Self-deception.

[jimmoyer]

Whenever we think that any of these very important wants and needs in our life are threatened, we automatically react, usually unconsciously, ...
----------------------------------------------china---------------------------------------------------------

Again, the Four Noble Truths of the Buddhist.

1. Life is suffering
2. Suffering is caused by Desire, Needs, wishes...
3. Eliminate desire and want and you eliminate suffering
4. The way to accomplish eliminating desires that cause you suffering is to follow the 8-fold path,
of right thinking, right conduct, right meditation, etc. Google it.

 

[MikeyDB]

Curiosity

Lovely to hear from you my friend..

And before I get too far into plumbing the depths of your contribution I'd like to say one thing...

I sincerely hope that the conflagrations have left you unscathed and your world and the people you love are happy and sound.

The test of any organism is it's ability to adapt successfully to its environment. Either it survives or it doesn't. While the complexity of human psychology and emotional drives that inspire all the things you mention is marvellous, can we say with complete and assured invulnerability that our mastery of those issues beyond shelter food and all the assorted critical elements necessary to survival have contributed to our situation, our condition?

Are we as a species celebrating the same clear water and air as we once did? Does the "drive" to "own" to "suceed" to "achieve", to garner acceptance and acclaim, share love and concern for each other, to participate as living sentient creatures with our fellows and all of life satisfy the basic (innate) biological imperative to survival and reproduction or are we constantly and repeatedly approaching self-extinction in the name of these "extra" attributes of human consciousness?

It seems appropriate on some level that competition for food, competition for water, competition for the fundamentals is a natural and inevitable connundrum, but when as a species we subscribe to self-deception and conformity as "informed" rationale for sculpting the world, is our "success" greater than our suffering?

Do the very same things that intrigue and invite us to exploration of the nature of "being", the effort to understand and appreciate the dynamics that influence us to behave the way we do, the embrace of symbolism and "idea" address our continued survival or are they evidence of unpreparedness to accept the reality in which we find ourselves'?

Have we managed our environment well when billions suffer from hunger and disease while many fewer revel in sumptuous luxury and unbridled consumption? Have the constructs of compassion and sympathy, the vehicle of empathy and the availability of choice resulted in paradise?

Abandoning reason in the name of achieving some altruism or some "enlightened" quality that will magically facilitate love and respect between and among human beings....have these efforts resulted in a common experience of joy happiness and satisfaction for everyone?

 

[china]

Curiosity,

Love, longing, desire, which you brush aside as unnecessary (or the beginning of self-deception) are the very reason our world has propagated.... yes you and I....
Without the needs beyond food and shelter (I negate clothing as that is shelter too), we would be animals, unevolved, digging for edibles regardless of their worth, dying of exposure to weather and death by others, and creating new lives as often as the urge presents.Communication, acknowledgement of peer groups, cooperation, have given humanity a rise above the basic state into which we were first aware of other animal life.If we were to conform to your vision of life necessities, I think you have carelessly omitted what has been the great dividing line of evolution: The ability to love and nurture and care about others beyond what we require to survive to the point of ensuring they have the same needs met.

Dear Curiosity,
The Life in Itself is ALL ,there is nothing else. In everything, in all men, there is the totality, the completeness of life which is Love , and That to me is Truth. That cannot progress. It is only incompleteness that can progress. But this acquisition of qualities, attributes, virtues, does not lead to Reality because Reality is always there, fully, in everything.By completeness I mean freedom of consciousness, freedom from individuality. That completeness which exists in everything cannot progress: it is absolute. The effort to acquire is futile, and if you can realise that Truth, Happiness, exists in all things and that the realisation of that Truth lies only through elimination, then there is a timeless understanding. This is not a negation. Most people are afraid to be as nothing. They call it being positive when they are making an effort, and call that effort virtue. When there is effort,it is not virtue. Virtue is effortless. When you are as nothing, you are all things,not by aggrandizement, not by laying emphasis on the “I”, on the personality,but by the continual dissipation of that consciousness which creates power,greed, envy, possessive care, vanity, fear and passion. By continually being selfrecollected you become fully conscious, and then you liberate the mind and heart and know harmony, which is completeness, the ALL .

PS,This is my 1000th post ,never thought I,ll be here that long.

 

[jimmoyer]

Most people are afraid to be as nothing. They call it being positive when they are making an effort, and call that effort virtue. When there is effort,it is not virtue. Virtue is effortless. When you are as nothing, you are all things,not by aggrandizement, not by laying emphasis on the “I”, on the personality,but by the continual dissipation of that consciousness which creates power,greed, envy, possessive care, vanity, fear and passion. By continually being selfrecollected you become fully conscious,...
------------------------------------------------China-------------------------------------------------------------------

That's Buddhism in a "nutshell."

Add breathing to it to make your lungs a bellow, and you got Yoga on top of that.

But those are just the labels which might interfere with the beautiful understanding in that part of China's post.

 

[china]

jimmoyer, Thanks for the post.

That's Buddhism in a "nutshell".

Buddhism ?....that's also just a label.

 

[hermanntrude]

jimmoyer, Thanks for the post.



Buddhism ?....that's also just a label.

so is "poncy faux-zen woofter"

 

[Curiosity]

Curiosity

Lovely to hear from you my friend..

And before I get too far into plumbing the depths of your contribution I'd like to say one thing...

I sincerely hope that the conflagrations have left you unscathed and your world and the people you love are happy and sound.

The test of any organism is it's ability to adapt successfully to its environment. Either it survives or it doesn't. While the complexity of human psychology and emotional drives that inspire all the things you mention is marvellous, can we say with complete and assured invulnerability that our mastery of those issues beyond shelter food and all the assorted critical elements necessary to survival have contributed to our situation, our condition?

Are we as a species celebrating the same clear water and air as we once did? Does the "drive" to "own" to "suceed" to "achieve", to garner acceptance and acclaim, share love and concern for each other, to participate as living sentient creatures with our fellows and all of life satisfy the basic (innate) biological imperative to survival and reproduction or are we constantly and repeatedly approaching self-extinction in the name of these "extra" attributes of human consciousness?

It seems appropriate on some level that competition for food, competition for water, competition for the fundamentals is a natural and inevitable connundrum, but when as a species we subscribe to self-deception and conformity as "informed" rationale for sculpting the world, is our "success" greater than our suffering?

Do the very same things that intrigue and invite us to exploration of the nature of "being", the effort to understand and appreciate the dynamics that influence us to behave the way we do, the embrace of symbolism and "idea" address our continued survival or are they evidence of unpreparedness to accept the reality in which we find ourselves'?

Have we managed our environment well when billions suffer from hunger and disease while many fewer revel in sumptuous luxury and unbridled consumption? Have the constructs of compassion and sympathy, the vehicle of empathy and the availability of choice resulted in paradise?

Abandoning reason in the name of achieving some altruism or some "enlightened" quality that will magically facilitate love and respect between and among human beings....have these efforts resulted in a common experience of joy happiness and satisfaction for everyone?

Thank you Mikey for your message re the problems California has experienced in the past week. I hestitate to write more as it has become a cause celebre on this forum having no merit or worth for discussion.

As with all disasters, time will rebuild and heal and we will have lessons learned. There are newer homes in California which cannot be built unless they conform to disasters prevention (fire and earthquake and landslide), with specially treated walls, windows and doors, fire-safe landscaping, a sprinkler system within the main structure (house), and other wonderful scientific improvements....such as an earlier period, we began to expect indoor heating and plumbing.... we are still voyagers into the unknown and nature will always reassert herself to remind us. It cannot come soon enough for those who lose everything on an annual basis.

Regarding the manmade trauma people all over the world suffer, I will again answer only what I can because I have no expertise in how nations survive with or without each other... we can only do and protect what we are directly responsible for - what portion of the earth we use and reuse or discard and sadly destroy. To view the overall broad picture - the total inhabitation of mother earth is an exercise nobody can do alone.... Perhaps when there are only two humans left on this earth an accord will be reached?

To apply guilt or fault to a single group of people who have attained worldly success as many who think the way you do - seeking to blame - it is a wasted argument - there are few in our world who do not wish for or hope for success for themselves and their extended group. The ways toward success are available for all to know if nations will allow the information to be distributed and the learning to be delivered..... and it will never happen as long as we continue to conquer and kill each other and live in fear of our neighbor.

I have no answers regarding the destruction of our planet. We have nowhere near reached the turning point of decision - people still use cars for convenience - overuse comfort whether necessary or not - build overwhelming mansions when none are needed to house the ever-shrinking family unit... and continue to grow secondary crops being forced to harvest prior to ripening so they may be transported undamaged, pumping up livestock to acquire more man-consuming flesh on each animal...and our latest religion - factories - which build all those things we have been taught are necessary to continue our lifestyles.... Again, unless we conduct our own personal life according to what we are capable of, then we should not go around bleating about what 'others do'....it starts at home....on an individual basis. Simple economics: If you don't buy it, it will cease to be.

Division based upon the unknown is the lifeblood of tyrants and their primary goal is to keep their people ignorant of the possibilities for success with the threat of death or imprisonment. It is how nations are built - with the blood of the poor. It has always been thus.

No it isn't 'right' - it simply is.

 

[Northboy]

Curiosity,Dear Curiosity,
The Life in Itself is ALL ,there is nothing else. In everything, in all men, there is the totality, the completeness of life which is Love , and That to me is Truth. That cannot progress. It is only incompleteness that can progress. But this acquisition of qualities, attributes, virtues, does not lead to Reality because Reality is always there, fully, in everything.By completeness I mean freedom of consciousness, freedom from individuality. That completeness which exists in everything cannot progress: it is absolute. The effort to acquire is futile, and if you can realise that Truth, Happiness, exists in all things and that the realisation of that Truth lies only through elimination, then there is a timeless understanding. This is not a negation. Most people are afraid to be as nothing. They call it being positive when they are making an effort, and call that effort virtue. When there is effort,it is not virtue. Virtue is effortless. When you are as nothing, you are all things,not by aggrandizement, not by laying emphasis on the “I”, on the personality,but by the continual dissipation of that consciousness which creates power,greed, envy, possessive care, vanity, fear and passion. By continually being selfrecollected you become fully conscious, and then you liberate the mind and heart and know harmony, which is completeness, the ALL .

PS,This is my 1000th post ,never thought I,ll be here that long.

Congrats on the 1000th post....A True Milestone.....Still teaching I see....

 

[Curiosity]

Curiosity,Dear Curiosity,
The Life in Itself is ALL ,there is nothing else. In everything, in all men, there is the totality, the completeness of life which is Love , and That to me is Truth. That cannot progress. It is only incompleteness that can progress. But this acquisition of qualities, attributes, virtues, does not lead to Reality because Reality is always there, fully, in everything.By completeness I mean freedom of consciousness, freedom from individuality. That completeness which exists in everything cannot progress: it is absolute. The effort to acquire is futile, and if you can realise that Truth, Happiness, exists in all things and that the realisation of that Truth lies only through elimination, then there is a timeless understanding. This is not a negation. Most people are afraid to be as nothing. They call it being positive when they are making an effort, and call that effort virtue. When there is effort,it is not virtue. Virtue is effortless. When you are as nothing, you are all things,not by aggrandizement, not by laying emphasis on the “I”, on the personality,but by the continual dissipation of that consciousness which creates power,greed, envy, possessive care, vanity, fear and passion. By continually being selfrecollected you become fully conscious, and then you liberate the mind and heart and know harmony, which is completeness, the ALL

PS,This is my 1000th post ,never thought I,ll be here that long.

China - lol 1000 Conundrums you have laid out on this forum... There has to be an award!!!

This particular message you have written may suit you but most humans are not mushrooms or one-celled creatures living in darkness - we have been given complexity of development and for that reason alone, we will always be in forward motion, and yes acquisition, for it is our nature. Are we to deny our basic nature and grovel in the mud?

C'mon China - you write as if mankind should never leave his footprint on earth. I know very few would agree we should regress to this euphoric state you pronounce is 'the way'.... unless we all start taking drugs to reduce our awareness of the necessity to live our lives to the fullest.

You leave out love (in spite of what you write)...joy.... laughter.... all the beauty of life itself....That is Reality China - using our great gifts we have been given for even more exploration and evolution.
The thrust of living our lives to the fullest isn't always promoted by 'need' or 'greed' but by the desire to explore.... it is innate in all.

Our brains alone argue with your words. We haven't even begun to utilize the possibilities....and humans are not much more elevated than our primitive ancestors. You would have us remain in staring, stumbling, reactive stasis? What a depressing, drooling picture you paint... Shoot me now.

I fully disagree - there is much more to be discovered about we humans - if we manage to live through our great desire to wipe each other from life.

 

[Northboy]

China - lol 1000 Conundrums you have laid out on this forum... There has to be an award!!!

This particular message you have written may suit you but most humans are not mushrooms or one-celled creatures living in darkness - we have been given complexity of development and for that reason alone, we will always be in forward motion, and yes acquisition, for it is our nature. Are we to deny our basic nature and grovel in the mud?

C'mon China - you write as if mankind should never leave his footprint on earth. I know very few would agree we should regress to this euphoric state you pronounce is 'the way'.... unless we all start taking drugs to reduce our awareness of the necessity to live our lives to the fullest.

You leave out love (in spite of what you write)...joy.... laughter.... all the beauty of life itself....That is Reality China - using our great gifts we have been given for even more exploration and evolution.
The thrust of living our lives to the fullest isn't always promoted by 'need' or 'greed' but by the desire to explore.... it is innate in all.

Our brains alone argue with your words. We haven't even begun to utilize the possibilities....and humans are not much more elevated than our primitive ancestors. You would have us remain in staring, stumbling, reactive stasis? What a depressing, drooling picture you paint... Shoot me now.

I fully disagree - there is much more to be discovered about we humans - if we manage to live through our great desire to wipe each other from life.

Simply put...The learning is in the doing....

 

[Curiosity]

Northboy

Yup - what you said....

 

[Northboy]

Northboy

Yup - what you said....

Yep....A simple path to Wisdom issue....

There is no Wisdom without the doing, just conjecture, scholarly as it might be....

 

[china]

Curiosity

Dear Curosity
Through the accumulation of experiences you think that you will realise Truth. One experience which creates in your mind either great love or a desire for understanding, which shakes the very foundation of your consciousness of individuality, is true experience. One such experience contains the whole significance of life. An experience of love or of death contains the whole of life, but to understand the full significance of that experience you must be concentrated in self-recollectedness.Take the experience of love. In that there is the desire to possess, there is envy, jealousy, loneliness, and also the joy of union. By being concentrated,watching all the time, reflecting, you can realise the full significance of that one particular experience, and through that you have understood the whole of experience.Or take death. In death there is sorrow, pain, frightful loneliness, the desire to be united with the lost one, the desire for sympathy and love. This is one of the most common experiences of life. Everyone has it. Instead of gathering the
significance of it, the full lesson of it, you seek comfort. You seek guides to the astral plane, you desire to be united there with your loved ones. You hope for their rebirth. All this is but postponement of effort to liberate selfconsciousness.The struggle to adjust loneliness and love is not to be won by pushing out further into other realms, but by constant self-recollectedness.
Thus one experience can open up to you the whole significance of
completeness. This is not mere intellectual reasoning. I speak from personal
experience. When you are in great sorrow, in loneliness because of death, you are not satisfied with transient consolations, whether in the future or of the past; you want to find out the immediate solution of loneliness and therefore to conquer sorrow.
To conquer sorrow you must realise that inward completeness of being by
becoming reflective every moment of the day, not in sentiment nor by pushing all those things of which you are afraid into the background. That completeness which is in everything becomes real, and in that alone there is happiness, not in
transient pleasures.Many people think that Truth is to be realized by withdrawing from the world. Man is caught up in action, and he seeks refuge by the flight from life into romanticism, imagination, and illusion. But to be in action and yet to have freedom for thought is true solitude; the solitude, not of weariness, of fright, but the solitude of real joy. In that solitude you learn to adjust your various conflicts of emotion and thought, so that you may be able to withstand the constant effect of action. When you have achieved this inward solitude, there will follow the cessation of reflection, leading to effortless contemplation. From this contemplation comes the harmony of reason and love, and from that follows awareness, the intuition which is constant, in which there is neither separation nor unity. This is the liberation of mind and heart.The realization of Truth is the only assurance of happiness. Life is its own creator and creation, in which there is no division of “you” and “I”. You cannot objectify Life and look to that object for your inspiration, for your well-being; for completeness lies in all things, in every individual. In the realization of that completeness which is Life itself is the assurance of tranquility, of the cessation of conflict, the liberation of mind and heart. So the idea that you, the individual,are a subject proceeding to an object through experience, an object external to yourself, is the negation of that Reality which exists in you in completeness.
Throughout the world man has objectified Truth, and thereby regards himself as separate from it, ever progressing towards that Truth. In other words, he has conceived Truth to be not eternal, indwelling, but rather something outside of himself to which he must grow through an accumulation of virtues, qualities and attributes.
Truth is without qualities. That which is eternal, which is without any
quality, can only be realized when there is in each individual the absolute
cessation of all particularity, of self-consciousness. Man is self-conscious,
looking at life from his own narrow, limited, egotistical point of view; but in
being free of that self-consciousness is the realization of Truth. A man who
desires to realize Truth must, through self-recollectedness, through great
effort, transcend that consciousness which is the centre of qualities. This will
assure him of that tranquility which will give him the capacity to judge for
himself the true value of all things. This is illumination. A man who knows the
true worth of things, of ideas, becomes free of them all. To know this you must be free from the bondages of so-called civilization. Be free in yourself and you will love your neighbor.
From self-recollectedness, then, there follows true behaviour, true action,
and from true action there comes simplicity of life. That simplicity is not
crudeness, but the understanding of true values, from which follows freedom.
Behaviour, conduct, springs from a true outlook, from the true balance of reason and affection. The man who is hampered, limited, worried by those things which are unessential, cannot liberate his mind and think impersonally, and so be free from the limitations of tradition, custom, and from the love which is hedged about by the particular, in which there is a consciousness of “you and I”, “mine and yours”.
When you have the purpose, the care to find out the true cause of sorrow
and suffering, there will come the desire to be free of limitation and to realize Truth which is ever existing, self-caused in all things.
All this will be a superficial intellectual theory, so long as you do not put it
into practice. It is not a theory to me. It is what I have realized, what to me is the highest Reality, the perfect balance of reason and of love.
I love ,I am.

 

[Northboy]

Curiosity

Dear Curosity
Through the accumulation of experiences you think that you will realise Truth. One experience which creates in your mind either great love or a desire for understanding, which shakes the very foundation of your consciousness of individuality, is true experience. One such experience contains the whole significance of life. An experience of love or of death contains the whole of life, but to understand the full significance of that experience you must be concentrated in self-recollectedness.Take the experience of love. In that there is the desire to possess, there is envy, jealousy, loneliness, and also the joy of union. By being concentrated,watching all the time, reflecting, you can realise the full significance of that one particular experience, and through that you have understood the whole of experience.Or take death. In death there is sorrow, pain, frightful loneliness, the desire to be united with the lost one, the desire for sympathy and love. This is one of the most common experiences of life. Everyone has it. Instead of gathering the
significance of it, the full lesson of it, you seek comfort. You seek guides to the astral plane, you desire to be united there with your loved ones. You hope for their rebirth. All this is but postponement of effort to liberate selfconsciousness.
The struggle to adjust loneliness and love is not to be won by
pushing out further into other realms, but by constant self-recollectedness.
Thus one experience can open up to you the whole significance of
completeness. This is not mere intellectual reasoning. I speak from personal
experience. When you are in great sorrow, in loneliness because of death, you are not satisfied with transient consolations, whether in the future or of the past; you want to find out the immediate solution of loneliness and therefore to conquer sorrow.
To conquer sorrow you must realise that inward completeness of being by
becoming reflective every moment of the day, not in sentiment nor by pushing all those things of which you are afraid into the background. That completeness which is in everything becomes real, and in that alone there is happiness, not in
transient pleasures.Many people think that Truth is to be realized by withdrawing from the world. Man is caught up in action, and he seeks refuge by the flight from life into romanticism, imagination, and illusion. But to be in action and yet to have freedom for thought is true solitude; the solitude, not of weariness, of fright, but the solitude of real joy. In that solitude you learn to adjust your various conflicts of emotion and thought, so that you may be able to withstand the constant effect of action. When you have achieved this inward solitude, there will follow the cessation of reflection, leading to effortless contemplation. From this contemplation comes the harmony of reason and love, and from that follows awareness, the intuition which is constant, in which there is neither separation nor unity. This is the liberation of mind and heart.The realization of Truth is the only assurance of happiness. Life is its own creator and creation, in which there is no division of “you” and “I”. You cannot objectify Life and look to that object for your inspiration, for your well-being; for completeness lies in all things, in every individual. In the realization of that completeness which is Life itself is the assurance of tranquility, of the cessation of conflict, the liberation of mind and heart. So the idea that you, the individual,are a subject proceeding to an object through experience, an object external to yourself, is the negation of that Reality which exists in you in completeness.
Throughout the world man has objectified Truth, and thereby regards himself as separate from it, ever progressing towards that Truth. In other words, he has conceived Truth to be not eternal, indwelling, but rather something outside of himself to which he must grow through an accumulation of virtues, qualities and attributes.
Truth is without qualities. That which is eternal, which is without any
quality, can only be realized when there is in each individual the absolute
cessation of all particularity, of self-consciousness. Man is self-conscious,
looking at life from his own narrow, limited, egotistical point of view; but in
being free of that self-consciousness is the realization of Truth. A man who
desires to realize Truth must, through self-recollectedness, through great
effort, transcend that consciousness which is the centre of qualities. This will
assure him of that tranquility which will give him the capacity to judge for
himself the true value of all things. This is illumination. A man who knows the
true worth of things, of ideas, becomes free of them all. To know this you must be free from the bondages of so-called civilization. Be free in yourself and you will love your neighbor.
From self-recollectedness, then, there follows true behaviour, true action,
and from true action there comes simplicity of life. That simplicity is not
crudeness, but the understanding of true values, from which follows freedom.
Behaviour, conduct, springs from a true outlook, from the true balance of reason and affection. The man who is hampered, limited, worried by those things which are unessential, cannot liberate his mind and think impersonally, and so be free from the limitations of tradition, custom, and from the love which is hedged about by the particular, in which there is a consciousness of “you and I”, “mine and yours”.
When you have the purpose, the care to find out the true cause of sorrow
and suffering, there will come the desire to be free of limitation and to realize Truth which is ever existing, self-caused in all things.
All this will be a superficial intellectual theory, so long as you do not put it
into practice. It is not a theory to me. It is what I have realized, what to me is the highest Reality, the perfect balance of reason and of love.
I love ,I am.

Beautiful Work....A true master....

Conceptualize this for your discernment;

Can Mankind achieve I am, well you are living proof; but does teaching stop??? Of course not.....

Can we evolve from just I am to: I Love - I am - I can....

 

[china]

Northboy

Thanks for the post

but does teaching stop??? Of course not....

...perhaps you wanted to say...."does learning stop????

Can we evolve from just I am to: I Love - I am - I can..

Learning ,like the Truth ,changes...from moment to moment
Love is timeless
Love

 

[Northboy]

Northboy

Thanks for the post

...perhaps you wanted to say...."does learning stop????
Learning ,like the Truth ,changes...from moment to moment
Love is timeless
Love

Absolutely.....Learning for the students, but teaching for the master....There's learning in the act of teaching as well....But you know that....A large circle....A divine process....

We always seem to talk in relative truths, but there are fundamental laws of nature, such as cause and effect....These are teachable truths to my mind....

 

[jimmoyer]

Curiosity wrote:

C'mon China - you write as if mankind should never leave his footprint on earth. I know very few would agree we should regress to this euphoric state you pronounce is 'the way'.... unless we all start taking drugs to reduce our awareness of the necessity to live our lives to the fullest.

You leave out love (in spite of what you write)...joy.... laughter.... all the beauty of life itself....That is Reality China - using our great gifts we have been given for even more exploration and evolution.
The thrust of living our lives to the fullest isn't always promoted by 'need' or 'greed' but by the desire to explore.... it is innate in all.

Our brains alone argue with your words. We haven't even begun to utilize the possibilities....and humans are not much more elevated than our primitive ancestors. You would have us remain in staring, stumbling, reactive stasis? What a depressing, drooling picture you paint... Shoot me now.

I fully disagree - there is much more to be discovered about we humans - if we manage to live through our great desire to wipe each other from life.
---------------------------------------Curiosity---------------------------------------------------------

That post was worth repeating.

There's value in telling people to have discipline and to cut back in use of resources, but never
will it probably be significant enough to solve environmental problems and so it always needs to
be in conjunction most likely with a smarter green tech solution.

Living our lives to the fullest without the usual base motive ascribed is an important part
of Curiosity's post.

 

[Sal]

Curiosity wrote:

C'mon China - you write as if mankind should never leave his footprint on earth. I know very few would agree we should regress to this euphoric state you pronounce is 'the way'.... unless we all start taking drugs to reduce our awareness of the necessity to live our lives to the fullest.

You leave out love (in spite of what you write)...joy.... laughter.... all the beauty of life itself....That is Reality China - using our great gifts we have been given for even more exploration and evolution.
The thrust of living our lives to the fullest isn't always promoted by 'need' or 'greed' but by the desire to explore.... it is innate in all.

Our brains alone argue with your words. We haven't even begun to utilize the possibilities....and humans are not much more elevated than our primitive ancestors. You would have us remain in staring, stumbling, reactive stasis? What a depressing, drooling picture you paint... Shoot me now.

I fully disagree - there is much more to be discovered about we humans - if we manage to live through our great desire to wipe each other from life.
---------------------------------------Curiosity---------------------------------------------------------

That post was worth repeating.

There's value in telling people to have discipline and to cut back in use of resources, but never
will it probably be significant enough to solve environmental problems and so it always needs to
be in conjunction most likely with a smarter green tech solution.

Living our lives to the fullest without the usual base motive ascribed is an important part
of Curiosity's post.

Put these two together and we'll hit the top rung! Really nicely done guys!

 

[Northboy]

Put these two together and we'll hit the top rung! Really nicely done guys!

Which brings us to first steps to achieve this in the doing:

(Previously posted on CC)

-Brief-




Community Futures Stuart Nechako Report on Bio-Energy Cluster Development in the Stuart Nechako Region


Introduction


Community Futures Stuart Nechako (CFSN) is established as an independent, locally autonomous non profit corporation and is made up of a volunteer Board and member Volunteers, which together with professional staff, become actively engaged in helping the communities of the Stuart Nechako to develop and implement community-based regional economic development strategies. The objective of CFSN is to enhance the overall well being of the community by not only increasing economic activity, but also empowering community members to take an active role in the development of their community to build resident capacity to manage the forces of economic change and labour force adjustment.

CFSN, is a ‘Not for Profit’ corporation directed by a group of citizens concerned about the economy and the development of their community. These people, and the staff employed by CFSN have experience, expertise, and commitment. Their commitment has been established because they care about their community. CFSN is one of many community led groups in the region such as churches, youth organizations, recreational associations and civic societies and committees driven by resident volunteers. The list is long and honorable. However, CFSN has placed itself in an area where others don’t usually go– the economy.

The members of CFSN believe developing a healthy economic future for our communities requires community involvement and that the more people are involved in Community Economic Development, the healthier our economy will be. The overriding principle that frames CFSN activities is our conviction that grassroots entrepreneurship and cultivating local innovation is the preferred method of economic transition/renewal in small rural Canadian communities.

Through interactions with our clients CFSN has determined that the potential for a bio-energy cluster has evolved in the region. This brief discusses:

• Regional cluster development to date;
• Cluster benefits;
• Utilizing the cluster model in industries other than bio-energy;
• Obstacles in financing the clusters in small rural communities.

Bio Energy Cluster Development in the Stuart Nechako Region

The method utilized to date by Community Futures Stuart Nechako has been to link Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) where a collaborative approach will provide both parties with an advantage and leverage opportunities presented to maximize their impact on the regional economy as a whole, while respecting the individual’s right to privacy and to take profit from their respective innovation.

Our understanding of a cluster method was used to identify the opportunity to develop a bio-energy group into a cluster to support the Stuart Nechako region’s economic transition. For this summary, a cluster is defined as an ongoing collaborative process between interested parties to maximize the opportunity presented by innovation in a targeted industry. As a result, a cluster development opportunity has been identified for consideration. At least 4 local clients have been identified in the past year that are pursuing the following bio-energy innovations and products:

Client 1 Portable wood pellet production, wood pellet appliance (boilers) development and production and power utility development.

Client 2 Wood gasification development to power turbines.

Client 3 The Fabrication of bio-fueled boiler components and the development of designs for small-scale remote location gasifiers.

Client 4 Development of charcoal production equipment and the development and application of charcoal powered appliances for heating, cooling and locomotion.

Since that time, further potential industry participants have been identified and include established local pellet fuel producers, area metalwork shops, logging harvesters and construction companies. The initiation of a cluster in bio-energy is occurring as a result of the diverse number of entrepreneurs working towards new bio fueled appliances and fuel types.

Potential Community Benefits of Cluster

Engineering

Establishing an engineering firm in the region is a side benefit of the Bio Energy Industry strategy. With an engineering firm comes the opportunity for the increasing of the productive capacity of the local construction industry through local and timely access to project opportunities. Currently, CFSN is working to help locate an engineering firm to the region that has a contract to design a bio-energy power station to replace a diesel generating station.There is also the potential for more contracts for 4 additional communities.



Construction and Metalwork Trade Development:

While we may consider our local metalwork and construction industries to be somewhat robust for the region, the base of the practice is essentially fabrication. Fabrication is a transitory area of the metal trades. The opportunity to fabricate bio energy appliances provides the opportunity to upgrade our regional skill base by expanding our metal trade activity in the areas of precision machining and fitting.

Bio Fuel Operations Development:

Should the development of fuel boilers and power systems be refined to domestic and international standards, the emergence of training bio fuel system operators would be developed in conjunction with the commercialization of the applicable technology.

Technology and Capacity Development:

There are many capacity development opportunities due to the potential interface between researchers, education and industry. Currently, CFSN is proposing a multi functional technology centre driven by industry to innovate and assist SMEs in the commercialization of the opportunities for innovation represented by bio mass energy production and appliance development. This proposal is called “Project House”. The purpose of Project House would be the development of infrastructure for research and education interfaced with industry. CFSN has submitted a proposal to National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to assist in the funding of a feasibility study into the establishment of “Progress House”. Progress House is considered a mid to long-term infrastructure strategy.

Exchange:

The establishment of a trading room or exchange would be a proactive response to provide local contractors and suppliers with access to business and government tenders and procurement requests. This operation would be similar in operation to a “Plan Room” such as operated by the Prince George Construction Association.

Leveraging Cluster Development:

In learning how to initiate local cluster development, further opportunities for cluster creation are being identified. For example, CFSN has 2 clients interested in the following:

Client 5 Utilizing unused heat energy from energy production to consider root crop vegetable dehydration as a potential strategy for diversifying the local agriculture industry.

Client 6 Addressing specific needs of developing countries in energy production by designing and manufacturing appliances such as small-scale gasifiers to replace fossil fuels in powering stationary engines, such as irrigation pumps.


Financing Obstacles;

One of the issues not yet addressed in cluster development is access to appropriate financial resources necessary in the development of an industrial cluster of SMEs. Access to adequate patient capital and operating liquidity are ongoing concerns for small business and are considered the primary obstacle for cluster development by our clients. If strategies for economic diversity using the cluster model are to be successful, the investors and financing institutions should be engaged early in the development of the cluster model. This will allow investors and financiers to study and the nuances of clusters and establish effective practices in advance of cluster development.


CFSN will act as a catalyst in establishing favourable conditions to support new clusters using the method evolving from the development of bio-energy in the region.


- I've been a little busy......

Graham.

__________________
Dialogue leads to Cooperation
Cooperation leads to Trust
Trust leads to Trade
Trade leads to the future

 

[china]

jimmoyer ,

That post was worth repeating.

There's value in telling people to have discipline and to cut back in use of resources, but never
will it probably be significant enough to solve environmental problems and so it always needs to
be in conjunction most likely with a smarter green tech solution.

First of all all the posts that I have placed in the forum where never intended to tell anyone what to or not to do.I,m simply stating my points of views....just like anyone else does.Furthermore , when I've first started placing my posts, I have always (almost) suggested to the readers that they should not to believe what I have had to say ,but to find their own truth .The same way ,my Truth is my Truth, not yours ,neither your understanding is my understanding .And that brings us to your suggestion that I 've bin telling people to have "discipline" to do whatever...You can check my posts and you can be sure that you you will not find me 'uttering' this word ,"discipline" ,it's not in my vocabulary .What is discipline if not trying to attaining something by using a force.I'm not talking about learning how to play piano or studying a math -there are learning techniques which are required to attain proficiency, not discipline .There is a difference between an awareness and discipline,one comes naturally( if you are sensitive) the other has no intelligence.
So we come to the " ,the problem with environment.are we the problem? .Trust me ,if we don't change ,no matter what techniques we use to "save" the planet and / or our selfs , they will be futile.

Living our lives to the fullest without the usual base motive ascribed is an important part
of Curiosity's post.

Well jimmoyer ,I,m living my life fro moment to moment ,to the fullest that that moment will offer ,knowing that the "present" is the only time that I can accomplish any thing,tomorrow is just a dream .Yes jimmoyer , I am Living , accomplishing my obligations ,supporting my young family and others who need my help ,enjoying my life , having "fun".I don't have to worry about my "potentials" ,the moment I act/ live ,do it - it is revealed to me,I'm 56 years old ,and always learning about my self ,non stop , from moment to moment - I know my self - I am living , Fully.I am not a mushroom or a one celled creature .I,m a human , a part of the creation ,and you know what ? I ,m aware of that.
Dreaming about some evolutions and having some illusive dreams ,is not a beginning of wisdom.Worrying about an undeveloped potentials ? develop them now,from moment to moment .Don't dream Do It Now!