1. NEVER MENTION A BULLY
2. SKIP THE LIES AND FOCUS ON THE TRUTH,
3. REPEAT THE TRUTH OFTEN, SIMPLY, IN PLAIN ENGLISH,
4. COMPLIMENT YOUR FRIENDS, THOSE YOU ADMIRE, EVEN YOUR OPPONENTS WHEN THEY MAKE VALID POINTS,
5. WHEN SOMEONE BULLIES YOU, SHOWER THEM WITH CARE AT FIRST, AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS ,
6. IF THEY PERSIST, CUT THEM OFF, SILENCE THEM, ELIMINATE THEM FROM YOUR PRESENCE, BUT DO NOT BECOME THEM OR STOOP TO THEIR LEVEL,
7. STOP CURSING, IT IS NOT DOING ANYONE ANY GOOD,
8. MAKE YOUR EVERY WORD EDUCATIONAL, INSTRUCTIONAL, FIND THE WORDS TO RISE BEYOND THIS TIME AND SPACE, SOMETHING LASTING, SOMETHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM A HERO,
9. BE HEROIC, FOR THIS IS YOUR TIME IN HISTORY, AND THE OLD HEROES HAVE PASSED FROM THE SCENE,
10. OFFER HOPE, NOT FOOLISH DREAMS, BUT REALISTIC STEPS TOWARD SOMETHING, ANYTHING, BETTER.
…
Idolatry is not about icons or about multiple names or faces for the Divine. That is common even among monotheists. Idolatry is worshiping one thing so much you consume all virtues, all human beings, in pursuit of that one thing, and delude yourself into feeling perfectly righteous in doing so. Guns, money, power, race, oil, male domination, settlements….
…
There are two patients who are the toughest: the one who cannot be convinced that he is sick, the one who cannot be convinced that he is healthy. This is even more true of the mind than it is of the body.
(Photo: Teachers net)
…
Absolutes meet absolutes,
On the battlefield of mind.
The winner takes the heart,
And the heart drives the hands,
And the hands do what they will.
There is a time on this earth,
For questions,
And there is a time for answers.
The mind is the gateway
To the question,
And the question is the gateway
To knowledge of things,
Earthly and divine.
But the young mind also craves absolutes.…
Trust your feelings = moral intuitionism,
Distrust your feelings = cognitive therapy and utilitarianism,
When to trust or distrust = the wisdom of painful experience.
(Photo: Vikram Soni)…
Run away
In order to run toward,
Rebel
In order to serve,
Complain selfishly
In order to sacrifice generously,
Wish to die
In order to live,
Sacrifice yourself
To prevent sacrifices,
Be a fool
in order to teach wisdom,
Stop wrapping yourself in God
So that people may listen,
The lesson of your foolishness
Stops habits in their tracks,
Much more than
fundamentalist prattle.
(Photo: Reading the Bible)…
Every day is judgment day
When you are mad with vision,
When the world as it is,
And the world as it should be,
Are enemies to the core.
Every day is judgment day,
When you see what you could be,
And peer at what you are.
Every day is judgment day,
When every day,
Every damn day,
Someone else, someone new,
Looks at you for help,
For your power,
Your power,
Which is an illusion.
…
DRUGS
Don’t go to a drug dealer for a cure,
When the drug addict is deteriorating.
Don’t go to funders of extremism for a cure,
When their victims are deteriorating.
MAJORITIES AND MINORITIES
Being a majority is no excuse for amnesia,
Being a minority is no excuse for paranoia,
If you are both, then you are screwed.
Destined to ignore the past,
But be suspicious about why everyone hates you.
RETIREMENT
Do not ever retire,
From the purpose
Of your life.…
Who is a real man?
He who turns an enemy
Into a friend.
Who is a real man?
He who conquers
His worst impulses.
Who is a real man?
He who takes the blows,
For innocents in harm’s way.
Who is a real man?
He who stands up to anyone,
Especially his own tribe,
In defense of the defenseless.
Who is a real man?
He who willfully withholds,
His strong fist.
Who is a real man?
He who admits
His sins.
DNA Poker Player!
Please create such men,
And dispense with us Neanderthals.
…
STARVING COSMOS
How can we listen to sad love songs,
When there are so many starving for love?
Who the hell do we think we are?
What rights for pity do we think we have,
When outside our doorstep,
Is a cosmos of love-starved beings?
COSMIC ANNIHILATION CREATION
We, we are the Higgs boson,
We are elusive,
Impossible to discover,
Yet everywhere.…
