The Galactic Free Press Newsletter

GFP Newsletter - 5/4/2014

will's picture

Today's writing is, "It's Okay To Be Weird":

I'm not sure I've ever fit in properly with society. For a long time I made the attempt, but I don't think I ever fooled anybody. Going along with societal norms was always rather awkward for me, and even my attempts to fit into the countercultures didn't really work. I was perpetually stuck in some sort of cultural limbo where I never really fit in to any specific groups. Individuals I could connect to, but I always had difficulty with groups.

Throughout the experience there was a word that followed me around, I didn't want to identify with it, but people sure liked to use it to define me. That word is "weird" and when I was trying to fit in with society, it hurt when people called me that. It meant I had failed in my attempts to fit in. Now I don't see the word with such a negative connotation, heck, it's more of a compliment now. It means I'm not a conformist, I don't just ignorantly follow the crowd. I like who I am and I don't try to hide my uniqueness.

Something I eventually recognized is that nobody ever really fits perfectly into any culture. This is why it was far easier for me to connect with individuals, because they could drop their pretenses and just be themselves. I didn't mean anything to society, my opinions didn't matter, so people could behave far more naturally around me without any fear of repurcussions. Everyone is unique, and what it means to be "normal" is just an ideal that only exists in the mind. Nobody really fits perfectly into cultural norms, it's just a mask they put on when dealing with others.

Link to the full version: http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/content/its-okay-be-weird

Donation total: $55 out of $3,000 monthly goal

GFP Newsletter - 5/4/2014

will's picture

When there is love, there is no duty. When you love your wife, you share everything with her-your property, your trouble, your anxiety, your joy. You do not dominate. You are not the man and she the woman to be used and thrown aside, a sort of breeding machine to carry on your name. When there is love, the word duty disappears. It is the man with no love in his heart who talks of rights and duties, and in this country duties and rights have taken the place of love. Regulations have become more important than the warmth of affection. When there is love, the problem is simple; when there is no love, the problem becomes complex. When a man loves his wife and his children, he can never possibly think in terms of duty and rights. Sirs, examine your own hearts and minds. I know you laugh it off,that is one of the tricks of the thoughtless, to laugh at something and push it aside. Your wife does not share your responsibility, your wife does not share your property, she does not have the half of everything that you have because you consider the woman less than yourself, something to be kept and to be used sexually at your convenience when your appetite demands it. So you have invented the words rights and duty; and when the woman rebels, you throw at her these words. It is a static society, a deteriorating society, that talks of duty and rights.

-J Krishnamurti

GFP Newsletter - 5/3/2014

will's picture

Most people are unhappy; and they are unhappy because there is no love in their hearts. Love will arise in your heart when you have no barrier between yourself and another, when you meet and observe people without judging them, when you just see the sailboat on the river and enjoy the beauty of it. Don't let your prejudices cloud your observation of things as they are; just observe, and you will discover that out of this simple observation, out of this awareness of trees, of birds, of people walking, working, smiling, something happens to you inside.

J. Krishnamurti

GFP Newsletter - 5/2/2014

will's picture

Today's writing is, "Taking Meditation to the Next Level":

The West has seen a recent surge of interest in meditation, and it's a wonderful tool for finding a little peace and calm in an otherwise hectic world. You can sit quietly somewhere, let go of all your worldly concerns, and just relax. This is something almost everyone could use more of, but it's also just the very beginning of real transformation.

It's easy to find peace in a peaceful environment, anybody can do that. This is why spiritual retreats are so popular, you get a nice peaceful environment to do your spiritual work in. However, the "normal" human world is usually everything but a peaceful environment. It's chaotic, full of emotions and distractions. It's very challenging to stay balanced in that sort of environment, though balanced people are what the human world needs the most.

Many people who consider themselves spiritual have a fake sort of peace. Their peace is dependent upon the external environment. It's not real Peace, just an imitation. This is why the monks flee to the mountain tops, why so many spiritual people attempt to disconnect from society as much as possible. They don't want their mind's illusion of peace disturbed. Dogs barking, children yelling, cars honking, all of these must be eliminated to create the illusion of internal peace. The world gets renounced and ignored, like it's the cause of their problems and not their own mind.

Link to the full version: http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/content/taking-meditation-next-level

Donation total: $55 out of $3,000 monthly goal

Link to today's GFP newsletter: http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/content/gfp-newsletter-522014

GFP Newsletter - 5/2/2014

will's picture

You see a beautiful car, you touch the polish, see its shape and texture. Out of that there is sensation. Then thought comes and says, “How nice it would be if I got it, how nice it would be if I got into it and drove off.” So what has happened? Thought has intervened, has given shape to sensation. Thought has given to sensation the image of you sitting in the car and driving off. At that moment, as that second, when thought creates the image of you sitting in the car, desire is born. Desire is born when thought gives a shape, an image, to sensation. Now, sensation is the way of existence, it is part of existence. But you have learnt to suppress, conquer, or live with desire with all its problems. Now, if you understand this, not intellectually but actually, that when thought gives shape to sensation, at that second desire is born, then the question arises: Is it possible to see and touch the car—which is sensation—but not let thought create the image? So keep a gap.

-Krishnamurti

GFP Newsletter - 5/1/2014

will's picture

Love to faults is always blind,
Always is to joys inclined,
Lawless, winged, and unconfined,
And breaks all chains from every mind.

-William Blake

GFP Newsletter - 4/30/2014

will's picture

You Deserve Happiness!

Let us seek to give up all prejudices, and not just things like sexism and racism, but all of our preconceived notions about how things are supposed to be. Let us give up all judgements. Let us allow life to be what it truly is instead of just seeing the stories in our minds. Let us find wonder and adventures, let us find Love, and all of the things that make life worth living.

Begin Now, don't put it off for one more day, don't put it off for one more minute. Don't push it away, you deserve genuine happiness in your life. Why keep that from yourself?

Donation total: $1,997 out of $3,000 monthly goal

Link to today's GFP newsletter: http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/content/gfp-newsletter-4302014

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - The Galactic Free Press Newsletter