In a thought-provoking lecture Alan Watts once posed this great question: "What would you do if money was no object?"

This pointed and hyperbolic question asks us to dig into the deeper truth of what it is we really want and desire in life and also question the symbolic importance we place on the almighty abstraction of the dollar.

Watts urged his listeners to detach themselves from the notion of chasing money to satisfy our desires. Easier said than done of course but in typical koan fashion, Watts manages to show us that when we instead seek something less material and more spiritually fulfilling, the money part won't become an issue in the end.

The gist of Watt's speech is as follows:

"So I always ask the question, 'what would you like to do if money were no object? How would you really enjoy spending your life?' Well, it's so amazing as a result of our kind of educational system, crowds of students say well, we'd like to be painters, we'd like to be poets, we'd like to be writers, but as everybody knows you can't earn any money that way

Let's go through with it. What do you want to do? When we finally got down to something, which the individual says he really wants to do, I will say to him, you do that and forget the money, because, if you say that getting the money is the most important thing, you will spend your life completely wasting your time To structure your existence with an objective of monetary gain is to spend a lifetime chasing an abstraction.

... And after all, if you do really like what you're doing, it doesn't matter what it is, you can eventually turn it you could eventually become a master of it. It's the only way to become a master of something, to be really with it. And then you'll be able to get a good fee for whatever it is. So don't worry too much..."

Now money is a fundamental fact of our current constructed reality, even Alan Watts understood that. Barter, exchange, value, currency and what have you there is absolutely no feasible way around it. So leave your pipe dreams and utopian visions at the door, just entertain the question at face value for now. It's probing for something much deeper than some cheap ideological economic fix.

Alan Watts on money, possessions and lifestyle http://www.youtube.com

Pontificating on this issue in any regard is risky business as inherent contradictory and seemingly hypocritical charges are bound to be directed at its speaker.

Watts rightfully so, silenced any criticism for any monetary gain he received for his work. After all, he knew that he was playing the society game and needed to make a living for himself. Watts was a philosopher and quite good at what he did.

This line of questioning would lead to Watts making an important distinction on the nature of differentiating between money and wealth. On a personal level, he understood what wealth was to him and the limits of a human's capacity to experience luxury and excess:

"There are limits to the real wealth that any individual can consume... We cannot drive four cars at once, live simultaneously in six homes, take three tours at the same time, or devour 12 roasts of beef at one meal."

Watts explored the issue deeper in his anthology Does It Matter? Essays on Man's Relation to Materiality. In the essay "Wealth Versus Money," Watts remarked on the inability for humankind to distinguish between the merely symbolic and the true.

He looks into our simple confusion between money and wealth:

"Money is a way of measuring wealth but is not wealth in itself. A chest of gold coins or a fat wallet of bills is of no use whatsoever to a wrecked sailor alone on a raft. He needs real wealth, in the form of a fishing rod, a compass, an outboard motor with gas, and a female companion.

But this ingrained and archaic confusion of money with wealth is now the main reason we are not going ahead full tilt with the development of our technological genius for the production of more than adequate food, clothing, housing, and utilities for every person on earth."

This type of symbolic thinking manifests itself in all outlets of the physical world. In his essay, Watts makes a point about the how the fundamental confusion between money and wealth leads us to preposterous positions. He used the Great Depression as an example.

"Remember the Great Depression of the '30s? One day there was a flourishing consumer economy, with everyone on the up-and-up; and the next, unemployment, poverty, and bread lines,

What happened? The physical resources of the country the brain, brawn, and raw materials were in no way depleted, but there was a sudden absence of money, a so-called financial slump

Complex reasons for this kind of disaster can be elaborated at length by experts on banking and high finance who cannot see the forest for the trees..."

Watts makes no claim of being an economic or financial expert. Those to him are mere surface roles muddying the waters at the core of this issue he's trying to broach. Watts likens the absurdity to a man coming to work on the building of a house, the morning of the Depression and the boss saying to him:

Watts realized that there was going to be and will always be harsh resistance to this type of idea or rather awareness of the symbolic:

"What wasn't understood then, and still isn't really understood today, is that the reality of money is of the same type as the reality of centimeters, grams, hours, or lines of longitude. Money is a way of measuring wealth but is not wealth in itself.

It is not going to be at all easy to explain this to the world at large, because mankind has existed for perhaps one million years with relative material scarcity, and it is now roughly a mere one hundred years since the beginning of the industrial revolution."

Now wait just a minute before flinging out those Communist manifestos and leading a riot down Billionaire's row. Regulation and taxation on this abstraction is not the answer.

"To try to correct this irresponsibility by passing laws would be wide of the point, for most of the law has as little relation to life as money to wealth. On the contrary, problems of this kind are aggravated rather than solved by the paperwork of politics and law.

What is necessary is at once simpler and more difficult: only that financiers, bankers, and stockholders must turn themselves into real people and ask themselves exactly what they want out of life in the realization that this strictly practical and hardnosed question might lead to far more delightful styles of living than those they now pursue. Quite simply and literally, they must come to their senses for their own personal profit and pleasure."

So then we're brought back to the original question: what do I desire?

Related Articles Around the Web

Original post:
Philosopher Alan Watts on money - Big Think

Bestselling Author, TV & Radio personality and Self-made Entrepreneur and American Patriot Warrior for the Middle Class Cardone works with Fortune 100 companies customizing sales processes and improving customer experiences. His clients include Google, Ford, Chrysler, Aflac, Sprint, WellsFargo, Allstate, StateFarm and more.

Cardone, 60, believes the middle class is a mythology perpetuated by politicians from both sides resulting in a failing formula for 250m people. His mission is to provide the middle class with new information and strategies for financial survival.

Grant Cardonehas spent the last 30 years of his career building a content library and a brand that will continue to live on, long after he is gone. His teaching onsales, closing, negotiations, follow-up, cold calling, motivation, business growth, and personal finances,have reached every corner of the world. Grants mission is to reach every person on this planet with his trainings, and a task of such magnitude will require the help of many able hands. So for the first time ever, we are opening theGrantCardone Licensee Program.

Read this article:

Welcome - Grant Cardone Licensee Program

Transcendental Meditation (TM) refers to a specific form of silent mantra meditation called the Transcendental Meditation technique,[1] and less commonly to the organizations that constitute the Transcendental Meditation movement.[1][2] Maharishi Mahesh Yogi introduced the TM technique and TM movement in India in the mid-1950s.

The Maharishi taught thousands of people during a series of world tours from 1958 to 1965, expressing his teachings in spiritual and religious terms.[3][4] TM became more popular in the 1960s and 1970s, as the Maharishi shifted to a more technical presentation, and his meditation technique was practiced by celebrities. At this time, he began training TM teachers and created specialized organizations to present TM to specific segments of the population such as business people and students. By the early 2000s, TM had been taught to millions of people, and the worldwide TM organization had grown to include educational programs, health products, and related services.

The TM technique involves the use of a sound called a mantra, and is practiced for 1520 minutes twice per day. It is taught by certified teachers through a standard course of instruction, which costs a fee that varies by country. According to the Transcendental Meditation movement, it is a non-religious method for relaxation, stress reduction, and self-development. The technique has been seen as both religious and non-religious; sociologists, scholars, and a New Jersey judge and court are among those who have expressed views.[4][5][6] The United States Court of Appeals upheld the federal ruling that TM was essentially "religious in nature" and therefore could not be taught in public schools.[7][8]

TM is one of the most widely practiced and researched meditation techniques.[9][10][11] It is not possible to say whether it has any effect on health as the research, as of 2007, is of poor quality.[12][13]

Transcendental Meditation dates its origin back to the Vedic traditions of India.[14] The Transcendental Meditation program and the Transcendental Meditation movement originated with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the organization, and continue beyond his death in 2008. In 1955,[15][16][17] "the Maharishi began publicly teaching a traditional meditation technique"[18] learned from his master Brahmananda Saraswati that he called Transcendental Deep Meditation[19] and later renamed Transcendental Meditation.[20]The Maharishi initiated thousands of people, then developed a TM teacher training program as a way to accelerate the rate of bringing the technique to more people.[20][21] He also inaugurated a series of world tours which promoted Transcendental Meditation.[22] These factors, coupled with endorsements by celebrities who practiced TM and claims that scientific research had validated the technique, helped to popularize TM in the 1960s and 1970s. By the late 2000s, TM had been taught to millions of individuals and the Maharishi was overseeing a large multinational movement.[23] Despite organizational changes and the addition of advanced meditative techniques in the 1970s,[24] the Transcendental Meditation technique has remained relatively unchanged.

Among the first organizations to promote TM were the Spiritual Regeneration Movement and the International Meditation Society. In modern times, the movement has grown to encompass schools and universities that teach the practice,[25] and includes many associated programs based on the Maharishi's interpretation of the Vedic traditions. In the U.S., non-profit organizations included the Students International Meditation Society,[26] AFSCI,[27] World Plan Executive Council, Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation, Global Country of World Peace and Maharishi Foundation.[28] The successor to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and leader of the Global Country of World Peace, is Tony Nader.[29][30]

The meditation practice involves the use of a mantra for 1520 minutes twice per day while sitting with the eyes closed. [31][32] It is reported to be one of the most widely practiced,[33][34] and among the most widely researched, meditation techniques,[9][10][11][35] with hundreds of published research studies.[36][37][38] The technique is made available worldwide by certified TM teachers in a seven-step course,[39] and fees vary from country to country.[40][41] Beginning in 1965, the Transcendental Meditation technique has been incorporated into selected schools, universities, corporations, and prison programs in the US, Latin America, Europe, and India. In 1977 a US district court ruled that a curriculum in TM and the Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI) being taught in some New Jersey schools was religious in nature and in violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.[5][42] The technique has since been included in a number of educational and social programs around the world.[43]

The Transcendental Meditation technique has been described as both religious and non-religious, as an aspect of a new religious movement, as rooted in Hinduism,[44][45] and as a non-religious practice for self-development.[46][47][48] The public presentation of the TM technique over its 50-year history has been praised for its high visibility in the mass media and effective global propagation, and criticized for using celebrity and scientific endorsements as a marketing tool. Also, advanced courses supplement the TM technique and include an advanced meditation program called the TM-Sidhi program.[49]

The Transcendental Meditation movement refers to the programs and organizations connected with the Transcendental Meditation technique and founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Transcendental Meditation was first taught in the 1950s in India and has continued since the Maharishi's death in 2008. The organization was estimated to have 900,000 participants worldwide in 1977,[50] a million by the 1980s,[51][52][53] and 5 million in more recent years,[54][55][56][57][58][59][60] including some notable practitioners.

Programs include the Transcendental Meditation technique, an advanced meditation practice called the TM-Sidhi program ("Yogic Flying"), an alternative health care program called Maharishi Ayurveda,[61] and a system of building and architecture called Maharishi Sthapatya Ved.[62][63] The TM movement's past and present media endeavors include a publishing company (MUM Press), a television station (KSCI), a radio station (KHOE), and a satellite television channel (Maharishi Channel). During its 50-year history, its products and services have been offered through a variety of organizations, which are primarily nonprofit and educational. These include the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, the International Meditation Society, World Plan Executive Council, Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation, the Global Country of World Peace, and the David Lynch Foundation.

The TM movement also operates a worldwide network of Transcendental Meditation teaching centers, schools, universities, health centers, herbal supplements, solar panel, and home financing companies, plus several TM-centered communities. The global organization is reported to have an estimated net worth of USD 3.5 billion.[64][65] The TM movement has been characterized in a variety of ways and has been called a spiritual movement, a new religious movement,[66][67] a millenarian movement, a world affirming movement,[68] a new social movement,[69] a guru-centered movement,[70] a personal growth movement,[71] a religion, and a cult.[67][72][73][need quotation to verify] Additional sources contend that TM and its movement are not a cult.[74][75][76][77] Participants in TM programs are not required to adopt a belief system; it is practiced by atheists, agnostics and people from a variety of religious affiliations.[78][79][80][81] The organization has also been criticized as well as praised for its public presentation and marketing techniques throughout its 50-year history.

The first studies of the health effects of Transcendental Meditation appeared in the early 1970s.[82] Robert Keith Wallace, the founding president of Maharishi University of Management, published a study in Science in 1970 reporting that TM induced distinct physiologic changes and a novel state of consciousness in practitioners.[83] In contrast, a 1976 study by independent researchers found that TM was biochemically similar to sitting with one's eyes closed.[84] A second 1976 study of five subjects found that TM practitioners spent much of their meditation time napping rather than in the unique "wakeful hypometabolic state" described by Wallace.[85] By 2004 the US government had given more than $20 million to Maharishi University of Management to study the effect of meditation on health.[86]

It is not possible to say whether meditation has any effect on health, as the research is of poor quality,[12][13] and is marred by a high risk for bias due to the connection of researchers to the TM organization and by the selection of subjects with a favorable opinion of TM.[87][88][89] Most independent systematic reviews have not found health benefits for TM exceeding those produced by other relaxation techniques or health education.[12][90][91] A 2013 statement from the American Heart Association said that TM could be considered as a treatment for hypertension, although other interventions such as exercise and device-guided breathing were more effective and better supported by clinical evidence.[92] A 2014 systematic review and meta-analysis funded by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found no evidence that mantra meditation programs such as TM were effective in reducing psychological stress or improving well-being.[93][94] A 2015 systematic review and meta-analysis found that TM may effectively reduce blood pressure compared to a control groups, although the underlying studies may have been biased and further studies with better designs are needed to confirm these results.[95] A 2014 Cochrane review found that it was impossible to draw any conclusions about whether TM is effective in preventing cardiovascular disease, as the scientific literature on TM was limited and at "serious risk of bias".[96]

In the 1960s, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi described a paranormal effect claiming a significant number of individuals (1% of the people in a given area) practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique (TM) could have an effect on the local environment.[97] This hypothetical influence was later termed the Maharishi Effect. With the introduction of the TM-Sidhi program in 1976, the Maharishi proposed that the square root of one percent of the population practicing the TM-Sidhi program, together at the same time and in the same place, would increase "life-supporting trends". This was referred to as the "Extended Maharishi Effect".[98][99] Evidence, which TM practitioners[100] believe supports the existence of the effect, has been said to lack a causal basis.[101] The evidence was said to result from cherry-picked data[102] and the credulity of believers.[101][103]

More here:

Transcendental Meditation - Wikipedia

Kanan Jarrus meditates on Lothal.

Meditation was a mental technique performed by living beings. By meditating, Force-sensitives could reach a deeper state of relaxation, making them easier to connect with the Force with a clear mind.[1] This technique, which consisted of opening a connection to the Force, was something even the eldest of Jedi Masters studied over a lifetime.[2] On the other hand, whereas the Jedi meditated to quiet their minds and connect with the Force, Sith Lords meditated to concentrate their anger, their fear, and their hatred into a pure point of ruthless power within them.[3] As meditation was to have a stronger and more direct connection with the Force, it could sometimes affecting one's surroundings without the practitioner's conscious control, usually causing surrounding objects, or even the practitioner themselves to levitate. [4][5]

The basics of Jedi meditation were to focus on whatever emotions were uppermost in one's mind, to be honest with oneself about the feelings one experienced and their effects. Then, one was to let each emotion gothe goal being to make of oneself an empty vessel that the Force would be able to fill.[2]

Excerpt from:

Meditation | Wookieepedia | FANDOM powered by Wikia

The Town of Secaucus' new online tax payment provider is now active. To pay your taxes online, please visit the tax collector page.

The winners for the holiday lights contest have been announced!

The following is an important announcement from the Secaucus Police. Be advised throughout the state there has been theft of mail from mailboxes. Thieves are using a sticky material to retrieve mail in the hopes of securing checks and are then altering and cashing them. We have been advised that theft of mail has occurred at the mailboxes on the corner of Pandolfi and Golden Avenue and the mailbox at the Municipal lot at the intersection of Centre Avenue and Chestnut Street. If you placed mail in either of these mailboxes on or after December 17thit may have been stolen and the police would like you to come to the station and complete a report. The police recommend that all checks be mailed directly from the Post Office.

Alternate side of the street parking will be suspended from December 17, 2018 - March 18, 2019

As of December 17 street sweeping will be suspended. An update will be published when the sweeper resumes in the spring.

Please be advised: Effective Friday, 12/7/18, the Town of Secaucus will be permanently discontinuing shuttle service from the lot at Laurel Hill Park to the Train Station.

The Home Energy Assistance Program helps low income residents with their heating and cooling bills, and makes provisions for emergency heating system services and emergency fuel assistance within the Home Energy Assistance Program.

Link:
Home - Secaucus, NJ

Radio Art is a European, internet radio station. It plays many types of music, but emphasizes acoustic instruments and natural sounds that are specially selected for stress-relief and anxiety reduction.

The music is carefully selected, aiming to create a special environment that will bring an oasis of peace to the listener, as well as aid relaxation, reduce mental fatigue, and help cope with stress. The reduction of stress and anxiety improves mental and physical health, with the result of improved control over thoughts and feelings, stronger endurance during work, and the achievement of a calm and relaxing sleep at night.

The journey of Radio Art on the internet is based on the cooperation of sensitive and insightful programmers, musicians and musicologists from all over the world, the Radio Art program has continued to improved and develop.

Currently RadioArt broadcasts 120 music channels and 24 music sound channels. It enjoys support and connectedness with listeners from over 100 countries.

Following great effords of development, Radio Art released a unique system for its listeners, where the listener is able to exploit a broad range of options to combine music with natural sounds. For instance, the listener can add bird songs to piano music creating an envelope of sound that is perfectly conductive to relaxation and rest. Furthermore the listener can make a rotation playlist with any of the music channels, adjust the order and time of rotation and create a beautiful music atmosphere. The list can be saved and opened again at any time.

The main intent of Radio Art, is to enhance foreground dreaming, inner peace, stress relief, and soul cultivation through music.

Radio Art is managed by a team who is grounded in science and a love for Music and Art, and who draw from expertise in Art, Medicine, Management and Information Technology.

Original post:

Radio Art - The Art of Relaxing Music and Meditation Music ...

Assure Sales Success Using IncentivesHas this happened to you: You create a great sales and marketing strategy thats enthusiastically endorsed by the management team, but fails because your sales team and your customers didnt buy into it! If only they had been as excited as you were, the plan would surely have succeeded.

Whats In It For Me (W.I.I.F.M.) What sales incentives do successful managers use to create positive buzz and excitement with employees? How do winning sales managers make sure their customers are excited about doing business with them?

Give them something to get excited about. Customer and employee rewards, tied directly to contribution, assure buy in and success. Help your target audience answer the question: Whats In It For Me? Their next question will be: What Can We Do For You?

Affordable Programs That Fit Any BudgetFor decades, Capitol Marketing has been one of the industrys largest, most successful incentive marketing company because we customize programs to fit the precise needs of each customer. Programs are designed from the ground up to achieve the exact goals of our partner-client.

The Capitol Marketing Goods Hands ProgramYoure in good hands with Capitol Marketing, from start to finish. First, a team of professionals is assigned and introduced to you. Our team follows the program throughout and is responsible for your success. Your CMC team is assigned to you because they are experienced in the type of program you are running and have experience in your industry, as well.

Rely On Capitol for Sales Incentive SuccessWed like to talk with you and show you how we can help. We are available to consult with you on a no obligations basis whenever you need us.

Capitol Marketing Loyalty Reward Programs deliver sales success and ROI for our clients.

See the article here:
Employee Rewards Programs, Loyalty Reward Program

The Book of Mormon teaches that all are alike unto God, including black and white, bond and free, male and female (2Nephi 26:33). Throughout the history of the Church, people of every race and ethnicity in many countries have been baptized and have lived as faithful members of the Church. During Joseph Smiths lifetime, a few black male members of the Church were ordained to the priesthood. Early in its history, Church leaders stopped conferring the priesthood on black males of African descent. Church records offer no clear insights into the origins of this practice. Church leaders believed that a revelation from God was needed to alter this practice and prayerfully sought guidance. The revelation came to Church President SpencerW. Kimball and was affirmed to other Church leaders in the Salt Lake Temple on June 1, 1978. The revelation removed all restrictions with regard to race that once applied to the priesthood.

On September 30, 1978, at the 148th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the following was presented by President N.Eldon Tanner, First Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church:

In early June of this year, the First Presidency announced that a revelation had been received by President SpencerW. Kimball extending priesthood and temple blessings to all worthy male members of the Church. President Kimball has asked that I advise the conference that after he had received this revelation, which came to him after extended meditation and prayer in the sacred rooms of the holy temple, he presented it to his counselors, who accepted it and approved it. It was then presented to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who unanimously approved it, and was subsequently presented to all other General Authorities, who likewise approved it unanimously.

President Kimball has asked that I now read this letter:

To all general and local priesthood officers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout the world:

Dear Brethren:

As we have witnessed the expansion of the work of the Lord over the earth, we have been grateful that people of many nations have responded to the message of the restored gospel, and have joined the Church in ever-increasing numbers. This, in turn, has inspired us with a desire to extend to every worthy member of the Church all of the privileges and blessings which the gospel affords.

Aware of the promises made by the prophets and presidents of the Church who have preceded us that at some time, in Gods eternal plan, all of our brethren who are worthy may receive the priesthood, and witnessing the faithfulness of those from whom the priesthood has been withheld, we have pleaded long and earnestly in behalf of these, our faithful brethren, spending many hours in the Upper Room of the Temple supplicating the Lord for divine guidance.

He has heard our prayers, and by revelation has confirmed that the long-promised day has come when every faithful, worthy man in the Church may receive the holy priesthood, with power to exercise its divine authority, and enjoy with his loved ones every blessing that flows therefrom, including the blessings of the temple. Accordingly, all worthy male members of the Church may be ordained to the priesthood without regard for race or color. Priesthood leaders are instructed to follow the policy of carefully interviewing all candidates for ordination to either the Aaronic or the Melchizedek Priesthood to insure that they meet the established standards for worthiness.

We declare with soberness that the Lord has now made known his will for the blessing of all his children throughout the earth who will hearken to the voice of his authorized servants, and prepare themselves to receive every blessing of the gospel.

Sincerely yours,

SpencerW. Kimball

N.Eldon Tanner

MarionG. Romney

The First Presidency

Recognizing SpencerW. Kimball as the prophet, seer, and revelator, and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it is proposed that we as a constituent assembly accept this revelation as the word and will of the Lord. All in favor please signify by raising your right hand. Any opposed by the same sign.

The vote to sustain the foregoing motion was unanimous in the affirmative.

Salt Lake City, Utah, September 30, 1978.

Read this article:

Official Declaration 2 - lds.org

Attention Activity

As appropriate, use the following activity or one of your own to begin the lesson.

Give each class member a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. Ask them to write down a difficulty or adversity they have experienced. When they have finished, have them write what they learned and how they grew from that adversity.

Explain that this lesson is about enduring adversity by turning to the Savior. Tell class members that later in the lesson they will have an opportunity to share what they have written down.

Prayerfully select the lesson material that will best meet class members needs. Encourage class members to share experiences that relate to the scriptural principles.

Briefly summarize the following events in Missouri. You may want to refer to Our Heritage, pages4549; the time line on page155 in this manual; and map 2 on page275 in this manual and page30 in the Class Member Study Guide.

After the Saints were driven from Jackson County in late 1833, they found refuge in nearby Clay County until they were asked to leave in 1836. From Clay County, they moved about 60 miles north and established the community of Far West and other smaller settlements.

The Church prospered for a time in northern Missouri. The population grew rapidly, and temple sites were dedicated in Far West and Adam-ondi-Ahman. However, there continued to be conflicts among some of the Saints. Several leaders were excommunicated, including Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer.

In addition to dissension among some Church members, there continued to be conflicts with other residents in northern Missouri. In 1838, mobs and militia members began more attacks. On 25October, three Church members were killed during a battle at Crooked River, including DavidW. Patten, an Apostle. Two days later, Governor LilburnW. Boggs of Missouri issued an order that the Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state (History of the Church, 3:175).

On 30October, a mob of approximately 200 men killed 17 men and boys at Hauns Mill. The next day, Joseph Smith and approximately 50 other Church leaders were arrested on false charges. Most of these leaders were released within three weeks. However, six of them, including Joseph and Hyrum Smith, were detained despite their innocence. In November they were marched first to Independence, then to Richmond, and then to Liberty, where they were incarcerated in Liberty Jail until April 1839.

Conditions in Liberty Jail were harsh. The prisoners were kept in the lower level, which was like a dungeondark, cold, and unsanitary. The food was inadequate and filthy. The Prophet and his companions had only a little straw on the stone floor for their beds, with meager blankets for cover. The ceiling was so low that some of the brethren, including Joseph and Hyrum, could not stand upright. They were also under constant threat of death.

While the Prophet was imprisoned, about 8,000 Saints in Missouri were forced out of their homes as a result of the governors extermination order. Many of them were robbed, beaten, and killed by the mobs as they fled to the state of Illinois. The Prophet heard reports of the Saints suffering and pleaded with the Lord for help. In response, the Lord gave some powerful revelations. The Prophet included them in a letter to Church leaders in Quincy, Illinois, who were directing the Saints exodus from Missouri. Portions of these revelations are now sections 121, 122, and 123 of the Doctrine and Covenants.

Liberty Jail. While unjustly imprisoned here in 183839, the Prophet Joseph Smith received the revelations now recorded in D&C 121, 122, and 123.

Read D&C 121:16 with class members. What do these verses indicate Joseph Smith was feeling and thinking about at this time? What did he request of the Lord? What are your thoughts and feelings as you read Joseph Smiths pleadings with the Lord in these verses?

The Lords reply to Joseph Smiths prayer is given in D&C 121:733 and D&C 122. Read D&C 121:710 with class members. What did the Lord teach Joseph in these verses? How would you feel if these words were spoken to you? What can we learn about the Lord from this reply?

Point out that these revelations made Liberty jail, for a time, a center of instruction. The eyes of the saints were turned to it as the place whence would come encouragement, counselthe word of the Lord. It was more temple than prison, so long as the Prophet was there. It was a place of meditation and prayer. Joseph Smith sought God in this rude prison, and found him (B.H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church, 1:526).

Ask class members to think of their own trials as someone reads D&C 122:58. In what way has the Savior descended below all things? (See Alma 7:1112; D&C 19:1619.)

Explain that because the Savior descended below all things, He has a perfect understanding of all our trials. Speaking of the supreme suffering of the Savior, Elder NealA. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve said:

As part of His infinite atonement, Jesus has borne the sins, griefs, sorrows, and, declared Jacob, the pains of every man, woman, and child (see 2Nephi 9:21). Having been perfected in His empathy, Jesus thus knows how to succor us. Nothing is beyond His redeeming reach or His encircling empathy. Therefore, we should not complain about our own lifes not being a rose garden when we remember who wore the crown of thorns! (in Conference Report, Apr. 1987, 89; or Ensign, May 1987, 72).

Do we experience any trials in which we cannot be comforted by the Savior? (See Hebrews 4:15.) How can a knowledge of the Saviors suffering help us be faithful in our own tribulations?

What can we do to more fully partake of the comfort and strength that Jesus offers through His Atonement? (See Hebrews 4:16; 1Peter 5:611.) How can prayer, humility, and faith in Jesus Christ help us receive strength during times of adversity?

Explain that adversity is part of Gods plan for our testing and growth during mortality. We came to earth knowing we would experience pain, trials, and other difficulties.

The Prophet Joseph Smith experienced so many afflictions that he said they have been my common lot all the days of my life; and I feel, like Paul, to glory in tribulation (D&C 127:2). In addition to the comfort and counsel the Lord gave the Prophet in Liberty Jail, there were many other occasions when the Lord taught him about adversity. The rest of this lesson examines these teachings in the Doctrine and Covenants.

What does the Lord reveal in the Doctrine and Covenants about the purposes of adversity? (Read the following verses with class members. Summarize the information on the chalkboard.)

D&C 98:12, 1415; 101:4; 136:31. (The Lord allows adversity to come into our lives to try us and to prove us to see whether we will abide in His covenant.) Why does the Lord want His people to be tried in all things?

D&C 101:12. (Some adversity is a result of our transgressions.)

D&C 122:7. (The Lord allows adversity to give us experience and help us grow.)

How can understanding these purposes of adversity help us endure it well? (D&C 121:8).

Some people incorrectly believe that all afflictions are punishments from God. What are the dangers of such a belief? Why is adversity not withheld from the righteous?

Emphasize that while transgression is one source of adversity, it is not the only source. Some adversity comes because even for the righteous there is an opposition in all things (2Nephi 2:11). Some adversity comes as a natural consequence of the frailty and corruptibility of the mortal body. Some comes because of accidents, because of our own choices that arent necessarily transgressions, and because of other peoples choicesthings that God can protect us from but sometimes does not because the basic gospel law is free agency and eternal development (SpencerW. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle [1973], 96). Adversity can also come to accomplish the Lords own purposes in our life that we may receive the refinement that comes from testing (RichardG. Scott, in Conference Report, Oct. 1995, 18; or Ensign, Nov. 1995, 16).

While serving in the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder HaroldB. Lee said that living the gospel of Jesus Christ is no guarantee that adversity will not come into our lives; but living the gospel does give us the strength and faith and power to rise above that adversity and look beyond the present trouble to the brighter day (quoted by A.Theodore Tuttle, in Conference Report, Oct. 1967, 15; or Improvement Era, Dec. 1967, 47).

For other scriptural teachings about the purposes of adversity, you may want to see 2Nephi 2:11; Alma 32:56; 62:41; and Helaman 12:13.

What counsel does the Lord give in the Doctrine and Covenants to help us when we experience adversity? (Read the following verses with class members. Summarize the information on the chalkboard. Select some of the questions to encourage discussion.)

D&C 24:8; 31:9; 54:10; 121:7. (Be patient in afflictions; they will be but a small moment; see also Alma 17:11.) How can we increase our patience to endure trials? In what sense did Joseph Smiths afflictions last for only a small moment? How can we come to see adversity from the Lords eternal perspective?

D&C 98:1. (Rejoice and give thanks.) Why should we give thanks to God even when we are experiencing trials? What are some blessings we continue to have even during the most severe adversity?

D&C 98:11. (We should remain obedient and cleave unto all good.) Why is it sometimes difficult to remain obedient when we experience adversity?

D&C 101:3638. (Care for the soul, not for the body, and seek the Lord.) How can we apply this counsel?

D&C 122:9. (We should not fear what man may do, for God will be with us forever; see also D&C 98:13.)

Why are some people embittered by trials while others grow and are strengthened? What can we do to face our trials and adversities better? (See Alma 62:4951.) What accounts in the scriptures have helped or inspired you during times of adversity?

What have others done to help you through adversity? How can we help others during their trials? How can we use what our own trials have taught us in helping others? What benefits can come from serving others when we are in the midst of our own trials? (See Luke 9:24; Galatians 6:2.)

What can we do if we feel ourselves become despairing and hopeless because of adversity? (See Alma 36:3.) How can we prepare now to be strong in future times when we may experience greater adversity?

What promises does the Lord give in the Doctrine and Covenants to those who are faithful in adversity? (Read some of the following verses with class members. Summarize the information on the chalkboard. Select some of the questions to encourage discussion.)

D&C 3:8; 24:8; 112:13; 122:4. (The Lord will be with us, stand by us, and heal us in our afflictions; see also Jacob 3:1; Mosiah 24:1314; Alma 36:27.) Why is it important to know the Lord will be with us in afflictions? What experiences have shown you that the Lord is with you during times of trial?

D&C 58:24; 101:3536; 103:12; 121:29; 127:4; 136:31. (Those who are faithful in tribulation will receive glory, joy, and other blessings.)

D&C 98:3; 122:7. (All things will work together for our good and to the Lords glory; see also D&C 90:24; 100:15; 2Nephi 2:2; Romans 8:28.) How can adversity be for our good?

Ask the assigned class members to tell briefly what they have learned and how they have grown from adversity (see Preparation, item 3). If you used the attention activity, invite other class members to share what they wrote. If you did not use the attention activity, invite other class members to tell what they have learned and how they have grown from adversity.

While serving in the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder JamesE. Faust said: In the pain, the agony, and the heroic endeavors of life, we pass through a refiners fire, and the insignificant and the unimportant in our lives can melt away like dross and make our faith bright, intact, and strong. It is part of the purging toll exacted of some to become acquainted with God. In the agonies of life, we seem to listen better to the faint, godly whisperings of the Divine Shepherd (in Conference Report, Apr. 1979, 77; or Ensign, May 1979, 53).

Elder MarionG. Romney of the Quorum of the Twelve said:

I have seen the remorse and despair in the lives of men who, in the hour of trial, have cursed God and died spiritually. And I have seen people rise to great heights from what seemed to be unbearable burdens.

Finally, I have sought the Lord in my own extremities and learned for myself that my soul has made its greatest growth as I have been driven to my knees by adversity and affliction (in Conference Report, Oct. 1969, 60; or Improvement Era, Dec. 1969, 69).

D&C 121:8; 127:2. (Those who are faithful in affliction will be exalted.)

What can we do during our periods of trial to feel more fully the peace the Lord speaks of in D&C 121:7? (See also D&C 19:23.)

In April 1839, after the Prophet and his companions had been held in Liberty Jail for nearly five months, they were sent to Daviess County and then to Boone County for trial. While they were being moved to Boone County, the guards let them escape because some officials concluded that they could not be successfully prosecuted. Joseph Smith and the other prisoners then made their way to Illinois, where they joined their families and the rest of the Saints.

Encourage class members to read the revelations given in Liberty Jail in times of adversity. Testify that through the Atonement, Jesus Christ has borne our griefs. If we turn to Him, He will comfort and lift us even in our darkest days. Express your gratitude for the example of Joseph Smith in dealing with adversity and the willingness of Christ to help us endure and learn from adversity.

Go here to see the original:

Lesson 28: O God, Where Art Thou?

Nietzsche is the philosopher of the will to power, seen as vital creation and fulfillment. What is essential is our world as it is joy and desire for power. As for the illusion of ulterior worlds, Nietzsche stalking in all its forms.

Nietzsche diagnosed the essence of the mortal crisis of our time: he described it, in its main features, and an almost clinical manner.

He made a study at different levels and in so doing has often announced with great precision which only sketched in the late nineteenth century.

This deadly disease of modern times, ours is the nihilism, reign of the absurd, of Nothing (nihil, as we pointed out the etymology).

Nihilism or no sense

The future is so aimless and all traditional ideals lose their value.

But what is the core of this Nothing and how does it spring?

The phenomenon of nihilism is fundamentally marked by the death of God, the most important recent event.

The sun of the Christian faith has to lie. The darkness is now the lot of our world.

The Divine, the supersensible, left us: we killed Nietzsche tells us sometimes.

The death of the Christian God, if it is, perhaps, the sign and the announcement of a new dawn, is marked in our time, by the coming of the Last Man, completion of nihilism.

The Last Man means what is most contemptible in this world: those who are powerless to create and to love, the individual totally enslaved and enjoying a happiness programmed and petty.

It bounces well on the surface of the earth.

In truth, nihilism completes the metaphysics and concludes there is an immediate consequence.

In the crisis of our time (even within the nihilistic disease), we find, in fact, errors of metaphysics.

Nihilism is the sign of Nothing, pure Nothingness

It means the unveiling of nothingness, conceived as hidden foundation of our world.

However, the examination, we discover the origins of this crisis within the metaphysical project:

Metaphysics, defined as the type of research and approach the truth lying beyond phenomenal appearances in a other world devalued because of this, our universe.

The phenomenon is sensitive then reduced to a mere appearance, an envelope surface, it slides towards nothingness and reality and identifies the supersensible.

Therefore, metaphysics must be overcome: she was born, in fact, suffering from the man and his weariness of life.

The individual, in his grief, has invented another world, stable, permanent place of truth. The object of study of metaphysics is the Being, in and of itself, essentially the same through the changes.

But this is a metaphysical being fiction. It only responds to the need for stability of those that Nietzsche christened the hallucinated the back-world: those that pose an ideal universe, beyond the empirical appearances and our phenomenal world.

In the eyes of Nietzsche, what matters is, on the contrary, our world as vital fullness.

Traditional moral values suffer, too, the hammer of the Nietzschean critique. Nietzsche is here, very hard on Christianity.

Resentment is to say the feeling of resentment and bitterness felt by those who are unable to create a positive, gave birth to moral values, good and evil.

Pain and bitterness are the source of morality, as they are the source of metaphysics.

Those who can create and say something really positive (slaves) to avenge their existential helplessness by making it the negative value of their lives.

Thus was born the Christian ascetic morality, the work of slaves.

For the active nihilism, destroying traditional values to enter new values, by immorality, by placing doctrine is beyond good and evil, we can hope to find the way of the creative life and the Will to Power.

Will to Power: that much overused phrase, a term which proliferate major contradiction or sophistry.

Do not designate it simply the will or appetite for power, the spirit of domination or competition?

This would include the design or a very restrictive or destructive domination of a thrust to various aspects: a set of impulses essentially competitive (in the poor), but also very movement of creative transcendence (in the noble soul of the aristocrat a concept taken from Nietzsche, in his essentially spiritual significance that is to say the best!).

It can mean struggle for life, but also existential spiritual wholeness and abundance.

The Will to Power is an ambiguous term, an ambivalent notion that one can not reduce its forms and manifestations superficial or trivial.

In its most noble, it is a strength plastic and creative.

To fully grasp its essence, the human body to be taken as a guide, because the body is wisdom and reason, define it as intelligent dynamic, organic faculty to understand and to think, think the whole organism and it is possible to speak of a mind unconscious body.

Following Schopenhauer, Nietzsche rehabilitates the Unconscious, conceived as psychic reality beyond the entry clear and transparent self.

Consciousness is less rich than the body, which provides, in its wisdom, a starting point and a guide: it puts us in a position to understand the Will to Power, this destructive and creative life force, that life in perpetual growth .

The Will to Power authentic as affirmation and fulfillment, unveils, within its creative glut, the real scope of life and transcendence. Among the creations of life figure, primarily, the Art, where it should not be misunderstood.

Any identifies a tradition, indeed, the Art with works of art and the fine arts.

Nietzsche, quite the contrary, creates art in a much more comprehensive and dynamic.

Against the art works of art confined to a specific area, bounded and limited, art becomes, in Nietzsche, an invention of harmonious forms, production for beautification of all existence.

It obscures the ugliness, it humanizes or concealing anything that is ugly.

Do not confuse the Arts and Fine Arts.

All materials and signs created by an artist and exhibiting an ideal of beauty does not designate an appendix to this production of what forms of art in general, the intoxication of life, the will to exist through harmonious forms.

The scope of the creative life involves artistic activity, the authentic work and, in general, everything concerning the building of positive values.

Thus, the real work, formatting things, related to joy and pleasure, he differs profoundly from the miserable toil for gain.

For the powers of life relate the authentic moral values, those that create the best, the masters, lying in the lifeblood of the Will to Power.

Thinking of Nietzsche is aristocratic, in the etymological sense of the word.

At vile herd opposes the beautiful creative individuality.

This spiritual opposition between the aristocrat and flock commanded a number of concepts of Nietzsche.

Thus, the aristocratic morality (this creative act, this triumphant affirmation of values, an assertion that is in joy) Is a thousand miles from the slave morality, resentment begets related negative values.

The criterion of authenticity is always linked with Nietzsche, to the affirmation and the creative power of life.

From this perspective, affirmation of the creative power of life, he must understand the symbol of Dionysus, which takes place in such a Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy (1871), until the Will Power (posthumous fragments).

Dionysus is in fact a symbol of life, be as full of life.

God of drunkenness among the Greeks, he plays in Nietzsches thought, the creation and destruction to become like incessant Dionysus is sensuality, enjoyment of power generating and destroying.

The word Dionysian expresses this participation (unleashed) aware of exuberant life.

As for the Dionysia, it means the identification with the principle of ecstasy and life.

Instead, Apollo, god of the measure and limit the Greeks, refers, in Nietzsche, anything that is sharp, clear, distinct, limited.

At outburst Dionysian oppose the serenity Apollonian Apolline, designed as contemplation of a world of imagination and dream.

By pushing back the reaction force, a simple denial, those related to no, with excess to those of life and creation, man transcends himself towards the Superman, to a higher human type, free-spirited and heart.

The man, indeed, is it the end of evolution? he has not completed its route and calls the beautiful creative individuality.

The superhuman is the meaning of the earth, the next term of evolution.

Again, it should avoid any misunderstanding: the superman of Nietzsche was sadly caricatured, but it has nothing to do with the blond beast of Germanic myth.

The philosophy of Nietzsche and organized around a few key concepts: that of Superman, and the Dionysian, of course, Will to Power.

Let us add, finally, that of Eternal Recurrence (any state of the universe back periodically).

Nietzsche, and (as Lucretius and Spinoza) drew a philosophy of joy, creativity and wholeness vital.

He celebrated life and stressed that the secret of the greatest enjoyment is to live dangerously and intensely.

The Birth of Tragedy (1871)

Human, Too Human (1878)

The Wanderer and His Shadow (1880)

Aurora (1880-1881)

The gay science (1881-1882)

Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1882-1885)

Beyond Good and Evil (1886)

The Genealogy of Morals (1887)

View post:
Nietzsche Philosophy Summary