Re the 'news,' have spoken to many journo associaitions, press groups and news orgs about the value of story and paucity of story in our times. As you know, those who have the ears to hear…

re Jungians; many of the old timers used to make in their books and speeches, watered down references re Nazis esp when/if they themselves were being confronted strongly by pro-some-other-psychology followers that Jung was a Nazi sympathizer. This was esp true about 20 years ago.

Myself, the Jungians wouldnt be my choice to read for depth on this period of history 1930-1950 if I wanted to truly know and see, but other writers and poets who were first person witnesses …. who have little to defend other than the soul, and who weren't swallowed up in various 'media-made' points of view, defenses of their professions, etc… There's a lot to be said for breadth, depth that comes from truthful memoir …and often enough based in the idea that people are born good and born free, no matter whoever else insists otherwise.

There is one essay that Jung wrote, that I return to time and again, however. It is a short overview of what it takes to 'make' a dictator. I find Jung's imaginings in that short piece as useful about nations as about the everyday minarets in families and golden boys and girls at work.

Re the 'news,' have spoken to many journo associaitions, press groups and news orgs about the value of story and paucity of story in our times. As you know, those who have the ears to hear…

re Jungians; many of the old timers used to make in their books and speeches, watered down references re Nazis esp when/if they themselves were being confronted strongly by pro-some-other-psychology followers that Jung was a Nazi sympathizer. This was esp true about 20 years ago.

Myself, the Jungians wouldnt be my choice to read for depth on this period of history 1930-1950 if I wanted to truly know and see, but other writers and poets who were first person witnesses …. who have little to defend other than the soul, and who weren't swallowed up in various 'media-made' points of view, defenses of their professions, etc… There's a lot to be said for breadth, depth that comes from truthful memoir …and often enough based in the idea that people are born good and born free, no matter whoever else insists otherwise.

There is one essay that Jung wrote, that I return to time and again, however. It is a short overview of what it takes to 'make' a dictator. I find Jung's imaginings in that short piece as useful about nations as about the everyday minarets in families and golden boys and girls at work.

I have come to believe that as NEWS has blended with entertainment so has entertainment blended with the news. So the search for truth and understanding comes not just from so called “factual news” (News is not fact checked anymore imo), but also truth is hidden in so called “fictional” accounts. What the news programs are not allowed to say, can be said in the form of a story or a script. Some call this backdoor teaching or 3rd ear learning.

Is it true that the German people's resistance was strong? I am not a scholar of such, but I saw once, some films put out by our Government just after the war that attempted to show how many Germans turned a blind eye when questioned if they knew of the camps and their doings just outside of town.

Though some may have tried to stand up or escape, still it is difficult to stop it once it starts to move. Woodman wrote about this in her book “addiction to Perfection” attempting albeit briefly to address the attempt to create a “master race.” What she was attempting to address is the hypnotic attraction (addictiveness) of being part of that movement, that she saw, like Thich hnat Hahn, that had she been there at the time, she could see that she might've/could've been swept up in it. I am talking here about when the cultural tools are brought out and ritual, song, art, and theater, and perhaps even storytelling begins to create a false though supportive backdrop for what is happening in the streets. The press too, which I think has been going on in the USA for a while now, in support of the bogus war on terror (here I don't mean to deny terror, both individual or state terror, only to say terror is available to all of us, to one degree or another, and likely, on a bad day, the less conscious we are, we can all imbibe or use it–.

Yes, resist, expose, defrock, protect. The truth is precious and with many carats.

in answer to your last question re suffering, I do not know, except for the salve part, as in Salve regina, the mother of the conquered, mi madre. Too, I tend to think of happiness of a certain kind that senses like balm to soul, but mutes ego… not the kind some seem to be inferring when they say they seek happiness.

re nazi-ism, I wouldnt be shocked that someone born safe in Canada would speculate such. But coming from a family who lived firsthand through the war and lost all their children and men, I know so so many opposed nazi-ism, saw it and called it what it was in menace and abject evil, and tens of thousands of the merchant and professional classes fled even before Dachau /Auchwitz/ Birkenau/Treblinka/ Malthusen were built, and many of the other souls who protested without weaponry… the farmers, peasants (my people) who tried to defend, protect their villages and familes… their blood ran in the ditches and through the stove channels for speaking, for resisting… and others if not mowed down by the nazis, were destroyed by the red army which Churchill and US president unleashed on Eu through Joe Stalin… and some of the most elite throughout eu in the duration of nazi control, bowed, pretended, enjoyed proceeding as usual… you know the rest.

Because of my firsthand witness of the aftermath of the war, and at disaster sites in several parts of the world, I've been far more interested in those who speak for, with, about, in order to raise… than those who turn away, or else attempt to oppress or obstruct others from helping. That last is a psychology all of its own. Than Shwe comes to mind.

Yes the poem underscores the concept of non duality, though more on an individual basis; he sees that– were fate to have dealt him the cards of another– he could easily be playing that hand. I remember being shocked at first when I heard Marion Woodman say that she doubted she could have resisted the call of Nazism in Germany at the time it occurred. In the current zeitgeist fear and terror/terror and fear seem to be a sort of marriage and has everyone in its grips.

I once heard Thay (TN Hahn) speak in a different way about non duality. In that talk he was talking about poverty. He said that the gluttony of first world peoples and the starvation of 3rd world peoples go together. Likewise starving children, draught, and poverty over here and wealth and abundance over there.

I know it is more complicated than I am capable of expressing but here are what a few notables have to say about it.

Dalai Lama. “No matter what part of the world we come from, we are all basically the same human beings. We all seek happiness and try to avoid suffering. We have the same basic human needs and is concerns. All of us human beings want freedom and the right to determine our own destiny as individuals and as peoples. That is human nature.”

Leonard Ingram (Bhagwan Ra Afrika). “When one is truly in contact with reality, and not one's concept and abstraction of reality, no choices arise. Choices are created by the mind – not by reality! Reality is simply the case.”

Drew Hempil. “I assert and aim to demonstrate that sound-current nondualism is the foundational model for resolving the root theoretical contradictions of the global eco-justice crisis.”

Charlene Spretnak. “Spiritually, ecofeminists are drawn to practices and orientations that nurture experiences of nonduality and loving reverence for the sacred whole that is the cosmos.”

Masanobu Fukuoka was born in 1913, of a family that has farmed the Southern Japan Islands for over 1,400 years. Educated as a microbiologist and soil scientist, he is now a Mahayana Buddhist who practices simple agriculture as a spiritual path. He is the father and master teacher, the Sensei of the art of Natural Farming.

“On this planet we do not have something we can call Nature any more. We have lost it. We do not have Nature we can go back to. What we must do is search for Nature. But human knowledge cannot do it. We can only ask Nature. So we, and especially seed companies in the world, should collect all kinds of seeds on the planet, and offer them to God, Nature and pray. This kind of attitude toward Nature is necessary. Of course, even if we pray, God will not say anything. We may not be inspired, either. But the plants which start growing are God's answer. Nature will teach you.”

Deepak Chopra. “From the beginning of time into present-day civilization–whether it's ethnic cleansing in Kosovo or in Sri Lanka–if there's been bloodshed, it's been into the name of God, and it's been in the name of a fragmented God, not a God of wholeness, not a God of nonduality.”

My memory of Thich Nhat Hahn is his speaking to us, “Call Me by My True Names.” That's what I personally can understand of what he says in my mind-limited ways.

with kind regards,
dr.e.

Call Me by My True Names
by Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk, escaped from Viet Nam

Don't say that I will depart tomorrow –
even today I am still arriving.

Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.

The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay
his “debt of blood” to my people
dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.

My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart
can be left open,
the door of compassion.

1989

Notes by Thich Nhat Hanh

I have a poem for you. This poem is about three of us.
The first is a twelve-year-old girl, one of the boat
people crossing the Gulf of Siam. She was raped by a
sea pirate, and after that she threw herself into the
sea. The second person is the sea pirate, who was born
in a remote village in Thailand. And the third person
is me. I was very angry, of course. But I could not take
sides against the sea pirate. If I could have, it would
have been easier, but I couldn't. I realized that if I
had been born in his village and had lived a similar life
- economic, educational, and so on – it is likely that I
would now be that sea pirate. So it is not easy to take
sides. Out of suffering, I wrote this poem. It is called
“Please Call Me by My True Names,” because I have many names, and when you call me by any of them, I have to say, “Yes.”

blessed holidays,
dr.e

I am a Protestant that went to a Catholic school for two years: I have to say that there are some “interesting” parts of their history and theology. I suppose that's a large part of why I go to a non-denominational church now, where people can disagree on even some basic theology, but still work and fellowship together.

BTW, I wasn't offended per se., I just like to find and reveal truth wherever I can, which is why I like this blog where I can wrestle with people like you without the discussion descending into name calling and attacks. Thanks for a polite, and informative, discussion.

You sound as if you are part of the Salvation Army, a branch of the Universal Christian Church. In fact I respect the Salvation Army and give the bulk of my domestic charity to them. They actually do something IMO.

My apologies for offending you. I only know the truth as best as I actually have experience it. My perception may indeed be skewed, I don’t know, but in the final analysis, our perception is all that we all have.

I was not an Atheist before I went. I’m not even sure that I am now. You might call it a “crisis in faith”. However I assure you that I am truly pissed-off. The catholic church destroyed my faith, which was protestant before I studied theology and Catholicism for two years and long after I ended relief work. My unfortunate “crisis in faith” has little to do with my relief work experience, but my relief work experience has left me quite disappointed with religious “missions” or non-secular relief work in general. A major complaint shared by more than I, is that for the billions and billions of dollars that go to churches each week, very little get to mission. Very little actually help the poor. Only a tiny amount of the graft actually get to the poor, be it protestant or catholic. I’ve seen many missions and basically they are pathetic examples of relief work. In fact their primary purpose is not helping people at all, its “spreading the word”. What “helping” they do is only to gain the attention of the poor, for evangelization purposes.

There are several secular relief organizations commonly known as NGOs that are well known. Many that I am sure you have heard off and many I’m sure that you have not. Believe me, name recognition has nothing to do with how effective their efforts are, and, “effective” is the most important word in relief work. Many of these non-secular organizations are basically useless also. The vast number of NGO’s fall under UNICEF or another UN agency in the field since they rely heavily on the UN for political and logistic reasons. As well donor countries keep an eye on the UN through government organizations such as USAID and OXFAM. This so because Governments have their requirements for their donations. For example the United States requires that 30% of goods and services be purchased from U.S. entities. However there is little regulation holding religious organizations to any standard. Thus their comparative effectiveness is laughably poor all things being equal. African Inland Mission is one of the better non-secular organizations, and, Safe Harbor one of the worst, to name a couple. No church really stands out.

I PERSONALLY spent more than ten years in Africa with UNICEF and ICRC. I saw exactly what religion does, and, what charities does what, and, where. I know exactly whom is BS and whom is real. I have PERSONALLY known several people that have died in the work.

Religion comes with their leased relief plane loaded with bibles that the locals use for toilet paper or fire starter. We loaded our relief planes with food, medicine, and, the sick and wounded. Space on aircraft is very expensive in all circumstances. So give your money to religion if you want. Odds are your money won’t even get there, but if it does, you can find it in a pile of crap.

What have you done for humanity….voted for school vouchers?

Hands

It’s hands
that show hunger—
fingers spread,
palms up,
outstretched, grabbing
at bits of sky;
‘cause there’s
nothing left
to reach to
but a fist full
of empty bellies.

It’s hands
that show indifference—
fingers clenched,
in pockets,
turned inward, clamped
around purse strings;
‘cause there’s
nothing better
to reach to
than a fist full
of privilege.

Author and poet, Debbie Ouellet

My intent is not to shame anyone with this poem, but that little hand and the other images too with all they represent needs volumes of heart opening. What ever one can do is good. . .reminds me of one of your poems Dr. E whose last line is “just do something.”

When I asked why the poor had no food, they called me a communist…..

Beware the clergy. They are liars…..and what do they do with their billions? They buy bangles and beads and golden statues to pray too……but they don't pray to statues they say and they simply don't have enough to help everyone…..or child….but they will pray for them.

Give your money to UNICEF, not demigods.