What I do like:

The simple quiet rituals of faith.
Either personal or prescribed.

While you might expect the marriage of progressive sociopolitical goals and the culture of spirituality to ground activism in ethics, it turns out that just the opposite is true. That's because what we think of as "spirituality" today is not at all a departure from the narcissistic culture of consumption, but its truest expression.

–Douglas Rushkoff, Life Inc. (p 135)

I'm going to back the car up after that drive-by egging of "2012". The hit and run is fun. The release is refreshing. But it's probably not the best approach.

Taken as a whole, the various 2012 "prophecies" divorce a few genuine time tested insights from their original contexts and place them along side a considerable amount of twisted and manipulated historical minutia, lazy science, and creative calendaring.

For example: The first edition of McKenna's The Invisible Landscape the year 2012 is only mentioned twice. December 12th is never mentioned. The second edition is revised to include the full "December 12th, 2012" date and places it generously throughout the book.

Why make such an odd change to a book already in print?

Years after the original publication McKenna became aware of a convergence on the date by other folks who also originally included less specific/entirely different dates in their various new age/armageddon theories. He decided it was significant.

Many 2012 books and believers will point to McKenna's independent (ignoring the non-independent way the 2nd edition came about) discovery of the date as a sign of great cosmic serendipity. Further proving any vaguely related claims that also moseyed up to the 12th.

It's a viscous cycle of significance. The end result is a bag full of theories and prophecies whose main claim to authenticity is each other. When you look at each one independently, they often fall apart instantly. Aztec myths made Mayan... Misplaced and distorted relevance to the culture of the time... Misrepresentation of basic astronomy... And so forth and so on. The degree of blatant twisting and turning borders on the absurd.

Which begs the question again: Why?

These bits and pieces are distorted (conscious and unconsciously) in order to conform to a brand image. It's consumer spirituality. It doesn't require anything of you other than buying into the brand. You can make it an accessory to your identity. There's a New Age coming. One of love and beauty and a better mankind. And you know it. Because you already have a little bit of it in you. You appreciate love and beauty a little more than your fellow man. You're already living in a better world. A little. But you need more. And you need to signify it. You need to project who you are.

(All of which appeals to an alienated ego)

It's just like the marketing of cars or sneakers – Like those goods, a single sale isn't enough. If it asked something of you, it has the potential to be satisfying. If it is truly satisfying, why buy more? Yet brand loyalty is a powerful thing. Sure it isn't as satisfying as i expected, but I'll stick with it. Next time it will be.

(All of which further alienates an ego)

2012 presents it's self as an external solution to a disconnected society. It's not. It's the self-perpetuating symptom of one.

One in a very long list of seemingly dissimilar cultural, political, and spiritual movements (of both the right and the left) here in the United States. It happens to be the one I'm picking on now, because it's so prevalent in my current context.

A context in need of change. We all need something different. Something that reconnects with an internal faith. Something rooted in the deep equality of differences. Something that acknowledges what we have, rather than fostering a perpetual grasp towards the great coming better that was nearly lost to the past. Something that values work over acquisition. Something you don't buy into.

(All of which appeals strongly to my alienated ego)

Things I don't like about living in Santa Fe #38:

Nearly every bookstore has an entire section devoted to “2012” …A marketing scheme masquerading as time honored insight towards an all encompassing better world.

Yet none of them actively stock Life, Inc. …A book calling attention to the historical economic drives that have made us all so susceptible to masquerading marketing schemes, particularly the sort that prey on alienated ego – So that we can work towards an all encompassing better world.

Meanwhile, conservative folks are routinely mocked for latching onto ideas out of simplistic and petty reasoning.

And lets not forget this, from some friends near London:

We continue to live in hope that you'll make it to Europe for an extended trip one of these days. We have a spare room. We have TWO spare rooms! It's leafy here, and Henry VIII's old hunting lodge is barely four miles away. Plus you can be in central London in no time. I will give you home-made jam to eat, and you can loaf around in my garden listening to the birds singing. We can go hiking in the rugged Lake District. You can find a 15th Century pub with an open fire and a pub dog and we can drink an afternoon or two away. Am I selling it?

If it wasn't for a long standing plan to spend months meandering in Europe sometime around 2012, I'd leave tomorrow.

Lately I'd like to get up and go. Summer in Santa Fe isn't doing it for me this time around. It feels hotter. There are more days above 90. They always come in rows. All of the asphalt, concrete, and fake adobe feels like a makeshift oven. The desert dirt and dust is in-escapable. The dry snot in my sinuses is like rubber cement that was never meant to leave the jar.

What I wouldn't give for a little fog. And a window seat with some udon noodle soup.

Or a body of water.

Lately I've been missing the west coast. ...of the US and New Zealand. I want to sit on a beach. Something rough around the edges. Cliffs and drift wood. Green and blue beyond belief.

Lake Erie will have to do.

In a few weeks it's off to Chicago for an extended weekend.

I've had many wonderful little birthday celebrations with Lane over the past few years of distance. The two of us with dinners and get aways. This one in Chicago will be different. There are plans for a party with wonderful people who I need to reconnect. I can't hardly wait for the hugs and conversations...

Then maybe a first trip to Portland over Thanksgiving. With time for the coast and a day trip to Seattle. What I wouldn't give for gnocchi on a rainy Seattle day. Maybe something about Portland will stick and come spring we'll head that way with wide eyes and day dreams of permanence.

Or maybe we'll still be here. Surrounded by dust and pinto beans. Hoping for a few moments with pine trees.

All winners need losers; all saints need sinners; all sages need fools—that is, so long as the major kick on life is to “amount to something” or to “be someone” as a particular and separate godlet.

But I define myself in terms of you; I know myself only in terms of what is “other,” no matter whether I see the “other” as below me or above me in any ladder of values. If above, I enjoy the kick of self–pity; if below, I enjoy the kick of pride. I being I goes with you being you. Thus, as a great Hassidic rabbi put it, “If I am I because you are you, and if you are you because I am I, then I am not I, and you are not you.” Instead we are both something in common between what Martin Buber has called I–and–Thou and I–and–It—the magnet itself which lies between the poles, between I myself and everything sensed as other.

–Alan Watts, The Book

In Catching the Big Fish—David Lynch's little and somewhat disappointing book that's sort of about his life and creativity—there's repeated gushing about Transcendental Meditation. Lynch credits it as the backbone of his life and career. While proselytizing about any meditation technique instantly puts me on guard, I'm a huge fan of Lynch the artist and the bits of Lynch the person I feel I know. I don't discount that TM has played that role in his life. Curiosity set in. I put down the book and fired up my trusted web browser to check out the official website. Seemed highly likely there would be some classes or groups in the Santa Fe area.

I didn't make it much further than the fees page. Right there next to a picture of Jerry Seinfeld it says:

Tuition for the four-month TM course
(which also includes a lifetime of free follow-up):

Adult course fee: $1500
Full-time student: $750
Couples who learn together: $1500 + $750

That isn't a typo. It's $1500 to learn how to meditate.

“The organization’s goal is to develop the full potential of the individual, minimize the negative impact of stress, and bring unrestricted and fulfilling progress to all areas of society.”

By “all” here, they mean everyone that is willing to pay $1500 or who they deem deserving of an exception to the fee. Not “all” as in this is so great for humanity we will open our doors to anyone that shows any interest.

On the same site there's a page devoted to TM's positive effects on world peace. The gist of which is: the more people that practice TM, the closer we get to true world peace.

That message is more than a little mixed.

Around the same time, I signed up to get email reminders about an ongoing series of free talks entitled "The Future of Love". Which is presented in part by Ken Wilber's Integral Life organization. While far from a devote, I like a lot of what the various folks falling under and around the “Integral” banner have to say. At times I've been amazed with Mr. Wilbur. When I received an email from the list that wasn't a reminder, it was a “Video from Ken Wilber about Transforming the World”, I was hesitant. Yet curiosity couldn't stay away. The email linked to this “Exclusive Invitation For You” page.

“It's time for this critical shift in consciousness to hit its tipping point--become a member and help make this a reality today. To make it easy, we want to extend to you a special invitation. When you sign-up now, you'll receive one month of free access to Integral Life Premium Membership.”

The page is straight out of an internet direct marketing e-book. Uninspired at best. Deeply cynical at worst. …Search Google for "Guide to World of Warcraft Gold". You'll find a number of pages with the exact same structure and tone. A tone devised to manipulate.

I understand that money is a massive issue. Especially if what you are trying to do is on a global scale. It can't always be completely free. However, Transforming the world/your life does not start with a credit card number. In fact, it turns away a lot of wonderful people who take your spiritual whoring as proof that the entire thing is an outright scam that prays upon people who are weak willed.

“Right now, there’s a small group of people on our planet—less than 5%—who are in a position to create the next major step for humanity... and since you’re interested in these discussions, you’re one of them.”

It's no wonder that they could think that way… I think I'll take my chances with the other 95% percent.

I would love this for recipes I've already made. Often times I get mixed up trying to pick out a simple "whats next, how much of it, and how long" from a paragraph of detailed instructions. …To the point where I don't trust myself. I end up checking the same thing over and over.

I might have a go at making some up for a few of my favorite often made yet poorly remembered dishes.