Alwareness May 2016 - Being yourself...?!

The theme this month is long and drawn out 

  

Being yourself – What is that? Why is it important? It's importance, How do you do that? How we think has a great influence on our lives, positive or negative, personal or collective

That's huge, complicated and in many ways unhelpful. I narrowed it down to:

Being yourself. What does that mean? Why is it important? Or rather is it important?

I think it can be argued that being yourself could be to your detriment in the current society, if you are relatively, moderately or possibly even completely satisfied with your life.

If you are a slavish follower of fashion, think that the size of your body is more important that it's health, that others finding you beautiful is more important than how you treat people, if you believe economics, have set opinions about other religious beliefs, genders, groups of people, if you think some nationalities or ethnicities are superior to others, if you are a deeply religious subscriber to the OMG doctrines (One Man God), if you believe that western society is the best on offer at the moment, or if you believe that you live in a secular democracy or meritocracy then possibly you would be very ill advised to get to know yourself. You are contented being one of the sheep!

Self knowledge is only something for the much despised goats in Christians mythology. Those who go against the grain. Those who think that there is a purpose beyond breeding to life. The ones who are pained by what they see in the world around them and wish to find another way. Self knowledge is for the desperate, the unhappy, the depressed, the non violent crazies.

New age philosophies are always propounding the ideal of love as the means to save everything and everyone. It is a much touted and little practised Christian concept. How often do you see Christians demonstrating that love conquers all? When have you seen in practise on a political or international level from supposed Christian countries that love, unconditional love of course, is the answer?

The people who propagate this ideal are in general over privileged. Have only ever wanted, never needed, been denied but never had to do without. Grew up with the knowledge of opportunity and availability rather than scarcity, unavailability and being dis-encouraged.

There is lots of love in this world, huge amounts on constant display. Genuine, abiding, deep and fervent love. Love has changed nothing, improved nothing and brought nothing except more two leggeds, animals treated better than people, vegetables treated better than animals. Supposed equalisations that only create more suffering.

What this world needs is more courage, compassion and wisdom. Courage is the most noble and admirable of all human virtues. Through true courageousness we acquire compassion. Courage and compassion engender (or the child of courage and compassion is) wisdom.

When one is truly courageous, one is driven to the defence of one's personal sense of justice. To be truly courageous one needs to know oneself

Most people define the things that are important to them by comparison. Comparing inevitably creates some kind of a hierarchy. This is to do with the way our minds have been programmed.. Westerners and those brought up in a OMG (One Man God) ideology are trained to see things in duality. There is a grudging lip service to the idea of trinity but this is firmly in second place to the highest single point of order – the One Man God.

This ideology is mirrored in society, a single person usually a man at the top and when a woman her modus operandi shows how constructed the notion of gender is. Men are forced to take the lead, be strong, emotionless in control. They retain this power and position even when they choose to name themselves women. (Cis) women waver in the power structure somewhere between and under boys and gay men

Self help philosophies define life with the Mahayana Buddhist concept that the purpose of life is to learn how to be happy. Which raises the question, what is happiness?

When the point is learning, lessons are the usual method. It is generally agreed that trial, failure and re trial works. Only those within whom the idea of an all pervasive perfection constantly surrounding them will expect (as most of our children and ourselves seem to do) to get anything right the first time they try.

Very occasionally, we all have those moments when it is as if some new action or task is coming back to us, as though we have done it before. Or the times (as children to young adulthood, then increasingly rarely with age) when absorbing something new is effortless.

The One Man God is the all pervasive perfection that constantly surrounds us. Unlike the Goddess/Earth it is a standard impossible for humans to reach. We are told that it is striving for that perfection that is important. Trying to be perfect is all that matters. However if you are trying to be something else it is impossible to understand that our humanity is perfection in and of itself.

Life itself is perfection. We are constantly reflected back to ourselves in myriad, wonderful ways just observe the planet, nature and animals. That is the Goddess. Perfection on a Earth bound, human scale is the awareness that the notion of perfection in reality is trial, error, cause and effect.

Anyone who seeks for something above and beyond an Earth bound, human scale, communicating through a pyramidal structure is actually only in search of a way to enslave their fellows.

The church from it's inception has been designed to restrict and control the masses. To instil fear, subservience, a sense of helplessness, need, dependence.

When I speak of the church I am not referring to the teachers whose words have been (trans)formed to create rigid structures. I refer to the bodies defining and maintaining those rigid structures

A good OMG believer rejects the idea of self actualisation – which is what everyone at radio Alwareness is encouraging and busy with. That is what we believe will save the world and for that Self knowledge is essential

Alwareness Addictions 12 April 2016

Up until the 16^th century the body was seen as a receptacle of magical powers. Magic is a means 'to obtain what is wanted without labouring for it. Obtaining anything without hard work is severely frowned upon in a society and culture that believes in original sin. (i.e. this culture and most of the West)

It is important to understand that everything that is pushed, proscribed or advocated in our society has at it's basis a belief in Christianity which is a belief in the innate evil of human beings. This inborn evil must be constantly fought against. We are, 'because' of Adam and most especially Eve driven to perpetrate evil, wickedness etc. This foundational belief is the basis for my continued and continuing rejection of God and all forms of monotheism.

Humanistic belief systems say that people have an innate or inborn capacity for goodness. However one needs to make a concerted and continuous effort to allow this goodness space to operate. A capitalist monotheistic society can never be humanistic.

Before the 16^th century life, nature the planet was viewed as a flow of signs and signals to be deciphered. Everything, every element, herb, plant, metal and most of all every part of the human body hid virtues and powers. A variety of practices were designed to bend these secrets and powers of nature to the human will.

Magic requires a conception of space and time that is totally incompatible with the capitalist work/discipline paradigm. Whether magic is real is immaterial. All pre capitalist/christian societies have magical beliefs.

Francis Bacon said 'Magic kills industry”. So eradicating these practises and ideas was essential for the creation of modern day society.

What we call the Age of Reason was actually an age of scepticism and methodical doubt aimed at the destruction and eradication by the state of all pre-capitalist beliefs and practices. The height of this age was the peak of a prolonged, viciously ferocious attack on ordinary people.

“The human body … was the first machine developed by capitalism.” First hierarchy was created between the mind and body. 16^th and 17^th century philosophers, such as Descartes and Hobbes, developed the theoretical basis which states; the body is a machine, an engine that needs to subdued, controlled, constrained ordered and subjugated. The mind must exert will over the machine to focus it continuously on serving god and the state. This 'Mechanical body' philosophy was essential to the creation of a functioning capitalist society.

The current revival of 'magical beliefs' is only possible today because to paraphrase Silvia Frederici; "Even the most devoted believer in astrology will consult the clock to check they are on time for work."

For over three hundred years a battle was fought partly in words and concepts beginning with philosophical texts printed at end of the 15^th century. Though many of the works against the mechanical body philosophy no longer exist. The battle of words can be seen and read at any moment. The unrelenting violence that was used to support and ensure the victory of these words is only evident in our psyches and insistence upon following unspoken rules that do not benefit our well being.

During the 16^th and 17^th century hatred for wage labour raged across Europe, with the notable exceptions of the NL and Sweden. This resistance was so intense that most preferred possible starvation and/or death to submission. This can clearly be seen in changes in the law; An intensification of penalties, particularly those punishing crimes against property, the introduction of bloody laws against vagabonds and a huge number of executions.

But it took until the second half of the 19^th century before we glimpse the emergence of the (ideal) ...worker – temperate prudent, responsible, proud of his contribution. This drudge that personifies the capitalist utopia is the clearest sign that the battle had been lost.

If this war had never taken place or not been lost, we would view our bodies as sacred, magical vessels imbued with wonder, then gifted to us.

Today you either drudge or you are frowned upon. Most people strive to have jobs where they then spend the largest proportion of their lives from necessity. They do it for clothes, food, shelter. Few people do any kind of work that fulfils them or enriches other areas of their lives.

Most of our addictions are condoned supported and pushed by the state. The ones seen as a problem, take us out of the mundane reality of our daily lives, they usually incapacitate us from being an ideal worker and they move us into another (magical?) space/mind set.

If we hadn't completely taken on board the de-consecration, alienation and mechanisation of our body, how would we view the insistent call of a magical vessel towards an altered state?

Optifit bra's

I just had the most amazing conversation with Sue McDonald from http://www.optifitbra.com/. 

I have been looking for a good bra for years. In between bouts of raging at the sellers of the instruments of torture that we are currently mostly forced into. I listened to the outer and inner voices that told me that my body/breasts were wrong, too big, that my nipples were in 'the wrong' place.

I listened to numerous women particularly when I was in the US tell me that "You don't have to walk around looking like that" just before they slipped me a card from a plastic surgeon. Or ask me "What are your nipples doing down there?" The looks of disgust, revulsion, pity, sympathy, fascination and horror, that have accompanied me throughout my lifetime in saunas parks, swimming places and especially everywhere in the four months that I decided 'not to ever wear a bra again'.

I have been three times to 'see about' getting a breast reduction but the attitudes of the Dr's and nurses, the blatant sexism and racism, as well as refusal to accept the 'necessity' of removing my nipples to ultimately just be able to wear a bra comfortably, the horror stories and scars of women I knew who had their breast reduced, and my general recalcitrance and unwillingness to buy into the 'beauty imperative' have always stopped me taking the next step.

To be honest the fact that it was always accompanied by the absolute necessity to loose lots of weight didn't help. Especially because all the women I know who did lose weight for their operations only put it back on afterwards which combined with my decision in my teens that I would rather be fat than a yo-yo'er.

Over the years I have watched with disappointment and a growing sense of desperation - I am a dinosaur - as pretty much all the women I knew with big (especially African shape) boobs succumbed to the pressure and submitted to the knife. Most of them to become proselytisers for the scalpel as saviour to their' self esteem, marriages, love lives, health - you name it.

I do not believe that cutting bits of your body for purely aesthetic reasons based on an industry that is detrimental to women on every level has any validity. Certainly not if one considers themselves woman aligned/supportive or liberationist.

Every few years I would look up made to measure bra's but the idea of spending hundreds of (whatever your currency) per piece to buy something that you are supposed to wash every 3/4 days just didn't fit.

I spent 10 years going to sewing classes with the hope of learning how to make a bra. My teacher attempted to make me a bra, she also made me a couple of swimming costumes. It was clear at that point that the way bras are designed is anti female, Euro centric (racist) and invalid.

I bought bras from Bravissimo until the scars caused by the under wires was too much even for my minimal vanity levels. The lack of comfort was a non issue - everyone knows bras are uncomfortable. Eventually I found a firm which sold large size bras without under wires. I bought the largest size they had which still doesn't fit but was more comfortable and doesn't scar and decided I would have to live with the four boob syndrome for the rest of my life!

Pretty bras for big boobs are massive business. I asked myself why I kept giving in. I can take a lot of abuse from men - I am used to it. But the way that women get at me and undermine me eats at me, it feels like from the inside out. So it would only take a few trips out of doors and a few weeks feeling unable to go out of doors to get me ordering again.

The last bit of time I go 'out' rarely, get wasted as quickly as possible and forget about my uncomfortable bra until it is time to get home and 'FREE THE TWO!"

Imagine my deep interest at finding  http://www.optifitbra.com/our-story/ this morning.

I read the website info and just the fact that it showed clearly all the issues that I had also found to be true of bras re body positioning was great but in and of itself not enough to get my order. I checked the films on the website and them some on youtube. Made a post to my fb page - I'm gonna phone - so that I would!

Imagine again my surprise when Sue herself answered the phone, with her lovely, medium tone voice and for me reassuring and safe Northern English accent (all Brits know that people from the North of England are intrinsically nicer (more trustworthy!) people that those from the South!

We talked about fashion, history, the (ab)use of women's body to sell products that damage and pain caused, the ignored body/breast shape differences and the abnormalizing of non European body shapes/sizes. 

Fashion; This industry makes it's money exploiting women's insecurities and keeps them out of a security zone by reversing the 'rules' every 5-10 years to keep women buying. Adding a dart to a men's shirt form is will not make an upper body clothing item that will fit boobs. Whatever the fashion industry says!

History: Women's shapes and measurements are based on men's bodies and sizing adapted to a European form ideal! If you look at the 'ideal' women's body shapes from the beginning of the 20th century to now - there is a marked see saw from full figure attractive to slim figure attractive for the whole of the 20th century that seems now to be focused on getting smaller and becoming increasingly male shaped.

Bra's are the cause of most backache issues, it has been show that under wires impede the flow of the lymph and bra's are increasingly associated with breast cancer causation. 

If you've ever been lucky enough as I have to work in a naked sauna, you would have seen that no two breasts are the same and that there is a wide variety of 'standard' breast shapes, that vary from ethnicity and body shape/size. This variety is unreflected in the standardised making of bra's.

Sue talked about the differences between the measurements she uses for making bras and those that are usually used and how they differ from woman to woman, depending on height and breast size.

It was an amazing conversation! Incredible to hear a manufacturer reflecting back, supporting and agreeing with everyone of my negative thoughts about bra's as well as giving me even more negative information!

Sue said the best thing for your boobs whatever their shape and size is not to wear a bra! But as we are suckers for our own(and each others) oppression she decided to make something that at least wouldn't make the search for 'lift' a hazard to your health

She is sending me the info and instrument to measure my boobs! These bras are not cheap, unless you consider that they are made to measure and she promises for one price to make you a bra that fits. She says that 50% of the time she has to make a second bra but to date has never had to make a third to get it right.

Check out the website - you can also give her a call and talk to her.

I will keep you posted!

The Ten Worlds

The principle of the 10 worlds was derived from the Lotus Sutra by the Great Chinese Buddhist teacher T'ien T'ai (538-597) most forms of Buddhism practised in Vietnam, Japan, China and Korea trace their roots back to his teachings, which in term reflect back to his own teacher Chih-I.

This succinct (and to me accurate and helpful) framework of the psychology of human behaviour states that everyone innately possesses ten life conditions or worlds through which they move from moment to moment. The six lower states – hell, hunger, anger, animality, rapture, tranquillity – will dominate unless conscious effort is made to enter the four higher worlds – learning, realisation, bodhisattva (compassion) and Buddha(hood).

It is important to realise that each of nine worlds has a positive and a negative aspect while Buddhahood, the highest state it is possible for a human to achieve is only positive.

How each of the worlds manifests depends on peoples 'default' setting, which are usually one of the four lowest worlds, as the fifth and sixth worlds (rapture and tranquillity) tend to be extremely transient. People move continuously through the worlds from moment to moment. In the six lower worlds we are at the mercy of our environment and circumstances (karma) our life condition changes in response to that external stimulus. A love letter brings rapture, bad weather can bring hell, a comment anger, the sight of another's possession hunger etc.

The fact that we can move so swiftly between the worlds, which are all manifest within each other. meaning that it is as easy (or difficult) to move from a state of compassion to a state of hell as vise versa is called the mutual possession of the ten worlds

The Mutual Possession Of The 10 Worlds

WORLD	POSITIVE ASPECT	NEGATIVE ASPECT
Hell	A real understanding of this state can lead to the desire and wisdom to help others.	A state of suffering, illustrated by despair, depression and self destructive tendencies
Hunger	Yearning to improve things for oneself and others The desire to live and achieve goals;	Greed and/or an insatiable, unsatisfied desire for power, sex, money, material goods etc.
Animality	The instinct to survive; sleep, eat, make love and to protect and nurture life	Unthinking instinctive action, intimidating the weak, fearing the strong; selfish, pleasure seeking.
Anger	Passion to fight injustice and create a better world; a creative force for change	A state of self righteousness egotism, in which one cannot bear to lose. This state is a foundation of war.
Rapture	Intense pleasure and happiness; heightened awareness and feeling glad to be alive	Short lived happiness resulting from the achievements of desires. The wish for it's continuance leads to excess (materialism) and a weak, dependent attitude of life.
Tranquility/Humanity	At peace, in control of desires; the ability to act with reason and humanity	A state of inactivity; unwillingness to tackle problems, leading to decline and negligence
Learning	Striving for self improvement by learning new concepts through studying the teachings of others. The foundation of realisation	The tendency to become self-centred, cut off from daily realities, or developing a dismissive attitude towards those with less knowledge.
Realisation	Wisdom and insight gained by the effort and effect of study and by observing the world	Self-absorption, lacking a broad view of life, arrogance (“I know better”)
Bodhisattva	Compassion and/or acting selflessly for other people, without expecting a reward.	Becoming a martyr neglecting oneself/health. Ultimately having pity or contempt for those one aims to help
Buddha	Wisdom, compassion courage, life force which illuminates the positive aspects the other nine worlds	This state is only positive

Alwareness - January 2016 - Veiligheid/Safety

Safety the state of being "safe":1. secure from liability to harm, injury, danger, or risk: a safe place.

2. free from hurt, injury, danger, or risk: to arrive safe and sound.

3. involving little or no risk of mishap, error, etc.: a safe estimate.

4. dependable or trustworthy: a safe guide.

5. careful to avoid danger or controversy: a safe player; a safe play.

6. denied the chance to do harm; in secure custody: a criminal safe in jail.

Being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational, or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm, or any other event that could be considered non-desirable. Safety can also be defined to be the control of recognized hazards to achieve an acceptable level of risk. This can take the form of being protected from the event or from exposure to something that causes health or economical losses. It can include protection of people or of possessions.

dictionary.com & wikipedia

36 ideas to be safer in 2016

1.Decide if it is appropriate for you to work on safety as an issue

2.Define for yourself what being safe feels like

3. What are the necessary components for your for feeling safe

4. Be aware if you only feel safe – alone,

5. at home,

6. with those you know/like

7. Make a second safety boundary

8. – When I am in a crowd, alone, in an alien environment, what would I need to feel safe?

9. Define any places where your second safety boundary applies

10. Define places you feel unsafe

11. times when you feel unsafe

12. conditions under which you feel unsafe

13. Talk about feeling safe

14.Learn how to

15.           Ground

16.           Centre

17.           focus

18.          manage pain

19.          breathe properly

20. Practise deep breathing

21. Learn how to take a full, quick breath in

22.                    consciously breathe out

23.                    use you breath to focus

24.                                              think

25.                                              ground

26.                                              centre

27.                                              stop panic

28            recognise, validate, translate the physical information your body gives you in sens'(e)'ation

29. Learn to stretch or some appropriate stretches for yourself

30. Always have money/resources to get home

31. Be prepared to go it alone

32. Better alone than in the wrong company

33. Be aware of your surroundings

34. Trust your instincts

35. Better safe/bored than sorry

36. When in doubt take a deep breath

IMBUEING 2016

May your feet hold u grounded and carry u lightly

May your ankles flex smoothly to lift you to your toes

May your knees bend with you and carry you strong

May your hips sway supply and cradle your pleasure

May your spine hold you straight and sustain your blalance

May your shoulders find time and space to relax under their burdens

May your arms hug, enfold, embrace

May your hands stroke, smooth, trickle, tickle, clasp

May your neck feel many kisses

May it nod your head often and shake it whenever necessary

May your lips purse frequently and pleasurably

May your mouth speak of bliss and laugh through challenges

May your nose inhale deeply, unwavering

May your eyes sparkle with tears of joy

May they weep copiously, without fear, as necessary

May all tightness within you ease

May breaths of healing flow deeply through you

May application, relaxation, comfort, joy, satisfaction, contentment

Await you in unexpected moments and corners of the coming year

WISHING YOU A FRUITFUL, 

FULFILLED, FULFILLING

2016

Realisation Alwareness theme September

In one form of Buddhism, Realisation is one of the four highest of ten states of life available to humans.

People un-awakened to their potential for enlightenment, never reach these four higher states. They reel through the four eternal sufferings of birth, illness, old age and death, tumbling between the lower worlds of hell, hunger, animality, anger, rapture and tranquillity, from moment to moment, year to year, decade to decade.

The stage just before, or in some reckoning, lower than realisation is learning.

To realise is to grasp or understand clearly or to make real; as in making a hope, fear, plan occurring in reality, The synonyms make the meanings of the word easier to grasp. To realise is to conceive, to comprehend and/or to accomplish. So within the one word is to think of something, understand it and carry it out.

It is said to be impossible to enter the world of realisation, I would say it is very difficult to realise anything without first learning.

The world above or following Realisation is that of Bodhisattva. A bodhisattva is a person who has attained Enlightenment, but who postpones entering Nirvana in order to help others to attain the same state. You could also call it the ability of perpetual selfless action.

I was taught that being educated meant that you knew where to go to find out information that you wanted or needed. Education should be about finding knowledge. After a certain amount of time trying to do research on the internet it is clear that if you want to find out what something is really about, books are still the best way to do it. Everyone raves about the Ted lectures but to my mind they are just another way of indoctrinating people into Americanising themselves. That means dumbing down as much as possible, doing as you're told, believing their lying hype and hatred for difference.

Learning is what takes us out of our narrow, mundane and ordinary lives, into a whole universe of possibilities. This is one of the reasons that access to education has been (for such a huge amount of our presented history), and is still, being denied to women and other perceived lower orders of people.

There are no lower orders of people as there are no better types of people. There are just humans, animals, bodhisattva's and buddhas. If you're not trying to learn, then the chances are you are an animal with moments of humanity.

The education system that we now have is a cryptic manner of keeping people ignorant or as animals. As I have said before, much of what is presented as learning and/or education are the narrow ideas of a group of European men whose forefathers burned and destroyed the greatest libraries the world has even known. Then add a thousand and more years of burning, torturing, suppressing and brutalising anyone and everyone who disagreed with their ideas. Murdering nay sayers is one of the best ways to make sure that everyone agrees with you.

I think it is clear that general academia is a load of crap because it is based on saying things as cryptically as possible. Real learning, real education is something that is accessible to anyone. If you have to say it in a way that only those of you in the 'in crowd' can understand, you can pretty much guarantee that a lot of it would be soundly contested when presented to those not of the chosen few. This has certainly been my experience in higher education.

Much of the foundation of our current knowledge and education system, certainly in the soft sciences, is based and decided on ideas which are a) unscientific and b) utter rubbish.

Higher education is the biased opinions of a group of people with access to every privilege possessing little common intelligence.

Up until very recently in Europe and to this day in many parts of the world a belief in the one man god is a necessity. Not believing in that restrictive and destructive idea means that any ideas, information or knowledge that one tries to present is immediately disqualified.

The determination to perpetuate - keep in place - a non humanistic society that uses the majority to provide unlimited wealth to 1% at the cost of the planet; through exploitation of people, animals and the physical attributes of the earth. This is all presented in our education systems as unavoidable, reasonable and/or necessary even in subjects which are supposed to be about being environmentally responsible.

Our responsibility as thinking human beings is to learn, to keep on learning and to find ways to act upon that which we learn. Only through consciously learning, not only what is presented to us as the truth ,but also by learning to hear and listen to our own internal truth and being prepared to follow that truth to action do we have any chance of realising a world that follows the planet's intention and intelligence, which is to provide enough for all to enjoy.