Words

With the prevalence of gadgetry that focuses upon videos and images, words have declined a great deal. Most people are most unwilling to read or, if they do, to read carefully or closely. I have noticed that many replies I receive on Reddit consist of a single sentence, or two or three, at most, and reference the pop culture, such as Game of Thrones. Often, people make no remark at all upon the gist of my message, but seize upon some tiny detail and exaggerate it. There is no search for meaning and no desire for meaning. People use stock phrases, jingos and acronyms, lingo and just so much nonsense, one really gets the feeling that the living have nothing to offer. And this is the truth, they have nothing to offer.

I prefer the dead--authors, that is. Their words do have meaning and power. The living seem chained to the machine, receiving all their thoughts and impulses from the pop culture--YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, memes and so forth. The dead actually learned, struggled, worked and thought about things before putting pen to paper, and when they wrote, they chose their words carefully. So, give me a good book, and I am happy.

I conducted a little experiment on a Reddit forum, known as a subreddit. I crafted an original meme, an image, in a humorous vein. As expected, it proved popular, with over 300 likes. Yet when I then followed it up with replies in text, the likes were few and far between. My sense is that words just are not wanted. People lack the patience to digest words. They have grown accustomed to images and video. They are visual, not verbal. They cannot visualize things in their mind, they must have things graphically displayed before them. That is quite a handicap, when it comes to the subtle arts that rely upon visualization.

Sex

I read today that people are having less sex, at least in the civilized world. I think that sex was overemphasized, beginning in the 1960s or thereabouts, and the Western world, at least, is resuming the historical norm, in which sex was relegated to an occasional necessity for most people, although in truth, there is no necessity, the human population being what it is. Perhaps, in time, reproduction rates will drop off, and a gradual decline take hold, which would be preferable. The human population probably needs to drop about 50% in order to realistically cope with climate change. Governments need do nothing. Nature will take everything for else. Probably double-digit losses in the global population will occur every twenty years or so, brought on by droughts, fires and other natural disasters, but also in the inevitable world wars that will break out, and of which we see glimmerings already.

As to causes for the decline in popularity of sex, one need only consider the many pitfalls and liabilities to sex in today's modern society. There is little to gain, but much to lose, by getting naked with another human being. Disease ranks the highest, but after that pregnancy, then too, financial hardship brought on by blackmail, divorce, or crime. Emotions and drama seem to get involved wherever sex is concerned. Mainly though, today there are simply many more alternatives to sex, other ways to occupy one's time that are safer, cleaner, and arguably more fun. In the end, then, sex is just too much damn trouble for a lot of young people, and who can blame them?

Yep, Alcohol's Bad

In what should come as a surprise to no one, scientists are discovering new ways alcohol wrecks the body and mind. Every day I scan the headlines, and almost every day a new horror is uncovered with alcohol as the author. Either new research, new disease, or some new crime from an inebriated loser.

Yes, those who get inebriated are losers, because they are losing this world and lowering themselves to a lesser spiritual plane than this one, and this one is not all that great, to begin with.

One of my life's regrets is that I ever got habituated to the drinking of alcohol. Unfortunately, I found myself at a vulnerable age unprepared to cope with the stresses and pressures of school and sought solace in the bottle and to a lesser extent marijuana, which was always hard to come by and extremely risky to indulge in, because the entire nation was hysterical over "The War on Drugs," not the least my parents, who waged constant war over the use of marijuana. I think the wars and conflicts only exasperated the problem, by making it all seem like an issue of freedom versus totalitarianism. The irony, of course, is that now I do voluntarily, and with great zeal and enthusiasm, prosecute the strictures of complete and total abstinence from all inebriating substances, whereas before, when every punishment was levied and endless battles, physical and psychological and spiritual, were waged against me, I prevailed to continue in what I perceived as my own prerogative. Forever, people suppose they can control others, and perhaps they are able to control slaves, those without a strong spirit. But not everyone responds to the cycle of endless punishments.

The question arises, why did not anyone care to give me guidance or instruction, as to alternatives to drinking? Well, that is a complicated question. Of course alternatives were given from many directions, but an adolescent mind filters out almost everything quite effectively except for the ignorance prevailing among peers. It is probably not such a good idea to herd people of the same age group together all the time, because there is a lack of wisdom and a prevalence of ignorance.

At any rate, the result is not one I can fully understand. I do not know how exactly my life would have turned out any differently, had I never drank. Probably, I would have been more successful, if even slightly so. Maybe I would have merely performed better from time to time at various tasks and in various roles. Maybe the difference would have been slight. I did not drink to great excess, but I have found that even a bit is bad, definitely bad. The main problem is that the lower thoughts are allowed to surface, rather than remaining checked as they would be under normal sobriety.

Certainly, drinking is not the worst vice. I find Trump remarkable by his abstinence from alcohol, because he acts like a man that downs a quart of whiskey a day. Some people just are attuned to the lower impulses by nature. Just imagine Trump if he did drink.

Normal people find it difficult or impossible to give up what they view as light, moderate or occasional drinking. They only have a few glasses of wine at a party, what's the harm? Well, if that is the case, continue on, I say, and don't worry about me. If however, you do perceive to be lessened by your consumption of alcohol, and wonder how it is possible to give it up, then my secret is well-known. As a matter of fact, it is revealed by Alcoholics Anonymous. I am not a member, because I do not gain anything by joining groups of any kind. The secret is merely to have something in the way of spirituality, to replace one irrational practice with another. I find that this is not difficult, and why? Because I feel joy in the spirit. Great, blissful, mind-expanding and soul-expanding joy. Now, those who have not tried it or who have tried it and not felt anything like this will wonder what I am talking about. One just has to find the right practice that suits one's spiritual needs. The human race has laid out a rich and varied buffet with many aromatic dishes consisting of religions, philosophies, and various types of belief systems. So, examine what is offered by our forefathers, and choose one that suits. Be slow to choose and careful to evaluate.

I rank religions in terms of their appeal to me. Some are at zero, no appeal at all. Others are close to a "10". There are many in the middle. Very likely, the first choice is in the middle somewhere. Later, you may grow disenchanted and drift to something else. That happens sometimes, and it is okay. Not every faith is for everybody. I think that many ways are intended to suit many different personalities. The trouble with religions has always been when they try to control other people, including people that are not even a part of their religion. That brings trouble. But otherwise, if coexistence is possible, then everybody can be happy, or as happy as human beings ever can be.

Some religions, particularly those described as "conservative" or "strict", require life-long adherence, and when I say require, I mean that sanctions are imposed against apostates. Indeed, the Muslims in many countries are known for killing, harming or otherwise censuring those among their faith that stray to other belief systems such as atheism. I regard that as a spiritual crime and oppose compulsion in spiritual matters. Using force to control others points to spiritual emptiness, because if there was anything of spirit in a practice, no compulsion would be necessary at all. In many Muslim countries, people are killed or tortured for insignificant and irrelevant infractions against the majority religion. This is due to barbarism and ignorance, and I point it out because so many writers avoid doing so. If evil is not pointed out, then it becomes assumed to be good, and human beings can easily get things wrong. A religion becomes debased and wrong when it is used to justify acts of evil, this is what ultimately discredits a religion--not the apostates nor the atheists, but the ones harming the apostates and the atheists, because by harming, they make a lie of all that is in their religion.

Maud Gonne I Skipped

I had read long into the book on the G.D., but skipped the final epilogue concerning Maud Gonne, a historical figure I do not admire. She spurned the poetic genius, Yeats, for another man, who proved to be an alcoholic that brutalized her and raped her sister and young daughter. Just atrocious judgement, and in addition to that she advocated violence for political ends. I suppose this yearning for blood turned on itself and entered her own life in a frightening way. Such is often the case with those that want to marry the dark forces of nature.

Aristocracy

Aristocracy survives and thrives today, although titles have evolved from "Baron" and "Duke" to Vice-President and CEO. Humans repeat the same basic structures. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Little Innovations

Tiny innovations that may seem insignificant make all the difference in spicing up activities that have become routine, chore-like. One of the wonderful aspects of Donald Michael Kraig's book is that he opened the door to precisely that. He invited the reader to innovate, to experiment. This is the way to avoid the boredom and mindlessness that is spiritual death. The mind has to remain engaged, because it is so accustomed to being so. It must be given something to do. If not, daydreaming or otherwise wandering of attention ensues. The practice loses significance, meaning. One might as well not practice at all in that instance. Creativity must be employed, given the green light. There is no one right way.

Reading about the foibles and little failures of the originators of G.D. practice was at first disillusioning and disheartening, but then upon reflection, liberating, because it means there is no one formula, but there are formulae, and the human beings of a hundred years ago were just that, human beings, not that much better on balance than any of us, and certainly less, now that they are dust. I think there is more room for innovation than many suspect, and that hidebound adherence to tradition has pitfalls. A framework helps, but upon the framework, many different colors can work.