Past, Present, and Future: Anxiety

[OldScratch]

both quotes are from either 'Stillness Speaks,' or 'The Power of NOW,' two of his popular books, the latter of which I read a couple years ago on holiday, then returned home to find I'd unknowingly begun downloading it in audiobook weeks prior, lol. (so if you have soulseek, or maybe it's on torrents too, you should be able to find those two, and he has many more books/seminar recordings on p2ps, and there are also quotes and longer excerpts on websites easy enough to find, but it is really the first half of The Power of NOW I think makes the best reading in this view of things, though he makes interesting points in 'Stillness Speaks' and 'Realization of Being' also.)

Thank You!

 

[Norsemaiden]

Isn't this idea of being a lily more of a Buddhist type thought?


I don't understand this conclusion of yours. I agree with the most of it, but that last line is all like I sort of agree with it, but what does a government have to do with anxiety? Just looking for a clarification

The lillies of the field idea is very Buddhist sounding but it does come from the Sermon on the Mount.

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"

This is bad advice because, apart from God being fictitious, it is a good idea to have a vision and a plan, and to work towards that. Christ's advice would be of benefit to one's rivals who would have plans and could easily dominate the people who have this lack of direction.


My conclusion that confused you, I will try and explain a bit better.

In conclusion - society most certainly should learn from the past and plan for the future - but the individual, in their personal life, should appreciate the present and not let life pass them by, but also let what they do in the present be helpful to the future of society. Don't leave things to governments.

People tend to see problems in society, such as illegal (or legal) immigration, the need for more trees to be planted, the problems caused by vehicle pollution, etc and think: I would obey the law if the government passed legislation saying all gardens must have a tree in them or outlawing outsized cars, etc but they don't want to do anything on their own initiative. Really we should consider it our own duty to try and live responsibly. (In the case of immigration, simple things like individuals avoiding dealing with immigrants as far as is legally possible - not buying from them or employing them for eg.)

 

[Blowtus]

People tend to see problems in society, such as illegal (or legal) immigration, the need for more trees to be planted, the problems caused by vehicle pollution, etc and think: I would obey the law if the government passed legislation saying all gardens must have a tree in them or outlawing outsized cars, etc but they don't want to do anything on their own initiative. Really we should consider it our own duty to try and live responsibly. (In the case of immigration, simple things like individuals avoiding dealing with immigrants as far as is legally possible - not buying from them or employing them for eg.)

That's me in a nutshell. When my own actions can serve as an example or to affect change / make people think, I'm all for it. When it's purely an individual thing, my ineffectual-waste-of-time-o-meter goes off the scale - I'd rather devote the portion of my effort available to broader scale change, as at least it gives the appearance of very slim likelyhoods of success, instead of 0.

I guess I don't see that the world would be a better place if all the half intelligent and capable people packed up and left for the trees to become one with nature, (or the like) leaving 96% of the average non-thinkers to continue screwing things up as badly as before. Rather than cease any lazy / destructive practices I and others engage in, I would prefer they came with a suitable individual cost (repayed to society) to mitigate / repair the problems they cause.