Occurred to me the other day that most of my life has been consumed by the obsession and pursuit of the 'Upward Mobility Syndrome'. I won't ask the obvious question of 'why'.
I grew up in a time and place of cascading prosperity. There was a slow advance after WWII where this country grew into the most prosperous of recorded time. A plateau will come if it's not already here. A multi-year span of levelality followed by a slow decline onto another plateau.
I will not be here for these approaching decades but my children and theirs will be. How do I prepare them for this coming saga? The quick thought is to tell them to get away to the woods - find a place out there and dig in. A simplification I think. One would have to be very, very committed to obtain a life of self-containment which would require many sacrifices and much hard work. This question of preparation and my legacy will have to be addressed at another time.
Back to the subject of the chasing of the elusive butterfly - this life long trek of acquiring things, upward things, which in the end is really just stuff . Stuff-stuff-stuff! I'm of course not against acquiring stuff but the obsession of obtaining it is not healthy- which I'm sure is not news to you at all.
So you say, "Don't be silly Gary, we all come into this life and progress from the crib to the grave and of course it's upward. Downward is death and destruction, a path which you have obviously not chosen."
OK. Got you. It's the loss of balance, my balance, that I decry.
Hindsight is so 100% right-on and true isn't it?
Webo - I read your latest post (July 2001) and your book recommendation. Good job! I have been a recommender of E. Tolle for years. He is a sort of non-denominational spiritual guide that really is on a much higher level that some of the more famous and "so-called" gurus. I recommend to you, two names, both authors and both truly enlightened beings, formerly mortal,...Thakar Singh and Kirpal Singh. Kirpal is the most famous here. I don't know who is the most famous where they now abide. Look up some of their book titles. They are right where your blog was cruising,...the spiritual quest and the mysteries of life/death.
ReplyDeleteOne concept to consider when we try to decide why things happen the way they do,...destiny or karma. It cannot be ignored. Free will is only partly at play in our lives,...at best. More later. Nolan