Musings

...Damn idiots will never learn.

Envy by MixMasterE

"O! beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on"-Shakespeare in Othello

Of all things to be wary of on the job(&elsewhere) is that insidious, cutting and mortifying human stain termed envy. If there is one thing I have learned about people is that deep down inside they do not find much joy in another's good fortune or situation. Behind every slanderous insult or diminishing remark made about another person, there you will find the green-eyed miscreant crouched and ever-so ready to attack or guard.

Let's face it: Some people are more driven than others and are deserving of whatever good fortune they may inherit, whether it be in compensation and/or respect/kudos given by functional superiors. The sticky part for most comes when folks who know/do less leap-frog ahead of the pack not on the merits of job-related skills, but on the impressive gift for gab, charm and/or the taking of credit for other people's work. I guess this is why we often see fork-tongued incompetents at the top (not incompetent in waxing the right poles though, so credit must be given!). Thus, it is not only one's achievements/good fortune/vaunted rep that provide the breeding ground for envy, but also the calculated methods/tactics used in achieving one's ends. (Out of this sordid bed of intrigues, a wealth of tangential questions arise: Does work encourage/promote certain behavioral traits (competition, greed, aggression)over others (empathy, cooperation, humility? Has work become an unpleasant necessity in a market-driven culture that drives people to work simply for a check and not because they particularly like what they do? What is the effect of joyless work on our psyches & the collective? The examined life requires us to question, question, question. Only then can we start to overcome various social pathologies).

Life is way too short & precarious to get caught up envying other folk for whatever reason. If anything, envy those who have noble characters and work to achieve that--in the end, envy will be vastly diminished/destroyed.We are all well aware of the way this culture fosters certain attitudes, behavior and beliefs which are unquestionably poisonous and antithetical to ethical and spiritual principles & practices. Clearly, working against this tide should be actively pursued. Envy poisons and as Shakespeare observed through Iago's character, makes us all losers as it serves no other purpose than in seeking the destruction of another person's happiness and ultimately, the destruction of one's own soul.

The Penetrating Eye

Rabindranath Tagore is perhaps one of the most beautiful and lucid poets that has ever graced a blank page with words and visions that soar and intoxicate with a style that seems effortless in its' simplicity and charm. He makes the language vibrate at another level that stretches back and forth in Time. I was introduced to his work many years ago and every year, I re-read his numerous poems and short stories which seem more interesting at each reading. With such genius, he himself remained humble and untainted my fame and fortune. In fact, he renounced his knighthood after British troops brutally slaughtered scores of demonstrators in India in 1919. Any form of "ism' was anathema as he sought a deeper purpose based on spiritual/ethical principles and a hope that a better world was possible rooted in diversity and tolerance of all people.

His vision needs to be resurrected.

Partake in these morsels from various works:

This is the ultimate end of man, to find the One which is in him; which is his truth, which is his soul; the key with which he opens the gate of the spiritual life, the heavenly kingdom.

Whatever we treasure for ourselves separates us from others; our possessions are our limitations.

There are men whose idea of life is tactic, who long for its continuation after death only because of their wish for permanence and not perfection; they love to imagine that the things to which they are accustomed will persist for ever. They completely identify themselves in their minds with their fixed surroundings and with whatever they have gathered, and to have to leave these is death for them. They forget that the true meaning of living is outliving, it is ever growing out of itself.

Truth cannot afford to be tolerant where it faces positive evil.

Want of love is a degree of callousness; for love is the perfection of consciousness. We do not love because we do not comprehend, or rather we do not comprehend because we do not love. For love is the ultimate meaning of everything around us. It is not a mere sentiment; it is truth; it is the joy that is at the root of all creation.

We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility.

We can make truth ours by actively modulating its inter-relations. This is the work of art; for reality is not based in the substance of things but in the principle of relationship. Truth is the infinite pursued by metaphysics; fact is the infinite pursued by science, while reality is the definition of the infinite which relates truth to the person. Reality is human; it is what we are conscious of, by which we are affected, that which we express.

Some good sources of info:

http://www.indolink.com/Poetry/tgorIndx.html
http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm/writings/other/tagore_gora.htm
http://www.poetseers.org/nobel_prize_for_literature/tagore/stray
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/search?author=tagore+rabindranath&amode=start

OneLove

:::MixMasterE:::

On Truth Crushed To The Ground

I was listening to C-SPAN's call-in segment the other day and the topic of discussion was the perception of the war in Iraq and whether or not the Bush Administration was properly handling what is fast becoming (or has become) a civil war. I was flabbergasted by the number of people who called in from all over the country ( mostly on the Republican phone line) who insisted on the U.S's right to be there and going so far as to blame the Iraqi government for not stemming the tide of the rivers of blood. Several apologists for the Bush Administration later paraded their twisted logic concerning this matter in their expected passionless, dim-witted manner. This was/is bothersome. I am encouraged, nonetheless, as there seems to be some detectable sign of life within the Democratic party . Impressively, they tried to pass a non-binding resolution opposing President Bush's troop surge in Iraq, but the GOP succeeded in knocking that down (twice)--but the battle rages on.

As they bicker about policy,strategies and recommendations in the safe inner sanctums of power and privelege, helpless innocents just going about their business in Iraq continue to be blown to pieces: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3519855663545752103

Sloooowwwwly, painfully but surely, the real story of what's going on in Iraq is trickling out, especially through the blogsphere and from a few mainstream personalites (Keith Olbermann, Jon Stewart, Lou Dobbs) who are just fed up with this insanity. Many people are rising from a deep sleep that has kept them in a catatonic stupor for far too long (thanks to widespread mass media and rhetorical manipulation). Yes, manufacturing consent is still alive and well in the U.S, but it is taking some big hits.

It's amazing how a few sparks here and there can potentially start a raging fire. This is borne out in the history of this country: The British Empire manipulated, deceived and enslaved its' subjects for decades until a few colonists started to question and discern the truth behind the patina of lies. Folks like Jefferson and Paine (Tom) exposed the self-destructive mercantile system that provided blood wealth to the British Empire and sparked the imaginations of their countrymen ( farmers, philosophers, writers, businessmen...). Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness became the mantra for revolutionary change--a better world was envisioned and it caught on like wild fire. 'America' would never be the same.

I am aware of the enormous power and influence of an empire to strike back and recalibrate the blood-encrusted scales in its favor, yet as powerful and destructive as that is, it is no match for the power of the masses united with a vision that enough is enough and that a better way..a better world is not just possible, but urgently necessary.

"Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again,
The eternal years of God are hers;
But Error, wounded, writhes in pain,
And dies among his worshippers."


:::MixMasterE:::

Musings

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
Some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they\'re a crowd of sorrows,
Who violently sweep your house
Empty of its furniture,
Still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
For some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
Meet them at the door laughing,
& invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
Because each has been sent
As a guide from beyond.

:::Rumi:::

The Dumbfuck & His Lady

                                             Now playing at a theatre near you__________________

Brother Martin

I cannot think of a better way to offer a dedication to your ever-present, ever-needed memory than in a song by the legendary Donny Hathaway, "He Aint Heavy".

The words and the evocative power of their rendering will break down the walls of our collective self-centeredness & short-sightedness. In the end, we must all make it a point to do better within ourselves and towards each other.

The road is long
With many a winding turn

That leads us to who knows where

Who knows when

But I'm strong Strong enough to carry him

He ain't heavy, he's my brother.

So on we go

His welfare is of my concern

No burden is he to bear

We'll get there

For I know He would not encumber me

If I'm laden at all I'm laden with sadness

That everyone's heart

Isn't filled with the gladness Of love for one another.

It's a long, long road

From which there is no return

While we're on the way to there

Why not share?

And the load

Doesn't weigh me down at all

He ain't heavy, he's my brother.

He's my brother

He ain't heavy, he's my brother.


peace&love 

MixMasterE

Musings

~~~butterfly dreaming~~~~

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!

 

The Fire Next Time

Pet peeve: fake folks masquerading as other than what/who they are. I'll take a neo-nazi sympathizer over a gutless, parasitical poseur any day. At least the former, although deluded by an anachronistic/revisionist ethos, has the conviction to stand firm on his/her belief whether you like it or not. The latter stands for nothing--an army of one.

In the sphere of entertainment, it's rare to find those brave, uncompromising souls who take a back-seat to no one or hang their principles out to dry. In the sphere of Hip Hop music, I see a few shining lights beyond the swamp-land of mediocrity and opportunism: Talib Kweli, Mos Def, KRS-One, Common, Ursula Rucker, The Roots, Dead Prez, De La Soul, Little Brother, Outkast, Cee-Lo, Nas, Jay-Z and 2PAC (in their finer moments), Shihan, Master Ace, Wyclef, Chuck D, Kanye and Guru ( there are a few others that don't come to mind right now) lead the way. One artist who is destined to become a member of this elite group of soul rebels is the prophetic Immortal Technique.

Ever since 2PAC emerged on the scene and shook foundation with the seminal "2Pacalypse Now", I have not heard a rapper spit volcanic lava like this. Yes, there is a plethora of fire breathing lyricists out there who can throw it down and get you all twisted ( LL Cool J, 50, Twista, Ghostface, Meth, RZA - damn! the whole Wu Tang Clan!), but after the beat wears thin, it's over as the content seems so banal and forgettable (after ridin' on pimped-out 24's high and blown/wettin' niggas up (i.e glorifying death by killing their own kind) /trampling on women aka bitches, tricks and hoes/partyin' and talking shit to escape the grim realities of hood life--Is there anything much worth remembering?) Immortal Technique engages like a modern day Socrates. He challenges the dominant structures, institutions and (dead-) mind-sets of the body politic against a backdrop of head-bobbing beats that insinuate themselves into your mental landscape razin' the m*f* to the ground!

Critique if you will ( I recommend it), but this brother has a perspective worthy of serious contemplation. Take these lines from his "Poverty of Philosophy" for example:

"Nigga talk about change and working within the system to achieve that. The problem with always being a conformist is that when you try to change the system from within, it's not you who changes the system; it's the system that will eventually change you. There is usually nothing wrong with compromise in a situation, but compromising yourself in a situation is another story completely....."

Fire.

Plenty of fools need a double-dose of this verbal penicillin to heal their syphilitic idiocy.

Check out a few of Immortal Technique's verses in this hip hop compilation..

Stay true.

::::MixMasterE::::

Closing Chapters

One of the most prolific and influential writers, Colombia's Gabriel Garcia Marquez, has retired from public life due to health reasons. He sent the following letter to his friends-- I pass it on to you, with love.

"If for an instant God were to forget that I am a rag doll and gifted me with a piece of life, possibly I wouldn't say all that I think, but rather I would think of all that I say.

I would value things, not for their worth but for what they mean.

I would sleep little, dream more, understanding that for each minute we close our eyes

we lose sixty seconds of light.

I would walk when others hold back, I would wake when others sleep. I would listen

when others talk, and how I would enjoy a good chocolate ice cream!

If God were to give me a piece of life, I would dress simply, throw myself face first in the sun,baring not only my body but also my soul.

My God, if I had a heart, I would write my hate on ice, and wait for the sun to show. Over the stars I would paint with a Van Gogh, dream a Benedetti poem, and a Serrat song would be the serenade I'd offer to the moon.

With my tears I would water roses, to feel the pain of their thorns, and the red kiss of their petals!

My God, if I had a piece of life, I wouldn't let a single day pass without telling people I love that I love them.

I would convince each woman and each man that they are my favorites, and I would live in love with love. I would show men how very wrong they are to think that they cease to be in love when they grow old, not knowing that they grow old when they cease to be in love!

To a child I shall give wings, but I shall let him learn to fly on his own.

I would teach the old that death does not come with old age, but withforgetting. So much have I learned from you, oh men!

I have learned that everyone wants to live on the peak of the mountain, without knowing that real happiness is in how it is scaled.

I have learned that when a newborn child squeezes for the first time with his tiny fist his father's finger, he has him trapped forever.

I have learned that a man has the right to look down on another only when he has to help the other get to his feet.

From you I have learned so many things, but in truth they won't be of much use, for when I keep them within this suitcase, unhappily shall I be dying."

:::MME:::

Musings

~~~~~~humbled...humbled~~~~
~http://www.sistersofunity.com/music/contact.mp3~

At the close of yet another year, I have to be thankful that I am still here, breathing. After all is said and done, the fact of just being alive is a blessing.

In contemplating the things that have really bothered me this year:

-corporate and government corruption & greed ,
-burdensome health care and education costs
-the rich getting richer/the poor catching hell
-the shameful level of homelessness and hunger
-trash T.V/trash celebrities/trash music
-climate change
-Israeli apartheid
-HIV/AIDS in Africa & India & the lack of resources and political will to end this holocaust

I have from time to time felt there was no way out of these and many other plagues of civilization.

Yet, there is hope.

I am a firm believer of the indomitable power of the human spirit to alter the course of the present and craft a better tomorrow( cliched, yes, but powerfully true). Its been done before--think Civil Rights Movement, the anti-apartheid struggle, 17th-19th century slave rebellions, the U.S Labor Movement ( thanks for my great weekends!). So, although I may wrestle with my despair with regards to the state of our world, I do see an opening at the tunnel's end and it is this hope that enacts the stance of the participants (us, We the People) to actively struggle against the evidence in order to change the deadly tides sweeping us from all sides.

Peace and love.

-MixMasterE

Crumbs From The Table by MixMasterE

Sometimes I get baffled by folks who seem so totally "lost". You know the type: class-conscious-highly impressionable consumerists concerned with achieving & maintaining the trappings of the "good life"-- the luxury car, designer clothes, vacations to brag about, over-sized houses filled with stuff that's hardly needed. It doesn't matter if this brazen, rootless search for the "American Dream" has them living in high anxiety from hand to mouth, or increasingly, in bankruptcy. So, when I read this article, I felt a rush of anger, then pity, then unrest....What can one do to correct this injustice? Where do you start? How? Leave it to blind Fate to correct the injustices? Who really knows....There's enough in the world to fufill everyone's need, but hardly enough for everyone's greed.

The greed of gain has no time or limit to its capaciousness. Its one object is to produce and consume. It has pity neither for beautiful nature nor for living human beings. It is ruthlessly ready without a moment's hesitation to crush beauty and life.

-TAGORE

See the details of this very interesting study by the UN, "

Musings

~~~~~ a natural mystic ~~~~

http://spiritual-health.org/

Musings

                                    .......lose...your...self..... 

Love Is God/God is Love...

http://www.interviewwithgod.com/lovemovie/index.htm

..is this love?...

http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2006/11/20/gaza-kids-reality-the-reality-of-the-israeli-terrorism/

http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/91301/thumbnails (warning: very graphic images)

..or this?

..http://www.aegistrust.org/filmlinks/titllink.asx

..so much to bear.

See also: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8673781830931066753&hl=en

MixMasterE

Remembering Ed Bradley (1941-2006)

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/09/national/main2165871.shtml

Rest In Peace, brother.

-MixMasterE

The Smackdown by MixMasterE

That imbecilic smirk is gone.

That arrogant, callous, combative, ego-maniacal swagger has been wrestled to the ground and fresh dirt awaits its' covering. The epitaph should read, "Pride Goeth Before Destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall".

Yes, the U.S electorate finally awakened from its' slumber and exercised its democratic power to recalibrate the scales and endeavor to recast & uphold the ideal of a government 'for the people, of the people, by the people'.

A staggering 7 million+ more votes were cast in favor of the Democrats giving them more of a 'mandate' than what Bush claimed he had in 2004. The poor wannabe cowboy aint whistlin' Dixie no more--literally. Due to redistricting/regional realignment in which a solid Northeast has replaced the solid South, Democratic control no longer depends on a bloc of Dixiecrats whose ideological sympathies were often with the GOP.

Symbolically, it's a New Day (in Babylon?). Only time will tell if the Democrats will deliver the goods or waste the opportunity to do something tangible and lasting.
(http://www.housedemocrats.gov/issues/issue.cfm?level2id=98&CFID=5946501&CFTOKEN=35803025)

With death, torture, scandal, hypocrisy, inequality, propaganda-as-news and the authoritarian tilt this nation was going in prior to the beat down the GOP took, We the People are Long Overdue a Break from all this shit!

So, in the euphoria of the moment, suspend critical interrogation and prognostication just a sec & raise your glass to the seismic shift.

A Heads Up Before Voting

Hey, Before You Vote!!!!!!!!!!

Check this very useful link:
http://yesmagazine.org/newsletters/vote2006.html




...and in case you missed this disturbing documentary:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=hacking+democracy&hl=en


...being a citizen is essentially a state of mind...sleep-walk at your peril.


-mixmastere