"You are an expression of the universe. A temporary pattern of energy organized into consciousness, with a unique configuration that has never existed before and never will
again." — ABSOLUTELY!
"A conscious leader doesn't lead because they want status or power . . ." — BUT THEY MIGHT,
IF THE UNIVERSE WANTED TO EXPERIMENT WITH A SOUL THAT CRAVED STATUS AND POWER.
"Self-development, however, suggests something entirely different: an unfolding, like a flower
that was always perfect in its seed but is compelled to reveal more of its nature." — ON A HUMAN SCALE, MICHELANGELO FOUND A PERFECT PIETA WITHIN A BLOCK OF CARRARA MARBLE. AND
EXPOSED THE PATIENT HUNK OF STONE AS A WONDER OF COOPERATION BETWEEN THE UNIVERSE AND HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS.
AND THE PIETA MAY NEED A GENTLE POLISHING NOW AND THEN, BUT IT WILL NEVER NEED FIXING.
"From our very first breath, we are." — IN A UNIVERSE / WITH NO KNOWN PURPOSE / IT FOLLOWS THEN . . . / THERE IS NO KNOWN PURPOSE FOR YOU. / YOU ARE . . . THERE IS NO MORE TO SAY.
YOU MAY NEED A GENTLE POLISHING NOW AND THEN, BUT YOU DON'T NEED FIXING!
"A conscious leader doesn't lead because they want status or power . . ." — BUT THEY MIGHT, IF THE UNIVERSE WANTED TO EXPERIMENT WITH A SOUL THAT CRAVED STATUS AND POWER.
Not if they are conscious and aware of the mystery, impermanence and interconnectedness of life.
Referring to his Tyger, Blake asks, "Did he who made the lamb make thee?"
Does a voracious great white shark need fixing?
In the afterlife, you are just as likely to meet Hitler or Stalin as you are to meet Mother Teresa or Pope Leo the First. They, and we, are all experiments, like mice and lice, cats and dogs, and . . . good and evil.
"That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain —
At least I am sure it may be so in Denmark."
And I would say in the known universe — we (or so the universe thinks) need our villains, our good, our evil, our tenderness, and terror. Were it not so, we would not be here.
It’s a comforting story—that the universe “needs” our full spectrum of good and evil, that our survival proves the necessity of both. But it may be just that: a story. A more sobering possibility is that we’re not here because our darkness is essential, but because our tools haven’t yet caught up with our ignorance and destructiveness.
Nuclear weapons, synthetic biology, AI—these are recent inventions, and we’ve only narrowly avoided catastrophe several times already. It’s entirely plausible that civilizations like ours self-destruct once their technological power surpasses their awareness and cognitive maturity. We may still be here not because of some cosmic balance, but because we’ve been lucky, slow, or simply not powerful enough—yet—to press the wrong button.
In that view, it’s not that terror and tenderness are equally needed—it’s that the clock is still ticking.
This is great Tom. You always seem to know right what I need to hear, just when I need to hear.
Thanks for that.
Wow!! “Self-improvement” carries the subtle poison of inadequacy" Bravo 😲
love this one brother. allan watts would approve!
Thanks, brother. That was my goal. ;)
"You are an expression of the universe. A temporary pattern of energy organized into consciousness, with a unique configuration that has never existed before and never will
again." — ABSOLUTELY!
"A conscious leader doesn't lead because they want status or power . . ." — BUT THEY MIGHT,
IF THE UNIVERSE WANTED TO EXPERIMENT WITH A SOUL THAT CRAVED STATUS AND POWER.
"Self-development, however, suggests something entirely different: an unfolding, like a flower
that was always perfect in its seed but is compelled to reveal more of its nature." — ON A HUMAN SCALE, MICHELANGELO FOUND A PERFECT PIETA WITHIN A BLOCK OF CARRARA MARBLE. AND
EXPOSED THE PATIENT HUNK OF STONE AS A WONDER OF COOPERATION BETWEEN THE UNIVERSE AND HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS.
AND THE PIETA MAY NEED A GENTLE POLISHING NOW AND THEN, BUT IT WILL NEVER NEED FIXING.
"From our very first breath, we are." — IN A UNIVERSE / WITH NO KNOWN PURPOSE / IT FOLLOWS THEN . . . / THERE IS NO KNOWN PURPOSE FOR YOU. / YOU ARE . . . THERE IS NO MORE TO SAY.
YOU MAY NEED A GENTLE POLISHING NOW AND THEN, BUT YOU DON'T NEED FIXING!
I agree wholeheartedly with everything accept:
"A conscious leader doesn't lead because they want status or power . . ." — BUT THEY MIGHT, IF THE UNIVERSE WANTED TO EXPERIMENT WITH A SOUL THAT CRAVED STATUS AND POWER.
Not if they are conscious and aware of the mystery, impermanence and interconnectedness of life.
Referring to his Tyger, Blake asks, "Did he who made the lamb make thee?"
Does a voracious great white shark need fixing?
In the afterlife, you are just as likely to meet Hitler or Stalin as you are to meet Mother Teresa or Pope Leo the First. They, and we, are all experiments, like mice and lice, cats and dogs, and . . . good and evil.
Can we accept that the same creative force expresses itself in tenderness and terror — without labeling one good and the other evil?
"That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain —
At least I am sure it may be so in Denmark."
And I would say in the known universe — we (or so the universe thinks) need our villains, our good, our evil, our tenderness, and terror. Were it not so, we would not be here.
It’s a comforting story—that the universe “needs” our full spectrum of good and evil, that our survival proves the necessity of both. But it may be just that: a story. A more sobering possibility is that we’re not here because our darkness is essential, but because our tools haven’t yet caught up with our ignorance and destructiveness.
Nuclear weapons, synthetic biology, AI—these are recent inventions, and we’ve only narrowly avoided catastrophe several times already. It’s entirely plausible that civilizations like ours self-destruct once their technological power surpasses their awareness and cognitive maturity. We may still be here not because of some cosmic balance, but because we’ve been lucky, slow, or simply not powerful enough—yet—to press the wrong button.
In that view, it’s not that terror and tenderness are equally needed—it’s that the clock is still ticking.