The Joy of 9/11

By the time you finish this little ramble
at least 3000 people will have died on this
beautiful planet from idiotic reasons:

Car crashes,
stupid wars,
starvation because the rich stole the food that was supposed to go to the poor
starvation because the world bank shoved the country into monoculture and the people forgot or weren't allowed to grow their own food
drugs that doctors gave doing the person in
lover's quarrels where the gun is the answer
drug war idiocy

and so on

This human race does dumb things
with its big brain
that gets used to make weapons
and to justify the most common human
fallacy:
The Me Right, You wrong fallacy

And throughout today,
many will be busy saying
the terrorists were wrong
or that George Bush was wrong
or that the whole economic mess of the country is wrong

and you know what:
everyone who wants to be right,
is
and yet,
are they happy?

So let's dance around and wonder:
are we terrorizing ourselves with the idea
that 9/11 shouldn't have happened

are we terrorizing ourselves with the wish
that in this country at least
crazy men with the idea that they can solve
anything by killing a bunch of people all at
once ( Hiroshima anyone? firebombing of Dresden and Tokyo)
should happen

people want to be right
the most idiotic form of this is to go
out and figure that you are so right
you get to kill off a bunch of the Wrong crowd

crazy

and then,
if we want to erase this idiocy
from the world
or from happening in "our" country,
who are we, but mental expungers of the
the Wrong folk
so we wipe the "bad/ dumb/ wrong THEM" out
with our judgment

me right, you wrong
ah, such sweet poison

such a common way to waste our lives

and the unfailing way to be unhappy:
You, the past, should have been different

me right, the past should have been my picture,
you, reality, the past as it was, is WRong

la, la

lots of luck

so, if you don't agree with me,
be happy,
but don't be right,
be amused, confused,
curious:

how could he possibly think that way?

what would it be like if I tried that out for awhile?

And if you can't entertain an "alien" viewpoint,
why get so mad at the terrorists,
who clearly lacked humor and the good graces
to see that not everyone agreed with them

they are just like us
with the extreme of getting to really wipe out
what they don't like
including themselves

imagine how much self hatred goes into terrorism,
forget all the hogwash about 40 virgins in heaven,
these dopes all knew they were going to die,
and that they were destroying themselves

nothing but good old lack of love
for self
others
and the whole big mess
can lead to such drastic acts

and then again as the ramble rumbles
down,
and the 3000 mentioned above are all
dead
and here we are still

what's that about?

it's our moment
this gol dern moment is
our life

how much love and joy
and tolerance of the "wrong" people,
and love for the "wrong" people
can we conjure up

IN THIS MOMENT,
CAUSE IT'S THE ONLY ONE

ciao
for
NOW

Chris, 9-11-2011
whoppie, here we are,
you and I
alive

Blaming Others: Ain't it a temptation

Deliver us from evil, says Jesus.

Okay, fine. And what if evil is something like this:
being radically out of touch with our deepest and sweetest humanity

And this, of course, can be the good old fashioned rape and murder stuff

But, hey: this is "civilization,"
and here's how we most quickly get out of our humaniy,
out of love with others,
into separation and blaming.

With this story:
"So and so should have been different yesterday (an hour ago, last year,
you fill in the blank.)

And since so and so wasn't different,
then I have a right to complain, blame and tell others
about how bad/awful/ insensitive
whatever
that other person was."

To wit:
I'm good,
they are bad,
and I'm going to bore the crap out of you
by trying to get you on my "side"
about how "wrong"
they were.

When we get lost in this,
we are lost to the present,
and not much fun to be around.

Ah, so.

Perhaps then, that's a good time to
do the work
of ms. ByronKatie;

Judge your neighbor (already doing that in the blame game)
Write it down (ah, do some work, and leave our friends alone)
Ask 4 questions
Turn it around

The 4 Q:

Is it true?

Can I absolutely know it's true?

How do I react, who am I, how do I live, what do I become
when I believe the thought/ story/ opinion/ belief?

Who would I be without the thought?


It's a sweet work,
and it's work,
and it works,
when we do.

Ciao,
Chris

Day Twenty-Nine: What to Leave Behind: Part of "me" or all of "me"

Any change means a small or large death. Any deep change can almost feel like a death to the “me” personality behind which we hide, sometimes from others, sometimes from life, always from our really self.

Inside us is a beautiful and real part. Call it your Self, call it the innocent one, call it our awareness, call it God, or the Child of God. It is without a name.

Names are what we call each other, in both senses of that phrase. But who we all are is deeper and quieter than all that.

And sometimes the world gets too heavy with us, and we suffer and to leave that suffering behind seems like the hardest thing in the world.

Strange, because it would seem that suffering is what we would most prefer to give up. Sure, if we could give it up and stay just the same. If we could give it up, and not, as Jesus asked the rich man, “give up our possessions.” In this case, the possessions are our fixed ideas and almost always the bitter and killing us conviction that we are Right.

We are Right, and until the world shapes up, we are going to keep being Right, and even if that causes immense suffering, we’d rather be right than happy. Often. Not always.

And when we let go of that “right-ness” that “so and so done me wrong” it is like a little death.

And on the other side of that death: resurrection into love.

First we are angry/ hurt/ resentful/ bitter because “so and so did us wrong.” Maybe we do the work of Byron Katie, and see, notice, feel, understand the difference at question #3: Who are we and how do we feel and live and react when we attach to the thought that “so and so done me wrong”

That questions makes life one way. Questions #4: Who would we be without the story that “so and so done me wrong”? creates a whole new person.

Or rather liberates that real shining clear happy and loving self that is our Self.

But on the way, it can feel like a death to let go of the attachment to our belief. Death, death, death, scary, scary, scary and then we do it, and the old crusty worthless judge dies away, and we are reborn.

So today, die before you die, as many times as you can and be reborn each time closer and closer to who you really are.

Good.