Brain Coral

i was reading an advertisement in Discover Magazine that said the following:

"Picture a society in which there is no conflict, no jealousy, no unkind words. A society in which people think, say, and do what is rational and honest, resulting in behavior that is trustworthy and productive. Enlarge that picture to include persons holding no grudges and nobody competing to exert control, as everybody's behavior conforms to a natural law."

It goes on to say there would be no fear, no punishments, no scolding, no stress, no locks on doors, no legal documents just fellowship.

Whew!

The add took up an entire page of the magazine and when i had finished reading it i thought to myself what a robotic society. How boring, all of us behaving and conforming to create this model society.

i thought about people all over the world trying to improve some segment of their nations. Their needs are not always ours but they need action and work on it. The priorities that are uppermost for them to accomplish their goals we might think are wasteful or unnecessary, but who are we to make those decisions for them. We might not even agree with the methods used to get to the end result, but their methods might just work more efficiently for that culture than our methods do. In striving to make things better for more people we could work on building a harmonious society instead of a model society.

The thing about harmony is that it can be discordant and still be unified. Harmony means coming together, unifying under a joint agreement but not necessarily sounding the same or even doing things the same. There are relationships between the different notes or pitches which can unite and work together and still remain separate.

There is a passage in Wikipedia that describes the tension that can result from a harmonious piece.

This description can also describe humanity.

"Typically, a dissonant chord (chord with a tension) will "resolve" to a consonant chord. A good harmonization usually sounds pleasant to the ear when there is a balance between the consonant and dissonant sounds. In simple words, that occurs when there is a balance between "tension" and "relax" moments. Because of this reason, usually tensions are 'prepared' and then 'resolved'.

Preparing a tension means to place a series of consonant chords that lead smoothly to the dissonant chord. In this way the composer ensures to build up the tension of the piece smoothly, without disturbing the listener. Once the piece reaches its sub-climax, the listener needs a moment of relaxation to clear up the tension, which is obtained by playing a consonant chord that resolves the tensions of the previous chords. The clearing of this tension usually sounds pleasant to the listener."

Harmony can define a reworked view of humankind. We join together in our common humanity to relieve the tension. We link to each other, work together, but not always agree with each other and that is OK. We maintain our independence...and yet still realize that our basic needs and desires are similar so that even with the tension we can get to the harmonious result.

i got back from vacation the end of July and have been swimming almost every day since. The first day back i spotted a brain coral that appeared to be dying. It is dying and over the past month it has gone through many changes. i'm different(odd) i know it and i see signs in nature. It had a large C for a few weeks until a few days ago when it started to change rapidly. The whole coral began to turn bone white except for the middle section which is a capital T. i told my swimming buddies this morning it stands for truth but as i write this i'm thinking maybe it stands for Tension.

Maybe if you tip it around it is not a T at all but a Y.
WHY?
It could also stand for Consequences and Truth.
It may mean nothing but it has inspired me.

We humans have been stretching this world of ours in ways it may no longer be able to accept. There is a whole lot more coral out there that has turned blue which is the last phase before dying. The tension it is under could just tip so far negative that we can't put a bandaid on it. It is time to examine everything, how we relate to each other here around the world and how we relate to nature. It is not too late to start preparing the way to release the tension and start building a harmonious world for everyone and everything.

called upon to sacrifice

Some human beings need the concrete, the hard reality of life, to make sense of the trials and tribulations that we all go through. They see the cycle of life repeating itself on a daily basis and can talk to what surrounds them(people or things) for help during the turbulence life deposits upon their shores.

Others find solace in relating to an other worldly spirit that they can speak to and pray to for help when they experience tough times. They can blame the spirit when things go wrong and they can reward the spirit when things go right.

All humans find their needs met either in the reality of daily existence or the spirituality of something greater than them. Neither way is better than the other if it accomplishes the goal of helping one through the vagaries of daily living.

From the dawn of humanity whether we believe or don't believe, all of us make sacrifices. We endeavor not to be obliterated by it but we do have a universal custom of giving up something when we understand a benefit will accrue for us or for others.

But can we sacrifice too much?

We can accept unreasonable demands upon our selves to perform in ways that aren't beneficial to all of mankind. We may have to deal with the benefit that accrued being limited in scope for what we thought was a sacrifice could have been judged by those affected as evil or abuse.

Have we been guilty in our dealings with one another, can we as a nation say that our sacrifice hasn't actually harmed others? Isn't every human being, by virtue of his humanity, to be accorded the right to live in peace?

How many warriors sacrifice the sword for peace?

One young, man who has been called a terrorist by many, who admits to killing to reach his goals has put down his sword. Yasin Malik used violence to reach his goals when he felt he had no other options, he spent years in jails, he was tortured and hunted while continuing to fight for an independent Kashmir but gave it up in favor of peaceful means. He has traveled throughout the US, Kashmir, Pakistan and India trying to bring people together for a peaceful transition to independence. He speaks to all in his quest to accomplish the goal of an independent Kashmir, a Kashmir that does not have to be divided between Pakistan and India. A Kashmir that can rule itself.

After 1994, Yasin Malik declared a unilateral ceasefire with India and is pursuing a non-violent struggle on the ground. He claimed there was a lot of provocation from the Indian state: "they killed 600 of my colleagues after the cease fire; they tried to send me back to underground politics. But we've shown a lot of patience." he said.

Patience.

During an interview in 2004 Yasin claimed that:

"Kashmir is secular and it will remain secular. I don't think anybody can change that. Whenever we talk about Kashmiriyat in Kashmir's history, it is not a political institution, it is a spiritual institution. It has taught the Kashmiris to love human beings, and respect all irrespective of color, creed or cast.

"You can find an example of this from the 1947 Partition - when the whole subcontinent was burning. Even in Jammu, where thousands and thousands of Muslims were massacred by Hindu chauvinist forces, it didn't create a dent in the region's secular tradition. And it was acknowledged by Mahatama Gandhi who said: "If ever I've seen a ray of hope and humanity, I've seen it on the soil of Kashmir".

The highest spiritual shrine of the Hindus is in Amarnath. It is a cave shrine that has an ice stalagmite, believed to be the symbol of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and regeneration that is revered. Incidentally, not a single Hindu lives in its vicinity of 20 kilometers. It was discovered by Muslims and the custodians are Muslims. Every year, when Hindus come to visit the place, 30 per cent of the charity goes to Muslims for they are the caretakers. Well when the Indian government decided to transfer 100 acres of forest land to the shrine's trust a month ago all hell broke out.

Hindus and Muslims have been killed as a result of the tension, fruit farmers have had the roads blocked making getting to market impossible and separatists are on hunger strikes protesting the land transfer.

Recently Yasin Malik came off a hunger strike protesting the giving away of the land the shrine is located on. The Indian government made the deal and now they have rescinded it in hopes the strife will calm down but it hasn't. i find the whole incident confusing. Western accounts don't detail who exactly the shrines trust represents, i believe it is Hindus? So it makes sense that if Muslims are the guardians of the shrine they would be incensed. But now the Hindus are incensed also because the land was taken back.

Regardless, the meddling by the Indian government caused a crisis in a community that had been experiencing relative calm. Now the Indian government is having to backpedal so as not to further inflame the residents of Kashmir.

Sacrifice should really exist to bring peace to the world and repentance is part of that sacrifice. The Indian government has already started the process of sacrifice by offering to purchase the fruit crop and insuring that the roads being blocked will be opened, a first step in resolving something they started. It only took them a month to realize the error they made. For us, we are still trying to claim invading Iraq was not a mistake.

Until there is a period of accountability in our country the sacrifice we all made for our national honor is meaningless, eventually we will be called upon to sacrifice for that preemptive strike. i hope we, as a nation, are up to the task.

Century Plant

i've been watching a century plant at the end of my driveway bust out. For two weeks it has been going through a metamorphosis. Growing by leaps and bounds every day.

Century plants typically grow for anywhere up to 25 years before sending out a shoot that can grow as high as 30 or 40 feet. The shoot sends out sprouts that then flowers.

Century plants only bloom once in their lives sapping the main plant during the shooting process. The plant dies after its display leaving behind new little plants that then begin their long maturation process.

My Century plant is a bit unusual. Everyone who has seen it marvels at how it looks. It affects anyone that takes the time to study it and leaves a lasting impression.

When it first started sending out its shoot i was convinced the universe was talking to me. i drove all over the island looking at other Century plants to see if they were growing up as oddly as mine was. So far all the other ones i've seen to date are normal and essentially straight.

Not wanting to bore you with any further details i think the plant can speak for itself and its life so far is documented below. i hope you also enjoy this plant. Please let me know if you ever see one like this.




i think Mother Nature is screaming out to all us humans to get it together. We aren't alone here on the planet, not only do we have to get along amongst ourselves we have to protect everything, humans and nature.

minor irritation becomes major problem

The cranial nerve plays a dominant role in the life of our brain. i injured my eye by making a series of stupid choices that accumulated over time to make a minor irritation into a major problem. What this problem accomplished was alerting me to the very real function of the major senses.

Taste, smell, vision and hearing.

It is very hard to function when one of these is missing. It is not like breaking a bone. When you break a bone the pain is incredible but once the pain is contained you continue existence somewhat impaired but not completely. Your brain still feels normal, your head is still in one piece.

Injuring an eye, an ear, your mouth or your nose impacts you in ways unanticipated. We use these organs without thinking about them, constantly, when we are awake and when we are asleep. They are working overtime even when we least understand their functions.

The ability to see, hear, taste and smell is tantamont to understanding the world around you. When one is missing stimuli coming in is limited, we can't see, hear, taste, or smell as well as we should which impacts our ability to get a clear picture. When the picture gets fuzzy we make mistakes.

In our everyday lives when we choose to silence others because their views don't mesh with ours we have limited our ability to understand mankind and learn how to compromise. We choose to close the door on their message because we don't like the implications listening might entail. Listening might mean we have to re-evaluate our own conclusions. Listening might mean we have to re-examine something we thought we knew to be true but are no longer comfortable considering as true. Confronted with facts that may lead to an opposing position means we have to back pedal. It means we may have to admit we were wrong. It means we may have to change our view.

There is nothing wrong with this even though our media has made flip-flopping a negative. In fact the ability to admit that you are wrong indicates an open mind. It indicates that one is willing to rectify wrongs, make amends and move forward to correct the injustice if there was one.

As this world of ours grows ever smaller we find ourselves having to communicate with those unlike us. Technology has made our lives simpler and more complicated at the same time. We find we aren't taking information in the same way we used to. Now we have access to a variety of sources that we may not have had available in the past. We can reach people all over the world in an instant and they can reach us with their views which may differ completely from ours but still be something we should consider.

Conducting our lives without thinking about how we impact others is no longer an option. We have to use all our senses hearing, taste, smell and sight to get the clearest picture when we deal with anyone we call a human being.

Please try to place yourself in another's shoes first before you decide you know who they are.

Use all your senses.....every day.