Chris Hedges: "I don't believe in atheists"

Interesting argument put forward in this speech. Journalist and author, Chris Hedges, points out the dogmatic similarities between religious extremism and new atheism. The externalization of "evil" beyond the self; simplistic, binary, us versus them, white and black, point of view of the world; and a sense of superiority, are some of the characteristics of both these philosophies, which pave the way to dangerous extremism that knows no empathy.

Hedges comes across as very lucid and well researched intellectual with always extremely powerful arguments backed by facts. I guess we're all extreme in one way or another ; )

"I certainly understand that there is nothing intrinsically moral about being a believer or a nonbeliever, that many people of great moral probity and courage define themselves outside of religious structures, do not engage in religious ritual or use religious language, in the same way that many people who advocate intolerance, bigotry and even violence cloak themselves in the garb of religion and oftentimes have prominent positions within religious institutions."

~ Chris Hedges interview to Salon.com

PS: Chris has also written a book entitled I don't believe in atheists.

The empty part inside

CHAPTER 11

Thirty spokes converge on a single hub;
It is the emptiness in the hole of the hub
that is the usefulness of the cart.

In manipulating the clay to make a vessel,
it is the empty space within that
is the usefulness of the vessel.

In drilling a door and window to make a room,
it is the empty part inside that
is the usefulness of the room?

Thus, possessing does have advantages,
but, it is the nothingness that will have usefulness.

~ Tao Te Ching

And I will make you a present of a secret

So the little prince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drew near - "Ah," said the fox, "I shall cry."
"It is your own fault," said the little prince. "I never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me to tame you..."
"Yes, that is so," said the fox.

"But now you are going to cry!" said the little prince.
"Yes, that is so," said the fox.
"Then it has done you no good at all!"
"It has done me good," said the fox, "because of the colour of the wheat fields." And then he added:
"Go and look again at the roses. You will understand now that yours is unique in all the world. Then come back to say goodbye to me, and I will make you a present of a secret."

The little prince went away, to look at the roses.
"You are not at all like my rose," he said. "As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world."
And the roses were very much embarrassed.

"You are beautiful but you are empty," he went on. "One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you - the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except for the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose."

~ The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, p66-68

Concentrated wisdom

Eckhart Tolle

Some favourite quotes by Eckhart Tolle, from his books A New Earth and The Power of Now.

"If her past were your past, her pain your pain, her level of consciousness your level of consciousness, you would think and act exactly as she does. With this realization comes forgiveness, compassion, peace. The ego doesn’t like to hear this, because if it cannot be reactive and righteous anymore, it will lose strength."

"One conscious breath is meditation."

"Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose."

"...sometimes letting go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on."

"Identification with your mind creates an opaque screen of concepts, labels, images, words, judgements, and definitions that blocks all true relationship."

"Whenever anything negative happens to you, there is a deep lesson concealed within it, although you may not see it at the time."

"Be at least as interested in what goes on inside you as what happens outside. If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place."

"Power over others is weakness disguised as strength."

"The most common ego identifications have to do with possessions, the work you do, social status and recognition, knowledge and education, physical appearance, special abilities, relationships, person and family history, belief systems, and often also political, nationalistic, racial, religious, and other collective identifications. None of these is you."

"All the things that truly matter — beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace — arise from beyond the mind."

"...relinquish, for a moment, your desire to explain and label..."

"The reason why the romantic love relationship is such an intense and universally sought-after experience is that it seems to offer liberation from a deep-seated state of fear, need, lack, and incompleteness that is part of the human condition in its unredeemed and unenlightened state."

"Life is now. There was never a time when your life was not now, nor will there ever be."

10 things you can do to save the Earth by John Perkins

Today I added John Perkins to the Teachers list on the right hand side. John worked for many years around the world as, what he calls, an "Economic Hit Man" and has written several books documenting his experiences. His contribution has been invaluable in bringing to light the deception and real intentions of the IMF (International Monetary Fund), World Bank and respective globalists. Not to mention the set up of the current economic system.

On his website, there's a list of "10 thing you can do to save the Earth" (or rather humanity as the planet will be fine, whether we make it or not), which I replicated below — not a bad starting guide.

1. Demand a world where the models for our children are the founders and managers of institutions that restore rain forests and polluted lakes, promote sustainability, and help starving people feed themselves — not the CEO‘s of irresponsible corporations, overpaid athletes and celebrities.

2. Break the pattern and rid our world of the viral form of predatory capitalism that has a stated goal of maximizing profits regardless of the social and environmental costs.

3. Bequeath a world to future generations that is headed toward sustainable, just and peaceful societies for all of us.

4. Join organizations that represent your passions, support them with your energy and/or money.

5. Use materials that are environmentally and socially responsible.

6. Support politicians who are in favor of the environment and will enact changes to protect it for future generations.

7. Vote in the marketplace for companies committed to doing the right thing environmentally and socially.

8. Let leaders know you want wholesome food, clean water and air; send emails — they do count, big-time.

9. Demand that every person on our planet has access to clean air and water, sufficient food, clothing and shelter, health care and a decent retirement.

10. Support companies that sell organic and local foods and operate on the basis of making profits but only while creating a sustainable, just, and peaceful world.

What do I really want??!

"The mass media [...] is drumming into you that in order to be a good citizen you have to have a great car, your own house, a family, a career, designer clothes, etc. After seeing this picture of the perfect “member of society” for decades on TV and in print your subconscious has absorbed the information and now you are convinced that you really need all these things (the same of course goes for attitudes and fashions). To get all this you have to really work hard. But you cannot work fast enough. You want these things now. So you buy on credit and with installment plans and slowly but surely you are caught in the net that has been laid out for you so perfectly, and obligations and debts will tie you up for decades.

Add to this the family and the kids, the money for holidays, car repairs, etc. you are finally trapped in the vicious circle “created by yourself”, with your oh so many problems, so you find neither time nor inclination to check whether what you happen to be doing is what you actually want to do.

And then some time you discover that you are not at all happy with what you created in the outer world and that today you would go about it differently but that now it is too late. [...] In addition you might feel inadequate to deal with all the problems and you look for refuge in drugs and alcohol. Once you have reached that point, the race of this life is all but over anyway. Yet some still make it. [...] it's never too late."

~ page 333-4, Secret Societies and Their Power in the 20th Century, 1995 by Jan van Helsing