DIRECTORY YOU CAN ALWAYS GO TO http://www.wiredbrain.net/directory.htm. If you have the URL in a window use arrows to get back to http://www.wiredbrain.net/ (or http://www.geocities.com/~wiredbrain/ for open INDEX page. pflaump@cfl.rr.com RE: Wizards I have known: I was thinking of when I lived in Red Hook and we could take the boat a visit Foxies' on Jost van Dyke - or Peace and Love (boatie bars) you dingy ashore - Foxie was a wizard - he knew things - Then I met another wizard - There was a girl on Formentaria (a place know for wizards since the time of Homer, off Ibiza) that summer who had a halo (aurora). (Light blue) There was the Gestalt trainer in Milwaukee (who's name I should remember). What is a wizard - they know things - especially about you - They have a sense of what is going on like the strip on a sharks side. Or the awareness of invertebrates. Have you know any Wizards? Introduction: The structure of the documents are in this matrix, they reflect my ideas on the structure of knowledge and The meaning of Life: PATHOS LOGOS ETHOS Z-LEVEL----------------|------------------|---------------- adult SPIRIT | MEANING | SOUL Essence | | | | Y-LEVEL----------------|------------------|---------------- youth EMPATHY | SELF (EGO) | MORALS Language | | | | X-LEVEL----------------|------------------|---------------- Child PASSION | NEEDS | ME-VALUES Material | | FEELINGS THOUGHTS VALUES BEAUTIFUL TRUE GOOD HEART MIND SOUL It starts with the classic idea of the good, the true and the beautiful. The good=ethos, the beautiful=pathos (art, feelings, the emotional biological base) and the true= logos (rational thought). All level are part of life - It is not higher or lower Reality is multi-leveled and one part without the others lacks reality. This come down to modern terms in management (now called leadership) X, Y, and z. X= material factory system, Y = human relations, people are not machines and need higher levels of motivation, Z = general systems, a more profound thinking about ecology of human relationships. In classical Greek thought there are three levels of reality. They had three terms for "the real", the material (pathos), the social and verbal (ethos) and the really real, essence of idea reality (logos). Level one (X) material things The chair, physical feeling including passions (Fight/Flight Syndrome) Basic and Safety needs (MASLOW) From these three levels I have developed axioms or laws based on physical, social and logical analysis. Law No. 1 - NO free lunch - matter or energy is not created or destroyed - you don't get something for nothing - also if you want to move on it will take energy - For Covey it is getting control of you thinking, going from reactive to proactive. Management style is to use rules, laws, tests, inspections, top down, management (bosses- teachers) does "The thinking" you do The work - Separation of thinking and doing - the bosses lose touch and the workers lose motivation. The right way, the wrong way and The Navy way is a popular expression of people frustrated by "the system, that doesn't care what they think" - Model "X" is Organization GM - teaching (training) by step-by-step manuals with a PERFORMANCE test and grades. Level two (Y) social behavior and habits. The prevailing paradigm up to the late 1980's - capitalism, individualism, socialism, Christian etc. Love and Self-esteem in MASLOW. In Covey social and family responsibility. Trust and respect of what ever the Romans are doing. Language is a social convention and carries The context, subjective meaning. Law no 2. If no one does it doesn't get done - or If not me who? If not now when? (Social responsibility) Management style is participation - human relations - motivational and personality driven. Do you have The right attitude? Do you fit in? Model "Y" organization is IBM. Teaching style progressive education - social skills, getting along and streaming or tracking. Level three (Z) = character - synergy - in MASLOW's last book B (for being Values) Now this is The spirit world of Don Juan, (Fiction as Anthropology) or The Peter Weir Film The last Wave (Fiction as Anthropology). There is no language to talk about The third level. (Language is a social convention - what we mean by Justice is a cultural totem). Law No. 3 - there has to be something beyond the self - while entropy increase so does Empathy. There must be a global ethic for a global culture. Our tribal customs no longer work. See below for one teachers statement of law 3. The Classical Greek culture that developed these levels had three words for reality - material - language - and really- real. A tree (level 1) is an object - as a word it means one thing in Florida and another in Maine. (because we have different trees) Level 2. A picture of a tree by a great artist is beautiful because of its treeness. (level 3) Not only that she has created something but put herself in a meaningful relationship with trees. For most Westerner this VISION thing is hard. I just saw a VIPER - it is passion, it is material but also it is a dream. We are sold dreams all The time - this product will make you beautiful, sexy, respected. Our nation was founded on dreams and advertising and politicians sell dreams. (Illusions) Without higher (3 rd level) causes the rest falls apart - families, companies, states, organizations, all come apart when they no longer share "The dream" - Israel - USSR - Chrysler before it's dreams were restored. Facts follow vision - first Lee had to dream up a car like The Viper - then make it. Because there is not a social convention or a material object when you talk of dreams no one knows what you are talking about. (That doesn't make them less important, life love, faith, hope, justice, et al) The way is by practice - The Sufi or Zen way. The teaching style is open, cooperative, active non-directive and creative. Riddles and parables are used to illustrate issues that can not be approached directly. In the Episcopal Church (COE) the book of common prayer gives the summary before the lesson; one great teacher put it this way. Matt 22:36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart (level 1) and with all your soul (level 3) and with all your mind.' (level 2) This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (NIV) Law No. 3. God is mind - the first cause, God is body and God is spirit Seminar on Seed Corn: (Not just Maize): The current word is "Sustainable"; - In general system terms biological systems tend to exponential growth only restricted by negative feedback - (Like in Central Africa). Balance is a dynamic process of each genetic organism pushing its limits and being pushed back by environmental factors and competition. Human evolution through social technology has temporarily pushed the limits on a planetary scale. The Club of Rome report in the 1960's may not be wrong only a little off in timing. (Limits to Growth = sudden collapse of whole systems ) There are no moral problems, or political problems, or economic problems, scientific or technical problems but real problems - which come with all these considerations. For academic and technical reasons, we have divided reality up into departments. (one problem is that the liberal arts have been pushed out by specialist) The blind are feeling the elephant - with CAT scanners, satellites, remote probes, macro and micro models - but they do not understand the nature of elephants? TRIAGE: In the late 70's the idea of triage became popular. In battle conditions those that will live and those that will die are put aside - and resources are focused on the ones in the middle - have a chance if treated. Why this is a good idea for the use of scarce resources people die but nations and problems don't. They become the walking dead - zombies. In international development there has been a stronger role for "donor committees" including the World Bank Development Fund, The regional banks (Inter-American, European etc) and the major countries involved. Associated with this committee is a NGO (Non-governmental Organization) committee. The USA has not always been a good partner because our foreign aid money is micro-managed by congress and various interest groups - and other donors have to work around our politics. In Central Africa, Haiti and other places the "family of Nations" quietly decided that the countries were "basket cases" and reduced aid. Of course, much aid was stolen. Jean Claude (Baby Doc) in Haiti is said to have spent a 50 million World Bank Loan for a Power Plant - on his wedding. Harry Truman Blvd has been under repairs since time immortal - its an iron rice-bowl for someone. The American University at Les Cayes (where I was) was just too strange to believe or explain briefly. Intervention - receivership - mandate - what ever you call it is the only answer. We do not live in and Island home - but are part of all humanity - and these problems will not go away and can not solve themselves. The General Assemble has been very shy of intervention - there are a number of members in almost as bad shape - but without the cold war a East-West agreement is hard to stop. Russia wants UN cover for intervention in areas of the USS-was that are in chaos. We want UN cover in Haiti, and international caretakers after we take over. Such a caretaking operation needs to be in place for years - Their are no easy and quick answers in a country without independent institutions - infrastructure - tradition of law and civil administration - poor - illiterate and independent. The ecological - environment conditions in Haiti and parts of Central Africa - can be the cause - The reason for intervention is not just political, or refugees, or humanitarian but to stem a ecological disaster. There are good people working today in Rwanda and Haiti - they are doing what they can - what more could be expected of them. What more do we expect of ourselves? I have suggested there are first principles and they can be applied to work toward improvements in real situations (there are no answers or solutions only some actions that do more good than harm). I would like to work on this is a non-directive group of about a dozen. Method: I create a Distribution List (DL) and papers are sent to me at FIRN. The messages are labeled GROUP or Peter. Group messages are distributed. We each keep papers in a file. New members can get a copy of the papers on file to catch up. There could be suggested reading - by anyone - but my suggestion to start is: RE: Books and materials a REVIEW: Covey, S.R. "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" Record (1991), Covey Leadership Center PO BOX 19008, Provo, UT, 84605-9925 1-800-655-6839 Audio Tapes and video tape materials Wallace, Anthony F.C "The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca," New York Vintage Books 1972 Bennett, William John "The De-valuing of America New York Summit Books 1992 Deming, W. E. (1986). Out of the Crisis. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Humankind" becoming Human Maslow, National Training Center Higher Reaches of Human Behavior and Motivation B-values Fiske, Edward B. Smart Schools, Smart Kids, Why Do Some Schools Work (Simon & Schuster, New York 1991) Frankl, Victor "Man's Search for Meaning" Reich, Robert B. The Work of Nations: preparing ourselves for the 21 st Century capitalism (New York, A.A. Knopf 1991) The Next American Frontier(New York, Times Books, 1983) Senge, P.M. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (New York, Doubleday 1990) Sergiovanni, T.J. Moral Leadership, Getting to the Heart of School Improvement (San Francisco Jossey-Bass 1992) and Moore, J.H. Schooling for Tomorrow (Boston: Allyn & Bacon) 1989 First: The small school - human - caring - flexible - ungraded - students learn at their own style and pace. Second: X, Y, and Z - X = The factory, Y = The Human Relations (personality) other-directed IBM type - PR tries to make people feel they participate and have power (but its not quite real) - Z is letting go - in class giving up teacher talk - using free groups and active learning. Students learn what they want to learn - Teachers guide and advise students (workers) more than transmit information. Students learn to learn and find and organize and use information. Teaching students not subjects. Group theory from Mankarenko's Gorki Colony. (another reading) The Road to Life - Quality : involves that Paradigm shift in the values of caring - sincerity - honest - character - principles - a Z theory principle not another management system (MBO) but a shift in power and control. Responsibility and freedom. I think it involves "body knowledge" a focus of the mind - being in the world and not of it - higher awareness - the dancer becomes the dance - the lost of self-conscience. The still quiet voice guides us without criticism. I can visualize the perfect - - Facts follow vision - Logos, pathos, ethos - the bringing together of brain knowledge (ideas in the head - many of which are illusions ) body knowledge ( feeling safe and secure enough to explore new worlds) being in touch - and spirit - that which motivates us beyond ourselves and give meaning and purpose to all activity. The global context - Earth values? ZEN IS THE ART OF GETTING YOURSELF OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY ************************************************************ Adapted from the Statement delivered to the Plenary of THE EARTH SUMMIT (the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Here are my comments) This is the list of capabilities: (TOLERANT) (THINKING) (SHARING) (CARING) (RESPONSIVE) (PERSISTENT) (CREATIVE) (COMMITMENT) (OBJECTIVE) (QUALITY) (VISION) and (JOY) - \ THE METHOD IN THE MADNESS! Someday, someone may understand my style as a guide? First we deal with the feeling (Pathos) then with what you care about (Ethos) and then we can discuss ideas. (not The other way around) I can't hear what you say because what you are shouts at me! I have no message but a means - no goals but a process - no tests or grades or inspections - but expectations, hopes, desires and concerns I share. Try to follow with me and I will listen to you if you have something to say and try to be open in my answers. Answers are often questions and riddles, and parables - because I hope you can understand better that way - a simple statement will not communicate unless you already know it. I can only try to be a guide - an example - a mirror - not a master. Now that is a tall order. We are not a community of saints. Is there a way of being practical about character and having realistic expectations in schools, works, social exchange and families. (and INTERNET) POWERFUL LAWS: There are a few powerful principles or laws that govern human behavior - universal and objective. These same laws have been rediscovered by many people in many different societies and times. History can be read as a demonstration of how there principles (laws) work in human affairs. Now this is true even if you don't want to believe it. There is a true north - AND fixed unchanging laws - the only question is how do we find them with a high level of certainty. The first question since there are LAWS governing nature and humans as part of nature is what are they? I can demonstrate that the weight of evidence is that regularities and laws exist? First from biology and ecology. (General systems) I am almost certain of the formulation of these laws. They exist in this set of documents but have to be pulled out and made more explicit. They exist (are stated) in many places and times. I can identify them when I see them. (also a Hero with 1000 faces, Rene Dubos, Stephen Covey, MASLOW, some social scientist, poets, writers, even political leaders, psychologist (Coles), pick your own - human ecologist: Bill Moyers has an interesting collection, seek and ye will find, knock and it will be opened, the truth shall set you free.) Tolerant - open minded - Wisdom comes as a process - a way - it can't not be drilled into someone - The process is understood - but you can't just become a great cook, or rock climber or sailor by reading a manual - no matter how good the cook-book, climbing instructions, or sail boat guide - you have to go into the kitchen, on the mountain, on the water - with someone who knows what they are doing. You need a native guide. Guides are called "TEACHERS" (Zen and the art of teaching) How can teacher learn from college instructors that can't teach? Caring, sharing, responsiblity - focus on the task at hand. People can come to care - it may not be love at first sight. If I have not love I am as the tinkle of bells, sound and fury signifying nothing. The hard part is to love things and people you don't like, even hate, like me. It is too easy just to like the things you love. That is the kind of love that people that love that kind of love - love. I have used a series of practical synergy exercises that binds people and lets them see themselves in others, an others in them. This topic is about Character, virtue and morals: Real reform is in the heart - real quality is in the soul: Development is a state of mind! The method outlined below can be used as a template for the analysis of most educational, social or personal issues. The outcome of the process will help define the problem and issues thereby promoting more sensible action. How we define and issue is the major determinate of how we go about doing something about making it better. 1. Essence - (undefined) The abstract reality LOGOS = MEANING 2. Symbolic (The word or concept used) the reference 3. The material Physical thing objects and patterned behavior 1. Spirit - higher order used to be called soul PATHOS = FEELINGS 2. Motivation - desires needs What we think we feel or need 3. Passion - heart - body The beast and calmness within 1. Principles and virtue grounded beliefs and faith ETHOS = VALUES 2. Morals - social conventions laws, rules, mores, folkways 3. Power - me and mine Commercial what works with out doubts Persistent, creative, objective, reasonable qualities come after the belief in "greater goods", and a good attitude. We often do it upside down. First the idea then the belief. Vision follows facts. What it is "FACTS FOLLOW VISION". First we must care about something greater than ourselves: then we will work and keep at it until we get it right. The is the outward bound concept - character comes first. I don't want to be in open water with a person of weak or self-centered character - no matter how many books they have read on sailing. I don't what to be at the end of his rope. I don't want to eat their food. Now and only now can we talk about Quality - It flows from inside out - not laid on top like decorations on a Christmas tree. This is the difference between Taft HS in Chicago and District #4 in East Harlem - This is why small schools work - they are honest. Do you now understand Logos, Pathos and Ethos? It is not obscure - the whole child - the complete person - mind (we think we know what that is - it's and organ in the scull - very complex but with patterns and physical characteristics) - BODY - (for some reason Western Culture has looked down on bodies for a few thousand years) the body had passions - the true person was above that - how silly - the body has knowledge - the mind is body and soul is - and SOUL - (seems to make some people uncomfortable - the idea they have a soul) where did the spirit - ghosts go? Do we have no spirit - team spirit - national pride - a feeling that this is not all there is - Does the spirit move us? Oh there is joy in my heart! Values - love - caring soul - ethos - pathos - logos; values - feeling and ideas! I need all of these (mind, body and soul) to make sense and feel at home in this world. Don't we all? The profession of teaching requires an honesty almost as much as good writing. Honest with yourself and your students. I try to avoid all pretence and show - I try to listen and respond spontaneously. Do I owe you less. WYSIWYG is one of my groups this term. DON'T GET MAD, GET WITH IT - you can't be pushed around - you are too firm and solid in you sense of being ? The thorn in the flesh is there to wake you up and let you have the chance to grow beyond this temporary state of discomfort. God is mind - the first cause, God is body (doubts and pains, passions and hopes) and God is spirit: (ghosts and something is out there beyond me) (here we resume the text from the Earth Summit) encourage others and to bring joy to their hearts; - infuse one's thoughts and actions with love; (LOVE AND JOY) - be visionary and to encourage others to be visionary; (VISION) - manage one's affairs and responsibilities with a rectitude of conduct; (QUALITY) - assess one's strengths and weaknesses without involving the ego (OBJECTIVE) - oppose one's self-centered tendencies by turning towards one's higher purpose for existence; (COMMITMENT) Exercise initiative in a creative and disciplined way; (CREATIVE) sustain effort and persevere in overcoming obstacles; (PERSISTENT) understand relationships of dominance and be able to facilitate their transformation into relationships of inter-dependence, reciprocity and service; - (RESPONSIVE) serve as a catalyst for the establishment of justice; (CARING) - engage in empowering educational activities, both as a student and as a teacher; (SHARING) - learn from systematic reflection on action and to do so within an evolving and consistent framework; (THINKING) - think systemically in the search for solutions;- participate effectively in consultation; build unity while cultivating diversity; serve on the institutions of society in such a manner that these institutions are actively encouraged to empower the individuals whom they serve, to express 100% their talents in service to humanity. (TOLERANT) ************************************************************ GAEA, GODDESS OF A SUSTAINABLE EARTH It Takes magic I afraid to do things useful it will take magic. I don't know another answer. When hunters are not finding the game they need to survive they randomize the search. Some put bones in the fire and use the cracks as a map. The same methods are used to hunt enemy submarines. It time to put some bones in the fire. RE: Isaiah: False Prophets - how can you tell? Isaiah 44:24 "This is what the LORD says-- your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, (NIV) Isaiah 44:25 who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, (NIV) or Isaiah 44:25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; (KJV) Part II, Introduction to the Social Political Analysis of what happens when a people lose VISION. RE: Social Pathology, Alcohol (drugs), Violence, Witch Fear, Disunity - and the Great Revival - (Wallace, Anthony F.C., The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca.) What happens when a people face changes that require a paradigm shift. The old ways no long work. Old authority and belief systems are out of joint. A new world order has a clear competative advantage. (Europeans in the New World, Japan) Some die from drink, (drugs) violence, some go mad, there is a outbreak of social pathology, doomsday and ghost cults flourish, and the culture sickens and dies. The ancient regime, kings and the Catholics church, 18 th century liberal individualism and capitalism, communism, (GM, IBM, Congress) the public school system, et al or the story of the Seneca. Or maybe there is a revival - a new spirit, a new vision from the new and the old - a new synthesis raise from the ashes. Literally a VISION of Handsome Lake. We say people should have vision - but if they have a vision - they are crazy. The Six Nations of the Iroguois suffered every possible disaster. From the 1650's the white man had brought desires for material things, diseases, (natives had no resistance to European illness) wars, and destruction. The confederation had for many years brought peace among the tribes and defended their territory. Their culture and religion provided a basis for understanding and dealing with their environment and each other The Rebellion of the American Colonies (The War for Independence) was a great and final disaster for these tribes. They had fought (and in a way won) with the Loyalist. The British had protected their lands from the greed of the colonies. Now the new nation, bought, stole, or just took almost everything leaving them in "Slums in the Wilderness". The population was cut by 75% from before the coming of the white man. The war had reduced their numbers by as much as 50%. Their villages had been destroyed . Thousands took refuse in Canada. A peoples way of life, customs, and beliefs form a paradigm. The Seneca "worldview" came from the myths of the great spirit.(The twins - good and evil) The creation tale is told in the long house. A legion very similar to the story in Genesis. They were a fiercely independent, democratic, cooperative, spiritual people. The dream land sent messages to the tribe through visions. They were knowledgeable about human manifest and latent desires. (page 61) Ondinnonk - is a secret desire of the soul manifested in dreams. Life on the frontier was hard. They had lost the old ways and their hunting grounds and didn't want to become "white men" and follow their ways. Men traditionally spent most of the summer hunting and raiding outside tribes. Women raised corn, swash, and other crops. White men lived in fenced-in farms and men plowed with horses. The men stayed home. They lived in family groups rather than in villages. They lived in houses rather than in the longhouses (of about 50 maternally related people) and the white men were Christian. Some natives wanted to learn the new ways, others to remain with Indian customs. The social and political structure of the six tribes fell apart. (1782 - 1800) The Iroquois took to drink and fighting, they were dirty, poor, suffered from self-hate and deeply doubted their place on earth. Their way of life had failed. The social pathology was not limited to Indians. Isolated settlers also suffered from the loss of hope. While thousand of new people came and built farms, towns, roads, and a new civilization, thousands of others failed in the harsh test of the wilderness. Fire, flood, poor location, the wrong crops (European grains unsuited to the location) disease - Rum and violence - were common elements of the frontier experience. Indians also became dependent on welfare. (payments for tribal lands) There was a crisis of VALUES and family breakdown. THE NEW FRONTIER! Pioneers in Cyberspace and the brave new world. We have seen the future and can tell you how it works. Revival meeting were a powerful release. Then Handsome Lake had his vision. A revivial began. (but That's another story) conscious conscious Isaiah: False Prophets - how can you tell? Isaiah 44:25 who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, (NIV) or Isaiah 44:25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; (KJV) CHANGE THE OLD WAYS: The spirit world is a reflection of the human condition. As Campbell's "Hero with a 1000 Faces" demonstrates the sacred tales are of passage into the sub-conscious. Hidden passions from our non-verbal part of the brain that evolutionary genetics created. These are very powerful forces that influence behavior - dreams and relationships. Culture shapes and limits expression of these "primitive" passions. The noble savage is just as prone to struggles between desires and social conventions as were the Victorians and puritans. It is not caused by civilization and its discontents but every society must work out ways to socialize wild passions. Some societies are under more pressure - stress than others. Man is not pure and society a repressive force (Rousseau) or a blank slate (Locke) or a wild man (Freud) but a complex animal with a big brain. This brain make us self conscious, judgmental. We must have rules to live and customs to live together. When the rules and customs no longer are competitive we have a cultural crisis (Kultura Krig). The Seneca understood psychodyanmics as well (or better) than Freud. They understood the functions of dreams as windows into hidden desires. When they lost faith in themselves and their Great Spirits to protect them. The people and culture were dying. The evils of drink, witchcraft, violence, abortion, and love potions were causing no end of trouble. It was the lost of faith that was the basic problem. Have we also lost our way? Lost contact with the great spirit and the rules of the game. In the Old testament the idea is clearly presented that a people have a covenant with their creator. It was the same for the Seneca. There are rules by which the game of life is played. Gen 9:9 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you-- the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you-- every living creature on earth.(NIV) Gen 9:12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, (NIV) Exodus 24:8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words. (KJV) WHEN THERE IS TROUBLE, IT IS BECAUSE THE PEOPLE HAVE BROKEN THE COVENANT - NOT DONE AS THEY WERE TOLD. NOT FOLLOWED THE LAW AND CUSTOMS - NOT OBEYED THE PRACTICE SET FORTH IN THE LAW. Exodus 34:10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee. (KJV) Lev 26:15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: (KJV) LOOK OUT! There are reasons for the rules. If we break the rules there are serious consequences. Lev 26:16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. (KJV) (and a lot more unpleasant things - the devil will get you !) YOU GET THE IDEA - DISOBEY AND YOU ARE IN A LOT OF TROUBLE! BUT IF YOU REPENT AND GO IN THE WAY OF THE LAW, THERE IS HOPE. (Father knows best - clearly X theory management style) Isaiah 35:3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. (KJV) CONFESS Lev 26:40 If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: (KJV) (the Visions on 241 ff are of a trip to heaven on the milky way and talking to the spirits. The spirits told Handsome Lake these things, what to do to save the world and himself and his people.) APOCALYPTIC VISIONS - EVANGELISM -REPENTANCE - RENAISSANCE THE NEW COVENANT (Clinton used those words) AND YOU CAN BE FORGIVEN; AND START A NEW LIFE - Isaiah 35:4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; (KJV) Isaiah 35:13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. (KJV) Isaiah 35:17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: (KJV) Isaiah 49:10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. (KJV) IF YOU PROMISE TO DO RIGHT IN THE FUTURE:, you are forgiven - there are rules and we must follow them - all cultures know what they are - honor thy parents -be a good parent - peace and amity - sobriety, marital fidelity, observance of contract, hard work, orderliness, cleanliness. respect for tools, patience with wrong doer, a very Quaker view and necessary for economic survival. (page 276) This was the message of Handsome Lake. STRAIGHTEN up or else - an vision of heaven and hell. (The broad even way goes to hell, the narrow hard way leads to heaven.) THE SOCIAL MESSAGE was to behave, work hard and save money. (No whiskey). LEARN THE WAYS OF THE WHITE MAN. The moral is we need to confess that we are fallen in our ways - promise to do better and learn new methods from those who are most successful. The Friends brought new technology to the Indians. They set up experimental farms. The quakers did not try to convert the natives and respected the religion. Quakers believe that every man has the spark if the spirit in their soul - it can come out in different ways. They took up farming and did much better. From a band of drunk savages they became respectable citizens. But the pressures of Christian missions and land greed would not let them be. The great removal (A. Jackson's plan to push all Indians west) put more pressure on the tribes. RE: The Seneca - Part three Three more points in Wallace's book. The book is a great because there are so many issues and views. 1.) Private property 2.) Law and rules ( state enforced ) 3.) Political and command structures. 1.) Native tribes used resources - but they didn't own them as families or individuals. The lands were tribal. They put their longhouses down somewhere. The women plated corn somewhere. The men hunted somewhere. When after 1782 they had reservations where technological pressures suggested they have farms as the white men had farms. They managed to set up farms but not private property. They redefined sex roles so men could farm and women do housework. Individual property however, caused too many problems. What if someone has some corn and other don't. What if someone need to use some trees or meadows. Private property was too hard an idea for the Seneca to handle. Clearly we have to share. We have our personal things but the gifts of the great spirit are to share. It wouldn't work, it was impractical to try to say what is your and what is mine about everything. 2.) A second idea that they could not deal with was state laws, prisons, courts, judges, and abstract justice. If one was damaged the clan had tradition methods of revenge, blood gelt, blood feuds, and tribal discussions to deal with the problems. These matters could not be turned over to strangers. How could they understand justice? It wouldn't work, it was not practical. How would the balance be maintained ? What if the courts killed my brother ? Who would redress the balance ? 3.) The political structure was democratic, open fluid, and much discussion led to consensus, or it didn't. The idea of fixed authority with abstract powers was too far stretched for the Indian to believe. Clans, councils, war chiefs, shamans, women, medicine clubs, ghost associations, villages, nations were all involved in decision. You couldn't let a small elected group make choices for the people. What if some disagreed. To just let someone else make bureaucratic or authority based decisions would cause trouble. That was too far fetched. It wouldn't work. It was not practical. It would only cause trouble. A new covenant may question private property, administrative law, and political process. Is this too far fetched for us to believe ? Stable values means sharing. Sharing the good earth. Decisions maybe made by consensus rather than votes? The friends do it that way - but is it practical? Will it work? ************************************************************ PAPERS ON REQUESTED - SMALL SCHOOLS - SUFI METHODS - REFORM RE: What is Moral, and How Do we Know it? Review of Article in Commentary June 1993 (The Moral Sense, Free Press July 1993) By James Q. Wilson "Mankind's moral sense is not a strong beacon light, radiating outward to illuminate in sharp outline all that it touches. It is, rather, a small candle flame, casting vague and multiple shadows, flickering and sputtering in the strong winds of power and passion, greed and ideology. But brought close to the heart and cupped it one's hands, it dispels the darkness and warms the soul." "The kind of culture that can maintain reasonable human commitments take centuries to create but only a few generations to destroy. And once it is destroyed, those who suddenly realize what they have lost will also realize that political action cannot, except at a very great price, restore it. " (P40) People want freedom and liberty, up to a point. But when choices become unconstrained by intuitively understood commitments life becomes unpredictable. The political order is threatened when the social attachments between people break down - first in the family, then the community and the nation. People come to believe "Anything goes if you can get away with it. Everything is a matter of choice." "The idea of autonomous individuals choosing everything - their beliefs and values, their history and traditions, their social forms and family structures - is a vainglorious idea and could only be invented by thinkers who felt compelled to construct society out of theories." Moral and political philosophy must begin with a statement of human nature. We may disagree about human character but we could agree there is one. (Cultural anthropologist almost agreed there wasn't - anything is possible theory - but have backed off of that extreme position, Incest and murder are limited in all societies - all have ways to care for children - and the list gets longer ). Wilson has trouble making a firm statement of what a natural moral character would include. He feels, with Shakespeare, we are of mixed feeling and principles. We gain by identification with our ethic group - beyond ourselves and families but then Bosnia and central Africa, is the excess of ethnic passions. Of course, anything can be overdone. The central theme in Aristotle is balance, the golden mean. The central place of parents - of "family Values" and the natural state of households is obvious. "In the household first we have the sources and springs of Friendship. of political organization, of Justice" and that there is everywhere in nature an impulse toward this sore of partnership - that is the city." or Polis (The constitution of character of society - Aristotle.) Logical positivism is to believe that because sentiments do not solve everything they are useless, (only an objective passionless reality counts the rest is blaber). Cultural relativism is to believe than any choices made must be valid, if it works for you, do you own thing, type of attidude. The modern nihilism combine the freedom of choice (what feels good) with the meaningless of social conventions. That won't work for individuals or society. The `delicate balance' between judgements of present circumstances - objective rational choices, prudent self- interest and moral principles is what Wilson (and Aristotle) calls character. Moral strength and integrity, empathy, (respect for the feeling of others), courtesy, fair dealing. These are the people you want as associates. If you are looking for a good gardener, cook, sailor, carpenter, peoples recommendations will reflect both skill and character. The two combine - attention to detail, honesty, concern to do a good job, polite, all integrated into personality. Balance in the moral sense gives good character and a better life. Aristotle understood this perfectly. The practice of virtue is in building anything, harp playing, family affairs, business, arts and politics. Good character starts from repetition of many small acts in youth. Clean your room, don't hit you sister, study, be kind, be thoughtful of others - Virtue does not arise by nature of against nature but by habits. (See S. Covey on Habits) Be a light unto my path, and a lamp unto my feet. "Think not forever of yourselves, Oh Chiefs, nor your own generation. Think of continuing generations of our families, think of the grandchildren of those yet unborn..The Seneca Bible Dekanawidah, the words of the founder. (Wallace p. 42) A new covenant may question private property, administrative law, and political process. Is this too far fetched for us to believe ? Stable values means sharing. Sharing the good earth. Decisions maybe made by consensus rather than votes? The friends do it that way - but is it practical? Will it work? Personal responsibility: (and character) In the Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevski has the Grand Inquisitor interview Christ who has returned. He tell Jesus that ordinary people just aren't up to the challenge of making up their own minds and finding their own way to salvation. Therefore the Church at the sure loss of their own souls - is giving them the way. The Inquisitor knows he can't save souls by formulas and ritual. But this is all people understand and it would be cruel and dangerous to take it away from them. Jesus is just going to have to die again - maybe next time. Ideologies say the same thing - we know better - do this or that and all will be well. People like that. Freedom is not much fun it carries responsibilities. No one can impose freedom on another. There is no solution from above - right - left - center - The freedom is a state of mind. I think, at the moment, it takes magic. The other text is Wallace the Death and Rebirth of the Seneca. When the current power structure doesn't work there are ghost cults and belief in magic. The way of the Sufi - is to be in the world but not of it - people need - leadership - hope - guidance - but also freedom to be stupid and wrong. The "fakir" can be different things to different people and appear to be what is not - and at the same time not have any doubts about what is real and what is "illusion". The magician know its a trick and doesn't belief in magic. This is the way to power - but it's not easy. Martin Luther King says in that I have a Dream speech - One day my little children will be judged - not by the color of their skin but the contents of their character. For those that want rights (back, gay, women, fat, etc) I say that day has come. I do not judge you by the color of your skin, who you sleep with, your sex or gender but the contents of your charter. The Rodney King (no relative) rule "Can't we just get along." The planet and our souls need attention. The moral and political system needs leaders - let's focus on the prize, folks.