posted December 15, 2009 03:36 PM         

Okay, so, there were these two dudes, right? And the first dude sells crack, okay? And the second dude asks him, "Dude, why do you do it? Aren't there better ways to make money?" And he says, "I don't do it for the money. I don't need the money. I do it because 'God loves a working man'". Yeah, he said this. And I know you don't think crack dealers talk like that, but just bear with me, and you'll see where we're headed. Okay, so, the conversation went something like this:

Friend: But there are better ways to work.

Dealer: I provide a service which my patrons value and are willing to pay for. I do business with only consenting adults. How could that be wrong?

F: Just because they value it, doesn't make it valuable. You are just exploiting their weaknesses, and tempting them from the lowest and worst parts of themselves. You poison them and take their money, and they thank you for it.

D: Okay, okay. But how is it any different from what you do? You work in a liquor store, and your two main products are alcohol and cigarettes. Aren't they toxins?

F: That's different. Crack is much worse. Everything in moderation, right? You have to give the devil his due. Things like alcohol and cigarettes may be toxic, but they help people to relax and unwind.

D: Are you serious? They're both responsible for more deaths and disabilities every week than crack is responsible for in a year!

F: Yeah, that's true, but only because crack is illegal and harder to get.

D: No, man. The fact that those drugs are legal and socially acceptable is just proof of how insidious they are. The average person wouldn't smoke crack, even if you legalized it. It's not that sort of buzz. But alcohol and cigarettes are less obvious. They can convince an otherwise reasonable person that they're not poisons -- I mean, not primarily poisons, -- but, that they're means of letting off steam, and may even be health-promoting. They convince you they can be used in moderation, responsibly. But, man, they're poisons! How you gonna use poisons "moderately and responsibly"? Come on, man. You're fooling yourself.

F: Hmm... You make a good case. And even if crack is worse than alcohol and cigarettes, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to argue in favor of the lesser of two evils. I mean, not if you don't have to. And I'm sure people can find ways of letting off steam, without having to choose between the lesser of two evils. Maybe I'll quit my job at the store and go work for that new Cola factory they just openned up downtown.

D: Haha! Man, do you know what's in that stuff? Pure sugar. And chemicals. You better not work for them either. Go do something good for the world.

F: What about you? You still gonna sell crack?

D: Hell yeah! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find paying work that's actually helpful to people, and doesn't just waste resources and make them lazier, sicker, more selfish, more superficial, and more ungrateful for the little things in life? I give people what they want. I do what I can, brother. At least I'm working.

F: At least you're working. The Lord loves a working man.

D: Amen to that.

posted December 15, 2009 04:35 PM         

very useful for work

posted December 15, 2009 04:36 PM         

Don't be so concerned
with becoming somebody,
that you never find out
who you really are.

posted December 15, 2009 06:33 PM         

but i like dealing with the twelfth house

there is always more to discover

and we limit ourselves
for the sake of security

i envy the security of certainty,
and sticking to a single path

but we have to have blinders on

we have to be at that point where we
make a choice to ignore everything
for the sake of one or two things

your whole heart has to be in it
its the life you choose

but what happens if your heart
is all over the place?

and the only thing that you love
is freedom
and spontaneity
and honesty

and what comes out of you is you
and there's nothing to do,
nothing to study,
no facts to memorize,
nothing to spend resources,
time, and energy on

nothing to make or produce
because development is in the mind
the heart, and the soul

and everything you say
is something real and good

and just being who you are
is a tonic to the hearts of men

this is what i admire most
and the people i admire most
don't really do anything other than
develop their minds, hearts, and voices,
& then speak from the depths of their souls.

but all sorts of people are needed.

posted December 15, 2009 06:50 PM         

quote:

---

this is what i admire most
and the people i admire most
don't really do anything other than
develop their minds, hearts, and voices,
& then speak from the depths of their souls.

---

Sounds like a lovely lifestyle but

who are their financial caretakers?

juni

------------------
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted December 15, 2009 07:11 PM         

Glad you asked...

they are cared for financially
by people whose gifts extend
in more worldy directions.

(the majority of people
are disposed in this way,
and in no hurry to change)

while they care for others
in less materialistic ways;
vitalizing their minds,
and opening their hearts,
and teaching them how to value
the inner experience of the soul.

Think how much energy they would save
if they learned how to appreciate
the inner life.

So much work is wasted,
so many resources squandered,
for the sake of external things,
that sicken and disgust the spirit.

The whole world could be Paradise,
if people started listening
to the dreamers.

Maybe someday, right juni?

posted December 15, 2009 07:47 PM         

We can all think of people who are both dreamers and active in worldy affairs, finding places for themselves within established channels, or creating new avenues of expression. They have a decent balance of both worlds, but they very rarely have the best of either. I find that the more extreme and uncompromising a person's gift, the more they tend to incline towards one side of the spectrum. It's like stelliums -- there is an unusually strong concentration of energies in one area of the chart, and a corresponding absence of attention to other areas.

Generally, the ones who transmit the most original and progressive energies -- who see things that are so far ahead of their time they can hardly be put into the existing language, let alone put into action -- are not as active in the world. Their activity is, or is almost, entirely cerebral and verbal. Conversely, the people who seem to be very well-ordered in material affairs, talented at making things, and making things happen, tend to be more shortsighted. They have to be, in order to focus on the matter at hand.

posted December 16, 2009 08:17 AM         

To qualify you must have 5 or more of the following...

Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)

Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love

Believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)

Requires excessive admiration

Has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations

Is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends

Lacks empathy: Is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others

Is often envious of others or believes others are envious of him or her

Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes

These people are also referred to as emotional vampires.

posted December 16, 2009 11:45 AM         

Beautiful and kind-hearted Wheels, knowing S, and seeing the same thing you see but understanding his thought process, I know his thoughts are more wishing others would not have contempt for him, rather than having contempt for others, though it may appear that way. His last couple threads are defensive.

To My Mother

I will never be what you want me to be
I will never be you

There are other perspectives you can't see
and I can never show them to you

You live your life in your own little world
seeing only what you want to see

And judging others by a standard
of a stagnant morality

Sometimes I get through
briefly

And then you encompass my view
and forget it was me
who opened your eyes
to see

I am a failure
an embarrassment
a poet
not a worker bee

I will never be
what you want me
to be

You know that character
in Good Will Hunting?
He won that noble prize thing in math
Robin Williams called him an arrogant ****

I think of you every time I see that movie
and I want to tell you that I like me,
that my life has meaning
even though you see me as a failure who doesn't amount to much.

I will forever chase
after your approval
and if I fail
it will be your failure too
Because I can never succeed
when I am split in two

trying to be what you want me to be

but I will never be what you want me to be

I can only be me.

posted December 16, 2009 12:07 PM         

The places life has taken me, and the people that I have met are far, wide and varied and each one has helped to make my experience here richer and brought me to a deeper understanding of human nature and our capacity to hold much beauty - each and every one of us. And you will never see this if you only take a quick glance and live off assumptions of people and what they are all about; by what they seem like on the outside or what they seem to do for a living.

posted December 16, 2009 12:19 PM         

i guess he would be classified as a non-dreamer, whereas i'm percieved in my job as "out-there", but he's taught me much in the job, and in attitude in general.

never judge a book by its cover

posted December 16, 2009 12:29 PM         

------------------
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted December 16, 2009 03:41 PM         

Valus your post here illustrates perfectly the point we were beginning to address on the second 'hypocrisy' thread. You might comfort and excuse yourself with the notion that you're "teaching" here. You're not. You're purging. (And that's fine. Lord knows it's what most of us do here most of the time) You have unresolved issues, you have a sore spot regarding the topic at hand. A philosopher is allowed these indulgences, and an artist might even feed off them, but a valid spiritual Teacher can - and very much should be - held to the highest standards of morality and authenticity. Standards neither you nor I can claim. Spiritual Teachers do not purge their unresolved issues all over their students. Spiritual authorities have cleared their pysche to such an extent that they may approach the seeker with nothing but pure intent. They have no need to defend themselves, they have no hiddden agenda, no bias, no horse in the race.

This Teaching is not a 'calling'. It's a responsibility, the weight of which should leave us prone on the floor in abject humility. This Teaching is a subtle, delicate matter. It demands the steady, calm hand of a surgeon, not the selfish brutality of a suicide bomber.

posted December 16, 2009 03:54 PM         

yes

posted December 16, 2009 05:42 PM         

Damn shura....really well said.