JAN’S DAILY FRESH NEWS

                       © 2001: Jan Cox
                                        ******************************************************
 

October 2, 2001.
 
 
 
 

Were it not for likes & dislikes, man would have no problems.
2nd Verse: Were it not for instinctive, physical likes & dislikes, man would be extinct.
3rd Verse: Were it not for non physical likes & dislikes,
                     man would have no civilization.
Revamped Recapitulation: Were it not for non physical likes & dislikes,
                                               man would have no problems.
 
 

In that life favors its internal organs (living creatures) to live,
(until it favors them to die),
it makes them like what is conducive to living & dislike that which is not --
(no problem there, huh?!);
but in that life favors one of them (man) to do more than just live programmatically,
it has him engage in activities that neither directly favor nor discourage life
(culture, in all its thought-derived non essentials);
and to hold it together, life further causes him to act as though he has
meaningful likes & dislikes concerning the activities that make up this second reality.
 

All men dislike arsenic --  they really dislike it --  instinctively;
some men say they dislike liberal political ideas  --  but they do not really --
oh, they think they do,  which to ordinary men is the same as it really being so  --  but,
they do not really, in that there is nothing there TO dislike;
it is not liquid poison, it is just words --  sounds in the air,
like the rustling of leaves, except life fills some men’s minds with thoughts that
take human produced sounds concerning politics more seriously than that of leaves.
Instinctive likes & dislikes are serious;
all others are dust in the wind:
harmless hobbies, the way played by most.
 

Throughout history have been those who fault what they perceive to be
non essential likes & dislikes,
and who say that abandoning such brings supernatural rewards;
that the gods bless those who do not succumb to a life controlled by
useless likes & dislikes;
some even go so far as to try and repress even instinctive, essential likes & dislikes,
trying to survive on the least amount of food possible,
and without sex or shelter altogether.
Some less dedicated delete selectively,
and give up just certain foods, sexual practices and residential ostentation,
but still under cover that such mundane sacrifices will be rewarded metaphysically
with an improved state of consciousness and understanding.
Aside from the well known deleterious physiological changes that occur in the brain during actual starvation or hypothermia, (visual & audible hallucinations),
the foolishness of the approach: “Harm the body  --  help the mind”
deserves no further note.
 

Where many people feel on more rational ground is in the belief that man’s problems would be solved if all of those whose likes & dislikes of things in the realm of the
non-physical, second reality were made to see the errors of their tastes.
This approach professes that if all men shared the proper likes & dislikes in: politics, religion, art, morality, sports, social & economic theories,
that all problems would cease, and ‘twould be paradise on the planet.
This view (as old as man is civilized) fails to take into its reckoning
the obvious fact that civilization itself, (along with man’s unique, comfortable life)
is based on individual men helping prop up the illusion that they actually have
well-felt likes & dislikes concerning specific ideas or activities within the
invented world of their non tangible, culture-of-a-second-reality.
But, as life now operates on this orb:
humanity is not going to give up civilization, (read: comfort & convenience),
by all agreeing to like only one particular religion; political philosophy; type of movie;
sports team or style of painting,
and this jejune notion too warrants no more attention.
 

There is yet a sub group in all of this:
a few people whose primary delusion (sorry: interest) is not in changing life,
but rather their own conception of life,
and they also frequently become followers of the idea that man is saddled by
useless likes & dislikes which serve to distort his common perception of
what is going on,
and devise disciplines to rid themselves of these needless encumbrances.
In their context, they do not attempt to get other people to revise or abandon their meaningless likes & dislikes about things mental & verbal,
but instead, struggle to free themselves from the grip of these useless distractions;
rather than lecturing others on this matter, they say to themselves: “Shut up!
I must stop talking to myself about how much I dislike conservative religious ideas”
(though they will likely say, “people” in place of “ideas,”
and you would do yourself well to get in the awareness-habit of remembering to
make this distinction to yourself when you hear your own thoughts speak of
a dislike for a certain type of “person” when what is actually being referred to is
the words&ideas that come from their mouths  --  not the people themselves;
ignoring this is the harmless common human way,
but for the few who would see more deeply than is the common,
it is an easily remedied major hobble).
 

If a rightly wired man pursues his hunger for expanded sight
past the pubescence stage, he will most certainly on his own,
come to the realization that each & every one of his likes & dislikes
concerning things that are not essential to survival,
things about which he has no instinctive reaction,
are things that indeed, mean nothing to him...................................................save when his consciousness is fully in their momentary grip,
but as soon as he comes to his senses and realizes what is going on --
his mind is free of their hold and he is aware once more that his consciousness  --
--  the very seat of who he is as an individual  --
had just been swamped and obliterated by unsolicited thoughts
which automatically appeared in his head and highjacked his awareness,
proclaiming likes & dislikes about matters which mean nothing to him
when he is in his best state of willfully controlled attention.
 

Thus, while at the outset it seems the proper course,
the day comes when such a man must pull himself up close into his own face; confront and address the situation as it is:
he is trying to suppress or vanquish meaningless thoughts of likes & dislikes regarding matters that mean nothing to him anyway;
                                        is not something askew here?
You are fighting what so far appears to be a futile battle against pesky little,
uninvited gophers whose heads keep popping up through your lawn  --
and then finally   --   FINALLY it hits you:  you have no lawn......and even if you do --
it means nothing to you.
 
 

Here is a Revised, Revamped Recapitulation of the major theme:
First you have the majority of humanity: those never allowed to stop pretending that the likes & dislikes they express regarding non-physical matters,
really matter to them;
then you have those who see at least partially through the game,
and decide it would benefit their understanding if they would
free themselves from the hold of these meaningless & distracting likes & dislikes;
and then there are those who believe themselves cognizant of the above,
but who never take that final step beyond,
(the arrangement could be thus limned):
the first group is entangled in a collective criticism of Cinderella’s wardrobe;
the second is engaged in trying to stop these criticisms from appearing in their mind,
and the third are those who never quite get around to the big realization: “Oh!.................Cinderella’s imaginary to begin with.......................oh!   ----   now I get it.”
 

                                                             J
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

…it is predictable that some readers will not like today’s news.