Mystic Realities, Achievable Dreams

By Michael Hooper

Mystics and scientists wrestle with life in different ways.

The scientist relies on evidence to support a theory or hypothesis.

A mystic is a person who is devoted to connecting with a deity. A self surrender of ego, an acknowledgement of a higher power, and a willingness to be loved by that higher power all play into the mystic's connection with God.

Scientists have discovered laws of the universe, from the structure of an atom, to the elements of things, to the complexity of chromosomes, genes, and human life.

A Chinese scientist recently said he edited the genes of twins. The scientist said he did the manipulation of the genes in order to prevent the children from getting the AIDS virus.

That is a laudable goal, to save a child from AIDS, but how far do we let gene editing dictate outcomes at birth?

Manipulation of the human body from conception forward is going on at all times, depending on how the mother is living and a host of environmental and nutritional and lifestyle factors. So then the question is if you could prevent a disease from happening would you do it? I probably would. We use vaccines all the time to stop the spread of disease.

The question is how valuable is human life and what can we do to improve it. I would say cut down on spending on weapons of mass destruction and spend more money on health care, let's find a way to beat the opioid crisis, our obesity epidemic, and gun violence. A leading cause of bankruptcy in America is medical debt. It seems to me we have the science and the technology and the know-how to beat these problems, but can we do it?

Collectively the human network can move mountains, we built the infrastructure of America from New York to San Francisco over the past 400 years.

These big problems like health care and gun violence need assistance from the government in order to make change.

But as my friend Chris Wright says, "the first person that needs to change is myself." I improve myself, I improve the world. If everyone said this and believed this we would change a lot of people and we would improve a lot of the world. 

Change is hard. People with habits of corrupting nature often feel powerless over their addictions. Whatever hurts them they keep doing it even though it causes pain, pain for themselves and pain for those around them. This is when the mystic inside that person might benefit from a connection to God. The divine in you wants to connect with the divine nature of God. A higher power. By surrendering our stubbornness and acknowledging our powerlessness over our addictions, it is possible for the human spirit to transcend suffering and connect to higher levels of living, above the violence and corruption, to something pure, creative and engaging with others, for the benefit of humankind and the world.

A mystic is sober, thoughtful, and alert. I met a Buddhist monk who said he remained sober, so he would be prepared for whatever trials and tribulations come his way. By being alert and strong he was able to handle the difficulties while still pursuing his mission.

I think Americans are lazy, spoiled and undisciplined, they are loud and obnoxious and greedy. It seems somebody is always grabbing something that doesn't belong to him or her -- money, sex, drugs. It's kind of like America has all these pirates and con men who do whatever they can to grab as much as they want. Many people are consumed with jealousy and envy of those who have more. This feeds into their desire for instant satisfaction, greed and entitlement. They think they deserve to become rich for doing nothing. They play the lottery. They believe they're going to win $500 million. For $2 they play the fantasy and dream about how they're going to win the prize, and how they will spend it on their friends and family. Yippee I'm rich.

That is just a fantasy. The cruel side of this gambling addiction is the loss of money, the loss of time, the loss of opportunity. I know someone who put $100,000 into lottery tickets over a 10-year period and had nothing to show for. The odds of winning the lottery never got any better with each game. The odds were always the same: Miserable. hopeless, broke.

This is where the scientist is needed to explain the mathematics of odds. If your odds are 1 in 10 million, get out. No chance of winning. At the roulette table, a decision for either black or red is a 50% odds. Still not very good odds.

If you were to take the same money that you put into lottery tickets and gambling devices and put the money into the S&P 500 you might be amazed at how much money you would have in a few years. The return of the S&P 500 historically is 10% annual return. That means your investment doubles every 7.2 years. The Rule of 72 is 72 divided by the interest rate equals the number of years to double your money. Play games where the odds are in your favor. 

Be a bad-ass. Take charge of every second of your life, be ruthless against anyone or anything trying to stop you from achieving your goal. Laser like Focus finds Fame and Fortune.

Science may save me from my failings, sometimes there is a pill for my pain, but most of the time the only person who can save me is myself. Me. 

All it takes is one good decision. A good decision will lead to another good decision. Good begets good. Love begets love. Prosperity in health, life and love is possible. We have to be willing to accept these possibilities and embrace the behaviors that lead to fulfillment of our dreams. The mystic in us will help us get there.