Synergy = Synergy

or East Vs. West

Zóla

I’m really quite tired of all the sophomoric religious debates that I am still oppressively mired in, only because I work on a college campus. Normally, once a person graduates, they are freed from such guerrilla provocation tactics unless they are so unfortunate as to have that look that draws nutters at bars for long, impassioned debates. Though I used to be a raving atheist myself, that view has acquired a more spiritual patina now. The militant sophomorics would jeer that such mellowing comes with old age, as does “selling out” – i.e. buying CD’s instead of records, admitting you actually prefer a rich studio sound to a 4 track aural attack, recalling that you had a punk phase, dressing up for work when you don’t have to…

“ganesh”

With a healthy respect and appreciation for nature and its symbioses, something no human can be called complete or mature without, comes a nagging feeling that there is some serious synergy going on. Whether one believes such flawless interdependency just happens because nature is miraculous and perfect and awe-inspiring or whether it all seems to be impossible without some grand puppet-master pulling the strings and oiling the gears, it becomes evident that some greater force is at work. This is where the paradigm of Eastern spirituality seems to triumph over the mockery that Western religion has become. Much of Eastern thought and day to day life is based on open-to-interpretation views of nature and energy systems and the flow and interaction of such. When examined on the electromagnetic level, pieces of these theories hold water.

“kali”

When one lives life with a complete and total rejection of all forms of “spirituality,” morality itself seems trivial, a social construct derived from the way our society has evolved, but not absolutely necessary. It is here that the much-exploited karmic cycle comes into play. No massive religious doctrine to adhere to, yet another of nature’s synergistic systems at work. Negative and positive energy, manifest as deeds and actions, coming full circle. The “other half” of the planet has had a great deal more time to evolve these ideas and prove them in their test kitchens. While “we” were flagellating and flaying in the medieval streets and waging unparalleled wars in the name of straightening out this god business (as the atheist guerrillas like to point out, comparing the massive casualties with those of more contemporary horrors), they were living in a slightly more harmonious fashion, and in far better health, perhaps due to the fact that they realized early on that man cannot control nature and must adapt to survive. ◼