Within the last thirty years, and speeding up exponentially in the last decade, the citizens of the United States have seen the erosion of their legal protections and rights at the benefit of the wealthy, who not only have corrupted the very integrity of the executive office, and the entire US government, but gained extrajudicial rights that only can exist when the equal rule of law is not enforced. What benefits does a wealthy individual gain when they can be directly responsible for the election of a public official? The prank call to Governor Walker of Wisconsin's office (Koch Brother Prank Call) illustrates with certainty one thing; that those with vast sums of money have direct access to the government. I would challenge anyone who can claim that the average citizen would have equal attention as clearly obtuse.
This is the tip of the iceberg illustrating the inequalities between the majority of the US population and the small minority that possesses most of the country's wealth, and the US government, which is more and more becoming one and the same. To better understand the depth of the threat we face, one of the best examples in current events to examine is the United States government's response to Wikileaks.
I believe the best way to mentally approach the challenge we face is via imagery and symbology. Grouping concepts utilizing this approach allows for different organizational strategies, and will enable us to think on a different level from those who are, at their root, the cause of all this world's oppression. In that spirit, I want you to see 1. the ever-increasing US security state apparatus, 2. the main trades which corporations are currently monopolizing; pharmaceuticals, food (and importantly, seeds), health insurance, energy (Big Oil), telecommunications, and the Banking industry, 3. the neverending wars of the United States and the lobbying of the military-industrial complex, first brought to America's attention by President Eisenhower, as branches or arms of a single entity, a cancerous growth not only infesting our country, but every other country on Earth, draining natural resources without replenishing them and increasingly polluting land, sea and air via oil use and spillage, as well as skimming continuous increases in money from the majority of the world's population, forcing them to tighten their belts while its profits continue to skyrocket, and growing ever more prosperous as it continues to invent reasons to engage in war in distant countries and contributes to destabilization of governments around the globe. Imagine this cancer as a creature, a chimaeric monster with its own kind of intelligence which seeks to divide everything and create conflict, for it is only in that pursuit that profit may be infinitely focused in one individual.
Call it the Hydra, for it has many heads; corporate law firms like Hunton & Williams, which commissioned online security firms HB Gary, Palantir Technologies (oh fuck it's sauron), and Berico to find ways to attack and undermine "supporters" of Wikileaks, in an effort to destroy the aforementioned institution. While there are many enemies of Wikileaks, the US government one of the foremost among them, in this case Hunton & Williams was hired on behalf of... Bank of America. Wikileaks is preparing a big info drop on BoA, which they say has the potential to bring more than a few board members down. However, the Hydra's head is still connected to its body; Glenn Greenwald, who was one of the people targeted by Hunton & Williams' associates, reports,
"And perhaps most disturbing of all, Hunton & Williams was recommended to Bank of America's General Counsel by the Justice Department -- meaning the U.S. Government is aiding Bank of America in its defense against/attacks on WikiLeaks."
This is a perfect illustration of the interconnectedness of our opposition; just like the US government bailed out Wall Street for billions upon billions (and won't do the same for us!), the US government will serve as legal obfuscation and servile attack dogs for the Banking industry as well. That is because the Banking industry is the government, and the government is the banks, the pharmaceutical corporations, Monsanto, the oil industry, the electric giants, Comcast, and the rest. Old and decrepit, sluggish dinosaurs that they are, they control our means of communication, our means of transport, heating and cooling, our medicines, food, soon water, they even hold hostage our very housing. We must break ourselves free of these dependences, and provide them ourselves. Until we do, they also control our very lives. And their only goal is endless consumption, for their greed can never be satisfied. Recognizing this threat is the first step.
Wikileaks, as current center of Sauron's attention, should have some background provided. I will do so by listing chronologically the three major releases that have led to the US government to target and attack Wikileaks.
1. A video release of an Apache gunship attack on Reuters employees mistaken as insurgents, and subsequent shooting of a van that pulled up to aid the wounded, in which contained children.
2. The Afghan and Iraq War Logs release, which published some 391,000 military reports on events on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq.
3. The US Embassy Diplomatic Cables drop, which consists of 251,287 cables. Only 5011 of these cables have been published so far.
Wikileaks also published leaks on many of the dictators in the Middle East now in danger of frying alive (hopefully soon). While not the trigger for Tunisia's revolt, Wikileaks did open to the public eye of Tunisia the excesses of dictator Ben Ali for all to see, as well as the US government's knowledge of these excesses, neither of which were news to the people of Tunisia except insofar as it provided concrete evidence of criminal conduct that could be used to reinforce the moral position of the people.
That is what Wikileaks has done in the last two years. What has the US government done in the last year to Wikileaks? To put it simply, it has pulled strings with major corporations to prevent avenues of funding to Wikileaks, as well as initiating a number of attacks on their ability to maintain a web site, manhandled its relations with submissive European countries to initiate international manhunts for Wikileaks spokesman Julian Assange, and most likely pressured Sweden to detain Assange on unusual charges with unusual police handling. They have targeted US citizens who are affiliated with or voice support for Wikileaks.
This behavior has a parallel course in the US government's handling of detainee Corporal Bradley Manning, who is alleged to have leaked the Apache gunship video and the Afghan war logs (Charges against Manning, 7/6/10). Bradley Manning was arrested in late July 2010, and has since then remained in solitary confinement as a Maximum Custody Detainee for now over eight months. The US government has harassed supporters of Bradley Manning, from seizing all their electronic devices and detaining them temporarily at airports to detaining visitors to Manning at Quantico brig and impounding their vehicles. The prison has also attempted to increase the severity of Manning's imprisonment, having elevated Manning from prevention of injury to suicide watch in late January for two days. This was punitive and improper procedure: only medical personnel are allowed to recommend suicide watch, and the psychiatric on duty said it was not warranted. It was carried out regardless by the Quantico Brig commander James Averhart, who was replaced by Denise Barnes a week after his decision to elevate Manning's security status (Former Quantico Officer David MacMichael letter provides additional perspective). Manning is still in solitary confinement, and his visitors continue to be harassed. (Bradley Manning, current situation February)
So: to Wikileaks and their spokesman, Julian Assange, and to whistleblower Bradley Manning, the US government, from legislative branches to judiciary, has:
Wikileaks
1. Prevented Visa, Mastercard, Discovery, AE, Amazon, Paypal, and other major corporations from doing business with Wikileaks.
2. Forced companies to not host Wikileak's website.
3. Arrested Assange and demanding extradition to the United States, even though he has not been charged.
4. Teamed up with major corporations to attack US citizens who support Wikileaks.
Bradley Manning
1. Kept in solitary confinement for almost 9 months without trial.
2. Punitively changed security status in order to put emotional, mental and physical pressure on Manning, against proper procedure.
3. Harassed and attempted to prevent any visitors to Manning.
The issue here is not the severity or illegality of these measures; it is that the US government is clearly attempting to suppress any political organ that exposes actions and decisions made by the US government to the public. Thus, the first objective of the global community should be to expose all of the US government, to all of the public. Each breach, like the one caused by Anonymous's counterattack against HBGary head Aaron Barr, teaches us the depth of the machinations constantly going on behind the scenes, and by exposing its moral corruption and ethical vapidity to the public eye, forces them to dissemble and recoil, creates more cracks. That's how the cookie crumbles.
Ovi kriminalci nedostajati klase,
The Dragon of San Marcos
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Brave protestors in Wisconsin show the way
The unrest in the Middle East continues to expand, but it's important to call attention to the beginnings of our own fight for freedom igniting right here in the United States of America. The fight against the government by the public employee worker unions is one of the first stands the people will have to take to prevent their rights being stripped from them and their savings winnowed down to nothing to feed that fraction of the population above them pulling all the strings.
What the current situation is in Wisconsin is this; the 18 democratic senators have left the state to hold up legislation that would eliminate most bargaining rights from public workers unions (excluding protections for the police and firefighters unions). Fundamentally, this is the removal of rights from U.S. citizens on the part of the state government, disempowering a majority to empower a minority (a rich one at that). The many lose out for the few; we will see this attempted robbery continue, even more blatantly if Wisconsin falls. This shouldn't be a surprise; it is natural when one is continually victorious to pursue further conquests. In this case, the victories are the removal of rights from mass organizations, while continuing to confer benefits to those in the highest earning brackets. It is at its most basic the utilization of the laws and legislature to subjugate the many without using the threat of force. With an overall spineless or completely complicit democratic opposition, republicans know they will have no legislative opposition. Fortunately, public unrest can still hurt.
Currently, the protests in Wisconsin have gained the support of the police and firefighter unions, commendably standing in solidarity with other public employees. Most newsites have reported that firefighters and police were exempted from the bill's cuts, ostensibly because those unions voted for Walker. This is incorrect: according to Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Wisconsin Professional Firefighters Association, only the Milwaukee unions voted for Walker. Walker's reasons for excluding those public employees from the budget cuts were ideological, Mitchell says.
That aside, Mitchell explains, "I think that we have to be clear, that this is not just an attack on unions, this is an attack on the middle-class. We have over 200,000 public sector employees in the state of Wisconsin. There’s jobs, there’s families, that’s 200,000 employees. Now think about their wives and children, you could throw another 100,000 on top of that. This is a clear attack on the rights the middle-class has to talk to their employers about hours, wages and working conditions. We just cannot stand by and let that happen." (Mahlon Mitchell at Democracy Now)
It's important to note that the public sector employees have already accepted all of Walker’s proposed cuts, which would see them pay 12 percent of their health benefits and half their pension costs. What they are fighting to keep is their right to collective bargaining.
Because of similar legislation in Ohio, and taking inspiration from Wisconsin, protests are taking place in Columbus. This Tuesday, the Wisconsin assembly is set to begin debate on Walker's plan.
It is important to understand that the mainstream media, and media as a whole, is myopic; it concentrates its gaze on one subject at a time. Even the best news sites and aggregates are affected by this "focus of attention", as perhaps it should be. We, however, must keep in mind all the important events happening simultaneously around our earth. Whatever may be going on in the Middle East, as Wisconsiners plan their own surge of protest Americans must pay attention to the struggle going on in our own country at this very moment. This week should be pivotal in Wisconsin vs. Walker.
In solidarity with our protestors,
The Dragon of San Marcos
What the current situation is in Wisconsin is this; the 18 democratic senators have left the state to hold up legislation that would eliminate most bargaining rights from public workers unions (excluding protections for the police and firefighters unions). Fundamentally, this is the removal of rights from U.S. citizens on the part of the state government, disempowering a majority to empower a minority (a rich one at that). The many lose out for the few; we will see this attempted robbery continue, even more blatantly if Wisconsin falls. This shouldn't be a surprise; it is natural when one is continually victorious to pursue further conquests. In this case, the victories are the removal of rights from mass organizations, while continuing to confer benefits to those in the highest earning brackets. It is at its most basic the utilization of the laws and legislature to subjugate the many without using the threat of force. With an overall spineless or completely complicit democratic opposition, republicans know they will have no legislative opposition. Fortunately, public unrest can still hurt.
Currently, the protests in Wisconsin have gained the support of the police and firefighter unions, commendably standing in solidarity with other public employees. Most newsites have reported that firefighters and police were exempted from the bill's cuts, ostensibly because those unions voted for Walker. This is incorrect: according to Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Wisconsin Professional Firefighters Association, only the Milwaukee unions voted for Walker. Walker's reasons for excluding those public employees from the budget cuts were ideological, Mitchell says.
That aside, Mitchell explains, "I think that we have to be clear, that this is not just an attack on unions, this is an attack on the middle-class. We have over 200,000 public sector employees in the state of Wisconsin. There’s jobs, there’s families, that’s 200,000 employees. Now think about their wives and children, you could throw another 100,000 on top of that. This is a clear attack on the rights the middle-class has to talk to their employers about hours, wages and working conditions. We just cannot stand by and let that happen." (Mahlon Mitchell at Democracy Now)
It's important to note that the public sector employees have already accepted all of Walker’s proposed cuts, which would see them pay 12 percent of their health benefits and half their pension costs. What they are fighting to keep is their right to collective bargaining.
Because of similar legislation in Ohio, and taking inspiration from Wisconsin, protests are taking place in Columbus. This Tuesday, the Wisconsin assembly is set to begin debate on Walker's plan.
It is important to understand that the mainstream media, and media as a whole, is myopic; it concentrates its gaze on one subject at a time. Even the best news sites and aggregates are affected by this "focus of attention", as perhaps it should be. We, however, must keep in mind all the important events happening simultaneously around our earth. Whatever may be going on in the Middle East, as Wisconsiners plan their own surge of protest Americans must pay attention to the struggle going on in our own country at this very moment. This week should be pivotal in Wisconsin vs. Walker.
In solidarity with our protestors,
The Dragon of San Marcos
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Daoist Practice and Medicinal Marijuana
I have tried to find my own way with herb on how to use it for beneficial effects, as well as to analyse drawbacks. Much of what I've subjectively experienced I can tie to basic Daoist methodologies. My opinions on herb starts with some basic marijuana information. Herb has two main species, Indica and Sativa. Regular smokers know the differences and how they can be summed up; indica gets you stoned, sativa gets you high. In other words, indica has more of a physical effect, often inducing a state similar to tiredness or feeling weighed down, colloquially known as "couchlock", while sativa has a mental effect which for many can elevate mood and perceptional awareness. For others, sativa can induce paranoia, which I believe to be the result of overstimulation. The heightened mind under stiva in some individuals takes in more stimuli than it is used to and is unable to process it; unnecessary danger flags may be tied to a number of thoughts as a result and thus inducing panic or paranoia. It should be noted that there are individuals which, for these reasons, prefer one species over another.
There are countless hybrid breedings between sativas and indicas. What should be obvious from the body vs mind effects of the two species is that one can assign Daoist principles of yin-yang to Sativa and Indica as well as Mind and Body. Additionally, the hybrids serve as the third arm; Humanity to Heaven and Earth, Universe to Time and Space, and Events to People and Things. Thus, by utilizing sativas and indicas to variously do body work, mind work, and combinations thereof, one is using herb to improve oneself.
Returning to binary is a good way of describing the mind and body work. There is a passage in the Jingshen that reads,
"Heaven and Earth revolve and penetrate each other. The myriad things are collected and become One. If you are able to understand the One, then there is nothing that is not understood; if you are not able to understand the One, then there is nothing that can be understood."
My understanding of this passage is as follows; Heaven is 1, Earth is 0. The myriad things are every fraction from 0 to 1, in other words .1 to .999, which in the end results in 1. Without understanding this defining nature of the universe, nothing can be accomplished.
The next step is in understanding that 2 is Earth as well. Yin numbers are even, Yang numbers are odd. So, the process of counting, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10, can be broken down into 1 10 11 100 101 110 111 1000 1001 (Thanks google!). Fine, so what is the point?
Excessive indica can cause couchlock; excessive sativa can cause paranoia. In both cases there are polar problems at play; the mind is overloaded on sativa, the mind cannot control the increased perception of body under Indica and acts as if tired or slow. What are the basic sativa and indica exercises?
While using indica, practice physical activities and staying awake. While using sativa, endeavor to keep oneself calm and collected, while being able to orderly carry out activities that require memory; "Oh right, I was going to clean the fridge (go and do it), put the laundry in the dryer (go and do it), annnddd return to that book I was reading... (go and do it)" Advanced level exercises are vigorous physical exercise even while extremely stoned on indica, and appearing normally in public with strangers on sativa. Start out slowly and proceed slowly; successful repetition is key. Mistakes are fine, too; that is how you learn. As you carry out these tasks and movements repeatedly you are imprinting those patterns within you and building upon them. The first time you do a new task, you acknowledge that you are capable of trying it; the first time you succeed at that new task, you prove that you are capable of achieving it. After those two stages are reached, one can begin refinement; either doing the tasks on higher quantities of sativa or indica, or increased complexity/success in carrying out that task at the same level. Fine tuning can be done by being able to carry out the activity competently at any level of altered state; from being heavily stoned or very high, to week-old sober, to one pinner of herb an hour ago.
There is a passage in the Taiyi Sheng Shui that reads as follows:
"Heaven and Earth, the style-name and name, were established together. Therefore, if one transgresses the other's boundaries, each fits with the other without thinking. When Heaven was insufficient in the northwest, that which was below raised itself through strength. When the earth was insufficient in the southeast, that which was above (pictographs missing). If there is insufficiency above, there is excess below; if there is insufficiency below, there is excess above."
What this passage expresses is best depicted with the yin-yang symbol; the meaning is the nature of heaven and earth in balance. Earth has substance while air lacks it; air can fill above or below but earth must be built upon itself. When there is a cavity in the earth, as a valley or canyon, it is filled by air; when there is a mountain what is displaced is sky. Exchanging Earth and Air for Earth and Heaven for Zero and One for Yin and Yang, and you now understand the unified principle of balance; that for all of these things, the rules of Heaven and Earth bind them. This is the case with your Indica/Sativa work as well, in addition to your sober/non-sober time. Understanding this can help you deal with the pitfalls and side effects of Daoist practice on marijuana.
The basic side effects are the result of the unified principle of balance; if you do too much sativa work, you may find your mind too active and out of sync with your body. If you do too much indica work, you may find yourself uninterested in trying new activities or getting out of routines; in other words, stagnant. There is also a word of warning for those who experience bi-polar symptoms or emotional changes. Particularly with bi-polar individuals, one has a yin state and a yang state to one's emotions; one being negative and one being positive, to simplify things. Utilizing herb in mental or physical exercises can cause shifts in the individual in accordance to the time of exercise, amount/strenuousness of exercise, and type of exercise. Think of it as a parabolic graph, with the peak point at the time of exercise, the height of the peak determined by the amount of exercise, and the peak's point positive or negative depending on the type of exercise and the individual's particular yin or yang state. This last paragraph is my working theory; I'm still in the progress of thinking it out. There are at least two common bi-polar yin-yang states; sadness/normal and angry/normal. Let us accept for the sake of the argument that sadness is yin and anger is yang. Yin is indica while yang is sativa.
In the case of a bi-polar yang individual taking 4 bowls of sativa on a Friday at 8 PM and doing mind exercises, that individual could experience polar shifts during that same time interval in ensuing weeks... like mental echoes. I believe that if the yang individual was doing mental exercises which involved heightening of reaction time and problem-solving, they would be more likely to experience increased feelings of anger or mania at the "echo point" next week. If they did mental exercises involving calming of the mind and concentration, I believe they would more likely experience absence of manic shifts around the echo point, but manic shifts instead on the outlying poles of the echo point. (in this case, two to three days before and after the echo point)
As you can see, this is following the unified principle of balance. With a mountain there is air to both sides; with a valley there is earth to both sides. What is in the middle of one is on the outside of another. Getting used to this type of thinking will allow you to see new ways of doing your exercises, whether mental or physical. Use yang medicine (sativa) with yin (body) exercises; work on increasing your speed while maintaining physical control. Use yin medicine (indica) with yang (mind) exercises; focus on staying awake, doing successive tasks, or doing one complex task. This isn't even going into hybrid strains of herb, in which there are limitless possibilities for variations in practice.
I will end this with a word for my friends who drink but do not smoke, or even use nothing at all (besides sugar and caffeine, the staples of life). All of the above can be adapted for sober life, or while inebriated to various degrees. I will suggest that you use only the amount of alcohol you think will lead to serious practice. Instead of using the indica/sativa dynamic, use the highly inebriated/slightly inebriated dynamic, with sober as the main neutral state. Highly inebriated/sober and slightly inebriated/sober exercises should also be done; I would suggest the former to be much more rare and infrequent than the latter, alcohol is not the same tool as herb. People from cultures that can traditionally stomach large amounts of alcohol, and personally can do so, should find the right balance for themselves; for them a greater quantity may be required. I will speculate more on the use of various psychoactive substances including alcohol in daoist practice in future articles.
Zbogom,
The Dragon of San Marcos
There are countless hybrid breedings between sativas and indicas. What should be obvious from the body vs mind effects of the two species is that one can assign Daoist principles of yin-yang to Sativa and Indica as well as Mind and Body. Additionally, the hybrids serve as the third arm; Humanity to Heaven and Earth, Universe to Time and Space, and Events to People and Things. Thus, by utilizing sativas and indicas to variously do body work, mind work, and combinations thereof, one is using herb to improve oneself.
Returning to binary is a good way of describing the mind and body work. There is a passage in the Jingshen that reads,
"Heaven and Earth revolve and penetrate each other. The myriad things are collected and become One. If you are able to understand the One, then there is nothing that is not understood; if you are not able to understand the One, then there is nothing that can be understood."
My understanding of this passage is as follows; Heaven is 1, Earth is 0. The myriad things are every fraction from 0 to 1, in other words .1 to .999, which in the end results in 1. Without understanding this defining nature of the universe, nothing can be accomplished.
The next step is in understanding that 2 is Earth as well. Yin numbers are even, Yang numbers are odd. So, the process of counting, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10, can be broken down into 1 10 11 100 101 110 111 1000 1001 (Thanks google!). Fine, so what is the point?
Excessive indica can cause couchlock; excessive sativa can cause paranoia. In both cases there are polar problems at play; the mind is overloaded on sativa, the mind cannot control the increased perception of body under Indica and acts as if tired or slow. What are the basic sativa and indica exercises?
While using indica, practice physical activities and staying awake. While using sativa, endeavor to keep oneself calm and collected, while being able to orderly carry out activities that require memory; "Oh right, I was going to clean the fridge (go and do it), put the laundry in the dryer (go and do it), annnddd return to that book I was reading... (go and do it)" Advanced level exercises are vigorous physical exercise even while extremely stoned on indica, and appearing normally in public with strangers on sativa. Start out slowly and proceed slowly; successful repetition is key. Mistakes are fine, too; that is how you learn. As you carry out these tasks and movements repeatedly you are imprinting those patterns within you and building upon them. The first time you do a new task, you acknowledge that you are capable of trying it; the first time you succeed at that new task, you prove that you are capable of achieving it. After those two stages are reached, one can begin refinement; either doing the tasks on higher quantities of sativa or indica, or increased complexity/success in carrying out that task at the same level. Fine tuning can be done by being able to carry out the activity competently at any level of altered state; from being heavily stoned or very high, to week-old sober, to one pinner of herb an hour ago.
There is a passage in the Taiyi Sheng Shui that reads as follows:
"Heaven and Earth, the style-name and name, were established together. Therefore, if one transgresses the other's boundaries, each fits with the other without thinking. When Heaven was insufficient in the northwest, that which was below raised itself through strength. When the earth was insufficient in the southeast, that which was above (pictographs missing). If there is insufficiency above, there is excess below; if there is insufficiency below, there is excess above."
What this passage expresses is best depicted with the yin-yang symbol; the meaning is the nature of heaven and earth in balance. Earth has substance while air lacks it; air can fill above or below but earth must be built upon itself. When there is a cavity in the earth, as a valley or canyon, it is filled by air; when there is a mountain what is displaced is sky. Exchanging Earth and Air for Earth and Heaven for Zero and One for Yin and Yang, and you now understand the unified principle of balance; that for all of these things, the rules of Heaven and Earth bind them. This is the case with your Indica/Sativa work as well, in addition to your sober/non-sober time. Understanding this can help you deal with the pitfalls and side effects of Daoist practice on marijuana.The basic side effects are the result of the unified principle of balance; if you do too much sativa work, you may find your mind too active and out of sync with your body. If you do too much indica work, you may find yourself uninterested in trying new activities or getting out of routines; in other words, stagnant. There is also a word of warning for those who experience bi-polar symptoms or emotional changes. Particularly with bi-polar individuals, one has a yin state and a yang state to one's emotions; one being negative and one being positive, to simplify things. Utilizing herb in mental or physical exercises can cause shifts in the individual in accordance to the time of exercise, amount/strenuousness of exercise, and type of exercise. Think of it as a parabolic graph, with the peak point at the time of exercise, the height of the peak determined by the amount of exercise, and the peak's point positive or negative depending on the type of exercise and the individual's particular yin or yang state. This last paragraph is my working theory; I'm still in the progress of thinking it out. There are at least two common bi-polar yin-yang states; sadness/normal and angry/normal. Let us accept for the sake of the argument that sadness is yin and anger is yang. Yin is indica while yang is sativa.
In the case of a bi-polar yang individual taking 4 bowls of sativa on a Friday at 8 PM and doing mind exercises, that individual could experience polar shifts during that same time interval in ensuing weeks... like mental echoes. I believe that if the yang individual was doing mental exercises which involved heightening of reaction time and problem-solving, they would be more likely to experience increased feelings of anger or mania at the "echo point" next week. If they did mental exercises involving calming of the mind and concentration, I believe they would more likely experience absence of manic shifts around the echo point, but manic shifts instead on the outlying poles of the echo point. (in this case, two to three days before and after the echo point)
As you can see, this is following the unified principle of balance. With a mountain there is air to both sides; with a valley there is earth to both sides. What is in the middle of one is on the outside of another. Getting used to this type of thinking will allow you to see new ways of doing your exercises, whether mental or physical. Use yang medicine (sativa) with yin (body) exercises; work on increasing your speed while maintaining physical control. Use yin medicine (indica) with yang (mind) exercises; focus on staying awake, doing successive tasks, or doing one complex task. This isn't even going into hybrid strains of herb, in which there are limitless possibilities for variations in practice.
I will end this with a word for my friends who drink but do not smoke, or even use nothing at all (besides sugar and caffeine, the staples of life). All of the above can be adapted for sober life, or while inebriated to various degrees. I will suggest that you use only the amount of alcohol you think will lead to serious practice. Instead of using the indica/sativa dynamic, use the highly inebriated/slightly inebriated dynamic, with sober as the main neutral state. Highly inebriated/sober and slightly inebriated/sober exercises should also be done; I would suggest the former to be much more rare and infrequent than the latter, alcohol is not the same tool as herb. People from cultures that can traditionally stomach large amounts of alcohol, and personally can do so, should find the right balance for themselves; for them a greater quantity may be required. I will speculate more on the use of various psychoactive substances including alcohol in daoist practice in future articles.
Zbogom,
The Dragon of San Marcos
Thursday, February 17, 2011
The continued unrest in the Middle East.
I find the current developments in the Middle East quite striking, and believe as well as hope that they are signs of a conflagration that will seriously damage the positions of the corrupt leadership in those countries. Currently, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Iran, Algeria and Iraq are all seeing riots, and let us not forget the changes that have come to Egypt and Tunisia already as far as regime is concerned. While there most certainly is the chance this will all be repressed successfully and violently, or that it might peter out leaving the structure still standing, my opinion is this might be something much greater. There is precedent of this thorough and rapid change before; in the founding of Islam, where the followers of Mohammed fought against the pagan kings that ruled them. Indeed, wikipedia, that most vaunted of all sources, cites Andrey Korotayev stating: (we) find that most sociopolitical systems of the Arabs reacted to the socioecological crisis by getting rid of the rigid supratribal political structures (kingdoms and chiefdoms) which started posing a real threat to their very survival. Quite startling, isn't it? History is repeating itself. While I may very well be wrong, my opinion is that the "nature" of the Arabian people is such, accompanied by the many wrongs that have been visited upon them, reacts strongly in the presence of bravery. Pride in their nearby neighbors in Tunisia sparked off Egypt's uprising. The success, or at least remarkable stolidness, of the Egyptian protestors must be considered in the light of Tunisia; will their example similarly light off another country? Or will Egypt, with its size and significance in the region, touch off a much more thorough turnover of leadership in the region?
There are two parallels here; first, repressive leadership existed both under the conditions that formed Islam and the conditions currently in place in the Middle East. Second, the pan-Arabic solidarity. However, in the latter case for those who are afraid of a new Caliphate (hahaha!), there are major differences that means this new generation of pan-Arabism... like the Arab nationalism in the 1950s and 60s under Nasser, are more secular in nature than religious. It is an ideology based on basic human rights. As Juan Cole describes, along with others who are knowledgeable about the Muslim Brotherhood, the Brotherhood is not the majority of Egyptians, and in any case is very moderate. (Fear not the Boogeyman, Pepe Escobar on the Muslim Brotherhood) The Shiites Iran would have to rely on for a new Islamic empire are a minority in several of the countries that are revolting. As has been seen in Iraq, Sunnis and Shiites have much different agendas. And with even Iran itself undergoing revolutionary shockwaves (Iran's post-Islamist generation), our big bad foe in the Middle East, Iran, could fall just like the great Soviet Union did, like a thief in the night.
Now, I'm not sure it will go that far, but as conjecture, it is possible, and boy would it make U.S. look silly standing out there in Iraq and Afghanistan (and Yemen and Pakistan). The problem is the reactionary choices the U.S. administration may likely take. There could be no worse result for U.S. security than for the United States government to be found complicit in assisting the regimes of the Middle East in repressing this popular movement. The only cases where the heads of the regimes have been toppled are Egypt and Tunisia; it could stay that way, for a while. But the United States no longer has the resources to commit to toppling the burgeoning populist movements throughout the Middle East should they succeed; it can merely support the regimes in repressing the movements, either through "neutrality" on the issue, in essence soft-talking police brutality except where it benefits us, or providing direct aid to forces involved in the repression. (Read the article to find the evidence on the Egyptian military being in possession of US "tactical deployment material", in essence, US hardware being kept in US depots)
A populist turnover of the Middle East would throw the world economic system into turmoil, but pretending to be the champion of peace, liberty and freedom while being involved in four unofficial wars in the span of the last decade, actively restricting the civil rights of the majority while elevating the powers of the minority while being involved in aid to repressive regimes around the world is a case of cognitive dissonance that cannot be reconciled. We, as citizens of the United States, must decide whether we support this uprising of the people, or back away from our ideals in the name of "stability". If we choose the latter, we had best hope the corrupt governments of the Middle East hold, because their successors will not look on us kindly.
I know which side I stand with.
Zbogom,
The Dragon of San Marcos
There are two parallels here; first, repressive leadership existed both under the conditions that formed Islam and the conditions currently in place in the Middle East. Second, the pan-Arabic solidarity. However, in the latter case for those who are afraid of a new Caliphate (hahaha!), there are major differences that means this new generation of pan-Arabism... like the Arab nationalism in the 1950s and 60s under Nasser, are more secular in nature than religious. It is an ideology based on basic human rights. As Juan Cole describes, along with others who are knowledgeable about the Muslim Brotherhood, the Brotherhood is not the majority of Egyptians, and in any case is very moderate. (Fear not the Boogeyman, Pepe Escobar on the Muslim Brotherhood) The Shiites Iran would have to rely on for a new Islamic empire are a minority in several of the countries that are revolting. As has been seen in Iraq, Sunnis and Shiites have much different agendas. And with even Iran itself undergoing revolutionary shockwaves (Iran's post-Islamist generation), our big bad foe in the Middle East, Iran, could fall just like the great Soviet Union did, like a thief in the night.
Now, I'm not sure it will go that far, but as conjecture, it is possible, and boy would it make U.S. look silly standing out there in Iraq and Afghanistan (and Yemen and Pakistan). The problem is the reactionary choices the U.S. administration may likely take. There could be no worse result for U.S. security than for the United States government to be found complicit in assisting the regimes of the Middle East in repressing this popular movement. The only cases where the heads of the regimes have been toppled are Egypt and Tunisia; it could stay that way, for a while. But the United States no longer has the resources to commit to toppling the burgeoning populist movements throughout the Middle East should they succeed; it can merely support the regimes in repressing the movements, either through "neutrality" on the issue, in essence soft-talking police brutality except where it benefits us, or providing direct aid to forces involved in the repression. (Read the article to find the evidence on the Egyptian military being in possession of US "tactical deployment material", in essence, US hardware being kept in US depots)
A populist turnover of the Middle East would throw the world economic system into turmoil, but pretending to be the champion of peace, liberty and freedom while being involved in four unofficial wars in the span of the last decade, actively restricting the civil rights of the majority while elevating the powers of the minority while being involved in aid to repressive regimes around the world is a case of cognitive dissonance that cannot be reconciled. We, as citizens of the United States, must decide whether we support this uprising of the people, or back away from our ideals in the name of "stability". If we choose the latter, we had best hope the corrupt governments of the Middle East hold, because their successors will not look on us kindly.
I know which side I stand with.
Zbogom,
The Dragon of San Marcos
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Thoughts from your neighbors.
I was at a comic book store recently in Oceanside, where the proprietor was engaged in conversation with a customer regarding government. The proprietor had two interesting ideas; one, that people can run for political office as many times as they want, but, never consecutively. This eliminates the need or ability to campaign for a next term, thus the politician will be more focused on his or her work... at least ideally.
The other idea was probably a fairly popular thought among libertarians, but I'm not well-read on libertarian positions. It was simply that politicians should not be paid for their work, and do that work only part-time, for instance when Congress was in session. In other words I gathered; only work on the politicking when it's needed.
The primary effect of our central government, and its associated organ the mainstream media's efforts to shape discourse leads to the generally held belief that those in government are better at governing and making correct decisions than the people they govern, and thus the opinions of those in government are the only ones that count. In fact, the opposite is true, but this national deception is vital to preventing our self-governance. It is a belief that quality and correctness of opinion is based on one's social status.
This belief is merely that, and thus discounts not only the vast majority of opinion in its decision-making process, but does not even necessarily include the best decision-makers; indeed, in a decrepit nepotistic government, the opposite is surely true. With a bad government, the people are better equipped to govern than the governing class.
The American experiment is based on the ability for groups to adapt their laws to suit their goals, environment and perspectives. What I mean by this can be shown through example; take San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. All are cities in the United States, in the state of California, but all have a different character of county, followed by differences at the city level based on predominant ethnicities, income gap, average income, direction of prior development, and so on. San Diego is a military county that has several liberal enclaves in its cities. Los Angeles has a wide dispersal of communities among ethnic lines, with several concentrations of very high wealth. San Francisco is a fairly progressive county with a larger gay community. The American experiment allows all these different counties within a single state to exist simultaneously. It allows different states to exist simultaneously within a larger, single country, even when those states can be as contrasting as Michigan, New York, New Mexico and Alabama. Variances in law are tailored to the local community... well, at least they're supposed to!
It is time to recognize the American experiment for what it is; the perpetual pursuit of self-governance by the people for the people. It is and always will be an ongoing process. In this experiment, the test should be viability, suitability, and successful implementation, not who has drafted the proposal. Suitability will depend on location. Viability is ramifications and ease of implementation. The last is turning idea into practice.
The comic book store owner's first idea obviously is an attempt to battle political corruption. As a fairly simple restriction, implementation is not overly difficult; no excess paperwork. What are the negative ramifications? Are there further positive benefits? Where might this not work? Where would this be especially well suited? Is this idea one that should be standard at all levels of democratic government, or are there worthwhile exceptions?
We need to begin creating a new government that learns from the mistakes of our previous government. It must be able to handle and organize all the vital tasks of public service, and have a regulatory system minimizing corruption or rendering it largely impossible from the onset. It needs to be flexible, to deal with the many differences between people. As a result, we need to begin paying attention to ideas like these, from the street, the bookstore, the bar, the classroom, because they will be crucial to this next chapter of the American Experiment. We need good ideas, and we will find them amongst ourselves, not our political class.
The other idea was probably a fairly popular thought among libertarians, but I'm not well-read on libertarian positions. It was simply that politicians should not be paid for their work, and do that work only part-time, for instance when Congress was in session. In other words I gathered; only work on the politicking when it's needed.
The primary effect of our central government, and its associated organ the mainstream media's efforts to shape discourse leads to the generally held belief that those in government are better at governing and making correct decisions than the people they govern, and thus the opinions of those in government are the only ones that count. In fact, the opposite is true, but this national deception is vital to preventing our self-governance. It is a belief that quality and correctness of opinion is based on one's social status.
This belief is merely that, and thus discounts not only the vast majority of opinion in its decision-making process, but does not even necessarily include the best decision-makers; indeed, in a decrepit nepotistic government, the opposite is surely true. With a bad government, the people are better equipped to govern than the governing class.
The American experiment is based on the ability for groups to adapt their laws to suit their goals, environment and perspectives. What I mean by this can be shown through example; take San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. All are cities in the United States, in the state of California, but all have a different character of county, followed by differences at the city level based on predominant ethnicities, income gap, average income, direction of prior development, and so on. San Diego is a military county that has several liberal enclaves in its cities. Los Angeles has a wide dispersal of communities among ethnic lines, with several concentrations of very high wealth. San Francisco is a fairly progressive county with a larger gay community. The American experiment allows all these different counties within a single state to exist simultaneously. It allows different states to exist simultaneously within a larger, single country, even when those states can be as contrasting as Michigan, New York, New Mexico and Alabama. Variances in law are tailored to the local community... well, at least they're supposed to!
It is time to recognize the American experiment for what it is; the perpetual pursuit of self-governance by the people for the people. It is and always will be an ongoing process. In this experiment, the test should be viability, suitability, and successful implementation, not who has drafted the proposal. Suitability will depend on location. Viability is ramifications and ease of implementation. The last is turning idea into practice.
The comic book store owner's first idea obviously is an attempt to battle political corruption. As a fairly simple restriction, implementation is not overly difficult; no excess paperwork. What are the negative ramifications? Are there further positive benefits? Where might this not work? Where would this be especially well suited? Is this idea one that should be standard at all levels of democratic government, or are there worthwhile exceptions?
We need to begin creating a new government that learns from the mistakes of our previous government. It must be able to handle and organize all the vital tasks of public service, and have a regulatory system minimizing corruption or rendering it largely impossible from the onset. It needs to be flexible, to deal with the many differences between people. As a result, we need to begin paying attention to ideas like these, from the street, the bookstore, the bar, the classroom, because they will be crucial to this next chapter of the American Experiment. We need good ideas, and we will find them amongst ourselves, not our political class.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
1
So I wanted to write up a few thoughts that have been on my mind. My understanding of the world includes the view that every human has a spirit animal and every animal has a spirit human. You can accept this from a simple logical standpoint if you think of humans and animals as concepts rather than just physical entities. Humans anthropomorphized animals because animals exhibit traits that exist in humans, at least roughly. Some animals rely on deception and camouflage, hiding and stalking. These animals might be comparable to human traits of cleverness or being a trickster. Some animals are large and vast, strong and unsubtle; the comparisons here are obvious. Thus the way a human acts and looks has a conceptual counterpart in the form of a spirit animal.
In regards to an animal, their "spirit human" is simply how they act when stripped of all claws, teeth, strong jaws and little whiskers. Are they pleasant? Are they ugly? Are they intelligent? Are they cruel? These are all exhibited by the spirit human's form and behavior.
Essentially the upshot is whether you're an animal or a human, you have something which represents your strengths and weaknesses, your spirit. Your spirit is affected by your body, and vice versa. Thus your spirit does and will change, depending on your actions and that which you have experienced in your life. There are many directions in which these changes can go, but there are two main ones: up or down. Down leads towards the diminishment of your spirit, while up leads to the fulfilling of your spirit. You can go up for as long as you want; indeed, forever. But you can only go so far down, depending on where you started in the first place, before your soul will detach from your body and you die.
Changes happen in millions, billions of different ways, and some of those will be up while others are down. As long as the total sum of those going up is greater than those going down, your life will continue. Once it passes that mark however, you begin to age, descending slowly to death.
The funny thing is we can direct those changes, at least to some extent. There are plenty of things we can't change... but we have plenty of control over one thing if we want to, ourselves. By steering yourself in one direction or another, you can reach certain goals that mean the changes you experience in your life are generally leading you up rather than down. Sometimes it's difficult to do this, and sometimes you don't need to; but if you see yourself continually in bad circumstances, it's worth a try to take control over your life and decide where you want to go. After deciding where, you have to figure out how.
I've found, for myself, that a good way of starting out is considering where you came from. I am part Chinese, part Serbo-Croatian-Czech, the latter people originating from an often troubled part of Eastern Europe. For those that don't know, Serbia and Croatia came from the former country of Yugoslavia. Serbians and Croatians rarely get along, so it is quite funny that my mother is the result of the two. Her Croatian father (also part Czech) was an orphan who managed to create a modest production plant in Michigan, doing a lot of work during World War II and the aftermath. My Serbian grandmother came from a little farm. My father came from wartime China to the United States at a young age. My grandfather, a part of the Nationalist movement, stayed in Taiwan. Only my grandmother and their children came over. An interesting tapestry to say the least.
Having watched my mother and father interact over the years, as well as perhaps just a bit of whimsy, I imagine that my father is probably a snake. His year is that of the Ox, but that's not how I determine spirit animals. My mother, who is quite a woman, I believe to be a Siberian tigress. As I say, whether I am correct or simply dabbling in some fanciful dreaming, I do not know, but I am sure I am a synthesis between the East and the West. That much is true. I have had experiences where I've seen an Eastern dragon, and where I've seen myself as an Asian dragon. I am too thin and spindly to be a normal Western dragon, that much is obvious! But I can legitimately lay claim to Western ancestry. I am part Serbian and part Croatian-Czech. Thus I am not solely an Eastern dragon. But much of me comes from the East, from China, and that is how I spell out my heritage.
I am a Chinese-Serbo-Croatian-Czech Dragon. I know where I came from, and now I can decide where to go from there.
Continuing on from finding your roots. Finding yourself is another important goal. In many ways, finding yourself is actually defining yourself. It is important to be honest with yourself; acknowledge plainly the good and the bad that you have done. However, that is not the whole story. Where will you go from here? Let's say acknowledging the good and the bad is accepting it as yours. That is only the starting point (and in itself, a long process! Neverending, in fact...), as now you can decide to progress or regress. Regressive action is amplifying the bad acts you have previously done, or committing new ones. Progressive action is amplifying the good acts, which is always doing something that benefits another, along with or even instead of yourself.
Oh, did I fool you? Did you think there were only two options? Things aren't so black and white.
There's also a neutral option; although true neutrality may be impossible to achieve, one can approach it. Because good and bad are often relative, or at least used relatively by most people; "those people are bad" never takes into account "those people"'s experiences and environment. Indeed, "good" and "bad" are usually used by one group to label another group as an antagonist, initiate conflict with said group with the intent to diminish it, and if possible eliminate or subordinate it.
All of existence can be broken down into several categories; matter and energy are some of the terms science utilizes. Chinese Daoism uses its own categories in tripartate configurations. There are three levels, with three further steps to each primary level. The first level is composed of people, events and things. The second level is composed of heaven, earth, and humanity. The third level is time, space, and the universe.
There is a further dualistic concept central to Daoist philosophy; the yin-yang.
My belief is that Daoist doctrine is fundamentally based on the assumption of a binary nature to the universe. My own personal experience leads me to believe that the nature of reality is mathematical, and that reality can be explained within the terms of ones and zeros. The trick to understanding this comes from Daoist philosophy. Let us take the yin-yang, and align it with 0 being yin, and 1 being yang.
yin yang
0 1
black white
dark light
cool warm
night day
moon sun
earth heaven
even odd
The principle is escalating pairs of co-existing opposites. The observer does not exist without the observed... but what happens when the observed is also an observer?
Infinite recursivity of steadily larger and more complex ideas is my view of reality's nature. Each idea required a pre-existing idea to come into existence itself; let us say that dark required black before it could exist, and night required dark before it could exist. Black to zero; all these are yin.
One could make some arguments about the order of the above list, but let us imagine it in the correct order of ascending complexity. Eventually, we get to the level of concepts required to construct our reality.
I would like to explore this further in another post, but for now would like to come back to the three levels. Note that Heaven and Earth are listed as Yang and Yin; I believe the other two levels also correspond in a similar manner, with Time being Yang and Space being Yin. The first level I am not certain about the order; my postulation is that People would most likely be Yang while Things would be Yin. The logic in this lies in the other two levels; Heaven and Earth are separate entities connected by Humanity. Time and Space are separate concepts which combined form the Universe. People and Things are separate forms which when juxtaposed create Events. That is my interpretation.
It should be noted that Christianity seems to have a similar foundation, at least the Catholic church; with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. What would be the third in the Mother, Daughter trinity?
While yin and yang are the elemental building blocks of reality, there is something required to connect them which produces change. These are the third element in each of the three levels; Events, Humanity, and the Universe.
Thus two is required for existence, while three is required for creation; one, the other, and the product, all in mutual co-existence.
Coming back to defining yourself. In the my previous essay on roots, I said I am a Serbo-Croatian-Czech-Chinese Dragon, son of a Siberian Tigress and Snake. How can I use this knowledge to define myself?
There are nine levels in total; People, Events and Things, Heaven, Earth and Humanity, Time, Space and the Universe. Two out of three of each level are a yin-yang pair, while the third is the fusion between them. One can practice this exercise as a method of defining yourself.
You have a yin part and a yang part, with yourself being the combination between the two of them. Languages can be paired off in yin-yang combinations as well; for most North Americans, English is the fusion language, particularly in the United States. Take your yin part and yang part; in my case, tiger and snake. Name your yin part in each of your yin and yang languages, as well as your fusion language; in my case, Serbo-Croatian, Chinese and English. Name your yang part in each of your languages. Finally, name yourself in each of your languages. For me, I am the Dragon.
Now, you know each of your nine levels. For me,
Je sam Tigar Je sam Zmija Je sam Zmaj
Wo shi Hu Wo shi Shé Wo shi Lóng
I am Tiger I am Snake I am the Dragon
That is all well and good, you might say, for a hybrid animal like a dragon. What about if I'm a dog or cat? I'm not certain how to answer that; you should have at least three levels to practice, so long as you have two non-English speaking origins. A German-Irish mix, who I know several of, would have one name in German, one in Gaelic, and one in English. Thus, do this exercise with one level:
Ta Me Faolchú
Ich bin Wolf
I am Wolf
Beyond that, I don't know. Perhaps you can concentrate on adjectives or occupations, such as happy or artist or writer. Specific types of your animal species can be helpful; with wolves, famous positions include alpha, omega, and lone. A second level may be:
Ta Me Aonarach Faolchú
Ich bin Einzelgänger
I am a lone Wolf
The goal is to arrive at nine definitions of yourself. Why nine? Well, because it's a lucky number in China, of course!
No, I kid. The tenth is your full name in all of your root languages. The nine preceding definitions are the nine stages of fractions from .1 to .9. Your full name is 1.0. The theory is existence proceeds through ever repeating cycles, as the world traverses time-wise the metaphorical "trip" from 0, the beginning, to 1. At that point, there lies two polar options, with one potential neutral option. The world can reset itself, essentially going backwards from 1 to 0. The world can progress, from 1 to 2. Or it could technically lock itself into infinite repeating cycles gradually approaching the number 1. As the world goes through these cycles, the idea is that you can, by defining yourself in the three level levels manner, fulfill all the steps necessary to reach 1; traversing the worlds of People, Events and Things, Heaven, Earth and Humanity, and finally Time, Space and the Universe.
By reaching an understanding of this recursive cycle and its nature, one can transcend it; it is as simple as understanding that 1 + 1 = 2, 1 - 1 = 0. (Although according to a Hawai'ian kapuna ((elder, and my brother's god uncle) I spoke to, 1 + 1 apparently equals 3! Can you understand why?) There can be no progression if one is constantly undermining one's self. Understanding the additive and subtractive processes of life is necessary in order for one to be able to cope with the pains and travails of Earth, the rules of Heaven, and the nature of Humanity.
By giving myself, or accepting, that these nine words represent a part of myself, I create ground upon which to build. Animals have their own subtleties in each culture, and so in that sense a Tigar is not quite the same as a Tiger, even though they represent the same physical entity. They each have cultural baggage that creates aesthetic differences in the mental concept. They become repositories of your thoughts and emotions, particularly those deemed negative. It's a way of taking your negative qualities and accepting them into yourself, by creating an aspect of yourself that can acceptably negotiate those intense emotions.
For example, I am usually fairly pleasant. I can link that to my Lóng personality, since the Chinese Dragon is a celestial, heavenly creature. I'm not always so serene, though! Sometimes I can barely tolerate all the idiots in the world. That is when I am Zmaj. The Serbo-Croatian dragon, one of two varieties, according to that most eminent of sources, wikipedia, is "considered as extremely intelligent, wise and knowledgeable creature of superhuman strength and proficiency in magic, very rich (usually described as having castles of enormous riches hidden in distant lands) and often lustful for women, with whom it is capable of making offspring. It often breathes fire and is generally accepted as a highly respected being, and while not always being benevolent, never as an entirely evil creature. Legends were spread about many historical and mythical heroes that they were conceived by a dragon."
Well, I'm flattered already! The point is that Lóng is my Yang, Heavenly orientation, while Zmaj is my Yin, Earthly orientation. Dragon is the catchall that binds it all together; Humanity. In Western religious perspective, the world is usually divided into two halves, but these are heaven and hell. Understanding the difference between this western perspective, of heaven versus hell, and the eastern perspective, of heaven and earth, is key to understanding the truth behind Daoist methodology.
Therefore, now one has a place for all that is deemed "negative", but is in fact a necessary component to life. It is when we let these qualities consume us and those around us that harm is done. By creating a place, a creative place, where one can continually adapt to the slings and arrows of daily life, one becomes more capable of dealing with one's dark side. Acceptance of this self is key, because it is only then that one can transcend the cycle of heaven and hell.
In regards to an animal, their "spirit human" is simply how they act when stripped of all claws, teeth, strong jaws and little whiskers. Are they pleasant? Are they ugly? Are they intelligent? Are they cruel? These are all exhibited by the spirit human's form and behavior.
Essentially the upshot is whether you're an animal or a human, you have something which represents your strengths and weaknesses, your spirit. Your spirit is affected by your body, and vice versa. Thus your spirit does and will change, depending on your actions and that which you have experienced in your life. There are many directions in which these changes can go, but there are two main ones: up or down. Down leads towards the diminishment of your spirit, while up leads to the fulfilling of your spirit. You can go up for as long as you want; indeed, forever. But you can only go so far down, depending on where you started in the first place, before your soul will detach from your body and you die.
Changes happen in millions, billions of different ways, and some of those will be up while others are down. As long as the total sum of those going up is greater than those going down, your life will continue. Once it passes that mark however, you begin to age, descending slowly to death.
The funny thing is we can direct those changes, at least to some extent. There are plenty of things we can't change... but we have plenty of control over one thing if we want to, ourselves. By steering yourself in one direction or another, you can reach certain goals that mean the changes you experience in your life are generally leading you up rather than down. Sometimes it's difficult to do this, and sometimes you don't need to; but if you see yourself continually in bad circumstances, it's worth a try to take control over your life and decide where you want to go. After deciding where, you have to figure out how.
I've found, for myself, that a good way of starting out is considering where you came from. I am part Chinese, part Serbo-Croatian-Czech, the latter people originating from an often troubled part of Eastern Europe. For those that don't know, Serbia and Croatia came from the former country of Yugoslavia. Serbians and Croatians rarely get along, so it is quite funny that my mother is the result of the two. Her Croatian father (also part Czech) was an orphan who managed to create a modest production plant in Michigan, doing a lot of work during World War II and the aftermath. My Serbian grandmother came from a little farm. My father came from wartime China to the United States at a young age. My grandfather, a part of the Nationalist movement, stayed in Taiwan. Only my grandmother and their children came over. An interesting tapestry to say the least.
Having watched my mother and father interact over the years, as well as perhaps just a bit of whimsy, I imagine that my father is probably a snake. His year is that of the Ox, but that's not how I determine spirit animals. My mother, who is quite a woman, I believe to be a Siberian tigress. As I say, whether I am correct or simply dabbling in some fanciful dreaming, I do not know, but I am sure I am a synthesis between the East and the West. That much is true. I have had experiences where I've seen an Eastern dragon, and where I've seen myself as an Asian dragon. I am too thin and spindly to be a normal Western dragon, that much is obvious! But I can legitimately lay claim to Western ancestry. I am part Serbian and part Croatian-Czech. Thus I am not solely an Eastern dragon. But much of me comes from the East, from China, and that is how I spell out my heritage.
I am a Chinese-Serbo-Croatian-Czech Dragon. I know where I came from, and now I can decide where to go from there.
Continuing on from finding your roots. Finding yourself is another important goal. In many ways, finding yourself is actually defining yourself. It is important to be honest with yourself; acknowledge plainly the good and the bad that you have done. However, that is not the whole story. Where will you go from here? Let's say acknowledging the good and the bad is accepting it as yours. That is only the starting point (and in itself, a long process! Neverending, in fact...), as now you can decide to progress or regress. Regressive action is amplifying the bad acts you have previously done, or committing new ones. Progressive action is amplifying the good acts, which is always doing something that benefits another, along with or even instead of yourself.
Oh, did I fool you? Did you think there were only two options? Things aren't so black and white.
There's also a neutral option; although true neutrality may be impossible to achieve, one can approach it. Because good and bad are often relative, or at least used relatively by most people; "those people are bad" never takes into account "those people"'s experiences and environment. Indeed, "good" and "bad" are usually used by one group to label another group as an antagonist, initiate conflict with said group with the intent to diminish it, and if possible eliminate or subordinate it.
All of existence can be broken down into several categories; matter and energy are some of the terms science utilizes. Chinese Daoism uses its own categories in tripartate configurations. There are three levels, with three further steps to each primary level. The first level is composed of people, events and things. The second level is composed of heaven, earth, and humanity. The third level is time, space, and the universe.
There is a further dualistic concept central to Daoist philosophy; the yin-yang.
My belief is that Daoist doctrine is fundamentally based on the assumption of a binary nature to the universe. My own personal experience leads me to believe that the nature of reality is mathematical, and that reality can be explained within the terms of ones and zeros. The trick to understanding this comes from Daoist philosophy. Let us take the yin-yang, and align it with 0 being yin, and 1 being yang.
yin yang
0 1
black white
dark light
cool warm
night day
moon sun
earth heaven
even odd
The principle is escalating pairs of co-existing opposites. The observer does not exist without the observed... but what happens when the observed is also an observer?
Infinite recursivity of steadily larger and more complex ideas is my view of reality's nature. Each idea required a pre-existing idea to come into existence itself; let us say that dark required black before it could exist, and night required dark before it could exist. Black to zero; all these are yin.
One could make some arguments about the order of the above list, but let us imagine it in the correct order of ascending complexity. Eventually, we get to the level of concepts required to construct our reality.
I would like to explore this further in another post, but for now would like to come back to the three levels. Note that Heaven and Earth are listed as Yang and Yin; I believe the other two levels also correspond in a similar manner, with Time being Yang and Space being Yin. The first level I am not certain about the order; my postulation is that People would most likely be Yang while Things would be Yin. The logic in this lies in the other two levels; Heaven and Earth are separate entities connected by Humanity. Time and Space are separate concepts which combined form the Universe. People and Things are separate forms which when juxtaposed create Events. That is my interpretation.
It should be noted that Christianity seems to have a similar foundation, at least the Catholic church; with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. What would be the third in the Mother, Daughter trinity?
While yin and yang are the elemental building blocks of reality, there is something required to connect them which produces change. These are the third element in each of the three levels; Events, Humanity, and the Universe.
Thus two is required for existence, while three is required for creation; one, the other, and the product, all in mutual co-existence.
Coming back to defining yourself. In the my previous essay on roots, I said I am a Serbo-Croatian-Czech-Chinese Dragon, son of a Siberian Tigress and Snake. How can I use this knowledge to define myself?
There are nine levels in total; People, Events and Things, Heaven, Earth and Humanity, Time, Space and the Universe. Two out of three of each level are a yin-yang pair, while the third is the fusion between them. One can practice this exercise as a method of defining yourself.
You have a yin part and a yang part, with yourself being the combination between the two of them. Languages can be paired off in yin-yang combinations as well; for most North Americans, English is the fusion language, particularly in the United States. Take your yin part and yang part; in my case, tiger and snake. Name your yin part in each of your yin and yang languages, as well as your fusion language; in my case, Serbo-Croatian, Chinese and English. Name your yang part in each of your languages. Finally, name yourself in each of your languages. For me, I am the Dragon.
Now, you know each of your nine levels. For me,
Je sam Tigar Je sam Zmija Je sam Zmaj
Wo shi Hu Wo shi Shé Wo shi Lóng
I am Tiger I am Snake I am the Dragon
That is all well and good, you might say, for a hybrid animal like a dragon. What about if I'm a dog or cat? I'm not certain how to answer that; you should have at least three levels to practice, so long as you have two non-English speaking origins. A German-Irish mix, who I know several of, would have one name in German, one in Gaelic, and one in English. Thus, do this exercise with one level:
Ta Me Faolchú
Ich bin Wolf
I am Wolf
Beyond that, I don't know. Perhaps you can concentrate on adjectives or occupations, such as happy or artist or writer. Specific types of your animal species can be helpful; with wolves, famous positions include alpha, omega, and lone. A second level may be:
Ta Me Aonarach Faolchú
Ich bin Einzelgänger
I am a lone Wolf
The goal is to arrive at nine definitions of yourself. Why nine? Well, because it's a lucky number in China, of course!
No, I kid. The tenth is your full name in all of your root languages. The nine preceding definitions are the nine stages of fractions from .1 to .9. Your full name is 1.0. The theory is existence proceeds through ever repeating cycles, as the world traverses time-wise the metaphorical "trip" from 0, the beginning, to 1. At that point, there lies two polar options, with one potential neutral option. The world can reset itself, essentially going backwards from 1 to 0. The world can progress, from 1 to 2. Or it could technically lock itself into infinite repeating cycles gradually approaching the number 1. As the world goes through these cycles, the idea is that you can, by defining yourself in the three level levels manner, fulfill all the steps necessary to reach 1; traversing the worlds of People, Events and Things, Heaven, Earth and Humanity, and finally Time, Space and the Universe.
By reaching an understanding of this recursive cycle and its nature, one can transcend it; it is as simple as understanding that 1 + 1 = 2, 1 - 1 = 0. (Although according to a Hawai'ian kapuna ((elder, and my brother's god uncle) I spoke to, 1 + 1 apparently equals 3! Can you understand why?) There can be no progression if one is constantly undermining one's self. Understanding the additive and subtractive processes of life is necessary in order for one to be able to cope with the pains and travails of Earth, the rules of Heaven, and the nature of Humanity.
By giving myself, or accepting, that these nine words represent a part of myself, I create ground upon which to build. Animals have their own subtleties in each culture, and so in that sense a Tigar is not quite the same as a Tiger, even though they represent the same physical entity. They each have cultural baggage that creates aesthetic differences in the mental concept. They become repositories of your thoughts and emotions, particularly those deemed negative. It's a way of taking your negative qualities and accepting them into yourself, by creating an aspect of yourself that can acceptably negotiate those intense emotions.
For example, I am usually fairly pleasant. I can link that to my Lóng personality, since the Chinese Dragon is a celestial, heavenly creature. I'm not always so serene, though! Sometimes I can barely tolerate all the idiots in the world. That is when I am Zmaj. The Serbo-Croatian dragon, one of two varieties, according to that most eminent of sources, wikipedia, is "considered as extremely intelligent, wise and knowledgeable creature of superhuman strength and proficiency in magic, very rich (usually described as having castles of enormous riches hidden in distant lands) and often lustful for women, with whom it is capable of making offspring. It often breathes fire and is generally accepted as a highly respected being, and while not always being benevolent, never as an entirely evil creature. Legends were spread about many historical and mythical heroes that they were conceived by a dragon."
Well, I'm flattered already! The point is that Lóng is my Yang, Heavenly orientation, while Zmaj is my Yin, Earthly orientation. Dragon is the catchall that binds it all together; Humanity. In Western religious perspective, the world is usually divided into two halves, but these are heaven and hell. Understanding the difference between this western perspective, of heaven versus hell, and the eastern perspective, of heaven and earth, is key to understanding the truth behind Daoist methodology.
Therefore, now one has a place for all that is deemed "negative", but is in fact a necessary component to life. It is when we let these qualities consume us and those around us that harm is done. By creating a place, a creative place, where one can continually adapt to the slings and arrows of daily life, one becomes more capable of dealing with one's dark side. Acceptance of this self is key, because it is only then that one can transcend the cycle of heaven and hell.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Regarding the lessons of the Egyptian Revolution.
They say history goes in cycles; they also say the struggle against oppression is a struggle of memory against forgetting. (Václav Havel, Derrick Jensen Interview) I would say these two sayings are related, in that the cycles of history have to do with the lessons we forgot and therefore the mistakes we have repeated. The only way to avoid these pitfalls of history is education. And we can learn many lessons about history in the present moment.
There is a mimetic component to similar apparatuses. Authoritarian governments, for example, have many similarities in how they deal with dissent and the methods they utilize; in the same way, successful revolutions have their similarities in what factors led to their toppling of the governing body. However, what is just as important is when the revolutionary forces translate to a governing body; this is always an imperfect process, but in the worst case scenario there is either major strife that ensues in the short term, or the creation of a new authoritarian regime. The nature of the initial revolution and its character I believe define how well the translation from revolutionary to governing ensues.
These are a few points I want you to keep in mind while examining the Egyptian revolution. What has most characterized this revolution is the organization and consistent peacefulness of the massed protestors, who are from many different interest groups. Consistent peacefulness represents that although the protestors are willing to defend themselves, and have indeed set up citizen security groups and check points, that even after violence breaks out, the protestors work to minimize the violence and end it, and then go back to peaceful demonstration. This has continued through sixteen (last I wrote this it was seven!) days now, and seems to adapt to the increased violence committed by pro-Mubarak forces in last Wednesday and Thursday. (Pro-Mubarak Forces Attack Wednesday)
One similarity between Egypt and the United States is that the army is overall more sympathetic to its people than to its government. The Egyptian army is conscripted and the US army is volunteer, but this is an important point to make, because the military decides the fate of every revolution; whether they engage with the protestors, oppose the protestors, or stand to the side. Even an armed revolution can not stand against a modern army, as the advantages a national military force has, from armor and mechanized infantry to gunship and air power, are manifestly different from the power projection available to the British army in the 1770s.
The three choices of an army are on a continuum between two poles. The level of opposition and engagement stands, at their furthest points, at complete obliteration of a citizenry by the army, versus the army completely joining the citizenry. The usual halfway points would be the army firing on the citizenry to clear a protest (Tiananmen Square), or the army supporting the revolution and then letting a civil government form. More often, the army creates a provisional government, which may turn permanent.
A revolution never acts with omniscience, and its leaders are either limited or with selfish intentions, or both. Theoretically, what is a perfect revolution? I would say it is where there is a flawless removal of the corrupted elements of the government, and imperceptible transition from the former government to the revolutionary government as far as loss of services; and, of course, a representative government that is now able to respond to the needs of its people.
It is impossible to carry out a perfect revolution, but just as revolutionary forces have learned from each other, so can we do the same now with Egypt, which is clearly fielding a remarkably organized and conscientious citizenry. (Voices of the Egyptian Revolution) They have also managed to defend themselves against another organized group, one willing to use lethal force. (Battle for Tahrir, see bottom)
It's pretty refreshing too to hear an honestness and humility from one of the organizers recently pushed into the spotlight; Wael Ghonim, administrator to one of the organizing facebook pages for the revolution and Google executive.
"First of all, I want to tell everyone, everyone, all the mothers and fathers who have lost a child, I am very sorry for your loss, and may God accept them as martyrs, whether they were regular citizens or officers or policemen. Anyone who has died is a martyr. I don’t want to say I’m sorry, because the people who thought of this demonstration never thought of breaking a thing, let alone kill a human being. We are the youth that loves Egypt, and we did this because we love Egypt, and our first call is that we have rights. And these rights can never be claimed by destroying property, whether private or public property. Our hope was for the people to go out and say, "I want my rights," and that’s it. That is all. And so, I must pay my respects to these people, because—
I want to tell you something. We’ll talk first, but in Egypt, we like to claim heroism. I’m no hero. I was asleep for 12 days. The heroes are the ones who were in the streets. The heroes are those who got beaten up. The heroes are those who got arrested and put their lives in danger. I was not a hero." (The Heroes are the Ones in the Street)
In further posts I would like to speculate more on what can be gleaned from the Egyptian revolution. A new standard is being written.
With the greatest respect to our brothers and sisters in the Egyptian revolution,
The Dragon of San Marcos
One similarity between Egypt and the United States is that the army is overall more sympathetic to its people than to its government. The Egyptian army is conscripted and the US army is volunteer, but this is an important point to make, because the military decides the fate of every revolution; whether they engage with the protestors, oppose the protestors, or stand to the side. Even an armed revolution can not stand against a modern army, as the advantages a national military force has, from armor and mechanized infantry to gunship and air power, are manifestly different from the power projection available to the British army in the 1770s.
The three choices of an army are on a continuum between two poles. The level of opposition and engagement stands, at their furthest points, at complete obliteration of a citizenry by the army, versus the army completely joining the citizenry. The usual halfway points would be the army firing on the citizenry to clear a protest (Tiananmen Square), or the army supporting the revolution and then letting a civil government form. More often, the army creates a provisional government, which may turn permanent.
A revolution never acts with omniscience, and its leaders are either limited or with selfish intentions, or both. Theoretically, what is a perfect revolution? I would say it is where there is a flawless removal of the corrupted elements of the government, and imperceptible transition from the former government to the revolutionary government as far as loss of services; and, of course, a representative government that is now able to respond to the needs of its people.
It is impossible to carry out a perfect revolution, but just as revolutionary forces have learned from each other, so can we do the same now with Egypt, which is clearly fielding a remarkably organized and conscientious citizenry. (Voices of the Egyptian Revolution) They have also managed to defend themselves against another organized group, one willing to use lethal force. (Battle for Tahrir, see bottom)
It's pretty refreshing too to hear an honestness and humility from one of the organizers recently pushed into the spotlight; Wael Ghonim, administrator to one of the organizing facebook pages for the revolution and Google executive.
"First of all, I want to tell everyone, everyone, all the mothers and fathers who have lost a child, I am very sorry for your loss, and may God accept them as martyrs, whether they were regular citizens or officers or policemen. Anyone who has died is a martyr. I don’t want to say I’m sorry, because the people who thought of this demonstration never thought of breaking a thing, let alone kill a human being. We are the youth that loves Egypt, and we did this because we love Egypt, and our first call is that we have rights. And these rights can never be claimed by destroying property, whether private or public property. Our hope was for the people to go out and say, "I want my rights," and that’s it. That is all. And so, I must pay my respects to these people, because—
I want to tell you something. We’ll talk first, but in Egypt, we like to claim heroism. I’m no hero. I was asleep for 12 days. The heroes are the ones who were in the streets. The heroes are those who got beaten up. The heroes are those who got arrested and put their lives in danger. I was not a hero." (The Heroes are the Ones in the Street)
In further posts I would like to speculate more on what can be gleaned from the Egyptian revolution. A new standard is being written.
With the greatest respect to our brothers and sisters in the Egyptian revolution,
The Dragon of San Marcos
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Topao Prijem.
I try to practice a bit of Serbian; topao prijem apparently means warm welcome in Serbian. You can thank google and recnik.krstarica.com for that. Ah, technology!
Welcome to my blog; I am the Dragon of San Marcos. I can at least say I am a dragon who lives in San Marcos... and having lived there for more than a decade, I have some attachment to the region!
I didn't know what to start off with for my first post, but apparently being an article sifter for current world events from a particular country in the Middle East must suffice.
I am talking in particular about Egypt, the bonfire set off by the crackling sparks of Tunisia. How many elements went into making this perfect storm I'm not sure of, but Egyptian protestors do cite Tunisian pride and bravery as cause for their revolution. (Uprising in Egypt)
Professor Juan Cole gives a good primer on the last few decades of Egyptian leadership, starting from 1952 and progressing through Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar El Sadat through to the current Hosni Mubarak, "president" for thirty years. (Egypt's Class Conflict)
A British journalist, Jack Shenker of the Guardian, was arrested while covering the protest, and subjected to the same treatment as the Egyptian protestors. He managed to record the situation live on his dictaphone. (Egyptian Protestors Beaten) He has also reported on his perception of the current conflict, that a "fear barrier" of the regime has been breached, where the protestors are no longer afraid of the government. (Guardian Reporter on Break of Fear Barrier)
What happens in Egypt will depend on the military. Unlike Tunisia, where the military stood to the side, and only personal government thugs were available to Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and his officials are all derived from the military and thus much more likely to receive its support. This is not certain, though. The military has been deployed while the police force has been withdrawn (whether for reasons of sympathy with the protestors among the police, or Mubarak attempting to break up the protest by introducing lawless elements, is not certain). There have been no major clashes yet.
If you are looking to gain some type of understanding about the Egyptian revolution, these articles should give you an introduction. I believe this is worth bringing to the attention of United States citizens, because the struggles of the Egyptian citizenry is not so far from our own in essential nature. Mubarak sold out his people just like our government is selling us out. In fact, while it may seem like Mubarak has been selling his people out to the United States, what he, and our government, has done is sell us out to the corporations. Mubarak and Sadat's methods of increasing the economy was by selling out state companies to those who could afford them... the moneyed elite or foreign investors.
With the extensive outsourcing nearly every giant corporation does, you could hardly call them American companies any more. They're just cancerous growths that infect perhaps almost every country in the world. Their CEOs store as much money as they can out of country, in places where tax loopholes let them keep millions and billions more. If the United States went down, they'd just flee to the next place that would harbor them... probably China and India. They don't give a shit about us, nor do they give a shit about our country!
What happens in Egypt will have ripples here in the United States. We should learn from these people's struggles, because they mirror our own. Thank god that we have the chance to learn from the mistakes of others, so that perhaps we will not tread upon history's pitfalls time after time.
I begin this blog with this post, so that the above wish may come true.
The Dragon of San Marcos
Welcome to my blog; I am the Dragon of San Marcos. I can at least say I am a dragon who lives in San Marcos... and having lived there for more than a decade, I have some attachment to the region!
I didn't know what to start off with for my first post, but apparently being an article sifter for current world events from a particular country in the Middle East must suffice.
I am talking in particular about Egypt, the bonfire set off by the crackling sparks of Tunisia. How many elements went into making this perfect storm I'm not sure of, but Egyptian protestors do cite Tunisian pride and bravery as cause for their revolution. (Uprising in Egypt)
Professor Juan Cole gives a good primer on the last few decades of Egyptian leadership, starting from 1952 and progressing through Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar El Sadat through to the current Hosni Mubarak, "president" for thirty years. (Egypt's Class Conflict)
A British journalist, Jack Shenker of the Guardian, was arrested while covering the protest, and subjected to the same treatment as the Egyptian protestors. He managed to record the situation live on his dictaphone. (Egyptian Protestors Beaten) He has also reported on his perception of the current conflict, that a "fear barrier" of the regime has been breached, where the protestors are no longer afraid of the government. (Guardian Reporter on Break of Fear Barrier)
What happens in Egypt will depend on the military. Unlike Tunisia, where the military stood to the side, and only personal government thugs were available to Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and his officials are all derived from the military and thus much more likely to receive its support. This is not certain, though. The military has been deployed while the police force has been withdrawn (whether for reasons of sympathy with the protestors among the police, or Mubarak attempting to break up the protest by introducing lawless elements, is not certain). There have been no major clashes yet.
If you are looking to gain some type of understanding about the Egyptian revolution, these articles should give you an introduction. I believe this is worth bringing to the attention of United States citizens, because the struggles of the Egyptian citizenry is not so far from our own in essential nature. Mubarak sold out his people just like our government is selling us out. In fact, while it may seem like Mubarak has been selling his people out to the United States, what he, and our government, has done is sell us out to the corporations. Mubarak and Sadat's methods of increasing the economy was by selling out state companies to those who could afford them... the moneyed elite or foreign investors.
With the extensive outsourcing nearly every giant corporation does, you could hardly call them American companies any more. They're just cancerous growths that infect perhaps almost every country in the world. Their CEOs store as much money as they can out of country, in places where tax loopholes let them keep millions and billions more. If the United States went down, they'd just flee to the next place that would harbor them... probably China and India. They don't give a shit about us, nor do they give a shit about our country!
What happens in Egypt will have ripples here in the United States. We should learn from these people's struggles, because they mirror our own. Thank god that we have the chance to learn from the mistakes of others, so that perhaps we will not tread upon history's pitfalls time after time.
I begin this blog with this post, so that the above wish may come true.
The Dragon of San Marcos
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