I was thinking more on positive and negative again. In my previous posts I feel I’ve seperated and limited my definitions too much. I really should refer to them as yin and yang actions as these definitions are a bit wider than simply positive/negative or light/dark. I’d tried to explain things using western terms, but I now realise that I’m better off using the eastern terms.

If I refer to things as either light/dark, positive/negative, I feel that these have connotations that lead back to good/evil, which are purely artificial intellectual viewpoints and largely depend on a shifting point of view.

But, in addition, all things contain both yin and yang, for example if I eat an apple, then yes I am nourished, but the apple is destroyed in the process. Another example is night time, yes it’s dark (yin) but there are always the moon and the stars (yang), so the position of duality is really an illusion, there is no duality and everything is really one source viewed subjectively.

Well, I took the plunge and migrated to the new Blogger Beta!

I already have a Google account, so I thought why not,? I’d already been working on some CSS and a new layout, but this has saved me the trouble.

I was also going to try grouping posts by subject. I’ve seen other folk do it and the plan was that instead of writing articles on a subject, I’d let them write themselves as the posts built up. Google have saved me the trouble of all the HTML though by adding labels to posts, you can find it on the left hand side. Not much there right now, but it’s slowly being worked on!

If you try to post comments, you may find you can only do so anonymously, this is a bug in the new Blogger Beta, but put your blog URL in the bottom of your post if you want.

I started thinking more on the content of my last post, I was thinking about the last time I used my chip & pin card.

Whenever I use it, I feel no connection to my finances, yet when I have a note or coins in my hand I feel more in control and it feels realler. Am I alone in thinking that this constant pressure for the quicker, more rushed way of doing things is contributing to our seperation from the real?

I was thinking last night about the way our society prevents us from living in the moment. I was driving along last night on my way into the city centre to pick up Xenia and I was trying to ecodrive the car.

I turned off the radio and tried to relax into the moment. I noticed the sheer amount of distractions that there are in terms of roadside adverts and the like, the radio was also noticeable by it’s absence. When working on my laptop, the internet is a constant distraction and if I really want to get anything done, I have to unplug the network lead.

I always used to disagree with my previous employers’ policy of not allowing the radio in the office due to the distraction, but now I begin to understand their point of view.

I was sat thinking last night. I’m in difficult times at the minute, but something came to mind that I read while browsing a book on Buddhist spirituality on the Evolution store in Birmingham over the weekend.

The author was of the opinion that our darker nature contains spiritual gems, anyone who’s been reading me regularly will know I agree with that view. But a thread on Star Wars over at the Tea house reminded me of something I read elsewhere about the Dark Side.

We all know the character of Mace Windu, he was a very powerful Jedi. More so than Yoda, or so it’s implied. Why? Because he didn’t fear the dark side, to quote the Revenge of the Sith novel (p330):

There was a time when Mace Windu had feared the power of the dark; there was a time when he had feared the darkness in himself. But the Clone Wars had given him a gift of understanding: on a world called Haruun Kal, he had faced his darkness and had learned that the power of darkness is not to be feared.

He had learned that it is fear which gives the darkness power.

He was not afraid. The darkness had no power over him. But-

Neither did he have power over it.

This concurs with my own feelings on the matter, that your own dark side only has power over you if you fear it. This is also true of a dark time or situation, if you realise that you always have some power in any situation, you don’t have to fear it and so it has much less power over you.

I’ve been looking more into Buddhism quite recently, I was pleasantly surprised by how much it has in common with Taoism and I’m finding an awful lot to like in it.

One of the quibbles I have is with the undertaking that forbids harming any living thing.
I went hunting on the web and found the the Buddhist code that governs the life of monks allows self defence. I was also surprised to find that there are Buddhist inspired martial arts, for example Taekwondo can be traced to the 6th century Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The Shaolin Order, also, are famed for their martial ability.

Now, as someone who trains in Taijiquan, and has some experience in other martial arts, then I see no reason that a person shouldn’t be allowed to use martial techniques purely in self defence. In my opinion, it’s a question of showing self restraint and using the minimum nessecary force, not actually trying to vindictively hurt an attacker.

So, I hear the the new Star Trek movie may have Matt Damon cast as a young Capt Kirk. Now I’ll put my hand up to being an SF fan, but IMO Star Trek should’ve been laid to rest for a good long break. Now I know there are some very good Sci-Fi series out there, I’m a fan of the new Battlestar Galactica and loved Red Dwarf. But I feel that TV and movie SF, while good, will never get near written SF.

I’ve always liked William Gibson, Ian M. Banks and Arthur C. Clarke, though I really didn’t think that the 2001 movie did the book justice and I’m not sure I’d ever like to see any of the Culture novels committed to film. The problem here, I think, lies with the studios and the fact that they want to stick to tried and tested formulas for things rather than experimenting.

Hmm, I think I’ll put Zen and the Art aside for a while and pick up “Look to Windward” again!

I read today that Tony Blair has broken ranks with the White House and cut a transatlantic deal with the state of California regarding emission reduction. Allegedly, Tony is not at all happy with George Bush’s approach to the issue of climate change.

I personally find this to be a welcome move, Governor Schwarzenegger seems to have a more positive approach to climate change. I hope it helps start the ball rolling on US emission reduction, and also helps establish Tony Blair as not being a poodle for the White House. I also hope this helps to move the White House to a more positive position on the issue of climate change.

I’m reminded of a sentiment from the author Iain M Banks on change in a political of social hedgemeony from his essay “A Few Notes on the Culture”:

“while the forces of repression need to win every time, the progressive elements need only triumph once”