Karma denotes the fate that we we are destined to experience on the basis of past lives. Dharma denotes the appropriate attitude we should bring to the discharge of that karma.

The only “free will” we have lies in the attitude we bring  to the karma that binds us. There is no escaping karma. But we do have the “free will” to regard karma in an appropriate manner; we have the capacity to witness karma.

The only occasion for the proper exercise of dharma lies in the NOW. The past is a frozen lake, and the future completely depends  on the attitude we bring to the NOW. The NOW is simultaneously the expression of the past and the determinant of the future.

Why is this so?

The past completely determines the future on the basis of the NOW. The NOW is the fulcrum on which fate is scripted. Each present moment is the expression of the past and the determinant of the future. Only the NOW is real because only the Now scripts fate.

In other words, the only real and determinant reality is the regard we have for the NOW.

This is why dharma is so important. Dharma is the the proper regard for what represents the truth of karma. How we witness our karma is also at the same moment how we create our karma. Dharma is what creates righteous karma. Dharma is righteous karma. Dharma is witnessing the truth of one’s karma, and thereby insuring a good rebirth.

From the spiritual point of view, the only thing that matters is remembrance of God/ the Beloved/ the Friend in the NOW. The remembrance of God is what creates the presence of God. The name of God is God, and is the presence of God.

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People get needlessly confused by politics. With the right set of references, it’s not that difficult to get it right.

1) Politics is about power: how to get it and how to keep it.

2) Politics runs on money, because money is power.

3) Corporations and those enriched by corporations, are always the most powerful players.

4) Corporate money rules politics- especially since Citizen United, the supreme court decision that ruled corporations are individuals and can act like individuals in funding political activity.

5) Corporate money buys all politicians on the national level. It is not possible to be a national politician and not be a shill for corporate interests.

6) The greatest political rationalization on the national level is defense, defense against all enemies of the state, real and imagined. Politics thus largely centers on the imperative for supporting national defense. No politician can afford to be perceived as weak on national defense.

7) Thus the Spy and War Machine is the best funded and the most powerful actor in politics, in creating the national budget and in determining foreign policy. The Spy and War Machine exists to perpetuate itself for the enrichment of corporations and the politicians whose continued existence as politicians depends on corporate money.

8) This describes the emergence of the corporate state, which becomes more and more a paranoid militarized corporate state. Over time, it becomes a militarized fascist corporate state.

9) The militarized fascist corporate state must justify itself on the basis of patriotism, on the defense of the national good- which requires ever greater and greater expenditures on the militarized fascist corporate state- the Spy and War Machine, which is wholly devoted to the enrichment of corporate empire.

10) The militarized fascist corporate state is fully bipartisan; both parties- the “duopoly”, exist only to perpetuate the militarized fascist corporate state. But they maintain a semblance of opposition on relatively trivial matters- the culture wars, in order to justify the farce of democratic process.

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In Wendy Doniger’s massive book, The Hindus: An Alternative history, in chapter 17- Avatar And Accidental Grace In The Latter Puranas, there is the following:

“And at the end of the Kali Age, the minds of the people will become pure as flawless crystal, and they will be as if awakened at the conclusion of night. And those men, the residue of humankind, will be the seeds of creatures and will give birth to offspring conceived at that very time. And these offspring will follow the ways of the Winning (Krita/ Golden) Age.” pg 487.

“The transition between the end of the Kali Age and the beginning of the Winning Age is usually a cosmological upheaval, fire and blood.” pg 487.

This is interesting for how closely it follows the narrative provided by Bhau Kalchuri in Avatar Of The Age Manifesting. And that is that at the end of the Kali Yuga, after a period of great destruction- 3/4s of the world in fact, the world will attain a height of spiritual development that allows it to go to sleep in a fantastic mood so as to wake up after mahapralaya, in a new cycle of time beginning with the Golden age. The world must be “put to bed” in a good mood, so as to wake up in a good mood, to begin a new cycle of time.

The new Golden Age, following mahapralaya, will be represented by a purified humanity that wakes up in a very, very good mood.

But here is the bad news: the denouement of the Kali Yuga- the Iron Age, the Age of the Machine, is all about the machine. The machine goes crazy, completely crazy!

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AI is a parody of the faculty of reason- at hyper speed. It is a tool, based on the computing power of the microchip- which makes it a machine. But its power to copy the processes of the mind- including skillful cut and paste, i.e. editing, is entirely parody.

Now, the most miraculous thing about AI is the speed at which it can operate. This is what allows it to seemingly improve upon the human faculty of reason. As if the faculty of reason could instantly know and comment intelligently upon anything. AI is practically omniscient.

Meher Baba has commented on the nature of mind as divine when still, sane when slow and mad when fast. The average mind, he says, is absolutely mad with constant and uncontrollable train-of-thought. The spiritually advanced have slowed the operations of mind down dramatically- to the point where they cease to be automatons compelled by desire; the Perfect Master and Avatar, whose mind is completely still- that is, not activated by desire, are God.

AI, which mimics reason, but at hyper speed, is simply an artifact of human reason- and completely insane by nature. It is a tour de force of computing power, based on algorithms, mimicking the operations of reason- doing better than what reason itself is capable of, but is completely severed from consciousness. It does not have a soul.

AI is an insane machine.

AI heralds the denouement of the Kali Yuga, the age of the machine. The Kali Yuga ends in destruction as the collective mind goes completely insane. The Kali Yuga ends with the triumph of the machine mind.

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AI is rightly getting a lot of attention, but rarely from a cogent perspective.

That technological man can make make a machine smarter or more capable than himself seems to be at the heart of the debate. This possibility worries people. People do not want to be displaced by machines. Or do they?  People are often unaware that the entire history of technology is a progressive displacement of human activity by the machine- which is an extension of the tool. This should come as no surprise. It is completely obvious.

But somehow many now feel challenged by the alarming possibility that machines can think- or kinda-think, think well enough anyway, to fool some and maybe everyone. Now, were this the case, this would turn the long cherished concept of “Progress” on its head.

Progress as an idea coming out of the enlightenment and industrialization was rarely considered an ironic development. Europe and America quickly embraced industrialization as a god-send.  One notable and celebrated exception to this view was William Blake, as expressed in his poem

And did those feet in ancient time,
Walk upon Englands^[b] mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On Englands pleasant pastures seen!

And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these^[c] dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold:
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold:
Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In Englands green & pleasant Land.

Blake contrasted Reason and Imagination, the one faculty leading to bondage among satanic mills, the other to freedom. The faculty of imagination is opposed to reason because it accesses heavenly realms more proximate to God- which then transfigures this world into Jerusalem.

Progress is about the perfectability of human reason. This is the quest of AI, and as applied to an utopian vision of this world. Blake’s Imagination is the visioning of heavenly worlds- and their incarnation, artistically, aesthetically and practically, in place of the world created by Reason. The sheer genius of Blake’s work testifies to the building of Jerusalem in the here and now.

AI mimics the activity of Reason- but not Imagination. AI is like a gifted monkey imitating man, seeking to improve upon him with expert gesticulation. Imagination is not a mime or a copyist; Imagination reveals what has never been known before.

The advent of AI is very significant as it heralds the utter duplicity of Reason, and the futility of Progress. And this is because Reason is based on binary logic, just like the computer chip. Imagination is based on a unitary perception of experience far beyond the binary world of logic.

What the world of AI cannot approach is the world of symbolic thinking and perception. The world of AI is strictly limited to the world of data- the world of binary facts. It can ape Reason well enough, but nothing more. What it can do brilliantly is impressively flatter the mind obsessed with data.

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The two decades since 9/11 have witnessed the radicalization of American politics to a remarkable degree. The two political parties have slid to the far right in a mutual embrace of militarized corporatism promoting forever wars. At the same time income and wealth inequality has exploded to historic levels, the manufacturing sector outsourced, the agricultural sector industrialized, the immigrant blamed for the disappearance of jobs, unions and worker rights degraded to almost nothing, the Muslim world widely regarded as promoting terrorism, much of the Muslim world destroyed by US corporate greed embodied in foreign policy, and the election of a fascist demagogue as a result of all the above- but for which Russia is blamed, and with whom we are now in a proxy war; and because China has been the primary economic beneficiary of failed American neoliberal policy and is beating the US at its own historic game of state capitalism, China now must also die.

Wow! Say what?

This is called late stage American predatory capitalism which, as Marx foretold, would result in cannibalism: America eating itself to death, but blaming everyone else for its savage appetite. This is extraordinary unprecedented political malignant narcissism.

And most importantly, even though all this is completely obvious, our political, military and corporate elites refuse to admit a word of it. Because they are responsible for it.

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Avatar Meher Baba famously said, “stay out of politics”. It’s not at all clear exactly what he meant by this, and there are divergent explanations. One comment by him on the utter insincerity of party politics- that it becomes impossible for an individual to retain integrity given the inevitable compromises involved, is perhaps a good place to begin in discussing the problem.

“What is politics but fraud? Whatever your own, honest, candid opinion might be, you have to act according to the creed of the party, [at times] against the voice of your conscience, and thus be dependent upon others for your actions, which is quite opposed to the fundamental principles of Truth.” Meher Baba

Now, in today’s world, from the perspective of America, this statement could not be more obvious and true. Party politics is a snarling dogs’ breakfast of furious dishonesty and insincerity. And the problem becomes yet more complicated as politics is completely dependent on media for accurate reporting of facts and vetting of facts. What results if media refuses to honestly play the role required for a vibrant democracy? And what if media is actively dishonest in its putative role? Moreover, what if media becomes a shill for partisan snarling? How is the public to be truly informed? Finally, what if the very notion of political parties as representative of the public, let alone an individual, is itself a complete farce?

It should be said, right away, that politics is about power. Indeed, it is nothing but the acquisition and wielding of power. What is the nature of power here in the US? Who wields power, and how did they get the power by which they govern?

It is emphatically not by the consent of the governed. Electoral politics is rigged in so many ways, where to begin? Of course, it’s about money, and the capacity of money to subvert the entire electoral process. And of course, this references corporations and their lobbyists above all else; corporations rule America.

This is not news, of course. But then, at the same time, it is continuously ignored. It is both acknowledged and denied at one and the same time- in the same breath. Everyone knows it’s true, but no one can do anything about it, and so it becomes normalized.

The two political parties- and the US will not allow a third party to emerge and upset the status quo, are both owned and ruled by corporate money and their lobbyists. The differences between the parties are insignificant relative to what they have in common, i.e. corporate hegemony. And this is by design. The politicians can argue about identity politics and culture wars, but they will never argue about the Spy and War Machine promoting militarized corporate empire. No matter how insane the foreign policy promoting prolonged war and carnage, no matter how insane the support of authoritarian governments licking the US corporate boot,  no matter how destructive of the civil, human and environmental rights the world over, both parties are in complete and perpetual agreement.

But not only are the two parties in complete and perpetual agreement, but so is corporate media. Corporate hegemony over the electoral process, government and media is perfect and complete. Politics in America is defined by corporate power distributed between two parties wholly owned by and subservient to militarized oligarchy.

Politics in America is defined by the fascist corporate state devoted to empire.

No wonder, Avatar Meher Baba said, “stay out of politics”.

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America has long believed that it is the greatest country on earth, and that it enjoys a divine favor and guidance like no other country on earth. This is summed up in the phrase, American exceptionalism.

All this, despite the fact it is a settler colonial state founded on genocide, slavery, Jim Crow, continued systemic racism, rapacious capitalism and savage imperialism- and all this excused or rationalized as the good faith effort toward achieving “a more perfect union”.

America continuously pats itself on the back for achieving- so it says, what no other nation has achieved, i.e. the most robust of democracies which has entitled it to lead the free world toward ever greater and more sublime political, civil and human rights.

And Americans believe this. That is, all good and patriotic Americans believe this, with all their minds, hearts and souls- and in support of this belief spend more taxpayer money on  the world’s largest and most powerful military than the next ten largest state military budgets combined.

Such is the American support for American exceptionalism. Wow.

In short, America believes in the power of violence to shove its idea of democracy down the gullets of the rest of the world- and, of course, it’s own citizens.

Americans have such a robust belief in violence that they possess more guns per capita than any other country in the world, has way more mass shootings and homicides than any other country in the world and it incarcerates more people per capita than the rest of the world- so much so that in fact the gulag archipelago of America contains more than 25% of the world’s incarcerated!

Wow, and Wow again!

Let’s hear it for American exceptionalism!

America so believes in exporting its rabid democratic ideals that it is the greatest benefactor of the world’s greatest fascist autocracies. There are so many to enumerate, where to begin?

Let’s start and end with Israel, as the case of Israel is the keystone of American fascist foreign policy. Israel claims that it is the only real democracy in the Middle East, just as America claims that it is the only real democracy in the entire world. So, indeed, they have a lot in common.

Both countries are based on Judeo-Christian racial and religious supremacy. In the case of Israel, racial and religious supremacy combine in one category, whereas in America the categories of race and religion tend to become focused in white Protestantism as defining exemplary democratic ideals.

The result is fascist nationalism in both cases, although the case of Israel is more egregious as it combines racial and religious identities in a single supreme chauvinism. It is for this reason that US politicians routinely and obsessively declare undying loyalty to Israel, as it is the world’s single greatest example of violent ethno-nationalism.

Americans are supremely propagandized in support of fascist domestic and foreign policies.

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