Where is the front?

The map over Israel and its neighboring region is complicated, and so is the political conflict in the area. If there is a war, where is the front line?

The answer is: In the USA. That is where the front line in the Middle East conflict is found.

If the US administration wants some kind of peace settlement around Israel, the first task is to get an agreement among the many supporters of the Israeli cause in USA and elsewhere.

The question is not that difficult. The first one is about the existence of the state of Israel. Is this existence questioned? No, absolute not. Israel will remain. So far so good.

Next question: Is it best for Israel to have fixed or fluid borders? Fluid borders means that an informal expansion can take place in the form of settlements on occupied territories.

This question is also quite simple. Would it be correct for Mexico to have a fluid border to USA and build settlements in Texas? No, that would not be correct. So then that issue is decided.

It should be easy for the many friends of Israel in USA to support the state of Israel as it is democratic and also a good example for the other nations in the region when it comes to peaceful cooperation, mutual progress and prosperity.

Do not steal

The financial crisis that erupted in 2008 caused a gigantic reshuffle of values. If we did not believe in the relativity of ownership before, we saw it demonstrated here.

One of the oldest ethical rules is "Do not steal". We can imagine it was an important rule a thousand years ago when material goods was scarce. A knife was probably very valuable.

But what about today? Is the rule still relevant? The price of a knife might be high one day, but the next day it is on sale. One day the bank has these billions and billions of dollars, the next day the computer screen shows other numbers.

The last some 20 years more individuals have become rich than ever before in human history. The big nations of India, China and Brazil are following the smaller nations like Taiwan and Hong Kong.

At the same time many remain in relative poverty, also within China, India and Brazil.

The principle for becoming rich is simple. By making others rich you get rich yourself. Bill Gates got rich by helping millions and millions of people around the world to be more or less rich with the help of Microsoft programs. In the financial sector, many have become rich by helping others invest their money.

When the sub prime loans in USA derailed and started making people poor and even homeless, the financial crisis snowballed.

So the conclusion is quite obvious: We get rich by helping others to be rich, and we get poor by making others poor. Stealing is still a bad thing.

The Afghanistan solution

There is no military solution for Afghanistan. The only solution is on mind level.

The present mind set for Afghanistan is not good. How will the minds involved change?

In a practical situation like this, it is matter of minds and paradigms.

The basic model for the workings of a mind is that new information is related to old information and old experiences in the light of ambitions and intentions for the future.

The present situation is very messy. New information is very contradictory. On one side there is information from the outside world of peace and progress. On the other side it is a complex information from inside Afghanistan about violence, corruption, drug money and different religious ideas and also attempts to create a democratic, modern society with equal rights.

This mess is related to old knowledge and experiences, which are also very messy. There is a history of disrupted education, disrupted national structures, desperate religious fighting and very contradictory measures done now and then by foreign powers from Soviet to USA, from Pakistan to UN.

All this is related to an ideal about the future of prosperity and power, expressed in a way that fits history, family and the local community.

So the situation is impossible. It is much worse than it was for Germany and Japan after world war two. The countries were devastated, but they had a tradition of understanding and working that could be used effectively more or less immediately.

The basis for Afghanistan would be the same as for all other nations, a paradigm about the power structures. Within such a paradigm, the new society could develop.

These days it is a fight about the paradigm with weapons and suicide attacks, but the main factor is the understanding. If the democratic alternative is understood and anchored in the minds of the population, the violence becomes just hostile and without lasting effect.

So Afghanistan needs a new story, a story about how the activities of the many citizens is structured in a way that makes the foreign troops obsolete and where religion is integrated in a way that gives freedom also to women.

Why?

This blog has been resting for some time. I have been concentrating on the mindminding site.

This blog is called awareness awareness. Why be aware of our awareness?

The basic idea is this: The ordinary way to react is thought-words-actions-external manifestation. First we have an idea. Then we talk about it. Then we start to act. Then it is manifested out there.

It is very nice to take part in this ordinary process. For example, the original idea is to build a house. It is nice to plan for a new house. It is nice to talk about it. It is nice to arrange for it to be built. It is nice to see it there as a real house.

So we are aware of very much but not of the original awareness. The one behind all this activity.

This site is inspired by Mahayana Buddhism. It is an old and established tradition. One of the schools of thought in this tradition is called Madhyamaka prasangika. It analyses a description of reality which rests heavily on the concept of mind.

For many individuals, mind is not something that can be analysed. The brain is resistant. But for more and more individuals the brain is opening up. So the time works for Madhyamaka prasangika.

Process

 
Reality is a process, but our brain wants it to be static. So we have this natural conflict within ourselves.

 

The brain does not work in the same way for all of us or in all situations. Every teacher knows that. The pupils are different. These days there are also a number of diagnoses like ADHD and damp describing how the brain works.

 

If we understand reality as the flow it is, we accept temporary measures as good even if they are not perfect in a static perspective. We eat a  hamburger rather then go to a restaurant for a long lunch.

 

For a brain that understands reality as static the world is full of "musts". The clothes in the closets "must" be in perfect order. The bed "must" be made perfectly. The pencils on the desk "must" be perfectly arranged.

 

Sometimes, as at Christmas time, the number of musts increase to the extreme; from buying presents to decorating the home including the Christmas tree to making all the food as must be.

 

This is no problem as long as it is not an obsession or as long as it leaves others alone.