good essay

I have some contextual concerns with some of the quotes.

I'm not surprised by Churchill's comment but one could argue that the strength in democracy is the variation of opinions that tends to modify the extremes. 

On Churchill himself I would argue that just because he was witty that didn't make him wise or necessarily competent.  But then again I don't believe in heroes just circumstances and contexts. e.g. imagine if we found Mahatma Gandhi diaries and from them we discovered that he was a serial pedophile would he still be a hero.

Churchill’s illustrious status was not shared by Gallipoli’s victims and survivors and several other questionable actions.

Most politics is two extreme ends of the continuum of opinion fighting over the much admired middle ground (weight and balance of numbers).

It seems to me we could all save ourselves a lot of money and angst if we simply adopted the middle ground to start with. (Hmmmm?) 

 Surely experience has a greater purpose that to simply take the blame for all things that have gone wrong in the past (often the view of the younger generation).

To understand history one must understand the context in which it happened. Who better to teach this context and what to avoid than those who were there.   I think it is beholden on those with knowledge to suggest, guide those with the energy or we as a species will truly repeat history over and over. Neither are we infallible but the same weight of numbers should balance things out appropriately.

 In the terms of evolution an organism that doesn't learn from experiences is marked for extinction in that it is not best suited to adapt to changes. The weight of nature (and evolution) means that there must be a purpose to our ever increasing longevity. If wise council can save a trillion tears is not then this is our (as elders) responsibility and purpose.

by Andris (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 531 comments) on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 4:46:31 PM
 

Is there a solution?

Thanks for your informative comment and your question. I can only point you in the direction of Gurdjieff's writings, of which there are only three books, but what books!

A key idea of his is that 'intelligence' for example, is a finite material kind of thing.And if you spread it around the entire population of the world, there would be very little for each and every one of us. To awaken needs an accumulation of higher energies to give this intelligence. so you must work to accumulate and contain this energy/intelligence by overcoming your inertia and habits of body and mind and then something can transform your life, possibly in ways that cannot be easily described in words, but living in a higher world or energy level, is more real than the life that we have now, as other mystics have tried to tell us all. Taking more than your fair share of 'intelligence' seems perhaps egoistic and selfish, but in reality, most people do not want it, they do not want to make the effort, or make the sacrifices to change their lives or their level of being. Ask any psychiatrist about his patients, they do not want to get better, usually, because facing up to one's illusions is very very painful. Gurdjieff's ideas will never be popular or tendy because he paints a very stark picture of our real situation, and the way out of it is indeed very difficult. My own teacher, a pupil of Gurdjieff's was John Godolphin Bennett whose books going deeper into Gurdjieff's ideas, some of which were only sketched out or hinted at when he gave lectures, these can be found by googling. thanks again for the comment and I am not an advertising agent for Bennett or Gurjdieff. Osho also has some things to say about this whole subject, including some commentary about Gurdjieff, which I found fascinating.

“How can one awaken? How can one escape this sleep? These questions are the most important; the most vital that can ever confront a man. But before this it is necessary to be convinced of the very fact of sleep. But it is possible to be convinced of this only by trying to awaken. When a man understands that he does not remember himself and to remember himself means to awaken to some extent, and when at the same time he sees by experience how difficult it is to remember himself, he will understand that he cannot awaken simply by having the desire to do so.

by ibrahim turner (25 articles, 31 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 177 comments) on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 7:25:42 PM
 

Further thoughts...

Reading the books is one thing, but finding a teacher who is awake is really necessary.

Almost no real information can be put into books, because of the tendency for sleeping people to imagine that they understand everything. This is not to belittle their intelligence or ability to think. A 'master' working openly with members of the public, usually gives out hints as to what is required, or simple easy instructions to do something which will do no harm. If he sees someone carrying out these simple tasks or doing something about the hints, then he might give some real task to that person, and the sit and wait for the results, before guiding further. If no results, then there is no more personal guidance. It is that simple.

I personally am not a transformed person, but I have had one or two 'experiences' of what it means to live or be in a higher 'real' state, that I know how easy it is to be deluded as to one's progress spiritually and that the 'ideas' can be only that, just ideas floating about in one's head, as my teacher told my wife, when we first got to know him.

Further, there  is a wealth of spiritual practices that can only be given orally and in person, (the do no harm thing) that are never written in books. Books are really just advertising, that 'here is something of interest'. When I came across Gurdjieff's  books, I had the internal 'revelation' that this is what I had been unconsciously looking for all my life, at the age of 35, in spite of having a career, wife and family and so on. How can a sleeping man make promises to 'honour and cherish' when one is subject to the whims of one's ego, which changes every minute from external stimuli, when there is no central 'me' to stabilize anything. Beware, these ideas can change your life, and you can still fail to make anything real of it. You have to be prepared for disappointment, but then, saying that usually does not put people off, if they have been affected by these things. sorry for the rant. 

by ibrahim turner (25 articles, 31 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 177 comments) on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 7:52:34 PM