Right on. I absolutely agree. The true hope in the world lies in the smiles and warm hugs and laughter shared by billions of people every day. In our deepest hearts we love freedom and liberty and the simple pleasures of living. This is our cellular imperative. Nobody can take it away.

Of course, it goes without saying that the "inner story" and "simple pleasures" of priveleged Westerners are much more heartening than those of the starving millions. It's a tricky balance. How does a priveleged person stay in that all-important "here-and-now" without being just a happy little cog in the destructive consumer machine, blind to the deprivation that ripples out from their luxury? Cassady's perspective is certainly refreshing, though.

This "what about the kids in Africa" argument crops up again and again, and I think it's generally ascetic and not helpful.

Happiness is a good generator of giving. Those that feel abundant with joy are more apt to spread it. Happiness causes the indvidiual to move forward toward others and not away.

Great post Phil. It can be refreshing to get an historical reminder of what we sometimes loose. I also agree with you about the tiresome "children in africa" as some kind of reason not to enjoy the present moment fully, as if somehow we must feel guilty for our economic status. This is absurd. My compassion for those less fortunate only increases the more I stay present. Besides it was the economically impovershed yogis who pioneered this inner quest precisely because they had so little external attachments, thus resulting in an extremely rich inner life. Every moment holds endless varities of bliss that far outweigh whatever transitory pleasures come from material wealth.

My psych book (for truth or fiction) taught me that studies showed that people were pretty evenly happy the world over, with only slight deviations. This is because (here's the shocker!)... ...happiness doesn't come from wealth!

If there's a war going on: okay, you get depression and grief and sadness, and stuff like that. But all in all, people are pretty happy.

That said, I've read studies that say that people are more depressed in the United States then elsewhere.

Furthermore, this is not to say that we shouldn't be vigilant, or think about people less fortunate then ourselves. Absolutely not: We very much should be watching out for the health of our neighbors, in all dimensions. (I believe.)

Good to see everyone taking my comments at the lowest common denominator level! I guess I should expect that unless you spell yourself out in detail, people will (understandably) interpret something on the web that could be taken several ways in the way that assumes the least intelligence and sophistication on the part of the author. Thus is initiated the back-and-forth of escalating misunderstanding that is probably only second to spam in accounting for wasted bandwidth ;-). I accept I could be accused of reacting in this way to the original post... But I can only really clarify my own remarks.

To me my key point was "it's a tricky balance". Maybe we're all hip enough here to the pitfalls of modern culture to take an slightly elitist (not in a negative sense) stance and assume that advocacy of immersion in the here-and-now won't degenerate into the self-absorption that characterises modern western culture. The kind of thinking that doesn't appreciate what happens to the waste our day-to-day life generates, throws the rubbish out every day and doesn't think about landfills, drives their car everywhere and thinks global warming isn't their problem... We all know the score.

I guess many people, hearing these things being talked about, assume there's a kind of haranguing, guilt-tripping attitude behind it. All I can say is, that's not my approach. I don't feel guilty, hopefully you don't. I just feel committed to awareness - of social problems as well as the unutterable beauty of the sunlight through the tree outside my window.

I imagine most people posting here are well aware of the issues. I think I was just trying to chip in with a caveat. Again, I guess we're all aware of the strong currents in the "New Age" that are part of the very materialistic, self-satisfied luxury that's screwing up the environment. Just as there are many whose spiritual experiences have led to engaged, positive activism to protect the environment. The acknowledgement that, in our culture, there's some tricky balancing going on - that's I was aiming for.

I agree, those that "feel abundant with joy are more apt to spread it." I just think we shouldn't forget that the sentiment is co-opted day in, day out by consumer society.

OK, hopefully I've managed to remove the "what about the kids in Africa" platitudes that were put in my mouth! On with the joy :-)

It also just struck me as interesting that my view was (wrongly) pegged as "ascetic", then I was reminded that it was "economically impovershed yogis who pioneered this inner quest"! No hypocrisy allegation here, 'twas different people saying different things. I just thought it underlined my point about the tricky balancing, the lack of black-and-white in this issue (and life!).

lol. So true, I totally knee-jerked against what I assumed was your knee-jerk.

All.Apologies.

lol too. Stopping knees jerking when reading on the web is a full-time job ;-)

how come no one's mentioned that Cassady was a great hammer flipper? there's the key to ontological security and well-being oneness with the present. better living thru hammer flipping.