"You bear God within you, poor wretch, and know it not."
-- Epictetus
Good ole Epictetus -- never one to mince words! But he's right -- it is indeed a wretched condition to have the Divine within and yet be totally oblivious to It. And that is the very condition of at least 9 out of 10 people on the planet.
But those of us in the blessed 10%, are we not wretched, too? We know God dwells within us, but we sure don't act like it much of the time. We have a sort of spiritual Alzheimers, in which we can't even remember the simplest of things, like the fact that the Kingdom of Heaven really lies within.
Don't believe me? Well, you're right, I can't prove it to you. But if you take the testimony of all the mystics, yogis, saints and sages of every tradition, you come up with what Aldous Huxley called "the perennial philosophy." And the number one tenet of that philosophy is, of course, "God dwells within you, as you."
So, just for today, believers and skeptics alike, sit down, shut up and look for that little God morsel, that little speck of light, that still, small voice within. And then go forth, be fruitful and multiply! Oops, wrong script. Then, go out in the world, and even if you, don't feel God within, act like you do. You've got it -- fake your own enlightenment! Live the way you think you would live if your actions were being directed by the Divine rather than by your own puny ego. Be God for a day.
Tar Pits and Sirens
" The pure in heart will avoid the struggles, detour the tar pits, blind their eyes to the sirens. The problem is that in avoiding the paths that contain the tar, you may never reach any destination; in avoiding temptation, you may remain pure, but irrelevant. Life is tar pits and sirens."
-- Donald A. Norman
I love the sirens! I'm not quite as big on the tar pits. I know that they're an unavoidable part of the path, but most of the time I'd rather just ignore them.
You see, purity has just never been my middle name. No one has ever said, "David's a nice guy, but he's just too damn pure!" Avoidance, however, is definitely one of my cardinal weaknesses. I'd rather spend six days, six months, hell, six years even, dancing around a sticky situation than jump right into the tar.
My favorite phrase in Norman's quotation, though, has got to be "you may remain pure but irrelevant." Unfortunately irrelevant purity is what many religions preach. And from my vantage point, at least, the idea of purity, and the many of laws, rules, commandments and such laid down by religions to support it, are merely mechanisms used to control their followers.
Originally spiritual disciplines were developed to assist seekers in their journey to enlightenment. But how many televangelists, mega church pastors, and pedophile priests do you really think give a rat's ass about enlightenment? They're obviously more interested in raising money, building bigger congregations, and queering choir boys than they are in the spiritual development of themselves or their flock.
OK, OK, I'm in danger of getting off on a way out in left field rant here. The point is, forget so-called purity if makes you irrelevant. How can a "pure" nun or priest counsel a married couple on their relationship, talk to teenagers about sex, or even understand the economic pressures felt by the majority of their parishioners? They haven't been there, they haven't done that, they are purely irrelevant.
But let's get back to us. Me and you. I need to work on that whole avoidance mechanism I've got going. I may never love the tar pits as much as I do the sirens, but every path has them, and I need to wade through my share.
What about you? Do you either ignore the sirens or bypass the tar pits? Honestly. Now's a perfect time to try a tentative foray into the uncharted territory of temptation, or trouble, that you've been avoiding. So, just for today, listen to the sirens call, and step out a bit from your normal, straight-laced behavior. Or, dive head first into the tar, and deal with a situation that you've been avoiding. At day's end, you may find yourself a step farther along your path or a tad less irrelevant. Bon voyage!
-- Donald A. Norman
I love the sirens! I'm not quite as big on the tar pits. I know that they're an unavoidable part of the path, but most of the time I'd rather just ignore them.
You see, purity has just never been my middle name. No one has ever said, "David's a nice guy, but he's just too damn pure!" Avoidance, however, is definitely one of my cardinal weaknesses. I'd rather spend six days, six months, hell, six years even, dancing around a sticky situation than jump right into the tar.
My favorite phrase in Norman's quotation, though, has got to be "you may remain pure but irrelevant." Unfortunately irrelevant purity is what many religions preach. And from my vantage point, at least, the idea of purity, and the many of laws, rules, commandments and such laid down by religions to support it, are merely mechanisms used to control their followers.
Originally spiritual disciplines were developed to assist seekers in their journey to enlightenment. But how many televangelists, mega church pastors, and pedophile priests do you really think give a rat's ass about enlightenment? They're obviously more interested in raising money, building bigger congregations, and queering choir boys than they are in the spiritual development of themselves or their flock.
OK, OK, I'm in danger of getting off on a way out in left field rant here. The point is, forget so-called purity if makes you irrelevant. How can a "pure" nun or priest counsel a married couple on their relationship, talk to teenagers about sex, or even understand the economic pressures felt by the majority of their parishioners? They haven't been there, they haven't done that, they are purely irrelevant.
But let's get back to us. Me and you. I need to work on that whole avoidance mechanism I've got going. I may never love the tar pits as much as I do the sirens, but every path has them, and I need to wade through my share.
What about you? Do you either ignore the sirens or bypass the tar pits? Honestly. Now's a perfect time to try a tentative foray into the uncharted territory of temptation, or trouble, that you've been avoiding. So, just for today, listen to the sirens call, and step out a bit from your normal, straight-laced behavior. Or, dive head first into the tar, and deal with a situation that you've been avoiding. At day's end, you may find yourself a step farther along your path or a tad less irrelevant. Bon voyage!
The Mind's Muddy River
"The world's spiritual geniuses seem to discover universally that the mind's muddy river, this ceaseless flow of trivia and trash, cannot be dammed, and that trying to dam it is a waste of effort that might lead to madness."
-- Annie Dillard
Let it be. That stream of consciousness that flows through your cranium, just let it be. Observe it, watch it, witness it, but don't dare try and stop it. Because if you do try and put the kabosh on your own mind, you'll only drive the stream underground. Powerful currents that are out of sight are much more dangerous than the flotsam and jetsam of consciousness that you can see.
Novice spiritual seekers sometimes think that the goal of their practice is to have a dazzling, clean mind that is spotless and thought free. The hallmark of spiritual progress is not a zombie-like voidness, but rather detachment to all that arises.
And arise it will. Over and over again -- repetitive thoughts, memories you thought you'd long forgotten, judgments, unprocessed emotions, and hair-brained schemes. From a trickle to a torrent they will flow. And you, like Siddhartha sitting on the banks of the river, are only there to observe them.
Don't attempt to dam them. Don't even damn them. As you watch them, be as judgement-free as you can. Do not curse them, entertain them or invest in them. Let them flow by unobstructed as you witness their inevitable march to the sea of consciousness.
The muddy river may clear someday. Until it does, merely let it be.
-- Annie Dillard
Let it be. That stream of consciousness that flows through your cranium, just let it be. Observe it, watch it, witness it, but don't dare try and stop it. Because if you do try and put the kabosh on your own mind, you'll only drive the stream underground. Powerful currents that are out of sight are much more dangerous than the flotsam and jetsam of consciousness that you can see.
Novice spiritual seekers sometimes think that the goal of their practice is to have a dazzling, clean mind that is spotless and thought free. The hallmark of spiritual progress is not a zombie-like voidness, but rather detachment to all that arises.
And arise it will. Over and over again -- repetitive thoughts, memories you thought you'd long forgotten, judgments, unprocessed emotions, and hair-brained schemes. From a trickle to a torrent they will flow. And you, like Siddhartha sitting on the banks of the river, are only there to observe them.
Don't attempt to dam them. Don't even damn them. As you watch them, be as judgement-free as you can. Do not curse them, entertain them or invest in them. Let them flow by unobstructed as you witness their inevitable march to the sea of consciousness.
The muddy river may clear someday. Until it does, merely let it be.
The Joy Thief
"Comparison is the thief of joy."
-- Rory Freedman & Kim Barnouin. Skinny Bitch, p. 224.
You might not expect to find much wisdom in a book entitled Skinny Bitch. But if that were your expectation, you'd be dead wrong! Ostensibly an in-your-face book on healthy eating, Skinny Bitch is phat on a wisdom of all kinds. It's especially strong on reminding you to live what you know to be true.
"Do not compare," while not one of the original Ten Commandments, is a strong candidate to make the next ten. Comparison can lead to only one of two results. Either you feel superior to whomever or whatever you are comparing yourself against, or you feel all bummed and shitty because you pale in comparison to the other. Either pride or depression results, and neither are hallmarks of enlightened living.
Face it. There will always be someone who is richer, stronger, better looking, smarter, even skinnier, than you! You're never going to win, never going to be numero uno in an all out battle royale. And granted, you'll always be in comparatively better shape on every dimension of existance than some poor, fat, ugly, stupid slob. So what?
What matters is being true to yourself, not comparing yourself to some specific, or mythic, other. Are you being the best you that you can be? This is a far more important question to ask yourself than whether you're better than someone else. And the answer to this question, to all the really important questions, comes from within. Intuitive wisdom will lead you where you want to go much faster than comparison will.
And where is it you want to go? Where do you want to be? In joy, of course. Enjoying life.
So, just for today, quit comparing. Accept who you are, where you are. Find joy within both yourself and this moment. And let that joy be your catalyst to move forward to wherever you want to go.
-- Rory Freedman & Kim Barnouin. Skinny Bitch, p. 224.
You might not expect to find much wisdom in a book entitled Skinny Bitch. But if that were your expectation, you'd be dead wrong! Ostensibly an in-your-face book on healthy eating, Skinny Bitch is phat on a wisdom of all kinds. It's especially strong on reminding you to live what you know to be true.
"Do not compare," while not one of the original Ten Commandments, is a strong candidate to make the next ten. Comparison can lead to only one of two results. Either you feel superior to whomever or whatever you are comparing yourself against, or you feel all bummed and shitty because you pale in comparison to the other. Either pride or depression results, and neither are hallmarks of enlightened living.
Face it. There will always be someone who is richer, stronger, better looking, smarter, even skinnier, than you! You're never going to win, never going to be numero uno in an all out battle royale. And granted, you'll always be in comparatively better shape on every dimension of existance than some poor, fat, ugly, stupid slob. So what?
What matters is being true to yourself, not comparing yourself to some specific, or mythic, other. Are you being the best you that you can be? This is a far more important question to ask yourself than whether you're better than someone else. And the answer to this question, to all the really important questions, comes from within. Intuitive wisdom will lead you where you want to go much faster than comparison will.
And where is it you want to go? Where do you want to be? In joy, of course. Enjoying life.
So, just for today, quit comparing. Accept who you are, where you are. Find joy within both yourself and this moment. And let that joy be your catalyst to move forward to wherever you want to go.
Belly Button Religion
"There is only one church, and your membership is your belly button."
-- Stephen Gaskin
Religions, denominations, sects and splinter groups are all unnecessary divisions and demarcations. They delineate between the in group and the out group, between us and them, between the saved and the damned, and in so doing forget the first and foremost truth of existence -- we are all One in our humanity, One in the Spirit.
If I were ever to start a church everyone alive would automatically be a member. You wouldn't have to join, and even if you chose to opt out of membership, we would still treat you as one of us because we would recognize no "them."
Religion as it is normally practiced is very egotistical and adolescent. It is little more than a gaggle of cliques each touting their own superiority and not-so-subtly dissing the others. And because religion pits people against people and neighbors against neighbors, it promotes divisiveness, intolerance and war. I'm no atheist, at least in the scientific reductionist sense, but I can't see clear to join any religion, that thinks man made beliefs are more important than the unity of Spirit.
Even Stevie Wonder can see that we're all in this together. That's the bottom, and the top, line. One humanity, one family, one Spirit. So, just for today, blur the lines of demarcation between you and everyone else. Release whatever beliefs you may harbor that separate you from those around you, and from those around the world. In all encounters that you have today, treat others as your brethren, as coequal inhabitants of planet Earth, each a unique manifestation of the Spirit made flesh, and each sporting the sacred belly button to prove it!
-- Stephen Gaskin
Religions, denominations, sects and splinter groups are all unnecessary divisions and demarcations. They delineate between the in group and the out group, between us and them, between the saved and the damned, and in so doing forget the first and foremost truth of existence -- we are all One in our humanity, One in the Spirit.
If I were ever to start a church everyone alive would automatically be a member. You wouldn't have to join, and even if you chose to opt out of membership, we would still treat you as one of us because we would recognize no "them."
Religion as it is normally practiced is very egotistical and adolescent. It is little more than a gaggle of cliques each touting their own superiority and not-so-subtly dissing the others. And because religion pits people against people and neighbors against neighbors, it promotes divisiveness, intolerance and war. I'm no atheist, at least in the scientific reductionist sense, but I can't see clear to join any religion, that thinks man made beliefs are more important than the unity of Spirit.
Even Stevie Wonder can see that we're all in this together. That's the bottom, and the top, line. One humanity, one family, one Spirit. So, just for today, blur the lines of demarcation between you and everyone else. Release whatever beliefs you may harbor that separate you from those around you, and from those around the world. In all encounters that you have today, treat others as your brethren, as coequal inhabitants of planet Earth, each a unique manifestation of the Spirit made flesh, and each sporting the sacred belly button to prove it!
More Truth, Less Suffering
"If one can actually revert to the truth, then a great deal of one's suffering can be erased -- because a great deal of one's suffering is based on sheer lies."
-- R.D. Laing
All who want to suffer less, please raise your hands. Hmm, every hand in the cyber room seems to be up, except for the two masochists in the corner. Suffering is hardly anyone's favorite state, and yet suffer we do way too much of the time. Sure, some of the suffering is due to "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," but not most of it, as R.D. points out, comes from our own erroneous belief systems, our own minds.
What kind of lies provide the basis for our suffering? All kinds. Especially those opinions we hold so tightly, those beliefs we cherish so highly, and those stories we tell ourselves over and over again that have no basis in reality. Most of them begin with phrases like "the world is...." or "I am..." or "they are..." followed by a negative adjective or string of negative adjectives. "The world is unfair. I'm so stupid. They are mean, nasty and ugly." You get the picture. Swimming all day in a psychic pool of negativity, is it any wonder that we suffer?
Another type of lie we tell ourselves is "shoulds" As a psychotherapist friend of mine says, "We should all over ourselves all the time!" Shoulds are arguments with reality. Shoulds are basically saying "the world ought to be different than it is, goddamit!"
You see, the only truth is what is. Reality, the present, the now -- call it what you will. Any deviation from the truth causes suffering. Give up the lies of negative judgement, belief and opinion, and, lo and behold, suffering vanishes. By not arguing with what is, you present no resistance and receive no resistance. Life is groovy and copacetic (and every other far out hippie term you can think of) and suffering is gone.
So, just for today, release your arguments with Reality. Let the Truth be. And suffer less.
-- R.D. Laing
All who want to suffer less, please raise your hands. Hmm, every hand in the cyber room seems to be up, except for the two masochists in the corner. Suffering is hardly anyone's favorite state, and yet suffer we do way too much of the time. Sure, some of the suffering is due to "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," but not most of it, as R.D. points out, comes from our own erroneous belief systems, our own minds.
What kind of lies provide the basis for our suffering? All kinds. Especially those opinions we hold so tightly, those beliefs we cherish so highly, and those stories we tell ourselves over and over again that have no basis in reality. Most of them begin with phrases like "the world is...." or "I am..." or "they are..." followed by a negative adjective or string of negative adjectives. "The world is unfair. I'm so stupid. They are mean, nasty and ugly." You get the picture. Swimming all day in a psychic pool of negativity, is it any wonder that we suffer?
Another type of lie we tell ourselves is "shoulds" As a psychotherapist friend of mine says, "We should all over ourselves all the time!" Shoulds are arguments with reality. Shoulds are basically saying "the world ought to be different than it is, goddamit!"
You see, the only truth is what is. Reality, the present, the now -- call it what you will. Any deviation from the truth causes suffering. Give up the lies of negative judgement, belief and opinion, and, lo and behold, suffering vanishes. By not arguing with what is, you present no resistance and receive no resistance. Life is groovy and copacetic (and every other far out hippie term you can think of) and suffering is gone.
So, just for today, release your arguments with Reality. Let the Truth be. And suffer less.
Christ Is Born... in You!
"We are celebrating the feast of the Eternal Birth which God the Father has borne and never ceases to bear in all eternity.... But if it takes not place in me, what avails it? Everything lies in this, that it should take place in me.”
--Meister Eckhart
Mesiter Eckhart was no fool. He knew that simply celebrating the birth of Jesus as a long ago external event means very little. It is not the birth of the body of one man, but the birth of the Christ Consciousness itself, that really matters. And that birth must take place in each of us for true transformation to begin.
Can you "put on the mind of Christ?" Can you see the world, and everything and everyone in it, through the eyes of enlightenment? Can you feel the love and compassion that radiates from God, through you, to all of creation?
These are the questions worth asking on this Christmas morn, not: What did Santa bring me and what time does the football game start, and when do we eat?
So, just for today, Christmas, Day, nourish the seed of Christ Consciousness within. Love, wildly, uncontrollably, indiscriminately -- God, the people all around you, the world, all of creation, even yourself.
--Meister Eckhart
Mesiter Eckhart was no fool. He knew that simply celebrating the birth of Jesus as a long ago external event means very little. It is not the birth of the body of one man, but the birth of the Christ Consciousness itself, that really matters. And that birth must take place in each of us for true transformation to begin.
Can you "put on the mind of Christ?" Can you see the world, and everything and everyone in it, through the eyes of enlightenment? Can you feel the love and compassion that radiates from God, through you, to all of creation?
These are the questions worth asking on this Christmas morn, not: What did Santa bring me and what time does the football game start, and when do we eat?
So, just for today, Christmas, Day, nourish the seed of Christ Consciousness within. Love, wildly, uncontrollably, indiscriminately -- God, the people all around you, the world, all of creation, even yourself.
Love and Understanding
"How people keep correcting us when we are young! There's always some bad habit or other they tell us we ought to get over. Yet most bad habits are tools to get us through life."
-- Goethe
Three cheers for bad habits! For one person's bad habit is another's coping mechanism, and a third's great joy. Sometimes it is so much easier to judge others bad habits than it is to enjoy our own! The trick it seems is to know which habits to enjoy and which to jettison. The opinions of others are not usually a good criteria on which to base these decisions.
As every seer worth his salt, from Buddha to Scott Peck, has pointed out, "life is hard." If a bad habit or two ( a nip before noon, a fondness for sweets -- confectionary or female) gets you through, who am I to judge? Who am I to say your life would be better without the so-called bad habits?
We legislate only for ourselves. In fact we are each all three branches of government for our own small republic of one. We legislate our own standards of behavior, we carry out those standards in the world, and we judge our own performance against those standards. The thing is, those standards don't apply to anyone else, or even in the republic next door.
And so, just for today, if you're old, quit telling young people what not to do. If you're young, don't take the old farts too seriously, or judge them too harshly. Their own bad habit may be telling young people what not to do! And for all of us -- young, old and in-between -- let's lighten up, relax and enjoy this roller coaster called Life.
-- Goethe
Three cheers for bad habits! For one person's bad habit is another's coping mechanism, and a third's great joy. Sometimes it is so much easier to judge others bad habits than it is to enjoy our own! The trick it seems is to know which habits to enjoy and which to jettison. The opinions of others are not usually a good criteria on which to base these decisions.
As every seer worth his salt, from Buddha to Scott Peck, has pointed out, "life is hard." If a bad habit or two ( a nip before noon, a fondness for sweets -- confectionary or female) gets you through, who am I to judge? Who am I to say your life would be better without the so-called bad habits?
We legislate only for ourselves. In fact we are each all three branches of government for our own small republic of one. We legislate our own standards of behavior, we carry out those standards in the world, and we judge our own performance against those standards. The thing is, those standards don't apply to anyone else, or even in the republic next door.
And so, just for today, if you're old, quit telling young people what not to do. If you're young, don't take the old farts too seriously, or judge them too harshly. Their own bad habit may be telling young people what not to do! And for all of us -- young, old and in-between -- let's lighten up, relax and enjoy this roller coaster called Life.
The Ash of Life
"Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash."
-- Leonard Cohen
Creating poetry is not the goal of life. Neither is building companies, painting pictures, starting hospitals, or scoring touchdowns. Living well is what life is all about. Living fully, completely, like a hot, blue flame. If you live at this level of intensity, both you and your life are completely consumed in the process. What you leave behind is the ash, the evidence, nothing more.
And yet much of the time we are barely living at simmer. We muddle through luke warm days, not consumed by the passion of living but just trying to make it to the weekend and to that Lazy Boy recliner, or hot bath, that awaits us.
What are we waiting for? What are we saving our energy for?
This is it. No dress rehearsal. The only life we know for sure that we have. Burn, baby, burn!
(As an aside, this quotation from Leonard Cohen is on the cover of the DVD I'm Your Man, a movie about Leonard Cohen. My girlfriend's ex-husband gave it to her for Christmas. She really doesn't know Leonard Cohen from Leonard Nimoy, but I'm a huge Leonard Cohen fan, so, thanks, John, for the thoughtful gift! My point is that though wisdom really is everywhere, you never know where you'll find it-- on a DVD cover or in an ad in the New Yorker, on a restroom wall or in a country western song, on a T-shirt quickly passing you on the street or in a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. Wisdom is not found only in holy books and lectures by famous philosophers. Just by keeping your eyes open and your ears clean, you will indeed find Wisdom Everywhere!)
-- Leonard Cohen
Creating poetry is not the goal of life. Neither is building companies, painting pictures, starting hospitals, or scoring touchdowns. Living well is what life is all about. Living fully, completely, like a hot, blue flame. If you live at this level of intensity, both you and your life are completely consumed in the process. What you leave behind is the ash, the evidence, nothing more.
And yet much of the time we are barely living at simmer. We muddle through luke warm days, not consumed by the passion of living but just trying to make it to the weekend and to that Lazy Boy recliner, or hot bath, that awaits us.
What are we waiting for? What are we saving our energy for?
This is it. No dress rehearsal. The only life we know for sure that we have. Burn, baby, burn!
(As an aside, this quotation from Leonard Cohen is on the cover of the DVD I'm Your Man, a movie about Leonard Cohen. My girlfriend's ex-husband gave it to her for Christmas. She really doesn't know Leonard Cohen from Leonard Nimoy, but I'm a huge Leonard Cohen fan, so, thanks, John, for the thoughtful gift! My point is that though wisdom really is everywhere, you never know where you'll find it-- on a DVD cover or in an ad in the New Yorker, on a restroom wall or in a country western song, on a T-shirt quickly passing you on the street or in a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. Wisdom is not found only in holy books and lectures by famous philosophers. Just by keeping your eyes open and your ears clean, you will indeed find Wisdom Everywhere!)
Fashion Sense
"To be aware is more important than what you wear."
-- Kenneth Cole
Good old Kenneth Cole, direct descendant of Old King Cole, has his priorities straighter than a high fashion hemline. He knows clothes don't make the man, or woman, consciousness does. Awareness -- clear and unfettered -- trumps fashion every time.
Think about how many things we are exposed to each day of which we are unaware. All the people, smells, sights and sounds, that make barely a bleep on the radar screen of our consciousness. And then think about all the opportunities that come our way that we never even see. Contrary to popular belief, opportunity doesn't only knock once, it's knocking damn near all the time, but most people have the TV turned up too loud to hear it.
So, just for today, simply pay attention. Be aware of all that's around you. You don't have to do anything about it. You don't have to categorize it, judge it, or even understand it -- just be aware of it. Today perception alone is enough.
-- Kenneth Cole
Good old Kenneth Cole, direct descendant of Old King Cole, has his priorities straighter than a high fashion hemline. He knows clothes don't make the man, or woman, consciousness does. Awareness -- clear and unfettered -- trumps fashion every time.
Think about how many things we are exposed to each day of which we are unaware. All the people, smells, sights and sounds, that make barely a bleep on the radar screen of our consciousness. And then think about all the opportunities that come our way that we never even see. Contrary to popular belief, opportunity doesn't only knock once, it's knocking damn near all the time, but most people have the TV turned up too loud to hear it.
So, just for today, simply pay attention. Be aware of all that's around you. You don't have to do anything about it. You don't have to categorize it, judge it, or even understand it -- just be aware of it. Today perception alone is enough.
The Happiest Man Alive
"I have no money, no resources, no hopes. I am the happiest man alive."
-- Henry Miller
How can that be? How can Henry Miller be happy when he has none of what most of us think we need in order to be happy? Maybe the answer can be found in the word "alive."
Henry Miller is alive, fully alive. And he knows it. (Well, he's dead now, but he was alive when he wrote this.) When he was alive, Henry Miller knew that happiness is not based upon having but upon Being. True happiness precedes having, it does not follow it.
Does this mean you cannot be happy if you have money or resources or hopes? I don't think so. It just means that true happiness must be independent of any and all externals. Detachment is a hallmark of happiness. Have alot of money or have no money, no matter. Your financial condition does not affect your happiness. The same goes for everything else that you can name, even for more ephemeral things like "hope."
So, just for today, be unreasonably happy! Put no prerequisites on your happiness. Just be happy.
-- Henry Miller
How can that be? How can Henry Miller be happy when he has none of what most of us think we need in order to be happy? Maybe the answer can be found in the word "alive."
Henry Miller is alive, fully alive. And he knows it. (Well, he's dead now, but he was alive when he wrote this.) When he was alive, Henry Miller knew that happiness is not based upon having but upon Being. True happiness precedes having, it does not follow it.
Does this mean you cannot be happy if you have money or resources or hopes? I don't think so. It just means that true happiness must be independent of any and all externals. Detachment is a hallmark of happiness. Have alot of money or have no money, no matter. Your financial condition does not affect your happiness. The same goes for everything else that you can name, even for more ephemeral things like "hope."
So, just for today, be unreasonably happy! Put no prerequisites on your happiness. Just be happy.
Vice (Miami and Elsewhere)
"Try to make people moral, and you lay the groundwork for vice."
-- Lao Tzu
People don't want to be moral, they want to be natural. Morality is a mental construct, an overlay, based on fear and control. Anytime that you try and "make" people be anything, you are bound to be met with resistance and resentment. This inevitable "r & r" may then surface as so-called "vice." It's as if the subconscious mind is saying, "Oh, you don't want me to do that, well, hey, how about this?"
All true ethical behavior begins within. It is not about attempting to follow some external, moral code. At the deepest level each of us know what is right and what is wrong, and what just doesn't really matter. If you want to teach people anything, don't teach them external codes of morality, teach them how to go within and access their own internal wisdom.
So, just for today, base your behavior on your own insight rather than upon the dictates of others, be they friends, relatives, therapists or gurus. Access your innate sense of what is appropriate for you right here and right now. Be a law unto yourself -- authentic and true.
-- Lao Tzu
People don't want to be moral, they want to be natural. Morality is a mental construct, an overlay, based on fear and control. Anytime that you try and "make" people be anything, you are bound to be met with resistance and resentment. This inevitable "r & r" may then surface as so-called "vice." It's as if the subconscious mind is saying, "Oh, you don't want me to do that, well, hey, how about this?"
All true ethical behavior begins within. It is not about attempting to follow some external, moral code. At the deepest level each of us know what is right and what is wrong, and what just doesn't really matter. If you want to teach people anything, don't teach them external codes of morality, teach them how to go within and access their own internal wisdom.
So, just for today, base your behavior on your own insight rather than upon the dictates of others, be they friends, relatives, therapists or gurus. Access your innate sense of what is appropriate for you right here and right now. Be a law unto yourself -- authentic and true.
Fatal Progress
"Science progresses funeral by funeral."
-- Max Planck
It's hard to give up being right. We latch onto our favorite ideas like a pit bull onto a toy poodle. Reason, evidence, new facts, changing times -- none of these counter forces mean anything to us. We're stuck to our pet paradigms like a four year olds tongue on an icy metal railing. And "stuck" is the operative term here.
And so, progress only happens in science (and in many other fields) when the old guard perishes and the young turks take over. How does this apply to non-scientific type like you and me who know Einstein more by his wild hairdo than by his writings on relativity?
Simple: What ideas, theories, and so-called truths are you currently holding onto until death do you part? Don't just look for bad beliefs, look at all your favorites, especially the ones that are now in vogue, politically correct, and/or generally accepted by society.
Remember the old counter culture bumper sticker -- "Question Authority." Many of us who used to sport that sentiment, if not that sticker, have now grown up to be the authorities. It's ourselves that we must now question. It's our own minds that we must probe.
And so, just for today, question your unquestioned assumptions. Be the devil's advocate and look for evidence that directly opposes your most cherished beliefs. Don't take your untruths, half truths and unbaked theories to the grave. They won't keep you warm when your six feet under. Burn them now in a conflagration of mental flotsam and jetsam. Build funeral pyre of worn out ideas and beliefs and personally progress from there.
-- Max Planck
It's hard to give up being right. We latch onto our favorite ideas like a pit bull onto a toy poodle. Reason, evidence, new facts, changing times -- none of these counter forces mean anything to us. We're stuck to our pet paradigms like a four year olds tongue on an icy metal railing. And "stuck" is the operative term here.
And so, progress only happens in science (and in many other fields) when the old guard perishes and the young turks take over. How does this apply to non-scientific type like you and me who know Einstein more by his wild hairdo than by his writings on relativity?
Simple: What ideas, theories, and so-called truths are you currently holding onto until death do you part? Don't just look for bad beliefs, look at all your favorites, especially the ones that are now in vogue, politically correct, and/or generally accepted by society.
Remember the old counter culture bumper sticker -- "Question Authority." Many of us who used to sport that sentiment, if not that sticker, have now grown up to be the authorities. It's ourselves that we must now question. It's our own minds that we must probe.
And so, just for today, question your unquestioned assumptions. Be the devil's advocate and look for evidence that directly opposes your most cherished beliefs. Don't take your untruths, half truths and unbaked theories to the grave. They won't keep you warm when your six feet under. Burn them now in a conflagration of mental flotsam and jetsam. Build funeral pyre of worn out ideas and beliefs and personally progress from there.
Choose Happiness!
"There will always be numerous reasons in your life to be either happy or unhappy. Each day of your life offers an abundance of rationales to support whatever position you choose. If you want to be happy, look at your life and find reasons to be happy. If you want to be unhappy, then you will likewise find many reasons to be unhappy. It's your choice."
-- John Kehoe
It's true: What you see is what you get! And you get to choose the focus of your vision. Today is colder than a witch's, well, let's just say it's bitter cold. I can focus upon that, wish I was in a warmer climate and get all bummed out, or I can notice how incredibly beautiful the snow is. Christmas is peaking over the horizon. I can bewail the fact that my daughters are in California and won't be here to share in the festivities, or I can enjoy the company of the loved ones that I have around me.
Everyday we have hundreds of time when we can choose happiness or unhappiness, choose to focus upon the half full or the half empty glass. I know, I know sometimes it's so much fun to indulge in a woe is me pity party. Just make it a short one. Choice is like a muscle -- the more you exercise it in positive ways, the stronger it will grow. Then it will become easier and easier to choose happiness, to keep your focus on the beauty of the night sky rather than the trash in the gutter.
But if your gaze does happen to fall to the gutter, pick up the damn trash! Or at least scan for lost change. Transmute even the negative into positive if at all possible. It will just give you more positive stuff to focus upon in the future.
So, just for today, choose happiness. Everytime you start to find reasons to be unhappy, refocus. Count your blessings, adopt an attitude of gratitude, do all those trite and corny things that we've all heard a million times, and that despite their hackneyed presentation, do, really do, make a huge difference. Or as the great 20th century musical philosopher Bobby McFerrin once said, "Don't worry, be happy."
-- John Kehoe
It's true: What you see is what you get! And you get to choose the focus of your vision. Today is colder than a witch's, well, let's just say it's bitter cold. I can focus upon that, wish I was in a warmer climate and get all bummed out, or I can notice how incredibly beautiful the snow is. Christmas is peaking over the horizon. I can bewail the fact that my daughters are in California and won't be here to share in the festivities, or I can enjoy the company of the loved ones that I have around me.
Everyday we have hundreds of time when we can choose happiness or unhappiness, choose to focus upon the half full or the half empty glass. I know, I know sometimes it's so much fun to indulge in a woe is me pity party. Just make it a short one. Choice is like a muscle -- the more you exercise it in positive ways, the stronger it will grow. Then it will become easier and easier to choose happiness, to keep your focus on the beauty of the night sky rather than the trash in the gutter.
But if your gaze does happen to fall to the gutter, pick up the damn trash! Or at least scan for lost change. Transmute even the negative into positive if at all possible. It will just give you more positive stuff to focus upon in the future.
So, just for today, choose happiness. Everytime you start to find reasons to be unhappy, refocus. Count your blessings, adopt an attitude of gratitude, do all those trite and corny things that we've all heard a million times, and that despite their hackneyed presentation, do, really do, make a huge difference. Or as the great 20th century musical philosopher Bobby McFerrin once said, "Don't worry, be happy."
Trust Yourself
"Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live."
--Goethe
Seems simple enough. Just trust little ole you. But can you? You've misled yourself, not to mention others, many times. You've fooled yourself, feigned ignorance, played small, copped out, and told yourself innumerable lies, tall tales and rationalizations. At least, I have.
But in spite of all that, even through all that, there's a place where you and I both know the Truth, a place where we can completely and implicitly trust ourselves. The trick is in doing a figure/ground reversal so that the deep, honest, trustworthy part of yourself, comes to the foreground, and the less than righteous, icky stuff fades into the background. Once you are able to do that on a consistent basis, once you are able to live from Deep Truth rather than merely respond to passing situations, you can trust yourself to show you how best to live.
At that point, you will not need the 10 Commandments, the letter of the law, or the latest self help book to govern your actions. You will know what to do, and know it at such a deep level, that you will do it spontaneously, without reference to external codes of conduct.
So, just for today, let's play a game. Let's pretend that we already know how to live. If you totally trusted yourself, if you already really knew how to live, what would you do today?
--Goethe
Seems simple enough. Just trust little ole you. But can you? You've misled yourself, not to mention others, many times. You've fooled yourself, feigned ignorance, played small, copped out, and told yourself innumerable lies, tall tales and rationalizations. At least, I have.
But in spite of all that, even through all that, there's a place where you and I both know the Truth, a place where we can completely and implicitly trust ourselves. The trick is in doing a figure/ground reversal so that the deep, honest, trustworthy part of yourself, comes to the foreground, and the less than righteous, icky stuff fades into the background. Once you are able to do that on a consistent basis, once you are able to live from Deep Truth rather than merely respond to passing situations, you can trust yourself to show you how best to live.
At that point, you will not need the 10 Commandments, the letter of the law, or the latest self help book to govern your actions. You will know what to do, and know it at such a deep level, that you will do it spontaneously, without reference to external codes of conduct.
So, just for today, let's play a game. Let's pretend that we already know how to live. If you totally trusted yourself, if you already really knew how to live, what would you do today?
Blessings
"Bless a thing and it will bless you."
-- Emmet Fox
The dictionary tells us that bless means "to consecrate, sanctify or make holy." But how do you make something holy? Simple: Give it your undivided and loving attention. That's it. No special ritual or training is needed. You don't have to speak Latin, Sanskrit, or Mumbo Jumbo. Simply gaze upon an object, open to it, and let it open to you. If words come to mind, speak them if you want to, but no words are necessary in the sanctification process. Blessing is really just acknowledging the sacred nature of a thing.
"Saying grace" before a meal is sometimes called "blessing the food." It doesn't change the molecular nature of the food, but it does change our relationship to it. It helps us honor and value the bounty we have before us, even if that bounty is just a cup of Ramen noodles.
But how does a thing bless you back? The Ramen is not sitting there in the cup looking up at me and saying "Bless you, too, Dave." The "thing," as far as we know, has no volition. What happens, though, is that in our blessing a thing, we reveal its' sacred nature. In so doing our own sacred nature, and the sacred nature of All, is reflected back to us. And by that we are blessed.
So, just for today, be a lean, mean, blessing machine! Bless your car, your toaster, your TV and your toilet. Bless the whole blessed mess that you call your life. And feel the blessings in return.
-- Emmet Fox
The dictionary tells us that bless means "to consecrate, sanctify or make holy." But how do you make something holy? Simple: Give it your undivided and loving attention. That's it. No special ritual or training is needed. You don't have to speak Latin, Sanskrit, or Mumbo Jumbo. Simply gaze upon an object, open to it, and let it open to you. If words come to mind, speak them if you want to, but no words are necessary in the sanctification process. Blessing is really just acknowledging the sacred nature of a thing.
"Saying grace" before a meal is sometimes called "blessing the food." It doesn't change the molecular nature of the food, but it does change our relationship to it. It helps us honor and value the bounty we have before us, even if that bounty is just a cup of Ramen noodles.
But how does a thing bless you back? The Ramen is not sitting there in the cup looking up at me and saying "Bless you, too, Dave." The "thing," as far as we know, has no volition. What happens, though, is that in our blessing a thing, we reveal its' sacred nature. In so doing our own sacred nature, and the sacred nature of All, is reflected back to us. And by that we are blessed.
So, just for today, be a lean, mean, blessing machine! Bless your car, your toaster, your TV and your toilet. Bless the whole blessed mess that you call your life. And feel the blessings in return.
Living Truth
"Knowing the truth is fairly useless; feeling it is profound; living it makes all the difference."
-- David Deida
When reading the above quote, a little voice in my head says , "Sure, I 'know' that." And that, right there, is the challenge -- so much of the truth sounds so hackneyed, run-of-the-mill, and rudimentary. I call it "bumper sticker wisdom," i.e., phrases that are so short you could fit them on a bumper sticker, but so profound that if you took them to heart and lived them you would radically transform your life.
I'll admit, I love knowing the truth. I love that rush that comes from reading a sentence, or a paragraph, that rings true and seems to apply not just to me, but to all of us -- all people, all times, all places. That's what these daily quotations are -- fragments of the truth collected over the years like so many shiny stones in my pocket. And yet, I also am aware that I feel so much less than what I know, and live even less of what I feel. The embodiment of truth is a demanding process and definitely not for spiritual dilettantes or sissies!
And so, just for today, choose one shard of truth and meditate on it until you feel it. And then go out in the world and live it. And, if you're like me, you may discover, at the end of the day, that the percentage of time you actually lived the truth was woefully small. And so, you may want to try living it again tomorrow and the next day and the next. And it may dawn on you that the entire spiritual path is simply the process of attempting to embody and live the truth a little more each day.
-- David Deida
When reading the above quote, a little voice in my head says , "Sure, I 'know' that." And that, right there, is the challenge -- so much of the truth sounds so hackneyed, run-of-the-mill, and rudimentary. I call it "bumper sticker wisdom," i.e., phrases that are so short you could fit them on a bumper sticker, but so profound that if you took them to heart and lived them you would radically transform your life.
I'll admit, I love knowing the truth. I love that rush that comes from reading a sentence, or a paragraph, that rings true and seems to apply not just to me, but to all of us -- all people, all times, all places. That's what these daily quotations are -- fragments of the truth collected over the years like so many shiny stones in my pocket. And yet, I also am aware that I feel so much less than what I know, and live even less of what I feel. The embodiment of truth is a demanding process and definitely not for spiritual dilettantes or sissies!
And so, just for today, choose one shard of truth and meditate on it until you feel it. And then go out in the world and live it. And, if you're like me, you may discover, at the end of the day, that the percentage of time you actually lived the truth was woefully small. And so, you may want to try living it again tomorrow and the next day and the next. And it may dawn on you that the entire spiritual path is simply the process of attempting to embody and live the truth a little more each day.
Love & Waste
"Learn to waste time with people you love."
-- Matthew Kelly
Wo says you have to be productive 24/7? I don't think you'll find that in The Bible, Tao Te Ching, Upanishads, Buddhist Canon, or any other holy book worth its sabbath. Wasting time is a sacred luxury. Or as Kurt Vonnegut said when asked about life's purpose, "We are here to fart around."
Enough said. So, just for today, find somebody you love and waste some time together. Or, if you're the really anal type, grab your Blackberry, and schedule two hours of "time wasting" for next Tuesday at 11 am.
Enjoy!
-- Matthew Kelly
Wo says you have to be productive 24/7? I don't think you'll find that in The Bible, Tao Te Ching, Upanishads, Buddhist Canon, or any other holy book worth its sabbath. Wasting time is a sacred luxury. Or as Kurt Vonnegut said when asked about life's purpose, "We are here to fart around."
Enough said. So, just for today, find somebody you love and waste some time together. Or, if you're the really anal type, grab your Blackberry, and schedule two hours of "time wasting" for next Tuesday at 11 am.
Enjoy!
Grace Through Acceptance
"Acceptance of the unacceptable is the greatest source of grace in the world."
-- Eckhart Tolle
Admittedly, this is a hard one. Most of us have at least one thing in our lives that we find totally unacceptable. Many of us have alot more than one! And yet, whatever it is that we find unacceptable still exists. Our unacceptance doesn't change it, reduce it or make it go away. In fact, it may do just the opposite -- unacceptance may help to lock things into their current state, as well as lock us into a mental state of resistance or denial.
Don't mistake acceptance for approval. Just becasue you accept that someone is a racst doesn't mean that you approve of their racism. Just because you accept that globabl warming is happening doesn't mean that you accept that the destruction of the planet is inevitable. Acceptance is merely a nod to Reality that says "I know you exist and I will no longer fight to deny your existance." You may still move to change Reality, but you will no longer tie up your energy by denying, condemning or opposing It.
Acceptance is about letting go of judgement against, but not losing discernment about. I don't think that Eckhart Tolle is asking you to enter that airy, fairy land where eveything is seen as oh-so perfect and problems are totally glossed over. He's recommending clear vision, not rose-colored glasses.
And what grows out of this clear vision of acceptance? Ah, that's the beauty of it all -- grace. Grace abounds all around. Grace for both the acceptor and the acceptee. By accepting the unacceptable, you become a channel through which grace enters the world and nourishes both you and the person, thing, or situation that you previously found to be so unaacaptable. It's a profound, visceral grace that you can feel seep deep down into your mind, deep down into your bones. It's a releasing and a letting go of contraction, of resistance, of judgement.
Don't take my word for it, or even Eckhart's. Perform your own little Grace experiment. Just for today, move towards accepting something that you had previously labeled "unacceptable." The "thing" that you are now willing to accept can be in the external world, in another person, or even in yourself. Oh, yes! Imagine the Grace you would feel if you truly and fully accepted yourself!
-- Eckhart Tolle
Admittedly, this is a hard one. Most of us have at least one thing in our lives that we find totally unacceptable. Many of us have alot more than one! And yet, whatever it is that we find unacceptable still exists. Our unacceptance doesn't change it, reduce it or make it go away. In fact, it may do just the opposite -- unacceptance may help to lock things into their current state, as well as lock us into a mental state of resistance or denial.
Don't mistake acceptance for approval. Just becasue you accept that someone is a racst doesn't mean that you approve of their racism. Just because you accept that globabl warming is happening doesn't mean that you accept that the destruction of the planet is inevitable. Acceptance is merely a nod to Reality that says "I know you exist and I will no longer fight to deny your existance." You may still move to change Reality, but you will no longer tie up your energy by denying, condemning or opposing It.
Acceptance is about letting go of judgement against, but not losing discernment about. I don't think that Eckhart Tolle is asking you to enter that airy, fairy land where eveything is seen as oh-so perfect and problems are totally glossed over. He's recommending clear vision, not rose-colored glasses.
And what grows out of this clear vision of acceptance? Ah, that's the beauty of it all -- grace. Grace abounds all around. Grace for both the acceptor and the acceptee. By accepting the unacceptable, you become a channel through which grace enters the world and nourishes both you and the person, thing, or situation that you previously found to be so unaacaptable. It's a profound, visceral grace that you can feel seep deep down into your mind, deep down into your bones. It's a releasing and a letting go of contraction, of resistance, of judgement.
Don't take my word for it, or even Eckhart's. Perform your own little Grace experiment. Just for today, move towards accepting something that you had previously labeled "unacceptable." The "thing" that you are now willing to accept can be in the external world, in another person, or even in yourself. Oh, yes! Imagine the Grace you would feel if you truly and fully accepted yourself!
Unreasonable Love
"Even if someone says, 'I love you because...' there is reduction of the sacred to the profane, there is an implicit act of debasement and manipulation. The order of because is always the order of functionalism.
-- Justus George Lawler
Have you ever met a person whom you immediately loved? Instantaneously your heart was opened, even if it was crusted, or clouded, over just a moment ago. Love poured through you towards them, and you had no idea why!
When that happens, it's downright embarrassing! And so, you begin to make up reasons why you're feeling the way you do. They remind you of someone from your past, they're beautiful, you're overly emotional, the moon is aligned with Venus -- whatever! All the reasons are ridiculous and redundant. Love just Is. It catches us unaware, and that is indeed part of its' beauty.
Love needs no because. In fact, as Mr. Lawler points out above, because debases love. Love exists. Love is the heart and soul of who you are. Love is the ultimate joy.
The mistake we make is in thinking that love is personal. The person who instantaneously opens the doors to your heart is not your soulmate, your long lost love form the continent Atlantis, or even your guru. They are simply a catalyst. A person whose chemistry is such as to release the love that already lies dormant inside of you. Honor them, cherish them, love them, but don't take it all so personally!
I remember hearing Ram Dass say once that ultimately you should be able to walk down the street, make eye contact with someone, fall deeply and completely in love, and walk on without missing a step and without looking back. True love is impersonal. It is without rhyme and without reason and without it we might as well curl up in a ball and die.
So, just for today, love uncontrollably, unreasonably, in a wild, because-free way. Let the love pour through you -- through your heart, through your eyes, through your actions. Passionately and impersonally to the One in All.
-- Justus George Lawler
Have you ever met a person whom you immediately loved? Instantaneously your heart was opened, even if it was crusted, or clouded, over just a moment ago. Love poured through you towards them, and you had no idea why!
When that happens, it's downright embarrassing! And so, you begin to make up reasons why you're feeling the way you do. They remind you of someone from your past, they're beautiful, you're overly emotional, the moon is aligned with Venus -- whatever! All the reasons are ridiculous and redundant. Love just Is. It catches us unaware, and that is indeed part of its' beauty.
Love needs no because. In fact, as Mr. Lawler points out above, because debases love. Love exists. Love is the heart and soul of who you are. Love is the ultimate joy.
The mistake we make is in thinking that love is personal. The person who instantaneously opens the doors to your heart is not your soulmate, your long lost love form the continent Atlantis, or even your guru. They are simply a catalyst. A person whose chemistry is such as to release the love that already lies dormant inside of you. Honor them, cherish them, love them, but don't take it all so personally!
I remember hearing Ram Dass say once that ultimately you should be able to walk down the street, make eye contact with someone, fall deeply and completely in love, and walk on without missing a step and without looking back. True love is impersonal. It is without rhyme and without reason and without it we might as well curl up in a ball and die.
So, just for today, love uncontrollably, unreasonably, in a wild, because-free way. Let the love pour through you -- through your heart, through your eyes, through your actions. Passionately and impersonally to the One in All.
Quit Trying to Be Happy!
"If only we'd stop trying to be happy, we'd have a pretty good time."
-- Edith Wharton
It's the Holiday Season, and we're all hellbent on happiness. This Christmas, this Hanukkah, this Kwanza has got to be bigger, better, and more lavish than the last. More=happiness, is the unspoken equation. Does your Festivus really have to out do the rest of us?
And then there's family. Nothing guarantees happiness like "forced fun" with people you haven't gotten along with well for years! Maybe another cup of egg nog will do the trick. Add two parts seething resentment to one part alcohol, and you'll have such a delicious cocktail!
OK, OK it's not really that bad. At least in most families. But exaggeration brings the picture into sharp focus. The more we "try" to be happy, especially in ways prescribed to us by society or others, the less likelihood there is that we will experience real happiness. Trying is always one step away from Being.
Sure, we all want to be happy. The paradox is that pursuing happiness does not produce happiness. Happiness is a byproduct. What is it a byproduct of? Ah, now that is a question that each of us must answer for ourselves.
Edith gives us a really hot clue, though -- quit trying. Enjoy the here, the now, and whatever and whoever is around you. Do what you like to do, and in the very doing happiness will arise. Pay attention to life, "follow your bliss," and lo and behold you find you're having a damn good time!
-- Edith Wharton
It's the Holiday Season, and we're all hellbent on happiness. This Christmas, this Hanukkah, this Kwanza has got to be bigger, better, and more lavish than the last. More=happiness, is the unspoken equation. Does your Festivus really have to out do the rest of us?
And then there's family. Nothing guarantees happiness like "forced fun" with people you haven't gotten along with well for years! Maybe another cup of egg nog will do the trick. Add two parts seething resentment to one part alcohol, and you'll have such a delicious cocktail!
OK, OK it's not really that bad. At least in most families. But exaggeration brings the picture into sharp focus. The more we "try" to be happy, especially in ways prescribed to us by society or others, the less likelihood there is that we will experience real happiness. Trying is always one step away from Being.
Sure, we all want to be happy. The paradox is that pursuing happiness does not produce happiness. Happiness is a byproduct. What is it a byproduct of? Ah, now that is a question that each of us must answer for ourselves.
Edith gives us a really hot clue, though -- quit trying. Enjoy the here, the now, and whatever and whoever is around you. Do what you like to do, and in the very doing happiness will arise. Pay attention to life, "follow your bliss," and lo and behold you find you're having a damn good time!
You-nique
"What needs to be done that can only be done by me because of who I am?"
--Buckminster Fuller
When Bucky Fuller was young and contemplating suicide as he walked along the shores of Lake Michigan, this is the question that he asked himself. Even though he went on to invent the geodesic dome and scads of other things, and become one of the leading popular philosophers of the 20th century, his specific answer to the question is not that important. Your answer, however, is.
On first blush, it's an overwhelming question! If you're like me, there's a small voice inside you saying something like "Who am I to think that I'm the only one who can do something? I'm just another, ordinary person." But, in truth, there are no ordinary people. It's like the old saying, "The only normal people are people you don't know very well, yet." Do you know yourself well enough to know what makes you non-ordinary?
Here are a few hints. Fist, the answer to Bucky's question is not a job title. The words "teacher" or "accountant" will not do. Second, there's no need to think in Nobel Prize winning terms. What you alone can do may be small on the grand scale of things and yet incredibly significant in the lives of those you touch. Third, use the Joy Filter. Not only will the thing you are going to do match a need that's out there somewhere and use your unique combination of talents, characteristics, and interests, but also just doing it will bring you great joy!
Bucky's question is your Zen koan for the day, the week, or maybe longer. Contemplate it, ponder it, chew on it like a dog chews on an old bone. If you keep asking the question, the answer will eventually percolate up to the surface of your consciousness.
But maybe you really already know the answer! Every time it pops into consciousness, you quickly look the other way. The answer seems too outrageous, or too mundane, or just a total waste of time, energy or money. If this is the case, take a small step, like starting a blog.
--Buckminster Fuller
When Bucky Fuller was young and contemplating suicide as he walked along the shores of Lake Michigan, this is the question that he asked himself. Even though he went on to invent the geodesic dome and scads of other things, and become one of the leading popular philosophers of the 20th century, his specific answer to the question is not that important. Your answer, however, is.
On first blush, it's an overwhelming question! If you're like me, there's a small voice inside you saying something like "Who am I to think that I'm the only one who can do something? I'm just another, ordinary person." But, in truth, there are no ordinary people. It's like the old saying, "The only normal people are people you don't know very well, yet." Do you know yourself well enough to know what makes you non-ordinary?
Here are a few hints. Fist, the answer to Bucky's question is not a job title. The words "teacher" or "accountant" will not do. Second, there's no need to think in Nobel Prize winning terms. What you alone can do may be small on the grand scale of things and yet incredibly significant in the lives of those you touch. Third, use the Joy Filter. Not only will the thing you are going to do match a need that's out there somewhere and use your unique combination of talents, characteristics, and interests, but also just doing it will bring you great joy!
Bucky's question is your Zen koan for the day, the week, or maybe longer. Contemplate it, ponder it, chew on it like a dog chews on an old bone. If you keep asking the question, the answer will eventually percolate up to the surface of your consciousness.
But maybe you really already know the answer! Every time it pops into consciousness, you quickly look the other way. The answer seems too outrageous, or too mundane, or just a total waste of time, energy or money. If this is the case, take a small step, like starting a blog.
"Freedom's Just Another Word For..."
"I hope for nothing.
I fear nothing.
I am free."
-- Nikos Kazantzakis
I sure wish that I could say "me, too," to Kazantzakis' three line declaration of freedom. But, Jesus, I hope for stuff all the time. And I'm scared shitless on a regular basis that something will happen that I don't want to have happen, or that something I desire (i.e hope for) won't happen. And to the extent that I let hope and fear dominate me, I am not free.
And, so what can I do? Simply observe. By adopting the stance of the Witness and merely watching desire and fear unfold, I am not fueling either. And while I observe that they color my consciousness on a regular basis, I also observe that if I don't give them too much energy, either by indulging them or fighting them, both desire and fear soon fade.
Sure, they're going to be replaced by other desires and other fears, but the gap of clarity between the replacements grows according to the amount of attention I give it. By paying attention to the clarity between, I nourish it, and, at times, I'm even absorbed by it. As one ubiquitous clothing chain used to say, I "fall into the gap."
And that's a good thing. Because I look around the gap, and lo and behold, their is Nikos Kazantzakis and Kris Kristofferson, and Janis Joplin, and even Bobbie Mc.Gee! We're all free -- free of hope, free of fear. Nothing to gain, nothing to lose. Sweet freedom grows moment to moment.
I fear nothing.
I am free."
-- Nikos Kazantzakis
I sure wish that I could say "me, too," to Kazantzakis' three line declaration of freedom. But, Jesus, I hope for stuff all the time. And I'm scared shitless on a regular basis that something will happen that I don't want to have happen, or that something I desire (i.e hope for) won't happen. And to the extent that I let hope and fear dominate me, I am not free.
And, so what can I do? Simply observe. By adopting the stance of the Witness and merely watching desire and fear unfold, I am not fueling either. And while I observe that they color my consciousness on a regular basis, I also observe that if I don't give them too much energy, either by indulging them or fighting them, both desire and fear soon fade.
Sure, they're going to be replaced by other desires and other fears, but the gap of clarity between the replacements grows according to the amount of attention I give it. By paying attention to the clarity between, I nourish it, and, at times, I'm even absorbed by it. As one ubiquitous clothing chain used to say, I "fall into the gap."
And that's a good thing. Because I look around the gap, and lo and behold, their is Nikos Kazantzakis and Kris Kristofferson, and Janis Joplin, and even Bobbie Mc.Gee! We're all free -- free of hope, free of fear. Nothing to gain, nothing to lose. Sweet freedom grows moment to moment.
A Difficult Life
"Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly understand and accept it -- then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters."
-- M. Scott Peck
Acceptance. Not a virtue that's widely touted in these post-modern times. It almost smacks of surrender, another valuable quality that's gotten a bad rap. And yet, as Scott Peck points out, acceptance is the royal road to transcendence.
I remember watching a piece on 60 Minutes once about a famous violinist who was very old and crippled with arthritis. He would wake each day in terrible pain. and yet he would rise from his bed, eat his breakfast and go on about his day. In a matter of hours the same arthritic fingers that he awoke with were playing the most beautiful concertos. His life was difficult. No matter. He transcended all difficulty with acceptance and love.
I'm sure that you have at least a few, and perhaps a butttload of, situations in your life that could be termed "difficulties." If you focus on them as such, if you continue to piss and bitch and moan about how difficult life is, it will continue to be difficult. If, on the other hand, so-called difficulty is seen as just part and parcel of life, it no longer matters. Life just is what it is, and the difficulty is transcended.
Try it. Just for today, breathe in, breathe out and accept your current lot in life. Know that while your life circumstances may change and improve, life itself will continue as it is, continue to be difficult, until you accept whatever is and transcend the idea of difficulty altogether.
And don't expect transcendence to come as an all-in-one, bolt of lighting type deal. It comes in, and from, each moment of acceptance. You may go for minutes, hours, days, or more fighting life's difficulties, and then in a moment of clarity, a moment of grace, find acceptance and transcendence. And that moment may be all too fleeting, and you find yourself back in the difficulty stew again.
No matter. As you string the pearls of awareness together over time, acceptance becomes your default mode. It becomes your SOP in the world, and then it's difficulty, not acceptance that become a vague memory. And it all starts with one moment of acceptance, right here, right now, today.
-- M. Scott Peck
Acceptance. Not a virtue that's widely touted in these post-modern times. It almost smacks of surrender, another valuable quality that's gotten a bad rap. And yet, as Scott Peck points out, acceptance is the royal road to transcendence.
I remember watching a piece on 60 Minutes once about a famous violinist who was very old and crippled with arthritis. He would wake each day in terrible pain. and yet he would rise from his bed, eat his breakfast and go on about his day. In a matter of hours the same arthritic fingers that he awoke with were playing the most beautiful concertos. His life was difficult. No matter. He transcended all difficulty with acceptance and love.
I'm sure that you have at least a few, and perhaps a butttload of, situations in your life that could be termed "difficulties." If you focus on them as such, if you continue to piss and bitch and moan about how difficult life is, it will continue to be difficult. If, on the other hand, so-called difficulty is seen as just part and parcel of life, it no longer matters. Life just is what it is, and the difficulty is transcended.
Try it. Just for today, breathe in, breathe out and accept your current lot in life. Know that while your life circumstances may change and improve, life itself will continue as it is, continue to be difficult, until you accept whatever is and transcend the idea of difficulty altogether.
And don't expect transcendence to come as an all-in-one, bolt of lighting type deal. It comes in, and from, each moment of acceptance. You may go for minutes, hours, days, or more fighting life's difficulties, and then in a moment of clarity, a moment of grace, find acceptance and transcendence. And that moment may be all too fleeting, and you find yourself back in the difficulty stew again.
No matter. As you string the pearls of awareness together over time, acceptance becomes your default mode. It becomes your SOP in the world, and then it's difficulty, not acceptance that become a vague memory. And it all starts with one moment of acceptance, right here, right now, today.
Faith Without Beliefs
"What is vital to recognize is that aside from the laws of physics, we are only limited by our beliefs."
-- Shannon Duncan
Beliefs, all beliefs, even those bright, positive, pie-in-the-sky, New Age hunky dory beliefs, are limitations. Reality doesn't need you to believe in it in order for it to exist. It just is.
Beliefs limit us in so many ways. Most beliefs, especially religious and political beliefs, promote divisiveness rather than Unity. There's the believers versus the non-believers, the saved v.s. the damned, the right against the wrong and the good battling the bad, on and on ad nauseum. And, of course, we always see ourselves on the positive end of every polarity!
Instead of belief, give me Faith with no beliefs attached. Faith in the Universe, in a beautifully impersonal energy called God, in the Tao, in the Now. I want to be Awake to what is, not asleep behind a veil of beliefs.
So, just for today, as each belief arises, I will gently let it go. Sure, that sucker will probably return and try and worm his way in when I'm less than diligent. And then, as soon as I notice it, I'll let it go again and again and again... I really don't "believe" I can do it, but I have Faith in the whole process.
-- Shannon Duncan
Beliefs, all beliefs, even those bright, positive, pie-in-the-sky, New Age hunky dory beliefs, are limitations. Reality doesn't need you to believe in it in order for it to exist. It just is.
Beliefs limit us in so many ways. Most beliefs, especially religious and political beliefs, promote divisiveness rather than Unity. There's the believers versus the non-believers, the saved v.s. the damned, the right against the wrong and the good battling the bad, on and on ad nauseum. And, of course, we always see ourselves on the positive end of every polarity!
Instead of belief, give me Faith with no beliefs attached. Faith in the Universe, in a beautifully impersonal energy called God, in the Tao, in the Now. I want to be Awake to what is, not asleep behind a veil of beliefs.
So, just for today, as each belief arises, I will gently let it go. Sure, that sucker will probably return and try and worm his way in when I'm less than diligent. And then, as soon as I notice it, I'll let it go again and again and again... I really don't "believe" I can do it, but I have Faith in the whole process.
Here, There, Everywhere
"A warrior knows that the furthest-flung star in the Universe reveals itself in the things around him."
-- Paulo Coelho
Travel is so overrated! Whether it be to Moons of Jupiter or the beaches of Cozumel, to China or Bransom, MO -- there ain't nothing there that you can't "see" here. Especially now that Boxcar Willie is dead.
William Blake's "wisdom in a grain of sand" is just as true if that grain of sand is in the tire tread of a snowplow in rural Michigan, as it is if it's on the shore of Bali. Anything includes everything. You just got to know how to look.
And how do you look to really see the everything in anything? Deeply, with soft eyes. You look at the essence, not the form. You look straight through the form of the object, right through its soul, piercing the heart, right into the Spirit where all objects are indeed One.
Everything is just Spirit in drag. See the Spirit and you know the thing, the object the person, and even more incredibly you know all things, all objects, and all people everywhere.
So, just for today, instead of longing for exotic locations and exciting locales, look around you. See it All, right here, right now. The Cheeto shaped like Jesus is a gateway into the Divine as surely as a visit to the Vatican is. Maybe even more so.
-- Paulo Coelho
Travel is so overrated! Whether it be to Moons of Jupiter or the beaches of Cozumel, to China or Bransom, MO -- there ain't nothing there that you can't "see" here. Especially now that Boxcar Willie is dead.
William Blake's "wisdom in a grain of sand" is just as true if that grain of sand is in the tire tread of a snowplow in rural Michigan, as it is if it's on the shore of Bali. Anything includes everything. You just got to know how to look.
And how do you look to really see the everything in anything? Deeply, with soft eyes. You look at the essence, not the form. You look straight through the form of the object, right through its soul, piercing the heart, right into the Spirit where all objects are indeed One.
Everything is just Spirit in drag. See the Spirit and you know the thing, the object the person, and even more incredibly you know all things, all objects, and all people everywhere.
So, just for today, instead of longing for exotic locations and exciting locales, look around you. See it All, right here, right now. The Cheeto shaped like Jesus is a gateway into the Divine as surely as a visit to the Vatican is. Maybe even more so.
Guilt + Holidays = Religion
"All religions are the same: Religion is basically guilt with different holidays."
-- Cathy Ladmann
Original sin, karma, not doing the will of God -- call it what you want, all religions are laying a trip on you! The trip, so to speak, is external standards. Instead of helping you get in touch with your innate internal wisdom, exoteric religion lays down the rules and tells you to play by them. The problem is that each religion's rules are different, and each set of rules is completely arbitrary.
Contrast this with what Aldous Huxley called "the perennial philosophy." In a book of that title, Huxley provides quotations from teachers and philosophers of every great spiritual tradition to show that in their heart of hearts, in their essence all religions say essentially the same thing. Get rid of the dogma, the myths, the beliefs in the supernatural, and the weird rites and rituals, and you'll find that the adepts of every religion are purporting the same handful of truths. And they have nothing to do with guilt. Or even holidays.
The best, the most impeccable behavior is not motivated by an attempt to adhere to external standards. Instead the behavior of saints, wise persons, and enlightened beings of all traditions springs from a place deep within. What they find, what you, too, can find, is that the deeper you go within, the more universal you become. When you operate from your own center, you're operating from the center of the Universe. You don't need the Ten Commandments, the Koran, or the Eightfold Path to tell you what to do. Your behavior is spontaneous, appropriate and perfect. You a live, breathing, holographic slice of The Divine. Who could ask for anything more?
-- Cathy Ladmann
Original sin, karma, not doing the will of God -- call it what you want, all religions are laying a trip on you! The trip, so to speak, is external standards. Instead of helping you get in touch with your innate internal wisdom, exoteric religion lays down the rules and tells you to play by them. The problem is that each religion's rules are different, and each set of rules is completely arbitrary.
Contrast this with what Aldous Huxley called "the perennial philosophy." In a book of that title, Huxley provides quotations from teachers and philosophers of every great spiritual tradition to show that in their heart of hearts, in their essence all religions say essentially the same thing. Get rid of the dogma, the myths, the beliefs in the supernatural, and the weird rites and rituals, and you'll find that the adepts of every religion are purporting the same handful of truths. And they have nothing to do with guilt. Or even holidays.
The best, the most impeccable behavior is not motivated by an attempt to adhere to external standards. Instead the behavior of saints, wise persons, and enlightened beings of all traditions springs from a place deep within. What they find, what you, too, can find, is that the deeper you go within, the more universal you become. When you operate from your own center, you're operating from the center of the Universe. You don't need the Ten Commandments, the Koran, or the Eightfold Path to tell you what to do. Your behavior is spontaneous, appropriate and perfect. You a live, breathing, holographic slice of The Divine. Who could ask for anything more?
In a War Between You and God -- God Wins!
" Comparing what happened to what you think should have happened is the war with God."
-- Byron Katie
Everytime we wish that something was different than it is, we are basically saying "If I were God, things would be different around here." I don't know about you, but I do it all the time. I wish the weather was warmer, that I was richer, that the war in Iraq would end, and, of course, that the Cubs would win the World Series. On and on and on -- a million and one ways that I would fix the world if I were God. And God just laughs. Especially about the Cubs.
And yet in my few moments of clarity I know that This is It. This, the very way it is, right this minute, right now, is Reality. Acceptance trumps fighting everytime. And, in fact, if things are ever to change in a positive direction, acceptance is the first step.
And so just for today, or even just for a portion of the day, quit fighting with God. You're Barney Fife, God's Hulk Hogan. Contrary to the David and Goliath myth, you don't stand a chance. Game, set, match -- God wins! And you, you're stuck at love. Enjoy!
-- Byron Katie
Everytime we wish that something was different than it is, we are basically saying "If I were God, things would be different around here." I don't know about you, but I do it all the time. I wish the weather was warmer, that I was richer, that the war in Iraq would end, and, of course, that the Cubs would win the World Series. On and on and on -- a million and one ways that I would fix the world if I were God. And God just laughs. Especially about the Cubs.
And yet in my few moments of clarity I know that This is It. This, the very way it is, right this minute, right now, is Reality. Acceptance trumps fighting everytime. And, in fact, if things are ever to change in a positive direction, acceptance is the first step.
And so just for today, or even just for a portion of the day, quit fighting with God. You're Barney Fife, God's Hulk Hogan. Contrary to the David and Goliath myth, you don't stand a chance. Game, set, match -- God wins! And you, you're stuck at love. Enjoy!
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