tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25518757373314896212024-02-20T20:54:37.415-08:00The Way of The Beauty WayPhilosophical brain fartsPeter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-15864857770052717112017-02-09T02:39:00.000-08:002017-02-09T03:00:53.425-08:00The Blame Game<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
As all is one (meaning completely relativistic) “things” are illusions. This also means agents are an illusion and that all action originates from the whole. Yet, we firmly hold on to the illusion that we ourselves are things, agents from which action originates. If we did not, how could we ever hand out blame?</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
Once you truly realize who you are, you will see that what you do is what is happening to you and what is happening to you is what you do and that blame has no meaning; that the flow of action and change is perfect, that it is the universe being of itself so.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-top: 6px;">
<a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/beautyway?source=feed_text&story_id=1479673542064805" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">BeautyWay</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/nature?source=feed_text&story_id=1479673542064805" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">Nature</span></span></a> <span class="_5afx" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/tao?source=feed_text&story_id=1479673542064805" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">tao</span></a>ism</span> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/zen?source=feed_text&story_id=1479673542064805" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">zen</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/awareness?source=feed_text&story_id=1479673542064805" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">awareness</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/tracking?source=feed_text&story_id=1479673542064805" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">tracking</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/varavild?source=feed_text&story_id=1479673542064805" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">VaraVild</span></span></a><span class="_5afx" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/peterfriebel?source=feed_text&story_id=1479673542064805" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">PeterFriebel</span></a></span></div>
<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-top: 6px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-top: 6px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPwqk1rWOvPP0ZmvwWM0q1G9D6wsL3u9TYhJ-GiGZez7fOelLhSsYvGAyLJQ39lGXO5M19hiDT1nLmFe2VpvCNVlWEZJB4sTJZXfceLtbZutk01l2YWJEKdQCsF0trtSxL4N7RCnTVd8k/s1600/S1090003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPwqk1rWOvPP0ZmvwWM0q1G9D6wsL3u9TYhJ-GiGZez7fOelLhSsYvGAyLJQ39lGXO5M19hiDT1nLmFe2VpvCNVlWEZJB4sTJZXfceLtbZutk01l2YWJEKdQCsF0trtSxL4N7RCnTVd8k/s320/S1090003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-top: 6px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-78484727523267721882017-02-07T01:29:00.000-08:002017-02-07T01:29:00.589-08:00Stop Thinging!<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
As all is one, cutting it up in things is only needed for verbal or written communication. A thing is a “think” or a thought. In creating a thing in that way, we detach it from the whole, invalidating both the thing and the whole it is separated from.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
In science, of course, this allows us to model behavior of the thing and communicate these properties. This lures us to see a thing as a unit of reality.</div>
<div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px;">
We live in a society that has forgotten that the only true atom is the whole universe, that a thing is only a thought, a reduction or symbol of what really is. We truly believe reality is all these reduced and incomplete thoughts put back together.</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
And so, in believing that reality is the collection of all things, it is no wonder we see our selves just as poor lonely things.</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
- Peter Friebel</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/philosophy?source=feed_text&story_id=1477746838924142" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">philosophy</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/beautyway?source=feed_text&story_id=1477746838924142" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">BeautyWay</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/nature?source=feed_text&story_id=1477746838924142" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">Nature</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/taoism?source=feed_text&story_id=1477746838924142" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">taoism</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/zen?source=feed_text&story_id=1477746838924142" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">zen</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/awareness?source=feed_text&story_id=1477746838924142" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">awareness</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/tracking?source=feed_text&story_id=1477746838924142" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">tracking</span></span></a><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/varavild?source=feed_text&story_id=1477746838924142" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">VaraVild</span></span></a> <span class="_5afx" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/peterfriebel?source=feed_text&story_id=1477746838924142" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">PeterFriebel</span></a></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR0oWCMkPhhYh6H3kS-s2jOeqEuAEUy3d90P9DT7eDZoioGvlULuyt3NDEHtYuECJ6QUEsfmQH01pghusVq9fe28dWaIKmYCLPKuV0HmR7TZTPkFwEjosKjtMOWNMROz9Kywkbsy5qsHmE/s1600/aum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR0oWCMkPhhYh6H3kS-s2jOeqEuAEUy3d90P9DT7eDZoioGvlULuyt3NDEHtYuECJ6QUEsfmQH01pghusVq9fe28dWaIKmYCLPKuV0HmR7TZTPkFwEjosKjtMOWNMROz9Kywkbsy5qsHmE/s320/aum.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-78923869656453096842017-02-04T03:13:00.000-08:002017-02-04T03:15:54.961-08:00Frosty Eye<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
I flow with the great force in eternal now<br />
Knowing me to be all of me, all of you all and all<br />
Yet, during my last few blinks<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"><br />I saw a blur of deep despair</span></div>
<div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px;">
All things normally resonate<br />
With all the which than which there is no whicher<br />
But the noise wanted it not</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
And although this noise can not be sustained<br />
Never be what it wills<br />
Never become not me and all<br />
It contains all the love and all the evil of the whole<br />
Which knows only not two</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
In missing this it despairs and only was<br />
Hoping to be<br />
Never is</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
And yet it is<br />
Always was<br />
And always will be</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
For ever in my frosty eye</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
- Peter Friebel<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhheDyVIWAf27SBBh0KseOnpGkMwGJeifqDz48HCO3WWHRFJVRsmu4-uUzspWoM9HsBJl0IFrsFnZkh_y0ogAN0J1-OQfUV1U1EmuQa5JWQnhLz2UwhMde4UCOU8AAJ-eM_B8qo1Es7V9fD/s1600/S1070003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhheDyVIWAf27SBBh0KseOnpGkMwGJeifqDz48HCO3WWHRFJVRsmu4-uUzspWoM9HsBJl0IFrsFnZkh_y0ogAN0J1-OQfUV1U1EmuQa5JWQnhLz2UwhMde4UCOU8AAJ-eM_B8qo1Es7V9fD/s320/S1070003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/beautyway?source=feed_text&story_id=1474562419242584" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">BeautyWay</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/nature?source=feed_text&story_id=1474562419242584" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">Nature</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/tao?source=feed_text&story_id=1474562419242584" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">tao</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/zen?source=feed_text&story_id=1474562419242584" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">zen</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/awareness?source=feed_text&story_id=1474562419242584" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">awareness</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/tracking?source=feed_text&story_id=1474562419242584" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">tracking</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/varavild?source=feed_text&story_id=1474562419242584" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">VaraVild</span></span></a><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/peterfriebel?source=feed_text&story_id=1474562419242584" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">PeterFriebel</span></span></a></div>
</div>
Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-24900464088781035342017-01-31T02:26:00.001-08:002017-01-31T02:43:21.680-08:00When Walking Truly Walk!<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="line-height: 19.32px;">The eyes watery</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 19.32px;">Feet chilly</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 19.32px;">The feel</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19.32px;">All real</span></div>
<div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px;">
Sensations in the joints<br />
Like starry points<br />
Past and future tried in vain<br />
To maintain<br />
The illusion of pain</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
The crunch of the snow<br />
Out of silence<br />
Into the past did flow</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
Breathing in<br />
Breathing out<br />
Just being kin<br />
To the world about</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
No internal row<br />
No past towing<br />
No future pushing<br />
For all is now</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
And without thought<br />
Realizing<br />
This walk is happening</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
- Peter Friebel</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQgiGwBa4Dq99UlscjCnDBqjMU80q5Gsi0B_lxzptdTCnv1r7gsf4KoUNz3xLTHwO5G0LsFxiY2IIDPwBYNF-5lU9DuIZasisNRpY74UyuLEf4Qf5bxFrcfcHGAPqWjL6uG2B0_B684eOo/s1600/S1050001-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQgiGwBa4Dq99UlscjCnDBqjMU80q5Gsi0B_lxzptdTCnv1r7gsf4KoUNz3xLTHwO5G0LsFxiY2IIDPwBYNF-5lU9DuIZasisNRpY74UyuLEf4Qf5bxFrcfcHGAPqWjL6uG2B0_B684eOo/s320/S1050001-2.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/beautyway?source=feed_text&story_id=1470232896342203" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">BeautyWay</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/zen?source=feed_text&story_id=1470232896342203" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">zen</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/tao?source=feed_text&story_id=1470232896342203" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">tao</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/nature?source=feed_text&story_id=1470232896342203" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">nature</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/varavild?source=feed_text&story_id=1470232896342203" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">VaraVild</span></span></a> <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/peterfriebel?source=feed_text&story_id=1470232896342203" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">PeterFriebel</span></span></a></div>
</div>
Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-56319852188795490172017-01-15T02:26:00.001-08:002017-01-15T02:26:37.853-08:00The Beauty Way for Organizations<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="line-height: 19.32px;">Living the Beauty Way is all about first disentangling from “The Game” and reorienting the sensation of the “I” or ego self. Only then will you be able to re-enter any game of your choice and purpose, knowing your are both the actions and the events, that, in fact, you are the process of existence itself.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
Transforming organizations towards the Beauty Way requires every single member of the organization to first realize their own self like that<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">. Only then can people be brought together in a non-forcing, flowing way to make things happen without conflict and realize the synergy of the organization as a whole.</span></div>
<div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px;">
The Beauty Way is an attitude towards life and existence that was the natural lifeway for humans up to about 8000 years ago. It still is the lifeway of native people all over the world. This does not mean the Beauty Way is tied to any type of culture or social structure. It can be realized in what we call modern life just as seamlessly. The Beauty Way has, through later history, partly manifested itself in the form of Taoism and Zen. Those philosophies are also the easiest way back in to the Beauty Way from the context of our current culture and lifeways. Together with experience and understanding of Natural Awareness they enable us to free the mind and give direction of nature back to nature of which we are an indivisble part.</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
Due to the very nature of the Beauty Way for Organizations (BW4O) it is a very suitable approach for:</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
- New visionary start-ups.<br />- Organizations or departments that are heavily dependent on the output of highly creative and visionary people.<br />- Educational/Mentoring organizations.<br />- Organizations dealing with environmental issues and attitudes.<br />- Charity organizations.</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
But truly all organizations that want to thrive and provide through natural simplicity, based on a vision of oneness, respect, responsibility and true purpose for all.</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
Contact me if you are interested in designing a program for your organization!</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
Peter<br />VaraVild</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHUV2u9LcHs3bMSGUjgpzDuMRcotZd0v5JyCxUsOwlx0glva20RAQzof3hEkU8ODQtkOhap8IpEKwucZVdU8pOqh_vWSlrxNzw5s4qtVNBUkSJ_iw1m0ivZyzuMGtGkwEuKhWVnRO5bw7s/s1600/enso-color-600.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHUV2u9LcHs3bMSGUjgpzDuMRcotZd0v5JyCxUsOwlx0glva20RAQzof3hEkU8ODQtkOhap8IpEKwucZVdU8pOqh_vWSlrxNzw5s4qtVNBUkSJ_iw1m0ivZyzuMGtGkwEuKhWVnRO5bw7s/s320/enso-color-600.png" width="317" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/varavild?source=feed_text&story_id=1384306668268321" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; line-height: 19.32px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">VaraVild</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 19.32px; text-align: start;"> </span><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/thebeautyway?source=feed_text&story_id=1384306668268321" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; line-height: 19.32px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">TheBeautyWay</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 19.32px; text-align: start;"> </span><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/bw4o?source=feed_text&story_id=1384306668268321" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; line-height: 19.32px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">BW4O</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 19.32px; text-align: start;"> </span><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/peterfriebel?source=feed_text&story_id=1384306668268321" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; line-height: 19.32px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">PeterFriebel</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 19.32px; text-align: start;"> </span><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/zen?source=feed_text&story_id=1384306668268321" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; line-height: 19.32px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">Zen</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 19.32px; text-align: start;"> </span><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/taoism?source=feed_text&story_id=1384306668268321" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; line-height: 19.32px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit; unicode-bidi: isolate;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">Taoism</span></span></a></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-73529447105993710852016-08-28T04:05:00.000-07:002016-08-28T05:10:49.777-07:00An Essential Realization of The PhenomenalWhat is the Beauty Way really? I use the term often to describe the Old Way lifeways, philosophies, world views and attitudes towards self discovery. Yet, in the end it is just a term, some words that may or may not have meaning for you.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I chose to use that term as it resonates with me. It is originally a Native American term for what in Zen is called the experiential essence of life. In all fairness we should turn that around and say that the experiential essence is a Zen term for what some Native American people originally call(ed) The Beauty Way, long before Zen even existed.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This shuffling of the words demonstrates a very important point: For you to understand what the Beauty Way is I provided some concepts you can compare with each other, hoping that the Zen version of the concepts make some sort of sense you can apply to the unknown ones. The reality of things is that you can not describe The Beauty Way using concepts. The Beauty Way can only be experienced.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The only thing I can hope for is that the words that will follow will provoke in you an experience that will give meaning to <i>your</i> experience of The Beauty Way. I know it is paradoxical but there simply is no other way: I need to use words (i.e. concepts) to describe something that isn't.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
First I will use some words from (what I think I know of) Zen Philosophy:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Reality has two sides: the phenomenal side and the essential side. The phenomenal side of reality is the one we are most familiar with. It is made up of all the things we can see, hear, smell, touch and taste and all the thoughts, the concepts and beliefs, we hold about the world. This makes it fundamentally a world of dualities. The original duality being the distinction between "self" and "other". Because of this we experience the world as something different and separate from the "I". We experience the "I" or ego.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The essential reality is our recognition of the oneness and complete interconnectedness with everything. It transcends all dualities, even the "self" and "other" duality. This makes the essential reality a reality beyond concepts that can only be realized through direct experience.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To experience this essential reality is the ultimate goal in Zen. The challenge lies in learning to destroy the barrier of conceptual and dualistic thinking that stands between the phenomenal and the essential.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Before I go on to describe The Beauty Way from an Old Way perspective I need to make very clear that Zen is a product of the Civilized Way. <a href="http://www.varavild.se/about_en.phtml">Please read the About on my web site for an explanation of Old Way and Civilized Way</a>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I will use a very well known and old story to describe the Beauty Way. In this story the term "The Gifting Way" is used. This is the aboriginal lifeway of seeing that life is given, that the deer hunter gifts the Deer Spirit health to the deer and the deer in turn gift their flesh and hides to human. The underlying concept is deep ecological balance. (My words and interpretation of this story were once inspired by the same story written down by Tamarack Song.)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Two Hungry Bears</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>A young girl entered the shelter of her Grandfather to ask him a question that was troubling her.</i></div>
<div>
<i>"Grandfather," she said, "I am older than my Brother but he wins in everything we compete in. I was always the better archer but now he seems better even in that. I love my Brother and I am proud of him when I see he grows in all things. Yet when he beats me in something it is like two angry hungry Bears awake in my gut and start fighting."</i></div>
<div>
<i>"Dear Child, I know these Bears well. They live in all People and we all feel them fighting sometimes. One Bear is the Bear of Balance and comes when we trust in the Gifting Way, the other is the Bear out of Balance and he comes when we trust in ourselves."</i></div>
<div>
<i>After a short silence the girl asked: "Grandfather, can you tell me which Bear will win?"</i></div>
<div>
<i>"The bear you feed my Child."</i></div>
<div>
<i>"How would I feed the Bear of Balance? I would like him to become strong."</i></div>
<div>
<i>"With your heart," was the simple answer her Grandfather gave.</i></div>
<div>
<i>They sat for a while in silence. Then the girl said: "But Grandfather, they are both me. If I do not feed one I do not feed myself."</i></div>
<div>
<i>"Yes, my Child, you are wise beyond your years. There really is only one Bear. Just as Cloud and Sun come together to make the day, the two fighting Bears come together to help us see both the dark and the light. Now go back and rest with your family so that your two Bears can find their place of rest within you. Together they will guide you through this Journey of Life and together they will help you find vision in blindness."</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In this story the bears can be interpreted as representing the phenomenal and essential realities. The Bear of Balance who comes out when we trust the Gifting Way represents Oneness, Balance, interconnectedness and the realm beyond concepts and dualities. The Bear out of Balance represents the "self" and "other" duality, the "I" or ego and on the whole the phenomenal reality. Their distinction is simply: Balance vs out of Balance.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Interestingly, the story recognizes that they are both one and the same. That their interaction is what creates our reality. We can not ignore the "I" as it creates our means of survival. The Beauty Way, for me, is the lifeway of balancing the influence of the Bear of Balance and that of the Bear out of Balance.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This now gives a very simple definition of Old Way and Civilized Way: This balance is achieved in Old Way cultures and lost in Civilized Way cultures.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We are part of a Civilized Way culture. We almost exclusively experience the phenomenal reality. Our egos dominate completely and our mode of thought is completely conceptual. In fact we are prisoners of the Bear out of Balance as it became the single victor. And, of course this happened because we only fed that particular bear. We lost our hearts.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As a consequence we lost half of our true selves.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Wouldn't you like to meet your other half? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Well, a good start is to learn how to destroy the barrier of conceptual and dualistic thinking that stands between the phenomenal and the essential. To give room to the intuitive mind and your heart.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Before you know it, a new and unknown Bear will start to stir deep within you, hungry for more ...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZjVwbI7QlTaVgTvFQJiD74GVsubkjj4_mQVvy-2PRoUyhUMW0HwPHUn_1XCY41GcM0B0UoHUIt-qEltIp4rwFwWmaQ8f-KDhI_B6e5bQjmPmBwjH5IMJtYjD7dB54H2OradoV7yJpSVgD/s1600/enso-color-600.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZjVwbI7QlTaVgTvFQJiD74GVsubkjj4_mQVvy-2PRoUyhUMW0HwPHUn_1XCY41GcM0B0UoHUIt-qEltIp4rwFwWmaQ8f-KDhI_B6e5bQjmPmBwjH5IMJtYjD7dB54H2OradoV7yJpSVgD/s320/enso-color-600.png" width="317" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Peter Friebel </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-73397048636273076762015-12-22T03:14:00.000-08:002015-12-22T06:52:47.486-08:00Earthbound<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ7uGehANbNCwgTYE6YNh9i0deu6rAQJattX2fYO77uPAmEd8ba-irKR10GAtL_rnxYnuxT-OOIYisM1lPSRCSFudIkM9_zezLDsycvIwXAqB1qRhoDTudLZytVAYi9bvC7Wr7lNM1QJEI/s1600/earthsymbol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ7uGehANbNCwgTYE6YNh9i0deu6rAQJattX2fYO77uPAmEd8ba-irKR10GAtL_rnxYnuxT-OOIYisM1lPSRCSFudIkM9_zezLDsycvIwXAqB1qRhoDTudLZytVAYi9bvC7Wr7lNM1QJEI/s320/earthsymbol.jpg" width="320" /></a>Go outside<br />
And sit<br />
Feel the Soil<br />
The Air<br />
And Time beyond your grasp<br />
<br />
Her gift is all she is<br />
For all to share<br />
For all to care<br />
As in giving we are living<br />
<br />
She shares her bounty<br />
Through the Circle of all our Lives<br />
No need is ever missed<br />
Yet we fell to wanting<br />
Yet we left our Hearts<br />
<br />
Go outside<br />
And sit<br />
Feel the Soil<br />
The Air<br />
And Time beyond your grasp<br />
<br />
Her gift is all she had<br />
For all disrupted<br />
For all corrupted<br />
As in taking we now believe lies living<br />
<br />
Yet in these days of so called giving<br />
The gifts that are but loot and greed<br />
We may find our Hearts once more<br />
<br />
And go outside<br />
And sit<br />
Feeling the Soil<br />
The Air<br />
And Time beyond our grasp<br />
<br />
As again Her Circle embraces<br />
Our gift of love<br />
And life<br />
<br />
For all to share<br />
For all to care<br />
As only in giving we ALL are living<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Peter FriebelPeter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-14251530786719451482015-09-04T02:24:00.000-07:002015-09-04T02:37:07.704-07:00The Deep Blue"As a tracker you need to be as a question".<br />
<br />
This is one of the most
profound insights in the state of mind of the aboriginal tracker I know. Every
time we say we know something to be true, we also say something about
what is consequently false. We create a duality and using that we
categorize.<br />
<br />
Say, you find sign that makes you decide something is blue. Will you,
days later, still be open for sign that hints it was green all along?<br />
<br />
No,
and that is why knowing and deciding effectively diminishes our
perception. We create beliefs based on what we know, decide, love and
fear. These beliefs become prejudices and effect our perceptions and
decisions in the future. Even worse is that we apply a cultural
framework in this process of "knowing" and "deciding". And so we flow
from simple prejudice into judgment. In fear of being judged do you dare to still perceive objectively?<br />
<br />
As a tracker you want to preserve oneness. You will want to find
questions that lead you to more questions because in those questions you
will find wisdom. Knowledge without wisdom, packaged in a cultural
framework, is an extremely dangerous and toxic thing. Current cultural and geopolitical
trends are clear evidence of that.<br />
<br />
So if you find that sign, ask yourself things like:<br />
<br />
"Could this be blue?"<br />
"What if
it was green?"<br />
"Is blue the same for all or can some perceive green
while I see blue?"<br />
"What does it tell me that the thing may have a
specific color?"<br />
"What can I learn from it regardless of its color?"<br />
etc.<br />
<br />
Doing this you avoid the duality and you learn a lot more than just that the thing was blue.<br />
<br />
In the Deep Blue you may discover the Zen of Tracking and the intrinsic self:<br />
<br />
<b>Not Two!</b>Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-84157053354011809062015-07-17T01:55:00.000-07:002015-07-17T02:00:02.289-07:00The Counsel of Crossbill This morning I Became a fluttering of joy and intent<br />
I was not Self but the cool morning air between the pines<br />
I was the itching of the midges and mosquitoes and went beyond<br />
<br />
Then they went through and I through them<br />
I Became their whirlwind of green and yellow<br />
Happy calls in a meadow of boreal bounty<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTIwP8TvCScmGeiLu8ilwp_DjUpFek2PfFnw14iK0WfIb0sJyfCq5vrOhdPN7_30vt6hAZePq6L63Va2OYO6P78CQVo0kf77j957L24X-xQZprpPGg_T6WgaMWA9_6zcIvQGn8qwdDLVLO/s1600/crossbill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTIwP8TvCScmGeiLu8ilwp_DjUpFek2PfFnw14iK0WfIb0sJyfCq5vrOhdPN7_30vt6hAZePq6L63Va2OYO6P78CQVo0kf77j957L24X-xQZprpPGg_T6WgaMWA9_6zcIvQGn8qwdDLVLO/s320/crossbill.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
And on they went<br />
Doing what Crossbill does<br />
Being what Crossbill is<br />
<br />
For a moment<br />
I tracked their Spirit<br />
And they lifted mine<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And on I went</div>
<div>
Doing what Man does</div>
<div>
Being what Man is<br />
<br />
And my Spirit sang</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-67046990947793723112015-04-19T04:29:00.002-07:002015-04-19T04:49:22.942-07:00TODO: Mindfulness training<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBpHtsPTpcfRfmllVey8N-UK2SYT6vSsXru0GUkBvFDz50SLBk5WmJkaQZ5wY0Ak0vue0XhVM-Wdhgs-lLrUSAEq6J5ppULerBsBgowrqeB98mZiRTivGDQqWC5kt8yNxA-q_mGBLuZZ-Q/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-04-19+at+13.21.14+.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBpHtsPTpcfRfmllVey8N-UK2SYT6vSsXru0GUkBvFDz50SLBk5WmJkaQZ5wY0Ak0vue0XhVM-Wdhgs-lLrUSAEq6J5ppULerBsBgowrqeB98mZiRTivGDQqWC5kt8yNxA-q_mGBLuZZ-Q/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-04-19+at+13.21.14+.png" height="66" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Just saw a Swedish documentary on the "phenomenon" of mindfulness and instead of inspiring me, it actually kind of annoyed me.<br />
<br />
Mindfulness was portrayed as this new thing, a way to observe when we act out of judgements and habits and bend the future to achieve new things. The largest part of the documentary was about its value in leadership and other corporate functions.<br />
<br />
On the health and wellbeing side, its effects on lowering stress were countered with notes of warning from the medical profession as many of the claims were not backed up with actual scientific knowledge. Certain people, with certain diagnosis, could even experience negative effects by practicing mindfulness, they said.<br />
<br />
The funny thing was that the majority of the people that were interviewed who give courses, hold lectures or in any way were experts in the field of mindfulness, constantly talked about living a life in Awareness and how mindfulness opens up that possibility while, at the same time, the actual documentary focused on the activity of mindfulness as separate to the state of Awareness. Basically a miracle pill that solves all your problems but is a bit hard to swallow.<br />
<br />
It is the typical effect you get when a headspace culture tries to wrap it head around a heartspace concept.<br />
<br />
Mindfulness becomes the next trendy (and supposedly beneficial) thing on the agenda. Yet another event to track in your weekly obligations.<br />
<br />
Not a single word was said about the origins and function of Awareness (and mindfulness). That living in Awareness is the most natural thing for any animal including the human animal. Nobody observed that people, when living in the wilderness, switch to a state of Awareness in about 6 to 7 days.<br />
<br />
In short, nobody connected it back to our deepest instincts and our survival and earth living skills. Instead it is 'that new trendy thing' and you can probably download a bunch of apps to help you train it.<br />
<br />
This whole approach negated everything they supposedly wanted to achieve. It is like making a documentary on how healthy it is to exercise between hamburgers.<br />
<br />
It shows a willingness to act but at the same time a lack of understanding and an inability to leave the cultural pressure that caused the problems in the first place!<br />
<br />
As you all know I am a tracker. Tracking is a human animal instinct and capability. It requires full control over the internal dialog. I define tracking as becoming mindful of connected things in your Awareness. We all have this capacity. It is embedded in our very existence. Therefor mindfulness and Awareness are central and mandatory concepts in all my courses.<br />
<br />
In fact, all the earth living skills are connected with tracking and Awareness. In our current culture we have systematically ignored this connection. The result is that everything becomes based in science, schedules and physical skills: The physical survivalists that try to win the battle against Nature each and every day. But also the host of people who live their lives in habit and fear of judgement, making sure that every tomorrow looks exactly as all the yesterdays by hopping over today.<br />
<br />
What annoyed me is not that the creators of the documentary apparently were not able to grasp the real intent of the subject matter but that they propagate this on to their viewers. They enact the culture that causes the problem even when the subject matter is about changing that!<br />
<br />
Man we are really in a downward spiral here.<br />
<br />
I do not blame all the experts that were on the show. I know from experience that it is extremely hard to get through to people on this matter. Some people are so hard wired into the rat race, so trusting of its promises and so sensitive to judgements of their peers that they simply can not let go.<br />
<br />
Letting go, however, is the key!<br />
<br />
You need to let go of time, burdens, judgement, analysis, naming, preconceptions and trivia. Once you let go you can discover 'today' and the choices it gives you, living in full Awareness and a state of intuitive questioning. You will subconsciously start to unravel the concentric rings (ripples of cause and effect) around you. In other words you will start to track the solutions to the challenges that face you; you will enable the tracker that was dormant in you all this time!<br />
<br />
My courses are in the context of earth living and tracking. Clearly I chose the wrong context because I think I could make an easier living by lecturing to business managers :-) But make no mistake about it: It is that context of earth living and tracking, our humble origins, that is the fundamental of all we still are today, manager or not.<br />
<br />
Mindfulness is just an activity, a technique and one of many you need to master and practice to become Aware. But please please please, let it not become the new TODO in your agenda!<br />
<br />
Because, by its very nature, you can not embed it into your 'normal' life. Life should be embedded in Awareness!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Live Deliberately (and I mean it! :-))<br />
<br />
Peter Friebel<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-81149445925088882642015-03-18T03:38:00.002-07:002015-03-18T04:06:55.930-07:00Total PerspectiveThose of you familiar with the works of Douglas Adams will certainly recognize the following:<br />
<br />
"a tiny little mark, a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, which says, "You are here.""<br />
<br />
It was part of a description of a torture device called the Total Perspective Vortex. The machine worked by letting you, for a short time, see yourself in relation to the infinity of the entire Universe. This perspective would annihilate the soul of any man.<br />
<br />
Interestingly, the protagonist Zaphod walked out of the machine even more convinced about his total awesomeness than before. Why? Because the Universe he was in was artificial and created only for him. That made him the most important thing in it.<br />
<br />
I can not help to recognize the bane of modern man in this: his relatively recently contracted inability to connect with Nature.<br />
<br />
When I write 'Nature' (capitalized) I mean the totality of existence. Not only the Earth with all its life and environments but all of the Universe and even Multiverse. The force that drives change. That creates structure in chaos and at the same time creates chaos from structure. The set of all possibilities.<br />
<br />
When people sit on top of a mountain or in some other awesome natural environment or when they look up in the night sky at all the stars, they often remark that it makes them feel small and insignificant. It is their ego-selves speaking.<br />
<br />
When you separate your self from all of Nature you are very right in perceiving that what you separated is insignificant. The ego-self does more than that: it also classifies all the rest as the enemy. The result is a totally skewed perspective and experience of existence.<br />
<br />
As I wrote earlier, the development of the ego-self is critically important for our individual survival but it is a slowly killing decease if it is elevated into a culture.<br />
<br />
It is this culture that causes us to believe that all life experience is triggered by external stimuli. Look around you! People do virtually everything in their power to acquire all the paraphernalia needed to create these stimuli. We need constant entertainment, praise, status, excitement and recognition.<br />
<br />
Not surprisingly we need money to acquire those things and our ethics falter in this pursuit. We have narrowed our ethics and morals to the human-centered and in a numbed daze we hunt the rare highs of actualization in the cage of our modern society. In the process we create the economy that drives the lives of those very very few that are best in this form of self actualization and separation.<br />
<br />
Read the above a few times and you will see I could have just as easily talked about heroine addicts and their dealers!<br />
<br />
I am very happy that I have always been interested in the natural world and that with a bit of age and a few life lessons I have managed to kick the habit.<br />
<br />
Tracking, Awareness and all the other earth living skills and, last but not least, Nature itself, have helped me enormously in freeing myself from this destructive and addictive culture.<br />
<br />
Bushcraft for me is Earth living and requires no stuff. Unfortunately, and this is the reason I no longer use the term bushcraft, the addictive culture has permeated even the bushcraft community. Bushcraft is now very much about all the stuff you need and the desire for self actualization and a hint of escapism.<br />
<br />
Not for me. For me it meant rediscovering that life experience is visceral! That our reality is not defined by separation and external stimuli but is the projection of our unity and connection with Nature.<br />
<br />
And now we can get back to the Total Perspective Vortex:<br />
<br />
For me total perspective is not that we created a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot saying, "You are here."<br />
<br />
For me total perspective is that the microscopic dot on a microscopic dot is the result of all of Nature working together to allow that dot to exist. Without everything around it, the dot could not be there and without the dot the rest could not be there too! More importantly, you and all of Nature feel this force of existence from within! You don't need to constantly stimulate your nervous system to experience life. It will stimulate your spirit from within, sourced from all that is.<br />
<br />
And on the dot it says: "You made this dot by being it and everything around it!"<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoSvGjPcr-n0OCRp02FxVoph6Pu0qpND7XObRr3gyzXq1ebH36XF-Qm0-ae2FL0RZmo0j824UjMSF8cX6lMD1fA2yc8yesm0Q1I6ObaJzPMNPcx69sa3aPgbJyqBzwrOPzPScHRQ31e8qu/s1600/Pale_Blue_Dot_Carl_Sagan_ANnotated_copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoSvGjPcr-n0OCRp02FxVoph6Pu0qpND7XObRr3gyzXq1ebH36XF-Qm0-ae2FL0RZmo0j824UjMSF8cX6lMD1fA2yc8yesm0Q1I6ObaJzPMNPcx69sa3aPgbJyqBzwrOPzPScHRQ31e8qu/s1600/Pale_Blue_Dot_Carl_Sagan_ANnotated_copy.jpg" height="267" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pale Blue Dot photograph taken by Voyager I. Probably the most amazing picture humanity has ever taken. One hell of a selfie!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-34036087848851776942014-11-23T14:50:00.004-08:002014-11-25T13:53:18.497-08:00Tracking, The Controversies. Or so I've been toldI am hopelessly naive it seems and man, am I happy about that! In many things I have done in my life I never first consulted others, I never first researched what was contemporary, accepted or even expected. Mostly I figured it out for myself and only when I was confident I got stuff down or got stuck I would start to look around. If somebody else did it better I simply took it over. If somebody did certain aspects better I simply merged the best of both. There is never a "not invented here" issue and also prestige never played a dominant role. I simply like to come up with my own solutions before "adjusting" them to what is out there. This has been true in my computer science work and also in my studies and teachings of aboriginal living skills.<br />
<br />
I may be naive but I am not stupid and over the years I have noticed that this method of mine almost never earned me any points in the social and work related arenas. It is baffling to me that science, for instance, is so incredibly stifled by it own dos, don'ts, tabus and dogma. This mechanism can be identified in everything. It is an important component in our societal glue it seems. It did, however, never occur to me that this would even be true for originally aboriginal skills such as tracking.<br />
<br />
My interest in (and consequent obsession with) tracking started with it being one of the aboriginal living skills. As described above I found out how to do stuff on my own and later fine tuned it with the knowledge and experience of others. The funny thing was that mostly my own solutions were more like how aboriginal people would do as opposed to how survival experts would do. Later, this became a very important element of my courses. I realized that aboriginal living skills were not simply text book skills but a very natural function of our connection with Nature. More importantly, our natural awareness and ability to track seems to be the common denominator of the human capacity to survive anywhere on Earth.<br />
<br />
So, my own study of tracking was never inspired by an application in contemporary society such as tactical or SAR tracking but rather by it being a natural part of my interest in the living skills of the human animal. Later of course I became very much involved in the application of these skills in modern society and the goal of promoting and teaching the use of tracking in SAR and law enforcement was the main reason why I started The VaraVild Scout Project and later joined Professional Tracking Services Europe. Initially however tracking and awareness were to me the foundations of understanding the natural world. Nothing controversial about that one would think. Or?<br />
<br />
When I seriously started to study tracking I had basically one and only one goal: Being able to know what happened. For me tracking was never just identifying a track to an individual animal and following those tracks until I found it. No, I wanted to know what happened on the way, what the animal was doing, what it encountered, what it was thinking and most importantly, if it was aware of me tracking it. Without this skill the aboriginal hunting methods made no sense to me. So I entered the world of tracking completely naively assuming that such information naturally is laid down in the animal's tracks. It didn't take me very long to discover a glimpse of this wonderful language. While lying on my belly in the sand studying my own tracks I soon saw that increasing speed, changing direction and all kinds of other things like looking in different directions etc. left recognizable sign in the tracks. As I am rather science oriented I soon started to see systematic change in these sign depending on changing energy and dynamics in the movements. For me this was all natural and part of my journey to understand and learn tracking.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Zb1vPFiADcoOXUD4GRcG5CEdruvO-J7UPU5OB4itnUxBt-kpRhYr_zRwBCMETiOTB3makQuLyWExPNplnuhm24dGuCillqRfYb8IAloztlhl7ugTNYkV7xUT2Mv8_E9UP-7TO1IePRih/s1600/1066625_10151701896954590_138619889_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Zb1vPFiADcoOXUD4GRcG5CEdruvO-J7UPU5OB4itnUxBt-kpRhYr_zRwBCMETiOTB3makQuLyWExPNplnuhm24dGuCillqRfYb8IAloztlhl7ugTNYkV7xUT2Mv8_E9UP-7TO1IePRih/s1600/1066625_10151701896954590_138619889_o.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
I never had the need to communicate these things with others. They were a completely internal language and I never named these specific signs. I simply recognized and used them. It wasn't until I decided to start teaching these things that I needed to create a language. In the event I didn't need to create anything. I found a book that described all these things I discovered and much, much more.<br />
<br />
The book was The Science and Art of Tracking by Tom Brown Jr. In this book the system of track dynamics was described in a level of detail I did not think was possible. My own internal system was very course and inaccurate in comparison but in essence it was the same system. I did not find this at all weird. I mean I was a very inexperienced amateur tracker and the fact that the book described a far more abundant model than I had formed was only natural. I simply thought: "Got a lot to learn". This was one of these cases where I took the better model.<br />
<br />
The key insight for me in tracking is that a track is not just a print. A track is not simply the result of a deformation caused by a claw, paw, hoof or foot. The final shape of the tracks is also caused by the reverberation, the springing back of the soil when the pressure is released. That is why from the beginning I have always seen tracks as the Earth's reaction to the intention of the quarry. After reading the book they suddenly got a name: Pressure Releases. I liked the name and it described very well the physics at play. What I did not know at the time was that with starting to use that word and the names of the various pressure releases I did not only enable communication with students and other trackers but even opened a can of worms I never imagined existed.<br />
<br />
As this book was so important for me by giving words to my experiences I was keen to find more books on tracking. To my big surprise I never found any other book that described the same system. In a few there is some talk about action indicators, twists and toe dig but on the whole pressure releases are not written about in the literature on tracking I could find at the time. I would have thought that at least something would be said about it in the SAS Guide to Tracking by Bob Carrs but no. It puzzled me. More disconcerting was that a friend warned me that this was a subject of considerable controversy in the world of tracking. I have by now heard many people state that they do not believe in pressure releases. What is there to be believed? Look down and see them happen. How can you not believe in them? So, here I found myself knowing a system that is of unbelievable significance in tracking, one I am totally convinced aboriginal peoples all over the world used in all of history in order to be able to hunt the way they did and for some reason this is something of a tabu?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Z0YouNwapqllI6mOWtnUH7LUCGRvlaJqxzlLxs8kwTkHHKOrdVQzfj7nmcpZaO2pyno908lkyxumtYke8_JhFuEuBkFWJBIim_1uGePyykHL3n1m2PLSblfD3QvIOo0QpQscNL2RD1bs/s1600/prs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Z0YouNwapqllI6mOWtnUH7LUCGRvlaJqxzlLxs8kwTkHHKOrdVQzfj7nmcpZaO2pyno908lkyxumtYke8_JhFuEuBkFWJBIim_1uGePyykHL3n1m2PLSblfD3QvIOo0QpQscNL2RD1bs/s1600/prs.jpg" height="232" width="320" /></a></div>
Well, maybe I need to talk about the little catch in the pressure release system. The problem that in my opinion is the cause of this controversy. I do not mean the opinions people have about Tom Brown Jr, the person most associated with the system. I never cared about the private details of the author or the format of his books and other claims he made. As I have explained, I only take the good bits and merge them with my own stuff. No, the real problem is the system itself. The system builds on the fact that the signs in and around tracks systematically take various forms depending on movement of the whole paw, claw, foot etc. and also its constituent parts. The system is measured relative to the depth, length or width of the track. This makes the system scalable. The forms of the sign are not depending on the size of the animal or human who made them. They are consistent from elephant to ant. The system is defined in perfect soil (also called zero soil). This is a lightly moist extremely fine sand with defined buffering. It is the zero soil that kind of is the catch because there are almost no places on Earth where you can find zero soil. "How is that useful than?", you may ask. Well if you take another type of soil and humidity all the pressure releases will occur but they get translated up or down and adapt to the soil. Maybe there is no soil but leaves or moss or a paved road. It does not matter. The system is still there it can be observed and it retains its scalability but you need to know exactly how the zero soil system translates to the current soil type to interpret them correctly. So now we have a system that is dependent on almost an infinite number of variables. This is what causes the controversy. It is seen as impossible to apply in real life.<br />
<br />
Isn't it then? No! In explaining why it is not impossible to use I will touch upon yet another aspect of tracking that creates a lot of controversy. The problem of translating the system is one I have to admit I missed completely in my own studies. That didn't mean I was unaware of it. It was simply so obvious to me that the PRs (pressure releases) would have to be transformed to any type of soil and weather that I did never consciously pondered over them. This may sound strange but for me tracking and most other aboriginal skills are done from the heart and by training and not so much the logical mind. I simply missed recognizing the enormous complexity of it because I was just doing it without thought. Much in the same way you would catch a ball if I would suddenly throw one to you. You can not fathom the complexity involved in estimating the ball's weight, velocity, air resistance etc. etc. and calculating its trajectory from a fraction of a second you see the ball move before you. The mind boggles. Some training is involved but you catch that ball largely by instinct, intuition and awareness. It is in our nature as predators, as the human animal. So is tracking. Now this is the other controversy: It seems things are only allowed to be text book skills. Anything to do with instinct or intuition is tabu.<br />
<br />
Another reason for the controversy is comparable to the catching-a-ball-example. You never went to a week course on catching a ball. You learned it by necessity but over a very long period of time. Every day in your life until you die you will learn more and get better in catching the ball (disregarding the effects of old age for the sake of this argument). And so it is with tracking. Learning to read the PRs will take you a life time. You can only become good at it if you get obsessed. You need to unconsciously navigate the enormous complexity of all the parameters of soil and all that impacts it and getting good at it takes an enormous effort: years and years of training. This does not really fit with our modern society. We want to take a course and be experts when we are done. Well, that is not how it works. You will only get the theoretical knowledge on tracking that way. Could you catch the ball after you read a book on how to do it?<br />
<br />
There is a strange anomaly though in the literature of tracking. They all do write about aging tracks. I am not going into aging but think about aging for a while. It requires you to read the effects of time, weather and wind, an infinitely complex set of variables on just as many soil types as there are soil types to read PRs in. Logically if you do not believe in PRs you can absolutely not believe in aging tracks.<br />
<br />
Just as an interesting note: certain PRs can take the form of other ones due to the effects of aging! Yeah, that is how totally awesome the human capability is because we can see it and use it as long as we stop thinking about it!<br />
<br />
For me there exist no controversies in tracking. I do what I do because I love it and it works for me. I teach it to anybody who want to learn it cause I know it to be part of my type of tracking. Believe it or not, in the end its about succeeding in tracking. And if you have a cool method count on me learning it from you and making it my own. I do not really see why one would spend valuable time arguing about controversies in tracking? That time is much better spent in the dirt, learning and training tracking in your unique but inevitably purely human way.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Peter Friebel<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-16938849189391540192014-09-10T02:44:00.000-07:002014-09-10T02:49:44.408-07:00Everything Forever (A Tracker's Song)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5heFNw1JxUkyZcGcxnXX4ihewu3ttsFnirri8QX_roCcLQ1L702hc_mcQZPj7If7ISQG1O_Ta9M5yS9qsjWoKd4VzkHWqZzA7IykKW_gBlEa-JzlepkqrMy4Xl5aAjKT3Gle0nouQv0_l/s1600/everythingforever.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5heFNw1JxUkyZcGcxnXX4ihewu3ttsFnirri8QX_roCcLQ1L702hc_mcQZPj7If7ISQG1O_Ta9M5yS9qsjWoKd4VzkHWqZzA7IykKW_gBlEa-JzlepkqrMy4Xl5aAjKT3Gle0nouQv0_l/s1600/everythingforever.jpg" height="320" width="316" /></a></div>
Out there<br />
Beyond my flesh<br />
Out there<br />
Beyond my cage<br />
My rings expand<br />
Out there<br />
I interfere<br />
Out there<br />
I collapse<br />
Out there<br />
Becomes in here<br />
<br />
In here<br />
Is inside out<br />
In here<br />
I sense<br />
In here<br />
I merge with there<br />
And become<br />
The One that is all things<br />
In The One<br />
I am The Now<br />
<br />
In The Now<br />
I find the tracks<br />
In The Now<br />
I see all rings<br />
In The Now<br />
I do not reason<br />
In The Now<br />
I only sense<br />
The One to be<br />
All there was<br />
All there will be<br />
All in One<br />
All that is<br />
Forever<br />
<br />
Nature!<br />
<br />
<br />
Peter Friebel<br />
<br />Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-15159507134771079422014-05-24T10:45:00.000-07:002014-05-24T10:49:56.240-07:00The Gray Goo Catastrophe Already HappenedThe Gray Goo Catastrophe is a futuristic runaway scenario where, either by intention
or by accident, molecular nanotechnology machines consume all the matter in the
world turning it into a gray goo. This is not an article about molecular
nanotechnology. I simply pose that, symbolically, we seem to be already
there. This idea entered my mind when I was discussing the popularity
of mindfulness last week. In fact that discussion was about how such a
generic word and obscure eastern practice became commonly
known and hyped. One thing in particular got me thinking. It was one
single sentence:<br />
<br />
"I have tired of mindfulness because I don't feel like carefully
smelling a box of fish sticks in the super market before I buy them.
It's silly!" <br />
<br />
Apart from the literal meaning of this sentence there is a lot of other information here. Lets investigate that a bit. "I have tired of
mindfulness" is a weird thing too say if you consider that it basically
means "I rather want to go through life with numbed sensory perception
and being oblivious of my presence in the now". I do understand why somebody
says something like that because what is tiresome is having to actively
do it. Mindfulness is an action. Apparently the person who said this has
not understood that mindfulness is a training for becoming more aware.
The person has not taken in that the aim is to change towards living more
deliberately and keeps seeing it as a tiresome action
that stands in the way of the normal behavior. "... because I don't feel
like carefully smelling a box of fish sticks in the super market before
I buy them." OK, it is just an example but it does contain a judgement
of the value and quality of the food and the circumstances under which
it is bought. It can be interpreted as: "I'm buying some processed food
and I can't be bothered to think about it and I certainly don't want to
be mindful about it". What it really meant is that, to the person, it
seemed over the top to spend so much time on such a mundane activity and
fish sticks. It conveys the feeling that it would be more fitting for
buying lobsters at a local fish market. I have to say I agree! If the
person was living more deliberately chances are that fish sticks were
not on the menu. Finally: "It's silly!". This addition tells us that not
only is mindfulness a time wasting and cumbersome intrusion in everyday
humdrum life, it is also embarrassing. The only perception of the now
this person accentuates is the self consciousness of being judged by
others!<br />
<br />
My first reaction to this was: "Wow, the teacher or mentor of this
person has completely failed." But I had to check myself there as I have
no experience at all of mindfulness teaching in this modern and hyped context. I
simply do not know what, if anything, is taught. <br />
<br />
We talked on a bit. We observed that contrary to Awareness, mindfulness is
'simple' in that it is an action instead of a state of being. So, just as with going to the gym to become healthy, practicing mindfulness
gives you the promise of life changing transformation without a clear idea of the
effort, sacrifice and actual change required to reach that promise
(which is in fact Awareness). It basically is seen as a stress reliever, a trendy after work activity and
not so much as a tool on the path to become more deliberately alive. I am sure that is why it
has become quite popular. If it was more truthfully marketed it would have probably been rejected by the masses.<br />
<br />
This brings us to my opening statement. We are somewhat conscious of the
fact that we have turned into compulsively consuming wage slaves. We all
feel that life should have more to offer and we want to expand our
horizons and discover our inner and spiritual selves. But only, it seems, if it does
not take too much time and effort and does not in any way means having
to change anything that deviates from the contemporary norm.<br />
<br />
In the end we seem to prefer taking a few training sessions at the gym
and a few yoga and mindfulness classes we can talk about at work instead
of truly becoming aware. For crying out loud, you would stick out like a
sore thumb if you did!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9hkhIKJ4WmWXyn5j5kAMc9z1F3KeqD32Igj4n4T5uGGp6Bt5gR6EWTwvFsASEXdtn9X89gZh_KELDLwHT4UmtIa1MqW9Km5L01ZQzo4sZZkjZGr9n3iHVWHNmjh-ap7WEJh5yG5cCIv59/s1600/wyv-640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9hkhIKJ4WmWXyn5j5kAMc9z1F3KeqD32Igj4n4T5uGGp6Bt5gR6EWTwvFsASEXdtn9X89gZh_KELDLwHT4UmtIa1MqW9Km5L01ZQzo4sZZkjZGr9n3iHVWHNmjh-ap7WEJh5yG5cCIv59/s1600/wyv-640.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
To me, not desiring to live deliberately, not wanting to feel the
connection with The Earth, not wanting to be mindful of even the
smallest miracles and not wanting to experience through constant questioning and awareness is being nothing more than gray goo!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Peter FriebelPeter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-13787380740509927792014-05-01T03:41:00.000-07:002014-05-01T06:59:55.448-07:00The Dream Of Tomorrow<div class="p1">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XUiAyAmM1kVbsTL2FkNCJYdKmQCL55dVXs0xu6_68oe4x4SWnE3sn8VCeBaTLbMbNJrUAMeXj20FjtElXewjE48C4reAppspYzUY1D30itSOdDwsx28_7Q3rP32dIuXOU7_zDMcMBlYe/s1600/tracking-stick.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XUiAyAmM1kVbsTL2FkNCJYdKmQCL55dVXs0xu6_68oe4x4SWnE3sn8VCeBaTLbMbNJrUAMeXj20FjtElXewjE48C4reAppspYzUY1D30itSOdDwsx28_7Q3rP32dIuXOU7_zDMcMBlYe/s1600/tracking-stick.jpeg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
This is a picture of me demonstrating the use of a tracking stick. The tracking stick is a simple tool that helps the tracker to stay on the trail of a certain individual. I show you this picture as I woke up this morning with this image in my mind. The phrase that was connected with it was “Thought Tracking”. So I did. I found that there was no significant sign that could trace back to the origin or reason for that thought or image to be on my mind. I concluded it came from my subconscious. I probably dreamt about it last night.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
This is often the case with solutions to problems, creative ideas etc. and I rarely ignore those kind of thoughts and perceptions. In this case, the image helped me to realize that “thought tracking” has become very natural to me but that it might be interesting to write about it for others who may never have contemplated it as it can be very useful and even life changing.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Thought tracking leads to and feeds of Awareness. Ironically I wrote about it in my last post without really registering it as a tool: “<span class="s1">Awareness comes with questioning your beliefs and finding (tracking!) the source of the thoughts that created them.</span>”. I should also have mentioned that it is, in fact, a great tool for increasing/training your Awareness. I did not do that as I wrote about it more in the sense of a state of being. The thought I woke up with this morning is that you can actually become more aware by consciously tracking the source of thoughts. Over time and with increasing Awareness the process will become more and more natural, subconscious and automatic. My intention with this post is not so much to promote thought tracking as a tool for Awareness but as a verification tool before action. Admittedly these subjects are very much related.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
We all know the concept of mind mapping. This technique is often used to drive a concept or idea forward. Mind maps are also very useful to back track the ideas and thoughts that gave rise to some final conclusion. Basically its a nice way to make notes. Typically a mind map will give you an insight in the logical and relational context and dependencies of an idea. The map will give you a verification of the soundness of an idea that supports your actions on it.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
At first glance you may think that “thought tracking” and mind mapping are basically the same thing. For me they certainly are not. In mind mapping we record our thoughts in a forward direction. We map the thoughts, events and concepts and connect them certainly backward and forward but the whole idea of making the mind map is moving towards some realization, resolution and/or action. In thought tracking we work the other way around. We know the action we are about to take but now we are going to back track the thoughts leading up to that point. More importantly, we are going to track the sources of those thoughts. To demonstrate I will give a short example.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Say, you are working in a team to solve a problem for a customer. You come up with an idea that solves the problem for the customer and costs the company little money. The idea is carefully scrutinized and all agree. Even at a later date your mind map clearly supports the action. The mind map, however, will not tell you the whole story, not your personal story. Because when you track the <i>sources</i> of the thoughts you may find that initially your motivations for the idea you came up with are connected with irritation over a colleague who maybe caused the problem or usually comes up with the solutions to such problems. You may find that the source for you thoughts are connected with ego gratification. That does not mean the idea is invalid or bad but it may include some side effects that are negative for the colleague in question. Do you score points over him/her? Will it change the perception people have of you and your work at the colleague's expense? If so, can you still claim your actions are purely for the best of the customer and the company?</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
It is a fact of life that we all tend to do this and that we probably never can completely eradicate these things. Ego and pride are not bad things. They are part of our being (even survival) and are important motivators. We just need to make sure we do not mix positive ego with self serving, destructive and revengeful behavior. Don't help to get a pat on the back from others. Help to help. Feeling good about yourself afterwards because you helped is positive ego.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Going back to the example, thought tracking would most certainly alert you to these less positive sources of your idea. These things you will not find in your mind map! It would give you the opportunity to revise your idea in such a way that it eliminates the negative fall-out. The result would be an even better solution that would earn you genuine respect from your colleagues. Even the one you had a problem with. You would have opened up for positive changes in your relationship with him or her instead of creating even more resentment.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Thought tracking requires complete honesty with your self. The truth will not always be what you want to know but it gives you the opportunity to perceive without judging and use your heart to question your beliefs and create new ones. At first it will be a very conscious action that you may even find a bit annoying or intimidating (your ego will fight you all the way!) but eventually you will find a calm and harmony from which your true self emerges. You will have deepened your Awareness considerably. Your positive ego will thrive just because you feel good about yourself. You will not need it affirmed by others. But, more than ever, they will!</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Certainly in the beginning when thought tracking is still a conscious action for you it can be hard to take the time to do that when you want to blurt out something impulsively. Typical examples of such situations are in meetings and on social media. It is in such situations your impulsiveness can have the most harmful effects. Here is a very well known mnemonic that can serve you well in such situations. It does not go as deep as thought tracking and it should not be used as a substitute. It should be used as a quick filter, a shortcut, that if it doesn't help at least it certainly doesn't harm.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Before you speak or act THINK!</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
T = is it True?</div>
<div class="p1">
H = is it Helpful?</div>
<div class="p1">
I = is it Inspiring?</div>
<div class="p1">
N = is it Necessary?</div>
<div class="p1">
K = is it Kind?</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
I hope, tonight, I will dream of a world where we all track our thoughts and THINK before we speak and act.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="p1">
Peter Friebel</div>
Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-35541796902458965412014-04-18T16:36:00.000-07:002014-04-18T16:51:15.168-07:00The Answer That Can Only Be A Question<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Q: “How do I become a tracker?”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A: “By deepening your Awareness”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Q: “How do I do that?”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A: “Tracking is a good way to do
that”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Q: “Hmmm. What exactly is Awareness?”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A: “Yes”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Language is a beautiful thing. It
enables us to communicate thoughts, emotions, facts etc. We can use
language both ambiguously or not. Lyrical or factual. We can take
words literally or read between the lines. But sometimes we falter.
Sometimes we get questions we simply can not word the answers for and
it sucks. Especially if the question is by a student for the teacher.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I get that a lot. The above Q&A is
a common one for me as I teach tracking and Awareness. One could
raise serious doubts about a teacher that claims to teach a subject
he has a hard time defining. In general I think that holds true but
in this particular case it is just the nature of what is asked. Every
time I get this question I have to think (and laugh) about the 'The
Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe and Everything' from The
Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams. The answer to
that question, it turned out, was forty-two. The problem was that
although the question had a simple no nonsense answer, it became
obvious that we did not know what the answer meant because we do not
know what the question means.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Taking away the context awareness
simply means knowledge or perception of a situation or fact. That is
why I always capitalize the word when I use it in the context of our
natural Awareness. This natural Awareness is a vitally important
concept in the philosophy of my classes but, as noted before, pretty
hard to describe in words. So how can I teach something that is so
hard to describe?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Those of you that have taken a class
with me will know that I do not actually have to teach Awareness. We
all have Natural Awareness but we do not all use it to the same
extend. What I do teach are ways to have you experience Awareness.
You will gradually understand what it is and be able to train it
without ever needing to find words to describe it.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This would be quite an unsatisfactory
article if I did not at least try to give an idea of what Awareness
is. I know that I will fail at it in one way but also that, because
you all have Natural Awareness, I may succeed in activating it just
enough to get you to form your own idea about it.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Imagine a new born baby and how it
perceives the world. Literally everything it perceives is new. The
world to the baby is just a blur of colors, light, sounds, smells,
tastes and tactile impressions. Over time we start to categorize all
things we perceive. In particular we start to separate all other
things from ourselves. The ego self is developing. We start to
connect things we perceive with thoughts and those thoughts will
eventually become beliefs. When we have enough beliefs we are no
longer perceiving entities but judging ones.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Almost all of our beliefs are based in
fear. The fear of death, the demise of the ego self, is the most
powerful driving force in our lives. Yet, at the same time, we
intuitively know that the self is not separate from all other things.
That in fact we are all one and the same. We have the ability to feel
what an other person feels and because of that we will even give up
our own life to save a loved one. The ultimate sacrifice. So strong
is our connection. We have empathy. We have love. We also have empathy for our pets
but here we are beginning to falter. It is unusual for a person to
have empathy for a tree or a rock. What is the difference? Where
does the connection break up? In our beliefs!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In our lives we form beliefs that serve
and further us. In our current culture, connectedness with trees,
animals and rocks does not serve the ego self. These beliefs make us
judgmental too. A “tree hugger” is not often a term of
endearment. It has distinctly negative connotations. The term
contains a judgment based in beliefs that are often forced upon a
person by society and its norms. It does not serve the person at all
to ignore them.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGL68XHQBzvSQj33DgJ_0JqRSw_OPnoYm6kEDOOWViwJFijB-gyDVeLz8L2B5S9zlOTVphiYsudBkJLL6GgWqHOz3bMYOW00AR-AIXdeNMvDyctnupky4-Zv6X1UtsHFKDmPrlWH_QxiCr/s1600/roe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGL68XHQBzvSQj33DgJ_0JqRSw_OPnoYm6kEDOOWViwJFijB-gyDVeLz8L2B5S9zlOTVphiYsudBkJLL6GgWqHOz3bMYOW00AR-AIXdeNMvDyctnupky4-Zv6X1UtsHFKDmPrlWH_QxiCr/s1600/roe.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It seems we are torn between two
forces. One is the need for the ego self to act and react in a way
that serves it the most. The other is our deeply felt connection with
everything around us and a universal love. The latter has resulted in spirituality and
religion. Again the ego self managed to separate something!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
With the above in mind I can try to
give some idea of what Awareness is. Awareness comes with questioning
your beliefs and finding (tracking!) the source of the thoughts that
created them. Many of them are sourced from the sub conscious
(intuition!). Awareness comes with changing back from judging to
perceiving. Perceiving the whole of reality without separation or
judgment. Awareness comes with embracing empathy, intuition,
creativity and harmony. We can all do this! We needed to do it to
survive in the wild. We still need to do this but we have forgotten
how to and, instead, let our ego selves run the show. Because of that
we are missing out on an awful lot of life.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Oh, so what is tracking then? Tracking
is being mindful of relevant things in your Awareness!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
If anything, it seems that the answers
can be found only in eternal questioning. That is why I am a tracker!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Peter Friebel</div>
Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-62799990198302656982014-03-29T14:25:00.003-07:002014-03-30T00:39:39.187-07:00Sparrowhawk SurpriseTrackers often talk about bird language. That is because birds are great indicators of what is happening in an area and they now their locality intimately. My own experience of bird language is largely intuitive. Before I ever heard the term 'bird language' I already used the calls and behaviors of animals to get information about events in my vicinity. I think bird language is in fact just another term for Awareness. Deepening Awareness and experience will slowly teach you bird language. It will also become obvious that it is not just about the birds but about all the animals you are aware of.<br />
<br />
Sure, of all the animals about, the birds are the most vocal and often the most numerous so they dominate the propagation of an event with their calls and behavior. It is pretty interesting to see that the only species that does not generally take notice of and understands bird language are the humans. Well, we do but we have learned to ignore it to the point that we have almost forgotten how to revive it.<br />
<br />
The fact that I am at the moment researching bird language specifically and more formally is caused by the fact that I am preparing advanced tracking and awareness courses. As is the case for many aspects of aboriginal tracking, things that I normally do intuitively and largely without too much conscious thought, are pretty difficult to recognize, formalize and teach. In the end it is all about Awareness and learning from experience.<br />
<br />
To this end there were two books I looked forward to read. The first is "What The Robin Knows" by Jon Young and the second is the third book in the Discover Nature Awareness series of books, "Bird Language", written by my friend and colleague Geoffrey McMullan. The first book I am studying right now. The second, I hope will come out soon as I think that one will be closer to the bone for me. I do not personally know Jon Young but from his book I gather he is an avid birder and the same is true for Geoffrey. I, on the other hand, am not. I love birds and examine their behavior and individual traits every day but I could not name most of them to safe my life. It was funny that Jon Young in his book wrote that he had never met anybody who did not have the urge to immediately identify a new bird as soon it was observed. Well, I can't wait to meet him just to create precedence. My focus is more on the individual animal. I do of course recognize the species I meet but not by name. Starting in Young's book I was slightly overwhelmed by all the names of all the birds he talks about. In the end I simply told myself that this book could also be written without naming the birds as I intuitively know bird language is not about the specific calls each species makes.<br />
<br />
What bird language is about is the intention of the calls: marking territory, calling a mate, aggression, begging for food and most interesting for the tracker, alarms. All animals, including us, will pick up on these intentions once we open up to them. We do not need to know the specifics. We simply get it as we are part of the mesh that is Nature.<br />
<br />
So, This afternoon I was trying to identify these various intentions from the numerous birds around my house. I feed birds so there are plenty about, all trying to get sunflower seeds. Mostly small birds. There were birds singing but they were beyond my own plot in the forest. That makes sense as singing is territorial and my garden is clearly a no man's land where all birds need to accept each other somewhat if they want the seeds. That does not mean they are quiet. They make a lot of companion calls, constantly checking up on the others. What I was hoping for though is that a known cat would walk into the garden. I was sure that that would generate alarm calls. It did not happen. What did happen was far more intense.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Accipiter_nisus_Meneer_Zjeroen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Accipiter_nisus_Meneer_Zjeroen.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
All of a sudden a great tit made an alarm call. All the birds flew up and landed in the bushes
around the place where the seeds were. The squirrel that was eating only one meter in front of me jolted but did not move. In fact he was the first to continue eating but he clearly understood the warning. Slowly the birds returned to the heap of seeds and started eating again. That one great tit was still edgy and constantly looking at a certain tree. I tried to find what he had seen but I could not. Ten minutes passed and all was forgotten. Until, suddenly, the squirrel looked up from his bowl and looked at me as if to ask: "did you notice that?". The birds reacted not. The squirrel wasted no time and ran away into the bushes. At that moment I felt, in a split second, an enormous tension building up. Just as when you get a surge of adrenaline. I was in peripheral vision so I had a wide angle view of the garden. In this view was now a very fast moving object. I noticed what it was first when it hit straight in he middle of the seeds. It was also first at that moment that the alarm calls screeched through the air. It was like an explosion of birds all flying away from the seeds. What was left was another bird, a sparrowhawk. Although I could not confirm it I think he got a small bird as he took of a few seconds after landing and perched in a nearby birch for a minute and then flew of. All song had stopped and his path could be followed by the alarms he caused on his way.<br />
<br />
I wonder, did the great tit notice the sparrow hawk ten minutes earlier? How did the hawk manage to so surprise all the birds but not the squirrel? What was the squirrel's cue?<br />
<br />
Interpreting intention and unraveling concentric rings. That is bird language, a tool for all trackers. It is the tongue of Nature and all living things know it by Heart.<br />
<br />
<br />
Peter Friebel Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-77701264701189439192014-03-22T14:14:00.001-07:002014-03-22T14:30:00.750-07:00Widen Your VisionSocial media should be great. They enable us to connect with like minded people and to share our thoughts and opinions. But by ratings, followers and likes, automatic filtering of most popular posts etc, social media became an arena. They became the battle field of ego and the hunting fields of self gratification and self actualization. This has made almost all posts a "like" hunt and when the most horrific pictures and videos are misused to shock us into thinking about real issues a minute or two, just enough to inappropriately click 'like', something is really wrong!<br />
<br />
I am not going to discuss the system itself. Although we have created the most effective
automated mobbing tools with our social media, it is our own conduct on these platforms that creates the mobbing. It could just as well have turned out to become the most giving paradigm for human connection and communication. What I do want to discuss is some of our conduct.<br />
<br />
I am just as touched by images of famine, animal abuse and war as the next person but I do not find it appropriate to use this misery to get likes. Sure, sometimes a shocking image can shake you out of a stupor but be honest, what do you actually do about it? Watch the video? Shed a tear? "Oh soooo true! I have to share it!" After that you probably go about your usual business. If you are really engaged by the issue you may actually donate some money to the cause. But you didn't really change anything for yourself did you? You hope that sharing it and donating money causes others to act for change. The only impact on your own life was a few minutes of shock or sadness.<br />
<br />
Before, It was a joy to open my Facebook page and read all the funny and interesting things my friends had created and shared. Today it is with trepidation I open Facebook. Not only is 90% of all post something that people shared instead of created themselves, an alarming amount of the content either ruins my day or literally makes me hurl. But safe us all if somebody shows almost a nipple! It gets censored before you can say "George Orwell" as it may damage the frail minds of the kids that are not allowed to use the system anyway.<br />
<br />
Now, again, I do not want to discuss the system and I do not even want to discuss the reasons behind our lust to share misery. It is enough to notice that many of us care about a lot of things and want to give vent to their outrage, sadness or indignation. I am not different myself but I have recognized it in myself and hated myself for doing it. Not because the issues do not deserve the attention but because the way we give attention punishes only ourselves and does nothing to actually change something!<br />
<br />
What does it help to see a brutally mutilated elephant while in my own country local authorities, time after time, authorize the hunting down and killing of large predators to satisfy some trivial commercial interest while there are only very few predators left? Even if nothing locally can compare, what can I do about the elephant except cry for it? Well, one thing I suggest we can do is think about why all these things happen. Poachers in Africa are incredibly poor. Sure, many are very criminal too but often only out of desperation to provide for their families. How did that come about? If you start to analyze these things I think you will very soon unravel a pattern: Most of the problems are either directly or indirectly linked to our so called modern way of living and its enforcing culture. The total exploitation of the world's resources benefitting only a few, almost always has a significant part in the causes behind many atrocities in the world. On the plus side, this means that we can actually do something about it!<br />
<br />
Instead of sharing the wretchedness we could share a positive attitude and energy to turn things around. Instead of sharing a picture of a dead wolf show a video of a good journalist grilling a responsible bureaucrat on how this can happen at the same time the scientists say exactly the same things about the tigers in India as the wolves in Sweden. Instead of showing a picture of a dog after being dragged behind a car, show a picture or video of the many organizations working with nature based therapy to fight Nature Deficit Syndrome in our kids so they actually value life instead of destroy it for fun.<br />
<br />
There are almost no more horrific images put on TV and The Internet than those in the promotional spots of WSPA like organizations. Again they shock us but do they change things? They focus on the needs of the organization to do its work but not so much on the needs of animals and life in general. Instead why not show a trial on TV of the person who dragged the dog after his car skinning it alive. Show the judge giving him a 2 month sentence on probation and later show an interview where that same judge and some politicians are forced to justify that sentence against another one where a person gets 40 years for smoking a joint. Make people want to change things instead of contain things. Share the positive actions undermining the occurrences instead of shocking us into revulsion.<br />
<br />
I realize that many of the solutions will seem almost unattainable. That is why we need to radiate positive energy and not negative energy because they are both equally contagious. Once you start changing something in your life that is positive and beyond the ego you will find others helping you and joining in.<br />
<br />
I am lucky as my own work deals with changing the attitudes people have towards the living world. I am able to donate time and knowledge that can change things. Granted, in the end its just a drop in the ocean but think what can happen if we all provided a drop.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFc6XuQvdXVrg8603BMAvB9Ua4bDESD5t34kP-Q_dvpYRCOEB4f9tF5lIxTXH_GK50IjJU4yoelgVeTBaAXqVfnkeW0qa7AutyQoa7WdG2NZgQqs0-BW2R8u6Jr99919-YIeFW3Awz2Ak/s1600/wyv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFc6XuQvdXVrg8603BMAvB9Ua4bDESD5t34kP-Q_dvpYRCOEB4f9tF5lIxTXH_GK50IjJU4yoelgVeTBaAXqVfnkeW0qa7AutyQoa7WdG2NZgQqs0-BW2R8u6Jr99919-YIeFW3Awz2Ak/s1600/wyv.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
We should share evidence of the interconnection of all things, share images of the wealth and knowledge from diverse and alternative cultures all over the world, share stories about animals being animals in a world that just simply exists. Not for the benefit of the human animal alone but for life itself. <br />
<br />
Lets start by sharing our efforts towards change instead of the gruesome evidence of our paralysis.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Peter Friebel<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-6237539092110242482014-02-15T09:42:00.002-08:002014-02-16T00:04:24.940-08:00Good Or Bad? (Or A Little Story About Environmental Ethics)Lets start with some definitions:<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Ethics is the philosophy of morality.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.acfe.com/uploadedImages/ACFE_Website/Content/images/topic-landing/ethics-and-compliance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://www.acfe.com/uploadedImages/ACFE_Website/Content/images/topic-landing/ethics-and-compliance.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</li>
<li>Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind and languages.</li>
<li>Morality is the differentiation of intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are "good" (or right) and those that are "bad" (or wrong).</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For me there are three fundamental problems with ethics:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>In a non-scientific or casual context "philosophy" means "the most basic beliefs, concepts and attitudes of an individual or group" and not a rational study of problems. This means that in casual use ethics is no longer a study but the most basic beliefs, concepts and attitudes of an individual or group regarding good or bad.</li>
<li>"Good" (or right) and "bad" (or wrong) have no absolute definition but depend heavily on cultural norms.</li>
<li>The most basic beliefs, concepts and attitudes of an individual or small group are more generally referred to as principals. While ethics have a more general and altogether wider connotation. This means that ethics are commonly perceived to be the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes regarding good or bad within a society without, of course, taking into account the non-absoluteness of good and bad in a global or universal perspective.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I do not know about you but that kind of sounds to me like ethics are in fact commonly understood to be the contemporary code of conduct within a culture. This is of course no news. Ethics vary between cultures and in time and are often the reason for strife and even war between cultures.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What went wrong with the word "ethics"? It lost its scientific meaning. We now speak about "ethics and morality" while in actual fact ethics <i>is</i> the study of morality. Business hijacked the word to emphasize that against all odds their practices are now ethical. In politics the word is used in countless contexts and meanings.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There is one very interesting question in ethics (even scientifically) and that is: What is the domain for which morality is defined? What I mean is how come a concentration camp is obviously bad but an industrial chicken farm not? Clearly there seems to be a domain for application of morals that does not include chickens because if they were included, industrial chicken farms would be even more appalling than concentration camps. To confuse these matters even further we seem to have a double standard regarding animals. We do have some form of laws and sense of good and bad in food production but if a normal dog owner would apply those laws on his dogs he would be arrested for extreme mistreatment of animals.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The fact that our ethics falter when animals come into the picture is actually not that surprising because the domain I mentioned earlier is very exclusive indeed: In our culture it only contains human animals. We struggle to resolve all kinds of conflicts of interest when we need to apply morals on human and other animals at the same time. If we consider all non-human entities, including animals, plants, and even inanimate objects or phenomena we seem to just not care at all.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There is a field of philosophy called environmental philosophy that studies this problem. In this field there is a concept called environmental ethics which describes the relationship between human beings and the environment in which they live. Before even looking at some of these ethics approaches, I personally think the problem is already contained within the description of what environmental ethics is. There seems to be a persistent urge to separate humans and the environment. The reason for this is that it is a single culture that has written everything scientific and this globally dominating culture does not recognize humans to be an intrinsic part of the environment. Ironically that is exactly one of the things that distinguishes the various environmental ethics approaches: "The possibility that reality may not be human centered" (sarcasm intended but some scientists actually write crap like that)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I have throughout this article made clear that all of our "ethics" are cultural and also that in particular one single dominant culture seems to be based in the worldview that humans are the center of reality. There is of course another type of culture although now quite endangered. This is the culture of aboriginal peoples, the hunter-gatherers. They have never seen themselves as anything else than part of the Earth and recognized moral worth in all beings and all things.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A modern term for that in the context of environmental ethics is Deep Ecology or The Libertarian Extension: Human-rights are extended to non-human animals and possibly even the a-biotic and inanimate. Deep Ecology argues for the intrinsic value and inherent worth of the environment and that humanity has no right to compromise the environment except to "satisfy vital needs" (see my article called The Answer). Ecological Humanism (Eco-humanism) also falls under the Libertarian Extension. This is the argument that all ontological beings have ethical worth on the basis that they exist.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In contrast, another approach to environmental ethics is Shallow Ecology or Conservation Ethics: The only value that non-human animals and plants have is extrinsic, instrumental to the benefit of humankind. They are a means to an end – conservation is important for the welfare of current and future generations. Interesting to know is that Conservation Ethics formed the underlying arguments by Governments at Kyoto in 1997 and the agreements reached in Rio in 1992.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Obviously aboriginal cultures do not analyze these concepts. Mainly because to them the interdependence of mankind and the environment is blindingly obvious. To them humanity is an integral part of the environment. They embed their environmental ethics at the foundation of their culture and spirituality. Theirs is a spiritual version of Deep Ecology that we today call Animism. I call this philosophy Tracker Philosophy.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
With all this in mind, are we good or bad? Is that what you reason or feel? Maybe we should change our culture to make it truly right ...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Peter Friebel</div>
Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-68402395405277674542013-11-29T13:41:00.003-08:002013-11-30T08:11:35.383-08:00For Old Time's SakeI still know Old Time<br />
His ticks were silent and eternal<br />
And no less were his tacks<br />
<br />
He moved for us<br />
and by us, through us and<br />
Indeed in us<br />
<br />
We felt for him<br />
and by him, through him and<br />
Indeed in him<br />
<br />
We were all the one<br />
A moment of space<br />
An expanse of time<br />
<br />
And nothing more can be!<br />
<br />
<i>Are you hungry?</i><i><br />
</i><i> Yes! We need to leave this pond, we need to move down the
creek, down the river!</i><i><br />
</i><i>Are you not mad?</i><i> What gives them the right to </i><i>make
us suffer?</i><i><br />
</i><i> There is no right or wrong in this</i><i>. We will not
suffer if we move</i><i>.</i><i> Tomorrow we will know new times</i><i><br />
</i><i><br />
</i><i>I do not want new times!</i><i> This is my pond and my creek.
I feel a master not a slave!</i><i><br />
</i><i> But all that is follows the flow of Time</i><i>. And Time
is nothing without our being</i><i>.</i><i> Surely to detach you
can no longer be all the one?</i><i><br />
</i><i>You can be the dust in the winds</i><i> of Chaos</i><i>.
Henceforth I will be my own!</i><i><br />
</i><br />
Old Time passed<br />
He knew nothing else<br />
We were nothing more<br />
<br />
And only nothing more can be!<br />
<br />
<i>Who goes there!</i><i><br /></i><i> It is I, your brother! I heard of your droughts, your wars and your suffering and came to share my quarry and counsel. We have found a far away land of bounty. Will you not relinquish your mastership of this pond and join us in living with the Earth?</i><i><br /></i><i> I need not the pity of a savage! You have gained neither riches nor rewards in all your life of fleeing Chaos. Sure, I have known hardships on my path of glory but my war is holy indeed! You and yours will wander your precious Earth until that day I need it for me and mine!</i><i><br /></i><i> My riches and rewards are many and profound but they have no longer any meaning to your poisoned mind. I did not come in pity or contempt but it seems in pity I shall leave. May one day, Old Time willing, you find your time and peace o brother of mine.</i><i><br /></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
New Time ticks<br />
In relentless fury<br />
Away the seconds<br />
Of man's restless lives<br />
<br />
He moves against us<br />
and without us, behind us and<br />
Indeed ahead of us<br />
<br />
We suffer for him<br />
and because of him, through him and<br />
Indeed in him<br />
<br />
We were all the one<br />
A moment of space<br />
An expanse of time<br />
<br />
But we have no more time!<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Who goes there!</i><br />
<i> I am nobody you still know. I followed a river, a creek and a vision and it brought me here to this pond. Why? I do not know. If you want me to leave I will.</i><br />
<i> No please! I am tired and sick. I am angry and alone. I have no peace in my heart and my spirit is weak. My own visions have perished in time. Just for once I long to hear something new. Old man, would you tell me of your vision?</i><i><br /></i><i><br /></i><br />
<i>My vision was of a small creek that trickled through a majestic land. Its water came from the humid air that rained on the leaves of this lush place. It came from the water running down the mountains and hills. This creek flowed out into a small river which flowed out in to a big river which flowed out into the ocean. In that ocean the stories of all of creation could be heard. The water evaporated and moved back in to rain out on all the lands of The Earth. For eons this was the case. The eons were created by the rhythms of this flow of life and life itself was created by the rhythms and cycles of The Earth. Until one day from a single river the color of the water changed. Within a tiny part of a single eon all the rivers starting pouring out a black ooze of despair stained with the blood of life into the ocean. Almost all the fish died of this pollution. One of the very last fish decided to see if there was anything it could do to save its kin. After a full year of swimming up the stench and garbage it finally arrived at a small little pond. It found a bitter, old and frail man. This man was crying and his tears, when they hit the water in the pond, turned the deepest black imaginable. "Why are you crying?" the fish asked of the man. "I cry because I have never done anything else. It seems that I need to cry and suffer to make sure that I do not suffer more the next day. Still every next day it is worse and every next day I cry more!". "What is it that makes you suffer old man?" the fish inquired. "Our suffering lies in the fact that what ever we try to create a living for ourselves it always gets disturbed and destroyed by Chaos. We have tried for ever to overcome this but we always fail. There is always something new. Most of the destruction is now directly caused by us trying to prevent it. Now we are almost extinct". The fish thought about this for a while. The fish had only one answer to give: "You talk about creating a life. We never thought about that in that way. We always assumed a life was given to us. For eons and eons we have accepted this life without question. There seemed no need. What we did was trying to find out what our lives meant to others. We found that the lives we were given were a direct result of the lives given to other creatures. We all lived our lives because all the other creatures lived theirs. We were both the beginning and the end of the flow of life. We were all the one! Suddenly, though, we started to die. I came up all the way to this pond to find out why before it is to late. On my journey I saw that all other life was dying too. Now I have found the reason. A creature who has forgotten the life he was given, who has forgotten the life he was giving. A creature who thought he could beat Old Time and master Chaos. For every tear you shed something dies and because they die you will never succeed in living either". "But", the old man said, "what can I do about it? I am but one man". "Just Stop" said the fish. "Stop crying, stop suffering and start living the life we all gave you so you can give us our lives back". The old man thought about this and finally said: "I do not know how to do that. We are not animals. We will all die of hunger and cold". The fish looked deep into the eyes of the old man as if it was making sure that something that should be there was there. "Follow your instincts" the fish said. "Find teachings in Nature itself. Ask an animal and ask a child!. The children of your race are not poisoned yet. Ask them to help you remember Old Time. When you have remembered, teach teachers and let them travel down this creek, down this river and along the ocean to teach their kind what it means to be all the one. Do it for Old Time's sake". The fish then disappeared into the depths of the pond. The old man watched with surprise at a small crystal clear patch of water spreading in the pond. "Just because I stopped crying for a while?" he thought, his gaze following the course of the creek. "Yes, I must leave this place and time".</i><i><br /></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
We are all the one<br />
A moment of space<br />
An expanse of time<br />
<br />
And nothing more can be!<br />
<br />
<i>Hello? Where are you going? You are welcome to stay as long as you like and tell me more about your vision!</i><i><br /></i><i> Thank you but my vision is over. Be well and remember, o brother of mine!</i><i><br /></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
And we are all the one<br />
<br />
<i>Hello little girl, how come that squirrel is playing with you and not scared of you?</i><i><br /></i><i> Why should it be scared?</i><i><br /></i><i>Little girl, will you and your friend teach me?</i><i><br /></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
I met Old Time<br />
His ticks are silent and eternal<br />
And no less are his tacks<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ZFs_7Byx199_R8JssfgA6WiWkCFmPli_Vbo5UbOPIEvMbfNnxQ793GjpL_UVaWHibubpDM7-6DlfQb2Ibo8v1LDmursme3-wvo5EkD17EE9W3aYEEn5wCIvrBMMYHys0DpGjOXFcungY/s1600/universtime.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ZFs_7Byx199_R8JssfgA6WiWkCFmPli_Vbo5UbOPIEvMbfNnxQ793GjpL_UVaWHibubpDM7-6DlfQb2Ibo8v1LDmursme3-wvo5EkD17EE9W3aYEEn5wCIvrBMMYHys0DpGjOXFcungY/s320/universtime.jpg" /></a><br />
He moved for me<br />
and by me, through me and<br />
Indeed in me<br />
<br />
I feel for him<br />
and by him, through him and<br />
Indeed in him<br />
<br />
We were all the one<br />
A moment of space<br />
An expanse of time<br />
<br />
And truly nothing more or less can be!<br />
<br />
<br />
Peter FriebelPeter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-8298832173525895212013-11-12T13:41:00.001-08:002013-11-12T14:41:56.637-08:00Free Your SpiritThis month I am leading the on-line course Nature Awareness 1. During this course I teach nature observation skills and methods for waking up our natural awareness and the tracker inside us. We have loads of on-line discussions about philosophy, states of consciousness and much more. One of the concepts we cover is being in the heart or heartspace instead of being in the head or headspace.<br />
<br />
In our modern culture people seem to be in the head most, if not all, of the time they are awake. In the head we are ready for physical action, in a constant state of stress. We go through the day in tunnel vision and are fairly closed off to subtle perceptions and our intuition. We pursue goals so far removed from our original function that we do not even notice that we are forgetting to experience the world around us. Time has taken the role of awareness. Instead of naturally being aware of our environment and the people around us we need a schedule to keep connected.<br />
<br />
Anyways, yesterday we had another interesting group chat on these subjects. Today I got a question from Anna, one of the students in this course. The question was simple enough yet interesting but I could not in my wildest dreams have foreseen the impact answering it was going to have on me. What happened was a bit the same as what I wrote about in a previous post called 'The Answer'. Here again, my answer contained another message. A much scarier message.<br />
<br />
First, here is the summarized question: Do you think dogs live more in heartspace than in headspace?<br />
<br />
As I believe that heartspace is the natural state of consciousness. I thought I had a short answer. I am pretty sure my own dogs are very much in heartspace when we are out mushing or in almost any other situation I interact with them. The only time I would say they are not in the heart is just before the start of a tour or if they are fighting. Predators, after the stalk, when they initiate the attack, will be pretty much in the head too. I started to falter a bit with my answer though.<br />
<br />
If you are stuck with your foot in a railway track and you see a train approaching you are in a great deal of stress. I have read that people in mortal peril become ultra aware as all senses kick into overdrive and time perception changes to the point that a second can feel like an hour. I have no doubt animals experience the same things. This state is certainly headspace but in a very natural context. I started to see that the question must be about dogs being in an unnatural headspace.<br />
<br />
The type of stress and flux of thoughts I associate with headspace is more like: pure logical reasoning, self gratification, anger and all other emotions, feeling insufficient at work or in your personal life, being unable to find the time to keep up with all your social media, feeling the pressure of having to earn money and many other worries. The list is endless and you all know what I mean. It is all about chasing the trivia in life we call civilization and culture. Normally dogs do not do that. Yet, there are all sort of animals, including dogs, that have issues. I felt there was something I was missing.<br />
<br />
I rephrased the question as follows: Do you have an example of animals behaving in the "headspace" way described above. I asked myself the question because I felt I had an answer. The problem was just that I did not see it yet. It took a bit of time but finally the answer came and it was an ugly one:<br />
<br />
The only time I notice the type of behavior in animals that I feel is equivalent to what I describe to be 'being in the head' is when the are in <i style="font-weight: bold;">captivity</i>!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibNyyCe5DqJKhW-q6S846nnolfYM3VV10nzoS4lwfN3VQgnf88CRDqYxEuB0_63KeuCJJbgnDGHJkGxo-zCS5PRAqLdMN79iFF5utwTkOVYFfUSMM222HddrQEBblb8zQMyuZ3LWMlYpJ/s1600/caged-tiger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibNyyCe5DqJKhW-q6S846nnolfYM3VV10nzoS4lwfN3VQgnf88CRDqYxEuB0_63KeuCJJbgnDGHJkGxo-zCS5PRAqLdMN79iFF5utwTkOVYFfUSMM222HddrQEBblb8zQMyuZ3LWMlYpJ/s320/caged-tiger.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Technically our dogs are in captivity but they have learned to see their human captors just as their pack and are pretty happy with that. I mean more the tiger pacing his cage or the elephant neurotically shaking his head in the zoo. They display this behavior because they can not flee their fears, they have been deprived of there freedom and connection with the natural environment. They are cut off from the essence of being a wild animal.<br />
<br />
Now for the scary bit. If that is true for the tiger and the elephant what about us? Are we living our so called modern lives in the head because we are in captivity? Are we denied our true purpose? If so, we have at least one advantage over the zoo animals. Our cage is only constructed by our own imagination or rather lack of it!<br />
<br />
<b><i>Free your spirit now!</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
Peter FriebelPeter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-55912306778542627302013-10-23T05:06:00.000-07:002013-10-23T05:28:49.206-07:00Can You Look Them In The Eyes?I just had lunch and watched Cesar Millan do his "magic". It struck me that his methods, like my own when I deal with my own pack, are very much based in awareness.<br />
<br />
Dogs are very interesting "subjects". They have a very strong social system (the pack). Because they are predators they have a mutual dependency not only for protection but also for successful hunts. Observing dogs and their highly subtle signals is incredibly inspiring. You can really tune in to their joy, sadness, tensions, worries and playfulness and you will notice they actually include you and communicate with you.<br />
<br />
There are a few things that are pretty different with my own dogs compared to normal house dogs. Huskies have many signals more resembling those of a wolf pack. For instance if you approach an unknown husky and he/she does not look comfortable with it. Approach the dog sideways and crouching. This is less important in normal dogs but if you watch huskies or wolves you will see that showing the flank means avoiding aggression and problems.<br />
<br />
I can recommend studying dogs (and wolves) interacting with each other. You will learn a lot from them! You will notice that dogs are optimally aware of their environment. They will sense your every thought, emotion and intent.<br />
<br />
With huskies and wolves I always have the idea that if you look them in the eyes you see your own soul reflected in them. They are hard and soft, tender, caring but also ferocious, delicate and brutal. They are full of life, they are Spirit.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsAFw7eGQ_ZmoLTS_kXT-aDlhvf1xuEamY6x3FUWbKgw3Br-mG5v-W4cBOoxYecli_vYn4WlckRNMpgTRnpLodf2XmHJnbhIwFG-faW__f-0DiI7gJOAFdIqg37DXuKl_DLszZl0dlzJph/s1600/bjanca.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsAFw7eGQ_ZmoLTS_kXT-aDlhvf1xuEamY6x3FUWbKgw3Br-mG5v-W4cBOoxYecli_vYn4WlckRNMpgTRnpLodf2XmHJnbhIwFG-faW__f-0DiI7gJOAFdIqg37DXuKl_DLszZl0dlzJph/s320/bjanca.jpg" width="269" /></a></div>
<br />
Sadly that spirit has faded a bit in many of our domestic dogs but it is never buried very deep and we love them for it! What is even more sad is that our culture hates wolves and by proxy we are that culture's ruthless and immoral executioners. Brutally tortured and exterminated just because a few thousand years ago some thought it would be a great idea to till the earth instead of sharing it. Before, millions of years had passed without conflict. All the while they never hated us back and they never will. They just love life.<br />
<br />
Can you look a wolf (or a dog) in the eyes and not feel very very sorry and very very guilty? <br />
<br />
Peter FriebelPeter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-78052816224754042992013-10-13T01:12:00.003-07:002013-10-13T02:39:11.938-07:00Ishmael, Take It Or Leave It!Yesterday, I finished giving a 1 on 1 course cluster. The cluster consisted of Exploring Nature Awareness and Lifting The Veil (tracking and tracker philosophy) and some other primitive living skills. On the last day the student gave me a gift. It was a novel written by Daniel Quinn called Ishmael. When I came home I started to read the book just to get an idea of what it was about. It turned out I was unable to put it down and finished it at exactly 01:00 today. Now, that does not happen to me a lot.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I will tell you not what it is about, you need to experience every detail of the story (or rather stories) yourself except that it contains a very deep study and realization on the same subject as my first blog post "The Answer" and much, much more. To me the book is a source of inspiration and renewed affirmation because it reflects my own philosophy and goals so accurately. It touches all the reasons I have for teaching tracking, awareness and primitive living. It is the ultimate pep-talk for a "Leaver" teacher and the ultimate sales pitch to persuade the "Taker" pupil to sign up for the journey of cultural change that may well safe the world we belong to.</div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ab/DanielQuinn_Ishmael.jpg/200px-DanielQuinn_Ishmael.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ab/DanielQuinn_Ishmael.jpg/200px-DanielQuinn_Ishmael.jpg" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You may need to read the book to understand the full context of the following comments.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I was just so amazed that somebody else would write down thoughts so very much like my own. Of course, I never touch subjects like Genesis or
"The Gods" but those concepts can easily be replaced with Nature or The Universe. Contrary to Ishmael, I do in fact believe that any "Taker" will start to see the "Leaver"
story automatically by exposure to wilderness living, tracking and awareness. Also, in
my own philosophy, Good and Evil is felt at the heart induced by the
Spirit that moves in all things or as I simply call it: Nature. We have the
knowledge of good and evil deep down. It manifest itself when you break
the law of limited competition. We (all living entities) have this
knowledge or rather feeling of unconditional connectedness and the intrinsic value of all
things. We belong to the world, Nature, and indeed The Universe. "Belong" not as in a
hierarchical relation but as in equating nature. We all constitute its very fabric. Our survival is based in diversity, redundancy and choice.
Species will come and go and I do not logically, ethically or
philosophically favor humans over any other species or the world as a whole. I do not feel we as humans need the elevated status of being the first to correct "The Fall". It is in our unfortunate culture (NOT NATURE!) to want to elevate our cosmological importance, to put ourselves on a pedestal, become our own gods. It is this same egocentric culture that may cause us to enact the destruction of the world we so need to live. If so, well, so be it. It's only Nature. But by actually learning the story of us, the "Takers", reevaluating the story of the "Leavers" and exposing our Mother Culture for the societal cancer she is, we may still avoid disaster and safe the world we all belong to.<br />
<br />
Thanks Stefan.</div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
Peter Friebel<br />
</div>
Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-63275910389847675912013-09-26T15:26:00.004-07:002013-09-26T16:17:19.345-07:00The Large Presence Of A Small Blue Tit On my nature awareness and tracking courses I teach how you can reorient your mind to stop you from pumping out a threatening presence that scares away all the animals in your environment. Animals are very good at sensing presence. You can compare it with throwing a stone in a pond. The rings create a disturbance on the surface of the pond. Likewise, If we are not tuned in to the local environment, we emit disturbances all the time and they will be picked up by all the animals in the vicinity. I use a number of exercises to help students to reduce their (negative) presence but also to become more sensitive to picking up the presence of others (both animals and humans). Obviously such techniques are valuable in tracking and observing wildlife but they are also important in a tactical sense and even in SAR (Search and Resque) tracking.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Today, I realized that the opposite can be equally important. With the opposite I mean to actually make your presence felt. Creating the ripples on purpose so to speak. I have been using it myself more or less subconsciously in certain situations but never really realized its importance. I do that during courses so the students can pick up on them and sometimes I have used it to make sure an animal notices me so I do not surprise it and cause a dangerous situation.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Blue_Tit_aka.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Blue_Tit_aka.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
This morning, I was at my kennel finishing up feeding my 23 huskies. I picked up the container with what was left of the dog food and put it back in the shed. I closed and locked the shed doors and started to walk home. Almost immediately I had a very uneasy feeling. The same feeling I have that signifies "NO" in a body dowsing sense. I call it intuition, energy tracking or inner vision. I had no idea what was causing this and I started to look about me to see if something was wrong like an injured animal or something like that. I could not see anything so I continued. At the entrance to the kennel, about 70 meters from the shed, I still felt it and it was actually even stronger. Something was definitely wrong. All of a sudden I thought I heard the flutter of wings above my head so I quickly looked up to see what kind of bird was flying over. There was no bird. I realized the fluttering was part of the inner vision and without fully knowing why I turned and walked back towards the shed. I was suddenly certain that some bird was trapped in the shed. Before I opened the doors I listened if I could hear something inside but there was no sound at all. I unlocked the doors and opened them. Right in front of me, sitting on the handle bar of a dog sled, was a blue tit. It stared at me for a short while and then took off and flew away to perch in a nearby tree.<br />
<br />
On the one hand I somehow knew there was a bird in there (for no easily explained reason). Yet, I was very surprised that such a small bird could put out such an enormous presence!<br />
<br />
Every time things like this happen I wonder about all the important messages from nature I may have missed. I am glad I did not miss this one!<br />
<br />
Peter Friebel</div>
Peter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2551875737331489621.post-78994923025271294292013-09-17T14:09:00.000-07:002013-09-17T14:41:23.835-07:00The AnswerEverything pointed in the direction of this day becoming a really bad one. I wasn't feeling great when I woke up and when I saw some posts on Facebook on the new proposed policy for "managing" predators here in Sweden, I was in an absolutely foul mood. Now, this situation was the whole reason that this day became a grand one instead!<br />
<br />
I posted a rant on Facebook on the subject and a separate version of it in the VaraVild Scout Project group. When I read back the post in the group I was utterly gobsmacked. There, right in front of me, was the answer to a question that I have been tracking for years! Mostly subconsciously but since this spring actually consciously as the question came up during an awareness/tracking course I gave. The question is more sort of a conundrum and as this is the first blog post I probably need to explain some things about my courses.<br />
<br />
VaraVild Bushcraft School teaches tracking, nature awareness and primitive living skills. We take the rather unique view that all primitive skills, including survival, can not be truly mastered without mastering tracking and raising ones natural awareness. There are only a hand full of schools in the world who adopt these aboriginal ways of thinking and teaching. One of them, btw, is my good friend Geoffrey McMullan's school Pathfinder-UK. It is quite amazing to see the difference between people who learned, for instance, the techniques of making fire with a bow drill and those who first have been taught tracking and awareness.<br />
<br />
The conundrum is related to awareness. It is not uncommon to see people develop slightly animistic tendencies after they have raised their awareness. They start to really perceive the uniqueness of individual plants, trees animals etc. Which is great and entirely in keeping with our goals. Bushcraft (I call the entire set of primitive living skills bushcraft) is of course based on using natural resources in a responsible and sustainable way to create a living in the wilderness. Here lies the problem. I have noticed in myself and in students a growing resentment to destroy or kill living things and even inanimate natural objects. Obviously this is very unnatural if those resources are required for our own survival and living! Because these actions are so natural we do get over those feelings by applying reason but in our style of survival, being in the heart is of vital importance and if you feel something is wrong that naturally is not, you have a real and potentially dangerous problem.<br />
<br />
Like I mentioned earlier, this problem has been nagging me for many years and most of the time I dismissed it as me becoming an old softy. But recently, as I started to teach tracking and awareness in all my courses, it became an issue I needed to resolve once and for all. As I will discuss in future posts, I solve such problems by 'tracking' the solutions. This basically means becoming mindful of something that enters your awareness. In this case I became mindful of the answer staring me right in the face from my own Facebook post. The sentence that contained the answer was:<br />
<br />
"There is no democracy in the beating of a creatures heart! On that level there is only good and evil."<br />
<br />
These words were written in the context of the question if politics, democracy and we humans in general have the right to decide on the existence of another species but it magically contained the answer I was looking for so long!
This little sentence simply told me that indeed politics and logic have no place in such decisions. Only what you feel in your heart can guide you and we all instinctively know if we do something that is good or evil! Cutting down a tree to make a shelter or hunting an animal to eat is not evil. It is life and all life is good and your heart will tell you so. Your empathy and feeling of connectedness will make you treat the natural world with respect and care.<br />
<br />
No predator is evil, it just needs to live! This does not mean that there is no empathy in nature. Far from it! I have seen animals show genuine empathy. This further proves to me that the truth of this answer is very universal.<br />
<br />
Once you become aware of the unconditional interconnectedness of all life and indeed all things, you just need to follow your heart and with it the flow of life. The danger lies in not feeling connected with or, even worse, feeling you are above nature. That surely is a road leading to evil!
<br />
<br />
Cosmically, good and evil are just labels. What ever we do is universally natural. We can not be unnatural in anything we do. Still, just as this question was nagging me because reason was convoluting what I new to be true in my heart, I am sure those who do 'evil' are nagged because what they know to be wrong in their heart is convoluting their reasoning.<br />
<br />
Peter FriebelPeter Friebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16827214855912966479noreply@blogger.com0