All Pinocchios Can Turn To Flesh

Why should we feel scared to talk about religion, when religion is not scared to talk about itself? I do not honestly think that we are scared. Rather, we are indifferent towards people who are religious. Because there is a difference between a man who was born without religion and the man who has lost it. And I dare to also say that the word 'lost' does not fit in this sentence.

For a man does not lose his religion, but willingly neglects it or pushes it away from him. Some neglect religion due to their lack of passion for life. A passion for being active in society or the passion to think about the world and wonder about what there is or might not be in the universe. But others neglect religion for they have come full circle and realized its insignificance.

These people become indifferent towards religious people and their fear mongering because they had previously been part of it, and have now been liberated from its shackles. They are not afraid of speaking out against religion but still do not do so because they know that it is futile to release a tiger that has been caged for its life expecting it to go back into the wild and reclaim its lost splendour. What we can do is to help those who are puppets to religion to realize what they are; toys controlled with strings. Eventually, all Pinocchios can turn to flesh.

To all religious people I ask, what is it in your sacrifice that has value for yourself or the soul that you tirelessly work to save from damnation? Is not eating chocolate preventing you from going to hell? What about the cigarette you smoke every day that is slowly killing your lungs? What about the words you have said that shuddered someone the other day to the point to make them cry?

Do not sacrifice material objects, your body or your time for show or recognition. You do not need to prove to your god that you are worthy by going to church every Sunday. No perfect god would request such a travesty, for you to donate for more buildings to be built in his name. No perfect god would ever ask material things. A true god would ask you to love and live and nothing else. Anything else which is beyond living a happy life is a travesty. A lie created by the religious to control you.

And if you come to the point that you ask whether god actually exists or not, do not succumb to fear or to doubt of yourself. Whether a god exists or not, what is important is for you to be good to yourself and others. Praying for a person will not heal him. Talking to that person and visiting him on his death bed will do much more than prayers.

Miracles do not happen because life itself is a miracle. A very small chance has befallen us. Such small is this chance, that you may call it a miracle. Anything that is tragic in life is incomprehensibly small in value compared to the small chance of being alive, so do not pretend to have a miracle happen when you are grieving for a beloved one. Do not ask your god for a miracle for anything you would wish, for why should you be asking anything more than you already have? Isn't the possibility that has befallen you to live, for 80 years or 20 years or two weeks, enough to attest to this beautiful miracle of nature?

There are many fallacies associated with religion that you can only comprehend when you are released from its shackles. There are also very few people who exit these shackles with the help of other people, because most of the people who neglect the religion with which they were born, do it on their own.

And they do not fear religion, nor do they have to. They only look with indifference as the puppets march in costume in front of statues built from the money, sweat and time sacrificed to their god.

Fishing for Salmon

I remember fishing for salmon in the frigid valleys of the Howling Fjord. The blistering cold battered the dragon which I rode, soaring high up into the sky, scoping for schools of fish. The coniferous trees and northern lights kept me company, but what really captivated my imagination was a melody that emanated in the background.

I might have not fished icy waters in skin and bone, but I have done so in an open world game. I did so, sometimes for hours on end, because it was the way I had devised to gain in game currency. And although there was a multitude of other means to gain my virtual living, I found myself coming back to this imaginary place to fish for salmon. over and over again.

Almost five years have passed since I set foot in that wondrous realm and most of what I had done there has no real value to what I am doing now. Yet, I reminisce of the Fjord and other places. I do not remember specific details of events or in game goals which I achieved. Rather, I remember the friends I made and most importantly, the experience of living in a fantasy world. I had the chance to be a child again, and the music which surrounded this world made it even more special.

What I remember are not the exact reasons for which I fished for salmon, but the feeling of wonder I got while doing so. The eagles and trees, and the rivers of Grizzly Hills are reborn in my mind as I am taken back by the flute of the music masterpiece that I heard everyday I ventured into that area of that virtual world. It is rather like seeing a familiar face long forgotten, or to smell the scent of flowers that once grew in your garden.

We usually strive to experience and remember too much of the world, even of our own, that we forget about the sea of smells, sounds and feelings that drench our minds. Sometimes we try to describe these experiences but fail to realise that we are only searching for one facet of that memory.

Experiences; be it new places we visit or people we meet, events we are part of or a chance encounter with something extraordinary must be, in the true sense of the word, experienced by all our senses. It is much more pleasing to recall the emotions I felt in the Howling Fjord than to look back at a picture of that place.

So next time you go to a concert or are talking to a friend, stop trying to take pictures or looking at your devices. Look at the eyes of your friend and hear the beautiful tones that dance in front you. Start watching a movie expecting nothing and having read nothing about it and it will become a part of you.

To live in awe does not come easily. Mastering the art of truly becoming part of your experiences and actually living the moment is an ongoing struggle.

A struggle which is worth pursuing.

The Days I Have In Which I'm Dying

I have realized an inescapable truth today.

That I am dying, slowly but surely.

And every minute I waste of my life my body decays.

I just realized that everyone is dying.

And unless we are real to each other

We will keep dying and never live.

So while I die I want to be real with myself.

I will tell those that I love that I love them.

And those that I despise that I despise them.

I will cry when saddened and jump with joy,

When rejoicing, I will smile and I will frown.

For I see the days ahead of me vanishing slowly

But I also see the days that vanished behind me.

And in them are days when I am dead already.

When the flame is thin and suffocated.

I see that there were days of mere-existence.

When I slept and sat and waited.

But those shall not be the days remaining.

For what are we without passion for life?

Sing a song and play a tune for me.

And dance in beauty of the days that are unfolding.

Information

Life, the universe and everything in it is information. Information is the smallest product of everything there is. It can describe physical matter and actions, events and ideas.

Imagine a leaf. One can look at this leaf and describe it briefly to a friend. The leaf is green, it has veins, and it is succulent. These three pieces of information can be used by most of us to create a rough picture of the leaf in our brains. Then we look further. We can see how the colour of the leaf is different on the underside. This can be broken down into two pieces of information: the backside of the leaf has a different colour and the backside of the leaf is a darker green. 

We can then explain the shape and how the veins are spread. Looking with a microscope, we can describe the cells within it, and in turn how these are shaped and distributed. Going further in our quest to know more information, we can look at the leaf's history and learn to which tree it belongs. We can try and learn how old it is, from its rate of decay, and who or what made it fall off the tree. 

Every piece of information we obtain about this one little leaf is not equivalent to the information we can obtain for a similar leaf from the same tree. Now imagine that the tree has thousands of leaves and that there are thousands of trees in this patch of land. Our tiny human brains could never manage to obtain all of the information stored within a single leaf, far less within a whole garden. 

Yet, the information is there, stored in every material object and in every action or happening. For the universe, the past and present are indifferent for they are part of this information. For us it may seem that to know how that single leaf fell from the tree is rather impossible. And we might try to guess what would happen to the leaf with time, but it is beyond our capabilities to keep track of what happens to all the leaves in the garden. For the universe, what happened or what will happen to the leaf are only part of the matrix of information encoded within its space-time continuum. 

It could be possible, therefore, that if we manage to find what links the past and the future with the present, we could obtain information from either that which has already happened or from what shall still come.

It is fairly easy to understand how one can learn of the past. We cannot observe it directly, but we can obtain information from it through other means. We can observe the change in this information. See how the leaf decays and calculate backwards the time it took for it to do so. This of course, will always be an assumption, for how can we know that a decayed leaf we picked up has decayed with time similarly to all the other leaves? For all we know, a leaf might have fallen from a tree and instantly decayed without us ever observing it. 

To obtain information from the future is another thing all together. To know what can happen in the future, one needs to know all possible outcomes of all possible choices that happen. We need to break down every event that occurs into two choices, either a or b.

When we pick up the leaf, we can either put it back on the floor, or take it home with us. When we pick up the leaf, we can either break it in half or keep it intact. These four scenarios are all equivalent possible future timelines for one event; picking up the leaf. Yet all of them exist at the same time in the present and any one of them can unfold into reality as we manifest our choice. 

We can therefore say that the future already exists, and all the possible choices we can ever make are already laid down before us. The future, much like the past, is therefore information within the universe.

As human beings, we have been given the chance to obtain and assimilate an unimaginably small proportion of all the information stored in the universe. It is of course unnecessary to know all information within the universe, and that is why we dedicate our lives to learning about the largest questions that concern us; how can we survive? how do things grow or work the way they do? 

We do not waste much time in understanding the intricate patterns in nature that are fundamentally engraved within the fabric of the universe. This detaches us from the reality of life; that we, and everything around us are simply a matrix of information.

This is My Will

This is my will.

If tomorrow you wake up and I am not with you, do not cry for me.

My death is not a loss and you will gain nothing from crying. Rather, think of all the good memories I have left behind. Think of all the struggles I surmounted, of all the tears I have shed. Think of all the smiles and laughter and of all the people I came to know. Their is nothing to gain from crying a lost soul. I find that rather selfish, for what are you crying for, except for your own loss of not having the benefit of living with that person any more? I hope I was not a burden in your life, but if I was then my apologies. If I made you happy, then there is no sense in crying to the lack of that happiness that I will not be able to provide. For if I die, I will not suffer but I don't want you to suffer still. To you, who shall cry, I do not owe you anything to cry for.

We are made like this. We are made to die. Be it tomorrow or today, or in fifty years, our end is inevitable. However, it is the journey we take to the end that defines us. I find it rather beautiful to not believe in heaven or hell, because that makes our only life more precious. We have to live in this reality; a miracle of nature - the chance we have been given to live is beyond any other thought of an afterlife. We are very lucky indeed, to even exist in the first place, so whatever actions we take, must be in respect to this slight possibility which has befallen us.

My will contains no material belongings. For what are they but like the dust my bones shall turn into? Everything in this world belongs to us, yet it doesn't. Death comes quick and sudden only for those who fear it. For those that welcome it, death is just another path. It is a reminder of our lives. You shall only fear death if you regret the route in the life you have taken. Only if you spent your life thinking there is another chance to be redeemed in the after life, or serving the needs of your church, shackled by the ideas that imprison you for the promise of freedom after death. Do not succumb to these fallacies. Live your life free and unbound. Kiss the sunlit stone on which your life threads and the people with whom you share it.

To live life you must be true to yourself and others. Your successes and failures are irrelevant when based on lies. Truth can be the only path to freedom, honesty the only measure with which you scale your friendships and your life. Then you must also be kind. This is the hardest to do, for it is in our nature to fight. We are constantly faced by struggles that test our discipline in maintaining an integrity of kindness. If you can be kind and humble in what you do and give to others, the world is yours. Not because it owes you, but because you have planted it with seeds of a tree that will bear fruit ripe for eating. You may not see the blossom on the tree, or even the budding of the seed before you die, but know this; that with your death it is not only one tree that will grow but an orchard, that will flourish on your grave.

With the passing of time, the grave in which my body lies will rot away and so will the memory of myself in you. But is it so wrong to be forgotten? Is it so wrong to carry on with your lives knowing that a person you knew has faded away? It is never wrong to be forgotten, because what is life if you live in ponder and anguish of the dead? What I have given you in life shall remain not in your memories but in your actions. To be true, to be kind. To love each other and this world, for it is the only thing we have and the only place that sustains life and this beautiful essence of nature; to live and then die, so that others may live yet again.

This is my will to you; much more a testament of my life than a testament to my death.
I do not want anything for I have no need for want any more.
But if you want and need anything from me, let it be life that you want and not the dust of this world.

What is Love and Happiness? - Part 2: Happiness

We are born knowing nothing of this world. Babies cradled by their mothers, but fathered by their societies. As we grow up we are battered by this society, shaped and moulded into a doctrine of sorts, an ideal human being.

Although, we are far from ideal. What we are raised to give to society is a necessity for survival imposed by the same society. We are educated, in many ways; enforced to learn, so that we might serve society, and be independent when we grow up. But what is really fundamental for our existence? What is important in society for it to flourish?

What a human being really wants as it grows up depends on what it was taught to desire. Society is an emergent property of a population containing different ideologies and moral values. However, its aim is to have control over the population and maintain peace within it. Without order, there would be no society or stable population. Thus, the only stable population that has managed to exist for so long, is in fact the society that we see today. It might change with time, such as creatures change with time, so does society evolve to adapt to different needs.

Human nature has always been societal. This is seen in social behaviour of primates, where they live in hierarchies. We thus tend to live in such social structures because we have evolved to do so. Without social groups, early primates would have never evolved and became human beings. It is in groups that language, religion, politics, music, agriculture and so much other fundamental aspects of human life developed.

Today, we are born in a society that imposes us to learn the accumulated knowledge of two thousand years of human history. Even though the bare minimum for existence is food, water and shelter, our needs have escalated drastically to accommodate the needs of our society. We as humans work for the society such that it can provide us with our individual needs; food, water, shelter, entertainment.

But what real values do the needs of the society have? If we place a hypothetical human in a cottage far flung into the wilderness and give him all the knowledge necessary to survive indefinitely on his own, would he live his entire life around the cottage; hunting, gathering and maintaining his household? Or will he venture to seek the societal life? Naturally, humans tend to want to live in groups, so he would probably venture from his home and become nomadic. The nomadic life has been what made humans so successful. For it enabled us to conquer the four corners of the Earth. But travelling is not just to seek other human contact, but also because of the need to avoid it.

When the social group becomes vastly large, and resources are limited, the group will split. In our modern times, societies are over-exceedingly large but resources are not limited, in a sense. The limiting resource of today would be work, for with work we can provide ourselves with the resources necessary for life; food, water and shelter. So why do we still feel like wanting to split from our social group?

This all boils down to what makes human beings happy. Happiness is an emotion expressed by not just human beings. Advanced, quasi-concious or concious animals demonstrate happiness in many forms. Chimpanzees will laugh when playing and smile like humans. Dolphins and whales will sing and swim around each other and jump out of the water. Dogs will waggle their tails and bark when presented with food or when they see their owners.

But what really is happiness? We might define it as our 'needs catered for'. We are happy when we have food to eat every day. We are happy when we have a home to go to. We are happy when we have a mate to sleep and live with. These are all natural needs closely entwined within our evolutionary history.

So is the modern human being happy within his society? To answer this question, we cannot take one human being as an example. There are different cases and castes within our society. But if we take a hypothetical human that has a work that is enough for him to live independently and be self-sufficient, that is, he can cater for food, water and shelter, then would this human be happy?

Presumably, the human would tend to want to find a mate and live with him/her. This is a natural instinct, and accepted. To live as two, requires both partners to either be self-sufficient, or one of them can provide for the other.  Then again, if this criteria is met, will they be happy?

The couple would have grown up to want technology, things to amuse itself with. It would want material objects to fulfil its lust for wanting more. But why would this be so? Naturally, animals would spend most of their time hunting for food. In humans, food, water and shelter have become so easily obtainable, that a lot of our waking hours are empty. What this means is that we have a lot of free time to do whatever we want.

In the past, the human beings with access to freely available food, water and shelter, made available through agriculture, used their time to develop our society. They had time to invent mathematics, this was used for so many things. They had time to invent philosophy, religion and politics. With these, the satiated humans could control their ever growing population and maintain a group fit enough for survival.

With time the knowledge base of humans increased because they had the time to study their surrounding, this became known as science. Humans invented ways to entertain and spend their free time. They created games, social events, music. Communication was important, and even though it was developed early on in music, this grew over the years. Instead of communication, music and writing - such as in books and stories - became a way to entertain their group and feel connected with one another.

Nowadays, these complex emergent properties of the social group and the consequence of the abundance of resources necessary for physical growth, created a complex society in which many aspects, seen from an outside perspective, make no sense in the survival of the group and individuals themselves.

Our hypothetical human from the beginning, would live a 'happy' life alone or with a mate in a cottage in the wilderness, but the majority of humans today are born in a system which does not allow the chance to do so. However, without such social system, the number of human beings would have never been this large, and the chances of mental development haltered by the lack of resources.

As such, our imprisonment in society is a direct consequence of our same freedom to learn and develop methods to sustain ourselves. At some point in the past, the intelligent humans outsourced themselves and cascaded into a developmental vortex of the individual and the social that would eventually result in our modern society. Our society would not exist, and neither would we, if it wasn't the way it was. It is a consequence of how our ancestors evolved to best survive their environment.

There are, however, ways and means to counter our apparent societal bind. Firstly, we must learn the limits within which we are born to live in. Only then can we surmount personal struggles, like the search for self-freedom and happiness. When we can clearly see our place in the society we are born in, we can find hidden tracks and secrets to fulfil ourselves.

Be it walking in a valley and looking at flowers or cuddling your pet dog, or reminiscing about the past with your grandfather or having fun with your friends, these are some of the social aspects which make us happy and which we tend to forget most about. It is our duty to fill the free time given to us in ways to enrich ourselves as human beings. To become altruistic and free. Freedom is the chance that has been given to us to live. Freedom is life itself. Our exponential population growth has given the chance for billions of other people to experience life.

Only by living will the baby that knows nothing about the world come into existence. It is only by living that the baby can learn about the flowers of the valley and their colours. Only by living will he be ever able to love and enjoy play.

Society is therefore not a curse, but a consequence of our freedom, and freedom, or life, is a consequence of society. It is in realising this fact that we can truly be happy with the lives we are living.

Virelda and Kripp

In the ruins of Skaipei Virelda could see, but mostly feel, the pain caused by her Mayor's tyranny. The trickles of light that penetrated the black cloud looming overheard were masked by the shadows of the towers sparsed here and there, rooted to the ground between the rubble of abandoned buildings. With each step she took on the rugged land, Virelda could see the soil weep. It leaked a green-tinted substance unlike any she had ever seen, tears of what once was a fertile land now turned to mud and noxious chemicals.

In the distance, a pack of hyenas chuckled and their laughs echoed in the blackened mist. Virelda stopped for a second but Kripp carried on and so she followed. She looked at her companion with wonder. His face was brown and rugged and he appeared as old as her father, even though he was only a boy. His skin was also brown but darker and it was tattooed in all sorts of symbols alien to her. Kripp noticed that she was looking at them.

"They were given to me", he said, "by tribes of the land. Good things I have done, good things they gave me."

Virelda veered her eyes towards his, "they look very strange to me. We are not allowed to have tattoos up in Skyscapes. The mayor says they are dirty and that the Highborne are pure of soul. Therefore we cannot dirty ourselves with such things as tattoos on our bodies."

Kripp tried to conceal his laughter and he turned away from Virelda but she immediately noticed.

"What's so funny about what I've said?", she snapped angrily.

"Nothing I think", replied Kripp still laughing. He now turned back to Virelda.
With effort he continued, "I think that is very stupid of your Mayor, to tell you to do what to do".

Virelda thought for a second then answered, "Well, our Mayor is kind and we obey and love him. Without him we would be living in the dirt like the Moles."

Kripp took a quick step backwards, obviously hurt by what Virelda had just said. He turned away from her and continued his walk to where he had promised to take Virelda.

Stunned by her own words, Virelda hurried behind him and followed.
They did not utter another word until they arrived at the tunnel.