mystery of life

norm

Thu, 14 Oct 2004 11:08:26 GMT

We knowers are unknown to ourselves, and for good reason: How can we ever hope to find what we never look for? There is a sound adage which runs: "Where a man's treasure lies, there lies his heart." Our treasure lies in the beehives of our knowledge. We are perpetually on our way thither, being by nature winged insects and honey gatherers of the mind. The only thing that lies close to our heart is the desire to bring something home to the hive. The sad truth is that we remain necessarily strangers to ourselves; we don't understand our own substance. We must mistake ourselves; the axiom, "Each man is farthest from himself," will hold for us to all eternity.
Of ourselves we are not knowers. --Nietzsche

Since the invention of complex spoken language and the advent and eventual dominance of linguistic consciousness, many functions mediated by the right half of the cerebrum and the limbic system have often been viewed as dangerous, sinful, or irrelevant. Indeed, so autocratic and presumptuous is the left half of the brain that not only does it try not to be conscious of many of these natural abilities, impulses and inclinations, but has attempted to suppress or discard them as useless and unimportant.

This is so terribly unfortunate for the right brain possesses tremendous talent and innumerable capabilities, much of which were millions of years in the making and which enabled our very ancient ancestors to live in harmony with themselves, with others, and with the natural and supernatural world surrounding. Unfortunately, since the left brain often refuses to fully utilize or is unable to acknowledge the existence of this supposedly hidden world and all the possibilities it represents, many (non-sports related) natural non-linguistic abilities which prevailed for over 100,000 or more years have been allowed to whither. "If you don't use it you lose it." Many of us have been increasingly taught to forsake the capacities so long and painstakingly developed and which are now associated with the right half of the brain, and instead have become slave to the linguistic whims, confabulations, and rationales of the left brain and have thus increasingly lost touch with
the Original Mind which at one time dominated the mental system maintained by both the right and left cerebral hemispheres.

Many of us have forgotten who and what we are and from whence we came and have been forced by prevailing logic, rationalizations, reasons, and preconceptions, to deny the unconscious wealth which can be found within our own mind. This has given rise to unnecessary feelings of guilt, and innumerable psychic and interpersonal conflicts, and has increasingly disrupted the harmony and maintenance of what was over a million years in the making: the family and the capacity to see things as they. All too often, of ourselves we are not .

Indeed, it is a curious thing about the conscious mind, for if repeatedly told that something is unacceptable, or to feel guilt for having or expressing certain thoughts, often it and the whole brain in fact begins to feel guilty and will reject and condemn what in fact may be quite normal. In order to not feel guilty, the conscious mind begins to believe what it has been told, or what it tells itself, and then denies, represses and explains away even the most natural of phenomena, even when they are an integral part of the Self.

Many modern human beings are so completely out of touch with who and what they are, and they have so willingly accepted the verbal labels applied by others as to what is acceptable, normal, and so on, that sometimes even the most natural of body functions, such as breast feeding, sweat, body odor, urination, defecation, and even the sexual act, is somehow viewed as abnormal, depraved, uncouth, and uncivilized, even when these actions or functions occur within the privacy of one's own home. At the minimum these topics are a source of embarrassment for many, and there are thus numerous products on the market to make one appear and smell as if a person is other than who they are, even when what they look and smell like is perfectly
OK (and by this I do not mean the unwashed body).

There is so much pressure, starting in childhood, to disavow certain tendencies, to wear certain clothes with the right designer label, to use the right perfumes or colognes, to drink certain alcoholic beverages, or to maintain a certain hair style or color, or a certain weight, waist or breast size, and so on, that the true self often becomes lost in the process. We are all bombarded with these messages, be they from advertisers, the media, our parents when we were young, or even the prevailing culture which constantly tells us even what is fashionable to think, feel, or believe. The overarching message is that "you need help," "you need to change," as what you are may not be acceptable.

But acceptable to who? We must deny and be other than we are because it may offend someone else's sensibilities. They may not like us or reject us, and if others do not like or approve of us, how can we like ourselves? So, if we wish to be accepted, we must be other than what we are; at least that is what many are erroneously led to believe.

Sometimes, what is offensive to one person is another person's mental health, intellectual capability, independence, physical or athletic prowess or beauty and sex appeal, or even their lack of concern as to what others might think. However, the person who is offended, who demands that "you" change in order to appease their sensitivities, are often responding to their own insecurities, some of which have nothing to do with the person being attacked. As pertaining to advertisers, it should be obvious that
they are not concerned as to anyone's health or psychological well being, but only in making money and will say or do whatever the law allows to get consumers to spend as much of it as possible.

Some people are easily offended, however, not so much because they wish
"you" to change so as to improve yourself, but because what they see reminds them of their own hidden self, and their own disowned and disguised impulses and desires, or, perhaps their own inadequacies. Rather than feel guilt for their own inclinations, they instead fling guilt and condemnation on those who represent their own unknown face.

THE DEFENSE MECHANISMS

In the land of the blind, those with eyes are said not to see.
Humans are fraught with all kinds of desires and "needs". They have a need to eat, a need to make love, a need to go for a walk, a need to go to the bathroom, a need for knowledge, a need for companionship, a need for physical activity, and the list goes on. Although we may label our desires and needs in a variety of ways (e.g., physical needs, emotional needs), some might best be categorized as "good needs" whereas others would properly be described as "bad needs." For example, the need for drugs or the unconscious need to resurrect certain aspects of a painful childhood, as in the need to be hurt, rejected, neglected, might best be described as bad needs.
Although admittedly the notions of good and bad are relative and value laden, what is meant here by "bad needs" are those which are harmful or self-destructive.

All desires, impulses, and needs, regardless of their being good or bad, are generated by the various regions of our brain and originate in response to our internal and external environment and in reaction to the manner in which others treat us. Our needs and desires are thus shaped by conscious as well as unconscious forces as well as our conscious and unconscious self-image.

Indeed, some desires, needs and impulses come to be denied, whereas others are disguised or misinterpreted in accordance with the manner in which we and others view ourselves. Some desires and unconscious impulses are not acceptable to our self-image. When this occurs conscious and unconscious conflicts sometimes result and the individual may completely fail to recognize and thus meet his real needs. This may leave him in a state of deprivation and dissatisfaction which in turn may generate feelings of anger or depression as well as considerable tension.

Denial and misinterpretation may also incite people to engage in activities which have little or nothing to do with their original needs. This may happen when the original unconscious impulses are completely contrary to the person's conscious self-image. Indeed, some people feel one thing while conducting themselves in a completely opposite manner. When they react against their inner impulses by behaving in a fashion opposite to them, so as to disguise them, they have engaged in Reaction Formation

a love from the past... (Pocahontas)

Fri, 24 Sep 2004 11:27:34 GMT

What I love most about rivers is:
You can't step in the same river twice
The water's always changing, always flowing
But people, I guess, can't live like that
We all must pay a price
To be safe, we lose our chance of ever knowing
What's around the riverbend
Waiting just around the riverbend

I look once more
Just around the riverbend
Beyond the shore
Where the gulls fly free
Don't know what for
What I dream the day might send
Jut around the riverbend
For me
Coming for me

I feel it there beyond those trees
Or right behind these waterfalls
Can I ignore that sound of distant drumming
For a handsome sturdy husband
Who builds handsome sturdy walls
And never dreams that something might be coming?
Just around the riverbend
Just around the riverbend

I look once more
Just around the riverbend
Beyond the shore
Somewhere past the sea
Don't know what for ...
Why do all my dreams extend
Just around the riverbend?
Just around the riverbend ...

Should I choose the smoothest curve
Steady as the beating drum?
Should I marry Kocoum?
Is all my dreaming at an end?
Or do you still wait for me, Dream Giver
Just around the riverbend?

You think I'm an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places
I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see
If the savage one is me
Now can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know ...

You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name

You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew you never knew

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sunsweet berries of the Earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends

How high will the sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon

For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind

You can own the Earth and still
All you'll own is Earth until
You can paint with all the colors of the wind

My pics.

Thu, 23 Sep 2004 10:01:17 GMT

a HYC pg

Tue, 21 Sep 2004 10:51:02 GMT

Hyc… my college senior… very sweet person.. known her for 3 yrs almost … hmm
BTW she introduced me to LJ… (thanks girl!!)

the first pic i took with my 6600 .. MTV office

hyc working hard... :P

yeah baby... Mello high at Amit’s :)

Hyc and uhhmm Raja ..:)

Simon ...

Mon, 20 Sep 2004 08:23:58 GMT

:)

awww what love..:)

drunk as hell

:) happy people

Mon, 20 Sep 2004 07:57:33 GMT

Yay… I’ve figured how to do the pic thing… :)

My bro and his girlfriend..:) soo cute :)

Kushal and Malani.. :)

June and Amit... awww :)

Hyc and Spidee... uuhhmm... :)

pic. day

Mon, 20 Sep 2004 07:35:08 GMT

the flowers i got from someone in offie...

everyone sees it ... u know this stuff .. but i need to say it all again

Mon, 19 Jul 2004 12:43:31 GMT

They are failing to do what a broader public view might want them to do
..
People do not want violence, people do not want to see little children
dieing in a mosque, and people definitely do not want to see innocent
people like berg getting there heads chopped off. The similarity between all
of these as you might have audibly realized is that at the end of the day,
loss of human life is not appreciated, not by me , you or the Arab world.
You are going to attract eyes, a lot of scorching ones, if you are going to
step into someone else's country and bomb their mosques. I'm definitely not
saying that is done even by a nominal amount of cruel intention, but it still
happened, and that's how its going to go down as. Its violence which is
being preached as the American view. Its a war lost when human lives,
innocent civilian lives get serviced for no reason, not political view.
If you'd like a rough cipher around 20+ Iraqi prisoners have died in US
captivity. Now I could say that this is worse than killing berg , which
, as a person he of course accounts for only one human life. But not true.
Human life cannot be equated in sheer numbers, or even estimates. Its a life
gone forever and that's that. It was REVENGE augmentated through the minds of
people, even if it was a wrong philosophy.
You cannot compare the Hitler situation with this. The times were
different.There are far greater number of critics of American policy today than
there ever were. This is a war of the coalition if so to speak, involving a
handful of countries. Hitler was up against a fight with the might of
the allies which had more than 25 countries and troops from than 60 nations
involved in favour of them. It was of course a world war. This is not.
Most of the Arab world did not appreciate the Iraq war , nor does it
appreciate the occupation of it after the war. Most of the countries back then ,
would give up anything to see Hitler crestfallen.
Treating force with force is never a good option. To bridge my views
across to you, I shall take up an history lesson which I don't think America
learnt too well. Vietnam. More than 2 million Americans took part in the
Vietnam war, one percent of the population. This war forced the Vietnamese to
sign a peace treaty in January 1973 BUT the US forces were no longer available
in 1975 when North Vietnam launched a successful invasion of the South.
Would you say this was a waste of countless soldiers, American ones,who died
in the process ? Think about it.
Afghanistan, Gulf War and Somalia spring up a similar Tale
May be the American Intention in Iraq is right . But not the way its
gone about delivering it. Your saying that killing of people against sad dam
is definitely equally violent ? Well I say it sure is. Its human life
lost. Its a family destroyed.
But now I'd like you to tell me, how are the coalition soldiers or
policies helping people is Iraq right now? People are still dieing. A fleet of
innumerable CIA agents have got a lot of intelligence wrong and wrong
places have been bombed ( 34 times, the last time I read on BBC ) . Tell me
how the situation has changed. Don't you feel that killing a handful of jehadis
is going to spring up more than just a handful more ? Pockets have
resistance have never decreased since sad dam was captured. People still continue
to die, wherever there is war. And it is always going to be that. War is a
curse. Violence is a curse.

Whose right when people under sad dam and the coalition continue to be
murdered ?

History always has a lesson to be learnt from it. Do not repeat your
mistakes. That's what it is for.

Everywhere the war started, it was left incomplete. People were left to
die and civilians suffered still, because of largely a coercive view.

Whets the probability of the jehadi resistance halting completely after
the American occupation ends. None. If there has to be another Saddam there
will be. The key here lies in winning peoples hearts my friend. Not their
lands.

Sometimes you cannot kill a resistance, you can only change it. Its
hatred that we have to breach not peoples lives. This is what the politicians
have to learn, and we as people should know.

helloooooooooo world...

Mon, 19 Jul 2004 10:56:13 GMT

helllooooooo worlddddd.

my first entry............

yay!

more later once i figure it all out!

ta-da.