Cross Discipline Collection 9

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Cross Discipline Collection

From philosophy

To history and politics

To technology and security

To the apocalypse and futurism

To theology and apologetics

To the military and Schizophrenia

To philosophy again

My writings are not poetry

They are not essay

They are not one topic

They are like songs

They go from tangent to tangent

This is simply how my mind works

The whole is greater

Than the sum of the parts

Everything is connected

There are no topics

Topics are all illusions

Truth is truth

And wisdom is wisdom

It is all a means toward an end

The problem with names and categories

Is that they are limited to rational arguments

The problem with isolation between studies

Is that it is not reflective

Of life or non-academic reality

I study the humanities

These are the most cross discipline areas of academia

Many great works of literature especially in Asia

Are also great works of religion, philosophy, art, and history

Philosophy itself is the mother of theology, science, and most social sciences

We see everything as catalogued

We see everything as organized

Because we all want things to be predictable

But the modern world is chaotic

Bruce Lee cross trained in boxing, wrestling, and Ju-Jitsu

In addition to his previous knowledge of Kung Fu

The martial arts are more art than martial

The postures are based on ideas helpful for meditation

And are originally from India and are meant

To be religious or philosophical not martial

Traditional martial arts are not the way to learn

To defend yourself or fight in combat quickly

They are too predictable and respectful

The military trains soldiers in close quarter combat

Which means fighting with few to no rules

Fights often end very quickly

The ones left alive in the end are often the ones

That are both fast and precise

You can learn these in martial arts training too

If you have decades to train

You can also learn to fight effectively in a matter of weeks

With fighting systems like the Israeli Krav Maga

The difference is that martial arts are a gateway device

To teach people about Chinese Philosophy

Which to a large extent is an entirely different matter

So how do we learn from tradition

But adapt to the modern world

We use something Bruce Lee called broken rhythm

This is the basis of his martial art he created

Called Jeet Kune Do

And has been developed and popularized by mixed martial arts

The problem with this is that you can go to far

So that you can accidentally maim or kill someone

With this concept applied to fighting

If you take this concept to its fullest expression

You end up with no rules at all

Traditional Chinese art is based on Chinese Philosophy

So when a traditional East Asian artist

Describes their artwork as Taoist for instance

This is not just done because it sounds interesting

This means the art will actually incorporate

Elements of Taoist philosophy

So Chinese art can be creative but also within limits

Much as people who use creativity

In problem solving or other less artistic scenarios

In the modern West artists just painted what they felt

With no apparent connection to philosophy, science, or social science

In broken rhythm you must first

Establish a classical rhythm or style

And then break or adjust this style

So that it is no longer symmetric

This is like the idea of creating a flaw in a masterpiece of art

As in the yin yang paradox concept

Opposite concepts are related

So that if something is extremely beautiful

It must have a flaw in it as well

Mathematically perfect classical music

Can be broken up with drums and chanting

Like in hip hop, jazz, and modern dance

It actually takes more skill to adapt the traditional style

To your own personality to reflect your feelings

It is like that a Traditional Chinese acupuncturist has to learn

More than a modern western medical doctor

Because they have to learn all of human anatomy

Plus the meridians and yin yang concepts as well

This is a way to be creative

At the highest levels of difficulty

People today are not impressed

By just skill or intelligence

People today want originality, creativity, and authenticity

They don’t want you to quote cliches

They want to hear what you believe in your own words

Most people find it easier and more memorable

To find direction in art, music, and literature

Then to listen to a lecture on a non-fiction topic

Entertainment is now part of instruction

For better or worse

Many people can recite a line from a famous poem

But to stand out you need to write your own poem

The level of difficulty in this is much greater

One of the really hard and respected feats

Is to combine creative works

From ideas in multiple disciplines

Merging philosophy with theology in unforeseen ways

Can grab someone’s attention immediately

It is important to keep a consistent message

And that the message is unique

And not easily constructed

It must be timeless and relevant

But also speak to the current generation

This is the beginning of a work

That may be relevant to succeeding generations

If it survives and people of the future decide that

Feel Like Giving Up?

It is cold

It is dark

And I want to go home

I am hungry

I am tired

But I feel a fire

Burning from within me

I continue through the night

The wind tears through me

I struggle to hold back the rain

I continue through the sand

And up the hills

I see nothing ahead

I am running out of energy

When I burst open

With a flash of light

The radiance burns through me

And spills out overflowing

I am consumed from within

I become but a flame

Within this fire in my heart

If you think you cannot win

All you have to do is resist

The war is already won

But there are minor battles to be fought

The minor battles look big

And the giant wars look small

It is as if we are seeing from afar

Across time and history

That the reality of our struggle

Appears distorted

Ask for eyes to see

Things as they really are

What is true is beautiful

And what is evil is gross

That we may see not

Just the enemy surrounding us

But Your army surrounding

This same enemy

That we may know that

Calling on Your name

Is not just powerful

It is not just magic

It is the power of reality

We don’t just fight for ourselves

Or fight for our human race

We fight for the future

We fight for hope beyond death

We are surrounded

By so many witnesses

Even when we think we are alone

We need to not settle

For just good enough to be saved

We must submit ourselves to God

In every aspect of our lives

The choice is to be possessed

By either the Holy Spirit

Or by the devil

There is ultimately no other choice

It is not like you can just

Not make up your mind

Or ignore the entire situation

You will be accountable

And your decision

Will determine your destiny

We treat life like it is a game

We see the struggle for what we want

We see the surface as the entirety

We expect there to be nothing more

Beneath the obvious and official story

Why did the ancient peoples have myths

Why do we now have no more stories

Did things really change

Or do we choose to just not see

Do you really want to know the truth

Do you think you can figure everything out

By merely reading about it in a book

How is it that animals know things that we do not

How is it that a small creature

Can predict the weather

Better than a supercomputer

How is it that some people survive better

Who have not even prepared for a disaster

Why is it that pain is so different

For different people with the same disease

Why are our internal organs

Not all arranged the same

Why do people raised in the same families

Turn out so different

Why does it not make us happy

When we live better than emperors

Why do some people cower in fear

Over minor discomfort

While others endure great pain

Without ever complaining

Maybe we need a second kind of sight

A way to see with the heart and soul

Not just with our eyes and brain

The bigger world can only be understood

Through our relationship with God

But we need to take a risk and trust

This God Who created us

We need to understand why we should want

To please our Creator

We need to accept that we need help

We need to know we are not

As strong as we think we are

We to unlearn most of what we were taught in school

We need to dream and work hard

We need to struggle and become wiser

We need to not hurry as much

We need more silence

We need time to reflect

We need to slow everything down

We need to start listening

We need to take time for God

We need to pray and wait on God

We need to give to others in need

We need all these things

God does not needs us to be this way

We need God and need to follow Him

Do not just keep fighting the good fight

Realize you cannot lose

Because it is not you who fights

The Lord will engage the battle on your behalf

The most important factor spiritually

Is intent or choice

So when you use your Sword of the Spirit

You speak the exact thoughts of God

All you need to do is to take the step forward

Just swing your Sword and it will never miss

Being a soldier is not about being strong

It is about having faith in those you serve under

Good armies are well trained and well supplied

One person cannot do everything

The only reason a soldier is afraid

Is because the enemy tries to destroy him

If he stands his ground

But what if the rules are different spiritually

What if in standing up to them

We then turn to God

And let Him fight for us

We do not need to be afraid

Our part of the battle

Is not in knowing how to fight

But merely making it obvious

Whose side we are on

Once we commit to this decision fully

These battles bring much less fear

We only need fear ourselves

Because the enemy has to deal with God

Does Progress Require Pain?

Do we need to hurt

To accept God’s authority

Do we need to fail

To accept God’s mercy

Maybe if we slow down

And open our eyes and ears

We will experience God

Our faith can grow deeper

Without suffering

We see many examples

Of those refined by difficulties

As a kind of trial by fire

The military is all trial by fire

The actually skills needed in combat

Are so simple even a slow kid

In elementary school

Is sufficiently intellectual

Enough for fighting as a soldier

But even the smartest people

Fail when under stress

So the military does do psychological tests

This is what Basic Training is for

And any general infantry school is

Like airborne or ranger schools

The marines describe war as

80 percent boredom and 20 percent terror

Much of the advanced infantry training

Is just to subject you to pain

Like tear gas or lifting heavy weights

The military goes to extremes

There are a number of good ideas

That the military incorporates deeply

Then there are other ideas which are head scratchers

One of the big problems with Army training

Is that they never allot enough time for rest or sleep

We don’t do this as a society either

Some things cannot be instilled in a person

In a short training period

Even the military acknowledges this

Because you train constantly

In combat survival skills

First learned in Basic Training

Continually throughout your enlistment

Many of us wish for excitement

In our spiritual lives

But from my experience

An exciting spiritual life is no fun

It is great to feel close to God

But suffering can be very difficult

Some trauma in life is necessary

But there is no point in suffering

If you can avoid it

The other method of learning

Is slow and requires self-motivation

It ends with gradual improvement

Over decades rather than weeks

Martial arts training resembles this

Many people who leave the military

Have a hard time adjusting

The military is a difficult way of life

But it is very predictable and consistent

You do not have to balance

Many different aspects of your life

You do not have to and

Are not encouraged to think at all

For someone to be good soldier

They are used to working as a team

They are also used to doing

What someone else tells them to do

In Army training you are meant to

Stop thinking as an individual

Your leaders are the brains of the operation

You do not have a lot of responsibility

All the Army requires of you

Is for you to follow all orders without hesitation

And to always give at least 100 percent

You can literally screw up everything else

And you will still do well

At least in your first enlistment

Obviously officers and senior enlisted

Have different expectations

The military training is very well planned out

Many ideas are based on lessons learned

In 18th century Prussia (later called Germany)

And are not even American in origin

We have plans on the books

To fight every country

Including ones like Mexico

Which makes no sense

And there is no scenario in which

We would wage war with

Many 3rd world countries

But just in case

All the general has to do is pick a plan

Life outside the military is not planned

Modern society is chaotic like warfare

There is no one to tell you

To get up and go do your job

There are no expectations of you at all

There is no sense of common cause or any unity

You must be disciplined in a different way

Instead of being a follower

You are fully independent

If you screw up even one thing

In any one of many different areas

You go without food, clothing, shelter, decent hygiene, or medical care

Just not paying your rent one month

Or late a couple months

Can get you evicted

And your past stays with you

All of these are little stressors by themselves

Compared to the stress of the military

But the military supports its soldiers

In every way it can

(Except financially and legally)

So obviously few want to deal

With the military way of life

Many like this independence

But few can actually thrive in this situation

So although most people throughout history

Are more motivated by pain and fear

Maybe some of us could be motivated

By gratitude and positive experiences

But I think this requires time and patience

The more we realize

All God had done for us

The more we can be motivated

To do what is right

And the more we know

How others suffer

The more we can be motivated

To avoid sin in our lives

Slow and predictable is the very definition

Of martial arts practice

These arts are very ineffective

At teaching people to fight effectively

Within a small amount of training time

But if you have the time and patience

They can teach you so much more

Useful and rewarding ideas

So instead of getting heart surgery

You should eat better

And instead of struggling with dementia

You should not abuse drugs

What is it like to live this

This is contained within the Psalms

How to do this

Is contained within the

New Testament Letters

Honest, Genuine, and Sincere

Is it true

Is it right

Is it beautiful

If it is honest

If it is genuine

If it is sincere

But it is not positive

If it is not helpful

If it is not good

What use is it

Some think life is just an experiment

That things just happen

But what kind of life is that

Cannot we live seriously

Cannot we strive to do good

Is there shame in not knowing

Or in doing something badly

If I do an excellent job of starting a war

And everyone is happy afterwards

Or if I go out to raise money for a charity

But do so poorly and without insight

Is it better just not to offend

Or to truly reduce suffering

Is it not just in the how well

But also in the what and why

If the first gulf war ended well for the US

And the second gulf war ended worse for the US

Does this make either war ok

If you win a contract

Does it matter if you were honest

Or if you make a fortune

And it was at someone else’s expense

Does this make you feel good

If you can be the best con artist in the world

Or be the worst humanitarian worker

What would you rather be

Is it more important to be famous

And remembered after you die

Or to raise a family as best you can

If you cannot be rich

Is life then not worth living

If the best others can say of you is

That you are very talented

Does this not cause you to pause and reflect

Is intelligence worth it

If all it leads you to do

Are things that are not helpful to you or others

After you die

And people write things about you

Does it even matter what they say

If who you are does not stand on its own

What does it matter what others think

If you are only the most moral in your city

But you live in the contemporary world

Is this actually something to strive for

We have such high expectations

When we think about what we do

But does it matter who we are

And how do we determine that

Is it better to achieve victory

Or to fight the war more humanely

Is it best to achieve

Or to not compromise on morality

Is beauty an entirely visual thing

Or can how you treat others

Fall into the same study of art

When I think of what are standards are today

I think the rest of the world

And people throughout history

Would be ashamed to associate themselves with us

If the best others can say is we are not hypocrites

But we sacrifice personal growth

And the attempt to do what is right

In this process

Does this make us good people

Why does it matter so much how richly you are dressed

But is matters less how much of your body you reveal

If we are to all be equal

Should we not strive to be better people

Than those we are not treated equal to yet

If we reach the stars and exoplanets

And colonize the galaxy

But turn earth into a literal hell

Is this something to be proud of

When we think of the future of the earth

Do we factor in what succeeding generations think

If we are running out of resources now

What makes us think that the increased energy will satisfy us

When we think of problems

From our point of view

We think we need more

But we think like those not like us

We learn we would do better with less

If each generation is supposed to do better

Then how can the environment sustain this

If we are all to live to 150 years of age

What will the planet be like

If we cannot survive without more energy

How did others survive with much less

If we think we need so much

When will we have enough

We think like addicts today

The only thing we fear is change

Because we like things the way they are

Because we are comfortable

We want more of everything

But we don’t want fundamental change

Because we might have to deal with issues

That we are uncomfortable dealing with

Like our own mortality

We spend all this time thinking of

The future of our country

But not about our future after death

To plan ahead for retirement is considered wise

But to plan for eternity foolish

How absurd is this

If we cannot see ourselves from God’s point of view

How can we imagine living forever

If we cannot accept God’s plan

How will we ever believe the Bible is true

If we do not know how bad we are

How can we understand why Christ

Has offered us such a great gift

If we cannot believe we were created

How can we ever be kind

To those living under our power and authority

If there is no afterlife

Then what is the point in suffering

If there is no God

Then there would be no us

If there was no Bible

We would not know how bad we are

If we alone decided what was right and wrong

We would be where we are now

Technology and Disability

Why is growing old

So scary to so many

Why is it society’s problem

That they have not yet found

Their peace with God

When we try to help

You push us away

Now we know how God feels

About all of us

When we are young

Some of us hurt less

But as we get older

Some of us get smarter

Do you not want

The benefit of their experience

Do you want to make

The same mistakes generation after generation

How can we ever learn

If we never study history

Or even listen to our parents

If I listened to my parents

I may have been smart enough

To avoid my military experiences

I have suffered from Schizophrenia

For about 25 years

I have learned something over these years

But no one can learn

From my experiences

Because they want to learn

Everything all by themselves

People then suffer unnecessarily

If we cannot pass on

What we have learned

How can we raise children

How can we then guide these children

As they grow older themselves

When your body fails you

And sometimes your mind does too

You never need to give up

Just get more creative

Today especially this is possible

We have an increasing population

Of the elderly and disabled

But today we can do so much

With poor physical or even

Poor mental health

Many of the advancements

Of the past generation or more

Are best made use of by those

Who have aged or are limited by disability

It is sad that if people

Can have their lives

Improved by technology

That we cannot include those

Who have disabling conditions

That are relatively easy to address

With current technology

If we are this advanced technologically

Why are the older and disabled

More held back then helped

By these advancements

Is it worth it

For there is be one less ad

And make the font size

A couple pixels bigger

So you the writer

Can read your work 20 years later

If we are willing to use boring tools

With less buzzwords and marketing behind them

These issue are naturally addressed

Simply as part of the creation process

But because we do not value wisdom

And we do not value hard work

Using the Internet makes us dumber

Rather than smarter

Don’t give up there is still time

Think of the Internet as a library

The Internet is not God

The point of it should be

To bring greater participation

In decision making and its responsibility

And remove misunderstandings

That lead to unnecessary divisions

Instead every major tech company

Sees things only from their point of view

Even at this extreme it is often taken farther

The goal is only what makes money this year

If you are overwhelmed

With how fast technology changes

Invest in learning something

That seldom or even never changes

Philosophy and theology

Have never been more relevant and real

I once had a dream

That I would collaborate

I liked the idea

That I could get

An entirely different point of view

In some ways the Internet

Has made this easier than ever before

But the trust is completely gone

Ten years ago

I wanted to be on social media

Today I am glad I am not

Ten years ago I wanted to be a programmer

Now I am glad I am not responsible

For any computer programs

When I first heard about spyware

About 20 years ago

I said why is this a problem

When people would not give out

Even their email adresses

10-20 years ago

Everyone thought they were paranoid

Today we know these people were wise

They must have foreseen the future

We are losing the battle

For the security of the Internet

The difference today is

Now criminals have the resources

To scan millions of websites

And routers automatically

To hack everyone as soon as

There is a known vulnerability

If it is not updated fast enough

Security also needs random unique passwords

For every login and every service

This is especially hard on the disabled and elderly

Who are also more likely to be targeted by scams

The big companies we rely on

Are constantly being hacked as well

You can be compromised

Even if you are not online

Even if you are not important

There are many solutions

But many have drastic consequences

If you do not consider

Hundreds of different factors

You will break the Internet worse

The problem is that it is too complicated

And we need it too badly

Another problem is it is international

I am a liberal

But I am old school

And I have no party allegiance

I have not voted for anyone who has won

In any presidential election I voted in

Or those who I would have voted for

If I did not vote that time

I was against world trade since the 1990s

While I enjoy studying other cultures

And I want what is best for my nation

This one world economy

Is not good for any of us peons

In any nation or region of the world

International means more crime and fraud

International means more immorality and less control

International means more wars and more suffering

International means increasing brittleness and the impact of disasters

Have we not learned

That many people overseas

And many in America

Do not like what

Comes out of Hollywood

The entire American entertainment industry

Is a net negative nationally and internationally

Big corporations are promoting violence and sexual immorality

To distract us from community involvement and personal responsibility

If they can keep us indoor forever

It is much easier to get more power for themselves

And get more power over our souls

Why My Childhood is Unwritten

My childhood was normal

One of the reasons

I have dealt with Schizophrenia

As well as I have

Was because of this experience

I was a silly kid

And I had problems with anger

Which I masked with humor

I was always very religious

I thought of death

From an early age

I was born again

When I was only 4 years old

I spent many days daydreaming

Through my elementary years

Later I began to read a lot of fantasy

I always was interested in other cultures

I was involved in many clubs in high school

I ever started my own political one

I read maps and encyclopedias at this time as well

I got heavily involved in Model United Nations

I was involved in running for many years

And was even in cheerleading for a year

Many of these interests are still with me

But I am fundamentally

A different person as far as personality

I am much more serious now

I still have a sense of humor

But I am more serious in nature

Even much more than other mentally ill people

I think always to prepare

For worst case scenarios

I am lucky I do not need to worry

About keeping a job

I have had more success in writing now

As I have more to write about

In both my life and world changes

When I wrote an autobiography years ago

I only covered 2 years of my life

My experiences in the military

Changed me that much

My military experiences

Made me focus on the problem of suffering

And gave me an interest in philosophical questions

I realized that I took too many risks

In my decision to join the military

This lead me to reduce my risks since then

I have tried both to suffer as little as possible myself

As well as search for ways to reduce

The suffering of other people and other life forms

The military taught me how weak I am

It also made me realize how cruel people can be

And how vulnerable we are to these kind of people

As individuals and as a society

The military is often confronted with the task

Of dealing with people like this in wars

This experience was very terrifying, depressing, and lonely

During my military experience I was always tired and terrified

I never felt safe and I never trusted anyone

These experiences helped me prepare for living

As a person with Schizophrenia

I thank God every day I am not in the military

No one was mean to me and I never served in combat

I only had to go through the gas chamber once

And I never had to go through POW training

I realized soon that they were trying to

Prepare us for this severe reality

Both because of what they told us directly

And what was implied by what they trained us to do

And how they trained us

I served in the late 1990s and the conception I had

Of what war was like was obviously very tame

Of course I watched few violent films as a kid

But it seems like people were more careful how they portrayed war on film

Compared to what you see in the last 10-20 years

I of course asked some very specific questions

In which the answers were highly inaccurate

While in the military the answers were much more candid

In America we cannot seem to contemplate

The extent to what people are motivated by religion

Throughout most of the world today

And throughout most of history

We also see little of how the US works

In the rest of the world

And the level of hate felt by those

Who feel they are being controlled by us

They blame all of us in America for this

And it is very much too late

To do anything to reduce this feeling

Foreigners likely have greater misconceptions about Americans

Than we do about them even though

That is hard to believe that would be possible

Within America we are treated relatively kindly

It is like night and day outside of America

And maybe Western Europe

And some select allies in other parts of the world

We Americans likely are treated better within our empire

Because we are easier to manage that way

Americans never seem to revolt

No matter what our country does

To the rest of the world

Because they never see it or would never believe it

And most the abuses by the our government

Both in and out of the country are highly classified

Our government controls our hearts and minds

To such an extent

That many people’s religious beliefs

Are tied to our nations ideology

It is hard for the government

To infringe on religious beliefs

Which is the only freedoms many care about having

If those religious beliefs are tied

Into what is best for the establishment

It is understandable that we make compromises

Because a certain amount of cruelty

Is necessary to be the biggest world empire

You just can’t keep stating the opposite of that

And then do those kind of things

And expect to fool everyone all the time

People who have grown up in America for the most part

Have experienced so little suffering

Compared to the rest of the world

That most of the wold sees us as children

We are so optimistic in America

But then again we have never experienced true fear

Most Americans today have not served in the military

Even though we wage war on

Almost every country on the planet constantly

And we fight a major war almost every 10 years like clockwork

It all gets very tiring

My biggest question to God is

Why did You create people

Knowing what we would become

Animals turned out great

But people are all bad

Everyone thinks they are good

And would be a hero if called on

A person can be broken so easily

A good person can do very bad things

Given the right situation and lack of options

The most vivid feeling

I still have from the military

Is not being in control of anything

Including my own self and situation

The military trained us by telling us

What and why they were doing

Then they offered us no choice

We have choices in America today

Because of the sacrifices of a few

Later we will have many fewer choices

As less and less are willing to enlist

When society totally collapses

We may very well have no choice as well

The Color Red

A procession formed across the open road

A long line of people

Wound its way back

Across fields and forests

Everything was red

Brilliant red

And reds of all shades

The people were all dressed in red

The forest, the water, and the grass

All red in their entirety

They played in the river

Each person was dipped into the water

Like an apple is dipped into caramel

The river ran red as well

It was not just the moon

That was the color of blood

But the sun was as well

Even when the night came

They sky still has a reddish glow

The stars were all crimson

Every one the same color as Mars

The man leading the procession

Leaned on a red and white stripped cane

His nose glowed in the dark

He rode a red deer

As the procession continued

The deer picked up a scent

The aroma of cinnamon apples

They followed the scent

Until they saw a path of red stickers

On signs pointing the way onward

A bunny rabbit with a red tail

Darted across the road

The deer halted course

The man stepped out and greeted the bunny

The bunny now led the procession

Into a hole in the ground

A hole the rabbit dug

In this hole there was a passage

To another world

As you passed through

You were covered in clean water

The water was pure white

And filled with soap bubbles

All smelling like lavender and vanilla

Upon entering the new world

They saw a man playing a card game

But the playing cards began to dance

The dancing surprised the man

He backed off to the corner

And set down his giant red and white stripped hat

He scratched his long red beard

He thought of what he would do

After having a small tea party

He and the little elves attending the party

Decided to use their magic

Which they were given one a week

If they were good and did their work

To pay the wizard to shrink them

As soon as they began to shrink

They noticed a giant fat cat

Looking down on them with disgust

The giant cat looked like a stuffed toy

Except that he could sing and dance

He made a lot of noise

This made the monster angry

And he took the cat toy

And ran off with it

Carrying it in his mouth

He didn’t destroy it though

He thought to play a trick

And hide the cat toy

He buried it in the rabbit hole

And then the monster disappeared entirely

Into another world

The cat fell back into our world

The crowd gathered near the gateway

As the group wandered

They made up songs

That they heard in their heads

They picked up the musical instruments

That they found under a small lighted tree

In the middle of a small clearing

The deer sat down next to the tree

And the man with the candy cane

Started to build a little candy house

The people gathered for a party

Inside the candy house

During the party they ate so much chocolate

That when the rest of the dinner was served

They could eat nothing else

As their stomaches ached

They got out of control and disrespectful

This really stressed out the candy cane man

But he was a kind man

So he just ignored the silliness

He started to dance

And everyone joined in

To get rid of the excess energy they acquired

From eating all the candy

Later on they got so tired

That they wanted to take a nap

While they slept

The leader began to fall asleep as well

In all the excitement

No one had realized

That they had grown big again

But the plain cards were still small

As the people began to dream

The playing cards woke up

And began to dance and sing

The candy cane man found the big toy cat

The toy was then washed

And given back to the people

Now with a pleasant expression on his face

He was all clean and new

As he had been washed

In the vanilla soap bubbles

Out of the hole came a few elves

The elves then made the hole

Into a dedicated passageway

So that others knew just where to cross

The elves held onto a rope

As they walked

So that no one would fall down

Off the little bridge between the two worlds

The man with the candy cane

Guarded this same spot

Where the two worlds met

There were giant trees

With branches covering the passage way

And the people decided to never cross

Into the another world

Unless they were with another group member

The only time they were alone

Was when they were sleeping

A locked door was constructed

So that it required 2 keys that joined together

So no one would cross by themselves

After spending much time

Traveling between worlds

They realized they could go faster

If they rode red deer

They became obsessed about riding red deer

So that soon they became red deer themselves

So then the man with the candy cane

Would bring them together

For one night of the year

To bring presents to both worlds

In one world they were giants

And in the other one they were very small

As time passed by

They began to get bigger

But they noticed the bigger they got

The more the wold shrank around them

Eventually they tired of traveling

As they missed being with the entire group

You may ask why the group

Didn’t just stay together

But there were only a few people

Who could be on the bridge at once

And arguments began to divide the group

They didn’t understand

Why everyone else in the world

Kept telling them to do things

That were annoying and disruptive

Whenever they got together

The leader with the candy cane

Would lead them off to another location

They never knew where they were going

Eventually they learned to watch

When the candy man starting getting sleepy

They gave him milk and cookies

Because that made him sleep

Then they would be free to sing and dance

Qi Gong Helps You Relax

Qigong and Tai Chi are both real and powerful. Some rare individuals have a had problems with it because they had a history of psychosis and overdid the exercises under no supervision too fast. As a person with Schizophrenia I can see why some of the unusual feelings brought on by this combination could be disturbing. The good thing is that although a person with Schizophrenia should approach this with caution and extra guidance and some not at all, for the vast majority of people will encounter more problems and greater risk crossing the street in the morning.

Qigong is based on the idea of energy but it is not the same energy as they talk about in paganism or new age religions. For one thing, Qi is not spiritual but rather about the connection between mind and body. There is nothing spiritual going on there. The energy called Qi flows much like the blood flows through your body or you inhale and exhale in succession. This is already going on whether you agree with it or not. There are no special powers to gain and no deities involved.

Qi is not the same as science at all, but its relationship to religion is much as science is related to religion. Which is to say there is some cross over in some ways in both these things much as almost anything is related to something else in some way, but these are really just different disciplines.

Qigong is based on Philosophical Taoist ideas, but this philosophy has no theology or metaphysics. It is just kind of a view of how nature and animals see life and has a corresponding ethical code. Taoism actually fits Christian ideals much better than Neo-Platonism does by a long shot. Taoism does not promise eternal life or make any claims to who you should worship. It is no more religious than science is.

The confusion goes back to the lack of metaphysics or theology in traditional Chinese philosophy. There are no prohibitions to supernatural phenomena within traditional Chinese thought like we have in Christianity and maybe Islam or Judaism. The ancient Chinese thought is all based on the how and not the why. It is also considered perfectly acceptable to take parts of Chinese thought as well as with Indian thought and not the whole thing, unlike in Christianity or Islam.

There is also a huge difference between the Chinese philosophy as practiced by the scholar officials and the peasant based folk traditions. Even as early as the time of Confucius while China did have an animistic past by even 2,500 years ago the high society and government became completely philosophical based with no theology because of a change in leadership and a need to get legitimacy for the new government. There was a previous animistic or shamanistic tradition in China that is traditionally Chinese as well and existed back 5,000 years ago and was brought back in Religious Taoism.

Also Tai Chi and most martial arts are based on Taoist ideas as well. Some of the most liked aspects of Zen Buddhism like spontaneity and artistic ideas seen as traditionally Chinese come directly from Taoism. So while Philosophical Taoism is by definition a philosophy only with no theology Religious Taoism very much is something I would consider contrary to Christianity. Most of these texts are still to even translated into English yet. They were also added to different schools of Taoism much later on and are really completely unrelated except in name and both being Chinese in origin.

Recently people for various reasons some political, some financial, and some based on real belief have tried to bring back paganism in Western Europe and the United States from the time of the European Enlightenment in the 18th century which later became the Theosophy movement and later became know as new age. There are actually some surprising connections between atheism and this Neo-Paganism. Early on in the 19th century writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson brought in ideas called Transcendentalism from Hinduism in the United States.

Later they were brought in alongside the anti-war movements of the 60s and 70s and by the 90s they became known as the new age movement. The defining thing about the new age movement is that things are drawn from almost every major religion including Christianity and paganism but there was a certain well known authors and thinkers who used Eastern philosophical concepts in non-traditional ways. In order to form a legitimacy and context for new age beliefs many leaders in that community both science and eastern philosophy have been used in non-traditional ways.

I would be wary of any religion that is a hybrid of multiple belief systems or that has scriptures that were written or the ideas that originate in the 19th or 20th centuries. But that goes across all religions. There are plenty of Christian and Islamic traditions as well as Scientific theories that have connections to these movements as well. The thing is though there is nothing really in keeping with any of these traditions whether scientific or religious. Part of the problem is that people who understand the ideas well like in science are poor writers and people often oversimplify things.

So Qi Gong has been coopted by many groups for many reasons including financial, political, and genuine faith. The Falun Gong movement incorporates ideas from Qi Gong and Buddhism but is seen by the Chinese as a political enemy. So for those who want the traditional Chinese philosophical Taoist version I would recommend finding a teacher who has decades at least of experience and it preferably trained in China or a country which has embraced traditional Chinese culture for hundreds or thousand of years like Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. The Shaolin “temple” is the historic center where Zen Buddhism originated and is probably the most elite training center of any of the Chinese meditations or marital arts traditions. Often times the kind of Qigong you want is likely the medical qigong.

The best advice for starting anything new including Qigong (and the same applies to Tai Chi as well) is to research it well, find a well trained and respected instructor, listen to their advise and start out slowly. If you run into problems seek advice from the instructor. Qi gong is much easier to do than Tai Chi and specifically targets the organs. It is a combination of breathing, awareness of your body and surroundings and simple physical movements much like stretching and breathing deeply. It can help tremendously with pain, insomnia, depression, and related symptoms or diseases.

It will never be fully proved by science much as religion will never be either because they are different disciplines. It is kind of like trying to prove that you are in pain or trying to prove that literature is good. It is not good to do if you have psychosis or you are so worried about it because the whole point is to relax you.