Chatty Late Night Personal Letter

Q### B### wrote:

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> What's new there ?
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> Got bussy ?
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> qb

Wow groovy man... Red Q### was replaced by Indigo Q### and now Lime Q### avatar graces my screen.

Today: been looking at new (I think of it as psychedelic) aboriginal art today. Met the Artist at the exhibition and he invited me to his 12-step recovery fellowship where I spent the evening in meditation listening to stories of redeption, trial, suffering and spiritual healing. Beautiful!

Then I went and got pissed on shots of kava and beer with English rock and backpackers. I'm buggered but life is good.

So. um. Your Idea.

I'm focusing lots at the moment on my offline existence: My monastic lifestyle draws to an end. Life is a school: I am enrolled in new classes, and it's tiresome. So to compensate I'm reading a marvellous piece of American pioneer children's literature on Project Gutenburg titled "Rollo At Play, or Safe Amusements, by Jacob Abbot" , and much children's poetry, which brings a smile to my face without fail even when I am playing at Very Busy Adult.

I saw Star Wars on Friday and couldn't believe that the smartest dudes in the galaxy, the Jedi, could be so politically naive, and that Obi Wan was stupid enough to let Anakin survive. Pardon spoilers.

"Revenge of the Sith" does, however, emotionally bookend a large portion of my life. I was inspired to end my solitary childhood around the time I saw "Return of the Jedi" with its naive heroic idealism and Freudian paterfamilias, and engage some worldly ambitions for a number of years.

No-one would pretend "Sith" is not a somber film, but it's also a sober view of democratic politics as it played out in ancient Rome, and as it can easily play out in present world's Rome, the West. Who would have imagined a children's film delivering a conservative sermon on the shortcomings of giving wartime powers to leaders in commercially compromised democracies? But, ah! but I could not have imagined as a 12 year old that I would have repented of idealism and opted into the marketplace as I seem to be doing...

But in my heart I keep returning to poor Anakin, seriously hampered by negative emotion, wounded unto death by his beloved Master Obi Wan. I feel Obi Wan chose dishonor. If I were in Obi Wan's position I could never have abandoned my dear Padawan!

Warm regards,

PS - it's 6 o clock on Sunday morning, a time when alle guid Christians are abed; but I haven't slept yet, and a backpacker gave me a damiana cigarette last night which made me lightheaded and chatty, and I'm probably raving on.

PPS - Why not send me a letter? Balzac wrote a million words of mail (mostly to creditors and a married Russian countess), but I know surprising little about either his or your everyday lives.

PPPS - I'll send a crypto crit of your private project anon.

PPPPS - zzzZZzzzz

Review of Ketan Patel's book, The Master Strategist.

I read Ketan Patel's book, "The Master Strategist", last night and discovered it exceeds my expectations.

I had expected a masterful overview of strategic futures, not a wholesale redefinition of the matter in the light of compassion. His book I feel will have enormous power and influence. It is very important. A few take away memes of Ketan Patel's book:

- Fear and Greed provide the context for strategies, because they provide the context for human life.
- Power is only limited by purpose and principle; purpose is only limited by principle, and principle provides an unlimited source of power.
- Out of the five, there are three force-based strategies and two power-based. The power based strategies are called Aspiration and Inclusion.

A sophisticated analysis of strategy, strategists, and the field encases all this will profound wisdom. For instance:

- To meet on the field is one level of strategy; to pre-empt meeting a higher strategy; to pre-mass-cognise the need for pre-emptiion a higher strategy; to be above the field a higher still; and to be completely beyond the field the highest strategy of all.
- Fear gives rise to anger which gives rise to hatred. Address the fear and the basis for anger and hatred vanishes.
- Greed gives rise to lust which gives rise to malice. Address the greed and the basis for lust and malice vanishes.

Some of Petal's statements stopped me in my tracks in wonderment. There is much meat for contemplation and inspiration here.