BETTER THAN SEX

LEVEL 4 ENGAGEMENT

This is Janice whom I met in a bookstore in Sedona, Az sparking one of the great exchanges of my life. (I have permission to show her picture) I “opened” with interesting questions. She answered with easy openness, which allowed even more interesting questions. She answered with even more openness. Thus began a self-reinforcing spiral that took us down, down, down the conversational ladder: Past 1. RITUAL (Hello, how are you, etc.) Beyond 2. PASTIME (hobbies, gossip, current events) skipping over 3. WORK TALK; down to bedrock conversational level 4. INTIMACY. (what I really think, feel, want, have done.)

Wow! A beautiful stranger willing to engage at the level of intimacy. We were both delighted and soon adjourned to a coffee shop and got down to business. Business is the right word because valuables are being exchanged–as you will see.

We are ships passing–she en route to Chicago and I a vagabond philosopher, So we can risk letting all our cats out of the bag–even the wild ones. Why would anyone want to do this? Because it’s exciting and because we are all hungry to tell the truth about ourselves–to an appropriate listener. Especially the politically incorrect truths and the taboo stuff we have done or yearned to do. We want to share our agony and ecstasy; to trust someone enough to report our ridiculousness. Finally, we want to reveal ourselves to ourselves by saying it out loud.

Janice and I did all this. Each revelation evoked another till all our cards were on the table. It was hilarious fun. We laughed so hard and often we had to be shushed. It was indeed better than sex. Then we set about interpreting the cards on the table like a tarot reader, convinced they meant something. I cannot give you the details, except to say they were juicy and a pattern emerged for both of us. (The juicy details linger erotically in my mind.)

We concluded that all of us are driven by a bundle of inclinations as though we sat astride a willful horse determined to take us toward the things we like and away from what we don’t.
Every kid in this sense gets a “pony”, a pinto blend of genetic inheritance and childhood experiences; a unique bundle of affinities and aversions. And we ride this pony into adulthood–sexually and socially “wired”, acting and reacting almost on autopilot.

Once we wake up and acknowledge our wiredness–that we sit astride a willful horse, we face a crucial choice: To try to switch horses or go with the one we rode in on, learning to guide it a bit. Not an easy choice because some of us ride weird horses indeed. Nevertheless, we agreed on the latter, discussing for hours how to ride our particular horse with grace and efficiency. How to get gratified and still stay functional in society.

We discussed our “racket feelings” , those familiar, recurring feelings that somehow make us feel alive and that we have learned to generate for ourselves out of almost any situation–manipulating our environment till BINGO! We feel that old familiar feeling. Have you not seen angry personalities generate anger for themselves whatever situation they are in. Or sexual addicts generate a sexual high wherever they are. Well, our cards were on the table and our rackets easy to see. What a relief and a joy to see the truth about me. She said the same.

We moved on to “games,” comparing the psychological maneuvers we each use to generate our racket feelings. I told her about the superb analysis contained in the vintage book GAMES PEOPLE PLAY by Eric Berne. And the later work SCRIPTS PEOPLE LIVE.

Our evening ended outside in the parking lot with a goodbye kiss. Intimate conversation swells your heart. We’ve kept in touch. Her life drama is fascinating to me. Perhaps mine is of interest to her.

MORMONS AND HORSES

CONFRONTING THE MISSIONARIES

I believe religion to be a vast and varied evil, wasting human energy, tribalizing humanity, causing wars and impeding ethical evolution. Mormonism is among the worst because of its thoroughgoing brainwashing of its children.

To be a Mormon you have to believe many things that are unbelievable. Just one of these is that there were horses in America before Cortez introduced them in 1519. The Book Of Mormon says that there were. (1 Nephi 18:25—“there were beast in the forest of every kind, both the cow and the ox and the ass and the horse....”) Science denies this.

So before confronting the missionaries, I marshaled my evidence: (check it out for yourself)
“American Museum of Natural History magazine, may 17, 2008...”Horses died out in America 10,000 years ago”
“Canadian Geographic–A brief history of the horse in America.
Smithsonian Institute: The Horse in America
American Horse Magazine–Ned Eddings: researcher–(ned-eddings@msn.com)

All agree that horses died out in America about 10,000 years ago along with the saber toothed tiger, the wooly mammoth and other large mammals. The book of Mormon alleges to record the span of 600 BC to 400 AD. So you see the conflict.

Armed with this evidence, I went reverse missionizing, hoping to persuade Mormon Missionaries that their Holy Book is a fraud and they are wasting their lives on a delusion. I chose just this one arrow from my quiver, aiming it for an achilles heel: One clear and unequivocal fact that proves that the Book Of Mormon, to say the least, is in error.

So I found the Missionaries and with kindness, presented the conflict: the Book of Mormon vs Scientific fact.----and waited for their answer.

If you think they were troubled by the conflict or convinced by the facts, then you don’t know the religious mind. Almost NOTHING can convince an indoctrinated mind that it has been deceived. Only time can sometimes erode doctrines. I met an ex Mormon in Baker, Nv who told me that the evidence against Mormonism built up in his mind over years until one day it suddenly yielded and he declared out loud: “this is bullshit.” It is not widely known but there are ex-mormon groups all over Utah that meet to celebrate their freedom from this irrational religion.

Anyway, Here’s what the Missionaries said: “If the Book of Mormon says it–I believe it. When I have doubts, I just pray and heavenly father restores my faith.”

I expected as much—but I’ve done my job and I go away satisfied. I’ve planted seeds. Do you think these guys would have better lives believing or unbelieving? Those interested in pursuing this issue further can google Mormons and horses in America. Also Wikipedia–Mormons–and scroll down to movement wide criticisms of the sacred text: Archaeology, genetics, linguistics etc.

WAL-MART MYSTERY SOLVED

AND IT’S GREAT NEWS FOR SHOPPERS

I spent three days at Wal-Mart in Kingman while searching for a Mormon Bishop to confront. I did not find one so that little drama will have to wait. (though I’m loaded for bear)

Instead, I found myself entranced with a mystery. Something is very different about this store–I could feel it but couldn’t see it. So I went in and out 20 times over 3 days trying to get a grip on it. Physically the store looks exactly like all super wal-marts, but SOMETHING about it was dramatically better–more appealing. On the third day I flashed on an old Sherlock Holmes mystery: The Hounds of the Baskervilles-----and INSTANTLY I got it! Just like the solution in that case, it was SOMETHING THAT WASN’T THERE. THE ANNOYING LOUD SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENTS WERE NOT THERE. No arcane store jabber to pollute my shopping experience.

I quickly found the manager and got the story. He was pleased as punch to show off Wal-Mart’s new technology. All store management now wears the devices shown above and each is connected to all instantly. Now the ones that need to talk to each other do so without involving us.

Bless my soul–I love the quiet and I told him so. He grinned with pride and told me the practice was going nationwide. And he let me in on a secret. He personally has extended the idea and will soon initiate a pilot program in that store to electronically notify customers when their cars are ready. Customers for lube and tire work will be given a device which will sound or vibrate when their car is ready. Nobody else is disturbed. Again–Hurray and Hallelujah. Good news on a day the stock market is crashing. I got a stash of cash and a 20 pound bag of rice and left town.

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

Parked to catch the sun and watch football


Out of sight for the night


Decision made--go see Bagdad


Bagdad seen from water tank hill


Mr and Miss Miner



A whopper of a liquor dept?



Tin Town, where the mavericks retreat to.


I NEED SUNSHINE-Emotionally and physically to power my lifestyle. So when Prescott turned cloudy and chilly, I'm out of there---driving south on 89 to Yarnell where I paused to engage an unlikely resident: A former Raider linebacker (Logan) who shared his unusual story. After his career he lived his fantasy on a south sea island; the one that Marlon Brando bought near Tahiti. He married an island girl. (showed me her picture–wow!) In three years he ran out of money. They divorced. He returned–took to drink and lost himself in this oddball town. He said it was filled with weird people: artist, hippies, drunks, gays and old cowboys. But this is not one of the two cities I’m reporting. ONWARD (to where the skies are not cloudy all day)

A thrilling 2000 ft downhill drive from Yarnell is Congress–where I paused to enjoy a chili cook off. Congress is not one of the cities either.

I could see clear skies far to the northwest so that's where I headed on hwy 93. I won't stop till I see blue skies. At the Bagdad turnoff I found sunshine; parked crossways to get a good angle on the sun, raised my panels and tuned in my satellite to watch football. Night overtook me and I settled in the desert nearby. (See photo–there are thousands of free beautiful places like this all over the west. I hardly give a thought to where I will spend the night–just glance about me when it is time to camp)

Sunday AM I let the map speak to me--staring at it a long time till at last it suggested the road's- end town of Bagdad, Az., 20 miles north into the desert. An hour later I was there "getting the story" (It's what I do you know and who I am----a story getter--and in good time --a story teller--to you my readers. It's not a grand purpose, I admit, but it will do till I generate a grander vision) Anyway, I learned that Bagdad is a copper mining town of 4,500 souls, clean, prosperous looking and friendly. I wandered around a few hours and began to feel that something important was missing. It nagged at me. And then I got it: Individualism of the fringy sort was missing. I saw nothing and no one "unusual". All and everyone was in good order. Spooky and unnerving. Then suddenly I learned the reason:
No one here owns his house! The COMPANY owns all the houses. These are all “kept” people. To give up ownership is to some extent to give up parts of oneself. To become managable and tame surrendering ones wild side. These are compliant company people; mavericks and misfits are not welcome. The flavoring they bring to a community was noticeably missing.

On a hunch I went to the grocery store and checked out the beer and liquor section: BINGO! It was HUGE big enough to account for surrendered individuality. (note photo)

I learned that when anyone acts up sufficiently, they are out on their ass, bag and baggage. Then---where do they go? Where have all the misfits gone? THEY WENT TO TIN TOWN! A community of perhaps a hundred mavericks living 9 miles away in stark desert on property they OWN. THAT'S where I want to spend the night. So I went there, drove boldly into its heart, displayed a friendly harmlessness, asked the right questions and was soon embraced by the community. A 35 yr old divorcee invited me to camp in her yard. By firelight and starlight I got her story–refugee from San Francisco–now hooked on the peace and pace of the desert. Land here is cheap: $1000 an acre but you have to make your own amenities, like water sewer and electricity. Many live in campers. She knocked on my door at 10 and we chatted till 12. (No, I didn't--what kind of guy do you think I am)

NOT AN ORDINARY TOILET

Meet the new SST's. Their official name is SWEET SMELLING TOILET. I kid you not. Google it to confirm. This is a low-tech, high efficiency solution to an age old problem--stink! Visit one and see for yourself. They cost between 10 and $25,000 installed and are rapidly replacing the old version nationwide. This one is located near the top of Mingus mountain, Az. I was so impressed that I was moved to poetry:

Celebrating the New Pit Toilets

Humanity has used pit toilets
For perhaps ten thousand years.
Kings and peasants have endured
Their smelly atmospheres.

And millions of pit toilets remain,
Serving the third world and here
In parks and places where
No treatment plant is near.

But have you noticed that,
Quick and easy as a wink,
Someone has found a way
To take away the stink.

The secret is in that pipe
That’s big and black and tall,
Exposed to the sun and mounted
Against the privy wall.

When sunlight heats the pipe,
Warm air rises on its own,
Drawing the foulness away
From the seat of the “throne.”

And wind across the pipe,
Whenever it might blow,
Creates a draw and pulls
The odors from below.

So day and night it works,
Wind or sun suffice
To keep the toilet smelling
Neutral, if not nice.

Hooray for black pipe! Hooray
For clever engineers!
Black pipe takes the stench away
Endured ten thousand years.

Now I’m inspired to believe,
For me and the human mix,
That many more petty discomforts
Might have so simple a fix.

(The Forestry Service was delighted to have their facilities appreciated in verse)

ADVENTURING UP MINGUS MOUNTAIN

I got hot in Sedona–cast my eyes 20 miles north to the Mogollion rim (7000 ft) and 20 miles south to Mingus mountain (7,500 ft)–chose to go south, heeding my own poetic advice about cool:
Where the Cool Is

To all who sizzle at a hundred three,
Come to the mountains and camp with me.
See on your road map the color green
Shows the mountains cool and clean.
For every thousand feet you climb,
Four degrees are left behind.
Keep on climbing and it’s for sure,
You’ll find the perfect temperature
Somewhere between the heat below
And the chill of mountain snow.
Find a spot near aspen trees;
Let God cool you with his breeze.

I paused to appreciate again the premier ghost town of Jerome, a superbly preserved mining town of 450 artist, shopkeepers, restauranteurs and lost souls built on the side of a steep mountain. Every house has a 40 mile view of Verde valley. Once 15,000 people lived here mining the richest vein of copper in the world. How rich was it? A hundred pounds of ore yielded one pound of copper. That’s 48 times richer than copper mines currently operating. Not surprisingly, most of the copper needed for wwII came from here.

I engaged a lost soul, (once prosperous lawyer, got ill, lost everything, now living in his van) got the story—and a bonus–a tip for a terrific camping spot just out of town. So great was it that I stayed 2 nights. The mine Manager came by got charmed by the stealth camper and stayed awhile to give me the facts quoted above. He lives in the house visible across the way. Great view!

Still a bit warm Wednesday, 9/24/08, I decided to go to the top of the mountain at 7,500 ft. Scenic drive up with something over 1000 curves. (locals tell this with pride) Quizzed a trucker enroute who told me where the “magic spot” was. I settled in near the 20 or so transmission towers “invisible to all” and I’ve been here 5 nights in forbidden comfort with 5 bar reception.

4 days in, I got to see a hang glider leap into space and amazingly rise up to 10,000 ft on thermals. Two different types of gliders launch here as the picts show.

SEDONA, AZ; NEW AGE BABYLON

What Branson, Mo is to country music, Sedona, Az is to the new age movement. The physical environment is spectacularly beautiful and the emotional ambiance almost equals it. Goodwill, peace and optimism are in the air. Everyone seems agreed: a good thing is happening here!

I settled myself more or less downtown in a tire store parking lot. (closed sat nite and all day Sunday–perfect. Weekends are especially easy for stealthy campers)

Met a beautiful lady in a bookstore and ended up spending the afternoon and part of the night with her in a conversational marathon. Later, I’ll do an essay on this remarkable exchange because something important is illustrated.

Downtown Sunday I engaged all sorts of people on all sorts of subjects. Talked real estate with a speculator.(house prices range from 1 to 2 million–but are now down 25%) Talked new age doctrine with a shopkeeper, art with a gallery owner. Especially enjoyed the statues scattered around town–the best municipal offering I’ve ever seen. (if only Diana were here to take a decent picture of them) The statue of Sacajewea roused me to lust.

Sedona became a new age Mecca in a self-reinforcing spiral of popularity like Branson.

Here in Summary is what New Age religion is about: It is a mixture of numerous religious and philosophical ideas–an emotional response to inadequacies of secular culture and discontent with traditional religion. (Happily) It has no holy text, central organization, membership, formal clergy, dogma or creed. It’s a free-flowing spiritual movement–a network of believers and practitioners sharing somewhat similar beliefs and practices. It does not threaten our liberty like Christianity does.

Especially in turbulent times, people head for two extremes: fundamentalism and personal spiritual experiences. New agers tend to cluster around metaphysical book stores and spiritual teachers. Here’s some relevant statistics:

8% of Americans believe in Astrology
7% believe crystals help healing
9% believe tarot cards are a reliable base for life decisions.
25% believe in a non-traditional concept of God
3% believe that each person IS God
20% of religious believers are new agers–the third largest religious group

As you can see–we’re talking millions of people. They are nicer than Bible thumpers and represent a counterbalance to them. They will help save us from theocracy.

Here are some of their core beliefs:

Monism: All that exist is derived from a single source of divine energy.
Pantheism: All that exist is God. (so seek God within yourself)
Panentheism: All that exist is God but He also transcends the cosmos
Reincarnation: rebirth after death in a series of lives
Karma: What goes ‘round comes ‘round. Cosmic balance of action and consequence
Aura: A field of force emanating from our body
Personal transformation through certain practices–eventually planet wide transformation.
Special Spiritual places–energy vortexes etc.
Ecological responsibility
Universal religion: like many paths up one mountain
New World order working against disease, hunger, poverty, pollution

And here is what they do:

Channeling: evoking dead people
Meditation–various types of “sit down and shut up”
Divination: foretelling the future
Holistic health practices
Human Potential movement–Seminars etc

In summary, New Age religion is Hinduism with a twist of lime. Of all the religious people these are the most nearly harmless. Since they have no authoritative text, they do not inhibit the natural evolution of ethics. They have a childlike belief in what amount to magic, but they have made real contributions to human well being through practices like meditation, holistic health and through assorted human potential practices. They live and let live–they evolve–I like em!