Silver BELLS

                                                           I will inject >Self Absorbed< into this narrative as in "The man was so self-absorbed he did not see, feel, or hear the thief approach nor cut his tether ."   Further, his concern was directed toward >material gain< and he literally thought of nothing else .   Is this man, then, a true Innocent ?   I say NO .   The thief saw him as an easy 'mark' and took advantage of it straight-away .

                       The man arrives at a well and sees someone who he thinks is in distress .   We now know the thief is not only practiced but has KEEN vision and so seeks to "play" this man once more .   First he tells the man he has "dropped" FIVE HUNDRED SILVER COINS into the well and then offers him 100 should he manage to retrieve them .    The thief is believed by the man, trusted even, but upon what is this trust based ????   The man asks NO Questions, like, HOW THE FUCK DID YOU DROP A SACK OF COINS INTO THIS WELL ????  Even better WHY DIDN'T YOU try YOURSELF ???????   

                      The man's justifies this perilous effort with a common cliche "One door shuts while many are opened" and with this he strips and "plunges" into the well .   He made Effort to AVOID THE OBVIOUS, that is, WHO THE FUCK IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD BE CARELSESS ENOUGH TO DROP A SACK OF SIVER COINS INTO A WELL ???????????????????  Innocent ???   Hardly .

                      Trump voters refused to believe that THEIR OWN MINDS accounted for the first theft, and THEIR OWN MINDS resulted in the second .   

                      I mean, one word :   TOOO Good .

A Sheep Without Man's Clothing

                                                           Had Aesop written this story, it would have had a 'conclusion' of some sort of 'Street Wisdom' .   This Story was written by one of the most Famous Sufi Masters, RUMI .

                         In Sufi Tradition this Story does not have a 'conclusion' since THAT  IS  the Teaching .  Like the Biblical Parables and Zen Koans [Kong-ans in Korean] it is up to the Reader to gain Insight and Understanding by depth Meditation .   First, I follow Scholastic Tradition by practiced and rather mundane analysis, which is my 'Wheel-House', in order to secure at least an initial understanding that results in Appreciation .   I mean, FIRST there's this :   Dude---you are having a SUPER BAD DAY ===  first your sheep then your clothes .   Thing is, can you feel any REAL sympathy for the guy ?   I don't .

                       Analysis asserts this question, WHAT was this guy thinking about, WHY didn't he sense anything BEFORE the feeling of a slack rope ???  Here it is where "reading between the lines" demands IMAGINATION ,  and where the Author has satisfaction that his words have engaged and engrossed the Reader .   Now, I think that the Man-with-sheep was taking his animal to be sold, and was immersed in receiving a handsome profit, and with that profit what he would spend it on, and was SOOO distracted he couldn't see or feel ANYTHING until he did .   

                       I liken this man to TRUMP VOTERS .   Now just hold on to that for a minute or two .

THE SHEEP AND THE PURSE

                                                           What follows is a transcription of a story that's in Shah's chapter :  "Teaching Stories" .   My first thought was to modernize it to make it more palatable but further consideration rejected that notion.  I WILL, however, make comment in the Purport .  

                                                            THE SHEEP AND THE PURSE

    A man was walking along a road one day, followed by his sheep .   A thief went after him, cut the rope, and took it away .   When he realized what had happened, the man ran all over the place looking for his animal .  Presently he came to a well, where he saw a man apparently in despair .  Although the man did not know it, he was the very same thief .  He asked him what he was doing .   The thief said, "I have dropped a purse into the well .  It contains five hundred silver coins .   If you jump in and get it back for me, I will give you one hundred silver pieces ."

             The man thought :  'When one door shuts, a hundred may open .  This chance is worth ten times the sheep which I have lost .'   

             He stripped himself and plunged into the well .

             And the thief carried off his clothes .

BLIND FAITH

                                                           After I sent out the first blog I put my machine on "Sleep" and settled into "Chairy-Chair" to receive whatever Energy would be sent my way, also, I wanted to find a Modern Day example for Sufism, and Its 'Reliance on God' component ~~~  "IT" arrived almost instantly .   "PRESENCE OF THE LORD" performed by Blind Faith the Members being :   Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker, and Rich Gretch .   Eric Clapton wrote the Lyrics and Music .   Eric used a Fender Telecaster, Rick a Fender Jazz Bass, Ginger his fav-Ludwig drum kit with Zildjian cymbals, and Steve's organ~~ a Hammond B 3 .

                              I have always regarded "Presence..." as a White Boy's > Spiritual< ,  mainly because Steve set his Hammond B 3 to CATHERDRAL in order to amPLIFY the Sense of HEAVEN and ITS proximity to GOD .   The song has deep background, as if it WAS being performed in a HUGH CATHEDRAL / CAVE .   

                              Steve records :"I have finally found a Way to live, /  Just  like I never could before /  I know that I don't have much to give  /   But I can open any door . "

                               The Way to Live is IN "The Presence of the Lord" and deeper "In the COLOR of the Lord" .

                             Eric was never gonna-get the Nobel Prize for Literature, the verses transcend Simplistic but EVERYBODY can hear and UNDERSTAND them a {Divine} Sufi NECESSITY .   Further his Solo is a SYMBOLIC Expression of his Journey that ended with his "Discovery" and ENTRY into the "Divine" . 

Crazy 8's

                                                            I finished reading THE WAY OF THE SUFI :   It is a TREASURE STORE of Teachings that have UNIVERSAL application .   Indries Shah, the present Head of the Sufi Tradition, has presented "an unparalleled cross section of material from Sufi Schools, Teachings, and Classical Writing as a basic course of Sufi Study" .    No matter one's position or station in Life, this Book is of inestimable  Value .   What I am about to write may be considered BLASPHEMIC, I do so any way :   in the same way that one does NOT need to Study Buddhism IF one's attention is drawn to Zen, so it is with Sufism ;   if you Study Sufism, it MAY not be necessary to immerse one's self in the Quran--- THAT'S how POWERFUL are the Teachings of Sufi Masters .

                             I suggest that it is IMPERATIVE for my Gentle Readers to 'get' familiar with the 8 Sufi Beliefs, but for now I will supply a 'short-cake' .  1.  Belief in God and that He is ONE .   2.  Awareness of the Self's Desires .    3.   One's Ego/Self must be annihilated {in order to advance/progress} .   4.  Subsistence in God .   5. Divine Love .   6. Return to Truth / God .   7.   Patience .   8. Trust as the Reliance on God's Will .     This must suffice for now .

                           Here, now, are the 8 Qualities of the Sufi Master :   

                                         Liberality, as that of Abraham

                                         Acceptance of his lot, as Ishmael accepted

                                         Patience, as possessed by Job

                                         Capacity to communicate by symbolism, as in the case of Zacharias

                                         Estrangement from his own people, which was the case of John

                                         Woolen garb like the shepherd's mantle of Moses

                                          Journeying, like the travelling Jesus

                                          Humility, as Mohammed had Humility of Spirit .

Beware

                                                            Democratic optimism is surging in the most vile way .    In the Olden Times of Yesteryear we would be cautioned :  "Don't count your chickens before they hatch".   There's GREAT ---> Wisdom in that  barnyard obvious .   What is being broadcast  these days is a sickening disassociation from that barnyard classic .    News folks are telling us that the House will become democratic and even the House of Senators is possible .   I wouldn't mind hearing this if the qualifications were submitted as well, meaning, the Public needs to be reminded that just securing the House is NOT ENOUGH TO STOP TRUMP .   If trump IS to be STOPPED it would require TWO THIRDS MAJORITY IN BOTH HOUSES thereby guaranteeing VETO-PROOF Legislation .    

                          Presently THERE IS NO EVIDENC THAT TRUMPISTS WILL VOTE BLUE, VOTE DEMOCRATIC, IN RESPONSE TO PRESENT DAY ECONOMIC CONDITIONS .    I've watched, mostly IN HORROR,,,  as DIE-HARD LOYALISTS refuse to find ANY Fault with trump and therefore are quite willing to keep republicanism* alive and even flourishing, as the Dow presents .   

                          Every day we are subjected not only to trumpist Propaganda but democratic Propaganda as well .    The potential victory of democrats to secure a House of Representatives  simple majority is lessened BECAUSE OF REALITY .    The TRUTH is trump has the supreme court, the doj, the mil in his POWER and they can NEUTRALIZE whatever the democrats project .    The supreme court has given trump INVULNERABILTY , he cannot be prosecuted, nor even sanctioned because of its 'blessing' .    

                         

Philosophies don't pay bills

                                                           I spent some of yesterday afternoon immersed in Indries Shah's  THE WAY OF THE SUFI and presently I am a scant 28 pages from its completion .   I had hoped to find the mystical qualities that enriches Zen Buddhism, and to my delight there is significant mystical Qualities in Sufism, as well as the same WTF inscrutability . I LOVE  that .   What I did not expect to find was any political 'isms' that characterize THE TAO TE CHING  and among them ANY that would prescribe a remedy for Modern Day democrats' affliction, their inability to directly communicate with what is commonly referred to as "the General Public" .    I mean it this way :   there's "Out There" and then there's "WAY THE FUCK OUT THERE .    Sufi's have spent what seems to be EONS in an effort to provide the Teaching to just us reg'lar Folk and when that Teaching has been less well received they insist that it is because the Instructor or Teacher has NOT taught at a the level of the student .  We hear this same accusation from democratic strategists who are near bitter because of mis-communication, Cynicism resulting .   Most Folks are not Philosophers, nor do they have a penchant for Political Science, and even most of their Religious Activities are devoid of direct contact  with National and World Concerns .    

                              Thing is this, Candidates MUST afford potential voters the Policies to which they attend, meaning, those Policies that will contribute to the general Health and Welfare of the voters they are 'courting' .   These 'policies' are correctly referred to as "Kitchen Table Economics" --- it's Kitchen Table because that's where bills are addressed and paid .   Here it is where the ISSUES aren't really issues so much as they are COMMON, EVERY-DAY >>>COSTS<<< .    Technically, it's all about ARITHMETIC and as such, the NUMBERS, in dollar amounts, that need to be balanced in order to maintain and secure one's and one's Family accounting .   

                                The Voters' Question is savagely blunt :   What are you gonna do to help ME  and my FAMILY ?    It don't get no plainer .