The Civilized and The Conscious

Question:

Does the normal chronological progression of everyday life do to an ordinary man, in sixty years, what one in a closed environment might do to himself in less?

You could consider the possibility of two approaches:

One a private, monastic approach of meditation and reflection, whereby a man attempts to calm the mind before the natural aging process does it for him; and secondly, a public one of collective rituals, social programs and the like, possibility for change.

Conclusion:

If you ain’t your own, secret-garden-monastery – forget it!

The Civilized and The Conscious:

The Civilized treat one another nicely –
The Conscious pretend to.

This leads a man to inquire: 
“Is there a difference between being ‘conscious’ and being ‘more conscious’?”

And this latter seemed to prompt him to ask:
“Even if you’re not more conscious, can you be conscious of the fact that you’re not?”

J.