Greed

This is the time of the year when greed is more prevalent. It's easy to see the little ones with their dozens of Christmas presents saying, "more, more..". After ripping the paper of one pressie, it gets thrown aside while they make a quick grab for the next one..."more, more..."

Then we go to the other end of the scale and we have James Packer. He's trying to avoid paying twenty two million dollars in taxes. Now everyone claims a few dodgy things in their tax return, but come on, 22 mil is huge ! Is he greedy, or as some may say, just smart. Nah, he's a greedy pig, with his nose well and truly in the trough. I remember his first wedding cost 10million and people say, "well, it's his money..". I think it's sick and a prime example of our sick society. I'll go further and say that people who have enough spare money to invest in the share market are also greedy. Investing money to make money is something I find quite strange, because it's just a bunch of figures on a computer, not actually making or producing anything.

Don't get me wrong, the greed monster gets me at this time of the year also. All the Christmas catalogues make me go "I want, I want..", but it's an easy choice when you don't have any money. This will be some peoples argument. "If you had heaps of spare cash, you would be the same as everyone else...greedy !" I will probably never know, but I really don't think so, not when there are people in this world going without food and shelter.

For want of a better word, I am a communist. I think wealth should be spread evenly throughout society and yes, I know it's not going to happen in my lifetime. Who is worth millions of dollars a year..bank bosses..actors...heads of state ??? No one, but there are a lot of people that deserve more than nothing....

I don't know of the alternative to capitalism, but something has got to change, otherwise one day the poor WILL rise up against the rich and society WILL collapse.

santa is a lie

About 25 years ago, my step-daughter, who was about 7 or 8, came home from school and asked if santa was real. Like most parents, I assured her that he was, trying to keep her innocent as long as possible. The next day, she came home from school in tears. Her class mates had teased and humiliated her about still believing in Father Christmas. She told me that she would never believe a word I said again!

To this day, I have never told a lie to my kids. I have avoided some questions, but when asked point blank, they get the truth. As they got older, they learnt not to ask questions they didn't want the answer to, and as I got older, the truth lost a lot of its sugar coating. In the early days I would tell them that the spirit of Christmas was real, which it is. People are joyous and loving.... complete strangers wish you a Merry Christmas.

These days without the coating...the Christmas you girls know was invented by Coca Cola, kids arn't allowed to sit on santas knee,incase he's a pervert, the family get-togethers will usually end in arguments because of too much alcohol and there are more suicides at this time of the year than any other. Parents over spend, which gives them stress and anxiety on how they are going to pay for it, kids get greedy because they get so much....and on and on and on...

Ho Ho Ho....enjoy the "spirit" of Christmas

religion part 1.5

...I've spent days trying to write part 2, but just got so angry every time I tried to put my feelings into words. It always came down to emotive words like, "the church is fucked" or "religion is evil". I wanted to write about how churches are rich multi-national corporations, how they lobby governments to ban gay marriage and yet are silent on the refugee crisis....

I can't do it, not in a blog. The storey of corrupt religion needs a book, not a few paragraphs.

My "god" doesn't want me to pray to him in a church. My "god" doesn't want me to ask for forgivness of all my sins on my deathbed.
My "god" wants me to treat my fellow man like I would like to be treated. Its not so hard is it ? There are some exceptions, but common sense (a sense most of us have forgotton) tells us what these exceptions are. For instance, if you're into S&M, then don't expect people to come up and bash you, just because you like pain !

In a word TOLERANCE..I don't care what consenting adults do behind closed doors.....whether you are gay, black, white, muslim, christian, short, tall or into S&M....whatever...we are all human beings...we are all equal...

....and fuck religion...all of them !!!

religion part 1

I was bought up C of E, confirmed in the church and even read the lesson a few times. I was kicked out of an Anglican boys school and just to be fair, I got kicked out of a Catholic boys school. I'm not against church for those that want or need it, but I object if they start preaching to me. I certainly keep my hippy spiritual beliefs to myself,unless asked of course and I wish that bible thumpers would do the same. I actually admire the mormons that doornock, because of their dedication, and their willingness to walk away after they have been told you're not interested.

My ex mother in law was a bible bashing, happy clappy priest. She told me to my face that I was evil because I had a couple of Budda ornaments around the house !! She even derided other Christians because they weren't members of her 'born again' church. I wont even mention what she thought of muslims. I have met a lot of people like her, from all faiths, that claim their religion, or their church is the only way to god. What a load of bullshit ! We are all horrified and scared of radical muslims, but what is the difference to the radical christians?

I live by my own moral code, which is above the law and the 10 commandments. Thankfully there are a lot of similarities, but not all. "Honor your father and mother" is crap. Not a problem when your parents are ok, but how many parents are responsible for abuse in all its forms, and yet the church preaches honor. I wont even go down the path of the abusing priests!! "Keep the sabbath day holy"...yeah sure...which day is that again and to which religion?

Many years later, a bloke called Jesus gave us a summary of the commandments in Mathew 22.."love the the Lord your God with all your heart and soul" and "love your neighbour as yourself". Now this makes a bit of sense...share the love people..and I don't mean the physical.

death

I have been waiting for death since I was 14. This world sucks....babies dying, people starving...you get the picture. Earth is hell. We are here to learn lessons, but that's it. It took me awhile to learn, but you can't cheat on life either. Suicide, and other forms of risky behaviour that could result in death is cheating. You will be back on this earth in probably a worse position than before. There are a few religions that follow reincarnation, but this is not religion, this is fact. (I will cover religion in another post) I tried to cheat life, by driving really fast, by taking excessive amounts of drugs etc. I thought if I died by "accident", then I wouldn't have to come back to this place. WRONG.

In this life, I have learned to be patient. I've tried very hard to earn "brownie points", so I don't have to come back here. I've had a little taster of the other side of death, and it's definitely the place I want to be. I know people reading this will think I'm a complete whack job, but consider what I'm saying. I'm not afraid of death, I'm actually welcoming it. Every day I try to be the best person I can to myself and those around me. Who am I hurting ? Maybe if there were a few more whack jobs about, this life wouldn't be so hard.

I have told my kids that when I die, I want them to party on in my name. Crying and being upset at funerals is a selfish act. We do it because we left it too late to say I love you, or I forgive you. But that's selfish, because its about us, not the person that died. I want my kids to be happy, because I will finally be happy. I want them to appreciate how much I put into this life. There should only be tears of happiness !

A bloke I went to school with is being buried today. I've only recently made contact again and I would of liked to go to his funeral to find out the person he became. I can't afford the petrol money, but I wish him well on his journey. From what I know, he was a very charitable person and did a lot to help people in his sphere of influence, so I hope he never has to come back to this life again. Enjoy your many new experiences Russ.

the beginning

I had my first "out of body" experience when I was 12. I was meditating in my bedroom (yes, strange kid, but it was the '70s'), when I found myself floating near the ceiling. I thought all was good until I looked down and saw my lifeless body laying on the bed. Having a religious background, I associated souls leaving bodies with death, so the sight of me laying there, scared the crap out of me and I shot straight back into my body with a huge thud. I never tried to 'astral travel' again...until a couple of decades later.



When I was 14, I died for a short while due to a failed suicide attempt. I thought I had life figured out and I didn't want to be part of it. Again I experienced 'life' beyond the physical. For the next 14 years, I lived life in the fast lane. Sex, drugs and rock and roll to the extreme ! I didn't care how risky my behaviour was, because I knew there was existence after death. This made me a very dangerous person to be around as I didn't have any regard for the sanctity of life.



I was 28 when I had my next 'mind-blowing experience. A total stranger came up to my taxi one night, knocked on the window and gave me a book and she said "you need to read this.." and she then walked away. I was stunned...totally random. The book was Platos Republic and the pages were creased and folded at the part about the shadows in the cave. I didn't read it for several weeks..it just sat in the glovebox. I never saw the lady again, even though I looked for her.



When I did get round to reading the book, it changed my life forever. It probably only took 15 minutes to read the couple of paragraphs that were clearly marked by the creases, but my head exploded in bright light, white noise and a vibration that I thought would be making my cab rock back and forth. It was the first of three times that I heard another voice in my head. It was very much like a 'Matrix' thing, where he was offered the red or blue pill. I was asked if I really wanted to know, or if not, this would all fade from my memory like a dream.....I was told that once I said yes, there would be no going back and for several years after this, I wish I had said no that night. My path to enlightenment was long and slow...and at times lonely and painful.



This is my story...I am not asking for anyone to believe it. I am not more spiritually advanced than anyone else. I am a regular bloke, that has a belief system based on my life's experiences. I am god, but so is everyone else on this planet. Do I believe in God ? Probably not what the general population would consider god...you know...the hippee with a beard and the long white kaftan. I know there is a higher being, energy, that we are all part of, but I wouldn't presume to call it god. Obviously, when talking to my fellow humans, using the god word, is just good way of conveying the picture of a higher consciousness.

sphere of influence

My sphere of influence used to be my young family and some very close friends. I used to worry and fret over these people, because I really cared about where they were going in life. At the time, I had a little influence in their lives, by what I said and what I did. When my girls turned 16, and the Government started giving them their own money, my influence started getting less and less. My only hope was that I gave them a good grounding in what a good citizen was to society.

I was one of those people that got really upset at the injustices that went on daily in our society. Whether it was people dying too young, to the starving people of Africa...I cared for our world ! But I soon realised that, it didn't matter how much I got upset, it didn't change a thing. I could yell and scream, write letters to the editor...nothing changed. It was then that I realised that I had a sphere of influence. I could influence my offspring. I can now influence my community through my mentoring. I can sometimes influence the greater Hobart area through Facebook ( a very powerful tool), but I've realised that I have no influence on the bigger picture.

I can only take responsibility if I have some influence. That excuses me from most of the world problems. It doesn't mean I don't care, it's just nothing I can do about it ! If more people took this attitude, we would be a lot happier. People bitch and bitch about world affairs, but all it accomplishes is negative thoughts. If people took their sphere of influence seriously, we could work on this shitty world piece by piece..if you see a wrong..right it...speak up. Take a stand people..it's our world..and each one of us has a sphere of influence..USE IT

Sacred Cows

It seems NGOs' (non government organisations) or NPOs' (not for profit organisations) are above reproach. There are hundreds of them : Colony 47, Anglicare, Salvos, Mission...the list goes on. These are the "sacred cows" of the business world. No one dares criticise these organisations for fear of the backlash that would ensue. I have worked for several of these organisations in the past, and there are some wonderful people working for them. Truly caring people with very high ideals....but who is actually running checks on these huge multi million dollar corporations.

How come I can buy a brand new tee shirt or shirt from a department store, cheaper than I can from Vinnies ? How come, say Colony 47, which is a 10million dollar company, have a real estate portfolio that most of us would envy ? How come a business like Anglicare, which is probably closer to the 60 million mark, receives huge grants from the government, when its run buy the mega rich multi-national Anglican church. Don't get me started on the catholics !!

The point being is that they are supposed to be non-profit....sure mate !! It's about empire building. Real people start off with good intentions, but as soon as money is involved....corruption is not far away. Think about it next time you want to donate.

Christmas

Christmas sucks. Its the time of the year, where we work out the haves and the have nots. Please don't tell me its about some fella called Jesus. For some, its about family and friends and how much MONEY is to be spent. For others, its about contemplating suicide. I'm not sure of the figures, but I believe Christmas is the busiest time for suicide call centers. For most people, it's time off work, a huge feast, plenty of alcohol and spending time with family and friends and of course, presents, usually valued on the monetary value.

There are thousands of people, just in my corner of the world, that for whatever reason, dont have family and friends to spend time with, don't have money for fine food, or presents for people they do know and every time someone wishes them a Merry Christmas, it's like a knife through the heart, reminding them of the things they don't have.

Christmas is for the haves. Christmas sales start in October and of course Boxing day sales are just the beginning afterwards. Advertising tells us what not to be without, why our child will be sad without a certain toy. I know of single mums that spend in excess of $700 on their two year olds. For Gods sake, two year olds are happy with an empty carboard box !

On Christmas Day, some of the 'haves' go to church and pray for the 'have nots'. Some, like myself, donate their time on the day to try and make it better for the 'have nots'....but this is bullshit...because the 'have nots' are back in the same hole the next day, or the day after, trying to survive the welfare system. A lot of 'haves', donate money to far off countries to make themselves feel better. They can point to the photo on the fridge and say, "look, I'm making a difference".....eventhough they get the money back as a tax deduction !

As this is my first post, I don't want to make everyone miserable at Christmas. I want you to ask yourself....what would God do ? Would God have a society of us and them ? In latter posts, I will tell you why I am God...and so are you !