Truth

Die Early On To Live A Full Life

Garth Beyer

Death is meant to be superfluous, but it’s not. It’s important, it’s vital, I may even go so far as to say that it’s the meat-and-potatoes of your mom’s cooking – no meal is complete without meat-and-potatoes.

Death is an angel in disguise, a miracle worker’s shadow, god’s secret power, the greatest treasure in all the world, it is a stronger truth bearer than the greek mythological messenger, Iris.

Death has a message of its own. This message is one that should never need to be delivered but must. This message, once delivered, forces you to challenge every theory you have, it makes analyze your worldview, and it eliminates your perception of risk which is made by the amygdala.

Hundreds of thousands of cancer patients get this message every week. The message is that they only have three months to live. Or six weeks. Or twenty days. And just like that, life begins for them. Honestly. Passionately. Truthfully begins.

Jim Rohn says the following in his book The Seasons Of Life,

“It’s when a human, with sufficient disgust, desire, and determination to change his life finally steps up to the bar of human justice and shouts for all the world to hear, ‘I have had it with defeat and humiliation, and I will tolerate it not longer.’ That is when time, fate and circumstances call a hasty conference, and all three wearily agree, ‘We had best step aside, because we are powerless to stop that kind of resolve.'”

Must you die early on to live a full life? A life which uses your muse, passion, and creativity as the foundation. A life absent of fear, regret, self-degradation and hate. A life that remains intolerant to failure, set-backs, or humiliation. Must we die early on to live that life?

This is not a rhetorical question. The answer is yes. We really must die early on to live a full life.

Contrary to belief, terminal cancer patients are not the only ones who are lucky enough to die early on and live a full life. A rare headcount of people are lucky enough to die early. For some people it takes half of their lives to die and that only leaves half a life left to live, really live. For most, people never die until they are much too old to live. That is the death of death.

You’re likely confused, so let me elaborate. The death in which I write about is the death of the ego. When a person is diagnosed with terminal cancer, or hits rock bottom in life from drugs and alcohol, or gives so much love to one person and then that person leaves them, there is a shift in the psyche of that person. That shift is the death of their ego.

Upon their death, they question everything: tradition, their fears, their relationships, their work, their ethic, their personality… to discover what truly matters and to live a full passionate life.

The only thing I don’t know then is whether the miracle is being told you will die soon or the fact that after you are told, the cancer goes into remission, the addict never touches a drug again, the alcoholic never drinks, and the lover begins to love themself as much as they loved the other?

 

Stay Positive & Diagnose Yourself

Garth E. Beyer

A Little History Of The World

Garth Beyer

In 4th grade, I wanted to be a History teacher. That is, until I got a C in my social studies class. Not that great of a start. Although I either Aced or got a B in all History related classes since then, I never enjoyed it for two reasons.

The first is that all the history school teaches is memorization of dates, places, names. That’s it.

The second is that as I grew I thought, why are we so focused on finding out who the step-brother of a churchgoer was and what they ate each day? Why aren’t we focusing on the future? Sure you can learn a lot from the past that can help in the present and future but is that what we are teaching and focusing on when it comes to history? What happens when we find out everything from history and pre-history (no longer making there such a thing as pre-history)? Will we then finally focus on the future, or wont there be one by then?

Nevertheless, this book was given to me and I’ve been on a reading spell to read all the books on my shelf before I move. So with that, let’s start this book regurgitation!

– I know this is sort of trivia, but I never actually knew how each day of the week was named. You will find the answer in this book. (or Google)

– Gombrich explains the difference between history and pre-history. I think pre-history is hilarious. All we can do is “act” like we know what happened. But we don’t and I’m unsure if we ever will. Afterall, nor am I sure that we should be enlightened with that information.

– I had a good laugh when I finally made the connection of why the language teaching software, Rosetta Stone, is called that. *sigh*

– What was also mentally stimulating was understanding where the original alphabet, reading and writing was created. The Phoenicians are the ones who established them and the place in which they expanded was in the marketplace. The Phoenicians were merchants and marketers!

– What I loved about the Greeks and Athenians was that they came up with something new every year, they were always creating and everything was always changing. If you think you have trouble keeping up with the technological advancements now, try living back then!

– And guess where all this change was brought and transferred at? The marketplace! Makes you wonder if in this consumerism world that is so badly reputed, is actually benefiting us. Afterall, it’s in the marketplace that  ideas, painting, sculpture, architecture, plays, poetry, inventions, experiments, discussions and arguments took place.

– “While the Spartans only ever thought about fighting fit, ready to crush any who created an uprise and protect themselves so that they may stay liberated. The Athenians took a similar hard strategy to life. They weren’t looking for an easy, comfortable life, but one which had meaning. A life of which something remained after one’s death. Something of benefit to those who came after.” (Pg 46)

This is powerful, the change and improvements in life were just that because of the previous generations efforts to make it so. Something we need to consider and take more seriously? I think so.

– The Greeks conquered everything. Then, of course – just like every other culture – they were eventually defeated. But in this defeat, they decided to conquer people in a different way, the alternative to war: knowledge.

A similar transition we must take. We have tried to conquer everything and rule through politics but war has shifted what politics means. A rebirth of education can change this and we can again begin to think of politics as a trustworthy answer like the Greeks once had.

Note: If you haven’t noticed my point. I’m relaying history in the way it should be taught, with the theme of improving the now, the present and quite possibly even the future. So far, no names, no dates and no places. Cool huh?

– I never heard of this term: Pyrrhic Victory. But I’m going to find a way to use it. It means that you won but at too great of a cost.

– The Americans fight to the bottom was a Pyrrhic Victory. (Find a way to use Pyrrhic Victory, Check.)

– Another awesome piece of “trivia”. Vandals were a tribe that ravaged Rome and insisted in the downfall of any and every other tribe. They were terrible. That is where we get the term Vandalism, which is actually charity work when compared to the type of destruction the Vandals actually implemented.

– “When people take sides they are usually unfair” (Pg 134)

– Paris has so much more history than I imagined and more than any movie or book can relate! Especially in the time of enlightenment. No matter what anyone says, and I know it, and I haven’t even been to Paris, but there’s something thought-provikingly radiant about the city. It’s as if the historic fumes of the enlightened still travel through the air to inspire artists of all kinds from all over the world who go to visit Paris. I can just imagine…

– “Citizens were excluded from politics, which suited many of them very well.” (Pg 240)

– “The history of all the inventions that followed is not as simple as you might think. In most cases they began with an idea. This idea led to experiments and trials, after which it was often abandoned, only to be picked up again later, perhaps by somebody else. it was only when a person came along who had the determination and persistence to carry the idea through to its conclusion, and make it generally useful, that that person became known as the ‘inventor'” (Pg 241)

The way I see the world, is that every idea is truly unfinished. There isn’t a tower in the world that you can’t put one more block onto and there’s not one single idea that you can’t find a way to add to. That is all creativity is: playing off a million other ideas and inventions to create something new. It’s the alchemy of the world.

– I’m going to be socialist for a moment. In the factory days people had the opportunity to declare that they wanted to work no more than 11 hours a day and get 2 loaves of bread for them and 2 for their family. If no one was willing to work for cheap or give up bread, then they would have been treated equal. Instead they raced to the bottom.

We have the chance yet again to unite and say we want a school that matters and will not accept anything less. If you agree, I hope you come back at the beginning of August to get your copy of my eBook Start Schooling Dreams.

– Now, I like to spoil movies. I love it actually. I always ever say that “Everybody dies”. Of course that doesn’t actually happen because it would make one extremely pointless movie.

Well, I’m going to spoil the truth of this book, of history. Everybody dies. Truly, they do. In between everything I regurgitated here, there was death. Sorry.

– What I admire about Gombrich is that he ended this book with the simple action to “hope for a better future.”

 

Stay Positive & Act On That Hope

Garth E. Beyer

Kabir: Breath Inside The Breath

Garth Beyer

The 37th Name of Allah

Friend, hope for the Guest while you are alive. Jump into experience while you are alive! Think… and think… while you are alive. What you call “salvation” belongs to the time before death.

If you don’t break your rope while you are alive, do you think ghosts will do it after?

The idea that the soul will join with the ecstatic just because the body is rotten — that is all fantasy. What is found now is found then. If you find nothing now, you will simply end up with an apartment in the City of Death. If you make love with the Divine now, in the next life you will have the face of satisfied desire.

So plunge into the truth, find out who the Teacher is, believe in the Great Sound! (Bly)

The marvelous work of Kabir was introduced into my life this past summer while I was reading a book of assorted poems. While I was an extreme fan of Kabir’s masterpieces, I wanted to know more about how he came to be the poet I am so fond of. As a poet, I know that to best understand a writer’s poetry, you must understand the writer. While poetry has been one of the highlights in class, I decided it would be beneficial to explore a specific poet in the time of the Bhakti movement (Argis). I believe the knowledge gained from the learning adventure of Kabir’s mystic life, will give a better understanding of our recent study of the Islamic World. Kabir offers deep but simple philosophies about life and the Divine. After recognizing the life of Kabir, I appreciated his work even more and feel as though I have been enlightened twice from each poem I read. While I discuss Kabir’s life from a few different sources, I will be making connections to the current study of the Islamic World and quite possibly ancient Asian poetry from class.

To begin, some say he was the son of a Brahman widow and others that he was of virgin birth. The only known fact is that he was brought up in a family of Muslim weavers in India, which is the main source of his reference as “Poet, Saint, and Weaver of Medieval India” (Life Story). Immediately, one is shrouded with mystery of his birth. From the beginning of his life we can make connections to an idea that he may have been as great and saintly as Jesus, having been giving birth by a virgin. It is also possible that I have read the saying that, the whole of Indian philosophy is reflected in the warp and weft of the loom, because of Kabir. “But early in his life Kabir became a disciple of the Hindu Bhakti saint Ramananda. It was unusual for a Hindu teacher to accept a Muslim student, but tradition says the young Kabir found a creative way to overcome all objections” (Granger). Growing up Kabir was referred to as the servant of humanity and thus a servant of divinity (Colors of India). I deem this reference as one that may be used to label Kabir a prophet of the combination of the divine and humanity. This concept makes me think of the Confucius term of Ren. “He was a man of principles and practiced what he preached” (Colors of India). Kabir acknowledged and celebrated the Divine everywhere and focused on bringing the truth to all. This is an example of a connection that could be made here to Confucius. Confucius focused on bringing the truth to all of his followers and the cities he travelled to. Kabir gives this a twist and involves God into the truth. In addition, just as Confucius did not write anything down, Kabir was almost completely illiterate (Kabir). Throughout his life Kabir preached and worked as a weaver in the neighborhood of Benares (Argis).

Before long, Kabir played the role of a teacher and social reformer by the medium of his writings, which mainly consisted of the two line verses called Dohas (Colors of India). A beauty of Kabir’s poetry is that he picks up situations that surround our daily lives. It represents a synthesis of Hindu and Muslim concepts. “From Hinduism he accepts the concept of reincarnation and the law of Karma. From Islam he takes the affirmation of the single god and the rejection of caste system and idolatry” (Life Story). He also had a strong belief in Vedanta, Sufism, Vaishnavism and Nath sampradaya traditions (Colors of India). So unlike other great thinkers, Kabir has experience in many different cultures and religions. According to Kabir, all life is an interaction of two spiritual values. “One is the personal soul (Jivatma) and the other is God (Paramatma). It is Kabir’s view that salvation is the process of bringing into union these two divine principles” (Life Story). Thus, even today, Kabir’s poetry is relevant and helpful in guiding and regulating our lives, in both social and spiritual context (Krishan). He had a strong faith in the concept of oneness of God and this was expressed through his basic idea that whether you chant the name of Hindu God or Muslim God, the fact is that there is only one God who is the creator of this beautiful world (Colors of India). This idea has been expressed in class when we noted that Allah and God are the same. The major three religions are all worshiping the same God. While it is clear from Kabir’s background that Hinduism, Islam, and even some Christianity are mixed into his teachings, I cannot help but notice a hint of Buddhism. In fact, it is common knowledge that Buddhism originated in India where Kabir grew up. Through reading some of Kabir’s poetry, the eight elements of the Eight-Fold Path can be noticed. Kabir always offers an enlightening idea about right action, effort, livelihood, meditation, mindfulness, motives, speech, and understanding. Kabir touches the soul, the conscience, the sense of awareness and the vitality of existence in a manner that is unequalled in both simplicity and style (Life Style

Lastly, the belief that six hundred years ago Kabir was born in India in 1398 AD is questionable. He lived for 120 years and is said to have relinquished his body in 1518 (Argis). He died at Maghar and immediately dispute arose about the rights to his remains by Hindus and Mohammedans. “While they argued, Kabir himself appeared and made them raise the cloth which covered his corpse and the body had vanished and left a heap of flowers to occupy its place. Half of these were burnt after the Hindu custom at a spot now known as kablr Chaura in Benares, and the rest were buried at Maghar” (Argis). A person can understand that Kabir had a special spiritual power just by learning about his birth and death. While in his life, “Kabir openly criticized all sects and gave a new direction to the Indian philosophy due to his straight forward approach that has a universal appeal. It is for this reason that Kabir is held in high esteem all over the world” (Krishan). It is clear that to label Kabir a worldwide Guru is not an over exaggeration. The followers of Kabir, known as Kabir panthis, are estimated to be around 9,600,000 worldwide (Kabir). Kabir’s name is actually the 37th name of Allah: Al-Kabir, meaning The Greatness (Al-Halveti). We learn from Kabir as we learned early in class that poetry is not a luxury. Kabir uses poetry as his voice, giving language and structure to everyone’s experiences, offering them the power to decline ignorant beliefs or hold close divine values. In response to the opening lines of this paper, Kabir says “When the Guest is being searched for, it is the intensity of the longing for the Guest that does all the work. Look at me, and you will see a slave of that intensity” (Bly)

– Garth E. Beyer

Works Cited

Al-Halveti, Tosun Bayrak Al-Jerrahi. “The Most Beautiful Names of Allah.” The Threshold Society & The Mevlevi Order. 1985. Web. 10 May 2011. <http://www.sufism.org/society/asma/>.

Argis, Ali. “Kabir Presented in Philosophy Section.” Newsfinder E-magazine: A Literary Favour   to World Culture. 24 May 2003. Web. 09 May 2011.     <http://www.newsfinder.org/site/more/kabir/>.

Bly, Robert. “The Heart of the Matter: A Six Pack of Kabir.” Creativity, Innovation, Team            Building, Leadership, Brainstorming, Idea Champions. 19 Nov. 2009. Web. 09 May             2011.             <http://www.ideachampions.com/heart/archives/2009/11/a_six_pack_of_k_1.shtml>.

Granger, Ivan M. “Kabir : Poems and Biography.” Poetry Chaikhana – Sacred Poetry from            Around the World: Sufi Poetry, Zen Poetry, Hindu Poetry, Buddhist Poetry, Christian   Poetry, Yoga Poetry. 2002. Web. 09 May 2011. <http://www.poetry-   chaikhana.com/K/Kabir/>.

“Kabir.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 24 Apr. 2011. Web. 09 May 2011.             <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabir>.

“Kabir – Kabir Biography – Sant Kabir Life History – Story of Kabir Das – Facts about Saint          Kabirdas.” Colors of India – All Aspects of Indian Culture People & Civilization. Colors           of India. Web. 09 May 2011. <http://www.thecolorsofindia.com/kabir/index.html>.

Krishan, Rajender. “The Mystic Poet.” Boloji.com – A Study in Diversity – News, Views, Analysis, Literature, Poetry, Features – Express Yourself. Sept. 1999. Web. 09 May 2011.           <http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content>.

“The Biography of Kabir – Life Story.” PoemHunter.Com – Thousands of Poems and Poets..         Poetry Search Engine. PoemHunter, 18 Aug. 2009. Web. 09 May 2011.     <http://www.poemhunter.com/kabir/biography/>.

You Get More Than One First Impression

Garth Beyer

Cliché’s are phrases that are so commonly used that they have lost their originality. Regardless, cliché’s are created because of the truthfulness of them and their ability to be used negligent of where you are. “You only get one first impression” used to be a cliché’. It used to be a nationwide truth. This cliché’ is now deceased. Whether you are aware of it yet or not,

You get more than one first impression.

It is hard to believe that people thought they could not change others’ original judgements of them. We have all evolved since the days the cliché’ was originated. We know each other on a deeper level and understand that each of us have our own lives that we may be having trouble with at the time. A first impression is appropriately defined as the first consideration or judgement one person has on another. That is how it is truly defined, yet those who still live by the original cliché’ define a first impression as the first time that a person meets.

Following the correct definition, it would be universally correct to say that you have a first impression each time you see someone, whether it is your first time meeting them or 100th.

While I agree that how you look, your behaviors, and actions create the first judgement on you when you first meet someone, your true first impression is how the conversation or meeting with the person will go. You have the ability to make a new first impression with each meeting by going in with a positive attitude, an open conscious, and the willingness to help the other person.

Stay Positive and Impressionable

Garth E. Beyer

The photo is of me participating in a Live Radio Talk Show about the Running Start Program in Belvidere, Illinois. Though I have met the other people I talked with previously, I had the opportunity to make a first impression that I was prepared to do the talk show. I was optimistic and energized to take part in the talk show and socialize.