At the height of where I am perched along this fence, I can see the valley and all of its splendor in its entirety. I am satisfied to sit here and contemplate upon my day, but something sits idling in my mind and it keeps on spinning ever so gradual. Nothing but nature surrounds me; the stillness of this setting inspires a seed of optimism to grow within me.
A storm begins to take its shape with gusto as it checks in from the west, it outdoes my sense of serenity, if just for a moment. The mountain that cradles this valley has slipped beneath the quilted softness of a mammoth thunderhead. The glowing embers of a shrinking summer’s sunset speak with eloquence to a sliver along the southern slope; they cut through the darkened clouds, as if trying to get in one last word in a sort of adolescent squabble. If words could better describe autumn’s first day, I would be obliged to present them to you, though sometimes there are no words to describe a dream.
To the right along the edge of this fence, lies a field of weeds being tilled with conservative blood spun red morality and to the left, a field overgrown with weeds of a bluish tint, the sort of noxious redemptive weeds that are twirling wild and without.
This fence upon which I am resting, separates the two fields as far as the eye can see. On one side, the scattering commerce of kudzu wraps its insatiable roots around the fence, consuming it whole, the other side, all the while, doing nothing but pointing its florae in the opposite direction of diplomacy. Both are discreet in their constructive growth, yet concrete in their ability to wreak havoc in the garden of truth.
These weeds of greed have been cultivated to grow so great on both sides that the fence has almost vanished in areas further than I am able to see, and with no proven method of madness they grow wild, rampant and without caution in the way of retrogression.
From this fence I watch an internecine war being waged on the heart of America, a internal cold war is being waged upon us, and we are taking on significant damage from the inside out, much in the same way that cancer thrives on liquidating the life that allows it to grow in the first place.
It is from the bottom of my heart that I call this fence, Freedom, and from this fence I must enrich my own existence. I must continue my work and plow forth with the seeds of inspiration that must be planted amongst these farcical fields of belief.
I have found a patch of well-manicured grass that I call common ground and it is lush and well fed with hope and hospitality. I sit here for a while in silence, but my mind won’t settle down, something has to be said before it will find stillness again. So I ask myself the question what will it take to make America believe again?
On The Greatness Of America
When I define America, I define it with one word only, that being the greatness of Freedom. It’s all I had ever known. It is in the way that I define Freedom today that has drastically changed how I defined it a year ago. A year ago, when I thought of Freedom, one side was within the jurisdiction of irresponsibility. I thought this meant being released from all prior obligations. The other side, being in the patriotic sense, I viewed Freedom as being protected from authoritarian regimes that spread malicious seeds of animosity amongst the landscape with the sole intention of propagating division and disunity.
Over the past year, I have come to understand that Freedom is unlike anything I have ever known. Our leaders and their alleged pledge to Freedom have wholly misrepresented us, it is they who are free and we are the hostages in which they hold for ransom. In a time when laws are created to better the administration rather than protect its people, it becomes our duty as the general populace to stand up to the tyranny that government has become and demand a revolution in the practice of thought.
In modern democracy, the law safeguards people’s lives and liberty, so that we are safe from the attacks of fanaticism. When laws no longer safeguard sustained life and liberty because of fanatical beliefs, what are we to do? Fanaticism does not thrive on the harmony of revealed truth, but it is obsessed by the “idea” of false Freedom, this excludes all other ideas and becomes blind to the manifold of stimulating life. Fanaticism is a species of madness due to the incapacity to grasp the whole truth.
I find it remarkable that the conflict of feelings born from fanaticism implies a dislike for freedom and the incapacity to fully grasp the idea of it. These feelings become consumed by a false idea of Freedom instead of seeing Freedom as what it really is, reality. And yes there exists, more so today than ever before, fanatics of Freedom who perform acts of wicked cruelty in the name of Freedom.
Every idea has the chance at becoming a source of fanatical madness—the idea of God, of moral perfection, of justice, love, and knowledge. When this happens the living idea disappears since everything living and concrete can only exist in the harmonious correlation of parts in a whole. All virtue turns into an idol and becomes a lie and a deception.
A man’s soul is damaged and distorted by fanatical behavior, and that which can damage the soul should be feared more than that which can damage the body. Fanaticism must never be allowed in ideology or theology—especially when it comes to Freedom. If Freedom becomes a fanatical idea, by which man is possessed it will only degenerate into a tyranny. It is important to strive for Freedom, but one must never forget about truth, love, justice—or Freedom becomes an empty glass once filled to the brim with the water of creativity. Freedom when emptied befalls into meaningless fabrications that can no longer be used with the energy of restoration.
It is important to contemplate upon and to strive for the fullness that life offers. Strive for goodness and perfection, but heaven forbid that you should forget about Freedom and try to realize goodness and perfection by brute force. Strive for spiritual unity, if it cannot be accomplished, allow multiplicity its shot at free reign and give a chance to the search for the still undiscovered single truth. Strive to liberate your emotions, but do not allow yourself to be overpowered by fanatical feelings that detach you from the fullness of life, which includes thought and the life of intellect, free will and moral duty. Strive for spirituality, i.e. for the wholeness of life and its creativity in every sphere of existence. Fanaticism destroys both wholeness and creativity with the tool of fear.
Fear experienced by man is a consequence of original sin and of the separation from God. Fear is the expectation of suffering, illness, poverty, deprivation, and the attacks upon an enemy that threaten to take away all a man has and his very life. The experience of fear carries no reference to the heights of being which man longs to attain and from his separation, he suffers.
The herd-mind creates an ethics of fear, substituting anxiety for transcendental terror and intimidating man with future retribution. Fear creates chaos amongst even the most pristine structure. Fear will use whatever means necessary to cause chaos; it will use division and race as its primary tool to incorporate the power of fanaticism.
Fear is opportunistic, and in a state of acute fear a man will agree to anything. Fear humiliates man instead of exalting him. Fear is always present in the subconscious layer of human nature. This is why fear has become such a useful tool of manipulation for ideologies to use against the commonality of man. Fear must have been the first emotion that Adam felt after the Fall. Absence of fear is the main feature of a life consumed in bliss.
I look at the fields before me. I admit to myself that the work ahead of me is a little overwhelming, yet it must be done. Before I am able to plant the seeds of hope I must bushwhack my way through these fields, killing the weeds of fear growing out of control. This fence and these fields is where I must sweat till my soul is cleansed.
I am parched and so I collect the bucket from the well and the water refreshes my thoughts. Man is a universally thirsty race. We thirst for everything, knowledge, wisdom, love, and goodness. I myself seem to have become thirsty for freedom.
I fix my eyes upon the goals of my hopes and dreams, and bend my work to win them over.
Barstool Buddha 