travel update new year in Buenos aires
Prospero Año nuevo,
New Year in Buenos Aires. I went with a large group of other travellers to the harbor called Puerto Maduro. There was a massive midnight fireworks display. lots of champagne was drunk. It all seems so strange to me. I do not know why we celebrate. I do not know why we buy christmas presents for people who do not need anything. I am an outsider looking in. I am a confused person.
Well here we are and we are here. 2011. Time is an interesting thing huh? Everyone experiences time differently. Different cultures count the years differently. 2011 is the Christian year that we are in. It has to do with how many new years eves have passed since Jesus of Nasareth came and did his thing and left. Left us alone to fend for ourselves. To take his advice or not, to love our enemies as we love ourselves or to try to destroy them as we try to destroy ourselfs.
He was given a fair trial and found guilty and sentenced to be brutally murdered by the official government in power. Today, anyone who takes up arms against any official government in power is considered a terrorist. Sometimes of course you need not take up arms just speak out and you are a terrorist or a terrorist sympathiser or supporter. He was what the Romans and the Jewish leaders considered a terrorist. A troublemaker. He did not bow to authority if he felt that the authorities were wrong. He felt that killing was wrong, especially in self defence, and refused to defend his self. He regretted that he had only one life to give for humanity. He was powerless to make men change.
I know an old story about some monks playing bridge. "One monk says oh god is so great there is nothing god can not do!" Two of the others exclaim their agreement while the third silently re-shuffles his cards. The first monk asks him "well, brother what is it that god can not do?" The silent monk looks up and says "god can not trump the ace of spades".
God can not force men to obey his commandments.God can not force men to forgive one another or be good andlove each other, to be kind to one another. Men do not respect god. They do what they want to one another and to this beautiful planet the lord has given to us. They disregard the ten suggestions of Moses. Pity.
There is a cosmic law about output and input. It is the law of Karma. It basically states that what you give (output) is what you get (input). If you behave peacefully you are treated peacefully. This is why a hells angel gets in more fights than a Benedictine Monk. Why Switzerland gets in so few wars and USA gets in so many.
Mr Gurdjieff used to say that if you spend money on something you will use it. He never let anyone have access to his teaching without paying. Not because he needed the money or wanted to get rich but because he wanted people who received the teaching to value it and use it.
Can a nation, can a people prepare for war and live in peace? If a man spends $25.00 per week on boxing lessons, is he going to avoid fighting? If a country spends half its budget on their military, will they avoid going to war?
The countries who spend the most on "defense" are always the ones who get into wars. The countries who spend on health care and education, on protecting the environment, on caring for the elderly, these are the countries who live in peace.
The man who spends his money on a pistol or a shotgun for "home defense" is likely to be the man who shoots his neighbor. Surely the man who spends his money on guitars isn´t going to shoot anyone in the middle of the night!
To some of us this seems so obvious but to most of us it is not. Most people feel the best defense is a good offense. To achieve peace, one must prepare for war. The path to peace is through superior armaments. When we try to reason with these folks they threaten us.
Why? Because they have spent so much money on weapons they are just itching to use them. The Israelis are so much more willing to go to the battle field than to the negotiating table. The Americans NEVER turn the other cheek. Of course they always say they are only acting in self defense, and they truly believe it to be so! They do not recognize the law of input and output.
Of course, every war, every fist fight in history has been because someone felt threatened and was only trying to protect himself and his loved ones, his family and his country. These kind of people seem to be saying "If you hit me I will hit you back harder". So then, does it end conflict? Are they living in Peace? Does the guy who spends all his money on those boxing lessons punch more people in his life than the guy who spends money on ball room dancing lessons? What do you think?
So the old chicken and the egg thing...Do we spend money on weapons and martial arts lessons because we value them or do we value them because we spent the money? The point is we value them. We value violence when we prepare for it. To devalue violence we must be preparing for peace. Only when we are prepared for peace will we devalue violence.
The more aircraft carriers a country has the more sea battles it gets into, and the more it fights sea battles (ie sinks boats and drowns sailors from other countries) the more that country is feared and hated.
Now on the other hand, If a country builds lots of hospital ships and has great floating medical facilities to send to the aid of tsunami victims and earth quake victims and volcano victims, or ipoverished Somali fishermen, the more a country will be loved and respected.
So...Where do you live? What kind of country do you live in? What are the aristocrats
in your country doing with the taxes you give them? Are they spending the money on your health care? On your childrens education and well being? Are they making love on their neighbors or war? Are they building bridges over rivers? Solar powered rail roads? Housing for the homeless? Food for the hungry?
Or is it more and newer guns for the police or computers and books for students? Body armor and submachine guns for the SWAT teams or canes and wheel chairs for the elderly? Guided missiles for their navies, or guide dogs for the blind? Are they building prisons or schools? Buying ambulences or tanks? What do they spend the money on where you live?
Ahh and you, yes you...did you spend your money for christmas gifts for the homeless? Did you spend as much money donating to the Darfur war orphans as on your new Iphone? Did you take the kids to give Santa at the strip mall their list of toys they want or to the hospital to give brownies to the other children who are sick? Did you donate a day per month to the free day care center for single moms? Vounteer to drive for meals on wheels? Volunteer to be a coach for the childrens basketball league? Don`t you just hate it when I preach. I apologize if I am preaching again. I wish I could express myself differently What am I trying to say...is...
I am saying that we create the world. The world is how me made it, and will be how we make it. 2010 was last year. That was then, this is now. I am not trying to judge or point fingers or criticize. The past is the past.
Where will we live this year. What can we all do to create the world this year? How will we practice non violence this year? How will we help our brothers and sisters this year? What can we do to help, not only our neighbors and our friends, but also our enemies, the strangers, and the immigrants and refugies among us. To love your enemies means to not have any enemies.When we love strangers we have only friends.
Peace and love and a happy New Year to all of you
Rambling Robert
"It is when we are trapped in incessant streams of compulsive thinking that the universe really disintegrates for us, and we lose the ability to sense the interconnectedness of all that exists." Eckhart Tolle
"The world is a country which nobody ever yet knew by description; one must travel through it one's self to be acquainted with it."Lord Chesterfield
"The intelligent man is capable of overcoming problems and difficulties the wise man would have avoided in the first place" Rabbi Yusef Becher
New Year in Buenos Aires. I went with a large group of other travellers to the harbor called Puerto Maduro. There was a massive midnight fireworks display. lots of champagne was drunk. It all seems so strange to me. I do not know why we celebrate. I do not know why we buy christmas presents for people who do not need anything. I am an outsider looking in. I am a confused person.
Well here we are and we are here. 2011. Time is an interesting thing huh? Everyone experiences time differently. Different cultures count the years differently. 2011 is the Christian year that we are in. It has to do with how many new years eves have passed since Jesus of Nasareth came and did his thing and left. Left us alone to fend for ourselves. To take his advice or not, to love our enemies as we love ourselves or to try to destroy them as we try to destroy ourselfs.
He was given a fair trial and found guilty and sentenced to be brutally murdered by the official government in power. Today, anyone who takes up arms against any official government in power is considered a terrorist. Sometimes of course you need not take up arms just speak out and you are a terrorist or a terrorist sympathiser or supporter. He was what the Romans and the Jewish leaders considered a terrorist. A troublemaker. He did not bow to authority if he felt that the authorities were wrong. He felt that killing was wrong, especially in self defence, and refused to defend his self. He regretted that he had only one life to give for humanity. He was powerless to make men change.
I know an old story about some monks playing bridge. "One monk says oh god is so great there is nothing god can not do!" Two of the others exclaim their agreement while the third silently re-shuffles his cards. The first monk asks him "well, brother what is it that god can not do?" The silent monk looks up and says "god can not trump the ace of spades".
God can not force men to obey his commandments.God can not force men to forgive one another or be good andlove each other, to be kind to one another. Men do not respect god. They do what they want to one another and to this beautiful planet the lord has given to us. They disregard the ten suggestions of Moses. Pity.
There is a cosmic law about output and input. It is the law of Karma. It basically states that what you give (output) is what you get (input). If you behave peacefully you are treated peacefully. This is why a hells angel gets in more fights than a Benedictine Monk. Why Switzerland gets in so few wars and USA gets in so many.
Mr Gurdjieff used to say that if you spend money on something you will use it. He never let anyone have access to his teaching without paying. Not because he needed the money or wanted to get rich but because he wanted people who received the teaching to value it and use it.
Can a nation, can a people prepare for war and live in peace? If a man spends $25.00 per week on boxing lessons, is he going to avoid fighting? If a country spends half its budget on their military, will they avoid going to war?
The countries who spend the most on "defense" are always the ones who get into wars. The countries who spend on health care and education, on protecting the environment, on caring for the elderly, these are the countries who live in peace.
The man who spends his money on a pistol or a shotgun for "home defense" is likely to be the man who shoots his neighbor. Surely the man who spends his money on guitars isn´t going to shoot anyone in the middle of the night!
To some of us this seems so obvious but to most of us it is not. Most people feel the best defense is a good offense. To achieve peace, one must prepare for war. The path to peace is through superior armaments. When we try to reason with these folks they threaten us.
Why? Because they have spent so much money on weapons they are just itching to use them. The Israelis are so much more willing to go to the battle field than to the negotiating table. The Americans NEVER turn the other cheek. Of course they always say they are only acting in self defense, and they truly believe it to be so! They do not recognize the law of input and output.
Of course, every war, every fist fight in history has been because someone felt threatened and was only trying to protect himself and his loved ones, his family and his country. These kind of people seem to be saying "If you hit me I will hit you back harder". So then, does it end conflict? Are they living in Peace? Does the guy who spends all his money on those boxing lessons punch more people in his life than the guy who spends money on ball room dancing lessons? What do you think?
So the old chicken and the egg thing...Do we spend money on weapons and martial arts lessons because we value them or do we value them because we spent the money? The point is we value them. We value violence when we prepare for it. To devalue violence we must be preparing for peace. Only when we are prepared for peace will we devalue violence.
The more aircraft carriers a country has the more sea battles it gets into, and the more it fights sea battles (ie sinks boats and drowns sailors from other countries) the more that country is feared and hated.
Now on the other hand, If a country builds lots of hospital ships and has great floating medical facilities to send to the aid of tsunami victims and earth quake victims and volcano victims, or ipoverished Somali fishermen, the more a country will be loved and respected.
So...Where do you live? What kind of country do you live in? What are the aristocrats
in your country doing with the taxes you give them? Are they spending the money on your health care? On your childrens education and well being? Are they making love on their neighbors or war? Are they building bridges over rivers? Solar powered rail roads? Housing for the homeless? Food for the hungry?
Or is it more and newer guns for the police or computers and books for students? Body armor and submachine guns for the SWAT teams or canes and wheel chairs for the elderly? Guided missiles for their navies, or guide dogs for the blind? Are they building prisons or schools? Buying ambulences or tanks? What do they spend the money on where you live?
Ahh and you, yes you...did you spend your money for christmas gifts for the homeless? Did you spend as much money donating to the Darfur war orphans as on your new Iphone? Did you take the kids to give Santa at the strip mall their list of toys they want or to the hospital to give brownies to the other children who are sick? Did you donate a day per month to the free day care center for single moms? Vounteer to drive for meals on wheels? Volunteer to be a coach for the childrens basketball league? Don`t you just hate it when I preach. I apologize if I am preaching again. I wish I could express myself differently What am I trying to say...is...
I am saying that we create the world. The world is how me made it, and will be how we make it. 2010 was last year. That was then, this is now. I am not trying to judge or point fingers or criticize. The past is the past.
Where will we live this year. What can we all do to create the world this year? How will we practice non violence this year? How will we help our brothers and sisters this year? What can we do to help, not only our neighbors and our friends, but also our enemies, the strangers, and the immigrants and refugies among us. To love your enemies means to not have any enemies.When we love strangers we have only friends.
Peace and love and a happy New Year to all of you
Rambling Robert
"It is when we are trapped in incessant streams of compulsive thinking that the universe really disintegrates for us, and we lose the ability to sense the interconnectedness of all that exists." Eckhart Tolle
"The world is a country which nobody ever yet knew by description; one must travel through it one's self to be acquainted with it."Lord Chesterfield
"The intelligent man is capable of overcoming problems and difficulties the wise man would have avoided in the first place" Rabbi Yusef Becher
posted by Rambling Robert | 11:10 AM
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