but I think the discussion has strayed from the topic a bit: it certainly has generated a discussion - good topics are like that.
I just got in from kayaking along Narragansett Bay and I was thinking about your essay while I was out there, close to freedom, one with the waves.
There was a dock with a {No Trespassing} sign: what is trespassing? A wall erected to keep the "owner" inside, a prisoner of his possesion?
The amer-indians, like most hunting\gathering societies, had no such need for ownership of property, and while they were over-run by the possesion possessed europeans, they also left some philosophical nuggets for others to pick up ... some of them contributing to the philosophical foundations of this country.
Forgotten Founders if you will.
I'm a bit of a Thoreau back when it comes to things like this.
Two years ago (has it really been that long?) I packed my kayak on top of my van, my mountain bike inside, and a bunch of camping gear ... and went looking for work in the New England states. I was between jobs and decided to look where I wanted to live rather than where I was.
My van became my cabin in the woods, and like Thoreau I kept in contact with friends and family and bits of society (I know where a lot of free wifi spots are in 4 states too ... yes I took my laptop)
I found places I could camp free, places to clean up, places to enjoy just being in.
It was great.
... but I feel that true freedom only exists outside what we see in the physical world, and is only present within our minds. Freedom is in transcending what is real, as did Siddhartha, and Christ.
... and Gandhi and Thoreau and others. This is the teaching of buddhism yes?
People are owned by their possessions ...
Message 93My philosophy teacher made a list of philosophical questions on the board. These "life" questions included who to vote for in an election, and which products to buy. They weren't about anything important.
True, nobody ever became famous or even well known by who they voted for or what they bought.
But everything is also a choice: I used to teach kids to canoe, and one of the lessons\concepts I used was that everytime the paddle was in the water they were steering the canoe.
It didn't matter if they were in the bow or the stern, whether they were consciously trying to steer or not, just by being in the canoe with a blade in the water they were affecting the course of the canoe.
Enjoy.
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