Justice 101

It amazes me that modern man does not think of paying his bill as a fundamental part of justice. How can a man, or a company, or a nation, be considered righteous or honest or respectable... if they keep borrowing money with no intention of ever paying it back? Such a person (or corporation, or nation) is a pauper by choice, not by need. There is no honor in this, nor even basic decency.

Like booze

Reading American political debate is a lot like drinking liquor. First you get amused, then you get hot, and then you get sick. I suppose it could be fatal, but I stop reading before it gets that far.

Braintenance

It has dawned on most people that bad things happen to the body if you just feed it random stuff you find and don't keep it clean and don't exercise it. It is about time we discover this for the mind as well.

I'm a mystic - wanna make something of it?

For some years now, I have identified myself mainly as a mystic. This is probably less mysterious than you think, so let's get the most common "myth-understandings" out of the way first.

"Mystic" is not a title.
It is not a level.
It is not a degree.
"Mysticims" is not a religion.
It is not limited to certain religions.
It is available to atheists.
It does not require rituals.
It does not require being a saint.
It does not make you a saint.
It is not about asceticism.
Mysticism is a way of thinking and seeing the world.
There are degrees of mysticism.

Perhaps a better expression for those unfamiliar with the concept is "open field of mind". Mysticism is about living without the walls in our soul, and even around our soul. (I use soul in the meaning "psyche" in "psychology", the software that runs on our brain. In no way do I imply that the soul is eternal or magical, in fact I don't even believe that myself.)

The essence of mysticism is simplicity, as opposed to duplicity. To always be yourself, and always the same self. In this regard, it does put ethical constraints on you. If you need to maintain separate "truths" according to who you are with, you cannot engage in mysticism. Mysticism is all about seing everything as a whole, all of reality as connected in a simple and beautiful way.

Mysticism provides a boost to intelligence. Because you can draw on all your experience, even from seemingly unrelated fields, you can solve problems easier with less need to learn things over again. And because the walls around yourself crumble too, over time, you become more understanding of others, have more empathy, and more realism in interpersonal matters.

I am not sure whether you can choose to become a mystic, or whether it always just happens. But I know that you can be "a little" mystic without becoming a saint or otherwise extreme. And once there, it is is largely your own choice how far you go. Mysticism is something you practice, kinda like music or a foreign language. If you don't, it fades but is never completely undone. If you do practice, it will grow seemingly for as long as you live (or until brain damage takes you, I guess... I don't think it confers immunity to Alzheimers, though it may delay the onset since you can use your brain resources better).