I love your music, Mr. Theodorakis, but…..

Updated on October 28, 2012 / 09:25

This post is part 4 in a serial started with the article: “European Patriotic Resistance”, written by Mikis Theodorakis, and published on the English, French, and German Official Mikis Theodorakis website, also on the Cretan Mikis Theodorakis website.site.

This post number 4 is an endeavor to try to reach the Greek people’s minds, including Mikis Theodorakis, to avoid that Greece drowns because of a not seen real danger, neither by Mikis Theodorakis. What that danger is can be read in the following articles: “I love your music, Mr. Theodorakis, but your views are dangerous!”, written by Klaus Kastner, blogowner of “Griechenland – Greece”. His blogposts present brilliant easy reading theoretical and practical economical solutions for Greece, instead of just criticism, instead of difficult and even empty words, instead of fallacious solutions in meaningless talkings and talkshows to try to change the dangerous Greek situation.

Klaus Kastner’s article is followed by another one: “Deepak Chopra on to be the victim, and how to feel less powerless”, there to show and prove the importance of Klaus Kastner’s warnings. (A.J.)

The former posts belonging to this one are: Mikis Theodorakis, his view on a New Europe, and my comment Answers on my post: “Mikis Theodorakis, his view on a New Europe, and my comment” More answers and more questions around Mikis Theodorakis’s view on a New Europe This is the new post, with the title:

I love your music, Mr. Theodorakis, but your views are dangerous! (Author: Klaus Kastner)

Introduction: The hereafter following text is from another blog, named: “Griechenland – Greece” belonging to Klaus Kastner, a pensionist, retired after 40 years in banking in 6 countries. He lives in Gmunden, Oberösterreich, Austria. His interests are economics and politics.

I “found” Klaus Kastner in a comment on an article in “Format”, an Austrian magazine. It was recommended by Yanis Varoufakis, Greek professor in economics, who was interviewed in that article. I follow his blog also. Kastner’s comment was linked to his blog, and there I found his huge interest in Greece, and the post about Mikis Theodorakis.

In my former posts about Mikis Theodorakis’ article I criticised Theodorakis as well. When reading Klaus Kastner’s words I felt supported in my worries about Mikis Theodorakis’ views on politics and economics, Greece and Europe, and strengthened in my daring to speak about what harasses me, to dare to criticise, sometimes very sharp, or rejecting acts from the people around him as well without feeling guilty, or bad, because I love Mikis’ music, more than normal.

It is important to be realistic, also about the living legend Mikis Theodorakis, not to fall into a not healthy uncritically admiration or even adoration, not even thinking about or daring to have and proclaim another opinion. Opinions are just half if you do not want to read or hear anything else than hails about somebody, in this case Mikis Theodorakis. That is dangerous. Always. To create balance and reality in this blog I don’t hide my own view and opinion, and add here also a sharp but fair article, written by Klaus Kastner. I can recommend all his posts about Greece. (A.J.)

“THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012

I love your music, Mr. Theodorakis, but your views are dangerous!

Mikis Theodorakis published an open letter alleging a conspiracy between certain Greeks and foreigners to destroy Greek society and Greece.

English version
German version

No conspirancy would find followers if it didn’t include elements which either appear to be true or even are true. Mr. Theodorakis states many facts which are true and some which appear to be true.

I would agree with him when he says that “the Greek people became victims of the robbery duet between Germans and Greeks who enriched themselves at their expense”.

Since he didn’t clarify what he meant by “Greek people”, I will offer my own definition. I would mean by that the masses of Greeks (hopefully still the majority) who are decent, correct, hard-working, friendly and open-hearted people who work tirelessly so that their children can have a better life. These “Greek people” probably had not much of a benefit from the Euro-party.

And instead of the “Germans” I would probably clarify that Germany accounted for about 15% of Greece’s current account deficit since the Euro. Thus, there are another 85% somewhere who had fun with the Greek Euro-party, too.

Mr. Theodorakis is blatently wrong and misleading when he says “Mr. Papandreou could have countered the international crisis of 2008 by taking up foreign loans at 5% interest. Had he done that, there wouldn’t have been the slightest problem for our country. On the contrary, the opposite would have occurred because we were in a period of economic upswing which means that our living standard would have increased even further”.

I will not argue why this is wrong because it is so obvious. Details can be found here.

Why is this so dangerous?

It is always painful to be a victim. Anyone who wants to manipulate people to rise AGAINST something or someone will project on to them the victim’s role. The victim does not think rationally. The victim pains and reacts to pain irrationally. Convince someone that he is a victim and point out to him how he can get revenge, and you have control over him.

What Greece needs now are leaders who can motivate people to rise FOR something. For a better future; for a better Greece; for a better world for their children.

About a year ago, the Huffington Post published an article titled “What Greece needs now is a new hero“.

That is, indeed, what Greece would need now. And I would love Mr. Theodorakis to compose some beautiful music for that new hero instead of appealing to some of the worst human instincts (such as feeling to be the greatest victims in the world).”

Deepak Chopra on to be the victim, and how to feel less powerless

I searched for sources that are very reliable concerning wisdom. Because in my opinion it is evident that Klaus Kastner has spoken wise words in his article: “I love your music, Mr. Theodorakis, but your views are dangerous!” Some people might think that it is only Klaus Kastner speaking about and warning for the danger of playing the victim and its effect on people. Therefore I add also a long but important article here from Deepak Chopra, written on a website of Oprah Winfrey. I want to endorse both Klaus Kastner and Deepak Chopra from out of the point of view of my education, my full awareness, my consciousness, my profession, my knowledge as a therapist, my feelings of responsibility to share my point of view because of my sincere and warmhearted interest in Greece, the Greeks and their future. (A.J.)

Deepak Chopra is the co-founder of the Chopra Foundation and author of Spiritual Solutions: Answers to Life’s Greatest Challenges, reveals how to find our inner strength.

“In an ideal world, the title of this article would be “5 Ways to Feel More Powerful.” But as things stand, many people feel powerless, and the social trends that drain personal power only grow stronger. Whether you struggle due to the recession, a controlling spouse, or the anonymity of routine work, it’s crucial to find a way to limit that feeling in your day-to-day life.

Before talking about power, let’s clarify what power isn’t. It isn’t a force that you use like a weapon to get your own way. It isn’t a suppression of what you don’t like about yourself to achieve a perfect ideal that doesn’t exist in the first place. It isn’t money, status, possessions, or any other material surrogate. There are countless people sitting in the lap of luxury who feel even more powerless than the average person does. This is so because the issues of power are all “in here,” where you relate to yourself. Now we can address the five things that help conquer that feeling of powerlessness.

*
1. Stop giving away your power
Becoming powerless doesn’t happen in a single dramatic stroke, like the barbarian hordes breaking down your door and burning your house. It’s a process, and for most people, the process is so gradual that they don’t notice it. They are more than happy, in fact, to give away their power by degrees. Why? Because being powerless seems like an easy way to be popular, accepted, and protected.

Thus you are giving away your power when you please others in order to fit in. Or when you follow the opinions of the crowd. Or when you decide that others matter more than you do. Or when you let someone who seems to have more power take charge of you.

It can often seem right—or proper—to sit modestly in the background, holding accepted opinions, living for your children, or letting a controlling spouse run roughshod over you in order to keep the peace. In small and large ways, however, these kinds of decisions reduce your sense of self-worth, and without self-worth, you cannot rid yourself of your powerlessness.

*
2. Examine why it’s “good” to be a victim
Once you start chipping away at your self-worth, it’s a short step to becoming a victim. I define being a victim as engaging in “selfless pain.” In other words, by telling yourself that you don’t really count, you can make the suffering you endure into a kind of virtue, as all martyrs do. It’s “good” when you serve a higher spiritual purpose—or so some religion suggest but what if there is no higher purpose?

Most victims feel good about worrying all the time, but worry makes you far more vulnerable to bad things in general, since worry is so all-consuming that the mind isn’t free and alert enough to tell real threats from imaginary ones. Worry feels like a protection—when it is exactly the opposite.

Victims find lots of other “good” reasons for their plight. They are forgiving of an abusive spouse, because forgiveness is considered spiritual. They enable an addict, because tolerance and acceptance of others is equally spiritual. But if you stand back, you’ll see that victims in such situations are deliberately bringing suffering upon themselves, which not only confirms their powerlessness, it encourages it to grow and grow. The victim is always being acted upon. There are enough abusers, addicts, rage-aholics, control freaks, and petty tyrants out there to drain the power from anyone who volunteers to play the role of victim.

Having given away too much of themselves, the first step for victims is to realize that their role is voluntary. They are not trapped by fate, destiny, or the will of God. Their role is a personal choice, and they can chose differently.

*
3. Develop your core self
>Human beings are the only creatures who do not mature automatically<. A baby chick has no choice but to turn into a chicken. But the world is full of people stuck in childhood and adolescence, no matter how old they happen to be. For us, to mature is a decision: Adulthood is an achievement, one that requires—and results in—personal power.

This can takes decades, but it starts with a vision of the “core self.” This is the part of you that connects to reality, placing you at the center of experiences that you personally create. To have a core self is to be the author of your own story; it is the exact opposite of being a victim, who must live a life authored by others.

*
4. Align yourself with the flow of evolution, or personal growth
Once you establish your core self as a goal, your path will unfold and you will evolve. This evolution is wobbly at first; everyone has at least some elements of ignorance and immaturity. But’ ‘thanks to free will, you can help guide your own evolution. The simple fact is that we all desire more and better things for ourselves. If those more and better things are good for our growth, then we are guiding our own positive and powerful evolution. In India they make a distinction between dharma and adharma. Dharma includes whatever naturally upholds life: happiness, truth, duty, virtue, wonder, worship, reverence, appreciation, nonviolence, love, self-respect. On the other hand, adharma consists of choices that do not support life naturally: anger, violence, fear, control, dogmatism, skepticism, unvirtuous acts, prejudice, addiction, intolerance, and unconsciousness in general.

For our purposes, dharma is the ultimate power. It easily supports you, a single individual. What is asked of you is that you honestly look at your everyday life and the choices you are making. Ask yourself how to increase the dharmic choices and decrease the adharmic ones.

* 5. Trust in a power that transcends everyday reality Nothing described so far will come true without a higher reality. For the moment, let’s leave aside religion and any reference to God. Fortunately, to have even a speck of consciousness is to be connected to the finite consciousness that supports life, evolution, creativity, and intelligence. None of these things are accidental or a privilege handed out to the lucky few.

To use a metaphor, imagine that you are caught in a net. All nets have holes, so find one, and jump through it. I’ve known wives of abusive husbands who found a hole through, say, learning to paint. For them, it was an escape route, and as they made art, their thinking changed from “I am trapped and can do nothing” to “I must be worth more than I imagined, because look at this beautiful thing I created.” Escape routes exist along the qualities hidden in consciousness. They include:

Creativity. Go beyond by discovery and exploration. This leads to insight. Your inner vision clears. You start to see glimmers of light through the fog of your situation. Something more beautiful starts to attract you, and you want to go toward it.

Intelligence. Let your mind lead the way. You start having newer, more exciting thoughts than the old habitual ones you’ve been following. Beliefs are challenged. New points of view attract you, so you move toward them. You’ll want to expand your mind in place of living behind defenses and boundaries.

Love and compassion. Discover that you can forgive yourself and others. Fantasies of hurt and revenge are replaced with emotional softening. You see that there is untapped love around you, so you move toward it. The fact that you desire to love and be loved starts to motivate you, without excuses about being unworthy.

Quantum leaps. Notice—and learn—when you have an epiphany, a moment of dramatic awakening. These are the great “aha” experiences that peel away an entire layer of reality. We say that the heavens open, but really it’s a new level of consciousness, one that brings more light.

Devotion. Understand that life is full of awe and wonder. From this you see a reason to revere your own existence. You have been placed in a world where you can be devoted to something, and your worship gives you a sense of worth.

These escape routes all lead back to the person you really are, and that person knows that what really counts extends far beyond the individual: the glory of creation, the beauty of nature, the heart qualities of love and compassion, the mental power to discover new things, and those unexpected epiphanies that bring the presence of God—these universal aspects are your true source of power. They are you, and you are all of them.”

Sources: Blog Yanis Varoufakis: On the prospects of the Greek fiscal consolidation program: interviewed by Format Format: Interview with Yanis Varoufakis: “Die Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass Griechenland sich wieder erfängt, liegt bei genau null Prozent” Blog Klaus Kastner: I love your music, Mr. Theodorakis but your views are dangerous! Deepak Chopra: 5 Ways to Feel Less Powerless Twitter Klaus Kastner: @kleingut Twitter Yanis Varoufakis: @yanisvaroufakis