I remember stories about the Christ walking on water (without skating on thin ice) and myths about Taoist Masters levitating above ground.  Back Zen, wasn’t it a Rat that was the first one to come out of the woodwork and listen to the Buddha preach in a Deer park? And though I may be no Vincent or Beethoven, I’ve kept my ear to the ground and heard the classical melodies of many canaries tweeting “We The People” are “One Nation Under God”.  In fact, I have a bumper sticker on my guitar case that asks, “Who Would Jesus Bomb?”  Isn’t “America the Beautiful” supposed to be a peaceful nation, where folks are “innocent until proven guilty”, rather than a place where the criminally insane run the show and “bombs burst in air”?  Does the Old Guard really want us to “give peace a chance”?  Why is there so much resistance to cutting back to Inner Peace?  What will happen when folks are allowed to freely Bee their True Selves in relationship with community?  Would it taste too much like honey and look less like money?  I get a buzz just meandering about the possibilities . . . 

How is it that “We The People” of this so called “One Nation Under God” justify and applaud the killing of anyone, regardless of how off their “Axis” and “Evil” they are portrayed by the Corporate Media?  In the last episode of the Star Wars saga, I am reminded of Senator Padme’s keen observation of the dying Galactic Republic as she noted, “so this is how liberty dies . . . with thunderous applause”.  As Dark as those Times were, I remember the Emperor’s reign was short lived and his own prized apprentice redeemed himself by seeing through his “Master of War’s” manipulative and controlling abuses of Power.  When was the last time the Military Industrial Complex had to have a bake sale to raise money for a Weapon of Mass Destruction that was used to eradicate a mobster with Weapons of Mass Destruction–that we sold to the gang banger in the first place?  I get a Cold Big Chill just thinking about it. 

Additionally, given my own propensity to have my head in the clouds, I can dig on how challenging it is to stay grounded in this “world of 10,000 things”, in much the same way a rabid Nervous Woodland Creature (NWC) does, Straight Outta Woodland.  And while I typically pass for White Privilege and didn’t grow up in Compton, I was born with an attitude and have experienced a garden variety of Socioeconomic travels in my daily walk, from Neurons to Neighborhoods.

Ah, the democratic process might be messy, in much the same way as the Monster of Fear’s seductive energy is used to sell obedience to authority.  I remember the “sheeple” that I went to school with that conformed more out of fear and faked it in a way that I could not. And while many nice folks unconsciously follow along the Operant Conditioning of the Master Illusionists behind the curtain to “shut up and shop”, We Witness the rising tides of the Peace Movement, Civil Disobedience and also the questioning of Corporate Power and it’s well oiled US Propaganda machine.  Make jobs, not war!

Finally, dreaming a new dream might look like another distraction in this “world of 10,000 things”, given all the chatter and bling, bling.  However, if we are to survive as a species, we really can’t afford to ignore spirit anymore and yet we need to simultaneously stay grounded.  We must learn to “walk the razor’s edge” without getting too swayed into the spiritual realm or the material realm.  One way to do this is to get out in Nature, remember to breathe and imagine a Heavenly umbilical chord feeding directly into the top of your head, flowing down your spinal chord and down through your feet into the Earth.  Then imagine the process the other way around and see how you feel after a silent walking meditation doing this exercise.  But don’t take my word for it, see for yourself, if you want.

Take care,

Ari