire of victory.

Galbraith John

Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it’s just the opposite.

Gale Donald

A pessimist, they say, sees a glass of water as being half empty; an optimist sees the same glass as half full. But a giving person sees a glass of water and starts looking for someone who might be thirsty.

Gandi Mahatma

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.

Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it - always.

It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.

My nonviolence does not admit of running away from danger and leaving dear ones unprotected. Between violence and cowardly flight, I can only prefer violence to cowardice. I can no more preach nonviolence to a coward than I can tempt a blind man to enjoy healthy scenes.

One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds.

Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

I abhor vivisection with my whole soul. All the scientific discoveries stained with innocent blood I count as of no consequence.

Experience teaches that animal food is unsuited to those who would curb their passions. But it is wrong to over-estimate the importance of food in the formation of character or in subjugating the flesh.

I hold today the same opinion as I held then. To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being.

I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world if we are superior to it.

I do feel that spiritual progress does demand at some stage that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants.

A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.

Gell-Mann Murray

However, history shows clearly that humanity is moved forward not by people who stop every little while to try to gauge the ultimate success or failure of their ventures, but by those who think deeply about what is right and then put all their energy into doing it

Gibran Kahil

Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.

Gould Glenn

The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline but rather the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity. (In his recordings, Gould sought to overcome our basis instincts and encourage a kind of altered state of consciousness, a participation in some kind of higher unity.)

Isolation is the indispensable component of human happiness.

Theirs [the Beatles] is a happy, cocky, belligerently resourceless brand of harmonic primitivism… In the Liverpudlian repertoire, the indulged amateurishness of the musical material, though closely rivaled by the indifference of the performing style, is actually surpassed only by the ineptitude of the studio production method. (Strawberry Fields suggests a chance encounter at a mountain wedding between Claudio Monteverdi and a jug band.)

I detest audiences - not in their individual components, but en masse I detest audiences. I think they’re a force of evil. It seems to me rule of mob law.

The nature of the contrapuntal experience is that every note has to have a past and a future on the horizontal plane.

We went out in the boat and I was the first to catch a fish and when the little perch came up and started wriggling about, I suddenly saw this thing entirely from the fish’s point of view - it was such a powerful experience. I picked up my fish, and said I was going to throw it back. At that moment - this has remained with me as a sort of block against people who exert influence over children - the father [a neighbor from Uptergrove] suddenly pushed me back into my seat, probably for the sensible reason that I was rocking the boat. Then he took the fish out of my reach at which I went into a tantrum and started jumping and up and down, stomping my feet and pulling my hair and stuff like that. And I kept it up until we got into shore. I refused to speak to those children for the rest of the summer, of course, and I immediately went to work on my father to convince him that he should abandon fishing. It took me ten years, but this is probably the greatest thing I have ever done.

Graham Collier

The influence of a beautiful, helpful character is contagious, and may revolutionize a whole town.

Grenfell Wilfred

The service we render to others is really the rent we pay for our room on this earth. It is obvious that man is himself a traveler; that the purpose of this world is not “to have and to hold” but “to give and serve.” There can be no other meaning.

Huxley Thomas Henry

It is the fate of all good science to be replaced by its progeny.

There is but one right, and the possibilities of wrong are infinite.

The ultimate court of appeal is observation and experiment… not authority.

The scientific spirit is of more value than its products, and irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors.

The only question which any wise man can ask himself, and which any honest man will ask himself, is whether a doctrine is true or false.

Time, whose tooth gnaws away everything else, is powerless against truth.

Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.

Science is simply common sense at its best, that is, rigidly accurate in observation, and merciless to fallacy in logic.

Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every conceived notion, follow humbly wherever and whatever abysses nature leads, or you will learn nothing.

Teach a child what is wise, that is morality. Teach him what is wise and beautiful, that is religion!

The politicians tell us, ’You must educate the masses because they are going to be masters.’ The clergy join in the cry for education, for they affirm that the people are drifting away from church and chapel into the broadest infidelity. The manufacturers and the capitalists swell the chorus lustily. They declare that ignorance makes bad workmen; that England will soon be unable to turn out cotton goods, or steam engines, cheaper than other people; and then, Ichabod! Ichabod! The glory will be departed from us. And a few voices are lifted up in favour of the doctrine that the masses should be educated because they are men and women with unlimited capacities of being, doing, and suffering, that it is as true now, as it ever was, that the people perish for lack of knowledge.

Jake

What this serves to demonstrate, is that just because an action is more drastic, does not mean that it’s more effective. Burning down one factory farm and getting caught doesn’t make you a hero to animals, it makes you a hero to your target’s competitors.

When you allocate your sloth wisely, productivity ensues.

Make compassion a reflex!

King Martin Luther

We do not need allies who are more devoted to order than to justice.

Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.

A right delayed is a right denied.

Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.

I submit to you that if a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’

Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.

Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.

The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.

Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. This is the interrelated structure of all reality. You can never be what you ought to be until I become what I ought to be.

One day the absurdity of the almost universal human belief in the slavery of other animals will be palpable. We shall then have discovered our souls and become worthier of sharing this planet with them.

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

There comes a time when silence is betrayal.

If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.

Lincoln Abraham

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

McKee Jamie

How can I have a bad day?! I love this game! (Speaking it the 1960s at the Boulevard Club, Toronto, ON about badminton when asked why he never has a bad day.)

Mohammed Renea

On Mother’s Day, we celebrate the fierce love, tenderness, and devotion that mothers bring into the world. It’s also a moment to remember the animal mothers whose stories are rarely told—those separated from their babies in laboratories, where both are used in experiments they never chose and cannot escape.

These mothers bond. They protect. They grieve. They feel fear, stress, and pain. Their babies do too. Love and emotion are not human inventions; they are shared across species, woven into the fabric of life itself.

Today is a reminder that we can choose a kinder path. Modern non‑animal research methods already exist—methods that are not only more humane, but also more accurate, more efficient, and less expensive. Compassion and scientific progress are not opposites; they can move forward together.

This Mother’s Day, may we honour all mothers by speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves, and by supporting alternatives that spare animals from suffering while advancing human health with greater precision and humanity.

[Wording Polished by Perplexity AI]

Moynihan Patrick

You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.

Newton Issac

I was like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.

Nickep

I feel that we need assertive affirmations and commanding paragraphs, which take authority and ‘slam down’ our opponents viewpoints. The reason for this, is that the opposition has some evil memes, and that they need to be broken. the way to do this isn’t by defending ourselves from their rants; and thus we explain ourselves to the nth degree: which does the opposite of what we intend. But to face our situations and force them to break their own statements which were irrational, and get them to see the truth in what we’re saying…

See, people who advocate animal abuse and animal suffering, through vivisection and experiments, or for what we aren’t designed to eat, as food, aren’t evil, but mislead and brainwashed, we could easily break their propaganda, which is showing itself in insecurity in their views, and also to be both socially independant and vegan.. see, most of the opposition, that aren’t in authority, aren’t ’evil’ or doing it for cruelty, but that cruelty is a byproduct that they don’t actually see each day and thus aren’t reminded of it - they do it because it’s socially acceptable, and they don’t feel secure enough to make their own independent thoughts…

So, the fact is that we need to be authoritative and command subliminallly in our propositions, and our conclusions will naturally form in their minds as if that was their own ideas…

Nietzsche Friedrich

Idleness is the parent of psychology.

Niemöller Martin

First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Pope John Paul 2

Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.

Poppins Mary

Practically perfect people never allow sentiment to muddle their thinking.

prad

I will spark your sanity, you temper my madness.

Those who talk a lot but do little suffer from a condition known as yapathy.

Impact need not be flamboyant. It can be subtle and stealthy.

Justice has no need for compassion nor does it need to be blind.

People wanting to get to heaven is likely why hell is so crowded.

The head is harder to hit, but can be made ineffective if you take the body out from underneath.

Compassion: It is illogical to think that the way to bring about compassion is by being compassionate. To eliminate villainy, you will likely have to get your hands dirty. So chill!

Popular opinion: One should never be swayed by popular opinion. There is nothing wrong with having popular opinion see you as immoral or worse. Popular opinion is generally immoral in itself since it is guided by what people want to believe than what is ethical.

Sometimes in some situations, more people choose to believe what is ethical than what is convenient.

There is nothing decent about appearing to be decent.

What one should be guided by are not the opinions of others but by established values that don’t change according to one’s whims and fancies. This approach handles the fact that people who like Trump and Putin don’t care what others think, but unfortunately, also don’t care about any values. Thus, they take a good thing and turn it into a bad one.

YAAAAAY: You Are An Awkward Animation Are You

Expect and insist on the best from others and you will never be disappointed with yourself.

Might may not be right, but might can certainly make right.

Making things happen from within a system is possible. Doing the same from outside the system is also possible. However participating in the system you are trying to change may prove to be difficult simply because there are vested interests that can get in the way.

If one is going for something worthwhile that others cannot see then it is silly to be concerned about what others are thinking.

In any endeavor, it is counterproductive to worry about whether one will be successful or not, for doing so tends to mess up one’s strategy. It’s a bit like driving in that thinking about the destination is not a good idea when you’re supposed to be paying attention to the road.

Those who violate the gold rule are no longer entitled to the protection it offers.

Showing neutrality in the face of brutality is an atrocity.

Peace and love may work fine when the other side cooperates, but if they don’t they should be helped.

Engineers don’t make mistakes! They only increase their tolerances.

There is little point in appearing to be ethical when fighting that which is unethical: your personal purity is better grown in a petri dish.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing, but there are many wrong ways to do the right thing. When doing the right thing, there may be merit in choosing some of those ‘wrong’ ways. The ends can justify the means and those who are excessively attached to their ‘high’ morals often do the victims of injustice an unforgivable disservice.

The ‘good’ are far too busy acting good to do any good.

No point in being a good person if you are unwilling to be a better one.

Don’t complain unless you really have something to complain about. If you do, then figure out what to do about it, instead of complaining.

It is difficult to get on with things that matter when one spends time on those that don’t.

The universe waits not for the sanction of our beliefs.

Prefer to be a monster in a good cause than be a saint in a monstrous one.

Look for the pradeal instead of rushing in.

Love and compassion would have a better chance of taking hold if their advocates were a little less loving and a little less compassionate.

If you want to clean house, you are going to have to get your hands dirty and take out the trash.

True happiness is having our systems work efficiently and effectively.

Being addicted is yet another self-indulgent act.

Psychological damage is more practical than physical damage.

Perfection is being true to worthwhile values by translating them to action.

Never accept someone for who they are, for they are not.

Trust no one, including this one!

The Les Miserable phrase “to love another person is to see the face of god” is a reasonably good one, but the order is backwards. Only when you have made yourself worthy to see the face of god, does love come into it.

Hercules, Hunchback, Mermaid by Disney bring out very profound ethical values as well as zen. Hercules for instance becomes a ‘sage’ when he is transformed into a god through his nobility, but chooses to be mortal through understanding and thereby an ordinary man.

Using the excuse that no one is perfect because everyone kills microbes and steps on insects is like whining about background radiation. The physicist tries to minimize it and thereby sees the truth of reality better. You can’t do anything about some things, but there’s a lot you can do much about - and that’s how you do get to see the truth.

Do only that which aligns with your purpose. Do not define your purpose though for you can only do things that are in alignment with your purpose.

It is bad enough that people who know something, talk nonsense about it. Far worse is when those who know nothing about something talk the same way.

Rotten apples should not be seen as something for the garbage, but as fuel for the compost.

The only worthwhile opinion is a correct one.

Some have a desperate need to be ridiculous.

Society tends to honor its live conformers and its dead reformers. You don’t have to be dead though to be honored. Radicals do pay the price of being labelled fanatical and that’s a pretty good honor.

Reimbursement need not necessarily be made to the benefactor. A societial or evolutionary contribution is often of greater value.

Anything that has the strong potential of evil may well be evil.

When info was scarce, people wanted the truth. Now that it’s not, they want truth to be customized.

Some of us do things on the spur of the last moment.

Planting a curse on someone is likely not going to be an intelligent effort. Without understanding the way mechanisms work, it can be very counterproductive to want things to turn out a certain way. Say there is a certain group of people with a bad member in it. One of them wishes a curse upon the bad person to die miserably and alone. While the idea may possibly have some appeal, it does not take into account the mechanism by which this execution will take place. For instance, one possible scenario is that the entire group dies from a horrible plague with the curse holder going last. Interesting examples were provided in the genie X-Files episode, where the genie kept pointing out that Mulder’s wishes were not sufficiently specific. Lack of awareness in this area generally occurs when wishes are made through vindictiveness or lack of control. The same holds true for good wishes - they can be costly as well. Hence, wanting something to be a certain way is better thought out very carefully and not wanting, as per Lao Tse, may be best.

For instance, I pull a ribbon around the corner and carbonicule the cat chases it. As far as his focus is concerned, the tip is moving and there is no awareness that someone is pulling it. In fact, the focus is so strong (and limited for this game) that it matters little when he comes around the corner to find that I was pulling it - he is still interested in the part that’s moving and there is no loss in pleasure in chasing it.

If you don’t want constipation, change your diet.

life isn’t about staying still and stagnating.
life is movement and growth, awareness and awakenings.
neither is love about accepting someone for who they are.
love is a gift from the divine for all beings. as such it becomes our duty to channel that gift to those nearest to us, so that they can move and grow, so that they become aware and awake.
you are evolving, carly. have you ever noticed how “love” is contained in the word “evolve”?
your husband has a chance to be bourne in the wake of your transformation … and then add his own ripples in harmony with the ever-flowing stream on which we all journey.
(to carly on 30bad)

I truly would be a great admirer of myself if it were not for my even greater humility.

The key to manipulation is not feeling anything, so that you can feel anything.

Honor noble principles for they are the only ballast in troubled times.

Regarding Angel’s insistence that she needs to fast for more than 7 days:
“it took god 7 days to create the world - what makes you think you need longer?”
Unfortunately, she didn’t fully appreciate the brillance of the above comment and started arguing absurdly about it (eg you don’t believe in that stuff and it isn’t factual).

Being full of yourself is a sure recipe for indigestion.

Morality may be the end product of perfect discipline.

If sex really were an expression of spirituality, then sages would have been the ultimate porn stars of history!

It’s about how we merge in thought and action with what is right.
It’s about how we add our voices in harmony to what is truth.
It’s about how we blend into the flow of existence, discovering with humility and contributing with gratitude.

Inspiration is like the battle, while discipline is the war itself. The former carries uncertainities, but through the latter these can be overcome.

As we travel, there may be some moments when i walk behind you to make sure you don’t fall; there may be some moments when i walk ahead and reach for your hand so you can take the next step with confidence.

Focus is good, but focus at the expense of awareness isn’t.

We do what we do because it needs to be done. We do it without expectation or want … and then the world really does straighten itself.

When two beings see the same rainbow, imagine how close they must be!

No self-respecting enlightened master ever calls him/herself one, for it is not a path of humility. The master therefore each day remains calm for no achievement can ever surpass that state.

May all who do so much for the most worthwhile and essential cause in history, see themselves as they truly must be - undaunted by the irrefutable task at hand and undented by the illusive passage of time.

If something seems too good to be true, it is important to make it so.

Truth does not stop being truth simply because it is spoken by a hypocrite. Even an animal abuser is entitled and correct to speak against animal abuse.

Desire for something in the future is bad enough.
Desire for something in the past is downright idiotic.

You may not like to lose, but if you’re fighting the wrong battle, you have already lost.

It’s easy for one to pass responsibility to someone else, but you aren’t going to pass the consequences.

I will wait for you, but I won’t wait with you.

Keep the door open, but don’t end up being the doorstop.

Never forget the past. You do so at your own risk!

It’s unhealthy to induce vomiting after each meal. Better to exercise so your consumption doesn’t become baggage as the past sometimes does for some people.

Always be happy, never be satisfied.

Always forgive, never forget.

Those who have found the way do not hand out business cards.

When dragons come to heal the earth.

pradagio

From Honor:

Never be yourself, when you can be someone better.
~ Queen Rhae

May the earth befriend you, as have we.
~ Marieke

If we could only be as kind to every soul regardless of what they are wearing in this life.
~ Breena

The one who gives should not remember the giving, but the one who receives must never forget.
~ Vaishobob

Royalty is never born. It is forged from one’s attitude and action, from one’s courage and conviction.
~ Prince Jestin

From Tryangles:

How should we on this trip abide?
Be always happy, but never satisfied!
~ Barra

So take that chance and make bold your move!
Triumph or disaster, naught do they prove!
~ Ardal

Life’s not ‘bout the comfort of just lying still.
Reach for those stars and the dharma fulfil!
~ Elysse

Our strengths are stronger than our weaknesses.
~ Elysse

Robert Pynn

Everything is set in the clear and distinct air. Judgment is without suspension, thought without reflection, action without consideration. (advent song)

Roosevelt Theodore

Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but in finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong.

Sculley Matthew

Animals are more than ever a test of our character, of mankind’s capacity for empathy and for decent, honorable conduct and faithful stewardship. We are called to treat them with kindness, not because they have rights, power or a claim to equality, but in a sense, because they don’t. They all stand unequal and powerless before us.

Schweitzer Albert

I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.

Life becomes harder for us when we live for others, but it also becomes richer and happier.

Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light.

Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.

The true worth of a man is not to be found in man himself, but in the colours and textures that come alive in others.

Do something wonderful, people may imitate it.

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.

An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere, while a pessimist sees only the red stoplight… the truly wise person is colorblind.

Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind.

A man is truly ethical only when he obeys the compulsion to help all life which he is able to assist, and shrinks from injuring anything that lives.

A man does not have to be an angel in order to be saint.

You must not expect anything from others. It’s you, of yourself, of whom you must ask a lot. Only from oneself has one the right to ask everything and anything. This way it’s up to you – your own choices – what you get from others remains a present, a gift.

What does Reverence for Life say abut the relations between [humanity] and the animal world? Whenever I injury any kind of life I must be quite certain that it is necessary. I must never go beyond the unavoidable, not even in apparently insignificant things. The farmer who has mowed down a thousand flowers in his meadow in order to feed his cows must be careful on his way home not to strike the head off a single flower by the side of the road in idle amusement, for he thereby infringes on the law of life without being under the pressure of necessity.

Civilization can only revive when there shall come into being in a number of individuals a new tone of mind, independent of the prevalent one among the crowds, and in opposition to it – a tone of mind which will gradually win influence over the collective one, and in the end determine its character. Only an ethical movement can rescue us from barbarism, and the ethical comes into existence only in individuals.

Ethics cannot be based upon our obligations toward [people], but they are complete and natural only when we feel this Reverence for Life and the desire to have compassion for and to help all creatures insofar as it is in our power. I think that this ethic will become more and more recognized because of its great naturalness and because it is the foundation of a true humanism toward which we must strive if our culture is to become truly ethical.

Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace.

Shaw George Bernard

The most tragic thing in the world is a man of genius who is not a man of honor.

A fashion is nothing but an induced epidemic.

England and America are two countries separated by a common language.

Why should you call me to account for eating decently?

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity.

All great truths begin as blasphemies.

No public man in these islands ever believes that the Bible means what it says: he is always convinced that it says what he means.

The sex relation is not a personal relation. It can be irresistibly desired and rapturously consummated between persons who could not endure one another for a day in any other relation.

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.

When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport: when the tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity. The distinction between Crime and Justice is no greater.

“Will you be the father of my next child? A combination of my beauty and your brains would startle the world,” but he replied: “I must decline your offer with thanks, for the child might have my beauty and your brains.”

When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth.

“You see things; you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?”

Animals are my friends…and I don’t eat my friends.

Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power.

In heaven an angel is no one in particular.

We cut the throat of a calf and hang it up by the heels to bleed to death so that our veal cutlet may be white; we nail geese to a board and cram them with food because we like the taste of liver disease; we tear birds to pieces to decorate our women’s hats; we mutilate domestic animals for no reason at all except to follow an instinctively cruel fashion; and we connive at the most abominable tortures in the hope of discovering some magical cure for our own diseases by them.

I don’t know if there are men on the moon, but if there are they must be using the earth as their lunatic asylum.

The secret of being miserable is to have the leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not.

SICP

In general, when modeling phenomena in science and engineering, we begin with simplified, incomplete models. As we examine things in greater detail, these simple models become inadequate and must be replaced by more refined models.

Sir Cole (The Knight Before Christmas)

A knight is sworn to valor and virtue. His blade defends the good, and his might upholds the weak. His temper shall be led by patience, and his kindness will give aid to those who seek it.

This is a variation of the knight’s code (from The Library of Knighthood):

The knight is sworn to valor.
His heart knows only virtue.
His blade defends the helpless.
His might upholds the weak.
His words speak only truth.
His wrath undoes the wicked.
The right can never die,
If one man still recalls
The words are not forgot,
If one voice speaks them clear.
The code forever shines,
If one heart holds it bright

Smith Gary

150 years ago, they would have thought you were absurd if you advocated for the end of slavery. 100 years ago, they would have laughed at you for suggesting that women should have the right to vote. 50 years ago, they would object to the idea of African Americans receiving equal rights under the law. 25 years ago they would have called you a pervert if you advocated for gay rights. They laugh at us now for suggesting that animal slavery be ended. Some day they won’t be laughing.

Spock

You may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true.

The glory of creation is in its infinite diversity and the ways our differences combine to create meaning and beauty.

Steinem Gloria

A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.

Women have two choices: Either she’s a feminist or a masochist.

A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.

Women have always been an equal part of the past. We just haven’t been a part of history.

Law and justice are not always the same. When they aren’t, destroying the law may be the first step toward changing it.

Stephenson Neal

Emacs outshines all other editing soft-ware in approximately the same way that the noonday sun does the stars. It is not just bigger and brighter; it simply makes everything else vanish. (In the Beginning… Was the Cammand Line)

Sztybel David

Centering on human-made abstractions above all, instead of on the animals themselves as individuals is oddly anthropocentric.

Tagore Rabindranath

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where the words come out from the depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action - Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Teresa Mother

Love cannot remain by itself – it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service.

People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. In the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

Thoreau Henry David

A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.

Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it.

As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.

Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.

Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.

Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.

Every man is the builder of a temple called his body.

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.

However mean your life is, meet it and live it: do not shun it and call it hard names. Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Things do not change, we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see that you do want society.

I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.

I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn.

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.

In wildness is the preservation of the world.

It is never too late to give up your prejudices.

Most are engaged in business the greater part of their lives, because the soul abhors a vacuum and they have not discovered any continuous employment for man’s nobler faculties.

Who thinks that they can kill time without injuring eternity?

Tricia

For me what works is service. i feel that i am here to serve animals and be their voice. i rescue domestic animals from abuse, which gives me a sense of direct action and do much in the way of spreading veganism, with farm walks, handing out literature, and postings at pet stores. Also do fur protests, circus protests and protested at our medical college to end the use of pigs.

everywhere i go i talk with people about the atrocities to animals raised for food and always have a trunk full of pamphlets and dvds such as meet your meat and earthlings.

we have 11 rescued animals which keep us from getting overwhelmed with animal suffering since they need much care, exercise and love.

it is unacceptable to me that some people take longer than others to stop eating animals. most people who would see an injured bird would try to help him/her so why not extend that compassion to the rest of the animals. people don’t have to do anything except change their eating habits, nothing compared to the hell on earth animals are living.

i no longer waste my time with those who aren’t receptive to our message, there are too many others who need to hear it.

i used to go to bed and start feeling guilty that i was warm, comfortable and safe and would think of all the animals suffering in barren cages, cold, afraid and unable to even turn around. it was stupid, since my not getting a good nights sleep wasn’t helping the animals and would prevent me from being productive.

now when i go to bed i clear my mind and rest. if negative thoughts enter i acknowledge them and let them pass though not giving them the attention or light they need to persist. i fall asleep within minutes.

keep doing what you can for the animals and continue to spread your message to everyone you meet. as long as we are doing what we can, we can keep moving forward without getting bogged down with hatred of people and frustration. there are still times i become misanthropic, but realize there are many good humans i love and don’t focus on what is out of my hands.

Twain Mark

In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, Brave, Hated and Scorned. When his cause succeeds however, the timid join him, for then it costs NOTHING to be a Patriot.

Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the and the blind can see.

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.

The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer someone else up.

A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

Really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great.

Wade Paul

Let me set out my stand right now; this kind of crap disgusts me.

Tyler Alexander Fraser

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.

Wiesel Elle

Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.
Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

Winston Churchill

If you’re going through hell, keep going.

Zelenskyy Volodymyr

Freedom must be armed better than tyranny.

The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.

Pramordials

Tue, 22 Mar 2022 13:10:41 -0700

Potentially a pundit’s praradice!

A posh store selling ornaments and precious stones was robbed. The police were unable to find the criminals and just marked it down to being a cajewelty.

It seems a chorus tenor went berserk during a performance of Don Giovanni when Don is dragged into the flames of hell. The tenor visibly upset started screaming in a loud and high voice FIRE FIRE! Panicking patrons trampled over each other clambering to escape. However there was no fire and Viennese police arrested the tenor on grounds of setting off a falsetto alarm.

Which reminds me that the king and queen of Spain were on a rather turbulent flight many years ago and kept slipping out of their seats, whence the well-known Learner and Lowedown expression “The reign in Spain falls mainly on the plane.”

For instance, you can’t trust tailors anymore. Why I had this friend who ordered a custom jacket and received a vest instead. Needless to say, he felt thoroughly desleeved.

Some people find eating dates have a real calming effect on them - they feel sedated.

This farmer spots a burglar on his property engaged in stealing.. He rushes out yelling, “Hay! Hay! Hay!”. The burglar pleads with him saying, “Oh please do not report me I am out on bale.” The farmer exclaims, “You guys always have an excuse - but this is the last straw!” The burglar replies, “Well, most people aren’t as lucky as you - they go to school, then to loonyversity and they still can’t find the work they were trained for - unlike yourself, who gets to work in his field.” The farmer says, “Look I think you’re stalling.” The burglar retorts, “Well, I could be horse.” So the farmer tells the burglar, “I think you’re cowardly, but I’ll give you a job anyway.” The burglar feeling guilty exclaims, “Barn it all! I don’t deserve it.” However, he accepts and the two become friends after declaring a farmistice.

The ruler of a country sent out his messenger who got lost and wound up in the wrong kingdom. The queen received the poor fellow and said, “Emasorry, but this is not the place you are seeking.”

Cathy bought herself a house and considered it her temple so she called it a Cathydral.

A lemur once had a big toe Which continued to grow and grow It became so long He had to hobble along So they called him LAMEur you know. The previous is an example of a LAMErick. If you don’t like it don’t bLAME me - I’m not cLAMEing that it is funny. You may as well just initiate your LAMEntations.

This person had severe constipation naturally as a result of animal protein consumption and finally went to an intelligent and friendly, strict vegetarian nutritionist who put him naturally on a strict vegetarian diet that in a short period of time got rid of the constipation (and also helped eliminate several other ailments that we all know about). Much relieved, he sincerely and accurately thanked the nutritionist exclaiming, “With friends like you, who needs enemas!”

So gangster Bugsie after a successful week’s work goes to his boss (who recently turned veg and took up yoga) to collect his paycheck. His boss gives him a large bundle of organic celery and a jar of homemade organic veg dip to go along with it. A somewhat surprised Bugsie exclaims, “Hey Boss! What’s this? You think I’m a bunny or something?” The Boss simply replies, “Om, no Bugs. It’s your take home celery.”

A couple of veggies didn’t want to get married because their families wanted them to have an oranged marriage. So they took off even though they were told they cantaloupe.

There is a very important food combining dictum that says you should never eat cauliflowers and watermelons at the same meal. Doing so could make you meloncaulic.

People don’t always know the many ways to eat cucumbers. They can be eaten raw or cooked or even pickled! The most important thing to do though is to cut it into smaller pieces because eating it whole is just cucumbersome.

I wanted to make a citrus drink and tried to call several fruits together, but the lime was busy.

Q: Prad, just how does a dedicated vegetarian gracefully exit a meeting, a get-together or a party? A: Well all he or she simply needs to say is, “lettuce leaves”.

Q: Prad what vegetarian product can be helpful for cleaning teeth? A: I think it’s called lentil floss.

Booklicious

Sun, 06 Feb 2022 15:28:59 -0800

Are you a lover of books? Are you a parent looking for book recommendations for your young child or teenager? If so, you’ve come to the right place!

LouAnne Taylor has put together a wonderful website for children and parents alike, to find age appropriate books and learning about the importance of literacy …
Booklicious

V03 of Mice and Bread

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 21:05:31 -0800

Every Monday morning I look forward to stopping at BreadSmith, our local bakery, on my way to work. Walking into the aroma of fresh baked bread and hearing the laughter and chatter of the employees has always been a welcomed joy for me. Today, however proved to be a rather negative experience.

All of the employees know that I am vegan so they offer me samples of vegan breads as well as muffins or scones. A woman whom I like quite a bit offered me a new type of bread that had chips in it stating how delicious it was. Another employee jumped into the conversation telling me that they weren’t non-dairy chips so I would most likely not want to sample the bread. I thanked her and then she asked me specifically what the difference was between a vegetarian and a vegan. As I proceeded to explain the difference to her the manager walked out onto the floor and spoke loudly as she was exiting “Are we talking about vegetarianism again”? Then she said “Well I’m a proud carnivore”. I had so many thoughts run through my mind I didn’t know how to respond so I said “just what part of the suffering of animals makes you most proud”? Her response “All of it”! She then left the store as a coward would normally do. I wanted to tell her that she should go vegan for 30 days to try to lose the extra 100 pounds she carries around and if she didn’t feel better we would gladly refund her misery, but she was gone and I was left feeling sick at the encounter.

I went to work feeling awful that I wasn’t prepared for a better response, but she was walking out the door anyway and wasn’t interested in a conversation about veganism. When I arrived at work hungry and hurt I thought of how a slice of my multi-grain bread with strawberry preserves would soothe my bruised ego. I took a slice of bread and cut it in half noticing a seemingly long and large grain I had never seen before. Aha it was a piece of mouse dirt or worse yet rat dirt. Now I would get that manager back for being so crude and heartless about animal suffering. I will call the health department and tell them there are rats and mice in their kitchen, then I will call the employees and tell them how disgusting their operation is. As I started to look up the telephone number for the Health Dept. I thought of how they might remedy this problem. Then it dawned on me that they might put out glue traps and I stopped dead in my tracks and closed the phone book. Surely the mice and rats have a right to eat some of the flour and any little fecal matter that might have got into the flour was baked at a high enough temperature so that the germs were gone and it might even add a little protein to the bread. I picked the piece of dirt from the bread and decided I would toast the bread thus killing any germs that may have been lingering. Realizing the bread was fine and had I not seen the the dirt I probably would have never known the difference I ate the toast, but decided maybe it was time I start to make my own bread.

V01 the Green Bay Packers

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 21:04:58 -0800

Today, Sunday January 20, 2008 I awoke at 5AM to begin making all sorts of vegan delights for 7 hours of football viewing. Seldom do we watch any television, but today is an exception. My brother Kevin will be here for most of the day to watch The Green Bay Packers in a championship play off game, which we will hopefully win so that we can proceed to the Super bowl.

Brett Favre, who is probably the most well known quarter back around, was going to retire last year, but in the hopes of acquiring Randy Moss, a wide receiver from Minnesota he decided to stick around for another year. He signed a contract for this year and alas we didn’t accept Moss, most likely because of his mooning our fans at Lambeau Field a couple of years ago. Favre was beside himself, but begrudgingly began another season with mostly rookies. Lo and Behold for the love of Brett the rookies aspired to play as well as many seasoned veterans. So here we are playing today to advance to the Super Bowl.

For years I shunned football stating I was non-violent and couldn’t justify watching a bunch of thugs pound the heck out of each other. Having sons changed all that. As my sons grew older they loved the packers and implored me to join in the games. Reluctantly I began watching the Pack with them, and much to my chagrin I was hooked. Now I justified my love of our team by stating that they were a cut above other teams. They were classy and refined for they were as gracious winning as they were humble losing. Mike Sherman their coach forbade any type of showboating, such as spiking the ball or pounding their chest like so many other players engage in. Some actually rally with pom poms and do an obnoxious shuffle, not our guys. Aaron Kampman even did a pilgrimage to India and I think he might be veg, even more reason to love our team. This morning while I was creating scrumptious vegan fare, my husband asked me if I knew why the packers were so named. Having never thought about it I answered no. He then told me they were named for the meat packers in Green Bay.

Now if there was a way to take the spring from my step that did it. How could I be so ignorant, knowing the drive to the Northern woods is speckled with farms, tiny hutches for calves, and worst of all rows of metal sheds that I often compare to concentration camps. I regained my calm when I immediately recalled that our basketball team once named the Marquette Warriors was changed a few years ago to the Eagles in deference to the Native Americans. I thought of how some years from now when animal rights and veganism is mainstream the Packers will be re-named possibly to the Green Bay passerfists.

F03 Family

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 21:04:35 -0800

As we children matured, I continued to love Maryann and of all 7 children I was the only one she cared about and wanted to be with. She was a wonderful aunt to my children and they adored her. She had a certain child-like innocence and was able to impart a lot of her gifts to my children that adults were not privy to. I became to understand Maryann by watching her interact with my kids.

When my children got older she lost all interest in them, but she and I remained close. About a month before she died, at the age of 49, she had asked me if she started to drink carrot juice and eat vegetarian as I did would she ever look like me. From all her years of drinking and drug abuse her face had become mottled and puffy and her tiny frame was bloated. I told her she was already beautiful, but a healthy diet would definitely enhance her beauty. The day before she died she called to tell me that she had her first glass of carrot juice and was having salad and veggies for dinner. Before I began meditating this morning I was thinking of how I no longer have a relationship with any of my living siblings except my brother Kevin. Kevin who is deaf and blind in one eye and labeled mentally retarded is also a vegetarian due to my influence. I felt a little sad at the loss of ties to my other siblings, but at once recalled a statement a very wise soul had said to me: “It’s alright to wait for someone as long as we don’t wait with them.” As I thought of that statement I felt peaceful and decided to meditate. While meditating Maryann’s face flashed before me and I realized if she were alive today she would join Kevin and myself in the Animal Rights Movement. I wonder why it is that of all of my brothers and sisters only the 2 who were brain injured were able to see the unethical and immoral use of animals for food, while the others choose to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to such abuse.

F02 Family

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 21:04:30 -0800

When I was 12 years of age, a nun, named Sister Thea, had our entire classroom scribble a design onto a sheet of construction paper then find an object within the design from which to make a landscape. In my design, I had found a slipper that was gently sweeping among a forest floor of leaves.

I drew and colored each leaf on my sheet of paper in brilliant autumn colors. The slipper took on a deep rich crimson red. Sister Thea loved my drawing, stating hands down I had taken first place in art class. I had a choice of icons as a prize and chose my favorite (as a child) which was the Infant of Prague. I ran all the way home from school in anticipation of showing my parents my drawing and statue. Upon arriving home the first person to see my picture was Maryann. I was so excited to show it to her and tell her how I had won first place and received a statue that I couldn’t contain my joy. Maryann became extremely agitated while holding my drawing in her hands and proceeded to rip my picture into hundreds of scraps. I was in disbelief and while crying began to crawl on the floor desperately trying to gather the pieces in hopes of putting it back together for my parents to see. As a child I didn’t grasp how anyone could be so cruel, as an adult I realized how jealous and inferior Maryann felt and that any achievement of mine was an affront to her.

F01 Family

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 21:04:24 -0800

While meditating, a picture of my sister, Maryann, flashed across my gaze. Maryann had fallen from a car going 60 mph when she was 4 years old. As a result of the accident she became brain-damaged and her eyes crossed. She was in a coma for 31 days and had to learn to walk and speak all over again.

She was a constant source of anguish to my parents, who decided she would be the scapegoat for all of their problems. She rarely attended school and by the 8th grade she was expelled never to return to any formal education or home schooling. She began to drink a lot of alcohol at an early age which progressed to any and every type of drug. She was in and out of mental institutions as well as prison cells. She was the eldest child of seven and abused all of her younger siblings both physically and mentally. Just the same I loved her. None of my brothers or sisters shared my feelings for Maryann. As a matter of fact when she died, we were asked at her burial if anyone would like to say anything to her before she was lowered into the ground. My brothers shook their heads no, while my twin sister said that since she was unable to love Maryann in life that maybe God could love her for her. I said that I loved Maryann and would miss her terribly as she was very dear to me, then broke down sobbing. Why did I love this sister who had been cruel to me in so many ways especially when I did well or excelled in form of art, music, dance, academics or athletics?

A01 Happy Easter Dear Emma

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 21:01:59 -0800

Today, Easter Sunday, we are celebrating life with our real Easter Bunny named Emma. It was just about one year ago on a cold and rainy day I decided to venture off into a rough part of town to check on a dog who seemed to be neglected. While driving in a downpour I asked myself why on earth I was going into a rough neighborhood to pretend to be interested in getting a dog that I had no intention of adopting.

Several times I attempted to turn back, but the car seemed to have a mind of its own and kept pushing onward toward our destination. Upon arriving I was greeted by a large and disgruntled woman who led me into her tiny backyard. She brought the dog to me who was frantic from lack of exercise and kept running in circles around me. I noticed a group of small boxes and inquired as to what they were. Mary, the woman, told me that they contained rabbits. I asked her to lift up the wooden doors so that I could see them and I was shocked to see rabbits of all different breeds in tiny wire cages with no amenities whatsoever. One in particular was cowering and shaking staring at me with a plea for help. When I told Mary that I saw no food, water or bedding and was concerned of the rabbits trembling, she said they would get a few pellets and some water at the end of the day. I asked why they had no bedding or hay and her response was they were breeders not pets. When she shut the door to the cages I felt sick that once again they were in the dark and cold in complete isolation. I drove home and did not sleep for 2 nights as I could not get the vision of these terrified rabbits out of my head. Finally I called Mary and asked if I could adopt the little gray bunny who was trembling so. She yelled that she was a breeder and paid good money for her. I offered her more than she paid and picked her up the next day. I felt guilty as though I was supporting a mill, but I had to save this precious little rabbit. Having never had a rabbit before, I didn’t know exactly what she needed, but after looking on line had everything ready for her when she arrived at her new home. We had her spayed, litter trained her and she now sleeps on a soft bed compared to wire, has full run of the house and is a companion to our dogs and cats. She has not been in a cage since after the first week we brought her home. She lives life to the fullest and entertains us daily with her ballet leaps and spins and her hilarious antics. She was 2 years old when she came to live with us and her past life has finally vanished. She is no longer timid or anxious and greets us every morning with love and joy. So today we say Happy Easter to our dear little Emma who will live out her life free of oppression and dominance and will continue to be the bunny she was meant to be.

008 The Way of the Rabbit

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 20:30:44 -0800

Poppy is a beautiful silver rabbit whom we got from the SPCA as a companion to Gaw the philosophical guinea pig. So first let me tell you about Gaw even though this is not his story.

Gaw was originally named Pansy for some completely inexplicable reason. We took him in because the people he was staying with couldn’t keep pets. We couldn’t either, but when I explained to our landlords that my son was so desperate to have a little friend that he was playing with and even naming the woodbugs, they relented. Gaw had a very sagacious look even when he purred. It was the look of a wise being.

Once in our own house, therefore, Poppy at the impressionable young age of 8 months, met Gaw and was no doubt taken with him. Gaw taught him the lessons of life and leadership and eating each day, though Poppy would play hooky once in a while by jumping up onto a chair and hiding from Gaw - or possibly that was the location he’d been instructed to do his meditations in … these things are hard to know.

And when Gaw felt that Poppy had learned all that was needed, he decided to depart his guinea pig form and go on to other things, but again in his own style - Gaw died in front of Poppy, my son and myself, happily eating away in his 8th year of life.

Poppy was about 4 years old now and we went to the SPCA to find him a companion. Going into SPCA’s is generally a painful experience - there are so many who yearn for a caring home, yet so few will ever know one. However, these rabbits were setup in luxury! Housed in large cages, they enjoyed a multilevel suite with all the amenities a rabbit could likely wish for. In fact, I rather doubt any of them wished to leave.

We brought back a very friendly fellow named Buster, a fairly large brown and white individual who had been treated for sinus problems. He got along wonderfully with Poppy for a few months and then died rather suddenly due to a common rabbit problem called middle ear infection. It was touching to see Poppy prod and lick the dead body of his companion trying to get some movement out of him. Rarely have I seen such diligence and caring given to a friend who is no more.

We went back to the SPCA to try again. The worker this time chose a very timid fellow who had been born there and just didn’t want to leave. He was nevertheless taken since we humans have this habit of knowing what’s best for everyone. His name was Martin and Poppy took as good care of him as he had done with Buster. Martin became Martoon and was eventually shortened to Toony.

Then we learned that we had a chance to bring Toony’s mother, Pebbles, home as well. The intent was excellent, but like Toony, Pebbles had no wish to leave. Why should she? She’d lived at the SPCA for two years. It was her home. She too had been treated for a sinus problem, so we were a bit concerned, but we were enticed by the notion that two years was a long time to be without a home (even when you had one) and that the mother and son reunion would be a joyous one.

Well it wasn’t. Neither Pebbles nor Toony had the slightest interest in each other and the former was even more timid than her son. Poppy did his best to make her feel at home, but she wasn’t happy to be in the company of other rabbits.

My son, Kyron’s music teacher, Iris at this time was breeding rabbits. Well, she really wasn’t breeding them, but they were breeding at her place because she kept feeding them. Soon the population had grown to around 50 and they were wandering all over her property. Some of them weren’t given a fair start in life and died early, but there were two we know of who beat the odds.

The first was Simon. He was a small rabbit who had to be taken in and cared for by Iris because he had serious health issues when he was very young. However, through her efforts he became stronger and it became possible to release him. Of course, he hung around with all the others as an ordinary member of the pack. Simon, though wasn’t an ordinary rabbit. Despite the slow start he’d been granted, he had a sense of responsibility and eventually became the lead rabbit that all the others followed through the bluejay quarrels, the otter attack (which claimed the life of more than one rabbit), as well as the counter-attack on the feral cats which kept these away. It was a true ‘underdog’ story if there ever was one! Being the leader does not come without a price though and Simon died at the usual age of 5 which is fairly common for top rabbits. After Simon, Iris stopped the feeding and the rabbits gradually dispersed.

The other rabbit was a small white runt that was continually picked on by the bigger creatures. Iris not only felt sad for him, but thought he was likely in danger so she asked if Kyron could take him home. This little fellow’s body was just a bit longer than his ears and so, primarily for that distinction he was named Yoda. He was put in a box in the bathroom with Pebbles initially just so that the two male rabbits didn’t go after him and things went admirably the first day.

On the second day, we heard a great commotion in the bathroom. Yoda had gotten out of the box and Pebbles was chasing him all over the place. Fortunately, he was considerably faster so she never caught him.

Gradually all four rabbits were brought together and Poppy maintained an appropriate level of justice. While Yoda was small he protected him from Pebbles. When he got large enough to take care of himself he let them be. And when Yoda reversed the tables and started going after Pebbles, Poppy brought him back into line. He always tried his best to make Pebbles part of the group and succeeded to some extent, but we now feel it would have been much better to not have moved her from her place at the SPCA.

One day we returned home to find Pebbles dead apparently from the same middle ear infection that had killed Buster. It is curious that both had similar sinus issues, both had been treated by the same vet and both had died suddenly.

So now there were three and this is where our story really starts.

Poppy had already gained the respect of the other two and kept them nicely in line. Doing so required only a little effort since everyone was quite good-natured. Still, it didn’t hurt to assert one’s authority from time to time by chasing the other two around the room, which Poppy dutifully did.

Toony’s reaction to this routine was expectedly submissive. He was for law and order so he went along and played timid. Yoda wasn’t quite sure what to do though because he wasn’t sure what a hierarchial structure really meant - in fact, we’ve never been sure whether he understood the concept of a structure in the first place. So while he would run away from a charging Poppy, it was unclear to everyone including himself as to why he was doing so or where he was running to. While he accepted Poppy as the leader, the deference was rather moot since he didn’t seem to have a clue what a leader was. As far as Poppy was concerned though, it didn’t matter.

While Poppy had established himself as the ruler and Yoda had taken on the role of court jester, Toony proved to be the intellectual of the group and chief advisor to King Poppy. In preparation for this role, he’d allowed Poppy to trim his whiskers, something that Yoda either didn’t permit or meet the requirements for filling the position.

When not being timid, Toony appeared very calm and thoughtful. He especially liked to play that game with empty toilet paper rolls which the others never seemed to see the point of. The idea was to put a roll upright and Toony would snatch and toss it. You’d have to set it up again and he’d go through the process once more. He’d also take it from your hand if you held one to him, but it is likely he preferred the original to the variation. We still haven’t figured out what the purpose of this game is, but one only need to take a look at human games which involve grown people chasing after a ball or throwing things and one may be just as puzzled.

Yoda entertained himself in a different fashion. He would hop into our bed which is on the floor enclosed by planks of wood designed to keep the rabbits out. However, just as Yoda didn’t have the concept of ’leader’ clarified in his mind, he didn’t seem to appreciate that he wasn’t supposed to breach the barrier. He liked going into the bed partly to escape the other two and partly because it was fun in there - blankets and sheets to push around and chew up.

One game he liked to play was to attack the bed sheet when it was waved in front of him. He’d really get quite energetic about it and growl as he swiped it with his front paws. The other thing he rather enjoyed was to hop all over me during the early hours of the morning just about when I was in a state of not wanting to wake up. He particularly liked to find the highest point of elevation when I was lying on my side and stand on his hind legs to peer over the barricade. Then he’d run all over the bed again and return repeatedly to that position. Amazingly he never ran over Oooochiiii the cat who slept near my head or use my face as a launching pad.

At some point in their existence, Poppy decided they should assist in our day-to-day affairs. We have several computers networked together and that seemed to him like an ideal opportunity to show what an effective and helpful threesome his crew was. Networked computers have all these wires running from each other and can look rather untidy. No doubt this was the issue in Poppy’s mind, he and his charges being such a clean set of individuals.

The rabbits were accustomed to coming into the computer room from the adjoining bedroom, so their presence wasn’t anything new. So it was much to our surprise when we started noting that we couldn’t connect to the internet or access one another’s computers one fine day. Now you must understand that this really was a surprise to us since being Unix users we don’t enjoy the multiple delights the Windoze operating system offers such as its celebrated blue screen of death. Therefore, unlike the typical and unfortunate windoze user, we don’t experience issues - our systems run flawlessly!

Well we checked the network config files. We checked the physical connection to the ethernet cards. Out of desperation, we even did the windoze rebooting ritual! No luck! We were perplexed and finally decided to examine the cables connecting the various computers. The cables were there alright except there seemed to be more of them. Our helpful rabbits had chewed them into various pieces!

Our rabbits go out during the warmer weather to an enclosed space near the compost and spend a couple of hours there playing with the cats and guarded by our dogs. Their activities range from eating to digging burrows to chasing each other to just laying around.

The protocol for these outings is very rigorous. Poppy is the first to be carried down the stairs and put into the area. While he’s checking out the terrain, Toony is brought down. Just at the bottom of the stairs, Toony, unfailingly starts to wiggle and flail about. As soon as, Kyron’s feet touch the ground though, he’s completely calm. Finally, Yoda is brought to the place and proceeds to seek out the other two, Poppy acknowledging his presence and Toony running from it. Sometimes the chase becomes so intense that no one knew who was running from whom and all three of them would take off madly in all directions. When it is time to go back inside, the order of return was reversed: first Yoda, then Toony (no wiggling going back), and finally Poppy.

Once Poppy actually got through the narrow fencing beyond the enclosure. We all, dogs included, rushed to get him back in a panic. Poppy clearly had no intention of running off though. He hopped around a little as if to show everyone they really had no chance of catching him and then squeezed his way back through the same opening and started munching on grass while we looked at each other in relief.

Yoda disappeared too. We searched all over and under since the rabbits had made a burrow beneath the compost. We even hosed that area since it was the only way to literally flush them out when it was time to go inside. No Yoda. We waited and kept looking. For one hour, then two, then three to no avail. After dinner we tried again, but still no sign. I went up to the second floor to survey the backyard hoping that this high vantage point might reveal some insight. It did, but unexpectedly. Instead of spotting a white furball hopping about the yard, what I saw was Yoda emerging from under the compost. We rushed over in relief and he just looked at us with the what-is-the-big-deal expression. It seems he had found a home away from home and was somewhat reluctant to leave it on our time.

The years went by and our rabbits enjoyed each others company as we enjoyed theirs. Of course, the other characters were in the picture too. Oooochiiii the cat who slept at my head had plenty of occasion to experience Yoda’s frolicking in our bed. Bin Bon cat wasn’t regarded as civilized by our rabbits in his younger days because of his unwieldy pawing and was generally ignored, though as he matured his behavior changed and the rabbits started tolerating him. The Oh-Oh cats Opi and Obi got along famously with them the latter being particularly fond of Yoda, while the former was fond of everyone. Opi could be seen on many occasions grasping either Martoon’s or Poppy’s head in her paws and licking the same gently (she actually does that with my head too). And while he was with us, the Soleil the rooster stayed with the rabbits sharing their meals and companionship.

After Soleil died, a strange development started between Poppy and Yoda as the latter started to rebel. It is difficult to say what the mechanics were, but when Poppy would try to bring Yoda into line, Yoda would fight back. Eventually, we had to keep the two separated. Yoda had been neutered years before, so we were surprised this was happening both indoors and out.

One day Yoda did escape from the outdoor rabbit space and though we saw occasional bits of his fur over the weeks both in our yard and during our walks, we still haven’t been able to lure him back or catch sight of him. We are still waiting for the return of the Jedi, though we figure he is busy creating his own empire amongst the wild rabbits outside which is after all where his origins lie.

Several months later, Martoon who had reached the age of about 9 years, passed away. Again, Poppy attended to the body just as he had done with Buster. Martoon left with the unpresumptuousness with which he’d lived his life - never demanding, always cooperating.

Though his longtime friends were gone, Poppy was not alone and moved into the next part of his life with the same dignity and grace he had learned from Gaw and had always shown. We were unsure as to whether to bring another rabbit into the picture since we know Poppy likes to manage things, but chose not to because we felt that Poppy may prefer not to bear that burden after all these years. Instead, we spent more time with him as did Opi in particular.

Poppy took it all in stride as the wise rabbit he was. He’d spend the nights in his bedroom domain, but during the day he’d take up residence under the piano from where he could survey the goings on of the household. Opi, of course was his closest companion, but Bin Bon had grown to respect him and the two occasionally hung out together as well. Even the rambunctious Jumpr dog maintained decorum around him.

Poppy’s already robust health seemed to improve in these new surroundings. He was active, explorative and energetic showing no signs of slowing down though being more than a decade old. We thought of him as our very own ever-ready bunny.

As the weather warmed, he’d go out to the rabbit area to eat grass and run around quite often with Opi mutually chasing and being chased.

Every afternoon, I’d share some apple with him as he sat under the piano. This was followed by a pear. Then we’d enjoy some goji berries which he liked to take from my hand one by one. During our dinner, Kyron would sit by him while giving him his own dinner that was the precursor to the main nighttime meal which took place usually around 2am in the morning.

Last night, he came charging out from under the piano right into the kitchen because he knew Kyron was getting a bit of raisin bread for him, a treat he occasionally relished. This appetizer was obligatorily followed by the usual 2 almonds, before the inevitable meal of greens and veggies after which it was time to settle down to await the arrival of a new day.

This morning after waking up, I went to pet him as I do each morning, to find him lying lifeless. It appeared he had died only a couple of hours before, quite suddenly, though looking into his eyes and the relaxed postion of his body, it appeared to be a peaceful exodus. Quite possibly, he had been eating at the time, just as his guru had done years before. Perhaps the ever-ready batteries had finally run out.

It is difficult to say though. Richard Bach wrote: “Here is a test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: If you’re alive, it isn’t.”

Poppy had lived with not just zeal, but with responsibility, awareness and self-discipline. He had taken the teachings of Gaw and had applied them to nurture the existence of many beings from members of his own species to cats, dogs, birds and humans. He had shared his composure and resoluteness with everyone, reminding us that what is always important in life is not so much to just live, but to live one’s purpose … what the Hindus say is our dharma.

As such, I think Poppy chose to depart because his mission as a rabbit was indeed over. He had honored his dharma with the highest integrity. May we do no less.

007 The Oh Ohs

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 20:30:08 -0800

I was reluctant to have the Oh-Oh’s live here.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like cats, but we already had two.

Our first cat Chuchu better known as Oooochiii had recently died. She had found us more than 8 years ago and was a gentle, uncomplaining soul who had unfortunately lost the ability to use her hind legs. I remember the first day she showed up having miraculously evaded our dogs and sat looking up hopefully at my young son. Her back legs moved with awkwardness at that time and she had recently given birth (who knows how many times). Gradually, the condition worsened, but not her spirit.

She had to be carried to most places, but could walk on her front legs when the back portion of her body was supported in a cloth loop. When she moved, everyone dogs, cats and people got out of her way. She kept an inquisitive watch over everyone who came within her proximity. She used to sleep by my head which is where she passed away one night at the age of more than 14 years. I just woke up to notice a slight fidgeting and she left. I guess it was her saying good-bye.

Carbon the BinBon was a black-and-white stray cat one of our friends found trying to get into her house. He was a very large and powerful cat with the courage of a mouse. The people at the SPCA who’d taken him in said he was a bit bossy, but that was really an illusion. What BinBon liked to do was stir up trouble and then run like the blazes. He and Oooochiii got along fine, but it was with the dogs Riky and Jumpr that BinBon found his place. In fact, I believe he thinks he’s really a dog and not a cat. He recognized Riky as top dog and so sucks up to him, but Jumpr he likes to push around despite being a fraction of the size … that is when he’s not being trampled by Jumpr’s enthusiatic charges as most in this house are.

Grizu had been left at a dumpster with a plate of catfood. He was confused and frightened, but came to us with plaintive meows when we’d arrived to drop off some stuff. He is one of those very vocal cats who you think was actually talking to you - everything involving him generates a meow of some sort. You could pet him and there would follow a series of meows. You could pick him up and there would be more meows. Try putting on his leash (all our cats go out on leashes) and more meows. It has never been clear as to whether these meows were complaints or otherwise, but they invariably sound forth like endless inextinguishable flames which I suppose is appropriate, since he was named, by our friend Michael, after the little dragon whose human father, being a fireman, kept trying to convince him to control his urges.

BinBon enjoyed tormenting Grizu by sneaking up on him whenever and wherever he could. Grizu always reacted with horrified meows followed by vicious hisses. This would bring top dog Riky into action to break up the squabble by barking loudly and the rest of the household would show up to investigate the commotion, only to find that BinBon was nowhere in sight. Of course not! He’d launched his attack, gotten Grizu and everyone else to react, and could congratulate himself on a job well done, while hiding somewhere in the sidelines. After a while though, Grizu figured out what was going on and launched his counter-attacks which would cause Riky to bark even more and bring the rest of us to the scene faster and in greater numbers. While the counter-attacks were a major shock to BinBon initially, he soon realized that these made things even more fun because there was far greater commotion!

So after Oooochiii left us, we had these two cats keeping everyone occupied and the thought of any other additions to the family seemed to me to be out of the question. The problem is that no one ever asks me any questions.

Ranjana and Kyron have the same music teacher Iris. One day they were surprised at their lesson to see two little kittens in the waiting room. One was a long-haired black and white kitten about 3 weeks old, and the other was an orange kitten about half that age. The first had been destined to go to a petshop, but Iris intervened and took her in. The second had been found on Iris’ property, nearly dead under a bush. His mother, a feral cat, had somehow been prevented from returning to her child and was thought to have been killed by a raccoon.

As the music lessons continued, the kittens grew in size along with Ranjana’s desire to bring them to our house. Kyron wasn’t so sure and didn’t let the ‘cuteness’ affect him. His concern was how would the interaction go with the other members of the family. My concern was the same and I felt that this was hardly an emergency because it wasn’t as though the kittens needed immediate rescue. Ranjana though, was convinced the kittens wanted to go home with her because they’d had a great time in the waiting room and meowed at the door when it was time to leave.

Iris, who is allergic to cats, really wanted to give them to a good home and appealed to her students, but no one was willing to take both. Iris refused to seperate them because the two of them were like sister and brother, the older one teaching and looking after the younger. We suggested that she feed them a properly supplemented vegetarian diet, since Kyron also reacted badly to cats who were fed the usual meat-based stuff, but found no problems at all with our veg cats. Iris was quite willing, but her husband had it stuck in his head that cats have to eat meat and refused. Unfortunately, it meant that the cats were kept in the small waiting room for most of the day and when Iris did let them out briefly elsewhere, she’d be the one to suffer.

Now, none of us liked the fact that these two were kept in that little room and every week when it was time to leave, the younger one, in particular, would call out to Ranjana and Kyron from behind the waiting room door. So one day, it was decided! They were to come here!

Ranjana and Kyron went over to a very happy Iris (she’d really been hoping we’d take them) and put the two in a box. When I helped them out of the car, I noticed that the elder was very intently looking around trying to absorb the situation, while the younger stayed as out of sight as possible inside the box. The two were taken up into a bedroom right away so we could gradually introduce them to the rest of their new family.

In a new setting it is generally a good idea not to introduce food till everyone acclimatizes a bit first, so we gave them a bit of time to look around the room. However, they seemed so comfortable that we thought we’d see whether they were interested in eating, but first, we had to go through the naming process.

It used to be when Kyron was 12 years or less, he’d offer the names, but he soon realized that no one calls anyone by name in this house so what’s the point? He left the job up to his mother who seemed to take a special delight in such things. The logic she employs to come up with the names is completely beyond me (after all how many cats are named after the sixth element of Mendeleev’s periodic table?), so I was not surprised when she chose Oberon for the orange baby and Ophelia for his black and white companion. She claimed that he looked a bit kingly (which he didn’t at all - and the fairy king was a bit of an immature dude anyway) and the other ‘just felt right’ even though she acknowledged the unfortunate ending the cat’s namesake came to in the Shakespearean play.

I wasn’t going to argue though and made the most of the situation by shortening the complexity. Oberon became Obi, and Ophelia was, quite logically, Opi. Ranjana however, had to mangle the simplicity by doing the Obi-Wan Kanobi Star Wars routine (whatever happened to Shakespeare?) and instead of appreciating the obvious symmetry of Opi to Obi, she insisted in calling the poor confused kitten Ophi. In any case, they had been named and as a combination became known as the Oh-Ohs … and with good reason as you will see.

Now that they’d been named and all was well, it was time to try eating. The kittens had been fed the usual commercial cat kibbles that have who knows what in them, but since cats can become very ‘attached’ to a particular food, we were a bit apprehensive as to how they’d take to our homemade vegetarian creation. All three of the other cats had been used to eating vegetarian Evolution kibbles (moistened with purified water) for years, but when we switched them to the homemade creations (supplemented with Harbingers of a New Age), they much preferred it, so we were hopeful this transition would go smoothly.

Instead, it went ravenously!

Opi and Obi went at the food as though they hadn’t eaten in days! They kept eating and eating … two, three, four helpings and finally there was a pause. When we told Iris about this, she was astonished because they ate quite minimally at her place. The increased culinery gusto was most likely due to the fact that fresh food always tastes better, particularly vegetarian. After this massive meal, we thought it best to let them have a much deserved nap and so we left the room.

The nap didn’t last too long though since the Oh-Ohs were soon ready get on with life and started scratching at the door. It was Opi who wanted out, while Obi was quite happy to stay put until his ‘sister’ had evaluated the situation.

So, Opi was carefully introduced to Grizu first since she spotted him nearby. We were a bit concerned because Grizu was prone to hysterics, but the meeting went quite well from a mutually respected distance. Now it was time for the BinBon cat to find out who the newcomer was and Opi was brought before him. Possibly daunted by his remarkable size, she hissed at him. He, however, was quite good-natured about the whole thing, no doubt wondering what this little fuzzball a quarter of his size was getting all excited about.

Then the dogs had to get in on the act. Riky, being the more mature and understanding, kept his distance, but Jumpr of course, charged in with his usual exuberance and had to be restrained. Well so much for initial introductions.

We took Opi back to her room only to find Obi lying comfortably on the bed and a messy, smelly deposit on the floor. It was quite soft and we were wondering if the food hadn’t gone well with him, but found out later from Iris that his stools had always been like that and he didn’t always use the tray (possibly because he had no mother around to teach him). Apparently, he had a digestive issue and had been dewormed by the vet. Our feeling was that a sensible vegetarian diet would likely be of greater benefit than traditional vet interference. Over time it has proven to be so. Not only have his stools firmed up generally, but his control and skill at using the litter tray became equal to any of the cats.

The Oh-Ohs were kept in the room at night, but were gradually introduced to the rest of the household. The get togethers with the rabbits and Soleil, the rooster we had found wandering on the street, were particularly entertaining. Obi was always the cautious one, letting Opi do the initiations. Opi on the otherhand, is the most adaptable being I have ever encountered. When she’s with the dogs, she is a dog; with the rabbits, she becomes accepted as a rabbit; even Soleil took to her as a fellow companion chicken! So one scene that was quite frequent at night was to have the 3 rabbits gathered around for their evening meal with Soleil pecking at his share (occasionally pecking at the rabbits, just for the fun of it), Obi looking on nearby, and Opi spawled in the middle of the greens and veggies!

Somehow, Opi’s customary maneuver is related to sprawling. I once saw her approach Carbon, who took some friendly swipes at her and she fell down right in front of him. Once in a while, she’d get up on the cats’ 3 level playground and fall from there. Twice we’ve heard a thud, only to find that Opi fell from the upper level railings of the stairs (a fall of about 10 feet) onto either the hard tiles or into the pot holding our Norfolk pine tree. Exactly why falling is such fun for her is unclear, but she certainly seems to enjoy doing so - maybe it’s a bit like flying.

Obi’s trademark though is to hide. He is, in fact, very good at it - so much so, that on many occasions he had us worried he’d escaped from the house. The worst such incident occurred when we had a wood-pellet stove installed and Obi decided he didn’t want to take any chances with the installers. About half-way during their efforts, it was suddenly noticed that all the cats were accounted for except for Obi. One of the installers said he saw a small cat on our porch so we naturally thought it was Obi and that he’d taken off. We all started turning the place inside out and then went outside, desperately trying to find this little cat, but to no avail. The installers’ last words as they left were that they hoped we find him and that he’d probably show-up when it was time to eat. Well he did show up right after they’d left. Exactly where he was hiding and how it was that we couldn’t with our best efforts find him is a statement to his skill.

Moths are usually of great interest to cats because they move. The Oh-Oh’s had different approaches to these flying creatures that on rare occasions found their way into our home. Obi stared at them intently and would start a peculiar clicking sound with his jaw, much like the chattering of teeth (he does that when watching birds out the window too). I have never seen a cat do something like this. It was obvious he had no intent to try to chase the moth (much less to kill it), but what was he doing? Was it a form of communication or a signal that he was actively involved in observation? Opi, on the otherhand, was interested in at least trying to catch the moth sometimes, though not to kill it. In fact, once she found one in the dog’s water bowl and was trying to scoop it out carefully with her paw. She was not successful though, but fortunately, we had become aware of her efforts and managed to rescue and release the object of interest unharmed.

One of the realities that must be faced when there are cats around is that it becomes necessary to give up the usual seating arrangements. Cats have a way of finding their way to one’s favorite armchairs and making themselves at home there. So just when you feel the urge to sit down with a good book in your favorite region of the family library, you find you can’t because a cat is in contemplation, occupying what used to be your spot! Of course, it would be rude to move the cat, so you just have to let it go.

However, when one has an understanding with a particular cat, one finds that sharing is quite possible. For instance, Obi having adopted me as the ‘favorite person’ and regularly making full use of any beard stubble to rub his face upon, will often position himself on one side of the armchair, allowing me to squeeze in. Together we will go about our business, I reading, he sleeping. The arrangement is quite equitable. Opi, on the otherhand, likes Ranjana’s chair. Sometimes she plops herself down in the middle so nothing can be done, but most times she prefers to go under it to fall asleep. Ranjana has to be careful not to step on the tail that protudes from under the chair, but is at liberty to sit normally otherwise.

Both the Oh-Ohs like to use their teeth for things other than eating. This is likely a natural action for growing cats (as it is for dogs) and chewing on things seems to be an enjoyable activity at this age. The problem unique to the Oh-Ohs though is what they chew.

We take our cats out on leashes because we don’t want them to take off (I’ve seen too many dead cats on the road), nor do we want them to terrorize the local fauna population (a talent they might develop if allowed to roam). So their leashes are hooked up to long (30 meter) cords which serve as a cat run. They thoroughly enjoy this activity, chasing and playing with each other within this restriction. The popular misconception that cats don’t like leashes is just not true.

In fact, Opi loves leashes - far too much. After a few months, she decided that leashes were things to be relished, particularly the plastic clips of the harness. So whenever she got the chance she’d get into the closet where the leashes are hanging and start chewing on the clips, not only of her own leash, but of all of them. By the time we discovered her activity, all the clips bore teeth marks and some of them ceased to function optimally. They are still usuable, but Opi has been labelled a menace around closets.

Obi, on the otherhand, likes to chew on people, especially at night. Obi generally sleeps beside me, but before falling asleep he enjoys being petted. The arm that pets him becomes an object of such affection that he feels he must grab it with both front paws and start chewing upon it. Sometimes, he’ll employ the same devotion to the top of one’s head. Some cats know their own strength and some don’t. Fortunately for us, Obi is one of the former, so beyond a few scratches these interludes don’t result in any serious injuries, though one nearly resorts to prayer during them.

Something we could never figure out is the envy between the cats and the dogs as to food and water. The dogs, particularly Jumpr, loves to steal the cats’ food whenever he can. Even when we give them all the same food as an experiment, he’ll avoid the contents of his own dish and relish that of the cats. Riky loves to drink water out of the small container for the cats. The feline company is not begrudging at all. They tried to get at the dog food to the point where we had to put the large bowls outside. Also, for some inexplicable reason, the cats will not drink out of their own waterbowls, preferring the rather large, and in my eyes, awkward ones, which are for the dogs.

After being here nearly a whole year, the Oh-Ohs have carved their niches into the household (in more ways than one). Opi has gone from Ms Congeniality to She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, chasing after the 3 male cats whenever she pleases. Obi gets mauled regularly, Grizu runs for cover desperately, and the much larger Carbon gets wrestled to the ground frequently! She is, however, considered a delight by both the dogs and the rabbits. She sleeps every night by my feet just the way Oooochiii used to sleep by my head.

Obi on the otherhand, has not only become MrSnugglebug (though at night he hangs out with the BinBon). He uses the stubble on my face to give himself facerubs whenever I’m working on the computer. I don’t get to do much on the computer these days because after the facerub, he generally insists on having a nap on the keyboard.

You can, therefore, no doubt understand why it is particularly difficult to write further about them …

006 The Pig Dog

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 20:29:39 -0800

Jumpr was originally called Gordon Whitefoot by the couple who got him from the SPCA. I guess they either liked Lightfoot’s songs or they thought they were being nomenclaturely clever. Unfortunately, they didn’t realize that this dog wasn’t interested in singing, but in jumping over their 3 foot high fence. No matter how they tried to stop him, he got over it, so after a short while they returned him in frustration.

We thought that Riky would enjoy a dog friend, so we headed over to the SPCA and one of the workers, Sandy introduced him to Jumpr thinking the two might get along. They played around for over an hour and Sandy remarked she never thought 2 male dogs would be so amicable. So it was decided and off we all went back home, Jumpr and Riky sandwiching my young son Kyron in the backseat.

We were initially very impressed with Jumpr who had obviously gone to dog-school. He didn’t pull you around on the leash. When his leash got entangled in his feet, he figured out how to un-entangle it. He was happy playing second fiddle to Riky and there weren’t any squabbles once the hierarchy had been established. In fact, we thought Jumpr might even teach Riky some of his elegant manners.

What Jumpr taught Riky to do was to jump the fence (and Riky, in compensation, helped Jumpr to forget all sense of decorum).

You see, the house we bought has a third of the acre surrounded by a four foot wire fence topped off with a strand of barbed wire. We never figured out why the barbed wire was put there because the fence certainly wasn’t high enough to keep deer out. We therefore suspect it was more to keep the previous owners’ children in.

Now Jumpr’s difficulty was that he was a sort of roundish being, likely a husky-shepperd cross. In fact, my son soon started calling him the ‘Pig Dog’, because he did have a similar profile. He was very strong, to the point where he would easily out-pull Riky in a tug-o-war, but agility wasn’t his forté. Three foot fences he could manage, but four foot ones were not to his tastes.

On the otherhand, here was an agile friend Riky, sleekly built and powerful! All Jumpr had to do was convince Riky how much fun it would be to get to the otherside of the fence. So one fine day, we go out to call the dogs, and Jumpr comes charging up to us all excited. We, of course, couldn’t understand the commotion, but he led us over to the fence. It was then we noticed that Riky was nowhere in the yard. Since Riky had never run away even on leashless walks, we couldn’t believe that the impossible had actually taken place. However, after a few loud “Riky’s”, sure enough our formerly ideal dog, stood at the gate wagging his tail vigorously!

We tried to pass off this incident as an anomaly, but a few hours later, there was Jumpr all excited again and Riky was on the otherside of the fence!

Ok! Time for defensive action! We spied on the dogs. Their communication was quite revealing. Jumpr would checkout different areas of the fence and Riky would follow him. Then there would be a pause where the two would look at each other with some sort of telepathy and suddenly, up and over went Riky.

So our course was clear. Bolster up the dips of the fence with chicken wire - that should stop him! Of course, we had to get the chicken wire and within that time Riky went over several times without Jumpr’s guidance - once actually through the six inch space between the barbed wire and the regular fence (don’t ask me how he did it, but i saw it with my own eyes!) and once he didn’t quite make it and was found dangling from one leg, caught on the fence wiring.

Finally, the chicken wire was in place and we were sure we had ended this nonsense. Even Riky’s athletic abilities couldn’t overcome our ingenuity, so we figured all was well. Unfortunately, we’d forgotten about the mastermind, Jumpr.

The Pig Dog understood that there was no way he was going to go over like his friend. However, there was plenty of opportunity to go under, right? All one has to do is dig and dig to create passageway. So suddenly, Riky comes up to us all excited, and sure enough, there is no sign of Jumpr in the yard. Where was he? He was standing on the other side of the gate, waiting for us to let him in!

Over the next several weeks, Jumpr dug and we filled his tunnels with earth, wood pieces, stones, rebar and even concrete, but he always found a way out. Riky was far too dignified initially to go under, but in a short time he too followed whatever pathway Jumpr would create. Jumpr going out on his own wasn’t a big issue because he’d just come around to the gate and wait, but when Riky started joining him, it all changed - they’d go touring the neighbourhood for a couple of hours at a time. They always came back, but this was not an acceptable situation at all! If you don’t let your children run amuck, there’s no reason to let your dogs do so.

I realized one day that we were going about it all wrong. We shouldn’t be trying to protect the exit points, we should deal with the culprits directly! So when they returned from their excursion, there were no greetings of relief. I put on a very unkind face (my extensive experience as a teacher prepared me well for that sort of thing), and took them both to the back and leashed them to the stairs of the deck: misbehave and this will be your reward!

After an hour or so, I went to check up on them to examine the state of their repentance. Riky sat quietly in shame. Jumpr was sitting too, but looking around. Suddenly, I noticed that his leash wasn’t attached to him! He had figured out how to wriggle free from his collar, but because he knew he was being punished, he just sat in the same spot! I thought I detected a bit of a smirk on his face, but it’s hard to tell on that face! This scene occurred a few times, but the dogs soon figured out that we didn’t want them running off from the yard, so we had reached an understanding.

Jumpr and Riky had a lieutenant-general relationship. Whenever there was an important issue to be resolved in the yard, Riky would send Jumpr ahead to investigate with his usual thoroughness of checking out every molecule of earth, water and air. When it was time to defend the territory, Jumpr would lead the charge with his ferocious bark that made one certain there weren’t any pig genes in his ancestry. However, Jumpr is the epitomy of the bark being worse than the bite. When Riky was around, Jumpr was in his glory, prancing and brave. However, if Riky wasn’t there to defend him, it was a completely different matter. Classic evidence of this occurred with the neighbour’s little terrier, Mini, with whom our dogs would playfully fence-fight.

Jumpr had pulled off one of his escapes and was heading around the fence to take up his usual post at the gate, when who should appear out of nowhere, but Mini. Though a quarter his size, Mini had a presence, and in that moment it was uncertain what that presence had in mind. It took one bark and Jumpr moved faster than we’d ever seen him, straight to the gate which he tried to push open with his front paws. Luckily we arrived briskly to rescue him from that terror.

Something that has proved fascinating is the relationship our dogs have with crows. We have tall trees surrounding our house making it an ideal spot for bird visitations of all sorts. At certain times of the year, there are eagles, sparrows, chickadees, owls, towhees, robins, woodpeckers and even hummingbirds. It is really quite a spectacular birdfest, which is completely ignored by our dogs. However, crows, for some reason are a different matter as far as they are concerned, for as soon as a crow flies overhead they would bark continuously and give chase, the lieutenant leading the way of course.

I must admit I don’t understand the point of this chase since there is a vertical separation of over one hundred feet between the dogs and the crows. We have a theory that the crows, who can be just as vocal as our dogs, are actually teasing them in some way that our dogs can understand. This would seem to explain the dogs’ selective focus and response to only these birds.

After he’d been with us about a year and a half, Jumpr developed some walking problems. Being part shepperd, hip dysplasia was a possibility, but what seemed to aggravate it were the 8km runs my son and I did with the dogs from his music teacher’s house. Gradually, he could barely walk downstairs in the morning (he slept with Riky in our bedroom) so I’d have to carry him out. His bladder control went too and sometimes in the morning, I’d find him trying to lick up his own urine, trying to make up for the accident he felt responsible for.

Despite all this, his spirits were high. He liked staying outside and sit under the alder trees by the fence at the back of the yard. He’d hobble out to his particular spot and just lie in the tall grass for the entire day and sometimes we’d carry him back when it was time to eat. Gone was the desire to investigate. Gone was the mischief.

Jumpr’s walk continued to deteriorate, but his bladder control came back. Then one day we noticed that his trips to the alders weren’t as awkward and he’d make it back on his own at dinner time. Gradually, the walk got stronger and stronger. Then the rolly-poly bounce came back. Then the ability to run. One day, we were even happy when we caught him trying to dig and escape under the fence.

Jumpr was back and surprisingly, stronger than before! We attribute the recovery to his being strict vegetarian and some form of communion with the grass and alders. It is surprising how diet, rest and seclusion, combined with a supportive environment can create what appear to be miracles.

He seemed to recognize his new strength too. On walks, he’d pull you along relentlessly, always in a hurry to go goodness knows where. In the past, he’d been what people would call a lumbering lumox, crashing into things, stepping on our toes, but now you got in his way at your own risk! Riky, despite his rank as general, regularly got knocked aside with hip-checks that would be the envy of any hockey player. Jumpr would come charging through open doors (and sometimes closed ones), scattering objects and living entities like a bowling ball scatters pins.

His favorite activity seemed to be to steal a cushion and parade it right in front of us, delighting when we’d take it from him and swat him on the head with it. Occasionally, he’d even do his thieving skillfully behind our backs and we’d have to retrieve the cushions from our yard.

Somehow, even though no one can stand this menace, everyone likes him. He is always the first to greet or to play, or even to just sit beside someone of any species (and we have quite a few in our home) to provide a moment of companionship.

The Pig Dog is just a juggernaut of joy.

005 Wedaches

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 20:29:11 -0800

All anyone has to do is look without prejudice, and the similarities between weddings and funerals become obviously apparent. In fact, the two functions are nearly identical. Both are exorbitantly expensive. Both require all participants to dress in weird and uncomfortable outfits. Both have an abundance of tears, provided sometimes by hired help. Both have parties. And both are a celebration of the end of something. In fact, about the only difference is that in a funeral the center of attention at least enjoys the benefit of not being present.

I refuse to go to weddings or funerals, but it doesn’t mean that I didn’t, once upon a time. So what I write here comes from painful experience and not the blissful nonsense that seems to mesmerize most people about these things. Since I have already demonstrated that there really isn’t any significant difference between the two, I will only talk about weddings and what I say can be easily extrapolated to funerals.

I don’t really remember the first wedding I attended, but I do know that it wasn’t my own and that I was forced to go to it by Ranjana because some colleague of hers was the bride. However, I have some recollections of the other weddings I went to.

My badminton doubles partner was getting married. I did not want to go to his wedding, because I had other things to do. However, I was told that they’d like me to take photos there (even though they had hired a photographer, so now I think it may have been a trick), therefore, I felt it was not going to be a complete loss. Besides, Ranjana was pressuring me to go.

The wedding was held at a massive church which was fully packed with what appeared to be most of the city. There was the monotonous procession to bad music down the aisle, the strangely dressed minister’s even stranger utterances, the prefabricated responses of the bride and bridegroom. The exhibition took a very long time. Then they disappeared into a room to sign the register. This took even longer and seeing how the entire congregation was really quite bored, I considerately volunteered to shout out something like “Hey, the honeymoon isn’t supposed to start till later, you know!”, but Ranjana dissuaded me from doing so for some reason.

The reception was even more preponderous (the bride’s family was very wealthy and wanted to demonstrate this fact) and there was a silly process in which we all had to line up to shake the married couples' hands and wish them well. I have no idea why we were supposed to do this. Was it that they were afraid that something bad was going to happen after this fantastic display, that they needed all these good wishes? At any rate, I quickly shot a roll of film and disappeared before getting enmeshed any further.

The wedding of my tennis doubles partner was even more convoluted. He was marrying another tennis player at the club and since we were all good friends, they wanted me to be an usher at their wedding. The only problem was that I didn’t want to go to the wedding. I had no objection to their getting married, but I didn’t see why they had to involve innocent bystanders. However, I was given the speech about how this was such an important day for them and how they really, really wanted me to usher and encountering such pressure, I finally agreed.

Then I found out I had to attend the reception too. This was too much and even the lure of a free vegetarian meal (they were going to prepare special dishes for Ranjana and myself) wasn’t enough because apparently there was dancing at the reception. Dancing is one of those horrible practices that make people sweat, something I refuse to do unless I am properly attired in a sweatsuit. I produced a creative assortment of excuses as to why I couldn’t attend the reception, but the bride-to-be figured out that it was probably the dancing that was bothering me and gave me leave to go before that debacle started. Now I really had run out of options.

The bride’s family had specific details that had to be looked after. For instance, I had to wear a suit and the tie they chose for me. Then, I was told that I was supposed to drive the married couple to the reception after they dressed my car up even sillier than they had dressed me.

In any case, I went dutifully to the church and took my assigned place just inside the front doors and watched the people migrating in. Suddenly, another tennis friend came up to me and emphatically asked with some urgency, “What are you doing?”. I told him that I was ushering. He said I wasn’t supposed to be just standing around looking, but that my job was to take people to their seats. This made no sense to me because it wasn’t like the church was dark as in a cinema hall and these people couldn’t find their own seats!

Another strange matter was that the people the bride invited sat on one side of the church, while those the groom invited sat on the other. Possibly the logic behind this arrangement was to show who had the greater number of gullible friends.

Then I was told that I was supposed ‘offer my arm’ to any females in the party I was escorting. The rationale behind this bit of bizzarity completely eluded me. Why should the female or anyone else for that matter be allowed to possess my arm? What if there were two females or worse what if there were more than two? Obviously, these people hadn’t thought out the logistics properly at all.

The reception was very irritating. It was hard enough sitting in a suit and tie, but it is impossible to concentrate on eating (even a free meal) when people are making ridiculous speeches throughout it extolling each others virtues. In any case, my duty had been done and using the experience gained earlier, I ushered Ranjana and myself right out of there before things got really gruesome.

You’d think I’d learn after these experiences and as you’ll see I did! What could have been the worst was yet to come - my own wedding!

Please understand that there was absolutely no reason why Ranjana and I should have gotten married. She’s been bothering me since she was four so I had already done more time than most people do with a spouse! Furthermore, there was always the ever present threat of The East Indian Wedding. If you thought the other two I related were bad, know that East Indian weddings can go on for 20 days!

So when the parents brought up the “When are you two going to get married?” line, I had to plan my escape. The “I’ve done more time than most people do with a spouse” idea didn’t seem to hold any weight with the parents or Ranjana, so I settled down to research the situation from various perspectives and was confident I would succeed in finding a solution out of my predicament.

Then I made my first and only mistake, ever, in my entire existence!

I had learned that there actually was a benefit to getting married which was that one could claim a tax deduction. Overwhelmed by greed and desperation, in a fit of shortsighted blindness, I agreed to the idea!

When I came to my senses, I could see that there was a thick buzz in the air as the planning had already commenced on how we were going to be married - the announcements, the people, the food, the receptions, it looked hopelessly endless. I can’t even stand a party and this monstrosity was getting bigger and bigger like the Hindenburg being pumped full of hydrogen gas.

They say that when the going gets tough, the tough get going, but I had nowhere to go! I had to think fast!

Then, as if sent from heaven, there was a great spark of intuition!

I suggested that instead of spending all this ‘pomp and fanfare’ on us, who already had everything and even each other (that was really such a nice touch, don’t you think?), why not give all that money to Mother Teresa’s efforts.

Ranjana was delighted by this idea (and of course, I am never going to reveal my real motivations).

How did the parents take it? Oh my god! It was like we had just killed them (and who knows how many ancestors to boot)! After all, you’re not supposed to get married for yourselves right? You’re supposed to get married for your parents! In fact, they were making a phenomenal amount of noise for people who had freshly been killed!

Despite the opposition, I was convinced there was a window of opportunity here and so I pursued it, reinforcing the basic concepts and logically elaborating on their merits. Sometimes, you just have to wear people down.

Ranjana’s parents were the first to concede and not too reluctantly either. They had connections with the Ramakrishna Mission in India and actually felt good about making their contribution to that organization.

My parents though were another story. My mother, in particular, took all this as a personal affront and figured her reputation with the Indian community was going to be permanently destroyed by this rebellious son. My father was afraid of my mother, so it is perhaps a bit unclear what his thoughts really were, but I see no reason to give him any benefit of the doubt. When I used to ask them where I came from I recall being told two possibilities - a supermarket, when they were in a good mood, and a garbage can when they weren’t. It was pretty clear for the next few days what my origins were.

As so often happens when one is engaged in a truly valiant venture such as getting out of going to a party, providence came to my rescue in the form of my uncle of all people (since we rarely associated with him). He appeared out of nowhere and said this was a remarkable thing - the first time anyone in the history of the family, as far as he had researched it, had gotten married wanting to give everything to charity.

Well, that was all it took! My mother suddenly saw the whole thing in a completely different light and even greatly illuminated the viewpoints of the other 3 parents as well as the masses of relatives that would have shown up. I had gone from murderous villain to hero overnight! I think I had even found my way back into that supermarket and may be even a bit further!

A lot of money was raised and I got out of having to go to a party!

Now you might be thinking all was joy and we lived happily ever after. However, you forget that there was still that little nagging matter of a wedding. Yes the reception threat had been eliminated, but there was still the wedding. I couldn’t very well conjure up a charity to intervene on my behalf to solve this dilemma - there are legal issues at stake!

So the first necessary step was to investigate alternatives to a wedding. Partially utilizing the already successful charity argument as leverage, I demonstrated that the best way to not spend money on a wedding was not to have one: therefore, have the deed done by a justice of the peace or a ship’s captain. The latter was impractical since we were on land and the former would cost only $15, a sacrifice I was willing to make, especially since I knew I could get my parents to pay for it - so that they could feel they had met their responsibilities as parents of course! Besides, I knew that since justices of the peace have important things to do, such as getting people to stand up when they come into a courtroom and perching upon a high bench, they simply cannot hang around administering blessings for extended periods of time the way church VIPs do.

Ok so that part was taken care of efficiently! Could I do more? Was there a possibility that I might manage not to attend even this ceremony and still collect my tax deduction? The answer was yes! It would take coercion and courage, but it could be done!

I learned that I could get married by proxy!

Now I had several students who were fearful of me - after all, I was a high school teacher at the time! What indeed could be the point of that occupation if one couldn’t make use of one’s students when the need arose? After a bit of purposeful negotiation, it seemed I managed to convince one of them that it would be greatly to his benefit to serve as my proxy! In fact, as I recall, I didn’t have to employ much coercion. He seemed quite happy to serve this useful role, no doubt because he felt sorry that his noble teacher would have to undergo such an unpleasant experience. I suppose I had indeed brought him up well.

Then came the courage part - telling Ranjana.

Well I certainly had the courage, but I had overlooked another ‘c’ that needed to exist with coercion and courage. That ‘c’ was cooperation. Inexplicably, Ranjana was opposed to having my student be the proxy. I found her attitude most puzzling to say the least! After all, it wasn’t like this fellow was a complete stranger. We’d known him for a year or so and he spent large periods of time at our home as did many of my students. I tried to reason with her with the aforementioned argument and even wrung out the gut-wrenching “but you don’t really want to hurt his feelings, do you?”. It was to no avail though. I can only conclude that she heartlessly wanted me to suffer with her through the ceremony. As the saying goes, misery does indeed enjoy company.

I dutifully showed up beside Ranjana (who even made me wear a suit - though I wasn’t forced to wear a tie) at city hall. The four parents were in tow as well, no doubt to ensure I had no possibility of escape.

Then a glimmer of hope!

It seemed that the municipal government had made a error. Ranjana had been registered as the bridegroom while I was flagged as the bride. However, I watched in astonishment as the clerk corrected the situation within seconds! What ever happened to obligatory bureaucratic inefficiency? Shouldn’t the matter have gone to several committees and taken months to resolve?

Next thing I knew we were standing before the justice of the peace who was typically dressed in one of those black outfits which made one think of penguins. He didn’t wear a white hairpiece, but I was too forlorn to make an issue of it. All I can recall of those blurry moments were his mumbling something and then Ranjana mumbling something in agreement and then I think I mumbled something as well.

Suddenly I was awakened from my stupor with the frightful words I had heard in the movies, “You may now kiss the bride.” What? It was over? That was all there was to this? Elation had found me again!

Instead of following his directive (after all it wasn’t a command you know, because he did say “You may …” and not something like “Do it!”), I proceeded to shake his hand vigorously offering my deepest gratitude. While thus engaged, I turned to Ranjana and said, “He did that so well! We should have him again the next time we do this!”

It was very evident from the incredulous look on his face, that this poor fellow had never before in his entire career, received such a fine compliment!

004 The Old Man

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 20:28:47 -0800

Kyron’s beginnings were what one might say rather coincidental. He actually tried very hard to arrive on my birthday, October 27. However, his mother, Ranjana wouldn’t let him.

Ranjana wanted a natural birth and enlisted the aid and guidance of not one, but two midwives, Jane and Larry, as well as Kelly, her own medical doctor. Unfortunately, she didn’t listen to anything they said and did her own thing, so one does wonder what the point of having them around really was. On Friday, October 27, she went into labor at home and the midwives arrived full of energy, enthusiasm and good advice. So assisted by them and our first child, Pericles the cockatiel, Ranjana settled down to what was supposed to be a simple process. After all, she had excellent help all around and Kyron was most willing to cooperate.

However, for some mysterious reason Ranjana didn’t seem to execute any of the suggestions given by the midwives to her as the hours went by. Pericles, himself who normally went to bed by 10 pm, courageously stayed with her till 2 am, but then could hold up no longer and started bouncing off the wall (literally), so I put him into his cage and covered it.

After that first night, we thought things would surely wrap up on Saturday. She did still have excellent help, myself, Pericles, the midwives (who were still willing to work with her) and of course, Kyron was still quite eager to come out, though admittedly starting to scratch his head wondering what the delay was. All Saturday went by. Then Saturnight too with Pericles and the wall getting acquainted again at about 2 am.

Very early Sunday morning, it was decided that we would make the trip to the hospital and let the doctor have a go at this. Doing so was not an inviting prospect though, for it was unusually foggy and one really couldn’t see more than a few feet beyond. The driving had to be done understandably with great caution. Then a fascinating thing happened as we rode over a bridge about 3 kilometers from our house. The fog suddenly dissipated and the rays of sunshine shone through lighting our way. I turned to Ranjana and said, “Kyron is coming”. You see, Kyron was named as a conceptual combination of my name Pradip (light) and Ranjana (many colors), for Kyron means many colored rays of light from the sun.

At the hospital, it was more of the same thing, Ranjana in a standoff with the midwives as well as the doctor as the hours rolled on. At one point, Ranjana really felt that this had gone on long enough and that perhaps natural childbirth really wasn’t the way she wanted to do it. The midwives too were thinking that enough was enough. However, in an astonishing move, the medical doctor changed this line of thinking. She said she knew how much Ranjana wanted to have a natural childbirth and that she knew that Ranjana could see it through … just hang on a little longer, you really can do this!

And so, after 40 hours of labor, it finally happened! Kyron emerged!

Not surprisingly, the doctor required my expertise to cut the umbellical cord and I went with the nurse when they took Kyron for the routine tests for I didn’t want them to accidentally mix him up with some other kid which is what I’m certain had happened to me. When we got home, I figured out why this whole process had taken so long. Ranjana was born on September 29. Now, if Kyron had come out on my birthday, she couldn’t very well lay a legitimate claim. So she actually delayed the entire birth two days to October 29, so that at least her birthdate got into the picture. Very devious indeed!

Kyron took things nice and slow. He wasn’t in any hurry to nurse which caused Ranjana considerable aggravation and required her to go to various means of getting him to do so. Nor did he sleep in a particularly uneventful fashion, for he would be moving around all night as though he were constantly travelling to some exotic location or other and we would find him in the strangest corners of his crib.

When he played, he’d sit fascinated by sand and water for hours with no interest in moving to other toys which were lavished on him by both sets of grandparents. He took extreme pleasure in learning to walk going from a crawl, to getting up, taking a step or two, falling down with total glee and repeating this sequence over and over again. This glee followed him right into his running, for even though he could move very fast, he’d burst into laughter during the run and invariably crumple into a giggling heap.

Though he enjoyed the company of his little human friends, it was clear that they were by no means necessary. Anything, a wisp of cloud, the moon, a street, a twig or the caterpillar lounging on it, could become a friend. Sometimes, the play was observation and he’d look at his human friends sitting in a circle engaged in some activity, except he’d be sitting several meters outside the circle, just watching and watching.

Now before you start to think that Kyron was a budding philosopher who liked to laugh a lot, you should know that he also took great pleasure in getting on the nerves of those who deserved it.

So when he was about two years old and we went to the shopping mall with my parents (you know the ones who didn’t follow the nurse in and got me mixed-up with some other kid), he decided he’d go for a stroll. My parents having cultivated paranoia to an art, naturally thought this was the end of their grandson. My mother screamed at my father, who fuming turned to me insisting that I bring him back immediately, recovering the great gulf of 5 meters Kyron had put between us. Kyron figured he’d found a new game, for the further away he went the greater the commotion behind him grew. My father glared at me because apparently I was shrugging my shoulders and saying something to the effect of “What do you want me to do?”. Well, this was just too much and my father feeling he’d have to play his role as the patriarch went after Kyron.

Going after Kyron and catching him even at two are entirely different concepts which my father hadn’t quite reconciled. Therefore, I was left to watch Kyron running around a counter with my father in desperate pursuit. I was sure I would have heard him laughing in his usual gleeful way, but unfortunately, I was forced to listen to my mother, who also didn’t seem to understand why I was still shrugging my shoulders with the “What can I do?” expression on my face.

Anyway, Kyron rounded one counter-corner, then another and then a third and stood beside me obviously elated that he had not been caught. Unfortunately, his grandfather was nowhere to be seen and it was really too much to expect that he’d somehow find his way back to us in his state of mind. My mother, though, didn’t seem too concerned about finding him, since her grandson had come back and would have provided us with a reproachful lecture on parental responsibility had we not left immediately to recover my father, before he really did get lost. We were successful tracking him down, but I will say nought about the celebrations that followed that encounter.

Kyron also very quickly figured out that his mother was a lot of fun. In fact, he realized that she could be a never-ending source of delight. All he had to do to experience this delight was not do what she wanted him to do. One particularly pleasurable event was deciding what to wear. Ranjana has a very well-developed sense of aesthetics - I know this for a fact because she told me so. Having failed completely in educating me regarding clothing decor, she took to setting out my garments for me, which I unfailingly did wear, provided there was not something else within more convenient reach, of course.

Naturally, she was determined to bring up Kyron properly as far as clothing goes and so she bought him the most perfectly matching items sometimes with deep consultation with the saleperson, both relishing in mutual admiration of each other’s undeniable wisdom. Kyron certainly was the most aesthetically dressed young lad up to the age of two or so. After that, he seemed to take quite a liking to things that were tattered or had stains (which he sometimes put on himself demonstrating his own aesthetic capacities) or, and this seemed to give him the greatest pleasure, any combination that his mother found horrifying. Was it not remarkable that his mother could provide such animated merriment by something so simple as wearing a tshirt inside-out!

Ranjana, not being one to give up too easily, tried to instruct Kyron in the finer points of childhood etiquette, which Kyron obviously appreciated for each provided a wonderful source of play. All these attempts concluded in much the same way with Ranjana sternly saying, “I’m not happy with your behavior” which caused Kyron to think solemnly for about 10 seconds and then with continued solemnity ask, “Mommy, are you unhappy with my behavior?” One should not think that this solemnity meant that he was no longer experiencing his pleasure, but it should be noted that he was receiving it from a different source - that of his father trying very hard to suppress his own pleasure.

A memorable moment occurred after a particularly strenuous encounter at the end of which Ranjana skipped the “I’m not happy …” line, jumping right to an imaginatively created exasperation, “When are you going to learn to behave yourself?!!”. Adeptly adapting to the novelty, Kyron, while continuing his business, quickly and calmly answered, “Oh about 4 o’clock”.

Ranjana and Kyron attended the local Waldorf School’s mother-and-tot program together. They both enjoyed it very much, Kyron because he liked to play and Ranjana because she liked the teacher, Patti, who was really very good and quite fond of Kyron and all the other children. Proof of her deep understanding was demonstrated early on when questioned about why Waldorf didn’t try to enhance the ‘giftedness’ that some children seem to show at an early age. She answered that these gifts won’t go away as kids grow older and a child should be allowed to remain a child for as long as he or she wishes to.

The following year Kyron graduated to Waldorf’s nursery school. His teacher there, Carol, used to refer to him as King Kyron, because she found he had this ability to get the other children to often do work that he was supposed to do, such as cleaning up after play, while he took on a supervisory role. She was also the one who told us that she thought there was an old man living inside Kyron.

It seems that the old man had this ongoing experience with existence that seems to elude younger folk as they put increasing years under their chronological belt. When he observed the swirlings of milk in his grandmother’s tea, he would exclaim, “Clouds!”. When drawing, Kyron would never begin from the middle of the paper - it would always be from a corner and proceed dynamically inwards as though in constant motion and exploration. After Ranjana or I read a story to him, he would, at the end of it say, “Again!” perhaps to live out its deeper intricacies several times.

He rarely wanted things even though all the grandparents tried to give him the entire Toys ‘R Us franchise. He never seemed interested in those objects that attempt to divert a child’s investigations into life, beyond taking them apart to see what might be inside: a huge cardboard box offered much more promising adventures! When we tried to buy him things, the response was always “No, I don’t need it” or “No, I have something like it”. I think this is a child’s way of saying don’t clutter up my life.

Perhaps the following portrait best expresses what the old man was up to.

Each morning the kids would go to Waldorf along a breath-taking path that was at least half a kilometer in length. This path led from the parking lot to the school building and was bordered by majestic trees, vibrant plants and beautiful wild flowers. The children of various ages would walk down a sloping hill and then go up another, in a harmonious flow, many of the younger ones accompanied by their parents.

And then, amidst this stream of humanity, one would spot two figures going in various directions, sometimes with the flow, sometimes against it, sometimes across it, sometimes nowhere near it. One was Ranjana following the other, Kyron, who was much too occupied in discovery to be concerned with the bell that was signaling the start of class or that stream of bodies which had accepted its destination.

For the old man and his mother, a stone, a leaf, a butterfly, were all miracles waiting to be found again and again through endless eternities.

003 Irreverence With Sass to Go

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 20:28:17 -0800

My friend Tricia walks her dogs Buddy and Sadie at the park. These walks are not only good for her dogs, but also good for the other people who are also walking their dogs, because being a dedicated, ethical vegan animal rights activist, she uses every opportunity to bring the plight of animals to the attention of anyone who will listen to her (and even to those who really don’t want to listen to her). As a result, she’s had many a verbal adventure, some of which you can read in her own blook, Tricia Times.

This story is not about one of those verbal adventures. Rather, it is a lesson in the skilful dispensation of information.

A while ago, Tricia met a couple in the dog park. The man was a radiologist which means he specialized in using radiation to diagnose and treat disease as opposed to being someone who spends his time fixing or listening to radios. His wife, on the otherhand, was a talkologist which essentially means she talked a lot. The subject of her attention at this time happened to be herself.

It seems that she was a maker of soaps and lotions that would shame any product that Oil of Olay could produce. In those commercials, the woman uses the catch slogan “How old do you think I am?”, but in this one that Tricia was politely enduring, there was no such question. Instead there was a recurring refrain that played to the following tune “I am 60 and I don’t look it at all, because I make and use my own soap and lotion”. Tricia did agree with her for she estimated her visual age at about 66, but did not offer to discuss these calculations.

The person continued with a dissertation of the importance of getting mammograms and pap smears. When this had finished, Tricia used the lull to reveal that she does not do any of that stuff. She was immediately and severely reprimanded with words to the effect that “When you get to my age, you’ll regret being so reckless” and “You young women should really take your health seriously”. Poor Tricia, what could she say to such well-intentioned advice?

Well, she didn’t really get a chance to say anything, because capitalizing on the elevated position acquired by virtue of being an elder, the woman intended on pursuing her advantage. “How old are you?” came the inevitable and probing question.

Cornered, Tricia had no option but to tell her what she wanted to know. “I’ll be 61 in November” came the reply. This proved to be too much for the radiologist who burst out laughing either because he didn’t believe Tricia or because he was delighted that someone had made the copyright on his wife’s refrain rather invalid.

Still hoping to salvage something, the woman asked Tricia what her birthday was and upon learning it turned to her husband with the indignant words “a sassy and irreverent scorpio” (though she grudgingly admitted she thought Tricia was much younger).

So, since the gates of sass and irreverence had now been opened up, Tricia took the opportunity to tell her two listeners that she was vegan. A vegan avoids using products taken from animals. For example, a vegan will not consume meat, milk or eggs because these items are taken forcibly from sentient beings (nor will a vegan wear leather or fur, of course). The woman appeared to have some idea of what the term meant, for she questioned Tricia as to why she would give up meat for her health, yet not go to doctors for mammograms and pap smears.

Tricia’s answer was that she did not become vegan for health reasons, but because she refused to contribute to the cruelty inflicted by humans upon animals. Perhaps, it was the ancient Greek Plutarch who came to speak through her:

“But for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh, we deprive a soul of the sun and light and of that proportion of life and time it had been born into the world to enjoy.”

She told them that good health was a natural result of being vegan for not only is your conscience clean, your body is free from animal proteins that it just can’t process properly. Echoing the McCartneys' words regarding what people would do if slaughterhouses had glass walls, Tricia added, “If you knew what goes on in factory farms and slaughterhouses, you’d become vegan too”.

It is difficult to argue against this. People can bury their conscience in the deep recesses of their minds, but they cannot eliminate it.

I think Tricia may have helped this lady reach down into those recesses to at least look for that conscience, for she gave Tricia her email address. While I have little doubt that she hopes she may be able to look younger by following Tricia’s vegan example, I also think she longs to regain that time in her youth when kindness and compassion were the spirits that guided her.

001 Ranjana in Ottawa

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 20:25:41 -0800

What you must realize is that Ranjana really was not (and is not) what she appears to be! I did not find this out for quite a while even though I had been tormented by her continuously since she was four!

In the nation’s capital, she and her cohorts unleashed a campaign of terror unrivalled even in fiction! Did they to it for ideology? No. For profit. No.

They did it just for fun!

Their first victim was none other than Robert Stanfield leader of the Progressive Conservatives and aspirant to the highest office in the country.

One fine morning the unsuspecting Robert was engaged in his peaceful stroll down the street when he was spotted by Ranjana’s gang. Always needing to maintain the reputation for outrageosity at Elmwood Private School for Girls (deceptive title is it not?), they descended en masse upon the hapless individual, all three of them! They wanted to tell the other seniors at school that they had bumped into Robert Stanfield, so they went and bumped into Robert Stanfield (I have no reports as to whether he was left standing).

No doubt you are aware, the poor man was never quite the same afterwards. He had to give up the leadership of his party. He had to retire from politics altogether. I think he eventually died.

Who next other than the elegant Pierre Trudeau in his prime, married to Margaret and with children! It was too much for Ranjana and her gang to resist. They felt the urge to do something extraordinary. So they tried to invade the home of Pierre and Margaret under the guise of babysitting the children. Can you imagine what might have transpired had the security men guarding the home not stopped them just before these two innocent-acting high-school students had almost convinced the butler and maid that they were here to look after Maggie’s children?

What followed is well documented. Maggie lost her mind and took off with the Rolling Stones. Pierre bravely struggled on for a few more years only to be ousted by none other than Joe ‘who?’ Clark before relinquishing the party leadership (sound familiar)? Then eventually he died too.

Finally (at least I think he was the last, but who am I to know?), Ranjana’s gang went after John Turner! This was so sordid an attempt, so vicious an attack that Ranjana almost did it alone - even her grade 12 colleague felt forced to stand on the sidelines as you will see. Both entered the crowded shopping mall. Ranjana’s partner in crime could not handle the scene though - everyone has a line they do not cross, not for ideology, not for profit, not even for fun. She stood apart watching Ranjana dressed in pajamas, a raincoat and oversized sunglasses pirouette around and around in circles, getting closer and closer to John. Then Ranjana was behind him! He turned around! His eyes fell upon the medusan menace that was confronting him!

As you may well know, it proved to be too much for John. He desperately tried to cling to his sanity going for his party’s leadership. He barely succeeded and only because the delegates were kind to a traumatized man. However, his confidence was shot. He could not hold his composure against the notorious Mulroney. He faltered in the debates, he appeared like a madman on camera, he was scandalized for patting the bottoms of members of his party (even his supportive wife told reporters “He shouldn’t do that. Let me know if he does!”). Lost and bewildered, I fear he too will eventually die [editor: this prediction did come true].

So now you are among the few who this has been revealed to. Not everyone’s mettle is durable enough to know certain things.

What Is Compassion

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:05 -0800

We examine the meaning of Compassion and find that:

The need for a complete understanding of compassion arises out of the following facts. People are mostly very indifferent to the plight of animals. But some are not. What is the difference between these two classes of people. It is that the indifferent people lack compassion for animals and the others have compassion for animals. Animal exploitation will persist until the balance shifts and compassion comes to predominate.

It is surprising that animal activists believe that those who are indifferent can be coerced to be compassionate. Coercive tactics, including legislative lobbying, advertising, demonstrating and even illegal rescues, are common. Yet the most effective method of all is little mentioned and given little consideration. That most effective of tactics is the change in the person herself. Activists do not seem to realize that the contrast that they demonstrate by their lives compared with the lives of the indifferent ones, that this living contrast is the greatest of all stimulants to change in others. The greatest activism is the act of living the truth and being compassion personified. Coercive and violent actions do not enhance the powerful statement already made by the living evidence of compassion manifested.

In order solve the problem of animal vivisection, abuse and exploitation we cannot rely on legislative action. All legislation can do is specify restrictions on specific behavior. But if there is a will to be indifferent the indifference will be manifest anyway, whether illegally or by way of expressions not dealt with by legislation. We cannot rely on advertising and manipulative persuasion. Advertising and persuasion again address specific conditions and situations without changing the fundamental conditions that make indifference possible. We must truly understand the nature and meaning of compassion itself in order to understand the most effective means of enlarging the class of people who have compassion for animals, and compassion in general. It is disingenuous to believe we pursue a more compassionate society while we are at the same time unconcerned with what compassion is, how it has come to be so little appreciated and what conditions are necessary for its wider distribution. If we are compassionate but we do not know how we got to be compassionate, what hope have we of facilitating the change in others?

Here we begin a systematic investigation of the meaning of Compassion. There is only one prerequisite for this journey. It is contained in the answer to the question, “Does anything matter, or is it all just so much senseless, meaningless chaos?” If your answer is anything other than a resounding, “Yes, something does matter,” then this conversation is not for you and don’t know how I can help you. In that case I can only wish you a speedy recovery from your illness. Otherwise, if something does matter to you then come with me.

Now that we have the preliminaries out of the way, let’s get started. We proceed slowly and start close to home. A dictionary definition of Compassion is as good a place to start as any. Compassion is defined as, “The deep awareness of and sympathy for the suffering of others..” This is the common, prevalent understanding of Compassion. It gives us 3 important concepts to work with: awareness, sympathy and suffering. Let’s see how well this definition holds up in real-life situations.

Consider the life and work of Mother Theresa. We will choose this life because there is general agreement that she lived a compassionate life so it is a good example against which to judge the usefulness of our definition. According to our definition to know whether Mother Theresa was, in fact, compassionate one must be able to determine if she was 1) aware of anothers suffering and 2) sympathetic toward that suffering. This reveals a problem, doesn’t it. After all, no one can actually know what another person is thinking or feeling. So we cannot independently determine whether she was actually aware and sympathetic, no matter how reasonable it would seem to be to believe that she was. One cannot know this, it can only be a an article of faith that one believes it to be true. Now look at the other side of the issue. What if there were some advanced technology that allowed one person to see into another’s thoughts and this technology were applied to Mother Theresa. What if this machine told us without question that she was never aware or sympathetic to the suffering. Suppose (quite ridiculously, but just for the sake of argument) that the machine told us that her whole life and work were based upon a slavish desire to obey her Catholic Pope and he told her she must do these things. Further, the machine told us that she actually despised what she was doing and who she was helping. If you knew this is what she was thinking would you respect her Compassion less. Would she turn in your mind from being a compassionate person to being an uncompassionate one?

Finally, put yourself in the place of someone who was the recipient of her Compassion. Would it matter to you whether or not she was actually aware of and sympathetic toward your suffering, so long as her actions had the effect of being compassionate toward you and relieving your suffering. I suspect that even if some machine could prove that she did not have this awareness and sympathy you would want to believe that she did because her actions were compassionate.

We need as many Mother Theresas as we can get. It is immaterial what their mental state or motivations are, it is their actions and the consequences of those actions that are important. For the purposes of evolving a compassionate society it makes no difference whether people volunteer to be compassionate or whether they must be paid to be compassionate. To measure the worth of someone’s Compassion based upon our opinion of their mental state is a harmful distraction from the work of increasing the overall prevalence of compassionate action.

So, clearly, our dictionary definition is not as useful as we had hoped. Next time we will look at the torturer’s view to approach the question from the other direction.

Being at the most uncompassionate extreme, the torturer gives us important clues as to the nature of compassion and the validity of our definition. We are working from the definition, “Compassion is the deep awareness of and sympathy for the suffering of others.. Certainly a torturer is aware of the suffering of others. Such awareness is necessary to doing his job. Could a torturer have sympathy for the one he tortures. Possibly. There is a great deal of historical evidence to show that people can be forced to torture others, people who would otherwise not participate in torture. Suppose there is a situation in which an otherwise normal, nonviolent person is being terrorized and beaten. Then his tormentor says they will stop beating him if he will beat someone else, say a stranger. Under these conditions people have been induced to become reluctant torturers. In this case the need for self preservation could be powerful enough to overcome any sympathy he may have. The sympathy may persist but the choice is made to protect oneself in spite of it.

Then, of course, there may be people who are aware and sympathetic but do nothing. Do you think. This kind of sympathetically aware inaction is obviously of little value and cannot be a useful example of Compassion.

Our dictionary definition of Compassion appears to leave a great deal wanting. Consideration of an ideal compassionate life has led us to the conclusion that awareness and sympathy are not necessary for Compassion. Consideration of the extreme uncompassionate life has lead us to conclude that awareness and sympathy are not sufficient for Compassion. This implies that awareness and sympathy are not essential ingredients in Compassion at all and can be disregarded.

It is worth noting at this point, that awareness and sympathy are hidden, internal states of the psyche with no direct means of independent verification. Whatever they are they are unique to the individual in which they reside. Of the three concepts our definition gave us these are the two that have these characteristics and it is these two that do not hold up under scrutiny and prove to be irrelevant to understanding Compassion. The third concept, however, the suffering, is an external condition verifiable by all. We will elaborate on this point in detail shortly, but for now it should be observed that it is the only concept from the definition that we have not had reason to question and which remains potentially valuable. This relationship between the hidden, individualistic versus shown, observable quality on the one hand and the usefulness of the quality on the other hand will be one we will see repeatedly and it is an important relationship in the understanding of Compassion.

So, at this point, we are led to abandon our dictionary definition of Compassion. But it has given us a foundation from which we can build a better understanding based upon what we have learned here. Suffering remains central to understanding Compassion. Before we can again attack the question of, “What is Compassion?” directly we need to discuss several other helpful concepts. This will occupy the next several sections.

After all this dry analysis it is worth reminding ourselves why we are doing this. The question is, “Is a compassionate society possible and, if so, what does it look like?. Our analysis so far has helped us to see that awareness and sympathy are not useful in answering these questions and that the concept of suffering may be. Awareness and sympathy are not useful concepts precisely because they are part of a hidden, secret mental state. But there are many other such concepts all of which have the same weakness of being part of our hidden, secret lives, veiled to all but the individual himself. We cannot redefine Compassion in terms of any of them without running into the same problems. So Compassion cannot be, “a desire to relieve suffering,” or, “an intention to relieve suffering,” or, “the will to relieve suffering,” or, “commiseration.. All of these types of definitions postulate some internal, mental state the existence of which cannot be know be any other. A society is necessarily about a sphere of influence shared by a group of people. In so far as our secret, thoughts and mental lives are hidden from others they cannot directly contribute to the society.

Intuitively, a compassionate society can be seen to be a society in which the individuals have a prevailing tendency to choose acts of Compassion over acts of any other kind. This seems clear and reasonable enough. Operationally speaking, I would be entirely content to accept a society that fit this criterion even if I had to also accept any possible cause for this level of Compassion. To my mind, to achieve this level of Compassion throughout society it makes no difference whether the cause for it is that people’s, “consciousnesses are raised,” or that they are paid to act this way, or that they are brain-washed or that our very biology is altered by gene manipulation - by any means necessary. Having a clear idea about where we are going, to get there, to know whether a compassionate society is possible, we must understand what Compassion is.

We are left with the concept of suffering to understand Compassion. Is that enough. What if we try the following definition. “Compassion is the act of relieving suffering.. This definition uses only the concepts of act or action and suffering. I like this because I can know when someone else is acting and I can know when suffering is relieved as a consequence. Further it is possible to judge a society as compassionate by observation of the actions and the results of all the individuals there of. Let’s explore this idea further. There are several profound conclusions to be drawn from this idea.

First, viewing Compassion in this way implies that a person can be neither compassionate nor uncompassionate, only an act can be compassionate if it is an act of Compassion. Any attempt to identify a person as compassionate or not must refer back to the acts of that person some of which may be compassionate and others not, and any attempt to place relative value on the history of those acts must necessarily be arbitrary and biased. Further, pursuing such arbitrary value systems does not contribute to the identification of a compassionate society since it is a society in which there is a “prevailing trend to choose acts of Compassion”, not one in which “people are compassionate”. This realization also has certain spiritual overtones in that we become the moment-to-moment implement for something beyond our individual selves that is Compassion, acting through us. We do not own Compassion; Compassion uses us to act.

Before discussing the other implications of Compassion as the act of relieving suffering, we must now make a detailed examination of the concept of suffering, next time.

In its most elemental sense, suffering is what a living organism experiences when deprived of the conditions most optimal for its health and survival. So, for instance, when we are deprived of water we suffer thirst. When we are deprived of food we suffer hunger. When we are deprived of rest we suffer exhaustion. This is absolutely all that suffering is.

Living things rely upon homeostatic mechanisms to maintain an equilibrium in which conditions are sufficiently stable for their metabolic needs. Temperatures must not exceed a certain range or the organism will freeze or die of the heat. Oxygen must be available in sufficient quantities. Nutrients and food must be available when needed. Suffering is an alerting mechanism, a biological signal, that notifies the organism that the current conditions are not providing for it’s needs, and those current conditions are threatening its survival.

As a result of that signal that suffering provides the organism can take action to correct the situation. When it suffers from thirst it drinks and the signal is extinguished. When it suffers from hunger then it eats and the suffering stops.

If there were no suffering then the organism would receive no signal when it was becoming dehydrated. So it would not know to drink and the dehydration would increase until it died from lack of water. If you did not suffer from hunger when your body needed to eat you would starve. Without suffering death would be unavoidable. There must be both suffering and the relief from suffering for things to live. It is our very suffering and its relief that gives us continuing life. If we had only suffering without any relief from suffering, life could not be for even a day. So long as there is change life must adjust to that change, and suffering provides life the opportunity to adjust as it must.

Obviously, it can be seen from this that suffering is both inevitable and very necessary. In fact, the very existence of life itself depends upon the experience of suffering, at least from time to time and to one degree or another, in every living thing. One of the most profound and interesting observations to be drawn from this understanding of suffering is that Compassion, as the act of relieving suffering, is also the act of giving or preserving life. Compassion is the act of making the types of adjustments to the changes we experience that enables life to go on. Compassion is, most fundamentally, the tendency towards life and away from death. Without Compassion death would always be the result. Only Compassion stands between us and death.

Do you see the vistas this perspective opens up. Armed with our understanding of Compassion and its component suffering as we have them, the implications are very far reaching and have tremendous ramifications. If a compassionate society is possible we are beginning to see what it must look like.

In the next chapter we will explore more deeply into the many discoveries this view of Compassion affords us.

We have said that Compassion is the act of relieving suffering. Is Compassion real or is it just some fantasy, part of our beliefs. Is there any existence and substance to Compassion or is it just another figment of our imaginations. Let me frame the question in this way to make it perfectly clear. If man were not here would there be Compassion. During the time of the dinosaurs, before man’s arrival on this Earth, was there Compassion in the world - anywhere, in any form?

The common usage of the word compassion refers to our internal, personal feelings about someone or a situation to which we are sympathetic. However, this is a very narrow view that misses the rest of the world. If Compassion is no more than an idea in our head without substance, like fairies and leprechauns, what hope could we possibly have of ever seeing a compassionate society. That would be equivalent to dreaming about a society integrated with fairies and leprechauns. There is a strong, intuitive sense that there is real Compassion, beyond the imaginings of our minds, that is part of our real, substantial world. Let’s see if we can identify this real Compassion, that Compassion that exists outside of ourselves.

Man functions within two distinct spheres of experience, one hidden within himself and the other outside and independent of any one person. To get a sense of these two speheres, consider the following questions:

The first sphere of experience is one of shared experiences. I know your experience of eating by my eating - we both eat and thus have the experience of eating. I know your experience of breathing by my breathing. We are born, we eat, sleep, breath and die. We all share the essential qualities of these experiences. These shared experiences are entwined with our bodies and there connections with the outside world.

Then there is the second sphere of experience, which is constituted by our hopes, dreams, desires, worries, ambitions, expectations, and all thoughts and the other individualistic and hidden experiences of our secret mental lives. These experiences have no direct manifestations in the outside world. We may only see their effects indirectly in our actions.

Clearly the shared sphere of experience is where everything of importance happens. If we trivialize the experiences of living - eating, sleeping, breathing - it is because we take them for granted, not because they are trivial. Would you trade the experience of writing a novel like Ernest Hemingway for the experience of breathing. First we must breath. Then, once we have that going consistently, we can consider doing other things like writing a novel.

Our shared experiences are connected with our identity as a living being and as a species. A species represents a particular solution to a set of environmental problems. Fish developed gills to solve the problem of extracting oxygen from water for increasing metabolic needs. All fish with gills share the experience of breathing with gills. Our species developed nose, throat and lungs to solve the problem of extracting oxygen from air. We all share the experience of breathing. The qualities and experiences we share could be likened to a signal or communication with the outside world. On the other hand, all of those individualistic experiences hidden within our heads can be likened to background noise. It is similar to listening to the radio on a station that has poor reception. Even though there is background noise in the form of static we still hear the primary signal which is the music being broadcast.

Thinking, too, is a shared experience. But not the specific thoughts. I know that you have thoughts because I have thoughts, just not the same ones. Thinking itself is part of the signal or communication with the outside world. But which thoughts we have in particular at any time is individualistic, unshared background noise. In particular which thoughts, feelings, desires, ambitions, etc. we experience is just so much background noise. This point can be very difficult for us to grasp fully. We are so entangled with the need to believe our particular thoughts have importance that it is very difficult for us to see that it is really just the experience of thinking itself that has importance and that our special, individual thoughts are just distracting noise. But coming to grips with this reality is essential to understand Compassion.

You see, the question is, “In which sphere of experience does Compassion reside?. Is Compassion part of our hidden, individualistic experiences, different in each person and unsharable. Or is Compassion an essential part of the signal that we are as a species, part of the connections that tie us to the rest of the real world. Does Compassion have a real manifestation. Find your own intuitive answer to this question, and next time we will explore it in greater depth.

What is the truth about Compassion. We have argued that Compassion is an action that relieves suffering. So the truth about Compassion is the truth about suffering and its relief. So then what is suffering?

The truth about Compassion and the truth about suffering have to do with the realities of suffering and its relief. But suffering and its relief only have meaning with respect to a particular being that is the sufferer and who is relieved of that suffering. It is meaningless to talk about suffering in the absence of any sufferer. To suffer there must be one to suffer. The truth about suffering cannot be separated from the truth about the sufferer. To know one we must know the other.

Suppose a space ship lands on a very distant planet and encounters a life form completely unfamiliar to any form of life any of the astronauts have ever seen. Suppose it is so unfamiliar that no one has any idea how it acts, or lives. In this situation Compassion is not possible. The astronauts might pick it up, pour water on it or cover it with dirt. But they cannot know whether in doing these things they have caused suffering, relieved suffering or neither. To know this one must have an understanding grown out of personal experience with suffering and the ability to recognize a similar experience in another. And to be correct in one’s judgement about the suffering of another one must see the truth of that other and the nature of its existence.

Truth, the real, existence, reality - these are all terms for what is. This is simple enough. But to know the truth about a particular thing it is necessary to know all of its relationships. The existence of something is described by how it relates to everything else. This is especially important when it comes to living beings.

Inanimate objects may be used arbitrarily. At one moment a chair may be something to sit upon and the next a work of art or a piece of kindling.

But living things have an intrinsic and unalterable nature specific to themselves. If we are asked what a wolf is, or what is the truth of a wolf, we must answer by describing the relationships the animal holds to its environment. A wolf is a predator that lives and hunts in packs, feeding on caribou, and so on. The system of Nature both defines and is defined by the relationships of its constituent beings.

This brings us to consider a useful and common image called, “The Web of Life.. It can be useful to picture our living world as an infinitely large web. The web consists of strands or connections, which we cannot actually see but we may imagine them to picture the relationships connecting us to others, and them to us.

So imagine an enormous web of silken threads in which at each point where one strand or thread crosses another a living being resides. For each being there are many strands connecting her to many other beings. Each strand that extends from her ends or connects her with someone or something with which she has a special relationship.

Who do you depend upon. As children most of us depended upon our parents for nurturing. We may marry and come to depend upon our spouses. We may have children who depend upon us, in turn. And we have many more distant relationships as well. We depend upon the farmer to provide us with food, and the truck driver to deliver the food to our communities, and so on. Even more distant relationship exist. The farmers who grow our food depend upon the soil to grow the plants we eat and they depend upon the weather to provide sufficient rain and sun for a good crop.

Now the truth about you or me or anything is understood by seeing the thing in its place in this Web of Life. The truth of any one being is described by the connections she makes to others, and the connections they make to still others, and on and on, ad infinitum. This Web of Life is a metaphor for all of our relationships, both near and distant.

The truth of a being is understood by seeing the strands to which she connects in this web, her immediate relationships to others, and to which those connect, going as deeply as necessary for the understanding. A perfect understanding of the truth of a being in this web would ideally require complete visualization of all her connections, an impossible task. From where we sit on this web we each can see only to a limited, finite depth along any chain of connections because our intellectual understanding is limited. An infinite intellect would be required to have a total understanding of all relationships. We can understand how someone depends upon her family and friends. But beyond that, going as far as the farmer and his weather and soil, for instance, those relationships are usually too distant to be completely appreciated by our limited abilites. Is this enough to understand how others suffer, how we may act to relieve that suffering and thereby bring Compassion into the world. Yes, of course it is.

It is an extremely beautiful principle of this web that its health and maintenance does not require us to do any more then understand those relationships that we can understand. All that we need to know to function as a member of this web is provided within our grasp. We are guaranteed to have available to us a sufficient depth of understanding to know the truth of all the beings with which we share our region of this web, that is, all the other beings upon whom we depend and who depend upon us. This is because the connections are transitive. Although our personal understanding is local, there is a path along this web from any one place to any other. At each point, as the path crosses by each person, that person contributes their Compassion to those to whom she relates, and thereby Compassion spreads infinitely in all directions, beginning from each person.

And we do have a function in this web. Each being of the web has her own needs for survival - air, water, shelter, defense from predators, companionship, etc. The connections provide for these needs. In turn she provides for some of the needs to those to whom she connects. The web exists precisely because each member provides for the needs of others and others provide for her. A being is most content when the connections she requires are present and both providing her and receiving from her. Suffering can be seen to be a loss or disruption in these connections. Compassion, being the act of relieving suffering, can be seen to be the restoration of the lost or disrupted connections. An act of Compassion is one that sees that another has broken connections and restores those connections. An act of Compassion is one that sees that another has unmet needs, needs that arise from the true nature of that person, being or thing, and provides for those needs.

To put it another way, we are most content, we suffer least, when our relationships are whole, productive and nuturing. We have intrinsic, inborn needs, characteristic of our nature and species. Our needs are fulfilled through our relationships. Suffering occurs when those relationships are broken or disrupted. Therefore, Compassion is the restoration of broken relationships. An act of Compassion is an act that understands the relationships of another, sees that they are broken and acts to mend the broken relationships. That is the truht about suffering and Compassion.

So an awareness IS required - an awareness of the connections or relationships. But we said initially that awareness was not required. So what is going on here. We will explore this awareness in the next section.

We began by asking the question, “What is Compassion?. We discovered that personal awareness was not necessary; then we said that suffering is closely tied to our biological needs; next that suffering can be viewed as disruptions in an intricate web of Nature and that Compassion is the restoration of those connections; and, finally, we discovered an awareness that is required by Compassion.

Compassion requires an awareness of the place of an individual in the web, and the connections for that individual. This is unlike the personal awareness we considered originally. Unlike that personal awareness, which was part of someone’s hidden, secret life. This awareness belongs in the sphere of shared experiences. It is an awareness of the structure of a web that we all share. I know you have the connections that you have because I have the very same threads. I know that you have needs and relationships that help you to meet those needs, because I, too, have needs and I, too, have relationships that help me to meet my needs. We are individuals embedded in the same context in the larger system struggling to do our parts in service to the Narural web.

This brings us to the answer to our original question, “What is Compassion?. It is exactly this awareness, awareness of our context, relative to the contexts of all our neighbors, within the Natural web. It is care for the health, stability and integrity of the web, restoring broken connections, healing the suffering, giving attention to the shared experiences that ripple and pulsate like surges of energy throughout this web.

On the vast plains of the Serengeti in Africa the Summer season brings hot, dry weather that depletes the watering holes and rivers leaving a drought. The animals suffer from thirst and spend much time searching for water. Then the seasons change and the Monsoons come and fill up the streams and holes with drenching rain, providing water in great abundance.

Now if instead of the Monsoon rains there were a group of people who formed a bucket brigade and hauled water to the watering holes and filled them to relieve the thirst of the animals, it would be easy for us to recognize that action as compassionate. But the effect of the Monsoon rains is the same, in fact, far more effective. Because we have an awareness of the suffering we can infer that there is, in some sense, an awareness that brings the Monsoons, also. The source of that awareness may not be apparent to us because it lies too far back in the web, nested too deeply in distant connections, for us to see the source directly. Still it is there and the Monsoons are an act of Compassion.

From this it becomes clear that Compassion is an infinite force of Nature whose manifestion is life itself. She who serves this force acts with Compassion and there is no other means but this to act with Compassion.

Next we will look at some practical applications of this understanding.

We have come quite a ways in understanding Compassion. But we have also been dealing largely in the abstract. Let’s consider several real-world conditions that pertain to Compassion and see how it applies.

Consider slavery. What is the problem with slavery. Some would say that the problem is a denial of human righton. But the truth is that the problem with slavery is that it is a denial of a person’s connections to the web, it is a denial of her natural relationships.

Suppose you were to pay a slave trader a sum of money for a slave that he provided and he were to give you a contract in return transfering ownership of the slave to you. But further suppose that the contract also stipulated that you could in no way command, control or interfere with the normal and legal activities of your slave, nor any of her possessions nor family. Well, in this case there would be no problem with slavery, would there. It is not the possession of another that creates the problem of slavery but the control of that person and the constraints being a slave puts upon her pursuit of her inherent destiny.

When a person is not a slave and she is not otherwise controlled by someone else, then she is able to provide for her connections, those who depend upon her, and be provided for by her connections, those who she depends upon, with the web, as defined by her community and the Natural world in which that community resides. With freedom she has a rich set of options provided to her by a very large nexus of relationships with the individuals in her community and the Natural world.

Slavery causes her to be forced to substitute and be constrained by the small set of connections all of which now end at her master. Slavery is the act breaking the relationships the slave had with the people she depended upon and who depended upon her and substituting a total dependence upon the master. For the slave the master becomes the web and all meaningful contact with the real web is denied. We have an intuitive sense that this is uncompassionate because we know the suffering and misery of slavery even if we have never been slaves. We know this because we share a need for our connectedness, our relationships. Because I know suffering when denied access to my relationships by another, I know that you must suffer the same.

Those who practiced slavery could only do so by denying the truth of those they enslaved. The slave traders were overtly indifferent to the truth of their slaves. But the owners often devised elegant lies to mask the truth they denied. Here is a quote from Thomas Jefferson to illustrate this point:

Misery is often the parent of the most affecting touches in poetry. Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no poetry. Love is the peculiar oestrum of the poet. Their love is ardent, but it kindles the senses only, not the imagination.
From Revolution to Reconstruction

Compassion, being an absolutely honest and literal understanding and recognition of the truth of a person, as defined by her connections to the web, her natural relationships, and being a devotion to serve the health and maintenance of those connections, acting to correct them when they are broken, necessarily must absolutely exclude slavery. This is universal.

Imprisonment is suffering for similar reasons. It is punishment and causes suffering, again, because it is a denial of natural relationships - a denial of the need to move, to work and to commune with others of our communities. Imprisonment is designed to punish specifically by breaking connections.

Thirst is a broken connection to our normal sources of water. Hunger is a loss of our relationship to our normal food sources. Lonliness is an obvious loss of relationships, relationships to our community. Every form of suffering of any real kind can be seen to be a disturbance, loss or denial of some normal relationships that are natural to our true selves - broken connections in the web.

Next time we will conclude our look at Compassion.

I have set before you life and death, blessings or curses. Oh that you would choose life, that you and your children might live. (Deuteronomy 30:19/20)

Man is different. We are completely unique among all of life. Unlike any other form of life we are not constrained by the web.

For every other life form the connections that it makes to the web are virtually a fixed set of relationships. A fish cannot devise a means to walk and fly. A bird cannot create a mechanism to stay submerged for long periods or to print a novel. Other forms of life have fixed connections upon which they depend and upon which the web relies for stability.

However, man has been freed from these restrictions. He is capable of rearranging his own connections in any way his imagination can conceive. We have devised ways to live in the most unhospitable of environments, from the deepest oceans to outer space. We are capable of conquering any environment and removing all other life that resides there.

Other life forms are completely dependent upon Compassion for their survival. The connections are their lives and they have no other choice but to rely upon Compassion to provide what they need.

Man can get what he wants. We, unlike other life forms, can materialize our ideas and thoughts. The power of this freedom leads us to believe that Compassion is not important. We are led to believe that what we think is important because what we think appears to have such grandiose effects. No wonder it has been common to believe that we are the only creatures with thought since only our thoughts have such significant effects.

From this it can be clearly seen that the reason that we were created, our purpose in the web, is to test the hypothesis that an organism that is freed from its fixed constraints to the web can persist. We, alone, can choose our relationships. We, alone, can actively deny Compassion, by denying the truth about ourselves and others, and by subverting the natural relationships. It would seem that Nature wants to know whether an organism that can choose to deny Compassion can learn to survive anyway. We are the experiment.

In spite of our special powers we are ultimately still dependent upon the web for survival. There is no existence without connectedness. We cannot be in isolation. These connections are far too complex to ever be fully within our control. The web is vast and intricate. Compassion is the ruler and law-giver that makes it stable. We have no hope of conquering Compassion. We cannot become the replacement for Compassion. Though we are offered the freedom to deny Compassion, it is a false freedom. In this way we do not differ from all the rest of life. We cannot deny Compassion and survive. We are the experiment of Nature to see if an organism that is given the ability to deny Compassion can learn to choose to serve Compassion anyway.

Man must solve the Compassion Imperative or perish. The Compassion Imperative is our fundamental, organismic, biological imperative. We must learn to actively affirm Compassion and find and take our given, natural place in the web. We have a place. That place is provided to us by the web. We cannot choose another place by force of will. The power of the web is much larger than our will. If we choose not to take our place we will be excluded entirely. There is no other place. Our place was designed especially for us by the web. It is suitable for us alone. Just as it is true that nothing else will fit in our place, we cannot take another’s place. If we do not choose to surrender to Compassion, then oblivion is our fate. There is only Compassion. To pursue anything else is futile.

There is much reason to hope that we can learn to choose to serve Compassion. Compassion is a universal convergence point. Every religion emphasizes Compassion as a fundamental tenent in one form or another. Human righton, animal righton, minority righton, every type of rights movement implicitly uses Compassion as its foundation. Wherever societies flourish and people thrive, Compassion is the source of their success. Every person has an understanding of suffering and its relief. It is not a giant leap, but only one more small step, to openly embrace Compassion above everything else. For clearly, nothing is more important.

Here ends this journey for me. We have barely scratched the topic of Compassion. The vastness of the topic makes a comprehensive survey impossible so an ending must be chosen arbitrarily.

Now it is for you to go forward. Serve Compassion with all those whom you touch. If we choose wisely and assist others in choosing wisely, and with luck, a compassionate society will be born. God speed.

How should we think about life and the living of it. Here I offer a metaphor that may be useful for that purpose.

Imagine that in one hand you are holding onto Compassion. Take your time to examine it. Explore it carefully and passionately. Recognize that this hand holds the most important thing. Examine it until you see this. Now close your fist firmly around it and with the other, second, hand do what you must do to live.

As you carry on with living with all the things you do with your second hand, pause frequently to open your first hand and contemplate what you hold there. Renew your intimacy with the object that lies resting in your palm. Then carefully close your grasp around that precious thing before returning your attention to the activities of your second hand. No matter how busy you may become never loose your grasp on that Compassion in your first hand.

The Compassion you hold onto will guide the actions of your other hand. You will naturally act in ways that allow you to give enough attention to your grasp of Compassion that it will never be forgotten, never given a minor status, never dropped from inattention.

Frequently you will find that what has come to lie in your second hand may not be compatible with what is in your first hand. At such moments open both hands and look down at both closely. If you become convinced that the thing in your second hand is not compatible with what is in your first, drop the thing in your second hand. Get rid of it.

If you ever begin to wonder if the thing in your second hand is more important than the Compassion that lies in your first, it is not. Stop and look again until you see this. If you do not do this you will inevitably drop the Compassion in your first hand. This would leave your second hand unconstrained towards all kinds of destructive actions.

Of course, none of us has perfect concentration nor the perfect ability to forsee the outcome of all of our actions. We learn day by day new ways our actions have effects. So it is inevitable that we will all drop that Compassion from time to time.Just get down on your hands and knees and feel around in the dark, inch by inch, until you find it again. It never rolls far away. Pick it up again, dust it off, and put it back into your fist. Forget about the incident; it is past. Each day is a new opportunity to hold Compassion again.

Holding onto Compassion is the source of Right Action.

A friend tells me he thinks you cannot get Compassion from a stone. I disagree. Most would agree feeding the starving is an act of Compassion. So when a government sends a shipment of food to a nation struggling with starvation I accept that as an act of Compassion. It may be true that the guy who actually unloads the food from the plane may not be thinking about the suffering of the people. It may be the only job he could find and he just wants to get it done and get home to Momma. That may be true for the entire crew on board the plane. In fact, I might go to each person involved in the decision to send humanitarian aid and each and every one of them may give me a reason for their contribution to the food delivery other than an empathy with the suffering of the starving people. Maybe the Minister of Foreign Affairs is acting on orders from the Prime Minister, and all the other bureaucrats have their own, personal self-interest in mind. To my mind the point is that the food is delivered and the hungry are fed and that means it is Compassion. I do not need any further certification of the act with respect to the feelings of anyone involved to know it as Compassion.

Similarly when a farmer plants his crop and harvests it and feeds his family with it, that is an act of Compassion. The hungry are fed. Suffering is relieved. Compassion. I’m not interested in what the farmer is feeling about what he is doing. I leave him to feel as he pleases so long as he feeds his family. No matter what feelings he may have about the act I see the act as Compassion.

But that farmer would not have his crop if he had not had the fertile soil. So the soil must be there for the farmer to have his crop and for him to feed his family. Therefore I must see the soil as an essential element in that act of Compassion - no soil, no Compassion. And that soil contains stones that contribute to the fertile quality of that soil. Hence I am inevitably lead to conclude that stones may act with Compassion.

If we did not have stones where would we stand. Where would we bury our dead. On what would we build our homes. All of life grows out of the lifeless. When a chain of events, a sequence of actions, leads to a final action that relieves suffering then each event in the chain has created that Compassion. I give each event its due. If any were missing the chain would be broken and the final act of Compassion would not be. Life itself originated from the lifeless. In the beginning it was the inanimate that gave rise to the animate. I will recognize every element for its contribution.

When we enlarge the meaning of the word Compassion in this way we gain a much deeper, fuller and more complete understanding of our place in the Natural Order.

Many Eastern religions and philosophy say that the self is an illusion, that there is no real self. I have always found this nonintuitive, after all I do seem to be here. But I have found some thought experiments that helped me to internalize an understanding of the illusion of self.

Suppose we are sitting together talking and I produce a living rabbit. I say, “Here is a rabbit.” Then I cut the rabbit exactly in half, right down the middle. Don’t worry. This is a thought experiment so no rabbit is ever actually harmed. Now we look at both halves of the rabbit and I ask you, “Now where is the rabbit?. Further suppose you decide to answer me, “There is no rabbit, only 2 half rabbits.”

Next I produce another rabbit and this time I cut off exactly one-fourth of the rabbit leaving a three-fourths part with it. We look at both pieces and I ask, “Now where’s the rabbit?. Again you answer me, “There is no rabbit, just one fourth and three fourths of a rabbit.. I produce a third rabbit this time cutting off exactly one-eighth and ask the same question and I get the same answer.

Suppose we continue in this way, cutting off less and less of each successive rabbit and you, rather stubbornly I must say, consistently answer that there is no rabbit, only parts of rabbits. Finally, with one rabbit I just trim the end of one toe nail and I point at the rabbit and the piece of toenail that I have removed and again ask, “Where is the rabbit?. If you are really stubborn and continue to insist there is no rabbit, then with my next rabbit I just sit for 10 minutes and wait for the few 100 or so skin cells of the rabbit to fall off in the process of normal skin exfoliation and ask again, “Where is the rabbit?”

This experiment makes it clear to me that what I am commonly calling a rabbit is a completely arbitrary definition of something that, in fact, never exists. The actual thing I am referring to when I say “rabbit” is just a mental image that does not actually correspond to anything of a real nature.

Now suppose we are walking together in the wilderness and we see a coyote hunting a rabbit. We stop to watch and the coyote catches the rabbit. The rabbit is struggling in the coyotes mouth and I ask you, “Where’s the rabbit?. Suppose you say, “It is in the coyote’s mouth.. We continue to watch as the coyote devours the rabbit. First he bites off a foot - crunch, crunch, swallow. The rabbit continues to struggle. I ask the same question and receive the same answer. But now I find the answer unsettling because the foot has already been swallowed. That foot was part of rabbit. Now is it still part of rabbit or is it now part of the coyote?

As we continue to watch the rabbit eventually stops struggling and the coyote devours the rabbit, piece by piece until everything has been consumed. When did the rabbit go. At what point in this process did the rabbit cease to be. When the rabbit pieces are in the bowels of the coyote they are digested into smaller and smaller pieces until finally they are decomposed into their chemical constituents, absorbed and incorporated into the tissues of the coyote. It must be clear that any choice we make about when the rabbit is and when it ceases to be is completely arbitrary. Furthermore, what was once rabbit has become coyote. When it is one thing and when it becomes the other is again completely arbitrary. Any choice that we make has no relationship to the actual identity of the thing from the point of view of the Natural Order.

If the rabbit became the coyote when it was fully digested then it must also have been the coyote when it was undigested pieces in the coyote’s stomach. If it was coyote when it was pieces in coyote’s stomach then it must have been coyote already when it was struggling in coyote’s mouth. If then, it must have been coyote when it was yet to be captured and still running for it’s life. If then, it must have been coyote before the coyote ever saw the rabbit. In fact it must have been coyote even before either coyote or rabbit were yet born.

From the point of view of the Natural Order what we are calling a coyote and a rabbit are just porous bags of molecules, sacks of energy wrapped by the sheerest gossamer netting. And these bags or sacks may come close to each other and then move farther apart, at times commingling so intimately that they seem to be one. But it is always a matter of distance, sometimes very short, sometimes farther apart. It is always a continuum with no intrinsic borders, limits or boundaries. This demonstrates clearly that there are no individual entities, only relative concentrations of energy coming and going with extreme dynamism. This observation has profound implications.

First, it becomes clear that from the point of view of the Natural Order there are no entities only actions, without entities that do the acting. Thus the web of connections that constitutes the Natural Order is all of the Natural Order and the nodes we may talk about between the connections are illusions. There are only connections.

Second, any actions of ours that arise from a idea of self, where self is different from some other, are actions based upon an illusion. When you hate me you hate yourself. When you kill me you kill yourself. When you help me you help yourself, you help every person, you help everything connected to the Natural Order.

Winter of the Soul

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:05 -0800

Pieces die off that are no longer needed
Tears of revelation cleanse my soul
Release aspects with which I once pleaded
As they wither away I let them go

Things become barer and more plain
But the chill that winter is thought to have
Remains outside the window of my perception
As I’m warmed by the fire with reason to be glad

Branches are snapping but beneath the earth
Roots are deepening and spreading
The snow outside is a stunning landscape
A mirror of where I am heading

This is the winter of the soul
Unfolding a timeless drawing
A pristine preserved blueprint
Is eternally thawing

[Angelkate](288.html)

Time

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:04 -0800

Have you ever noticed that you have the power to control time? In fact, you are doing it right now. “That can’t be true”, I hear you say, “Time is shared by everyone, so if one person controlled it then everyone else would notice time speeding up or down! There would be conflicting influences on time happening from many different people, so it wouldn’t be possible!” This logic makes sense based on the idea that time is a shared reality between all human beings and something that is unchangeable.

However, is it? It would seem to be so when we look at the clocks that we live by and how these time systems link together in perfect harmony to create a network of interlinking lives, all being lived in synchronicity with one worldwide clock that has slightly different numbers attributed to certain points on it based on your geographical location - we are all in different places, but on the same merry-go-round. In our perception, we are all moving around the perimeter of one big world clock, just like the earth moves around the sun.

I invite you to consider for a moment, the notion that time is an illusion. It is not a physical thing, but a perception that we have formed based on our observation of moving objects within the universe, our tracking of their cycles using manmade meters and devices and our marking of mental images that represent our experiences onto various places on our manmade charts. We remember the past and contemplate the future, frequently using phrases such as ’look towards the future’, ’look back on the past’ and ‘further down the line’, but let’s take a closer at how we do this… we imagine.

Our internal images of the past and future are symbols that represent what we have experienced or what we imagine that we will experience, but they are not the experiences themselves. This is rather like how an artist’s painting is an impression of a landscape but is not the landscape itself; it is a different object altogether and was made with the artist’s own materials, yet to the artist it represents the landscape. Each time that we remember an experience what we are actually doing is creating a new mental construct that represents it, this brings sense to the word ’re-member’ which means to ‘put back together’. It may look like the experience that it represents or like the same memory that we thought we had experienced many times before, however, it is completely new just as it is every time. Past and future are only ever found in the mind and do not exist in our outer reality, they are a figment of our imagination.

There is no such thing as a time line, this is another concept that we create in our head just as we could have created any number of infinite mental constructs in which to categorise our experiences and thus experience a particular reality, believing it to be the ultimate one. For instance, we could have grown up perceiving time as a circle that repeats over and over again, believing our existence to be a continuous repetition of the same time loop that we get to re-create in new ways, but always passing through the same ‘patch’ of time. This could be likened to if you took a walk around your garden, mowing, pruning or planting as you go, then when you come around again it would be the same garden, yet changed. Instead of thinking that the past is lost forever we might see it as a newer version of what it once was. Or we could have grown up Envisioning time as a multidimensional shape, within our minds eye seeing each new experience as a piece added to the puzzle as it gradually gets bigger and changes shape throughout our lives to form our time map. We would see our life journey as a series of movements through the compartments of this shape and see ourselves as being located in a certain place within it, searching through these different areas in order to reminisce on our life and imagining new pieces in order to visualise our future. Time in this case, would be considered an individual thing rather than a shared reality and we might therefore share a common agreement that time is changeable and bendable. Also, we would likely see time as being separate from our records of the nature cycles but still use charts and dials to organise our lives when necessary, with the attitude of, ‘Of course the charts are just for practical purposes and should not be considered as the reality of time, everyone knows that time is changeable and not fixed, for it would be ridiculous to suggest that it was since it is different for everyone!’ Alternatively, we could perceive time as an unfolding process that coincides with our personal development, with the various stages of the flowering of our true selves as the landmarks to which we attach all other memories within our perceptual calendar. Just because we use clocks for practicality - this does not mean that we are required to see it as our reality.

If on the other hand we lived in the wilderness we might never give a thought to time except to look into the sky to see if the sun is setting or rising, living in cycles that feel natural to us rather than feeling that we have to control them and override our natural inclinations. It seems that the more man made our life styles become, the more emphasis that we place on time and the more trapped we feel by it. We try to accomplish impossible tasks such as running away from the past, beating the clock or racing towards the future. This is stressful because when we do this we are not living in harmony with the only moment that there is; this one. Truer to reality and a more peaceful way to see our existence is as one moment that we are eternally sculpting and creating. However, this is still a mental concept and while we can read words that are symbols of that which they describe, they are not the thing itself. Truth is experienced within oneself, although it is nice to be reminded of it because this can gently beckon us back to our natural state that patiently waits beneath the layers of thought, ready to be rediscovered.

If we are consciousness and consciousness is presence and presence is now, this means that in order to time travel we would have to leave ourselves behind! Of course, this is impossible because one cannot separate oneself from that which one is. This also means that there is no ‘out there’, there is only here. For there to be an ‘out there’ that is separate from us, because now is presence and presence is consciousness, the ‘out there’ would have to be something other than consciousness - which is impossible. Something that is not consciousness cannot exist because consciousness is the meaning of existence; such a thing can only be imagined by consciousness itself and is therefore illusion.

Since the idea of travelling to another destination in time is a fascinating concept for many of us, let us consider for a moment what it would be like if this were possible. I imagine that some of us would travel back in time in order to make changes to the past in an attempt to effect positive change in the present, perhaps we would correct an action of ours that we consider to be a mistake or act on information that we had only received further into the future. Perhaps we would become obsessed with trying to change situations in our life by going back, instead of drawing on faith and courage to face them in the present. It would be a way of running away from the very experiences through which we grow and evolve by uncovering the jewels of our authentic selves in the face of challenges that test our spirit.

Another thing to consider is that we would not know what the full consequences of altering the past would be, just as we don’t for our actions in the present. On returning to the present we would find that we would have created a set of alternate problems and with them a never-ending temptation to go back in an attempt to do more fixing. If on the other hand, we travelled to the future, we would probably become anxious about how to achieve the success that we have witnessed in our future life or scared of an undesired outcome and fear driven as we try to prevent it from happening.

Now let’s take a closer look at how we attempt to escape the present moment, becoming prisoners of our own minds as we throw it away in the search for something better. Many of us often feel that we are ‘running away from the past’, ‘running out of time’ or ‘chasing the future’, this causes us to feel things such as stress, fear, anxiety, uneasy anticipation that we mistake for excitement and generally to have a sense of being misplaced and off balance. Some of us spend our entire lives trying to escape the present moment which is the root cause of most of our suffering in the various ways that it presents itself, which are all branches of the same tree. We crave the return to our natural state of being which is a sense of connection, belonging and wholeness; however, when we do not recognise our suffering as the messenger of truth that it is we misinterpret our desire as a need for the stuff that we see outside of ourselves. We seek fulfilment in meaningless things that cannot satisfy us, unknowingly leading ourselves into a trap whereby we experience temporary relief from our dissatisfaction, which fuels a cycle of addiction because our real need is unmet, which is the need to experience the truth of who we are. All attempts to make ourselves whole will eventually fail as long as we seek completion outside of ourselves, because our incompleteness is an illusion itself and can therefore only be remedied by the relinquishment of this illusion. We cannot free our self by adding the illusion that we are happy to the illusion that we are unwhole, we must strip away all illusion to reveal our wholeness, this is how we find the deep sense of peace and completeness that we have desired all our life.

We are homesick - we roam the dark moors of our illusion like ghosts of the earth, lost and haunted by the shadows of our own imaginations. We are addicts of thought just as we are addicts of shopping, food, alcohol, drugs, sex, relationships and anything else that we can use as a distraction from being here now, with ourselves in the intimacy of the present moment. We look everywhere but the place where we would find what we yearn for and where we would find true satisfaction; we miss our true selves. We miss the warmth of our own hearts, the peace of our own souls and the stillness of this eternal moment, we crave the authenticity of knowing ourselves and the awareness of our connection to them whole that this brings.

The present moment is the truth of our being, it is our home. When we are fully in it, we resonate at the true frequency of our being. An illusion will never bring us the contentment that we desire because there is nowhere to ‘bring’ it from since it being ‘out there’ is an illusion. We project a false reality outside of ourselves, but we are all there is - we are the universe, we are life itself. We are the truth that we seek, we are the belonging, we are the freedom and we are the beauty.

How do we stop fighting this moment and allow ourselves to be present? Since we are already here, we must stop trying to be somewhere else, which can only ever be an illusion. We need to stop doing as we are doing and simply allow things to be as they are and always were. Here we find the rest, the relief and the freedom for which we have sought, it is so simple that it seems too easy. We think that because our problems seem big and complicated, that it will take something equally confusing, difficult and complex to fix it, yet we are mistaken. This is the secret of life. We struggle in our search for freedom, creating increasingly intricate illusions, desperately hoping that they will fill the void that we sense within our souls. Until one day we realise that we are roaming the very maze that we are creating and that there is no way out, except to let go of the maze itself. When we realise this, we give up the fight against our true selves and in doing so we learn what strength is. We find it in the silent knowing of all that we are, we realise that there is nothing to run away from except the illusions that we had created. We accept what is and far from being helpless victims of circumstance, we are clear enough to take inspired action, free from the weight of all that we no longer carry.

Now, we arrive where we began - you have the power to control time. If time is an illusion then you are free to choose how you experience it, because you are the one who is creating it. Have you noticed how when you slow down, time slows down as well? Or how when you speed up, so does time? When you run away from time, it chases after you just as fast and likewise when you relax, so does it seem to. Time mirrors your inner state of being, it is a reflection of how you choose to be in this moment. It stares back at you from the projected ‘out there’ with the truth of what you are being in this moment. Perhaps this would seem insignificant to some, however, when you consider that your state of being affects everything else in your life, you realise that you are powerful beyond all measure. When we choose to embrace the power of our truth by aligning with our natural state of being, a phenomenal shift in our reality occurs.

We may feel reluctant to let go of the past due to the beliefs that we hold about what would happen if we did and so we hold on, believing that we are securing something that we need in order to be whole in this moment. We seem to equate time with distance and subsequently perceive 8 years ago to be further away than 1 year ago, this perception causes us to think that we can lose things in the past or that things await us in the future. In reality we are in the same moment that we always were and ever will be, which means that nothing can be lost - everything that is true is here now. Perhaps we fear that we will forget people who we love and experiences that we cherish so we try desperately to keep them solid in our mind, as we endure an uneasy sense that they are slipping away into the ever expanding abyss of the past. Perhaps we are afraid that if we let go of our childhood we will be cut off from the vibrant child who we once were, forever losing hope of reconciliation with our true selves. Perhaps we fear that we will never experience the joy of fond memories again and so in a state of mental poverty we stash them away, suffocating our soul with the sense of death that belief in the past brings and doubting the loving nature of life to deliver us more happiness. If we were to set these experiences free like butterflies, we would create room in our perception to allow new ones in, this is the only way to return to the spirit of our joy. In order to set ourselves free we must realise that our perception is back to front - holding on does not connect us to that for which we yearn, it separates us from it by projecting it into an imaginary ‘out there’ which declares our belief that it is not here. It was only ever here and can only ever be here, being present in this moment is what connected us to it before and this is the only way to renew the aliveness within us once more. Every joy that we ever have is an experience of our true self, let us not be fooled into believing that it is dictated by form - form is merely the adornments on the dancer, but it is our soul that does the dancing. Our happiness comes from within, we can never lose this because it is who we are, we can only forget for a while by imagining that it dwells outside of us.

Perhaps we hold onto a painful experience by reliving it in our mind, causing our self to suffer over and over again, or by believing that our identity comes from it in some way. Maybe we feel regret about choices that we have made and wish that we could turn back the clock in order to choose differently. To set our SELF free we must realise that the ‘past’ is not happening now and it therefore does not exist except for within our imagination, what matters is what we chose now because this is all that there is, now is everything. We are being created now and so we have a choice between believing in the past or believing in the now - this determines who we experience our SELF as. May we find the courage to follow the voice that calls us to seek the truth, to face our illusion and to follow our heart.

We may also find our self distracted from A natural state of balance by our concept of future. Life is a mystery and it is this sense of newness that makes it an adventure, but if we project horror stories into the space of creation and possibility then the present is tainted by our fear, we act on perceived dangers that are not actually happening but that we assume will. The future does not exist except in our mind and we use it to scare our self, viewing what we imagine as if it were reality. Even if something is predictable, our mental image of what the experience will be like is not the experience itself, it is what we assume that it will be and since it is impossible for us to experience something before it happens it is not an accurate representation of what the experience will be like. Or maybe we seek happiness in the future, which is to seek within illusion for the future never comes, there will only ever be this moment. Only by honouring the now can our life fall into alignment with our true life purpose and our happiness be deep and lasting, because it is the clarity of presence which allows us to follow our inner guidance which in turn connects us with our deepest joy.

Let us give our self the one true gift, it belongs to us and awaits our remembrance of its eternity. All other gifts are illusion that will lead to disappointment repeatedly until we finally come home to our self. Paradoxically, when we stop seeking completion in outside form by seeing that it is meaningless, we allow life to employ it for a meaningful purpose and instead of enslaving our self to it, we experience it as a reflection of the wholeness that we feel within. The world truly is our mirror. Let us give up the search that we conduct outside of our self for completion and happiness, because we seek within an imaginary place that does not exist and where every road is a dead end. May we turn within and find the rest, peace, joy and aliveness that we have so dearly missed in our dream of forgetfulness, which has caused us to seek reunion with our true self within the dream, when what we need is to wake up from the dream of our unwholeness, to the loving reality of the present moment. Here is where we find divinity, for we are it.

Triumph of Love

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:04 -0800

Long ago within the Ocean of Frungali there was born a baby whale who was named Prem. He was an exceptionally intelligent child, and indeed his parents were very proud of him. When all his friends swam into the ocean depth to play, he would go on his own exploring the beauties of the ocean. There he would meet many different species. He realized that each one of them had different personalities and acted in different ways. He made friends with many different creatures of the sea, but none of them would ever play together before their elders because if their friendship was ever to be revealed the creature would be ostracized.

Prem become really good friends with a dolphin named Habibi. ![dolphin](y-dolphinsky.gif) Each day they’d play in far off place where no one could see them. Habibi taught Prem how to jump out of the water just as a dolphin and Prem would teach his dolphin friend to stand on her head and wave her tail within the water just like a whale. Together they discover many far off places within the sea and met new creatures with whom they created close acquaintance. They enjoyed each others’ company very much, but they were extremely afraid of their elders.

Whenever Prem played with his whale friends he would teach them different things that they had never learned before. All his friends really liked him, but they all thought that he was strange because the things he taught his friends were different from what the elders liked to teach them. As he grew up he learned about others and about his inner potential. Prem would often go on little swims by himself to meditate on the things around him. He would often think of ways to bring all creatures of the sea into one unified whole, instead of different sects who loved none other but their own kind. The more he thought about this the more determined he became to get rid of the egoistic notions that each sea creatures had about one another.

He went to Habibi and talked to her about how felt. Habibi understood Prem and she told him that there was nothing that could be done to bring about unity within the stubborn hearts of the adults. Prem went away disappointed and prayed sincerely “God, whoever you are, please help me to bring about unity within all my brothers and sisters in the sea.” Suddenly Prem felt a surge of energy enter his heart and with all the courage he had, he approached the Council of the Wise Whales.

He entered into a monstrous sized cave which was dark and silent. At the end of the cave he saw a light where the wise elders resided. Prem shyly approached the light and entered into the Kingdom of the Elders. They smiled at the little whale and asked him why he had come to them. Prem said to them bashfully

“I want to know why whales are not allowed to play with other sea creatures.”

A loud echo of awed voices resounded in the assembly hall. One whale answered “Because all the other species are evil.”

“How do you know that?” asked Prem.

“It says so in the Great Book of Whales.” thundered old Bahula the wisest of all the whales.

“Oh wise one, doesn’t it say that we should love one another.”

“Yes, but that only means love all whales, not those pesty little creatures who don’t have the strength we have. Why, if we wanted to we could destroy all of them in one second, that’s how powerful we really are. And that power makes us superior to all creatures.” boasted the Old Bahula.

“But, you should never misuse power oh great one, rather our strength should be utilized to help those who need it and…”

“How dare you talk back to us! All through our lives never has a whale of your size ever spoken to us that way.” scolded Mother Mimi peering over her spectacles. “Do you think yourself more knowledge than us? We have lived longer than you and indeed we know much more than what is in your little head. And for speaking against our teachings we will ostracize you unless you repent your sins to us.”

“But I have committed no sin.”

“What! Do you not know that the greatest sin to speak against this Council of Wise Whales?”

“Whatever I have said is true. Why do you wish to punish me for speaking the truth?” cried out Prem helplessly.

“GUARDS! Take this little whale away and throw him into the deep ocean. Let him live there all by himself!”

The guards took Prem and threw him into the depths of the sea. Prem hit his head against a rock and fell unconscious for a long time.

Suddenly Prem was spoken to by a soft voice, “Awaken my child.”

He opened his eyes and there he saw a beautiful light surrounded him and in the midst there was a beautiful whale with the sweetest voice that Prem had ever heard.

“Who are you?” asked Prem.

“I am your guide, sent from above to help you in your divine mission of love.”

“My divine mission of love” questioned Prem.

“Yes, yours. You wished to bring about peace and love within all your fellow creatures, and you have the power to do so if only you believe my child, if only you believe.”

“But I was ostracized from my group how can I go back?”

“This was all the arrangement of the infinite so you could come to me and so that I could guide you and help you understand the unlimited power you have within yourself to change the world if you wanted.”

“Oh I do! I want everyone to live in love and unity, but I don’t really know how teach them.”

The divine whale answered, “Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you.”

“Are you saying that they already know what I am trying to teach them?”

“Yes, the answer to all questions is within oneself.”

“Then why doesn’t everyone love each other?”

“Because they are all under the illusion that they are higher than the other. All you have to do is go within yourself and find your inner strength.” Then the divine being disappeared from the eyes of Prem.

Meanwhile Prem’s various friends around the sea of different colors and schools gathered at Habibi’s house to question the disappearance of Prem.

The beluga whale sat with her fin around Habibi comforting her and saying, “Don’t worry Habibi, we will find Prem for you.” Fifi the rainbow fish stretched his fin and said, “My friends and I have established a plan through which Prem can be found. Now, for all of you who are willing to participate say ‘gurgle’”.

A resounding gurgle filled Habibi’s habitat. Fifi reached out to the beluga whale who in turn reached out to a whale from Prem’s school and so the chain continued until all the sea creatures united, and so they set out to search for their friend, Prem.

Month upon month passed and the search party grew larger as different sea creatures migrated to join it for they were all touched by Prem’s mission. Therefore the sea had become a multitude of colors as various species bonded and interacted together in unity.

Suddenly the triumphant cry of Habibi pierced the calm sea, “Look! There he is!” They all saw Prem and because cheerful at heart. However, they knew something was wrong.

“It looks like he is dying of hunger!” lamented a friend. Habibi lifted her companion’s limp body onto her dorsal fin and lowered her head to hear his soft murmuring.

“I am so proud of you all. Those who do not cherish love wander deceived and bewildered. Without peace and happiness we can have no destiny except remorse and anger. But now I see that this will not happen here because now our home has become an ocean of love. My mission is fulfilled and now I must leave.”

“You cannot leave us” cried his friends, “All of us have gone to great lengths to find you, how can you leave us?”

“But this problem of searching for me has given you the greatest gift you will ever receive. The gift of love.”

Saying this Prem left his mortal body and ascended into the higher realms above.

Unafraid

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:04 -0800

Driving forward motion
The fire burns away
All that is not God
And illuminates the way
In this eternal moment
Time does stand still
I am in alignment
With the one and only will

Opening my petals
Spreading my wings
Not even thinking
About what this brings
The fire burns within
My eyes glare bright
No longer any darkness
For I am filled with light

The path lay before me
I walk it unafraid
All lack is illusion
Whole as I was made
Nothing else exists
But focus of steel
Doing what is right
Doing what is real

All of life sings
In harmony together
There is no opposition
For there was never
There is only faith
There is no fear
Destiny is certain
The way ahead is clear

Taking each step with
Certainty and knowing
Confidence and calm
Just keep on growing
I know precisely what
It is that I must do
And that this path will lead
Me home to you

The Rosebush

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:03 -0800

A rosebush can show the many opportunities one can pursue, if one stays honest and aware.

This article was inspired by Angelkate who has been kind enough to let me stowaway on her pirate ship. She has taken me on many an adventure while steering a true course between the water and the sky. We have seen glorious storms and traveled under the vibrant rainbows they leave behind. Perhaps she may agree that what follows is a proper compensation for the never-ending voyage.

Imagine a rosebush.

The roots secure deep into the earth, embedded within a foundation of worthwhile values. We have the support for honorable convictions.

The stems rise up with confidence that comes from strength and flexibility. When the winds blow, they do not break. They bend, but always return to their position of integrity.

The branches spread seeking, each reaching out beyond the stem from which it emerged. Through their explorations, knowledge is continually discovered.

The leaves look out towards the light. Bathed in radiance, they absorb the truth that fuels existence itself.

The rosebush is nourished by the power of the earth, the excitement of the wind, the illumination of the sun and the joy bourne by the tears from the clouds.

Nature delights in her creation.

Take this picture and see it has been etched indelibly into the smooth canvas of eternity.

Call it what you will: it is you, your true self, your spiritual essence.

It is indestructible and everlasting and waiting …

Now put some tracing paper over the canvas. Start tracing the rosebush with your pencil. Be precise and accurate for every line, every curve, every detail and nuance is of utmost importance!

When you are finished, you will have a replica of what is there. It looks indistinguishable, carrying all the qualities of the original.

Your tracing paper has much empty space. You can customize it!

Put in some birds and bugs - a willingness to share.

Add some large thorns - a protector offering haven.

Create a mist all around - abode for an enigmatic magician.

Draw some roses of various colors - a bit of heaven is blossomed in.

Each tracing paper work is an image for you to be - it is a role you choose to play on the stage of life. You can have many such roles and to live them out, all you need do, is create it with a new page.

You can be many things …

the mischievous daemon playing pranks on the unsuspecting
the emotionless watcher observing the dance between life and karma
the courageous knight charging forth to right all wrongs
the kind empath listening, healing and rejuvenating
the pirate princess seeking hidden treasures beyond illusion

However!

There is need for care.

If one stays not alert, the tracing paper carrying whatever creations will move out of alignment from the source whence it came. Most things may look the same at the beginning of a shift, but the page appears blurry as though there is conflict. The formerly precise lines become muddled as the image on the paper becomes disharmonious with what is underneath.

Quick! Move the paper to find its proper position!
Too far!
No! That’s not correct either!
Try again!
Now this area looks reasonably alright, but it is off over here.

There is bewilderment, confusion, stress. Too much trouble is this!

I want to take the paper off the canvas! Then at least there will be only one view with no conflict! Yes that at least looks good to me off the canvas! May be this will be fine.

But no! There is no support and the thin paper flutters with the slightest disturbance. Without connection and substance, it soon wrinkles and rips. The once valiant image becomes a mere caricature. No amount of patchwork can repair it.

What is to be done?

Alright. Get another piece of tracing paper and let’s do this again.

Trace carefully with sincerity and awareness.
Avoid nothing.
Miss nothing.
Keep the work as true as its source.

It is done - you always have another chance! Even if you run out of tracing paper, you can get some more. However, don’t be wasteful - that would be treesonous!

This time keep the alignment firm! Draw beautiful things, but don’t let the paper lose alignment with what is underneath. If you do, both the beauty and the things are lost.

Stay aligned!
Always stay aligned.
Do not be drawn astray by temptation, by want, by enjoyment.
Become not irresponsible, apathetic, false.

Protect the alignment. It is all you have.

Aligned, there is no blurring. There is no bewilderment, there is no confusion, there is no stress, and most important, there is immunity from delusion.

The canvas belongs not to you, but the tracing paper does.

Use it well.

Thoughts Manifestations and Life

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:03 -0800

The thoughts we think manifest the reality we live in. Collectively, we create our universe. The inner essence will manifest into the outer. The inner essence is thought - conscious and subconscious levels of thought. The outer is what we perceive as our life, what “is”. Thought is senior to substance. All around us are manifestations of thought.

Thoughts are very real, tangible things. Thoughts literally create waves! When we think, we create certain vibrations. The universe itself is composed of various levels of vibrations. What we think affects the vibration of the entire universe - all with a “mere” thought!

Did you know that when you think of something negative, you literally do yourself and all of humanity a disservice? Thoughts are causes; “reality” is the effect. Every thought we think creates karma. The thoughts (seeds) we sow, create the reality (harvest) we reap. We cannot escape the effect of any cause. This is inexorable universal law, and we are subject to it whether we realize it or not. The universe does not bend for anyone; conversely, it rewards all for obediance to law.

The creative forces in the universe are thought, feeling, and spoken word. Thoughts create feelings. Feelings lead to words (mental utterances and verbal soundwaves). These are elements of creation itself. The universe itself was created in love! We were created in love. Our very essence is love! What a beautiful thing! It’s true that anything other than love is an aberration, out of harmony with our true essence. We can recapture that essence. Focus on thoughts of love, make actions of love, and create love all around you. Love is the highest vibration in the universe! Love is perfection. Love was created out of and by, perfection.

Thoughts lead to actions. Our actions create various levels of karma. It is therefore of extreme importance that we think the most positive, empowering, and constructive thoughts, in order to create the best possible reality - that which we desire, which resonates with our very core.

We can have anything we want. All we need to do is hold the desire, the vision - the thoughts, feelings, and words - long enough, deeply enough, strongly enough, and it will manifest. Vision creates the realization of dreams. With vision - a focused intent on that which we truly desire - we attract certain people, places, and things into our existence.

Inspiration is a powerful force. Inspiration works hand in hand with vision. Thoughts (vision) and feelings (inspiration) can get us places we only once wished for. Wishing is not enough; you need to go after it with all you’ve got. The place you start is inside your heart and soul. If you sow the inner seeds of vision coupled with inspiration, you will arrive at your desired destination.

You are heading somewhere. You are on a journey. Your destiny is in your hands. Where are you going? Is it where you want to be? If so, you are truly staying true to your heart, creating the destiny you desire. If not, realize you have the choice! The power is truly within you! Seize the moment - the NOW is all you have! Life is a mystery … unravel it!

Love … Live … Learn … Know … Sow … Reap … Grow

Soul Labyrinth

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:02 -0800

FOR AN INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE: Read whilst listening to the song that I was
listening to on repeat as I wrote it in the middle of the night… wait until
he’s sung the intro… then you’re good to go…

Past the gates of time
I walk in anticipation
Surrender myself to
A mysterious initiation

Oh Celtic cemetery soul labyrinth
Ivy creeping on grave cross stones
Cracked and twisted beyond time
Ancient whispers and moans

Holy dove angels scattered
Winding paths and flowers
Dark corners are beckoning
Immersed in God for hours

Suggestions of forest once before
I want to go deeper I want more
Get lost in the labyrinth of my soul
That I may find myself once more

I can barely take in your beauty
With these human eyes
I yearn to be one with you
No separate disguise

Presence hears my pleas
Pines shelter my heart
Silence sings to me
We never were apart

Trust and surrender
Return to simplicity
Follow your heart
The call of synchronicity

Dark peaceful still
Restful contemplation
Divinity is within me
Filling me with elation

Spiralling

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:02 -0800

Photo credit: Peter Smith, Newbery Smith Photgraphy

Surrounded by stone pillars
On the altar of our love
Spirit calls us from beyond
To merge with the sky above

I am you and you are me
Divinity sees its face
Within eternal stillness
From each unique place

You hold me and I hold you
In a sacred embrace
As we spiral endlessly
Through time and space

Timeless reality
Calls us from the dream
As we remember who we are
And not who we seem

Perfect peace is all there is
Eternal calm of now
Re-awakening together
Spiralling is how

That London Twang

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:02 -0800

I come from South East London
Accent a mix of things
It changes frequently
And disappears when I sing

I make up words quite often
Out of laziness I guess
Melding words together
So that I can speak less

“You’ve got that London twang”
A friend said when I spoke
“What do you mean?” I asked
“I sound like common folk?”

He explained grammatical errors
And a lilting of my voice
I said I planned elocution lessons
To make a better choice

He pleaded “No, don’t change your speech
Keep that London twang in reach!
You sound like you’ve got attitude
And won’t let no one mess with you!”

Although when I speak softer
I sound more well spoken
So shifting vocal gears
Can be quite a handy token!

The Battle

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:02 -0800

We revisit the famous conversation between a warrior and his charioteer before the battle of Kurukshetra.

The above image was modified using GIMP from an illustration by Anna Bhushan for Folio Society’s Bhagavad Gita. See other illustrations by Anna at her website.

On the field of Kurukshetra all was tranquil the evening before the battle between the forces of the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Arjuna who was the greatest archer of the latter group, pondered heavily on what was to come. For you see, the Kauravas were his brothers too and when the slaughter began, he knew he would be killing members of his own family.

He turned to the Lord Krishna in anguish:

“Alas what heinous sin are we about to commit from greed of sovereign and power, that we are prepared to slay our kith and kin! Happier would I be if my Kaurava brothers were to strike me down on the battlefield, unresisting and unarmed.”

Krishna proceeded to instruct him on how delusion leads one to differentiate between atman, the permanent universal spirit and the transitory body, which is mistaken for the true self. He taunted Arjuna:

“How is it that at this perilous moment, thoughts unworthy of the noble have overtaken thee?”

Arjuna lamented:

“How can I engage with arrows my teachers Bhishma and Drona who are worthy of my reverence? Nor do we know whether it is better that we conquer them or they conquer us. I will not fight. I will not kill my teachers or my kinsmen.”

Krishna then spoke:

“You are a kshatriya [warrior caste] and it is your duty to fight injustice and oppose wrongfulness. The struggle you seek to avoid is the struggle within your own self. It cannot be escaped …

Renunciation [sannyasa] and action [karmayoga] can both lead to salvation, Arjuna, but of the two the latter is essential, while the former is necessary.

One who is always in action can be a good renouncer, but the one who avoids action, excused through poetic lies told to oneself repeated to oneself like a monotonous mantra, is a hypocrite.

We all must act, but it is the attachment to the result of our action, that we must renounce.

You grieve for naught, O shining prince.

You kill no one, for I have already slain everyone!”

The Gift

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:02 -0800

Let us give a gift to the world,
a gift of joy and boundless peace.

Just for a moment,
let us see through the eyes
of those, so much weaker than us,
who suffer:

An infant prisoner, the veal calf,
crying in darkness for the mother
he has never known,
her milk collected for “higher” appetites.

The egg-layer huddling painfully
in cramped confinement, destined never
to know the joy of sheltering chicks
beneath her strong wings.

The suckling foal, force-weaned
and sold at auction
for his flesh - a number,
not a life.

Let us hear, just for a moment
the piercing screams of the doomed,
muffled by slaughterhouse walls
and hidden from human conscience.

It doesn’t have to be this way.
But by what means, we ask,
shall the agony cease, and
peace prevail in all the world?

Let us start
by lighting a candle for mercy
in our own lives, illuminating
a small piece of darkness.

Let us not turn away
from the cries of those who need us,
nor give in to tradition, industry, or false doctrines.
Fear not what is right.

Let us live peacefully
in all ways, choosing
compassion over indifference,
empathy over violence.

Then, let us reach into the darkness
to help light the candles of others … for all life.

Power of the Breath

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:01 -0800

Credit: ArtCuniqueLegend.DeviantArt.com

Power of the breath
Where all life is born
Burst through the veil
Divinity into form

Like a thousand horses
Running on the beach
Each of them from heaven
Divinity in each

Like the wind up high
Rolling through the storm
Like contrast of soft petals
Protected by a thorn

Creation of life
In a single breath
Through embracing life
Relinquishment of death

Breathing in nourishment
Then surrender letting go
I am the mystery
Unfolding as I grow

Rainbow River

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:01 -0800

There is nothing left to stay for
And everything for which to go
As I give birth to my soul
The rainbow river lets me know

Which path to take
Which trail to follow
The treasure waits
No time to borrow

The current pulls me in
As I let go to its strength
No longer any resistance
And I will go to any length

To protect the alignment
For it is all that’s real
No compromise of truth
Is pure divine will

Focus of an arrow
Doing what is right
Waters crystal clear
Ships sails bathed in light

Looking out to the horizon
Momentum gains its speed
As we stand upon the deck
Our destiny is freed

Sailing through the breeze
Warmth of the sun
We are colours of the rainbow
We are all one

Rosalind and the Purple Tulip

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:01 -0800

Throughout this story, click on the play button to hear each song.

In a small town, not very far away, there lived a girl named Rosalind. She loved the spring with its blossoms, chirping birds, and wonderful rain that washes away the dirty snow and waters the plants. Rosalind played outside with her older brother Terrance. The two of them loved looking after the plants in their special garden in the backyard. In the springtime bright tulips and yellow daffodils bloomed. As always their little garden was glowing with colour. Yet this spring was different …

Lu-la, Lu-la, Lu-lay
Come gather round me today
I have a story to say
Lu-La, Lu-la, Lu-lay.

Rosalind and Terrance, as usual, turned the soil of their garden and checked their plants daily to see which of them were blooming or were about to bloom. One day, Rosalind noticed a purple tulip with a white stripe on one of its petals.

“Oh, Terrance! Come see!” Rosalind called out. “Look at this tulip - I’ve never seen one like it!”

Terrance rushed over to look, but seemed disappointed.

“This purple tulip isn’t a pure colour like the others. It doesn’t really fit in our garden.”

“Terrance, I think it is beautiful. This will be my special tulip,” Rosalind claimed.

Everyday Rosalind took extra care of the purple tulip. She would talk with it, play games near it, and even gently stroke the petals. As the days passed, the tulip’s colour became brighter and it grew very straight, taller than the others. Even Rosalind’s mother and father said the tulip looked strong.

Rosalind told them the tulip was her best friend. She told Terrance that she was sure the tulip listened when she spoke. One day she even thought the tulip had spoken, but she wasn’t sure - it might have been the wind.

Well, one warm spring day, the family decided to make their first trip of the year to their cottage. Rosalind chattered happily to the purple tulip about this trip, telling it that she would be back in two days.

At the cottage Rosalind and Terrance played amongst the trees. Two days passed quickly and the children begged their parents to stay longer. Then they continued their play: hiding, climbing and running!

Back at their home the purple tulip waited for Rosalind’s return. After three days it began to droop just a little. By the fifth day the purple tulip’s petals had lost some of their luster and it began to wilt. Sadly it sang out for its friend,

Lu-la, Lu-la, Lu-lay
Rosalind come out to play
Love will show you the way
Lu-La, Lu-la, Lu-lay.

On the fifth day at the cottage, Rosalind suddenly remembered her friend, the purple tulip. She had told it she would only be gone two days. Oh, how she longed to see it now. She ran to her parents. “Please, please may we go back today? I have to see the purple tulip. I think it is missing me!” she cried.

Her mother told her it was too late to return that day but they would return early the next morning. Rosalind couldn’t sleep that night, thinking only of the purple tulip. She was the first to be ready to leave the next morning.

When they finally arrived back home, Rosalind burst into the backyard and ran to the garden. Tears began streaming down her cheeks as she saw her friend drooping limply.

“I’m so sorry for leaving you for longer than I had said. Please forgive me and be well,” she wished.

Rosalind sat like a stone by the purple tulip for a very long time until she heard a faint song,

Lu-la, lu-la, lu-lay
Rosalind come now, be gay
Love has shown us the way
Lu-la, lu-la, lu-lay.

She looked at the tulip and smiled. Its stem had straightened!

“I’m so happy to have a friend like you Purple Tulip,” Rosalind cooed softly.

The two special friends stayed together - Rosalind beaming and the purple tulip’s petals glowing again …

New

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:00 -0800

I’m clearing out my life
of baggage held so long
no need for limitation
this makes me strong

No need to talk about
the moment that is now
plans or hopes or dreams
why or when or how

silence says it all
heart sings aloud
God is right here
not on some distant cloud

appearances can deceive
but all that I need
is here in my heart
and so I am freed

Of the dream of separation
imagined complication
all comes into focus
there is only elation

expansion of the soul
opening of the heart
awareness of the whole
of which I am a part

no need for fear
illusion has dissolved
concentrated energy
channels my resolve

To be bold and brave
to be right and true
to never be afraid
to step into the new

Ode to Pericles

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:00 -0800

A poem about our first child!

Now, little Pericles
Won’t you come a bit closer, please?

And whisper softly in our ear
Those sweet phrases we long to hear

“Baby”, " Hi", and “Where are you?”
Surely that’s not all you can do!

Oh yes, “Hi ho, Hi ho”
As you rightly know

Is our very favorite.
We listen, we moan, we savour it

Whenever you bless us with that tune
Sadly we wonder why you stop so soon.

But we know your wishes are supreme
So we merely wait until you deem

It fit to begin your song again
Joyously we listen and then

You peck us with a perfunctory kiss
As a smokescreen so that we all will miss

Your devious trip to the plant
Which you desire though knowing you can’t

Quite reach its lofty, perilous tip
Without considerable fortitude and hardship.

Still you embark on this onerous task
Without fear. However, of us you ask

To leave in peace so that only you
On those green threads, can gleefully chew.

As you approach your destination
You are jolted by a terrible sensation -

A large knobby hand grasping at your chest
In a most morbid, miserable, mutinous test

Of your patience and your good manners
Which you maintained, having waved banners

Of friendship to those now blocking your way.
“Is this how they choose to repay

Those countless hours I devoted to them?
Do they not realized I am a gem?”

You query, thoroughly disgusted, out loud
Faced with yet another “disallowed”.

It seems Round One you have decidedly lost.
You feel it was worth whatever the cost.

Having accepted some measure of defeat
You flop onto The Shoulder and begin to eat

The fluff that appears on your scruffy collar.
You know this is safe, no one will holler.

We watch as you tire and puff into a ball
Close your eyes, question the meaning of it all.

For in the distance you can hear us squeal
Pericles, Pericles, our beloved cockatiel!

We notice your every move and feather
Thinking you dream of beautiful heather.

You smile inwardly at us, as you
Lie busily scheming for Round Two!

We shout our delight as you awaken
The deafening roar leaves you visibly shaken.

However, you proceed with great dignity
Towards the tempting bended knee

On which you place a little deposit
Then fly off, wondering why does it

Bother us so, this act of nature
Which only helps to maintain your stature.

When we call you, as we climb upstairs
You promptly mount the head with less hairs.

To reach the pinnacle of your success
You pause to obtain another caress.

Yes, we are falling right into your trap
Round Two is underway in a snap!

As we appear to be dresser bound
You lean towards that mahogany mound

Showing us that you truly wish
To walk on that little dish.

Strutting carefully, you hide your desire
To jump into the drawer quagmire.

Pretending to ignore our acts
You are quickly adding up the facts

Of when you might merrily
Attack those hairpins and broaches you see.

With lightning speed you flash into the pit
If only you could dapple in it

As freely and heartily as you could choose.
Oh no! Not more terrible news!

Down swoops that dreaded hand.
This time you decide to take a stand.

You flap your beak, hiss with bluster
As fiercely as courage could muster

Swerve and swoon with tremendous skill
Continuing to maneuver until

Unfairly looms yet another hand
Which grapples mightily with the command

Of the post you had obtained.
Alas, your energy finally waned,

You yield, completely, to circumstance
But, bearing no grudge, you begin to prance

Upon The Shoulder you really love so.
All is forgotten as you again are aglow

With curiosity, caring, and compassion.
This is the substance we try to fashion

Ourselves after, learning from you
While you entertain on a running shoe.

We beckon to you, missing you already.
Your company, you see, is really a steady

Source of immeasurable pleasure to us
That’s why, Pericles, we create such a fuss.

Your friendly, gentle, beguiling way
Has found a place in our hearts to stay.

One

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:00 -0800

Everything is made of one
All else is illusion
If you perceive separation
You will feel confusion

There is no point in resisting
And trying to block things out
Just open up to more
That is what life’s about

New experiences of the soul
Another piece revealed
Is this never ending
Love that God is sending?

Reveal that problems don’t exist
Except in our perception
Surrender thoughts to God
For effortless correction

These roles are all pretend
This world is one big show
What does it matter what we do
Or where we choose to go?

Yet each one of us is infinity
In a droplet of water
In a single molecule
Heaven’s son and daughter

It is our duty to bring
Forth the gift of light
All the bells in heaven ring
When we do what is right

Angels sing and rejoice
When love is our choice
All of creation dances as one
In kindness, beauty, joy and fun

It all begins so simply
The divide is just mirrors
All aspects of the whole are
A kaleidoscope that glimmers

When I look at you
I see me looking back
Yet everything is new
And yet there is never lack

Each of us whole and complete
Yet individually unique
A world created when we meet
Union we do seek

Aspects of God
Yet all the same
Let’s play the game of life
Now we know our name

You hold the paintbrush in your hand
Your choices sweep the brush
Let them come from truth
And your painting will be lush

All the stars shine brightly
Back from afar
The colours you reflect to them
The truth of who you are

Let heaven’s light shine through
The divine channel that is you
Do what it is you love to do
Live every day pure, real and true

P Equals M C Snared

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:00 -0800

This work came about as a result of having to defend two venomous onslaughts on the nobility of physics. Unfortunately, certain people don’t seem to realize the universality of this simple truth - physics is everything! The word physics means the knowledge of nature and nature is all encompassing.

Those engaged in other disciplines have a great deal of difficulty appreciating the immeasurable debt they owe to physics. They don’t seem to like it when they are told that their discipline is really physics, but called by a different name. For instance, math is just numerical physics, chemistry only wet physics, biology but living physics, history merely old physics, languages necessarily talkative physics and psychology purely thoughtless physics. The list can go on and on.

Those unable to accept such truths generally put forth bravado posturing initially, invariably succumbing in short order to the inevitable. It is, however, worth relating the parrying of the two most blatant attacks ever.

The first was The Chemical A Salt which claimed that chemistry preceded physics. The second was The BigMath Attack which insisted that physics was a part of mathematics. Their subsequent and necessary annihilations were brought about by a close examination of the role physics played over the centuries.

As you read the following, you will see certain phrases are italicized. We recommend you pay particularly pensive ponderation to these, simply because they are italicized. Finally, you should have little trouble figuring out what the letters in the title stand for. Let us begin.

The Chemical A Salt

(Confused conundrums by crass chemists)

The perpe traitor of this attack insisted that chemistry came before physics via alchemy - and wanted me to look it up if I didn’t believe him. So being a fair individual, I went to Google and typed up “did chemistry come before physics via alchemy”. Not surprisingly there were no documents at all making it highly likely that either the answer is negative or that some sinister being had deleted all pages supporting the statement (a very implausible idea considering the security the internet offers). I have tried to look it up so my conscience is clear and can now proceed to tell the real story.

It is true that alchemy was the predecessor of chemistry. It is also true that it was an early science. Though most references will tell you it started around the 1400s or so, its roots were probably much older and appeared in many different countries too. For example, Indian alchemists existed in the 7th century and the Chinese alchemist Ge Hong lived in the 4th century.

Be that as it may, what I will tell you is how alchemy transmuted into chemistry with the help of physics. This will be a rather occidental version of the story so please orient yourselves accordingly.

The ancient Greek Empedocles (well he really hadn’t aged that much) established in 430 BC four elements Earth, Air, Water and Fire. (This was not the birth of chemistry just because the word element is used!) It was believed that everything else was made from these though Aristotle added a fifth element, Aether, which haunted humanity right into the 20th century.

So the alchemists set to work trying to make gold (and some other stuff) primarily because they thought they could get rich. Well! It wasn’t that simple now was it? Things didn’t quite work out and so some tried dishonest things like creating impure mixtures and passing these off as gold. Fortunately, the brilliant physicist Archimedes foiled one of these attempts while taking a bath. So elated was he that he ran out into the streets where he met people who had not taken a bath and quite justifiably started shouting “eu reek a” at them.

Anyway, as alchemy developed in later centuries, it was reasoned that any substance could be changed into another by merely combining things in the right proportion. Again the primary effort was to produce gold, but in that unsuccessful attempt many other chemical elements were found. Now, some unscrupulous alchemists tried to fool people into thinking that all that glitters was gold (whence fools gold ) and their profession fell into disrepute. So the remaining good ones, who suddenly had all these other elements in hand, decided to change their name to chemists (removing anyone with the name of Al lan or Al bert from their ranks) and their science to che mistry (so that people would think there was something mysterious about them).

One of the first of these new chemists was Robert Boyle, who in 1661 published a journal called The Sceptical Chymist, because he was sceptical about being a chemist (therefore the unusual spelling), since he figured he should be a physicist due to his discovery of Boyle’s Law of Gases which of course had nothing to do with chemistry at the time.

Within a couple of centuries, the physicists had worked out some of the principles of atomic theory and so that gave the chemists something to do with all the elements they kept on discovering. So the Italian chemist Avogadro created a large number that proved to be useful (though it irked the mathematicians who liked to keep numbers to themselves - more on this later though) and Mendeleev was brought in from Russia periodically to help organize the elements onto a table.

Now the biggest problem the chemists faced though, was finding names for all these elements. Therefore, they started naming them after their own countries scandium Sc and germanium Ge, after gases such as oxygen O and hydrogen H, and then just to confuse everyone they also did really weird things like calling sodium Na and gold Au and mercury Hg!

There was still the problem of identifying further information about the elements such as atomic numbers, so several physicists such as Roentgen, Barkla, von Laue and the Braggs used xrays to help determine crystalline structures. Characteristic xrays of atoms were later used to help pin down the element to Mendeleev’s table by its atomic number. Thus, hydrogen was given the number 1, and helium the number 2 and so on. Unfortunately, the table had become so crowded that the chemists actually lost four elements, numbers 43, 61, 85 and 87. Some chemists looked around and claimed they had found these elements, but since no one else could find them (even under Mendeleev’s table), for a while, they remained lost.

When the chemists had come to the end of collecting and losing elements, physics opened a whole new door for them - that of radioactive elements. Marie Sklodowska, a polish chemist, married Pierre Curie and became a physicist and the two of them proceeded to discover radioactivity. Radioactive elements consist of large atoms (sometimes called fatoms ) that transmute or split into smaller elements. For example, uranium U could break down into ura and nium , but it doesn’t because those elements don’t exist, so instead it breaks down into other elements that do exist, because it was so fat to begin with. Those other elements wind up being something like Sr and Xe which have nothing to do with U, but that’s because of the weird way they were all named in the first place, isn’t it!

So, by looking in all the debris produced by some of these fatoms, chemists were able to find those lost elements which they promptly proceeded to name any way they felt like. The final element of the group to be discovered was not 87 by the way, because that would just be far too sensible a thing to do. Instead, they discovered 61 last and called it promethium after the Greek chemist Prometheus who had stolen fire for mankind. Well, they thought he was a chemist because of the fire thing since chemists use fire in their bunsen burners, but really he was a physicist because he invented astronomy. Some of you may recall that while he was mistaken for a chemist he got covalently stuck to a rock for a while, but was eventually freed by the physicist Hercules who performed 12 physical tasks all involving physics (occasionally called labor s, because they were done in the labor atory of the universe).

After the periodic table was filled up, the chemists tried looking for new territory by starting quantum chemistry, but it was too late since the physicists already had quantum physics. However, with typical generosity, the physicists shared a few nuclei with them because otherwise much grant money would be taken back.

So there wraps up the development of chemistry from its alchemistic beginnings. As you see, the physicists did eventually help realize the alchemists’ dream of transmuting elements, but not in the way they wanted, so they weren’t very happy and took to writing their stuff on webpages instead.

The BigMath Attack

(Malicious manipulations by maniacal mathematicians)

The Oxford dictionary defines mathematics as “abstract science which investigates deductively the conclusions implicit in the elementary conceptions of spatial and numerical relations”. We will not accept that definition partly because it is incomprehensible, but mostly since it does not permit the history of math to go back further than Thales 600 BC (ref D Smith’s History of Mathematics p2). Naturally, this would end the attack before it even starts since physics is much older than 600 BC and therefore, physics couldn’t possibly be a part of math as this particular perpe traitor insists.

So let us start much earlier when essentially there were only a few numbers. 1 was one of them. After 1 there may have been 2. And everything else was termed many, because there wasn’t any need for other numbers. Gradually though, the mathematicians wanted more. The physicists who were watching this development for quite sometime did not object them this desire - after all, they had the whole universe to play with \ but little did they know what was in store.

The mathematicians’ overwhelming greed for numbers led to the acquisition of the whole numbers first because they were the most handy (and footsy giving 20 to start with). A lot more were soon found, but it wasn’t enough so the conquests continued in barbaric fashion as numbers were fractured into pieces to produce fractions (they were sometimes called decimals because someone wanted to make a point ). How the poor fractions were able to remain rational through it all is a good question, but many decimals went totally irrational as a result of what they witnessed. The numbers were undergoing a terrible ordeal and developed multiple personalities as a result of the stress - some became very negative , for others the change was quite complex. Fortunately, through hindusight , the number zero appeared, taking a leadership role and stabilized the system somewhat.

The mathematicians’ lust however was not satisfied. In fact, they became concerned that they would soon run out of numbers (you see, infinity just was not enough for them) and began raiding the languages. First they took an x and forced it to be anything they felt like, and then the y followed and more (the one good consequence of this aggression was that algebra was born). If this wasn’t bad enough, they raided the Greek alphabet and stole an alpha, then a beta and anything else they could usurp. The noble physicists couldn’t just stand by and watch this mayhem taking place so they kindly gave the mathematicians a useful place to put the letters. For instance, the d’s were often used for distance, and the t’s were used for time, and F for force. However, due to considerable indecision amongst the mathematicians certain letters wound up in strange places - like p for momentum. Actually, it wasn’t a problem initially because momentum was originally p momentum with the ‘silent p’ as in p seudopod or p sychology, but the physicists dropped the ‘p’ because they didn’t want to confuse everyone like the pseudopodologists (who were a bit of an embarrassment to biology and had to often be apodologized for) and the psychologists (who were a bit of an embarrassment to everything because they kept going psycho ).

I really should also point out here that the biologists in particular didn’t take too kindly to the dropping of the unnecessary p in pmomentum, even though it wasn’t their field, and went around taunting the physicists by name-calling (something biologists tend to do a lot) them physi cysts , physi cysts rather immaturely stressing the ‘cysts’ implying they were undesirable growths.

In any case, because the Greek alphabet had so been ravaged, the physicists even went as far as creating a whole new field, high energy physics, to help place some of those letters in the form of muons, pions, lambdas, sigmas and etceteras.

Still not satisfied, the mathematicians attacked the Roman system overworking certain letters excessively. For instance, consider the letter I - it was actually used 3 times III to represent the number 3! As a result the Roman system was severely impacted and certain letters like G, J, U, W, X, Y just disappeared. However, because they had a good army they tried to get some of the letters back from the Greeks, but with only moderate success: the Romans ran over Greece and fell (understandably), but still managed to recover everything except the J,U, and W. It really didn’t do much good though, because their mathematics never progressed too far beyond rudimentary multiplication as a result of the number system that the mathematicians had mangled, so when the Visigoths descended upon them and started dividing up the Roman empire they really didn’t know what was happening at all.

In fairness, I must state that not all mathematics was this violent. There were many peaceful developments too. For example, the first methods for counting sheep were developed by a Greek mathematician named Ewe clid. However, he realized just in time that this activity was making him drowsy and so went on to create the axes of geome tree which were subsequently used by woodcutters not warriors. As you probably know, his techniques of counting sheep are still used by people sometimes before bedtime, but mostly during math classes.

I won’t go into the many other instances where the physicists helped out the mathematicians (such as how Newton had to invent the calculus, because the mathematicians just couldn’t be bothered to since they were busy arguing about some triviality or other - geewiz, he even had to write the Principia Mathematica for them!) simply because they are too numerous and I can’t remember them anyway.

Others

Please note that not all other fields reacted like the mathematicians. Most actually worked with the physicists to create wonderful sciences. For instance, geologists who are of rock-solid character went on to create geophysics. The biologists (after that earlier bit of silliness) saw the marvels of physics in life and created biophysics. Astronomers who are stellar people created astrophysics. Even a group of philosophers a long time ago, after they met a physicist (can’t recall whom) developed meta physics. The list goes on and on.

So where did some people get the naive idea that math is the foundation of physics? I think it is because of the very poetic and beautiful statement

“Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe”

which was made as a magnanimous gesture by the physicist Gallileo at the end of the famous Walt Disney film “Donald Duck in Mathemagic Land”. I know this to be true, because I saw that excellent film many times. Perhaps you have seen it as well.

Paper Folding for the Practical Person

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:00 -0800

The process of folding paper is a rewarding one since it provides an opportunity to exercise one’s creativity within strict outcomes. Furthermore, the finished product of this activity has various utilitarian applications as will be illustrated in the second part of this article.

Though many types of folding exist, we will restrict ourselves in this document to the class of bifolds. Future articles may be published which deal with folding of greater complexities.

Precision paper folding demonstrated

The first step for the serious and conscientious folder to undertake is to acquire an assortment of folding tools and become familiar with them. One may of course be tempted to purchase power folding equipment, but such mechanization invariably diminishes much of the joy from this activity, the ‘hands-on’ aspect having been removed. One doesn’t require much for manual folding as will be seen below.

A most pragmatic tool to have is a flat table (though a grand piano will likely do in a pinch).

A typical flat table.

Do not try to fold paper with a non-flat table as these are not as effective nor are they particularly easy to come by. Flat tables are often found in your neighbor’s living quarters such as a kitchen or dining room. Usually with minimal coercion, this item can be relocated to your work area.

Neighbor somewhat incredulous regarding table transport.

One specific advantage of effecting this course of action is that it may be difficult for your neighbor to take the table back out in which case you can emphasize that given the circumstances, you will not trouble him/her a second time for the same item.

Neighbor exhibiting possessively irate tendencies.

Having gained access to a flat table, the next required item is a standard physics book. If you were sufficiently negligent enough to separate yourself from your physics book in the past, you can always turn to your helpful neighbor rather than going out to buy one, but be sure to do so before explaining the difficulties he/she may encounter in trying to return the flat table to its previous location.

A final essential of course is to have material for these tools to work on. In other words, you require paper to fold. Once again, your neighbor may be able to supply you. Taking paper from your neighbor provides more than the benefit of house-cleaning to him/her, because you never know what documents will be gratefully handed over, such as various identifications, credit card statements, compromising correspondence etc. Not only can paper folding be a relaxing pastime, this mere hobby may eventually lead to entirely new career opportunities for you!

Now you are set to proceed.

First place the physics book on the flat table in the normal way a physics book ought to be placed for you will need to do some preliminary reading.

Physics book on table in normal position.

Open the physics book and find the table of contents which is usually near the front of the book. Start reading through it till you come to the Appendix listing which is usually inserted towards the end of the table of contents. Do not go to the actual Appendix which will likely be at the other end of the book. Instead, turn the book 90 degrees (or π/2 radians, if you prefer) clockwise. Note that the book’s right edge should be parallel to the edge of the table.

Physics book placed at π/2 radian orientation and opened.

Positioning yourself directly in front of the book, take your paper and place it so that the leading edge is against the middle of the book.

Paper placed correctly in physics book.

Then take the edge that is closest to you and line it up in the same fashion.

Folded paper in physics book.

Notice how conveniently the two edges line up with each other thanks to the effect of a physics book!

Carefully follow the paper back with your hands and crease the developing fold with your thumb, unless you prefer to use an alternate finger or some other part of your body.

Creasing paper using digital appendage.

Creasing can become increasingly fatiguing upon the body part employed and so various mechanisms can be utilized to alleivate this dilemma. One of the most effective is to take your neighbor’s math book and while holding the paper down firmly in its semi-folded position, press the former against the paper towards you thus forming the crease. Such a system is poetically appropos since physics often utilizes mathematical concepts.

Utilization of math book to crease paper.

However, if by unhappy chance you are unable to acquire a math book, as a last resort you may use an unabridged dictionary, which is arguably suitable since physics is required in the building of bridges.

Unabridged dictionary creasing technique demonstrated.

You can repeat this process a second time if you want a second fold and continue the action several times. Do not however try to exceed folding a paper in half more than x times where x has been empirically shown to be around 7 for all practical efforts regardless of the size of the paper (but up to 12 in special cases as demonstrated by Britney Gallivan in 2001).

After each paper has been folded according to the specifications required, you can take a break by reading a chapter in either the physics or math book and doing the odd-numbered problems. However, be sure to return to the end of the table of contents of the former when starting on your next page.

Various applications for folded paper

Below we list the many things you can do with folded paper. Each illustration is shown with a photograph captioned for clarity.

Brochure - very effective for advertising.

Fan - an honored, centuries old device.

Portable notepad which is easy to carry and write in.

Versatile office organizer for stationery.

Effective manual massage unit.

Holder for cd/dvd - remove items with care.

Make shift hat - don’t wear in rain or wind.

Fake moustache - use only for halloween events.

Temporary chew toy (do not try to substitute for dental floss).

Horn covers to be used when needed.

Martial arts weapon - demonstration by G’ar Thso, Master of Kungfold Clan.

Makeshift torch - handy for providing light or for the budding arsonist.

Period Dramas

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:37:00 -0800

I wonder why period dramas particularly appeal to women
Why some of us get flustered when we see Darcy swimmin’
Is it the suits and dresses that the characters wear?
Or perhaps it’s their manners and vocabulary flare

The male and female roles often contrast each other’s
And we are overjoyed when they finally are lovers
Is it the lead up that gives us such a thrill
Or does the first kiss provide the biggest chill?

We tend to romanticise these periods in time
When things looked beautiful, stylised and sublime
And it’s not always the gentleman who lure us into temptation
Slang talking peasants can have us in delightful contemplation

If you were Cathy would you choose Linton or the gipsy?
Surely either path would require you to be tipsy
Heathcliff’s wily ways or Edgar’s stiff oppression
Either one of these would have me in depression

With Heathcliff she has passion, longing and desire
Playing on the moors and embracing by the fire
With Edgar she has comfort, status, dining like a queen
He is well-spoken and his house is really clean

When Heathcliff is too harsh in his wicked behaviour
She realises that no one can ever be his saviour
So she opts for Edgar who is charming and polite
Then it’s weird when she gives Heathcliff an invite

But when she gets ill, needs some air and sees that light
All she wants to do is go back to Wuthering Heights
In order to avoid the gloomy outcome of that tragedy
I shout at the TV “Cathy, choose a different strategy!”

I like the way that Kate Bush sings it in her song
About the windy moors and how it all went wrong
Is it a love story with a tragic twist
Or about the revenge of a narcissist?

Pride and Prejudice is the one in which it takes them ages
Because they have to go through a multitude of stages
Of misconceptions about what one another is thinking
Couldn’t they just have flirted and done a bit of winking?

Mr Darcy comes across as mean, quite stern and cold
He likes Lizzy’s character and how she can be bold
But he stands around in his moody looking prance
So it’s awkward between them even when they dance

However as she gets to see some more of the facts
She realises the gossip was spread by a load of prats
Then she finds him cute and his silence appears charming
But she keeps it secret as she finds it so disarming

The man who she once hated is now the one who she desires
And all the crap and everything was merely due to liars
Eventually after all of that they finally share their feelings
Then it ends abruptly and we don’t see any of their dealings

Except for their brief and simple double wedding scene
Such a visual anti-climax that unfolded on my screen
I was expecting a massive church and to see their married life
But no point I guess cause romance is dead now that she’s his wife

If you were Jane Eyre what would you do
If Mr Rochester had hid his wife from you?
All that time he had her locked up in the tower
Which would only make her crazier hour after hour

A famous scene is when he asks Jane to marry him
And she wonders if he is for real or acting on a whim
In disbelief that Rochester would propose to his maid
And probably wondering if she would still get paid

His dramatic declaration made me go all funny
All soft and fuzzy in my tummy like a fluffy bunny
Still his temperament is slightly grumpy for my liking
If I lived with him I’d need to do a lot of hiking

At one point they endured a prolonged separation
Then when they reunite we feel such elation
Rochester was in a fire and now he’s partially blind
But because he’s got Jane back he really doesn’t mind

Jane has got her independence now that she has money
And likes to emasculate him because she thinks it’s funny
I guess that this was her attempt at becoming his equal
Maybe she would beat him up if they made a sequel

Why do some of us seem to like these characters
Who have dark secrets and lots of dodgy factors?
When quite clearly the oppression is not appealing
Do we need psychological healing?

One aspect which seems to be a factor that is prominent
Is the appeal to many women of a man who is quite dominant
After much analysis I have come to a conclusion
That really it is all just a bit of an illusion

Smoke and mirrors create this convincing charade
Because our gender roles are merely a façade
It’s not really about romance or marriage whatsoever
Fairy-tales or babies or shacking up together

So what has it to do with being woman and man?
It all seems to be a part of the great plan
In shards of glass my mirror seems broken and un-whole
When I am merely stuck within my female role

Who am I as I go beyond life’s surface play
Living out these parts of me that I hid away?
What do I discover and what do I see
As I unlock my treasure chest and throw away the key?

This poem is dedicated to Jennifer… friend, fairy, crystal whisperer,
healer.

Mist

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:59 -0800

(Graphic courtesy of dreamatico.com)

into the mist a winged horse sings

through the clouds music she brings
gliding on rainbows high in the sky
mysterious with grace she flies
into the mist she sings

Narad to Nirvana

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:59 -0800

There is an ancient Hindu story about the messenger Narad who used to travel between heaven and earth to maintain ‘communications’ so to speak. On one such trip to heaven, he happened to go past two yogis practising in an effort to prepare for Nirvana. Each asked Narad to find out how long he would have to wait.

So Narad checked out the situation for the yogis up in heaven and on his way back he dropped by to tell each their ETA.

To the first, he said you have two more lifetimes.

The yogi was greatly pained.

“Two more lifetimes? Two more lifetimes! It is so long, so tediously long. I’ve worked so hard for twenty lifetimes already and now I must endure two more.”

Narad left the yogi in his despondence for he would not be consoled by any means and headed over to the other one.

“You have to wait forty lifetimes before going to heaven”, he told that yogi.

The yogi was elated!

“Forty lifetimes! Only forty lifetimes before I see my Lord! I will work all that much harder now that I know there is so little time. I will make myself worthy so my Lord will be pleased with the best I can give with my next forty lives!”

Narad said to him, “Just a second while I answer my cellphone for the Lord is calling … Hmmm, it seems that there has been a recent vacancy … and it … looks like you can leave for Nirvana right now! Congrats!”

(Ok Ok, I made the last part up, but it is sort of the way the story ended anyway!)

In the Shower

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:58 -0800

Why does showering make people sing?
Is it a biological or habitual thing?
When the water starts cascading down
Some start to make all kinds of sounds!

Get thoroughly wet and lather the soap
No room for rubber ducky or a sailor’s boat
Just a waterproof radio and a bottle or two
And in the corner possibly some mildew

A quick wash and go can refresh one nicely
Or a long luxurious waterfall relaxes enticingly
Some additional shaving may also take place
Or an exotic salt scrub upon the body and face

Showers are versatile in the uses that they have
And they loyally await as you sit on the lav
Among some of the purposes that they serve
Is to rejuvenate the weary or calm the nerves

In cold weather they can warm us up real quick
Or in hot weather they can cool us down a trick
But most of all they keep us clean, fresh and hygienic
Contributing greatly to our appearance being scenic!

Into the Rainbow

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:58 -0800

Into the rainbow I fly
Beautiful colours in the sky
A portal to the unknown
Infinite mysteries of the soul

Waiting to be discovered
Treasures to be uncovered
I let go and am taken
I surrender I awaken

It’s not over the arch
It’s not at the end
It’s not the pot of gold
It’s now it’s fresh

Carried on the breeze
Of love’s free wings
Entering the newness
My soul sings

Riding the rainbow
My will is one
With all of creation
The whole spectrum

Introverts and Extroverts

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:58 -0800

I can only speak for myself as I describe it how I see
But I imagine that many will find a similarity
The meaning of introversion is often misconstrued
So try listening to a few before you conclude!

Each of us has tendencies that are of both kinds
Introversion and extroversion in each of us combined
Energies that express themselves in many different ways
Yet are one and the same like the nights and days

Some of us embody one more than another
Others are an equal concoction of both
But what is important is that we love our true-selves
So before we continue let us take this oath!

I promise to be true to myself
No matter what I face
As there is nothing more important
Than love to the human race

Everything in nature is created perfect, whole and complete
This includes who I am, what I love to do and how I love to be
In the fabric of creation there exists a single place
That is shaped exactly like me because I am ace!

As an introverted Scorpio I would like to share and note
What drives me into hibernation and what floats my boat
Then at the end of this poem a message awaits you as if the free oath wasn t
enough already
So are you ready-steady?

Recently I discovered that my door bell had broked
But I left it as it was because I felt rather stoked
The peace of no disturbance was extremely pleasant
That is one recent example of my introverted essence

I hang out in locations that are quiet and secluded
I perch in strange places and act mysterious and illusive
Libraries are a treasure trove and parks are my church
In old Celtic cemeteries I particularly like to lurk

I prefer to share the company of one person at a time
Or small gatherings of folk with similar interests to mine
In an ambient setting in which I can easily chill
Or sharing fun activities for a playful thrill

In a restaurant I take shelter in a cove or corner
And take special care over what I want to order
I like to talk about philosophy and things that are deep
Like astrology, dreams and astral travel during sleep

Sometimes as well I make no sense whatsoever
And would rather be silly than remotely clever
I like to lose my mind and then find it once more
Often even wondering what I need it for!

Buzzing places are not really my preference
I will use the high street as my exemplary reference
I will smile when, with forest they are wild and over grown
And sales reps with clip boards leave me the ** alone

Neither are nightclubs usually my scene
I much prefer somewhere quiet and serene
Though dancing is fun so on an extremely rare occasion
The music lures me in with a melodic persuasion

The busy streets of London although an interesting maze
Are too loud and polluted to spend many of my days
Traffic, fumes, concrete and road works galore
Traipsing through that jungle seems like a chore

I prefer mooching around a quiet seaside town
With plenty of places where I can sit down
Or a day in the forest climbing rocks and trees
Outdoor activities fill me with eeeease

There are times when I am extroverted and come out of my shell
Times when I am loud and bold and even when I yell
When something really matters and it is what s required
Or when I feel fired up, excited and inspired!

My nature flows like water as the river finds it path
No structure can contain my rhythmic cries and laughs
And no plan can capture what lies within my heart
The cycles take me in and I realise I am part
Of something bigger than myself which I call living art

I invite you to celebrate your qualities and quirks
Because to doing so there are many perks
Maybe you could even write a list or poem too
About what makes you different, unique what makes you you !

And why not let us all have a sneaky peek?
Then pass this message on to others who do seek
Self-love and acceptance of their character traits
Let life be a feast, let s fill up our plates!

Spread this message like a magic elf
But first start with your beautiful self!

(As if there are regular elves?)

Jewel in the Dust

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:58 -0800

A man and his wife having lived into their old age chose to leave behind their worldly possessions and follow the path of spirituality. They lived in the cleanliness of poverty filling their days with praying instead of preying.

As they had no longer had a home of their own, they walked the dirt roads with the same reverence as though these led to heaven itself.

One day during such a walk, the man who had moved several yards ahead of his wife saw a sparkling on the side of the road. As he moved closer to it, he realized that it was a beautiful jewel which had fallen from someone’s necklace possibly. Afraid that his wife would be tempted to covet such a treasure, he casually walked to it and started trying to kick dirt over it, all the while looking back to make sure his wife didn’t see what he was doing.

Well she did see the rather strange sight of her husband churning up a bit of a dust bowl at the side of the road ahead of her.

So she called out: “Husband, what is it you are doing?”

He replied: “Nothing at all, my wife, I am doing nothing.”

She said: “But you are all covered with dirt from the road, why is that?”

He said between coughs: “Well I walked into a soft part of the road and …”

By now, she had caught up with him and he had run out of creative explanations.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

So he had to tell her: “Wife, I saw this jewel on the road and feared that you might be tempted into forsaking the spiritual path we have chosen to walk together. So that you would not see it, I was trying to hide the jewel with the dirt.”

She looked him in the eye for a few moments with kindness. Then she smiled.

Then she asked gently: “My husband, how is it that you see a difference between the jewel and the dirt?”

Kiyreagle

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:58 -0800

The story of our encounter with a 1981 AMC Eagle!

And so it begins

I first saw this Eagle on Craigslist while looking for a car to possibly replace my wife Ranjana’s Toyota Tercel. Of course, unlike the Tercel, this one ate gas, was large, had manual transmission and wasn’t drivable. So the idea of a replacement was somewhat ludicrous.

Still, there was an intrigue about it which is difficult to explain.

You see, we’ve never been interested in cars. My son, Kyron doesn’t drive and I don’t enjoy doing so. My son invariably falls asleep in a car, while I fortunately manage to resist that temptation. We like bicycling and find sitting in a car watching the scenery go by rather boring.

The only thing I liked about the car was that it was old and needed help. We like taking old things, be they animal, mineral or vegetable, and trying to give them a good home. However, there was no way anyone here would agree to taking a 1981 undrivable car and making it a tenant.

I watched the vehicle sit on Craigslist for several weeks and congratulated myself on having the good sense not to give the matter a second thought, even though I was giving it all these second looks.

Then one day, through a set of circumstances, I suggested that if we had a beater 4wd car just for the snow, it would solve the large problem of getting Ranjana, to her mother’s each night. This was an essential trip since my mother-in-law requires considerable care.

Well the Eagle was a 4wd … and I started thinking that while I was looking at it, the car might have been looking back. So I made the suggestion to my son that he examine the possibility, warning him that we’d have to do a lot of work on the car, automechanics being a completely new area for us. The one thing the car had going for it was the $600 price tag.

I was actually surprised when Kyron spent some time looking at the photos and reading up about AMC Eagles. Then as he usually does after evalutating something, he made a firm decision - he was interested in looking at the car.

So I contacted the owner by email and received honest answers to all my questions. The owner was very helpful, didn’t try to do a sell job on me, so we set up a time to look at the car. Furthermore, she gave me the link to the amceaglenest forum where she’d found everyone to be very helpful.

Looking on this really impressive forum, I stumbled upon the owner’s thread: The “Rescue” Eagle. The title was a curious one and as I read it, I understood why it was so named. What amazed me most, were the ‘desirous’ comments by many members wanting to possess what I honestly thought was really just an interesting piece of junk.

I also experienced the best ‘sales pitch’ by the owner, regalwizard (aka Kirsten) which was to provide a comprehensive display of the car with a multitude of photos as well as 3 videos, linked to from within the thread. Again, there was no persuasion attempted beyond providing the true picture and a sincere wish to provide a good home for this vehicle whose worth I had apparently misjudged.

I watched the thread progress with people trying to overcome the logistics of acquiring the vehicle, of creating space for it (some had more than one Eagle already), of trying to figure out how to convince a spouse that this would be a good idea. I was fortunate in that my son and I at least held a 2:1 majority, even if my wife didn’t like the idea.

Then I sensed the disappoints as no one turned up to take the car. I was amazed at the accommodation that Kirsten was willing to go to in order to find a home. The weeks turned into months with her bumping the thread at the beginning of each month.

This car just sat there from August to nearly mid-December.

The First Day

On a cold Wednesday morning, December 9, 2009, Ranjana and I went to see it overcoming the reluctance of the one hour drive. Kirsten met us in front of the storage center and then we met the car. She hoped we’d be able to fix up a few of the issues and, if we liked the car, we’d be able to drive it back.

She had brought a very basic toolkit consisting of some sockets and wrenches. I actually had brought a more impressive collection. The main difference though was that she knew how to use the tools properly and I didn’t.

The first problem was that both the front tires had gone flat. I figured this was an opportunity for me to make the one contribution I was likely capable of and promptly pumped up both tires (and possibly my ego at the same time). After that, I watched with considerable fascination as Kirsten went through the process of trying to start up the engine - unsuccessfully though.

She went to get some gasoline while I examined the car in greater detail. It was very dirty … but that could all be cleaned up. It didn’t work right … but may be it could be fixed. My wife wasn’t going to like the car … well, may be that could be fixed too.

Kirsten returned and put some gasoline into the carborator (and here I thought gasoline was supposed to go into the gas tank), and got the engine to fire up. It sounded rough and Kirsten explained that there was likely a leak in the exhaust pipe in front of the muffler. Then suddenly she yelled to me to turn off the car!

She had noticed the alternator belt was flopping and was concerned that it might damage one of the nearby hoses. The belt had become so loose that we could practically pull it off. I suggested we tape the hose to protect it and see whether it was actually hitting the hose, but when we started up the engine again, the belt just broke.

Then we noticed that there was a steady stream of oil leaking from the engine and while watching the black stuff flow out, the engine shut itself off on its own as if to say, “I’ve had enough”.

I was starting to think that I’d had enough too (there were after all two other vehicles we had in mind at lower prices), because we weren’t just looking at a car anymore, but a series of complications. However, Kirsten was undaunted by the events or by the cold.

First she removed the remains of the belt. Then she tried to determine where the oil leak was coming from and found that the oil filter ‘felt’ funny. Ok so, let’s replace the oil and filter and see what happens.

By now, I was motivated by her determination, though I thought it was a ridiculously cold temperature to do any work in. Off we went to the auto parts store - a 15 minute drive - to get something to drain the oil into, a filter wrench, some oil and yes, we were going to change the alternator belt, so I bought not one but two of these (I figured that if one didn’t work the alternate one might because it’s an alternator, right?). Kirsten would have bought all this herself, but I think it must have been too late for me. Kirsten noticed with some surprise that she had been calling it “your car” even though we had no intention of buying it at that time.

We got the oil filter off and sure enough it was banged up. After putting the new one on and putting oil in again, we started up the engine and were relieved to see that the leak was no more.

So now it was time for the alternator to have a new belt. Even though I had no idea what an alternator was, I could see that there was a place where the belt should go. The only problem was that there was this other belt in the way. Kirsten quickly undid the bolts to move that other belt so we could slip the alternator belt into position, but then we found out that it wouldn’t go onto the pulleys.

I thought it was most unfortunate that these belts couldn’t stretch like rubber bands and have some sort of link mechanism to them so they could go on without having to take the entire car apart. Kirsten and I tried to loosen some of the bolts holding the alternator in place, but I couldn’t see how it would move in the little slot I thought was for positional adjustments.

Since we couldn’t see well in the falling darkness, we thought we’d try to drive the car just a bit and forget about the alternator problem for now. Though she handed me the key, I thought kirsten should have the honor of being the first to drive it - besides, I didn’t want to mess something up. as she tried to put it into gear, all we could hear was a bit of grinding.

That was it.

It was too late, too dark and too difficult to do anything else that day. There were too many obstacles. Kirsten said that she’d contact her brothers whom she had seen restore some very difficult vehicles, so they might be able to help. I said that I might try coming down the next day and may be give the belt another try.

In a surprisingly trusting move, Kirsten handed me the TSM (technical service manual) and the keys. Now the TSM is a thick book and I like books (even if I don’t read much), so I thought we might be able to figure something out from this. Ranjana, who had most patiently endured several hours of sitting in our car, realized right away, that I was at least as enthusiastic about the book, as I was about the car. Somehow, having such a ‘bible’ made one feel more capable than one likely was.

After we got home, Kyron and I studied the alternator section of the TSM. He felt we could do something. I told Kirsten that we’d definitely have a go at it ourselves (she couldn’t be there that day), provided she was ok with that. If she prefered we wait for her brothers, we’d be happy to. Kirsten’s feeling was that her brothers could come into the picture if there was something that the three of us couldn’t figure out.

The Second Day

Kyron, much to my surprise, was looking forward to getting to the car despite the long drive. He slept most of the way there as I expected, but once he saw the car, it became evident to me that he was going to be just as determined to make things work as Kirsten had been the previous day. In fact, Kirsten had actually made a special trip earlier in the day with the alternator belt she had inadvertently taken home, leaving it under the hood of the car.

Now Kyron knew less about cars than I did, so it really was a case of the blind leading the blind for the first part of that afternoon. However, he tends to pick up on things faster than I do and so after some fiddling, he figured out that we had to move the alternator in its housing to slip the belt on. When we started the car (and it was easier this time), the belt worked perfectly.

So, on to the shifting problem. Kyron had read the night before that the clutch was a hydraulic one and a couple of workers in the storage area told us to pump it several times slowly to make sure the fluid was topped up. We did all that, but still couldn’t shift into gear.

It had gotten too dark again to work, so we headed back home, hoping we’d find some solution in the TSM.

The Third Day

On Friday, Kyron and I made the drive down and found that Kirsten was already there replacing the non-functional headlights. she had thought it would be worth trying to see if the lights rather than the circuitry was at fault.

Then we found out that I had closed the hood of the car and that we couldn’t open it using the hood release. We tried getting to the locking mechanism through the grill, tried removing the grill and even contemplated cutting the release cable and pulling on it with pliers. Instead, we went and studied how Kirsten’s Eagle, Pepper’s hood lock worked. Playing with the lock on her car, we saw that there may be a possible way to get a screwdriver up onto the release hinge. Since I was the one who created this problem in the first place, it was only fitting that I solve it, which I did with such dexterity that I’ve been considering what my prospects as a safe-cracker might be.

We had to solve two major problems before we could drive the Eagle home. one was the clutch and the other was that the signal lights didn’t work. Thinking that the former was the more essential, we headed under the car to examine if the pushrod mechanism for the clutch was even working. To our relief we found that it was, but the spring holding it to the throwout lever was just dangling. We all thought we’d found the solution - just connect the spring and we’re off and away.

It is hard to believe that something so insignificant as a disconnected spring could create such difficulties, but try as we may, we weren’t able to reconnect it. However, spending all that time and effort near the clutch mechanism reminded Kirsten that someone had said pushrods could be too short from wear. It was moving the throwout lever, but just not far enough.

Since we could barely see anymore, we decided to call it a night and ask on the nest for some advice. That night Kyron and I found out from the TSM that the spring had nothing to do with the matter. there were actually three missing pieces: the pivot, washer and seal, which would extend the reach of the pushrod probably enough so that the throwout lever moved the proper distance. The difficulty would be to get these parts - or we’d have to devise something creative ‘in a clutch’ as the saying goes.

Much of Friday night was spent trying to figure out some alternative to the parts (assuming that we couldn’t get these) and how to seperate the throwout lever from the pushrod since they seemed to like each other too much to let anything come in between.

The Fourth Day

Saturday morning, we went around asking people at auto parts stores as well as wreckers if they had something to solve our problem. Invariably the answer was negative. One of the wreckers had some jeeps, but there was nothing useable there other than some screw-on caps that may have fit the pushrod.

Saturday afternoon, Kyron and I headed out again on the long drive to the car, our plan being to do what we can with the pushrod, but at least try to get the lights working. One of the people at a store told us that it is possible (though tricky) to do clutchless shifting. I figured that if we could at least get the signal lights functional, I might be able to try my hand at driving this way in the large storage lot and possibly even ’limp’ back home with the Eagle. Of course, I realized that I’d draw a lot of attention leaving stoplights if I did try this since it would mean doing a ‘jump’ start, not having a clutch to work with.

We also had a concern about whether there was oil leaking from the gasket under the plastic valve cover of the engine and figured we’d evaluate that matter as well. Additionally, the headlights didn’t turn on so we thought we’d check the fuse box.

A New Life

When we got there, we drained some of the oil (we’d put in too much) out of the engine and ran it. Finding no leakage, we went under the car to examine the pushrod again. It became evident that we’d have to raise the car if we were to do any work under there even though Eagles perch nice and high off the ground.

We then cleaned up some of the fuses in the fuse panel by scraping the corrosion off with a screwdriver. After installing a new flasher module, we hoped that the turn signals would work which they didn’t at first because we tried them with the engine off. However, when we fired up the engine this time, not only did the signal lights come on, so did the internal ones.

In the dimming light of dusk, after four days of long trips and work in the cold, the luminous glow of the inside gave the cracked windshield a crystalline brilliance, conjuring a wondrous ‘other’ world, beckoning us to enter.

When we got home that night, we looked at the forecast - snow and rain all week. It would not be possible to work on the car. We made a decision. despite the cost, we’d tow the vehicle to our place. There, at least, we could look after it and even get some work done during the dry spells.

So Sunday morning, we met the tow truck and helped get loose ends tied up. within a couple of hours, the car was at our place.

Kiyreagle had at last come home.

You may wonder what is behind the name “Kiyreagle”. It is a way to embed the “Kir” of Kirsten and the “Kyr” of Kyron into the car’s identity. For Kirsten was the rescuer and Kyron is the restorer. Kirsten’s intervention saved this beautiful car from the scrap heap and Kyron’s work will be to justify her faith.

In one of our email exchanges, Kirsten had said to me “I just want to see the old bird fly again”.

And again shall we fly!

Bluebird

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:56 -0800

Last night I dreamt of a bluebird
A beautiful warm hue of blue
You keep dancing into my reality
Bluebird do you I know you?

Your feathers velvety smooth
You flew gracefully up above
Winding and twisting joyously
For you I felt such love

As a child I had a bike called Bluebird
Which I loved to ride all day
I liked the film called Bluebird
And the magical adventure they take

Different people have begun to use
The metaphor of calling me a bird
People who have not met each other
What is the message I have heard?

When I just had written the last verse
I received an email from a friend
In which they called them self a night bird
To synchronicity there is no end

Bluebird what are you telling me?
What would you like to say?
Last night I watched you softly
Revel in your play

As you glided over me
My heart whispered this line
If I was a bird I would want to be you
Splendid and divine

Bluebird sing your song
Life is on your side
You cannot get it wrong
Fly forever dignified

You are delicate and gentle
Graceful and free
Yet the strength to fly dynamic and high
Could that be me?

Cup of Tea

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:56 -0800

A prominent western philosopher had come to Japan to study with a zen master through an exchange program. The two of them sat down for a traditional tea.

While waiting the philosopher thought he’d ‘break the ice’ by telling the zen master a bit about himself. Well, he started and a bit became more and more and more. He talked about his ideas of the history and development of philosophy and about the lack of consistency in different areas of thought and the problems associated with applying logic to situations considered unbroachable through logic.

By now, the tea had arrived.

As the zen master started pouring tea into his cup, the philosopher continued with the subjectivities of existentialisms and the attainabilities of the absurd and … then he noticed that the zen master hadn’t stopped pouring the tea into his cup.

In fact, his cup had started to overflow!

Still the zen master kept pouring and tea was spilling all over the chabudai onto the floor and even onto our philosopher who suddenly had nothing more to say about philosophy and exclaimed:

“Stop! Stop! What are you doing?”

The zen master stopped pouring the tea and with a bit of a twinkle in his eye said:

“In a cup so full, it is not possible to pour anything more.”

Dulse

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:56 -0800

There is a tasty seaweed
On which I like to feed
Mineral rich, purple and salty dulse is
Good on salads, grains and pulses

I feel like a mermaid
Eating an Atlantis dish
To add a sea-like flavour
I needn’t hurt a fish!

I sprinkle flakes on salad
Mix it into hearty stew
Blend it into veggie soup
Or snack on a piece or two!

I have two bits of pet dulse
Floating contentedly in a jar
Above a bed of stony gravel
In veganism… let’s raise the bar!

Aquariums of sea plants
Are beautiful and kind
To our sea-life friends
And to our peace of mind!

Eat healthy vegan meals
Made of fruit and veg
And protect the animals
Today make this pledge!

Not only better for your health
And delicious choices wide
This way we join the animals
And are all on the same side!

Artichokle

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:55 -0800

Lettuce look at the apeeling benefits that eating fruits and vegetables can injuice.

At this currant thyme there is much information available about how processed foods can contribute to health issues such as leeky gut, which cannot be ignoried. It is a good idea to beetroo to yourself by eating a simple natural diet and it doesn’t take a sage to work thistle out.

Eating a diet of wholefoods cresses every cell in our bodies with a sense of pease and makes us feel much more comfrey, plus it tastes good so we get a berry good dill.

It really is nothing radishal despite all of the recent claims, for health is our natural state of bean. Some people see it as part of their spirulinitual practise whilst others see it simply as a rootine.

It helps to have a high celery to spend on good quality produce or to pear up with a friend who eats the same way for mutual supperort, which can make the process go smoothier, blending the changes into your life much peasier.

Although peach person is different, corntinuing with a healthy diet is generally peasier when one takes shallot of care to approach it in a way that feels comfrey to them.

I hope that this artichokle was kelpful!

Being British

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:55 -0800

Sips a cup of tea whilst leaning against a red phone booth whilst holding a bag of salt’ n’ vinegar chips whilst saying ‘How do you do?’ whilst a stereotypical policeman walks by singing ‘God Save The Queen’

whilst criminals wearing stripy pajamas rob a bank using sacks across the road in broad daylight and make their get away on a big red bus of which Cliff Richard is the driver who is serenading them with ‘Summer Holiday’ whilst the passengers sit in awkward silence stewing in social shame because they are amongst strangers whilst they wonder who is the psycho driving the bus and inappropriately engaging in joyous self-expression in a public place but it doesn’t bother them for long as they are busy planning a list of soap operas to watch that night and whether to have their potatoes roasted, boiled or mashed whilst they browse through the paper to check to see what murders, rapes and muggings took place the previous day… because everyone likes a routine in England ;) It’s just a shame that they had to look in the paper for these things (which is surely second rate) when they could have captured the bank robbery on their very own iphones (and posted it on Facebook) but they missed it as they had been too busy tweetin’ about what they had in their sandwich that day.

I didn’t used to like labelling myself as a Brit
In fact for a long time I thought that it was s**t
As the things it conjured in mind were not so pleasant
But now I’m rather happy as a simple English peasant

Before I go any further I would like to add
Another element of why I was not glad
I think it shallow to judge a person by their place of birth
It creates separation among the people of the earth

When I thought of Britain the things that I saw
Would make me think there surely must be more
To living on an isle as beautiful as this
Than all things I didn’t like that made me feel p*****

I guess that I was just looking in the wrong direction
But luckily I have made a perceptual correction
I no longer think of Britain in that way
Now I observe things that make me want to stay

I used to think that we always had bad weather
Now the moody skies just make me think of heather
Blowing wildly on the moors in the countryside
Through which I love to walk or take a pleasant ride

Now instead of towns which are really crowded
I think of beautiful forests that are shrouded
In mist and the smell of pines and flowers
It’s so peaceful that I could stay for hours

The history of Britain has some stunning tales
Which originate in Scotland, England and Wales
Now what I associate with my geographical roots
Are sea sides, seasons, forests, music, castles, bows and loots

So perhaps instead of dreaming about the tropics
I will explore some more of these British topics
I’ll stay around and make myself a home where I can be
Appreciative of England and living happily

Each country is different with its own magic soul
And embodies a different aspect of the whole
World on which we live so let us love our own
Country from the heart and make ourselves at home

A Bit About Wes

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:54 -0800

I came into this life as of March 10th, 1977, at about 11:11 AM.

Here I am; in the midst of eternity. Playing the game called life. I’m grateful to be here, and am truly blessed in many ways.

During the course of my existence, I have come to the powerful realization that I am here for two main purposes:

Part of the reason for my being here now is to make a positive contribution to this world. I hope to make quite an impact before I move on.

I intend on fulfilling these purposes. I also have many other goals, dreams, and aspirations that I plan to fulfill in the process. I’m enjoying the ride!

Fairly early on for me, my life manifested the energies/emotions of grief, anger, and pain. My teen years were rough for me in many ways. I “suffered” from “clinical depression” – severe depression, for a few years. Those were trying times. A person who was typically gregarious, confident, and joy-filled in my childhood, I was rendered isolated, diffident, and despondent during my teen years. The reasons for why these events occurred do not matter now. What does matter is that I gained a tremendous amount of growth from these experiences, and a pathway to self mastery was revealed.

I fully realize now that all things in this universe are governed by the Universal Law of Karma – Cause and Effect. We literally reap what we sow. There are repercussions in one way shape or form, for all we think, do, and say. Everything counts, and everything is connected.

I also fully realize now that all experiences are learning experiences. There is not a single life experience that is NOT a learning experience. And I fully now realize that we are all here to learn – to learn how to live life - to live as we are created to live. Our potential is without limits. We are literally part of God, and have God-like potential within us

We are also here to learn the Laws that have been set forth for us to live by. These include the Natural, Universal, and Divine Laws. All of these Laws have been created by God. These Laws are inexorable.

I began my “awakening” when I started to become conscious to the effect that food has on one’s health and well-being (or lack thereof) - the effects which encompass physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I’ve become aware of the fact that the human physical/emotional/mental/spiritual dynamic is part of the same - interconnectedness. That which affects the part, affects the whole.

My realization of this is what eventually led me into studying Holism. One of my main interest areas is that of natural living, which encompasses a variety of factors. I am also currently earning a Bachelor’s degree in Naturopathy / Holistic Nutrition.

One factor in the equation is nutrition. Most people are aware of the fact that what we eat affects the health of our physical bodies, and our length of life (longevity). However, in addition, the truth is that what we eat dramatically effects us in how we feel, think, and behave.

Another realization I’ve had while traversing my path is that it is against our nature to eat animals, and in fact is destructive in many ways to do so. There are massive repercussions for eating animals. The physical, mental, and spiritual health of humanity, the health and strength of the environment, our resources, and more, are all being tremendously squandered and hindered due to the unnatural and destructive dietary habits of most at present.

Allow me to describe a few things I’ve realized regarding the subject of meat eating vs. vegetarianism:

Most people are taken aback by blood and death. Most people inherently love animals, and are gentle and kind to our fellow planetary co-inhabitants. However, most people interact with animals…by eating their dead bodies! Strange isn’t it, to consider that dead animals are eaten en masse daily in this world by human beings? When one eats meat, one literally eats a corpse – death. It is a shame to consider that people consider dead animal carcasses a normal part of the diet. The term “livestock farming” is in reality, a euphemism for “animal concentration camps”. Every day, millions of innocent animals are enslaved, are poorly treated, fed toxic feed, “fattened up”, innoculated with numerous poisons (such as antibiotics), and eventually murdered, butchered, shipped to all areas of the globe, and cooked – for the purpose of “feeding” human beings. A meat market is truly a morgue.

When one ingests meat, one eats the blood, lymph, concentrated toxins, animal’s hormones, gross excess of protein, and numerous other factors which exist in the meat. And when one eats meat which has been cooked - which accounts for most if not all meat people eat - numerous other toxins are ingested which are created in the cooking process, which include various carcinogens, mutagens, and teratogens. Cooking also renders the protein in meat into a very denatured, coagulated substance, which is hard to digest, and which putrefies in the 30-foot long human digestive tract/intestines. If you don’t believe it putrefies, put a hunk of meat into a closed, dark, damp container at 98.6 degrees fahrenheit for a few days, and see for yourself. This putrefying meat creates autotoxemia and putrefactive bacteria in the digestive tract.

But the material/matter aspects of eating meat are only part of the picture. All food has energy and consciousness factors in it. When one eats meat, one eats the fear and pain that animal experienced, as well as the darkness and very dense vibration of death. It can be said that eating dead animals truly has negative karma implications. You take on the energies of that which you associate with.

I’ve learned a lot of interesting things along my path. And perhaps the most profound thing I’ve learned in terms of nutrition, is that if you cook food, you literally kill it, and render it a devitalized, dehydrated, toxic, dead, degenerated, low vibration substance, unlike anything found in nature. Ingestion of cooked food devitalizes, stresses, toxifies, deadens, degenerates, and lowers the vibratory rate of the human body - and indirectly - the mind and soul. Cooked food drags down and hinders one’s full, true potential. As I mentioned above, everything is connected; everything encompasses cause and effect. One cause and effect relationship which is easy to understand is that eating degenerated food creates a degenerated body.

Our biological design is that of a frugivore. We are designed to eat raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. An unfortunate reality is that most people in this present day are eating a diet which is incompatible with their biological design.

I am here to be, in part, an educator. I realize that there is no place in this work for coercion. The free will of all souls must be respected, so long as it does not interfere with the free will of another.

Some of what I say may be blunt and to the point. But behind my words are love and compassion. I have love and compassion for my fellow human beings, animals, and indeed the planet as a whole. I want to help make the world a better place. It all starts with each of us. You and I must both start with ourselves, from within. The physical body is the gateway to the soul. Purify and attune the physical body to access your spiritual potential. Part of the process is eating a raw food, vegetarian diet, in conjunction with fasting.

Keeping in mind that physical factors such as nutrition and fasting are but part of the big picture - not the “be all, end all” - they are nonetheless very powerful pieces to the puzzle.

Awaken the God within! Trust your inner voice. The answers you need at any given moment are there – right inside you!

The masters (such as Jesus and Buddha) taught us some very valuable things. Perhaps the most valuable teaching of all is that of Unconditional Love and Compassion. When we encompass these wonderful energies, we literally raise our vibration, uplift ourselves, and that of the world.

The power of people working together with focused intent for a common goal is staggering and beyond description. Let’s work together and help to uplift our planet into a new era. A new Golden Age can be ours. Let us prepare ourselves for the reception of Light. Darkness cannot exist in the presence of light.

I want to thank you for reading this little bit of what I’ve had to say here. Perhaps something clicked within you and resonated with you. There are really so many people that I would like to offer thanks to. However since there are so many, I wouldn’t want to risk leaving anyone out! But most of all, I offer grateful thanks to the Divine Power (God), the Universe, and to Nature.

May your soul shine!

Humbly submitted.

A Way to Rama

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:54 -0800

There was once a very evil robber who had committed atrocities galore. He had come to the realization that he was in big trouble with a large account of bad karma due to his egocentric activities.

Somewhat repentant, he went to a great sage to see what could be done before the revenue collectors came after him. The sage said that his actions had been so evil that there really wasn’t much hope for him and that he was due for several lifetimes of nastiness.

Nevertheless, he suggested that the robber at least make a start by saying God’s name “Rama” over and over again. Well, the robber couldn’t even say “Rama”. The word wouldn’t even come out of his mouth because he had been so sinful! This was really one bad dude!

So the sage, who was also a creative teacher of physics, changed the frame of reference and told the robber to say “mora” which is the word for death. Our robber had no trouble uttering that at all, though he really wasn’t sure what the point of doing so was. He was told to keep saying “mora” continuously and quickly.

Well, if you do it, you can see what happens:

“mora mora mora moramoramoramo ramoramo ramo rama”

And so, apparently because he had stamina, was sincere and because the conditions had been changed (that frame of reference), he managed to alter his expected karmic fate and went on to become a great sage as well (though not greater than the first sage, because he did not want to upsage his mentor).

An Ode to Spiritual Gurus

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:54 -0800

Eckhart Tolle reminds me of a cartoon character mole
I don’t think he’d mind at all, he’d probably just say, LOL
He sits in contemplative silence for quite a lengthy fraction
Until he starts to stir and then we might just see some action

He talks about how to be aware and in the present
If you can manage this it is extremely pleasant
But when thoughts come, if you get really pissed
The essence of his teachings you likely have missed

Then there’s Byron Katie whose whole name is confusing
Is it back to front, I mean, which first name is she using?
She asks you those four questions to discover what is true
This reveals your ridiculous thoughts and makes a fool of you

In the audience I waited to see which person she’d select
To go on stage and talk about the crap that they project
Unconsciously onto other people, so let’s turn this around
I’m really rather ignorant it seems that I have found!

Wayne Dyer is the one who has the shiny head
And likes to talk about saints and people who are dead
I bought his DVD but then he changed its name
Can I have a refund or would he please keep it the same?

Then there’s Deepak Chopra with words he likes to dance
But I just listen to his accent and go into a trance
Ever since I heard him read the “Love poems of Rumi”
The result being my not hearing a word he says … so sue me!

He’s friends with Wayne Dyer, apparently they hang out
I wonder what they do and what they talk about
Is there some kind of club where spiritual gurus play
A few rounds of snooker and then levitate all day?

Maybe they play snap with every single Dali Lama’s pic
Having printed each one twice to make a deck with it
As a particularly advanced version of the game
(Because if I’m honest they all look the same)
Or maybe they just sit around and talk about their fame

I recently went through a phase of Abraham Hicks
And became addicted to Youtube as I got my daily fix
Although calling Esther by a man s name comes off a little shady
Why call infinite intelligence Abraham when it’s channelled through a lady?

And why does infinite intelligence have the surname of these people?
Did they adopt it and have it baptised at the steeple?
To take this in my stride I’m clearly very open-minded
Or maybe I’m just demented and seriously blinded

They say focus on getting into your core vibration
By thinking and doing what makes you feel elation
Even if it means having lots and lots of sex
Whatever it takes to get in that damn vortex!

To every person’s question their answer is the same
You would think that this would get just a little lame
Yet I kept on listening to their cruise ships events
Whilst dreaming about the ocean and how it all makes sense

I also like that gentleman whose name is Darryl Anka
(I won’t abuse fact that his surname rhymes with ****)
He channels a multi-dimensional extra-terrestrial being called Bashar
Who talks about aliens and things that are bizarre

Bashar is very jolly whilst Daryl is quite mellow
So when the switch over occurs from Daryl to this fellow
I wonder if Daryl s acting because he’s speaking all dramatic
I want to believe it’s real but must also be pragmatic

I’m sure that him and Mr Warbucks from Annie are the same bloke
Is this some kind of synchronistic universal joke?
Is it just me who sees this or do any other folk?
Watching too much Youtube makes me feel like I’m on coke

Who in their right mind would turn to these teachers?
Are they really wise or just a load of preachers?
Sometimes it makes me saner, but often much more crazy
I should start thinking for myself, but I am just too lazy ;)

Just in case there’s a mistake I feel I must conclude
The essence of my feelings so that I do not elude
Towards these human beings I feel much affection
Their teachings assist me in honest self-reflection

A Chess Story

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:53 -0800

This story was initially conceived by Sangeeta as a present for a friend (who never got around to seeing it), but was written largely by prad many years ago. Sangeeta will be illustrating it sometime in the next several decades. If you know your chess or your life, you are welcome to play it out.

Light shines in and there was a deep grumbling throughout the box …

“Do we have to get up?” cried one of the contents.

“Oh stop being so cranky,” the Queen scolded. “We have work to do. The battle is awaiting.”

“What battle?” mumbled the King, “I don’t see a threat.” And then once again he fell sound asleep.

“You’re an embarrassment to Kings, past, present and future!” yelled the queen. All the pieces froze when they heard the shrill of her voice. They peeked over their resting places to see the Queen pushing the King out.

“All you do is hang around like a piece of deadwood in the middle!” she continued.

“Yes dear, but dear …” pleaded the King.

She cut him off though: “until things get rough and then you go hide in the corner!”

Ceewon Bishop chuckled as he got up and lent a hand to Effwon Bishop. They were great friends known for their slanted sense of humor, yet they were respected for their strength and swiftness of attack. One was assigned to the Queen and the other to the King, but neither was ever sure who was going to whom. What they were sure about though was that they had a lot of fun together.

The Knights galloped dutifully onto the board, and snorted out a loud, “Neighhhh!” which startled the Pawns and sent them into a flurry. They all just scrambled up to the board scurrying around here and there trying to find a place to stand. Every now and then, one of them would bump into a rather large round wall at the corners of the board and apologetically squeal “So sorry! Pardon me. Pardon me. Forgive me”. The round walls never seemed to pay any attention and merely continued being round, but the Pawns kept looking up at them and feared the worst.

Now it is time to meet our hero for this story, a quiet unassuming Pawn named Beetoo. He was considered a pawn of the lowest order - a next to the edge Pawn on the Queenside at that! You see Pawns are known for their straightforwardness, and not much else. They are small and meek, they are the disposable ones, the least appreciated and the most pushed around. Even so, the center Pawns have a special importance because they are central. The Kingside Pawns sometimes have status because sometimes they are called on to protect the King! The Pawns on the edge live close to a castle - that’s the round wall they kept bumping into because they were too sleepy to watch where they were going earlier. (About castles, by the way, you should know that they are made of rocks, but sometimes the ‘c’ looks like an ‘o’ if the typesetting is not too good which it usually isn’t and hence they acquired the misnomer of Rooks rather than rocks as should be evident to anyone.)

However, poor Beetoo wasn’t central, wasn’t recognized for protecting the King (except only a little bit on fairly rare occasions) and though he hung around across the way from a castle, he really didn’t feel particularly near to it. Furthermore, he had this rather fierce-looking horse behind him continuously snorting and it gave him the shivers! To make matters worse, suddenly he was thrust forward two squares right out into the open!

So as you can see, Beetoo was understandably not a happy Pawn at all. He was also worried. He had seen that it was the Pawns who were sent out first, while all the while the larger and powerful pieces sat around and let his kind be slaughtered one by one. The small Pawns had little mobility and therefore were almost helpless amidst the onslaught of attack. He was afraid, but even more he was furious at the lack of concern shown for Pawns. You see Beetoo was a thoughtful Pawn, a Pawn with hopes and dreams and vision.

However, right now nearly halfway up the board, Beetoo’s vision saw only one thing - the menacing glare of a black Bishop hungrily eyeing him.

“This is the end,” he thought as he closed his eyes, bracing himself for the attack … but the attack didn’t come. Breathing a slight sigh of relief, he looked around and to his surprise he saw Ceewon Bishop winking rather diagonally at him with a huge smirk on his face.

“Hey just let that fatso black bishop Effate gobble you up, eh.” Ceewon shouted with a strangely Canajian accent. “Go’on I dare him to. Eh everybody! Wanna know how come Effate is a fatso, eh? It’s because like he ate too much! Ha! Ha! Get it? He ate too much! "

“Whose side is that maniac on anyway?” worried Beetoo “he’s going to get me killed!”

Fatso, I mean, Effate became even blacker with rage! He twirled and turned. He stomped and steamed. He started charging towards poor Beetoo who was now sure he was a goner. However, Effate stopped after moving two squares. He did not come any closer to Beetoo and he certainly did not dare take him out while Ceewon Bishop was guarding him.

So Beetoo breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little better for now at any rate.

Suddenly, someone yelled “Look out Beetoo!”

“What! Where! Help!” cried Beetoo. Indeed Beetoo had something to be concerned about for looming in front of him and a bit to his right a fierce black Knight had taken up position! It was terrible. The Knight snorted (as they all do, after all, you would too if you had nostrils like theirs) and was posturing himself for a fatal leap.

Beetoo looked back at Ceewon Bishop pleading for help.

“Hey sorry bub!” shrugged Ceewon, “Think you have a bit of a problem here. Yup. No doubt about it. Can’t help you. How about you Effwon?”

“Nope not me” responded Effwon Bishop “I’m a little off color. Ha! Ha! Get it?”

“Ha! Ha!” laughed Ceewon. “I get it! Ha! Ha! Hey Effwon what say you and I go and do that I AM Canajian thing and get sloshed? Then we’ll both bishopsloshed? Ha! Ha! Ha! Get it?”

“Idiots!” thundered the Queen! “You’re both so stupid you don’t even need to get drunk to prove it!”

Well! That silenced the Bishops completely for several days - it may have even stopped their alcoholic leniencies. The King, himself, was so unnerved that he started tipping round and round and would have fallen in resignation had he not grabbed hold of a nearby Pawn to keep his balance.

Seeing the gravity of the situation, the Queen ordered her Rook to kick the Pawn in front up a square. That had a tremendous effect on the black army as they suddenly became silent, as happens whenever you feel you have lost something you thought you had, but never really did.

As if inspired by this turn in events, the white Knights pranced around. Though Beetoo was relieved, it seemed to him that the Knights were showing off, displaying their immense powers, their strength, how well they danced. He was not impressed with this ‘chivalry’.

“Pawns are simple pieces,” he thought. “We don’t ask for much and we don’t carry on much. Yet, our value is not recognized in this battlefield. This is how it always is, the meek are seen as things to throw away, as the battle is waged by the flamboyant. We pawns humbly accept our roles, but I am tired of being treated like a lesser piece.”

As he was having these thoughts, there was a sudden commotion!

“What is she doing! Don’t let her do it!” Even the King cried out, “Stop my dear - please, don’t do it!”

The Queen was charging into the enemy ranks right in front of Beetoo. With a piercing shriek she delivered her war cry, “Remember the Dharma!”

“Don’t you mean the Alamo, my dear” squealed the King as he covered his eyes.

The Queen fell into the enemy camp with a vengeance, ripping a huge hole in their lines. The white camp was incredulous and there was total confusion in the black camp. No one knew what to do.

No one that is except Beetoo. He suddenly understood what the Queen sacrifice meant.

“Come on everyone! Push forward! Push forward! Don’t let her sacrifice be in vain. Remember the Dharma! Remember the Dharma!”

“Don’t you mean the Alamo” the King asked again scratching his rather ponderous crown this time.

“No my liege” called Beetoo from far away. “This is our Dharma. It is what makes us who we are, no matter what we may appear to be. Through it we shape our destiny. My selfless Queen has shown us the way and I will not fail her! Press on! Push forward! Live your Dharma!”

And Beetoo pushed on! To the 5th rank, then the 6th. The recoiling black army recovered sufficiently to resist, but his friends were following him now, supporting him, fending off the resistance.

Now the 7th rank! Even the King got excited and took a few paces forward ensuring there wouldn’t be an attack from the rear.

A final surge and Beetoo had made it to the 8th rank!

He stood there alone, both armies looking on in silence.

“What now?” he wondered, “I am here, but where is that?”

To his amazement, his Queen appeared in crystal radiance, beyond the black and white of day to day affairs.

“You are here, Beetoo” she said kindly.

“Yes my Queen and always ready to serve you” said Beetoo bowing low.

“Not to serve me, noble little one - but to serve Dharma which is the same for all of us, though many try so hard to deny it. So little one, be whoever you are and most of all be true.”

And with that she evanesced into the air.

So what of Beetoo and his companions? Suffice to say that I can tell you no more than this, as it is only proper:

When the end of a story is here,
A new beginning is always near…

A Song for Bloody Geoff

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 17:36:53 -0800

There once was a sealer named Bryce
Whose heart was as frigid as ice.
He clubbed ’em and snagged ’em
Then brutally dragged ’em;
Of mercy he didn’t think twice.

Now Bryce had some friends, it’s been told
Whose souls had long since been sold.
They pandered and lied,
Geoff Regan at side:
A leader with morals “on hold”.

Geoff’s greed was well-known in the land
(He refused to have the slaughter banned.)
He sent the Coast Guard
To where ice floes were marred
And more innocent deaths had been planned.

The sealers did torture and plunder;
Their savagery echoed like thunder.
The crimson blood flowed
Under death’s heavy load;
Of justice - one can only wonder.

And Regan of Fisheries fame
So willing to play the cruel game,
A killer at heart,
From his office took part
And shoulders the brunt of the blame.

They say wickedness does have a price.
Thus, the crimes that have happened on ice
Will always be there
For history to share
And the world will remember the vice.

Where Bryce and his buddies will go
Is a place of incredible woe.
Yet try to compare
What their leader will bear
Since his callousness funded the show.

Said the Devil, “I’ll trade my whole choir
For one white-collar thug, brute and liar.
How they pine for tradition;
Soon they’ll howl in perdition
With ol’ Geoff at the heart of my fire.”

Permission granted by author to forward this limerick widely and to share with Fisheries, the Canadian Prime Minister, the Queen of England, and anyone else on our planet who may be remotely interested. Anyone musically inclined could add a tune to it and sing it at demos, particularly in front of DFO offices.

Notions on Towards Freedom

Perplexity

There Are No ‘Ethical Alternatives’ To A Plant-Based Diet arv

Answer (Default):

Citations:

Animals Can Work Together arv sci

Answer (Default):

Types of Symbiotic Relationships

Examples of Animal Cooperation

Unexpected Interspecies Interactions

Conclusion

Citations:

Animals Can Work Together 2 arv sci diy

Answer (Default):

Types of Symbiotic Relationships

Examples of Animal Cooperation

Unexpected Interspecies Interactions

Conclusion

Citations:

What are some other examples of mutualistic relationships between animals

Answer (Default):

Oxpecker and Rhinoceros or Zebra

Clownfish and Sea Anemone

Pistol Shrimp and Goby

Termites and Intestinal Flagellates

Acacia Ants and Bullhorn Acacia

Hermit Crabs and Sea Anemones

Colombian Lesserblack Tarantula and Dotted Humming Frog

Drongos and Meerkats

Sharks and Pilot Fish

Coyote and Badger

Spider Crab and Algae

Citations:

Going and Coming Back

Honey Sheperd

Pradictionary

Honey Sheperd

Markus Rafael Nylund

VICEVOIDS - timehigh

Master of Puppets (Metallica cover)

Cosmic Soulmates

Pradbird

The Spirit of the Tao

The Stone

The Ailment

Thousandfold

Pictures From Mystics

The Poor Rich Girl

Radical Zen

Zen Comics

Prazen

A man of enlightenment and wisdom

Become a Buddha

Detachment

Empty

Essence

Go away!

Knowledge and Understanding

More blind

Seeing the tao

So what boy?

The duel

The flag

The precious stone

The two dragons

Praphorisms

Al-Khafaji Amir Wadi

Adams Samuel

Angelkate Rose

Bach Richard

Bentham Jeremy

BigG

Bridgeman Percy William

Cowper William

Dijkstra Edsger

Dunham Barrows

Emerson Haven

Emerson Ralph Waldo

Einstein Albert

Cinderella (Disney 2015)