@SammyG Nice Post!!!
Along with the advice you mentioned above, I think more people should look into the Philosophy of Stoicism.
It is a philosophy centered on Gratitude, self-control, meditation, and being virtuous.
A nice quote by the stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius:
not easy 
It’s hard to add anything to this. But I will mention one component of goodness I’ve thought a lot about while trying to decipher why some people are loving and some are destructive.
This trait or mindset is a foundation for honesty, at least in my musings, and for love. And others, like optimism and compassion. It’s a foundation for them and it’s also interwoven with them. Like they almost can’t exist separately without one another.
It’s hard to put a word to it that won’t be loaded with meaning from culture or history. But I want to call it Faith or Trust or Self-worth. Now in what sense could it be said that Faith and Self-worth are the same thing? Well…
Let’s name this thing Faith for now as a placeholder until someone finds a better word for it. Faith in something. Not something you would have to attend a church in order to have. Faith that there is something or someone greater than the whole of humanity combined. Greater in what sense? Greater in it’s ability to love. Greater in the truth it contains. What if the universe was made of love and truth?
If it was, and if you knew and believed that it was, then you would always feel valued and taken care of no matter how anyone treated you. And then you would therefore always feel that you could ultimately find your needs met by being a loving and honest person. And you could stick to that way of being through any hardship or persecution no matter what.
When I contemplate people who’s way of treating others is characterized by manipulativeness, by a lack of good-will, and a lack of honesty, I try to understand how they came to be this way. They may simply think it is the best way to go about getting what they want. But I suspect it is something deeper and worse. I think their faith has been stolen probably by someone(s) abusive to them at some point in the past.
They didn’t just reach that breaking point of saying to a particular person “I can and will Never trust you again.” They, consciously or unconsciously, said “I will never trust again period.” “I will never trust anyone again” “The universe does not have my back” “I can only get what I want by deceiving and using others” “No one can ever get their needs met by being honest and loving” “only fools try to go through life that way” “Fools or really good manipulators/deceivers/cons”
Keep your faith that someone or something greater will come through. Or else we’ll become something lesser. If we believe there is no higher good in the universe than the people who have hurt us, then we become just like them.
Marcus Aurelius
I like this guy! 
I am no one.
Thank you for this post.
One of the virtues that is very important to me is recognizing people as clouds of potential.
I have come to realize that my state (everything that can be seen and measured) is a potential out of many potentials. The worst in a human is a potential, just as the best in a human is.
Often times we tend to judge people based on the state we see them in, or sometimes we judge people based on a state they were some time ago. Doing this takes away this person’s chance to change and manifest another potential.
Judging someone is observing and pinning down their potential.
This is one of the most profound lessons life taught me and I keep this in mind and heart and my desire is to share this noble truth because I do believe this is the foundation for a new way of living together as a species.
Here is what I mean by that.
Don’t participate.
Don’t participate in hating someone who is being presented in the media as a criminal.
Don’t participate in wanting to “get rid off” certain groups your society, politics or the media tell you is your enemy.
Don’t participate in wishing to do something to someone, because “they deserve it”.
Noone deserves anything. I don’t deserve this breath I am taking, just as you don’t deserve your next heartbeat. The concept of deserving life and love makes life and love worthless.
We don’t deserve the best, we are always capable of the best.
And we can have it instantly as soon as we realize that our best is a natural part of us.
Just as it is of everyone else.
Not to burst your enlightenment bubble but you’re someone to me. This isn’t fight club. You have a name. Owl.
This made me realise.
Fight club is a spiritual movie too.
But in death he had a name. Real ego dissolution allows you to be someone.
“Wake up to reality! Nothing ever goes as planned in this accursed world. The longer you live the more you realize that the only things that exist are merely pain, suffering and futility. Listen… everywhere you look in this world, wherever there is light, there will always be shadows to be found as well. As long as there is a concept of victors, the vanquished will also exist. The selfish intent of wanting to preserve peace, initiates wars, and hatred is born in order to protect love. There are nexuses, causal relationships that cannot be separated.” - Madara
I think a way to achieve “harmony”/“peace”/“virtue” throughout the world is “reprogramming” ourselves. That includes literally changing or expanding our dictionary along with other factors as well. And eliminating causes of I would call “unbalanced understandings” (We should think in past timeline(s) to understand what our past concepts brought upon us)
The reason why we are in a “rabbit hole”/“matrix” is desperation, which causes us to go into a survival state. All it takes is a momentum push to send the world into hell.
I want to share more of my ideas and thoughts here sooner or later. There are bunch of factors I wanna talk about relating to history, religion and whatever you guys want.
Definitely agree with this. For years, I’ve believed that the systems in place aren’t what cause humans to be corrupt but it is our very nature that is corrupt. I always hear arguments that socialism is evil or that capitalism is the reason for inequality in injustice, and so forth. I think both systems could work if people weren’t so prone to greed and abuse of power. We are the problem. And I understand that in discussing these systems, people try to find the system that leads to least possible abuse of power but… it still happens lol.
How we can reprogram an entire a species… I have no idea. I know it can happen over the span of many generations but in one? I don’t know how it could be done. Although, we do have something now that the world has never had before… and that is the internet. Information travels at the speed of light. Reprogramming can begin here. But seeing how everyone jsut runs to their little corners where everyone agrees with them, I just can’t see it happening.
I could go on about this for a long time too lol. What factors do you speak of?
I get exactly what you mean. This sort of reminds me of the notion that some religious people have ‘If you don’t believe in god, then you have no reason to be good. The lack of faith implies you have no morals.’ But I’ve noticed even some atheists have faith. They have faith that doing the right thing is best for society as a whole. Just like I have faith in humanity evolving and growing and so I do my best to emulate that in my behavior. Also, cause I genuinely love people and I want to see them do better and better and so I believe in them. I believe in good. As you said, it’s a natural thing that comes from love/honesty. It’s hard to put into words but the faith comes from that state.
I love this and it is so very true. We are in essence blank slates. We might get entangled into certain layers of beliefs and behaviors but they aren’t what we inherently are. We are always in a state of probability. Of going one way or another. Potential.
And so even a man who commits the most evil and atrocious acts is capable of turning around and changing the world for the better.
To judge is to debase someone’s true nature to the illusions they have wrapped themselves in. It is like looking at an actor from a movie and saying ‘that is who you are’.
If only we had a leader like Marcus Aurelius. He is the closest thing we’ve had to an enlightened ruler. Loved reading his philosophy back in college.
I agree. His character is admirable and his philosophy on life is the practical. If everyone followed his teachings, we would be in a different place.
I love this.
Eh, I think there are multiple ways one could take that apart.
Each of us has either chosen to wrap ourselves in these cloaks, or else has been negligent in his self-awareness to allow himself to be wrapped in the cloaks others / society has put on him. Most probably are a mix of those two things.
Ultimately though, wherever the cloaks have come from, you are responsible for what you are wearing, and thus can reasonably be judged on it. Is it the same as who you are? No, there is a difference between your being and your ego identity, so to speak, but in practice the difference is so subtle it almost bears not qualifying.
And to address the allegory of an actor in a movie: yes, it would be unwise to judge an actor by a single performance. However, we can more reasonably judge an actor by his body of work. Has he picked and chosen his roles carefully or taken anything that will give him a paycheck? Does he favor one type or genre or does he have range? Are the roles he takes just roles or is he favoring some kind of social or political message?
Upon looking back at my statement, it sounds absolute. I don’t believe that’s 100% but it’s one way of looking at it.
Although, I wouldn’t say most people choose the cloaks they wrap themselves in. Many people lack self awareness to the extent they believe they are the cloak. They believe they are the thoughts in their heads. All so much to the extent that they are like 99% ego in this human form. They become mere reflections of their programming… until they die and realize that self was made up.
Programming that came from their environment growing up. An environment they didn’t choose. Parents they didn’t choose. Teachers, friends and information around them they didn’t choose. By the time we start choosing for ourselves, so many choices have already been made for us, that we’re already inclined to be more fearful or comftorable of certain choices. And so our freedom of choice becomes restricted… when our minds should be boundless.
It’s a tricky subject though. The relation of soul and ego. As a child, you are more soul than ego. Your ego hasn’t developed so much. That’s why we are so open minded and have a boundless imagination at this age. But we are like sponges too and so naive, that the world is choosing how we become. If we were abused as children and developed certain behavioral pattterns and beliefs because of it, was that our choice?
But at the same time, I do think we have our own unique personalities growing up, derivative of the environment… but at the same ones that blends with the environment. For example, I’m the people I grew up with. So much like my dad and mom to the extent I absorbed so many of their habits. My mom’s loving being but insecurities and then my dad’s relentless willpower but stubborness/arrogance.
At the same time, I had qualities that were unique to me. I was a rebel and thought outside the box always. I ended up doing everything they told me not to do cause I didn’t believe in rules lol. That’s soul.
The blank slate does have a will/personality of its own I’ve learned. And learning to tap back into it is part of the spiritual path. But by the time people reach adulthood, they become so wrapped up in the illusion that they forget about that part of them… to the point they can’t choose outside their personal box anymore.
You bring up good points about actors. But I’m not sure they have much choice on the matter either.
Quite often, an actor is typecast because of the way they look. Do they choose their looks? Do they choose their voice? And considering everything I said above, did they have full choice over who they became and how the world percieves them? These questions are pivotal if an actor is to be able to choose their roles as they so please. Actors generally can’t control how people percieve them and that is often what governs an actor’s career choices.
That being said, actors like Christian Bale or Daniel Day Lewis have such a wide range of choice in the industry because they ego death in their roles and become the characters they portray. That is a special kind of magic and I admire those actors for that.
I’m listening to Faith Restored on Sapien Radio Live right now. It’s really cool that this exists.
Christian Bale and his variegated protean roscian tinctumutation!
Hollywood doesn’t deserve him lol no batman pun.
Such a dedication to the craft. Meraki and all.