(THIS WAS AFTER THE COLUMBINE SCHOOL
SHOOTING, 1999)
"Neil, I just wanted to pass
along my sincere and most humble condolences. We feel the grief
and the anguish of Littleton, but we are much more removed than
you are.
I know you must be feeling it to
the nth degree. All my compassion, positive thoughts, and
prayers go out to you and to your community.
Sincerely, C. L.
Anderson
Neil
Responds:
I pass your
sympathies along to all of those who are suffering from the
pain of loss from senseless violence, not only in Littleton,
but everywhere. (My frontal lobes have protected me from any
personal emotional drain in this instance.) However, routine
slaughter occurs daily across the globe. Pure cold blooded
emotionless reptilian brain destructive energy. This week, it
was in our backyard.
Yet, every
hour of every day across America, people are killed in violent
fashion, in stores, in their homes, on the street, everywhere.
The other day was different in that the kids with guns have
become more efficient. Yes it is horrible. But it is nothing
very new. It is just more reptile brain rage, concentrated like
a magnifying glass on a single focused
spot.
Every hour on
television, in every movie theatre, on records and rap CD's,
Americans more than any other nation, bathes itself in images
of violence as entertainment. Life imitates art. This should
come as no surprise.
Although
obviously most everyone who views graphic images of violent
human behavior will not imitate it, an almost insignificant
percentage will take the ideas and images of violence to heart,
and act on it, and create next week's headlines. As a society,
we accept violence, and as time passes, we further perfect
methods of graphically displaying it. Years ago, this was not
the case. But like a drug addict that needs a bigger fix, our
cultural appetite for more detailed and prolonged depiction of
graphic violence has risen over recent
decades.
And the
excuse/rationalization is: "It helps to tell a story and make a
point, it doesn't hurt. It's good when done
well."
We accept it,
long for it, create it for profit. Violence in news and
entertainment thrills us and livens up bored to death
dormant brains. It's a great diversion.
Enlightened
beings know this, and have for millennia: Active and happy
creative brains keep their exposure to violence,
representational or not, to a minimum, and maintain inner peace
of mind. Deliberate and unnecessary mental stimulation from
violence disrupts peace of mind and clarity of thought. One
needs to be careful about what goes into the swimming pool of
the mind.
The homicide
rate in the U.S. (primarily from handguns) is hundreds of times
higher than in any nation on Earth. I believe this is a result
of the combination of constant media content and exposure, the
easy availability and the relentless profitable manufacturing
of handguns in this country that allows any kid to get his
hands on a weapon from either the closet in the hall or the
dealer in the alley (Guns don't kill people. People with
guns kill people.), and the lack of self-control and
respect for others that is a part of our society. America is a
wilder West than it has ever been.
Whooopeee!
Within a
couple of weeks, the furor will settle down after Columbine
High School. Life will return to normal for most of
us.
With a few
months, we will hear about the next public
massacre.
Not until it
becomes fashionable in our entire society to use our
CREATIVE/COOPERATIVE frontal lobes, instead of continuing to
perpetually dwell in our KILL/GREED/EGO reptile brain, will
things change.
It's up to you
and YOUR Brain Revolution.
Life is
suffering. And it is unavoidable. So have said the sages from
thousands of years ago. It is as true today as it has ever
been.
In many cases
we can lessen our suffering as humans by applying all the
resources we have of compassion, intelligence, intuition, and
logic. By such use of our minds we can often completely avoid
suffering and live in great happiness and satisfaction. Yet, in
other cases, we cannot, such is our state of humanity and
evolution. "Bad" things do happen to "good" people. Or so it
seems.
The universe
is made of contrasting forces, yin and yang, in all it's ten
trillion trillion manifestations. You cannot have one without
the other. Black exists solely on the basis of white. Chaos
must exist alongside order.
Frequently it
is exactly this contrasting of forms that allows us to make the
distinction of one from the other. And in this way, as painful
as it may be, we are led, sometimes screaming, to greater
awareness. Eventually our species we may avoid self
manufactured horror. For now, Earth is
School.
As we witness
tragedy as we have seen in these past few weeks, locally and
globally, we are forced to question the nature of reality, and
are likely perplexed by the insistence of chaos in our world as
innocent people are victimized by circumstances beyond their
control. Although we may try to use as much of our intellect,
and cooperative intelligence, and love as possible, we are all
eventually caught in the storm at some point. Our best course
of action is to aid those in need of help in what ways we can,
while at the same time growing from the
experience.
Eventually, we
all meet the same fate, and life and death are inseparable. The
molecules of every individual, every planet, every solar
system, and every universe will disintegrate and
vanish.
Your Amazing Brain Adventure
is a web site all about Tickling Your Amygdala-
i.e. turning on the best part of your brain as easy as clicking on a light
switch. This is done as easily as imagining a feather inside of your head
stimulating a compass, the amygdala. The amygdala is a set of twin organs, a
part of your brain that sits right in between the most advance part of your
brain- the frontal lobes and pre-frontal cortex- and the most primitive part
of your brain- your "reptile brain" and brain stem. By tickling your
amygdala you instantly and directly increase creativity, intelligence,
pleasure, and also make possible a spontaneous natural processes known as
"paranormal abilities", although such things as telepathy and ESP are really
as natural as breathing, or as easy doing simple math in your head. The
ability to self stimulate the amygdala by something as simple as thought has
been proven in laboratory experiments, such as those conducted at Harvard
University research labs, 1999-2009, and can be tracked with modern brain
scanning machines such as fMRI and PET... Indeed, thought is faster than
light.
Other sites of interest:
EasyPaintYourCar.comis a painting site dedicated
to learning how to paint a car yourself, even if you've never painted a car
before. You can refinish your car to professional standards at home, better
than if you take it to someone else, and enjoy doing it at a fraction of the
cost of having it done in an expensive shop. You can repair dents, rust, and
use the most durable real automotive paint, and even learn to apply it
without any special or expensive gear, in a safe and enjoyable manner. Paint
your car in your garage, car port, or even driveway. You can spray, use an
HVLP gun, or even use a roller.
Easy Make A Kindle
and
Your
Own Publishing
are sites about self-publishing and writing, and how any person can publish
materials, print, online, and electronic books. You can drop out of the
corporate slave labor rat race and own your own life by writing and
distributing your own books on the subject that you know best.
InkJetHelper.comis a web site about escaping from
the ridiculous cost of ink jet printer ink refilling- and refilling your
printer for pennies instead of $70 a shot. It also has useful tips about
maintaining ink jet printers, especially Canon brand printers.
Julia Lu
Paintingis
all about the creative works of Chinese painter Julia Lu, a modern master of
oil and water color painting. Julia shares her creative secrets, ideas, as
well as her art work.
