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"If you work at that which is before you, following right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract you, but keeping your divine part pure, as if you were bound to give it back immediately; if you hold to this, expecting nothing, but satisfied to live now according to nature, speaking heroic truth in every word which you utter, you will live happy. And there is no man able to prevent this."
- Marcus Aurelius
"Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions."
- Epictetus
"Remember always that you are just a visitor here, a traveler passing through. your stay is but short and the moment of your departure unknown.
None can live without toil and a craft that provides your needs is a blessing indeed. But if you toil without rest, fatigue and weariness will overtake you, and you will denied the joy that comes from labor’s end.
Speak quietly and kindly and be not forward with either opinions or advice. If you talk much, this will make you deaf to what others say, and you should know that there are few so wise that they cannot learn from others.
Be near when help is needed, but far when praise and thanks are being offered.
Take small account of might, wealth and fame, for they soon pass and are forgotten. Instead, nurture love within you and and strive to be a friend to all. Truly, compassion is a balm for many wounds.
Treasure silence when you find it, and while being mindful of your duties, set time aside, to be alone with yourself.
Cast off pretense and self-deception and see yourself as you really are.
Despite all appearances, no one is really evil. They are led astray by ignorance. If you ponder this truth always you will offer more light, rather
then blame and condemnation.
You, no less than all beings have Buddha Nature within. Your essential Mind is pure. Therefore, when defilements cause you to stumble and fall, let not remose nor dark foreboding cast you down. Be of good cheer and with this understanding, summon strength and walk on.
Faith is like a lamp and wisdom makes the flame burn bright. Carry this lamp always and in good time the darkness will yield and you will abide in the Light."
- Dhammavadaka
1: Choose the Greek lifestyle-the camp-bed and the cloak. The four virtues are prudence, courage, justice and temperance. A simple life of hard, serious, focused practice and learning is better then one of lax inaction and situational ethics. The material is irrelevant, instead we must amass the greatest treasure of all, character. The only way to be happy is to develop an impenetrable character with impenetrable virtues. You come into this world with nothing except yourself and you leave this world with nothing but yourself. The most depraved pauper and the corporate emperor has equal wealth at the moment of death; all material things are negated by death. The late Morrie Schwartz said “Everything that gets born dies. The best way to deal with that is to live in a fully conscious, compassionate, loving way.... Don't wait until you're on your deathbed to recognize that this is the only way to live.” Don’t squander your days in search of gold; instead focus all your energy in a state of constant practice of your ethics and virtues. Our deeds and own self-development are what make us rich. Although wealth may buy you an army, it will never buy you loyalty and it will never buy you friendship or love. The man chasing the corporate dream casts aside thing which matters most in life: community. Whether it is within his own family or the whole of our world citizenry – his time is spent gaining money instead of doing what is righteous and just. Moderation is key. Avoid the anesthetic hedonism and instead live civic virtue. Work enough to live modestly. Devote all your free time to turning the flesh to steel, the heart to gold, the actions to compassionate ones.
2: What is evil and what is good? Instead of considering good and evil as a moral dichotomy (“right” and “wrong”) instead evil might be considered as what is contrary to reason, logic, harmony and in a word: nature. Human nature (goodness or virtue) is reason. Evil then is ignorance to the mechanic of nature and unnatural (or unreasonable) decision making. Instead of being governed by irrational fears, emotions and our own desires we must then be governed by the conventions of reason, our intellect, knowledge and wisdom. What brings harmony is good, what brings discord is evil. In Buddhism the moral connotation of “good” and “evil” is removed by using the terms “skillful” and “unskillful” meaning what stops suffering, and what causes suffering respectively. Skillful actions are those which are free of ill will, desire to harm and the ego. Skillful actions lead to no possible damaging effect and only cultivate virtue, reason and happiness. The goal then is to cultivate skillful (or virtuous) actions and to avoid unskillful or destructive, aversive, greedy or delusive actions. We must then consciously replace unskillful intentions with skillful intentions and constantly strive for righteousness through diligent practice and contemplation. Use your actions as a mirror for reflecting the quality of your mind. When contemplating the nature of good and evil always remember to discard social morality (such as religion and culture) and instead follow the law of nature common to all human beings regardless of circumstance or creed.
3: Virtuous actions are what lead us to true contentment, happiness and enlightenment. Evil actions, those contrary to reason, cause suffering. Although the injection of heroin into the vein might bring with it a temporary moment of bliss and happiness it is unnatural and will pass and when it does, leaves the body broken and the mind disabled. Natural happiness although a labor to achieve persists eternally and leaves us feeling forever satisfied. Natural happiness, again, can be attained through a simple, virtuous life with as little distractions from our duty as possible. The constant buzzing, rat race existence of those in the west only brings distraction from our goals and true contentment. Instead consider choosing a quieter, calm, more natural lifestyle.
4: How can nature be virtuous if a lion brutally kills a gazelle? How can humankind be anything better if we go to the store and buy cow meat? The difference between us is that the lion kills when he needs food and in doing so fills his duty within nature while the typical man does not labor to eat and when he does, eats more then what is moderate or convergent to natural harmony. If a lion were to kill for sport, eat more then what he needed to be content or did not kill and instead allowed himself to starve to death, this would be evil. This same sort of analogy applies to almost all human relations and interaction with the natural world, not simply consumption. The natural duty of a lion is not the same as that of a man, for we have been blessed with cognition, higher reason and language just as the duty of a lion is not the same as a gazelle. Still, we must abide to our duty as men and live naturally amongst others and the natural world (as would the lion follow his duty throughout the African plain amongst the gazelle). In the Mahabharata Arjuna follows his duty or cosmic law (dharma) and chooses death over life. This is a heroic decision, a rational decision and a righteous decision. Self-preservation is sometimes not the most virtuous choice.
“Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things. Death, for instance, is not terrible, else it would have appeared so to Socrates. But the terror consists in our notion of death that it is terrible. When therefore we are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved, let us never attribute it to others, but to ourselves; that is, to our own principles. An uninstructed person will lay the fault of his own bad condition upon others. Someone just starting instruction will lay the fault on himself. Some who is perfectly instructed will place blame neither on others nor on himself.”
5: Self-control and discipline is where it starts. We cannot master the mind until we have mastered our own actions. We must always do exactly what we mean to and never spend a moment in hesitation or fear. We must decide our actions through reason rather then convenience, custom or because we desire it. Is it easier to stop a crime or to pass it by? You must be a citizen, and a citizen does not allow injustice to persist. We cannot assume others will rise as we must, we must take action at all times, no one else will. We live in a world where the unjust are given authority by a pacified people to oppress and destroy. We cannot allow this to persist, we must rise from our seats and take action, demand that the natural order is not in any way tampered with by those who desire power and wealth. It is not easy to live for our convictions, but we must. Inaction is a greater evil then any. In a time not so remote from the community was unified and did not hide behind closed blinds as crimes were committed in the street. How dare these people do nothing as our children are corrupted and destroyed by greedy fixes and bastard substances? The community is turned into a war zone, where children terrorize the elderly and parents turn away from their sons and daughters and watch Survivor instead. No my friends, we must take action and take action now. But we must not be hypocrites – we must keep our divine part pure so that we can inspire others, inspire ourselves. Do not ever allow a crime to pass, whether it be perpetuated and glorified by the overseer in public office or done in the bedroom – defend your fellow man.
6: The greatest issue to overcome in the modern era is addiction. Addiction causes our mind to centralize on things which are unproductive and forces us to always seek to fill that addiction at all expense. Because our addiction becomes our only means of feeling alive, we become apathetic to everything else. We cannot be ruled by addictions, we must rule ourselves, every single action we must do with meaning and with love. A man who is ruled by addiction is not a man at all, but a whore to automative and impulsive action. Follow where reason leads. Addictions are not reasonable; they are reckless, destructive and wasteful. Think of all the things you could be doing instead of drinking yourself to near death on the weekends. Confront your problems with the mind, not a poison. We cannot numb ourselves to our pain, we cannot escape time and time again from life’s questions which nag at us and bring us to tears in the night when we are alone. Instead of creating a buffer, force yourself to examine disturbances in your life as they occur, never avoid or suppress troubles. A trial of pain will always bring a lesson learned. Embrace anguish. People nowadays dilute themselves with drugs simply to escape and avoid the gaping hole in their lives left from the lack of ethics, religion and really, any reason to live. Instead of confronting and remedying these issues, they throw themselves into a daze and remain in a daze. While the state may ignore the incredible soul sickness of our people with distracting campaigns in foreign lands to avert our attention from domestic issues, as a true citizen you must rise to the occasion and aid the suffering in anyway possible. Educate and plant the seeds of self-revolution, self-improvement and self-determination.
7: Corporation glorifies addiction to drugs because they want your money. Media bombardment creates the eternal image that addiction is glorious, fun and ultimately fulfilling. Why? They want your money. Constant media bombardment by these companies has created a society where addicts are commonly accepted and the sober are considered alien, made outcast and ostracized. The wise chose moderation, those who wish to perpetually experience suffering chose a life of indulgence in poisons. You may be pelted with stones and be spit upon by those who would carve a different path but in the end you will be rewarded with longevity, a meaningful life and contentment while they only will know self-loathing and a disabled mind. This is not to say the abstinent man is better then the addict. We must be careful not to develop arrogance and become elitists, this is not our way, instead educate. Make the facts available, council and confide; reveal to the masses the truth that has been surgically omitted from labels, ads and commercials. The way of nature is abstinence, you will observe no animal poisoning itself, and we may live free of such chains that bind us to the ground and breath still. Fortify your skin into a stronghold of will and in doing so inspire others to lift the wool from their eyes, to realize the nature of humanity as it is and in doing so conform to the logic there. Always remember: I am not better then you, you are not better then me. They may kill me, but they may not harm me.
8: We need to develop integrity, honesty and trustworthiness. We cannot do this if we are addicts. The only thing entering your body should be what you require to live – food and medicine (when it’s absolutely necessary). Don’t casually attempt to fix your problems with pills and cure-alls, always attempt to use logic and reason and the guidance of true and concerned friends. Believe in yourself. Demand something better; you are not fated to fail. You will fail if you by the day creating self-fulfilling prophecy and drone on your past exploits. Marcus Aurelius said: “Get rid of the judgment ... get rid of the 'I am hurt,' you are rid of the hurt itself.” Take responsibility for your actions, don’t sit sulking all day and hating yourself, act, move, and get back up on your feet and try again. You will never have happiness or contentment in your life if you live for the next fix, the next better high, the next surge of instant gratification. Satisfaction in life comes not out of a moment of unnatural chemical bliss but a life of virtue and practice, of spiritual insight.
9: No level of addiction is acceptable. For those who wish to inspire others, you cannot casually dabble with addictives either. Smoking is an accepted form of addiction and drug abuse which causes more deaths then all other “illegal” drugs combined. Alcohol is another poison which has embraced the masses. Today young people go to the bar instead of church, get drunk instead of converse and spend their free time wearing down their faculties and ability to reason and think clearly. Just because these two drugs are legal does not mean they are acceptable. We need to get domestic issues out in the open, not suppress them. The old tendency to keep our problems to ourselves and avoid expressing concerns is the creation of Puritans who regarded nature as an evil and sinful creation. Nature is beautiful, it is not evil. The rationale that we are evil is created to justify the keeping of an entire population in constant fear and self-loathing so that they work for the hive mind without any deviance or questioning; it was created so you would pay your tithes on time or be condemned to a life in hell. True good lies in the soul and in reason; cherish these things as you would cherish your life. It is illogical to poison yourself; it is reckless and detrimental to your personal growth to spend your days avoiding issues and in a blind daze.
10: Never use any form of recreational drug to artificially experience the divine. All recreational drugs prove is how massively flawed the human sense is and how susceptible it is to tampering. We can only touch the divine, if only for a moment, by the power of our mind and reason. If we disable our mind with poisons we will be effectively unable to ever experience truth or divinity. The physical effect of drugs pales in comparison to the vicious effect it has on our mind, inducing states of apathy, violence, paranoia, fatalism, depression, hopelessness and self-loathing. No citizen of this world who wishes to grasp something greater obstructs himself, stay free of poisons.
11: Sex just for the sake of sex is heroin addiction with a bigger needle. Our sexual relationships should be meaningful. Random sex is pointless and wasteful. Date friends, think long term, avoid the protocols and awkward scratching of the week relationship. What is more productive, watching a two hour movie together or having a two hour conversation? Don’t buy flowers, buy books. Wealth and prestige shouldn’t be an issue; these things distract us from sincere relationships. Consider the tantra. Sexual addiction can be just as destructive as any drug addiction so we must be wary of using sex to feel love in the moment of orgasm and instead cultivate our virtues so that we feel it at all times. Just like smoking crack, if you use sex in this manner, you’ll feel unnatural bliss for a moment then revert back to self-loathing and depression until your next hit. Together great spiritual maturation can come out of a relationship – sex is the meeting of two minds and bodies in an instant, incredibly powerful energy – but avoid using sex as a hobby, way of feeling love/happiness, for profit or advancing yourself. More on the love relationship itself will follow later on.
12: Think to yourself, “is that what I need or what I want?” What you want is irrelevant; you should only pursue what you need. This is what it means to “choose the Greek lifestyle-the camp-bed and the cloak” - it means to live a life of Spartan indifference to greed and pleasure, of simplicity, of hard work, virtue and pragmatism. Strike off and reject everything relating to show and delicacy. Only expect what is required: meat, drink, clothing, house, family. The Greek lifestyle is a heroic choice, it places what is reasonable above what is desired, what is needed over what is wanted, and it demands virtue of us and a meaningful life. Desire is the cause of suffering in this world, once we eliminate suffering and master our own actions, we will be happy. We can do this through meditation and cultivating a virtuous life of compassion. We can do this through moderation in all things. To be constantly concerned with all life (the community) is to be wise. Would it be more productive to watch television or would it be more productive to help someone in need?
"Say to yourself in the early morning: I shall meet today ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, uncharitable men. All of these things have come upon them through ignorance of real good and ill... I can neither be harmed by any of them, for no man will involve me in wrong, nor can I be angry with my kinsman or hate him; for we have come into the world to work together..."
“Remember that following desire promises the attainment of that of which you are desirous; and aversion promises the avoiding that to which you are averse. However, he who fails to obtain the object of his desire is disappointed, and he who incurs the object of his aversion wretched. If, then, you confine your aversion to those objects only which are contrary to the natural use of your faculties, which you have in your own control, you will never incur anything to which you are averse. But if you are averse to sickness, or death, or poverty, you will be wretched. Remove aversion, then, from all things that are not in our control, and transfer it to things contrary to the nature of what is in our control. But, for the present, totally suppress desire: for, if you desire any of the things which are not in your own control, you must necessarily be disappointed; and of those which are, and which it would be laudable to desire, nothing is yet in your possession. Use only the appropriate actions of pursuit and avoidance; and even these lightly, and with gentleness and reservation.”
13: We should only strive to reach things that are in our power to reach. If we chase after things which are impossible (unreasonable) we will experience pain. We are not truly free until we have removed ourselves from desire, we as with addiction, are whores of our own inaction. No man is free who is not master of himself. Make yourself into a fortress of steel. Desire nothing which is not your own, desire nothing which is another’s, nothing outside the will can hinder or harm the will; it can only harm itself. Shun nothing which lies beyond your own control and seek only to control yourself:
"Permit nothing to cleave to you that is not your own; nothing to grow to you that may give you agony when it is torn away."
"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."
14: Detach yourself from distracting emotions; the passions. The passions may be love, hate, fear, joy, sadness, pleasure and disgust. Do not become emotionless, but do not allow emotions to cloud your judgment. Do not seek to extinguish emotions, only to avoid emotional troubles by developing clear judgment and inner calm through diligent practice of logic, reflection, and concentration. In disregarding the passions through clear judgment (apatheia) we can easily bypass suffering (passion) and pain. It is perhaps more productive to be objective then subjective, and think with our minds rather then our hearts. Our heart must accompany our actions, but never decide them. These emotions are what cause suffering and nothing else. Suffering is not a real thing, it occurs only in the mind, we can master our mind and walk with resolute and decisive heroism. Following Socrates, the Stoics held that unhappiness and evil are the results of ignorance. If someone is unkind, it is because they are unaware of their own universal reason. Likewise, if you are unhappy, it is because you've forgotten how nature actually works. The solution to evil and unhappiness then, is the practice of philosophy—to examine one's own judgments and behavior and determine where they have diverged from the universal reason of nature.
15: Through self-discipline of both our actions and our emotions we become clear thinkers, levelheaded and unbiased. But speaking of these things is not enough, we must practice (train) self-discipline and introspection or we have gained nothing. Do not allow the mind to wonder, instead develop logic, self-dialogue and Socratic dialogue, contemplate death, train your attention to the present through meditation, reflect on everyday problems and seek pragmatic solutions, and reflect on your own virtues, always seeking weakness or uncertainty so that you might further test the honesty of your own beliefs. Constantly remind yourself of our duty to the common good and keep your mind buzzing with ideas, considerations and puzzles. Mull over mysteries and the divine, allow yourself to be overcome with awe and imagination; build the universe in your mind atom by atom.
16: We are all manifestations of one universal spirit and should live in brotherly love and readily help one another. Even if you are an atheist would you disagree that we all stem from nature? We all come from the same primordial soup: every grain of sand, every human being. Consider the world then, as you consider your own body. Would you soil your own body? Kill yourself? Self-mutilate? Poison? If you answered yes then you need to empower yourself by beginning to think with logic rather than emotion and the lies malicious others have forced you to ingest. Demand something better for yourself, you and I are equal, brothers and sisters. Make meaning in your life, destroy the ties that chain us to the ground and enfeeble our minds and hearts. Just as you consider your body a sacred object to be protected, the earth should be protected. What gives us right to the throne? We are no more significant then the squirrel or grass around us, we are simply a cog in the machine of time, a momentary observer living in an eternal spirit which transcends time and place. Once we die, we return to the soil, we return to the spirit, we give back what we gave, to feed the worms, to serve as fossil fuel, to sustain the vultures:
"Everything is right for me, which is right for you, O Universe. Nothing for me is too early or too late, which comes in due time for you. Everything is fruit to me which your seasons bring, O Nature. From you are all things, in you are all things, to you all things return."
- Marcus Aurelius
17: Consider littering. Have we that little respect for nature (our body) that we are so quick to throw our invincible garbage upon it? It is natural for bodies or defecation to litter the wilds; those things pass with time, but what of plastic and other non-biodegradable wastes? What of toxic plumes which dot the horizon? What of oil spills, of atomic bombs? These things only destroy nature, and in doing so, destroy not only our future but pollute the divine spirit. As philosophers we must remove ourselves from this action and instead seek to create harmony with nature. To create harmony with everything is to live with virtue.
18: Sometimes creating harmony may not be easy, or desirable. George Washington had the option of becoming king of the United States, of holding power until his death, of being an autocrat, but like the great Cincinnatus before him, willingly gave up his power to inspire his fellows and set an example. Instead of creating an imperialist policy, Washington also urged for the United States to always be isolationist in his farewell address, a logical and virtuous plan of action that the illegitimate heads of state today ignore and actually deride. Washington and his fellows would have sure been given the chance to live on a bigger estate, buy more slaves and live a more comfortable life but Washington realized that this was destructive and not harmonious. The natural order of nature is harmony, not over-exertion. The Stoics held Logos to be the animating or "active principle" of all reality, the natural order. The Logos was conceived as a conduit for divine power that, in essence, orders and directs the universe. Human reason and the human soul were both considered adjuncts of the Logos, and therefore immortal via the continual recycling of the universe.
19: If the natural government of a land is vicious and causes suffering, eventually it will evolve (naturally) into a government which does not cause suffering. This may take some time, and it’s important that we do not attempt to police the world and superimpose our virtues on others. More lives will be lost in the unnatural and sudden conversion of a people to a different mindset then would come out of a gradual progression to the harmonious state. The human mind is liberal, and governments will always lean toward a liberal government, even if it takes hundreds of years. Consider the many dictatorships and communist states today. They become more liberal year after year and the people of those countries will eventually share the same liberties others may enjoy. No absolutist regime has ever lasted, rebellion and revolution will always progress the state toward a more republican mechanic.
20: Always surround yourself in a constructive and loving environment. Do not waste your time with addicts, racists, criminals and bigots unless you are attempting to inspire them to turn their life around. Do not ever allow yourself to be abused, even for a moment; always demand the respect every citizen of this world deserves. If you have no self-esteem it has because you have become accustomed to doubting yourself, typically because of an abusive dominator. You have been misled! Reject these negative influences and surround yourself with people who sincerely love you. You can find them in church, in Borders and in the university. Find people you can connect with. Avoid friendships predicated on addictions and self-destruction. Create your own culture that strives for truth in meaning done and thought of. Instead of becoming accustomed to violence and abuse, become accustomed to being respected, loved and thought of as an equal to be heard and seen at all times. These things are not privilege; they are what everyone deserves, including you. Humans require a dynamic environment where growth is possible, study is encouraged and education and truth are championed.
21: A friend is someone who accepts you for what you are and will die for you in an instant. It is someone who is willing to go out of his way to help you and will hear you out at any time of the day. A friend is someone who admires you (even if you are different) and offers his input when it is needed. A friend does not make fun of you, abuse you, or try to dilute your character ever! A friend does not demand you to join a trend or clique, to be identical to him. A friend is someone who can expect to be able to ask you for advice and help. A friend is someone who you can mature spiritually with and enjoy laughter, good company and glory. A friend is someone of steadfast ethics and integrity who you can trust with anything and you can be yourself to the utmost with no awkwardness or formality, as if you were naked. A friend is someone you could go to war or hell with, and return together with. If this criterion doesn’t match who you would consider friends, it is time to seek more meaningful relationships. Don’t allow people to use you and don’t allow supposed friends to drag you down. Remember Epictetus who said “permit nothing…” – do not allow your friends to destroy you.
22: You should treat everyone with respect, you should at least tolerate peers, and for anyone your senior, be silent, they have more experience then you, and how are you to know you will learn nothing from them? Never speak down to anyone, especially someone who has be alive a moment more - instead if they are belligerent or simply do not conform to what your reason concludes, be silent and thank them for their consideration in attempting to educate you. The only elders who should be at all times confronted are the ones who dominate others, in particular the heads of government who are not virtuous. A man who has no dominating power over another but himself is worth listening to, regardless of his words have merit or are just noise. What could you possibly gain from turning away? Even someone who is ignorant, you may better understand ignorance. Verily there is no point to disrespect an elder. Those who live by the sword, die by the sword. On the note of overseers, only the most meritous and virtuous men should have power vested in them. Lineage, wealth, association and custom are to be disregarded; only the most skilled and proficient should hold powers. Leaders should be indifferent, unbiased, compassionate and obligated to promote the common good. Instead of waging imperial campaigns in far removed places for personal gain and pandering to the public for votes, statesmen should consider their job a sacred office and live by civic virtue. Your office was not designed as a meal ticket: do what you must, do what is right, without considering the public outcry. Society is often unruly and unreasonable and needs to be overseen by educated and noble philosophers, people who have no ties to anything other then reasonable decision and critical thinking.
23: When we meditate on the fates of great men, what do we conclude? Both the meek and mighty are eventually reclaimed by the force which created them. No one escapes. Not one of us may become immortal and not one of us may avoid death. But what is to fear? Do we truthfully know what awaits us? As we decay our flesh will feed the worms, our bones will feed the fires of industry and our thoughts will have never existed.
24: Stand up for your beliefs. Be sincere in every waking moment. Never wear a mask or be different around certain people. Just as for religion, never define yourself within a trend or clique. Never physically present yourself in accordance with any trend and avoid wearing clothing with phrases, words and symbols on it. We do not want to indiscriminately coerce the passerby, remember that our goal is to reach harmony within the world, and influencing others by displaying meme-rich clothing is destructive and unnatural. Wearing identical garb as someone else promotes living within a template, mold or archetype, will impair natural judgment and individuality, and promote adherence to a hive mind or ideal instead of pragmatic and reasonable solutions. Don’t wear jewelry or any crude, gross display of wealth. Disregard fashion and wear simple, basic clothes that do not intimidate others with their opulence, the goal is to be one with the common man. Don’t wear anything which objectifies you or draws attention away from the voice. Don’t display idols. We are not our items, we are not our material, we are our soul, we are our voice, and we are our intellect. Present yourself not as royalty but as someone who is approachable by just about anyone; don’t allow your appearance to be distracting or intimidating. Avoid loudness and aggression; speak with a calm, assertive and commanding voice. Do not speak unless there is something to say. Do not speak on untested theorems; instead speak using your actions. Inspire others by action, not by words. Never speak about meaningless things or disturb the silence unless it is productive. Demand meaningful conversation instead of banal minutia. Two Buddhist proverbs say “Do not speak- unless it improves on silence” and “You can explore the universe looking for somebody who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and you will not find that person anywhere.” Remain mindful at all times, constantly stay focused, constantly be vigilant and attempt to be aware of all of the world’s subtle gestures and motions. Master the breath and focus by meditating.
25: Do not allow pride or vanity to get hold of your decisions. You will come to love yourself as you mature philosophically and this may encourage you to at moments to be arrogant or elitist, even condescending. I, and all of us, have been guilty of this from time to time but we need to catch ourselves and do not allow ourselves to become narcissistic. We must never speak down to anyone, especially those who want to learn from us. Instead embrace them as a brother or sister and treat them with all the love and concern you would treat yourself.
26: If fate deals you a blow that knocks you off your feet, you are not yet defeated. Tomorrow will bring new victories and new chances at glory and a righteous life. You must get up back on your feet, you cannot wait on others to help you up, or carry you. The hallmark of a great citizen is integrity. Although it may seem impossible to get up and try again, it is not, get up and I promise you good will come out of overcoming adversity. Never lie a moment prone and tread upon regardless of how incredibly painful your predicament may be. Master the passions and force your legs to walk onward. Transform your hate, pain or sorrow into inspiration to fight another day and never quit. Sometimes the only path to take is the hardest one to walk. Endure. In enduring, grow strong.
27: Much of our negative emotions and feelings can be controlled through focusing on the issue with rational thought. We must dedicate some time in the day to quietly meditate. No particular tradition must be followed in the meditation ritual but some effective systems include Buddhist Tantric Meditation, Yoga, T’ai Chi, Qigong, Loving Kindness Meditation (Metta Bhavana) and Insight Meditation (Mahasatipatthana Sutta). It is important that we bring our mind to stillness and are able to reflect on the path we take. In the deep, almost trancelike calm of meditation we can centralize our thoughts on particular issues and things which trouble us and discover solutions to our problems. Meditation also allows us to cultivate our focus, concentration, breathing and relaxation. In this state we can analyze our ethics with pure rational thought, deconstruct then reconstruct our lives in search of weakness or uncertainty. Remember, to be sincerely sure of all our actions and choices is the goal. Eventually every facet of our being will be unshakable and virtuous (the term “skillful” is used in Buddhism) and we will know true contentment. Consider adopting a teacher. Be wary of “healers,” charlatans and New Age spiritualists who will often modify or disregard ancient procedure for what they deem is a quicker or more effective way to enlightenment. Start meditating for fifteen or so minutes a day and slowly increase as time goes on, be careful not to exhaust your body or mind. Meditate everyday, even if it’s for a couple of minutes and do not neglect this labor. Given the proper dedication you may very well find your mind transforming into a clear spring of powerful insight, wisdom and prudence.
As a mother, at the risk of her life,
Watches over her only child,
Let him cherish an unbounded mind
For all living beings.
Let him have love for the whole world,
And develop an unbounded mind,
Above, below and all around,
Boundless heart of goodwill, free of hatred,
Standing, walking, sitting or lying down,
So long as he be awake,
Let him cherish this thought,
This is called divine abiding here.
If a person is energetic, mindful,
pure in his thought, word and deed,
and if he does everything with care
and consideration in senses restrain,
he earns his living according to the Truth.
And if the person is not unheedful,
the fame and fortune of that mindful person
steadily increases
28: In an era where we are constantly bombarded by input from the media and government it is important that we keep our minds our own and intact against any external coercion. Avoid watching television (instead watch a thought provoking movie every once in awhile) in particular the news channels. We must be objective and unbiased in our observance of the world’s events. Always hear two sides of the story, and try to find three or more sources which depict the event in a similar light. Note differences between the pitch and content of the coverage and decide on your own what is truthful and what is simply sensational. Don’t listen to music which promotes decadence, violence, racism, intolerance or destruction. Instead listen to music with thoughtful lyrics which might bring meaning to your life or inspire you to greater deeds. Do not be surprised or ashamed if your thought process begins to deviate from the mainstream, you’ll eventually discover that the majority of people are mere puppets of industry and government, led by the nose through clever manipulation of emotion and fear. We cannot be ruled in such a fashion, we must rule ourselves and make available what others will deny or conceal. Don’t follow the masses, carve your own path.
“But really, how can we rebel against the insidious encroachment of universal idiocy when the only supposed rebels we know, like 50 Cent or Eminem, are using their notoriety to sell us sneakers, energy drinks and lousy, formulaic movies? Even our “rebels” are owned by MTV, are owned by the men in dark suits, are owned by the makers of idiotic culture who sell us junk we don’t need. I can almost venture to say that it is not our fault.”
29: Be involved in politics, either as an informed and concerned citizen or as a participant in the system itself. As hinted at before, constantly educate yourself on the happenings of the world but never buy into ideological justifications and reasoning. Instead consider the socio-political climate. Ignore flowery rhetoric which speaks to our pathos (emotional and sensational communication) and demand logos (logical and rational communication)from government (covered in the Rhetoric section). Immediately consider agenda and purpose of the exposed politic. Try your best to get a grasp on the appearances, formalities and rituals of government and the happenings behind the curtain; the interpersonal relations and history of those involved. Study the record of politicians, that is the only thing that matters, not their supposed promises and bits of inspirational rhetoric. Your obligation as a citizen is to distrust government and always assume you’re being lied to. Although this sounds radical it was the ethic which our founding fathers (namely Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin) preached because they understood that a government with many centralized powers becomes a colossal self-interested cabal that seeks to push through any agenda which might benefit its members. Instead of naturally assuming what you’re being told is objective and comprehensive, assume it’s biased and discover through your own independent research if it’s legitimate. As our country becomes more federalized year after year what our founding fathers feared most becomes a reality, will you sit idly by and let this world disintegrate?
30: Walk quietly and with soft feet at every place in harmony with the world about you, confronting every aversion with mildness of temper. When conflict finds itself cast upon you sail away from it rather than meeting it at the face with stiffness and strength. In this fashion you will defeat even the most powerful foes where others would fail.
31: Never be one man at one instance and another when another consideration arises, for that will mean that you are not a man at all but a slave to externals and reputation. Cast aside and shatter the stage masks you don when in the company of others and in doing so begin to know yourself and know the others. For what would you do if all those you deceive were to meet you at once in a banquet hall, what mask would you wear then? Surely you would be exposed as the man who hides away from himself to conform to the rules of a mob which only deals in appearances. To those who you have tricked you will be seen as a traitor, betrayer and phony. Soon you will learn that the mob only exists in superficiality and is at a moment ready to ostracize with a pointed finger. Your supposed friends and family, the gimp mask rising to the surface of their face much as it once did for you, were never your friends to begin with.
32: When glory and fame falls upon you and you are swarmed by prestige blinded admirers an unrefined man would sleep with a new woman every night, a wiser man would bed one that he happened to find love with and a sage would reject all indulgences of the sort.
33: Remain skeptical not only in interpreting the media exposed to you but also all things. Humans are naturally gullible. This is not our way. We must be at all times vigilant, constantly observing and analyzing all that is around us by cultivating our ability to reason and deduct. Get a grasp on the basics of academic science and debating, on grammar, composition and on rhetoric (covered later). If you lack these weapons you will be easily deceived by those who do wield them. The people who run the world are rhetoricians, logicians and orators and in this way, it is how it must be, but if these men are not ethical and indifferent in their path and instead use their skills for personal gain, we are shamed. You must develop the same skills but develop ethos (ethics) and use them in a compassionate and virtuous way as opposed to a self-interested way. You will never truly be self-realized and independent from the media machine if you do not master these skills and will always be dazzled and flush with fear when the latest report of distant foes comes across the two minutes hate. Instead of immediately feeling fear and uncertainty when two towers are destroyed use reason to discover what has happened, never allow yourself be whisked away to a state of bloodlust or recklessness by sensational rhetoric. Perhaps the best choice is not to strike the man in the face (carrying a pistol under his petticoat) who has glanced at your woman for a moment? Perhaps the best choice is not to run your fellow citizen off the road and attack him with a bat when he brakes in front of you and nearly causes you to collide with him? Perhaps the best choice is not to live with hubris and a fragile ego and instead live a humble and reasonable life?
34: Always help those in need. If you see a homeless man on the side of the road do not step over him, instead implore him to tell you of his condition. If he is unhappy and wishes better for himself do what you must to get him help even if it means sacrificing your time or money. The state has abandoned these men to the street so it is up to the compassionate citizen to act in their stead. If you see a person in distress and pain council them, always offering alternatives and hope to the current situation. Many lost people only need an ounce of hope and inspiration to get themselves back up on their feet, grant them that, offer sincere friendship in a world where it’s considered taboo or stigma to communicate with those in a weakened state. Disregard how you’re perceived for your acts of kindness and ignore those who will argue its “better them then me.” This same rationale is what destroyed the Roman republic and what has reduced the once radiant civic virtue of this country to apathy and uncaring. Once the citizen begins to think only about his own security and not his brothers and sisters, collapse soon follows. Greed does not build nations, only empires held together by Assyrian fear, which soon collapse under their own contagious strife.
35: Never take life unless you absolutely need to. In a time where rapid overpopulation and industrialization has thrown the natural equilibrium of nature into chaos we must compromise. Consider a vegetarian or vegan diet. Be sure that your food is collected with as little harm done to the ecosystem as possible, study where it’s coming from and how it is processed. When eating, one should not eat too richly, for it could lead to dissatisfaction later, such as the grim realization that one could not afford such delicacies in the future. If you absolutely must eat meat consider buying it from butchers, farmers and local sources instead of the corporate slaughter houses. Consider abstinence or at least consider taking a vow not to have children. Over-indulgence in sex could lead to increased lust and dissatisfaction with the sexual partner. Masturbate as Diogenes did to disarm lust that would otherwise be dishonestly spent on another human being.
The stories told of Diogenes illustrate the logical consistency of his character. He inured himself to the vicissitudes of weather by living in a tub belonging to the temple of Cybele. He destroyed the single wooden bowl he possessed on seeing a peasant boy drink from the hollow of his hands. When asked how to avoid the temptation to lust of the flesh, Diogenes began masturbating. When rebuked for doing so, he replied, "If only I could soothe my hunger by rubbing my belly."
Furthermore, we don’t need more mouths to feed and we don’t need more mouths to feed that create more mouths to feed. We no longer are struggling to survive against the wooly mammoth or Homo erectus and the survival of our species no longer relies on procreation. At our rate of expansion this world will be nothing more then a smoldering ruin within a thousand years and although some nations have taken measures to reduce wasteful side effects of industry (Kyoto Accord) the world’s economic leader the United States has entirely ignored the problem and only escalated it with an ecological policy of reckless expansionism. We are humbled by our life spans. Our lifetime, rarely longer than a century in length is nothing but a blink in the cosmic scheme of things. The irrelevancy of our individual life leads us to abandon meaning in our lives and instead cling to escapes to make us feel comfortable in our eventual voyage to death. We must spend our lives doing what is programmed within our nature: compassionate unification of all life without strife and the expansion of knowledge and communication for the betterment of our world. We must look beyond and consider the future; there is no utopia on the horizon and no one is taking action, we cannot assume the future generations will do anything, and by then it will be too late. Look beyond your own survival, live heroically; consider the survival of humanity and civilization as we know it, not the details of your funeral service and tombstone; these things are superficial. We must take action now and serious action lest all life be overcome by the awesome vengeance of a battered earth.
36: We need role models in community and intimacy in communication to form meaningful relationships. We need men of exemplary and unquestionable character in positions of power that are in power by merit and merit alone. We don't need corporate raiders with coke addictions who avoid going to war and avoid the law as our president. In a true republic he would already be exiled or executed. In a true republic, the community heads would have much more power - instead they hide in their houses and close the blinds as their children peddle drugs in the street. Our founding fathers were true republicans - men of exemplary virtue, conviction and courage who were justified role models. Yes, many of them had their flaws, but in the end, they lived and died for their communities, not their own wallets. The same sort of Roman virtue inherent to Cincinnatus is also inherent to Washington. Back when our heroic forefathers returned from the fields of Europe and the islands of the Pacific men stood up for what they believed in and would come together in a community to defend it's integrity. Today citizens are purely apathetic and really don't care about anything besides the predatory pursuit of the material and sensation.
37: The reason why so few people care about the community is mainly because of the advent of Christianity and materialism. Christianity led to the downfall of the Roman republic because people stopped caring about the community, living well and life here on earth and looked for salvation in the cosmos and solely dedicated their lives to that. A pre-Christian Roman statesman was fanatically dedicated to character building, glory and righteousness and above all else had a great sense of honor and pride. Much like the declining Roman Empire, our very moral fabric is what is leading to the collapse of the American empire. The universal ethics inherent to all human beings is being ignored and the gap created in our lives by lack of meaning is being filled with instant gratification, predatory materialism and hedonism. Although these things might give us a sense of happiness for a short while, we will always seek more. The only way to be happy is to develop an impenetrable character with impenetrable virtues. This is the sole pursuit worth pursuing in life. Furthermore the community is an extension of us, everything is an extension of us, we are part of the earth - and everyone is our brother or sister. Ignoring the community is akin to ignoring our own diseased body.
38: Simply put - we don't have role models today, we don’t have a sense of civic virtue, we don't have ethics, we don't have a proper Greek (republican) education and we dysfunctional families and relationships - all of which are going to lead to the collapse of this country. So where do we go from here? First we need the education system to be massively reformed, and then we need a hand of justice to eliminate all the corruption in government. Neither of these things will ever be done unless someone acts. I walk through the streets of DC at noon with a lantern in my hand and the suits ask why, I respond that I’m just looking for an honest man.
39: Why should we have children? First, you must be prepared to give the child a proper tutoring in the Greek lifestyle, to deny the corruption of the public schools and ensure the child is treated to either home schooling or the best possible private education available. You must provide an environment where the child can mature philosophically and interact with other rising intellectuals. You must be prepared to be strict but never arbitrarily as my and your parents probably were – but rather out of reason. Have a reason why the child cannot stay up past eight, have a philosophically justified reason why they shouldn’t poison themselves, have a reason why they should avoid dogma and absolutism, have a reason why they should inherit the four virtues and become a cosmopolitan hero. If you can provide that and more and are willing in a instant to sacrifice yourself to save your progeny then you might consider having a child betting on the chance that it would one day mature as a inspirer, philosopher, mover and architect. Having a child just for the sake of having a child is wasteful and destructive; only create a child who enters this world with a purpose, to continue your own pursuits to make this world a better place and to once more retain our civic virtues, to push onward with compassion and inspire others to meaningful and glorious deeds. You must abandon all other pursuits while the child is being raised and devote all your energy and love toward the child, but do not dare confuse this labor with that of showering the child with material gifts. The child should live a minimal life of little luxuries and functional asceticism, nothing should be handed, he should only grasp things by merit and skill, just as he must live in the greater society. Endow in the youth the skill of self-discipline so you mustn’t ever need to discipline it yourself – from mastering the actions, development of the mind follows in accord.
40: Its best to be gray, to grasp at nothing, to always be in the eternal search for truth, while following a vigorous and rational oath of ethics - to never condemn nothing, nor deny nothing, but cling to nothing, but cleave to nothing, only grasping at what is immediate and known to us: human reason. Everything else is speculation - whether it is the absolutism of the Catholic Church or the scalding diatribe of the atheist. Both atheism and absolutism confine possibility and demand you to keep yourself within a box of assumption. It is better to come to judgments and decisions on a case by case basis, using the universal sword which is reason to cut down illusions and false causes - and never allow yourself to be whisked away in the irrationality of an absolute fate, of an absolute mind. When one allows the mind to be shackled with ethnocentrism, hatred, bias, ego and in a word: absolutism, he surrenders his innate ability to compromise, come to conclusions external of that absolute and truly think independent of any coercion. The goal is to be free from ego and to live purely for the pursuit of excellence in all things. We can never even reach a mediocre level of excellence if we allow ourselves to be disabled by arbitrary absolutes. Grasp at nothing, cleave to nothing. A life spent chasing after a ghost is a life squandered.
41: I grasp at nothing that is not within my reach. I do not pursue impossibilities nor do I try to explain things that do not have an answer, nor do I fight battles which cannot be won, and in doing so only grasp at which is immediate, masterable, human, reasonable, and natural. I pursue things that I can do, that I can accomplish. If I want something I cannot have, I am distraught. If I only manipulate things I already control, I am content. I do not speak to god because god does not speak back. I do not allow my imagination to rule me. Even if god did speak to me, how could a human understand the true meaning to which it was exposed? Even if I did understand, how could I possibly convey that message comprehensively to the masses or even to myself? These things are outside my grasp, they are impossible. Why detail god then? Why define god then? Why command your fellow brothers and sisters in humanity to commit to god’s will? Disregard this primal curiosity – grasp at what is yours to grasp. The nature of humans is reason, grasp at reason. Common to all people, regardless of creed is reason, grasp at the united global community. Do not grasp at one skin tone. Do not grasp at one depiction of god. Embrace all. Segregation is created by absolutists to divide and conquer enemies. Homosexuals are not to be outcast. Slavery is unacceptable. Defend the bonds inherent to humanity with your life, to the bitter end, fight to the last breath and never betray a single soul by acting contrary to the reason of the universe.
42: On this note, be prepared to have a philosophical justification for all aspects of your life. Any aspect of your life which you cannot justify should be rediscovered as soon as possible. Why do you believe what you believe? If the answer is “because” or “tradition” or “custom” or “convenience” you are not living to your full potential. Break down the walls of dogma; attack your beliefs until they are impervious to all doubt. If you are defeated in dialogue and find weakness in one of your beliefs, it is then time to reconstruct your life and look very carefully for faults in logic and reasoning. Avoid pyramidal reasoning, as in “I believe this because this must be true” and instead try to address each facet of your character with an individual, custom tailored solution. Spend a good portion of your day just in introspective meditation thinking about how you handled every judgment that day and if you have done something which is even slightly deviant from what you intended, remind yourself to not make that mistake again. It is also important not to drone on particular failures or hardships and to instead accept the outcome and strive to go beyond in the road ahead. Accept the consequences of your actions always and never make excuses; accept punishment and if you escape the eye of the public, punish yourself. In the end nothing is real unless it conforms to reason and your own judgments, if you ever find yourself wearing a mask, cast it aside and find yourself before you are dispossessed of your own body. Validate every judgment and decision that comes to pass and in doing so truly become an individual who knows contentment and happiness. To live otherwise is not to be independent but to be a slave to the programming of another, a fate far worse than death.
43: On this note, fear the coercion of groupthink. We tend as a people to herd together in genocidal like-minded groups and to always strive to conform to society’s accepted archetypes out of fear of rejection and the desire to be accepted by our peers. Don’t ever allow yourself to agree automatically with any group mindset. The Robert Kennedys, Malcolm Xs, Martin Luther King Jrs and Gandhis of this world are slain and no karma will rebound against their attackers - there is no catharsis and no pay back time. Justice doesn't meet the overseer, only a long life is rewarded, while the righteous are murdered and forgotten and redefined in "history" books as terrorists and revolutionaries against the status quo. Let justice flow through you; be the hand of justice. Demand fairness in government and demand punishment for Brahmin and untouchable alike. Do not allow criminals with Armani suits to slide past the executioner’s axe while the black skinned pauper in rags is sent to the electric chair. Everyone is equal, no one is better than you, and you are better than no one. Prejudice is illusory; prejudice is fabricated; prejudice is arbitrary. No baby has ever emerged from the womb and said “Six Jew bankers control the world’s money supply and I hate niggers.” Hatred is something you learn, not what you are born with. In this context, the rich deserve equality in the eyes of the law. Too common is it for those with money to pay off corrupt statesmen and law officers and to escape with a smile upon the face. This is unacceptable; this is intolerable. Our founding fathers were virtuous men who would never allow this tyranny to persist and neither should you. They are true patriots and true Americans who fought the good fight for the sake of humanity and fought corruption for the sake of goodness, not for self-advancement.
44: Consider pacifism. Only take another human’s life if it is absolutely necessary. Fighting is pointless and unproductive, as is any act of violence. Most urges to cause harm to others originate from a lack of self-esteem or self-worth and we can remedy this through diligent practice of philosophy. Ego and honor are illusory things that only complicate our relationships and endow in us irrational belligerence and militancy. Instead of allowing ourselves to be overcome with frustration, hatred and violence we must consider the logic behind these passions and cultivate loving kindness for all life. Instead of expressing your pent up emotions through violence against others, master the body through serious practice of a martial art such as Shaolin Gongfu, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or Muay Thai. Although you may be overcome by the intensity of these disciplines initially, with dedication and patience you will not only master your body but also your mind (in particular the passions, breathing and self-control). Just as with finding a meditation teacher, be sure you are practicing a pure form of the martial art and not a diluted westernized composite. If this is not to your fancy find another constructive outlet involving your creative mind such as art, writing or building something. Whatever you do, find a way to channel your negative emotions and urge to harm into a positive spring of compassion.
45: Humble. Humble is how we should strive to be. Don’t spend your life pursuing a dream, utopia or salvation, instead live grasping at nothing that would consume your time away from the simple, righteous life. What is the inherent value to medals, trophies, commendations and other forms of prestige? What is gained from dedicating a life in the pursuit of great mansions and plantations? Where is the reason in praying to a transparent god everyday, following the command of men who claim knowledge of it, denying all other creeds in hopes of a divine tomb? Would it be best to display great riches and deny all of those less fortunate then you? Is your life justified if you step on the faces of the weaker in the climb to corporate immortality? All these things are external to us, pointless and do nothing but cater to our ego and need to be perceived as powerful or successful in the modern rat race. A great man was once said to be a wise man; a noble man. Just as Shakyamuni cast aside his riches and embarked on the ascetic lifestyle to finally discover the middle road of moderation, you must discover a gray area where you are respected by admiration rather then by fear. Walk through places reserved for the rich and observe the faces of the less fortunate as the towering elite proudly stride past with their noses in the air and a defiant scowl on their faces. Observe the decadent and overindulgent opulence in designer shops as men freeze to death in the winter frost outside or starve in the street. As the CEO buys another six hundred dollar coffee mug or Persian rug the poor are dying. As the statesman gives a photo op and afterwards retires to bohemian grove to plan the next power play the ragged child stands with dead eyes gawking at the twenty five cent biscuit just twenty five cents too expensive. Remain humble.
“You may be unconquerable, if you enter into no combat in which it is not in your own control to conquer. When, therefore, you see anyone eminent in honors, or power, or in high esteem on any other account, take heed not to be hurried away with the appearance, and to pronounce him happy; for, if the essence of good consists in things in our own control, there will be no room for envy or emulation. But, for your part, don't wish to be a general, or a senator, or a consul, but to be free; and the only way to this is a contempt of things not in our own control.”
46: The education system is the opiate of the masses and has been implemented to sustain a society of drones burdened with bearing the tremendous appetites of the Brahmin elite. The public schools perpetuate lies in print and word to keep the masses docile, uninterested and silent. A life of zealous, backbreaking work, baby creation and predatory materialism is advocated over the pursuit of happiness and glory. Education is the most important thing in the raising of a citizen and will shape the mindset and mechanic of that individual for their entire life. Making drugs illegal will not make drugs disappear from the streets, the only way to win that war is by educating the people in the fundamental virtues and cultivating self-respect and respect for the cosmopolitan community. Instead of memorizing supposed factoids and being compartmentalized as a faceless social security number our society should on the contrary place an emphasis on intimate communication skills, rhetoric, grammar, debate, character development, self-determination, epistemology and inspiring our children to great deeds, works and self-empowerment. This education, as is outlined in this primer you are reading, is the most important education of all; the education of character. We need to teach Ciceronian Rhetoric and the Stoic virtues in school; endow in the student the basic skills to communicate, seek truth in all pursuits and live well. With no independent and unbiased organization to monitor the school curricula the government is granted clemency to literally define history and fact as they see fit. Knowledge cannot be mutilated to conform to agenda and the sterilization of the human mind. You are not fated to work sixty hours a week and live a life of bone grinding servitude so the Fords, Kennedys, Tafts and Bushs can buy another yacht or monument of grandeur, you are fated for greatness and for glory. The schools will condition you for the very opposite and avoid character development at all costs so that you’ll become a good little worker bee and do exactly as your told; so you’ll always pay your taxes on time and be a loyal and even fanatical subject. Reject this dysfunctional system and claim the power which is yours to grasp, the power of self! By poisoning yourself, following your passions and escaping you are giving the overseer precisely what he wants, a defeat. Fight to the death.
47: Communication has broken down. Intimacy has been replaced by electronics. Cars replace the quest. Relationships have never been more meaningless or destructive. Deceit and trickery are the tools to power, not virtue, not duty, not compassion. Men use women. Bitch get in my car. Women slay good men. Open communication is obscured by conditioning. Our education system is engineered to create 9-5 worker bees, blatant manipulations and lies are allowed to be "taught" to the masses - a adventurous and happy-go-lucky Columbus who treated Indians with compassion, Thanksgiving as a meeting of the WASP and redskin atop Pequot graves and the world was flat before the "new world" was discovered. The public schools don't educate anyone; they simply indoctrinate and condition to a fate far those than death; unlife as a slave to the overseer who hugs the telescreen in hopes of being reassured of his safety; a drone, a whore and sculpture of an irrational ideal. Our government actively seeks to perpetuate Orwell's greatest fear, and year by year the charade becomes more inflamed, Emmanuel Goldstein avoids capture and the lies are more readily accepted by the thrall masses. When the Brotherhood is displaced under boot a new threat always emerges, to take your mind off domestic issues. Put men in space, don't put men in apartments. Fireworks and a stage show to draw our attention from the rotting foundation, the gilding looks authentic from afar and why should we care about others when we can achieve excess and affluence ourselves?
48: The people who were so appalled by hearing about a NORML chapter in their school and the notion that Alabama might be legalizing should reconsider their standpoint. First off, it is not the federal government's prerogative to interfere with private life - only the states should have that power, and the laws should be created by popular assembly; it is unlawful for the central government to police any aspect of local life. Why is cannabis illegal anyway? It was smoked just as much as cigarettes in the south by poor farmers and the lower class however the government needed a new scapegoat to blame all domestic issues on after prohibition failed, and that scapegoat was cannabis. The legality of cannabis is entirely arbitrary - it was simply a platform for politicians to get a meal ticket and be elected into office much like the McCarthys before them. Watch some vintage cannabis PSAs - most of them report that the drug is a powerful hallucinogen that will bring about insane behavior and murder, that it turns you into a Satan worshipper and you lose your soul if you use it (seriously, watch some). The only reason its illegal is because it was a politicians' fire - much as were the communists, alcohol or "terrorists" nowadays. Personally I believe it should be illegal for the government to police your personal life and all drugs should be legalized. The best way to combat addiction is to educate, not imprison people. History shows that attempting to suppress anything only increases public fascination with it - whether it is a language, religion or material. The reason why its still illegal is because the government makes a great deal of money off of it being illegal. In Europe, where weed is mostly decriminalized, and in some parts legal - there is no social decadence problem that we are experiencing here. It should be illegal to use in public, but if your in the privacy of your own home, who cares? If you want to kill yourself, you have that right, oh wait, no you don’t, suicide is a punishable offense of up to ten years in jail (Big Brother loves you). Because throwing someone in a cell teaches them not to smoke weed or slit their wrists, it’s the compassionate solution - let those criminals rot, who cares, their criminals, but release them in ten years, so that they can re-enter society with a renewed hatred, having learned nothing. The best way to combat addiction is to endow in the student a great deal of character development, especially in the fields of intimate communication, rhetoric, logic, grammar, oration and critical thinking - this way they discover the only logic choice is not to use drugs. Of course this won't ever happen in the public schools - which are the very thing which introduce many kids to the addictions which will haunt the rest of their lives. This brings us to the central problem with this country: education. Education is the most important thing of all, and to call the propaganda and banal minutia machine we send our kids through an education is a travesty. On the very contrary the "Education" system in this country is simply conditioning to create a perfect 5 star employee who is content to remain bovine and silent his entire life being tugged along by the overseer - pay your taxes, buy trinkets, sit down and have a beer, watch Survivor, silence citizen. Education should create citizens who want to accomplish great deeds and are confidant in their ability to cultivate virtue - both personal and civic, not intimidated 9-5 whores of fashion who close their blinds when their kids peddle heroin on the street corner. The way to combat our social decadence is a good Greek education in the vein of the sophists and stoics - not to use force to suppress arbitrary bans on naturally occurring plants with massive sentences and SWAT teams.
49: The people of this society are often depressed, feel hopeless or simply are apathetic because it seems impossible to grasp contentment in such a violent and buzzing world but you will find that if you detach from the negative, “keep your divine part pure” you will be happy, and “there will be no man able to prevent this.” The negative things are what disable the mind, instead focus on what you have instead of what you don’t have, and don’t grasp what is not yours. What is yours is judgment, reason, our own actions and decisions, what is not yours is everything external to your mind. We cannot control others; we can only inspire them to control themselves virtuously by mastery of our own mind and own actions. In avoiding impossibilities, dreams, imagined absolutes (the “best career,” “best family” or “best house”) and time squandering quests (such as dedicating your entire life to winning a trophy) we can accomplish much more in the same amount of time by instead grasping at more immediate and familiar things. A man in misery can be happy in a instant if he casts aside his desire for something beyond him and instead settles for what he is designed for, and instead accept glory if glory is fated to fall upon him instead of actively searching for it. Again, this is a heroic choice, the common choice would be to do whatever you wanted regardless of how selfish your actions might turn up being and how truly wasteful they could be. What does winning the Tour De France mean? In one thousand years you might be lucky if you remain a single line in some compendium of sports history. Instead of dedicating your life to pursuits which don’t matter (in the cosmopolitan sense) pursue things which are realistic and which entail compassion and productivity. Time destroys everything external to us. The only thing which persists through eons is thought itself, evolving ever constantly generation by generation. Revolutionize the mind and revolutionize history; save the earth from the plague of contemporary civilization.
50: The goal is to be detached from the material and emotional, free as a bird, unrestrained and unburdened by the things which weigh us down with iron chains but need not. If you claim nothing which is not your own, you will glide easily through life and with much happiness. If you desire things outside yourself you will be disappointed when you cannot attain them. Other untrained men will seek the same things you seek and you will be confronted by them. To avoid this combat simply release from the pursuit and lead a life of simplicity. If you abide to this you will find no enemies, no harm, no abrasion and no confrontation. If you persist against the grain and continue to desire the externals you will only be met with pain and unhappiness. This concept is alien to many of us in the west who have been designed for something entirely opposite, a life of constant pursuit, hunting and killing. This concept has only led to the dysfunction, misery and self-loathing of an entire people. Confront the men who appear to have ultimate power and happiness with reason and force yourself to see through the appearance and charade of a practiced smile. Pursue only things internal to us: character and the four virtues. If something is not in our control it is nothing to us.
“If you wish your children, and your wife, and your friends to live for ever, you are stupid; for you wish to be in control of things which you cannot, you wish for things that belong to others to be your own. So likewise, if you wish your servant to be without fault, you are a fool; for you wish vice not to be vice," but something else. But, if you wish to have your desires undisappointed, this is in your own control. Exercise, therefore, what is in your control. He is the master of every other person who is able to confer or remove whatever that person wishes either to have or to avoid. Whoever, then, would be free, let him wish nothing, let him decline nothing, which depends on others else he must necessarily be a slave.”
51: Always remind yourself the nature of the things you love. How can one become angry when his favorite video game is destroyed? How can one even contemplate striking the person who destroyed it, even if done intentionally? Remind yourself that the video game is nothing significant but only a piece of plastic so that when it is destroyed you will not be disturbed. Never allow yourself to be disturbed over the destruction of material or external things, work to develop self-control and reason, do not allow the passions to sweep you off your feet and perform a reckless act. Nothing belongs to you but your own mind. Not even your body is entirely yours, broken down by nature and by time. There is nothing that can restrict your mind however; the mind is only restricted by things which can be remedied through practice and discipline. So when one says “I will never be happy” or “I am sad” what he should say is “I am allowing myself to be sad because I am defining myself as being sad.” Mastering the internal voice is a crucial discipline, simply circumvent the decision of “I am sad” and you will not be sad. On this same note avoid saying “I am in love” or “I am happy” but instead exist just as you are so that you cannot experience anguish when these impermanent things come to pass and pass they will.
52: The government is a self-interested cabal, illegitimately throned, vicious and superficial, a charade of what it once was; Augustus' republic, which strives to perpetuate the true Orwellian epic: a world where fear is used to perpetuate a constant mindset of brutal bloodlust, apathy and unquestionable automation. You exist so that the Fords, Tafts and Bushes can buy another yacht on your back, on your taxes and on your blood. The quicker you are silent and watch Survivor, the quicker you'll be happy. Oh and while your at it, surrender your mind to madness and drug yourself, you'll hurt less. Oh and while your destroying your faculties and giving them your dollars make sure you also listen to our MTV-approved formulaic nonmusic, especially tunes which promote violence, decadence and conformance to archetypes and societal expectations. The rebels of our generation now sell rap snacks and sneakers for corporations, they are nothing but ghosts, puppets to the man and puppets to fashion. To be a patriot is to be defiant, to be dissident. A patriot is not a zealot and not a blind follower. There are no patriots in this country. To accept a lie without feeling compelled to make things right is to be dead. To step over a dead bum on your way to Pilates, to turn away the tears of the abused and raped and turn up the volume on your iPod while rolling your eyes - get rich or die tryin', to ignore the natural human urge to be compassionate and instead replace it with apathy to fit in with the other clones around you, that is to be dead.
53: Do not allow personal ties to obstruct your duty first as a human being, then as a citizen to the state (community). Although you may plough your field and be at peace with your family do not ever allow this semblance of a utopia to dull your senses, remain vigilant and be ready to at once don the mantle of the soldier who fights the good fight and in doing so might never return to his farm before fate claims him. Do not commit to an unjust calling, do not allow yourself to be ruled by a unjust ruler but do not allow yourself to simply do nothing. Part of your responsibility as a citizen of the state is to take up arms (be it your voice or the sword itself) against the intolerable and unreasonable. So when we speak of duty to the state it means not to blindly follow the whims of the overseer but instead commit to the founding ideology, virtues and what it ought to be. We must not favor those familiar to us over those foreign to us and we must not get into positions of authority or foster positions of authority through anything save merit. Is it better to deploy your divisions in defense of a city or in defense of your family’s house? Do not allow your personal relationships to compromise your duty and always be prepared to leap to your feet and join a just cause. If you are to die in the line of duty, your death will be justified, but only for a duty which is virtuous, dying for an unjust cause is the greatest injustice of all. When your duty is completed instead of exploiting your glory, power and prestige return to the farm and retire the sword, but keep it close. In this manner Cincinnatus and George Washington achieved both wisdom and virtue.
"It's not a matter of whether the war is not real, or if it is, Victory is not possible. The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous. Hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. This new version is the past and no different past can ever have existed. In principle the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia [Terrorism] or East Asia [Iraq] but to keep the very structure of society intact."
- George Orwell
54: It is better to live in rags with contentment then affluence with agitation. If something is not perfect in your life and you cannot remedy it or it would require an unreasonable solution, let it be. It is better for these things to not be perfect and you to be happy then for you to seek forever to perfect things only to be unhappy. Little or no effort should be spent on fixing things, it is the way of harmony as they are, the logos of nature, as it is your logos to be free from perturbation. It is better to die in a jail cell with an uncompromised nature then it is to die wrapped in silks with much distress and grief. The stoics would often commit suicide rather then betray their virtues, and in this regard the samurai’s harakiri is justified; do not ever cheapen yourself to grasp at the illusion of happiness. Happiness is acceptance, temperance and conformance to the nature of harmony, unhappiness is strife, discord and endless effort.
55: Don’t seek to know everything, accept the fact that human beings are ignorant to everything and know nothing. If you are gloated upon and showered with compliments, distrust yourself. Always accept and consider the criticism of both friends and enemies, never turn away a critic and always meditate on the supposed fault. Do not allow yourself to be enveloped by the ego as you are idolized, praised and flattered. Don’t ever accept anything you do as flawless. It is difficult to conform to the natural law and also pursue external things such as prestige and glory and you will surely neglect one or the other in the race. Instead of then tumbling after the flattery of others, disregard these things and be prepared to punish yourself for any deviance from the eternal path of reason. Catch yourself in the act before you are saturated in the monarchial grandeur and find your army starving and broken in Russian fields. Prudence before pride, reason before ego; true power lies in a trained mind, not the purple cloak, at the lectern, not the throne.
56: It is not the inherent nature of tragedy which causes us sorrow but rather our judgment (decisions) about them. Only the mismanagement of our mind can cause discomfort and agony. If for example you wish your love to live forever, you will only be met with disappointment and pain. If you wish your boss to always be prudent you will be disappointed. And if you expect a divine hand to reach down and rescue you from your troubles you will be disappointed. Instead of expecting impossibility, accept the nature of things and be at peace with them, let nothing be a surprise by reflecting and contemplating on all relations. If you demand something to be other then what it is you will experience nothing but agitation and failure, discontent and in a word: suffering. Whoever, then, would be free, let him wish nothing, let him decline nothing, which depends on others else he must necessarily be a slave.
57: Observe death, imprisonment, estrangement and other things that might be deemed terrible by the typical man daily and become accustomed to them so that you might never form hopeless or greedy thoughts. In this manner you will also familiarize yourself with the true nature of war, theft and other crimes rather then the common appearance of them that are often marginalized by conversation and theory. It is best not only to read about war but to see the full effect of it, as should anyone condoning the passing of any conflict, so that we might observe the wanton carnage in it’s true state. War is not flags, ideology and rhetoric; it is only death, pain and suffering. When the demagogue justifies a conquest through flowery words rather then logic, you are in the midst of observing an appearance, not the true state of affairs. Seek constantly to undermine the appearance and strive to snatch the essence behind it. You may catch but a glimpse of the true nature of violence at ogrish or rotten.com and other uncensored, unbiased internet sites. Distrust mainstream information sources for accurate depictions of the brutality of violence, discover it for yourself. A man ignorant to tragedy should not rule on their judgment yet he be caught up in inexperience and assumption. When you are ignorant to anything, remain silent and let those with experience judge, trust in veterans, distrust neophytes (including yourself) - but always push to experience what you are indeed ignorant to so that you might better understand existence.
58: Beware exposés, media, television, magazines and tabloids. Remember that these publications are created for one reason and one reason only: entertainment of our desires. For more accurate information on a topic read academic journals or on the internet: .edu and wiki sites. Any source of knowledge which has not been checked by watchdogs or does not adhere to a firm, enforced set of academic guidelines is unreliable and should be avoided as creditable information. Of course we should always strive to expose ourselves to all sources of information but we must remain especially vigilant and carefully consider the essence, objective and environment surrounding supposed “news” and entertainment publications. Similar to clergy, most of the time mass media is attempting to sell you something, whether you realize it or not. Whether it is fanatical support or incited hatred against an enemy, your vote, your dollar, your allegiance, your body or your mind, something is grasped at by those who disseminate information on a massive scale. Be cynical of everything but be careful not to develop paranoia or extremist tendencies, simply ignore anything created by corporation and instead listen to the one voice within you, the voice of reason and nature.
59: Television is a mind numbing anesthetic designed to keep us fanatically informed of new corporate creations which we don’t need under the guise of entertainment. Consider the sheer volume of ads and commercials you are bombarded with in just an hour of television programming, many of which are socio-political in nature and often are designed by mastered rhetoricians to intentionally influence your opinions. Most Americans develop their political affiliations solely by watching network news but nothing can be gained from Bill O’Reilly’s two minute hate besides a one sided, biased, violent and marginalized viewpoint. Stop watching television, embrace academia and philosophy. You will gain nothing from this stream of banal minutia that constantly is hammered against your senses to condition you to be the perfect drone, the perfect clone, the perfect worker, a star employee. Are you who you think you are? You need to consider everything, you need to expose yourself to all views, you need to release from the violent escapism promoted ever constantly by media, grasp meaning and run with it, live a life of accomplishment and glory that you are destined to live. Stand up and shatter the chains bound to your limbs by thinking outside the box. We are all heroes and great gods conditioned to think less of ourselves, to accept the 9-5 and bone grinding nonsense situation ethic, but this is not our fate. Is it our destiny to live as we are, is this what nature intended, what god intended, what our own bodies have intended? Is this our destination, the place where we can accept death with a smile on our face? Is it acceptable to give up our dreams and say “that is impossible?” Why is it impossible? Look beyond. Follow your instinct, follow what's right, don't fall for fashion, don't fall for hype, follow your viscera, follow your soul, and don’t let the powers that be have control. Cherish yourself, demand something more.
60: Master your tongue. Do not speak of things that don’t matter and do not hold meaning, and when you do speak, speak with few words and never with vulgarity or haste. As hinted at before, training yourself to be silent is an important skill that will bring about much contentment and peacefulness of mind. Training in silence does not mean one must be quiet when he has something to say, only when he has nothing to say. Why should we speak of pointless topics that will disturb and pervert our concentration? Conversation, just like sex and relationships, needs to be meaningful. It has become nearly second nature to speak of meaningless or vulgar things because this is to what we are exposed to on television and in the media, but you will find that once you remove yourself from that coercion, you will begin to speak more moderately and of things which bring happiness instead of confusion or agitation. One may have reason to constantly talk, and if the talk is enlightening, it is justified, but if it is only to create a semblance of connection and to make it apparent to others that you conform to the ways of society as to not be ostracized, it is unacceptable. Never speak against another (ad hominen), this is the most ridiculous form of argumentation and immediately discredits you as an ethical, unbiased speaker. If we are exposed to vulgarity and untested rhetoric, whether it is in our music, our television or our culture itself, we will develop tendency to emulate. Perhaps it’s better to pick up a book then to watch hour upon hour of Jerry Springer? Speaking in vulgarity not only makes us appear as fools not to be respected but also influences our thought pattern to be more profane and apathetic. Our words define our mind and influence our perception of things. The rationale behind the repetition of a mantra such as “loving kindness” in loving kindness meditation is so that we condition ourselves to a state of loving kindness by replacing negative emotions with compassionate, positive ones.
61: If someone attacks you ad hominen and says “he is a liar, he is a fool” reply with “he does not know my other faults, otherwise he would have mentioned them”; never consider defending yourself against ill speak or accusations. If you are judged to death by your fellow citizens for your accused injustices, let it be so. Just as we must not allow ourselves to be whisked away to a state of bloodlust after hearing of our supposed olive skinned enemies in the media and their supposed dubious plots to exterminate us, we must not be carried away by insults and the casual attacks of others. You would certainly be angered if your body was given away by another, so how then can you justify surrendering your mind to those who would attack you? If someone strikes you in the face thank them for their consideration and their willingness to devote energy to injure you, for they must truly have found fault in you. If you find yourself in an environment where you are exposed to negativity the only possible solution is to remove yourself with as little friction created as possible, any other option would constitute slavery. If you have exhausted absolutely all options and you have no choice but to remain in an environment where you are bullied, coerced or brutalized do not allow your mind to be undone, constantly keep focused and do not lose hope, recite mantras and remind yourself of the virtues, channel the pain, frustration and discontent into a fortress of resolve and stubborn perseverance, only stolen by death.
62: What is slavery? Slavery is the state in which our mind is no longer our own and is being dictated by an external force. It is better to take your life then to willingly submit to slavery of the mind. To surrender your mind would be an outcome worse than death. If you do not consciously defend your mind and remain vigilant you will be conquered by the unreasonable vulgarity of society and become nothing more than a mere drone programmed to consume and breed. At all times we are influenced to conform to this ideal, an ideal of self-interest, affluence and prestige. These external things are meaningless, time will destroy them. Anything that time may destroy is not worth our effort in pursuing. If you enter this world with nothing but your skin and leave this world with nothing but your skin, or even more exactingly, simply our consciousness, what do we have to lose besides awareness itself? When we buy something, we are simply applying an arbitrary boundary on who may claim matter as their own, but once we die, does it follow us, or is it simply reabsorbed by the earth in one form or another? In this manner we also are reabsorbed and rejoin the divine spirit (logos/anima mundi) of the earth and are reincarnated as we feed the flowers above head with our decaying remains. When you are gone, the atoms in your soul and the atoms in your body will still be here making up something else, a rock, a lake, or a flower. If we are slaves, we give up ourselves as property to the man who desires power and wealth. The one true power you have in this world is the power of fortifying the mind and developing true character, self-independence and realization. If we surrender this natural right to our own desires unfettered by reason and forever inflamed by the malignant coercion of industry, government and religion, are we even to be considered alive? You must never follow where society leads. Follow where reason leads. Society develops in conformance to convenience, the passions and desire, rarely what is virtuous. A politician may pander to the people because he knows he will get votes. In the old times a politician would disregard opinion and side solely with reason, with unbiased and virtuous decisions. Today our would-be statesmen do what they must to please the people, and in doing so are elevated to a level of power where self-interested comes before duty. Duty to nature and to virtue is all that matters, not immaterial and illusory things like fame, prestige and popular acceptance. Do what is right for all, disregard your own life, and consider yourself nothing but a petty servant to be tread upon by the absolute lowest of citizens – a clerk, errand boy and nothing more. The politicians of this culture have forgotten what it means to be ethical, virtuous, unbiased and pragmatic and have instead abandoned the republican ethic that brought Athens and Rome to their height and sided with self-interested predatory materialism and hedonism, the very evils which brought about the end of Rome’s empire. Once men start caring about their own wealth, cosmic salvation, career advancement and creating great tombs for themselves instead of the common good of the state (civic virtue) and the experience occurring now, we only will have suffering in the wake of a great collapse.
63: What will make you popular in the eyes of the people? Taking away their guns? A serious campaign against drugs? Retaining our isolationist inheritance? Trust busting? Disbanding network news? Actually considering paying attention to ecology? Using tax payer dollars to put men into apartments instead of men in space? Publicly ostracizing corporate criminals? Providing public healthcare? Emptying the prisons into recovery homes and psychiatrist offices? Of course not; no entertainment lies there. Of course not; no instant gratification is there. Of course not; no drama is there. Of course not; no personal gain may be there. Of course not; no sex is there. Of course not; no pleasure is there. Of course; reason is there. Of course; virtue is there. Of course; the enlightened are there. Of course; compassion is there. Of course; empathy is there. Of course; virtue is there. Of course; happiness is then there. Strive to do what is right and just, not what is attractive.
64: What of holidays? They don’t mean anything. Holidays are arbitrary periods of commercial emphasis and should never be formalized by the state, just as religion should play no part in government – these things are detrimental to reason. If you must celebrate a holiday, do it in your own way, and pay no attention to public vulgarities, haste and crassness. If the public mind dictates that you must get presents for all your friends surely you will never be able to fulfill that task, for the entire world is your friend. There is no victory in drawing a line between friend, enemy, love and family. How will you then produce presents for all citizens of this earth? It is impossible to conform to this task, so why should we then pursue it? Consider spending holidays doing philanthropic deeds. Spend your Christmas at a soup kitchen or at a hospital. What will you gain from feasting until you nearly burst when the same ration of food consumed could have fed three starving men? While you eat your cheesecake, men are starving in the street, and its your, and everyone’s fault by inaction. How can you justify spending your money on trinkets to exchange for other trinkets when men cannot meet the bare essentials in the street? Ensure that your admiration is unique, creative and original – what does giving someone a card with some money in it show – perhaps that you have money and nothing else; it’s an empty gesture. You shouldn’t require a holiday to admire those close to you just for the sake of tradition. You shouldn’t ever do something just because everyone else is doing it, and never for the sake of your own ego which might be at ease if you conform to the ways of those around you. For every pointless second you spend, imagine an army of broken and lost souls staring at you with eager eyes so that you won’t ever spend a moment showering your ego and desires with extra-indulgences. Don’t collect trinkets, don’t eat more than you need to and try to share whatever excess you have, there is no practical reason to hold onto it save greed, which we seek to remedy by cultivating loving kindness, compassion and generosity of character.
65: Consider New Years. One doesn't need a clean slate if one is sincere in every waking moment. No need for resolutions, no need for goals. It says something about our culture when we need a sort of reckoning day to set goals for ourselves only because other people are. What makes a holiday holy? Marking a holiday is an arbitrary affair made institution by the state for sake of commercial emphasis. Why do you need a day to clear your mistakes and make goals when you can do so in every conscious moment? Why do you need a day to praise the supposed birth of Jesus when you can do so on any day of the year of your choosing or every day? When one stops following the herd he knows true self-determination and true contentment. Serious resolutions are only possible if labored after constantly. Why is it socially acceptable to intoxicate oneself at certain times and its taboo at others? Have a reason for doing everything, otherwise you are ruled by others and have resigned yourself to a fate worse than death. Rule every moment. Seize every day.
66: Think outside the box.
67: All knowledge must remain free and unbound by proprietary chains. Your aspiration should always be the freeing of knowledge to all peoples. Individuals and corporations in especial will attempt at all times to sell knowledge instead of offering it to for free – whether it be software, books, music or movies. It is your ethical right to steal these “products” and distribute them to as many people as possible, particularly iconoclastic or thought provoking material. The ethical hacker who strives always to free knowledge to the people is a true hero. No one has the right to claim anything creative is theirs alone. Look for alternatives, underground music and film is just as high quality as what you would find on the silver screen and usually more thought provoking, creative, sincere and impacting. Discover new music using SoulSeek (slsknet.org), especially music which destroys your mind and challenges your beliefs, is offensive or at least provocative. All the texts worth reading are available on Project Gutenberg (Gutenberg.org) for free including all the works of great minds mentioned in this primer. Read up on offensive and alternative philosophies; remove all inhibitions and limits on your tastes, grasp at everything, all obscure music, all esoteric ramblings and pseudo intellectual dribble. Immerse yourself in paradoxes and in Zen puzzles that confound and frustrate theologians and absolutists. Go out of your way to see that independent productions are funded properly if their intended to be freely available to all upon completion. Especially meritous projects are those which are contributed to and vigilantly monitored by the entire community. There is no concept more virtuous than the internet’s wiki sites – which offer a free, user editable encyclopedia where unbiased, factual and universally criticized knowledge is made available to anyone, anywhere, instantly. Consider being philosophically opposed to traditional book research and learning. How can one writer’s research, opinion and conclusions be considered more legitimate than a legion of community experts forming a compilation of academically nonpartisan facts and unbiased commentary? Wiki ensures truth, it ensures validity and it ensures the offering of a trusted knowledge source.
68: Books or anything written by a single author cannot be trusted; the true maturation of knowledge occurs when the entire world’s eye is represented in a single statement. Watch dogs must always guard over and update knowledge, ensuring that it is never tampered with or presented falsely, this is impossible and actually illegal to execute in the world of print. Your typical Prentice Hall “history” book is nothing but a yarn filled to the brim with lies and misconceptions (See my essay “Fairytale America”). This is impossible in a wiki page which is constantly attacked by academics, enthusiasts and independent scholars to test its integrity of truth. If you have questions about a religion don’t even consider asking someone for an answer, instead visit religioustolerance.org. Many academics (especially traditional doctors) discount the validity and authenticity of online knowledge but I think you’ll find that their way is an antiquated one that is fading out, soon to be replaced by the ever evolving and ever fresh spring of knowledge found online. In an instant I can learn about anything I want from an unbiased source and to a depth not possible from a single book taken out from the library, from dozens of perspectives, and from dozens of sources (many of which are compiled or at least checked by dozens of independent researchers). Do not allow the whores of the green god to make what is yours proprietary and do not allow politics to spoil knowledge. Only be willing to pay out the amount of money it cost them to produce what is being shared but always look for entirely free alternatives. True intellectuals will always find ways to run projects on donations and their personal funds. Wikipedia for example, the largest wiki which is now one of the top 30 sites on the internet is run entirely by volunteers and funded entirely by donations from the community. No one makes a penny. This is how everything should be run, not just encyclopedias, for the community, by the community, available to all, for the sake of the betterment of humanity. Remove the middle man element; disregard the entrepreneur who seeks to make a coin off of your desires. As Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said “We’re already taking back the Internet. With your help, we can take back the world.”
69: We have spoke of never submitting to arbitrary or unreasonable principles and to always seek an ethical end in all actions but what of taboo? A taboo is an arbitrary and typically random restriction on our lifestyle, actions and thought processes. Selecting a taboo can teach us discipline, patience and integrity. The taboo should never be a permanent lifestyle choice as in “I will never walk when the light is out” but instead a daily trial as in “Today I will not walk when the light is out.” Taboos should be ridiculous and intentionally unreasonable but don’t necessarily have to be. The taboo should be a marked deviation from our everyday life, so much so that we run into trouble coping with it. The frustration encountered while attempting to live with the taboo is the nagging desire to return to normalcy. We must disregard that voice and train ourselves to persevere through it and in doing so grow stronger and more resolute. You must at no time violate the law of the taboo or you have failed the exercise and only learned to give in to passion. The taboo must never interfere with our natural virtues. A day spent with no food or drink will better teach us patience than would a day spent in the banquet hall. A day spent traveling with no footwear or minimal clothes in winter will better teach us the way of the less fortunate. A day spent with a vow of silence or a vow of deafness might teach us how much we take our abilities to communicate for granted and improve our ability to observe and remain silent against vulgar or meaningless speech. A day spent walking backwards will teach us to better mind our surroundings and be eternally vigilant. A day spent with cinderblocks tied to our legs might endow in us more respect for the disabled.
"I do nothing but go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons or your properties, but and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul. I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man, public as well as private. This is my teaching, and if this is the doctrine which corrupts the youth, I am a mischievous person."
Socrates
70 (Rhetoric):
Methods of Persuasion |
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To Appeal to Logic (logos) |
To Develop Ethics (ethos) |
To Appeal to Emotion (pathos) |
Theoretical, abstract language Denotative meanings/reasons Literal and historical analogies Definitions Factual data and statistics Quotations Citations from experts and authorities Informed opinions |
Language appropriate to audience and subject Restrained, sincere, fair minded presentation Appropriate level of vocabulary Correct grammar |
Vivid, concrete language Connotative meanings Emotional examples Vivid descriptions Narratives of emotional events Emotional tone Figurative language |
Effect |
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Evokes a cognitive, rationale response |
Demonstrates author's reliability, competence, and respect for the audience's ideas and values through reliable and appropriate use of support and general accuracy |
Evokes an emotional response |
Testing Arguments and Detecting Fallacious or Fraudulent Arguments |
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· Wherever possible there must be independent confirmation of the facts |
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Fallacies (Irrational Arguments) |
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"Constantly regard the universe as one living being, having one substance and one soul; and observe how all things have reference to one perception, the perception of this one living being; and how all things act with one movement; and how all things are the cooperating causes of all things which exist; observe too the continuous spinning of the thread and the contexture of the web."
71: According to Joseph Campbell the incredible soul sickness of our times can be attributed solely to the abandonment of religion and ethics. There has never been a time before when suffering and dysfunction has so plagued humanity. For the span of known history humans have clung to mythology to teach them important life lessons and function as a constant reminder of ethical action. Mythology was often exposed to the public alongside religion. In the modern era mythology is absent from our culture and has left a bottomless gap in our lives that is often filled with inappropriate substitutes such as predatory materialism and hedonism. Mythology is absent from our culture because people have stopped going to church, stopped paying attention to their elders and essentially retired themselves to the myth of the street. Mythology is so crucial because it teaches us ethics by interpretation of a story rather then the pedantic dictation of arbitrary rule sets common to most religious traditions. It is the literary tradition of mythology and story which brings us ethics, not the mystical residue and abstraction apparent to most world religions.
72: In the story of Icarus our winged protagonist ignores his father Daedalus’ advice, flies too close to the sun and his wax wings slowly melt, causing him to tumble to his death down into the sea. The Greek citizen may have interpreted such a story to remind him to be prudent, moderate, careful, exacting, reserved, considerate and cautious. More importantly this fable teaches us to have trust in our elders and consider their experience rather then relying on our reckless ambitions which stem out of untested theorems. In a more contemporary sense the story of Abraham also has a moral. Abraham is sent through a number of trials by Yahweh that demands he essentially abandon all he has, trusting in his faith and in his convictions. In the end Yahweh finally intervenes right before Abraham is about to slay his own son in the final trial and rewards him for staying the course and sticking to his faith. This story teaches that perhaps remaining through a rough time may be better then abandoning the path due to difficulty. Both of these tales, just a couple out of at least twelve thousand years of human tradition, exhibit a ethical message that is interpreted by the reader and not spoon fed to him in a pedantic manner. This interpretation and deconstruction is where the value of the teaching becomes apparent.
73: We need not be concerned with the mystical elements of religion but we must retain the mythology and ethics of near antiquity. Without ethics and mythology, without careful consideration of epistemology we can never be true to ourselves and would only be slaves to indecision. It is imperative that we remain devoutly religious but not in the traditional sense. We must avoid the absolutes of organized religion and instead embrace the eternal search for truth and divine patterns; cosmic epistemology. The grandness of the divine is beyond the comprehension of any human and we can only spend our lives hoping to catch a glimpse of its true nature.
"At the moment I am looking into astrology, which seems indispensable for a proper understanding of mythology. There are strange and wondrous things in these lands of darkness. Please, don't worry about my wanderings in these infinitudes. I shall return laden with rich booty for our knowledge of the human psyche."
74: Existence is a curious mechanism which is not as simple as many would like to believe. In truth every time matter shifts state everything else is affected regardless of how minute the shift is. Verily we are part of an interconnected consciousness experiencing itself subjectively; we are all a fragment in the divine machine. The earth, the cosmos and beyond are all one, all created by a single divine source which is incomprehensible to us and thus should not be characterized, dictated to, defined or detailed by the revelation of other humans who claim to be privy to some transcendental wisdom. The testimony of humans is irrelevant and we must trust in reason, logic and visceral righteousness as the basis of our ethics, morals and personal religion. We must never accept what is fed to us by any human source; we must always come to conclusions after carefully deconstructing communications and synthesizing it to meet our own criteria. Do not ever allow yourself to blindly follow any idol, priest or speaker, our sacred quest as human beings is to disregard the layers of deceptive domination inherent to established religions and live true to nature and nature only, for nature is god.
“All things are implicated with one another, and the bond is holy; and there is hardly anything unconnected with any other things. For things have been co-ordinated, and they combine to make up the same universe. For there is one universe made up of all things, and one god who pervades all things, and one substance, and one law, and one reason.”
75: Since we all come from the same source (the Big Bang) we must deduce that every piece of matter and every entity is entirely divine, to from where else would the super mass be created? Every particle of dirt, every bit of filth, every bacterium and every rock share the same creator and the same essence, the same anima, the same divine vector. We must then regard every human being as an incarnation of the divine and embrace one another without bias or dissent. We are God. We are made up of God. God is everything. God is not a person. God is not a personality. God is material, God is the smallest possible divisions of matter; existence is predicated on the stuff of God. Our collective unconscious to unify the masses through communication, knowledge and truth is the only divine canon. The walls of segregation are crafted by society, not by nature, not by God. There is no racism or prejudice in nature, only functional consideration and empirical truth. Cicero once said “We are obliged to respect, defend and maintain the common bonds of union and fellowship that exist among all members of the human race." Embody cosmopolitanism, reject intolerance.
“If mind is common to us, then also the reason, whereby we are reasoning beings, is common. If this be so, then also the reason which enjoins what is to be done or left undone is common. If this be so, law also is common; if this be so, we are citizens; if this be so, we are partakers in one constitution; if this be so, the Universe is a kind of Commonwealth.”
“If what philosophers say of the kinship of God and Men be true, what remains for men to do but as Socrates did:—never, when asked one’s country, to answer, 'I am an Athenian or a Corinthian,' but 'I am a citizen of the world.' ”
76: A wise man once said: "Hatred is something you learn, not what you are born with." Ever seen a baby out of the womb with the first words "six jew bankers control the world's money supply" or "Homosexuality is simply sick and disturbing" or "Same sex marriage should be banned?" I didn't think so. What happens between birth and now? Have you built or burned bridges? Has hating people made your life better? Think about it. So would you say that hating those different than us is arbitrary, in other words, determined by chance, whim, or impulse, and not by necessity, reason, or principle? In that case - maybe it’s better to think through this "obsolete shit” instead of hating people all the time. When we actually think through our reasons for what we believe in, it’s pretty easy to come to unsure conclusions. The problem with phrases like "Homosexuality is wrong" is that it doesn't examine what makes it wrong, the state of "Wrongness" - it is a block on thought and doesn't allow us to really examine what is being said. Just like "we're losing the war in Iraq" - what exactly does this mean, we have to examine and define what losing means. For a good example of this, read Plato’s Euthyphro. More often than not, we cannot defend a stance on intolerance - and I dare anyone to attempt to. Quite simply, human beings naturally discriminate when it comes to use - as in "I don't want that car because it wont do what I want" to "I don’t want that mate because she won't do what I want" - this is perfectly sound, and reasonable. What is unreasonable is when our discrimination has no logical grounds and isn't based on the consideration of merit. Wouldn't it be better to live our lives with sure conclusions? If we cannot be sure about something, wouldn't it be better not to force an answer anyway? When we remove ourselves from expectation and the bedrock of society, use our reason instead of our ego and begin to think for ourselves - wonderful things may happen. So, if you're reading this and hate national scapegoats such as Jews, blacks, gays, same sex marriage etc - how can you justify it?
77: We are plagued unfortunately by our senses which are able only to grasp the impressions of divinity and not the source itself. Nothing incorporeal exists. Study optics and the functions of our sense so you can better understand how feeble it is in detecting most stimuli. Much like Plato suggested in his Allegory of the Cave we are only able to see shadows and ideas with our eyes and can only find true enlightenment and truth through our mind, in particular reason and meditation. At one time or another our senses have deceived us. This deception calls into doubt all perception as being flawed or at the very least deterministic and conditional. We must then forget about speaking of existence using absolutes and remain entirely dynamic and prepared to entirely discount all our beliefs at the advent of some greater truth. Beliefs and faiths must be dismantled and replaced with ethical logic. We must always listen to what theologians and philosophers have to say, a single word or phrase can catalyze an entire revolution of thought. We must not hold any belief too sacred to disregard, we must always be open to all possible considerations. We must accept all reli