Our lives will be reshaped by the decisions we are making now. Clearly, the environment and its’ protection are the most important issue of the day. Regardless of all of our other concerns, we are facing global warming and climate instability. It is doubtful we will act collectively to reverse global warming. We are also faced with water and oil depletion, a continued unsustainable population explosion, a foreseeable crisis in food production, along with extreme environmental degradation due to toxic chemicals and the nuclear industry.
The economy and its fragility pales in the face of these problems. Still a new economic collapse is also a probable certainly within 3 to 5 years time. Our government is too incompetent and corrupt to make any of the needed corrections and the problems we are now encountering are on a global scale which requires world wide governmental cooperation. Reasonably then the prognosis is poor. It is a very unfortunate situation we have arrived at.
Some folks believe God/Jesus will save us. Others believe technology will save us and some believe we are pretty much headed for the abyss. Still there is a forth group that simply works for the good and attempts to take direct action both on an individual and societal level. The following is written for the forth group, those who care enough and have the ability to make life affirming decisions and are willing to take direct action. Within the context of this column I will recommend certain books to read which I believe are very helpful to understanding the human condition and our current situation. I hope they will help bring some a fuller understanding and encouragement for direct action. Not everyone will agree with my selections and recommendations nor is there a need too. In fact this writing and the recommendations I make will only seem sensible to those who already have a similar understanding. So be it.
Since I am not a prophet nor a sage but an individual much like yourself,
my offerings will have limits and may be considered suspect. However I hope the suggestions, ideas. thoughts, books, recommendations etc will help some live more fully. Since I do believe in God and have ample personal evidence to be assured there are other dimensions to our existence beside our material reality and sense perceptions. God will sometimes be a central focus in my thoughts or some of the books I will recommend. If you have an aversion to God or the concept of God this may not be the place for you but then again aversion is a form of attachment.
Activism without balance can become a form of fundamentalism or fanaticism and can twist and warp into the very things we are attempting to change. We need to illuminate/eliminate the causes and well as alleviate symptoms/effects. Ignorance or deep unconsciousness within is in final analysis cause, while effect is both the conditions and behavior we experience/manifest. Subsequently political activism and spiritual development are vitally linked for this writer and go hand in hand.
I do want to say this page is personal and is not intended in anyway to represent Veterans For Peace. I do hope this writing is both useful and entertaining and that it leads to interior illumination which will bring to you a sense of Self fulfillment, Love, Beauty and Truth along with useful suggestions for peace activism, politics, growing food and flowers, etc. I will be writing about what is important in my life and sharing it with you.
Books to Read
The books below are either the most important books in my life or one’s that I find so completely compelling for their beauty or truth or the tenderness of the human spirit that they are listed.
The Bhagavad Gita
It is hard to imagine a more important scripture than the Bhagavad Gita.
It is “The Song of God” and can offer the most profound insights into the nature of our being and how we might immediately have a direct experience with/of God. However arriving at this experience is no small task for most of us and may take many, many lifetimes. Detachment is a major theme yet this too is not easily understood. For example Gandhi’s statement, You need not give up any of your possessions, but only need (to) give up the possessor, lends insight into this process. Another key concept is God includes everything, nothing is outside of God. The Bhagavad Gita also discusses Dharma, states of consciousness, and finally choice, creating hope and positive dissonance in the process. Reading the book is not akin to taking the journey yet how one acquires passage remains a puzzlingly and delightful mystery for this writer. This is my top recommendation. I would encourage everyone to read the Bhagavad Gita fully realizing it is not easil understood since this understanding transcends our cognitive process and the written word. Finally the Bhagavad Gita tells us, the decisions we are making now are important, have very real consequences so be careful and thoughtful in your decision making process. There are many translations and interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita. One place to begin is with Eknath Easwaran, a version I have spent a good deal of time with. There are many other fine versions also however given my culture, circumstance and consciousness this is a good beginning version.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
The Power of Now is an excellent book in written or recorded form. For some The Power of Now will give access to the same universal and unchanging spiritual truths found in the Bhagavad Gita. Essentially Eckhart Tolle is discussing the spiritual wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita, with some variation, particularly in the use of language. If cultural bias creates resistance, (and often it does) it may be beneficial to listen to or read The Power of Now” first. We all learn things at different times and in different ways. The learning is what is of importance.
Wild, An Elemental Journey by Jay Griffiths
Jay Griffiths uses language like fireworks, exploding words into a delightful yet passionate illumination of human experiences, exploring the world's indigenous people with the beauty of a particularly tender and insightful mind. My deepest admiration to this amazing work.