The Cannons of Christianity

Christian cannons have fired at my days

With the warning beneath the holy blaze

And bow to our authority

Say the cannons of Christianity

Oh the children will be sent to schools

Minds of clay are molded to their rules

Learn to fear all of eternity

Warn the cannons of Christianity

Holy hands will count the money raised

Like a king the Lord is richly praised

On a cross of diamond majesty

Say the cannons of Christianity

Missionaries will travel on crusades

The word is given, the heathen souls are saved

Conversions to our morality

Sigh the cannons of Christianity

Come the wars and turn the rules around

To bend your soul on the battle ground

And the Lord will march beside me

Drone the cannons of Christianity

Cathedral walls will glitter with their gold

And the sermons speak through silver robes

Building castles amidst the poverty

Say the cannons of Christianity

Worship now and wash your sins away

Drop the coins, fall to your knees and pray

Cleanse the world of all hypocrisy

Smile the cannons of Christianity

Christian cannons have fired at my days

With the warning beneath the holy blaze

And bow to our authority

Say the cannons of Christianity

~~Phil Ochs~~

Beliefs and Ideas Cannot Free Us From Fear

One asks why human beings, who have lived on this earth for millions of years, who are technologically intelligent, have not applied their intelligence to be free from this very complex problem of fear, which may be one of the reasons for war, for killing one another. And religions throughout the world have not solved the problem; not the gurus, nor the saviours; nor ideals. So it is very clear that no outside agency --- however elevated, however much made popular by propaganda -- no outside agency can ever possibly solve this problem of human fear.

~~J. Krishnamurti~~

Silence: A Portal Into The Unmanifested

The unmanifested is not separate from the manifested.

It pervades this world, but it is so well disguised

That almost everyone misses it completely.

If you know where to look, you'll find it everywhere.

A portal opens up every moment.

Do you hear that dog barking in the distance?

Or that car passing by?

Listen carefully.

Can you feel the presence of the unmanifested in that?

You can't?
Look for it in the silence out of which the sounds come

And into which they return.

Pay more attention to the silence than the sounds.

Paying attention to outer silence creates inner silence:

The mind becomes still.

A portal is opening up.

~~Eckhart Tolle~~

We Know Not What We Do

The ego loves it's resentment of reality. What is reality? Whatever is. Budda called it tatata ---the suchness of life, which is no more than the suchness of the moment. Opposition toward that suchness is one of the main features of the ego. It creates the negativity that the ego thrives on, the unhappiness that it loves. In this way, you make yourself and others suffer and don't even know that you are doing it, don't know that you are creating a hell on earth. To create suffering without recognizing it -- this is the essence of unconscious living; this is being totally in the grip of the ego.

The extent of the ego's inability to recognize itself and see what it is doing is staggering and unbelievable. It will do exactly what it condemns others for and not see it. When it is pointed out, it will use angry denial, clever arguments, and self-justifications to distort the facts. People to it, corporations do it, governments do it. When all else fails, the ego will resort to shouting or even to physical violence. Send in the marines.

We can now understand the deep wisdom in Jesus' words on the cross: "Forgive them for they know not what they do."

~~Eckhart Tolle~~