The Dawn of Awareness

Any religion, that has as its primary offering salvation in the afterlife, is a business and is more a reflection of the very ancient human need to purchase guarantees in an uncertain universe. The real spiritual challenge exists now in taking care of the divine gift of our body (the temple) and in loving one another. If we could embrace this challenge, even a little, we would see that spiritual life is not about guarantees, but about love and forgiveness.

Folks, please understand that our freedoms, our rights, our laws, our communities, our way of life needs to be cared for like anything sacred. History has shown us the nightmare of megalomaniacal leadership and the unity and victory of thoughtful, mature, and intelligent leadership. Thoughtful people on both the right and the left are warning us that we need to think carefully about our democracy right now. Regardless of your tribe, it’s time for all of us to think carefully about who is a trustworthy leader. Now is the time for all of us to work for, and pray for, leaders that can unify us all. Unity does not mean that we agree, it means that we are committed to working together, we are committed to helping each other, we are committed to protecting each other.

A word about the elders in our lives: I am alive, grateful, and care for others because of the elders in my life. All of my parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, Zoe Barker and Liz Horton, teachers like Gerry Nelson, Howard Braverman, and Elliot Aaronson, teachers of the unspoken like Swami Muktananda, Chidvilasananda, Satchidananda, Neem Karoli Baba, Baba Hari Das and many others have guided my way. We have the teachings of Christ because of the elders. It is the life and writings of the elders that took hold of my hand and led me out of darkness and, even today, keeps me on the path.

It is my prayer that all good people teach their children to respect those elders who walk in wisdom, as this respect plants seeds which bear amazing fruit in the garden of the soul.

We would never intentionally sleep while driving. When driving we are alert and cautious. When handling a baby we are soft and sensitive to the bundle of joy. We all know that some behaviors belong in some places and not others. Many people are terrified to emotionally let-go, to accept, and to surrender to the present moment. This brings me to the amazing practice of meditation. Meditation is the safe space to accept and surrender to the love that exists within. In meditation, it is the letting go and acceptance that eventually awakens us to the vast and unperturbed ocean of peace that pervades the cosmos.

What I appreciate about your response is that it was specific and solution oriented. With honest specifics, we can have a conversation that may lead to an idea that we both agree on. I don’t mind a little sarcasm as long as it is respectful.

Let me take a look at a few of your points.

First, we must ask, as a society, “What does it mean to be wealthy?” I grew up surround by wealth and I’ve never seen greater spiritual poverty. I have also lived in India and Mexico and in the midst of great poverty where I’ve seen great spiritual wealth.

You state, “Republicans aren’t going to destroy all the things you mentioned after all they were in charge when these things were created.” This is factually incorrect. Both Medicare and Medicaid were created when President Johnson signed amendments to the Social Security in 1965. Johnson was a Texan and a democrat. They were a part of Johnson’s social reform called “The Great Society” which tried to eliminate poverty and injustice.

I believe, as a country we should provide healthcare and education to all our children. Our education system is in need of serious reform because it refuses to acknowledge that one person may be a cook, another a mathematician, another a car mechanic, another a doctor, and another an artist. We need all these crafts but we are cheating our children by funneling all of them down one path.

We don’t need term limits, we need an educated and involved electorate to vote the fools out of office. If I have a great doctor, should I get rid of him after eight years because his term is up? Of course not. Term limits is an abdication of our responsibility as voters.

Neither the democrats or the republicans have “the answer”. Here’s why. Businesses, small and large, are the creators of a plethora of jobs, goods, and services, most good and some bad. Business creates billions of things that we benefit from every day. Businesses need to be supported by the government. Government is the creator of laws and organizations that protect and uplift our nation. Government should protect us from enemies foreign and domestic, including businesses and people that exploit citizens. Government has created the infrastructure that is essential to the life of business. But neither business or government will bring happiness or success if we don’t have a moral code, and this is where we are failing as a people, both democrats and republicans. You gave a long list of those who you think of as corrupt politicians, with no mention of some of the worst offenders. All of us should be pro-business and pro-government, and we should hold both accountable to produce what is beneficial.

You say “We need new blood..” If a person has mold in their house, they need to do something right away, but adding moisture is not what they need to do. The German’s wanted new blood and they got Hitler, and that new blood didn’t turn out well. We do need new blood. I agree. I think we need to be very careful about who we turn our infrastructure over to.

You say that poverty is “the root of all evil”. Poverty causes a lot of serious problems. Poverty is at the root of a host of health problems. It adversely effects cognitive growth, domestic life, future socioeconomic status, and hundreds of other important life experiences. I do not think it is “the root of all evil.” I think it is more accurate to say poverty is evil, and doing anything to create poverty is an evil act. Eliminating poverty is an act of great compassion.

The religious concept of evil is a can of worms. For me, God is alive, but I’m not religious. It is my hope that, as our species evolves, humans will take responsibility for their own evil. In my opinion, humans are flawed and choose to act, or not to act, in good and evil ways. There is no third party involved. Recognizing that we are essentially one tribe on this planet, humans can choose to perform acts of great love and compassion on a regular basis.

I’m a lover of God, but not religious, but I’d still like to look at scripture on this topic. The Bible: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” The Hindus: Karma – the law of cause and effect, with the intervention of grace, which is beyond cause and effect. Buddhism (simplified): Greed, anger, ignorance, and fear, vs. kindness, compassion, empathy, and equanimity. The scripture you mention, The Guru Gita states that suffering is brought about by duality, not poverty, and is eradicated by surrender to the enlightened master. Regardless of how we look at poverty, I am certain that it is all of our responsibility to uplift each other. That’s the essence of it: “we” are responsible.

You say, “The left hates big business…” This is another generalization. Some business are good and some are not. Hoping for war in the Middle East because it will be good for arms sales is evil. Reaping extraordinary profits and raising premiums on health insurance policies and then blaming Obama is ridiculous. Explain that. How do you explain record profits by health insurers, record salaries for CEO’s, and raising premiums on the poor and middle class? How is this business model good? Do you think the sweat shops of the 20’s, exploiting minors, were good businesses? Should we eliminate government regulation and bring those back? How about slavery? That was an extremely profitable business, which, fortunately, our government crushed. Should we be bring back slavery too? Do you really believe that all businesses are good and that government should just get out of the way and let the fat cats run their businesses? Surly you believe in some government regulation? Should we get rid of stop signs and traffic lights? Are these a waste of our tax dollars? Do you really believe that all businesses “…create things for the good of all for and these individuals to make money to support their families in their old age.” This is often true, but I’m certainly glad that government is on the field refereeing the game, because there are plenty out there that will exploit others if not regulated.

The problem with your identification of “I am a capitalist…”, is that you follow it with “and I wish everyone on earth were rich.” Both are extremes and they are contradictory. This is why I don’t like labels. The essence of capitalism is maximizing profit above everything else. The essence of everyone being rich is communism; everyone contributes fully in the best way they can and wealth is shared. The man running the company is paid the same as the janitor and it is expected that they both do excellent work.

These labels of capitalist, socialist, democrat, republican, and all the other divisive words have become curse words. “He’s a democrat.” He’s a republican.” Without facts, without a civil conversation, these are just curse words used by people on both sides who are angry. They’re angry at things they can’t express or things they have no power to control, so, who do you think gets the anger? Someone who they perceive as different. What are you angry about? Are you angry that the world is full of democrats? Let me tell you this. I love my republican friends. I don’t agree with some of them. I think our current president is bad for our country and bad for the world. But my republican friends are funny, helpful, loving, giving, and many are deeply trustworthy. I won’t let this political climate steal the truth of that.

This is why I don’t like the divisive rhetoric. The problem in our country is not one of democrat or republican, it is one of love and respect, and I’m going to fight to save our love for each other. Love and respect are the real wealth that everyone can have. Am I guilty of anger and disrespect? Of course. I’m not looking for leaders who are flawless, but I am looking for someone who loves. I don’t care what party they come from. As a nation, we don’t believe in the power of love. We do believe in other types of power, but we do not believe in the power of love, yet. Show me a leader that loves and respects others, regardless of party, and you will see real strength, you will see real change, you will see a world that we both agree is better.

I’m out of time. Thank you for being specific. Lord knows we need it.

http://countrystudies.us/united-states/history-121.htm

“We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” – Justice Louis Brandeis, 1924

This is an excellent history lesson in six minutes (I had to pause at some points):

Now, add to this Forbes’ article on countries with universal healthcare: https://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2015/01/27/conservative-think-tank-10-countries-with-universal-health-care-are-economically-freer-than-the-u-s/#535d4a48137e

America needs universal health care, investment in education for all children, investment in infrastructure, and all this should be paid for by taxes on corporations and people earning millions of dollars a year.  How much does a family need?

Vote for someone who cares about the poor.  Let’s get rid of the caretakers of the super wealthy.

Helping each other cuts to the core of what it means to be human. At the risk of sounding insensitive, a crisis simplifies what it means to help another: tearing out drywall, doing laundry, offering a living space, feeding a family. It seems the essence of this is “Are you okay?” “Do you need a place to stay?” “Are you hungry?” How awesome is it that we are all asking these questions to, not just friends and family, but about strangers as well? The reality is that we all need simple help every day and we all have the opportunity to offer simple help to each other every day. I agree, we are witnessing and experiencing “what it should look like to love others.” Imagine if we cared about each other in this way all the time.