Violence, Anyone!

If one sit with a certain degree of attention to ones immediate surrounding's one of the first and interesting perceptions one will have is that this mechanism thought is limited. Even with the discoveries of many amazing scientific facts and all of the hype and speculation that such discoveries bring, one should be humbled by the precariousness of ones position, there is also at the same time a sense of real appreciation for the marvelous nature of which we are apart. One of my favorite shows Star Trek, the opening line Space the Final Frontier ends with the line that is very appropriate response to the nature of fear and the means by which one may if not end Fear as it appears within ones mind, then at least a means by which one may not let it stand in the way of discovery. To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before.
There is of course a tremendous difference between psychological fear and the fear that is their as a means of addressing an immediate danger, which is not debilitating, but having just the opposite effect of bringing one to immediate action by putting the system in overdrive. Isn't nature marvelous, well it ought to be it is or seems to be not only vastly intelligent but selectively so and able to adjust imperceptible to all sorts of patterns and signals and its capability to adapt at very quick rates to very often times sever changes is astounding. this should bring us hope as a species that we may indeed survive and develop and possibly come to a new level, New in the sense not of expectation of some type of order or ideal without. But more of an understanding of ourselves. Really the scientist who are done trying to publish their name and the Guru who is done trying to be worshiped all feel within the same nature the same intelligence that no one can prove as of yet, which may only be another aspect of mind, but which is spoken of and felt by all those having taken the time to consider such things. One of the first things which will be cool to talk about and break down together John is the topic Violence.

david

Closer to the Truth

One further thought about listening. Assuming that you could actually deconstruct the "thought/culture screen" through which a perception registers as a memory, is it possible that your perception would be true/false apparent? I can think of experiences listening to music without a mind screen; when present music was not the primary mind focus but was just background. In such an experience, I believe there is, as the music comes to conscious awareness, a momentary aperspectival sense of pure like/dislike. Then, my "mind attention" grabs the sound and categorizes it within the me-google. If this "mind attention" onset could be delayed or deferred for a brief period, perhaps a pure listener might discern the truth quality of the thought spoken. Words, or sets of words, may express a truth coefficient, and regrettably, we don't know how to hear it. Is the audience listening? john

Alert Passivity

I watch Anderson Cooper.  I'm not sure why!  Always I'm expecting to hear something fresh.  Only in a blue moon do I feel rewarded.  Perhaps it's that I'm not a good listener.  Given our cultural obsession with conquests, results, and goals, I don't believe much authentic/simple listening is happening.  What we do is ingest every soundbite, every comprehensive analysis and every impassioned plea from a standing preconception.  We hide inside a  forcefield built of dead constructs, conclusions, and prejudices, rejecting all things divergent.  I would like to think that people in love listen; that their diminished self is inwardly quiet enough and safe enough that to commune beyond the noise of words is sometimes possible,.....but,  even as I hear my own words they are being neutralized by a flood of memories and derivative opinions.  Maybe, I will listen to you, because I sure as hell don't buy anything I'm saying.   john     

A Starting Point

This Blog intends to record parts of a continuing dialogue between a "stepfather" and a "stepson", as to our ever changing perceptions, thoughts, feeling and aspirations about the difficult art of living. Our ages are a conventional generation apart; John, the father at 65, and David, the son at 40. This dialogue began 35 years ago as our lives intersected when a family of two and a family of three optimistically, yet naively, embraced a hybrid family of five. Since John/David know the "highlight history" of our shared past, and because we expect few unrelated readers to have interest in our personal story, we will just pickup with where we now are......which would be, semi-rich/semi-retired/semi-healthy/semi-wise (John in Missouri) & semi-poor/semi-employed/inordinately healthy/cautiously wise (David in Florida). Presumably "posts" will alternate between each of us, and as a set explore an "idea of interest". With this Starting Point, we begin!

john & david