A Global Citizen

Yesterday, across all networks the story was repeated over and over that 24% of Americans believe Barack Obama is a Muslim.

Upon reading this I really had to fight the urge to bash my head into my keyboard.  I usually try to refrain from causing myself bodily harm but the onslaught of stupid news is causing me tremendous mental damage.  It looks like I will have to go re-read my previous post “Mind Control” in order to remain sane.

I have so many thoughts about this that this post is practically jumping from my fingertips and the keyboard struggling to respond to the furious typing.  It may be difficult to write a clean, neat post with all the ends tied up so I’ll promise you this.  I won’t even try.  It is going to be more of an opinion dump but I’ll do my best to keep things clear.  So, let’s start simple.

1. Separation of Church and State

- In theory, it really shouldn’t matter what the religion of the president is as we have separation of Church and State in this country.  However, that is a pipe dream.

We all very well know that the public expects the President to be “Christian” and it would be impossible to win the presidency unless the contender explicitly promises the public that he in fact is.  The caveat is, he must make his decisions independently from any religious institution as the power he holds is supposed to come from the people and not any specific institution.

But why is this and what is it that people fear from religious institutions.  Now, that is a pretty good question for a Ph.D candidate and I would love to read a dissertation on the matter.  But I am no Ph.D but believe I have a general idea.

I think it all relates back to England and the split from the Roman Catholic Church during Henry V’s reign.  Henry did not like being told what to do from the man in the pointy hat who resides in Rome.  So, he made himself the head of the Church of England and everyone had to follow the king.  As the founders of America were English, they too had no mind to give any power what-so-ever back to Rome.

But according to Wikipedia, The Church of England considers itself to be both Catholic and Reformed (Protestant).  As both of these religious groups share many of the same ideas it’s not a huge deal to try and find the differences except for one.  That difference is the powerful “reformists” prefer to not grant any authority to the Pope.

So, fast forward from then until now, we have always had “WASP” Presidents (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant Males) except for one, JFK.  The fact that JFK was a Catholic caused quite a stir as many Americans were afraid the Pope would gain more influence in the USA with Kennedy.  Looking at the state of religion in Latin America (where the Pope does retain influence) the elite members of society were pretty concerned.

And look what happened to JFK (Enter conspiracy theories).  Then we return to the WASPS for a while until President Obama.  Given his exotic childhood people have their concerns and he does not fit the lock-tight WASP model.  Can you guess which letter does not apply to Obama?

However, Obama attended a “Christian” church and professed his faith very clearly a couple of times but many Americans still have their doubts.  This leads me to my next point “What is a Christian?”

*Side Note: Imagine how we feel when we hear that the country is an “Islamic Country.”  Most Americans would then get on their high horse and point out that we have separation of Church and State, and how “advanced” we are.  But when it comes to our own President, he better well be Christian.  If we look at “Islamic” countries with distrust, I wonder if citizens of those countries would feel the same way towards America in terms of religion.  After all, we do demand that the President be Christian, so to say that there is a separation is a bit silly.

2.  What is a Christian?

There was a decent article in USA Today called “Who, exactly, is a ‘Christian’?  Obama?  You?

They point out some interesting facts in that all of us “Christians” think the other “Christians” may not actually be a “Christian” or have got it all wrong!

If I were to ask a normal American “Christian” what they thought of the Eastern Orthodox Religion, I wonder what kind of answers I would get.  I’m sure I would be met with a blank stare.  I would half expect them to call the priests in this picture Muslims!

In fact, that might not be a bad idea.  Let’s release this picture to the general public and take a poll.  I’m quite certain that 35% of Americans would identify them as Muslims.  This is just to point out how I feel about polls and the opinions of a third of the population.

So what exactly is a Christian?  Do all “Christians” believe other sects, denominations etc are equally as “Christian as them?  The answer to that is probably a resounding no, or a very weak yes.

For example, if we compare Evangelicals and Catholics, I’m certain that Catholics would feel superior due to the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelicals would think the Catholics to be mindless sheep who really do not feel passion when worshiping God.

The Catholics would look at the Evangelical and believe them to be in complete disarray with no direction, simply homegrown countryside bumpkins who like to shout and jump around in Church.  Where is the ORDER people!?  You can’t just construct a building, call it “House of Holy Salvation of the Divine Angel” and get any respect!

Then the Evangelical would look at the Catholics and disapprove of their boring, repetitious way of worship and think that is no way to really feel the joy that Jesus is supposed to bring.  The would see a kind of corporation directing their “flock” to the grinding mill every Sunday and see no passion in that service at all!

Now, let’s go deeper into the Catholic Religion.  This is worth a complete library of research but for lack of time let’s just get to the point.  The Catholic Church has its own divisions.  It has: Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits, Benedictines and so on and so on.  In fact, there are well over 300 according to Wikipedia and I’m sure that is not even close to a complete list.  So, I ask, which one is the right one to belong to?  Is there a right one?  Are they all equal or do some look down on others?

Now, coming back out of the Catholic Church, we have all different types of “Christians” – Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, Shakers, Quakers, Lutherans, Methodists etcetera etcetera.

Well, I’ve bored myself with all the different divisions in Christianity, but I can tell you that each one will not believe they are equally “Christian” as the other denominations.  In short, their denomination is right and all the others are wrong.

The answer to what is a “Christian” is simply one who follows Christ.  (Christ – ian).  That’s it!

So, if Obama “follows Christ” then he is a Christian.  The issue is that a small portion of Americans do not believe him.  And even if they did, he is probably not following the right one, unless it is considered “Protestant.”  Then we will have all the divisions with those that call themselves “Protestant” and none of the denominations will satisfy this small portion of Americans.

3. Are you a “good” Christian?

What a question!  This might be very hard to answer in that if you do not belong to the ‘right’ denomination then you can still be a Christian but just in the wrong group.  Which is the correct group?  Well, the one I’m in,,,, unless of course I’m you, then it is the one you are in.  But I’m not you, I’m me, ergo, you are wrong.

How stupid, how mundane!  If we were to really ask this question of the population, they may try to dodge the question unless we really pin them down on scripture.  Then they would refer to their denomination’s “authorized” scripture and repeat from that.  Which would make all the others wrong, strictly speaking.  Then they would feel uncomfortable and not want to discuss it anymore.

Since we are uncomfortable confronting each other, let’s just confront ourselves for fun.  Do we really even know that much about our own religion?  This brings me to my next point along with a personal story.

4.  How well do we know our own Religion?

To start off, I’ll give you the answer; Not very well.

I had the pleasure of taking a trip to Ireland with my family.  I was under the assumption that it was simply a vacation but I was mislead!  In fact, it was a PILGRIMAGE!!!  My family knew I would have reservations with hanging out in Ireland with a bunch of old church ladies so they conveniently skipped that detail.  Yet, it turned out to be wonderful and I learned a lot.

I would say the best thing I got out of that trip were discussions with a very intelligent priest.  At that time, I had read too much and had a lot of questions.  I was also starting to break free from the authority of priests and starting to think for myself.  As I was developing into an adult, I had started to think of many priests (not all – some were good) as almost adolescent, undeveloped aberration of men.  I started to see them from the eyes of an adult and saw how incomplete they were.  Yet, they asked me to call them “Father!”  (I’ll return to language and it’s usage later on)  In fact, quite a few had been suspected of pedophilia and had left the church.  So, my opinion of priests was not good at this time to say the least.

But, the priest who was directing this pilgrimage, was very intelligent and I respected him for a number of reasons.

1. He spoke Gaelic
2. He played the SPOONS!
3. He had no problems drinking a few pints with me
4. He was an academic.  No more of “It’s a mystery” nonsense, this guy had actual answers!
5.  He did not try to duck any of my questions and we could be open.
6. He became frustrated with some members in that they really didn’t know much about the faith they adhered to.  He said “Study your faith people!”  To me, this was refreshing in that the history and theology of the Catholic Church really is fascinating, but unfortunately, church is often filled with the same old boring readings and absolutely NO academic inquiry.  Just a blind following of whatever happened to be uttered from the priests mouth.

On one of the first nights, I was very surprised that he agreed to come to the bar with us and seemed enthusiastic about it.   There was a band and after ordering our pints of Guiness we sat down to listen.  He pulled out his spoons and was just itching to get up and play with the band.  And get up and play he did!!  This was a priest unlike any other I had ever met!

Afterwards we were walking back we started to get into a religious discussion.  I forget all the points but about halfway in I decided to blow this conversation wide open.

Me: Father, why are you Catholic?
Father:  It is what I believe (this was the standard answer I was used to getting)
Me: Father (I hate using that word, but out of respect I stuck with the standard)  Did you go to a Catholic grade school?
Father: Yes
Me: Did you go to a Catholic High School?
Father: Yes
Me: I would venture to say you even went to a Catholic College
Father: Yes, I went to (insert, I forgot the name)
Me:  Then Father, how did you think you would turn out?  Buddhist?  You were told your whole life to be Catholic and that is what you became!  How can you be so certain that it is the correct religion when that is the path the majority of people will take?  They will simply follow the religion that their parents and grandparents were!?  You ask a lot of interesting questions about your own faith, but are stuck within these parameters and have never even given a though to venturing outside them!

Enter alcohol infused haze and I cannot recall how the rest of the conversation went.  I was just pretty amazed at myself for having asked such a question when up until that point, I would never have dared to.  The only other thing I can remember is I asked him about the Masonic Order and what he knew, but he really didn’t have any information that I didn’t already know.

The point of all this is here was a priest that was not afraid to reach into the depths of Catholicism and explore as far as it will go.  Again, I had never met a priest as academic as he was.  He left an impression which left me wanting more information.

5. Diving into Christianity

Again, how well do we know our own faith?  I’d like to share with you a few examples that were very eye opening for me and provide some answers.  These are not answers that will solve the ultimate mystery but they are fascinating none the less.

I’ve met very few people who actually question their own religion.  They are told x is representative of y and ask no questions.  As for me, I ask questions, I want to know!  I’m not sure how I came to discover these things but I’m sure it was a mix of my travels and readings.  As for books, I can’t quite recall which book I read but I’m sure it was something like this (Religions of the World: Illustrated Guide To Origins, Beliefs, Traditions and Festivals).  I’m not sure how many examples I can come up with but lets give it a shot.

a.) The Cross is More Powerful Than the Sun

One of the most interesting things I learned is that the ancient religions always worshiped the Sun.  As Christianity spread the duty of the priests was to convert the locals.  To help with this, they placed their religious symbols in front of the sun.

If you have ever seen a Celtic cross, you will notice a circle around the cross.  This symbolizes the cross being in front of the sun and therefore the cross is more powerful than the sun.

Therefore, it conveyed to the locals that the priest’s religious imagery was more powerful than their own.  Make a symbol, put your own in front of the local symbol and automatically it is more powerful.

In Mexico, the most powerful image is La Virgen de Guadalupe.  Again, we can see that Mary has been placed in front of the sun.  But why is this?  The truth is the Spanish were very merciless with the natives and killed so many.  To win them over a miracle was necessary.

The story goes, that a native “Mexican” Juan Diego actually saw Mary and she spoke with him.  There are different versions to the story but some say he healed Juan’s uncle and at other another time presented him with roses to prove he was not lying (Roses did not grow in Winter, when she appeared).  In short, his uncle got better and local priests believed Mary had appeared due to the roses he presented them with.  Now, let’s pay attention to what she said:

“I shall be there to listen to your cries, your sadness.  I shall be there to cure your grievances, Your misery, your sufferings.”

But we have to ask ourselves, who was causing these “sufferings.”  Well, it was the Spanish who just happened to be the same people who brought the Catholic religion to Mexico!  So, the same people that were causing these horrible sufferings also brought the solution with the Virgin Mary and converted an entire empire.

Also, we notice an “aura” around the Virgin Mary.  The Aztecs worshiped the sun and again we follow the same formula of putting a Christian symbol directly in front of the sun to make it more powerful.  It would not do well to put the cross in front of the sun because that is the symbol the Spanish used and they were the ones killing everybody!  Therefore, it is much better to put a delicate, caring “mother” which would take care of the people that her religion was directly responsible for killing the locals!

To make matters more interesting, those humongous cathedrals you will find in Spain were directly financed by gold plundered from “The New World.”  That is to say, they were funded by exterminating a group of people and taking their gold to build something religious.  How is that for irony?

People are praying in a building funded by the blood of native Americans and praying for peace!!

b.) Festivals

How well do we know our own festivals?  Why is it that Christmas falls directly on the Winter Solstice?  The dates are both on December 25th.  Then, we have Easter falling directly on the Spring Equinox!  And why is it that we use Easter bunnies to also commemorate this holiday?  The reason is the ancient people saw the rabbit as a sign of fertility.  So, killing two birds with one stone, it is very convenient to have Jesus rise at the same time of the Spring Equinox.  Then, mixing traditions we throw in the Easter Bunny.

In fact, use any “Christian Holiday” and you will find it has replaced a more ancient holiday.  Why is this?  Because the local population was used to celebrating at that time and to encourage them to convert, Christianity had to create a holiday at the exact same time.  This made things easy.

Now, does any of this matter?

For many, the answer is no.  They were simply taught to believe in Christianity because their parents and their parents before them did so.  They work themselves into a tizzy with no understanding of why things are the way they are.  For some, the euphoria of telling yourself something is true and getting yourself excited about it is enough!

c.) The Cult of Osiris

This is going to be a very long post and for those of you looking for parallels between Christianity and other religions, it would do you well to take a look at the Egyptian, “Cult of Osiris.”  Osiris also rose from the dead and there are many other similarities.  In the tradition of replacing old religions with the Christian teaching we cannot fail to examine this one.  It seems Christ wasn’t the only one to rise from the dead.

6. Language

The language of Christianity has been refined over many centuries.  If we were to truly understand, then we would have to study Aramaic which was the language of Jesus.  But instead, most of us only have English to go on and therefore that is what we use.

One aspect that has always irked me is the submissive nature of the language of the church.  We are expected to refer to priests as “Father” and he refers to the rest of us as his “flock.”  In the language alone, we submit to the priest’s authority.

Why is this?

In the past, the priest was the learned, the one who could read.  He was more intelligent then the rest of the population and a leader.  Now, that a good part of the population have attended University and perhaps studied more than the priest, this use of language might not fit so well.  I highly doubt the priest calling a layman “father” since it is only supposed to work one way.

The priest often refers to his subordinate as his “son.”  As I mentioned earlier I have no use for these dysfunctional, shells of men referring to me as their son.  We can have an intelligent discussion if we are on equal ground and respect can still (sometimes) be due but let’s dispense with this “Father/Son” nonsense.

The reason people still use it is because that is how they were taught.  They were told not to question and that the priest is the authority.  No questions.

Further, to add a bit of “sanctity” to the language, some still speak with terms such as “Thou, thee, thine,” such as “Thine is the Kingdom of God.”  This does nothing more than create a false sense of “holiness” to the language, as though it is superior than speaking in the common tongue!

Most people do not use those types of words, and therefore, if one is able to use it, it might seem superior to the less educated and thus more powerful.  The truth is, it does absolutely nothing than make the speaker sound silly.

7. The Usefulness of Christianity

Academics and those that study history always take the fun out of the party.  They deflate what people have taught themselves to believe.  But does this mean their passion does not serve a purpose?  The answer is no.

We as humans are not very good at taking care of each other.  We look to our own needs first and to be honest treat each other very poorly.  The fact is we need a guide to tell us to behave because the truth is we are not very good at doing it on our own!

Religion fills a void, it provides a road map on how to behave and treat one another.  The instruction is very clear which is simply “Love Each Other.”  Yet, even with a very clear teaching, we still have trouble doing this!!  We look to the scripture to find reasons to kill and hate.

Going back to Barack Obama, what those people are looking for is a reason to dislike the President and hate!  We humans are very good at twisting very simple teachings and the reason that people are calling Barack Obama a Muslim is they want to find a reason to dislike him, I daresay to HATE him!

Therefore, they use religion which tries to teach us to love and being a typical human use it in a perverse way and to hate.  How despicable!  How low and base!!  Only human beings could take something so simple and turn it completely on it’s head!

With the lessons above about the origins above, the fact is, they really do not matter.  Sure they are good things to know, but they have absolutely no influence on the core teaching which is simply to love.  I used the examples above to prove to people how little they know about religion and to provoke a bit of shame.  How dare they use religion, which they know very little about, to provoke hate, which is the exact opposite of the main point religion is trying to convey!!!!  How stupid, how silly and how shameful!

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, reading a new article stating that a third of Americans believe Obama is a Muslim is simply stupid.  These are people that are looking for a reason to hate and by turning Obama into something he is not gives them this right.  The irony is their own religion teaches them to love yet, the purposefully seek out a reason do the opposite.

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I wish to share with you a story.  Actually, I’m not sure if it is a story or not but rather an idea.  This idea I had while visiting an abandoned graveyard not far outside Killarney, Ireland.

I. The Graveyards

I decided to rent a bicycle and travel outside the town.  I had gone not more than 3 miles and saw that the city disappears rather quickly and was replaced by those beautiful green fields that Ireland is known for.  Not far from the town I came upon a very old, overgrown graveyard and decided that I should stop and read the inscriptions on the gravestones.

The tombstones were well worn and many could not be read.  Some had completely fallen over and were cracked.  I really wish I had taken a picture and if I had I’m not sure where it is.  But the picture to the left properly represents my thoughts about this particular place.  The difference is, there were many gravestones, close together, all of them weather stained and the grass had grown to where it would grow no more having reached their full height.  I read the inscriptions and found something similar to the following:

1.  Where you are now, I once stood.
- This is actually a famous (now forgotten) inscription on William Caldwell’s Grave who was a revolutionary war veteran.  It reads:

“Remember me as you pass by/As you are now so once was I/As I am now so you must be/Prepare for death and follow me.”

2. In memory of our beloved (Insert Name)

3. Here lies (name), good father, loving husband.

After reading the first inscription “Where you are now, I once stood,” had a profound impact on me . The second inscription also let me know that this person had a family, was once loved and did love.  Yet, the grave stone had fallen over and the grass was untended.  What occurred to me was that this person had a place in this world but over time was soon forgotten by his/her descendants.

This lead me to recall the famous poem “In Flanders Fields.”  Please watch this and listen to the words.

I read these inscriptions carefully and wondered to myself why had the graveyard been so severely overgrown?  Was there no one there to tend it?  They must have lived nearby and been part of a community.  Perhaps their community was small  and disappeared completely or was swallowed as Killarney expanded?  I wondered to myself where their descendants might have gone.  Did they even remember that their ancestors were buried here?  How could an entire graveyard be forgotten about?  Did it have something to do with the potato famine and mass migration to other countries?

Whoever these people were, they most likely had been entirely forgotten about.

Simply writing the sentence above puts me in a very reflective frame of mind.  These people belonged to communities, had families, accomplished, did all the normal things we all do.  But now, they are long forgotten, time continues and the memory of these people being further washed away with each  passing summer storm.

This sentiment is captured in the Irish Ballad “Danny Boy” which has different interpretations.  One is that a man’s son “Danny Boy,” goes off to war, or, he is part of the Irish disapora.  Should he eventually return he might find the father has passed away and the father is asking him if that is the case, please say a prayer and remember him.  Yet, life goes on and it is simply true that some will be forgotten as those who rest below me most likely had.  In this case, “Danny Boy” did not come back.  It was a very moving experience.

This lead me to thinking about my own life.  Does it really matter what I accomplish or what I do?  Will I even be remembered after a few generations?

The people lying in the ground below most likely had children, and their children probably had children.  They spawned others, many of which will have no idea where they now lie.  These people had feelings, drank at the pub like you and I, were sent to battle and eventually died as we all will.  Yet, their graves remained in front of me, untended and broken.

The picture you see to the right is at a famous tourist attraction and would have been the nobility of society.  Therefore, they are well tended. Yet, it is no surprise that most of the graves would be un-attended if they even had graves at all.

So, I spent a while in that graveyard, carefully examining the inscriptions and letting my mind be swept away with images of these long departed people, wondering about their lives, breathing in the fresh country air and letting this peaceful, quiet countryside carry my thoughts away.

I then got back on the bike and took a detour into a national park which I love to visit every time I find myself back in Ireland.  I take the same path every time not only because I know it to be a beautiful path but also to bring back old memories of my previous trips.  The first time I visited this place I was on a tour of Europe during a break from studying in Spain.  So it is not only the memories of Ireland I’m bringing back, but my first experience living in Europe which carries vivid, almost magical thoughts of a time in my own life gone by.

Again, I started to think about how quickly life passes and when I come upon this ruined monastery  with the graveyard out front it puts me to thinking about the impermanence of everything.  Will people remember who we are, what we did?  Does it even really matter?

This question resurfaced with vigor when I visited Karl Marx’s grave in Highgate Cemetery in London.

As most of us are aware, the ideas of Karl Marx changed a very large part of the world and the lives of millions of people.  His inscription reads:

“The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways—the point however is to change it”

Change the world he certainly did and I had expected this place to be busy with tourists.

There was not a single soul in the entire cemetery and this place is as spooky as a graveyard could possibly be.  There are many gravestones, fallen over and partially buried in the mud, some coffin parts sticking out of the ground having been pushed up by tree roots, and weathered stone angels peer menacingly down at you as if they too might fall over at any time.

It was exactly like the graveyard in the movie “Interview with the Vampire” and I half expected the eyes of the stone angels to start following me.

As for Karl Marx, I was amazed that as important and influential as this man was, there was absolutely nobody there.  If we look at the impact a man has on the world, there can be few who reach the heights of Karl Marx.  His ideas spread throughout the world but even he will eventually be forgotten and one day his grave will tip over and crumble as well.

It is a very sobering thought that we all will eventually be forgotten.  I had thought for a minute that perhaps the internet could change all this and perhaps even this post will live forever.  But, the net is a vastly expanding monster full of websites.  Servers fry, accounts become deleted and even if some things do remain it is only the ideas such as Karl Marx with the details and memories of the actual author quickly dying away.

Even memories of great men such as kings and conquerors do not live forever.  How many Kings of England can we name, let alone what they did?  Can we even say what our very own great-great grandfather did or even remember his name?  They are all swept away with the passage of time or pushed away into some obscure reference that nobody has read in centuries.

II.  The Meaning of Life

After my experiences with these broken down graveyards I began to think about the meaning of life.  Here in the USA in school and work we are pushed to continually achieve, “move forward” if you will.  We become wrapped up in our individual worlds and the minutia of daily life.  But how often do we reflect on the mark we will leave in the world and if we are working towards our ultimate purpose?  What is the meaning of our lives?

As I have a lot of experience dealing with business people some might believe that the purpose is to make money, to acquire goods.  I look at executives of major companies which sell trinkets, soda water, fatty foods and wonder if this is something they would put on their gravestones?  Is their work what they would like to be remembered for?

Other industries I really admire.  Those that work for peace, heal the sick, explore space and really add something to humanity.  These things have real meaning unlike the selling of soda water or simply trying to make more money off fellow human beings.

After thinking about this for a long while, the only real conclusion I come to concerning the meaning of life is simply taking care of fellow human beings.  Working for peace, helping those in need and simply living a good life.  As long as we are working for the greater good then I think a good life has been lived even though society tells us differently.

As morbid as it may sound, spending time in a graveyard is a great way to really remember what is important in life.  Suddenly, trifles such as wearing fashionable clothing, acquiring more than the neighbors or even being  a King suddenly seem not very important.  Grave inscriptions that read “Helped others,” or “loving father,” seem so much more important than “was the CEO of a fast food chain.”  In fact, I cannot recall ever seeing such an inscription.

Why is it that in death, we suddenly recall what is most important in life?

No matter what you do for a living, how much money you make, none of it matters in the end.  If you are kind to others, appreciate being alive and strive to live a good life then it can be said you lived a wonderful life.

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• Thoughts running through my head (1)

The title is to grab your attention.

Most of you are probably thinking that I’m referring to controlling other people’s minds á là Jedi Powers right?  But no, this post is going to be about controlling your own mind.

At first, this might seem like an exotic, esoteric idea but put in the proper perspective it is quite common which I’ll demonstrate.  We’ll get to the exotic later.  :-)

The common is often referred to as simply “thinking positively,” “having a good attitude,” and so on.   In sports, you have to believe that you are going to win or you probably will not.  Put in these terms one might not think of them as “mind control,” but that is exactly what is happening.

We are conditioning our minds to “believe” in a positive outcome and overtime conditioning our own minds to think in a certain way.  On the opposite end of the spectrum “negative” people might always complain and the more they do complain the more negative thoughts they have until the negativity has pretty much taken over the majority of the thoughts.

Moving further into mind control it takes a cognizant effort to change one’s own thoughts.  We have to stop, identify the thoughts we are thinking and ask ourselves, “Why am I thinking this?”  Can I change it?  The fact is that you can.

I’ve found that the majority of people let outside influences control them and their thoughts than the other way around.  It is as if they have relinquished control of their own minds and let random events and external interactions determine which thoughts they are going to have.  The question is, why would we want to let this happen and would it not be better to project our own thought process and “mind” on the world?

I’ve put one foot in the esoteric here but to quickly come back to the common, I’ll give a few examples of how I consciously changed my own thought process.

I. Two Examples

1. Stress while driving

When I first arrived in San Francisco after living for five years in Asia I was quite relaxed and easy going.  I took a job and in the beginning had many ride alongs with my boss.  I found that his tension levels rose tremendously when driving and he became very angry at other drivers since the traffic can be quite chaotic here in San Francisco.

At that time I told myself that I would not become like that as there was no point in becoming angry over something I could not control.  Yet, after just one year of driving here, I found myself doing the exact same thing.  If a driver made one small mistake I found that I immediately became angry and would lay on the horn.

Then, I realized what I was doing and told myself to not let myself become angry anymore.  I was giving power to these external forces and letting them determine my own thought process.  I trained myself to control my own thoughts and now I never lay on the horn and never become angry when driving.

People step out in front of me when they are not supposed to and sometimes drivers cut me off.  Yet, it no longer affects me in any way.  This is all because I now control how I am going to think instead of letting external forces control my own mind.  All it took was a simple decision to do so.

2.  Foreign Countries

It is no secret that when living abroad some people will have a wonderful time, others will have a terrible time and still others will be somewhere in between.

When people ask me if country x is fun or country y is a good place to live I find it difficult to give a short answer.  The fact is there will be a range of experiences some good, some bad but it is up to the mentality of the individual which will determine if they enjoy it or not.

Living in a foreign country for the first time is an intense experience.  The normal path usually followed goes like this:

a.  Honeymoon phase
- Everything is new and exciting.  This is a very enjoyable time

b.  Crash
- People become depressed and are overwhelmed by the new culture.  They often have thoughts of returning home

c.  Rebound
- They bounce back from the crash, have more in-depth experiences with the culture and begin to enjoy it again.

This cycle can repeat itself many times.  But we have to ask ourselves, is it the culture that changed or is the way we think about it?  The fact is, it is our own mind cycling through these phases.  It is true that external experiences will play a big role, but if one thinks in a positive manner then enjoyable experiences will “manifest” themselves more and more.

Now, I’ve stuck my entire leg into the “esoteric”  but am not ready to dive in.  Let me give a simple example of how I made a conscious decision to control my thoughts in Japan.

One aspect that can bother some expatriates is that they are constantly an object of curiosity.  You look different, and ARE different from the general population.  This invites a lot of stares.  One of acquaintances in Japan complained to me about constantly being stared at when he got off the train.  The platform is very long and sometimes I refer to it as a “catwalk.”  You step off and have quite a long way to walk alongside the stopped train to the stairs leading the way out.  As you are walking by the train, many of the passengers will stare at you as you walk by.

For my acquaintance this was very bothersome.  However, for me I enjoyed it quite a bit due to my way of thinking.  I understood that most of the people were simply curious and I should be happy for all the attention.  So, that is exactly what I decided to do.  I decided that I would enjoy all these eyes staring at me and from that point on it was an enjoyable experience.

If we think about this, both my acquaintance and I are in the exact same situation, in the exact same train station in the exact same country.  But one of us is enjoying the experience and one is not.

Some may attribute this to “personality,” but I ask, what is personality?  Is it something we can consciously change?  It may be difficult to change an entire personality without a lot of practice but in it’s essence isn’t “personality” simply a state a continual state of mind?

Some foreigners will thrive very well in a foreign country where others will crash and burn.  Would it not be beneficial for those that are having an unpleasant experience to try and keep a positive state of mind?  Again, there are some external factors that will come into play and it takes a lot of practice to change one’s mind but is it not possible to do so?

II.  What World Do You Live In?

In the previous example I used living abroad as it is a complete change from what we are used to and our mindset is going to play a tremendous role.  Now, let’s come back to our domestic countries and ask the same question.

I live in San Francisco which is a large city full of many inhabitants.  Many love the city and have a wonderful time.  Others would prefer to live somewhere else and are full of complaints.  In both cases, the individuals are experiencing the exact same city and have the freedom to explore, gain new experiences and enjoy themselves if they wish.

It is without argument that there are many diversions with which one can entertain themselves so it is not a question of being a “boring” city.  Some live in less desirable neighborhoods while others live in better.  It can also be said that those living in the “less desirable” areas can be quite happy and take advantage of all there is to offer.  While those that live in “better” areas can be quite miserable.

The truth is, it makes no difference where you live or what things you have in order to make one happy.  It is simply a state of mind.  As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, a majority of people will let life determine how they are going to think and what their mindset is going to be.  Again, my question is why would we let these external forces control us?  Why would we not want to make a conscious decision to be happy and enjoy life no matter what the circumstances?

This was proven to me when I visited a very poor village in Vietnam and then a high powered law office here in San Francisco.  It was quite obvious that the poor villagers smiled more often and were more friendly than the high powered lawyers who rarely smile and seem unhappy.

One would think that it would be logical that the poor villagers would be unhappy as they have very few prospects to “advance” while the high powered lawyers have the world at their fingertips.  Yet, the reverse was true.  We could get into all the varying reasons as to why this is with one perhaps being the poor villagers, when comparing themselves to others, simply do not know that they do not have very much.  Perhaps they have less stress?  It may be a variety of reasons but the important thing to realize it is simply a state of mind.

If the lawyers are chasing money which they believe will make them happy but never seem to reach the goal of actually being happy, then why would they continue?  This brings to mind a story I once heard about the MBA graduate and a fisherman.  It goes something like this.

There once was a poor fisherman who enjoyed life in his village and everyday would catch his fish.  One day an MBA graduate came to him and said, “Why do you waste your time fishing for only you and your family’s needs?”   “I have an idea where you could hire others to fish for you, and then you could supply the entire village!”  ”After that has been accomplished, you could travel to wall street, sell your business to the highest bidder and make millions!”

The fisherman asked “And what could I do after I have made my millions?”

The MBA replied “Then you could come retire in your village and go fishing.”

Now, I understand the logic here is very simplistic and that the fisherman would be protected should the fish run out.  However, we also have to ask ourselves if the new corporation would fish so much that there would be no more fish and then the village left devastated.  Kind of feels like what is happening today with what the major corporations are doing doesn’t it?

The moral of all this is going to have a twist, which is everyone, the MBA, the fisherman, the lawyers and the poor villagers can all be happy.  It does not matter what their individual circumstances are, they all have the ability to make a conscious choice to be happy if they wish.  It is simply a state of mind.

So, we have to ask ourselves what world do we live in?  Are we a poor villager, a high powered lawyer, or in one of the other millions of professions?  Does it even matter?  What world have we constructed for ourselves and how do we choose to perceive this world?

Coming back to San Francisco, I think of the city in a certain way.  For some, they will say San Francisco is “x,” but for others, San Francisco is most definitely “y.”  I realize I have a certain mentality about San Francisco but I consciously try to break this mentality from time to time and form a new one.  To help with this, I like to travel to different places, read up on the history and discover new things.  I use external stimulus to break my former mindset and then make a conscious decision to enjoy these new experiences which contribute to a whole new mentality about how I will think of San Francisco.

III.  Material Things

One trap that I find many people fall into is the belief that material objects will bring happiness.  Happiness is simply a state of mind and one can simply choose to be happy.  Yet, with the purchase of material things we often discover that the happiness is temporary.  Thus we become addicted to accumulating more things in order to bring back the temporary joy.

Would it not be beneficial to look at what we already have and tell ourselves that we have decided to be happy with what we have already?  If a trinket brought joy at one time and then faded, why can we not simply choose to bring back that happiness with a conscious decision?  Once we have accomplished that, we could ask ourselves if it is not possible to be happy with no trinket at all?

This has been discussed as of recent as we are going through the “Great Recession.”  There have been many articles, one of which is called “But Will It Make You Happy,” which was in the New York Times.

If you do not have time to read the article, I’ll tell you the answer.  No trinket will bring you happiness, it is simply a state of mind that can continue if you simply choose it to.

VI.  The Esoteric

The post has become long and I am in no mood to write a novel.  So let us dive headfirst into this “esoteric” and “exotic” pool regarding Mind Control.  The best part is it is not esoteric at all but the path to happiness is right out in the open.  It is simply a change in the state of mind and there are even road maps about how to get there.  As there are many, I’ll only cover my favorites and those which people will already be familiar.

A.) The Secret

Recently, there was a book put out called “The Secret.”  The Secret is nothing more than a commercial version, packaged for profit to show in a book what has already been known for millennia.  The basic premise is that we control our own world through a state of mind.  If you believe something will manifest itself then it will.

This might be a big jump for some so let us back up a bit.  In The Secret, I find they spend too much time talking about how to acquire money.  In this they miss the point which is simply finding happiness.  They claim that you have an “inner power” to make things come about but unfortunately concentrate on manifesting material things.

This sounds like a big bunch of nonsense to some people but we could refer back to simply having a “positive attitude.”  In our sports example, if you do not believe you will win then you most likely will not.  If you do not believe that you will not do well in an interview then most likely you will not.  If you are certain you will not have a good time, then you will not.

It is your state of mind that affects the outcome and not the other way around.  In the secret, they rely on the mysterious forces of the universe that will align themselves around your goal and make it happen.  I personally like this thought and have not discounted it.  But as it might be too much for some people, let’s bring it down to earth.

If you believe you can do something, then you will take the steps necessary to bring the result about.  Let’s say you have your mind set on attaining a fit body as an example.  I’m not sure if the forces of the universe will align themselves to make this happen, but what is certain is that you will “magically” find yourself at the gym more often and paying attention to what you eat.  Before you know it, you are now fit and it had nothing to do with the universe but rather your own mind which made a conscious decision to make something happen and it did.

Skipping past all the other material, physical examples let us get straight to the root which is happiness.  If you believe you will be happy then “magically” you will be.  This might not be easy as you have to train your mind to be happy and like a strenuous workout it can take time to shed those negative thoughts.  Yet, returning to our main theme, it will not be difficult unless you believe it is which comes back to your state of mind.  Just believe it will be easy, convince yourself of it and so it shall be.

Now, as a caution, there are certain things I cannot simply “will” myself to be.  I cannot tell myself I will be an NBA player and it will happen.  However, I have to ask myself “Why do I want to be an NBA player?”  I think the obvious answer is that it will make me happy.  Yet, why not just skip to the goal and tell myself to be happy which is certainly something everyone can attain.  We have to power to do so as our mind belongs to no one but us.

B.) Religious Aspects

I have found a very clear road map to happiness in the Buddhist teachings.  This does not mean that I am going to start wearing a shawl and shave my head.  But it does mean that I have an open mind and listen to what the teachings are saying.

My favorite aspect is that you have to understand yourself.  In order to do so you need to concentrate on your own mind and control it rather than letting it control you.  To get there, they do chants, Yoga, and various other practices to help attain “happiness” or “enlightenment.”  Without getting into what “enlightenment” is, let us just stick with happiness for simplicity.

In the Buddhist tradition, your mind is most important.  Your mind is you and is the root of your entire existence.  All material objects, experiences and so on are completely dependent on your own mind and how you choose to perceive things.  For those that understand and control their own mind well enough than no material things are actually needed except what you need to sustain yourself.  These things include shelter, food and good health.  Everything else is a distraction.

You may ask why I chose Buddhism over all the others.  I am not an expert in “all the others” but what I do know is Christianity.  Yet, I do not even know Christianity that well even though I spent 12 years in a Catholic school.  To put things simply, and wrongly, it is often in the Christian tradition that we are asking an external force “God” to make things happen.  If we are sad, then simply pray about it and perhaps God will grant you a favor and simply make you happy.

I believe that this is seriously misguided and not what Christianity is about at all.  There must be some mistranslation somewhere or misinterpretation of the teachings in that we have to rely on a supreme being for happiness.  Or perhaps, I simply have never read the right teaching?  From all my years in school, the fact remained that you had to pray in order to make something come about. You simply couldn’t do it on your own.

But what is prayer?  For some, it will be asking a divine being to make something happen.  I believe it is a form of mind control in which we can bring things to pass, but it is our own doing, “mystical” or not, rather than a divine being somewhere giving us a blessing. In Christianity, relying on a “divine being” more-so than ourselves is what many clergy teach. But if we dig a little deeper, I think Jesus tried to tell us that we have the power by the following examples: \

a. “You are the light of the world – let your light shine.”
b. “And Jesus said unto them … , “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to younder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.”
c. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”

To me, this is Jesus telling us we have the power. We are connected to the “higher power” and are part of it and part of everything. Therefore, we need only ask (ourselves) and things will come to pass.

I believe Christian “prayer” is along the same lines as the Buddhist tradition but in Buddhism it is much more clear.  You are the one who has the power to make yourself happy, it is simply willing yourself to make it so.  If you can do this, things fall into place and a kind of balance is reached.  I think Christianity tried to teach the same thing but certain institutions wished the population to become reliant on their services and corrupted the teaching.

This religious debate is worth at least another post, if not a novel, or an entire library so let us quickly return to the main point of this post which is controlling your own mind.

There are many guides out there to help us along the path to happiness but they all boil down to controlling your own mind which controls your life experience.  The question is, “Can we control our own mind?”

I would say it belongs to no one else and is something you have complete control over so long as you choose to do so.

This is just for fun.  Another internet meme making the rounds.  Thought it would be worth a post.  *Original Source Unknown

But please read below the entry for some good Native American reading.

Where White Man Went Wrong

Indian Chief ‘Two Eagles’ was asked by a white U.S. government official, “you have observed the white man for 90 years.  You’ve seen his wars and his technological advances.  You’ve seen his progress, and the damage he’s done.”

The Chief nodded in agreement.

The official continued, “Considering all these events, in your opinion, where did the white man go wrong?”

The Chief stared at the government official then replied, “When white man find land, Indians running it, no taxes, no debt, plenty buffalo, plenty beaver, clean water.  Women did all the work.  Medicine man free.  Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing; all night having sex.”

Then the chief leaned back and smiled, “Only white man dumb enough to think he could improve system like that.”

—————–

As I mentioned, the above is just for fun and thought it post-worthy.  On a serious note however, what actually happened back then was not funny and the white man did a lot of horrible things.  It would be called “genocide” today.  But on the other hand the Native Americans were constantly at war with one another.  History is never as clean and neat as some historians would like to make it.  But for those of you who are looking for some great Native American reading please read about George Catlin.

There are many books on Native Americans but one I’ve read recently (Mr. Catlin) was written by an artist who ventured into the “wilderness” when a lot of territory still belonged to the Native Americans.  I highly doubt most people even know this exists but thought I would pass it along if you would like an honest view into Native American life and from one who truly tried to understand new and unique cultures.

1. Main website – http://www.georgecatlin.org/

2. Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Catlin

3. George Catlin Papers – These papers have been made into a book and can be found for free on the internet if one is willing to look hard enough.  I found my free copies using the Stanza app on the Iphone.

http://www.aaa.si.edu/collectionsonline/catlgeor/

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The New York Times and The Economist

In the New York Times this morning there is a wonderful article entitled “The Economist Tends Its Sophisticate Garden.”  As a decade old subscriber I was very curious to see how my favorite magazine would be treated by the Times.

After treading the opening introduction of The Economist, I am extremely impatient to see how the Economist is going to respond.  Being a British publication I am quite sure they will come up with a stinging, witty response to The Times.  Or not, I have never been able to understand those British but I am voting for a STINGING, WITTY RESPONSE!

*Note to The Economist Editors – Please don’t let me down.

If you’re an avid reader of both The Economist and The Times, then you will know there has been an ongoing feud between Paul Krugman, The Times Senior Economic party-pooper in chief and the identity-less army of economists at The Economist.

*Note: I still like Paul Krugman and his articles.  :)

The formula goes:

1. Paul writes an economic article – Usually that the apocalypse is coming.
2. The Economist, not liking their turf to be tread upon, tells Paul he is wrong.
3. Repeat.

I was aware of the recent spat but doing a quick search, the first article I came upon was from 2008:  Krugman’s conundrum.

Recently, things have gotten ugly.

1. The Times – “I’m Gonna Haul Out The Next Guy Who Calls Me ‘Crude’ And Punch Him In The Kisser,” – Paul Krugman

This was in response to,

2. The Economist – Austerity Alarm – Which really upset Mr. Krugman by saying this:

“Mr Krugman’s crude Keynesianism underplays the link between firms’ and households’ behaviour and their expectations of future tax and spending policy.”

Which was in response to,

3. The Times – The Third Depression – Paul Krugman

Boy, things are becoming very interesting concerning The Times and The Economist.  Again, I’m very impatient for The Economists reply to the recent dig by The Times!!

The Times states:

“The newsweekly, a bible of global affairs for those who wear aspirations of worldliness on their sleeves, did not become a status symbol overnight. It took 25 years of clever advertising that tugs at the insecurities and ambitions of the status-seeking reader to help the magazine get there.”

I cannot say why others may read the Economist but I can tell you The Times definitely has my number as one “who wears aspirations of worldliness on their sleeves.”  I created a blog called The Global Citizen for God’s sakes and take pride in understanding other cultures, languages and keeping up to date on “worldly” affairs.  So there is no way I can escape the accusation.

However, as for “insecurities and ambitions,” I’m not sure how they came up with these.  Perhaps when interviewing people who read the Economist, the first reader couldn’t make eye contact but really had his mind set on becoming Secretary of State?

I was first introduced to The Economist by my father who is a very avid reader and whose opinion I hold in very high regard.  I was studying abroad at the time and the international focus of The Economist really appealed to me.  It was a very large breath of fresh air from the American sources of news that focused and continues to focus on one area of the globe.  America.

As I was looking for news sources like this, the only other quality “international” publication I could find was The International Herald Tribune published by guess who??  Yep, The New York Times.

However, with the IHT the formula followed that of many other newspapers whose articles simply report “this happened there, and this other thing happened over there.”  What I was looking for was in-depth reporting with a splash of opinion and The Economist provided this very well.  I wanted insight, not just a report of what has happened.

This does not mean I am not without criticism at of The Economist.  At times, I become a little tired of this group of Brits continually telling foreign countries what to do and that if they did “x” then everything would get better.  Perhaps they are mostly right, but it still feels like an uppity British banker telling poor countries how stupid they are and to get their act together.

My other criticism is that they see the world through an economic lens and it often seems that this is the only lens they use.  I have often thought that I would really love to read a magazine that is The Economist, but strips out a good majority of the economics.  But I guess with a name such as The Economist, this is simply a ridiculous thing to say.  :)

My criticisms are very few however and I still love my Economist.  I love their liberal standpoint on social issues and I find their publication a very good counter to the current American conservatives.  The conservatives here in the USA now believe good economic management (free trade, low taxes, less government) belongs only to them.  There may be some truth to this but the problem is that they couple this with regression and stagnation socially.  One this first point, I am very much inclined to agree with them but what repels me is their stance on the social issues.  The conservatives are against things such as Gay marriage, Immigration and anything that smells of a “socialist policy.”  To be honest, they have relied too much on their extremest elements which no matter how many ways they try to justify their position, all too often boils down to simple raw hate.

The Economist however, has a greater claim to “economics” and spells out why certain policies would be beneficial in numbers.  The American conservatives just yell.  Therefore, this gives The Economist more authority over anything economic and the fact that they also realize that some people are going to need a safety net really endears me to their publication.

Instead of “yelling” like American conservative media outlets, The Economist lays out a very clear and thoughtful argument to social problems and often supplements these with numbers.  Media outlets such as Fox news however, simply whip their audience into a froth on every issue with their underlying point being, “If we let this happen, America is going to die.”

My regard for the magazine became even stronger when they supported Barack Obama for president.  They were not afraid to point out the various catastrophes of the Bush administration and knew that a change was needed.  I came to respect them even more when they took Obama to task for some of his failings!

This is what every news publication should be.  One that praises the achievements and underscores the failures of every leader no matter their political affiliation.  This is how we do become smarter!

So when the times states the below in their article, my answer is “YES!  I do feel smarter!”

“They’ve always implied that if you read The Economist, you’ll be just a little bit wiser and smarter than the average guy,” said Joseph Plummer

When I first read this quote I was simply AGHAST as I thought The Times (who I also love) had quoted “Joe THE Plummer” who still manages to poke his head out of the sand like a ground hog and say something ridiculous on occasion.  I thought for a split second that the end of the world was upon us if one of my favorite publications was now quoting head dufus from the McCain campaign days.

Yet, I was quickly relieved when I read his title being; “adjunct professor of marketing at Columbia Business School and a former executive at McCann Worldgroup.”

*Note, that says McCann not McCain. – Just to make sure we are clear.

Finally, I responded with a quizzical Japanese head tilt when The Times claims in their opening sentence:

“Its fire-engine-red logo peeks out of fashionable handbags and from the back pockets of designer jeans.”

I’m not sure about other countries but here in downtown San Francisco (Union Square area) I would think that The Economist would make designer bag wearers heads tilt so much that they might actually fall over.  I’m not sure what those people read but I can be sure it is anything but economics.

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