Comments for Happy Mortal

Comment on February Music is… by transom

transom — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:29:34 +0000

Doing dishes, listening to the ‘Home’ song pebble dedicated to me.

What?

Crying softly? Me?

No!

………………………………………………..

Comment on Killer Instinct by willwindow

willwindow — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:20:10 +0000

Really appreciate the connection between self-violence and violence directed toward others. Chewing on it.

Comment on Killer Instinct by petvisionquest

petvisionquest — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:34:33 +0000

Difficult! Well, though you still may take this direction for another blog, I have been noticing a huge correlation between violence to self and violence to outside of self. I have felt that when I am most at peace with my own existence, I have a much gentler natural perspective towards the world– I notice it most in my reactions, like how I might react when someone cuts me off while driving. I am much less likely to get upset at “them,” because I think getting upset at “them” is really just projecting or channeling something else from within and using “them” as an outlet for that. I have been trying to imagine treating myself as I would treat someone I really care about and love (strange that this is foreign to so many). It’s easy to be our own worst enemies and I think this is the source of a lot of different types of violence.
I have also been trying to (reasonably) remove the word “hate” from my vocabulary.

Comment on Killer Instinct by willwindow

willwindow — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:49:49 +0000

You bring me back around to the hard questions! Nice. Personally, I am still trying to work out which types of violence are OK. One default position that I have is that exploitation by a dominant party is not OK.

Comment on Killer Instinct by pebble

pebble — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:05:02 +0000

I love the way you put this…But to be aware of the idea is to be confronted with the concept, and to consider our impact on each other and the rest of the living realm could do us much good.

While it seems very unlikely that we can live a life without ever harming anything else, Is it possible to live a life without malicious behavior? Or perhaps to live a life without killing or harming ideas (like british government)?

I’m going to ask you and willwindow the same question, how do you personally apply the idea of non-violence in your life?

Comment on Killer Instinct by pebble

pebble — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:59:43 +0000

I love where you guys are taking this. These are exactly the kind of things transom and I are discussing in regards to non-violence right now.

I agree with you willwindow, we often think of retributive violence when we mention violence, I would also add the concept of violence to gain (war for world power, killing to eat or wear fur) as one of our most common narratives.

What I love is when we add in the idea of violence to self. Perhaps I will write another blog about that. It kind of shoots us off in a different direction.

However, let’s approach the conversation with the attitude that it is impossible to live a non-violent life (which I agree with). How do we decide what violence is okay? How about you personally?

Comment on Killer Instinct by willwindow

willwindow — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:25:30 +0000

Totally agree about the power of considering non-violence. Part of the trouble (I think) with violence is that we so frequently construct and imbibe the same narratives about violence. I’m thinking specifically of retributive violence (e.g. He killed my kids so now I am going to chop him into bits, or, the bully just needed a good punch to the face). We need new narrative spaces from which to draw imaginative tropes, or vice versa, so that we can begin to change certain patterns of violence.

I brought up Ghandi, partly because I think systemic violence frequently goes unnoticed. For instance, what about the economic violence carried out by corporations who force suppliers to lower prices, and so encourage dependency on cheap labor?

Comment on Killer Instinct by petvisionquest

petvisionquest — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:36:29 +0000

It seems violence can be looked at very differently by different people. Some would say violence means malicious behavior, some would say it’s anything that could harm anything else. Or maybe it can even be more abstract (willwindow’s reference to Ghandi against the British).
I love this idea of considering non-violence. I agree with willwindow– there is no non-violent way to live. But to be aware of the idea is to be confronted with the concept, and to consider our impact on each other and the rest of the living realm could do us much good.

Comment on Killer Instinct by willwindow

willwindow — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:08:56 +0000

I like the idea that moral restraints turn reaction into action. I’d want to add that they do not do so automatically. The moral codes that we inherit from the societies in which we live can still produce reactive behaviors. They can have as much control over a person’s doings as “natural instincts”. It’s not until we have consciously seized upon codes that we wish to live by (as much as is possible) that we can turn reaction into action.

To me, there is no such thin as a non-violent life. It is a matter of deciding (and inheriting) which types of violence one wishes to perpetrate. We talk about physical violence and emotional violence. But why stop there? Ghandi enacted great violence against British systems in India.

Comment on Killer Instinct by transom

transom — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:55:08 +0000

I would say that the moral restraints are just that: restraints. They are interrupts that change reaction into action. So living nonviolently would mean trying to take the least violent path through a given situation. (Remembering to include nonviolence to yourself!)