Culture Shock

All there is is culture.

(or: the veil before our eyes)

 

 

There is a need to improve.

Culture tells us so.

There is a need to be better.

Culture tells us so.

We claim to be the pride of creation and in order to maintain that right we have to evolve.

Culture tells us so.

 

We discuss going to Mars, talk about inhabiting other planets and exploring the universe.

Because we, as humans are and always have been explorers (or was it “exploiters“?)

Culture tells us so.

 

A big part of me rejects what I understand as culture.

 

Our so-called culture created division and borders when there in fact is no such thing.

We kill and slaughter in the name of exploration and why the hell do we think we have to go out there and explore other worlds and planets?

We barely can keep our own together.

Advice for all the people who wonder if there are aliens out there:

LEAVE THEM ALONE AND LEARN TO TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER FIRST.

You really think they would come down and say “Hi“ while we are busy killing each other?

Wake up.

 

Our so-called culture seems to give us the right to kill, to KNOW what´s best, to fight and to  pacify. In the name of God, in the name of money, of evolution, technology, progress, yes in the name of  humanity!

…

 

This world is upside down, and you and me, imprisoned by our own culture, don´t see.

 

WE JUST DON´T SEE.

 

We have children wearing $200 sneakers sitting at home playing video games.

We have children making these $200 sneakers for not even a Dollar a day.

We have enough food to feed the world yet people die of hunger.

We keep dogs we give names, and wonder when they develop neuroses.

We then send them to dog psychiatrists.

We want to be creative, arty-farty, noble, beautiful, healthy, calm, enlightened,  loving, wise and peaceful.

We ALWAYS want to be a better version of ourselves.

 

What a subtle, devious cover-up.

 

What we, as human beings always wanted, from the very beginning is … ta-dah!:

 

POWER & CONTROL

 

… over and in relationships, religion, politics, art, … in  → CULTURE.

 

We want it so hard we fight for it.

We might call it LOVE, and we fight for it.

We might call it PEACE, and we fight for it.

We might call it HUMANITY, and we fight for it.

 

We want to be free from a construct we, ourselves, each single one of us, continues to support every single moment.

 

It´s sad.

It´s almost funny.

It´s paradox.

 

That kind of sums it up for me: humanity.

“There is no other way that we can function in this society except to live in hope and die in hope.“ – U.G. Krishnamurti

Insights

Life is action. Questioning your actions is destroying the expression.

Every time a thought is born, you are born.

There is no permanent entity in you.

Freedom: one ceases to be somebody else and is simply what one is.

Take away all your fancies about life, death or freedom and the body remains according to its programming, functioning harmoniously. It does not need my or anyone elses advice.

We think we know a lot more than this body, we think we know what is good for it and that is why we are creating problems for it. If one can just listen, the body is allowed to take care of it´s own.

To survive in this world is not a difficult problem. What is demanding is the value system, imposed on us by culture/society and our effort to fit ourselves into that system.

This effort is consuming a tremendous amount of energy and leaves us exhausted.

Now I see that whatever I wanted was what they wanted me to want.

I had to find out for myself.

Freud

Here we go again:

Anticipation – Disappointment.

Fear of being (fill the space)__________________

because of _______________________________ in your childhood.

Freud would have liked this.

Problem is, I never believed a word he said.

Just him being Viennese doesn´t mean he is trustworthy.

I trust my instincts.

The physical sensations in the body.

I know THIS.

No need for assumptions on my side when it comes to the outside world, it being just a tiny fraction of the unknown.

Note from the unknown, to the unknown:

Feel, see and hear with the heart.

It may be placed on your left side, but it´s always RIGHT.

words for a february kind of song

so there´s life in darkness

so there´s life in fear

and there´s life in cruelty

as there´s life in tears

 

why do we suffer, baby?

maybe we suffer, maybe

we need to suffer , baby

to know what it´s like to be

all

al-ONE

 

 

 

it´s always 10 minutes

10 minutes ago I felt that I would be able to give it a name, put a label on it and make it mine.

It´s always 10 minutes.

10 minutes after these previous 10 minutes I have to admit that I cannot do „it“.

I just can´t.

Why not write down what got expressed through an individuum by the name of U.G. Krishnamurti?

He comes close in what I fail to express:

“Life is action. Questioning your actions is destroying the expression of life. A person who lets life act in its own way without the protective movement of thought has no self to defend. What is keeping you from being in your natural state?

You are constantly moving away from yourself.

You want to be happy, either permanently or at least for this moment.

You are dissatisfied with your everyday experiences and so you want some new ones.

You want to perfect yourself, to change yourself.

You are reaching out, trying to be something other than what you are.

It is this that is taking you away from yourself.“

Damn 10 minutes.

every note

Imagine:

• Music is easy.
• Music is played through you.
• Playing music is the simplest and most effortless thing to do.
• Every note that gets played through you is the most beautiful sound you´ve ever heard.
• You are enjoying every note you play.
• You are laughing at the “wrong“ notes, loving them and making them the new “right“ notes.

_______________________________________________________________

If you could program yourself to believe all these things you would get a little crazy, insane with ecstasy.

So, what do you have to lose?

_______________________________________________________________

“Do not fear mistakes. There are none.“  – Miles Davis

“I´ve been imitated so well, I´ve heard people copy my mistakes“ – Jimi Hendrix

_______________________________________________________________

art.ist

I remember times in my life when I was very serious about music and drumming; and I always referred to it as my music and my drumming.

At one point, while working on a song, I suddenly realized that it is not me, the musician who is responsible for writing and arranging this particular piece of music.

If we look at what is actually the case we won´t find an artist, only a mere activity of doing, and, very often a connecting of dots and coherences through thoughts.

The illusion of ownership is very subtle and so deeply rooted.

We say “these are my thoughts“ and “my creativity“, when all there is, is stuff appearing and this body/mind being used as a vessel or channel to express energy (for a lack of a better term) in the physical realm. One could argue and say that an artist had to practice or work endless hours in order to cultivate his craft. True, however, we have to ask ourselves what it actually is that is being fine-tuned and cultivated: I believe it´s techniques as tools in a bag of tricks, which allow us to translate or transport energy into what we refer to as a “piece of art.“

The use of techniques and tools could be compared to someone speaking a language knowing 2500 words and someone else knowing only 200. One might only need 20 words to say what wants to be said, while someone else would have to use 100 words.

It´s not about what you do – it´s about how it get´s done through the image of a “You“.

By the way: I find it quite interesting that when talking about an artist´s or athlete´s performance we often use the phrase “to lose oneself“ (i.e. an activity or doing) with a positive background. Usually “losing oneself“ is considered a bad thing in our society.

—-