tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73600992488986485892024-03-12T23:43:46.436-05:00Wisdom EverywhereDavid Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.comBlogger365125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-24216318023447342272010-12-06T15:04:00.001-06:002010-12-06T15:06:21.028-06:00Becoming Silence<b>"And as we stray further from love we multiply the words. Had we remained together we could have become a silence."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Yehuda Amichai</b></div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-76311448692096706782010-12-06T14:40:00.005-06:002010-12-06T15:02:39.316-06:00The Ephemeral Nature of Thought<b>"Good and bad, happy and sad, all thoughts vanish into emptiness, like the imprint of a bird in the sky."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- The Sadhana of Mahamudra</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Words of wisdom are a lot like pissing in the wind. You may get a little blow back, you may nourish a few flowers, but ultimately they don't amount to doodley squat. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's OK. As long as were not seduced into believing that the words themselves can embody truth. They can't. They can at best point the way towards it. But even though the map is not the territory, it sure as hell helps sometimes to have one!</div><div><br /></div><div>So, though all these wise thoughts will vanish eventually, that doesn't mean that we can't use them now to help guide our way through life. Many times the remembrance of a particular pithy phrase has saved my bacon when I've been distraught, mislead, or just plain stupid. I hope at least some of these quotations have the same effect upon you. </div><div><br /></div><div>But on an even deeper level, when we begin to assimilate and live the wisdom we read about, our entire lives change. We may not become richer, more successful or more handsome, but we experience life differently, more completely. And so it's harder to truly become wiser without becoming happier. </div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks for traveling with me for a short way. No matter where you are now in life, no matter where you may go, may wisdom and happiness permeate your soul!</div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-66547803194931906532010-12-06T14:14:00.006-06:002010-12-06T14:40:15.475-06:00As If I Were Great<b>"I am going to live the rest of my life as if I were a great man... I'm going to concentrate my life on the biggest ideals and ideas I can handle."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- James Michener</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>James sounds like a charter member of the As If Club. Club. Motto: Fake It 'Till You Make It! Anyone can join at anytime -- all it takes is a change of attitude.</div><div><br /></div><div>Most of us, however, spend our lives "playing small," as Marianne Williamson so famously put it. Instead of concentrating on the biggest and grandest parts of life, instead of owning our own greatness, we get by. We live in the shadows of the mountain top of human potential with our brethren who have silently agreed with us not to transcend the normal neurosis that passes for human life. Too bad.</div><div><br /></div><div>Whether we are as successful as Michener was in the journey he chose to undertake, we really have nothing to lose, except our own limitations. If he had written one hundred books and none of them had become best sellers, he still would have been richer for the experience of having written them.</div><div><br /></div><div>But your thing may not be writing. No matter. Their are thousands of ways to pursue the major ideas and the cosmic ideals. You must find your own path up the mountain, and it will, most likely, be very different from that of James Michener, or anyone else.</div><div><br /></div><div>Michener made the above pronouncement at age 40, before he had written a single book. Whatever your age, it is never too late to live as if you were great. It is never too late to focus upon the biggest ideas and ideals you can handle. There is really only one perfect time to do anything -- now.</div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-20838111270145679602010-12-06T13:00:00.007-06:002010-12-06T13:32:12.878-06:00The Truth Ain't Sexy!<b>"Truth is as poor as Job, as barren as the desert sand, and as boring as an old second-hand bookseller.</b><div><b><br /></b><div><b>-- Hjalmar Soderberg</b></div></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>No wonder the truth has so few friends! It's redeeming qualities are hidden, and it's got no voluptuousness or virileness to attract people to it. The truth stands alone.</div><div><br /></div><div>As well it should. The truth has not entered a popularity contest. The very fact that most people coldly ignore it, is, to paraphrase the Tao Te Ching, a sort of proof that it is indeed the truth!</div><div><br /></div><div>Seekers of the truth, and to an even larger degree, speakers of the truth, are reviled, laughed at, and even pitied in most cultures. Dreamers philosophers and mystics, are assumed to be effete and less involved in life than your average Joe Six Pack. Nothing could be further from the truth.</div><div><br /></div><div>To engage life at its deepest levels, the levels where ultimate truth resides, requires a certain spiritual musculature that makes Arnold Schwarzenegger look downright wimpy. The truth both requires and elicits strength, even more so because it has no natural sex appeal. Seeing truth is like seeing the incredible beauty in the homely girl at the high school dance rather than merely being dazzled by some Barbiesque bimbo and her silicone sisters. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, don't expect truth to find truth standing provocatively on the street corner whispering, "Hey philosopher, want a date?" The corner is home to all flash and no substance. </div><div><br /></div><div>Truth will never seduce you; you must seek it out with both insight and perspicacity. And in your search you'll fall asleep reading, fall in love with illusion, and fall for demigods and drag queens. Just keep on keeping on. Somewhere, hidden in the poverty, bareness, and boredom, truth will indeed be found.</div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-4112516209608302242010-12-06T09:29:00.005-06:002010-12-06T11:37:03.566-06:00Conspicuous Consumption<b>"We are encouraged to spend money we don't have, on things we don't need, to create impressions that don't last, on people we don't care about."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Tim Jackson</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>It's funny. I posted this quotation as a status update on Facebook, and within minutes three of my friends responded with comments that basically said "not me." Well, I'm glad that my friends are so economically and psychologically enlightened, but I think we've all been guilty of at least some of what Tim points out above.</div><div><br /></div><div>But to take a step back, he is not pointing fingers at any specific consumer, per se. What he's saying is that retailers, advertisers, and even our national economic policy encourages people to spend beyond their means. And any time you're buying stuff on credit you are literally spending beyond your current means. </div><div><br /></div><div>The fact that retailers and advertisers encourage this is expected and nearly universally accepted. But the fact that our economic health as a nation is based upon people buying crap they don't really need with money they don't really have is a national disgrace. Better for the economy to crash and burn (which it will do eventually in on way or another, anyway) than to continue to prop it up with conspicuous consumption!</div><div><br /></div><div>Back to my friends. As enlightened as they, and we, like to see ourselves, if we look around our homes (many of which are, in and of themselves, too freakin' big) we'll find all kinds of stuff we don't need. Why we bought it, whether it was to impress others or not, is a question we can sort out with our therapists, but the fact is we are all complicit victims with both Madison avenue and Wall Street.</div><div><br /></div><div>What to do? Divest! Get rid of all that crap you don't need. Simplify, simplify, simplify. Or get rid of it all and start over. Hopefully with more consciousness and less acquisitiveness.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then you can invest your time and money in more important things. Like creativity, helping others, caring for the planet, finding joy within and sharing it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Life is so much more than just consumption. And it's so much more enjoyable when you're not ruled by the marketplace. Move beyond the current economic system and explore the alternatives. In all kinds of unexpected ways, the Universe will thank you.</div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-44220188011624534482010-12-03T08:09:00.005-06:002010-12-03T08:29:29.709-06:00Liking Overcomes Judgement<b>"My father says I'm a lazy son of a bitch and a disgrace to my heredity, but I don't care because I like him too much."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Clement Greenberg</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>People will judge you. No matter. Though it seems to be part of our nature to be judgmental, you don't have to judge them back. Instead, you can choose to focus upon what is good about them and simply like them regardless of their judgments of you. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's not always easy to take the high road, but, as has been said many times, it's a lot less crowded! Many people go through life as if their only purpose is to generate opinions and make judgments. In other words, they waste a large portion of their time adding nothing of value to the world. And, even more absurdly, their opinions and judgments actually decrease, rather than increase, their own happiness!</div><div><br /></div><div>Don't try and change them. It doesn't work. Don't fight fire with fire. Instead us the power of liking. Everybody (yes everybody!) has some stellar qualities. It's up to you, as a "relationship archeologist" to unearth those qualities no matter how hidden and moldy they may be. </div><div><br /></div><div>Why? Because it's a helluva lot more fun than getting stuck in the judgmental cycle. Liking feels so much better than judging -- just give it a try!</div><div><br /></div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-26839499441066646112010-12-02T08:44:00.004-06:002010-12-02T09:07:19.280-06:00Criticism Versus Self-Improvement<b>"Give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Thomas Jefferson</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Damn it's fun to criticize other people! And it's not like they don't deserve it. The problem is that no matter how good it makes your ego feel, criticizing others is a total waste of your time. Rarely do people willingly and joyfully accept your criticism, and even less rarely do they actually change as a result of it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Self-improvement, on the other hand, always pays dividends. No matter what the world does, no matter what other people do, you will more empowered to face the future if you practice self-improvement today. </div><div><br /></div><div>What does that look like? It may mean going for a run rather than sitting in the coffee shop gossiping, or meditating instead of watching some inane show on TV, or developing a new skill instead of buying more useless crap from China at the mall. Self-improvement is anything that </div><div>expands your choices, skills, and consciousness. It is your way to become more fully you.</div><div><br /></div><div>And others? They're really none of your business. Their shortcomings will never be remedied by your criticism but only through their own efforts at self-improvement. You can encourage them to do so, but don't let your so-called encouragement be merely criticism in drag. Focus upon yourself, and you'll be amazed how other people magically improve as well, whether they actually change or not!</div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-13977446752806126092010-12-02T07:45:00.004-06:002010-12-02T08:29:34.229-06:00Creative Darkness<b>"All creation emerges from darkness."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Michael Meade</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>We seem to have a natural aversion to darkness. When the days grow shorter so many people become depressed that there is now a medical name for it -- Seasonal Affective Disorder. When we face similar dark periods in our personal lives and relationships, we either push the darkness away, run towards the light, or attempt to ignore it. And our culture's attitude towards death, what many consider the ultimate darkness, is perhaps best epitomized by Dylan Thomas' poetic injunction "Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light."</div><div><br /></div><div>And yet, nearly every scientific theory and religious mythology has the Universe beginning in darkness. More great literature, music, and art have been inspired by periods of darkness than by all the happy times put together. And where would country music be without alcoholism, divorce, prison, and heartbreak -- all major manifestations of darkness?</div><div><br /></div><div>So, instead of pushing away the darkness, bemoaning it, or slapping on a smiley face and pretending it doesn't exist, what if we embraced it, snuggled into it, explored its every nook and cranny? What might we find? What might we create? What might we redeem?</div><div><br /></div><div>There's no way of knowing without going there personally. Second hand reports of darkness, while entertaining, can never replace first hand experience in terms of sparking creativity. Because that's what creativity is -- a spark in the dark. It's not even a small flame at first, much less a conflagration. It's a tiny spark in a large dark expanse, a spark so small that if you're not paying attention you miss it altogether.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the tiny spark is where it all begins. Enflamed by idea, intuition and passion, it is the mini-spark that grows to burn away both the darkness and its causative factors. Each new creation brings a bit more light into the world. It does not permanently destroy the darkness, but it does give the world one more of those thousand points of light.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you avoid the darkness, no new sparks are created. You can run toward the light, but you won't be adding to it. You will at best be one of those people who just seem a bit too happy to be real, who fill their lives with light that others have created in hopes of avoiding their own darkness. </div><div><br /></div><div>Don't do that. Share your light with everyone. Enter the collective darkness, enter your personal darkness, emerge with a new spark and watch all our eyes shine!</div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-53395542737630055642010-11-24T08:52:00.004-06:002010-11-25T10:15:26.742-06:00Something to Be Enthusiastic About<b>"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Charles Kingsley</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>I've never experienced much luxury in my life, but I grew up with parents who were prime believers in the Gospel of Comfort. Everything was done to make life as comfortable as possible, even though that goal went largely unacknowledged. </div><div><br /></div><div>Enthusiasm, on the other hand, was met with a bit of skepticism. If you were too enthusiastic about something, anything, you violated the other twin pillar of my parents hidden religion -- moderation. Moderately comfortable was what they were aiming for. Not mansions and yachts or even the biggest TV on the block, but nice everything. </div><div><br /></div><div>The problem is it's hard to get very enthusiastic about "nice." Enthusiasm, which comes from the Greek <i>en theos</i>, i.e., God within, is about passion excitement and internal fire. Nice just doesn't quite cut it.</div><div><br /></div><div>For most of us, it's hard to get very jazzed about the idea of living a nice life. We need something more. We need something to both draw energy from, and invest energy in, something that makes us really <i>want</i> to get up in the morning. </div><div><br /></div><div>If we have that, as Chuck points out, we're happy. We're happy to be alive. We're happy to live another day and do that thing, or pursue that goal, that really sets us ablaze with the energy of life.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, forget trying to make your life one giant La-Z-Boy showroom. It's OK to be comfortable, but don't make the pursuit of comfort your number one goal in life. And luxury should receive even less of your attention. It is in fact totally unnecessary and a waste of planetary resources to fill your life with luxuries. And, even more important -- those yachts, mansions and Mazarattis won't really make you happy.</div><div><br /></div><div>Instead find something to be enthusiastic about -- one thing or many things -- and pour yourself into it or them. Give whatever you love, all you've got, and lo and behold, happiness will be your blessed byproduct. The God within transforms both your external world and you at the very same time.</div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-28123465280013312362010-11-24T05:25:00.004-06:002010-11-24T05:54:27.437-06:00Attachment = Suffering<b>"Suffering is a natural alarm, warning us that we're attaching to a thought; when we don't listen, we come to accept this suffering as an inevitable part of life. It's not."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Stephen Mitchell</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Pain is part of life. You stub your toe, you break your wrist, you grow old and infirm. Pains, basically physical in nature, will find you sooner or later, as long as you have a body in which they can take root.</div><div><br /></div><div>Suffering, however, is another matter entirely. Pain is a given; suffering is optional. Suffering comes from <i>not</i> accepting reality, <i>not</i> accepting pain, disappointment, and unfulfilled desires as a part and parcel of life. Suffering, as well known religious scholar Stevie M points out, comes from our attachment to our thoughts, i.e. the way we think life <i>should</i> be.</div><div><br /></div><div>Normally we think of our attachments as being to people, like lovers, family or friends, or to things, like our home, car, or the latest and greatest techno-gadget. But in reality our attachment is to our thoughts about these people and things, and especially our fears of losing them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Attachment is by its very nature based on fear and desire. We want life to turn out a certain way, and we're attached to those preferred results. The reason attachment produces inevitable suffering is that we never have complete control over those results, so we are always plagued by the ghosts of fear.</div><div><br /></div><div>In our culture, most people mistake attachment for love. They think that without attachment, we would be cold, emotionless drones. Nothing could be further from the truth. The detached life is a joyful life because you can revel in the pleasures of each moment without worrying about sustaining them. You know that they will inevitably pass, and you're fine with that.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anytime you start to suffer, you know attachment has crept back into your cranium. By releasing your desire to play God, your desire to have the world fulfill your wants and assuage your fears, you align yourself with reality, with what is. Reality may include pain but never suffering. Suffering always lies between your ears.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, enjoy all the nouns -- all the people, places, things, and events in your life. Let them be exactly who and what they are. Let go of your mental images of what should be. Reality is fine just the way it is. The sooner you can accept that, the easier it will be for both you and it to change.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-45240431357564709702010-11-23T12:13:00.009-06:002010-11-23T13:21:34.297-06:00Unconscious Do Gooders<b>"We must be one of those who do good unconsciously."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Marcus Aurelius</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Choosing to be a do-gooder doesn't really do anybody much good in the long run. Sure, some people will happily accept your assistance, and you might even get that warm little ego glow that sometimes accompanies volitional altruism. But in the end any ego-based act will produce as least as many negative consequences as positive ones. </div><div><br /></div><div>Why? Because egoic action is never done purely -- it always has an ulterior motive, and that motive queers the whole deal. It perverts our natural altruistic tendencies and twists them in the service of the ego. Sure, the homeless dude gets a buck in his cup, but it isn't because we really want to help the homeless dude, it's because we'll feel shitty about ourselves if we don't live up to our own self-image as a giving, caring individual.</div><div><br /></div><div>True generosity, on the other hand, is spontaneous -- unconscious as Marcus calls it. There's no intermediate idea of personal gain or of maintaining a positive persona. Unconscious do-gooders don't consider themselves to be particularly virtuous. Hell, they don't consider themselves at all!</div><div><br /></div><div>Somewhere deep inside you know what actions to take to be in alignment with the Universe and with universal good. When you allow those actions to manifest through, you without premeditating or taking credit for them, you are indeed doing God's work. Because you operate from a deeper level of selflessness, your acts are not creating opposing forces, and the results are just what they are, with no attachment on your part.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can't volitionally choose to be an unconscious do-gooder. All you can do is open to the Universe and move as the Spirt moves you. When you do that, nothing else matters.</div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-20841879520245303362010-11-23T10:58:00.005-06:002010-11-23T11:18:02.891-06:00Buttonhole Fame<b>"I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous, or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular, but because it never forgot what it could do."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Naomi Shihab Nye</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>What can you do? What can you do enjoyably and well? It may never get you on Dancing With the Stars, or the cover of Time Magazine or in the web's newest viral video, but who cares? If you do what you do for fame and fortune, you've already missed the boat. Don't "keep your eye on the prize," keep it on the task at hand -- that's where the real action is.</div><div><br /></div><div>Naomi knows this. Pulleys and buttonholes trump new media sensations, fifteen minutes of famers, and shallow celebrities. You can count on pulleys and button holes and thousands of other little things to do what they're suppose to do every time without complaint. Can the same be said about you?</div><div><br /></div><div>We are conditioned to want to be on the silver screen, in the NFL, running a multi-national corporation, or winning the inane contests seen on so-called "reality TV." We are then sold products designed to fill the holes left in our psyches when those absurd vocational dreams are left unfulfilled.</div><div><br /></div><div>Don't fall for it. If fame comes to you, let it come for some really outstanding work you've done and not merely because you've become the media darling du jour. If you're lucky, it won't come your way at all. And you'll go button holing and pullying along your merry way. Providing an essential service way out of the spotlight, you can be you, do your thing and prosper. Sounds like a fine life to me.</div><div><br /></div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-58123862990267576282010-11-23T10:25:00.008-06:002010-11-23T10:56:55.207-06:00Attention Promotes Satisfaction<b>"Gaining control of our attention -- the ability to put it where we want it, and keep it there for a sustained period of time -- is a prerequisite to a satisfying life."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Tony Schwartz</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>We all seem to have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) to some degree. And for many of us, thanks to the increased information overload provided by the new technologies, our condition continues to worsen.</div><div><br /></div><div>No matter what the current jargon says, you cannot really "multi-task." What you do is switch quickly between activities, thus never giving any activity your complete attention for long. Studies show that it in so doing you are in fact taking more time to do these activities than if you did each one of them separately!</div><div><br /></div><div>But that's not the worst part. The worst part is that your attention muscle is becoming both skittish and flabby. You are teaching yourself how <i>not</i> to concentrate. And without concentration the sustained effort required to produce significant results of any kind becomes damn near impossible!</div><div><br /></div><div>The spiritual practices of concentration, meditation, and contemplation, no matter from what tradition they are derived, are attention-training devices. They helps us focus upon what is most important in life. And only by developing this focus can we have a satisfying, meaningful, authentic life. </div><div><br /></div><div>Texting while driving is not going to make you happy. Returning emails while talking on the phone is not going to make you fulfilled. And talking while your mouth is full is just plain bad manners! </div><div><br /></div><div>Slow down to get ahead. Do one thing, completely and well. It may have been awhile since you've done that, but give it a try and see what happens. It may surprise you that life in the slow lane is deeper, calmer, and more satisfying than the chaotic and hyperactive dance that so often passes for productivity.</div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-72974152094688168272010-11-23T09:27:00.005-06:002010-11-23T09:56:06.713-06:00Informal Freedom<b>"What we do formally we freeze.</b><div><b>What we do informally we free."</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Paul Reps</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>The word "amateur" comes from the same French root as amore -- to love. Amateurs do what they do because they love it. They're not in it for the money, the ego gratification, or the power, but simply because they love doing the activity itself. </div><div><br /></div><div>And in their love, they are free. Free from coercion, free from structure, free from policies, and SOP's, free from the chase for the almighty dollar. In essence, they're free from form. They get to create, out of their love, their own form. And they can alter it whenever they wish. There's no formality in the heart of the amateur. </div><div><br /></div><div>Compare this with IRS regulations or the policies of the Catholic Church -- byzantine structures that definitely freeze the heart rather than free it! Formal clothes, as beautiful as they may look, are uncomfortable and constricting. Give me the aloha shirts, the sloppy sweaters, the crocs and jeans any day. Look at artists -- no formal dress there, especially when they're in the midst of creating. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, if you value your freedom, if you love an activity, or even a person, keep your interactions as informal as possible. Which may actually, at times, be harder than slipping into formalized, calcified patterns, like 9-5 jobs and marriage. </div><div><br /></div><div>The security implied by formality is a lie. It's not security you feel, it's the slow death of creativity, the demise of freedom. Go out into the world today and live in a wild, amateurish informal manner. Free don't freeze. Your soul will thank you.</div><div><br /></div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-36680168794839112822010-11-22T08:50:00.005-06:002010-11-22T09:20:50.606-06:00Friction Love<b>"Love is kindled through friction."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Michael Berg</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>If you've been around the block more than once, even if you were still riding your tricycle, you know that you can love somebody, even when you don't necessarily like them or approve of their behavior. Love and like are not like two different temperature ranges but more like two distinct animals. An elephant isn't just a major mouse, nor a mouse merely a puny elephant. Liking is one thing, loving another, and as illogical as it sounds, not liking can sometimes lead to love.</div><div><br /></div><div>Everytime you and a loved one overcome an obstacle together, make amends with each other, or find new mutual ground, you can deepen your love and take your relationships to a higher level. Finding ways to honor each other's differences while still reveling in your unity expands your love. Skillfully resolving and living through the so-called "bad times" just makes the good times gooder!</div><div><br /></div><div>So, never turn down your love light in the name of just getting along. Never wish the people you love were just like you and that conflict would never rear its cantankerous head. Wishing against reality is always a losing proposition! Instead, as corny as it sounds, choose to see conflict as opportunity -- an opportunity to strengthen, deepen, and expand your love, to love more even as you temporarily like less.</div><div><br /></div><div>Life is a friction dance. Sometimes there's a thin line between being really turned on and being rubbed raw, but it's a dance nonetheless. A dance of love. Through passion and chafing, through watusi and waltz, through ballroom and break dancing, your best choice is simply to dance on, dance on , dance on...</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-88949724316516490862010-11-22T08:20:00.004-06:002010-11-22T08:46:20.259-06:00Teachers, Teachers Everywhere<b>"When you really pay attention, everything is your teacher."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Ezra Bayda</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Having a guru is so 20th century! To undertake a student-teacher relationship with just one human being is so limiting that it's nearly a type of psychological/spiritual slavery. Spirit exists everywhere, in everyone and everything, and Spirit is the ultimate teacher.</div><div><br /></div><div>That doesn't mean that you can't learn specific skills (like woodworking), specific practices (like sitting meditation) or certain knowledge (like the history of the Catholic Church) from specific teachers. You can, obviously. And even though the Internet can provide you, with just a click of a mouse, the most human knowledge ever-assembled, there are still very good reasons to take face-to-face classes, engage in discussion, labs, apprenticeships, etc. But never, ever turn your spiritual life or human development over to any one teacher or system.</div><div><br /></div><div>The downsides of guru-teacher relationships are well documented, especially here in post-modern Western culture. And the bottom line is that these traditional teaching relationships are no longer necessary in this, the third age of spirituality, the Age of the Holy Spirit. And this is simply because Spirit, as mentioned above, is available always and everywhere, even in its ultimate secret hiding place -- deep inside you. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, learn from every teacher you can. Respect them, honor both their knowledge and their good character, but don't become their spiritual lackey. Surrender your attachment to your ego, surrender it on a daily basis. Just make sure you surrender it to Spirit, Itself, and not to some middleman, even if that middleman is seemingly well meaning.</div><div><br /></div><div>No more second hand God! That's the ticket. God within, God without -- everywhere you look, you are surrounded by Spirit manifesting as teachers. Welcome to the School of Life...</div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-1811420684206673602010-11-21T10:53:00.003-06:002010-11-21T11:13:09.936-06:00Impermanence Is Us<b>"All spiritual life begins with the shock of impermanence."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- David Guy</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>You're going to die. And everything and everyone you see, know, or can imagine will pass away as well. And that's the good news! Impermanence is not to be avoided, resisted, or mourned -- it is ridiculous to fight the inevitable. Instead, seeing the beauty in both creation and destruction, we can experience Spirit in this moment, right now. And, as Guy points out, that is just the beginning.</div><div><br /></div><div>But middle and end of spiritual life are much the same as the beginning -- marked by the recognition of the sacred ineffableness of each and every moment. Nothing is forever, nothing lasts. That's OK. That's as it should be. How do we know that's how it should be? Simple -- that's how it is. Reality trumps all shoulds. And reality's defining characteristics is that it is ever changing. </div><div><br /></div><div>So what? So, why "rage, rage against the dying of the light?" It matters not whether that death be of the physical body, of a once luscious relationship, or of an ideal job. None of them will ever last. Get over it already! </div><div><br /></div><div>Enjoy the now. Yeah, I know, everybody says that. And you know why they say it, even if they can't live it? Because it's true! Trite sayings are deep truths, popularized and diluted. These forms of bumper sticker wisdom too shall pass.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today it's enough to recognize that. Tomorrow it will be enough to see it anew. Impermanence on and on for as far as the mind's eye can see. And you riding the waves of change with a big shit-eating grin on your face. At least for now....</div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-30120595876827739392010-11-21T10:00:00.004-06:002010-11-21T10:40:53.799-06:00Just to Be<b>"Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Abraham Heschel</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>We live in a culture of achievers. We are expected to keep busy, dammit! And it's even better if that busyness produces some sort of tangible results. It doesn't seem to matter to most people whether their busyness or productivity is enjoyable or not. Work is not supposed to be fun! And it's all about the work. How in the hell else can you achieve your full potential?</div><div><br /></div><div>What we forget is that being is the bedrock of existence; being precedes doing. There are alot of people running around doing a whole lot of stuff who can't just be to save their soul. They define themselves by what they do, by what they achieve, and even by what they fail to do. Being doesn't even cross their minds because how can you stand out and differentiate yourself merely by being? Damned if I know.</div><div><br /></div><div>Doing feeds your ego, but no matter what you do it doesn't change your Spirit one iota. Spirit is about being and living, not about doing, succeeding, or achieving. When you recognize the holiness of life, the wholeness of life, just being is enough. That doesn't mean that you stop all doing, merely that doing becomes a spontaneous expression of being rather than a means to a desired end. Awash in the blessing of being, you happily live rather than do this or that in a desperate attempt to be happy. </div><div><br /></div><div>Almost every legitimate spiritual path recommends that you begin each day with being rather than jumping right into doing. Meditation, contemplation, prayer, tai chi, yoga -- all are ways of helping you access deeper levels of being before you undertake surface level doing. By coming out of being, both your mind and your doing are transformed. </div><div><br /></div><div>But it's a noisy, cacophonous world. Tuning into being requires awareness and conscious effort. Being who you are is both completely natural and extremely difficult. You must wake up to life's holiness again, again, and again. A good time to start is now.</div><div><br /></div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-71174753002452706102010-11-17T08:16:00.004-06:002010-11-17T08:30:32.850-06:00Salvation Begins<b>"The knowledge of our errors is the beginning of our salvation."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Epicurus</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>I don't know about you, but I'm a fuck up. I've fucked up so many times that I quit counting long ago. I do try, however, to be aware of my errors as soon as possible after I make them. And if I can, I rectify them.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm a long way from salvation. A really, really long way. You can't even actually see it from here, but rumor has it, it's out there (or in here) somewhere. And as far as I know, the only road to it is the Avenue of Errors. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Path of Perfection is an illusion. To even think you're walking it is itself an error! Ain't no perfect people, or else we're all perfect, which is probably a subject for another post. From the perspective of our ancient buddy Epicurus, self-knowledge, especially as it pertains to our mistakes, is the first step on that thousand mile journey to enlightenment. </div><div><br /></div><div>And so we precede with eyes wide open. Not playing phony holy, or ignoring our pimples and calling them dimples. We look in the mirror in the light of high noon. And while we don't always like what we see, we accept it and continue our reclamation project. </div><div><br /></div><div>Fuck ups of the world unite! We have nothing to lose but our blindness, ignorance, and self-deception.</div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-87831559370481208232010-11-17T08:02:00.004-06:002010-11-17T08:15:33.141-06:00Keep Dancing!<b>"I get up. I walk. I fall down. Meanwhile, I keep dancing."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Hillel</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Hillel's journey parallels our own exactly. Except that some of us whine "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up," even when we can. And many more of us get up, but have long ago quit dancing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Falling down is a given. Getting up, while not mandatory, is a damn good idea. Lying there bemoaning your fate never got anyone anywhere. </div><div><br /></div><div>But dancing, dancing's the key! While the falling down and getting up are a part and parcel of life, it's dancing that makes life worth living; it's boogying your butt off that makes life fun. Give up dancing, and you've given up truly living. </div><div><br /></div><div>So dance with a partner or dance alone. Dance the steps you learned when young, or do that whirling, hippie, free form dancing that you see at jam band shows. </div><div><br /></div><div>No matter. It's not a contest. It's not something inane, like Dancing With the Stars. It's life. And it's meant to be a celebration, a party. </div><div><br /></div><div>Dance on and on and on.......</div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-18547206910701465542010-11-17T07:51:00.003-06:002010-11-17T08:02:43.605-06:00Beyond Death<b>"Seeing death as the end of life is like seeing the horizon as the end of the ocean."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- David Sedaris</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>I don't know what happens after we die, and neither do you. Sure, you can tell me what you believe, but, quite frankly, I don't want to hear it. Belief has nothing to do with death. </div><div><br /></div><div>Mystery is what death is all about. It's the biggest, friggin' mystery there is! And it can't be solved, unravelled, or believed away. All you can do is accept your ignorance and continue to live. Until you don't. And then you'll find out. </div><div><br /></div><div>While we're still here, there's a whole lot to do that is far more interesting than speculating on what happens next. Living in the present is one awesome, or awe-full, surprise after another. That's where our attention needs to be, not on the other shore. We'll each arrive there soone enough. </div><div><br /></div><div>Meet you on the other side! Or, maybe not....</div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-61731370287358008422010-11-17T07:23:00.003-06:002010-11-17T07:47:05.084-06:00Transcending Experts<b>"Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done and why. Then do it."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Robert Heinlein</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Experts know the past. They know what was probable when they became experts. They're betting with the house, but as every gamble knows, the house doesn't <i>always</i> win.</div><div><br /></div><div>Experts are a great form of motivation. Nothing feels much better than proving the experts wrong. Their forte is trouble shooting. They can show you all the possible pitfalls, sinkholes, and swamps that lay ahead, even before you even take the first step on your journey. And then you can choose altenrative route. </div><div><br /></div><div>Every new discovery, every creation, every innovation proves the experts wrong and places a fissure in the monolith of tradition that passes for wisdom. If you're the creative type, it's your job to crack their world wide open, and send the experts scurrying into retirement. Just be careful: Don't become the new, petrified, calcified expert yourself!</div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-77071897726349086212010-11-16T14:16:00.002-06:002010-11-16T14:35:46.692-06:00The Wisdom of Cher<b>"Romance and work are great diversions to keep you from dealing with yourself."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Cher</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Romance grabs your heart. Work infiltrates your head. And between them they can take you completely away from yourself. After all, your work is so important, and your relationships so compelling that working on yourself pales in comparison. The problem is that if you don't take time to get your own house in order, work becomes boring or overwhelming and romance a continuous melodrama. That's where stress enters the picture.</div><div><br /></div><div>What is "dealing with yourself?" It is noticing and letting go of all your dysfunctional patterns. It is finding balance between loving yourself and still call yourself on your bullshit. Dealing with yourself includes finding, embracing, and coming from your best self, instead of just reacting to the random stimuli of the world. </div><div><br /></div><div>Call it dealing with yourself, or working on yourself, or self-realization -- the label doesn't matter. What matters is that you don't let life's manifestations distract you from life's essence, from your essence. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today's a great day to recommit to being your best you, to refocusing your attention and energy on self growth. No one but you can grow yourself. </div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-63334786762782688592010-11-14T09:35:00.007-06:002010-11-14T10:39:53.925-06:00Two Tragedies<b>"In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Oscar Wilde</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Fulfilled desire and unfulfilled desire are two sides of the same coin. The problem is the coin is counterfeit. It pretends to be the currency of happiness, but as our man Oscar points out, it is the stuff of which tragedy is made. </div><div><br /></div><div>The problem lies both with desire itself, and with our attachment to our desires. Minimal desire is natural. We all desire life's basics -- food, clothing, shelter, sex, friendship, etc. And if we're lucky enough to be born into a reasonably affluent and healthy culture, those minimal desires are not so hard to achieve. </div><div><br /></div><div>The desires that cause most of our problems are the Madison Avenue created desires, the ego-based wants that go far beyond needs, and are usually thinly-veiled attempts to use having to compensate for a lack of being. These are the desires for more, better, faster, newer everything! They are artificially-induced by those wishing to make a profit off our discontent, discontent that they help manufacture and foster!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Secondarily, the tragedies are based on our attachment to our desires. Artificial desires, like thoughts, arise and pass away. That is, if we don't continue to feed them. We really don't need to get our shorts all in a knot over our desires. Some of them will be fulfilled, some of them won't, but if we base our happiness on our batting average in fulfilling our desires, most of us are in for some major league disappointment!</div><div><br /></div><div>To minimize life's two tragedies,the seat of our happiness must be where desire cannot touch it, it must be within. If we bring happiness to life instead of expecting to get happiness from life, we find life to be a much happier experience. We appreciate the beauties of nature, the comforts of friendship, the mind-expanding capacity of a good book, the energizing nature of basic human interaction. If we spend more time appreciating what we have instead of worrying about, or pursuing, what we don't, it's hard for tragedy to touch us. </div><div><br /></div><div>Awareness, acceptance, and appreciation are tragedy's natural enemies. And with them, desires become merely passing clouds in life's brilliant, blue sky.</div><div><br /></div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7360099248898648589.post-18368204647353172652010-11-14T07:59:00.007-06:002010-11-14T08:34:25.916-06:00Anonymous and Invisible<b>"And then, not expecting it, you become middle-aged and anonymous. No one notices you. You achieve a wonderful freedom. It is a positive thing. You can move about, unnoticed and invisible."</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>-- Doris Lessing</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>I'm sitting in a cafe at a small table by the window. It's a quiet Sunday morning, people, mostly senior citizens, though a few parents with young kids, either quickly come and go, or linger awhile in small groups over a cup of coffee and conversation. Nobody knows me. I can sit here and type and think and sip my coffee sans interruption because I'm just some old fart in the corner.</div><div><br /></div><div>If I was a young, beautiful woman, or a muscled, handsome man I'm sure I'd be getting interrupting stares. Still people probably wouldn't say much -- this is the 21st century, afterall, we don't talk to strangers! But, at the risk of sounding all Californicated, their energy would interrupt me and intrude on my cone of silence. Doris is right -- being an invisible, old ninja has its advantages.</div><div><br /></div><div>We might think of it as a preparation for death. Wait -- that's not as dreary as it sounds! If we live the first half of our lives in attempts to construct a strong, independent ego, why not live the second transcending that self-constructed prison? And since it is the ego strokes of others that does the most to reinforce the walls of our limited identities, the withdrawal of that ego-enhancing energy is a gentle, though unexpected, form of deconstruction. Anonymity as a form of release.</div><div><br /></div><div>No, at middle-age and beyond, you do not become a ghost. You can still crank up the juice when you really want to get noticed, but you find fewer and fewer reasons to bother. You do more of what you want without worrying so much about how others will view it, because, hell, they're probably not watching anyway! And when you do interact with others, you can do it with a greater sense of presence because your energy has not been frittered away in superficial interactions.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, celebrate your invisibility! Use your cone of solitude as a ring of power. And if you're still young enough to be the object of attention, celebrate that as well. It too shall pass, so enjoy it while you can. </div><div><br /></div><div>Each stage of life brings its own challenges, and its own rewards. Today let the rewards eclipse the challenges, and enjoy being exactly who you are, exactly where you are. It's a wonder-full life!</div>David Eastmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03484619973167606627noreply@blogger.com0