Encephalon

STUMBLING TOWARD ENLIGHTENMENT

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One of the (very) few joys of living in Los Angeles is the LA Library Bookstore, a tiny room in each location reserved for selling books, fifty cents for paperbacks, a dollar for hardbacks.  For avid readers it is a goldmine.  I have basically gone completely apeshit in the construction of a personal library of a thousand titles. I even found a book entitled “A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books.” I’m in good company.  The gentle madness is shared by millions.

 

I started buying titles about five years ago when I dropped my four-year-old daughter off at the local pre-school summer camp, just down the street from our library.  I’ve probably contributed about 300 titles to my bookshelves over the last five years and what I now possess is a collection that would yield the equivalent of a complete liberal arts education.  It started out as a personal exercise in filling gaps in my undergrad education, titles I could read as an elderly man in a rocking chair, but it soon developed into something for my child; a complete reference library that would suit the entirety of her educational needs without ever having to leave the house, or a hard-copy library that could outlive the Los Angeles Unified School District or western civilization itself.  (How to airlift the collection to my off-the-grid Taoist eco-village in the Canadian Rockies is another subject.)

 

Having spent endless hours organizing the titles I’ve settled on a chronological system; astronomy first, followed by physics, mathematics, and chemistry and then moving along to earth sciences of geology and global climate change. Biology is up next, followed by the rest of the life sciences, ecology, zoology and the emergence of humankind.  Social and behavioral sciences follow, all the history, all the psych and sociology, along with the humanities – art, music, literature (150 of the world’s most popular novels) – and then an explosion of titles of my favorite subjects; Asian Studies, Buddhism and Taoism, humanistic geography, California geography, evolutionary psychology, evolution, fascism and religious fundamentalism.  Two shelves are dedicated to non-fiction, current events, and any other titles that defy my ability to classify.

 

Hiding in my bedroom are two bookcases full of literature and self-help, six versions of the Tao te Ching and twelve versions of The Art of War, and all the fucking material I’ve decided I need in order to become a world-class screenwriter. But some days, I’d rather just be a hermit in the mountains.  Oh, and let’s not forget a half dozen titles on how not to be a shitty father and husband and why consumer capitalism and addiction are one and the same. And let’s not forget Ken Wilber and consciousness studies and… yeah… at one book a week, twenty years of reading.  I’ll be in my 80s soon enough.

 

What I’ve discovered from my formal and informal education, what seems a common thread that weaves in and out of multiple subjects is the general trajectory toward enlightenment.  Whether it’s mastering your diet or learning how to defend yourself, designing an eco-village or creating democratic land use policy, becoming an accomplished pianist or a better parent and husband, saving your soul or saving the planet, waking the fuck up seems to be implicit and necessary.

 

You won’t have a black belt and maintain 10% bodyfat without enormous control over your emotions, your instincts, your capacity to manage time and energy.  Your ideal eco-village won’t work unless your fellow villagers mandate emotional growth and maturity.  And it certainly seems necessary that in order for human life to remain viable we have to become masters of our imaginations and servants of the web of life.  We have to figure out a plausible trajectory from being traumatized to becoming enlightened, and we need to get busy.   

 

A global awakening seems like the missing ingredient but other writers have already written this off as just another pipe dream, the wishful thinking of a desperate species.  I am not entirely convinced that a plausible, ecologically sustainable, and spiritually satisfying lifestyle has been conceived and presented to the unwashed masses.  I believe a compelling vision of the genuine pursuit of happiness can replace our morally nauseating pursuit of pleasure.  A robust alternative to wage slavery, hamburgers, and porn is waiting in the wings.  We just have to live the experiment, take copious notes, make adjustments and be courageous enough to share it despite the risk of ridicule and rejection.

 

What will you do this day that is sustainable and wise?  What actions will you jettison from your behavior?  I’ve heard it said that practicing enlightenment is being enlightened.  Sitting on your zafu, bombarded with thoughts, is still enlightened conduct, yes? 

 

Okay – I’ve written my 750 words for the day.  Taobums has always been a great vehicle for aspiring writers to pursue their daily word count.  As they say, from quantity comes quality.  Thanks Taobums!

 

 

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Encephalon said:

 

 

One of the (very) few joys of living in Los Angeles is the LA Library Bookstore, a tiny room in each location reserved for selling books, fifty cents for paperbacks, a dollar for hardbacks.  For avid readers it is a goldmine.  I have basically gone completely apeshit in the construction of a personal library of a thousand titles. I even found a book entitled “A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books.” I’m in good company.  The gentle madness is shared by millions.

 

I started buying titles about five years ago when I dropped my four-year-old daughter off at the local pre-school summer camp, just down the street from our library.  I’ve probably contributed about 300 titles to my bookshelves over the last five years and what I now possess is a collection that would yield the equivalent of a complete liberal arts education.  It started out as a personal exercise in filling gaps in my undergrad education, titles I could read as an elderly man in a rocking chair, but it soon developed into something for my child; a complete reference library that would suit the entirety of her educational needs without ever having to leave the house, or a hard-copy library that could outlive the Los Angeles Unified School District or western civilization itself.  (How to airlift the collection to my off-the-grid Taoist eco-village in the Canadian Rockies is another subject.)

 

Having spent endless hours organizing the titles I’ve settled on a chronological system; astronomy first, followed by physics, mathematics, and chemistry and then moving along to earth sciences of geology and global climate change. Biology is up next, followed by the rest of the life sciences, ecology, zoology and the emergence of humankind.  Social and behavioral sciences follow, all the history, all the psych and sociology, along with the humanities – art, music, literature (150 of the world’s most popular novels) – and then an explosion of titles of my favorite subjects; Asian Studies, Buddhism and Taoism, humanistic geography, California geography, evolutionary psychology, evolution, fascism and religious fundamentalism.  Two shelves are dedicated to non-fiction, current events, and any other titles that defy my ability to classify.

 

Hiding in my bedroom are two bookcases full of literature and self-help, six versions of the Tao te Ching and twelve versions of The Art of War, and all the fucking material I’ve decided I need in order to become a world-class screenwriter. But some days, I’d rather just be a hermit in the mountains.  Oh, and let’s not forget a half dozen titles on how not to be a shitty father and husband and why consumer capitalism and addiction are one and the same. And let’s not forget Ken Wilber and consciousness studies and… yeah… at one book a week, twenty years of reading.  I’ll be in my 80s soon enough.

 

What I’ve discovered from my formal and informal education, what seems a common thread that weaves in and out of multiple subjects is the general trajectory toward enlightenment.  Whether it’s mastering your diet or learning how to defend yourself, designing an eco-village or creating democratic land use policy, becoming an accomplished pianist or a better parent and husband, saving your soul or saving the planet, waking the fuck up seems to be implicit and necessary.

 

You won’t have a black belt and maintain 10% bodyfat without enormous control over your emotions, your instincts, your capacity to manage time and energy.  Your ideal eco-village won’t work unless your fellow villagers mandate emotional growth and maturity.  And it certainly seems necessary that in order for human life to remain viable we have to become masters of our imaginations and servants of the web of life.  We have to figure out a plausible trajectory from being traumatized to becoming enlightened, and we need to get busy.   

 

A global awakening seems like the missing ingredient but other writers have already written this off as just another pipe dream, the wishful thinking of a desperate species.  I am not entirely convinced that a plausible, ecologically sustainable, and spiritually satisfying lifestyle has been conceived and presented to the unwashed masses.  I believe a compelling vision of the genuine pursuit of happiness can replace our morally nauseating pursuit of pleasure.  A robust alternative to wage slavery, hamburgers, and porn is waiting in the wings.  We just have to live the experiment, take copious notes, make adjustments and be courageous enough to share it despite the risk of ridicule and rejection.

 

What will you do this day that is sustainable and wise?  What actions will you jettison from your behavior?  I’ve heard it said that practicing enlightenment is being enlightened.  Sitting on your zafu, bombarded with thoughts, is still enlightened conduct, yes? 

 

Okay – I’ve written my 750 words for the day.  Taobums has always been a great vehicle for aspiring writers to pursue their daily word count.  As they say, from quantity comes quality.  Thanks Taobums!

 

Truly, we've likely crossed paths there mate... Whenever I find myself on locations for work that are nearby, I'll spend my lunches in those rooms perusing for gold among the elder books.  My workmates  "where'd you go for lunch?".  Me:  *holds up bag of books*  "I went to the Gold Mine!"

 

My time at University, taught me one really enduring and useful thing... how to teach myself, or rather, how to learn.

When my time there was done, then my real education could begin in earnest.

 

Life is now my teacher, every stone, leaf and flutterby whispers lessons.

 

Cheers Mate!

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I often travel to Palm Springs and often hit up the library bookstores there, buying way more than I´ll ever read.  My purchases are considerably less erudite Encepalon´s, tending towards Patricia Cornwell and Lee Childs.  Occasionally I´ll sneak a Jane Austen in amongst the thrillers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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5 hours ago, Encephalon said:

 

 

One of the (very) few joys of living in Los Angeles is the LA Library Bookstore, a tiny room in each location reserved for selling books, fifty cents for paperbacks, a dollar for hardbacks.  For avid readers it is a goldmine.  I have basically gone completely apeshit in the construction of a personal library of a thousand titles. I even found a book entitled “A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books.” I’m in good company.  The gentle madness is shared by millions.

 

I started buying titles about five years ago when I dropped my four-year-old daughter off at the local pre-school summer camp, just down the street from our library.  I’ve probably contributed about 300 titles to my bookshelves over the last five years and what I now possess is a collection that would yield the equivalent of a complete liberal arts education.  It started out as a personal exercise in filling gaps in my undergrad education, titles I could read as an elderly man in a rocking chair, but it soon developed into something for my child; a complete reference library that would suit the entirety of her educational needs without ever having to leave the house, or a hard-copy library that could outlive the Los Angeles Unified School District or western civilization itself.  (How to airlift the collection to my off-the-grid Taoist eco-village in the Canadian Rockies is another subject.)

 

Having spent endless hours organizing the titles I’ve settled on a chronological system; astronomy first, followed by physics, mathematics, and chemistry and then moving along to earth sciences of geology and global climate change. Biology is up next, followed by the rest of the life sciences, ecology, zoology and the emergence of humankind.  Social and behavioral sciences follow, all the history, all the psych and sociology, along with the humanities – art, music, literature (150 of the world’s most popular novels) – and then an explosion of titles of my favorite subjects; Asian Studies, Buddhism and Taoism, humanistic geography, California geography, evolutionary psychology, evolution, fascism and religious fundamentalism.  Two shelves are dedicated to non-fiction, current events, and any other titles that defy my ability to classify.

 

I used to have a broad  subject book library - with a huge 'mystical'  (occult and 'religious', mythology, etc )  .  Also the commune had a library room, mostly with alternative books ; gardening, land management  and other stuff .  Thats gone now ,  the remains of the books are rotting in the barn . Its the 'way of the world' now .   My personal library went into our groups library as a collective resource. But that eventually disbanded, the books dispersed . Some given away, some sold at markets or on line , I had some rare stuff .  Only got two tubs left,  gathering dust in the shed .

 

Not that long ago I had a book case  of the most used ones in the cabin, for reference mostly . Now its a single shelf as I slowly go through only 2 or 3 . They just are not used any more .   All that knowledge !   But still, when it was available most people hardly bothered anyway . On the commune for example ; you could research about agriculture and read up on personal accounts in this area , on this land  before you started to experiment with 'self sufficiency ' . But people did and still do prefer to make the same mistakes over and over again , tough for them , but it also damages the environment and resources .  I sorta gave up . Its all happening again .

 

When the shit really hits the fan, and people seriously need to be self sufficient , the land is degraded, the soil crap and the remedial knowledge will have to be got from elsewhere .

 

A thought .....   a power failure doesnt effect your ability to open a book and read !

 

 

5 hours ago, Encephalon said:

 

Hiding in my bedroom are two bookcases full of literature and self-help, six versions of the Tao te Ching and twelve versions of The Art of War, and all the fucking material I’ve decided I need in order to become a world-class screenwriter. But some days, I’d rather just be a hermit in the mountains.  Oh, and let’s not forget a half dozen titles on how not to be a shitty father and husband and why consumer capitalism and addiction are one and the same. And let’s not forget Ken Wilber and consciousness studies and… yeah… at one book a week, twenty years of reading.  I’ll be in my 80s soon enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 hours ago, Encephalon said:

 

What I’ve discovered from my formal and informal education, what seems a common thread that weaves in and out of multiple subjects is the general trajectory toward enlightenment.  Whether it’s mastering your diet or learning how to defend yourself, designing an eco-village or creating democratic land use policy, becoming an accomplished pianist or a better parent and husband, saving your soul or saving the planet, waking the fuck up seems to be implicit and necessary.

 

You won’t have a black belt and maintain 10% bodyfat without enormous control over your emotions, your instincts, your capacity to manage time and energy.  Your ideal eco-village won’t work unless your fellow villagers mandate emotional growth and maturity.  And it certainly seems necessary that in order for human life to remain viable we have to become masters of our imaginations and servants of the web of life.  We have to figure out a plausible trajectory from being traumatized to becoming enlightened, and we need to get busy.   

 

 

BRAVO!

 

In the ancient schools the first principle was 'know thyself' from there knowledge was built up . Now it seems the other way around .

 

I bought this up with some parents years back - your kids are going to be exposed to this in their education. A few had kids at the local Steiner School . I already worked their occasionally  ( as sport teacher and  taking them swimming down at  the river ). A couple petitioned the school board to have me teach a 'main lesson' for a term  and it went before the school board .  I explained this old principle  with an expansion on a modern dynamic . The kids will go through all this complex education and in the future they might  come up across various issues or problems , say its of a philosophical nature , or something to do with their make up psychology and programming . Now, the kid that graduated , went to uni,  studied philosophy and psychology might be able to navigate through the problem, but others , who went down other paths of education might not be able to . Also, look at this in light of youth's problems today ; we got a big self harm, suicide and substance abuse problem going on .  They need education and tools in a wider area at an earlier and general stage  of education .   So I wrote up a curriculum  based on that and hermetic teachings , stripped down and simplified to its basics .  The school board accepted it  ( under protest , as many of them thought that is exactly what Steiner education was meant to be doing .  others realised it wasnt . So it went to a vote ) .

 

Basically the lessons where on 4 levels  relating to the elements ;   Fire  (  which I used as 'spirit'  and 'spiritual' in the context of one;s individual spirit  - and here the failure , with those kids, of the Steiner system was apparent ; the first time I mentioned the world 'spiritual' a groan went up from the class, amidst protest about all the spiritual stuff the school and the parents had been ramming down their necks - one girl, who lacked confidence and expression said it was because she was a Sagittarius , and she had been led to believing, by her own mother , that Saggaterians are dreamers and useless !   - I certainly had my work cut for me ! )

 

The course was titled 'Life Skills  - know yourself ' . The fire segment was about individuality and the individual spark of genius each has and our own originality and uniqueness and how that interfaces  socially. Water was about emotions and their effect on us . (Eg  examining the difference between an emotional reaction and an intellectual response  .  We thought up scenarios and acted them out from either state  and looked  with different  ways of control and modification . Air was intellect , we looked at various things, including ways to use the function better , how to learn and study , examined things like memory , speed reading etc .  Earth was physical body with  health &  nutrition  ( I found one over weight  girl eating her lunch with a fork out of a huge can of tinned spaghetti . I said " What would your mother say if she knew you where eating that for lunch ?" Her answer was a confused look :  " I asked my Mom what I was going to take for lunch this morning and she handed the can and a spoon to me . "   ) , cooking lessons ,  a bit of bush craft. making shelters and simple building skills , with bamboo . And some martial arts   / self defence  aikido style - they LOVED that , all of them , except the class bully  :D  instantly he was disempowered.   I taught the boys some middle eastern drumming and my GF at the time was into belly dancing , so she came and taught the girls some dances . After a month the class put on a little performance . The other teachers  where amazed at how quickly they learnt it .   Actually I had a few other teachers  sit in on my classes to observe  my 'style'. It worked great with the kids , to the extent that some wanted me to come into their class to address  some problems  (but I refused , seeing most problems originated in the teachers or the system itself ,  if they didnt, then there was their own parents to deal with ! 

 

We had a heavy session on teen suicide , they really didnt like me then . I fronted them with stats and numbers. Which means  x number of that class will be dead before 20 . It caused an unpopular uproar . I let it simmer for a while  . Then ; " But that isnt going to happen to US is it ? We are going to  look after each other ."  Then began teaching about that  ( Eg . back then the 4th largest cause of teenage death in rural areas was night swimming . If you swim in fresh water at night after consuming  alcohol and dive in, the shock to the body when it hits the cold immersion layer deeper down can cause the breath to be expelled, panic  makes a  convulsive breath in, of water, and the person can drown . This can simply be avoided by walking in and submersing slowly. And the more aware keeping an eye on others .

 

I would like to think I was somewhat successful , I only , over time , lost 2 of those kids , stats indicated  potentially more, so I think we where ahead .

 

 

5 hours ago, Encephalon said:

A global awakening seems like the missing ingredient but other writers have already written this off as just another pipe dream, the wishful thinking of a desperate species.  I am not entirely convinced that a plausible, ecologically sustainable, and spiritually satisfying lifestyle has been conceived and presented to the unwashed masses.  I believe a compelling vision of the genuine pursuit of happiness can replace our morally nauseating pursuit of pleasure.  A robust alternative to wage slavery, hamburgers, and porn is waiting in the wings.  We just have to live the experiment, take copious notes, make adjustments and be courageous enough to share it despite the risk of ridicule and rejection.

 

I admire you sentiments .   We had a bit of an experiment on the commune like that . It did work for a few years . I know why it didnt work as good as it could  - subversion of those that could not advance ! And I know why that was allowed to happen .  If the others  had proper 'hermetic' education they would have realised ;

 

Remember that unbalanced force is evil; that unbalanced severity is but cruelty and oppression; but that also unbalanced mercy is but weakness which would allow and abet Evil. Act passionately; think rationally; be Thyself.

 

They would never discipline anyone , even those that tried to wreck the system we all benefited from. In the one area we did , the problem evaporated and people became happy about the 'harsh' solution .

 

 

 

5 hours ago, Encephalon said:

 

What will you do this day that is sustainable and wise?  What actions will you jettison from your behavior?  I’ve heard it said that practicing enlightenment is being enlightened.  Sitting on your zafu, bombarded with thoughts, is still enlightened conduct, yes? 

 

The thing is , these people simply believed they could just do all this , because they wanted to do it  .   One has to LEARN how to do things .    Many seemed to think that if you turned up on the commune , in your kombi with long hair and beard , you where cool , peaceful, understanding and never beat your wife  .....  I take it as far as having kids . many seem to think parenting will come naturally AFTER they have kids . For some it does , for others its a disaster  for both parties .

 

Tis the way of the world , we have BOTH intelligent and stupid people   ( and the definition of that is all important ) ;

 

http://harmful.cat-v.org/people/basic-laws-of-human-stupidity/

 

 

5 hours ago, Encephalon said:

Okay – I’ve written my 750 words for the day.  Taobums has always been a great vehicle for aspiring writers to pursue their daily word count.  As they say, from quantity comes quality.  Thanks Taobums!

 

 

Ditto   :)
 

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"My time at University, taught me one really enduring and useful thing... how to teach myself, or rather, how to learn.

When my time there was done, then my real education could begin in earnest." 

 

Exactly. I have taken Deng Ming-Dao's point about education and knowledge seriously; knowledge should go from simplicity to complexity and then reverse course, returning to a state of simplicity, which I assume means that after we've sampled tens of thousands of ideas and concepts over the years we begin to recognize the deeper and more refined patterns that connect, some sort of grand reconciliation that explains the plethora of phenomena with the least amount of assumptions, amendments, preconceptions.

 

On another note, I'm having a ball reading works that fuse different subject matter and enrich them in the process. 

Titles like "This is Your Brain on Music"

"Origins: How the Earth Shaped Human History"

"The Secret Life of Dust"

"Why Buddhism is True"

"Inside of a Dog"

"Hitler's Pope"

"The Soul of an Octopus"

I was never lucky enough to take courses that were specifically interdisciplinary, but I did have a few professors who were adept at teaching this way.  Fortunately, there is no shortage of titles written in this spirit.

 

Back in the 90s I moved out to Maharishi International University in Iowa, the campus for the TM - transcendental  meditation crowd,  and their curricula was almost exclusively interdisciplinary; math and consciousness, literature and consciousness, biology and consciousness, etc., theorizing how pure consciousness manifests itself mathematically, biologically, physically...

 

Unfortunately, it was a hopelessly dysfunctional community and I left after six months, but there were plenty of valuable lessons to be gained nevertheless.

 

 

 

 

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