The Spiritual r3VOLution Inspired by Ron Paul

MICHAEL, this is great post . THANKS .YOU have a GREAT site.
says

That is the most profound post I have ever read on the Daily Paul. The depth and insight transforms the perspective from the trivial to the eternal.

Your re-assessment of RP makes me appreciate both you and he more than ever. Bless you for bringing such wisdom back from the gates of hell.

Thanks
DP

Amen! Reading this post was again, a very welcome learning experience!

Only didn't quite got this sentence "do unto others as they would have them do unto you, regardless of how you feel about them personally".

Isn't it more like, "do unto others as you want them do unto you?"

Gen 1:1 - Luke 6:49

"But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. 31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
32 "But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

It is not easy I know but that is what we should all strive for. I read your account of the RNC. It touched me deeply. I know you have been enlightened to something bigger than yourself. I too do not know how Ron Paul could do what he has done for so long. I could tell from your description of the events that you had been overwhelmed by just a small sample of what this man has gone through for 30 years. I know it was a humbling experience for you. The reason I know is I felt it also at the missouri state convention. I found myself shaking hands with people and people talking about issues that to me seemed pure evil. I had many moment where I was talking and shaking hands but really I was almost in another world kind of like in the movies when someone is half in and out of concsiousness (like a haze). I remember hearing myself very clearly in my mind saying, "how does he do this how does he listen to them and just smile and keep on going". I was thinking how discouraged a person must feel to be around these people for a whole day of work and to watch them in their evil activities knowing you cannot stop them. Manny I really do believe this man knows God. I think he has to have a very good relationship with him. I think he is the real deal and a blessing from God. If not how could he do it. I know you know what I mean you've looked the beast in the eyes. It actually sucks the strength right out of you. His integrity is amazing. Peace bro your post have so much heart to them since you got back form the RNC. It's amazing what this man has done to all of us.

~
I saw the merry band of walkers and jumped out of the Ronvoy van. Hang on , I yelled to my fellow travelers... I want to take photos, and I'll catch up with you at the Federal Reserve Building . With that I ran to catch up with the parade of walkers. I further hurried until I could reach Dr. Paul, who had joined the last leg of the Walk for Freedom. I can't believe I did it... but I impulsively went up...and hugged him!

Then I was fortunate enough to be able to walk next to Dr. Paul for about five minutes and ask him several questions...one which was exceedingly important. Our 12-person Los Angeles Ronvoy was aching to do something revolutionary. I conveyed that message to the good doctor...I told him that after his speech, if he told the entire Rally for the Republic crowd that we were going to go march down to the RNC Convention and demand to be heard...everyone would enthusiastically follow him in a heartbeat.

His reaction? He seemed underwhelmed at the thought of this.

[I am guessing that he wanted to protect us since there was such a heavy plastic handcuffed-laden police presence around the CFR endorsed-chosen one's coronation building. The wicked witch monkeys from the Wizard of Oz were even willing to be happy henchmen...]

But...I pressed on with Dr. Paul...you have recently been mentioning that there will probably be a time when we will need to show civil disobedience...when should that time occur?

He answered...if they try to start another unconstitutional war...or wars...and start a draft.

I wanted something more immediate, but Dr. Paul picks the best times to do battle.
~
Re Barr: another supporter and I asked him about who to vote for. Now, he plays his cards close to the vest and is hard to read but I got that it would be okay to vote for Ron Paul if he could be written in and that the vote would (hopefully) be counted...but if it would not, vote for someone else.

When Barr's name was brought up by another, I saw ZERO enthusiasm registered on Dr. Paul's part!

If you cannot write in Ron Paul, I say choose Chuck Baldwin. He is Dr. Paul's soulmate and a great partner in Liberty. IMHO, he can be trusted.

_____________

Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost. ~ John Quincy Adams
_★

For me, the progression was the reverse, i.e. from spirituality to libertarianism. A member of the "spiritual" wing of the "60s generation", after surviving the Haight/Ashbury and some years of psychedelic experimentation I turned to the study and practice the Buddha's teaching at a California Zen Center.

I was in my tenth year there in 1981 when one day, by a kind of fated accident, I happened to hear from a friend that the income tax is voluntary. At first, of course, I scoffed; but a nasty letter from the IR&S spurred me to investigate... and my mind was blown, as I began a process of education that eventually resulted in learning that nearly everything I had been taught and told, and believed, during my entire life, about politics, economics, history and similar subjects, was totally false: a gigantic fabric of lies, and not at all by accident.

Until then I had been your common, garden-variety California left-liberal lite-socialist: peacenik (went to Canada in 1967 to escape the last stupid, unConstitutional war), environmentally-concerned, etc. But as I began to study libertarianism, I realized that my approach to these concerns (which I still hold) was in diametric opposition to my spiritual beliefs and practices. As a Buddhist, my spiritual life was (and is) based on the principle of absolute personal responsibility (and the absolute personal freedom to fulfill that responsibility); but then, I realized, I would go out in the world and support, and vote for, leftist political ideas which completely contradict and subvert that principle.

Thus for me, the discovery of libertarianism (in particular the Non-Aggression Pledge, which distills the whole subject into one simple principle) enabled me to bring my worldly, political life into harmony with my spiritual life and practice -- though it has rather isolated me from my spiritual community, who somehow seem not to have figured it out. (I know of only one other declared libertarian Buddhist -- or Buddhist libertarian, for that matter -- despite the natural and perfect affinity between the two.)

I discovered Ron Paul that same year, and immediately sent him a contribution, my first ever to a political candidate. I had the pleasure of meeting him in 1988, when he visited the city where I now live (and was then active in the Libertarian Party). I was immediately struck by his character and presence, and by his presentation of a political philosophy that would allow people of the most divergent views and lifestyles to live together in peace. And, of course, most of all by his own example of living by that philosophy. If all Christians (or even a significant number) were like Dr. Paul, I could actually see Christianity as a force for good in the world.

Some may find it odd, but when I think of Ron Paul, the person who comes closest to him in my mind is the Dalai Lama. They were born only seven weeks apart in the summer of 1935, and both exemplify a life of spiritual principle in the secular world. It is possible, though of course seldom easy. But as you point out, "No one here gets out alive," and all we can take with us is the character we have built by our actions in this life. In Buddhism this is called karma, and it determines what we experience next.

What may result in the world at large from Ron Paul's efforts remains to be seen; but for me the most important result is exemplified in your post, Michael: the opportunity he has given us all to examine what is truly most important in life. I expect he would be pleased to know that he has given you such serious food for thought.

www.dvds4delegates.com the newest and possibly the greatest weapon the Revolution now possesses.

we only do it once.

and I just want to add that, in Christ and Christ alone, there is eternal hope beyond this life. We will all die, but our souls will live on. Apart from Christ there is eternal death, but in Him, there is eternal life. The principles Dr. Paul lives by demonstrate this and we have all see them in this man of principle and truth. The source of the goodness, honesty, and integrity that we have witnessed comes from God Himself, through Jesus. If there's anything I hope for everyone on this forum, who already are aware of so much that's going on, it's that all would realize their need to be reconciled to God through Christ. His love is agape love, it is a love that desires all to be saved through Him. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But God made The Way, Christ, by which we can all be saved. Turn from your sins and turn to Christ who will welcome you with open arms, forgiving you and giving you new life! It is good to stand for righteousness and truth on the earth, promoting justice and defending the poor, but it is most important to prepare for eternity while there is still time. There is only one way and it is Jesus. He desires that all would come to repentance and that none should perish because His love is perfect. He IS love. What good news!

Nice post Michael,

This has reaffirmed for me that I should be doing all I can to get my own site up and running. Thanks for the encouragement. I'll let you know when I finally get it going. Peace be with you.

The article that got me to decide to really listen to Ron Paul started out saying something like, "if you see a Congressional vote that is 432-1, that one vote was Ron Paul" (a Foxnews.com article, ironically). That statement spoke to my own Dark Night of the Soul, a time when standing up for my convictions had me standing alone, unbelieved, and conspicuous.

The camaraderie I felt allowed me to dare address something that had been tugging on my conscience - comparing my political beliefs to the Sermon on the Mount. I became a Ron Paul supporter with my Bible opened to Matthew chs. 5, 6, and 7.

On death:

A wise man will bear in mind that there is a time of doom... Indeed, he does not know what is to happen; even when it is ont he point of happening, who can tell him? No man has authority over the lifebreath -- to hold back the lifebreath; there is no authority over the day of death. There is no mustering out from that war; wickedness is powerless to save its owner... All this I observed while men still had authority over men to treat them unjustly.

Go, eat your bread in gladness; and drink your wine in joy; for your action was long ago approved by God. Let your clothes always be freshly washed, and your head never lack ointment. Enjoy happiness with a woman you love all the fleeting days of life that have been granted to you under the sun -- all your fleeting days...

I have further observed under the sun that the race is not won by the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor is bread won by the wise, nor wealth by the intelligent, nor favor by the learned -- for death come to all.

Koheleth 8:5-8; 9:7-9; 9:11

on Ron Paul

There was a little city, with few men in it; and to it came a great king, who invested in it and built mighty siege works in it. Present in the city was a poor wise man who might have saved it with his wisdom, but nobody thought of that poor man. So I observed: Wisdom is better than valor, but...

A poor man's wisdom is scorned
And his words are not heeded.

Words spoken softly by wise men are [to be] heeded sooner than those shouted by a lord in folly. Wisdom is more valuable than weapons of war, but a single error destroys much of value.

Koh. 9:14-16,18

And on political philosophy:

The day will come when you cry out because of the king whom you yourselves have chosen; and the Lord will not answer you on that day.

Sh'muel (1) 8:18

"... by some random, completely unpredictable event that blindsides you a Tuesday afternoon."

http://www.youtube.com/wa...

Ron Paul for Peace!

it was nice meeting you at the RNC! I think all of us are on some sort of spriritual journey and being at the RNC was a real test. Personally, I was unsure whether i should have even gone, and I look back sometimes wondering what the significance was. It was part of our journey, and crossing paths with you Michael, and the other RP delegates, was such an amazing experience. We were all like brothers and sisters there standing up for what we believe in.. and like you said, most of it was dealing w/ sprirituality vs. political philosophy.
I know the fealings you were talking about. At the Rally for the Republic we all felt so energized and inspired. When we went back to the RNC, it was almost depressing and the energy just felt so negative.
In the end we were there to inspire others. I think we planted many seeds in people's minds and inspired many of them. Most of them may not even be aware of it yet. I was very inspired by my fellow RP delegates. The seeds we planted will grow!

Oh my God!

Amen to this..

Remember when we talked briefly at the Rally for the Republic. What I told you about the entirety of collective human consciousness and how it creates the physical reality.

We all found ourselves here because we realize that this life is more than the car we drive, what we own, who we think we control, or what political stance we may have at a given time.

Principle.. We are learning principle. Those of us who choose to understand this will go on when this life is over to another place of learning. Others will have to keep living reality until they get it. That is why so many of us here are drawn to Ron Paul's message, because he is living that life of principle we all want to embrace in this lifetime.

But this journey of principle isn't over yet.

You are right, it's truly a spiritual journey. I'm glad you understand, and am thankful you are helping others understand.

What you and many others took from the GOP convention has moved along your understanding and learning and moved you closer to the knowledge, the truth, the light that is what many refer to as god.

What we make of this existence is what we take with us, not the physical material of this reality we amass.

Glad to have experienced part of the journey with you sir as well as all the Patriots who comprise the Freedom Movement. For man was meant to be free and independent.

-Stephen

Wow!! I am so encouraged by your blog entry!!

As Chesterton says:

O God of Earth and altar bow down and hear our cry!"

Here's a link of possible interest to people:

http://www.youtube.com/wa...

Those questions are truly important. Thank you for finally bringing them up!

Who am I? Why am I here? What is this whole thing – life, the universe, everything - about? What happens to me when I die?

We need answers. We need to seek the truth. We need to conquer death!

Who am I?
We are the offspring of God, (Acts 17:29)

Why am I here?
To seek the Lord, if haply we might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. (Acts 17:27)

What is this whole thing – life, the universe, everything - about?
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. (Eph 1:10-12)

What happens after I die?
God has appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man, Jesus, whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:31)

It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Heb 9:27-28)

We need resurrection! We need eternal life!
We need to trust Jesus whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Rom 3:25-26)

Most of us on this journey, I believe, have found a new foundation and strength of character. Your post, so eloquently worded, strikes a chord with the many of us who have a hard time expressing these new-found feelings. Thank-you.

And I thank God for the introduction to Dr. Paul, this movement and all who believe in rebuilding not only a free nation but a healthier, moral one as well.

PyraBang for Liberty

you express yourself and what you learned from Dr. Paul so beautifully. I feel honored to be a part of this freedom movement along with all these other spiritual people. Throughout the Presidential campaign, I and others involved in it felt humbled, blessed and honored to be part of the campaign. We still do.

Long live the Campaign for Liberty!!!

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Rudyard Kipling

___________

Lisa C.

If you love freedom, please consider joining: www.campaignforliberty.com

www.women4ronpaul.com -- provider of a new backup chat room for Daily Paulers in a "plan B" situation.

John 3;17 Fore He came not to condem the world (jew and gentile) but through Him to reconcile the world (jew and gentile) to Himself. That is good news and why I can handle the years of rolled eyes and sighs about my love of the Bible and my country. I have been a member of the john birch society since 15 and a youth speaker etc. etc. Now at 54 I have more challanges as a doctor for integrative medicine, wife, mother of two adult sons and,and and and fill in the blank. It is good news!!!! I am OK and my patients are OK even if my Ron Paul MD button stays on my chest next to my cross. MY Ron Paul sign stays in my yard and my rear window ron Paul for President 2008 will only have to change the number to 2009 (get it)! I am keeping it all. My beliefs, my signs, my hope my love and compassion for all mankind. I am having fun. I repeat I am having fun!!!!!!! And I will continue to have fun another 45 years doing the same thing. SOOoooooo. Be cool smile and have joy unspeakable with peace towards all mankind. It's fun. Dr Rita

...that it takes a lot of guts to be Ron Paul. Thanks for fighting in the trenches at the RNC.
I learned a lot too in Minneapolis. In fact it was a life changing event for me.
I met so many intelligent people with who I instantly had something in common. What a great 3 days.

Dr. Paul truly lives his values many of which are I think influenced by Ayn Rand type of thinking. It's a very deep and wonderful philosophy which her books portray so well and we all would be well served to understand.

Pawnstorm

It would be worhtless without being spiritual.

What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make and end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from.

from T.S.Eliot, Little Giddings

Dr. Paul cured my apathy

In the words of Bill Hicks there's two ways to look at the world-through the eyes of love or the eyes of fear and its your choice.
This has been one rapid and much needed education for me. You've made a great community of learning and I appreciate it.

Thanks for the post, Michael.

Love and freedom are the two interlinked qualities in human life required for a healthy, sane, and prosperous world. There is no substitute; we either create more love and freedom or the power of twenty-first century technologies, combined with widespread emotional damage and tyranny, will put an end to us.

One more thing -- an added focus, really -- is needed: compassionate, loving care of the young, because early experience is the foundation for later character and action. "Sensitive dependence on early conditions" is a huge factor in human life, and to ignore this truth is to fail.

The freedom movement NEEDS to understand that love and freedom go together and require each other.

I have a book and website that cover this in some detail; the website is http://www.paradise-parad... and the book's Table of Contents and Preface may be viewed in a PDF linked on the home page. My columns at Strike-the-Root all have love and freedom as a focus in one way or another. http://www.strike-the-roo...

Here's an excerpt from a page specifically on the topic of love and freedom:
http://www.paradise-parad...

- - - - -

To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven.
-- Karen Sunde

I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion.
-- Henry David Thoreau

Love includes freedom. Indeed, denying someone their freedom is the opposite of loving them; murder, slavery, and kidnapping are extreme examples, but any use of coercion harms love.

Love and freedom may also be seen as two sides of a human duality, much like yin and yang. Emphasizing one over the other is a mistake, because any imbalance means at least one side is below the healthy, optimal level. High levels of both love and freedom are required for a healthy society.

We require love because we are all one. We are all connected. We are all brothers and sisters, and love is what we were born for. Yet we also require freedom because each of us is a separate and unique individual. We each have our own thoughts and talents, our own preferences and desires. This natural diversity among individuals brings strength to the group.

As an individual, your uniqueness makes you who you are. When that uniqueness is denied, you feel disrespected; being part of the whole is not the same as being a cog in a machine. Love includes both a sense of oneness with others and respect for each person as a unique, free, and self-controlling individual.

---------------------

When levels of love and freedom are low, disaster is certain. It often happens that a nation or society emphasizes one quality over the other. Love and freedom must be in reasonable balance, and at high levels, for a healthy society. This page will discuss that truth in more detail, which means that you may find it uncomfortable. I encourage you to read through the material despite that, because while defenses are necessary in life, they can also prevent us from understanding the importance of real change. For my part, I promise to keep things brief -- at least, relative to what the topic deserves.

In his famous essay on Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau asserted: "That government is best which governs not at all."

Why would Thoreau say such a thing? Simple: Government is nothing but systematic, widespread coercion, and reducing coercion (force, violence, and threats of force and violence) to the minimum is the only approach compatible with a healthy society. It is the only approach compatible with love, compassion, freedom, and prosperity. Herbert Spencer understood this as well, and pointed out that government coercion is "violence in a latent state."

How could using violence, in a latent state or otherwise, be a good way to bring more love and compassion into the world?

Indeed, government's society-wide use of initiated coercion destroys love; in particular, coercive government enables the worst symptoms of emotional damage. For example, at the extreme, hatred and bullying become genocide or war, thanks to an army and secret police force populated by emotionally damaged soldiers and agents. In turn, a surprising amount of this emotional damage is caused by government action: war, pogroms, gulags, genocides, famine from either mismanagement or on purpose (e.g., the famine in the Ukraine inflicted by Stalin, which killed more than six million people), harmful social policies, needless poverty, and other government crime or interference. Yes: emotionally damaged parents cause emotional damage in their children, but coercive government causes far more damage than most people care to believe.

For detail on how emotional damage in childhood (and in infancy or even in the womb) causes later neurosis, misery, and harmful behavior, see elsewhere on this site, including Scientific and General References.

Less coercion and early pain =
Less neurosis and violence =
A more loving, healthy, and compassionate world.

We have arrived.

We can, like Jesus Christ, or Ron Paul make a difference if we do what is right and live our life by being true to ourself, and by loving, true agape love. Look how much difference Ron Paul has made, despite not knowing all those years that he would, but still stuck to it. Great post!

"Let the dead past bury its dead!

Act, - act in the living Present!

Heart within and God overhead."

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I was created for one purpose... to please God, my Creator. When I stay conscious of that truth, all that I do...works out.

When I allow the 'radio' signals of this fallen world to have reception into my consciousness, I am negatively influenced and distracted from my purpose.

I know there is an eternity, but I must live each moment to it's fullest.

I can't live in the past or the future...only the present.

Successive moments of NOW.

"Committed To The Eradication Of Poverty Among Patriots"

"Those Who Strive For Excellence Refuse To Fear Mediocrity; They Eradicate It."