... the spirit of the 60s

my decade was the 60s decade! To be sure, I was not in the middle of the famous "happenings" as they were taking place in the San Francisco or London. Nevertheless, the influence of the 60s was strong enough to make an important engram in my brain. Music, Marcuse and protests against the Viet Nam war were in the news every day. And that was important. Everybody wanted peace, except the warmongering governments. Here in Peru we were under a dictatorial military government that had its own war against the hacendados, etc. We were "under the boot" around the world, in one way or another. Yet, there was a flourishing of a new perception of the human being: Eastern philosophy made its appearance among many young people who were fed up with the materialistic, money oriented Western world of the multinationals.People embraced philosophies like Buddhism, Yoga, Hinduism. There was an influx of new ideas whose main objective were self-realization as a human being. These isms were influential in the establishment of Human Potential approaches to education, or health. All this lasted until the early 70s when everything was forgotten. The paradigm changed to an existential feeling of loss and disorientation: Generation X appeared, with their angst and new perception of the world. The 90s proved itself as the "Me" decade and the search for riches was the new paradigm.
By the beginning of the new century all those elements from the 60s were already lost. The multinationals were outsourcing and economic globalization became the rage. This is the new paradigm. Money is the objective. Consumerism is the hobby. Materialism is the new ism.
Those few years of spirituality, of brotherhood,empathy and compassion have been forgotten, We are concerned about the forgetfulness about the terrorism in Peru by the younger generation. And like the Holocaust we want to make sure that "it is never forgotten." But that is just a national feeling. And it is well that we make sure that we won't repeat the same mistake again by forgetting history. But as a world citizen, there is something much bigger that has been forgotten: that brotherhood and spirituality that lasted for a few years among the "Baby-boomers" of the 60s. The world was a very pleasant place to live in if only for a few months.
It is my feeling that we need to re-touch those sentiments nowadays where hatred, materialism, and money-getting are more important than to learn to be human beings.
So, I am looking for a new old spirituality. This time we will not have mind-expanding drugs to induce us into a level of trance and inner search. Yet we have the tools that we encountered in the 60s: meditation, contemplation, yoga and an acceptance of a higher being that unifies our universe, even if we have forgotten it.
Let us look for the better life and walk away from that sheer materialism in which we are falling into.

... a name

One of the most difficult things in using a blogger is to find a suitable name that would represent the intentions of the writer. Moreover, the name might represent the author himself. So it was not in a lightly manner that the name was chosen.

"In Search of..." is the name of my blogs. Why? because my life is an interminable succession of searches: of knowledge, understanding, love, happiness, solutions - not necessarily in that order.

One can assume that these pages are to be used to talk about anything and everything. It will be my forum to express this continuous searching. It will encompass all facets of life. Nothing will be taboo. The only premise will be my interest of talking about it at the moment. There will be controversial issues, just because those are the best ones. I will try to provide correct information to the extent of my research and knowledge. After all, this is my diary of sorts. The only difference is that it will be public. No secrets are allowed.

In conclusion then, this blog will be full of ideas for which I take full responsibility. All those that happen to read these lines, are invited to comment. However, one request is in order. I will speak in a positive manner, without being malicious against anyone or any concept. My language will remain proper, that is, without falling into the vulgarity that it is so commonly used in the internet. Therefore, I expect that those that would comment to my blogs, will do the same out of simple human respect. Demonstrate your good breeding if only in the way to write your comments.

With all this in mind, then, I will open a new facet in my life... in which I share what I am and what I know. See you in the internet.