The Journey

How to prepare for the journey: gird up your loins.

This week, I had a lot of frustrations. To be fair, most were based on my inability to convey my thoughts adequately. I realize that whether you are sixteen or sixty, there are times that that old bugbear stumbles into your reality: solipsism. Now, is this a real phenomenon or not? All life experience, I believe, would suggest that, yes; it has a basis in fact. “But the young educated adults of the 90s — who were, of course, the children of the same impassioned infidelities and divorces Mr. Updike (1) wrote about so beautifully — got to watch all this brave new individualism and self-expression and sexual freedom deteriorate into the joyless and anomic self-indulgence of the Me Generation. Today’s sub-40s (2) have different horrors, prominent among which are anomie and solipsism and a peculiarly American loneliness: the prospect of dying without once having loved something more than yourself.” (3) Wow, difficult thoughts to read. But there is a resolution.

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Knowledge

What tools do I need to begin?

This morning, I experienced one of those magically awe-inspiring, yet fleeting, vignettes of life — one of those rare, unforgettable moments: those times that benchmark reality. I woke up early to the soft stirring of the world. The birds sitting on a nearby tree, ensconced in nature, its heralds summoning a new day. Everything was stunning and perfect. Looking at this peaceful scene, I was suddenly struck with a sense of hopefulness. We have all been here, I am sure. For whatever reason, you are given a universal, a constant, the truth: “Everything works out …” to quote the actress Sandra Bullock (b. 1964): and, it is so. Wow: thank you for this gift. Not so soon, however. The minute we have consciousness, we realize that, though peace and happiness may be innate, we still have to dig for them — we must work to uncover them. How: what is the necessary method that will put us in this state? What we are talking about, of course, is freedom from wage slavery. In what way do I achieve a fulfilling life that blends all aspects into an orchestra of great deeds and actions?

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The Journey

The great adventure: the discovery of you.

Have you ever noticed that when you embark on an adventure that intimately involves you, your blood pressure increases: you just don’t know what will happen! What will come is up to fate, luck, God, the gods, a good pilot or ultimately, a good helmsman. You are placing your trust in others. Perhaps this feeling of helplessness is part of the mystique of travel. I remember that a rollercoaster ride elicits the same response: terror and yet a sense of suspense and wonder. It was in such a state that I found myself at twenty or so. I was lodged in a state of puzzlement. In my experience, if you think (now some beings, of course, choose not to) you are placed in an odd reality. Whatever your color, your ethnicity, social circumstance or family background, you realize that you are free to be you: no question – you exist. Personal liberty flows through you — even inside the confining walls of your body or mind. You inhabit a special place: the residence of the self. You are liberated and yet safe inside your consciousness.

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Hope

Just be a bit brave: success will follow.

When I was young, it was still possible to safely “hitchhike” anywhere. It was in fact encouraged amongst your peers as a respectable form of travel. You could be devoid of a means of transportation, such as a personal car, and yet still be “cool and attractive.” Traveling with female companionship was an added plus, greatly easing the waiting process. The most important feature was your physical stance and the strength and tenacity of your outstretched thumb. A limp and unimaginative thumb, held in a weak and indeterminate manner, slowed the entire conveyance process or “pickup.” If, however, you stood like Vespasian (1) approving or disproving the performance of a fallen gladiator, your wait time significantly decreased.

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Hope

I must be willing to change.

Many people believe that bureaucracies are filled with minions, addled by boring and repetitive tasks, simply filling in time, and living mundane and pitiful lives. In this view, bureaucracy, or government, is, therefore, a nonsensical blight on mankind and must be reduced, if not stopped altogether, though this is probably impossible. The anarchist, (1) Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921) is an interesting man to read in this area. If we adopt this view, then we must realize that its sycophants are unelected but wield enormous power. How do we begin to control these dangerous and ever-growing, national hydras? Firstly, we must refuse to accept pointless and nonsensical rules. My passport is Canadian but is issued in Taipei. I cannot use this document in my native country for certain undertakings, such as the endorsement of my sons’ passports. Why? It was not issued in North America: the thesis being, supposedly, that all other governments have the potential of being corrupt. Obviously, this is based on the American fear of worldwide terrorism and the agenda of the military-industrial complex (The Trump election will only reinforce this stereotype and further strengthen the image that Canada is a vassal state): it is, of course, totally absurd!

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The Journey

I first must have faith in myself.

To paraphrase: “Putting yourself first is to be a fully functioning adult. An adult has needs, wishes, and desires and knows the difference. An adult is firmly grounded in reality. An adult has a strong awareness of how she or he ‘fits into this world.’ An adult is aware of his or her relationships and puts them in their proper perspective. An adult gives his or her relationships the respect they deserve. An adult is able to balance competing issues and resolve conflicts. An adult knows that taking care of herself or himself allows her or him to take care of others. An adult loves him or herself unconditionally and knows that this is what allows him or her to truly love others.” These aphorisms were given to me by my friend Bill. (1) They contain pithy reminders that I create my world and I must be responsible for its negative or positive outcome. I see the world through my five senses. It is thus my perception of reality that is reflected back in my attitude to life and in my ambition to discover my personal mission or goal.

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Fear

I create my own fear, don’t I?

I often open my eyes in the morning accompanied by a startling thought, given to me by my good friend Bill, to paraphrase: “I am awake, ergo, I must be alive – it is, therefore, another good day!” It is a jarring “reality check” because, at sixty, more so than more tender years, you quite literally might not wake up. Books have been written on this greatest of all unknowns: death and its attendant fear and paranoia. As I approach its door, I understand less and less why you would be afraid. When you are dead, well, you are dead. Whatever your religious interpretation of the hereafter, this phase of your reality has been transformed and transported somewhere else. I am much more concerned about being alive; in this capacity, I can act and react, or, as is usually the case, not act at all. It has to be one of the most disturbing realizations: if you don’t act — you have still acted — bizarre, and ultimately, unfair! If you want to crawl into your limited perceptual box at twenty years of age and never venture out, why can’t you be simply left alone to exist in your dull, unimaginative world? The short answer is because this is not how the universe exists: it is dynamic – always has been and always will be.

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Work

Freedom: Leaving wage slavery

In our blog over the last five years, we have discussed a myriad of issues from happiness and spirituality, to death and sadness. The intent of our site has always been to give people, especially young people, the chance to reflect on the machinations of life and its direction. Consciousness poses many key questions that, as individuals, we must reflect on. To paraphrase: “It does not really matter what we expect from life, but rather what life expects from us. We need to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who are being questioned by life—daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.” (1) Failure to do so can result in an unrequited existence, one that is not experienced until it is too late. We have often been asked to put our thoughts in a more straightforward format. To this end, in the next number of weeks, we are going to give form and context to our main intellectual and spiritual emphasis: “Don’t be a Wage Slave,” DBAWageslave.com.

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Fear

What are you afraid of?

“Am I an empiricist: am I faced with knowing the world only through my senses and my experiences, is nothing innate (1)?” These are questions that constantly “buzz around” in my mind, juxtaposed with, “Do I then have significance: will the world I create through my actions have consequences? Will I die without my mission fulfilled?” (2) Fear is an emotion that seemingly comes to us far more easily than the feeling of love – though love, when experienced is tremendously more powerful. I have contact with many, many people on a weekly basis. More than a few, because they are young, share their negative thoughts about the world at large – how dangerous and evil it is. I inquire as to where this view comes from.

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Hope

Bravery is not enhanced by size but by action.

We live in a world that is seemingly inundated with violence, both personal and societal. Most history books attest to the carnage of the First World War (1914-1918), for example, a war that eviscerated thousands of young soldiers on both sides: their remains yet to be unearthed. Individual scholars point to this conflict as normalizing our acceptance of murder and carnage. (1) I often ask my students who would they like to hit or abuse. The answer is invariably one of shock and disbelief. No one it seems wants to strike anyone. Who then is committing its most extreme state: killing? We all are guilty by accepting violence and murder as normal, and the way that human beings express frustration, ennui and pure uncontrolled anger. We must begin to turn to Gandhi’s Satyagraha philosophy for guidance. This was far beyond “passive resistance” and lent its power to non-violent methods. In his words: “Truth (Satya) implies love and firmness (Agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian movement Satyagraha, that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or non-violence, and I gave up the use of the phrase ‘passive resistance,’ in connection with it.” What Gandhi is saying is that we must speak with our family, friends and associates when we hear of violence and eschew its central tenet that “might is right.” The president of the NRA (1) was quoted recently as suggesting that the American government put a policeman in every school. This kind of sickness will do nothing to advance the concept of world peace.

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To be free, spiritually, emotionally and financially is your birthright.