Odious Acronyns

I did not think that I should put the word hate in the subject space so I didn’t, but the truth is, I hate acronyms. That’s not to say that, in the general parlance of my profession, I don’t use the dreaded initials. For example the AC joint is The acromioclavicular joint, it is a joint at the top of the shoulder. It is the junction between the acromion (part of the scapula that forms the highest point of the shoulder) and the clavicle. But I’d rather point to the offending part should I need to discuss its function.

This all came to mind when I sat happily watching Captain Janeway of Star Trek fame and an advertisement came on. It was for CPA. A course, where, if you so wished, you could become a fellow of this society. Gosh, I thought a course to train Communists now, what happened to the Revolution? …. Ahhh that’s The Communist Party of Australia for the uninitiated, your day will come you bourgeoisie ignoramus.

Now don’t immediately send me emails to enlightenment me as to just what CPA could stand for, I rather not know. I suspect that it will turn out to be rather boring. There is a story about a wise man, an enlightened man, no less, who, of course lived up some mountain, as far away from the rabble as possible I’ll warrant. Two men wanted to be enlightened, one was a cook and the other a dancer.

The two men were friends and decided to travel to meet the wise, albeit isolated, man to ask his guidance in their quest for enlightenment. Here I must comment, that these two blokes were already well on their way to being luminous men as the inner strength and control over their egos that they had already achieved is illustrated by their willingness to ask for directions. No doubt they travelled and with the good and bad guidance of the mountain dwellers finally found their way to the wise man’s house.

I like to think of this wise one as living in an eco friendly passive energy efficient house with a composting toilet etc and all the comforts of a sensible peaceful existence. Have you noticed that in most stories the way the Guru, the Troll, or Hermit or Death Lord goes about his /her daily existence is never revealed. What sort of house would Darth Vader have? I know, I know I digress but surely you wonder about the plumbing sometimes while watching a ripping yarn?

So the story, yes. The cook approached the wise man and asked for the Way to Enlightenment. The cook loved to impress people with his savoury recipes, the wise man told him to, ”Find the finest grain, and mill it till it is refined and from it bake bread.”
The cook immediately went off to search the world and looked and baked in vain for all his days, never satisfied with his bread.

The dancer who was a great dancer came also to the wise man’s study, and asked, “What is the way for me to find enlightenment?”
The wise man smiled and said, ”You must never dance again.”
The dancer looked aghast at him and said “I love to dance, this activity is the essence of who I am. If this is the price of enlightenment, no thank you.”
In that instance he became aware of who he was, he became aware of the dance around him of trees, of water of energy and he stood still, smiling at the wise man. His eyes filled with tears of gratitude.

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