Shadow and Light

A common metaphor in literature is to liken light to consciousness, and darkness to ignorance. But what makes a good metaphor truly resounding is that it isn't simply analogous, but one and the same. Light is consciousness, and darkness (or shadow) is ignorance. This is where spirituality trumps a scientific view of the world in which all things are seen as separate until proven to be linked, and then still kept compartmentalized for the purpose of isolating phenomena for proper labeling. In the spiritual world view all things are linked, in fact all things are one, and not to sound cliche but, it's all good.

This is the spiritual view, but not necessarily the religious one. In fact, many religions don't stop at dividing the world between "good" and "bad" but take it up a notch with terms like "Evil". Even among the secular who have no special faith in science or religion it's almost impossible to shake the idea that some things are just bad, or simply no good. Ignorance is one of these no good phenomena that we as humans have almost universal unanimity in our wholesale rejection of. And what crazy person would stand up for this underdog of the underworld to be the ultimate devils advocate, to actually advocate on behalf of the devil himself? Ummm, I'll take that challenge, and I'm just crazy enough to do it.

Consciousness (or awareness) is light, and what is light without dark? What is day without night? How can anyone or anything be illuminated when there is nothing to illuminate? And even that which is illuminated is still textured by the interplay between shadow and light, without shadow there would be only light, only a blinding whiteness from which nothing could take form. Even when light shines out into and endless sea of darkness as the Sun and every star in the universe it is shadow that defines that light. Shadow and light appear to be mutually exclusive yet they always meet at the frayed edges of our perception giving us a world of vivid visuals. As light grows shadow shrinks but never fully dissipates, always ready to roll back in with the ebb and flow of our awareness.

We earthbound souls yearn to return to a world of only light, we long to be enlightened so that we might show others the way. But we came to this world for all of the shadow it provides us to live our lifetimes in a state of self discovery, and how can we dis-cover what has not been covered over to begin with? All matter is light trapped, or slowed in it's vibration to a degree that it appears to be stationary, stagnant, permanent. We walk through the forest feeling that it is nothing but an earthy obstacle course not seeing how it flows from the ground up ever so slowly compared to our relatively rapid gaits. To the trees we are almost imperceptible, like fleeting flickering ghosts gone as fast as we came.

But our lives on this planet are not intended to be those of limitless godheads who can see to the ends of the universe and into the mind of the great spirit. Our consciousness may expand and contract but as a rule it can only hold a hand full of awareness at a time, to pick up another hand full requires putting down what you now hold. Our light shines like a flashlight into the darkness, we only see what we focus on and when we turn it is gone to us though it lingers in our blind spot. The Sun and every star is there to show us what it is to have total awareness, complete illumination, to shine in all directions simultaneously. But awareness is not knowledge, it's only a temporary focus on knowledge. We "Know" everything, we simply ignore most of it most of the time, this is ignor-ance and it works hand and glove with awareness.

Now that you know it all, enjoy your ignorance. It's your coffee break from your true state of enlightenment and total illumination.

Grief and Joy

"Grief shared is half grief; Joy shared is double joy."

Honduran Proverb

The Honduran Proverb "Grief shared is half grief; Joy shared is double joy." is widely accepted as a modern truism. It could be described as a kind of emotional socialism, in which sharing is the ultimate answer to our hopes and fears. But why keep such a powerful formula contained within the matters of the heart? Why not use it as a new economic theory that could rival those of Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes. Let's try it...

"Poverty shared is half poverty; Wealth shared is double wealth."

"Work shared is half work; Leisure shared is double leisure."

"Liability shared is half liability; Asset shared is double asset."

"Cost shared is half cost; Profit shared is double profit."

You may say that this is nothing new, it's just another description of socialism in it's simplest form. Perhaps, or perhaps it's a new level of simplicity that is the key for understanding the most propagandized topic in American history. The level of disinformation around the basic comparisons of economic theories is largely due to the fact that it has been on the top ten list of national security threats for over a century. We have been trained to fuse the word "socialism" with "The Soviet Union" and with "Evil" so that they are all one and the same. All these decades after the madness that was McCarthyism one can still hardly bring up socialist theories without being told that they "wouldn't want to live in Russia."

Whether one would like to live in Russia, or Cuba, or France is beside the point, no nation is a true representation of socialism. The Soviet Union was no more an example of socialism than the United States is an example of Capitalism, neither of these theories have been allowed to follow their true course. Capitalism may be the overall economic system in the United States and much of the world but there is nothing in the basic theory that suggests unfettered corporate rule. But the economic divide that capitalism helps to create and/or maintain inevitably leads to exploitation and corruption. In fact, capitalism has always been a device to continue the aristocracies of the Roman and British empires into modern times wearing the mask of Democracy.

"The market has spoken" is a popular phrase that suggests that democracy extends beyond our ballots to our wallets. But this is not democracy, on the contrary, it's how the aristocracy rules. In the election booth we are all equal, one person, one vote. But in the market place, which we are told has no limits to it's greedy reach, some people have millions of votes and some have none. Some people can buy success in a court room or an election and others cannot pay their rent or buy their groceries. The chance that a poor person who speaks the truth can win an election over a wealthy person who tells people whatever they want to hear is Lucky Lotto low, and the odds that they could change anything of any significance is still lower.

Exactly what about capitalism would Jesus agree with? Some people deserve more? The poor should pull themselves up by their own bootstraps? When did Jesus get all "Tough love" on us? And Jesus said unto the masses: "Go get a job losers, don't expect me to share any of my hard earned fish and wine with a bunch of mooches." Think about it "Poverty shared is half poverty; Wealth shared is double wealth." Would Jesus agree with this statement? If not, why not? I think the answer lies somewhere between the "Eye of the needle" and "The meek shall inherit the earth." What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul? A six figure income? A private estate? Lear jet? hmmmm, what would Jesus trade his soul for?

What Wouldn't Jesus Do?

Ahhh the WWJD movement, who would have thought that it would eventually crack the Devito Code of Jesus jokes? Honestly, I had hoped this so-called movement would move beyond the realm of a catchy cliche pinned to the lapels of todays despondent youth. I didn't come up with this phrase but I doubt the person who did wanted it to be a simple slogan, or another automatic catch phrase thrown around by uninspired conversationalists. Some people say "WWJD" as if they are making a point about some topic, but it's not a point, it's a question. And it's not a rhetorical question, though it may be a bit hypothetical.

So Jesus is two thousand years gone and we can ask ourselves what he would do if he were here today, but why? He's not here today, and who really knows what he would do in any given situation? It's all speculation, how should we know what Jesus would do? Well, Jesus actually had a lot to say on the subject and he left us plenty of clues. In fact, if you read over his statements, analogies, and instructions to his followers, you start to think that he intended to be a reference point on the moral spectrum well into the future. Like a true guru he generalized all of his statements so that they may live on beyond any current issues of his day and continue to be applicable in a wide variety of scenarios.

I can hear the Christians ring out in chorus "Duuuuhhhh! Of course he meant to be world famous for thousands of years, he's god!" Really? Then why are Christians not leading the WWJD movement and pushing it to reach it's full potential? Why is it secular and atheist youth who have embraced this concept and brought it to world wide prominence? And most importantly, why don't most (if not all) Christians follow the instructions that Jesus left behind? How is it that Christians in America predominantly lean right and vote Republican, the official party of the rich? How can any person with basic critical thinking skills read the words of Jesus saying "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." ...then turn around and say, "Jesus wants me to be rich."

The WWJD movement should be the solution that dissolves the institutions of religion who have captured the image of Jesus and milked him for personal and political gain. It's hard to believe that the Catholic church isn't already a dried vine, the church and it's current pope are synonymous with child molestation, and homosexual child molestation at that! Maybe we should be asking the question, Who Would Jesus Molest? How can Christians support war? Oppose immigration? Rail against social welfare? And still go to church with a straight face? Lucky for Israel Jews are immune to the WWJD solution, their god has always supported war and cruelty to their neighbors, in fact he encourages it.

So I'm taking this opportunity to start a brand new movement completely original and distinct from other movements. It's called WWJD? or What Wouldn't Jesus Do? Not to be confused with the other WWJD movement, those guys are slackers of the worst kind. My movement will ask questions like "Who wouldn't Jesus Bomb?" and "Who wouldn't Jesus Deport?", "What wouldn't Jesus Do to his fellow man to fill his greedy coffers?", "What Anti-Gay Politician Wouldn't Jesus Vote For?" ...You get the pointlessness. It really doesn't matter what Jesus would do, it matters what we do. If you have a friend or relative who thinks Jesus is just alright, ask them what Jesus would or wouldn't do around these hot button issues of our day. And let them know it's not a rhetorical question, they will be quizzed on Judgement day.