Ice cream If self awareness is learning about myself I wish to relay a story about ice cream.  I am 58 years old and until recently always had vanilla ice cream.  Always.  Never thought anything about it.  I was at a birthday party for my granddaughter and was asked by her why I liked vanilla?  I had never thought about it before and when I did I ended up telling her a story about when I was a child and all there ever was was vanilla and I remembered asking my aunt for chocolate ice cream after tasting someone else's somewhere.  I remembered her telling me those fancy ice creams weren't good for you and made you sick later after you had eaten them.  I even remembered telling my friends not to eat anything but vanilla or they'd be sick.  Well of course since then I have enjoyed many types and flavors of ice cream and really enjoy many with fruits mixed right in them, and my family all laughs at remembering the day grandpa learned that other ice creams besides vanilla won't make him sick. I had never realized why I only ate vanilla.  Never thought about it.  But I know I learned about myself and that is self awareness and that is why my granddaughter has told me to send this to you. Richard J.

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I wrote this in reference to all actions being morally equivalent: imho actions are not of moral equivalence at all.  There is no bad, just good and out of balance.  Anything that is out of balance can and must return to balance to exist, in one and in all.  But there is no bad, yet there is good.  That is love.  I think somewhere it went from just being out of balance being called bad and on and on to evil and hell and everything else people imagine.  I think it is only about balance and growth, motion and rest.  Like running on a train rail, when balanced well you can run like on a road almost, but when out of balance you fall and get back on and fall again.  But is it bad?  You are still on the rail and going forward, well sort of.  ;-)  I believe it is like that with each individual consciousness.  If you didn't know that 2 plus 2 is 4, and you learn somehow, how are you wrong for not knowing, and more importantly, how is what taught you wrong if you learned from it?  Where is the bad?   jmho Peace I wrote this in response to people being upset with the Hamas victory in the democratic elections: Hey, stop sending them all those good thoughts and energy.  ;-) They were elected by the people, you should at least give them a chance.  I wish them my sincerest best thoughts of good energy for health, happiness and harmony to them and theirs, as I do you, my own, and all creatures.  Most people just wish to survive and to be able to raise a family.  It is the politics of people who wish to control other people to change that.   Until humans can shake off their own sins they will never forgive those who have sinned against them even if they have to invent the sins of others, and must somehow figure out how to get along as groups until then.    Man's strife is internal, and eternal.  As man conquers that internal strife it is reflected in his external life.  imo most humans go to sleep at night thinking they are doing the right thing.  This is because they are out of balance internally and thus must be out of balance externally reflecting that.  Like a calculator that reads 5 when 2 + 2 is pressed, it doesn't know it is wrong, but you can go in and fix it so it reads 4 when 2 + 2 is pressed and unlike the calculator, which is quite happy to be more useful now that it reads 4 when 2 + 2 is pressed and never thinks about when it didn't, the human places fault and carries it with it forever after, affecting any number of things for however long.  They have been conquered by fear and ignorance internally, and it is reflected. Sorry to ramble. Peace

Perhaps I was not very clear.  Further in the same discussion I wrote: I thank you for your words, but perhaps I am not clear.  I am confused as to your interpretation that I am saying "there is something wrong with people" and "this is what needs to be done". imo life is voluntary because one becomes unbalanced at birth.  Perhaps this is what is meant by the original sin.  There is nothing wrong with being out of balance.  That is what human is to me, that choice.  Here is your path and you shall get there, fear not.  The world around you will interact with you in ways that will help or hurt your balance whether you pay attention or not.  Whether one never attempts to improve their balance or spends a lifetime working on it, neither is wrong, and both are where they are supposed to be, by choice, and will both get where they are going. My apologies for being so confusing.  I hope this makes it clearer?  I certainly don't think there is "something wrong with people", and as for "this is what needs to be done", each consciousness's journey is individualistic, the only think you could even possibly recommend is to pay attention to yourself and the world around you because situation dictates for every single decision you will make, every moment.   I am not use to wording my thoughts in these matters or being understood by others , so I am not good at explaining them clearly.   My sincere apologies. My best to everyone. Peace