Spiritual & Philosophical wisdom

"Make a conscious decision to look for what is right and pleasing in others. Decide that you’re going to disregard stereotypes, and refuse to engage in conversations that dwell on judging anyone."

 

''If you don't have one hour to meditate each day, then meditate for two hours.'' - Zen proverb

 

"Don’t let emotions immobilize you. View them as choices."

 

I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders. - Jewish proverb

 

Always remember to never forget to always remember.

 

The way up is the same way down - approximate translation of an ancient Greek proverb.

 

Two birds in the bush are of equal value to a bird in the hand . . . if you're a vegetarian.

 

To God: If you have drawn a circle, go into it yourself and see how you would do. - William Blake.

 

"Hold no grudges, and practice forgiveness. This is the key to having peace in all your relationships."

 

Mitakuye Oyasin 'All My Relatives' A Lakota (Sioux) expression used throughout ceremony. This phrase acknowledges, honors, and respects that we are all related---not just all humans (2-legged people)---but all living things, which in the indigenous traditions includes all 4-legged people (4-legged animals), all flying people (birds), crawling people (insects, snakes, etc), all swimming people (fish), all standing-people (tree, bushes, grasses, and other fauna), rocks, dirt, water, grandmother earth, the sun, moon, and stars, and everything else in creation.

There is a scientific basis to this relationship: everything in the universe is created from the same stardust of the burned out stars that existed relatively shortly after the Big Bang.

 

I agree. Darkness is a very important motif that plays out in many ways, and many people may be drawn to it without even realizing why. On the one hand, it represents the Nihilism of the Modern Age which is a part of the alienation from our true selves as you touch on in the last part of your post (which I will add to next).

It could also be a part of the deconstruction of the modern day focus on the physical/light/conscious/objective/rational/Apollonian complex that Western thought is largely grounded upon---a legacy from Judeo-Christian and Greek traditions (Christianity in particular as it actually spelled out placing the spirit within the physical through a logos-light-physical connection). This deconstruction would represent a return or resurfacing of a spiritual/dark/subconscious/subjective/irrational/Dionysian complex. In other words, the sides of reality that Western man has long denied, ignored, or been afraid of. Sure, there has always been an interest in the darkness and all it represents, but largely as an obsession with that which we have repressed or denied.

In many ways this re-emerging of a dark motif represents man trying to reconnect with himself, the universe, and whatever is beyond the physical.

You've got it right on. About 5 or 6 years ago I wrote a piece on the phenomenology of the zombie motif in Modern Pop Culture. I think most of the zombie movies and shows touch upon this very subject in one way or another---that we are as human beings, a bunch of living dead. (Phenomenology generally follows along the ideas of Husserl and Heidegger who suggested that artists, writers, poets, movie makers, etc. unknowingly tap into the collective unconscious and therefore their creations reflect current social needs, fears, etc, just as our own dreams have hidden clues for our own selves.) I declared that in many ways the zombie apocalypse had already happened and it was our own selves that were living dead.

I wrote a second piece which dealt with the superhero motif and how it reflects mankinds need for a hero to arise and save humanity from itself. It is very significant that the superhero today is very human with his/her own flaws and drives and that he/she works very much on a subjective level---saving individual lives, for example, even at the risk of the whole group or the entire rescue effort. While the zombie may represent the dead souls of the modern world, the superhero is the individual rising up to rescue mankind bringing it back to its own humanity. Even the living people within the zombie movies, and their attempts to stay alive represent a form of this superhero motif---they alone escaped the odds of becoming a zombie and struggle to keep the human race alive.

Consider even the latest Avenger's movie where the Avengers are very much human and are driven by subjective and often irrational impulses----they are very Dionysian. Meanwhile Thanos is very rational, objective, powerful and controlling. He thinks he is working to achieve a greater good, though that greater good is entirely objective---so much so that he objectifies the entire universe----he represents the epitome of the Apollonian.

 

I've been saying the exact same thing for years now!

 

Acceptance is the answer to ALL of my problems today.

When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing or situation- some fact of my life- unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God's world by mistake.

Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept my life completely on life's terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes.

from Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 417

 

This is truly awesome.

 

When I wait, You strengthen my heart.'' - Psalm 27:14

 

It is better to risk starving to death than surrender. If you give up on your dreams, what's left? - Jim Carrey

That quote hit me at the right time yesterday.

 

''Silence isn't empty, it's full of answers.'' - Unknown

 

i really believe the mistake people make is believing they have to know everything in order for it to exist.

its the strangeness itself that is the sacred, and having to put names to everything, pretend the same things about details we really know nothing about,
that's what cuts us off, not entirely perhaps, but really cuts down and limits, this experience of the sacred which is the experience of the unknown,
without trying to impose ourselves or what is familiar to us.

there are of course two aspects. that is one, and the other, the meaning of the mindfulness thing, is to not mess everything up for each other and ourselves.
what people tell each other and themselves to pretend, all the names and books and churches, mosks, temples, what have you, are just so far away,
almost totally distractions from what not only they could be experiencing, but also from the kind of world we could be building and enjoying living in.

 

Agree ^^

Many people don’t believe in faith. As oxymoronic as that sounds.