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.

 

 

Background

The world is understood and organised in a way that gives suffering and tiredness. This is unsatisfactory. We suppose that we are not satisfied because we are not active enough. We have a constant feeling that we should have more of suffering and tiredness in order to make the world better. So we are stuck in a trap.

The solution for avoiding suffering and tiredness is understanding of mind as compared to matter.

The society of suffering and tiredness is based on a material world view. It is the traditional world view. We used to have no alternative. But there is an alternative. It is a world view based on mind.

If we accept the mind world view, we can see mateial factors in a new way. Problems can be solved. Suffering and tiredness can be avoided.

The knowledge of the mind based world view is not new. It is thousands of years old. But it has been known only by very few. But these days the knowledge spreads all over the world to all who are interested.

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Originally uploaded by KurtQ