my very own 2012

[michael heany]

Keep in mine that this advice comes out of a subjective experience, but if my hunch is right, subjectivity is going to get a leg up on objectivity these coming years...

I was listening to a bit of music the other day and there was a sample of some learned guy talking about the distinction between Sanity/Insanity, and what he called Unsanity.

I think what's he's getting at is this: Insanity is what you THINk is going to happen to you when you lose your mind. But then you find that your Unsane: How am I able to negotiate with the rest of the world in a perfectly coherent fashion and yet I feel like I'm in contact with some rather elemental forces? I thought schizophrenics ended up muttering to themselves, couped up in cardboard boxes? What's going on here?

And what I'm learning is that Satre was wrong: Hell is NOT other people. Other people are there to help you. I drive to Michigan, it turns out a friend has a brother in Ann Arbor, we hang out and talk, he has some very sober advice about the issues I'm facing, he let's me stay at his place.

Anyways, I'm writing a book, who knows where it goes... When I speak to God these days, it's to Her...

Keep the faith...

[nanouk]

faith is all i need as i lay my head down at night, as i am now. good night and thank you for lessons learnt today.

i am looking forward to sample select suites from your book, michael, i love a good slap in the face, (metaphorically, of course)
i've got no answers to f**k all, really, but i like this community.

love and good sleep for all,

nanouk

[michael heany]

I was talking to a my brother's friend, he knows Kierkegaard well, brings up the Abraham and Isaac story. It's about giving up on what's most dear to you and then getting it back.

And so I start to think to myself that yeah, that's it, give up on finding this girl and you'll get back what you give up. And I'm about to, and then I realize...

Sacrifice is BULLSHIT!

Let's look at that story for a second. "God" asks Abraham to sacrifice his son... and for what? To get his son back, which he already had. Put yourself in Abraham's shoes, what would you have said after that happen?

"Let me get this straight, dude... you scared the shit out of me because... why? You know what, this covenant we have sucks! You're a terrorist and I'm a hostage! Go find another hostage to lord it over."

And what good did sacrifice do K? He had a chance to get married and gave it up. And lived alone.

Kierkegaard, you idiot!

(And what would Jehovah have done? Nothing., being only a projection of the mind.)

There's a gnostic gospel called the secret book of John, I want to analyze this more closely at some point, it has an alternative history of creation. Basically, Jehovah is pictured as a lesser god who forget the Source who gave birth to him (a female Source, you might say). So the female source sent a Son (Jesus, in this story) who induced Adam and Eve to eat the apple, so that they could remember they were Gods themselves.

And just remember , you can go as slow or fast as you want to. The ball's in your court... get ready to think for yourself...

[michael heany]

Another thing. Addictions are illusions. I had recently given up coffee, feeling I was "addicted" to it. Then I decided to try it again the other day, and was then able to go on the next several days without worrying about "When will I get the next coffee".

You can be addicted to something, but remember that it's you're choice. Feel like you're addicted to alcohol? Feel like you drink too much? Then don't drink too much. Drink a few and then stop. You can stop drinking all together, if that's what you want. Or you can drink a few. Or too much.

Once again, your choice.

[tesseract]

You should really read Kierkegaard and get a clearer picture of what it is you're trying to express...you might not be so quick to label him an idiot. You're dumbing down the Akedah for yourself quite a bit there. It is an incredible event that can teach us something about ourselves, and deserves much more concentration than just immaturely wiping your feet with it.

Sacrifice is BULLSHIT!Maybe you should consider that 'sacrifice' is something you are not too familiar with just yet?

Also, the dependency on coffee is a far cry from the madness that users experience with dangerously refined plants and pharmaceuticals. Again you are totally dumbing something down for yourself. Addictions are illusions, but seeing through them is not so clear cut as "just stop".

[willoweyes]

Michael: My take on the Abraham-Isaac story: What if it was a test, but G-d was praying, "Oh Abraham, please tell Me to go to Hell!" And Abraham failed. abraham lied to Sarah about why he was sneaking up the mountain. He knew Sarah wouldn't buy the story.

[willoweyes]

Earth to Tesseract: Sacrifice is "Bullsh-t!" Life will provide plenty of sacrifices without us having to manufacture them! The sacrifice of Abraham: to appease Something he was afraid of. No nobility there--just the first step in the domestication of the human race. Giving up something so that we can learn to do without--that's not a sacrifice, that's a blessing. Ditto giving up our time or our gold for someone we love.

[michael heany]

Recognizing that life is giving you gifts. Grasping to the gift that you want in your future too tightly. And then being reminded that you're grasping too tightly.

Learning not to try to give yourself a gift, in other words. Learning it is rude to refuse a gift in front of you because you think the gift further down the road will be the greater.

Recognize that signs start appearing when there's too much inner conflict. The only reading you need to give the signs is this: what am I refusing to accept?

Rising finally (could it be?) to the point where we recognize it's all a gift, and how can you worry about which path to take? It's all the Path; It's all the Gift.

[nanouk]

the sunset was beautiful tonight...