This revolution will not happen overnight. This world that has been pulled over our eyes is persistent. And these learned reflexes run deep. And return easily. Yet, it is still an illusion. These goals, this concepts that enable us to enact our will on others, to brandish control and value ownership above all other claims; they bring their shadows along with them, and using them to seek personal happiness is counter productive. Using these impulses, we will only continue to flail and cause injury, as we to try and maintain them. They invite conflict and division and disharmony.

I now move toward the indigenous philosophies of instead valuing being and fulfillment. Here is my statement of intention and declaration to the World. I know this involves saying so. I know this also involves more than just talking the talk, but paying attention to words and actions and habits, and purchases and reflexes and lessons to children. I know this will not happen right away. But it begins with decision, intention, and declaration.

The biggest challenge will lie with my own attachment. Although some of these Other ideas (valuing being and fulfilment over all else) were also presented to me in earlier days. Mostly, though, I have learned otherwise. Now, I am grown. I can not claim that I do what I do other than that is what I believe is right to do. And if I do not, I must do otherwise. For those on the same path, or interested in understanding what practical elements of this very lofty notion will look like, follow this series. [Note to the CyberXicano: create RSS feed for Category pages.]

In the end, perhaps it will not be so difficult. So many of these ideas of Self and of How We Do is but reactions, impulses, responses, frameworks, value systems—they are not natural. They are learned. They are forced upon us. We suffer much pain and conflict and physical ailment because we force these nanodestroyers into our systems. But we learn them, and learn them well. I have learned, all right. But unintended to the conjurers, I have not only learned them, I have learned to see beyond them.

In light of this agenda, goal, decision, welcome to the new category Signs of the Sixth Sun. And while the Fifth Sun series deals with Chicanism@ (for me primarily self-education and awareness and focusing my thoughts and sight with the Chicano identity which of course is an American one), the Sixth Sun category will deal with actually embodying, or the effort to embody a new way of being and thinking; an indigenous-based philosophy or turn in philosophy; a not-American/not-citizen stance, but a human on Earth who is living in a way that does not aid the mental, physical, and spiritual diseases that now (and for so long) devour this planet and her People.

RECLAIM AWARENESS OF THE WHOLE. Reject the Great Ego-Self, the primped-up, plumped-up, puffed-up Individual that we have been taught is the godhead of all things. American identity is so strongly based on exceptionalism, ethnocentrism, and self-glorification. These are not healthy, and do not help the world. It's one thing to talk about how America must stop viewing herself as the Sole Hyperpower and All That Mattas; but what does this mean? There is no "America," after all! Only many people. So how must such a huge change (one that would be so good for the People of the world) occur? It must occur in each person, each soldad@ del corazón and walker to the Sixth Sun. This change must occur in me and you for it to happen to "America."

That is the larger philosophy. How can this apply on a smaller, practical scale?

• Copyright. I am losing my respect for notions of copyright and for the frenzy that goes into it. Spying on people to insure your DVD sales, digital copyright spiders, p2p lawsuits, cancelling the joy of music and art with a dollar bill once again. It is a system that ties us into the thinking that wages war over lines in the sand and coins in the bank. I never did care for it, yet got caught up in worrying about copyright after Film School. My last relationship was with an artist I met there, and we both enjoyed an extremely typical and cosmopolitan view on intellectual property, on our Art, and on our Film, characters, and ideas. She was especially concerned that someone would be borrowing her junk before she became "known" for it. And I understand that feeling. We want our original contributions to be acknowledged. But why? As long as they are used, and do what they were born to do, say what they are meant to say. Are you working for your ego, for your fortune, or for the world and la gente? I know this way of thinking may first feel scary, as if we can lose so much by adopting it. But I see freedom in it. That is important to me. Not a pat on the back. I've had plenty of those. They don't set you free. They only chain you. And many events and feelings have led to this. This was not something I think you can come to in one single moment. It's a big change of thought. Some of these are seeds. Just lay them down and see what happens. Don't even force them one half inch into the soil of your heart. Just lay them down.

In the direction I've been heading, on this journey, this particular point coalesced in my reaction to a post from Sovereign John that questioned the false profit of copyright. And I thought, Here is another remnant. A latch holding me back. This copyright idea is about fear. About Ego. About Self. These are traps. I want to be free. I must stop focusing on ownership, remember—I told myself as I do sometimes, to counter the decades of mainstream hypnotism—being and fulfillment and the moment and the heart, over power and possession and control and profit.

I'm dropping the copyright obsession. It's part of this Ivory Tower/Neoliberal/Capitalist idea that I am not so enchanted by anymore. What am I trying to own? Or take with me? Go ahead. Steal my art, my music. I mean that. Use it, spread it around, recycle it. I am not the golden egg, but the goose. I don't even own my own feathers, I just woke up with them. And there will be more eggs. So if you can use them to feed yourself or fly, then do so with my welcome. I will be changing my pages that talk of copyright. Feel free to use what is on my site as you see fit. I will not send agents of control, wisps of my energy or heart out as digital police. I am letting it go. Trust. What you do with it lies now with your own heart and hands. I abdicate a role of Controller. I just want to make my art, follow my heart.

However, this does not mean I will aid, by means of passive acceptance, those who try to use my own talent and expression for their own ego or harmful behaviors. That is wrong. That is not in keeping with this path. Today (in keeping with this path) I would not threaten legislation, as I did in the past. I would not enlist the State nor a path of such force. I would find a way to communicate my strong desire for them to stop doing this. I would play it by ear, but I would do all in my power or the power I could enlist from like-minded thinkers to stop such an abuse. Because not doing so would make me and my efforts an accomplice to harm. I can not have that. Which brings me to another point....

• Denying the interplay and assistance of others. As I just linked to Sovereign John to acknowledge his part in my ongoing awareness. Of course his post was just an element. But to act as if I came to the thought entirely on my own would be only (again) brandishing a copyright warning in another shape. We must be able to recognize a philosophy, a harmful one, no matter what shape it takes. We must not allow perverters of the Word (like GWB) to cause us confusion when we are trying to ascertain the truth of essence behind a symbol. A word is a symbol, but if I break it, you still want to be able to know the truth remains whole. And it does.

I do like this tradition of many blogs, this netiquette of linking, expanding on another's idea and writing. I think it is important, and it's an element I like about the Internet. It creates a network of ideas and shows the progression of thoughts. Just as I feel that copyright mania misses the point of the content it is "protecting" (at least in the case of the art I was discussing), and gets caught up in self-interest, I think that the acknowledgement of origination of influence or inspiration or information online—big blog or small—is important. And I think it is wrong to constantly take ideas from one place and never give them credit. It's not about their ego. It's just that it shouldn't be about yours, either. Especially not at the expense of the reader being able to learn.

There are so many of these traps. Think about this, though. Denying this interplay is just like conquering people on their own land, no thought to their humanity and feelings and reality. It is the Ego and the Self pushing out the play of the Many. What does this aid? It aids the same old paradigms. They are hard to escape! They ride with us. As I touched on in a post I cross-posted at Jesus' General (story about the water plant and the Indians), even our stories in America are focused upon a sole idol, a hero, the american icon—the myth of the lone struggler who all on his own, invents glory. But everything feeds everything, and all is interconnected. We cannot claim that we understand All is Connected in a pretty, abstract sense if we do not practice it on a personal level.

I never offer these ideas as a means of leveraging judgment on others that elevates me to some place of superiority. I offer them as a means of sharing and reinforcing truths I feel I need to fully embrace and live.

Also, please do not interpret this to mean that I think I should become obsessed with linking every little thing. No, no. I just want to do away with a reflex that specifically denies or consistently leans away from acknowledging the contributions of others.

previous part edited...i was having a hard time keeping the focus where it should have been. needed a rephrasing and i like it better now.

RECLAIM AWARENESS of creative energy. Don't feed the commerce engine on predetermined holidays or from knee-jerk reflex. Who says? Offer barter. Brainstorm on solutions to problems that don't immediately run toward a purchase or a paid deference.

Make gifts. Keep people in mind not for only one month a year. Begin practicing the habit of thinking of them often. When you see something that brings them to mind, don't just forget it right away. Because you have found a symbol of that mental and emotional connection, something that threads together your heart, the person you are thinking of, and your path on that day. Collect it, shape it as a symbol the universe has provided to manifest and reflect that triangle of love. Build them something. All year. Or if you like, buy or barter directly with an artist or craftsperson. Legislation will not end the grip of corporations, for corporations control legislation. We cannot expect a crooked court to render a just decision on anything. we cannot enlist the aid of the State and expect to get human dignity.

We must starve the corporations, despite the Decider's constant scolding that we shop and shop and shop. In fact, his strong admonitions to shop and shop and shop ought to tell us everything we need to know abou that—especially when they come manacled to such tragedy as the 9/11 event and the War on Iraq.

We are the oars on this towering, thick-shadowed ghost ship. Let us not yell louder over our churning motions. Let us simply change direction. Don't you see? If enough of us do this, there is no way on Earth anything can stop that ship from sailing directly into the warm rays of the sun.

RECLAIM PEACE OF MIND. We have been sold a value system that will destroy us. We have been sold a perverted value system that places the health of our soul at the bottom of the bin. This comes in to play in so many elements of our culture. If we begin the question of "In what ways do I do this?" we will begin to see those elements.

Related to holidays: Don't get caught up in busy rush madness dictated by others. Why? Bad for the heart, stomach, hands. What is more important than peace of mind? What is better for the world than you traveling your path with a sense of calm and content? Put that first. There will always be not enough time tor rushing. Remember that rushing is always a choice, and always one that harms you. And just as Holidays and Holiday Expectations are made to give you some good Rush 'n Panic time, so is every element of this system designed to create a need for some other part of itself. Fear installed, Fear-fix provided. Shame installed, Shame-fix provided. Anxiety installed, Anxiety nullification sold cheap. Agents of forgetting always come cheap, and cause great pain eventually.

Reject the rush. Reject the harried heart. Reject self-loathing. Reject the sheep instinct. Reclaim your ability to evaluate and place value. Reject the lie of Gold and of the Lone Hero. Understand the paradoxes of Love and Wealth: they can never be hoarded. Reclaim your own path, feet, pace.

We're getting there.