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August is my vacation from reality. Raising 4 young kids means I left reality in the dust long ago. Here is my summer in tractatus, which is something like an existential haiku, verbal rifts in a piece of cerebral jazz. I spent summer engaging infinity, reading about continuum and integer and deciphering what I could as well as reading about my version of human infinity, Jesus. Like Tupac the late rap star, Jesus’ production continues despite reports of a demise. New rifts continue to be released regularly, 2,000 years after he tangled with Jerusalem and Rome.

In the beginning was the Word. The Word was family.

"No matter where you are, you are to go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being," --Jesus, according to Thomas.

Jesus’ commentary and editing of the Torah includes many disturbing points. For instance, in the first beatitude Jesus advocates destitution (according to the JD Crossan translation), "Blessed are the destitute for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This is Crossan’s words, obviously, as Jesus rarely spoke words that resembled English. ("Yamana washbook lan" for "forgive our offenses" is about as close as it gets.) Crossan changed Jesus' opener in my understanding. I was taught it meant if you lack spirit you are owed the Kingdom of Heaven, but Crossan makes the IOU a challenge. He has Jesus ask us to give up security and only then will we be free, a human photon on Earth.

Here is a selection of Matthew’s account of the Sermon.

Fortunate are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Fortunate are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Fortunate are those who hunger and thirst for doing what’s right, for they shall be filled.

Fortunate are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Fortunate are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Fortunate are the peacemakers, for they are His children.

Fortunate are those who are persecuted for doing what’s right, for they shall soon live in the kingdom of heaven.

When we stir in Gospel of Thomas, we get:

"Do not lie and do not do what you hate"

Love your friends like your own soul, protecting them like the pupil of your eye"

"Where there are three deities, they are divine. Where there are two or one, I am with that one."

"This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away" (I read this either as mind and brain become one or thalamus and cortex synchronize endlessly.

"Congratulations to the one who came into being before coming into being." -- an unexpected nod of the head to Order (social/Caesar), (personal/Yahweh), or (everything else/World).

I am not your teacher. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring that I have tended.

Now follows my August Tractatus:

The first word was Abba, Aramiac for Dad.

Life is infinitely bounded on both sides.

Two infinities exist, indefinite and countable, plus the one that contains them.

Let the smallest brain within be you.

Cerebellum is cortex in infinite regress.

We are galaxies and as far apart.

Some of us decay quickly, others slowly, teachers not at all.

Serve wholly.

Time can be driven by size.

Life is drawn to change.

Words point, enclose, and often take the place of things.

Speech removes us from perception.

Attempts to reconstruct our earliest languages suggest past languages were as complex as modern day and stretch back to the beginning.

We are Story.

Early hominids included the social predator into its niche; this helped us pushed the great cats off their throne. Group defense also became offense and turned us into something between ape and cat, all creatures of earth at once.

Did we lose anyone?

We are fed by synchrony. Eat but replace what you eat.

Orbits are sincere.

We become what we protect. Which means that what you fail to protect will always remain outside.

I work with three concepts of God: God as Unmanifested (G), God as manifested but crucified (J), and God manifested when you care to look.

Communication is required when priorities change.

Self was invented to understand those who are not yet us.

Self is performance art.

Imagine yourself a tractatus, a set of disorderly ideas.

We approach who we know.

All great people fail.

Unsustainable boundaries may be dismantled without leaving a mark.

Awareness can be conceived as a boundary thalamus creates against its own senses.

Self-awareness is cortical representation of thalamic defenses but Consciousness is engaging God as an equal.

Let body, mind, and spirit be one story.

We negotiate.

There is only one form of pain, infinite loss.

Mind creates change, brain responds to this change.

Invest in as many people as you are able.

Asking is a pleasure.

We are the highest and lowest forms of ourselves.

Be intimate with life because, you know, she is life.

Who do you belong to?

A mystic takes infinite responsibility.

Try.

-DK

News & Reviews NEW BOOKS

Eating an Artichoke: A Mother's Perspective on Asperger Syndrome
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Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems
by Richard Ferber
Guide to common sleeping problems for children 1 to 6 years old. www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743201639/eegspectrum

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
by Kay Redfield Jamison
Scientific autobiography of bipolar disorder. www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679763309/eegspectrum

Neuroimaging Parts A & B
by Michael F. Glabus
Two-volume set covers methods and application of various neuroimaging techniques for clinical use and research. --www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0123668778/eegspectrum

Neural mechanisms of aggression. : Adaptations to deal with competition, expressed out of context, may be destructive. Biological signals that mediate aggressive behavior should be targeted for therapies. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17585306

Neuroimaging on brain plasticity in recovery from stroke. : Post-stroke motor recovery is associated with activation changes in specific brain structures. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17589415

The human EEG - Physiological and clinical studies. : Temporal variability of spectral coefficients necessitates large samples of EEG. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17585964

Prevalence of alcohol abuse : Alcohol abuse/dependence was found to be 1 in 8 men and 1 in 25 women. Age, income, schooling, religion and illicit drug use mediated these prevalences. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17589746

Anterior cingulate volume in pediatric bipolar disorder and autism. : Left anterior cingulate gyrus volume was smaller in bipolar children. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17568686

Sleep-wake disturbances 6 months after traumatic brain injury: a prospective study. : Sleep-wake disturbances such as daytime sleepiness and fatigue are prevalent after TBI. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17584779

Rostral anterior cingulate cortex activity in theta predicts antidepressive response. : Resting theta activity at rostral anterior cingulate cortex correlated with med response for depression. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17515172

Ten Hz rTMS on resting EEG power spectrum in healthy subjects. : Ten Hz rTMS induced increase delta power. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17478041

Is ADHD associated with illicit substance use disorders in male teens? : Male teens with ADHD were many times above baseline likely to suffer from drug abuse. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17567400

Attention, executive functions and reading domain abilities in ADHD : Executive dysfunction should be assessed as specific comorbidity of ADHD www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17501726

Herbal medicines in the treatment of psychiatric disorders : Reviews herbal psychotherapy including safety, future areas of application, and synthetic psychotropic medicines. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17562566

Meditation on frontal alpha-asymmetry in previously suicidal individuals. : Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is effective to counter decreased relative left-frontal activation and associated suicidality in suicide attempters. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17426604

Assessment of spirituality and its relevance to addiction treatment. : Spiritual orientation is relevant to recovery in many individuals. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17574800