Co-operation instead of competition, generosity instead of greed, patience instead of haste, and sufficiency instead of indulgence.
The traditional Hindu social model is also one that I find realistic. It defines four distinct periods in life during which people can and should do certain things.
“The future is uncertain but the end is always near” Heard in a bar, 1962
We have many links on all the other pages, however, there are a few more sites I like to visit that warrant additional attention. Click on the titles below for information and links about my favorite people and subjects.
He was one of the greatest philosophical minds of the 20th century and I find his writings to be inspiring and timeless.
The Life of Krishnamurti is a good place to learn more about him.
Some of the better sites:
Jiddu Krishnamurti Quotes and Stories;
Krishnamurti Information Network, a comprehensive site with many great links and a detailed look at his life and work; and
The Teachings of J. Krishnamurti.
"The highest form of human intelligence is the ability to observe without judging." ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
He lived the simple life and his work is still relevant today.
Electronic Drummer is the web site of the Thoreau Institute, a non-profit organization that seeks ways to protect the environment without big government. TheAntiplanner section is against government planning and has much interesting reading.
Another great writer of the same period as Thoreau.
His complete works are listed at RWE.org and many are also on Emerson Central, which may load slowly. He's also profiled on theTranscendentalist site.
Two people I highly admire for the lives they lived despite all their friends and family advising otherwise. Their two best known books are "The Good Life" and "Continuing The Good Life", both about their homesteading adventure and the self-sufficient life.
The Good Life Center is located in their former home in Maine, a stone house they built when Scott was 90 and Helen was in her 70's.
Mahatma Gandhi was an exceptional individual who spent his life trying to bring peace to the world through a non-violent approach. Although unrest flared around him and his teachings, he never lost sight of his goal. His writings are timeless and will always send messages that any culture can use for advancement. The Complete Site On Mahatma Gandhi is a place to learn about Gandhi, his life, work & philosophy.
Anthropologist, Shamanic Teacher, Healer, & Author. Combining the sober objectivity of a trained scientist with a mystic's passionate search for deeper understanding, Hank's books and teachings contain revelations about the nature of reality, the self, as well as the shaman's spiritual worlds.
SHAREDWISDOM is the vision of Hank Wesselman and Jill Kuykendall (his wife), whose purpose is to create transpersonal bridges to facilitate the emergence of a new subculture in the Western world.
• The Meta Arts archives has many of his articles.
• Shamanism should be read by anyone interested in understanding what is meant by Shamanism.
I have experienced several NDEs and it is an interesting area for me to research. One of my experiences is related in the note at the bottom of the right column. Much is now written on the subject and more people are coming forward with their stories; the following sites are full of such accounts.
We all probably do some type of meditation without realizing it, but it can be beneficial in many ways to take it a step further.
I have done extensive reading on Buddha beliefs and find them to be very helpful in everyday living.
A few subjects of interest are explained in the categories below. Click a title for more details.
The past matters for learning, not for accounting.
"Do it now" is one practical application. If you know that you would rather be living somewhere else, working somewhere else, or just doing something different, then now is the time to follow your intuition.
Stop doing the things you dislike doing, and start doing the things you really want to do. That sounds easy and it is. The effort of going out and earning the money to do what you really want to do is almost always less effective than just going out and doing it. By the time you do have the money, you may have lost all your vigor and joy.
Carpe diem - exclamation, used to urge someone to make the most of the present time and give little thought to the future.
Listen to your inner self; you really do know what is best for yourself.
DailyTao.org, The Book of The Way, Day by Day, is a good place to start and has a new saying every day.
1975 found me stationed at Korat RTAFB, Thailand, in the 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron and flying the F-4 Phantom. This was an unaccompanied tour and I felt it was a good time to have a vasectomy since we didn't plan to have any more children. The Air Force was encouraging these procedures at that time and it would only mean no flying for 2 or 3 days. Several of the pilots had the operation.
On April 23, 1975, a normal, bilateral vasectomy was conducted by the squadron flight surgeon, Dr. (Captain) Roger F. Landry. Local anesthesia was used. He was assisted by a Thai doctor who I met just prior to the operation. The first portion of the operation was done on the left side by Dr. Landry and went fine, but when the Thai Dr. made his incision on the right side it appeared that he cut something incorrectly. Despite the anesthesia I experienced intense pain and lost consciousness.
Immediately I was floating above the scene, somewhere near the ceiling. Dr. Landry was very agitated and said “we're losing him!”; my heart had stopped. I felt totally relaxed with a pleasant feeling, could see everything clearly and could hear all of the conversation. I was surrounded by a very bright light, but didn't see its source. I heard no other voices outside of the operating room and did not leave that area.
Dr. Landry took over the operation completely at this point. According to the official report they used ammonia smelling salts to bring me back to consciousness. But what is not mentioned is that they also used some external stimulation to restart my heart, which I could clearly observe. The report says I was unconscious for about 15 seconds, but my sense of time had vanished and everything was in very slow motion. When my heart restarted I seemed to snap right back into my body and was quickly alert.
Immediately after this incident my blood pressure was 110/60 with a pulse of 56. I felt fine after they finished and wanted them to just forget the entire episode. However, this was not to be and Dr. Landry revoked my flying status.
I was sent to the large regional hospital at Clark AFB in the Philippines for a complete and exhaustive physical evaluation. This took almost two weeks and consisted of daily testing and lots of incline treadmill work. All tests came out excellent and they could find nothing wrong. The official diagnosis was “syncope, vasovagal, secondary to pain”. (Vasovagal means: relating to or denoting a temporary fall in blood pressure, with pallor, fainting, sweating, and nausea, caused by over activity of the vagus nerve, esp. as a result of stress.) Recommendation was to return to flying status with a waiver, which was eventually granted by the U.S. Air Force Surgeon General on July 2, 1975.
They returned me to flying status at Korat on May 28, 1975, with a waiver, which became a permanent part of my records.
The assisting Thai doctor is never mentioned in any of the records and I never saw him again. For some reason they didn't want him to be blamed for what appeared to be his incompetence. So I ended up with a blot on my record due to the doctor's mistake.
But the out of body experience was actually enjoyable and at the time I didn't care whether or not I returned to my body. Naturally I didn't discuss any of this with the doctors since I knew it would certainly be the end of any flying.