Equilibrium vs. Chaos
February 24, 2007
I have being going through a hurtful lumbalgia and a bothersome flu these days, which has been coincidental with my stoppage in posting, and that circumstance made me consider how important is equilibrium in everything which exists.
As we all know the universe must be perfectly balanced if we do not want that chaos prevails and everything returns to its origins, which I do not believe existed in material terms. We have been seeing for a number of years now, how the powerful of the Earth have been sending alien objects to the outer space, how they have dared to set foot on the moon, and how a series of artificial satellites are orbiting us continuously, a proof of unbalanced morality in our leaders, or is it that they know that what they are doing to our planet is not within the canons of a balanced existence and want to see what effects it could cause the Earth? Recently China has launched a missile to destroy one of its old satellites in space. The test was successful, the Chinese say. I wonder whether this test together with the rest of man-made junk material that is lost up there will not with time contribute to cause imbalance in the Universe, a universe which is ruled by unwritten laws of equilibrium.
The same thing happens with our planet, if the Earth is not perfectly balanced, if its necessary elements are not present in their exact quantity and quality then the Earth will start suffering chaos in a lesser measure that may be increased if the imbalance persists. This is what has happened with pollution, the greenhouse effect and the ozone layer. It is imperative that all the elements be brought again to a perfect equilibrium if we want to live in a durable place for us and our descendants.
Everything depends on equilibrium: wealth and poverty, war and peace, happiness and unhappiness, health, etc.
If the distribution of richness in the world is not balanced, then we have that while some have a superabundance of welfare, others, the most, have to content themselves with the crumbs that fall from the table. And even some without those miserable crumbs. Which in turn will bring delinquency, unrest and unhappiness. If a country has got superabundant quantities of a particular resource, then it is the object of envy on the part of others that have not. This envy eventually leads to war. As we are so much used to of late. This, however, is not due to the fact that the former has superabundance, it is due to the fact that the latter “want” that superabundance, because resources imply power. Again the necessary balance is not sought.
We human beings, people who are born and die, must also have all the ingredients to keep us balanced. The necessary food, the necessary vitamins, the necessary minerals, etc., but, mind you, never exceeding or lacking in quantity and quality, otherwise the imbalance would be provoked with fatal consequences if it is not redressed rightaway.
All of us should seek equilibrium in everything, otherwise nothing but chaos will wait for us at the other end of the tunnel.
Political, Human, Environmental Respect 
Wonderful post Jose. I am sorry to hear that you are under the weather. By the sounds of this well thought out post it seems your better half is reclaiming its former place of balance.
The great weakness – Greed- runs through your theme.
Greed is a tricky one. Until most feel they have what they want or need most will feel greed of some sort. The question, I guess, is what defines want and need? What do we all need? Individuals living in the West seem to have a much different idea of need then those living in the East.
David Susuki’s book, Life in the Balance, is a wonderful read regarding the earth’s bio system.
Havelock Ellis wrote a book called “The Dance of Life”, expounding the importance of balance and equilibrium in all things. He points out that in all great art its successful performance looks effortless and easily graceful, whereas it is in fact the end-product of much disciplined and even painful study and effort, as every true artist knows.
Ellis was, of course, the great pioneer of sexual psychology – head and shoulders above Freud, in my opinion. He once wrote: “It has often been supposed that my views of love are loose and easy, but it is a damnable lie. I do say that life is a dance and that there is in it an infinite flexibility, but I also say that it is infinitely difficult, and that the dancer may always expect to find his slippers full of blood. There has usually been blood in my slippers.”
Thanks for this evocative post, Jose.
Correction- that David Suzuki book I mentioned is titled The Sacred Balance’, not Life in the Balance. Sorry!
anticant-
The point you made here: “He points out that in all great art its successful performance looks effortless and easily graceful, whereas it is in fact the end-product of much disciplined and even painful study and effort, as every true artist knows.”
I agree with the discipline part of this theory. But there is an option to avoid the pain.
A seasoned individual or a late bloomer can have quite a difficult and bloody time finding that “Sacred Balance”. Life long struggles full of pain, heart ache and depression are a result of this hunt for balance and unfortunately most of the time it is never found.
But the young novice who knows little or nothing can be shown this balance by an experienced Master who has already been through the trials and tribulations. The open-minded novice willing to practice these lessons and disciplines while having them demonstrated for them can mature into a Master in a much quicker period of time.
Suffering isn’t a prerequisite for reaching true enlightenment and balance.. At least it shouldn’t have to be.
The “other” Suzuki comes to mind. No, not the motorcycle manufacturer. Schinichi Suzuki, the famous Japanese violin pedagogue, used this exact philosophy to produce some of the greatest violinists of the modern age.
Of course Suzuki is criticised for producing clones who can never experience or produce true passion and creativity in their performance because they were taught by rote. This is absurd in my opinion. Some do fall into the “technical wizard/no true understanding or passion” category. But the smart and sensitive ones learn to bring their outside sufferings into their performance and practice. This performance and practice is the state of being where one exposes their outside sufferings and absolves themselves of them. These two things, great facility and sensitivity, comprise the balance.
It is the teacher’s fault if these lessons are not learned, not the students.
Here’s a question: When does the student become ‘qualified’ to be the teacher?
There are ‘good mentors’ and ‘bad mentors’. Many today who ‘teach’ the rest of us really know almost nothing themselves of what they are teaching.
A life well lived and, as Jose says, well balanced, is a teaching tool to all who see it.
Some of the best lessons I’ve learned don’t come from people who are well known but rather from quiet people who live this kind of life. Their payment is not in fame or royalties but in inner peace/tranquility and hopefully fairly good physical health as well and the satisfaction of watching others change for the better and learn to live ‘in balance’.
Taking a cue from the article I posted here on how China is treating ‘Internet addicts’, I believe the Internet can addict us and put us out of balance. So can the news and entertainment industry’s take on the world and life, which most people use to get their own ‘take’ on things.
Maybe turning off the computer and the TV and going back to the basics of a simple life in touch with nature, animals and wholesome food is the best way to live, after all. What can we really do to change the world on any scale?
Anything CAN addict us and put us out of balance if we allow it to [There’s an excellent book about Love and Addiction]. I believe that addiction originates from choice. That isn’t to say that it can be easily cured just by willpower. But taking responsibility for the choices one has made in the past is the essential prelude to progress in healing self-awareness and new growth.
The Chinese don’t need the internet to brainwash their people. Some young relatives of mine who were recently there tell me that the guides in Tiananmen Square vehemently deny that there were ever any disturbances there, let alone a massacre. “Oh no, that is all Western propaganda and lies”, they say. But the bullet marks are still plainly visible.
‘Some do fall into the “technical wizard/no true understanding or passion” category. But the smart and sensitive ones learn to bring their outside sufferings into their performance and practice. ‘
Give me Django Reinhardt to Yngwie Malmsteen any day.
Obviously not directly comparable because of the different styles, but one falls into 1LoneRanger’s first category and the second into his second category. Guess which?.
As for Anti’s point, I don’t think ‘brainwashing’ was necessary. Simple news management at the time sufficed. Many people living in the city at the time new nothing of the ‘disturbances’.
Is that so much different from the extreme spin we have seen in UK and US regarding certain events?.
I spoke to someone recently in my home city. A free thinker, he is of Celtic ancestry and not a supporter of Brit government policy.
He was shocked to hear that a third skyscraper fell down on 9/11.
Why? He doesn’t use the Net for research and relies on the MSM.
Boldscot-
Wasn’t Djano self taught for the most part? He was a unique case in point. A savant who lived amongst practitioners. And Malmsteen was also brought up in a family of musicians. Having been so myself, it is the best and worst possibly education one can have.
I think both of these cases exhibit the “great facility and sensitivity” that embody a great and balanced practitioner. Did either of them produce great students though?
CZE-
The qualifier of great teachers is honestly embodying what they teach. Whether what they teach is good or bad is irrelevant. That is subjective.
And fame is meaningless in regard to ability or aptitude of practitioner and teacher don’t you think?
To my shame, Boldscot, I did not know “that a third skycraper fell down on 9/11”. I thought it was the ‘twin towers’, and that’s it – as well as the Pentagon of course. Please put me out of my ignorance – with references. Thanks.
I have a problem with “balance and equilibrium”.
Dr Antony Storr said once that people who appear the most balanced are often the most insane, and those who appear the most insane are often the most balanced.
When I see the English politician John Reid performing, the above statement haunts me…
I know a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but I know a little about Motivation Theories (the most well-known being Maslow’s Hierachy of Need). There is, among about 30 others, the Cognitive Dissonance Theory and the Equity Theory – which is all about seeking balance and equilibrium as a psychological need…but not always healthy….
Professor Lovelock had his Gaia Theory – which looks at the necessary balance of the natural world…and if we humans don’t get ourselves together fast, the natural world will spit us out – rather like when a foreign body gets stuck in the eye.
There’s also Chaos Theory – which I know very little about.
So, for me, equilibrium has its place in the natural order of things…but it’s a good servant but a lousy master in life.
Too many points here. Let me do discrete postings to both, rather than bore the troops with a large screed – bearing in mind that i can’t merge those two.
Yes, Django was self taught and ‘Thingmy’ was from a musical family.
My grandfather, a very interesting beast, was amongst other things, a ‘violin maker’ and all the grandchildren got lessons from age five. We rebelled.
I started guitar, sax and banjo, a few years later, under my own steam, and progressed from there. At fifteen, i even had a brief flirtation with violin again, though, too late.
Point is, you can’t force someone to appreciate. You can expose them and let them decide. My love of music comes from my parents. My dislike of my formal lessons came from there too. Doesn’t matter. I learnt from a mentor (cato sanden) years later ‘The music and nothing but the music’.
http://geobay.com/a3b0ee
CZE posed the question : ‘When does the student become ‘qualified’ to be the teacher?’ Both parties know. A balance obtains.
For a long time i taught martial arts with the hope that my students would become better than me.
To do it any other way is to degrade the art in the long run.
(In other words, if my student is 90% of me and his student is 90% of him etc etc etc .)
Not all teachers take that view – they want to keep the ‘final secret’ under control. No point or practicality there.
Point is, if the student has been taught correctly he knows when the time is right to fly by himself with his teacher clapping him on.
Richard, starting point may be :
http://www.wtc7.net/
http://geobay.com/08ba0d
I guess I subscribe somewhat to Robert Blake’s (yeah, him) philosophy of life; something like “I don’t lead, I don’t follow”. I think too many people listen too much to others who really aren’t qualified to lead and the results of what the world is today comes from that. Of course, look how Robert Blake ended up. 😉
Learning music or dance from someone, to me, is so much different than learning philosophy or how to live life from someone. Everyone (so far as I can tell) is struggling with their own ‘demons’ and never really conquers them completely. And so often the teacher is not living what they teach.
Still, I have had mentors and learned from them and benefited. The fact that they were flawed only endeared them more to me and helped me relate better to them.
I think it’s troublesome when any teacher is put up on a pedestal. It’s an impossible position to be in for any human being and, it seems to me, almost always isolates the teacher or leader (and sometimes turns them into whackos), as they attempt to keep the ‘aura’ and hide the imperfections and failures they know they too have.
Blind followers just bug me, period. Any time people don’t question anyone and everyone who is putting out information and just accept and follow, they become sheep. Of course, that’s only in the area of belief systems and philosophy and the like, not learning to play the piano.
In short….”think, man, think!”…would be something I’d love to shout to probably 90% of the people around me everyday. And they’d probably shout back “shut up and mind your own business!” 🙂
Richard, WT7 even has its own website now!!
http://wtc7.net/
‘All three skyscrapers in the complex were leveled, including WTC 7, a 47-story building on the block north of the original 6-building complex.’
There is lots of stuff about it on the Web, some of it better than others.
However, these should give you a reasonable start.
http://geobay.com/08ba0d
My point earlier was that my friend, who is very intelligent and politically aware, was dependent for his information on the crumbs of truth thrown by MSM, so feel no shame at not being aware of a small 47 floor building also being collapsed on that day.
Of course, there is an unprecedented amount of dis-information being thrown out by government but you can usually tell the difference.
For example, anyone suggesting that Elvis was responsible for the collapse is probably a psyops troll.
And on CiF in Britain, the semi-official line is that anyone who questions the government’s 9/11 story is also a Holocaust denier.
Enter The Swamp at your peril.
Enjoy.
Whatz up, Jose, are we not allowed to mention the 9/11 coverup?.
I am afraid you changed your name and the filter thought you should be moderated. That’s fixed up now. Expect no recurrences. I am moderating absolutely nothing here, I’ll have to have a look to see what happens and how that can be arranged.
Thanks, Jose, however it was only my mistake.
THIS computer had remembered my login for posting elsewhere and I was happy to leave it here – so as not to appear to monopolise the thread or bore the casual readers.
(In fact, Smialy in Polish can translate as ‘bold’ and it as my little joke – cos any of my friends would know who it is).
From this side, the posting appeared on AND off several times during the day and that was what seemed strange.
This site is a model of intelligent discussion without the need for moderation and I know your own thoughts on the matter.
Anyway, back to the subject in hand.
I think that, perhaps, Richard was pulling my leg in asking that direct question. We shall see.
What direct question was that, Boldszcot ?
‘To my shame, Boldscot, I did not know “that a third skycraper fell down on 9/11″. I thought it was the ‘twin towers’, and that’s it – as well as the Pentagon of course.’
‘Please put me out of my ignorance – with references. Thanks.’
Yes, Boldscot, there are too many unexplained circumstances in the case of the Twin Towers – I must confess I didn’t know ahything about the third building – your links, however, give ample infomation on this.
I expect some time a new revelation will come up to light and those really responsible be held to account.
I was not pulling your leg, Boldscot.
Richard, profuse apologies.
Jose, unexplained circumstances?.
That is putting it mildly.
I have very little doubt, Boldscot, that many a ‘blind eye’ was turned at high levels, so that a ‘Pearl Harbour’ was allowed to take place on 11 Sept 2001…
The line between ‘blind eye’ and ‘inside job’ is getting increasingly blurred, I would say.
And remember, ‘Operation Northwoods’ had been planned as far back as the early 60s. Kennedy had refused the final go ahead.
I would like to comment on something Boldscot said about education which I find is correct by all means. A teacher is somebody who has been entrusted with the difficult task of making their students learn at least so much as they have learnt, but their main target should be to create the “urge” to learn in them.
Pursuit of the truth – although always a slippy job – must be the foundations of teaching.
If the majority of Americans had been taught following that line, perhaps their leaders would not have dared to behave as they did before, on and after the 11 Sep 2001.
http://geobay.com/d7dc0d
‘Time Stamp Confirms BBC Reported WTC 7 Collapse 26 Minutes In Advance’
..
Doesn’t it just get murkier and murkier.
Yes, Merkin, I agree it does.
Murkier and murkier indeed…
http://mathaba.net/rss/?x=551575
And murkier still :
http://mathaba.net/rss/?x=551644
That is what we have to do – use the internet whilst we can.
Richard sent something I hadn’t seen in response to something I sent which he hadn’t seen !!!
That was the original idea of ‘The Awkward Squad’ before it got diluted.
This is the reason they are looking for further means of regulating us.
The truth can free us – but we must know the truth first.
And then?.
In passing, I should tell you that I have followed a very interesting route from Jose’s and Ranger’s to some interesting places I would never have known anything about – and all to the good.
Even following ‘I-don’t-know-piss-all’ was an education for me.
Make the most of it while you can.
Indeed, Merkin. That should be the main reason to be of the internet, all together to get the news first hand, not through the media, the almighty media which continuously mislead us.
I’m just waiting for the ‘Establishment’ backlash against the e.volution (like this)…
I sense it will come through unexpected quarters – such as the power companies…
If there is no power (eg electricity), nobody can join in the e.volution..we’ll be put in ‘survival mode’…
Vigilance is the key….and who controls the power supplies ?