The Essence of Dualism

The immune system is not a non-dualist. It is there to keep what is “not-me” at bay.

The ego has as much place in our lives as the immune system does in our bodies. It has as much legitimacy and plays as pivotal a role. It’s a natural function separating the self from the Other and the elements of the world.

Contrary to the view of many enlightenment chasing “self-helpers,” the ego—along with its projection of the Other—is not a problem to be transcended. (It’s one’s identification with the ego function that spawns the problems—problems such as obsessive compulsive behavioral patterns, hoarding, addictions, depression, dysfunctional attachments, etc.) In the end, the ego is a tool that we use to embody the truth in the flesh in the world.

The Other, and the threat of the unknowable and the unknown, is inextinguishable. It’s part and parcel of the Oneness we come from.

We all heard about the danger of divers ascending too fast to the surface in deep water. It’s called decompression sickness. There is probably something similar going on in the psychic realm when the (drug- or radicalism induced) removal of the oppressive weight of previous belief systems and cognitive filters leave a vacuum in their wake that releases all the unresolved traumas incurred / compartmentalized by same.

The unbearable lightness of being is like having the bends which results in a highly strung, unbalanced grasping after a new weight of meaning: to find bearing within a new set of boundaries, through a recalibrated comportment towards the Other. (Nihilism and tribalism, so rampant in the 21st century, are the first reflexes to deflect the confusion and anxiety arising out of this liminal state.)

In essence: spiritualism is about the cultivation of a wholesome and honest relationship with the Other, and not about reaching an escape velocity from it.

Remember

there is enough treachery, hatred violence absurdity in the average
human being to supply any given army on any given day
.
and the best at murder are those who preach against it
and the best at hate are those who preach love
and the best at war finally are those who preach peace
.
those who preach god, need god
those who preach peace do not have peace
those who preach peace do not have love
.
beware the preachers
beware the knowers
beware those who are always reading books
beware those who either detest poverty
or are proud of it
beware those quick to praise
for they need praise in return
beware those who are quick to censor
they are afraid of what they do not know
beware those who seek constant crowds for
they are nothing alone
beware the average man the average woman
beware their love, their love is average
seeks average
.
but there is genius in their hatred
there is enough genius in their hatred to kill you
to kill anybody
not wanting solitude
not understanding solitude
they will attempt to destroy anything
that differs from their own
not being able to create art
they will not understand art
they will consider their failure as creators
only as a failure of the world
not being able to love fully
they will believe your love incomplete
and then they will hate you
and their hatred will be perfect
.
like a shining diamond
like a knife
like a mountain
like a tiger
like hemlock
.
their finest art
.
Charles Bukowski

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.
.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.
.
Kent M. Keith

The ‘New Normal’ is The Same Old News

We’re discouraged from doing more and more of the things that help us evolve while encouraged to do things that keep us psychologically stunted.

becoming an adult is to arrive at the understanding that you’ll be shamed and punished for your virtues and rewarded and exalted for your sins. that society will not encourage you to be humble and enlightened. on the contrary: it will condition you to perpetuate the ratcheting neuroses and pretense that undergirds it all.