{"id":2878,"date":"2018-12-26T23:35:36","date_gmt":"2018-12-26T23:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/truehope.info\/wordpress\/?page_id=2878"},"modified":"2019-03-27T21:51:15","modified_gmt":"2019-03-27T21:51:15","slug":"dear-gud-9-way-to-ok-way","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/truehope.info\/wordpress\/dear-gud-9-way-to-ok-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear GUD 9 – Way to OK Way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chapter Nine – the Ninth letter<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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One<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n


Yes, it is like your questions somehow answer themselves when I am just getting on with life. This seems especially true when I am acting in compassion. Existence somehow feels most OK in such moments.
Remember we talked about compassion and its qualities – inclusiveness, kindness, sharing, truthfulness, trust, inquiry etc. In other words, compassion is all that the ego is not. The ego tends to make us an exclusive, greedy, deceitful and an arrogant know-all.
Compassion is a word you don\u2019t hear much in our English language these days and I feel a bit strange using it. I am afraid other adults might condemn me as a wus, a weak softie, a coward. They also might deride me as flaky and unrealistic.
However a benefit of the body getting old can be the awareness that we all die soon enough. As a result, I don\u2019t care so much what other adults think of me. Speaking the truth becomes more important than the fears of the ego. And the truth seems to be I don\u2019t have an easy answer to your questions. The more I think about them, the more I am left stranded in my armchair chasing paradox\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Futility : trying to think about paradox<\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Two <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n


Get the picture? Thought cannot capture the essence of paradox and every single thing I think about is paradox. This sure makes it very tricky to talk and write about paradox. Using thoughts and words to communicate paradox is like trying to capture rainbows and clouds with a butterfly net.
Rainbows, like paradox, remain just outside our grasp no matter what we do. Maybe you, like me, learned early on as child that rainbows move just as fast as you run after them – no faster, no slower. They pass through rocks and trees and yet vanish with the slightest puff of wind. They change position with your every step and turn of the head. And every rainbow is unique to the viewer. We only detect a few of the million possible colours, a dog even fewer that us. Other creatures, such as snakes and butterflies see colours invisible to us\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To see the universe in a rainbow and know there are myriad perspectives.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Three<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hmmm. The sun must always be behind you if you want to see a rainbow. Is that a rule, a law or a principle of the way the universe operates? We adults argue the difference.
\nSome say a principle is a good idea that cannot be proved correct whereas an idea becomes a law when it is proved correct using mathematics.
\nMe? Part of me insists, \u201cI know an idea is a proved fact and that makes it law.\u201d Another part of me says, \u201c We cannot be truly sure about everything because we are mere mortal beings – it\u2019s all a bit of a mystery and we are always learning.\u201d
\nWhat idea do you reckon best describes the way of the universe? Here\u2019s my pick. Maybe you guessed it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Conservation of Energy Principle -never disproved. Human beings have strived to their utmost in most ingenious ways to disprove this principle ever since our beginnings. Wonder why? <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Four<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo time for time! Anyway, so boring! Move on,\u201d a voice in me insists. It persists, \u201c I don\u2019t have all the time in the world and nor does any reader of this letter!\u201d
Another voice in me asks, \u201cHmmm\u2026why the hurry? Isn\u2019t it rather intriguing and funny the way we adults worry so much about not having enough time? Maybe this desperate sense of time-poverty reveals a lot about the human condition?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time: curiosity or obsession?<\/a><\/strong>
 We even build atomic clocks 
 that won\u2019t \u201cgain\u201d or \u201close\u201d a 
 second of time in 15 billion years.<\/a><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
 Remember Fun with Paradox<\/a><\/strong><\/em> and The Trickster Ego<\/a><\/em><\/strong> letters? All the universe seems paradox when we think about it. Chances are the ego is up to its usual tricks and deceits about reality- its busy confusing and tangling us up in the paradox of time\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Paradox of time. Time is our constant spiritual companion. Time is inherent in every cell in our body. Time is a thing out there – up, down, on, under, in, out, about, around\u2026 It is moving (a river) and un-moving (a road).  Time is our vital measure of the universal transformation (Power = Energy\/Time)<\/strong>

<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Five<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It is more than 25000 sunrises since I was born. I must have asked \u201cWhat is the time?\u201d a million times and more. However now is the first time I have asked, \u201cWhat is the time?\u201d It turns out to be such a fun, mind-boggling question.
\nA few things seem clear to me. Like energy, time is vast mystery to us all. It\u2019s paradox. And time is involved in all our daily calculations. Its seems even our unthinking decisions involve lightning fast calculations of time, energy and power in some way or another. We have to be wise to thrive.
\nMisuse the power of fire and\u2026 disaster.
\nMisjudge the power of a chair to support us and\u2026 crunch.
\nMiscalculate the power of an approaching car and\u2026 splat.
\nMisunderstand the power of the passing sun and\u2026 famine.
\nUndervalue the power of air and\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Definition of Power. Power = Energy divided by Time. Flawed notions of power or energy or time can be very dangerous. Wise notions of power, energy and time can help us thrive.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Six<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Giving time. Waiting. Wondering. It\u2019s like always: a cartoon gradually emerges on my sketch pad, I colour it up best I can on the computer, post a draft version on the Internet and then, well, I sit, wait, walk, sit again, wait and all the time ask, \u201cWhere are we at?\u201d
\nIt sure is not easy for me to make good sense of the \u201cweird\u201d ways of us adults. Your helpful questions are most welcome.
\nWe have explored the nature of energy, power, change, time, economy, paradox, the ego, compassion and physics (the ways of the universe).  It seems these ideas are inseparable and together they shape our experience of the universe, for better and worse. Everything seems to go bad for us when we get one idea wrong.
\nSages throughout history have tried to explain how and why this is so. In general, they suggest the ego prevails when people lose compassion and so they become greedy, talk nonsense and behave like fools. We tend to \u201close our way in life\u201d\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The power of words. Quotes from Judeo-Christian Bible, K\u2019ung Fu-tse (Confucius), Gautama (Buddha), Socrates, Qur\u2019an, Wittgenstein.
 The profound connections of words like <\/strong>energy<\/strong><\/a>, power, change, time, economy,<\/strong> paradox<\/strong><\/a>, <\/strong>the ego<\/strong><\/a>, <\/strong>compassion<\/strong><\/a> and physics. <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Seven <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s assume these people are correct: words form extremely powerful forces in our lives. This means, as with all other forces, we can use the principles of physics to better understand them. In particular, we can use the principles to estimate whether an adult is likely to be talking good sense or unhelpful nonsense about the best ways we can follow an OK way of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example 
 Conservation of Energy Principle: 
 Energy cannot be created or destroyed; 
 and it continuously changes forms.<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Imagine these people from history got together. Do you reckon they would agree with the following statement?
\nOur \u201ccareful\u201d use of \u201ca goodly word\u201d enables us \u201cto know more\u201d, enjoy \u201cwisdom\u201d, expand \u201cthe limits of our world\u201d and better shape \u201cour destiny\u201d.
\nOf course, as we discussed, the trickster ego in us has us believe we are above and beyond the principles of physics. It constantly strives to the use the power of the tongue (words) to deceive us into going its way, as we can see with our different uses of the word \u201cenergy\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Definitions of energy. Energy is universal potential. Energy is fossil fuels. Energy is electricity. Energy is power. Definitions of power. Power is energy per time. Power is energy. Each definition takes us a very different path.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Definitions. What is a form of energy? Perspectives of energy. Types of energy. Psychology of energy. Physics of energy.  EIA definition. Transformation of energy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Comparison
Comparison of ethos generated by adoption of (a) Corporation definition of energy and (b) definition of energy founded in the Conservation of Energy Principle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"World
World view generated by belief in Conservation of Energy Principle compared with world view generated by belief in Greenhouse Earth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Existence is paradox. The human spirit is no exception. For instance, every human being consists of the ego (a sort of exclusive, fearful, arrogant know-all part) and the compassionate state (a sort of inclusive, courageous, humble, inquiring part.) Both states of being are very different even as they are the same.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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First draft  completed 29  March 2019
Back to Dear GUD 8 Hope and Energy<\/strong><\/a>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chapter Nine – the Ninth letter One Yes, it is like your questions somehow answer themselves when I am just getting on with life. This seems especially true when I am acting in compassion. Existence somehow feels most OK in such moments. Remember we talked about compassion and its qualities – inclusiveness, kindness, sharing, truthfulness, … <\/p>\n
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