"Nijinsky dances best when Nijinsky is not there."
-- Nijinsky
In case you don't know, Nijinsky was a famous Russian ballet dancer of the early 20th century. He realized, as many great athletes, artists, actors, and performers of every ilk do, that the best performance happens through you, not from you. In learning theory this is sometimes referred to as "unconscious competence." You become so adept at what you do, that you don't even really do it anymore, you just get out of the way and watch it happen.
It's almost like channeling except you don't have to make up some goofy fake name like Ramalamadingdong, and pretend he is bringing it from the other side. If you want to personalize it at all, I guess you can call it your Higher Self. Your lower self, your self-consciousness, or ego, gets out of the way and your Higher Self, or Spirit, comes shining on through! And what comes through is a whole lot better than what you could do if you were thinking or trying.
To reach this stage of unconscious competence, though, you've got to practice, practice, practice. Or play, play, play, depending on how you look at it. You've got to get so good that you don't have to think about what you're doing any longer. And you've got to trust that when "you" get out of the way, brilliance will burst right on through!
Here's your challenge: To get that good, not just at dancing or painting or singing, but at life. Can you get so good at living that your life is a spontaneous expression of Spirit rather than a petty collection of fears and desires? Some call it enlightenment. Author Robert DeRopp called it "the master game," the only game worth playing. Paradoxically, we "win" the master game when we no longer play it, but when it plays itself.
Huh? Think about it. Look at how you live your life. Choose one activity or area that you would like to develop to the level of unconscious competence. And then practice and play, over and over again, until practice and play are just happening. And, if you're lucky that attitude, that no-self, will begin to bleed over into other aspects of your life, and you will find that you don't have to be there to make those parts work either, and yet, everything will be going swimmingly.
And so, I wish you all the luck in the world at losing yourself in life. May life happen, beautifully, brilliantly, perfectly without you.
How Are You Going to Live?
"You don't get to choose how you're going to die or when. You can only decide how you're going to live now."
-- Joan Baez
No matter how much time and energy we spend thinking about, preparing for, discussing and avoiding death, it is inevitable. One day you're here, next day you're not. Or in Bumper Sticker Wisdom parlance -- nobody gets out of here alive! You may get hit by a bus, eaten up by the BIG C, suffer a heart attack on the tennis court, or die in bed with a smile on your face. Unless you're planning to commit suicide you don't get to determine the moment or cause of your death. And, hell, even then, you may botch the suicide attempt!
Enough cheery talk for one post! Let's say we focus on the now, on what is generically referred to as your life. Now there's an arena where you have the power to make some decisions. In fact, you can do whatever the hell you want. Of course, there's that pesky little Law of Karma to consider -- whatever you do will create reactions and reverberations that you're going to have to deal with in one form or another -- but the freedom to design and create your own life still exists.
Way too much of the time we just sort of live on automatic pilot. We let our lives create us, rather than visa versa. We glide along in familiar grooves until the grooves becomes ruts and unconscious behavior patterns run amuck, and we're merely along for the ride.
And then one day we wake up, and we're 50 or 60 0r 70 (if we're lucky enough to both live that long and wake up), and we say "What the hell happened to my life?"
So, here I go again. I'm a one trick pony, a one note song, a one man band, and it seems all I ever sing is "Now." Now is the only time we have. Now is our only point of power. Now is the one and only reality. Now. What do I want to do with my life right now? That's both the mantra and koan of living a good life. Ask it of yourself constantly. Answer it the best that you can. And then do it, live it, be it. Now and now and now, on and on, each day, each hour, each moment, creating the life you truly want to live.
-- Joan Baez
No matter how much time and energy we spend thinking about, preparing for, discussing and avoiding death, it is inevitable. One day you're here, next day you're not. Or in Bumper Sticker Wisdom parlance -- nobody gets out of here alive! You may get hit by a bus, eaten up by the BIG C, suffer a heart attack on the tennis court, or die in bed with a smile on your face. Unless you're planning to commit suicide you don't get to determine the moment or cause of your death. And, hell, even then, you may botch the suicide attempt!
Enough cheery talk for one post! Let's say we focus on the now, on what is generically referred to as your life. Now there's an arena where you have the power to make some decisions. In fact, you can do whatever the hell you want. Of course, there's that pesky little Law of Karma to consider -- whatever you do will create reactions and reverberations that you're going to have to deal with in one form or another -- but the freedom to design and create your own life still exists.
Way too much of the time we just sort of live on automatic pilot. We let our lives create us, rather than visa versa. We glide along in familiar grooves until the grooves becomes ruts and unconscious behavior patterns run amuck, and we're merely along for the ride.
And then one day we wake up, and we're 50 or 60 0r 70 (if we're lucky enough to both live that long and wake up), and we say "What the hell happened to my life?"
So, here I go again. I'm a one trick pony, a one note song, a one man band, and it seems all I ever sing is "Now." Now is the only time we have. Now is our only point of power. Now is the one and only reality. Now. What do I want to do with my life right now? That's both the mantra and koan of living a good life. Ask it of yourself constantly. Answer it the best that you can. And then do it, live it, be it. Now and now and now, on and on, each day, each hour, each moment, creating the life you truly want to live.
Enlightenment
"One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular."
-- C.G. Jung
Imagination is a wonderful thing! When used properly, it provides us with inventions and art and creative solutions and innovations of all stripes and colors. But just imagining, or fantasizing about, disembodied beings of light doesn't get you doodly squat!
We all have darkness within us waiting to be redeemed. Darkness is merely unconsciousness. It is not bad or evil, it is simply the absence of light.
Redemption does not happen through the powers or auspices of another -- real or imaginary, dead or alive. Redemption is, and always, has been, a do-it-yourself job. DIY redemption is the only redemption there is. You, and only you, can transmute your darkness to light.
As Jung points out, it ain't always that much fun. But as painful as becoming conscious can be, staying unconscious is even more painful -- to you, to those around you, and to the world as a whole.
I'm not a master of depth psychology like Carl was. I do know, however, that awareness brings light, observation redeems. Just by paying attention to your habits, patterns, dysfunctional idiosyncrasies, and the like, you can unravel them and free their energy to rejoin the light.
That is your assignment for today -- observe. Shine a light in the dark nooks and crannies of your soul. Don't condemn, don't judge, merely acknowledge what you see as a temporary permutation, a temporary kink in consciousness. You don't have to fight darkness; light dispels it automatically, naturally, just like dawn brings an end to the night.
Today, don't look for outside help, either real or imaginary. Just observe, shine and be.
-- C.G. Jung
Imagination is a wonderful thing! When used properly, it provides us with inventions and art and creative solutions and innovations of all stripes and colors. But just imagining, or fantasizing about, disembodied beings of light doesn't get you doodly squat!
We all have darkness within us waiting to be redeemed. Darkness is merely unconsciousness. It is not bad or evil, it is simply the absence of light.
Redemption does not happen through the powers or auspices of another -- real or imaginary, dead or alive. Redemption is, and always, has been, a do-it-yourself job. DIY redemption is the only redemption there is. You, and only you, can transmute your darkness to light.
As Jung points out, it ain't always that much fun. But as painful as becoming conscious can be, staying unconscious is even more painful -- to you, to those around you, and to the world as a whole.
I'm not a master of depth psychology like Carl was. I do know, however, that awareness brings light, observation redeems. Just by paying attention to your habits, patterns, dysfunctional idiosyncrasies, and the like, you can unravel them and free their energy to rejoin the light.
That is your assignment for today -- observe. Shine a light in the dark nooks and crannies of your soul. Don't condemn, don't judge, merely acknowledge what you see as a temporary permutation, a temporary kink in consciousness. You don't have to fight darkness; light dispels it automatically, naturally, just like dawn brings an end to the night.
Today, don't look for outside help, either real or imaginary. Just observe, shine and be.
I love 'em, I just don't like 'em
"There may be some people you dislike, but you can still love them."
-- Leonard Willoughby. Every Day Tao, p. 109.
Not everyone is your cup of tea. Your personality and their personality are just totally incompatible. That's a nice way of saying that there are plenty of assholes out there! Question is: Can you love them in spite of their supreme assholishness?
That's your challenge -- love everyone, even the people you don't like. In fact, the whole spiritual path in a nutshell, is summarized quite nicely by the Hard Rock Cafe's motto -- Love All, Serve All.
The trick, so to speak, is to see through persona to essence. In essence we are all lovable. Not only lovable but One. As the old hymn says, "We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord." Our personas, on the other hand, are a motley collection of cobbled together masks that we wear more or less uncomfortably as we go about our business in the world.
Some people have put together some pretty nice personalities. Other folks act all mean, nasty and ugly. No matter. Love 'em all. That's your assignment for today. Hell, that's your assignment for the rest of your life. Everyday you can count on one or more pop quizzes, many of which you'll fail miserably. At least initially.
Look deeper. Look past all the bad stuff, and even past all the good stuff. Look to the center, to the core. Look so deeply that love is looking right back at you, whether the other person knows it or not. Love looking at love. What's not to like?
-- Leonard Willoughby. Every Day Tao, p. 109.
Not everyone is your cup of tea. Your personality and their personality are just totally incompatible. That's a nice way of saying that there are plenty of assholes out there! Question is: Can you love them in spite of their supreme assholishness?
That's your challenge -- love everyone, even the people you don't like. In fact, the whole spiritual path in a nutshell, is summarized quite nicely by the Hard Rock Cafe's motto -- Love All, Serve All.
The trick, so to speak, is to see through persona to essence. In essence we are all lovable. Not only lovable but One. As the old hymn says, "We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord." Our personas, on the other hand, are a motley collection of cobbled together masks that we wear more or less uncomfortably as we go about our business in the world.
Some people have put together some pretty nice personalities. Other folks act all mean, nasty and ugly. No matter. Love 'em all. That's your assignment for today. Hell, that's your assignment for the rest of your life. Everyday you can count on one or more pop quizzes, many of which you'll fail miserably. At least initially.
Look deeper. Look past all the bad stuff, and even past all the good stuff. Look to the center, to the core. Look so deeply that love is looking right back at you, whether the other person knows it or not. Love looking at love. What's not to like?
Walking
"All walking is discovery. On foot we take the time to see all things whole."
-- Hal Borland
I hate suburbia! Sure, the lawns are nice, but you can't walk anywhere, except up and down the lanes filled with "pasteboard starter castles." Give me small towns, college towns, even city neighborhoods, where the important "third places" of life, like libraries, groceries, coffee shops, bookstores, restaurants and pubs, are all within walking distance of home and work.
Besides being good exercise, walking is a great way to see what's really going on out there. You can take your time, stop and look at things, cut down side streets and up alleys, crisscross through parks, and explore the world at your own pace. Just don't spoil a good walk by doing that dorky-looking race walking with your arms pumping furiously like pistons and a grim look on your face like you're standing in the rain, constipated, at a funeral.
You say it takes too much time to walk places? Well, look at it this way: Walking on a regular basis can literally add years to your life. The time you lose by not driving to the store, you more than make up for when you're still here enjoying life rather than residing six feet under.
So, today, walk. That's it. Walk a mile or two and see what happens, see what you see. And, oh yeah -- enjoy!
-- Hal Borland
I hate suburbia! Sure, the lawns are nice, but you can't walk anywhere, except up and down the lanes filled with "pasteboard starter castles." Give me small towns, college towns, even city neighborhoods, where the important "third places" of life, like libraries, groceries, coffee shops, bookstores, restaurants and pubs, are all within walking distance of home and work.
Besides being good exercise, walking is a great way to see what's really going on out there. You can take your time, stop and look at things, cut down side streets and up alleys, crisscross through parks, and explore the world at your own pace. Just don't spoil a good walk by doing that dorky-looking race walking with your arms pumping furiously like pistons and a grim look on your face like you're standing in the rain, constipated, at a funeral.
You say it takes too much time to walk places? Well, look at it this way: Walking on a regular basis can literally add years to your life. The time you lose by not driving to the store, you more than make up for when you're still here enjoying life rather than residing six feet under.
So, today, walk. That's it. Walk a mile or two and see what happens, see what you see. And, oh yeah -- enjoy!
Get busy!
"Activity and sadness are incompatible."
-- Christian Nevell Bovee
Depressed? Get your ass in gear! There's always stuff to do, people to help, trash to pick up, games to play, activity infinitum. Activity, any activity, can act as a refocusing device. You put your mind on the actions you're taking rather than the temporary emotions you're feeling, and, like magic, those emotions fade.
I had a friend in college who anytime he was feeling down just went out and played whatever sport was available. His mantra was "Give me a ball, any ball." He'd kick a soccer ball around, shoot hoops, practice kicking imaginary field goals, hit a tennis ball off a wall, go bowling -- he didn't care what sport it was. He didn't even care if he had anyone to play with. Give him a ball and all was right with the world.
It's easy. Try it. Next time you're feeling down, get up and do something, anything. And keep doing it until the blues pass. Motion changes emotion. Play your way to mental health.
-- Christian Nevell Bovee
Depressed? Get your ass in gear! There's always stuff to do, people to help, trash to pick up, games to play, activity infinitum. Activity, any activity, can act as a refocusing device. You put your mind on the actions you're taking rather than the temporary emotions you're feeling, and, like magic, those emotions fade.
I had a friend in college who anytime he was feeling down just went out and played whatever sport was available. His mantra was "Give me a ball, any ball." He'd kick a soccer ball around, shoot hoops, practice kicking imaginary field goals, hit a tennis ball off a wall, go bowling -- he didn't care what sport it was. He didn't even care if he had anyone to play with. Give him a ball and all was right with the world.
It's easy. Try it. Next time you're feeling down, get up and do something, anything. And keep doing it until the blues pass. Motion changes emotion. Play your way to mental health.
Never...
"Never start a sentence with 'I should've...'"
-- Advertisement on the wall of a bus shelter
Wisdom is where you find it when you least expect it. Especially where and when you least expect it. Walking back home from the post office (yep, I live in a neighborhood where I can walk to the post office, and most everything else, of daily importance -- wouldn't have it any other way), I glance at an old woman sitting inside a dirty bus shelter, and right there on the wall, words of wisdom pop out at me.
Why never begin a sentence with "I should've...?" First, you're about to bore people to tears. Nobody wants to hear what you should have done. Learn your lesson in silence. Secondly, you did what you did. There is no should. There's just what really happened. Reality. And here you are now in a different reality. Just quit "shoulding" on yourself, and everything will be just fine!
Next time, in a similar situation, you may respond differently. Hopefully, you'll respond differently not because you should, but because you're more in tune with what is and thus can create a more appropriate response.
And life goes on. And all the woulda, coulda, shouldas don't amount to a hill of dung. Breathe in, breathe out. What do you want to do right now?
-- Advertisement on the wall of a bus shelter
Wisdom is where you find it when you least expect it. Especially where and when you least expect it. Walking back home from the post office (yep, I live in a neighborhood where I can walk to the post office, and most everything else, of daily importance -- wouldn't have it any other way), I glance at an old woman sitting inside a dirty bus shelter, and right there on the wall, words of wisdom pop out at me.
Why never begin a sentence with "I should've...?" First, you're about to bore people to tears. Nobody wants to hear what you should have done. Learn your lesson in silence. Secondly, you did what you did. There is no should. There's just what really happened. Reality. And here you are now in a different reality. Just quit "shoulding" on yourself, and everything will be just fine!
Next time, in a similar situation, you may respond differently. Hopefully, you'll respond differently not because you should, but because you're more in tune with what is and thus can create a more appropriate response.
And life goes on. And all the woulda, coulda, shouldas don't amount to a hill of dung. Breathe in, breathe out. What do you want to do right now?
Follow Through
"Always do sober what you said you would do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut!"
-- Ernest Hemingway
Consciousness is a fickle thing. What seems like a great idea when you're in one state of consciousness, seems totally absurd when you gravitate to another. Drunk and sober are just two of those states. You move through many flavors of consciousness on a daily basis, even without the help of chemical influences.
Integrity is about being integrated, about coalescing those various states into a coherent whole called a soul. A soulful person may show the world many personas, but at their core you'll find unity. That unity is expressed through their ability to follow through, to transcend their current emotional state and do what they said they'd do, even when their perspective on it has changed.
But the second part of Hemingway's advice is equally important -- keep your mouth shut! In sales training we say, "Under promise and over deliver." Don't shoot off your mouth in the heat of the moment, in an attempt to impress, or even from good intentions. Think things through first. Or listen to your intuition. Better to surprise people with an unexpected gift than to disappoint them with a broken promise.
So, today, go out there and get drunk! Then whatever half-ass commitments you make, follow through on them. That'll learn you! Or, as an alternative, do a bit of a self-inventory. Look and see what unfulfilled promises you could still make good on, and then do just that. Still too much work? OK, just shut up. Go all weekend without making any questionable commitments. Don't agree to do anything that you really don't want to do. Silence is not only golden, it's also a helluva lot less work!
-- Ernest Hemingway
Consciousness is a fickle thing. What seems like a great idea when you're in one state of consciousness, seems totally absurd when you gravitate to another. Drunk and sober are just two of those states. You move through many flavors of consciousness on a daily basis, even without the help of chemical influences.
Integrity is about being integrated, about coalescing those various states into a coherent whole called a soul. A soulful person may show the world many personas, but at their core you'll find unity. That unity is expressed through their ability to follow through, to transcend their current emotional state and do what they said they'd do, even when their perspective on it has changed.
But the second part of Hemingway's advice is equally important -- keep your mouth shut! In sales training we say, "Under promise and over deliver." Don't shoot off your mouth in the heat of the moment, in an attempt to impress, or even from good intentions. Think things through first. Or listen to your intuition. Better to surprise people with an unexpected gift than to disappoint them with a broken promise.
So, today, go out there and get drunk! Then whatever half-ass commitments you make, follow through on them. That'll learn you! Or, as an alternative, do a bit of a self-inventory. Look and see what unfulfilled promises you could still make good on, and then do just that. Still too much work? OK, just shut up. Go all weekend without making any questionable commitments. Don't agree to do anything that you really don't want to do. Silence is not only golden, it's also a helluva lot less work!
Emotions Are Beliefs in Motion
"Our emotions are the result of our beliefs. They have nothing to do with what is really out there. If we believe one thing, then certain emotions will follow. If we believe some other thing, we will experience different emotions."
--Eva Wong. Lieh-Tzu: A Taoist Guide to Practical Living, p. 101.
Beliefs -- who needs them? Isn't Reality enough to keep us engaged, satisfied and amused? Beliefs are an unnecessary intermediary between you and What Is. They're like the Pope acting as a middleman for God. And neither God nor Reality requested a middleman.
Emotions are always reactions. And reactive living isn't, in my opinion, the best way to enjoy life. But, if you get a big thrill out of riding the emotional roller coaster, at least ride it based on what's really happening, not what you believe to be happening.
Lots of New Age pundits, recommend that you change your beliefs to change your emotions. And they're right, it works. What they forget to point out is that when you employ that strategy, you're still trapped in the world of belief, you're still spending your life trying to feel good.
There's a simpler way. Remove the filters of belief and see what's really going on -- both externally and internally. Perceive, observe, be.
Emotions will come and go, like clouds in a summer sky. You, if you persist in laughing all your beliefs into oblivion, will find yourself residing in a place deeper than emotion, higher than the roller coaster can ever take you.
Change your beliefs and you change your emotions. Jettison your beliefs, detach from your emotions, and you find yourself at one with Reality. The choice is yours.
--Eva Wong. Lieh-Tzu: A Taoist Guide to Practical Living, p. 101.
Beliefs -- who needs them? Isn't Reality enough to keep us engaged, satisfied and amused? Beliefs are an unnecessary intermediary between you and What Is. They're like the Pope acting as a middleman for God. And neither God nor Reality requested a middleman.
Emotions are always reactions. And reactive living isn't, in my opinion, the best way to enjoy life. But, if you get a big thrill out of riding the emotional roller coaster, at least ride it based on what's really happening, not what you believe to be happening.
Lots of New Age pundits, recommend that you change your beliefs to change your emotions. And they're right, it works. What they forget to point out is that when you employ that strategy, you're still trapped in the world of belief, you're still spending your life trying to feel good.
There's a simpler way. Remove the filters of belief and see what's really going on -- both externally and internally. Perceive, observe, be.
Emotions will come and go, like clouds in a summer sky. You, if you persist in laughing all your beliefs into oblivion, will find yourself residing in a place deeper than emotion, higher than the roller coaster can ever take you.
Change your beliefs and you change your emotions. Jettison your beliefs, detach from your emotions, and you find yourself at one with Reality. The choice is yours.
Being Rich
"One is not rich by what one owns, but more by what one is able to do without with dignity."
-- Immanuel Kant
Look at all the stuff you've got! Way too much stuff, I'm guessing. Stuff you haven't used for years, stuff you don't know why you bought in the first place, stuff you've outgrown, stuff that is worn out, stuff that you don't even like but for some crazy reason still have laying around. (No, I don't mean your husband!).
What can you "do without with dignity?" Damn near everything! I didn't own a microwave until just about a year ago when I sorted of "inherited" one because it came with an office that I rented. People would say to me all the time "How can you live without a microwave?" As if they were saying "How can you live without a face?" or "How can you live without God in your life?" It was easy. In fact, so easy that I recently gave the microwave to somebody else who wanted it for their office. I suspect that they were living fine without it, too, but now there's one less thing that I have to cart around. So, I live without a microwave, with dignity, and make better popcorn with my good old hot air popper.
Too much stuff does not create richness but obscures it. It's hard to experience the richness of life itself when you're always busy learning how to program a new remote, or becoming the Wii bowling champ, or suffering from Crackberry Thumb.
The same is true of experience. You don't need to experience every goddam place, every goddam activity there is on the face of the Earth in order to be rich. It's the consciousness you bring to the experience, more than the external content of the experience, that determines the richness of your life. You can be richer in your own hometown than at the Pyramids of Giza, not to mention a helluva lot richer at the local swimming hole than at Caesar's Palace in Vegas.
So today, simplify. Pare down. Do without. Give stuff away. Experience life's richness. Experience the wealth and dignity that resides right within your own soul. Stuff is just stuff. Only consciousness is real. May you always be conscious of the richness within you and around you!
-- Immanuel Kant
Look at all the stuff you've got! Way too much stuff, I'm guessing. Stuff you haven't used for years, stuff you don't know why you bought in the first place, stuff you've outgrown, stuff that is worn out, stuff that you don't even like but for some crazy reason still have laying around. (No, I don't mean your husband!).
What can you "do without with dignity?" Damn near everything! I didn't own a microwave until just about a year ago when I sorted of "inherited" one because it came with an office that I rented. People would say to me all the time "How can you live without a microwave?" As if they were saying "How can you live without a face?" or "How can you live without God in your life?" It was easy. In fact, so easy that I recently gave the microwave to somebody else who wanted it for their office. I suspect that they were living fine without it, too, but now there's one less thing that I have to cart around. So, I live without a microwave, with dignity, and make better popcorn with my good old hot air popper.
Too much stuff does not create richness but obscures it. It's hard to experience the richness of life itself when you're always busy learning how to program a new remote, or becoming the Wii bowling champ, or suffering from Crackberry Thumb.
The same is true of experience. You don't need to experience every goddam place, every goddam activity there is on the face of the Earth in order to be rich. It's the consciousness you bring to the experience, more than the external content of the experience, that determines the richness of your life. You can be richer in your own hometown than at the Pyramids of Giza, not to mention a helluva lot richer at the local swimming hole than at Caesar's Palace in Vegas.
So today, simplify. Pare down. Do without. Give stuff away. Experience life's richness. Experience the wealth and dignity that resides right within your own soul. Stuff is just stuff. Only consciousness is real. May you always be conscious of the richness within you and around you!
Confucius say...
"To be truly happy and contented, you must let go of the idea of what it means to be happy or content. When you understand there is really nothing to be happy or sad about, then you will be truly contented."
-- Confucius
Good old Confucius -- he nails this shit, doesn't he? It's simple: Ideas about happiness block happiness. You can either have the ideas or the happiness. You can't have both.
But let's go deeper. Going deeper we find that you can't be truly content if you still let external things make you either happy or sad. Contentment, like so many cool things -- enlightenment, peace, the Kingdom of Heaven -- lies within. Base your happiness or sadness on things or ideas, and contentment will escape you faster than Roadrunner escapes Wily Coyote.
Today's exercise is simple -- give up your ideas about happiness and find contentment within. I said simple, not easy. Most likely your rational mind is already protesting, throwing up all kinds of reasons why it is imperative that you continue your external search for happiness. Ignore it, laugh at it, thank it for its input, and then pat it on its pointy, little head and send it off to bed.
Contrary to popular opinion here in the West, you cannot have happy life if you let your rational mind rule. You can have an organized life, a regimented life, a well designed life, but not a happy life. Because no matter how great a job your rational mind does in organizing and controlling everything, the Universe will still intrude and fuck it all up. It's called grace.
Contentment is not about getting what you want. It is not about fulfilling desires. It's knowing that you are truly already full. Full of Spirit, full of Tao, full of elan vital -- called it what you want -- it lies within, it pours forth, and it is much more about giving than getting.
-- Confucius
Good old Confucius -- he nails this shit, doesn't he? It's simple: Ideas about happiness block happiness. You can either have the ideas or the happiness. You can't have both.
But let's go deeper. Going deeper we find that you can't be truly content if you still let external things make you either happy or sad. Contentment, like so many cool things -- enlightenment, peace, the Kingdom of Heaven -- lies within. Base your happiness or sadness on things or ideas, and contentment will escape you faster than Roadrunner escapes Wily Coyote.
Today's exercise is simple -- give up your ideas about happiness and find contentment within. I said simple, not easy. Most likely your rational mind is already protesting, throwing up all kinds of reasons why it is imperative that you continue your external search for happiness. Ignore it, laugh at it, thank it for its input, and then pat it on its pointy, little head and send it off to bed.
Contrary to popular opinion here in the West, you cannot have happy life if you let your rational mind rule. You can have an organized life, a regimented life, a well designed life, but not a happy life. Because no matter how great a job your rational mind does in organizing and controlling everything, the Universe will still intrude and fuck it all up. It's called grace.
Contentment is not about getting what you want. It is not about fulfilling desires. It's knowing that you are truly already full. Full of Spirit, full of Tao, full of elan vital -- called it what you want -- it lies within, it pours forth, and it is much more about giving than getting.
When All Illusions Are Gone
"When all the illusions about whatever social story you have been told about being male, female, about being a white person, black person, brown person red person, yellow person are gone, when all the shallow ideas about what religion means are gone, then, you are yourself. You are it. We call that it God."
-- Ananda Abinou
Ideas are seductive traps. Especially ideas about who you are, about who anyone else is, about who God is, or about what the world is. Most ideas are just prejudices in drag. Prejudice = to pre-judge. When you prejudge, you already know. Or think you know. You're not living in the present moment, you're living in your head, the home of illusion.
When you let go of all you know, here you are. Yourself. It. Unrefined and undefined. You have not divided and dissected either your self or the world. You are one with it all. You are God.
No, not you're ego. It isn't an "I'm God and you're not" kind of thing. It's an "I'm God and you're God and it's all God" kind of thing. No boundaries. No illusions. Just what is -- the Divine.
Try it. Try letting go of all self-definition. It may take awhile, but you'll eventually get the knack. Caterpillars don't butterfly in a day. But one day they do. And you will, too -- escape the cocoon of self-definition and fly into Unity.
For today, just gently let go of your attachment to defining yourself, to separating yourself. Be willing to be in the world without prejudice, without the baggage of beliefs. Relax into being your deepest self. And if you're lucky, if the stars align and grace abides, just for a moment you may experience that you are indeed it, all of it, self without end. Amen.
-- Ananda Abinou
Ideas are seductive traps. Especially ideas about who you are, about who anyone else is, about who God is, or about what the world is. Most ideas are just prejudices in drag. Prejudice = to pre-judge. When you prejudge, you already know. Or think you know. You're not living in the present moment, you're living in your head, the home of illusion.
When you let go of all you know, here you are. Yourself. It. Unrefined and undefined. You have not divided and dissected either your self or the world. You are one with it all. You are God.
No, not you're ego. It isn't an "I'm God and you're not" kind of thing. It's an "I'm God and you're God and it's all God" kind of thing. No boundaries. No illusions. Just what is -- the Divine.
Try it. Try letting go of all self-definition. It may take awhile, but you'll eventually get the knack. Caterpillars don't butterfly in a day. But one day they do. And you will, too -- escape the cocoon of self-definition and fly into Unity.
For today, just gently let go of your attachment to defining yourself, to separating yourself. Be willing to be in the world without prejudice, without the baggage of beliefs. Relax into being your deepest self. And if you're lucky, if the stars align and grace abides, just for a moment you may experience that you are indeed it, all of it, self without end. Amen.
Theater of the Mind
"There is a theater in my mind. Only it is Off-Off-Broadway. The critics have panned it. It is, I know, time to close the show, but I don't know how."
-- Eric Weiner. The Geography of Bliss, p.88
Hmmm, sounds like Eric has constructed a damn good metaphor for the universal human condition. We all have mad, mad melodramas running through our heads. They're held over, not by popular demand, but merely because we've become stuck in the repetitive patterns that generate them.
I'm a lousy typist, so sometimes I wish that there was a little machine, about the size of an I-pod, that would read my thoughts and feed them directly onto the computer screen. But each time I have that fantasy, about half way into it I realize -- Jesus Christ the editing time alone would kill me! My mind is like a drunken monkey, running all over the place, and the crap it produces at times, isn't fit for the page, much less human consumption.
The thing is, though, every spiritual tradition has practices designed to "close the show" or at least slow it to a crawl. Meditation, concentration, yoga, prayer, sacred dancing, etc., were all created to clear the mind of the stories that run and ruin our lives. Take your pick, and soon the theater of the mind will no longer be the main attraction in your life.
Me, I prefer quiet, sitting meditation, and just being present in the world. Fritz Perls, the grandfather of Gestalt Therapy, advised us many years ago to, "Go out of your mind and come to your senses." It still seems like good advice.
The show will never close as long as there is an audience, even just an audience of one. So, walk out of the Mind Theater, focus your attention on something other than your own, repetitive stories, and eventually that Off-Off-Broadway play will close of its own accord. When it does, the only game in town will be the here and now. Welcome to Reality!
-- Eric Weiner. The Geography of Bliss, p.88
Hmmm, sounds like Eric has constructed a damn good metaphor for the universal human condition. We all have mad, mad melodramas running through our heads. They're held over, not by popular demand, but merely because we've become stuck in the repetitive patterns that generate them.
I'm a lousy typist, so sometimes I wish that there was a little machine, about the size of an I-pod, that would read my thoughts and feed them directly onto the computer screen. But each time I have that fantasy, about half way into it I realize -- Jesus Christ the editing time alone would kill me! My mind is like a drunken monkey, running all over the place, and the crap it produces at times, isn't fit for the page, much less human consumption.
The thing is, though, every spiritual tradition has practices designed to "close the show" or at least slow it to a crawl. Meditation, concentration, yoga, prayer, sacred dancing, etc., were all created to clear the mind of the stories that run and ruin our lives. Take your pick, and soon the theater of the mind will no longer be the main attraction in your life.
Me, I prefer quiet, sitting meditation, and just being present in the world. Fritz Perls, the grandfather of Gestalt Therapy, advised us many years ago to, "Go out of your mind and come to your senses." It still seems like good advice.
The show will never close as long as there is an audience, even just an audience of one. So, walk out of the Mind Theater, focus your attention on something other than your own, repetitive stories, and eventually that Off-Off-Broadway play will close of its own accord. When it does, the only game in town will be the here and now. Welcome to Reality!
Your Worst
"Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby your worst may be inferred."
-- Nathaniel Hawthorne
My girlfriend has on numerous occasions complained, "Nobody else really knows you. You're always so nice to everybody else." Putting aside for a minute the veracity of her complaint, my response is usually something like, "Well, I'm just not big on thrusting my asshole at the camera!"
We all want to put our best foot forward. If we have a choice, we want the photo to show our best side, and definitely not our asshole. But assholes we all are. At least sometimes. I bet even old Mother Teresa could be a real stickler for details and drive some of the less anal nuns nuts at times.
Be that as it may, I like Nate's advice. To be really transparent, really authentic, really true, we must at least infer that we're not the second coming of Christ. And what better way to show our less stellar side than by flashing a little red eye every now and again?
So today, an assignment that many of you have been eagerly awaiting-- let your inner asshole shine! Don't try and hide the mole on your soul, the blemishes beneath your beauty, the pimples that adorn your platinum car (say, what?). Just for today, be true, be true, be true, even to the worst parts of you. See how it feels to hide nothing, to let go of your persona, to fart and belch your way through life instead of blaming the dog.
Kris Kristofferson told us that "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose," maybe it's also just another word for nothing left to hide.
-- Nathaniel Hawthorne
My girlfriend has on numerous occasions complained, "Nobody else really knows you. You're always so nice to everybody else." Putting aside for a minute the veracity of her complaint, my response is usually something like, "Well, I'm just not big on thrusting my asshole at the camera!"
We all want to put our best foot forward. If we have a choice, we want the photo to show our best side, and definitely not our asshole. But assholes we all are. At least sometimes. I bet even old Mother Teresa could be a real stickler for details and drive some of the less anal nuns nuts at times.
Be that as it may, I like Nate's advice. To be really transparent, really authentic, really true, we must at least infer that we're not the second coming of Christ. And what better way to show our less stellar side than by flashing a little red eye every now and again?
So today, an assignment that many of you have been eagerly awaiting-- let your inner asshole shine! Don't try and hide the mole on your soul, the blemishes beneath your beauty, the pimples that adorn your platinum car (say, what?). Just for today, be true, be true, be true, even to the worst parts of you. See how it feels to hide nothing, to let go of your persona, to fart and belch your way through life instead of blaming the dog.
Kris Kristofferson told us that "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose," maybe it's also just another word for nothing left to hide.
Heaven All the Way
"All the way to heaven is heaven."
-- St. Catherine of Siena
Cathy knows there is no difference between the journey and the destination -- it's either all heaven, or there's no heaven. Sure, some days are better than others, if we're stuck on the emotional roller coaster. But if we live from the Spirit rather than the mind, then we trade in our E-ticket for peace, joy and love. Seems like one helluva deal!
For what is heaven but the realm of the Spirit? It's surely not some pie-in-the-sky, after death, white-winged fantasy world. Hopefully, we've all graduated from spiritual kindergarten long ago.
Heaven is here and now. Embedded in, indeed the essence of, each moment. Heaven has never "gone missing," it's just our vision that is less than perfect. The world doesn't need to change. Neither do we need to become saints. We simply need to see more deeply in order to perceive Reality. Otherwise, we spend our time stuck in the world of appearance, the world of illusion wondering what the hell we need to do to get to heaven.
You don't need to do anything other than see/realize that Heaven already is wherever you are. Heaven -- clean and green all the way! Or maybe that's clean and golden. Either way, choose your color and go. And, remember -- it all about enjoying the journey.
-- St. Catherine of Siena
Cathy knows there is no difference between the journey and the destination -- it's either all heaven, or there's no heaven. Sure, some days are better than others, if we're stuck on the emotional roller coaster. But if we live from the Spirit rather than the mind, then we trade in our E-ticket for peace, joy and love. Seems like one helluva deal!
For what is heaven but the realm of the Spirit? It's surely not some pie-in-the-sky, after death, white-winged fantasy world. Hopefully, we've all graduated from spiritual kindergarten long ago.
Heaven is here and now. Embedded in, indeed the essence of, each moment. Heaven has never "gone missing," it's just our vision that is less than perfect. The world doesn't need to change. Neither do we need to become saints. We simply need to see more deeply in order to perceive Reality. Otherwise, we spend our time stuck in the world of appearance, the world of illusion wondering what the hell we need to do to get to heaven.
You don't need to do anything other than see/realize that Heaven already is wherever you are. Heaven -- clean and green all the way! Or maybe that's clean and golden. Either way, choose your color and go. And, remember -- it all about enjoying the journey.
Your Own Way
"Each of us make our own true way, and when we do, that way will express the universal."
-- Suzuki Roshi
There is a beautiful synergy between the individual and the Universal. It's simple: You, as an individual, are a unique manifestation of the Universal, you are a one-and-only phenomenon whose unfolding the Universe naturally and wholly supports.
But to receive that support, you must discover and express your true self, your true way in the world. The universe doesn't cotton to phonies. You can't fake a true self, you can't follow the road most traveled and expect to arrive at your unique destination.
When you meet a person whose nailed it, who is easily and naturally living both individually and universally simultaneously, you not only see them in exquisite detail, you also see through them to the Great Beyond. The more they go about living in their own, idiosyncratic way, the more they express life's universal principles.
You can, too. Just don't be too swayed by popular opinion, television commercials, out-of-touch clergy, and well meaning, but clueless, friends and family. Look within. Feel without. Intuition, not billboards, scripture or Internet chat rooms, will guide you to your own true way.
You and the Universe -- together forever. Tune in and drop in. And, as always, enjoy!
-- Suzuki Roshi
There is a beautiful synergy between the individual and the Universal. It's simple: You, as an individual, are a unique manifestation of the Universal, you are a one-and-only phenomenon whose unfolding the Universe naturally and wholly supports.
But to receive that support, you must discover and express your true self, your true way in the world. The universe doesn't cotton to phonies. You can't fake a true self, you can't follow the road most traveled and expect to arrive at your unique destination.
When you meet a person whose nailed it, who is easily and naturally living both individually and universally simultaneously, you not only see them in exquisite detail, you also see through them to the Great Beyond. The more they go about living in their own, idiosyncratic way, the more they express life's universal principles.
You can, too. Just don't be too swayed by popular opinion, television commercials, out-of-touch clergy, and well meaning, but clueless, friends and family. Look within. Feel without. Intuition, not billboards, scripture or Internet chat rooms, will guide you to your own true way.
You and the Universe -- together forever. Tune in and drop in. And, as always, enjoy!
Daily Decrease
"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity."
-- Bruce Lee
As I write this, I am in the process of moving and getting rid of 95% of what I own. It feels great! At the beginning of the year 2000 I did a New Millennium Life Cleaning and sold my house and got rid of everything except my computer, a few books, some sentimental knick knacks and some clothes. It's amazing how much I've accumulated in the eight years since then!
But now, again, it's time for decrease. You know how Depak Chopra says that all the cells in your body are replaced over a seven year period? I'm thinking maybe every seven years is a perfect timeframe in which to get rid of everything I own and start over. Traveling lights has always been my preference.
But material goods aren't the only things that bog us down. Simplicity of the mind and heart are even more important. Getting rid of outworn ideas, shopworn theories, ridiculous prejudices, and bogus beliefs is both freeing and empowering. Being and living completely in the Now means not being tied to, and burdened by, mental and emotional baggage.
Detachment is the issue. You can have and enjoy butt loads of stuff as long as you are detached from it. But, really, why own it? Why fill your life and your mind with stuff. It's much easier to perceive the workings of the Spirit if you are not distracted by either too many toys or too many unprocessed emotions. It's all about letting go.
So, today, look around your world and see what you can eliminate from your life. Look inside yourself as well and see what recurring thought patterns and emotional reactions are merely mucking up your mind. And then, consciously let go. Sell or give away the unused stuff. Gently surrender the internal contents -- let it decompose and return to you the space and energy that it has been holding.
Do this today and every day. Daily decrease. Spacious living. Reveling in Spirit.
-- Bruce Lee
As I write this, I am in the process of moving and getting rid of 95% of what I own. It feels great! At the beginning of the year 2000 I did a New Millennium Life Cleaning and sold my house and got rid of everything except my computer, a few books, some sentimental knick knacks and some clothes. It's amazing how much I've accumulated in the eight years since then!
But now, again, it's time for decrease. You know how Depak Chopra says that all the cells in your body are replaced over a seven year period? I'm thinking maybe every seven years is a perfect timeframe in which to get rid of everything I own and start over. Traveling lights has always been my preference.
But material goods aren't the only things that bog us down. Simplicity of the mind and heart are even more important. Getting rid of outworn ideas, shopworn theories, ridiculous prejudices, and bogus beliefs is both freeing and empowering. Being and living completely in the Now means not being tied to, and burdened by, mental and emotional baggage.
Detachment is the issue. You can have and enjoy butt loads of stuff as long as you are detached from it. But, really, why own it? Why fill your life and your mind with stuff. It's much easier to perceive the workings of the Spirit if you are not distracted by either too many toys or too many unprocessed emotions. It's all about letting go.
So, today, look around your world and see what you can eliminate from your life. Look inside yourself as well and see what recurring thought patterns and emotional reactions are merely mucking up your mind. And then, consciously let go. Sell or give away the unused stuff. Gently surrender the internal contents -- let it decompose and return to you the space and energy that it has been holding.
Do this today and every day. Daily decrease. Spacious living. Reveling in Spirit.
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