Hoka Hey! Courage, Confidence, and the Battle Against Oppression

[gypsylee]

This guy, Gary Z. McGee, is one of my favourite contemporary writers who I follow (and am friends with) on Facebook and such. This is definitely not his best work but I just saw it and thought I'd share with you guys. If you're on Facebook it's well worth following "Self-Inflicted Philosophy" (Gary's page).


Here's an excerpt:

“I survived because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me.” ~ Joshua Graham

You do not need anybody’s permission to be free. You need to give yourself permission to be free, and then will yourself into doing the difficult work it takes to remain free. For this you’re going to need courage, and a lot of it. Because everything around you, the state, statists, other states, will be working against your freedom. They don’t want you free because it undermines their belief system of control.

It erodes the illusion of their legitimacy. Either that or they’re confused about what freedom means, due to state conditioning and brainwashing from a centralized hierarchical chain of command. So, it’s time to buck up, buttercup! Dig deep. Find the courage to be free despite those who wish to rule over you. Live fiercely despite the bleakness of the dark. In short: make sure your inner fire is burning brighter than the fire seeking to consume you. Then get to work. Manifest the peaceful warrior’s spirit with a “Hoka Hey!” in the face of tyranny and oppression.

https://fractalenlightenment.com/39042/issues/hoka-hey-courage-confidence-battle-oppression

[Ponder]

Much to glean - very encouraging stuff. I'm careful with how much energy is expended in soldering on, or becoming some kind of vigilantly/activist type of fight or flight ... BUT - I think there is a lot of good in this message. Not sure if that makes sense (more my issue) - but igniting the fire can be very hard for those who's time is nearly done or simply put ... do not have much left in the tank. All s - stars run out of fuel - but I guess even those that do not burn as bright as neighboring starts, still burn right up to the point of collapse.

I'll for sure check it out Gypsy ... Thanks for the share. Just reading very quickly ... despite my reservations as mentioned above ... It sounds very encouraging and hits on just how oppression works.

Edit- was a good read. TY. Sometimes the best way to win a fight is not to jump in the ring. Not sure about the part on total compliance (that really lost me - must of read it wrong) - I don't participate to current ideals at all. Skepticism ... :) I think it's pretty obvious; I got LOADS of that.

Hoka Hey!

[gypsylee]

Gary's an awesome writer and right up your alley, Ponder. He's written a heap of articles (mainly for the Fractal Enlightenment webpage) that have "spurred" me on. I don't agree with everything 100% but some of his stuff is gold.

Hoka Hey! ;)

[Dahila]

I am following him for a few years, I like Gypsy do not agree with everything but he writes beautifully and makes a lot of good points , :))

[gypsylee]

This is one of my favourites..

https://fractalenlightenment.com/32950/issues/six-signs-you-may-be-a-disaster-shaman

"You understand that we live in dark times. You realize that the stories we’ve been telling each other are unhealthy stories that too many people believe in. Indeed, the landscape of the human condition is a wasteland filled with parched souls. But, disaster is to the disaster shaman as ashes are to the Phoenix. And so from the destruction of the old, you are beginning to build the foundation of the new. You are rewriting the story into a healthier version. You have the courage to rise up out of the mass-destruction of unsustainable men and dare to become a sustainable force of nature. Art is your medium. Creativity is your vehicle. Sacred play is your power, and not even death can prevent your message from being translated."

[Ponder]

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/drink/reading-newspaper.gif (http://www.sherv.net/) Checking that out now as well.

Srry I tend to relay so much info Gypsy. I mean not to be so critical ... not at all. I am more skeptical for my own protection or more like guarded is all. I do catch myself later feeling like - "oh I'm doing it again" - Opinions Opinions and what not.

I really like this thread you have made. Making this steer for people to read up on. I love this kind of thing!!! I really do. :) Just like with D - it's things like this that I enjoy when making connections with likewise similarities. That's a few now I have read of yourself that I also gell with. I hope this makes up a little for my less than desirable traits.

OK ... enough kissing ass ... back to check out your new link. I try not to go on too much either. I promise. BUT - stimulating and challenging discussions are in need. Not just - Yea I agree & lets all get along. Whilst the latter is admirable, it's prone to hold discussions back as much as wayward debates. Finding the middle ground is much easier with you on board though Gypsy. I'll say that much.

[gypsylee]

Finding the middle ground is much easier with you on board though Gypsy. I'll say that much.

Yes, I am The Diplomat :)

[gypsylee]

Okay I've had some weird "happenings" this afternoon :rolleyes: and then looked at Facebook and saw one of Gary's posts. I seriously recommend this page for a more "spiritual" perspective on anxiety and fear. I wish there was a different word I could use so as not to put off people who might think it's "hocus pocus", charlatan, witch doctor (hi Dahila LOL) stuff. Perhaps "evolutionary" is better. You do need a bit of an open mind though and not be too atheistic/scientific (though current science such as quantum physics actually diverges with this stuff). I really don't want to argue about it though so if it's not for you please just move on :)

Anyway, here's the link and another example of his writing..

https://www.facebook.com/SelfInflictedPhilosophy/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf

“You are personally responsible for becoming more ethical than the society you grew up in.” ~Eliezer Yudkowsky

I cannot stress enough how empowering it is to be able to recondition your own preconditioning, especially in a world that is predominantly conditioned by unhealthy and unsustainable programming. The Phantom of Apathy is the mythological epitome of this programming. It is a lazy, indifferent monster wallowing in its own ennui, concerned only with maintaining and clinging to its creature comforts and makeshift happiness; a pseudo-happiness which is founded upon base, mostly unearned, pleasures that keep one entrenched and attached to a hyperreal world.

This phantom haunts anyone born into a culture that conditions its people in unhealthy, codependent/Narcissistic, and unsustainable ways of being in an otherwise healthy, interdependent cosmos. In short: the majority of us are haunted by this particularly sneaky and enculturated ghost. And that’s where it’s our turn to step up as healthy, mature, and responsible adults and take it upon ourselves to recondition the precondition, to transform ourselves from victims into warriors.

When we exorcize the Phantom of Apathy we go from being victims of the world to BEING the world. We become capable of empathy, compassion, and love. We become liberated, independent agents of an interdependent whole. In short: we become holistic. Like Vedanta said, “Undifferentiated consciousness, when differentiated, becomes the world.”

But as long as the Phantom of Apathy continues to haunt us, we will remain victims of our conditioning. This phantom can be exorcized through mindfulness meditation based in healthy detachment and taking responsibility for our actions (mind, body, and soul). Change is never easy. Changing ourselves into healthy, responsible, independent agents who represent an interdependent whole is even more difficult. But doing so can be as simple (difficult) as understanding what Meister Eckhart taught: “He who would be serene and pure needs but one thing: detachment.”

--Gary Z. McGee

:cool:

[gypsylee]

Bumping this up because I just saw another of my favourite articles by Gary on Facebook :)

https://fractalenlightenment.com/34720/culture/the-trickster-self-playing-like-youre-not-god

Excerpt:

"You are everywhere surrounded by puppets, patriots, and sycophants boiling like cow-eyed frogs in an unhealthy cultural soup. Their master is each other, perpetuating the inside-looking-out confabulation of tyranny disguised as freedom, naïve and kowtowing to the next peer-pressure masturbation, en masse; the next material-fix. They are drugged commercial-narcissi wearing suits and snorting gas through star-spangled straws while the rest of the world shrinks into dried-out wastelands."

[gypsylee]

Bumping this up because my book recommendation keeps showing on the main page and I don't really recommend it anymore lol

[Ponder]

laughing out loud.
I'm glad you bumped it! :)

[gypsylee]

Haha.. Hoka Hey!

[Boo Bass]

Bumping this up because my book recommendation keeps showing on the main page and I don't really recommend it anymore lol

Hi gypsy

Im a quarter of the way through the recommended book you retracted and finding it interesting. Even if the remainder is shite I'll listen to it through.

The second half of the Tara Brach book is much better than the first half, especially the stuff she says about forgiving yourself and everyone around you. This is especially helpful for me being surroundD by 4500 men I dont really like

[gypsylee]

Hey BB :)

Oh I'm glad you ended up finding the Tara Brach one helpful. I'm surrounded by billions of men I don't really like ;)

I just came here to post another article about courage by Gary Z McGee: https://fractalenlightenment.com/35814/issues/five-ways-to-transform-lambs-into-lions

[Boo Bass]

Hi gypsy

i read the courage article you posted. Kinda Tara Brach using different words.

Am 70 percent through the Brain book and can see now why you trashed it. Ive so far learnt some scientific info but nothing practical which isnt obvious. A lot of triggers in it too which means you need to be in a good frame of mind to read it.

I'll finish it eventually hoping to learn something new in part 3

BB

[Boo Bass]

Hi gypsy

Just finished listenimng to that book and yes, another good recommendation. Some parts caused my anxiety to spike but overall its inspiring.

All this neuroscientific stuff is new. It makes me realise how amazing Claire Weekes was to get it so right so ahead of her time.

[Boo Bass]

What was the book that you recommended but got stolen in the post? something to do with acceptance I think

[gypsylee]

What was the book that you recommended but got stolen in the post? something to do with acceptance I think

That wasn't me.. I get my books on iBooks and Kindle :)

There's the Ruby Wax books on mindfulness though. I've been reading fiction mostly so I have a few of those to recommend if you're interested.