'There Will Be No Holocaust.'

[byronius]

Is what the Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche told us at the opening ceremony of the 1982 Jack Kerouac Conference.

He explained that he believed people are often attracted subconsciously to the idea of conflagration and mass death, unwittingly helping it be realized. Anxiety and uncertainty can drive cultures into catastrophe, he said, and we should take steps to protect ourselves from such fear with conscious meditation.

I'm not generally a religious man, but what he said felt quite profound at the time. The early eighties were darkened for every intelligent, conscious person by the rise of Ronald Reagan, who may seem like a mild-mannered moderate in the dim light of history, but whose dissembling and machinations made many of us on the left think the End had begun. (?!)

The Rinpoche made us all hold up our hands in an 'OK' sign, an entire auditorium of artists and Good People making the symbol above our heads while he led us in a chant -- 'There will be no holocaust...There will be no holocaust...' -- over and over and over for far too long.

Alan Ginsberg, Abbie Hoffman, Timothy Leary, William S. Burroughs, Anne Waldman, Norman Mailer, Gary Snyder, Peter Orlovsky -- all of them holding up their symbol above their heads and chanting along with the Rinpoche as all of our eyes slowly blurred out of focus and our heads swam --

I'd like to believe it helped. It certainly felt good to engage in that ritual with like minds in that turbulent time. The conference was a total blast, a formative event in my young life, and I've never forgotten that first moment.

There will be no holocaust. We the Better Half must rescue the world, and drag the Troubly Half kicking and screaming into the future with us, using the Rule Of Law and Respect For Democracy, and all the other beautiful forces that make the idea of America so powerful, so perfect --

We are the superheroes. 'There will be no holocaust.' Say it. Fight for it.

[Behind the Aegis]

1. It is one thing to visualize, quite another to stop it.

There have been a few holocausts since 1982, though not in Europe nor the US. Can it happen here? Yes, it can. While I feel there are some who are willing to step up and out, are there enough. Anyone even remotely familiar with German history pre-WWII should know all of Hitler's talk was "just talk". Even after he became more aggressive, subverting democracy, people still said "It'll be OK." For fuck's sake, civilians were being massacred en masse, and still people said "well, it isn't time to panic and act." Six million Jews, almost half of the population of Europe, and a third of Jews worldwide...let me say it again...worldwide, were destroyed! Millions of Rom/Sinti, gays and lesbians, Slavs, intellectuals, physically and mentally challenged people...GONE!

While I'd like to believe it won't happen again, when I see what is happening here and around the world, I lose hope. So, sure, it is important to stand up and say "NO!", but it is just as important to not wait until we have already gone over the cliff and take some things very seriously, like the confirmation of a racist to AG, various nutjobs in high positions, and the constant attacks on the rights of the disenfranchised.

[vlyons]

2. No no, we must not lose hope

Anxiety, depression, loss of hope, and panic imply paralysis. The first thing each and everyone of us must do is to calm down and get a grip. We cannot be effective if we are freaked out. We can best be effective if we have a calm abiding mind, so as to use skillful means to defeat evil. We have to calmly and clearly look evil in the face without fear and say "No! Not here, not now, not ever."

We are in a long term struggle against the forces of evil that see human beings as profit centers. I have no doubt that if some Republicans could be transported back 200 years that they would be slave owners. All those climate change deniers know better, but they have been corrupted by money from the petro-industry. All those people who voted to OK dumping coal ash into rivers would not bat an eyelash to own and operate slaves. Ship them from Africa, sell them in the port cities, and work them to death in the cane and cotton fields. All those Republicans who have not one shred of compassion for Moslem refugees would easily own slaves were it another day. Those people that would deny a woman's right to control her own body have no problem seeing women as merely breeding stock. That's how the Nazis saw women. The struggle that we face is the belief that money is more important than human beings. It is an ugly truth. Disgusting and repulsive. But we must not turn away in fear and dread. So calm down.

and thank-you for the Trungpa reference.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

3. The struggle that we face is the belief that money is more important than human beings.

Money and power, which, admittedly can buy power. More money, more power.

I've not given up hope yet, but damn, this is a real life nightmare and I think most of us just don't know what to do about it.

[vlyons]

6. Sure you know what to do about it!

Calm down and get a grip. That's how you can clear your mind to see where best to apply your talents and skillful means in the struggle. Then get involved with others in something that is meaningful to you. You city or country probably has a Dem club. Get with those who are organizing to make change and defeat these bastards at the polls. Volunteer at a Senior home, or the girl/boy scouts. Attend your kids' school PTA, or a local church that is helping immigrants. There are many ways that you can do something about it.

Take heart that as Trump and the Republicans vere off more and more into repugnant and harmful policies, stupid blunders, and petty vindictiveness, they activate more and more resistance and opposition. It's a law of karma that every action has consequences.

[barbtries]

4. There will be no holocaust.

RESIST.

[jmg257]

5. There won't be a holocaust. Not here anyway. Rule of law and respect for

Democracy?... Maybe not so much.

[KittyWampus]

7. Human Psychology responds to positive messaging/symbols/imaging. "THERE WILL BE PEACE"

goes further than "there will be no Holocaust".

I'm not going to chant or meditate on something that pushes a negative suggestion. And I'm perplexed that anyone with experience in group dynamics and/or metaphysics would recommend doing such. One should image a positive outcome and focus on it.

And I'm going to add- if you really want Peace then that should manifest itself in ALL aspects of your life. Or as many as possible.

That means thinking twice when choosing which game you'll play for hours on end every day on your computer and which movie you decide to spend 2 hours watching.

[randome]

8. Excellent points.

Look at how much we love to make end-of-the-world films and novels. There is a certain 'romanticism' that draws us toward them. We should resist.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Donald Trump's scorecard:
Muslim ban = failed. Yemen raid = failed. Approval ratings = failed.
Mexican wall = failed. Economic utopia = failed. Grade point average = 0.[/center][/font][hr]

[Mc Mike]

9. I still recommend exorcising and levitating the White House,

just to be sure.

[Orrex]

10. And fumigating.

[Mc Mike]

11. Mos def. We need a uv light inspection conducted, too.