Less is More

So over the past year or so I’ve gone through somewhat of a drastic awakening process.  I guess then I could not say it was somewhat of one.  First I admitted I had some addictive behavioral issues that I had to work through.  Then with that I started working on bettering myself and replacing bad habits with new healthy habits.  That step is what launched me into my awakening process….I think. 

Somehow with that step I naturally or perhaps subconsciously started looking for truth.  I read many books and blogs and website articles on many different subjects.  I went to seminars and night classes.  From weight lifting to finance to chemtrails to real estate investing to math and grammar to space travel to food to agriculture and horticulture to warfare to baby birthing to oil to politics in no particular order.  Right now what I’m learning about is Less is More.

I’m lucky to have some stellar smart people around me that I trust and are smarter than I am.  One of them, and the one who turned me onto this concept/book, is my older brother.  I don’t know if you’ve ever gone through life, and I have to laugh cause apparently I do this all the time if you look at my list of things above, but have you ever gone through life thinking, “Oh ya I got this.  I know all about what is truly right/good/true/factual/healthy about…fill in the blank.  I could comfortably talk to somebody about this or that subject.”?  Only to find out you were wrong two seconds after coming onto a book or magazine or blog post or documentary or an individual who has actually spent their whole life enveloped in the subject you so brashly thought you knew everything about?  Well…I have.  More than once.  My question then, and the reason for my blog post is, why?  Why, and maybe I’m just the only dope who has this happen to, but I don’t think that is possible, but why does that seem to happen…a lot?  And on a broad scale?  All the time people?  This question has kinda been hounding me for the last year or so during my “awakening” process if I can even call it that as I might very well find another third or fourth point of view here in two seconds to contradict my newly “awakened/enlightened” knowledge that I claim to have.  To claim I’m enlightened and know NOW the truth about schtuff would be pretty idiotic of me when I just admitted I hadn’t known the truth, full or otherwise, of many things previously.  Anywho back to the question and I don’t think there is one answer to the question as there are clearly many factors to why I had been blind, and subsequently why others might be blinded.  So I’m reading Less is More…page 101 at the bottom and Srimad Bhagavatam XI says…

By attributing worth to tangible objects, man becomes attracted to them; attraction to them brings desire for them; desire leads to competition and dispute amongst men.  These rouse violent anger, and the result is delusion.  Delusion completely overcomes man’s sense of right and wrong.

SO!....back to my addictive behaviors.  When a human being experiences pain the brain immediately kicks in the warp drive from stars and races to find a thing or thought or whatever to ease the pain.  That system in your brain is called the limbic system.  I think that I experienced things growing up that were traumatic to me.  I think, and this is my theory for this blog post of course and the above quote, but I think a small part of me way back when somewhere attributed worth to tangible objects.  I don’t know of any one event/thing right now, but could surely lump in playing video games, or having sports shoes to play sports with the rest of the kids, or whatever other things I liked growing up that were things that I thought were tangible and hence valuable.  Ok so what? 

Well if I assign worth to tangible things and those things give me ease from my pain then I’m going to want more things.  It doesn’t even matter what the thing is, which is the crazy part.  My brain can think of anything as a necessary tangible thing.  I’m looking in my room right now and see blinds.  Ohhhh I need those cause if not then I can’t sleep at night cause the street light would be too bright.  False.  I could sleep.  What about when I’m changing?  False.  I could go in another room or the bathroom to change.  What about they match the décor in the room and they add value to my house?  False.  Drapes would be just fine and my house could burn down tomorrow and so what value do the blinds have then?  None.  I’ll answer my own question, thank you.  Objection!  Overrulled…YOUcan’t HANDLE THE TRUTH!1~!!1 

So what does this have to do with the quote?  Well somewhere along the line I got d.u.p.e.d.  Subconsciously I knew I was being suckered all along.  Somewhere someone adequately sold me the dream, the American dream, of owning my own home.  Why is that important for this blog post?  Well there are only so many homes…that leads to about the halfway point of the quote referencing competition and dispute among men (I can’t tell you how many houses I put offers on, disputed with other men on, to try and win and compete and get the house).  I can’t necessarily say I got angry at any point, maybe my family can attest otherwise, but I do know that if I fulfilled about all the quote that I probably had some anger somewhere.  Actually thinking right now I had anger about the financing process so yes I was angry at one point.  And finally, cause you know in grammar class they tell you always to start a sentence with ‘And’, when you’re angry it leads to delusion.  And when you’re delusional you are lost as to what is right and wrong.

My hypothesis is thus.  When a humanoid desires something and gets it, no matter if it is a house on post street or the sandbox shovel from mom and dad, somehow one automatically progresses through the steps and wants things it does not need and from that needless want the limbic system is programmed to want more to ease pain and want more and more and more.  Well what is one of the biggest sinkholes of wants there are?  A house.  So if as a society we are all taught to want the American dream from when we were little nino’s and that thing is so life engulfing so as to warrant a fourth to a third of your working life and time and you get it/win it then you’re “right” in a huge way, right?  Well if you’re right then you can’t be wrong and so if people, advertising, or ideas appear right to you even though they’re wrong then you’re wrong.  And if people and schools and advertising and mainstream media (lame stream) are good at what they do, i.e. convincing you that what is true is not, then you’ll be wrong about a lot of things though you thought otherwise.  And if they can just get you to buy into a house, a huge WANT, and it is a want people don’t kid yourselves.  Seriously.  I’m not kidding.  How do I know this?  Just ask Jesus.  Ask Ghandi if houses are needs or wants. 

So when we want something and get it one could then assume eventually you become just that much more delusional.  Delusional about, and I quote, “weight lifting to finance to chemtrails to real estate investing to math and grammar to space travel to food to agriculture and horticulture to warfare to baby birthing to oil to politics”. 

So the cure to being delusional?  Don’t want anything.  Be content with what you have.