In response to Richard K. Moore's
A friend wrote to me:
>and in the long run, humanity shall vanish from the planet and the =
planet
>will take a good long rest.
Mankind, like man, lives but for a span - in the end just a blink in =
time.
For man, so Buddha and others have said, the finite can be conquered - =
by
perceiving the timelessness and unity of conciousness. Does mankind
collectively also have a path to some kind of enlightenment? Or is =
mankind
now in its final senile decline, having passed the time of its
enlightenment opportunities?
A person, seeking enlightenment, must learn to put the chariot and horse
under control of the rider, before right action or right understanding =
can
be pursued. Mankind, it would appear, is being carried hither and yon =
by
chariot and horse while the rider - unconcious of the reins - lives in a
schizophrenic dream world. Are we romanticizing in attributing to
primitive societies a higher degree of self-awareness and collective
wisdom?
To me the garden of eden was the time before man tried to design his own
societies. Awareness of technology, sociology, economics, and politics =
-
as domains that can be altered and improved - this is the dangerous =
fruit
of knowledge that enables mankind to go either toward or away from
collective fulfillment.
We're like a skiier who goes down faster and faster slopes without =
taking
the time to master control and balance. We've orgied on our ability to
manipulate society, and it's gotten away from us.
Please read Marc Aurel, the consolidation of philosophy, Richard who =
wrote about this 1800 years ago and did this much better than we can and =
let's use the World System list for discussing the World System. . (With =
or without hyphen)
Cheers
Dr. R. J. Barendse