Thoughts from The Great Courses,
[with my thoughts intermixed]
In review of philosophers past
Their goal, to discover a way
To dismantle sins of lost eras
And to weaken religions strong sway
Plato spoke of forms
The body and soul as unique *(1)
Together in life for the living
Separate in death most complete
The theme that grew with study
How resistant they are with what is
Yet resistance creates persistence
It’s their energy*(2) that helps it to live
What lives in each unconscious
The ‘givens’ of which we’re made up
The good, the bad, the ugly
The contents of a dirty cup*(3)
So many look to tomorrow
Waiting for his return
To be taken up to heaven
A myth that society churns
What if their expectation
Fuels the end of their days*(4)
Calling forth devastation
The final act in their play
Sickness and death all around
Some is just food abuse
Stuff processed, sold, consumed
Eating without an excuse*(5)
The culture has bifurcated mankind
The spirit and man separated*(6)
In reality God is within us
United, not just sorta’ related
The Upanishads had it correct*(7)
Economics got in the way
Today ignorance has value
You might even say that it pays*(8)
5/11/14
*(1) “The body and soul as unique” In other words, each aspect has a
separate identity. Together they were one; but in death the soul still had
its own identity separate from the body.
*(2) “It’s their energy that helps it to live” here is a recurring theme
that when we invest ourselves in resisting what exists, we actually use the
power of the animus or spirit to energize it.
*(3) “The contents of a dirty cup” dirty in the sense that its been used.
*(4) “Fuels the end of their days” they say that our thinking influences
our health. What if people who live in the shadow of the end of time,
actually fuel their own demise? I say, let them go; because they are
ballast for the rest of us.There are so many issues that need to be taken
up politically, especially concerning global warming and what we are doing
to our planet; but religion blinds the eyes of their followers.
*(5) The food industry is undermining our health, making stuff taste good
on the pallet with no concern for what it does to the body. A majority of
people eat thoughtlessly and then complain with all their ailments. I have
one client that is always speaking of how bad her stomach is; she says she
throws up all the time, no matter what she eats, even if she hasn’t eaten.
Then on the other hand, in separate conversations she talks about going to
various restaurants and tells about the rich decadent food she and her
partner consume. On top of it all, she’s a nurse. It doesn’t seem as if
people have a clear understanding that there might be a cause and affect
relationship between your health and what you eat.
*(6) “Spirit and man separated” the spirit of God lives in and through man
when he operates in and for ‘the highest good.’ But because we see God as
some far off thing, we’ve lost that sense of connection. Religion helps to
reinforce that. For instance, the Catholic Church makes you feel that you
have to go and confess your sins and let the Father be your intermediary.
This only helps to reinforce the sense of separation.
*(7) “The Upanishads had it correct” they believed that spirit was in
everything, humanity, the trees, the water, etc. I agree, I believe that
energy and creative intelligence abounds.
*(8) “Today, ignorance has value, you might even say that it pays“ What if
we could treat cancer by making our bodies more alkaline, rather than being
so acidic? From what many doctors say, it’s possible; but that wouldn’t do
a thing for our economy. People would stop buying half of what they buy.
Food scientists wouldn’t get away with all the adulterants that they add to
our food to make us more addicted.
