Deepak Chopra will lead you straight to hell
July 31, 2005 · By George Freeman
Perusing the morning news, I noticed that Yahoo now offers Arianna Huffington’s crazy news for paranoids and other nut cases. Looking at the headlines I was intrigued by Deepak Chopra’s latest mystical brain fart, “The Absolute Break Between Life and Death is an Illusion.” Now, if you have ever read C.S. Lewis’s “The Great Divorce”, you are likely drawn to such an idea. But the problem here is that Deepak talks in circles and gets it wrong, and considering he is a popular motivator for the spiritually disenfranchised (which goes for most people these days), no wonder we see the current state of politics in secular societies as egomaniacal in the name of selflessness and completely blind to the greater purposes in life. In example, take the sanctity of marriage or the rule of law, neither of which, as demonstrated in Canada, are greater purposes easy to maintain.
Let us deal a death blow to Deepak, his mystical brain fart that is.
1.) Losing your body is something to be feared because of your ego wants continuity: Has it ever occurred to Deepak that some people want to lose their body? What about the fat, the crippled, or the ugly? In many cases, losing one’s body can be a good thing, and death is but a release from one’s mortal coil. And who’s to say the fat, the crippled, or the ugly don’t have huge egos. Maybe they are really smart or better yet, maybe they have spent years feeling sorry for themselves. Whether people want to keep their body or not, the ego knows that time in life can be wasted. So the fear of losing one’s body is not the only thing that defines death, but also that death entails an end to our current state of affairs, a moment of consequence. Our time as we know it is up!
How about this Deepak? The reason people fear death is because they want to know with certainty what “lay on the other side” but they exist in a reality that does not give them this information. And this, they don’t want to live with, they just haaaave to know. Maybe people should think about why they have to know and feel humbled by the fact they can’t. Maybe people should realise their dependent position in reality, instead of whining about it; stop thinking reality is all about them and consider that they are part of bigger story; or better yet, use their ego to take responsibility for the choices they make, rather than thinking they need to conquer life so that they no longer have to make hard choices. Deepak cleverly ignores death as something that “seems” like an interruption in what WE want to do, and thereby justifying, by covering over the significance of death, doing what we want to do anyway, regardless of our circumstance and responsibilities. Deepak should admit that death really is a moment of consequence, and from there, ask what are we to do about it.
2.) New “images” and “desires”, the realisation of infinite possibility, is traumatising: This is called “stepping out”, or to put it another way, the anxiety you feel when you realise that you are loser and want to get a life. Unfortunately, I guess for Deepak, when you exist in a reality that is not just about you existing, and you finally wake up to the fact that life is full of times that will make you feel uncomfortable, how you react will make you either a better or a worse person. If you decide feeling uncomfortable is a bad thing, then Deepak is there for you. But if you aim at becoming better, especially because you are uncomfortable, don’t always make yourself or those around you, especially not Deepak, the measure of being better. And in finding this measure, look at what people do rather than what they say, don’t be flippant with tradition (especially revelation), and consider all the ways goodness finds you even though you are an idiot.
3.) Death is a total illusion, you are dead already: Who knew? Life and Death is just language. Not! Life presents us with a future that is unknown, but that does not mean we need to feign our past because “real death” is being stuck in the past. As we all know, not knowing is the call of faith in life; faith that reality is ordered, that there is truth to be pursued, that while I don’t know what lay ahead, God does. In faith the ego strikes a balance between the past, present and future, the ego finds life because it can see, by the fact that reality is ordered, that God first loved it. Living in the past is not what death really means; life is active existence in physical reality while death is the unknown end of it. Living in the past is not always good because it binds one to regret and lack of foresight, but we cannot ignore the past unless mistakes are to be repeated.
4.) Surrender: Not what most people mean by surrender but Deepak wants us to surrender like the French, that is surrender responsibility so we can still win and still conquer. But as any eight year old in Sunday school will tell you, if eternity is anything, it is a gift. There is nothing about death that can be conquered, but the approach of death makes clear the need for divine grace to deliver us unto eternity. If taking responsibility for how you react to the gift of eternity means anything, surrendering to a state of “nonjudgement” and “absence of ego” simply will not do. Life means short and eternity means forever, so get off your ass, stop feeling sorry for yourself, be thankful for God’s grace in giving you eternity, and see that not everything is relative and somethings really do matter.
In the final analysis, Deepak is full of shit. And people who are full of shit will lead you straight to hell because they don’t really care what they are talking about. They hope that you are the same sort person, easily swayed by rhetoric with no concern that rhetoric actually matters. They want you to believe that words are “just words”, that they do not give meaning to action in our lives, that in politics words do not direct purposes either good or bad. As Lewis reminds us:
For a damned soul is nearly nothing: it is shrunk, shut up in itself. Good beats upon the damned incessantly as sound waves beat on the ears of the deaf, but they cannot receive it. Their fists are clenched, their teeth are clenched, their eyes fast shut. First they will not, in the end they cannot, open their hands for gifts, or their mouth for food, or their eyes to see.
Admittedly, mysticism is not a bad thing, as long as you can remember common sense. To offer a final thought that I once learned: Insulting other people’s stupidity is important! And be prepared to put this into action, preventing the damned from conquering the earth. Next time you hear that the relationships between married heterosexual couples are equivalent to whatever two male lovers have going on, or that either of those are equivalent to whatever two female lovers have going on, please, call it what it is, the stupidest thing you’ve heard that day. Or next time you hear that somehow Stephen Harper’s cowboy fashion at the Calgary Stampede or his “cold demeanour” makes him unfit to be PM, while the alternative, Paul Martin, is up to his elbows in Liberal Party corruption in Quebec and has demonstrated no regard for the constitutional conventions of responsible government, please, call it what it is, the stupidest comparison you’ve heard made that day. If anything, this will keep things spirited! At most, it will keep common sense in politics because the Deepak Chopra’s of the world, and those who listen to them, might notice that, truly, all the “intolerant” and “judgemental” people of the world are getting scrappy!
“Admittedly, mysticism is not a bad thing, as long as you can remember common sense.”
Now THIS is an epitaph I want on my tombstone.
I’m afraid you lost me there when you wandered off into a connection between Deepak Chopra and Stephen Harper’s wardrobe…but right up until that moment I was loving it. Chopra’s pasteurized “spirituality-lite” has annoyed me for years. Achieve the wisdom of the ages in one easy paperback gulp! Yeah, right.
Sorry. The last paragraph could be tied in more clearly.
I try to harken back to a point made in the first paragraph, that secular societies lack the spiritual foundation to know when the political interests use the rhetoric of selflessless to push what are in fact radical agendas. And furthermore, secular societies cannot see this rhetoric for a lie because they cannot see greater purposes in life, nor the significance that those purposes hold for society—marriage and the rule of law in Canada being my briefly stated examples.
With respect to Harper’s wardrobe my point is this:
One of the greater purposes in a liberal democracy is the rule of law, and it appears to me that many Canadians, have, by and large, lost sight of what it takes to maintain the rule of law. Canadians and their cynicism has brought out their stupidity.
Back in May, Paul Martin got away with a serious breach of hundreds of years of consitutional convention, that if the confidence of a government is in question, a vote of confidence must be held immediately. Because he ignored every vote of non-confidence until he was able to buy and bribe the one he wanted, it leaves one to wonder, are Canadian’s awake to the fact that they are being played for dupes. And it’s not just the government, the media seems to be helping the Liberal government do just that, play Canadians for dupes. We have a Liberal government mired in corruption, scandal after scandal, yet we still hear story after story of how Stephen Harper needs to work on his image—he looks “mean”, he’s “dorky”. It seems to me that this is grossly disproportionate coverage of the most pressing issues in Canadian politics today, and grossly disproportionate in favour of the Liberals.
On the one hand, you have a suppression of news coverage of an obviously corrupt government that appears to only pay heed to the rule of law when it is convenient for them. The government seriously broke constitutional convention, and prior to that, it circumvented the law in probably one of the biggest scandals in Canadian history. But on the other hand, we still hear story after story on Stephen Harper’s image. Now, why is that?
It seems to me that this disproportionate news coverage strategically plays on Canadian’s stupidity. The best way to deal with stupidity is to call it what it is: the attempt to contrast Liberal corruption with what Stephen Harper wears to the Calgary Stampede is really stupid. The Liberals and their media buddies have successfully thrown up smoke and mirrors to cover over very bad government in Canada. And many Canadians, because they are so stupid, are lapping-up this stuff on Stephen Harper’s image, when, by a long ways, Liberal corruption is the more important of the two.
I think the best way to smoke out this smoke and mirrors tactic on the part of Canada’s ruling elite is to call the disproportionate news coverage what it is, really stupid. And furthermore, it’s good when those trying to get away with telling a lie see that they are found out, that they are making people really angry. In short, stupid Canadians need to stop being so stupid—they need to get angry with the dishonest news!
Canadians currently have very bad government, government mired by scandals that would have had other countries marching in the streets and calling for an election, at least. But unfortunately, Canadians aren’t mad enough. They refuse to see what is really at stake: politics that follows the rule of law or politics as a personality contest. I’d rather live in a country where the rule of law is upheld, and the fact that Canadians are being played for stupid really makes me angry … as you can see by the length of this “comment”. :-)
George, Canada is an euphemism for Ontario and it’s colonial possessions.
Ontario is Canaduh.
Ontarians are not stupid. They are corrupt. Ontarians aren’t angry at THEIR Liberals. Ontarians are not uninformed. They just don’t care.
Their hopes and dreams are built upon the wreckage of yours. Everthing is stacked in Ontario’s favor and they LIKE IT.
They will grasp at the lamest, thinnist straw of an arguement, to not vote Conservative, just to maintain the illusion of plausible deniability.
Ontario’s yoke on Alberta will never be lifted by sustaining the charitable delusion that, “If they only knew the truth, Ontarians would do the right thing.” Ontarians are corrupt. Thet will NEVER do the right thing.
Get used to it. Or better, GET OUT!
You have a point, and I think we are getting at the same point, just by a different road.
I agree that Ontario is largely unconcerned about the rest of the country—they think their needs are the needs of the country. But to the extent this attitude is actually leading to the breakup of the country, which Ontario claims to love and need, then they are in fact being very stupid. The fact that they will take any reason, however dumb, to avoid having a Westerner for PM is a perfect example. Not only is Alberta THE major economic player in confederation, only to get stronger in the near future, but Alberta no longer has any substantive reason, other than the afinity for country, for staying in Canada. If Alberta’s grievances towards bad government in Canada are not addressed within federal politics, as other provinces would like to see as well, then these grievances will manifest in federal-provincial relations. The fact that the federal government only moralises at Alberta, preaching medicare and gay marriage, does not look after her trade and commerce interests (mad cow being a perfect example), and has abdicated national defence in favour of moralising to the Americans, the federal government can no longer say much that Albertans are willing to hear. If anything, Albertans are sick of paying taxes to a federal government they rarely influence, that does nothing for them they couldn’t do for themselves.
I really believe the next federal election will define Canada’s future in a big way. If Stephen Harper does not form government, which now does not appear likely, then confederation just got a lot nastier. Albertans WILL govern themselves, and will get good government, with or without Ontario! And to the extent Ontarians do not appear remotely aware that this is coming defines their stupidity. And it is “stupidity” because it is not in the interest of Ontario to have Canada break-up, or to have the Saudi Arabia of the North pissed off at them.
Maybe some of the responsibility for Ontario being so stupid lay with Alberta. Albertans have not been as angry, insulting and overall as militant as maybe they should have been heretofore. But if the Conservatives lose the next election, look out, and maybe that is just a question of “when”!
In the mean time, Canadians—and that goes for all of them, Albertans too—should avoid being played for dupes by stupid stories about Stephen Harper’s image, stories that don’t deserve the time of day. If your an Ontarian, consider what’s at stake, both the rule of law and “friendship” with Alberta, and stop being so stupid. If your an Albertan, don’t think for a moment that your grievances with the federal government would be solved if only the Conservatives get a new leader—one with a better image down East. That would be a really stupid way of furthering your interests from within Confederation, not to mention it misses the more significant point: Stephen Harper is the only legitimate leader (and the only alternative as PM) who can get to the bottom of bad government in Canada. The Liberals cannot be allowed to sit in judgement over their own sins.
It’s make or break time for Canada, and the Canadian media has made itself farcical!
One final thought, if the popularity of guys like Deepak Chopra is any indication, or if the current state of Canadian politics is any indication, people need to wisen up to common sense. And yes, it does exist!
‘Common sense’ is’nt at all common. I’m an Albertan and we just finished a long march to nowhere with Preston Manning’s ‘The West Wants In’ routine.
I think it’s time we stopped giving Ontario the benefit of the doubt regarding the question of Ontario’s good faith.
When will Alberta even get the number of parliamentary seats we’re entitled to? If we had those seats, we’d be in an election right now.
Are Albertans done yet with imagining we can win anything at a FIXED game? I believe it’s time we quit playing.
Concerning Ontario, maybe greedy shortsightedness is stupidity. I think it’s contempt, boosted by an overweening sense of their own self import, spiced with delusions of their CENTRAL position in our lives. They live in an inverted reality, where we need them, when in fact, the reverse is true.
They don’t see they’re really dictating from the fringe, 3000 kilometers away, and absentee landlords are no longer in style.
I’ve had enough of Ontario’s neo-merchantilism.
No Taxation without Representation. Don’t Tread on Me.
You’re right, common sense isn’t common but can be commonly “arrived at”. And when few have it, as is the case now, it can get you into trouble too.
Yeah, the West doesn’t want in, it wants the federal government to get its nose out of everything and stop working it over for the benefit of Central Canada.
And yes, Ontario has demonstrated no good faith, and likely won’t in the next federal election.
But I don’t think our time to quit playing has yet come. It has not been demonstrated, at least not yet, that Harper cannot form a government, federally that is—although maybe provincially. And furthermore, Alberta is currently in no position politically, right now anyway, to make such a stand. Ralph needs to go and we need someone ready and willing to stir up a big fight with the rest of Canada, atleast over medicare, but even moreso over institutional reform and the reallocation taxation powers. If Canada is going to stick together, provinces must be made equal partners with the federal government, and a good place to start would be to make provincial lieutenant governors directly accountable to The Queen, making them governors like in Australia; unlike now where they represent the feds., and in theory provincial governments being Canada’s “junior” governments. And also, if Canada is going to stick together, limits need to be placed on the ways in which the federal government can raise revenue. Constitutionally, provinces carry the lions share of responsibility for the Canadian welfare state, and the federal government should butt out, focussing on its own jurisdictions like trade and commerce and national defence. The feds really have no business getting involved in healthcare, daycare, etc. … pretty well everything.
I really think the next Premier of Alberta needs to focus on make or break issues for Alberta: namely the above mentioned institutional reform. If and when these initiatives fail, or if and when Ottawa makes another grab at our oil revenue, Albertans will be justified is breaking their patriotic duty to Canada (which I at present take seriously) and any Premier could then sail to secession quite readily.
But as for right now, being a patriot to Canada is still, and maybe unfortunately, required. However, that is not all bad, because if Stephen Harper fails at the federal level, he might just go back to Alberta and be the Premier it needs.
Anonymous, constitutionally the federal government is only permitted to raise revenues through tariffs and duties,ie. international trade. That is why the federal tax department is called Canada CUSTOMS and Revenue.
In good faith, we permitted the feds to implement the ‘temporary’ measure called Income Tax as a levy to pay for Canada’s involvement in World War I. Paying off the war debt was going along nicely when an even larger debt was incurred by Canada’s involvement in World War II.
Industrial developement was greatly spurred on by involvement in the nation building experiances of the World Wars, and Canada moved from being a rural society to a largely urban one.
Some time in the late 50s-early 60s that war debt could have been completely retired but Lester Pearson’s Liberals liked the power of taxing the income of all Canadians.
Just imagine, no more income tax. You probably can’t. My parents generation sure could’nt. They were the ones who let the feds invade the clearly defined division of powers between the provincial and federal governments.
Every social department from education through welfare to healthcare itself are, constitutionally, the sole juridiction of the provinces. It’s already been laid out.
From laws governing private property(firearms) to widow’s pensions and university grants/scholarships, these things are ALL solely provincial juridiction. Transportation? That is provincial juridiction. Energy? Fisheries? Resources? All solely provincial jurisdiction according to the constitution of this country.
It chaps my hide when I hear or read people talking about wheather or not ANY politian at the federal level is a social conservative or progressive. The entire discussion is,constitutionally speaking, irrelevant. The social realm of powers is solely provincial juridiction. Just talking in such terms cedes the ground of discussion to the Big Federal Government Socialists.
The invasion of provincial juridiction by the federal government is what is tearing this country apart and this invasion is made possible by the usurping of the provincial tax base and the existence of income taxes in particular.
Like Quebec, the original terms of this country allow each province to define their own society and be ‘Masters in Their Own House’. Those terms are still there. Ottawa simply ignores them.
Over half of the Canadian Federal Departments and Ministries shouldn’t even exist. They are there simply to invade provincial juridiction. The legitimate ones; Defense, External affairs, Customs, Indian Affairs, Justice, Immigration, can almost be counted on one hand, and Ottawa does a terrible job at all of them.
The Liberals never want to retire the national debt. I don’t think the CPC does either. The other parties exist only to make the socialism of the Liberals appear moderate by comparison and the ‘conservatives’ look like right-wing radicals.
Ontario is, through their Liberals, dictating their idea of the provincial society that they want to live in, to the rest of us. Ontario has broken faith with Alberta. The rest are just whores.
Canada has become a cruel hoax perpetrated against Alberta to slave us to Ontario’s vision of society. Sentimentality has no place in this abusive relationship.
The people of Alberta and Ontario really do not share the same values. The solution is clear.
ambien overnight…
news…