Note to Self//6 P(R)

Six of Pentacles (R) - If you are experiencing an unsatisfactory situation - accept your feelings. Feelings of insecurity are created when you are not recognized for the hard work that you produce or when a stable, but basically unequal and unsatisfying situation has been disrupted. Feelings of insecurity result in dissatisfaction as you begin to think that things are unfair and your prosperity is threatened.

Any relationship is based on the dynamics between those who have and those who don't. Doling out attentions, promises, "sexual favors" or finances can be a manipulative means of keeping people bound to you. You are now learning to give with no conditions, according to your ability and to receive what is freely given you - for only then will you find true stability and security in your relationships. When success is measured in terms of what you give - everyone shares in it. If success is measured in terms of what you get, you will always be chained to the need for more. Release your defensive attitude.

There is an indication that your situation - emotionally or economically dominates you - giving you very little, but just enough to keep you from looking for something else. Analyze your situation very carefully now. Does your job give small material benefits with little satisfaction or chance for improvement? Are you involved in an unhappy, yet comfortable relationship? Do you feel your situation is oppressed, yet find that you do not want to endanger what little security you do have?

In situations like these - nothing is ever truly reconciled - the situation maintains balance and just keeps going. Can you show generosity and give spontaneously or do find that you measure out what you think you can afford to loose and give only what you will not miss? Do you find that you relate easily to others - while always hold back your deepest feelings and allowing yourself to accept only limited "gifts" from others? Does the display of strong emotions embarrass or scare you? Do you find that you place an offer of help in the category of "charity" and give people only what you "think" they are able to receive - unconsciously measuring out your giving according to what other people expect from you - always trying to avoid making yourself or another person uncomfortable?

You are challenged now to give more freely - to share from the heart and stop measuring out what you feel you can afford to loose. Release this "your win is my loss" attitude. Have the courage to continue the process you have started - it will result in a freer, more equal situation. Place yourself in the position to receive and stop cutting yourself off spiritually. Success is achieved through disciplined, step-by-step procedures - remaining open and flexible to opportunities that are presented. It is attainable as a result of following that which has heart and meaning in your life. Stay in your authenticity and truth now. Organize your communication so that context and timing are all aligned and put consistent energy into your life situations.

Distortion - giving too much or too little...or receiving too much or too little. Things like bribery, use of favors for expected gain, generosity to a fault. One cannot give beyond one's means, however nobel the motivations. We can share only what we have - beyond that, we are obligating someone else's resources without their permission. Lower emotions clouding the physical.

Questions to Answer: With whom are you sharing your prosperity, resources or abilities? How and to whom are you mentor, advisor or patron? How are you sharing your wealth of money, talent and information? What do you have to give that others need? How are you managing your time? What and from whom do you receive?

Snow Day Mix

OSHO//Accept Your Sadness

First be one with yourself. 
And then the second step is: be one with existence. 
The second is easy. The first has become difficult because of so much conditioning, so much education, and so many civilizing efforts. The first has become difficult.

If you have taken the first step of just accepting yourself and loving yourself as you are, moment to moment.... For example, you are sad. This moment you are sad. Your whole conditioning says to you “You should not be sad. This is bad. You should not be sad. You have to be happy.” Now the division, now the problem.

You are sad: that is the truth of this moment.

And your conditioning, your mind says, “You should not be like this, you have to be happy. Smile! What will people think of you?”

When you are sad, accept the sadness: this is you. 
Don’t say, “I am sad.” Don’t say that sadness is something separate from you. Simply say, “I am sadness. This moment, I am sadness.”

Live your sadness in total authenticity.

And you will be surprised that a miraculous door opens in your being. If you can live your sadness with no image of being happy, you become happy immediately, because the division disappears. There is no division any more. “I am sadness” and there is no question of any ideal to be anything else. So there is no effort, no conflict. “I am simply this” and there is relaxation. And in that relaxation is grace, and in that relaxation is joy. 

All psychological pain exists only because you are divided. Pain means division. and bliss means no-division. It will look paradoxical to you: if one is sad, accepting one’s sadness how can one become joyous? It will look paradoxical, but it is so. Try it.

You are the way you are: accept it with joy, with gratitude.

Suddenly a harmony will be felt. The two selves in you, the ideal self and the real self, will not be there to fight any more. They will meet and merge into one.

It is not really sadness that gives you pain. It is the interpretation that sadness is wrong that gives you pain, and that becomes a psychological problem. It is not anger that is painful; it is the idea that anger is wrong that creates psychological anxiety. It is the interpretation, not the fact. The fact is always liberating.

When there is no interpretation, all is beautiful//When all is beautiful, you are relaxed.

In that relaxation you have fallen into your own source, and that brings self-knowledge. Falling into one’s own source is what is meant by “Know thyself.” It is not a question of knowledge, it is a question of inner transformation.

And what transformation am I talking about? I am not giving you any ideal that you have to be like; I am not saying that you have to transform from what you are and become somebody else. You have simply to relax into whatsoever you are, and just see.

You then have a magic key, which unlocks all the locks.

If you accept sadness, sadness will disappear. How long can you be sad if you accept sadness? If you are capable of accepting sadness you will be capable of absorbing it in your being; it will become your depth.

Osho, Unio Mystica, Vol. 1, Talk #3

Random Assortment

 

 

Diatomist

Cowboy Junkies//Sweet Jane

Quality vs. Quantity

Humans Could Be In The Middle Of A Huge Evolutionary Transition//Christina Sterbenz

Mankind is undergoing a major evolutionary transition comparable to the shifts from prosimians to monkeys, monkeys to apes, and apes to humans, according to Cadell Last, an evolutionary anthropology Ph.D. student and researcher at the Global Brain Institute.

Human life expectancy has already increased from about 45 at the start of the 20th century to 80 today. Last predicts it will increase to 120 as soon as 2050 — a concept known as radical life extension — through a combination of new technology, behavior, and natural selection.

In addition to longer lives, humans will demonstrate delayed sexual maturation and biological reproduction, according to Last. Taken together, these changes could signify a new type of human. 

Last makes his case in a paper from the most recent issue of Current Aging Science. Citing other futurists like Ray Kurzweil and Francis Heylighen, Last theorizes about human interaction with technology, relying on observations of past primate evolution and biology.

From "Living Fast And Dying Young" To "Living Slow And "Dying Old"

According to life history theory, natural selection shapes the length of an organism's life and the timing of key events to produce the most surviving offspring. In the "fundamental life history trade-off," organisms must choose between spending their time producing as many offspring as possible or rearing those offspring to make them as successful as possible, according to Last.

And as brain sizes increases, organisms require more energy and longer rearing time to reach their full potentials.

Based on these ideas, three major shifts in primate history have occurred toward longer lives and delayed reproduction: between prosimians and monkeys, monkeys and apes, and apes and humans.

Humans already dedicate the most time and energy toward nurturing offspring of any primate species, and this pattern is only becoming more extreme.

"Human life history throughout our species evolution can be thought of as one long trend towards delayed sexual maturation and biological reproduction (i.e. from 'living fast and dying young' to 'living slow and dying old')," Last writes.

While physical needs fueled previous evolutionary changes, cultural and technological innovations will drive the next shift, which has been accelerating since the Industrial Revolution.

Simply said, humans need more time to develop to take advantage of our complex world.

Biological Vs. Cultural Reproduction

Considering recent advancements like in-vitro fertilization, egg-freezing, and even adoption, the mechanics of biological reproduction have radically changed. "The biological clock isn't going to be around forever," Last says — or at least, people can turn it off or ignore it for a while.

Today, and even more so in the future, the success of individual and collective human life depends on knowledge and economic prosperity. Passing on new and important ideas to the next generation involves a process called cultural reproduction, which takes more time and energy than simply having babies.

"You have a limited amount of time and energy from birth to death, and you've got to figure out whether you're going to dedicate that time and energy toward biological reproduction or cultural reproduction," Last explains. "We're opting to take ourselves out of the gene pool in favor of immersing ourselves in an idea pool."

Even now, we've seen evidence of delayed reproduction and fewer offspring per person in many countries. Despite fears of overpopulation, Last points out that more than half of countries (with available data) have reached a replacement fertility rate of less than 2.1, as shown in his chart below, compiled from the CIA's World Factbook.

Cadell Last

A chart of fertility rates by country from Last's paper

"As countries become socioeconomically advanced, more and more people, especially women, have the option to engage in cultural reproduction," Last explains.

What's more, the emergence of artificial intelligence will offset the need for low-skill, low-education jobs, giving individuals the "opportunity to explore cultural reproduction as a vocation," Last writes. In many cases, biological reproduction has even become "too costly" in the face of the increasing pressure to adapt to technological advancements.

Altogether, the world should expect a variety of humans who live much longer and have kids much later than what Last calls archaic humans.

"These are sort of the beginning signs that we're making a transition to a radical life extension — within 20 or 30 years," Last says.

Meanwhile, technology has changed human interaction in many ways. Already, a reporter in New York can talk to an evolutionary anthropologist in Canada over Skype. In another few decades, nanotechnology could allow similar conversations to occur entirely in the brain.

"Your 80 or 100 is going to be so radically different than your grandparents," Last says.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/future-human-evolution-2014-9#ixzz3D0ipW7DW