Author Archives: Will Servant

Life to Death to Life

Over the past few weeks there has been a series of people famous for a variety of things in various genres and spheres of influence who have passed away. I wonder what happens to all that genius? Does it just dissipate off into the ether? Personally I think this brilliance is always with us and always has been. When the special and beloved pass on I believe their skills and imaginations are opened up to the world for others, perhaps younger and developing, or older and reaching an epiphany, to find and welcome into their consciousness. Consciousness does not die. It has been around since the beginning. If in the beginning was the word there had to be a consciousness that either uttered the word or heard it.

This concept now leads some quantum physicists to postulate that there was consciousness before matter. Frankly it makes sense to me that there must have been some entity that imagined the big bang, and also witnessed it, in order to verify its reality. If there is conservation of mass and energy then it follows that there is conservation of consciousness as well. Enough of my metaphysical pondering.

Already in 2014 we have lost Pete Seeger, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ralph Waite, Sid Caesar, Shirley Temple, Ralph Kiner, Joan Mondale, Maximillian Schell, Ariel Sharon, Phil Everly, and just yesterday Aveda founder Horst Rechelbacher.

Horst has always held a place inside me. In the mid 70’s I received and modeled hair styles for men in his salon in Deephaven MN and occasionally played music there for the clients. It was a win win, as the well to do women would bring their husbands in and I would make a few bucks. For some reason he liked me and wanted to help my career. Horst was like that, helping people for no reason other than he felt something. He was always thinking of new ways to bring more real beauty into the business of beauty. His own epiphany in the mid seventies brought us an appreciation for ayurvedic methods of imbuing the body with scents and products from the earth. Suddenly he saw a clearer picture of the nature of beauty, and he did something about it.

All of these notable individuals did remarkable things, in so many different areas and in so many different ways. What a concentration of powerful life force these paragons have left us. I feel certain there are some special people out there right now who have been the beneficiaries of a gift of creative energy, which they can now use to push the world forward again, in a never ending cycle of love manifesting itself as vision and invention. Life is miraculous isn’t it

Here Comes the Flood

Partially this is a test post to see where in hell (otherwise known as the internet) I am sending this when I post it. If you want to catch fish it’s always good to know where you are casting your line. It is also a few words about the state of myself and thus the blog.

As can be easily seen in the archive it has been nearly nine months since I posted here. That’s about par for the course for me, as I occupy myself daily with all sorts of activities, some of which are meaningful and productive and others, completely worthless, the folly of the procrastinator. But recently I have come to understand that the ridiculously long comments I make on Facebook posts and elsewhere don’t serve my interests. They don’t serve anyone’s interests. If I want to make ridiculously long posts I should make them here where it is appropriate. Therefore you can expect to see more frequent posts on this blog-on-life-support. So be forewarned.

You see, I do have things to say and I might as well say them. And not with the frequency of a partial eclipse. I’m not getting any younger and my thoughts and feelings certainly aren’t doing anyone any good locked away in my synapses. But I need to be wholly responsible for them. Here I’m not responding to someone else’s imagination. Here I can originate.

I’ve reached a place in my life where I no longer feel the need to be either ashamed of or egoistic about expressing myself. I’m not sure if I have been ashamed of being egoistic or egoistic about being ashamed. Regardless, this is just somebody speculating about whatever while using the modern amplification and distribution of the internet and social media. Everybody else and their dog has a blog. The difference is they use theirs and I hide mine.

Those days are through.

Righteous Anger Management

I’ve been really busy lately and subsequently have not been blogging. I have been accumulating topics to address and intend to address them once I catch up on a bunch of necessary tasks. The past several weeks have seen the media, when not occupied by tornadoes, prattling on about any numbers of government “scandals.” I don’t really have the time but I’m making some. I must comment on all of these things, most importantly the very recent episode of “Crisis TV,” in which most everyone is shocked and angered at the excesses in surveillance by various government agencies, primarily the NSA, that gouge into our protective armor of constitutional rights, at will, without compunction. A majority of media are fanning the flames of indignation, and to be honest much of it is righteous, but not in the way it is being presented to and then mirrored by the public.

I’d like to address these issues, which are legion, in some sort of organized fashion. This could prove difficult. But let’s give it a go anyway, shall we?

The first issue being screamed about is “Benghazi.” There is a significant effort being made to establish the word “Benghazi” as a brand, encompassing any number of negative aspects of government. It is a buzzword on steroids. Those using this brand as a political mace to batter the administration are using the same tactic as those who are appalled by many of the other transgressions, perceived and/or real, promulgated by the catchall villain, as the disrespectful refer to him (among other names), Obama.

They are intentionally failing to admit that they knew what was happening surrounding the incident, always have known that things work this way, and were perfectly happy to allow it to happen unfettered when done by a government of their own persuasion. They conveniently forget to mention that during the previous administration numerous similar incidents took place, also with loss of life. Knowing full well that this type of disinformation and prevarication is status quo for the US intelligence community and any administration who fronts for them, the anti Obama faction also realized they had an excellent opportunity to make political hay. And the hayloft filled up rapidly.

CIA, State, and the White House were not about to reveal what they actually knew about what happened in Benghazi until the matter was settled to their liking, perhaps not for a great while, maybe never. The chaotic nature of the incident also meant that the investigation could take some time. There was a chance that not much was known by anyone. Instead, I believe that a great deal was known, and the White House didn’t want to let on what it knew, so as not to tip off the bad guys. Regardless, the anti Obama gang knew they could sell any type of conjecture, and repeatedly, because the White House, speaking for State and CIA, would not be able to refute without compromising national security. This marketing they did with great vigor and continue to refer to “Benghazi” at every opportunity, as if it were as well known a brand as Coke or Kleenex.

The second manufactured scandal, which has grown tremendous legs, is the issue of the IRS “targeting” tea party and similar organizations applying for 501 c 4 tax exempt status. Until the recent privacy issues this was number one on the manufactured crisis hit parade. That mean old, sick and disgusting, tyrannical IRS was treating these innocents like sewer rats. All they did was ask for the agency to give their obviously political organizations 501c4 tax exempt status. Apparently the good folks at the IRS singled out conservative organizations with the words “Tea Party” and “Patriots” in their name for extra scrutiny and asked them humiliating and bizarre questions that went beyond the scope of a legitimate investigation, to which no human should ever be subjected. True, and clearly over the top, but not a socialist plot.

First off, to my mind, the truly interesting thing about this entire matter is that it uncovered the fact that the original statute, from the Revenue Act of 1913, stated (and I paraphrase, emphasis mine) that to receive this 501 c 4 status a not for profit organization or civic league must operate exclusively for social welfare or be a local association of employees of a designated person or persons in a particular municipality. These organizations net earnings are to be devoted exclusively to charitable, educational, or recreational purposes.

Somehow in 1959 the IRS reinterpreted “exclusively devoted to” to “primarily engaged in” promoting, in some way, the general welfare and common good of the community. They did this without any authority or directive to do so. This represented a dramatic change in the perception of the intent of this statute. In essence what it meant was the IRS had been granting this status to numerous organizations incorrectly for many years, for several reasons, and continues to do so. It means that virtually none of the organizations so vociferously bemoaning the alleged shredding of their inalienable rights, by a vile President bent on disregarding and demeaning the Constitution, and thus destroying “Their” America, are rightfully eligible for the tax exemption. This unilateral twisting of the law is what the IRS is really guilty of and not so much the targeting of these particular groups, however screwed up that was.

To be frank, in this instance the IRS was actually doing it’s job, just in an entirely irresponsible way. Congress, including some who are among the complainers, had asked that the IRS investigate applicants for tax exemption for potential fraud, concerned that government was losing plenty of potential revenue through that illegality. They also cut the budget of the IRS, which always leads to a situation where stress and an increase in workload makes it difficult for any agency to fulfill it’s mandate. This led overzealous IRS employees, assigned to reviewing 501 c 4 applications and overwhelmed by a 200% increase in those applications, to begin flagging groups they felt were likely to be “primarily” political in nature. Granted, these were pretty much all conservative groups. But if I were investigating fraudulent applications for tax exempt status I might be inclined to move groups who have publicly expressed their disdain for paying taxes to the front of the line. Stupid and thoughtless, but not a conspiracy.

In reference to the Obama administration being responsible for this disgrace, the commissioner of the IRS at the time of these transgressions was appointed by the previous President. That these challenges to the applications are a sudden revelation is refuted by the fact that this commissioner, Douglas Shulman, testified in front of a House hearing led by Darryl Issa, and said that the process of investigating to separate legitimate groups from “primarily” political groups was, and always had been, standard procedure and did not represent any sort of “targeting”. Evidently even Rep. Issa was satisfied with this testimony and the matter faded into the woodwork. This was in March of 2012. It would seem that if this were to have been considered a true crisis that it should have become so then, or in late 2011 when it was revealed that this investigation was happening. I find it interesting that it suddenly became a big deal right when certain people saw an opening and wished to press their perceived advantage by introducing another scandal into the public consciousness.

Now we come to the part of the story which actually qualifies as a legitimate national concern, worthy of a serious in depth discussion among all relevant parties, most of whom have arguments of value. However, this issue is also being used as a political bludgeon to beat on our chief executive. In this case the events, many leaked to the public illegally, are very disturbing. Starting with requests that the Associated Press allow gov’t access to it’s phone lines, which threatens journalistic integrity, to the revelation that huge amounts of American citizen’s communications data of all kinds are being kept and stored by the NSA, this is the real issue of import to our nation. Contrary to the loud protests on the right this is not a political issue but a philosophic one in which the nature of what America is and what it represents is conflicted and in peril. And contrary to the calls of betrayal from the left this is not so much a radical departure from his values for the President as an epiphany, which all presidents discover, regarding the realities of our national security interests.

Regardless of the outrage at these violations of privacy and liberty, they are legal. They have been legal since the National Security Surveillance Act of 2006, when the illegal activities of the Bush administration were modified slightly, brought before Congress, and voted into law. This type of surveillance is informed by the secret FISA courts, started during the Carter administration, which are supposed to provide oversight on federal surveillance procedures. Unfortunately the courts and the secret court orders they issue, have not been very effective in keeping the barn door closed. The powers granted by the NSSA have been used generously by both the Bush and Obama administrations, citing as justification that they protect national security, by the provision of valuable evidence surrounding terrorist activities. So we see that even in death Osama Bin Laden has dramatically affected the very core of the American way of life.

It is my opinion that this is a serious issue that reaches deep into the protections of the Constitution and also has dramatic national security implications. As usual, technology outstrips the ability of society to understand and integrate it adequately into responsible application. The conundrums created vex us. They elicit strongly held and virulent opinions, whose powerful emotions make it difficult to have a reasoned conversation. If at all possible we must curtail our fury and remove the politics from the issue, which may be, regrettably, impossible. We must enter into, immediately if not sooner, a sober and respectful conversation about the relative merits of the surrender of civil liberties in the interest of national security. There are compelling arguments for both sides of this problem.

There is also an innate fear and mistrust of “Big Brother” in America, and rightfully so. Yet the threat of terrorism, domestic and international, is real and quite frightening. There needs to be a revised understanding of what exactly protection and safety mean and what level and nature of privacy is to be expected in a free society. As is nearly always the case, the best interests of the individual and those of society must go twelve rounds with each other. There is no guarantee that a clear victor will emerge and both parties will undoubtedly come out bloodied.

What truly upsets and scares me is that the spirited offensive against the president and the forced defensive response, both of which unfortunately appear to be tethered to the 2014 elections and beyond, will make it unlikely that we will be able to have the type of sensible and respectful dialogue this issue so desperately needs. We so need to prevent the unfortunate polarization of this sensitive and important issue from causing more rending of the fabric of American society, which we can little afford in this dangerous time.

Sadly, I fear this is wishful thinking. An inevitable and unstoppable fail.

If only I could be convinced the glass is half full.

Drones and Contradictions

Found as a Facebook comment 3/8/2013 by permission

One primary purpose of law in a civil society is to determine compromise policy between 2 opposing positions. In a democratic republic these contradictions are normally between individual rights and the good of society. They are debated by our elected representatives who define policy through laws. Those laws are scrutinized by the courts. A vulnerable link in this chain is the influence of public opinion on the choices of those who are ostensibly elected to represent us, their constituents. Considerable frustration is created when the people feel government does not listen to their will. At each level of government there are alleged realities that dictate action that is virtually incomprehensible to the public. Those who are aware that these are artificial constructs are more frustrated than most and this can lead to active opposition to government.

Our task is to overcome the despair of believing we the people cannot change policy by revealing the right thing to do to our politicians, who have an agenda that does not necessarily serve the common good. We bemoan the fact that in the turbulent sixties and before that in the late 19th and early 20th century the will of the people, acting with courage to challenge the government, was able to actually influence policy. We fear that the numbing down of Americans makes it nigh impossible to move the needle of public outrage to the tipping point. Many of us see this truth as a crisis of the highest order, threatening the very life of the republic. Many days I fear this is true. Some other days I have more faith in the system, coupled with the righteousness in the hearts of what I pray is most Americans.

I can see circumstances where this power to kill American combatants on American soil, who are involved in overt acts threatening society, either collective or individuals, needs to be available to government. I also feel that the line must be drawn at murdering non combatants, unless their logistic and strategic planning actively leads to combat. There needs to be a national debate on the definition of combatant and the overall philosophy and legality of the use of drones. I can also understand the paranoia of the more libertarian of our brothers and sisters that this power is dangerous for citizens. How we resolve this conflict of human interests will say a great deal about America’s soul.

The thing I find unconscionable in all of this is the lack of transparency, honesty and accountability of the administration regarding the scope of drone attacks in all situations, domestic and foreign. I am a strong Obama supporter but he and his people really (past tense expletive starting with F) up on this whole program. Frankly this sort of clandestine use of deadly power has been a hallmark of US foreign policy for decades and it’s use domestically, although less pervasive and conspicuous, has always been there as well. The more this nasty behavior which we find more and more appalling as we continue to learn of its existence is fomented on the innocent, the more the people demand public accountability and this is a good thing. However it creates another conundrum of just how much the revelation of our dirty deeds hinders national security and puts American intelligence operatives in harms way.

So the challenge of society to find a via media between opposing forces, both with some apparent value, continues. We must do all we can to hold the feet of the powers that be to the fire at all costs. The future of our way of life hangs in the balance.

An Addendum to “Rules for Being Human”

Most pithy and insightful quotes or insights that come across the interwebs deal with single issues or finite concepts. However this is the most comprehensive and broadly truthful thing I have come across in a very long while. Many of you already know some, most or all of this, either intuitively or from study. I cannot verify that this is all from the Sanskrit but I can tell you I originally discovered many of these truths from studying Hindu mythology and sacred texts. I must confess I struggle to uphold a life based on these rules. I think most of us do. Here is bit of personal commentary on each rule. Well, a lot of commentary.

Rule 1. Having a body, or form, is what separates us from every other sentient entity, i.e. God, angels, spirits, etc. This is why it was so important that Jesus take on human form. The physical plane is the densest part of the universe. This is why so many scientists have been pursuing the Higgs Boson, to understand matter. Having a form locks the soul and spirit into one conceptual vessel in time and space. It is rumored that angels are jealous of humans for having a body. Only because we have a body can we appreciate the physical universe. Some say growth can only happen on all planes at the same time, which means that we can only evolve our spirit while we inhabit a body.

Rule 2. The purpose of life is to continue to evolve into a more perfect being, with the ultimate goal to become godlike. While that goal may be unattainable there cannot be a lesser goal for humankind if we are to become the best we can be. This is why life is a constant learning process. Each time we learn we evolve. The lessons are always worth learning. We just have to remember that even the seemingly insignificant lessons are meaningful. A lifetime devoted to constant learning keeps the mind and soul youthful and flexible.

Rule 3. Yoga is the purposeful aspect of any activity. We can be taught the yoga of anything only because somebody experimented and failed and kept trying until the secret of the yoga was revealed. Unless we have the courage to exceed our imaginations by trying new things and failing we can never expect to grow at all. Remember God doesn’t have accidents. As we live we rise and fall like a wave of light. The peaks and valleys show us both the divine and the profane. We learn. We grow. We are like light as we are both a particle and a wave.

Rule 4. This can only be experienced. It is a function of karma, or destiny. God has a plan for all of us and if we come to a part of that plan that we have trouble learning we are presented with a variation of the lesson until we learn it. This may possibly explain why predestination can coexist with free will. We always have the free will to reject our destiny, but will be given an infinite number of opportunities to accept it.

Rule 5. For those who believe in reincarnation this extends through many lives. It is said that we come back into a life best suited to fulfill our karma. It is also why we only age physically. We continue to grow mentally and emotionally. We age because of that density of the physical plane, which has something to do with friction, entropy and gravity. Gravity is the last force needed to be explained in order to have a unified field theory, which is the ultimate goal of sub atomic physics. Our minds and hearts are not subject to gravity and will continue to learn without deteriorating.

Rule 6. Everything is relative and absolute at the same time. That is to say every object, concept, idea or activity has a both a relative and absolute aspect. Einstein realized this and saw that it could be observed at or near the speed of light. Absolutely, we are always here. But relatively, there is always a somewhere else that we can see from here. When we realize that the somewhere else is also here, once we get there, then we begin to understand relativity. There is always an external perspective, an alternative point of view to every existing thing. This is why there are an infinite number of points on a line. Time is the dimension that moves us through the relative, always staying in the absolute moment. This is a most pure contradiction. Maintaining our bodies, keeping the mental, emotional, ethereal and spiritual all together in one physical form, is the most sublime contradiction known and it is in this apparent contradiction of the absolute and relative, in time, where we liberate the incomprehensible energy necessary to maintain those bodies. Once again, Einstein was the first to understand this, expressing it as E=MC squared.

Rule 7. There are nearly infinite numbers of cosmoses. Each contained by or containing another. There are billions of universes comprised of billions of galaxies comprised of billions of stars and more billions of planets and moons which have billions of objects and life forms which have billions of molecules and billions of atoms down to the many and various sub atomic particles. There is a pervasive concept in religion and mythology that says any one distinct part of a cosmos, regardless how large or small, is an integral part of a larger cosmos and also contains smaller cosmoses. These cosmoses mirror each other in function. For example the christian world view says we are all, the billions of us, part of the body of Christ yet science tells us that we are also a body, of which billions of cells are a part. Therefore we are all both a part and a whole at the same time. So cosmologically we are all the same. So seeing something in someone else must be related to seeing it in us. We mirror each other so we recognize ourselves in others. From a spiritual perspective we recognize the divine in each other, which leads to the conclusion, as stated by Christianity among others, that we are all children of God.

Rule 8. This is about dharma and karma. Dharma is our spiritual duty. It is what we feel bound to and what aspires us to divinity while inspiring us to greatness. The catch is we have free will and can choose to deny our karma, or destiny, and our dharma, or duty. Because of God’s plan for us we have all the requisite abilities, characteristics, genetic information needed to attain that destiny according to the plan. These are God given and always accessible to us. We choose through free will just how well we make use of these gifts.

Rule 9. This goes back to relativity and cosmoses inside cosmoses, karma and dharma and an infinite, all knowing, onmipresent God. One reason some call the higgs boson the god particle is that they see it as the inner boundary of universes, the particle from which all other particles are made. The one point of the big bang. By finding the inner boundary of existence some hope to understand God, the outer boundary of existence. The mystery of us having and maintaining a body is that it is a model for how all universes operate. It has billions of individual parts that working together make one distinct entity. The human body is a universe unto itself. Therefore we can know everything worth knowing by looking inside ourselves, experimenting and learning lessons understanding how we are all one and infinite at the same time and that our lives rest entirely in our hands.

By now you have seen that my observations about this allegedly spiritual knowledge is chock full of physics. Since the purpose of both physics and spiritual discovery is to explain existence, it makes sense that they would both be talking about the same thing. Well enough of my ramblings. This list of rules just touched off a stream of consciousness in me and I felt compelled to communicate it. Thanks, as always, for humoring me. I do think that these rules are valuable and I hope they can inspire you to become that ever more perfect being you so strongly hope to be.

UPDATE: As you may have read in the comments these rules are a major focus of Dr. Cherie Carter-Scott’s work, which is not attributed on the widely circulated cyber meme poster. For shame. Thank you Dr. Carter-Scott for your clarity. Also it is my understanding that there may be a tenth rule that states that “You will forget all of this at birth.” In many ways life is a zero-sum game and as we learn we also forget. But there are signposts that catch the eye of those who are looking for them which lead us to triggers that help us remember our true natures. We should offer thanks to those who dug into their subconscious to find them.