Earth's Axis

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently as if this activity is the axis on which the whole earth revolves. Live the moment. Only this actual moment is life."

-- Thich Nhat Hanh

If we could remember just this one thought, we would be fully present for the unfolding of our lives. Living each moment as axis, we would experience each moment as the sacred center of our existence, enjoy each moment alive in its full glory.

That's all their is to life -- being present, showing up, and living each tick of the clock fully, completely, consciously. Simple really. Seemingly not so hard.

Why then do we run cognitively and emotionally all over hell's half-acre? Why are we everywhere but here, now? 

Desire, bad habits, neurosis, dysfunction, sin. Call it what you will, our one real error is separating ourselves from reality, from this moment, which as Thich points out, is the only reality. Ever. This is it. Here now. One and no other. How incredibly, deliciously simple!

Breathing in, breathing out. Returning again and again to the present. Letting our perception and intuition guide us. Each day, each hour, each moment the same activity, and yet, always completely new. 

You and your tea. All is right with the world.

Your Relationship to Reality

"Spirituality is our relationship with the reality that is before us at this moment."

-- Leonard Willoughby. Everyday Tao, p.161

Spirituality is not about beliefs. You can believe whatever you want, and neither the beliefs themselves nor the process of believing will add one wit to your spiritual standing.

Spirituality is all about reality. It is about your stance in, and interaction with, the reality of the now.

There are no secret doctrines to which you need to be privy, no esoteric practices that you must master in order to live the life of the Spirit. Spirit is all there is! You need only relate to reality as such.

If each and every Being is God, if each and every moment Divine, of what use are beliefs? Your joyous task, your play in the fields of the Lord, becomes merely perceiving the all in One, the One in all, and then acting spontaneously and accordingly.

What could be simpler? What could be more difficult?

Don't take my word for any of this -- try it. Experiment. Lay down your beliefs and be in the unadulterated now. See what happens.

The Last Judgement

"Do not wait for the last judgement. It takes place everyday."

-- Albert Camus

Today is where the rubber meets the road. Today is where it all happens. You have nothing to wait for, no reason to delay, no final exam in your future. Be not fearful that the axe will someday fall. It is falling right now, chopping you to bits, and barely grazing your skin. Reaping and sewing, karma in action, grace flashing like summer lightning -- the dance of life.

The last judgement each and every day is more about how you relate to the world than how the world relates to you. Ultimately, it's about giving up judgement altogether, transcending duality, and living whole and complete.

The world is your feedback mechanism. It is your daily pop quiz. It is your playground. You judge the world, the world judges you, and in Reality none of those judgments matter. It's all just a Stupid Human Trick. There is no judge or jury in the sky waiting your arrival, eager to pass judgement upon your thoughts, words, and deeds. You do that everyday -- why repeat the process later? Why repeat the process now?

The only piece of advice worth giving is be a little easier on yourself, a little kinder to others. Judge less, love more. And if you're lucky one day, one judgement will actually be the last.

Delicious Ambiguity

"Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity."

-- Gild Radner

Nobody knows what's going to happen next. We can guess, we can predict, we can prognosticate, but we cant' know. That is so freeing! Nothing is pre-ordained, nothing is written, it's all a beautiful, ever-changing crap shoot.

Every student should have to take a required class called Introduction to Ambiguity. That class, more than algebra, more than chemistry, would help students learn how to deal with the real world of ever-shifting scenarios and free flowing possibility.

Instead, we try and teach analysis, prediction and control, all to no avail. You can waste your time analyzing the world if you want, but you can predict very little and control even less, so why bother?

Perception is where it's at. Being present, wide awake and aware. Living in the moment and enjoying life as it is, right here, right now.

That alone will help you build your ambiguity muscle. That alone will insure that your life is fully experienced and well lived. It's like a prize drawing at a charity raffle -- you must be present to win! Present without resistance. Wide open. Letting ambiguity be. Letting the world be what it is, even though a little voice (or a loud voice) inside of you doesn't like it.

In ever-changing times, your levels of success, joy and comfort are all directly dependent upon your ability to tolerate ambiguity. But why merely tolerate it when you can thrive upon it? Delicious ambiguity -- the true breakfast of champions!