Like the Lionman,

Alone in his cavern,

Just you to make him feel whole.

The freedom of our kiss,

The end of unfulfilled desire,

The end of loneliness,

The achievement of the whole,

The freedom of being

With you.

 

NBS

Sedona, 7-2016

Technology changes the world. Increased productivity from new technology increases profits. Old world political economies distribute profits upward, leading to greater economic inequality and polarized politics.  The working classes feel left behind, as society becomes 2 tiers instead of 3 tiers, eliminating the middle class. This causes a political reaction that is predictable. Those who long for the old world – the 50s as an example – reject science because it hasn’t benefitted them.  Their wages are stagnant while greater wealth has accumulated in fewer hands, All technological progress has meant for them is greater disenfranchisement.  Old world values including religion and politics – and isolationism and fear- have free rein.  Technology benefits consumers but without concomitant distribution of wealth through wages for workers.  A smaller cadre of engineers and scientists, and their banker and lawyer partners, make decisions that benefit them as corporate leaders, siloed by fiduciary responsibility into self and corporate benefit at the cost of society as a whole.

The future of this is more technology, greater economic and hence political inequality as the wealthy buy the political process,  and ultimately two polar opposite outcomes become possible: 1- Vast quantities of unemployed and alienated poor on the dole, paid for by upper class charity; or 2 – an entirely different system of economic gain and financial distribution. In the first case, such a towering edifice of inequality cannot stand forever. The result would be revolution in some form or another. In the second case, a new form of wealth distribution would emerge based on the increased productivity and minimum wages for workers such that the lower class becomes more uniform and homogenously financially secure. The latter case could happen without a revolution if the upper class and the intellectuals communicated these ideas.  This does not require violence to repair, but rather an enlightened leadership class that has both a global view and moral integrity.

We see the contemporary effects of this in the Sanders and Trump campaigns. Sanders represents a vision of a more fair and equitable distribution of wealth and legal/political system. Trump represents the alternative – retrogressing violence of a fascist reaction based on fear and hatred. Both contain the seeds of change within the context of society as a whole. Both are indicators that the result of the disenfranchisement of the working classes through the financial control  of the media and government by the wealthy have reached a breaking point.  Both Sanders and Trump are leaders of movements that have been created by the history of technological progress in America, and that has spread to the entire world. We see the same economic inequality in Europe, China, Africa, in essence everywhere.

The “establishment” media and political parties first erroneously predicted the failure of these movements, proving that their understanding of these changes is limited at best. The Republicans may lose control over their own party, as a fissure opens in their ranks. The Democrats, just as divided though not so violently, again show the polarity between the Clinton establishment party regulars, and Sanders who does not represent “business as usual”.

This campaign season is showing the manifestation of these movements as the Tea Party has reached the power to take control through candidate Trump; and the democrats show the latent reach toward Socialism through Sanders, reversing a century old trend toward Socialism’s complete suppression and denial in America. The political landscape is evolving, regardless of the outcome.

There are times and places where dying

Is commonplace.

Winter, in the North,

In the cold,

The leaves fallen, the bare limbs naked;

The old man, feebly walks in the park,

White hair, wrinkled skin.

The old woman greets him.

They touch, souls feeling souls,

Nearing the end.

 

The kundalini has become more and more frequent in the new age media over the years. What is it?  How does it function? There are many would-be gurus who claim to know all about kundalini and have the answers. There is kundalini yoga. There are research foundations and networks. I cannot sit in judgment of any of them.  I can only provide my own ideas based on my own research and experience.

My kundalini became fully activated in one fell swoop on an October night in 1973. It has been an adventure ever since. I particularly followed the books by Gopi Krishna, whose expository writings and poetry spoke volumes to me.  Krishna had researched the kundalini in India as a modern student rather than one steeped in the traditional and mythological aspects of kundalini.  In fact, Krishna was advocating a scientific research project to measure the activity of kundalini, to observe its effects in the body, and to create a body of scientific theory about it.

The path to kundalini activation is a slow and challenging effort. It requires a capacity for mental concentration, physical health and stamina, emotional balance, and spiritual guidance. Otherwise, if any one of those faculties is not present, the pursuit of an active kundalini can lead to illness, confusion, and in some cases even death. This one topic could be a subject of books itself. One thinks of the suicide of Van Gogh and other artists (I use the term “artist” in the general sense, meaning painters, writers, composers,and other creative souls).

In general terms, here is my prescription for activating kundalini:

• The ability of the mind to concentrate should be developed. This is done through some form of meditation. There are many ways to meditate, but the number one goal is the cessation of the activity of the intellect, often accomplished with the aid of diaphragmatic breathing.  The intellect can serve as a useful tool but it can also become reflexive and unstoppable, even addictive. The intellect can also serve as a means of alienation from life experience both emotional and spiritual, what psychologists call projection. The power of the mind to concentrate must be achieved from within. In many cultures an entheogen (a mind altering plant used in religious ceremonies) is used for this purpose.  It helps to suspend the ego and allow the intellect to relax, opening the internal and external senses.  This is what was meant by Aldous Huxley’s Doors of Perception, based on his experience with a cactus based entheogen. In Siberia mushrooms are used. In Mexico peyote and mushrooms are used, in the mountains of Peru it is another cactus, in the jungles of the Andes it is a vine. Christians use wine to evoke the spirit of Jesus. The use of entheogens can allow the individual to experience the cessation of the intellect, but it is only an introductory experience.  The rest of the work must be done by the mind alone. Overuse of entheogens can damage the mind.

• Physical health must be good. This means a strong and healthy body and a good nutritious diet. The body is the repository of the mind, heart, and soul. It must support these things. A weak or diseased body cannot support the rigors of achieving an activated kundalini, or the rigors that follow.  Also, the body must be balanced and in control by the individual. Coordination and dexterity should be good.  Overall a strong constitution is important.

 

• A gentle heart and calm demeanor. Emotional balance and centeredness are very important. Psychological demons may at one time or another threaten all of us. It is best if there are no monsters in the unconscious. These serve as divergent distractions to the mind, which is otherwise trying to focus itself on emptiness and non-being to quiet itself. Powerful emotions demand attention. Such issues must be at rest for the mind to open to activate kundalini.

 

• A healthy and wholistic belief system, open to spirit. Belief matters. If the aspirant has a belief system that invokes fear at the possibility of self-knowledge, or has a belief in an ultimate deity of evil for example, or harbors the false notion of original sin, then said aspirant will find it very hard to reconcile the evidence of their senses with a dualistic model of the spiritual world. The activation of the kundalini leads one to Cosmic Consciousness and the experience of a unified creation of which one is a part. A dualistic model that posits an ultimate yin and yang cannot achieve the experience of being one with the Tao, for this experience has no duality.

 

• After achieving the aforementioned states of mind, body, heart, and spirit, one must find ultimate humility. This is not found through self-abnegation. Hair shirts and self-flagellation are only further manifestations of a misguided and ego driven practice. True humility brings the acknowledgement that we are no better than any other being. It is the exercise of letting the ego, which serves as a mirror of the self, be smashed in an act of ultimate letting go so that the true self beneath becomes evident. This state has been described as “The Dark Night of the Soul.” The feelings that are involved may be recognitions or revelations of aspects of one’s personal history that one may feel utterly humiliated to recognize. Yet these are a stepping stone to the ultimate release of the dragon at the base of one’s spine. Why?  Because those feelings, however humiliating and painful to confess, are nothing compared to the effect of the kundalini. The kundalini, once activated, will reshape the entirety of one’s being. Only ultimate truth about one’s self, recognized at the base of one’s emotional being, can allow the kundalini to emerge. This is why a healthy kundalini activation cannot lead to evil, which is based on false beliefs and dualism.

 

• Having experienced the dark night of the soul, one must yet return to the meditative state and further plumb the depths of one’s being. Now one must face the lions that guard the gate. Whatever fears that lie dormant will now awaken. One must focus the mind in pursuit of the evolution of the self. This whole process is an evolution of the self towards a mystery that lies deep at the base of the spine. The readiness is necessary, for the power of kundalini is like no other. It cannot be achieved for selfish reasons.  These are ego-driven motives that depend on falsehoods that are barriers to the true self underneath. Humility must be found, the humility that is simply the realization that we are all humble beings in this tremendous universe. It is our natural state and simply the truth.  All glorification of the individual is predicated on false and ego driven thinking.

 

• If one follows this prescription, one can activate kundalini. For me, it was a moment of convergence of pressures and tensions in the mind, heart, body and soul that suddenly resolved into an opening of the channel at the base of my spine, and all those pressures disappeared, replaced by an ecstatic energy that rose up my spine, chakra by chakra. This kundalini energy mounted up to my brain and finally I was immersed in an ocean of cosmic ecstatic energy, a cluster of stars in which I perceived the stars while I was simultaneously the stars themselves.

 

• Following the activation and ascension to the highest state, I descended back into my body. I became aware of my surroundings and was back in my body, back in the room. But inside I had changed. My mind had permanently expanded and the energy of kundalini was loose in me, moving from point to point, changing me, transforming me into the being that I have become. I can compare my prior self to a caterpillar, and from the kundalini experience I metamorphosed into a moth or butterfly.

The years that have followed, 42 of them, have for me been an adventure, a roller coaster ride of experiences.  They have not been without ups and downs physically, emotionally, and spiritually. To be honest, one is well within the bounds of sensibleness to never pursue such experiences. The truths and insights are rich, but the experience is not an easy one. This life is approached in danger and experienced in danger. I was impelled to it like a moth to the flame.  In my case there was a sort of inevitableness to my reaching this point starting when I was quite young. This is probably not the case for most.

I would not advise pursuing kundalini activation unless one is truly inspired within to go there. It is a bit like being a high diver.  It is not for everyone. It may be best to satisfy one’s self with gentle yoga and meditation, a happy family life and a pleasant society of friends and community. I don’t know if I chose this route or it chose me, but in any event it became my path. If you do feel that this is your way, then I offer the counsel above. Don’t be in a hurry.  Don’t be ambitious. If you feel the wave drawing you in, ride that wave and stay balanced.

My best of wishes to all who come to this blog. Sincerely,

Neil Bethell Sinclair II

Carrying the wooden beam, his grave marker,

Soon to be the symbol of his life.

Tortured, crowned with thorns,

Yet still practicing forgiveness

To all who assailed him,

Here was the finest of humans.

Diligently showing love until the end.

It’s that for which he is remembered,

Termed the Son of God, so great his glory.

Great suffering in the name of higher purpose,

Is remembered, worshiped even in this day.

Socrates, Joan of Arc, others received his fate,

And they too are remembered, heroes of their day.

Yet the lashes of the whip,

The nails in his hands and feet,

The blade into his side,

The thorned crown that cut into his scalp,

These things cannot be denied.

So when I hear of this infamy,

I barely can contain myself,

This desecration of holy flesh,

This putrid behavior I deride.

NBS

VOC

12/2015

Here are a few poems from yesterday…

 

Poems are like birds.

If I am very still,

Very quiet, they come

Sit by me, so

I can observe them,

See their lines,

Their form and color,

Get the details just right.

 

Art is a prime number. It’s factors

Are only one and itself.

Unique, asymmetrical,

Like the old Chinese saying,

“I never step into the same river twice.”

Art and life – every moment is

Idiosyncratically different from

Every other.

Undefinable, incomparable,

Indescribable,

Like the Tao.

 

 

 

The Misinterpretation of the Meaning of the Text

 

The Misinterpretation of the meaning of the text,

Jihadists wearing suicide belts or bombs strapped to their vests,

The word Islam means peace in Arabic. I wonder what comes next?

Christian Fundamentalists trying to micromanage sex,

Ultra-Orthodox rabbis kneeling, bobbing necks

While Israeli tanks kill the leaders of Palestinian protests.

 

Has religion just become a tool for political contests?

How does the search for deeper meaning lead to military conquests?

Do God and Jesus, Moses, and Mohammed require such duress

In an endless retaliatory match, putting survival to the test?

 

The original purpose of religion was to reach a higher state

Of Consciousness, of morality where soul and genius mate.

The endless creation of systems of rules by priests with balding pates

Has no relation to religion, but more with a zealous State –

A political imposition of laws, a prison made of hate,

An inferior mentality, a small mind, not a great.

 

The original lives of the prophets was a model to imitate,

To follow their path as they followed God, a better world to create.

The text was meant to guide the way, to help initiate

The elevation of the soul to reach the higher state.

 

Beware the self-appointed leader whose ambition is to emulate

Those with political power, the leaders of the empire state.

When holy texts are twisted into a rule-making template

And movements are spawned to achieve goals that are manifestly reprobate,

Then false belief and cynicism have come to rule the date.

We must turn back this craven crowd before it is too late.

NBS

VOC  11/20/15

 

 

of…

• Identity thieves
• Malware
• Hackers
• Popups
• Pop Up blockers
• Chrome autofills that get it wrong
• Viruses
• Antivirus ads
• Software billionaires under 25
• Passwords that ask for new and more complicated rules
• Power cycling failed routers
• Video streaming that wasn’t
• Ads
• Ads
• Ads
• Ads
• Ads
• Ads that aren’t what they look like
• Blocked websites in China
• “Free” that isn’t
• Cookies
• Unreadable contracts that have to be agreed to
• News that’s just opinion, or propaganda
• Attacks on websites
• The internet of things
• Smart phones that run out of electricity in 3 hours
• Another new cable interface for an Apple device
• Computers that are valueless and obsolete in 3 years
• Bill Gates
• Another biography of Steve Jobs
• MBAs looking for the next killer App.
• VCs
• NASDAQ
• Donald Trump
• 3D Printers
• UBER
• India
• China
• Syria
• Bashar al Assad
• Putin
• Boko Haram
• The Middle east
• oil
• Texas
• Republicans
• The Koch Brothers
• The Tea Party
• Climate Change deniers
• The KKK
• Increasing economic inequality
• Carly Fiorina
• Fox News
• Rupert Murdoch
• Roger Ailes
• Rick Santorum
• Scott Walker
• Televisions in elevators
• Televisions in gas stations
• Televisions in Taxis
• Rents going through the roof
• Instructions that are written in English in Taiwan
• Lying politicians
• Pornography in hotel rooms

 

I just finished watching Ken Burns The Civil War on PBS.org.  My Chinese wife commented on the Civil War as a revolution.  I told her that I didn’t think so.

The Chinese symbol for Revolution, from the ancient I Ching or Book of Changes, is of a fire in a lake. Fire and Lake are two sisters who cannot live together. The middle sister, fire, rises up through the lake, as fire burns up and water flows down, the symbol of an uprising.  The two make war with each other.

This image is symbolic of a class struggle wherein the lower classes burn their way up through the upper class, displacing it. This depiction of revolution can be seen as the classic Marxist revolutions of China and Russia. It can also be seen in the French Revolution because the monarchy, the upper class, was disposed of and a republic put in its place. The same happened in the American colonies, “To hell with kings”, we said.

The flow of English history starting from the Magna Carta established the limited powers of the King.  The American Revolution dispensed with royalty altogether. It is said that George Washington was offered by some to be the first King of America, but as a good free-mason, Washington declined.  The free-masons had eschewed dictatorial power for centuries. Washington voluntarily retired from the Presidency, setting an example of a two-term President that lasted until 1940 when, in the midst of WW2, Roosevelt served a third term.

But from the beginning of the American Revolution, slavery was in its midst.  The southern states refused to give up slavery at the revolution and a compromise had to be struck so that the southern states would join the Revolution, or else it would fail. It is of note that Washington and Jefferson freed their slaves upon their death.  Benjamin Franklin wrote that slavery was one of the greatest evils ever invented by a human mind. But the southern states insisted and so slavery was included in the US Constitution.

Slavery is contrary to the idea of revolution because it implies a structured inferior class. Thus it may be said that while the Northern states and some in the southern states embraced the ideals of the revolution, others in the south merely saw the opportunity of independence from Britain that did not include the idea of a class uprising. As a result, prior to the Civil War the southern aristocracy became one of the wealthiest groups on earth .

Looked at in this light, the Civil War seems to have been inevitable. Its seeds were in the Revolution itself, like a disease that must be cured or the patient dies. By the time of the Civil War, Britain and many countries had already made slavery illegal. But the wealth in the cotton growing south had exceeded all expectations. It must be said that such enormous wealth produced moral myopia, like a Faustian bargain, all the gold in the world in exchange for one’s soul.

All attempts on Lincoln’s part to stave off secession and war failed. He finally concluded that violence was the only cure for slavery. In the aftermath of the war, violence continued in the Jim Crow laws of the South. Racism seemed initially just a rationalization of slavery in order to try to justify the huge wealth it created, and the greed it fed. The violence let upon the south, Sherman’s march through Georgia and South Carolina, would not be forgotten. The KKK formed and became too violent even for the Southern general who founded it. It seemed that the south had said to the north, “Whatever you want, we will deprive you of that. You want freedom for the slaves?  We will terrorize them, and turn our hatred that we feel for you toward them.”

This stream of anti-northern hatred and irrational bigotry continues to this day is some places. Instead of the freed slaves given the opportunity to rise up with education and opportunity, they were oppressed with systematic segregation and unequal opportunity. The results of this atrocious sociology continue with multi-generational poverty, failed schools, high rates of drug use and incarceration.

No, the Civil War was not Revolution, not number 49 in the I Ching, not class struggle.  It was 23, Splitting Apart, a time of collapse of the government and evil influence.  In Splitting Apart, the Mountain is on the Earth.  Erosion processes cause the mountain to split apart, as mountains do. Thus the nation split apart, and this drove Lincoln to war, as he said many times. While slavery was the underlying cause of the Civil War, the reason used by Lincoln was secession, the splitting apart of the country.

Splitting Apart, 23, was followed by number 7, the Army, and finally number 8, Union. Each stage of the war, and of all history for that matter, could be pulled out of the I Ching in its 64-fold cycle, but that is beyond the scope of this short essay. Suffice it to say that the causes of the Civil War were with us from before the Revolution, and its effects are still with us today. Looked at in this light, the Civil War was but a watershed event in a long battle to change the hearts and minds of our fellow Americans to one that truly does enshrine the words of the Declaration of Independence that “All men (and women) are created equal.”

It doesn’t matter who you are.

It doesn’t matter what you do.

It doesn’t matter how you do it.

It doesn’t matter why you do it.

It only matters that you do “it”.

“It” is the process in your heart that leads you to follow Tao.