Is he who is intolerant towards intolerance any more justified to be intolerant then the intolerance he is being intolerant towards? Does his intolerance towards intolerance not make him a hypocrite?

Romancing free will is but an attempted love affair, a love affair with one’s self, with control, an effort towards independence from the causal environment. But because we are part of the casual environment, no real betrayal can be made, for any attempt to divorce from ones arranged marriage would be determined by the very union one is attempting to break. We are in wedlock, a civil union where we take on the role of both spouses. Not only are we casualties of our environment but also contributors to it. Ironically, the illusion of free will that one believes one is romancing was caused by the very deterministic environment one is rebelling against. So there can be no rebellion against it without it’s authorization and direction. To have an affair with the illusion of free will is still making love to one’s casual environment. There is no escape, there can be no affairs, as it is everywhere, we move it, it moves us, it can be your only love as it is determined and established by the trajectory of the initial conditions.

Perhaps we are looking for a “why” to an “oops, wtf” first action that just keeps rollin’

I think of the universe, the planet(s), our lives, our biology, the nature of things, to be like an extremely complex domino effect. There are tiny domino effects that as a whole create one larger domino that is on its own domino effect level, and so on…Each domino effect representing a single larger domino that is on its own domino effect plane. I think we are but one product of this tree of domino effects, and us, on one level, a single domino, being knocked, and thus knocking another. If the universe is expanding, I imagine this to be the outskirts of the domino effect where the dominoes are raised up like an ocean wave and come crashing down over and over again.

The domino effect is no new idea, as it is parallel to and reflects the well documented chaos theory, butterfly effect, cause and effect relationship, actions and reactions, etc… However, I shall work on an art piece that will provide some visual representation of the domino layering effect. I’ll post it when it is completed.

If love is “granted” because it is requested, is it of equal value to love that is volunteered without request? Here are my thoughts on this query.

If one loves another, and then asks that the other love them in return, I feel that such a request may belittle the love that the other person may eventually have or already felt for the requester. Because now, after the request, any love expressed could be reasoned away that is was only because it was asked for and not because they truly loved. Therefore, to maintain consistent integrity of one’s expressions of love, I think it is best that one express ones love voluntarily, and not by demand. Also, if one is just not in the true spirit to express their love at that time, I think it is better that they wait until when the feeling naturally arises instead of expressing a forced counterfeit love due to a request.

So I would not honor such a request unless I knew I could express my love voluntarily. I would explain this to the requester. This way, the requester knows that any love I ever express is always and truly genuine. On another note, I don’t think that one should have to ask another to love them to begin with. If another is going to love you, they will do it on their own, it shouldn’t have to be requested, and it should not influence your possible love for them.

If it is the intention of Valentines day for lovers to express their love for each other to each other, then I think that the day defeats itself in serving its purpose. If one needs a special day to express their love and are doing so only because the day asks for it, then how sincere could such expressions of love be? I am tempted to think that expressing ones love on any other day then a day that calls for it would be more sincere then expressing ones love because one has been called upon to do so. To have a single day to promote the importance of love not only seems to belittle those of us who love with the same passion every day, but it also diminishes the value of love on this day by making the motivation of love on Valentines day to be Valentines day itself. Why wait to send flowers, chocolates, cards, etc… in the name of love only on this day, rather then being open to send such tokens of love on any day one feels like it. Every day we should share our love, and we should not need a day like Valentines day to be motivated to express our love. If you do need such motivation, then you need to reexamine if what you are feeling is indeed, love.

I should remark that I am not suggesting that ones love cannot be sincere on Valentines day, but the day certainly has the potential to try to steal one original genuine motivation of love and try to take credit for it. Do not allow such a day to take credit for your love, express your love everyday, and do not articulate your love simply because it is Valentines day but do so with the same genuineness like you would have done so had it of not been a holiday promoting love.

While I do have these concerns with Valentines day, I do give it credit for reminding those who normally do not love, to love. It should be understood however, that any expressions of love should be done so on ones own accord, not necessarily because it is Valentines day, and ones love should go beyond just one day a year.

How dare I stare into the eyes of the universe when the infinite darkness between the stars can swallow me whole in just one glance and when reflecting on time my consciousness is raised yet suffocated at the thought that I exist in just a fraction of a speck of time’s infiniteness? As insignificant as I may feel, I am the universe, at least a scrap of it, and if I thought the universe were conscious, I would criticize it for being cruel to allow me to live, love, be aware, and become attached to this temporary life, just to later take it away. But really, such criticism would be unwarranted, for I do love life, and love having been given the chance to experience life. Any attachment to it is my own mistake. Nothing about it can be done for now. I shall love life as I do, and I have no choice but to die accepting it when the time comes. I am at the mercy of the universe.

I understand the term “evil” as being analogous to “bad” in that it is a human construct or concept that is relative to and dependant on that in which a human perceives as “good.” Good and evil are simply the results of one’s discrimination between this and that and are in relation to how one thinks things “ought” to be. So it is my observation that evil does not exist in form, only in concept.

I have been hearing a lot of what seems like backwards mentality to me lately, like, “I am a Christian therefore I believe in…” instead of “I believe in…therefore I am a Christian.” or, “I am an atheist; therefore I do not believe that a god exists.” Instead of, “I don’t believe that god exists, therefore I am an atheist.”

As soon as you slap a title down before your belief or non-belief, you are putting yourself in a uncompromising restrictive position where you look for things to believe in or not to believe in to support the title. This mentality more often then not misdirects one away from the very truth that one is seeking. This backwards mentality often creates confirmation bias, ignores convincing opposing evidence, and simply makes one less reasonable. Have you every tried conversing with someone of this type of mindset? They are often narrow, unmoving, and restrict themselves to the boundaries of a title rather then evidence.
Want a fresh start? Here are five tips to avoid this mentality:

• Do not let titles dictate your beliefs. Optimally, remove all labels and titles from yourself.
• Reexamine your beliefs and discard those beliefs you’ve acquired because of a title placement.
• Do not let your personal preferences, desires, craving for control, and hopes interfere with where the evidence takes you.
• Follow the evidence where ever it may lead you, without expectations.
• Accept that new evidences could and might present themselves again that will lead you elsewhere from where you are now.

“Pick a card any card…” Well, that’s what you think! Many of the most impressive and convincing card tricks in magic involve a “forced card.” A forced card is card that the magician has already determined you to choose. You think you are choosing a card, any card, freely and randomly out of the deck, and sometimes you may even be asked if you want to change your mind, but through an arsenal of covert sleight of hand techniques, the performer has already bound you to a particular card. The card you think you have freely chosen has actually been forced upon you and is already known by the magician before you even choose it.

It is similar to what appears as our seemingly daily choices. It seems to us like we are choosing, but in actuality, we are getting a forced card. Nature is the performer, and while it deals a determined deck of cards, it easily misdirects us with just a sleight of hand convincing us to believe in a sense of self, a sense of “I” in which yet gives rise to another illusion, the illusion of independence, which in turn then compels us to believe we are free to choose and are independent of the performer.

We take so much delight in believing in the illusion of having control, being able to choose, having free-will, that we fail to realize, that the magician, nature, is an expert, and has controlled the whole performance and determined our every choice in it. But we enjoy the entertainment, it comforts us, makes us happy, so we just go along with it, knowing in the back of our minds, that it is just a trick, and not magic. It’s a forced card.