Russell Brand

 

One of the most remarkable speakers of our time.  So much of what he says about humanity, culture, spirituality rings true for me.  Plus he is super *hot*.

Here are a few notes from a vid montage that I just watched:

• I don't want that feeling in my stomach that I get when I know that people are being exploited.
• We live in the realm of the senses.  But reality is beyond what we feel, hear, smell, touch, see (e.g. we can only hear within a certain decibel range, see within a certain spectrum of light); what if there are only energies out there that we are oblivious to?
• we are just a blob of atoms within infinite space and eternal time; the physical body is not who we are
• when we fill our head with superficial information (e.g. celebrity gossip) we forget about what's important
• look within for the divine -- there is limitless potential for bliss through connection to other things
• we overemphasize the individual: our culture promotes and rewards primal desires (greed, selfishness, lust)  which cause us to exist in opposition to each other and leave us exploitable by corporations
• the self is a temporal illusion; by focusing on our individualism (which is transitory) we are losing the empathetic connection we have to the earth and to all living things
• what's important are the things we all share -- love, unity, togetherness
• I'm happy when I'm being nice to other people
• the centre of your being is love, compassion, tolerance

So inspiring.  We all have the capacity for good and evil.  When I'm behaving selfishly (as I have been recently), I'm not only hurting other people, I'm hurting myself.  What I want most in life is inner peace which comes from compassion and love.