Why oh Why did he have to say That

“You and I are essentially infinite choice-makers. In every moment of our existence, we are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to an infinity of choices.” ~ Deepak Chopra

I know I know, two posts in a row with a quote by the same guy, but I’ll tell ya Chopra got it goin on in the philosophy department.

I hate more than a couple choices, even when faced with a slew of them I’ll try to narrow it down by dismissing those things that flat out don’t fit into whatever it is I’m trying to make my choice about.

We have (at the place of my ostensible employ) been attempting to hire a junior version of us. Things started out bad, and essentially fell off the edge of the table. None of the 11 candidates we deigned to interview (which is what it was in all reality as none were qualified and we knew it) could get the rudimentary questions right, we did however settle on one likable chap who at least had 40% of what we were seeking (the remaining 10 were to say the least not very useful).

Now I am not sure I’ve mentioned this in the past, but I’m Buddhist. Western Zen variety for the most part, however I have been known to partake in sazen from time to time even though it’s not really a necessity to comprehend the universe as I do.

My boss is aware of my “religious” affiliation, and the fact that I do not deign to discuss religious differences with anyone, simply because I do not feel that it would be productive in any way shape or form, I get paid to write code not play “my Gods better than your God” games at the office.

Well one person decided it would be in his best interest to mention that he brings a “Christian” centered perspective to his work, now that’s all well and good, but like the Christ said, let your actions speak since your words say nothing. Anyone who has to TELL me that; one is no Christian and two has no place in MY shop.

Mind you the other people who work in my department are both very Christian in deed and belief, and neither of them would EVER think to bring it up in casual conversation (the boss occasionally will but only in the context of going to church no more makes you a Christian than standing in a garage makes you a car).

Why oh Why did he have to bring THAT up, which by the way after he did my boss damn near slapped me out of my chair in an attempt to keep me from opening my mouth, but I as the consummate professional did not say anything, much as I really really wanted to.

All of this leads back to choices, this individual could have chosen to answer the final question any number of ways, most of which would not have affected the final outcome, but never the less, they chose to utterly alienate themselves from the prime mover of the group’s decision making process.

Bit of advice for ya’ll, next time you find yourself in a job interview, leave the religious proclivities at home where they belong, you’ll no more convince me of the existence of your God than I will convince you I’m a car.

No Accident, Move Along Nothing to See Here

"There are no accidents... there is only some purpose that we haven't yet understood."  -Deepak Chopra

I could turn this into a rant against that last bastion of “My God is better than your God”, or welfare mama’s and their Lexus cars and gold hoop earrings, or about my Buddhist leanings and learning’s; I won’t however do any of those things as much as I could have fit the quote to all of them.

The question then becomes what is our purpose? That is the interminable question that has haunted mankind since the beginning of time immemorial.  Well I suppose not base man, not the man who’s only ideations revolved around food and procreation, but from the time man figured out he could draw on the walls with a burnt stick, and then discovered that some natural things around him could add some color to the drawings, I’m relatively certain that we have thought about something other than food and procreation.

Man is the only animal on the planet (and yes believe it or not boys and girls we are mammals) that forces his surroundings to fit his desires, rather than simply finding his place in the natural order of things.

Of course as previously mentioned, the discovery of oil in a Pennsylvania field in the 1800’s changed the face of mankind’s machinations forever.  At first it was considered a nuisance more than anything else, wrecking fields and poisoning animals.  It was not long however before us hairless monkeys figured out how to make fuel out of this black substance that flowed so readily out of the ground.

Plastics followed shortly thereafter, creating the detritus world in which we now find ourselves.  The plastic pumpkin universe here on earth, where large swaths of ocean are covered in floating plastic debris that will never degrade in the oxygen depleted environment that it finds itself, the salt water acting as an insulator of sorts against the UV radiation that is required to break it down.

For all of our “advancements” (ostensible at best) there is evidence that the human race (or something resembling it) has “been there done that” in the past. All one has to do is search for “out of place parts” (aka oop parts) for some interesting data on the true age of man.  It is possible that some catastrophic event wiped out a much more advanced civilization than we first thought our ancestors to be.  Christians will call this the flood of Noah, other say that the most advanced civilization predated even him and his family.

The legends of the Vedic in India, the legends of Atlantis and LeMuria in ancient Greek texts, these lost to time civilizations that supposedly existed prior to us arriving, could there be a modicum of truth to those legends?

We may never know, however we do know that the current “civilization” apparently is reaching the point in time when the other ones bit the dust.  The question is, will this version of man even have an ark to run to? Or are we it.