what is the point?

I operate with three basic assumptions.

1. A single omnipotent being that presides over the universe is extremely unlikely.

2. An infinite number of sentient beings are constantly creating the universe, from the smallest molecule to the largest galaxy, consciously or unconsciously, via evolution, procreation, innovation, homeostasis, etc...

3. I exist within this mind boggling complexity as an aware being, and I have the ability to act humanely with prescience and wisdom.

These basic assumptions guide me throughout my daily life. You could say they are the seeds of my own personal religion. Since society relishes labels, I tend to tell people that I am a Buddhist, but my Buddhism is primarily a practice, and my spirituality is constantly evolving and changing as I grow older and wiser and learn to love and cherish what I have and what is out there in this beautiful world.

Many people would say that I am a nihilist or atheist, but I find these labels irritating and inaccurate. I believe that the world has inherent value, and I believe a higher power exists, but not in the way that monotheistic religions do. I believe that an invisible "god" shapes the universe to it's will; it's called energy. And the study of the movement of energy is called physics.I believe it is good to shed old unproven suppositions when new proven theorems are shown to possess a modicum of truth. Therefore I would advise anyone with a brain and a heart to discard their religion if it has done more harm then good, for you or for humanity.

I have always believed that every person creates there own belief system out of their own experiences and emotions. By this I mean that even if you say you are a Evangelical Christian who is against abortion and for the war, you still have your very personal vision of what heaven and hell are, what god is, what the world means to you. Religion is not objective, it does not exist without being thought into existence. Religion is not Family, Genus, Species, Varietals. Every person has a highly personal religious and spiritual idea, and to me it's somewhat hypocritical that one religion can shun another. It's the same with politics, and more comically with sports. You have a bunch of people from Minneapolis against those from Chicago, partitioning themselves based on various differences that in the long run don't mean diddly squat. In the end we all have our separate homes which mean more to us then any city or country could. But they wouldn't exist outside the framework of these arbitrary boundaries. Ever since we crawled out of the sea, and even in the sea, we have been exceptionally good at creating boundaries, shells, bark, skin, walls. This is our imperative as living biological creatures, in order to survive and flourish. I'm off on a tangent as usual.

So my point is that you have your own personal God, no matter what religion or prophet you say you follow, and in the end you write your own bible out of your own experiences and emotions. This just seems completely obvious to me.

I write this thinking of my Grandpa who is dying of cancer at home alone, with my Grandma wandering around a nursing home and losing her mind. I wonder what their religion has done to console them or even help them along on their life journey. It seems to me to have done nothing good for them. All I can think of is that we have only one life to live, and to waste it in fear of hell and condemnation for improper behavior is absolutely depressing. That is the problem with most religions; the idea that you can store up your treasures in heaven, that the best parts of your life will be after you die. What a fucking joke. More like a papal conspiracy. If you can get all the peasants to think that it is their lot in life to suffer, and that when they die they will be rewarded with infinite riches in heaven, then your job as ruler is ever so easy.

I am convinced that the riches are all around us. The earth is the only source of any real wealth, or any real spirituality. Religions mostly teach you to ignore the physical world. The world is full of suffering but happiness is achievable by anyone. Everyone has been led to think that religions are necessary and good. I propose that they are unnecessary and mostly harmful.

I welcome any commentary. But I'm not interested in any bible verses. I don't give a flying shit about what the bible has to say about itself. It's an interesting and rich book, I give it that.

Permagarden

We started our permaculture garden pretty small and very unpermaculturish. You gotta start somewhere.

We have a 15x48 ft. (720 sq. ft.) area. I tilled up the creeping charlie and grass numerous times, but the grass would just not go away. We pulled out a lot of weeds by hand. Giant crazy roots. Fuck grass.

We worked Sunday through Monday. Monday was really hot and I got really sunburned.

We put in more then a dozen heirloom tomatoes, peppers, basil, thyme, sage, peas, radishes, spinach, lettuce, borage, garlic chives, melons, a number of different cucumbers, some flowers, and some other things I can't remember. I will have a full reporting of everything growing in a month or so. I still have a tray of thyme and yarrow, and a bunch of seedlings that we might transplant when we go back up to plant onions, potatoes, cabbage, and broccoli.

I have a word of advice: Do not chug four beers when you are totally sunburned and sunstroked.

We muclched the whole thing with four bales of straw, $4 each, $16 total expense. We did not enrich the soil with compost or fertilizer. I am hoping the soil is fertile enough. Otherwise this year we are basically building up fertility with green manures. Maybe we'll put a few cubic yards of compost on a little later.

Double Dig Deux

Hey there. This is the next installment of the the tiny 7 by 10 foot (70 sq. ft.) plot in front of our apartment. We did this after visiting the Friends School sale and buying $90 worth of plants. This is about a quarter of our plants. We finished this up on Saturday morning before we went up to the farmstead to plant our 720 sq. ft. plot.

New project

We're working on a new project in the Victoria Crossing neighborhood of St. Paul. It is a long and arduous journey. Here are a few pics.

Mayday

It's May. I'm tired because I moved a lot of bricks this week. Today it started raining.

We were planning on going backpacking somewhere beautiful but the weather foiled our plans. Now we're stuck here in the city, forced to enjoy friends, the Green Expo, the Mayday parade, and other terrible things.

My Grandpa has cancer and burned down a big garage with tractors in it. Life is nuts. I hope he lives twenty more years and doesn't burn anything else down.