newest entry 2003-04-12 9:09 a.m.


(I'm blathering here cuz I'm in a hurry. I'm about to leave on a trip upstate for the weekend. I may go back and edit this so I sound sane, later)

I read a quote recently from Satchidananda (can't remember it exactly) saying something to the effect of "The world will always be like this." I'm not sure what the context for his statement was, but it was about disabusing yourself of the illusion that you can change the whole world, or that, just because you've found a groovy path means that everyone should or will follow.

It makes more sense to me than the spiritual leaders like Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Marianne Williamson who are saying, "How depressing! There's a war on, and so we've all failed. Someday there will be no war..." I think that's a really misleading attitude for a leader to have, an almost arrogant and certainly harmful illusion. It also discredits the whole notion that this is God's universe and sometimes appearances are not reality.

Anyway, to underscore that theme, we saw The Ring last night, whose message resonates with Satchidananda's. There will always be "evil", and all you can do is keep yourself and your family on the right path. Don't kid yourself that your warm, fuzzy feelings have actually healed anyone else but yourself.

We can't love Saddam into being like us--real love means accepting someone who is different and repulsive to us. That doesn't mean war is good or inevitable or right, or that our reasons for being over in Iraq are righteous ones. But neither is the opposite true--peace and love don't always look the way you want them to. Have I lost you?

And on the topic of strange little girls (if you've seen the Ring you know what I mean), I started reading Opal Whiteley's diary today. It is otherworldly and startling and lovely. Whew.

And now I'm off to my little trip.

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