Part 10: Finding Faith and Finding Yourself, Too

Do you believe, as the majority of religionists do–for example 2.1 billion Christians, 1.5 billion Muslims, 900 million Hindus, 394 million Buddhists and millions of other faith adherents—that God created us in his image?
 
You might find it easier to believe if you think of “image” not as physical but as spiritual, revolving around our souls and spirits, and of course our hearts–the throne of love.

Those-we-love. Whom and what do we love? With a fortunate environment we love our parents, siblings and families, which expands, if we let it, to friends, community, nation and the entire human race. We love those who educate us about ourselves and the world, helping us embark on a lifelong condition of learning. Formal schooling into our teenage years, and hopefully college or trade school beyond, can help us in this modern age to establish our identity and meet its challenges. All of that, of course, depends on the openness of our hearts propelling us forward in our search for self and reality:

    "Only when the lamp of search, of earnest striving, of longing desire, of passionate devotion, of fervid love, of rapture, and ecstasy, is kindled within the seeker’s heart, and the breeze of His loving-kindness is wafted upon his soul, will the darkness of error be dispelled, the mists of doubts and misgivings be dissipated, and the lights of knowledge and certitude envelop his being. At that hour will the Mystic Herald, bearing the joyful tidings of the Spirit, shine forth from the City of God resplendent as the morn, and, through the trumpet-blast of knowledge, will awaken the heart, the soul, and the spirit from the slumber of heedlessness. Then will the manifold favors and outpouring grace of the holy and everlasting Spirit confer such new life upon the seeker that he will find himself endowed with a new eye, a new ear, a new heart, and a new mind. He will contemplate the manifest signs of the universe, and will penetrate the hidden mysteries of the soul. Gazing with the eye of God, he will perceive within every atom a door that leadeth him to the stations of absolute certitude. He will discover in all things the mysteries of Divine Revelation, and the evidences of an everlasting Manifestation." – Baha’u’llah, Gleanings From the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 267.

The Baha’i teachings say that “a new eye, a new ear, a new heart, and a new mind…” are the prerequisites in our search for our inner reality. With a new heart and mind we can discover and mold our own view of ourselves and the world. We can enable the progress of our souls, and unravel the mysteries of the Tree of Knowledge. For our individual and collective search to be fulfilled, the discovery of truth is itself the highest goal. We seek reality. As we’ve discussed, both religion and science are also discoverers of reality:
 
     "The foundation of progress and real prosperity in the human world is reality, for reality is the divine standard and the bestowal of God. Reality is reasonableness, and reasonableness is ever conducive to the honorable station of man. Reality is the guidance of God. Reality is the cause of illumination of mankind. Reality is love, ever working for the welfare of humanity. Reality is the bond which conjoins hearts. This ever uplifts man toward higher stages of progress and attainment. Reality is the unity of mankind, conferring everlasting life. Reality is perfect equality, the foundation of agreement between the nations, the first step toward international peace." – Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 376

Recognizing and accepting truth isn’t easy, or we wouldn’t have such dissension and difference of opinion in the world, too often crippling our ability to improve our individual and collective condition—and recognize reality, both inner and outer. But the signs of positive change and raised consciousness gather more momentum every day. Faith in ourselves and our fellow men and women of the world to do the right thing will attain it.

The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author only (Rodney), and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BahaiTeachings.org or any institution of the Baha’i Faith.

Part 9: Passing Mental Tests on the Path to Self

[Reprinted from a post(s) on bahaiteachings.org]

In previous parts of this series I have attempted to lead up to the most challenging question of life for a human being, an innate question built into our very core: “Who am I?”

This fundamental question comes with many variations: “What do I want to do” or “want to be,” or “should I be?”

When we ask ourselves this important question, our minds can inform our bodies and spirits in confidently choosing a direction in life. We will, each one of us, decide to make our own path, follow another’s, or choose none at all, letting happenstance guide our lives.

Regardless of our direction, we need our mind to help direct us. Mental illnesses don’t make it any easier–just look at Wikipedia’s long list of them under “mental disorders." Also:

"One in five Americans experienced some sort of mental illness in 2010, according to a new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. About 5 percent of Americans have suffered from such severe mental illness that it interfered with day-to-day school, work or family." [Source: ABC News, Jan. 19, 2012]

Being bipolar myself for more than 35 years, I can attest to the suffering mental illness can cause–but also to the progress medicine has made in effective treatments, both chemical and behavioral.

One of those effective behavioral approaches—mindfulness meditation, which I discovered during a six-week class during my mental illness treatments—helped provide a key to my own self-awareness. I found that a regular practice of mindfulness not only aids treatment, but also allows fuller expansion of normal life activities and brain functioning.

Often we only think about pleasing our outer senses: touch, taste, smell, hearing, and vision. Yet even comas and REM states prove the mind and spirit still works without them. The Baha’i teachings also name five intellectual, spiritual or inner senses:

…imagination which conceives things; thought, which reflects upon realities; comprehension, which comprehends realities; memory, which retains whatever man imagines, thinks and comprehends. The intermediary between the five outward powers and the inward powers is the sense which they possess in common – that is to say, the sense which acts between the outer and inner powers, conveys to the inward powers whatever the outward powers discern. It is termed the common faculty, because it communicates between the outward and inward powers and thus is common to the outward and inward powers. – Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 216.

Obviously our bodies and minds and spirits use these structural tools for discovering the reality we call Me.

 

Precisely by reason of our discoveries into the realities of our own selves over the millennia, we have developed our five inward powers that are equivalent to our outward powers. Those inner powers have now far surpassed our physical powers alone. Our mental powers created technology, which gave us the ability to see inside our own brains with CAT scans and MRI’s, and increasingly learn what it means to be human.

So–why do I exist? The Baha’i teachings say that we all exist to grow spiritually—to fully develop those inner senses and powers.

We can live like the animal, rely only on our outward five senses, take what we want and not care about others’ feelings, or we can utilize our inward, spiritual senses, and find ways to live in harmony and prosperity with our fellow human beings.

If we fully utilize those inward powers of mind and spirit, especially our collective minds as one human family, we can discover and implement solutions to the most intractable global problems. With time, will, and unity of thought and purpose, everything is not only possible, but probable.

The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BahaiTeachings.org or any institution of the Baha’i Faith.

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IN SERIES:
Global Change for the Next Generation 

 The Creation Story—Balancing Mind and Spirit  

The Seat of the Self—the Human Heart

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written by

Rodney Richards

   Email Rodney Richards

Rodney is a technical writer by profession, having served New Jersey State Government for 39 years. Retiring in 2009 Rod turned his writing skills to prose and poetry, publishing his first in a series of memoirs, Episodes: A poetic memoir, available on Amazon.com. He and his wife of 44 years, Janet, are proud of their successful adult children, and remain active in the community in which they live.

Part 8: The Creation Story -- Balancing Mind and Spirit

Every culture has a creation myth, and many of them have striking similarities—they typically feature the story of the first man and woman, and tell us about the symbolism and meaning of their spiritual universe.

Most of the world’s peoples know the Biblical creation story of Adam and Eve from Genesis. In it, after the seventh day, God first creates the body of Adam, breathes into his nostrils the spirit of life, “and man became a living soul.” Then God created a garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God then took one of Adam’s ribs and created the first woman, Eve.

At first all seemed idyllic eastward of Eden, and God gave them every good thing, and one command, “thou shalt not eat” of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. But the subtle serpent tempted Eve into eating the fruit, saying, “For God doth know that in the day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” And Eve ate of it and shared it with Adam who ate also. Upon which God was very displeased, and cast them from the Garden into the wilderness. He even placed cherubim and a flaming sword at the garden’s gate, to make sure Adam and Eve stayed out.

As God had told them, the day they ate the forbidden fruit they died. Beguiled by the world, Adam and Eve’s “fall” metaphorically represented human beings putting their own wills before God’s. Genesis explains why God has sent us his prophets and messengers ever since, to teach us respect, humility, kindness once again–all the virtues we symbolically tossed aside to eat the forbidden fruit, with or without knowing the true implications of that action. In my view, the story symbolizes humanity throwing away our original trust in God.

In the Baha’i teachings, Abdu’l-Baha explains the deep symbolism of the Creation story:

    Adam signifies the heavenly spirit of Adam, and Eve His human soul. For in some passages in the Holy Books where women are mentioned, they represent the soul of man. The tree of good and evil signifies the human world; for the spiritual and divine world is purely good and absolutely luminous, but in the human world light and darkness, good and evil, exist as opposite conditions.

    The meaning of the serpent is attachment to the human world. This attachment of the spirit to the human world led the soul and spirit of Adam from the world of freedom to the world of bondage and caused Him to turn from the Kingdom of Unity to the human world. When the soul and spirit of Adam entered the human world, He came out from the paradise of freedom and fell into the world of bondage. From the height of purity and absolute goodness, He entered into the world of good and evil… – Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, pp. 123-124.

I bring up the Creation story, one I learned so well as a Catholic boy, because of the sequence of Adam’s creation. First God created his body from dust, then breathed the “spirit of the Lord” into him, and subsequently God made Eve. They ate of the tree of knowledge and discovered their nakedness, as well as good and evil.

The philosopher in me can’t help but think those symbols mean that the creation of the human body comes first, forever, infused with spirit, giving the body its life-force. This occurs both scientifically and spiritually when egg meets sperm.

Our binary nature, both the lower animal instincts and our higher spiritual yearnings, may have led to Descartes’ concept of mind and body in dualism.

Progress in the physical sciences, and today in technology, have impelled individual and societal developments of the powers of the mind. Just as Freud, Jung and Adler proved with advances in psychiatry and psychology– giving birth to the modern raft of therapies for individuals, couples, families and even organizations–revelations of the mind will continue indefinitely.

But the search for our inner selves, the discovery of the reality of the self, requires more than just a mind. Without the proper tools, the job of finding one’s self becomes practically impossible if we only rely on one of our human components–body or spirit or mind alone. That spiritual search requires interaction and integration of our reasoning and caring abilities, and the proper balance between all three elements of our nature.

We have entered an era of great expansion in humanity’s mental abilities—and now our greatest task is balancing our intellectual powers with our spiritual development. To truly know ourselves, we need all of our powers. 

The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BahaiTeachings.org or any institution of the Baha’i Faith.

By Rodney Richards

Part 7: Discovering the Life of the Spirit

[This first appeared on October 20, 2014 on bahaiteachings.org]

The great Liberator of Science, Rene Descartes (31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650), was a French philosopher, mathematician and writer who spent most of his life in the Dutch Republic. Dubbed the “father of modern philosophy” his work is studied carefully even today. Much subsequent Western philosophy simply responds to Descartes’ writings.

Descartes arrived at a single foundational principle: thought exists. He said “Thought cannot be separated from me, therefore, I exist.” Most famously, we know this as cogito ergo sum in Latin, or in English: “I think, therefore I am.”

The philosophy and realities of Descartes exposed and liberated science from the chains of religious dogma common in Europe and elsewhere at the time. Another way of understanding his profound insight into humankind–”I am body and I am mind”–he labeled “dualism.”  These ideas still prevail today—many people, especially in the western world, define themselves this way.

Dualism does not go far enough, however, in describing human beings. It excludes the most important aspect of human existence–our spirit. Many people have pointed out this glaring omission in Descartes’ philosophy, but George Williams, a British draper, did something about it. Appalled by the terrible conditions in London of young working men in the 19th Century, he gathered a group of his fellow drapers together to create a place that would not tempt young men into sin–the YMCA, which he founded in June of 1844.

I still remember as a nine year old boy in 1959, wearing my white beginner’s Gi (uniform), learning Jujitsu at the Y from a master teacher. The Young Men’s Christian Association, now a worldwide organization, has more than 57 million beneficiaries from 125 national associations.  It aims to put Christian principles into practice by developing a healthy “body, mind, and spirit,” reflected in the sides of this red triangle, part of all YMCA logos.

If Descartes called his mind/body dichotomy dualism, you could call this belief in all three human realities “Triism.”

Billions of people would agree wholeheartedly with the presence of these three realities in all of us. However, physical science has not yet discovered “hard” evidence of what most of the world’s people already know. Faith in a human spirit leads not just to discovering one’s full, true self, but also discovering the best in humankind, as exemplified by the saints, prophets and major messengers of God–manifestations such as Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Christ, Muhammad and more recently, the Bab and Baha’u'llah.

These revelators, along with many more whose names are lost to history, named spirit as the foundational component of humanity. In all their teachings, the prophets of God and the founders of the world’s great Faiths say the human spirit defines our reality. When we search for our own spiritual core, our soul, these divine educators and messengers say we embark on the true search for our deepest being.

Our own spirit, our soul, gives us life. How could it be otherwise? What animates a human being in the embryo to begin with? In other words, we all live the life of the spirit. In the creation stories and myths of most cultures, we learn that God created man in His own image—which doesn’t refer to a physical image, but a spiritual one. These beautiful passages from the Baha’i writings illustrate that mystical truth:

    O Son of Man! Veiled in my immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have engraved on thee My image and revealed to thee My beauty. – Baha’u'llah, The Hidden Words, p. 4.

    O Son of Being! Thy heart is my home; sanctify it for My descent. Thy spirit is My place of Revelation; cleanse it for My manifestation. – Baha’u'llah, The Hidden Words, p. 17.

The ancients, philosophers, prophets and manifestations, one and all, have taught and written volumes upon volumes on this powerful theme. They knew that humans will always search for our own spirit, for what makes us who we are.

Life, internal in our minds, or external in our bodies and in the world, impels us on a journey toward the discovery of the most important thing that exists–knowledge of our own selves, and the life of the spirit.

Next: The Creation Story—Balancing Mind and Spirit

[The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BahaiTeachings.org or any institution of the Baha’i Faith.]

Best,
Rod

Part V: Can Religion and Science ever Agree?

Here’s the better question: when did science and religion not agree?

Religion has stayed its course for 10,000 years that we know of, from the religion of Abraham through all the prophets up to Baha’u'llah in the 19th century. The Baha’i teachings promise many more revelations to come in the glorious future of the human race. At no time did these divine messengers forbid the investigation of reality, and in fact, since the revelation of the Baha’i Faith, the independent investigation of truth has been its number one principle.

But man is imperfect, and so some leaders who want power and control over others have produced blind imitations, which obscure and totally blot out the truth:

    Alas! that humanity is completely submerged in imitations and unrealities notwithstanding the truth of divine religion has ever remained the same. Superstitions have obscured the fundamental reality, the world is darkened and the light of religion is not apparent. This darkness is conducive to differences and dissensions; rites and dogmas are many and various; therefore discord has arisen among the religious systems whereas religion is for the unification of mankind. True religion is the source of love and agreement amongst men, the cause of the development of praiseworthy qualities; but the people are holding to the counterfeit and imitation, negligent of the reality which unifies; so they are bereft and deprived of the radiance of religion. They follow superstitions inherited from their fathers and ancestors. To such an extent has this prevailed that they have taken away the heavenly light of divine truth and sit in the darkness of imitations and imaginations. That which was meant to be conducive to life has become the cause of death; that which should have been an evidence of knowledge is now a proof of ignorance; that which was a factor in the sublimity of human nature has proved to be its degradation. – Abdu’l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 71.

We have one united scientific truth, and the Baha’i teachings say that we also have one unified religious truth.

Both discover the realities, one in humanity’s inner life and the other in the natural world. The Baha’i writings say that true religion unlocks and uncovers “that which is beyond the range of the senses, that realm of phenomena through which the conscious pathway to the Kingdom of God leads . . .”- ibid, p. 49.

The Baha’i writings say that true science “discovers latent realities within the bosom of the earth, uncovers treasures, penetrates secrets and mysteries of the phenomenal world . . .” – ibid, p. 49.
 
According to Forrester Research, over one billion PCs existed worldwide by the end of 2008; two billion will exist by 2015. As Silicon India recently reported, the number of active cell phones will reach 7.3 billion by 2014. That’s the world’s population–right now. We can thank science and logic and human intelligence for perfecting these and a myriad other amazing technologies.

Man did not magically climb out of the primordial mud and immediately create fire, nor computers, nor cellphones. These realities took years to nurture and develop, just as spiritual principles take years to nurture and develop in a human heart. They can be discovered by trial and error, testing hypotheses, or yet again, in an instant of inspiration and change of viewpoint.

True religion and science have never disagreed—instead, they both became the discoverers, unlockers and uncoverers of reality.

Only humans, in our imperfection, have created these disagreements:

    Religion is the outer expression of the divine reality. Therefore it must be living, vitalized, moving and progressive. If it be without motion and non-progressive it is without the divine life; it is dead. The divine institutes are continuously active and evolutionary; therefore the revelation of them must be progressive and continuous. All things are subject to re-formation. This is a century of life and renewal. Sciences and arts, industry and invention have been reformed. Law and ethics have been reconstituted, reorganized. The world of thought has been regenerated. Sciences of former ages and philosophies of the past are useless today. Present exigencies demand new methods of solution; world problems are without precedent. Old ideas and modes of thought are fast becoming obsolete. Ancient laws and archaic ethical systems will not meet the requirements of modern conditions, for this is clearly the century of a new life, the century of the revelation of the reality and therefore the greatest of all centuries. Consider how the scientific developments of fifty years have surpassed and eclipsed the knowledge and achievements of all the former ages combined. – ibid, p. 84.
The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BahaiTeachings.org or any institution of the Baha’i Faith.

 Written by Rodney Richards for BahaiTeachings.org
  
Rodney is a technical writer by profession, having served New Jersey State Government for 39 years. Retiring in 2009 Rod turned his writing skills to prose and poetry, publishing his first in a series of memoirs, Episodes: A poetic memoir, available on Amazon.com. He and his wife of 44 years, Janet, are proud of their successful adult children, and remain active in the community in which they live.

Part IV: Can Relgion Unify the Planet?

The endowments which distinguish the human race from all other forms of life are summed up in what is known as the human spirit; the mind is its essential quality. These endowments have enabled humanity to build civilizations and to prosper materially. But such accomplishments alone have never satisfied the human spirit, whose mysterious nature inclines it towards transcendence, a reaching towards an invisible realm, towards the ultimate reality, that unknowable essence of essences called God. The religions brought to mankind by a succession of spiritual luminaries have been the primary link between humanity and that ultimate reality, and have galvanized and refined mankind’s capacity to achieve spiritual success together with social progress…. No serious attempt to set human affairs aright, to achieve world peace, can ignore religion. – The Universal House of Justice

Historians recognize religion, one of the most potent forces guiding human conduct and promoting social good, for its important role in helping each individual’s moral and spiritual development—but also for controlling materialism and advancing civilization as a whole.

Just like human development, which has incrementally and steadily matured over the past thousands of years, religion has also reached adulthood. Many people now recognize all the Prophets and Founders of the world’s great Faiths for what and who they are: progressive messengers of one and the same God, a God of love. In the Baha’i view of systemic, unified and sequential development of faith, each religion plays a required and legitimate role in a single divine, continuing, perpetual religion. Baha’is believe the Messengers of God will continue to succeed one another “until the end that hath no end,” each bringing in turn a fuller measure of God’s unending guidance to humankind.

In the Baha’i teachings, we learn that God has given us an unfolding plan for happiness and social order, based on spiritual principles of love, service to others, and personal conduct. In the Baha’i teachings, the twin goals of every religion, unity and freedom of worship, are blended and harmonized for the modern age. In the Baha’i teachings, the religions agree on spiritual and moral principles, although internal social laws differ in major and minor aspects. In the Baha’i teachings, science and religion agree.

Baha’is believe that the Golden Rule applies universally, and serves as the foundation of civilization. The Baha’i teachings uphold the sanctity of life, with balance and consideration for the mother’s and father’s wishes. Baha’is have no clergy, and believe celibacy for ministers of religious orders is a thing of the past. The Baha’i teachings encourage marriage and family life, and consider the raising of children a parental and societal duty.

Baha’i House of Worship in Willmette (outside Chicago)

Baha’i houses of worship are open to everyone. They incorporate schools, dispensaries, homes for the aged, medical facilities, social services and other charitable efforts. Baha’is teach and respect shared religious values universally. Baha’is do not proselytize or forcibly convert people to their faith—instead superstition, outworn rituals, blind dogma, and traditions have been replaced by sane reasoning, without sacrificing the influence of the heart. The Baha’i teachings encourage each individual to discover a personal reality based on independent investigation of the truth, and not through the knowledge or traditions of others.

In the Baha’i teachings, the religious distortions, disagreements and intolerance of the past, a main source of disunity, have been reconciled. Hatred, verbal or physical violence, and fanaticism have been replaced by acceptance, unity and understanding.

Could the Baha’i Faith be that universal religion of the future, the missing cohesive element that leads humanity to a unified and peaceful world? The Baha’i teachings encourage everyone to investigate and answer that question for themselves:

Now is the beginning of the manifestation of the spiritual power, and inevitably the potency of its life forces will assume greater and greater proportions. …it is evident that day by day it will advance. It will reach such a degree that spiritual effulgences will overcome the physical, so that divine susceptibilities will overpower material intelligence and the heavenly light dispel and banish earthly darkness. Divine healing shall purify all ills, and the cloud of mercy will pour down its rain. The Sun of Reality will shine, and all the earth shall put on its beautiful green carpet.  Among the results of the manifestation of spiritual forces will be that the human world will adapt itself to a new social form, the justice of God will become manifest throughout human affairs, and human equality will be universally established. – Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 131.

The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BahaiTeachings.org or any institution of the Baha’i Faith.

 

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written for BahaiTeachings.org by

Rodney Richards

   Email Rodney Richards

Rodney is a technical writer by profession, having served New Jersey State Government for 39 years. Retiring in 2009 Rod turned his writing skills to prose and poetry, publishing his first in a series of memoirs, Episodes: A poetic memoir, available on Amazon.com. He and his wife of 44 years, Janet, are proud of their successful adult children, and remain active in the community in which they live.

Part VI: Religion and Science are both Reality

Religious institutions have often reviled and denied scientific facts, and even severely punished those who discovered them.

Galileo Galilei

In the famous case of Galileo in 1633, the Holy Office of the Catholic Pope put him on trial for his scientific theory that the Earth revolved around the Sun. The trial verdict found Galileo “vehemently suspect of heresy”, and the Church forced him to publicly recant his theory. Famously, he said about the Earth immediately after his trial, “And yet it moves.” For his crime of discovery, Galileo spent nine years, the rest of his life, under house arrest.

Science discovers reality, as does religion, in its own way. Now, in the 21st century, scientific views have undergone a 180-degree revolution. Today scientific theories have become so numerous and so ubiquitous that we tend to regard them as fact instead of hoax until proven otherwise. And religious truth has become secular in many instances in order to adapt.

Another example, my beloved three cups of coffee per day, according to Leslie Stahl’s reporting last month on 60 Minutes, could prolong my life into the 90’s and beyond. At one time the prevalent science recommended against drinking coffee, yet now, research has shown that coffee gives us more than just a morning jolt; that steaming cup of java also provides the number one source of antioxidants in the U.S. diet, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.

Every created thing, including us, reflects the reality of the moment we live in. Some scientific truths and religious dogmas have been proven wrong or right, years after technologists or scientists or sociologists first report their findings. The single truth underlying all science, and indeed, all of life itself, is that discovering reality never ends. The Baha’i principle of the agreement of science and religion says that truth, whether spiritual or scientific, has one source and one reality:

It is evident then that each elemental atom of the universe is possessed of a capacity to express all the virtues of the universe. This is a subtle and abstract realization. Meditate upon it, for within it lies the true explanation of pantheism. From this point of view and perception, pantheism is a truth, for every atom in the universe possesses or reflects all the virtues of life, the manifestation of which is effected through change and transformation. Therefore the origin and outcome of phenomena is verily the omnipresent God for the reality of all phenomenal existence is through Him. There is neither reality nor the manifestation of reality without the instrumentality of God. Existence is realized and possible through the bounty of God, just as the ray or flame emanating from this lamp is realized through the bounty of the lamp from which it originates. Even so all phenomena are realized through the divine bounty, and the explanation of true pantheistic statement and principle is that the phenomena of the universe find realization through the one power animating and dominating all things; and all things are but manifestations of its energy and bounty. The virtue of being and existence is through no other agency. Therefore in the words of Baha’u’llah the first teaching is the oneness of the world of humanity….” – Foundations of World Unity, p.59

As rational human beings, we realize through the truth of religion that God gives us the faculty of reason to discover both material and spiritual and reality:

Religion and science are the two wings upon which man’s intelligence can soar into the heights, with which the human soul can progress. It is not possible to fly with one wing alone! Should a man try to fly with the wing of religion alone he would quickly fall into the quagmire of superstition, whilst on the other hand, with the wing of science alone he would also make no progress, but fall into the despairing slough of materialism…. But the religion which does not walk hand in hand with science is itself in the darkness of superstition and ignorance.

Much of the discord and disunion of the world is created by these man-made oppositions and contradictions. If religion were in harmony with science and they walked together, much of the hatred and bitterness now bringing misery to the human race would be at an end.

Consider what it is that singles man out from among created beings, and makes of him a creature apart. Is it not his reasoning power, his intelligence? Shall he not make use of these in his study of religion? I say unto you: weigh carefully in the balance of reason and science everything that is presented to you as religion. If it passes this test, then accept it, for it is truth! If, however, it does not so conform, then reject it, for it is ignorance! – Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, pp. 143-144.

Reality, like fantasy and imagination, goes on forever. With its billions of galaxies, so does the universe.  That unimaginable vastness means we have an enormous amount left to discover, if we can unite the spiritual and the scientific in the pursuit of truth.

The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BahaiTeachings.org or any institution of the Baha’i Faith.

IN SERIES:
Global Change for the Next Generation
•   Prev
Can Science and Religion Ever Agree?

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For BahaiTeachings.org, as written by

 

Rodney Richards

   Email Rodney Richards

Rodney is a technical writer by profession, having served New Jersey State Government for 39 years. Retiring in 2009 Rod turned his writing skills to prose and poetry, publishing his first in a series of memoirs, Episodes: A poetic memoir, available on Amazon.com. He and his wife of 44 years, Janet, are proud of their successful adult children, and remain active in the community in which they live.

Descent or Ascent of Man?

Darwin wrote a great historic book when he penned Descent of Man in 1871 as followup to Origin of the Species in 1859. It describes many early beginnings and tribes of Man, "half-human" or descended from "ape-like creatures" as proven by him based on his naturalist's observations.

It could have just as easily been called, I think, more accurately, "The Ascent of Man" or the ascent of Homo Sapiens as opposed to other genuses. Darwin proves his theory of evolution using two prime methods, the law of natural selection, and the law of sexual selection and its corollary -- the principle of inheritance, i.e. inherited traits.

Darwin particularly favors the development of the Quadrumana tribe, to quote Darwin, "The greater number of naturalists who have taken into consideration the whole structure of man, including his mental faculties, have followed Blumenbach and Cuvier, and have placed man in a separate Order, under the title of the Bimana, and therefore on an equality with the orders of the Quadrumana, Carnivora, etc. Recently many of our best naturalists have recurred to the view first propounded by [Carl] Linnaeus [1707-1778 Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist], so remarkable for his sagacity, and have placed man in the same Order with the Quadrumana, under the title of the Primates. The justice of this conclusion will be admitted: for in the first place, we must bear in mind the comparative insignificance for classification of the great development of the brain in man, and that the strongly marked differences between the skulls of man and the Quadrumana (lately insisted upon by Bischoff, Aeby, and others) apparently follow from their differently developed brains. In the second place, we must remember that nearly all the other and more important differences between man and the Quadrumana are manifestly adaptive in their nature, and relate chiefly to the erect position of man; such as the structure of his hand, foot, and pelvis, the curvature of his spine, and the position of his head." [Source: Wikipedia]

In other words, Home Sapiens developed two hands and two feet, not all four being prehensile as the apes, and man's upright position and burgeoning brain, made all the difference.

So descent or ascent, egress or regress, as the case my be, natural selection made man fully human at some point, and distinct from his ape "progenitors." This to me signifies that man, from the earliest 4-legged crocodile to leave the seas, until present time, was destined to be Homo Sapiens. Homo means "the genus of bipedal primates that includes modern humans and several extinct forms, distinguished by their large brains and a dependence upon tools." Sapiens means "of, or pertaining to, modern humans." 

My point is this, I wonder if we have outgrown the term "modern," and become that next future species, "Homo Futurians," especially based on the explosion of scientific and technological advances in the last half-century? Especially since those tools are more and more virtual or software-based? It's an interesting question, don't you think?

Best, Rod
Copyright Rodney Richards 2014

If you're new to my blog, just visit Amazon to read about my bipolar memoir, Episodes, and find my bio on the back cover, here
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=rodney+richards+episodes

Perfect Book Titles: The Origin of Species and the Descent of Man

Author Charles Darwin (1809-1882) was a British naturalist and geologist famous for what we remember as his pronouncement "Man was descended from the apes" in his 1859 book The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. But having read his book, in tiny print I might add, and having finished it and The Descent of Man this morning, I could not find those words or that phrase in their combined 924 pages.

From Wikipedia: ",,, best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors, and in a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding."

 
Essentially Darwin, thru his precise observations of plants, animals and tribes, and citing other works as well, overcame the then-current scientific concept of "transmutation" to refer to species who have undergone biological changes through hybridization. The scientists of the time had to invent terms to describe their theories, and after Origins publication and severe debates, evolution was coined. The scientific community and much of the general public had accepted this new term by 1870. Today, in modified form, a broad consensus has developed in which natural selection was recognized as the basic mechanism of evolution.

<sup>Reading the books, it's readily apparent that Darwin is chiefly the consummate observer, recorder and synthesizer of these theories during his time. Whereas Origin is 374 pages with 12 page Glossary, Descent is written in three discrete parts for a total of 534 pages and supplemental notes, at least in my undated copy. I admit its somewhat tedious reading, yet every page brings a new discovery or insight, or more importantly, the basis for later insight and conviction.

Descent of Man is much more influential than Origin in describing man. Darwin notes all the similarities man has to animals, even to the downy hair on some women, vestiges of much thicker coverings. He describes mating and birth and the senses of man and compares them closely to all mammals. Finally he writes, "...it has come to pass that man and all other vertebrate animals have been constructed on the same general model...." 

He goes on to state an important fact myself and most religionists would agree on, from as early as the story of Adam and Eve's creation: "If we consider all the races of man as forming a single species, his range is enormous." Up thru his time their existed four distinct human races: red, white, yellow and black (and variations and multiple names for the same).

So Descent of Man is definitely the better book to read regarding man's evolution and conditions. But I digress from my main point, "Did Darwin say we humans descended from apes?" Well, no, I don't think so. What he wrote on page 895 of Descent was, "Man, as I have attempted to shew, is certainly descended from some ape-like creature." Which, makes much more sense as we now know, having findings of pre-Neanderthal, Neanderthal and Cro-magnon Man.

More to the point, I and millions of Baha'is and others, for example, maintain that although Man at one time certainly was an "ape-like creature," his uniqueness, his heritage and destiny, is much more than that of any animal, either now or in the dim past.

Best, Rod

Copyright Rodney Richards 2014</sup>

 If you're new to my blog, just visit Amazon to read about my bipolar memoir, Episodes, and find my bio on the back cover, here
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=rodney+richards+episodes

 

Receiving Something for "Nothing"

We receive much more than we can ever give back, "for nothing."

In our apartment with mom and brother Stephen, the big pot of tapioca pudding on the stove, once chilled was my favorite dessert - free. The school lunches mom use to make - all free. The clothes I had to wear, all free. Everything growing up "free" until age 15 when I sold magazines door-to-door all over Central Jersey, and then the things I bought - only for myself - meant much more. 

An hour ago, 5:48 am at the squawk box at the new Dunkin Donuts just a mile from my house, I said, "Good morning my friend," replying to her sweet voice asking for my order. "Oh, good morning to you ... please pull up." And I knew, that she knew, my order by heart -- and it's such a good feeling being known by just the sound of my voice.

I pull up holding out my DD card, and she holds out my medium half-decaf, half-regular ... but doesn't take my card. "That's free, for you, my customer," she says. And of course I say "Oh no, Oh thanks so much!" and pull away saying aloud, "You've got to be kidding. How nice!"

Many things are free and go unappreciated, then there's the things we appreciate. 

This is not the first free thing she's given me! And completely unasked. Yesterday, for Sunday School when I ordered 50 munchkins for the kids, my girlfriend asked, "You? Why munchkins?" And I told her and she said, "How nice, that'll be half price." So I left the 5 dollars as part tip too. And again I couldn't believe how nice that was.

And now I had yet another reason for liking my Egyptian-American friends at this Dunkin, and others, even more.

And I think of other things we get "for free," like my Catholic grammar school, Ewing High, and even my California junior college education -- for free. In those years never realizing at all it was my parents property taxes paying for it all, and the property taxes of thousands of other homeowners. And I shudder now as an adult to wonder how my parents paid for that, and food, and clothing, and Christmas and birthday presents, and everything I and my brothers and sister, and themselves, had need of.

And now, paying property taxes for schools, and sales taxes for social programs, and gasoline taxes for highways and others, I see that everything that exists for me, for my family's ease and comfort was mostly paid for by others, by society, and can't help but think, At least I can do my part also. 

At least in my old State employment days, walking Trenton streets back from lunch, I didn't begrudge the beggar a dollar or two, or fail to pick trash up off the sidewalk in front of my next step to throw in a nearby trash can. Or how Janet and I pay attention to the political issues and those running for office and vote in every election. And thank God we could afford to send our kids to college for their degrees, and so much else.

Free? Earning goodwill, and peace and security in Hamilton where I live and in America in the world, is not free. All it takes is all of us doing our part, being nice to all others, caring a little bit or a lot, and helping where we can.  Not difficult.

As JFK once spoke, "... and so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." 

You go John, go.

Sorry, that's my pontification for today ....
Best, Rod

Copyright 2014 Rodney Richarfds

Series Part III: World Government, World Parliament, World Unity

My friend Rich and I attended a writing workshop in Maine hosted by the new social discourse website, BahaiTeachings.org, and they've accepted my articles and posted them since. Here's the third on how to get to a peaceful world, individually and collectively.

Just click on this link (or cut and paste), or visit bahaiteachings.org yourself for tons of surprising social topics:

http://bahaiteachings.org/world-government-world-parliament-world-unity

Let me know what you think by commenting below or on the actual website . . . 
Best
Rod 

If you're new to my blog, just visit Amazon to read about my bipolar memoir, Episodes, and find my bio on the back cover, 
here
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=rodney+richards+episodes

Part II: Prospect of an Ideal Government

A friend attended a writing workshop in Maine hosted by the new social discourse website, BahaiTeachings.org. And they've accepted my articles and posted them since. Here's the second on how to get to a peaceful world, individually and collectively.

Just click on this link (or cut and paste), or visit bahaiteachings.org yourself:

http://bahaiteachings.org/the-prospect-of-an-ideal-government

Let me know what you think by commenting below or on the actual website . . . 
Best
Rod 

If you're new to my blog, just visit Amazon to read about my bipolar memoir, Episodes, and find my bio on the back cover, 
here
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=rodney+richards+episodes

Shared series on World Gov't, finding self, Part I

In May of this year myself and a friend attended a writing workshop hosted by the new social discourse website, BahaiTeachings.org. And they've accepted my articles and posted them since. Here's the first one on how to get to a peaceful world, individually and collectively.

Just click on this link (or cut and paste), or visit bahaiteachings.org yourself:

http://bahaiteachings.org/global-change-for-the-next-generation-a-bahai-vision-for-the-future

Let me know what you think by commenting below or on the actual website . . . 
Best
Rod 

If you're new to my blog, just visit Amazon to read about my bipolar memoir, Episodes, and find my bio on the back cover, 
here
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=rodney+richards+episodes

Where Was I Driving Without the Music on?

6:58 a.m. up since 3 this morning, an hour earlier than usual, sometimes two but no more. Weeks ago woken by tossing and turning, trying unsuccessfully to find respite from my painful sciatica throbbing and thrusting down my right thigh to my heel. So bad, having gone thru it 6 short months ago and getting a spinal shot of Cortisone at my well-used Outpatient Surgery Center.

But this last bout, lasting only weeks before disappearing by itself. Not before I went online and submitted my name and info to the online spinal center, to review my case, calling them later in pain, hoping for quick action, but the male technical voice says, "I've reviewed the reports, and you may have a spur, but we need to see your MRI. Do I have your permission to obtain it?"

"O my God yes, please. And hurry."

And I found out the music eased the rubbing of my leg, and my mind.

But that pain now gone, and I haven't heard a word from their center since before pain left. "Do they know it's left me? How could they know? Or are they incompetent? Or are they like a personal injury lawyer: must they have more than probable cause to proceed and the chance to make hundreds of thousands from a jury; or in this case, from my insurance company?"

No matter, as I sit here this morning with my blessed Dunkin coffee, just back from a brand new store, opened yesterday a mile from my house, the closest of 6 within a 6 mile radius. And I frequent them all depending where I am in my Civic.

My Civic, my jet. At 5 am able to blast Hanky Panky played by WOGL, the Oldies but Goodies radio station, one of many I've fallen in love with these past six months. I've been intoxicated listening to their '60s, '70s, and '80s pop hits since changing my mood and my outlook after my last manic episode less than 3 short months ago. The psychiatrists cut my meds, cut them! After 35 years of mainly the same ones. No longer on Wellbutrin anymore, an antidepressant, and functioning well in my mind since. Yes, my behavior, my impulsiveness has always, always, since a teenager, needed watching and more control. But ever-tolerant Janet keeps me in line and I love her more because of her caring.

But the music, the Music! Allowing me untold freedom to sing along loudly with hundreds of them I've heard til now, and Hanky Panky followed immediately by Hey Jude and the next gem. And the beats and the sounds thrilling my psyche, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel, turning left then right and back. But it's the singers stories in their lyrics, hearing their clear and understandable words, not their indeciferable screams, that really thrills my person.

And I swear, they should have pain patients busy with earphones playing their favorite music.

And what music -- popular, R&B, country, jazz, soul, rock, African, rap, world or other(s), fills your heart?

Best, Rod
Copyright 2014 
Surviving Bipolar Disorder in the modern age . . . a journey of Hope for the afflicted.

My poetic memoir Episodes available at www.amazon.com/episodes-rodney-richards/dp/0615914705/  

Convenience and Savings

How far will you go to save a buck? I've seen TV news segments of the couponers who have basement storage shelves full of non-perishable foodstuffs and household products worth thousands of dollars for which they've paid little. The Groupon website is still active with their specials. The big box stores like Staples and Home Depot etc. etc. have daily or weekly adds with coupon or discount specials to attract customers. 

In the old days a customer was a buyer, hence the definition "1. a person who purchases goods or services from another; buyer; patron." And a buyer spends cash or credit for goods and services. A customer is different than a shopper, as in "1. A person who shops. 2. A comparison shopper." And nowadays the emphasis has shifted toward the customer/shopper, but the goal of any business is to attract and find a buyer. In fact, businesses emphasize "customer or brand loyalty," and hence -- coupons. Sales have become known for what they are: The retailer raises the price then announces a "sale" -- discount percentages usually. But "sale" is tired and overused and doesn't attract buyers the way coupons seem to. 

Coupons are guaranteed discounts wherever the product may be found. And different stores have different prices based on their markups for moving high turnover products.So brand, not necessarily store loyalty, is the goal. It's like Sears today. At one time they only sold their own brand of appliances, Kenmore, yet today they sell a half dozen others as well. And "post-sales" what is really called recurring revenue, is the king of business. Hence brand loyalty and other techniques, such as upselling their product maintenance contract, or providing technical support for software (Microsoft and others), on a subscription rather than One Time Charge (OTC) basis, has become the norm. 

Most advertising I see such as the Acme and Shop Rite print ads in our Sunday Times, now all show actual savings to be accrued from the purchase. Like Kohl's, famous for its 10, 20 or 30% discounts shown in dollars and cents on their receipts. We've waited for Kohl's to open at 5 am during Christmas for their sales. Because -- we know what we'll be saving. What we spend is almost secondary to what we save.

But the real clincher for any sale or coupon to succeed is proximity of product to customer, location, even if on the web we are sold on the short number of days it takes to deliver our items. And ease of use, as on the web, and convenience, are the aces in the whole for retailers. For example, we like Target and their prices etc., but they are located in Hightstown, 10 miles away. Our Acme is less than a mile, and our Kohl's at Hamilton Marketplace, with over 40 stores, banks and restaurants is 2 miles away from our home. So guess who like's Jersey Mike's (subs), Chilli's, Longhorn and Ruby Tuesday now over our old favorite Mannino's Italian restaurant further away? And who do you guess does all their craft shopping now at Michael's, gift shopping at Bed, Bath & Beyond and Pier 1 Imports? And all our card buying at Hallmark? And we also have multiple Dunkin Donuts, Subways, Taco Bell, Broad Street Diner, McDonald's and other restaurants all within 2 miles of us. So proximity (location) equals convenience, equals brand loyalty equals sales, equals recurring revenue.

And the world goes round. And I'm willing to pay more for convenience; not like buying beer at the new Vet's stadium to a captured audience, but buying gas at our local no name station because it's only a few long blocks away. 

So convenience is as good as a sale, and as good as a coupon. Why do I want to drive another couple of miles to save pennies on a gallon of gas, or a few quarters on a meal further away in town?

How do you shop? For a sale? by coupon? Or by convenience?


Best, Rod
Copyright 2014 
Surviving Bipolar Disorder in the modern age . . . a journey of Hope for the afflicted.

My poetic memoir Episodes available at www.amazon.com/episodes-rodney-richards/dp/0615914705/  

"Rebuild America" with Jobs Part One

VP Joe Biden just performed an excellent White House whiteboard lesson on http://www.whitehouse.gov/whiteboard   It was on the need to build/rebuild world-class roads, railroads, and transit infrastructures, something I've long heard lip service too, but seen no action on til now. And these millions of necessary jobs for infrastructure will always be needed.

Biden showed three of the largest commerce-generating projects in our history: the Erie Canal from NY to Ohio built in 1808; the Transcontinental Railroad completion in 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, yet indispensable to linking our diverse and far-spread states; and President Eisenhower's 1956 Interstate Highway System - where would we be without them? And these systems, as great as they are, are in disrepair and close to failure in parts. Biden cited his State of Delaware's roads in 16% of poor condition. Magnify that nationwide. 

That's one need for jobs: our roadways are in need of expansion, whether widening them, or new loops around or thru major cities, like I-295 around my state capital Trenton, or I-495 around Boston, and others - but more are needed - and think of the jobs! And then there's public transit - from as simple as concrete neighborhood sidewalks, to as complex as high-speed rail and subway systems. 

I just drove thru my adjacent development of private residences, with maybe 10 cross streets and a hundred+ homes. Some of the worst streets had been paved or patched in wide swaths; sidewalks for walkers were present throughout (and I love to see residents walking, or running, or walking their dogs - extra eyes on the neighborhood peace and security), and white-painted pedestrian crosswalks were at each STOP sign! Rare in 99% of neighborhoods, but I think they should be mandatory. 

Crosswalks are mandatory as a safety feature, forcing drivers to look more carefully before proceeding, and enforcing NJ's basic driving law - The Pedestrian Right Of Way -- unfortunately, as defined, only in crosswalks! Municipalities with funds can invest in the white-painting equipment, and train new hires who don't need specialized skill - and pay a decent outdoor-laborer wage. Yes, outdoor workers should earn more, like in construction, road building, utilities public works etc. Have you worked outdoors on a hot sunny day in your garden or cutting lawns?

And local roads. I don't know about you but the 25 foot-wide street in front of my home has enough space for one car to pass thru when cars are parked on both sides of it, but not enough room for two cars to pass. All future streets should be wider, for traffic to pass each other and for on-street parking on both sides. That one rule would promote cleaner and neater and safer development, especially when neighbors have parties/get-togethers where cars clog the streets. And convenient parking, and more parking garages in towns and cities are critical to attracting visitors and commerce.
And all these new shopping centers and neighborhoods require public-private partnerships between developers and government.

And then there's major roads and county roads that also must be made wider and safer, with either swaths of pullover lanes for car breakdowns, or mandatory shoulders for better traffic control getting to also around left-hand turners, and for walkers and bicyclists when no bicycle lanes or sidewalks exist. And part of that shoulder when not for parking should have the marked bicycle lane to encourage fewer cars and for safety. This also allows for double-lanes 10 or 20 years from now, and then those roads can be re-configured again to resume their wideness. And the jobs to do all this! Imaging the millions needed! All from implementing simple, uniform, transportation and development rules uniformly, in every jurisdiction. Every.

The same principles apply, a shoulder for example, and wide and long on and off-ramps apply to Interstates (47,000+ miles), and interconnected National Highway roads (160,000+ miles). "Passenger transportation [in the U.S.] is dominated by a network of over 3.9 million miles of highways [and local roads] which is pervasive and highly developed by global standards. Passenger transportation is dominated by passenger vehicles (including cars, trucks, vans, and motorcycles), which account for 86% of passenger-miles traveled.  As of 2003, there were 759 automobiles per 1,000 Americans. Bicycle usage is minimal with . . . 856,000 American workers nationwide)." (Wikimedia)

And how do we pay for all these road workers and materials? One, we have a federal surtax on gasoline gallons sold which is 18.4 cents per every $3.59 spent on a gallon! You mean to tell me we can't increase that to 25 or 30 cents as we continue to improve refineries and take actions to lower gasoline costs nation and worldwide? And the States also add their gasoline surtax, in New Jersey it's 10.5 cents per gallon, so surely this must be increased as well. It's been the same for almost decades. This idea that we shouldn't pay taxes for what we use is ill-conceived and foolish, and surely the Motor Fuels Tax is the fairest, emblematic of taxing the users of the roads equally. And why put our magnificient NJ Transportation Trust Fund in jeopardy? Really there's no excuse for not raising, and spreading out, funds needed for what every single one of us enjoys. I mean, if you really have a problem with unfairness of the Motor Fuels Tax, issue discount cards to those in lower income brackets to use when fueling up

Next issue I'll talk about railroads and subways, the one (railroads) in jeopardy of disappearing in some respects, and the other (subways), needing dramatic increases in coverage for larger cities. If you've ever used New York City (MTA) or Washington DC (Metro) subways, you'd know they were as different in quality as night and day, you'd know the needs exist not just for expansion and new creation, but for overhaul and re-creation as well.

My next part will speak about these critical necessities.

Best, Rod
Copyright 2014 
Surviving Bipolar Disorder in the modern age . . . a journey of Hope for the afflicted.

My poetic memoir Episodes available at www.amazon.com/episodes-rodney-richards/dp/0615914705/   

 

Email subscribe to my Blog at the bottom of this page or subscribe thru NetVibes (see right side). Both free of course, thanks to Blogger by Microsoft...

Seth Godin - Author and Blogger Worth Investigating

Seth Godin seems to be a positive pragmatic guy, with oodles of interestingly written tips and advice for living and for would-be entrepreneurs and authors. And he's eclectic, using whatever works. Just Google his name or go to www.sethgodin.com to check it out, and I would recommend subscribing to his daily Blog. Usually very short but to the point with a point to make. Dynamic, and usually on target - you should enjoy and learn.

Here's a sample from his free eBook "What Matters Now," highlighting Tom Peters 19 Es of Excellence -- universal truths and values, worthy of any social conscience as another:

Enthusiasm! "Be an irresistible force of nature!
 

Exuberance! Vibrate—cause earthquakes!

Execution! Do it! Now! Get it done! Barriers are baloney! Excuses are for wimps! Accountability is gospel!

Adhere to the Bill Parcells doctrine: “Blame no one! Expect nothing! Do something!”

Empowerment! Respect and appreciation rule!

Always ask, “What do you think?” Then listen! Then let go and liberate! Then celebrate!

Edginess! Perpetually dancing at the frontier, and

a little or a lot beyond.

Enraged! Determined to challenge and change the status quo! Motto: “If it ain’t broke, break it!”

Engaged! Addicted to MBWA/Managing By Wandering Around. In touch. Always.

Electronic! Partners with the world 60/60/24/7 via electronic

community building of every sort.

Encompassing! Relentlessly pursue diverse opinions—the more diversity the merrier! Diversity

per se “works”!

Emotion! The alpha. The omega. The essence of leadership. The essence of sales. The essence of marketing. The essence. Period. Acknowledge it.

Empathy! Connect, connect, connect with others’ reality and aspirations! “Walk in the other person’s shoes” — until the soles have holes!

Ears! Effective listening: Strategic Advantage Number 1!

 

Experience! Life is theater! Make every activity-contact memorable! Standard: “Insanely Great”/Steve Jobs; Radically thrilling"/BMW.

Eliminate! Keep it simple!

Error-prone! Ready! Fire! Aim! Try a lot of stuff and make a lot of booboos and then try some more stuff and make some more booboos—all of it at the speed of light!

Evenhanded! Straight as an arrow! Fair to a fault! Honest as Abe!

Expectations! Michelangelo: "The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” Amen!

Eudaimonoia! Pursue the highest of human moral purpose—the core of Aristotle’s philosophy. Be of service. Always.

Excellence! Never an exception!

If not Excellence, what?"

A great question. If not striving for excellence in all things, what are you striving for? Survival? mediocrity? Nothing particular? 

Best, Rod
Copyright 2014 
Surviving Bipolar Disorder in the modern age . . . a journey of Hope for the afflicted.

My poetic memoir Episodes available at www.amazon.com/episodes-rodney-richards/dp/0615914705/   

 

Email subscribe to my Blog at the bottom of this page or subscribe thru NetVibes (see right side). Both free of course, thanks to Blogger by Microsoft...