Death and Rebirth: The 13th Hour

The number 13. The subject of so much suspision and controversy – and rightfully so. 13 is a powerful number, it’s the number of death and rebirth. Death is required for rebirth. When a tree falls and begins to decompose it becomes the host of new life. Death is essential; death is a service to all. However, every living thing is encoded to fight death. Humans, though, are the only ones with the means to truly hold on for longer. This is the wrong way to look at life and morality – in a way that suggests that when we die we are dead.

We can look at any living animal as a tool for spreading DNA. It is not our bodies that are important, it is carrying on the line of DNA. Each generation adds its own special mark, thus each generation is immortal and lives within you. In a very physical sense we are immortal. We are our children. Life goes in cycles, and for humans it is three cycles. In order they are childhood, adulthood, and the elderly years. With each cycle brings more understanding. As a child everything is new and our goal is to understand the physical world.

We have parents who understand, and they see us grow as they never understood themselves growing when they were young.

I am saddened at times because I will never know my girlfriend, who I love immensely, as a kid growing up. Then I remember and am reassured because when we have a child it will be like watching both of us grow up. That is the beauty of the cycles of life - we experience everything.

When finally we age and become old, we understand the wisdom that comes with it. I am still young, but I can imagine become old as both frustrating and satisfying. Frustrating because you aren’t as active anymore – it becomes hard to see and hear and to interact with the youths. It’s satisfying because you finally have understanding of the human condition and you see the cycle in its entirety. What happens after death is a great mystery, but with the knowledge that you played your part in life you can now trust that your part in death will be
equally as profound.

This is the 13th hour. The hour our egos fear but our spirit knows is unavoidable and in fact quite beautiful. It is when we give back.

How to Subdue the Human Soul

What we pay attention to is what we become. My real beef is with conspiracy theorists. Even if all the theories were true is it worth abandoning logic and becoming a paranoid, untrusting, bizarre person? Are you truly going to be happier in your life?

What I’m trying to describe is a very fine line. I’m not saying abandon descending arguments in favor of agreeable arguments – to just be around what you wish to hear. In fact, that’s one of the huge problems with the country right now: no one wants to hear the other side thus becoming more entranced in their own beliefs.

I’m advocating an open mind. I’ll listen to the conspiracy theories and make up my own mind that they are bullshit. Thank god my parents gave me a filter of logic. Who gives a fuck if Osama was killed in 2003? What does it matter? Believing that will make you a paranoid weirdo who I won’t want to be around. Do you really want to believe our own government was behind 9/11? Folks, you can’t have a government that is both so ineffective that it took almost 10 years to kill one man, and also have a government that is so efficient that no one has whistle blown on the "9/11 cover up". “But Ben they kill the whistleblowers.” Have fun walking down that paranoid path. What does it matter in the first place – you can’t change the past, you can’t prove or disprove definitively anything (which is exactly how conspiracy theories thrive in the first place). Thinking about this stuff is going to make you nuts and a worse person.

I’m advocating a positive mindset so we can deal with the real challenges of our future without being burdened by the past. No matter what answers we have for the conspiracy theorists they will never see past what they want to see, because they no longer use logic. It is very much a disease of the mind. Don’t let things you cant control take control of you.

"If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry." -Dalai Lama

We have free will. Do what you want, believe what you want. Just use logic. Not everyone is out to get you. Bad things do happen for no reason. Don’t let the bombers or governmental conspirators win even more than they have. Don’t become infected with that bullshit. Most people holding office are decent people. Trust in the goodness of humanity and others will follow. It will take only one moment to free the world from this turbulence that has plagued us. In that One moment people will decide to focus on what is truly important - and the only controllable thing - your inner self.