more thoughts on the one ring in the lord of the rings
more thoughts on the one ring in the lord of the rings (the story, in general, both in its form of books by tolkien, and also in the movies)
the temptation of the one ring, to rule over everything, and always have your way, is kind of like what in the 12 steps they call "the King Baby." you know, "i want what i want, when i want it." King Baby or Queen Baby.
what if you had the power to have absolutely anything you want, with no limits?
of course, with the emperors Nero and Caligula in the Roman Empire we saw how absolute power corrupts absolutely. absolute power drives people insane. at least some people. then we have the example of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, who wrote on the subject of Stoicism. that is the opposite of evil. that is wisdom.
so, to me, on this day, perhaps the one ring signifies the ability to have anything you want, any time you want it. as such, it is the ultimate temptation. the temptation to be God. Satan, we are told, wanted to be God. he wanted an entire universe of his own. he wanted to dethrone the good God and replace him with himself.
as Christians we struggle against Satan. we struggle against evil in high places, evil in heavenly places. does that mean that there are aliens that are pure evil? i don't know if they are aliens, or if they are just demons, but i genuinely believe there is evil outside of oneself, and there is evil inside of oneself. "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the bringing down of strongholds."
among the vulnerable population, the psychiatric patients, there can be, in some cases, a person who wants to avoid the fate of a Christian. "oh no, that's not for me. i won't be tossed to the lions. i won't be crucified. oh no, not me." of course, we know that at some point the Roman Empire actually became Christian. with the emperor Constantine. philip k. dick had the realization that the Roman Empire never died. but because of the dialectic, the thesis combined with the anti-thesis and as a result the Empire became Christian. now we have Christendom. the realm of Christianity. which moved west to America. America and the Empire are now to a large extent overlapping. now we have China vs. America, or China and America as a part of each other. Chimerica.
so we have some vulnerable people saying "oh no, not me, i will not be a martyr." some others embrace the betrayal aspect of it, and would gladly become a selfish and malicious emperor if they could.
that is the ring. the temptation of the ring. the temptation of the world. to become worldly, of this world, fleshly, succumbing to fleshly lusts. but we know that whatsoever a man sows, that also shall he reap. he that sows to the flesh shall reap corruption.
i think it is best sometimes to be a Stoic, to be a Buddhist, and to embrace the middle path. and to find out where the frontiers are.
i think America is dealing with this overlap of contradictory things: is everything destined to happen as it happens? or is it "chance?" or is it a matter of free will of the individual? does each individual create his or her own reality? how much responsibility can one individual take over all of his or her life?
the Empire at one time threw Christians to the lions. then the Empire became Christian itself. i am still of the opinion and belief that there is a Good God up there in heaven. there is a meaning in life. there are meanings. each person to some extent has to create his or her own meaning in life. yes, there is suffering. but you just have to "keep on rolling."
whoever or whatever created this reality evidently, as philip k. dick says, had a flaw. that flaw was the source of all the suffering in the world. this is gnosticism. but we can help correct that. we can bring love into the world. with meaning, the meaninglessness fades away. so your job is to create meaning or reveal meaning or find out what the meaning of your life is. i get a lot of these ideas from viktor frankl. logotherapy. the creation or revelation of what is meaningful in life.
i say that because if you take 100 percent responsibility over all of your perceptions, how then do you account for painful and suffering filled experiences? the Christians, some of them, would suggest that the devil did it. but every coin has two sides, but what is between those two patterns is what is really important: the coin itself. what does that mean? maybe the Buddha meant to say that things go in a cycle. all you can do is to do your best and take as much responsibility as you can but also try to find out what life is all about. the game of golf (or frisbee golf) is all about letting the swing (or the throw of the frisbee) be at the same time an effort and also effortless, as you merge into the process. it's the journey, not the destination, that is important. it seems once you reach the destination there will always be another journey, to keep going, to keep on rolling.
the temptation of the one ring, to rule over everything, and always have your way, is kind of like what in the 12 steps they call "the King Baby." you know, "i want what i want, when i want it." King Baby or Queen Baby.
what if you had the power to have absolutely anything you want, with no limits?
of course, with the emperors Nero and Caligula in the Roman Empire we saw how absolute power corrupts absolutely. absolute power drives people insane. at least some people. then we have the example of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, who wrote on the subject of Stoicism. that is the opposite of evil. that is wisdom.
so, to me, on this day, perhaps the one ring signifies the ability to have anything you want, any time you want it. as such, it is the ultimate temptation. the temptation to be God. Satan, we are told, wanted to be God. he wanted an entire universe of his own. he wanted to dethrone the good God and replace him with himself.
as Christians we struggle against Satan. we struggle against evil in high places, evil in heavenly places. does that mean that there are aliens that are pure evil? i don't know if they are aliens, or if they are just demons, but i genuinely believe there is evil outside of oneself, and there is evil inside of oneself. "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the bringing down of strongholds."
among the vulnerable population, the psychiatric patients, there can be, in some cases, a person who wants to avoid the fate of a Christian. "oh no, that's not for me. i won't be tossed to the lions. i won't be crucified. oh no, not me." of course, we know that at some point the Roman Empire actually became Christian. with the emperor Constantine. philip k. dick had the realization that the Roman Empire never died. but because of the dialectic, the thesis combined with the anti-thesis and as a result the Empire became Christian. now we have Christendom. the realm of Christianity. which moved west to America. America and the Empire are now to a large extent overlapping. now we have China vs. America, or China and America as a part of each other. Chimerica.
so we have some vulnerable people saying "oh no, not me, i will not be a martyr." some others embrace the betrayal aspect of it, and would gladly become a selfish and malicious emperor if they could.
that is the ring. the temptation of the ring. the temptation of the world. to become worldly, of this world, fleshly, succumbing to fleshly lusts. but we know that whatsoever a man sows, that also shall he reap. he that sows to the flesh shall reap corruption.
i think it is best sometimes to be a Stoic, to be a Buddhist, and to embrace the middle path. and to find out where the frontiers are.
i think America is dealing with this overlap of contradictory things: is everything destined to happen as it happens? or is it "chance?" or is it a matter of free will of the individual? does each individual create his or her own reality? how much responsibility can one individual take over all of his or her life?
the Empire at one time threw Christians to the lions. then the Empire became Christian itself. i am still of the opinion and belief that there is a Good God up there in heaven. there is a meaning in life. there are meanings. each person to some extent has to create his or her own meaning in life. yes, there is suffering. but you just have to "keep on rolling."
whoever or whatever created this reality evidently, as philip k. dick says, had a flaw. that flaw was the source of all the suffering in the world. this is gnosticism. but we can help correct that. we can bring love into the world. with meaning, the meaninglessness fades away. so your job is to create meaning or reveal meaning or find out what the meaning of your life is. i get a lot of these ideas from viktor frankl. logotherapy. the creation or revelation of what is meaningful in life.
i say that because if you take 100 percent responsibility over all of your perceptions, how then do you account for painful and suffering filled experiences? the Christians, some of them, would suggest that the devil did it. but every coin has two sides, but what is between those two patterns is what is really important: the coin itself. what does that mean? maybe the Buddha meant to say that things go in a cycle. all you can do is to do your best and take as much responsibility as you can but also try to find out what life is all about. the game of golf (or frisbee golf) is all about letting the swing (or the throw of the frisbee) be at the same time an effort and also effortless, as you merge into the process. it's the journey, not the destination, that is important. it seems once you reach the destination there will always be another journey, to keep going, to keep on rolling.
posted by Christopher Heimarck at
9:17 AM
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