Beautiful work! I have not been following much since the long miracle course writings, having been consumed with being homeless in NYC for the last year, and doing bike delivery when it doesnβt obstruct the main goal of navigating the labyrinthine course, with its stops and starts, of seeking housing, meeting basic needs,etc.
This really has reminded me to see and think clearly when my mind is tired and broken and it seems easiest to judge and condemn to try and gain some sort of illusory control over the situation, rather than seeing clearly and maintaining my own ethicsβ¦
Thanks man, I really appreciate the decades of labor youβve put in to even be able to write this
Secondly I like to comment on the subject of love. Love is the desire to not be alone, without all the trimmings and romanization. I think in a symbolic sense and it is my strongly held belief that, the universe was born out of this desire.
If a non-dualistic entity wanted to separate and divide itself; it would be for the sake of love and the chance of union. To loosely quote Crowley.
This article stirs a profound question in my mind.
Very thought-provoking, Mitch. Thank you as always for your fine work. Iβm struggling with an intense bout of depression (my inheritance from both sides of my family) and fell asleep with the tv on. I woke up to you on the Dan Wildman show talking about the Winchester Mystery House. Both you and it figure in my memoir, and it was a nice moment. Thank you for that, too.
Funny story behind that. The show asked me to discuss it after another guest couldn't stop giggling during her interiew. I stipulated: the house is not historically a site of Spiritualism: that was added after the fact by novelty promoters. My comments thread a difficult needle to preserve that point while giving the producers the "ghost angle" they sought.
There is no evidence that Mrs. Winchester held seances or harbored Spiritualist beleifs or intent. Such designations began appearing only years after her death when the house was purchased by a novelty / tourist concern.
I didnβt know that. I was under the impression that there was a designated seance room in the house. Why do you reckon she kept building then? Again, not arguing, just curious.
I'd have to go back into my notes but I think those designations were made post-mortem. Her pechant for building I can only speculate but it may have had to do with the style of "Victorian clutter" that was popular then.
Respect. (Also impressive AF that you are even able to read the Talmud in original language.)
Isn't 'evil' the conscious denial of intentional suffering we cause others? If I, for whatever reasons, do something that I know will create pain in another and refuse to feel what they may experience as a result - or even if I am incapable of that kind of empathy - that seems to qualify, to me.
I was kinda outraged after I started reading this. LOL His writing makes me very uncomfortable - and I love that. But then I saw this - "In light of the principle I have citedββone who borrows and does not repayββevil is not a matter of religion, professed fealties, or social side-taking. It is conduct. All else is a dodge. Convenience is, in a banal sense, evilβespecially when used to define evil." And then I understood.
Being good is non-negotiable. Good thoughts, good words, good deads was the Zoroastrian motto.
Are you saying that is nonsense? I guess if you think about it one good can be another's bad. That's why they invented law. So everybody knows but if one sides hate the laws and tries to ignore them and act like hostile nation in another nation, that is breaking an unwritten law in every country.
Iβve often said I donβt believe in βevilβ as βevilβ suggests that supernatural powers cause things to happen and allows people to shirk accountability or the responsibility of deciphering the why behind the what.
I just published a similar essay today about how we got here as a culture and society.
I appreciate your conviction of life being about debt. I should think paying it forward instead of paying it off should contribute to any earned interest.
Beautiful work! I have not been following much since the long miracle course writings, having been consumed with being homeless in NYC for the last year, and doing bike delivery when it doesnβt obstruct the main goal of navigating the labyrinthine course, with its stops and starts, of seeking housing, meeting basic needs,etc.
This really has reminded me to see and think clearly when my mind is tired and broken and it seems easiest to judge and condemn to try and gain some sort of illusory control over the situation, rather than seeing clearly and maintaining my own ethicsβ¦
Thanks man, I really appreciate the decades of labor youβve put in to even be able to write this
Secondly I like to comment on the subject of love. Love is the desire to not be alone, without all the trimmings and romanization. I think in a symbolic sense and it is my strongly held belief that, the universe was born out of this desire.
If a non-dualistic entity wanted to separate and divide itself; it would be for the sake of love and the chance of union. To loosely quote Crowley.
This article stirs a profound question in my mind.
Thank you Mitch.
Very thought-provoking, Mitch. Thank you as always for your fine work. Iβm struggling with an intense bout of depression (my inheritance from both sides of my family) and fell asleep with the tv on. I woke up to you on the Dan Wildman show talking about the Winchester Mystery House. Both you and it figure in my memoir, and it was a nice moment. Thank you for that, too.
Funny story behind that. The show asked me to discuss it after another guest couldn't stop giggling during her interiew. I stipulated: the house is not historically a site of Spiritualism: that was added after the fact by novelty promoters. My comments thread a difficult needle to preserve that point while giving the producers the "ghost angle" they sought.
Certainly not arguing the point, but Iβm curious as to why itβs not βhistorically a site of Spiritualismβ?
There is no evidence that Mrs. Winchester held seances or harbored Spiritualist beleifs or intent. Such designations began appearing only years after her death when the house was purchased by a novelty / tourist concern.
I didnβt know that. I was under the impression that there was a designated seance room in the house. Why do you reckon she kept building then? Again, not arguing, just curious.
I'd have to go back into my notes but I think those designations were made post-mortem. Her pechant for building I can only speculate but it may have had to do with the style of "Victorian clutter" that was popular then.
I get Victorian clutter, but that place is extreme! I used to live down the street from it.
I LOVE this. Imagine the kind of world we could have if the subjective nature of reality and morality was more broadly understood
Respect. (Also impressive AF that you are even able to read the Talmud in original language.)
Isn't 'evil' the conscious denial of intentional suffering we cause others? If I, for whatever reasons, do something that I know will create pain in another and refuse to feel what they may experience as a result - or even if I am incapable of that kind of empathy - that seems to qualify, to me.
Eloquent, true, timely β perfect. Thank you π β€οΈ
I think this is one of your best pieces youβve ever written on Substack!
I was kinda outraged after I started reading this. LOL His writing makes me very uncomfortable - and I love that. But then I saw this - "In light of the principle I have citedββone who borrows and does not repayββevil is not a matter of religion, professed fealties, or social side-taking. It is conduct. All else is a dodge. Convenience is, in a banal sense, evilβespecially when used to define evil." And then I understood.
I would certainly hope Mr. Qatarlson paid his debt. He's from extreme wealth. He's also evil.
Be a good Jew Boy = Pirkei Avot or Ethics of the Fathers.
Being good is non-negotiable. Good thoughts, good words, good deads was the Zoroastrian motto.
Are you saying that is nonsense? I guess if you think about it one good can be another's bad. That's why they invented law. So everybody knows but if one sides hate the laws and tries to ignore them and act like hostile nation in another nation, that is breaking an unwritten law in every country.
Iβve often said I donβt believe in βevilβ as βevilβ suggests that supernatural powers cause things to happen and allows people to shirk accountability or the responsibility of deciphering the why behind the what.
I just published a similar essay today about how we got here as a culture and society.
I appreciate your conviction of life being about debt. I should think paying it forward instead of paying it off should contribute to any earned interest.
Do you believe that an external spirit can possess anotherβs spirit as is depicted in βThe Exorcist?β