All men are NOT "Created Equal"

                                              We know that Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, can we assume that he never knew of Kung-tu Tsu, Mencius, Chu Hsi and Master Ch'eng I  ?   I think it is obligingly safe to answer in the affirmative .    According to the Ancients,  all men are NOT "Created Equal" .   What is to be done with THAT ?

                        There IS >Equality< , but its Form is this =  We are Equal in that we were created as Human Beings--we have HUMAN Form .    REGARDLESS OF RACE AND ETHNICITY  We are all HUMAN .  THAT is the UNIVERSAL EQUALITY .   

                        And yet, Governments composed of inferiors and those who are >'lesser'<,  sometimes Rule as if Human Beings are ANIMALS .   Can there be a GREATER ATROCITY ???  No.  There cannot .

                       INHUMAN CRUELTY is the POLITICAL  Ideology of trump and trumpism .   Elsewhere I have argued that trump is, himself,  INHUMAN .    Trump has "Demons" --- shit---ALL OF US HAVE DEMONS--- but trump's Demons govern his every action and his every IN-action .   Most of us are able to control our Demons, we have a Conscience and are tuned to our "greater qualities"--- trump is DEVOID of such Qualities as are his minions, rather, trump has chosen to IGNORE his 'greater qualities' and has favored those of DEMONIC Origin .   Trump is BROKEN and has created a Regime IN HIS IMAGE .   As such, trump has become a STANDARD of "fucked fucking up" , and so we would do well to seek to neutralize his Demonic Negativity with Our "Greater Qualities"  a Task surely Noble .

"The Investigation of All Things"

                                 

         " I Chu Hsi,  have ventured to take the view of   Master Ch'eng I   and supplement it as follows :   the meaning of the expression "the perfection of knowledge depends on the investigation of things" is this :   if we wish to extend our knowledge to the utmost, we must investigate the principles of all things we come into contact with, for the intelligent Mind of man is certainly formed to know, and there is not a single thing in which principles do not inhere .  It is only because all principles are not investigated that man's knowledge is incomplete .   For this reason, the first step in the education of the adult is to instruct the learner, in regard to all things in the world, to proceed from what knowledge he has of their principle, and investigate it further until he reaches the limit .   After exerting himself in this way for a long time he will one day achieve a wide and far reaching penetration .  Then the qualities of all things, whether internal or external, the refined or coarse, will be apprehended, and the mind, in its total substance and great function will be perfectly intelligent .  This is called the investigation of things .  This is called The Perfection of Knowledge ."

                         This is me and I want It to be You .

"The ALL of EVERYTHING"

                                                The questions of Kung-tu Tsu and the responses of Mencius compel us to ask  >What are the 'greater qualities' of our nature ?<   :   and  >HOW do we "build up the Nobler part of our Nature" ?<    

                          After reading this brief exchange can we deduce that our "Nature" has within it BOTH the GREATER and the smaller ?   Can  we deduce that our  [Human]  Nature contains "The ALL of EVERYTHING "? 

                        You can see it rite ?   In order to advance our Understanding of Mind {and who and what we are} we MUST at least CONSIDER that the All of Everything IS  contained within our COLLECTIVE Psyche just as our DNA contains The All of Everything .  From this recognition we can conclude that our "Nature" is "akin" to our CONSCIENCE and that this Conscience is CONSTRUCTED .  My Hero and Father of American Psychology, Dr. William James, INSISTED that "Life is what you MAKE it" .   We are said that we 'Build a Future' :  Of what is our Psyche made ?   What are the "things" that act and function as "building blocks" ?   

                       If our Psyche contains the All of Everything, we cannot ignore the fact that both Good and Evil reside in our Psyche which then tortures us with, by what Mechanism(s)  do we identify >Good< and >Bad< ?   Further, what is the Source of those Mechanism ?  

Mencius and [Zen] Thinking

                                           "Kung-tu Tsu asked, 'We are all human beings .  Why is it that some men become great and others become small ?

                         Mencius answered , 'Those who follow the greater qualities in their nature become great men and those that follow the smaller qualities in their nature become small men .

                        Kung-tu Tsu was not satisfied and continued, 'But we are all human beings .   Why is it that some follow their greater qualities and others follow their smaller qualities?

                       Mencius responded, When our sense of sight and hearing are used without thought and are thereby obscured by material things, the material things act on the material senses and lead them astray .  That's all .   The function of the Mind is to think .   If we think, we will get the principles of things .  If we do not think, we will not get them .   This is what Heaven has given us .  If we first build up the Nobler part of our nature, then the inferior part cannot overcome it .  Itis simply this that makes men great .' "

"...but TIME will take you on ."

                                             One of the pre-eminent values of the Noble 8-Fold Path is that it is the Essence of Earthly and Heavenly (get this)  Hygiene .   The Great and Venerable Zen Master, Seung Sahn, lists the 8 this way :                    

                                                                          Right Views

                                                                          Right Thoughts

                                                                          Right Speech

                                                                          Right Karma

                                                                          Right Life

                                                                          Right Practice

                                                                          Right Mindfulness

                                                                          Right Meditation

                          For the time being we MUST set these aside rather than confront them "Head On" .   There IS "Daunt" with regard to this Practice, however, just reading them should ignite even a modicum of Curiosity---I need my Gentle Readers to "hold on" until I can offer REASONABLE explanations and definitions .  

                          As far as "the body" "goes" :  Daily Exercise is IMPERATIVE for a Healthy Body and a "Clear" Mind .    

                           As far as "Time" "goes" , I offer James Brown :   "Money won't change you, but TIME will take you on".

"Just Do It"

                                              "The Greek made physical training an important part of education, not because he said to himself, 'Look here, we mustn't forget the body', but because it could never occur to him to train anything but THE WHOLE MAN .   It was as natural for the polis to have gymnasia as to have a theater or warships, and they were constantly used by men of all ages, not only for physical BUT ALSO FOR MENTAL EXERCISE . "

                                                                         The Greeks

                                                                         H.D.F. Kitto 

               I will employ the word (term)  >Hygiene<   to establish conceptual reality .   We shower and brush our teeth  EVERY DAY as a program for [of] personal  Hygiene . I am adamant and insistent that both physical and MENTAL hygiene are abject NECESSITIES for the establishment and maintenance of Health .    In the EXACT SAME WAY that showering and brushing our teeth is done WITHOUT THINKING so it must be with daily Exercise and Meditation to the point that these Required Two, Exercise and Meditation, are performed as SECOND NATURE, meaning, these Two are like >Breathing< a function of our autonomic nervous system .  

             The company "Nike" sez* it best in their slogan =  "Just do it" .

             In case you haven't already come across "Nike" -- She is the Greek Goddess of Victory and as such was highly honored by the Greeks .   You may even see her name as NICE but it is pronounced like niece .  In Roman culture she is known as Victoria .

"Health is WEALTH"

                                             When I was a drunk, {I am STILL a "drunk", [the term is "functioning alcoholic"] I didn't give a "flying FUCK" about my >Health<  =  I never ate breakfast, choosing instead to swill a beer (even before work), I did eat a meager lunch, and I "drank" supper .   I was working as a chainsaw man and the work was BRUTAL.   "It soon came to pass" that I couldn't drive at night because my eyes were so fucked-up .   The optometrist didn't have good news, I had developed cataracts as a result of malnutrition .   "If you wanna play, you-gotta PAY" .   I was shocked and mortified BUT NOT ENOUGH TO TAKE CARE OF MYSELF .   It was fucking YEARS LATER before I did anything .   Now I have NEW eyes, and oddly, the world is a CLEANER place .

                         Understand that it is my Goal to use >>>Health<<< as a tool [weapon, or implement] to pry Commitment out of or from those who are "indifferent" to Health .   Some of us may not have "come across" the axiom >>>  "Health is WEALTH" .   Know this ;   THERE MAY BE NO GREATER 'STATEMENT OF POWER' THAN THIS .   Here now the IMPERATIVE to INVEST in one's Health , to LOVE one's Self to the extent that the knowledge > ALL PHYSICAL AND MENTAL ACTIVITES REQUIRE A HEALTHY BODY AND HEALTY MIND < becomes the FOUNDATION of one's Existence .