Cabinet

A cabinet should be like a team of heroes when the people need salvation — salvation from tyranny, corruption, insecurity, and the destruction of public services. That is the role in troubled times. But in times of peace, they can be the heroes of stability, progress, and improvement.

The members of a cabinet must share a common purpose, goals, values, and mission. This means there are certain matters on which they cannot afford fundamental disagreement — and that is the mark of a good cabinet. They can disagree, but once they have chosen what to do and how to do it, they must act in agreement on the why. That common reason must be what keeps them together. They must also be willing to try different approaches. You can help, disagree and not help, or go against — but going against is a signal: either that person should not be part of the team, or the team may be doing something wrong. That doubt is healthy, in the sense that it reflects a conscience alert to doing good. Because keeping the humility of knowing we could be wrong is essential — otherwise it becomes hubris, and in hubris we are blinded and in decay.

Purpose, goals, values, and mission must not only be the core of the cabinet but of the whole people. If the people and their leaders are not aligned, they are not yet one. And to build a society of brotherhood and wisdom, they must be aligned in the same good values, goals, and purpose. A cabinet of heroes is not one that wins battles alone — it is one whose purpose is so clear, and so shared with the people, that the whole society becomes the hero.

Foreman

People in power need persons who get things done. And in every hierarchy there are more than two levels — those at the top use a foreman to control and manage the others. People who had slaves to work the fields or mines used slaves who were put in charge of overseeing the rest. These foremen received perhaps a bed instead of sleeping in a group; they got the first portion of the slaves' food — but not the same food their owner ate. Perhaps they could have some of that food as a gift when they reached a milestone, but it could not be always. The separation was always maintained. The foreman received very little and made promises to serve and control others — but he would never become one of the owners. Sociologists call this the intermediary class — close enough to power to enforce it, far enough away to never share it.

Similar structures are still present today. There may be a few exceptions, and these exceptions are used as the promises and small rewards that motivate foremen to follow orders and act as the middle layer that does what the upper class wants. They even protect those above them by their own initiative. They are an indispensable part of keeping hierarchies in place. And they have the power to tip the balance in favour of the top or the bottom.

Utter

Being in an utter state of flow is something that should be taught. I think most people experience it only by chance. We try to do something and maybe we get there, maybe not — but we do not do it deliberately. We are more inclined to be distracted. Is this a phenomenon of the last couple of centuries? Perhaps in the past it was easier — in the sense that we now feel there are too many devices, and we act as though they were extensions of ourselves. Maybe the distractions of past centuries came instead from fantasies of the imagination. And those would have been the result of boredom. And from that boredom, imagination and creativity surged — producing great inventions and great discoveries.

I think of it as a line from -10 to 10: one extreme is utter distraction, the other is utter flow. Over the last couple of centuries, the average may have shifted towards the negative side.

But further back in the past, were there not also fewer distractions? Perhaps the difference between BC and AD centuries is that more people now have the opportunity to be creative, and have access to environments and tools that ignite and fan the fire of creativity — better conditions overall. And that is why there are more discoveries and inventions. Ancient times were more about survival, about finding food.

Colmillo

Los colmillos los asociamos con vampiros gracias al cine —aunque desconozco si, anterior al cine, la literatura ya había influido en el imaginario colectivo con la descripción de los vampiros y sus colmillos—.

Recientemente, viendo la serie Dexter, en uno de sus capítulos aparecía un asesino en serie que extraía un colmillo de cada una de sus víctimas como trofeo. Creo que le llamaban el Ratoncito Pérez —aunque debe ser por la traducción al español; en la versión original seguramente tenía otro apodo—.

Un colmillo es una pieza dental asociada a los carnívoros. Tigres y leones los usan para herir a sus presas y sujetarlas. Las serpientes, para morder e inyectar su veneno.

No me suena que colmillo tenga otro significado más allá del literal. En inglés, colmillo es fang, y su plural, fangs.

Posiblemente un antropólogo sepa más sobre colmillos —los usan para deducir información a partir de restos de animales—, lo que me lleva a pensar también en los paleontólogos y los dentistas. Aunque supongo que un dentista diría poco más allá de lo básico. Es solo una suposición desde mi ignorancia en esas áreas. Lo que sí me parece más claro es que un informático tiene menos probabilidades de saber algo al respecto, a menos que tenga alguna relación indirecta —como un videojuego o cualquier otro software que involucre colmillos—.

Experiencia

Somos seres experienciales en este universo de espacio-tiempo. Como en el cine: la consciencia quiere vivir distintas historias, distintas vidas. Y para ello se convierte en cada uno de nosotros.

Los animales y las plantas, aunque no tengan idioma ni escritura para contar historias o transmitir aprendizajes, lo integran en su ADN —por decirlo de alguna forma— y así lo transmiten a las generaciones siguientes. Recuerdo una noticia sobre experimentos con mariposas que recordaban su vida como orugas, y sobre ratas o monos que continúan un comportamiento aunque no fueran los primeros en experimentar su origen —solo por aprendizaje de los anteriores, sean o no ancestros directos—. Incluso por el simple hecho de compartir espacio y tiempo se transmite experiencia.

La experiencia es algo que debe estudiarse desde el punto de vista de las tres áreas de desarrollo: físico, mental y espiritual —pues creo que afecta a las tres—. En lo físico, como he mencionado, está en el ADN y está relacionada con el espacio y el tiempo. La mente opera en ese mismo ambiente. Y el espíritu, de alguna forma, también está relacionado con la experiencia que se adquiere en el espacio-tiempo.

Suelo pensar que después de la muerte despertaré y sonreiré, porque pensaré: tenía una idea de esto. Y esa idea es que queremos experimentar —como cuando vemos películas y vivimos distintas aventuras, incluso vemos las reacciones de otros ante esas películas—. El que todos seamos en realidad una sola consciencia es como si Dios, queriendo vivir distintas experiencias, se convirtiera en cada uno de nosotros. Y eso es lo que somos.

Preach

There are many preachers who preach hate and division, and who defend the powerful. They preach false protests, false leaders, false heroes. Why? The first thing to consider is that they get something out of it — money, status, the feeling of belonging to the circle of the powerful, even if they are mere pawns. But how is it possible that followers who claim to follow God, or someone who preaches love and serving others, end up following hate speech — treating others as they would not want to be treated themselves? One reason is that false prophets use the same God and the same sacred scriptures — interpreting them as it suits them and omitting what does not. A second reason is the blindness and ignorance surrounding sacred scriptures that were written by humans but are taken as the direct word of God and followed without question. And ironically, as I said, even the followers only take what benefits them and ignore the rest. This is not new — it is what historians call weaponised religion: taking the language of the sacred and turning it into a tool of control.

Globalisation is not only for markets — it has also globalised ideas and preaching. What we preach, and what ends up prevailing, will be the result of fights, protests, and deaths. But ultimately, it is our choice as a species.

Sustain

Throughout life there can be moments where we can barely sustain ourselves. These crises serve as inflection points — moments of forced change. Sometimes because we refused to take action, which is itself a decision: doing nothing can lead to crises that force change upon us. And sometimes we are taking action, making decisions, and that too can lead us into a crisis. These crises can be related to one area — physical, mental, or spiritual — or to a combination of all three. In a certain way, all three are always related. If you lose your arms, that is physical — but you must adapt mentally and spiritually to the new reality. If you lose a loved one, your body, mind, and spirit are all affected.

Part of the experience of living is dealing with a few crises and sustaining ourselves through them. We can also be there for others — because we can embrace as our purpose the serving and loving of every soul. And in doing that we grow spiritually, and come to understand and feel that we sustain ourselves because we are one.

It should be clear that helping to restore a cathedral in France and helping communities in the Amazon are both worthy — and we can do both. We must integrate rather than divide when we help. But it must also be clear that we act from a purpose and a set of values, and our actions must be aligned with that frame.

Modelar

Me viene a la mente la frase: dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres. Nuestras experiencias son parte de lo necesario para modelar nuestra forma de pensar. Influyen en nuestro crecimiento físico, mental y espiritual.

Queramos o no, el solo hecho de existir nos somete a la experiencia, que se basa en espacio y tiempo. Nosotros podemos influir activamente en cómo modelamos nuestro físico, nuestra mente y nuestro espíritu —hasta cierto punto—.

Los amigos, familiares y personas con quienes nos relacionamos influyen en el moldear de nuestra experiencia. Hay quien dice: «yo he salido con amigos que beben y fuman, y yo nunca lo he hecho». Tal vez. Pero quien lo dice puede coincidir con esas amistades en algo más sutil: la pobreza de razonamiento. Porque no coinciden en un par de cosas, ya deducen que no tienen nada más en común —y que no habrán sido influenciados por esas amistades—. Eso, posiblemente, es ser corto de entendimiento.

¿Quiere decir esto que no debemos relacionarnos con gente que falla o comete errores? Por supuesto que no. ¿A que puede parecer contradictorio a algunos? Esa es también una habilidad a desarrollar: ver las cosas no solo en blanco o negro —introvertido o extrovertido, conservador o progresista, brillante o tonto—. Un maestro te enseña algo que en su momento desconocía: es decir, se preparó para poder enseñarlo. Del mismo modo, puedes relacionarte con ciertas personas para aprender o para servir —pero hay un tiempo y un espacio para ello—.

Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres —sí—. Pero también: dime con quién andas y te diré lo que aprendiste, lo que enseñaste, y hasta dónde fuiste capaz de crecer.

Blackmail

The truly dangerous moment is not when the powerful become greedy — it is when they stop hiding. That is when greed has become hubris. In an environment of power and greed, people are willing to take any action to win. It would not be strange, then, that certain individuals use blackmail to get what they want.

The Epstein case is widely believed to be connected to a network of control over prominent figures across different sectors. These figures are protected by politicians, lawmakers, and judges because they are all part of the same network — one where favours are exchanged and members protect each other. In this way, they place themselves above the law and above ordinary people. They can traffic human beings, start wars, and subdue individuals and institutions. They control education, cinema, communications, banks, and real estate — they have influence across every sector.

This makes them feel they can do anything. Governments can be hypocritical — sanctioning some whilst acting to favour themselves and their allies. And their hubris leads them to stop hiding, because they feel untouchable, invulnerable. That is the mark of the beast: hubris that arises once greed reaches a point where evil no longer needs to conceal itself.

Cristal

El cristal es algo que, según su estado, puede ser tan translúcido que nos deja ver a través de él —aunque de cerca y con atención podemos notarlo—. Es un sólido que deja pasar la luz casi al cien por cien; si podemos verlo, es porque algo en su estructura aún retiene una pequeña parte de ella.

El cristal es transparente, pero puede no serlo del todo. Tiene de ambas cualidades, aunque se incline más hacia un lado. Creo que fue con un prisma con el que se demostró que la luz blanca se descompone en varios colores. Hay tantas cosas que ya no recuerdo, muchas más que no sé y que la humanidad sí conoce, y cuántas más aún por descubrir.

Los cristales se utilizan en tantos productos de nuestro día a día que ya ni lo notamos: monitores, ventanas, relojes, bombillas. Pero esto me lleva a pensar en cuánto plástico hay que parece cristal y se usa en su lugar —porque muchas bombillas, paneles de iluminación, lunas de relojes, pantallas, protectores de pantallas e incluso algunas ventanas son en realidad plástico—.

Muchas de las cosas que pueden parecernos cristal son plástico fabricado con ese fin: imitar al cristal permitiendo el paso de la luz. Tal vez ocurre lo mismo con otras cosas que creemos son transparentes pero son imitaciones.

Contrast

Like yin and yang, we need at least two contrasting parts. Many things and situations may appear contradictory, but they can coexist — and the contrast between them is what gives each meaning.

Another way to express something similar is the saying about having a right hand and a left hand: a way of saying we need to be both hard and soft, strict and flexible, tight and loose. I also think of an accelerator and a brake. We should not always be speeding up — we could crash. But we should not always be pressing the brake either, because then we will not progress. I relate this to conservatives and progressives: right and left. We need both. We need that contrast. All changes cannot and should not happen too fast.

I think humankind is evolving and progressing, whilst at the same time taking steps back. But that is our design, our way of working — and it is part of nature. Our nature.

So the next time you think conservatives or progressives are idiots who should not exist, ask yourself: do we need them? They can be your children, your parents, any relative. And think about ourselves too — because we can be conservative about some things and progressive about others, just as we can be introverted and extroverted. Think of a scale from minus ten to ten — minus ten being pure progressivism, ten being pure conservatism. Nobody lives at the extremes. Most of us sit somewhere in the middle, and we move across that space depending on the question, the decade, the fear we carry that day.

Postizos

Los personajes que llegan a ganar fama y convertirse en ídolos de muchos, cuando existen injusticias, guerras y genocidios, se ven arrastrados hacia uno de los bandos —lo quieran o no—. Incluso si intentan mantenerse neutrales, pueden ser utilizados. Y si continúan siendo parte de esa manipulación, lo que empezó como algo pasajero y ambiguo se convierte en un apoyo claro y significativo a la parte manipuladora.

Hay pueblos, hay niños, que tienen como ídolo y héroe a una persona que les muestra simpatía. Pero son héroes postizos: porque también simpatizan con los opresores de esos mismos pueblos, con quienes permiten que esos niños mueran. Muestran con su silencio y su falta de distanciamiento que, o bien apoyan a los opresores, o simplemente quieren vivir en su burbuja —y el resto les importa poco o nada—. Tal vez ayudan a algunos porque queda bien. O son simplemente apáticos. Y mientras no les afecte directamente, no reaccionarán.

¿Puedes estar en contra sin decir nada? Sí: puedes mantenerte aislado en tu burbuja. Sería como un héroe con poderes que no los usa para ayudar —porque teme perder sus privilegios, o porque simplemente es un héroe postizo—. Puede parecerlo, puede fingirlo, puede tener momentos: pero no lo es.