Dan, I am not suggesting you are a thug at all. I don't know you. I know I'm not a thug (I'm basically non-violent in nature), and I doubt that you are one either.

I am suggesting that we all tend to carry prejudices that we are unaware of. In unstable or more violent personalities that can quickly contribute to becoming a thug, that's for sure...or it can contribute to becoming a "freedom fighter" or whatever else one could call it.

ddw - Well, I am a philosopher by nature, not a general or a politician. If I was a general, I'd probably have my mind set on achieving victory. Then again, the most brilliant politicians sometimes have a strong philosophical bent, but those types are relatively rare in politics. Most are simple pragmatists, after victory also.

You say that love cannot exist without its attached opposite, hate. A fascinating statement! In a world based on the notion of limited and separated things, that is quite correct. Yet all the highest spiritual teachings I've studied (from numerous traditions) suggest that that world is in a sense illusory...that it's merely a preliminary pathway toward a higher understanding in which all things are seen in a single unity...like a hologram.

A hologram may appear to contain many separate things within it, yet if you take the very tiniest part of it, you will find within that part the image of the WHOLE HOLOGRAM! This is explained in the spiritual traditions as the indwelling divine unity, the One, revealing itself within all the apparently separated things that make it up as a whole...and which arise out of it.

Okay. I realize I'm ranging far afield here. But I am serious.

We subject children to more rules and restrictions than we do adults. That's partly because they are not yet aware of nearly all the factors in a situation which an adult is generally presumed to be aware of. So we let children believe in the simple concepts of good guy/bad guy, like in the comics. Real life is more complex than that.

In just such a way, a person who thinks in terms of separation, will always divide the world up in terms of good guys/bad guys...love/hate...all the usual dualities.

A person who sees an undivided unity (a single human race, for example) won't do that, but will strive only for the good in all circumstances, only for love.

I realize it probably sounds like sheer mumbo jumbo, and from a separated point of view, it is. But from a unified point of view, it's not. When you genuinely see the other person as you, you can no longer willfully do harm to them. I haven't reached that yet, but I am certainly aspiring towards it.

As for equality, I've seen and heard of numerous situations where far greater efforts have been made in that direction than are being made at present in most societies. It is possible. You are correct that it would mean a lowering of North American lifestyles (at first). I frankly wouldn't mind that, because I've lived in far simpler lifestyles and been happier for it...and healthier.

I kid you not. We are sick little birds in our gilded cages here, wasting our precious time on way too much virtual reality and materialistic excess. I know this, because I do it myself on a regular basis. Why? Because I'm weak. I am easily distracted into wasting my time on stuff like trying to explain unified spiritual field theory to people who mostly couldn't care less about it or even give it consideration. :-)

Whether you are one of those people I don't know.

I believe that Love and Knowledge are about the only 2 things that ultimately are real. When they become complete, they are the same thing...complete LOVE = complete KNOWLEDGE.

I regard hate as an illusion that springs out of concepts of limitation and separation and fear...which doesn't mean it's totally useless...it's a stepping stone in order to have experiences which eventually awaken the soul to the fact that the original notion is an illusion which no longer serves it.

That doesn't mean people who hate are not dangerous. They are...on a physical basis. I try to avoid them, and if I cannot avoid them, then I deal with them whatever way I best can, under the circumstances, but I do not seek to imitate them and sink to their level. And yes, there are times when one had best fight the good fight in defence of oneself or others. We may have different ideas about when is the right time for that.

You state that there will always be people who are smarter, stronger, or more ambitious. Absolutely! In an enlightened system those are the very people who do their best to raise less capable people up to a higher understanding and expression of life. In other words, through natural leadership they render service unto their weaker bretheren. They do not dominate, they serve. I have always been happy to take direction and leadership from people whom I clearly saw were more capable than myself at this or that thing. That's natural.

The doing of a beautiful work is itself the greatest reward. Not the money. Not the recognition, but the doing of the work. It is through that doing itself that the soul is ennobled and made more complete.

So....now that you all probably think I'm totally nuts (and off-topic!), I can shrug, take it in good humour, and go get a good night's rest.

Sleep well yourself,

- Little Hawk