Spirituality/General: Gravel Eating Ducks & Mind Envelopes

As humans, we think we're so smart. Well, maybe we are. We can snap close-up images of Neptune's moon Triton. We've built small miracles-in-a-box that we call computers. Undoubtedly, we can out-perform all other Earth creatures with our techno-wizardry thanks to the collective intelligence of our brains. That, however, doesn't rule out the possibility that we have a gigantic blind spot lodged between our ears. This spot affects both society and the individual, including our spirituality, in the subtlest (and sometimes, grossest) ways. Here is a true story that shows how this mechanism works.

One afternoon not long ago, we were cruising down a two-lane road in south Florida. To the right ran a canal, a common sight down here. There, I noticed several ducks floating peacefully on the water. I smiled and pointed them out to the rest of the family. The children pressed their faces against the windows and said stuff like, "Cool," "Wow," and "So what?" What caught my attention, though, was that one of the birds was sinking, chest first, into the water. "Why is that?" I wondered.

The next day I drove by the canal again. As usual, the ducks were there. Oddly though, the partially sunken bird was there too. I couldn't figure out why it was like that, so I decided to call in an expert. "Uncle Phil" knew the answers to some of life's more perplexing questions. He's been around.

"You see," said Phil after studying the unfortunate duck, "birds eat gravel so they can digest their food. That's how their digestive system works. That guy obviously ate too much gravel."

"Too much gravel," I thought. "That makes sense." I was grateful; mystery solved. When I returned home, I shared this information with the family. Everyone nodded his or her head in agreement. They were glad too.

A few days later, I drove past the canal again. The water level had dropped several inches. I was surprise to see PVC pipes extending from the shore. Attached to each pipe was a *wooden duck*. The gravel-eating duck was a waterlogged piece of carved wood. In reality, these "ducks" didn't eat anything. Uncle Phil's "truth" wasn't one.

We had arrived at a logical conclusion even though the premise was faulty. We assumed that the duck was real and created this picture of reality: duck + gravel = sunken duck. It sounded reasonable enough, it made sense, and so we made it our truth. However, our conclusion, built on an honest mistake in perception, was as faulty as the premise.

This taught me three lessons. First, logic can easily deceive us. If the frame is skewed, it will create a distorted picture of reality. Second, we treat all conclusions as facts, even those that have little (or no) bearing on existential reality. They can even override obvious facts ("Look, the King has new clothes"). Third, we don't have to bind ourselves to the "truths" we have accepted.

I dubbed this mental process the "stupidity of the brain:" we will believe anything if it "makes sense" to us. Because of this, our brains are experts at believing lies, missing the truth, and unfortunately, causing others and ourselves to suffer needlessly. Mystics say that we are asleep or in Maya when we believe these strings of words.

Metaphysics, religion, and philosophy are famous for creating these ducks. Believers often base their conclusions on little or no evidence whatsoever. And because the stories make sense to them, they wonder why everyone doesn't believe them too. For example, "The Holy Book says that if you aren't a believer, you will burn in hell forever. The Book is the Word of God, so it's true. That makes perfect sense, right?" The problem is, Christians and Muslims can say the same thing, only Christians would use the authority of their Bible rather than that of the Koran.

The New Age has its share of ducks as well. Take the idea, "If you observe something, then it changes." Some New Age theorist adapted this idea from a quantum physics' experiment. Scientists supposedly discovered that if you view a subatomic partial, you change its state. The New Age theorist took this idea and transposed it to the everyday world: If we look at anything, subatomic or not, then it changes too.

However, just because our bodies are made of subatomic particles doesn't mean that we behave like them. A campfire doesn't behave like the sun either. Here's the real "gravel," though: in the experiment, the particle didn't change when scientists observed it; it changed when they measured it. Measuring requires shining a beam of energy on the particle, and that beam, not the observing, stimulates and changes the particle.

Not all gravel comes from honest mistakes in perception or logic. For example, the media, the mouthpiece for the corporate worldview and its ethics, fashionably calls the illegal, unethical, or corrupt maneuvering of politicians and business executives "spin." This is the politically correct way to describe deceit. It makes their lies more palatable (and easier to report) and gives dishonesty a game-like quality. It infers that this behavior isn't that important and coerces us to adopt the attitude, "Oh, it's just spin - no big deal." Spin differs from gravel logic in that the purpose of spin is to deceive and misdirect the audience.

Once the spin starts, debates will revolve around the issues that the spin generates. Here is an example of a debate within the Spin Zone. Both sides know that the duck is made of wood:

Point: "Gravel is not making the duck sink. It's obvious that the duck is ill. Just look at its color."

Counterpoint: "No, the duck is not ill. Gravel is the problem. You can tell by the way the duck is tilting. You see, when the. . . "

These ducks are called *decoys*, and they are created by Da Zone Masters. Zone Masters are motivated by greed, self-righteousness, and a desire to control others (power). They are Masters because they are successful at it. Da Zone Creatures are devotees that follow the Masters. Hypnotized by words and visually entranced by media images, their moral compasses are shattered. Their common sense is deconstructed into sound bytes, which the Masters can rearrange to fit their purposes.

Say a country illegally invades another. Government officials would not focus on the legality issue. Instead, they would create a problem, like how the other country is a threat. Then, they would talk about solving the "problem" that they have invented. The legality of the war becomes a non-issue; it doesn't matter. They take a word like "invasion," spin it, and out comes "preemptive strike." If you ask supporters why they believe the spin, they recite the reasons that the media has conveniently provided. Many suffer, and a few get richer.

The Buddhist's cure for all of this is Right Thinking. Spin and gravel are two forms of wrong thinking.

The largest flocks of decoys float in our courtrooms. Lawyers craft them every day. Using only words, they create realities of their choosing. By doing that, they have successfully transformed the justice system into a legal system. Of course, not all lawyers are guilty of this.

Using another analogy, the attorney puts the jury into a mental envelope. Sometimes, the jurors consent to stay there, serving the law rather than justice. To avoid this, the jury must think outside the envelope. They have to see beyond the narrow walls that the attorney has built. Constitutionally, they have the right, and the responsibility, to do this.

Here are four examples, and all of them are true. They are meant only to show how far from the heart and reason this practice has taken us. It costs us socially and personally, and it creates unnecessary suffering and injustice when we go along with it.

A man in California was robbing a house. When he was though, he decided to leave through the garage, but found that it was locked. When he tried to reenter the house, he found that the door had locked behind him. He had to wait in the garage until the homeowners returned from vacation seven days later. He lived off the warm Pepsi and dog food that the owners had stored there.

When the couple returned home, naturally they called the police. The police came and arrested the burglar, and you would think that would be the end of it. It was not. The would-be thief successfully sued the homeowners for "making him" suffer through the ordeal. The jury awarded him over $100,000.00, far more than he would have stolen from their home, and he did it legally! Thanks to that verdict, we must now make our homes "burglar compliant" to avoid being sued. Our legal system is based on precedent.

In their deliberations, did the jury consider that he was 100% responsible for being there? That he shouldn't have been there in the first place? No. Instead, they felt compelled to follow some law rather than serve justice. They saw clearly the drop of water that the lawyer presented, but they missed the ocean altogether. An alternate verdict could have been to award him one dollar in damages (but not the court costs). This would satisfy the law and support justice. Although it's a balancing act, serving the spirit of the law is more just than serving the letter of the law.

Tom DeWeese reports on an incident in Inverness, Florida. There, "a 12-year-old boy was cuffed, arrested, and taken in a patrol car to jail where he was held for two hours. His crime? Kyle Fredrikson was walking back to class from lunch when Deputy Tim Langer saw the boy 'purposely stomping in the water' after being told numerous times by school personnel to stay with the group and out of the rain. Little boys like to stomp on puddles. Always have and always will.

"He didn't comply and Officer Langer took the sixth-grader to a school office where he was handcuffed and taken to jail. Kyle was charged with disruption of an educational institution, a misdemeanor. After sitting for two hours by himself in a police holding room, the police released the boy to his mother and grandmother."

Did they think to send him to the Principle or call his parents? No. Although common sense can be abused, that doesn't mean we should abandon it altogether.

Also, CNN reported recently the actions of the entertainment conglomerates (RIAA). They were trying to fine several college students for swapping songs over the college's intranet. The companies were seeking $150,000 per song. If the students swapped one CD, each kid would owe about $3,000,000.00. That's three million dollars for a CD.

Did CNN ask, "Who wrote these laws?" How about, "Is this cruel and unusual punishment?" or "Does the punishment fit the crime?" How about, "Who ARE these people?" They did not. They presented as if to say, "Look, that duck is sinking." (I am not condoning the theft of copyrighted material.) Note: The RIAA settled for $12,000.00 - $17,000.00 per student, a fine usually reserved for felonies rather than misdemeanors.

Lastly, in John Hubner's book, "Monkey on a Stick," we read of Keith Ham's ordeal. Keith ("Kirtanananda"), a Krishna devotee at the time, decided to apply for welfare. He arrived at the New York City's welfare office a little after nine-thirty. He greeted the interviewer with, "Hare Krishna."

The interviewer, having observed his shaved head (except for a small tuft at the top) and saffron robe, rattled off a list of questions, scribbling notes as he went. After a few minutes, he pushed a form packed with small print across the table. He told Keith that to qualify, he would have to take a psychological test. He signed. The psychiatric intern conducting the interview thought that Keith's dress and answers were bizarre enough to commit him for observation at Bellevue. And so they did.

At Bellevue, Keith was unable to convince the doctors to release him. The other patients kept him awake all night with their wailing. His eyes became sunken with dark circles around them. He refused to talk to the other patients and spent his time reading instead. The doctors, looking through their exceedingly narrow, cultural lenses, soon concluded that he was antisocial.

His friends, who visited him regularly, told him to play the game, make friends and get released. He tried. He told his fellow patients about his beliefs, about Krishna the blue god. That, however, only convinced the doctors that he was even sicker than they first believed. They diagnosed him as a malignant schizophrenic, a potential danger to himself and others.

The poet Allan Ginsberg and Jungian psychiatrist Dr. Edward Hornick came to his aid. The doctor wrote a letter saying that the man was sane, following an authentic Eastern religion. However, the experts, the Official Masters of the Psychology Envelope, refused to release him. (Who are these people?) Eventually, they did release him into his father's custody, a stern man who believed that his 30-year-old son was worshipping the devil.

These are true stories, and I'm sure you've heard many others. They show that distorted logic has real-life consequences. If you grasp how it works, then you understand many social attitudes. It "makes sense" to burn witches. It's OK to discriminate against race, culture, or sex. We should let murderers free (because they ate too many Twinkies) and allow multinational conglomerates to write laws and control government policy.

Envelopes and spin are mental tricks that people use to justify injustice. If we believe them, we fall asleep. They will rule our society until we step out of the envelope and say that they don't.

"Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal." - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

How do these collective pictures of reality affect our spirituality? If you define spirituality as being in touch with God or your spirit, then they can limit you. Take the political-correctness envelope, that insidious technique for manipulating public opinion. People accept these ideas and righteously push them onto others. They expect you to think, speak, and behave in certain ways. But what happens if your spirit directs you to behave differently? Do you follow your inner voice or the social directive?

By following the social agenda, and many find it hard to resist, you suffer spiritually. You sacrifice your integrity on the Teflon altar of mass-consensus reality. And integrity is an aspect of spirituality. On the other hand, by following your spirit, you may suffer psychologically and socially. They will judge you. If, though, you are secure in the envelope that your spirit provides, then you just follow spirit. You are OK with yourself, and you find out who your friends are.

The ego is our personal envelope. It assumes that everything is about us. Surprisingly, everything isn't about us. Your thoughts are about you, your ideas of how it is, how it isn't, and how it should be. Other people's thoughts are about them. They may have opinions, expectations, and demands about who you are and what you should do, but that's their envelope.

For example, I see that you are barefoot. I could say, "Grow up!" I could think, "How comfortable." Or, "That's oh so Eastern."

Existential observation: feet.

All of my responses: mental overlays, interpretations of my brain.

Brain envelopes assign subjective meanings to events and situations. Once you speculate beyond the raw existential data, you are at risk of entering the Gravel Zone. Often, even getting the raw data right is challenging. ("Look kids, ducks!")

Although these mental structures are not intrinsically good or bad, some produce positive results while others produce negative. Each has its own feel and will demand certain actions and responses. Here are a few envelopes in use today. Imagine what attitudes they produce.

Envelope A: Only the material universe exists. The creation of the universe was a chance event. It was triggered by quantum processes (which we don't fully understand) and developed through the wonders of chemistry (which we don't fully understand). Eventually, we will understand everything. God, spirit, and anything other-dimensional (except mathematical models) are crutches for the deluded, weak, or oppressed.

Envelope B: Life is about being secure, having more sex or power, or being somebody. These desires reflect our innate animal instincts. Dedicating one's life to making money is an acceptable goal, because money can provide a sense of security. It gets us more sex and power, and makes us somebody (at least existentially).

Envelope C: The world, a small portion of reality, is a miraculous place. Other-dimensional beings can walk into or communicate with humans. Subtle miracles happen across time; the creation of the universe itself was the first miracle. We are here to learn and to embody our higher self.

Envelope D: The words of Jesus (Mohammad, Krishna, Moses, or Buddha) are the (exclusive) Words of God. We are here to follow their teachings.

Envelope E: I live for sports. Rock on and party every day.

Envelope F: Everything is wonderful.

The Tower of Babble Everybody is tucked comfortably (or uncomfortably) into his or her unique envelope. (Actually, it's more like our ego is a box containing an assortment of envelopes.) What is amazing is that we can communicate at all. We believe our stories because they make sense to us. If anyone believes otherwise, then they are wrong. If we are magnanimous, we grant them their opinion. That's how the brain works: it's all about having the right beliefs and ideas.

Beliefs and ideas are usually cheap. Everybody is eager to share theirs. If we accept and act on them at face value, though, their prices can climb. Eventually, we can lose touch with who or what we really are. We could become Zone Creatures, living by the cold logic of the brain. We would be disconnected from the loving wisdom of our heart and the grounded knowing of our bodies. Motivated by fear, anger, and righteousness, we could cause unnecessary suffering and oppression. And all along, we would believe that it's the ducks fault for eating too much gravel.

We can stay sane by remaining open, questioning assumptions, and following our spirit. By deciding with our heart and knowing, we know the difference between right and wrong - even though these categories are relative or might not even exist!

Truth is the invisible thread of evolution. Envelope #4762B36C, sub-vector: 991807b; Shared by Michael Lamaswww.starbuilders.org [Quack]* thought-stream article...

Copyright 2003 by AlternativeApproaches.com

About the author: Michael Lamas works with Starbuilders whose mission is to help build a new civilization. He believes a new civilization is possible, because if individuals can change and they can then societies can. Part of Michael's work is to provide various models of reality and "Evolutionary Technologies" metaphysical tools that aid in spiritual development. To reach Michael, write: unity@starbuilders.org.