tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-395147707358286882024-03-12T19:57:02.504-07:00G U SA Blog of Reflections upon God, the Universe . . . and ShitBrother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-46915576783195929282023-10-16T07:14:00.000-07:002023-10-16T07:14:10.326-07:00A Monday Prayer for All<p>Praying that this week will be blessed by our sharing the love we All possess!</p><p>Embracing anyone whom we meet as kindred may our words and deeds engender familial Peace!</p><p>Remembering the nurtures of Kindness we have enjoyed may we the like generously share!</p><p>Observing the Tolerance we have been shown may we through the week proceed from similar grace!</p><p>Embodying the Forgiveness we have received may we not forget to give forward the same!</p><p>Appreciating each other with notes of gratitude may our Harmony grow!</p><p>Embarking upon a new week's journey may our ways be mindfully chosen!</p><p>Affording to all Equal passage from purses rich in wisdom received!</p><p>Intending for all those entrained with us arrivals Fruitious!</p><p>Hoping that all vesseled aboard our starship Earth reach their Heavens!</p><p>Wishing for everyone's Illumination in a universally ensconced Light!</p><p><br /></p><p>So prays one pilgrim among many!</p>Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-91220549686790279782023-06-04T16:23:00.006-07:002023-06-04T16:23:58.266-07:00Meeting a Stranger online <h2 style="text-align: left;">So...here's a new wrinkle for my blog (which hasn't gotten any attention for over a year) π</h2><h3 style="text-align: left;">Hello Irene! We've been chatting on Messenger today and I invited you to have a look-see here. Ta-dah!</h3><div style="text-align: left;">I can sincerely thank Irene, the stranger I've met online. I mean, it's not exactly my forte, opening up to folks I don't know. And yet, where one detects weakness, exercise is called for!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Oh, but this is an Internet meeting! Caution, Will Robinson! The webs are not replete with strangers who will prove to be kind, let alone without ulterior motives, right? Irene expressed similar concerns.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But, you know what? Maybe it's the Springtide sun soaring through a cloudless sky, or the phase of the moon - I dunno. Something I wrote about in my journal this morning...</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h3><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h3>Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-20507487211069272072022-05-25T23:26:00.000-07:002022-05-25T23:26:05.649-07:00Mea Culpa<p>Mea Culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa! I am mourning the deaths of innocents, again, as are so many of us. And I am culpable.</p><p><br /></p><p> (I open with the full Facebook post made earlier today)</p><p><br /></p><p>I grieve with the devestated families, left behind, again. And I beg their forgiveness of my part in bringing about their loss.</p><p>I haven't done enough, in addressing my nation's plague of armed violence. I've voted for politicians who I hoped would solve this crisis but seem not to have chosen well.</p><p>I have wept, fasted and prayed. It has not been sufficient, when war and murder still abound. I am sorry, and repent of my errors.</p><p>Yet, as did Gandhi, I believe in the absolute oneness of God and therefore of humanity...it is for this then that I can neither detach myself from the wickedest soul, nor be denied identity with the most virtuous.</p><p><br /></p><p>I really do wish I could join, without qualification, the answering calls for action I hear, again. I just don't see how more gun control laws will help - primarily because they don't seem to have, thus far.</p><p>Yes, I really wish we could hear a lot more from the NRA, et. al., about the responsibilities inherent to 2nd Amendment rights. But aren't we also to a degree scapegoating our one minority subculture devoted to firearms? Don't we do that, all too often? Point to an out-group and lay the blame for our woes at their feet?</p><p>So today I also wish this generational American plague of violent death were as simple to resolve as is often claimed, particularly following each grisly mass murder.</p><p>Aren't we all in the end responsible in this? While a comforting emotional release in our grief over regularly repeated mass killings, in hand-wringing and passionate politics we are only addressing one of the roots of our problem. And it doesn't seem to be helping.</p><p><br /></p><p>Above you've found the best crack I've found for letting some light into what's really going on, two days after the Uvalde Texas school massacre, and 11 days since the Tops massacre in Buffalo, NY.</p><p>And it comes from your Brother Charlie's brief 44 years of study, contemplation, prayer, meditation and activism. That doesn't make me right, it just means I've learned the humility to admit that I don't have any simple political or social engineering solution to offer. The ultimate solution is breathtakingly simple, though.</p><p><br /></p><p>We Are All One</p><p><br /></p><p>One Heart, one pain</p><p>One Mind, one fear</p><p>One Life, one death</p><p>One Soul, one salvation</p><p><br /></p><p>I hope you'll look further into GUS. I've collected here many references to world faith and practice traditions, published more of my own writing and...withal borne upon these imperfect wings of prayer that the reader will come to know their path and be liberated from all the vales of illusion and live forever in Bliss!</p><p><br /></p><p>NamestΓ©</p>Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-20528074034706332102022-04-25T07:39:00.002-07:002022-04-25T07:40:34.197-07:00A Meditation on Peace and War<p> April 17, 2022</p><p> War churns afresh on our earth. And I wonder, why? Not only why now, in Ukraine. Why, in Eritrea? Why Myanmar? Palestine? Afghanistan? Why?</p><p> Poets and priests, statesmen and soldiers have each in their way grappled and opined upon war and peace, over time immemorial. I'm no bard, nor any kind of wise old head, no. Still, I wonder.</p><p> </p><p> 10,000 years, or more, we've been riding this terrible merry-go-round, spinning on one violent struggle after another. And we just keep buying more tickets, trading more treasure for bombs and guns to aim at some, instead of securing shelter and sustenance for all. Don't you ever wonder about that?</p><p> While so many thousands, all around the world, are suffering, I trust that we each ask, in our own time: "What can I do?".</p><p> Well, we must choose, yes? Pick one side to support, the other to despise?</p><p> Yet thus, the vicious cycle's roots are not cut, but fed.</p><p><br /></p><p> My mind and heart, too, vie in their own eternal contest. Do yours'?</p><p> Halfway 'round the world from me, Mr. Putin's "dirty little war" is entering it's third week. There's also generations of tension accreted, at the Khyber Pass. And the West Bank. Generations, too, of murder, open hostility and cultural warfare or simple neglect towards Americans of color, the physically and mentally challenged, those trapped in houselessness, </p><p> one following another, </p><p> And I've asked myself, why? Just, why? In mind, I feel outrage at the injustice of any armed strife. At heart, compassion yearns for the relief of all who are being wounded, body and soul. Must I choose mind's view, or heart's feeling? Maybe both are inescapably entwined, stepping to some kind of fatal fandango?</p><p> I've inquired upon how much of my anger or scorn would touch a single neuron of that one particularly troubled mind, so isolated in his Kremlin perch? Could my condemnation reach to Teheran? My righteous wrath, as far as Caracas? Could I summon enough hatred or imagined wrath to sway even one stitch of any of those immortal souls?</p><p> And an answer came: "Nay, but sure, any of those certainly *will* touch you.".</p><p> </p><p> Can't I somehow stop the madness? Offer more prayer, perhaps? Make a donation to MΓ©decins Sans FrontiΓ¨res? Have I love in my heart sufficient to overcome this evil?</p><p> The reply that came, "Aye, and touch *you* any of these, also, certainly will.".</p><p><br /></p><p> There is, I've decided, only this "non-choice" to make. Let me not answer violence with violence - not even in my mind. Pray from my heart, for no people less so than for any others. To meditate, not in opposition to war, but on contributing to peace, for all of life on earth.</p>Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-34966867980644686552022-02-09T23:30:00.000-08:002022-02-09T23:30:15.294-08:00<p> https://fb.watch/b4tSUaYK0d/</p>Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-69425918528714462112022-02-04T11:24:00.005-08:002022-02-04T11:39:45.704-08:00Life is a Spectrum<div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/emily_quinn_the_way_we_think_about_biological_sex_is_wrong">The way we think about biological sex is wrong</a></h2><h3 style="text-align: left;">- a TED Talk by Emily Quinn</h3>Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-72001598404588935552019-10-09T16:02:00.000-07:002019-10-09T16:02:24.942-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: black;"> Representative Democracy is most certainly a messy affair at times. Yet the seats of power continue to be exchanged in an orderly fashion. And our streets aren't running with the blood of civil warfare.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"> Neither is anyone in the political arena operating in a complete vacuum. It is arguably a partial one.</span></div>
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The starkest failures of the American experiment in self-government are traceable to a lack of participation by much of the electorate. From a Stanford University study I've read, active voter engagement in elections has been wavering, for generations, in the neighborhood of 50%. Hence, no candidate of either major party may be seen to have received a "mandate" from any genuine majority of citizens.</div>
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Into that vacancy a decidedly angry segment of the electorate has stepped. Feeling disenfranchised in a far from perfect Union, seething at being largely ignored by the political mainstream, they put Donald J. Trump into office.</div>
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<span style="color: black;"> And on they rage! The public media platforms are teeming with their vitriol. </span>But I ask: where will any of that actually get us?</div>
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While the cacophony of rancorous partisan bickering continues - who stands to gain? Who, to lose?</div>
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Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-65160762414729806762016-02-01T11:10:00.000-08:002016-02-01T11:12:26.053-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://www.recombinantrecords.net/docs/2009-12-Challenged.html">http://www.recombinantrecords.net/docs/2009-12-Challenged.html</a></h2>
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Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-22240913225323967522015-11-16T00:30:00.001-08:002015-11-22T20:17:17.645-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span lang="fr"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Je suis</span></span><i><span lang="fr"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> . . . P</span>aralysΓ©r</span></i></span> </span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2015/10/274-days-294-mass-shootings/" target="_blank">274 Days, 294 Mass <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">US Killing</span>s</span></a> </span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">. . . and <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34805466" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Beirut</span></a>, <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">11/1<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">2</span>/15, <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">disappearing from</span> the headlines, next day</span></span></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">. . . when white<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">r people</span> were as brutally killed </span></span></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> . . . <span style="font-size: large;">in Paris</span>, 11/13/1<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">5</span></span></span></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2015/11/15/top-mass-murders-of-2015/" target="_blank"> . . . <u>and</u>, the <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">W</span><span style="font-size: large;">orldwi</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">de</span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">toll</span></span> of human death from political conflict as of 11/14/15<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">:</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></h4>
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<li><b>46,191</b> β Syria β Syrian Civil War</li>
<li><b>33,165</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/afghanistan/">Afghanistan</a> β War in Afghanistan</li>
<li><b>13,509</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2006/07/13/iraq/">Iraq</a> β Iraq War</li>
<li><b>10,882</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/04/20/nigeria/">Nigeria</a>, Cameroon, Niger, Chad β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/boko-haram/">Boko Haram</a> insurgency</li>
<li><b>6,028</b> β Mexico β Mexican Drug War</li>
<li><b>5,720</b> β Yemen, Saudi Arabia β Yemeni Civil War</li>
<li><b>3,724</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2009/05/22/somalia/">Somalia</a> β War in Somalia</li>
<li><b>3,376</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/06/01/pakistan/">Pakistan</a> β War in North-West Pakistan</li>
<li><b>3,112</b> β Ukraine β War in Donbass</li>
<li><b>2,624</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/south-sudan/">South Sudan</a> β South Sudanese Civil War</li>
<li><b>2,465</b> β Libya β Libyan Civil War</li>
<li><b>2,436</b> β Egypt β Sinai insurgency</li>
<li><b>1,139</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/03/23/sudan/">Sudan</a> β War in <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/03/30/darfur/">Darfur</a></li>
<li><b>1,131+</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/07/27/649/">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2006/07/13/iraq/">Iraq</a> β Turkey-PKK conflict</li>
<li><b>1,080</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/03/23/sudan/">Sudan</a> β South Kordofan conflict</li>
<li><b>993</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2006/05/16/united-states-of-america/">United States</a> β police killings</li>
<li><b>839</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/04/20/nigeria/">Nigeria</a> β communal conflicts</li>
<li><b>837</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/10/05/burma/">Burma</a> β Internal conflict in Myanmar</li>
<li><b>713</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/03/23/sudan/">Sudan</a> β Sudanese nomadic conflicts</li>
<li><b>540</b> β D.R. Congo, Burundi β Kivu conflict</li>
<li><b>334</b> β Colombia β Colombian conflict</li>
<li><b>355</b> β CAR β Central African Republic conflict</li>
<li><b>320</b> β Mali β Northern Mali conflict</li>
<li><b>300</b> β D.R. Congo β ADF insurgency</li>
<li><b>300+</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/09/12/brazil/">Brazil</a> β police killings (yearly average)</li>
<li><b>264+</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/06/01/pakistan/">Pakistan</a>, <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/afghanistan/">Afghanistan</a>, Yemen, <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2009/05/22/somalia/">Somalia</a> β US Drone War (yearly average)</li>
<li><b>262</b> β Egypt β Post-coup unrest in Egypt</li>
<li><b>246</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/06/01/pakistan/">Pakistan</a> β Sectarianism in Pakistan</li>
<li><b>236</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/08/17/737/">India</a> β Insurgency in Northeast India</li>
<li><b>232</b> β Algeria, Tunisia β Insurgency in the Maghreb</li>
<li><b>224</b> β Egypt β Metrojet Flight 9268, most likely downed by the <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2014/08/11/islamic-state-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af%d9%88%d9%84%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a9/">Islamic State</a> (Sinai insurgency)</li>
<li><b>204+</b> β Burundi β Burundian conflict</li>
<li><b>204</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/08/17/737/">India</a> β Naxalite-Maoist insurgency</li>
<li><b>167+</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/ethiopia/">Ethiopia</a> β Ogaden insurgency</li>
<li><b>155</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/06/01/pakistan/">Pakistan</a>, <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2006/08/08/iran/">Iran</a> β Balochistan conflict</li>
<li><b>150+</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/04/20/nigeria/">Nigeria</a> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2015/01/15/the-2015-baga-massacre/">2015 Baga Massacre</a> (<a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/boko-haram/">Boko Haram</a> insurgency)</li>
<li><b>150+</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/france/">France</a> β Islamic terrorism crisis in France</li>
<li><b>147</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/08/17/737/">India</a>, <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/06/01/pakistan/">Pakistan</a> β Kashmir conflict</li>
<li><b>147</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/09/21/russia/">Russia</a> β Insurgency in the North Caucasus</li>
<li><b>147</b> β Kenya β 2015 Garissa University College attack by al-Shabaab (War in Somalia)</li>
<li><b>146</b> β Syria β Kobani massacre by the <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2014/08/11/islamic-state-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af%d9%88%d9%84%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a9/">Islamic State</a> (Syrian Civil War)</li>
<li><b>145</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/04/20/nigeria/">Nigeria</a> β Kukawa shooting by <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/boko-haram/">Boko Haram</a> (Boko Haram insurgency)</li>
<li><b>137</b> β Yemen β 2015 Sanaβa mosque bombings by <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2014/08/11/islamic-state-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af%d9%88%d9%84%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a9/">Islamic State</a> (Yemeni Civil War)</li>
<li><span style="color: red;"><b>128+</b> β France β 2015 Paris attacks (Islamic terrorism crisis in France)</span></li>
<li><b>126</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/05/04/china/">China</a> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/east-turkestan/">Xinjiang</a> conflict</li>
<li><b>123</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2006/07/15/israel/">Israel</a>, <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/06/15/palestine/">Palestine</a> β Israeli-Palestinian conflict</li>
<li><b>117</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/04/20/nigeria/">Nigeria</a> β September 2015 Maiduguri suicide bombing by <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/boko-haram/">Boko Haram</a> (Boko Haram insurgency)</li>
<li><b>102</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/07/27/649/">Turkey</a> β 2015 Ankara bombing</li>
<li><b>100+</b> β <a href="https://abagond.wordpress.com/2006/07/13/iraq/">Iraq</a> β Khan Bani Saad car bombing (Iraq War)</li>
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Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-52473837991674326012015-07-21T22:24:00.001-07:002015-07-21T22:24:29.044-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9-G91W6Fb_wXAcDybGW_9MIfxk9v_1lyx08jKBwDgZfLTpEUcIWZzsOljd1rEsCbV21iXxvFYeJJ82zlL4N0tP3J_lY-vz0bFLsvTOdVgVZ3_PZsVDu2ngP3NYBhLqXcUxCKgF2fMUA/s1600/time+and+mind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9-G91W6Fb_wXAcDybGW_9MIfxk9v_1lyx08jKBwDgZfLTpEUcIWZzsOljd1rEsCbV21iXxvFYeJJ82zlL4N0tP3J_lY-vz0bFLsvTOdVgVZ3_PZsVDu2ngP3NYBhLqXcUxCKgF2fMUA/s400/time+and+mind.jpg" width="400" /></a>Never Mind What Time "Really Is" - How Does Your Brain Even Measure It?</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/how-brain-perceives-time" target="_blank">click here</a> for the <a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/" target="_blank">Science News</a> article written by Laura Sanders</h3>
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Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-78825995714741178172015-06-08T22:52:00.001-07:002015-06-08T23:09:10.178-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv0XuQplrC3lrt5nVtcAwR-i0EngTX3ycKkYQcM5ZSkDpl6l0PL0zT7k2Y-WTEiKOhGeaAEFxcqbNGohAyuP7XKRP0aqphpc3plrlUsvMB7Rae5MGf8qs4AZr8niftcy42pf8cNwkdUA/s1600/skull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv0XuQplrC3lrt5nVtcAwR-i0EngTX3ycKkYQcM5ZSkDpl6l0PL0zT7k2Y-WTEiKOhGeaAEFxcqbNGohAyuP7XKRP0aqphpc3plrlUsvMB7Rae5MGf8qs4AZr8niftcy42pf8cNwkdUA/s1600/skull.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Is our fear of dying behind nearly everything we do?</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I think so.</span></span></h2>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://marcparry.org/" target="_blank">Marc Parry</a> has written about "</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Terror Management Theory", developed by </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://ernestbecker.org/sheldon-solomon.html" target="_blank">Sheldon Solomon</a>,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> <a href="http://greenberg.socialpsychology.org/" target="_blank">Jeff Greenberg</a> and </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.uccs.edu/psych/people/faculty/tom-pyszczynski.html" target="_blank">Tom Pyszczynski</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
"In a new book surveying that work, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Worm-Core-Role-Death/dp/1400067472" target="_blank">The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life </a>(Random House), Solomon, Greenberg, and PyszczynΒski argue that fear of
death drives our actions to a much greater extent than people realize. 'The terror of death has guided the development of art, religion,
language, economics, and science,' they write. 'It raised the pyramids
in Egypt and razed the Twin Towers in Manhattan...' "<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Mortal-Motivation/230303/" target="_blank">Parry's full article here</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(from <a href="http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5/?eio=34361" target="_blank">The Chronicle of Higher Education</a></span>)</span></div>
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Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-49262402925812443542015-05-24T15:11:00.005-07:002015-05-25T13:13:35.269-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/22/what-the-hell-is-the-purpose-of-hell.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">What the hell?</span></span></span></a></h2>
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(click through to thedailybeast.com's article by Candida Moss)</div>
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<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/22/what-the-hell-is-the-purpose-of-hell.html" target="_blank"><img alt="thedailybeast.com" border="0" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Csg68AVXFJQCG6PHlLqRXn-LSNCAXIuJbF02f1p0YcGJoTEGCHznknofIL8LZcjktdj_3FrEGednCUBpbDZuMvReDmTL8hb8bEOk75xT1rBfN90Af9w3oEDWR9q1ft0XaTd4dWHABA/s640/tract-housing.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-44141995378309668602015-05-06T16:09:00.001-07:002015-05-06T16:09:12.044-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGq8wgN__M6BgCFSlnvRv79s2j-ylnShAUvnEvFhyphenhyphenc3PBIopfrGvwPrgXfULNU-VMq8tvYroNUgHY23_cb_RGNj-S14SAA3Ogi2bSQe4RYgODWRqpquCM3Yjm8PXKN7jCzQ8m0KXjxTw/s1600/knowledge-translation-and-exchange.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGq8wgN__M6BgCFSlnvRv79s2j-ylnShAUvnEvFhyphenhyphenc3PBIopfrGvwPrgXfULNU-VMq8tvYroNUgHY23_cb_RGNj-S14SAA3Ogi2bSQe4RYgODWRqpquCM3Yjm8PXKN7jCzQ8m0KXjxTw/s1600/knowledge-translation-and-exchange.png" height="191" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b><span>on the "<a href="http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/knowledg.html" target="_blank">SOCIOLOGY OF </a></span><span><a href="http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/knowledg.html" target="_blank">KNOWLEDGE</a>"</span></b></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>from <a href="https://new.trinity.edu/" target="_blank">Trinity University's</a> Website</b></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>"Before we go any further here, has it ever occurred to any of you
that all this is simply one grand misunderstanding? Since you're not here
to learn anything, but to be taught so you can pass these tests, knowledge
has to be organized so it can be taught, and it has to be reduced to information
so it can be organized do you follow that? In other words this leads you
to assume that organization is an inherent property of the knowledge itself,
and that disorder and chaos are simply irrelevant forces that threaten
it from outside. In fact it's exactly the opposite. Order is simply a thin,
perilous condition we try to impose on the basic reality of chaos..."</b></span></span><br />
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>--<a href="http://www.williamgaddis.org/" target="_blank">William Gaddis</a>, from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_R" target="_blank">"JR"</a></b></span></span></span><br />
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Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-77015781517295881892015-05-05T18:14:00.002-07:002015-05-05T18:15:27.246-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Baltimore on my mind . . .</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1PhPYiXU2i88IDhdAAq4rZSFLejC6MqHF6zWXEKHTtTj9o5JCqkLeYk8WQ9AHGLK8VTb_MKk9_a5i4FdV6PU9uBOoF3MraUV33iXMVIweJbIOgGktJP2XFAtIHe1GS_aN-EdwzU1DA/s1600/government+tyranny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1PhPYiXU2i88IDhdAAq4rZSFLejC6MqHF6zWXEKHTtTj9o5JCqkLeYk8WQ9AHGLK8VTb_MKk9_a5i4FdV6PU9uBOoF3MraUV33iXMVIweJbIOgGktJP2XFAtIHe1GS_aN-EdwzU1DA/s1600/government+tyranny.jpg" height="337" width="400" /></a></div>
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Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-37138531426917001722015-04-30T22:54:00.001-07:002015-05-01T02:05:35.959-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">Bugs!</span></i></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was for the tidy compactness, and hence its easy portability, that I chose this darling new little camera. In the last few weeks, I've gotten <a href="http://brothercharlie.blogspot.com/p/85.html" target="_blank">to be about 85%</a> successful at forming the habit of stuffing it into my pocket whenever venturing out into the world.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today, as I approached the rose bushes where I lucked onto that shot from yesterday's post of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblebee" target="_blank">the bumbler</a> foraging, I had my camera at-the-ready: macro-focus and -metering preset . . .</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiNA5H2JVfbRYaey0quITjE6gvQn72saZ1feKUBujMmhOEC14Gy05Lhek0AHJXNp6qRarGdWOegAZfHrh3AuSRH42FQdmXMCUYFiH1xJ_pawJqYYsrtXs-1nvIC05kbyj98P5csDvKEg/s1600/DSC01505+crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiNA5H2JVfbRYaey0quITjE6gvQn72saZ1feKUBujMmhOEC14Gy05Lhek0AHJXNp6qRarGdWOegAZfHrh3AuSRH42FQdmXMCUYFiH1xJ_pawJqYYsrtXs-1nvIC05kbyj98P5csDvKEg/s1600/DSC01505+crop.jpg" height="530" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">(For those interested, </span><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">this cropped image </span><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">was originally digitized with a Sony DSC-W830, through a ZEISS Vario-Tessar lens recording to a 7.76 mm CCD, at 400 ASA, </span><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>f</i>8, 1/160 sec, </span></span><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">and </span><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">the max 20 megapixel resolution. Oh, and I paid amazon.com $88 for the little cutie!)</span></div>
Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-49628859100678386962015-04-29T21:09:00.001-07:002015-04-29T21:33:22.717-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Spring!</span></i></span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx-FLXCYsuX7xW50z0_i4LuK5pNm98MVlKLZkuDyPjgPvsbk_7eTQsDi_Bxhv15pMHpWu-0_CudXr-TYUPoQ6ptq4yJGG77L-yQFMhFPI13L09chM5IKTXlgIt0AxjRxdLtLWGkqFqTA/s1600/DSC01494+crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx-FLXCYsuX7xW50z0_i4LuK5pNm98MVlKLZkuDyPjgPvsbk_7eTQsDi_Bxhv15pMHpWu-0_CudXr-TYUPoQ6ptq4yJGG77L-yQFMhFPI13L09chM5IKTXlgIt0AxjRxdLtLWGkqFqTA/s1600/DSC01494+crop.jpg" height="633" width="640" /></a></div>
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Yeah, goin' nuts with all the flowers! More new shots at the bottom of <a href="http://brothercharlie.blogspot.com/p/photos.html" target="_blank">the photography section</a> . . . <br />
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Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-36187459993884574812015-04-27T12:54:00.003-07:002015-04-27T12:54:49.516-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/christianity/neurotheology-study-brain-religion" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/christianity/neurotheology-study-brain-religion" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi105SO1qKiZGJg2QmVI0e0c9U_YorpcZk6z1nYkMlEA3jNqxDYw6hcmqbDljrBUoWqFfyMNFuNNIEkWmUTvkFpIIEnbFriAg9UYBo75vCKJ7EazcW55rOjWlIIrDdOzTBvuhN3wusU-g/s1600/Neurotheology.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="http://aeon.co/magazine/psychology/dopamine-marks-the-line-between-religious-believer-and-fanatic/" target="_blank">On the neuro-psychology of religion, from aeon magazine</a> </span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">"The neurological line between the saint and the savage, the creative and the unconscionable, turns out to be razor-thin" </span><span class="author-wrapper-inner"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">by</span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<a href="http://aeon.co/magazine/author/patrick-mcnamara/" rel="author" title="Read more articles by Patrick McNamara"><span class="instapaper_authorname" itemprop="author">Patrick McNamara</span></a></span></span><span class="author-wrapper-inner"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="instapaper_authorname" itemprop="author"> </span></span></span></h3>
</div>
Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-62273382908279691732015-04-26T13:27:00.000-07:002015-04-27T12:21:17.011-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
A Forest Retreat </h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYi6phMifmWgDwu4HnHB7DfFPoDfbliQJ2MU1ekRh60qw8a7Y8q9bw2_HmndIlEO6ZtTV4E785yuslaS4vwnyJDMgeGh2AZEUeH8YjBXkvxic7kVTPgL_FRhHIe5Kl9D7aUSA7DGgPXg/s1600/DSC00463+crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYi6phMifmWgDwu4HnHB7DfFPoDfbliQJ2MU1ekRh60qw8a7Y8q9bw2_HmndIlEO6ZtTV4E785yuslaS4vwnyJDMgeGh2AZEUeH8YjBXkvxic7kVTPgL_FRhHIe5Kl9D7aUSA7DGgPXg/s1600/DSC00463+crop.jpg" height="400" width="333" /></a></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
</h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Your Brother Charlie recently spent a few nights "sleeping rough", on a quiet hilltop patch of mixed fir, birch and cedar forest. I began making these "poor-man's retreats" some years ago, as an affordable alternative to the 4-figure price tags charged by the buddhist Retreat Centers in my part of the country (I don't begrudge any of those folks a fair return on providing the unique experience that they do, I just live too frugally to comfortably afford it myself).</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">from my journal entry of April 17:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> The Cedar Cisters have been</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> singing to me again this morning, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> as they have throughout my stay. Gree-greee, greeee; whahh-gree.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Just in a breath of wind, mind you, does the one rub on the other, I found.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Gre-gre-greeee. Gusts enough to move all the other sisters in the clutch</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> don't make this music, no.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> After grooving on their melodies, whenever at random the perfect wind</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> shifted just the tops of these two trees, on my last day here I let myself go</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> to see exactly which two they were. Let go, that is, of the limitation of mind </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> priorly held, that to <i>not </i>know the individuals, differentiated from the rest of</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> the nursery, was best.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> What I found was that one's Branch, rubbing on the others' Trunk, had worn</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> a big patch barkless. A bare length of maybe a half metre's length,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> providing strings upon which her sister's branch - once alive but now</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> redundant and likewise bare - sawed forth and back, as a bow upon a fiddle.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Thank you, Cisters, for your foresty songs!</span></div>
</div>
Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-63045967969704936642015-04-25T17:26:00.002-07:002015-04-26T12:43:23.598-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">This Guy Absolutely <i>Cracked Me <u>Up</u></i>!</span></h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A dear friend <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">emailed me the link (below), to video </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">from last year of a San Francisco <a href="http://bahfest.com/" target="_blank">BAHfest</a> talk, given by cartoonist Matt Inman of <a href="http://theoatmeal.com/" target="_blank"><i>The Oatmeal</i></a> fame</span></span></span></span>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Jibbers Crabst</i>, Matt names <i>his </i>personal Lord & Saviorβ’. This hilarious riff on our human proclivity for often wildly imaginative conceptualizations of deity and/or divinity is an adroit demonstration that the very heart of humour is truth.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Irreverent, scatological, and (biblically) blasphemous - this vid is <u>not</u> recommended for Sisters or Brothers dedicated to taking their religion <i>most</i> <i>seriously</i><i> </i>. . .</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://youtu.be/ZZ_BtZ-5O60" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/ZZ_BtZ-5O60</a></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
</h3>
</div>
Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-51385041463334589632015-03-30T19:43:00.004-07:002015-03-31T16:28:49.215-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">A link to the <a href="http://aeon.co/">Aeon.co</a> article:</span><br />
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">"<a href="http://aeon.co/magazine/philosophy/logic-of-buddhist-philosophy/" target="_blank">Beyond true and false</a>"</span></h2>
<h4 class="single-excerpt" itemprop="description" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrg3r0DYZEw2SOUKROPbiWjGaowkHz83CBWusCs2dzZx5qL7fN8VVWU7C1neZzG5JJf-EjP1eAajX-wbYzW3WXKodcHqX9VXJIgdV3_vnK7k4i7QsCqPBnrnwpFeOTELsXJsWSjyO-g/s1600/Logic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrg3r0DYZEw2SOUKROPbiWjGaowkHz83CBWusCs2dzZx5qL7fN8VVWU7C1neZzG5JJf-EjP1eAajX-wbYzW3WXKodcHqX9VXJIgdV3_vnK7k4i7QsCqPBnrnwpFeOTELsXJsWSjyO-g/s1600/Logic.jpg" height="200" width="186" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLOf1Ay6yhHQ6QsKPKhd9sE07kf_SBVsQI9TwxmyKx9EYXsReEKEwUlhdWBmeqzRygK8Tk-35kPQjUe9xIbmqBTlH6JqxexKzGblIQ5hf1UFrZaybuQkGigJy9uQoUYzhU6blqaqc2A/s1600/siddhartha.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLOf1Ay6yhHQ6QsKPKhd9sE07kf_SBVsQI9TwxmyKx9EYXsReEKEwUlhdWBmeqzRygK8Tk-35kPQjUe9xIbmqBTlH6JqxexKzGblIQ5hf1UFrZaybuQkGigJy9uQoUYzhU6blqaqc2A/s1600/siddhartha.JPG" height="200" width="131" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Buddhist philosophy is full of contradictions. Now modern logic is learning why that might be a good thing</span></h4>
<h3 class="single-excerpt" itemprop="description" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span></h3>
</div>
Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-11546475258590964332015-03-26T14:44:00.000-07:002015-03-30T19:19:32.790-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="story-title--text">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Link to the Mosaicscience.com Article:</span></div>
<h1>
<a href="http://mosaicscience.com/story/people-are-animals-too" target="_blank">"People are animals, too"</a></h1>
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjErPOHeLuiEmKTFQHP4_nBvH7UzdNegzI6MNGV-0cQnKLDveoi9QKeUILcSfhF1sc0mdKlFQ71_vuY0SyhVTTpDRUfjIhLV-BXlGpRM0FPgYcychHnI9FFJ6HIfIJSw1isV-cKSDnwfQ/s1600/mosaic-chimp-1500px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjErPOHeLuiEmKTFQHP4_nBvH7UzdNegzI6MNGV-0cQnKLDveoi9QKeUILcSfhF1sc0mdKlFQ71_vuY0SyhVTTpDRUfjIhLV-BXlGpRM0FPgYcychHnI9FFJ6HIfIJSw1isV-cKSDnwfQ/s1600/mosaic-chimp-1500px.jpg" height="320" width="261" /></a><br />
The human brain is special. Just not <i>that</i>
special. To understand animal minds, and our own place in the living
world, we should remove ourselves from center stage, argues <a href="http://www.peteraldhous.com/" target="_blank">Peter Aldhous</a>.<br />
<br />
<section class="abstract"> </section><section class="abstract">
</section><section class="abstract"></section><section class="abstract"></section><section class="abstract"></section><section class="abstract"></section><section class="abstract"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Image art by <a href="http://www.adambatchelor.co.uk/" target="_blank">Adam Batchelor</a></span><br />
</section></div>
Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-7318282253129520292015-03-23T21:09:00.002-07:002015-03-24T04:16:06.412-07:00Where is Wisdom to be found?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I believe I remember when it was, and from whom, that I first began learning that Wisdom may be found virtually <i>any</i>where one might choose to look. I think I correctly owe thanks for my 1980-ish encounter with this lesson to <a href="http://www.richardbach.com/" target="_blank">Richard Bach</a>, although precisely in <a href="http://richardbach.com/books-2/" target="_blank">which of his many books</a> is not so clearly still in memory - my guess is that it was in <a href="http://richardbach.com/illusions-3/" target="_blank">"Illusions - the Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The "secret" of this lesson is that <i>where </i>one happens to look pales in comparison to <u>how</u> the search for wisdom is pursued. Which is to say, paraphrasing as faithfully as I can, that: holding a question firmly in mind, one can find answers by opening <i>any </i>book, newspaper or magazine - to <u>any</u> random page. The "trick" (if you'd rather), then, is not in the choice of which particular printed matter one uses. If one prefers an historically esteemed holy book, for instance, that's just fine. But truly, any old thing will do just as well - when the question one seeks an answer to is held clearly in one's mind.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Have you ever had the experience of "discovering something new" in the second reading of a book, or watching a movie again? Those things "missed" the first time around, I think, are one demonstration of this same <i>Majik</i>. Your mind was merely in a different place, the first time. The busiest lanes of mental traffic - then - were simply not the same ones as - now - when you've seen a film again. And, as our mental activity fluxes and flows, so does our experience of the world around us also change. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I've seen reflections of this same truth about the power of our thought in scripture and commentary of both Buddhist and Christian teachings. "As ye believe, so shall it be done to you" (</span>Matthew 9:29); <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">a teaching of <a href="http://www.jeshua.net/" target="_blank">Jeshua ben Jusef</a>, which I grant, is primarily to do with Faith - which surely involves the Mind,as well as the Heart. <a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/buddha.html#XYBtRFsbAl6vVATR.99" target="_blank">Buddha, also, said,</a> "</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think", and, "We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world".</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGgd1EY7aE8o3q9HHKGR4qbfJJFHxwtu2Qt4QhpUG9EXmoO7g5Cp36QTNRScfzN_Zub9XP8Yaj_v-RPNcsFySZ2rNoVSFC4JIztOmiZ4TzBDw9sBVZpT6CdCY7snCp-8nqGMPO0KAGw/s1600/Street+Child_London_circa+1900+photographer+Horace+Warner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGgd1EY7aE8o3q9HHKGR4qbfJJFHxwtu2Qt4QhpUG9EXmoO7g5Cp36QTNRScfzN_Zub9XP8Yaj_v-RPNcsFySZ2rNoVSFC4JIztOmiZ4TzBDw9sBVZpT6CdCY7snCp-8nqGMPO0KAGw/s1600/Street+Child_London_circa+1900+photographer+Horace+Warner.jpg" height="200" width="165" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">What got me started blogging, today, was the photo at right. It depicts a child, among the poor who lived in London around 1900, as <span style="color: black;"><a href="http://spitalfieldslife.bigcartel.com/product/spitalfields-nippers-by-horace-warner-published-by-spitalfields-life-books-on-1st-november" target="_blank">photographed by </a></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://spitalfieldslife.bigcartel.com/product/spitalfields-nippers-by-horace-warner-published-by-spitalfields-life-books-on-1st-november" target="_blank">Horace Warner</a></span>. Because, I trust, my mind was appropriately focused, I immediately thought of Gautama Buddha. With my eyes, that is, I see the poor London child, holding a stick, a cat at his side. And interpreting it in my mind, I perceive a stern visage, the master's staff, and a right hand raised in the <a href="http://quoteimg.com/buddhist-mudra-meaning/www.sabaidesignsgallery.com%5Emedia%5Econtent%5EMudrasFinal.jpg/crisasantos.com.br%5Ecom%5Emudrasbuddhism/" target="_blank">Tarjani Mudra</a>, meaning: threat, or warning. The extended index finger is pointed at the opponent - which is ignorance or delusion, and a traditional gesture in depictions representing the <a href="http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96jun/buddha.html" target="_blank">Awakened One</a> teaching that the antidote is <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/mindfulness" target="_blank">Mindfulness</a>.</span></span></div>
Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-88494278209489415002015-03-21T00:00:00.000-07:002015-03-22T14:00:56.625-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My coinage for "God, the Universe
and . . . Shit" has the in-built option for using any other, more polite word for which the "S" may stand, depending on the company in which I find myself. Whether "Stuff", or "Something", GUS originates in over 30 years of philosophical
maunderings, forth and back, 'twixt the deeply embedded Received
Wisdom of my Presbyterian baptism and an undeniable longing inherent to a Divine Spirit I
feel, within myself, for . . .</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
More</h2>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
More than my Sunday school image of a
kindly but stern Father enthroned in Heaven; more, certainly, than a
demand for my worship from an also often-jealous and vengeful Yahweh; more than merely the "Feel-Goodism" the recent New Age had to offer; more than in any of the religions I have
encountered - which I trust people have built up around the
example and teachings of Gautama Buddha, Yeshua ben Yusef, or The Prophet Muhammad (his name be praised to Allah).</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
βGUSβ, I have witnessed β and not
least for its note of irreverence β is a label which a number of my
soul-mates groove on. Among the many manifestations S/he may have
emanated with Original Thought, such as our Universe for instance,
any and all of the Thought, containing even greater aspects of that
Her/im - Mother/Father God could not but help including healthy doses
of some <i>Hilarious </i><span style="font-style: normal;">Stuff</span>
in <i>this</i> emanation.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There's just no denying some Deeply
Mysterious, sometimes Logically Perplexing, and often Heart-rending Wonders in this
cosmos! (for just one example, look into the pro-creative
requirements bestowed by Him/Her upon the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nematomorpha" target="_blank">Horsehair Worm</a>, as I first discovered it, thanks to <a href="http://www.anniedillard.com/" target="_blank">Annie Dillard's </a><a href="http://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=bit_bit_org_1ba-ff_amznsearch_us?ie=UTF8&app=1BA&programCode=org&platform=FF&tag=bit-org-1ba-ff-us-20&tagbase=abba-ubp&partner=amazon&field-keywords=pilgrim+at+tinker+creek+by+annie+dillard" target="_blank">"Pilgrim at Tinker Creek"</a>)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
With genuine respect, then, for any
Sister or Brother who feels differently, on <i>my</i> path I seek to
balance the pursuits of my Spiritual Life with attention to my
Intellectual Life, as well. And to any who may feel and/or think
differently, I will devotedly support their GUS-given right to do so.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
As of now, though, I still feel
that I may for some time to come need to abide with a certain
contentedness β expressed in part with that irreverently characterized Source of All, and to pray that I never forget how easily I can fall into some kind of Ego-trip leading to taking GUS way <i>too</i> fuckin' seriously!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
-------------------------------------------</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Still, consciousness is both boon and
burden, isn't it? Isn't that why I just can't βmake up my mindβ?
I mean, in that "maundering progress of my philosophy", of
late, there has been something of a fugue, growing, as my
observations and reflections upon GUS leap and skip around, forth and
back, refusing (thus far) to become entirely united.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My dilemma may not then be entirely
dissimilar to Master Zhuang Zhou's own (circa 200 BCE) conundrum:
having apparently awakened from a human dream of being a butterfly,
he was in the end left wondering whether he was, fundamentally, in
fact the butterfly β and only now, once again, dreaming of being a
human.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
But like lots of folks (and maybe the
odd butterfly) I'm regularly given to gazing, in rapt wonder, at a
clear night's sky. In fact, I imagine, folks have been doing the
very same thing for a long, long time. And even though we've got
fancy <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/#.VQ0MCuFUXoM">orbiting
telescopes</a> now, and <a href="http://www.theplanetstoday.com/" target="_blank">real-time, online plots of planetary movements</a>, gazing heavenward in the 21st Century remains an
experience which for many of us is at least as much an emotional thing than it is
anything else. And, not wrongly so. What we do, though, or how we
<i>work</i> with the emotions arising out of such experiences - <i>that</i>
is the stuff of this blog!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The fugue grows in complexity when I
admit my very human illusion of immediacy in experiencing a wonder
like the star-strewn Terran sky. Actually, though - trust me, I just googled it β
even when only this evening streaming onto my retinal receptors, the photons of light
from the nearest regions of our next-door-neighbor galaxy, Andromeda,
take about 2 million years to reach Terra. In the metric of
evolutionary theory, as counterpoint, those very photons have
apparently been hurtling through space since <i>Homo erectus</i>
arose in Africa!</div>
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Even if it wasn't any of our <i>erectus
</i>ancestors, or <i>-habilus, -africanus</i>, et. al. - I also try to weave a further note into
the fugue: by wondering about any of those folks who first gazed up
into a clear night sky β and came away with such an experience of
their wonder (and emotion) that they were lead to hope that up there
in the sky might be found the answers for their deepest-held
questions. Now, of course, I don't mean that those first, thoughtful
star-gazers were pondering anything like the social justice implications
of global trade regimes. I imagine it was a more local problem,
like, why the hunts of late had been providing the clan with so
little meat, perhaps. But still, the problem persisted, for them, and no less so for us.</div>
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And, just maybe, this star-gazer was
that person in the clan to whom the rest looked for solace, advice,
or healing. I thank <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Earths-Children-Series-Mammoth-Hunters/dp/0553609270" target="_blank">βEarth's Childrenβ Series</a> author <a href="http://www.jeanauel.com/" target="_blank">Jane Auel</a>
for an image of early human life I especially esteem: that it may
well have been that particular clan member somehow physically or
mentally different from the rest who was trusted to plumb the
mysteries of their lives β their shaman.</div>
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It would take another couple score millennia before this role, in modern societies, morphed into formalized
priesthoods. Human imagination having nonetheless remained what I
think it is, when a reliable answer, and especially one which is
emotionally comfortable can't be found, well then one must simply be
made up!
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Even we modern people still want an
outside, independent authority to bolster a decision we've already
settled on, as the most emotionally satisfying, first of all. Don't
we?</div>
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My path is determinedly characterized
by being honest with myself, about that - for a beginning of a human cosmology fitting for the 21st
century. </div>
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Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-58710178463127319722015-03-12T16:39:00.001-07:002015-03-16T22:29:41.863-07:00Giordano Bruno (1548-1600)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuYRJ5rKeZMIJV4AHVodZ2VKq1cYcP63yY25mV3bdKuHkLlvL7xLd6DfVaAOOOLXt4ZAxtcYkIYXDxtshiVoFDyg0_l7WOrdIsdg2gm2t5OklRYl4vyP8P4wH3AnYpKdZJbop0PIvCTA/s1600/Giordano_Bruno_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuYRJ5rKeZMIJV4AHVodZ2VKq1cYcP63yY25mV3bdKuHkLlvL7xLd6DfVaAOOOLXt4ZAxtcYkIYXDxtshiVoFDyg0_l7WOrdIsdg2gm2t5OklRYl4vyP8P4wH3AnYpKdZJbop0PIvCTA/s1600/Giordano_Bruno_2.png" height="320" width="250" /></a></div>
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Above, a close-up of the statue in Rome's <a href="http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/campo-de-fiori" target="_blank">Campo de Fiori</a>, memorializing the man named at birth Filipo Bruno, who grew up to become a Dominican friar. But Brother Giordano didn't stop there, seeming to have lived a life animated by a spirit - a soul, if you will - not satisfied with the Pauline church's circumscriptions of God, the Universe . . . and shit.</div>
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Described in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno" target="_blank">Wikipedia article</a> as also a "philosopher, mathematician, poet, and astrologer", he was burned at the stake in the Campo de Fiori on February 17, 1600, having been found guilty by the Roman Inquisition of several heresies threatening to the presumptive ascendancy of the church's doctrines. Upon being sentenced to death, Bruno is reported to have made a threatening gesture towards his judges, and to have replied:<i> </i>"Perhaps you pronounce this sentence against me with greater fear than I receive it".<br />
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A man after my own heart, spirit and mind.</div>
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Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39514770735828688.post-52764417666958072962015-03-11T14:55:00.000-07:002015-03-12T19:42:44.255-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Imagine waking up tomorrow, with only that for which you today had thanked "God"</h3>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Your Brother Charlie's excited at having learned of a school of thought addressing "God" (and the Universe . . . and shit), which is called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panentheism" target="_blank">"panentheism"</a>. Wikipedia says it is "</span>a belief system which posits that the divine β whether as a single God, number of gods, or other form of 'cosmic animating force'<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panentheism#cite_note-1"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> β interpenetrates every part of the universe and extends, timelessly - and, presumably, spacelessly- beyond it." Hmm, that sounds pretty darn close to <a href="http://brothercharlie.blogspot.com/p/philosophy.html" target="_blank">"Charlieism" !</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But, actually, I honestly don't have a care as to the form or fashion</span> you may (or may not) have for "God" - or for whether you believe you "owe" any thanks, for that matter. I would admonish my Sisters & Brothers all to practice <u>Your Name Here</u>-ism!<br />
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I myself have taken the idea referenced in that heading-quote at the top as a reminder of the value of "being present" to the infinitely unfolding Now - and as much as I'm able, to be mindful of the great benefits I enjoy in my life, from moment to unfolding moment.<br />
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Because gratitude is a good thing.<br />
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Brother Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03825087441381135685noreply@blogger.com0