It’s late in the evening on the 4th of July. Fireworks are done and everything has gone quiet as people crawl into bed. Fireworks always makes people happy, regardless of age.
Underneath the pyro displays, get togethers and partying, I wonder how many people actually think about the meaning of Independence Day. Do you? Has it just turned into another reason to party? Does everyone just go back to day to their day jobs in the morning while America is broke, turning into a police state, and Occupy The World is going on? It seems to be out of most people’s radar since mainstream media doesn’t cover it.
Anyway, I started thinking about it at a more personal level, (while skimming through Facebook before bed). I read an old note that I posted on FB a few months ago. It somehow seemed relevant. It was a question that was posed to the Dalai Lama:
“What is the thing about humanity that surprises you the most?”
The Dalai Lama answered:
“Man – Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.
Then he sacrifices his money to recover his health.
Then he is so anxious about the future that he doesn’t enjoy the present,
And as a result, he doesn’t live in the present or the future.
And he lives as if he’s never going to die, then he dies having never really lived.”
Such the Paradox of Man. Such the Paradox of Our Time.
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