mandala principle

duty and consciousness

2011-02-20T08:21:00.000-08:00

More and more lately this decision about Gurdjieff is coming down to the question of duty. What is my duty to society? To Life? Do we even have a duty? I guess for me the answer is yes...and what is it? How would we know what our duty is?

This is all still my study truth-beauty-justice. It is apparent to me how the question of duty is entwined with this mandala set. An aspect of the Gurdjieff tradition is this question of consciousness. What is it to be a man, a fully realized human? And why? Why would we care? One thing that is apparent is the difficulty with the idea of "mass consciousness shift." I see it as unlikely...depending on what level of shift we are talking about . Recent protests across the globe could be considered shifts in people's consciousness of their situation. Why did Gurdjieff, and others, try to develop schools around the world? What is the purpose of that given the sheer difficulty of the work to advance consciousness evinced throughout history? Perhaps it is that very difficulty and even unlikelihood of achievement that is part of the reason...to reach as many possible candidates as possible.

And why? Why bother trying to inform people? Because it is needed? Because maybe the more who can achieve a new understanding of reality, a new Being even, the more will be able? This is conjecture...and the work and effort required must not be assumed to be able to be diminished.

But what do we do til then...til more people are even concerned about this? What is my purpose then? One possibility that has been mentioned is to create the conditions that would expand opportunity for this type of growth in consciousness. And what of duty? Do we have a duty to these circumstances? To Life itself? How would we know that? For me the obvious answer is that it is our duty to work to secure these conditions in our world. And we can start with society or, our nation. What are the ideals of America that are worth fighting for? As I see it there is an economic tyranny encroaching...about to prevail. And it is at these very real points of meeting between the humans and their world, their daily life, where we are to translate all these teachings about consciousness.

For me the idea about God became this question of Being or consciousness. God is where I can see knowing how to understand Truth and Beauty. But God wrapped in religion has become like a growing pile of presents under the tree. More about the wrapping than the present, and more about the present than the tree. And thinking has been part blocked by the assault on the Absolute. Really just an assault on the language used to talk about or imagine "Absolute". So how do we get to know these ideals then? I say we can talk about ideals but even then...what is the way to knowing Truth?

Beauty. There are two basic principles in each mandala. That each would be a 'face of God' and that each would be beautiful. I suppose we assume alot to think we can actually accomplish such a goal on our own? But that I did...assume I could know.

And this became in part how I tore apart God. Rather, the image of God I had been supplied at birth and through childhood. And somewhere along the way this became a study of Justice. The set truth-beauty-justice marked this transition, that I have been still working on. Perhaps it is supposed to be the central effort on my way even, and all that I do that is not about completing the set, is wasted time. But not all wasted as relationship would be essential. And I am pretty certain this is where the answer to duty lies for me. Justice indicates for me a knowledge of right and wrong as assessed in society...based on a the study of the ideals of Truth and Beauty. The reason to pursue the creation of right conditions for consciousness growth is the same as the reason to ensure the state of America maintains its commitment to these higher understandings of Truth Beauty and Justice. I can see America as actually an important step in the advancement of humanity as a race of beings of this planet. And it is this advancement in how we create a society to advance Life where lies our duty. This makes sense to me. This is my sense of what is truly an American patriot. How do we enlarge our circle of compassion?

booking

2010-10-04T14:26:00.000-07:00

if i am going to really do a book, write a full length pamphlet...i prefer to do a shorter style of writing. pamphlets are easier to get around and easier to get through. and then do a series of pamphlets perhaps.

i am calling this book, for now at least, big green birdy. it has real meaning as a lyrical description of my last, for the last 18 years, post college. biggreenpea began as a tshirt, which i believe does not exist anymore, and was always like a thought form. then came birdy. she has really captured my attentions and sense of duty to another. she is my cat of course and she is an indisputable beauty. part diva and part cotton candy, all cat. and so the thought form then, biggreenpea, plus birdy = biggreenbirdy. the subject of the book is an idea i had which i have come to just call the "mammon complex". it is based on a simple reading of the bible and the saying "man cannot worship God and mammon." i understand context and all but just that phrase itself requires a stop. what is God and how do we know mammon? what is it's ethical or moral dilemma?

for me there has a been a concurrent question of duty. what is meant by that? doesn't being a patriot imply a duty? duty. what is duty? why don't i know it? these were questions i encountered as i have gone through this other question of art. what am i doing in art? and how again am i being a patriot? what is the united states and its constitution?

it finally makes sense to me that we came together to form these governments. jacob needleman refers to the idea that the real art of america is government. what if never again a group of men like our 'founding fathers' come together to forge this united states government. so i see being a patriot as being a part of that. and i am not a constructionist. it doesn't make sense to me. i think the real wisdom of the constitution includes the ability to interpret a code of law through time. and hopefully there will be an evolution. we should always be looking at the forward thrust of evolution. the constitution makes the most sense to me as a document designed with that mandate, to allow evolution. greed does not seem to be a part of evolution to me which leads to the question, what is the line between God and mammon? and why is that the least quoted line from the bible?

a fire still burns

2010-09-20T12:42:00.000-07:00

as a citizen and patriot i hereby demand a full public debate into the affair known as 9/11. because obama chose cass sunstein and because david ray griffin has shown sunstein's essay to be extremely problematic and full of holes, this debate should be a way to clear up what many deride as the truth movement. and a debate has been reportedly attempted to no assist from the government. relevant experts and nist members at the relevant times in question must submit their case to full public disclosure. the government entities/scientists should have no problem, right? their official theory is rock solid. i say a great crime against humanity was indeed carried out but we do not have the true tale. and so an unknown group has gotten away with one of the greatest crimes of all time. but not according to the 9/11 commission of course. i say a rock solid case exists against what the bush administration managed to publish as a commission report regardless of politics. regardless of whether or not parts of this administration were key inside players the report itself is akin to a whitewash. and if it is not one then somebody needs to explain the case presented by griffin and thousands of others.

what makes me think i know mammon?

2010-05-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

i have been saying over and over "man cannot serve God and mammon". in regards to understanding world events and this great big mess of mass of humanity, this circle of confusion, how does one know the line 'tween God and mammon, the demon of avarice and greed. or how about what is God's and what caesar. needleman has been providing my bridge to understanding how to understand the gap between the political and the spiritual. and it is of course the experience of the inner which is actually lacking in how society has decided to create society. life will provide the experience humans could learn from it's just how to spread certain information? art is too vague. i mean, feeling is required perhaps but so is knowledge. where to go with feeling, how to live. so then what is the importance of knowing the difference between our two natures? face it, humans can be said to follow two streams or forces, one spirit the other matter/ego. and the theory is also that society is being advised to follow their heart and spirit in directing society rather than pleasure and desire for greed. this is economics and the importance of somehow transmitting a worldwide definition of economics for people to get what God means. for instance, we could begin by saying, "God is not money." breaking God down into just energy where such ambiguity allows God to be reduced to money is just simply diabolical in nature. i think most people who say it don't realize this meaning or have that intent but that is one way to understand how that idea works in the overall fabric or design. it is a confusion of the six pointed star where matter somehow is able to take over spirit...never really true. humans are just well advised to understand this important distinction rather than embrace the lie. it is not a total judgment on capitalism and markets really just a way to understand what is going on and how best to proceed and advance democracy and 'the american dream'. the real american dream is a dream of freedom, a freedom understood fully only when we fully engage our being. this is the challenge proposed by the lives of the founding fathers and how they wrote their words. it is the ideal of the constitution which is its strength and purpose. and it is the inner knowing of God that it invites us to need to really achieve this american dream.

the question

2010-04-29T22:55:00.000-07:00

what is it that keeps us from experiencing our being? needleman suggests the question of "who am i?" is the same as the question of "what is God?" what does it mean to be a patriot?

of your heart

2010-04-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

i have to eventually say something about what i have recently learned to keep up with the flow of this blog. i guess that would be my intention mentioned somewhere of a time element to the piece truth-beauty-justice. it is not really done yet. and recently my work has brought to my attention the part played by self-awareness and the body. we, us religious or spiritual, do have a tendency to detach the body from the spirit. this part results in defining the spiritual as other than and out there. separate. and so the body is left out of the religious experience. and that real religious experience is total awareness...body and self. feelings and thoughts. and spirit. so our paths and religions become about either the body or the almighty unattainable. being human is part about being God in flesh. what is jesus but God in flesh? religion became very nebulous for me and God became an abstract person. and this idea about the body just brings to meeting two ends in a 360 degree curve. a stitch in time if you will. and so work is becoming more obvious. so it is also funny...hydrogen may not be as important as i thought. i mean, it may still have its place, but this idea about self attention, being in the body, really makes sense. a missing piece of what religion presented. for some reason i have always rotated about this question of God. and a part about knowing God always had to do with the part where i am human. i guess now that is more clear to me that that part of our being which is indeed human is indeed a part of such things as enlightenment or awareness. and there is always a kind of ban or warning against speaking of such things. it is part just too difficult to find words and part unwise to limit meaning. but what about it? what is being God in flesh? what things are going on in the world i live in?

1993

2010-04-08T22:18:00.000-07:00

when i think back to 1993 i can recall the summer i realized my early quest. i knew that to create peace one had to know or become peace. that is jesus. if he is to mean anything isn't it the idea of human being Peace? i had a rough understanding called "society has a spiritual problem." but where i thought i knew i now see i had some learning to do. and to know God we have to first know self. and everywhere i turn and look i come back to this apparently core idea which may be the core of this mandala. even with all politics and course of civilization there is still this core principle of religion...the experience of the Divine. this has to be at the core of the experience that is presented as the religious. it is even more important in these times of great uncertainty in the whole world population. so i had alot to learn and then experience. i also had alot of art to make.

hydrogen

2010-03-06T17:32:00.000-08:00

so in some way hydrogen is part of understanding. there is a secret in its meanings or symbolism. it is the first elements and so the closest to the state before atoms. this we can talk about easier by designating it a unique language. the word godhead is actually used talk about the idea of God and Godhead, of two unique stages. first is All, which is Godhead. it is unity. and through a very natural process the All twists into a new universe or beginning of matter stream. perhaps this is a quality unique to the All or Godhead, like an aether body. and then there is the god of the matter realms, the place where Godhead "descends" into matter and creation and all which follows. hydrogen is near this twist, where matter begins forming and matter. atoms also arrange in rings or connect in patterns.

i suspect then when we review the life of someone like, say, jesus, we might look for suggestions of patterns of living, which we do find in the story of jesus. real or not. except when real, certain aspects become even more relevant al a such ideas as gnosis. when we look at the ancient gnostic texts there is a little different way to understand the christ. and it balances well with the world's wisdom traditions. and in some way we not only shape our neural patterns we are shaping our atomic patterns. it is a theory i have just begun to explore and that is an update.

this work

2009-10-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

this work i am starting to see really does require effort and effort. what my work with the mandala and art represented is now requiring a new level of relationship with the Divine. this actually requires a new engagement of the body and self. but really, gnosis or 'the Christ' for me symbolized a being-consciuosness conscience/feeling. in the gurdjieff system i am getting to focus on this work of breaking through in a way to the gnostic event or zen koan. this great work of alchemy even...and end or aim. i guess up to this moment i had not really solved the riddle of the koan or made sense of this great work in alchemy. i got the idea but what was the exact experience?

one way of interpreting this idea of manifesting became material. the day to day need to earn your way to live. if a system is devised which eventually requires participation this system can't exploit or squeeze life to such a point life is pure suffering. i mean, poverty is a result of deliberate choices made by the top of this world economic machine. it can be seen especially now in this early 21st century scene. and so we are all working to maintain the system and to just survive. and so all our work then goes to the system. i have been trying to be an artist based on an economic need and requirement. but the gist of my work is the esoteric or gnostic. the sacred or real objective gurdjieff speaks of. up 'til now i might be able to say i have been creeping up to the actual door of the gnostic. i use the word gnostic because i like the word but like the experience itself it is not confined to various factions' definitions of gnosticism. like the daemonic or the tao or the 'unknowing cloud'.

so far it is not what i imagined.

3:4:5

2009-09-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

i keep returning to the part of my identity which is tangled in a mandala...the dna reflector series. i keep thinking if i am serious about the set and the theory of art i am working with then i have to actually achieve a new set of knowledge, a state of being. as we expand our beingness we expand our conscience-ness. and one symbol for me for this idea about achieving a state of being is 3:4:5 where any shift from 3 to 5 goes through 4. and so, any theory or idea about enlightenment or heightened energy like "ascension" cannot leave out this transformation. even in the 5th dimension we would have to be able to process also the 4th dimensional. dna reflectors is also the question, can one create a form of art which actually creates an energy-resonant field able to effect or affect the viewers field? and ultimately, one outcome is this question about actual outcome, how to actually make this in the form i am using? and how to precisely communicate?

my thesis then has become that an actual experience of this transformation is part of the knowledge of how to create these latest mandala. in some level it is intuitive but on another an intellectual component has been revealed. i purposely almost use sacred geometry...my work alludes to this apparently sixth dimension or density ontological structure matrix. this process one must not imagine theoretically: fake dna reflectors could be also created. that is just a way to say the more precise i can be in my understanding the more tuned each one shall be. and so i have been first circling now apparently entering the realm of the esoteric. maybe, as i could be over guessing my real development. still, my aim is this work which is basically 'to know God'.

on coloring

2009-09-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

one thing i have learned and consider an accurate description of design is through gurdjieff the idea of octaves. more than an idea as the very crystaline ontological matrix of how the Absolute falls into nothing, the absolute. i guess clow's nine dimensions theory or construct had the same effect for me but technically i had read gurdjieff before clow. the description of the branches of the octaves really hit the nail on the head as they say for me and the discussion of the inner octaves. an inner octave for each note in any dimension. gurdjieff has beelzebub describe a musical instrument which at one time existed which had a kind of fractal design of strings. there may be models or actual artifacts around, i do not know. still, the idea of these octaves or vibrations within, which is really a truth of reality.

i think that this is technically a description of the Divine. and this is my understanding of the idea of the objective. funny, objective has two meanings, each opposed. one is very nonmaterial and technically, Everything. the other is material/empirical, temporal and part of Everything. i aim for the nonmaterial Absolute in my design in mandala and painting. even in writing the same objective decides.

view from an artist

2009-09-05T17:40:00.000-07:00

i keep wanting to put together everything i have been learning. i think for me the more i learn the more my learning muscle grows. if a conduit then an expansion. and i think this is what gurdjieff is referring to when he talked about evolution being a growth in consciousness in the human. it is a change in being to be able to handle more knowledge and awareness.

and a part of this mandala is where my feet meet the ground. where i live, which actually includes the country, continent, and globe. so for instance, to me the health care debate is a federal issue as we are dealing with a globalist economic ideology which seems to always lean totalitarian. the human group, the nation and states, is being subject to an externally applied force from the economy. it is being used to control the flow of the populations progress or regression. that is my response to a conversation i heard on the radio between thom hartmann and some libertarian guy. by some permutation of their argument thom did not really describe a force required in the application of federal power under our constitution. that is not exact but i remember thinking a stronger response to the claim of no external force i thought he could have used describes the markets and corporate ethos as the outside force the collective needs to respond to as a whole body. because life itself is being drained and grossly exploited. this is always wrong. our legal system purports to protect and keep peace and our legal system is a great prize to the oligarchy. then they can pretend to redefine certain meanings and rights, usually constricting free will. this is what i don't get about many so called spiritual people is the desire to ignore politics and world events.

work for a precis

2009-08-27T20:01:00.000-07:00

i had the idea reading steiner talk about a war in the celestial heirarchy where the dark, attempting to subvert order was cast out of a dimension and somehow began to effect the 3rd dimension and humanity, in the mid to late 19th century. the 1800s. that is a rather recent date for such an event but i began to think about crowley. a friend had met a guy into crowley's stuff so i told her to be very aware of who crowley was. i had also been reading and thinking about ayn rand off and on the past 9 months and consider her a dark poet a la bonneasse and gurdjieff. i then saw a parallel with her and crowley. i haven't yet checked their birth dates but they are roughly the same era. close enough to notice a timing with steiner's idea. crowley would also be a black poet type. the point is the focus of self. gold as matter and consumption. even hubbard was a purported friend of crowley. rand is a big influence or voice in the capitalist-free-market ego-greed based paradigm. objectivism of the very concrete variety as opposed to gurdjieff or, for me, evola. rand represents one ultimate inversion of the real natural heirarchy. money equals god is a false statement so where that idea prevails or is real there we will find this inverted natural order. money is mammon and god is never mammon. "man cannot serve god and mammon" is one of the most perfect symbols of this idea of the need to regulate markets.

a great way to describe the feeding nature of the dark cosmos is to use the symbol of the gigantic humongous squid. monster quest had an episode where a group attaches a camera to a giant squid, man size (including tentacles) ocean predators, smart, and gets first footage of where the squid hang and habitate. it was tethered in a sense but went pretty deep...and off in the distance at a certain point a great shadow fills the screen. it is deeper but you can instantly see how huge and gigantic this thing was...dinosauric. this thing eats giant squid and maybe whales, sharks. the super enormous killer squid...the dark poet then is one of a collective voice of this eating nature of the dark cosmos. we see it in our world in such things as poverty. a manipulated state of survival control.

part of my question is why does the spiritual impulse in the human pull away from society when we know many of our conditions are because of this withdrawal of wisdom and knowledge. perception. i guess i get the argument in some way but am not convinced it is correct to pull away. i do get the point about disconnecting energy feeds. but we see those by learning about the ways we have been misinformed through life or our traditions. the boddhisattva vow makes sense to me as an approach to this question about the correct action. seems to me part of the point of advancing the consciousness flow of society is to spread knowledge.

are humans progressing?

2009-08-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

at this point in time all that matters might be what we can accomplish energetically. not material creations will be our heritage. it is always that way...a testament to all the stone messages. can we combine light or ontological structures which are how we continue as a species? i say the legal structures we devise are part of our heritage to evolution as a global species. Life is and does cooperate to continue. that shoot through the sidewalk represents the forwardness of the meaning of Life. we know the meaning or core of the corporate ethos is indeed forward continuation but there it is profit. that form of gold which requires more and more matter. gold is also the same as this idea of the true meaning of living. being rational and empirical we can define a truly 'divine' governance. and using imagination translate the transcendent into our traditions and technology. this becomes more clear as we actually achieve states of ascendant consciousness. the theory of religion or theology...that mentally we also unite with the divine or transcendent one. one path leads to death where one leads to true life.

when we see system development where humans are not progressing, where observers are actually able to point to daily life where the real purpose of life has been reduced to fuel and fear, we should respond. because of past progress there exists then a way to recover our true divine birthright. it is enough in the beginning to just point this out. perhaps for many this will be enough to begin the process of acquiring this state of ascending consciousness. it is not a passive acquisition so any prediction is fraught. but it is a lie to say man can never know his birthright. in fact we can also posit a scenario where it is in fact this state of experience which is the actual battleground for the soul of humanity. imagination. battleground seems extreme but we should consider the prize. who controls imagination controls the direction of the development of society and life. divine rulership listens to this within and does not confer royalty. it never truly has and where it does in history confer divine rulership it is not truly anymore divine. and where divine is no longer divine markets may attempt moral authority-ship. but markets are of the gold of matter path and so not true moral. that which i keep referring to as divine as also a very strict definition of transcendent experience authorized by the experience only. and that is a tough standard.

the legal system is a really good structure to build our translating structure upon. our u.s. constitution an declaration are perfect examples of humanity's attempt to construct just such a governance based on what had become higher knowledge among certain perhaps intellectually developed persons. there is also an element of real spiritual development and knowledge, much like that needed other consciousness suggested as necessary to transcend our problems of daily consciousness. i also say any system of higher intent must also reflect life in the way life changes and pursues growth. certain corporately or market progress developments have been regressive for the development of life and humanity. this is our real challenge in becoming enlightened, to recognize such developments in society. for me this whole spiritual thing has been connected to group or planetary development. globalization itself is inevitable, just as a basic directive of life and evolution humans would inhabit the globe. and like other life in wide diversity. but legality is based in how any system of life manages to progress and propagate. are humans progressing?

a brief comment on magic and enlightenment

2009-08-20T17:40:00.000-07:00

on the one hand, magic is simply an attainment by an individual will. someone learns to create the appearance or occurrence of a miracle and does it. as a craft or art then, this one would continue and get better.

and that is a fine thing to do, on the one hand. on the other, magic is more about power. enlightenment is knowledge and consciousness. we know that on the way to enlightenment, one often encounters the powers, but we also know these are but distractions. the real is an objective experience and state of being. so in a way i can see where magic might be a trap which can keep one locked into the positivist matrix. materialism and mechanism or the earth. we are each to experience for ourselves this experience of enlightenment. that is supposed to be the point of religion, not the propagation of church. for sure there are some in all religions who are answering this call, even in their service, but there have always been only a few to actually achieve this great work.

Life happens

2009-08-12T17:48:00.000-07:00

I would like to propose a new commandment. Do not destroy your environment or each other. It's pretty simple. Humans represent the creative principle of life. We can use that as our starting point, or yardstick, as they say. Any system of justice implies an ability to access this truth. It sounds a bit idealist but that is the point of the discussion. Being able to imagine or intuit the absolutes or God.

We only need to descend a bit into this phenomenon religion, keeping in mind the creative principle, to describe current states of human condition. The religious right wing has inserted its influence throughout our current national debate and infrastructure. By infrastructure I mean our political/economic national power structure. Of course we are into the globalist phase of some power grab attempt too, but religion is a good place to begin regaining control of how our collective creative potential is being wasted or rather, usurped. Our national economy required a total acceptance of our giving up our own plans to make sure the country worked. On many levels that is just a natural translation of humans place on the planet...being one living system of a higher system potential. Historically, lower impulses and desires slow the whole progress of this project, humanity. When God becomes the source of death through religion or dogma then man has become a demonic force or principle. This is just a simple truth we rarely discuss. And so we can use that as our metric for judging all of our claims. Do they meet the command to not destroy self and environment? Are we fulfilling our higher creative potential as a living system?

gift of Christ

2009-08-10T11:21:00.001-07:00

i have decided it makes sense to go ahead and include personal experience in these blog writings. especially since the mandala would require this holistic definition. and to create a piece which others can begin to access. sometimes lofty becomes its own distraction when the absolute is only abstract. art has always included the need to communicate. it is the communication awareness that defines art from sacred art. i can honestly say it has been only recently within my own 'development' i have become sure enough to finally say some of these things. many sacred writing implies this need to bring new spiritual truths to the masses. perhaps the gift of the Christ being The Sacred Transmission.

i am currently rereading a nation gone blind by erik larsen. he discusses a simplification of thought and feeling process which has occurred through our later 20th century. a kind of flattening of the Great Jewel of Life to one dimension, the good. all as a part of the flow in the great tide of commercialization. consumerism as component in an economic model of national development. his discussion on the art-feeling using literature is easy to translate into several fields of art. the good is indeed basically good but life is still often a boiling mess. good and right are indeed good as ideals but art can bring us to whole full body conscious experiences. a balanced state often achieved in art where the artist is just focused on just one stroke or point of light. dali has a great drawing of this state in his book on magical painting. larsen does not discuss so much spirituality and seems agnostic if not an atheist. no difference, the argument is solid to me and i am pretty sure my experience includes this flattening in society as an observation.

this reference to the Jewel of Life is also a reference to the Christ. the Great Jewel must be experienced in its entirety...God does not blink as they say. the same with the idea of the Christ. my life has always included the search for the question of the Christ...its gift. i am in a period now where what is not important to this development seems to be dropping away. not in any way drastic but noticeable when i can see the pattern. and when i am being honest with myself it is again and again God which is the source of my work. it is that simple. and again, the point of creating it is to actually communicate learning or experience. larsen seems to invite us into the art experience but i am not sure he then connects that to our spiritual, soul experience. my theory of sacred art is informed by the tradition which describes this next development as the line of the Sacred. where the sublime in a great work of secular art flows into the Sacred.

p. 218

2009-07-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

On page 218 of Life Inc Rushkoff writes, " Experiencing all this through the sensationalist lens of big media only reduces our connection to the real world in which all this stuff is supposedly occurring. We seek to take on our institutional enemies vicariously through our late night comedians, or "directly" through our laptops. We get to enter contests through which we can compete to create the most effective video ad for an issue or a candidate. We can make viral documentaries that no matter how painstakingly researched they are end up indistinguishable from paranoid videos about how preset explosives took down the World Trade Center."

I quoted the whole paragraph to include a full context for this last sentence, We can make viral...etc. For sure, I do not know Mr. Rushkoff and can only really speculate what he means. On one hand, there are indeed paranoid videos and theories about the WTC demolition. There is indeed always a cloud of noise surrounding such events made of spinning pundits. We live in an age which has opened up the idea of journalism. Persons being more connected can be the ones questioning power. And technically we have that responsibility.

Truth requires clarity. All the noise then hides the what-really-happened. I cannot tell if Rushkoff is referring to this viral-paranoid dichotomy as a critic of the paranoid or of the questioner of how the World Trade Centers were brought down. For me, at some point it became clear why 110 stories of skyscraper could not have collapsed in 9 to 11 seconds. Why the laws of our reality would have required more than isolated non-infernoes of short duration to probably even have begun such a collapse let alone rush the very roof to the floor of the basement. As a citizen it seems a right and responsibility to question the highest powers why a document supposed to have answered all questions only raises more. The 9-11 commission report does not adequately address or solve the crimes of that day. Americans must recover their tradition of attempted coup to realize the full extent of our constitutional peril. The very definitions of legality and justice are being redefined in ways we must simply not allow as a viable democratic state. I speak as an artist not a political scientist or trained historian. I also speak as a person realizing laws and meanings of being a citizen. The lie of 911 is now allowing a dreadful reshaping of the hopes of our democracy. If we really care about the Iraqis getting democracy and the whole Middle East, shouldn't we be caring about our own? The case can be made to show our Dream of America is in economic jeopardy and one must wonder how ignoring the case made of the true crime of 911 in toto allows a full reckoning.

Rushkoff's work though is easy to recommend and I practically demand everyone read it. This should be our national discussion. There is work to be done on these ontological structures of meaning...the very construct of our social fabric we claim to defend. Corporatism itself is the root of the issue we have in surviving this time period. A whole belief system or ethos designed to benefit those who are turning the screws of the economic machine. The mammon in "man cannot serve God and mammon." Life is the real and true base line of society and money is not just a neutral arbiter of value or worth. There is no money in heaven, if you will. Life Inc. is a brilliant addition to a list of books in recent years that allow a citizen to gain real understanding into what's going on.

these ethos

2009-07-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

In Life Inc. by Douglas Rushkoff the way the corporate ethos became to be the very fabric of our societal reality is very clearly laid out for his readers. My only regret or critique with the book so far is that I did not write it. I am willing to write about it because I just resonate with what he is presenting. Things I have once thought he has brought together with a whole other brew if you will. I must also admit my debt to him as I have read two other of his books. I don't really count Ecstasy Club, probably because I was in one of those lesser-attention minds reading it. The whole point is that somehow America came to be this demand for all things corporate. Somehow to create a consumerist culture a consumerist human had to be created. Arguably that has been accomplished and we can now observe at least one outcome of this capitalist experiment.

Besides a real nice historical account summary I have really just begun this book so I will be continuing out of my general awareness of this topic. I meant to say to Mr. Rushkoff, "well done", in my opinion on the historical account of the rise of this made-ethos. The corporate structure is itself artificial as far as the question of personhood goes. In my opinion our value system can be on a really root level divided into organic/non-organic. Especially where there is evidence an inorganic structure does cause harm to the organic. The corporate structure fulfills this charge as far as I can tell. I agree with many who raise this issue about civilization. For me as an artist there suddenly became no more important subject than God. A great part of this dilemma relies on a disconnect from knowledge of the Divine. How we measure our Absolutes; God, Truth, Beauty, Justice. I feel like Love is like the breath running through each of these Absolutes but either way, the outcomes of the coming years will largely depend on who controls the meaning of Life. This is my personal description I should point out not Mr. Rushkoff's. While it may have to come to real defensive measures we should always hold on to the knowledge of Justice to maintain our system of justice. Legal systems are where ownership and rights get their legitimization. That would be the point of fighting or defense.

On a real level, actual physical survival may become a struggle and we should always keep that in mind as we guide our society. Even anarchy requires high levels of education and intelligence, real development to actually function. Personally, I say markets or Free-Markets is really one of these types of Ideals. Real-time functioning free-market systems require a high level of humanity between players. And perhaps at this highest functioning level we can say it is tenable. But down here where we are, in real-time, greed tends to still be even in precipitant. Ideally steam shakes off all forms of matter and greed holds on a little longer. So high levels of development are required to achieve real functioning, like escaping the Earth's gravity field. And the earth here represents, in a real time free-market outcome, so far, poverty and struggle for as many millions as there have become trillions of dollars. Everyone knows what I mean. This type of artificial system then has become or has begun feeding on the organic. That's just how it honestly looks and this to me is where we should place our flag for claiming Justice. Just thinking long term...

puppeteer

2009-07-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

what i am willing to go along with right now is the idea we should be listening to everything obama says right now. i think there are phrases in his oration which are there to tell us he gets what is going on. and he tells us or reminds us he can't do it alone. i heard those words in his inauguration and perhaps his dnc acceptance speech. any change will have to happen from within this janus beast as right now no 3rd party actually makes any inroad. public pressure beyond the vote must play a part in this nation's progress. how do we survive this next century?

and i also listen to what certain critics are saying. i have learned how to listen, how to discern the infinite voice of humanity, a cacaphony. the golden thread seems to be a symbol used widely throughout world Traditional systems. and we can make it simple and talk about our connection to God. our connection which is simply and also our very being. and this art/study of God or the Sacred has also then informed how i have studied history and economics. for me man has it wrong when he embraces markets as his god. this is the constant warning throughout scripture of every land. humans relation to the planet. michelle obama herself once talked about the thread that connects our hearts. i can be the cynic and say "yeah, whatever...politician lawyer person yada yada..." or i can say "wait a second. what if we missed our opportunity due to or cynicism?" so far the obamas seem real to me and i have heard nothing to convince me he is lying as president. he never ran for national messiah...his opponents liked to think it. if obama is up against the military-industrials he will require the force of the actual citizenry. these do not include corporations and we must begin dissembling this false legal system around that fiction. perfection is always out of reach for most men and i think obama knows that. i assume most politicans pols and people understand the enormity of the change required so we need to keep educating. the more real knowledge citizens have the better outcome we can achieve. this is the experiment we call america, that citizens must take part. we have been complacent and in that vacuum has rushed our worst enemy. human greed itself has seated itself at the throne and we can see clear signs of infestation. so we have got a bit off track as a nation would be my prognosis. i think obama gets that he works for the american people but he also gets what our political system has become. is he a puppet or can he be a real independent agent?

lets be honest too. religion has become like a part of government. americans like to brag about their beliefs, atheist or evangelic. so technically, for right wing conservative christians especially, the real definition of Christ is not being fulfilled. the point about jesus was his state of being. as human he may have been a preacher but as Christ he was a transformed state of being. we could say a rarefied state of a human. that seems to be the real esoteric meaning of all that ado. and one of Christ's teachings was about money, government power and God. give unto ceasar he said. David Ray Griffin, a very accomplished theologian suggests in the time of jesus it was understood that nothing belonged to caesar. everything belongs to God. that is an esoteric meaning of that story and it leads to the idea that markets should not be directing society. we know through experience what happens in industrialized areas. we know the depths man can go to control power in society. how i understand the teachings of jesus leads me to these conclusions. how i have learned to understand the teachings of all times leads me to this conclusion. obama is not a messiah but we still have an opportunity to enact some real and solid change. especially to our legal system so that if we must ever deal with right factions like bushes again we will not have to be worried about the loss of the constitution. i believe we still have that. and if obama still does not respond then we know he is just a puppet.

borderlands patrol

2009-07-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

if we think about a night border patrol where someone walks nightly along staring at the stars we can get a good idea at the direction of my artist gaze. this image comes more clearly in my painting where i use the symbol of the cloud...i gaze at clouds often. clouds and stars inhabit a realm, a great spectrum of a realm where clouds also gaze into stars. they, clouds, are of an area of the between of matter and energy, consciousness and spirit.

and the mandala quality of my craft then requires more than just image. the symbol of the biggreenpea can be described as a moment of impact when the rock hits the pond. that plunge and point of impact a point of sound also. waves through the air and water.

and it is because of my object of study i must then also discuss politics, a very unpopular subject. yet one which bears most heavy on how we allow our politicians to interpret their job. i have said before that in my opinion their is a basic disconnect between claims of objective truth and Truth. recall nietzche's "death of God" a moment then consider current events and issues. this is not a call to any fundamentalist or even evangelical theological interpretation of God but to our innate Humanity, which to my current state of knowledge does not constrict. i mean to say there is a real state of being experience involved in our knowledge of such things as God and Christ. and these states are transformative...so they require the actual experience to be able to actually contain knowledge. for my art it is this sense of stretching or reaching towards God which is also the sense of the borderlands, where parallel lines and ghosts all meet. and where the human then begins to actually know God, the biological enters the noumenal...

on a more practical level we can talk about our legal systems as reflections of our highest knowledge about man and God. creations of societies, something like ants, humans create. colonies and tribes, groups. in my later work this idea of being a citizen has become a point of debate as what i create as an artist is in part a deflection in a sense of my life and experience. and i have been bored lately which always raises my attention. working for society seems logical as a step in service as in boddhisattva. because much of what happens to life is driven by how those in control decide to rule or govern. rare is the peaceful plutocrat it seems. and markets are face it, nonpersonal. humanity thrives and evolves by how humans manage their existence. theoretically and technically we can better evolve by managing our affairs in a more life-sustaining than market driven existence. i bet we reduce population when we adjust to a more spiritual relation with how we exist on this planet, or anywhere.

it seems obvious to my sense of right that art resonates. and so we can pay attention to how we are choosing what lines and colors we use in our creating.

2009-06-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

this is in a sense my permanent artist statement. perhaps more of a mission statement. the point of my work, the drawing, coloring, painting, writing, is the transformation of my being. ultimately it is this act which i have been working for which defines my living. so art for me is just a tool or instrument which records my various states along this work of transformation. a linear work kind of with time but more spherical in nature and happening.

in sacred art i have been training my being towards a certain and focused outcome. a part of the training is about instilling that sense of commitment or desire...so i am forced to admit my discipline is not always great. but i have always been in pursuit of that one idea, God. lately i have been finding more and more information which has been part of some kind of cleansing program for my work. because so many theories are becoming unnecessary or obsolete or of that category where one must actually know something to know or differentiate. exoteric categories are just ways to understand the esoteric. and it is in the esoteric where lie our solutions and actual transformations. my work is about the esoteric and the reasons it is important to know. and it is a kind of work as a patriot. as a person i have become less inspired by the life of an artist as by the life of a citizen. ultimately it is just our humanness we must get to know, and ideas. art for me then must be a tool to use to translate states and ideas. ideas and thought forms relating to or about God.

i am pretty sure a big part of the global dilemma has to do with some basic misunderstandings about what we all believe about Absolute Truths. and one thing which seems to have been forgot is the knowledge of the importance of experience and knowledge. the actual experience of the Very High Mind State of the Absolute or God requires a distinct transformation. so, since so much legal definition or plain old opinion is based on strongly held beliefs about God, all untested, we should reconnect with the actual mind state of God. this engages our being which also transforms our bodies. think about it...dna is a kind of light superconductor. it spins light and information. when we increase the light or the quality of light, we then change our dna. that's what it does. dna is where we manifest.

we can also consider the Constitution. the Constitution for me represents a moment of species evolution for any planetary group. one of a series of documents which have to do with how we organize life on planet, or even off planet. an argument for action and non-apathy. there is also a kind of spiritual state, which often resembles slumber where we should just you know, flow. sometimes i get frustrated as clearly, not all conditions of life are actually normal or natural. and an argument for why certain conditions prevail has to do with socio-structures. how society is organized. at times creatures get to see above their current place and now and then they remember. humans show a distinct ability to grow and learn. and to build society and to repress. heaven is great when we can create it, not so much as a paradise for later. those who spend life waiting for heaven often never live it. this life here and now is our opportunity to create our heaven. and religions are often guilty of keeping people from actually creating heaven. they are kind of designed along mostly historical-temporal definitions and traditions. ideally religion will be the vehicle and door for transformation but mostly on Earth they have become more like roadblocks.

can an artist actually discover and recreate such a semblance of God as to actually create a field of resonance within which any viewer suddenly becomes? that is my goal in my latest series, dna reflectors. dna for dna and reflectors to describe the type of energy exchange or resonance conveyor. a way to introduce a wave or pattern disturbance into an already standing field. the pattern being always since '94 at least, to render an Infinite Face of God.

i've gone through quite an array of translations of that idea, Faces of God. it carried over into my painting and study of clouds. i guess one rule of any sacred art is the artist simply becomes a messenger of God or the Sacred. that just means i notice in all my work the focus or objective of the Sacred. titus burkhardt discusses the sufis use of a kind of parallel track spiritual way with virtues and metaphysics. one about being and ethics perhaps where the other tells us about our beginning. the construction of this light domain called Earth. dna reflectors as a series for me reflects the physics/metaphysics path where the series or set before that, a tryptich, truth-beauty-justice, could be the virtue/ethics terrain. i had thought with dna-r i was first-using an idea about resonance and frequency resonators but eventually realized all the work included that. i guess the point is the development of precision. developing the craft of Right Tuning.