My philosophy

About Eating Disorders-Ed or no no ed,this needs to be read

2008-01-15T09:13:00.001-08:00

You will probably need some statistics and an intro before you read the proper blog below. Firstly, most people with Anorexia or an other eating disorder for that matter do not have a distinctive weight loss at all. 1 in 5 women have an eating disorder yet in real life (Yes the magazines are airbrushed and arent real) I have only seen one woman who was anorexic and severely underweight.It is a MENTAL disorder,a MENTAl one. 1 in 100 people have Anorexia, 2 in 100 have Bulimia. 1 in 5 anorexics is male-men DO get it too. The Anorexics who die are not all underweight as well, Anorexia caused many problems that people of all weights can have.
15-20% of Anorexics will die within 10 years of contracting the disorder,a further 15-20% will die within 20 years of contracting the disorder. Only 30-40% even fully recover and even in these circumstances it takes a minimum of 6 years as there is so much therapy to go through. The rest have to live with it for the rest of their (short) lives, and I personally think that the ones who die are luckier.Because it is such a horrible disorder.
Among some people struggling with anorexia is a competition with other anorexics. I see it in the hospital units and in the high schools and on the college campuses. Chronic anorexics can pick another anorexic out of the crowd in a heartbeat. They do tend to recognize each other, as if they are able to see into this "nether world" that "normal eaters" can not see. Although some skeletal bodies are obvious to everyone, even the bulimics and compulsive eaters can recognize one another before the "normal eater" can. (I put "normal eater" in quotes because if you are living in a westernized country chances are you do not have truly normal eating habits at all times, but if you don't have an actual eating disorder you are considered "normal"...
We see each other (eating disordered person to another eating disordered person) all the time. We assess each other with our eyes, and perhaps, rate ourselves against the other, asking: who's sicker? who's thinner? and other morbid questions (such as: does s/he have the body hair growing all over like I do? does s/he have the visible veins or ribs or collarbone?). This is a competition like no other. It is part of the illness. The illness dictates that we must starve and be thin... thinner... the thinnest. As we progress, we learn the details of emaciated bodies: how body hair thickens & grows (this is to keep the starving body warm) but the head hair thins & breaks (without nutrition), how ritualized food intake can actually get (taking up to hours to have one small meal, with calculated measurements and bites), how the bones begin to show (hips, collarbone, ribs, kneecaps, elbows...) and jut out through clothes, how wearing layers of clothes can help keep us warm and hide the diminishing flesh (though some of us will strip off the clothes in effort to "show off" our victorious anorexic frames, proud of the hard work we have endured, and secretly desperate for someone to notice our internal pain as it is nearly visible through our physical selves), and so much more.
We read the books, we especially love the personal accounts (Wasted of course, Life-Size by Jenefer Shute, The Passion Of Alice, and more), and we study our disease not to free ourselves from it, but to become experts. We ARE the experts. We peek at the pictures on the internet to see emaciated bodies on display, and we are part traumatized and part fascinated with it all. We are terribly clever people, very smart and very manipulative when we have to be in order to "protect" our disease. If we have the strength, we could write about it and the writing would be intense, scary, and powerful. If we end up in treatment and are not ready, we will play the role of "the worst anorexic" on the ward, we will happily compete with the other anorexics and soak up the love we get from the care-taking compulsive eaters and hostility from the bulimics... but we aren't going to be stopped by mere therapists... we are hunters always hunting and outright ignoring the feasts that are before us.
What are we doing??!?! What are we REALLY looking for?? What statement are we trying to make? We like the astonishment from others, yet we want to be left alone. We like the rituals we have, yet we are controlled by them (we have NO choice but to do them or our FEARS will take over). We are walking contradictions and we know it but we can't seem to get out of it.
Or do we want to stay this way?? Career anorexics will eventually die prematurely (some live longer than the untrained eye would suspect, while some die before their "careers" have even taken off), after a host of medical problems that will cause pain and discomfort but not death (for a while). Career anorexics are VERY VERY difficult for the mental and physical health communities to treat. Medical doctors don't understand us, they shake their heads and wonder why we would do such atrocities willingly, as they compare us to their cancer patients (but we DO have cancer, its a self-inflicted cancer, yes, but we don't know how to stop it now). Therapists find the challenge of chronic anorexics to be daunting, but the good ones will take them on and perhaps make a wedge between their real selves and their anorexic selves (despite how tight the love affair has grown). Psychiatrists will medicate us and we will reject them. "Normal eaters" will simply be on another planet to us, and vice versa.
The crack addict is also in his or her own world, with only other crack addicts to understand... the autistic, schizophrenic, manic-depressive, multiple identities, heroin junkies, sex addicts, gamblers, alcoholics... they know about each other too. Some of them try to help each other, some of them compete like we do. But unlike those illnesses, we are often given positive feedback from the outside world, the society, because our fragile thin bodies are sometimes seen as trophies. This makes it a bit more confusing. We also face the task that our DRUG OF CHOICE is one that we cannot be SOBER from. We can't learn to put down our cocaine and never taste it again, though we would like to! Food is not something we get to be completely abstinent from (nor should we, as it may, someday, be a delight again). Anorexia, because of these truths, becomes a VERY difficult disease to handle (for us and them).
We all knew Calista Flockhart was getting thinner before the press did. We secretly admire her (and the other famous skinnies). But we would prefer to have the media represent the REAL world which we ALL know is full of every size and shape imaginable.
Our "insiders" study of anorexia makes us the most qualified to help anorexics. So why aren't we? Some of us are, even before we have our own recovery firmly in place. Maybe if we can turn all this frantic, anorexic energy into something else, something positive, something fun... maybe we could organize and change some things on this planet, maybe we can come out from under our carefully-placed rocks and stop comparing our dying bodies and start to feed ourselves and each other instead. Feed our already brilliant (but quickly decaying) brains, find our EXTREMELY UNDERNOURISHED SOULS, find our broken hearts, and find our broken bodies. It would be a revolution like no other.
I do not have the "answer" but I have the experience. I have spoken to people who have had the anorexia life and the recovery life and from what they've said, the recovery life is MUCH better. You can get all there is to get out of anorexia in about three months of it (though it will take you years). But to get all there is to get out of recovery will take the rest of your (longer) life.
Stuck in anorexia, I do not feel the magic of the wind on my face. Stuck in anorexia, I do not feel the true sparkle of laughter or the warmth in friendship or the giddy smile in playfulness. Im missing out on everything around me and even those things I am directly involved in! I am so utterly lost, I tell you my friends, and it hurts and the hurt does NOT actually get healed as the scale goes down, that turned out to be a bright shinning LIE. My loving and silly personality has got swallowed up and I have became as DULL as my eyes sometimes are (you know that empty anorexic stare, like in the girls' photos on this page). I understand I am searching for something, I am trying to fix things, I am trying to feel better and get the attention I crave (all humans crave it, you know, its not a bad thing), and find a spirituality that feels right, and find power and control and strength...
I had the right intentions, I really did. We all do. ALL PEOPLE WITH EATING DISORDERS (not just anorexia! I'm never just talking about anorexia because the disorders are all tied in together, its a blurry thing)...
ALL OF US: We are the nicest of people, the most sensitive of people... and this world could really use us, alive and well!!
Please try to stop, or at least calm down, the competing for sickest. The winning prize is NOTHING. I've heard about tons of people who would have been considered "winners" in this very sick game, and TRUST ME, they had NOTHING. No happiness, no self, no MIND of their own (it stops working you know, it EATS ITSELF up), NOTHING that anyone (even them) would want. Don't continue to LIE to yourself, because you know I'm telling the truth. It is so hard, so so very hard, but we have gotten on the WRONG PATH and no matter how far we take this path it is NOT going to be what we thought it would be. I've lost months of my life to this stupid path, that once looked so pretty and so perfect for me, and I see now that it isn't even a path at all, its a dumb horrible circle that never goes anywhere and just leaves you dizzy and tired and sick and no better off than before you got caught in it.
I want to UNTANGLE this WEB and I need your help. All you have to do to help me is think about these things and write about your own thoughts and start giving your energy to something positive instead of the eating disorder and do whatever you can to begin to pull yourself out of it...
the more of us who begin to pull and tug and try to break free the less of a huge overwhelming web it will be...
Ask yourself: Is this struggle worth it? For what? To endure this and then die???!!??

Dear Anorexia

2008-01-15T09:12:00.001-08:00

I want to cut the water
You "let" her drink
"Let" her eat
I want to cut that water
Slice it silly
Make it squirm
Burn
Hurt
You ought to die
Be cut off and Broken
Belittled
You mother fucker
How you drown these girls
Take them in your arms
As if to cradleÉ
Promising of hugs
To never come
And then it's a break
A hurdle
Fast forward to the finish line
Blurry lines
Boundary lines
Broken time
You eat at me grind my soul
Rip me Pull me
Asunder
Under
Fuck her
You don't deserve her -
She is better
Legs spread
Because she believes she will get nothing better
And it's you who have convinced her
Told her
She isn't beautiful
When she is
Told her
She isn't worthwhile
When she is
She is
God Dam you
Shun you
Shame on you
I fucking hate you
Making her hate herself
Making her doubt herself
She'll ignore her insides for you
She'll discount her instinct
She'll do it all for you
Dancing until she passes out
And you will never come through
You will never reward
You will just punish
PUNISH
All the discipline all the anger all the punishment
None of the hugs none of the parental unconditional love
Not once
Not ever
But you'll manage to still replace her parents
You'll replace her friends
Who may not get it, may be ignorant
But at least they are fucking nice to her
You'll never be nice to her
You will eat her up
At the same time telling her she eats too much
You ugly fat fuck
How can this be happening?
Why don't you take the slimy boys?
The greasy ones who make uncomfortable eyes at everyone?
Why don't you take them
Bend them
Break them
Tear gapping holes in their lives??
Why don't you prey upon the murderers, the rapists
The thieves that will take anything as long as it's free?
Why are you messing with the vulnerable?
The unknowing teens?
Are you such a weak fuck
you have to pick the ones already hurting?
Take those who give themselves to you willingly?
Are you not even up for a fight?
You misleading mother fucker, you have no taste
YOU DISGRACE.
Skinny didn't win the race.

Who is Hey Jupiter?

2008-01-01T08:05:00.000-08:00

A lot of people ask who this character of Jupiter is.She comes from a Tori Amos song called "Hey Jupiter"and here is who I think she is,based on the song and the music video for the song.I think the burning building signifies the girl in the videos life and the little girl who rescues the girl signifies the girls past life and who she used to be. The girl has got to the bottom of the hole shes in and has given up on herself.She has waited and waited for someone else to come along and save her from herself.She is so fed up of waiting that she has lost all hope and dosnt care anymore.But then at the end of the video when the little girl appears,she finally remembers the promise she made to herself so long ago-not to give up on herself.She realizes that in order for others to help her, she has to make the first move towards getting herself out.She finally realizes at the end that in fact, people have been trying to rescue her, but she has not noticed as she was so far in to her hole.

no one's picking up the phoneguess it's me and me and this little masochistshe's ready to confessall the things that i never thoughtthat she could feel andhey jupiternothings been the same so are you gay are you bluethought we both could use a friendto run toand i thought i wouldn't have to bewith you something newsometimes i breathe you inand i know you knowand sometimes you take a swimfound your writing on my wallif my hearts soaking wetboy your boots can leave a messhey jupiternothings been the sameso are you gayare you bluethought we both could use a friendto run toand i thought you wouldn't have to keepwith mehidingthought i knew myself so wellall the dolls i hadtook my leather off the shelfyour apocalypse was fabfor a girl who couldn't choose betweenthe shower or the bathand i thought i wouldn't have to bewith youa magazineno one's picking up the phoneguess it's clear he's goneand this little masochistis lifting up her dressguess i thought i could never feelthe things i feelhey jupiterso are you gayare you bluethought we both could use a friend to run tohey jupiternothing's been the sameso are you safenow we're throughthought we both could use a friend to run tohey jupiteri go from day to dayi know where the cupboards arei know where the car is parkedi know he isn't you

The Mercy Killings Of Our Eating Disorder Machines

2008-01-01T08:02:00.000-08:00

Why do we keep doing it?
Even after we come up empty?
Why do we fight our bodies,
when we know, somewhere inside,
deep inside
that they are not the enemy?
Why do we choose to engage in this particular struggle
as oppose to another?
Maybe we're all more comfortable here,
limited, yes,
but somehow safe that way ~
confined within our shrinking selves
our own walls closing inÉ
Tucking us in,
a lullaby
no one else can hear.
But why do we persist,
even after we come up lonely,
in our self-imposed isolation,
year after year?
What do you expect will be different?
From yesterday to tomorrow?
From last month to next year?
At some point we all recognize the dance ~
the strange, comforting rhythm,
of sickness
followed by intervention
of promises
followed by broken ones
of secrets
followed by necessary lies
of just-once-more-getting-away-with-it
followed by our own fears,
our loved ones' criesÉ
That soon-painfully-predictable cycle
of ultimatums and boundaries and limits and lines
followed by the Hopelessness
felt even by the professionals,
by those that have been successfulÉ
That unbearable, sticky Hopelessness
that gathers speed and starts to nag at us
That tiny, silent sigh of relief,
underneath the showcase of protests,
when we are finally stopped by someone else ~
a doctor, a treatment center, a life support machine.
Is that the end we're hoping for?
Someone,
something,
else to support our life,
even if it's a cold, unfeeling machine?
Why do we go on, refusing to do it,
To support our own lives?
Why do we wait?
And suffer
and live
a life of pain
'til something, someone, else is forced to break in?
Why do we keep doing it?
Long after we know
that we will always come up empty?
Why do we fight our bodies,
when we could just start to believe,
somewhere inside,
deep inside
our cold, unfeeling eating disorder machines,
that our Body,
our Life,
is not the enemy?

Creative thought/Quantum Darwinism

2007-12-24T16:33:00.001-08:00

According to quantum physics, anything anyone can conceive of is happening in its own quantum reality. There are an infinite number of these realities dreamt up by all of us. So why do we all seem to be sharing one particular reality? There's a theory I just heard about that tries to explain why.
Quantum Darwinism is kind of a natural selection, or survival of the fittest, of quantum realities. This theory is also known as the theory of Creative Thought. The more people experience a certain reality, the more real it is. It seems to make a difference, too, whether the circumstances of that reality are recorded -- the recording seems to stand in for another person experiencing it, raising the number of witnesses.
This explains why a hypothetical couple can disagree about how a certain conversation went, even though they were both there and participated in the same conversation. Since there are only two of them, the reality they experienced is fragile and easily warped by each individual's baggage and biases. However if the couple tape-recorded the conversation, they have another "person" (the recording) to shore up the reality they participated in and help them agree on it. If they have this conversation in the presence of several other people, the reality is going to be shored up even further.
So if you are ever trying to switch yourself from your current reality into another one -- perhaps a reality where you are rich and/or famous, or a reality where somebody you have an unrequited crush on returns your affections -- keep in mind that you may be the only person who's supporting that reality. The mass of humanity may be supporting the reality you are currently in, where you're a working stiff, toiling in obscurity, and/or where even by curing cancer or winning a Grammy award, you could never get that person to give a damn.
Believability seems to be the key. After I delve into this theory a bit more, I'll see what else I can come up with.

Why are you alive?

2007-12-20T14:06:00.001-08:00

Why are you alive?What's the point in your existance?
Quite reasonable questions when you think about it.In fact, how many of you reading this have truly questioned these sorts of questions?It may surprise you, but it's probably a very small number. So why are you here?To get married?To get yourself a career?To just simply have a good time?Or to put it another way...To get married to someone you probably dont love or who probably doesnt love and have a 50/50 chance of getting a divorce?To make yourself a career only to have to retire and be stuck on a crap pension?I don't think so.
One day you are going to die. And you have to accept this. Most people think they are invincible,they think they can live forever if they want. Not the way you think mate, fat chance. Just to say, I am not saying this from a literalist christian attitude, my opinion of the christian view of death and the afterlife is that quite frankly it's a load of shite.
Because you ARE going to die. And the sooner you accept it, the easier it'll be when it finally comes along. This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time. This life isn't a break from another, it's not a seminar. You can't go through pretending it is because you're in for a big shock there. You may think this is bad, but trust me, where you are now you can't even imagine what the bottom will be like.
Only after disaster can we be resurrected, it's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything. Nothing is static, everything is appalling, everything is falling apart.
You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake, you are the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We are all basically the same. We are the all singing all dancing crap of the world. You are not your bank account, you are not the clothes you wear. You are not the contents of your wallet, you are not your bowel cancer. You are not your grande latte, you are not the car you drive. You are not your fucking khakis!
You have to give up. You have to give up. You have to realize that someday you will die. Until you know that, you are useless.
I say may I never be complete, I say may I never be content. I say deliver me from clear skin and perfect teeth. I say evolve and lets the chips fall within me. There is no "Happy ever after".
But oh no, you're a christian, nothing bad can EVER happen to you can it?Sure you're kid is more likely to get molested by the priest at church than by a stranger, but hey, it's all in the name of god so it doesn't matter DOES IT! What the fuck is that? I'm sorry but something doesn't seem right here. You know, when I have a kid, should I send him to sunday school? So you can FUCK HIM? I'd be careful of who you trust in this world, because I certainly don't know who I can trust.
Here's a question. Have you ever wanted to do something that was supposedly "wrong" and wondered why it was so wrong? The thing is, a lot of the laws are made up just for the sake of laws, to keep people in check. Everybody has that natural instinct and I wonder whether by stopping it we're actually doing ourselves as a human race some damage. It's there for a reason.
Do you really know who you are? And when you automatically answer yes, ask yourself whether you really know that or you've just been taught it. Get what I mean? Is your leader a voice? There's a reason we have a rebellious instinct.

The inner experience

2007-12-18T12:22:00.001-08:00

The first thing that you have to do, before you even start thinking about such a thing as contemplation, is to try to recover your basic natural unity, to reintegrate your compartmentalized being into a coordinated and simple whole and learn to live as a unified human person. This means that you have to bring back together the fragments of your distracted existence so that when you say “I,” there is really someone present to support the pronoun you have uttered.Reflect, sometimes, on the disquieting fact that most of your statements of opinions, tastes, deeds, desires, hopes, and fears are statements about someone who is not really present. When you say “I think,” it is often not you who think, but “they”—it is the anonymous authority of the collectivity speaking through your mask. When you say “I want,” you are sometimes simply making an automatic gesture of accepting, paying for, what has been forced upon you. That is to say, you reach out for what you have been made to want.Who is this “I” that you imagine yourself to be? An easy and pragmatic branch of psychological thought will tell you that if you can hook up your pronoun with your proper name and declare that you are the bearer of that name, you know who you are. You are “aware of yourself as a person.” Perhaps there is a beginning of truth in this: it is better to describe yourself with a name that is yours alone than with a noun that applies to a whole species. For then you are evidently aware of yourself as an individual subject, and not just as an object, or as a nameless unit in a multitude. It is true that for modern man even to be able to call himself by his own proper name is an achievement that evokes wonder both in himself and in others. But this is only a beginning, and a beginning that primitive man would perhaps have been able to laugh at. For when a person appears to know his own name, it is still no guarantee that he is aware of the name as representing a real person. On the contrary, it may be the name of a fictitious character occupied in very active self-impersonation in the world of business, of politics, of scholarship, or of religion.This, however, is not the “I” who can stand in the presence of God and be aware of Him as a “Thou.” For this “I” there is perhaps no clear “Thou” at all. Perhaps even other people are merely extensions of the “I,” reflections of it, modifications of it, aspects of it. Perhaps for this “I” there is no clear distinction between itself and other objects: it may find itself immersed in the world of objects and to have lost its own subjectivity, even though it may be very conscious and even aggressively definite in saying “I.”If such an “I” one day hears about “contemplation,” he will perhaps set himself to “become contemplative.” That is, he will wish to admire, in himself, something called contemplation. And in order to see it, he will reflect on his alienated self. He will make contemplative faces at himself like a child in front of a mirror. He will cultivate the contemplative look that seems appropriate to him and that he likes to see in himself. And the fact that his busy narcissism is turned within and feeds upon itself in stillness and secret love will make him believe that his experience of himself is an experience of God.But the exterior “I,” the “I” of projects, of temporal finalities, the “I” that manipulates objects in order to take possession of them, is alien from the hidden, interior “I” who has no projects and seeks to accomplish nothing, even contemplation. He seeks only to be, and to move (for he is dynamic) according to the secret laws of Being itself and according to the promptings of a Superior Freedom (that is, of God), rather than to plan and to achieve according to his own desires.It will be ironical, indeed, if the exterior self seizes upon something within himself and slyly manipulates it as if to take possession of some inner contemplative secret, imagining that this manipulation can somehow lead to the emergence of an inner self. The inner self is precisely that self which cannot be tricked or manipulated by anyone, even by the devil. He is like a very shy wild animal that never appears at all whenever an alien presence is at hand, and comes out only when all is perfectly peaceful, in silence, when he is untroubled and alone. He cannot be lured by anyone or anything, because he responds to no lure except that of the divine freedom.Sad is the case of that exterior self that imagines himself contemplative, and seeks to achieve contemplation as the fruit of planned effort and of spiritual ambition. He will assume varied attitudes, meditate on the inner significance of his own postures, and try to fabricate for himself a contemplative identity: and all the while there is nobody there. There is only an illusory, fictional “I” which seeks itself, struggles to create itself out of nothing, maintained in being by its own compulsion and the prisoner of his private illusion.The call to contemplation is not, and cannot, be addressed to such an “I.”

You still want your time machine huh?

2007-12-18T12:21:00.001-08:00

At the heart of time is a stillness.A pendulum. Frozen.In the silence of nothing.Everyone would like to rewind time.Turn back the clock.Do things differently.But sometimes the best way to try to better the future isn't always about trying to change the past.What you have lived and experienced has made you who you are.If you rewind time.Turn back the clock.Do things differently.You won't be who you are.You'll be someone else. Somewhere else.And all the things that people loved about you will be lost.Like wasted rainbows.Down the drain.You just won't be you anymore.No doubt you'll be just as good-looking. On the outside.But on the inside? Where it counts. You'll be changed. Irreversibly.People won't know what they've missed, but something will be missing.Incomplete.Your heart maybe.So next time you long for that time-machine.To take you back.Right to the beginning.Maybe you should just be thankful.About what you've got.What you've become.What love surrounds your heart.And what life you have left still to live.You've made mistakes.Who hasn't?There a lot of people who are worse off.A lot of people who have made much bigger mistakes which can never be undone.A lot of people who have had their lives ruined due to no fault of their own.Or have ruined their own lives due to faults of their own.Don't let yourself by the next number in another startling statistic.Maybe you should just be happy.That you have all that you have.Freedom. Love. People that care about you.Because at the end of the day, nothing else really matters.So be happy.Follow your dreams.Follow your heart.Love who you love.Feel how you feel.Do what you want to do [as long as it's not too illegal]And be who you want to be.Because at the end of the day.It's your life.And nobody else's.Smile.Live for the moment.Live for every day.The bad ones and the good ones.The sunshine and the rain.Dream.Every night.Every day.Never push them aside.Or throw them away.Be honest. Be truthful.Have faith.Love.With all your heart.And your life.Will be much better than you ever dreamed it could ever be.Life. Is as beautiful as you want it to be.Please. Don't let yours fade away.No more wasted dreams.No more hopeless hopes.Go for it.Live it.Love it.Feel it.Hearts are like Tardis's. How big's yours?Don't. Ever waste time on what ifs and might have beens.Live every day as well as you can.The way you want to.Love. As you've never loved before.More people love you. Than you know.Open your heart.Open your mind.Open your eyes.To all the possibilities.All the love.All the everything.Smile.Dream.Live.Laugh.Love.:)

Pain:Suffering and its origins

2007-11-09T14:01:00.000-08:00

Did anyone ever tell you that pain was the only thing that's real. The whole Emo thing where slitting your wrists was the only thing that showed people there was reality in their lives. I'm sure there's a fair few MSN avatars flying around the internet with a picture of some bloody wrists and words like "Pain, the only thing that's real". Funnily enough most of the people who have said this actually don't have a clue what they're talking about, they are merely too caught up (or down) in the cycle of suffering to realise the methods behind their psychologically unaccepted coping mechanism.

The belief itself that pain is the only thing that is real is actually based on Buddhist beliefs, whether intentionally or not (likely not). Pain and suffering are the things in the world that show us that things are not as real as they seem. Suffering is the only worldly thing that comes close to being truly real. Pain exists so that life does not continue without us noticing how false it is. If pain did not exist, it would all seem so real and perfect. Pain is the most real thing we can experience and no-one lives without pain.

The thing that must be accepted is that the world does not cause us pain or suffering; we do. People exist that will upset you. Things exist that will cause you pain. To accept that these things will hurt you is the first step. The second is to accept that we can only be hurt if we allow ourselves to be. This does not mean denying the existence of pain, it means accepting that our suffering is our own self-cause; we are only upset by hurtful or painful things because we allow ourselves to be.

The main pain that people fear is death. We do not want to die because we are not sure what to expect. We are used to life and do not want to end what we are familiar with. This is why we cling to worldly things, because it is all that we know and are used to and therefore we do not want to let them go. And so we conjure up images of a better place after death, one that is within the boundaries of our own understanding and so is often represented as a physical and spatial afterlife or heaven. If a man who believes in a heaven says that he does not fear death, he lies. If he did not fear death, he would have no need to believe in a life after death. For a man to say that he does not fear dying, however, is something that could well be very true. A man may not fear the process of dying, but still fears the prospect of lifelessness.

The teachings of Christ are laid down to prevent human suffering. Effectively, they are ideals for a perfect world. The concept is that, if everyone obeyed these rules, then no man would ever hurt another in any way. However, anyone who believes that this will ever be a reality is misguided; it is completely impossible to create a perfect world in such a flawed existence. Still, millions of suffering-fearing men and woman follow the religion. In all honesty, the principles are correct, but, in practice, it is a physical impossibility. As with Communism, the system simply cannot work, because humans are not perfect and too attached to worldly things.

In short, expect to be hurt and it will not shock you as much. Consequently, when you are hurt, you will not be disappointed, and, when you are not hurt, it will be a nice surprise.

'Assume the worst, so that you can best prepare for it.' -Althe

Understanding-Evanescence lyrics

2007-10-28T11:39:00.001-07:00

"You hold the answers deep within your own mind.Consciously, you've forgotten it.That's the way the human mind works.Whenever something is too unpleasant, to shameful for usto entertain, we reject it.We erase it from our memories.But the imprint is always there."(Can't wash it all away)(Can't Wish it all away)(Can't hope it all away)(Can't cry it all away)The pain that grips youThe fear that binds youReleases life in meIn our mutualShame we hide our eyesTo blind them from the truthThat finds a way from who we arePlease don't be afraidWhen the darkness fades awayThe dawn will break the silenceScreaming in our heartsMy love for you still growsThis I do for youBefore I try to fight the truth my final time"We're supposed to try and be real.And I feel alone, and we're not together. And that is real."Can't wash it all awayCan't wish it all awayCan't cry it all awayCan't scratch it all awayLying beside youListening to you breatheThe life that flows inside of youBurns inside of meHold and speak to meOf love without a soundTell me you will live through thisAnd I will die for youCast me not awaySay you'll be with meFor I know I cannotBear it all alone"You're not alone, honey.""Never... Never."Can't fight it all awayCan't hope it all awayCan't scream it all awayIt just won't fade away, NoCan't wash it all awayCan't wish it all awayCan't cry it all awayCan't scratch it all away(Can't fight it all away)(Can't hope it all away)Can't scream it all awayOoh, it all awayOoh, it all away"But the imprint is always there. Nothing is ever really forgotten."
Please dont hate me,
Because Ill die if you do (x7)

All good things come to an end-Nelly Furtado lyrics

2007-10-28T10:53:00.000-07:00

Honestly what will become of medon't like realityIt's way too clear to meBut really life is dailyWe are what we don't seeMissed everything daydreaming

[Chorus]Flames to dustLovers to friendsWhy do all good things come to an endFlames to dustLovers to friendsWhy do all good things come to an endcome to an end come to anWhy do all good things come to end?come to an end come to anWhy do all good things come to an end?

Traveling I only stop at exitsWondering if I'll stayYoung and restlessLiving this way I stress lessI want to pull away when the dream diesThe pain sets in and I don't cryI only feel gravity and I wonder why

Flames to dustLovers to friendsWhy do all good things come to an endFlames to dustLovers to friendsWhy do all good things come to an endcome to an end come to anWhy do all good things come to end?come to an end come to anWhy do all good things come to an end?

Well the dogs were whistling a new tuneBarking at the new moonHoping it would come soon so that they couldDogs were whistling a new tuneBarking at the new moonHoping it would come soon so that they couldDie die die die die

Flames to dustLovers to friendsWhy do all good things come to an endFlames to dustLovers to friendsWhy do all good things come to an endcome to an end come to anWhy do all good things come to end?come to an end come to anWhy do all good things come to an end?

Well the dogs were barking at a new moonWhistling a new tuneHoping it would come soonAnd the sun was wondering if it should stay away for a day til the feeling went awayAnd the sky was falling on the clouds were dropping andthe rain forgot how to bring salvationthe dogs were barking at the new moonWhistling a new tuneHoping it would come soon so that they could die.

Good enough/The last song I'm wasting on you lyrics

2007-10-28T10:34:00.000-07:00

Good enough
Under your spell again.I can't say no to you.Crave my heart and it's bleeding in your hand.I can't say no to you.Shouldn't have let you torture me so sweetly.Now I can't let go of this dream.I can't breathe but I feel...Good enough,I feel good enough for you.Drink up sweet decadence.I can't say no to you,And I've completely lost myself, and I don't mind.I can't say no to you.Shouldn't let you conquer me completely.Now I can't let go of this dream.Can't believe that I feel...Good enough,I feel good enough.It's been such a long time coming, but I feel good.And I'm still waiting for the rain to fall.Pour real life down on me.'Cause I can't hold on to anything this good enough.Am I good enough for you to love me too?So take care what you ask of me,'cause I can't say no.

The last song Im wasting on you
Sparkling grey,Through my own veins.Any more than a whisper,Any sudden movement of my heart.And I know, I know I'll have to watch them pass awayJust get through this dayGive up your way, you could be anything,Give up my way, and lose myself, not todayThat's too much guilt to paySickened in the sunYou dare tell me you love meBut you held me down and screamed you wanted me to dieHoney you know, you know I'd never hurt you that wayYou're just so pretty in your painGive up my way, and I could be anythingI'll make my own wayWithout your senseless hate... hate... hate... hate.So run, run, runAnd hate me, if it feels good.I can't hear your screams anymoreYou lied to meBut I'm older nowAnd I'm not buying babyDemanding my responseDon't bother breaking the door downI found my way outAnd you'll never hurt me again.

Like you lyrics

2007-10-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

Stay low.Soft, dark, and dreamless,Far beneath my nightmares and loneliness.I hate me,For breathing without you.I don't want to feel anymore for you.Grieving for you,I'm not grieving for you.Nothing real love can't undo,And though I may have lost my way,All paths lead straight to you.I long to be like you,Lie cold in the ground like you.Halo,Blinding wall between us.Melt away and leave us alone again.Hiding, haunted somewhere out there.I believe our love can see us through in death.I long to be like you,Lie cold in the ground like you.There's room inside for two and I'm not grieving for you,I'm coming for you.You're not alone,No matter what they told you, you're not alone.I'll be right beside you forevermore.I long to be like you, Lie cold in the ground like you did.There's room inside for two and I'm not grieving for you.And as we lay in silent bliss,I know you remember me.I long to be like you,Lie cold in the ground like you.There's room inside for two and I'm not grieving for you,I'm coming for you.

Pushing me away-Linkin park lyrics

2007-10-28T10:32:00.000-07:00

When I look into your eyes there nothing there to seeNothing but my own mistakes staring back at me[Backwards:]Everything has to endYou'll soon find that we're out of time left to watch it all unwindEverything falls apartEven the people who never frown eventually break downEverything has to endYou'll soon find that we're out of time left to watch in all unwindEverything falls apartEven the people who never frown eventually break downI've lied to youThis is the last smile that I'll fake for the sake of being with youEverything falls apart evenEven the people who never frown eventually break downEverything has to endYou'll soon find we're out of time left to watch it all unwindThe sake of being with youEverything falls apartEven the people who never frown eventually break downThe sacrifice is never knowingWhy I stayWhen you just push awayNo matter what you seeYou're still so blind to me[Backwards:]Even the people who never frown eventually break downI've tried, like you, to do everything you wanted toThis is the last timeThat I'll take the blame for the sake of being with youEverything falls apartEven the people who never frown eventually break downThe sacrifice of hiding in a lieEverything has to endYou'll soon find we're out of time left to watch it all unwindThe sacrifice is never knowingWhy I stayWhen you just push awayNo matter what you seeYou're still so blind to meReverse psychology is failing miserablyIt's so hard to be left all aloneTelling you is the only chance for meThere is nothing left but to turn and face youWhen I look into your eyes there nothing there to seeNothing but my own mistakes staring back at meAsking whyThe sacrifice of hiding in a lieThe sacrifice is never knowingWhy I stayWhen you just push awayNo matter what you seeYou're still so blind to meWhy I stayWhen you just push awayNo matter what you seeYou're still so blind to me

Thoughtless-Korn lyrics

2007-10-28T10:31:00.002-07:00

All of my hate cannot be foundI will not be boundBy your thoughtless schemingNow, you can try to tear me downBeat me to the groundI will see you screamingThumbing through the pages of my fantasiesPushing all the mercy down, down, downWanna see you try to take a swing at meCome on, gonna put you on the ground, ground, groundWhy are you trying to make fun of me?You think it's funny? What the fuck you think it's doing to me?You take your turn lashing out at meI want you crying when you're bloody down in front of meYou, all of my hate cannot be foundI will not be boundBy your thoughtless schemingNow, you can try to tear me downBeat me to the groundI will see you screamingThumbing through the pages of my fantasiesI'm above you, smiling at your drown, drown, drownI wanna kill and rape you the way you raped meAnd I'll pull the trigger and you down, down, downWhy are you trying to make fun of me?You think it's funny? What the fuck you think it's doing to me?You take your turn lashing out at meI want you crying when you're bloody down in front of meYou, all of my hate cannot be foundI will not be boundBy your thoughtless schemingNow, you can try to tear me downBeat me to the groundI will see you screamingAll my friends are gone, they died. They all screamed, and cried gonna take you down [x4] all of my hate cannot be foundI will not be boundBy your thoughtless schemingNow, you can try to tear me downBeat me to the groundi will see you screamingNow, all of my hate cannot be foundI will not be boundBy your thoughtless schemingNow you can try to tear me downBeat me to the ground I will see you screaming

Where'd you go-Fort minor lyrics

2007-10-28T10:31:00.001-07:00

"Where'd You Go?"Where'd you go?I miss you so,Seems like it's been forever,That you've been gone.She said "Some days I feel like shit,Some days I wanna quit, and just be normal for a bit,"I don't understand why you have to always be gone,I get along but the trips always feel so long,And, I find myself trying to stay by the phone,'Cause your voice always helps me to not feel so alone,But I feel like an idiot, workin' my day around the call,But when I pick up I don't have much to say,So, I want you to know it's a little fucked up,That I'm stuck here waitin', at times debatin',Tellin' you that I've had it with you and your career,Me and the rest of the family here singing "Where'd you go?"I miss you so,Seems like it's been forever,That you've been gone.Where'd you go?I miss you so,Seems like it's been forever,That you've been gone,Please come back home...You know the place where you used to live,Used to barbecue up burgers and ribs,Used to have a little party every Halloween with candy by the pile,But now, you only stop by every once and a while,Shit, I find myself just fillin' my time,With anything to keep the thought of you from my mind,I'm doin' fine, I plan to keep it that way,You can call me if you find that you have something to say,And I'll tell you, I want you to know it's a little fucked up,That I'm stuck here waitin', at times debatin',Tellin' you that I've had it with you and your career,Me and the rest of the family here singing "Where'd you go?"I miss you so,Seems like it's been forever,That you've been gone.Where'd you go?I miss you so,Seems like it's been forever,That you've been gone,Please come back home...I want you to know it's a little fucked up,That I'm stuck here waitin', no longer debatin',Tired of sittin' and hatin' and makin' these excuses,For why you're not around, and feeling so useless,It seems one thing has been true all along,You don't really know what you've got 'til it's gone,I guess I've had it with you and your career,When you come back I won't be here and you can sing it...Where'd you go?I miss you so,Seems like it's been forever,That you've been gone.Where'd you go?I miss you so,Seems like it's been forever,That you've been gone,Please come back home...Please come back home...Please come back home...Please come back home...Please come back home...

Is it wrong to eat meat?

2007-10-28T10:29:00.003-07:00

You know, I've seen a lot of comments in the past about the morality of killing and eating animals. It's often taken for granted today because we don't even see the food we eat as animal, just grocery-market-packaged food waiting to be cooked. I've always eaten meat. I've always eaten vegetables. I eat to nourish my body and replenish my energy. The morality of killing to eat is natural. We need food to survive, so we go out and get it. Like a wolf, we prey upon the lives we can catch, eat its meat, and fill our stomachs. It's instinctual. It's animalistic. But you know what? Human beings are animalistic, instinctual creatures and any attempts to glorify humans as anything more in the *physical* sense is just pointless. We are what we are (I AM WHAT I AM).Spiritually, however, humans appear to be the most evolved group of life forms on this planet (maybe not on another planet, but at least this one). Not that humans are just so great, but that humans at least have the capabilities to become great. With this in mind, is it possible to transcend the animalistic, instinctual behaviors to such a degree as to question the morality in killing for food?Some would argue that we need to be on a vegetarian diet. But I think that even broccoli screams when you rip it from the ground. There have been studies that show plants are very aware of their environments. One in particular that comes to mind was an experiment that included two plants of the same species. One plant was hooked up to a polygraph machine, the other was not. Someone came into the room, destroyed the plant that was NOT hooked up to the polygraph, then observed the polygraph test. It was off the charts. Now - can you really tell me plants have no spirit? Vegan diets seem alright, except for a problem that you might be keeping yourself from very essential, neccesary nutrients to function correctly. Especially when you get into eating rotten fruits and the like.In essence, any time we take food in for the proper nutritional sustanance, a life form will have to submit and die. To look at it from a panantheist view - God is all things and more - there is no end to any of this life, just a transformation of one substance to another. One life absorbs the physical shell of another life, which continues the cycle. Only the physical is absorbed, however, as the spirit transcends the shell to find - in my belief - another shell to manifest.So - can we kill for food? My take - yes.Pointless gaming sports are cruel. Hunting "for sport" is the equivalent of murdering someone for "practice." You needlessly take the life of the animal. And fishing seems to be pretty popular "sport" too, where many people who are good at it just throw the fish back into the water. "They don't feel it, they have no nerves." Are you telling me that having a metal hook pierced into your cheek, pulled out of your natural environment from said hook-in-cheek to a completely alien atmosphere where no intake of breath can occur is...humane?I have no qualms with those who hunt for food. As long as they eat the food, it's justifiable. To kill for fun - that's when humanity escapes the situation.To give a quote from a great story teller:It's not what goes in a man's mouth that defiles him, but what comes out of his mouth.Or something to that effect.
Relatively speaking, meat eating itself is not in question here. There are obvious risks associated with eating too much meat, and advantages of eating at least SOME meat. Besides the obvious, the animal in question is usually dead and doesn't feel ANYTHING.The issue, instead, seems to be the inhumane treatment of animals that are bred for meat processing and the like. Brother Shawn Johnston has a very interesting post on this topic over at his blog site here.Confronted with these harsh realities, I can of course only go on the evidence in hand and conclude that these animals are treated rather savagely. I offer no form of excuse or defense for the types of behavior that some of these meat manufacturers institute in their business, and I am offended that there are not better rules and regulations in place to help better safeguard these kinds of atrocities.That being said, I'd like you to take a minute now and examine the things we do on a daily basis that has just as bad if not worse treatment for life. I'd like to put things in perspective.
Should we stop mowing our lawns? I can only imagine the grass screaming as a plague of moving mechanical parts comes to mutilate scores of fellow specimens.
Should we not bathe? The numbers that die in these forms of disinfection and contamination are incalculable, much less appetizing.
Should we cease to partake in eating fruits and vegetables? We know beyond a doubt that these plants are living creatures, and they are very possibly much more complex organisms than originally suggested.
Forget bathing, just stop cleaning altogether. The micro bacteria that exist are apart of an ecosystem that we obviously have no right putting to an end.
Should we also set up some form of punishment for those animals that eat meat? Obviously, they are not as advanced as we humans, but I believe I've seen some gruesome and terrible things on the Discovery Channel, and I cannot sit by idly and watch these crimes against nature occur.
Okay, okay, I'll admit. This was probably a wee bit exaggerated. No harm was intended by my sarcasm, and I hope none is taken. But I do insist that we view this as a normal process of nature.Not all butchers and meat processors are heartless scum. They don't exist solely to extract life - but to extract food. We should DEFINITELY punish those who are found to be heartlessly cruel to the animals in which they harbor, but a boycott on the meat industry altogether is equally unjust, and impossible.Which brings me back to my original point: naturally speaking, of course, meat intake is going to be existent amongst life forms. It is definitely natural to assume that is a part of the natural course for human consumption.
Now, if you'll excuse me, my chicken dinner is ready.Pax.

Perhaps...

2007-10-28T10:29:00.001-07:00

Perhaps this blog is the work of a mad woman.Perhaps these articles are the musings of a lunatic.Perhaps these ideas are the dreams of men who never saw sanity, driven by their own desire to know themselves.Perhaps these are the latest steps in a constant process of evolution, slowly drawing the minds of those connected into a state of blissful insanity.Perhaps I've been coerced by an ideology that is entrancing, mind-warping, and addicting.Perhaps I don't know what I think I know.Perhaps I never knew, and I still don't.Perhaps no one else knows what I long to know.Perhaps there is nothing to know.Perhaps there is a winding road we all travel, born to walk this path, driven to finish, powerless when we have taken our last step.Perhaps this life is truly amazing.Perhaps life is meant to be a mystery forever.Perhaps that IS the mystery.Perhaps we've all got it wrong.Perhaps we've all got it right.Perhaps there's two sides to every coin.Perhaps there is intent behind this creation.Perhaps there is a mind behind that intent.Perhaps we are all apart of that mind.Perhaps we all have a part in that mind.Perhaps we are that mind.Perhaps when we know that mind, we can truly be blissful.Perhaps that's what makes us all crazy.Perhaps...that's gnosis.

Playing dominos:cause and effect

2007-10-28T10:28:00.001-07:00

Playing dominos:cause and effect.
Okay, so we know the rule: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.This is interesting to me.I know this is all "scientific" and sort of strays from the idea that a Creator-guy up in the sky has control of everything happening in the Universe, but that's okay...I'm a rebel.This notion passed through my mind actually at a weird point in my life - when I was beginning to question whether or not my beliefs made any sense, or whether I was just sucking something up that "sounded good." I was questioning the idea that there was a creator that created EVERYTHING. I let my emotions take control, and started feeling an intense amount of doubt and anxiety. What a rediculous idea. But then I thought about something.The idea came: cause and effect.Have you ever lined up a stack of dominos, and then just knocked one over? It's so fun to see how everything falls; how each piece touches another, and effects the next piece. It's interesting to see how elaborate you can make the rows that branch off and make more rows fall over. Sure, the eventual outcome is known from the start. But it's the process that captures you. It's how everything falls into place, and how beautiful it is when it happens.I thought the same when I was captured by this anxiety. Why would God even create? Here's your reason: all the pieces are lined up. The outcome is known. All the atoms and molecules are made and placed specifically in a tight, wound-up ball at the beginning of the universe - the beginning of time. So what happens? One domino is knocked over.The meaning of existence, therefore, seems to be to act as a domino. To participate in the entire picture, to play a vital role, and to be a work of beauty and entertainment in the entire game of existence.All the routes and revenues have been lined up. The outcome is known. The game seems pointless, I know - but it's so beautiful to see everything work out.If we can feel that way about dominos, how much more the Divine must feel about life!Wake yourself up, experience your gnosis - feel what it is to be apart of such a great experiment.

Prayer for peace

2007-10-28T10:27:00.004-07:00

Oh, Holy WisdomGuide us through these horrible times.Keep us in your thoughts,And help us keep you in our hearts.Oh, Holy Mind,Reach us through our gnosis,Waken us with your touch,Release us from our egos.Allow our Christ to awaken,Embolden our yearns for peace.Shed your love on our spirits,So that we may shed our love on each other.Oh, Holy God,Allow us to see our own faults,Blind us to each other's differences,And help us break the grip of war.End the fighting.Stop the oppression.Bring peace on EarthAnd brotherhood towards all men.Amen.

Do you know?

2007-10-28T10:27:00.003-07:00

Perhaps you are one of those remarkable people who experience an overpowering realization of the divinity of existence. You suddenly know that everything is divine and that within you lies an ocean of God. Will you know this all of the time and every day? No. You will crest and fall and submerge again into the mundane. The realization of divinity as the be-all and end-all, as the substance of your very self - that within which you live and move and have your being - does not dominate every day, although you wish it would. The ordinary world of aches and pains and approaching death, of trouble, temptiation, sin, stress, and loss seems to rule almost all the time. And yet, sometimes you can seize what you seek and see glory everywhere and know yourself to be divine. If you are one of those people, you are one with the Gnostics. You know what you truly are, that your are God, just as everyone else is

Right and wrong

2007-10-28T10:26:00.001-07:00

Because I am a strict advocate of questioning reality and our relation to it, I felt a need to throw some words up here about it.Right and Wrong are concepts that humans have struggled with since the beginnings of civilization. As a matter of fact, you can almost define "civilization" as being a group of people with concepts of right and wrong. You can certainly bet that any civilization will view themselves (or ourselves) as having solid, concrete rules in place to ensure that right and wrong are no longer issues.While this is a good approach in theory, it nearly always falls short of its goals. Hence, a smaller group of people is usually assembled within the larger group to debate about topics and matters of right and wrong. After a period of time, what is considered right and wrong is usually adopted by society as a "norm." As people evolve towards a higher level of conscience, different approaches to right and wrong often change the society's point of view as to whether their "norm" is right or wrong. Examples:(a) SlaveryUp until a couple hundred years ago, slavery was widespread throughout the world. It was considered no problem at all to enlist the aid of a slave to do the work of whatever your heart desired. Since society has began questioning morality, slavery has since been outlawed in nearly all modern society.(b) PedophiliaUp until a couple hundred years ago, people would get married at 12 and 13 years of age. A woman was considered adult as soon as she hit her menstrual cycle. A boy was considered adult as soon as he went through puberty. Jewish law states that a boy is an adult at 12-years-old. Muhammed (in Islam) was actually married to a 9-year-old. Within the last couple of hundred years, however, society has viewed the ages and maturity levels of minors quite differently and changed its view on the morality of youthful relationships.(c) Legal AgeIt has been adopted as a norm for our youth today to figure that they are adults when they reach the age of 18. As they reach this age, more opportunities become available for these youths. Smoking, joining the military, getting married, etc. This was another non-existent issue until a couple hundred years ago when people reflected on the maturity of youths, and issued limits on their ages. While it is considered by society to accept a youth into adulthood at age 18, one can drive at age 16, and can't drink alcohol until age 21. Yet, society has accepted 18 as the "legal age."(d) MarriageSociety has made a collective approach to marriage as being between a man and a woman. While it is not quite clear where we derive this idea of marriage from, society is beginning to reflect what is right and wrong about marriage. Homosexuals are being considered to be given as much right as heterosexuals in marrital issues. Society is in the process of questioning the norm of its morality, and changing it. It has already done so with marriage a few times in history, as it used to be common place for one to marry more than one spouse and even at times marry one's sibling. This is considered immoral by today's standards.These are just a few examples. So what is it exactly that determines society's morality? Is it a collective conscience that decides what works and what doesn't?I believe that society is evolving. The more it evolves, the better its values towards preserving humanity and happiness come about. Morality is an evolutionary inevitability, and it is society that sets the rules. Is society always right? No. Will it eventually make amends with right and wrong? Sure. All the examples above support the idea that society is evolving towards a better standard of right and wrong in its morality.Whether it's always going to be right and wrong, we can only guess. But I do suggest that we, as individuals, always keep our minds open when thinking about these issues. Never let society alone tell you what is right and wrong. We each are able to determine morality.

Right mind,Right body

2007-10-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

A theory has been held for some time that the root causes of physical illness start at the emotional, psychological level. This theory has some credance, and we can prove it rather easily using placebo tests in medical experiments. Usually, given enough thought and time, one can trace every ailment back to an emotional or stress-filled point. Someone who has a troubled childhood, for example, might grow up with all sorts of illnesses - or believe themselves into having them. You can usually see this in other people better than yourself.The mind works very mysteriously - the Greater Mind even more mysteriously. When one takes on stresses and burdens from the outside world, it can have very physcial effects on that person's body. As well, once a person accepts society's view of certain "symptoms" of problems, they might even end up convincing themselves that they have whatever illness they were looking at. By then, the mind takes over and the body is usually helpless to its dominance.Then again, seemingly miraculous medical marvels have come through when someone was convinced of their well-being. A sudden remission of cancer in certain patients has proven this idea, too.There are methods to help cleanse your mind of negativities, the root cause of these problems. We need only look at yoga and different other meditative practices to see these desired effects. But it is also through gnosis that one learns the limits of the body, and the limits that physical problems have on the psyche.This is not to say that you should start picking up raw meat and sticking it in your mouth. Nor should you dispense with the age-old ritual of washing your hands after a trip to the bathroom. Intelligence, not gullibility or faith, usually helps reason and intuition flow throughout and within.Focus your mind on the one inside, not on the world of physical substance. Finding that center within can bring great peace to the psyche, which in turn can lead to even more rewards: such as a calm mind.When the mind is right, so to is the body.

Baggage

2007-10-28T10:22:00.004-07:00

What we carry with us determines in which dimension we dwell. If you carry a lot of sorrow, fear, and craving with you, then wherever you go you will always touch the world of suffering and hell. If you carry with you compassion, understanding, and freedom, then wherever you go you will touch the ultimate dimension, the kingdom of God.- Thich Nhat HanhNo Death, No Fear