But I have three precious things that I prize and hold fast. The first is gentleness; the second is economy; and the third is shrinking from taking precedence of others.
-Lao Tzu
Chapter/ Verse 67
"All the world" proclaims that though "my" Tao is great it is inferior to other modes of teaching. [Confucianism which was prominent at the time of the Tao?]. Because it is so great it appears small but if it were like any other system ...its smallest would be known.
There are three precious things I [Lao Tzu] holds dear: gentleness, economy and humility (shrinking from taking precedence over others). Gentleness makes him bold, economy makes him free to spend and give?, and humility gives him honor. The other teachings these days are about being bold and giving up on gentleness, being too free and giving up on economy and being ahead and giving up the position behind or beneath others.
Gentleness however is self saving and protective even in battle... for heaven will protect the gentle.
My take: sometimes the teachings that do not profess to be the greatest actually are in their humility. Gentleness, economy and humility are things to value in a teaching and in life.
Chapter/ Verse 68
In war (be it literal or figurative) if one has skill they do need to strike out at the vulnerable parts of others; if one has good will they do not succumb to rage; if one backs off and leaves the battle field...he will keep his foes apart; and if one does not seek to win he can "humbly ply his art". The wisest men who do more for others are those who do not seek to use might and power, to win on the battlefield but to unite for the sake of peace.
My Take: As above
Chapter/ Verse 69
A war master once said that he did not want to be the one to start the war; he preferred to be on the defensive side rather than the offensives. I dare not to advance an inch; I prefer to retire a foot. Meaning that it is best to back down than to instigate a battle. This is all about realizing there is no need to defend or offend because really there is no enemy. ( I think of ACIM).
When we engage in war we risk losing what is so precious to our humanity: gentleness. So when we have no choice but to fight...we do only because we have to but we hate all of it. by deploring war we conquer.
My Take: Thinking of what Lord Krishna told Arjuna when he was attempting to make away from war. Just the opposite but at the same time having the same meaning?????
Chapter/Verse 70
"My" words(Lao Tzu's) are easy to know and practice but no one in the world can know or practice them. There is a natural and authoritative 'law" in my words that I enforce. It I because men do not know these principles, men do not know me. The few who do know me tend to prize me so I must go undetected in a poor mean's garb while I hold what is truly precious and sought after in my heart.
My Take: The words are just pointers that Lao Tzu uses to guide men into understanding the principles and laws of some great truth that cannot be known by the mind or practiced by the body. Because of this men do not know the sage when they see him...never know if he carries the truth (the jade). If they knew they will hunt him down to get that truth. The sage then is hidden in a poor man's clothes ( not professing to be a sage in a humble way) and holds the truth within the heart ( the only place it can be held). Truth is an inner treasure.
After reading this I question the assumption of many that Lao Tzu was actuality not one man but a collection of many sages.
Chapter/Verse 71
To know and think we do not know is the greatest achievement. To think we know and know nothing is a disease ( of the mind?) . We are spared of this disease if the thought of having it causes us suffering. (That is...we would not be content with thinking we know when we don't...we want truth). The sage does not have this disease...he knows how painful it would be so he doesn't have it.
My Take: Taken back to Socrates and this teaching: The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing. Most of us do not know anything though we think we do and that is the disease of the mind that plagues humanity and causes a great deal of our suffering. The moment we realize that our suffering is induced by conceptually believing our thinking we can be released. If we know that our minds are responsible for suffering because we fill them with things other than truth we can admit we know nothing...and that is the greatest attainment...a step toward enlightenment.
Chapter/Verse 72
If we do not fear what we should fear, that dread (or maybe the thing we fear the most) will come upon us. We should not get lost in our ordinary lives nor should we be weary of what life depends on. If we avoid the daily mind numbing indulgences we will not weary of Life. The sage knows this but does not parade his knowledge, loves but does not appear to value himself. He puts the 'little self" away for Truth and does not get lost in indulgences.
My Take: Not sure about this one.
Chapter/Verse 73
If a man uses his boldness to break the law and wrong others , he will be punished possibly with execution. If a man uses his boldness and refrains from hurting others or breaking the law, he lives on. One of these cases appears to advantageous, the other injurious...but...what if Heaven's anger hurts a man? The sage ponders this. It is the way of heaven not to strive yet it attains what it needs, the way of heaven not to speak yet it gets a reply...men answer a call to heaven they cannot hear. Heaven is quiet in its demonstrations yet its plans are skillful and effective. The meshes in the net of heaven are large and far apart but at the same time it allows nothing to escape.
My Take: I a not sure what Lao Tzu (or Legge) was getting at here.
Chapter/Verse 74
If people do not fear death (as a punishment for committing crimes?), why attempt to frighten them with it to keep them on the straight and narrow. If people however were afraid and they could be seized any time they did wrong and be put to death, who would dare do wrong? There is One( capitol letter making it significant) who presides over death. If one would commit an execution in the presence of this One he will end up hurting himself.
My Take: Who is the One who presides over death? I would say God but Lao Tzu doesn't use God? Is Lao Tzu for or against capitol punishment...that would depend on this One meaning, wouldn't it? If One is God...then no he is saying it isn't good...we hurt ourselves by killing others who commit crimes. If the one is someone trained as an executioner...whole different ball game. He would be more or less saying...leave it to the executioners. Anyway...I believe he meant the One as a supreme being because of the heaven reference in the previous verse.
All is well
James Legge (1895) Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. https://www.sacred-texts.com/tao/taote.htm
Saturday, September 7, 2019
The Cloud Cover of Mind
What stands between you [self] ...and the joy of Life...is mind.
Michael Singer
We are getting that aren't we? What prevents us from truly knowing Self and experiencing the peace that is our home...is our mind. Michael Singer puts it this way: Underneath is who we really are...peace, joy, eternal essence....spirit. Above that is our consciousness, this little self we are aware of....and in between is mind. What prevents us from living in that place of our unchanging joy is our mind. Mind is an obstacle on our path to experiencing home...a veil over home that prevents us from seeing it.
Isn't it the world that is between us and happiness?
Most of us would say that is a bunch of bull *&^%. It is the world that stands between us and joy, between the lives we are experiencing now and the lives we want to be experiencing. Life just keeps handing us one "problem", one "awful" circumstance, one "wrong", one "bad" event, after another. That is why we may be unhappy, depressed, burned out. If life gives us what we want, however, we are happy. Therefore...it is the world , not the mind that is responsible for our happiness and most importantly...for our lack of.
So let's look at that. Maybe in order to be happy I believe I have to have a certain job that is stress free. I have to have a partner who constantly confirms my lovability. I have to drive a certain car and have a certain income. If I get all those things...I am happy. My world becomes brighter and I experience some semblance of joy. The world then, is believed to be the giver of this state....the provider of my joy.
If on the other hand I can't seem to get those things or they are taken away by the world... I lose my partner or my job. I wreck my car or lose all my money on the market...then it was the world that stood between me and a joyful life...between me and happiness. It didn't give me what I needed to be happy.
If the world gives me what I want, I seem to be happy. When it doesn't, I am depressed. So it is easy to see why we believe the world is making us happy or unhappy...the world that prevents us from experiencing joy.
Looking at this mixed up perception a little closer
Singer tells us we need to examine this a little closer. The joy of Life is far greater than the temporary pleasure we receive from the gaining of things or preconceived "pleasant' circumstances. The joy of Life is permanent and unchanging. It doesn't fluctuate or go away. It is always there ready to be received underneath all the noise this world makes. It is not "of this world" as we know it...so it therefore can not be effected by it. It is like the sun...always shining brilliantly, never moving, there even when we cannot see it or feel it. It just "seems" to be here one moment, gone the next; rising and setting when in actuality it is just there.
The world doesn't stand between what we consciously experience and It...it can't. What stands between our joy and our awareness of It is the mind...with all its preconceived ideas about what it "wants' from life, its conditioning, it's judgments about what is good to have and what is bad. Our thinking is like a dark heavy cloud cover between us and "experiencing" the joy that is always there. The more negative the thinking, the darker the cloud cover....the less joy we feel in Life. It does not mean the joy isn't there...we just cannot experience It because of the cloud cover of thinking.
The Mental Cloud Cover Thickens and Thins
But sometimes it thins and we feel joy?
This mental cloud cover is constantly fluctuating...thinning out or becoming thicker. Thoughts are just moving energy forms that come and go. When Life lines up perfectly and coincidentally matches what our mind thinks it needs in order to be happy with a break in the cloud cover ( a break in thinking) we assume we are happy because we got what the mind wanted! But the reason for any joy we may feel...any peace, love, and happiness ...has to do with a thinning of mind...a thinner of the cloud cover so Spirit could shine through...not with what the world handed us.
We can't control what Life gives us. We can spend all our energy trying to get the things we think will make us happy from the world but we will never be completely successful. We can put all our energy into trying to control Life so it gives us what the mind tells us it wants and needs to be happy but we will just burn ourselves out trying. We do not have to fix the world...we need to fix our minds.
It is mind that creates a barrier between us and the joy that is waiting for us. ...not the world. It is the mind that squeezes so hard on our life energy. A release of that hold that will give us freedom to enjoy living. If we know it is the mind that is the problem we are on our way to Joy.
If we learn to get beyond our thinking...we will learn to accept and even appreciate anything the world throws at us. We will constantly feel the sun shining on us regardless of circumstance and we will experience the true joy of living which is not determined by whether or not the mind gets what it wants. The joy will come from simply living what is.
All is well!
Michael Singer ( July 2018) Michael Singer: Freedom from Mind- vol2: The Untethered Soul Lectures https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVewPl9fzY8
Friday, September 6, 2019
A Bird from Another Continent
I am like a bird from another continent, sitting in an aviary. The day is coming when I fly off, but who is it now in my ear who hears my voice? Who says words with my mouth? Who looks out with my eyes? What is the Soul? I can't stop asking?
Rumi from Whoever Brought Me Here (https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/whoever-brought-me-here-2/comments/)
I have been asking the question for many, many years: Who am I? I feel , so often, like a bird from another continent. I feel out of place especially now as my thinking is changing so radically. I know that I am in this world but not of it. If that makes sense to anyone, let me know. lol
The bigger question then arises: Who is this "I" that hears, speaks and sees through "me". Me, I am learning, is this idea I have of me, the body others see and the one I see when I look in the mirror. It is the personality others know ( or assume they know). It is my role, my label, my status, what I own or don't own and what I do. This "me", the mind has created is the aviary in which I am trapped. It was built with walls of personal and collective thought, ideas and beliefs. The aviary is this continent...this perception of my world. I try to fit in here but know that I am a stranger in a foreign land. This aviary is not my home. In fact, it is a prison of sorts. I am not from here. Part of me wishes for freedom. I long for freedom. I long for home.
Yet I also know that "someone" took me here and "someone" will bring me home. Who is this "someone"? It is the being within me that will carry me to freedom. It is the same being who hears through these ears, speaks through this mouth and sees through these eyes that will take me home...that is home. That is the soul Rumi questions.
Hmmm! All we need to do is reach out to that Self, become familiar with that Self and we will be taken home.
I have linked this little meditation video before because I find it so helpful in its simplicity. Kim Eng (2019), "Who Am I?" Guided Meditation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk5dlmylOZk
All is well!
Rumi from Whoever Brought Me Here (https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/whoever-brought-me-here-2/comments/)
I have been asking the question for many, many years: Who am I? I feel , so often, like a bird from another continent. I feel out of place especially now as my thinking is changing so radically. I know that I am in this world but not of it. If that makes sense to anyone, let me know. lol
The bigger question then arises: Who is this "I" that hears, speaks and sees through "me". Me, I am learning, is this idea I have of me, the body others see and the one I see when I look in the mirror. It is the personality others know ( or assume they know). It is my role, my label, my status, what I own or don't own and what I do. This "me", the mind has created is the aviary in which I am trapped. It was built with walls of personal and collective thought, ideas and beliefs. The aviary is this continent...this perception of my world. I try to fit in here but know that I am a stranger in a foreign land. This aviary is not my home. In fact, it is a prison of sorts. I am not from here. Part of me wishes for freedom. I long for freedom. I long for home.
Yet I also know that "someone" took me here and "someone" will bring me home. Who is this "someone"? It is the being within me that will carry me to freedom. It is the same being who hears through these ears, speaks through this mouth and sees through these eyes that will take me home...that is home. That is the soul Rumi questions.
Hmmm! All we need to do is reach out to that Self, become familiar with that Self and we will be taken home.
I have linked this little meditation video before because I find it so helpful in its simplicity. Kim Eng (2019), "Who Am I?" Guided Meditation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk5dlmylOZk
All is well!
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Lost in Thought? Find the Space...
The habit of spending nearly every waking moment lost in thought leaves us at the mercy of whatever our thoughts happen to be. Meditation is a way of breaking the spell.
-Sam Harris
Going Home
Hmmm! We are all on an inward journey whether we recognize it or not. In our search for peace and happiness (which we may still mistakenly assume can be found "out there") we are headed in the direction of knowing Self. Yet to get to Self we have to get past this veil the ego has thrown over Self in hope that we can't see it.
Thinking, meant to be tool to guide us home
You see, it is our inherent human goal to get back to Self...the mind is a tool we can use to do that. It is a fascinating instrument that allows us to ''make sense" of things in our outer and inner worlds as we journey along toward our destination.
Thinking is the means it offers to do this. There is actually no problem with thinking. Thoughts are just thoughts...little energy forms that come and go. If we see them for what they are and use them correctly they can be very helpful.
Misusing and getting lost in thought
The issue is that with most of us...we don't use them correctly...we don't use them as the pointing fingers they are meant to be leading us back to the familiar home of Self...we don't weed out the unhealthy thoughts and learn from the healthy...we become too identified with them....we get lost.
We have collected so many thoughts over the years and not all of them are positive and life affirming. In fact, the majority of them aren't. We have heard from authority figures (people we believed knew more than us) over our life spans all kinds of things about who and what we were. Those "thoughts" like little entities of energy landed in our psyches and found a home there. The more we heard them from the outside or inside voices...the more we have come to believe them.
And that is the problem...once we believe all our thoughts...we become them. We see them as us and this is what ego is. Ego is our identification with thought and this is what throws a veil...a thick, dark veil, in many cases, over Self...so we don't see it, don't have a chance to become familiar with it. We believe we are these little vulnerable selves ego defines us as. We forget there is a Self to go home to.
Our thoughts become us and if we believe those collective thoughts we live through this veil...seeing the world in the way ego tells us to see it. We get further and further away from Self, from home. We are as the saying goes "lost in thought".
Creating Space
Hmm! Without any space between us and thinking, we are our thoughts and we are guided by ego. If, however, we are able to create at least a small amount of space between us and our thoughts...we begin to see that our thoughts are not who we are. We are the one observing them.
So the trick is to be able to take a step back from thinking...just enough so you can observe your Self thinking. That distance allows you to disconnect from the crazy illusion that you are your thinking. How can you be your thinking and the one observing your thinking? You cannot be the subject and the object at the same time can you?
You don't have to stop thinking (you couldn't if you tried because it is simply a flow of energy) nor do you need to actively control it. All you have to do is take a step back away from it, create a little space between you and your thoughts so you can see the thought as the object...not you. In other words, you do not have to believe everything your monkey mind is telling you to believe. Thoughts are something one can simply observe. Meditation can help us to create this space.
That space between you and your thoughts is actually where Self is. That space is the doorway home. Find it.
All is well.
-Sam Harris
Going Home
Hmmm! We are all on an inward journey whether we recognize it or not. In our search for peace and happiness (which we may still mistakenly assume can be found "out there") we are headed in the direction of knowing Self. Yet to get to Self we have to get past this veil the ego has thrown over Self in hope that we can't see it.
Thinking, meant to be tool to guide us home
You see, it is our inherent human goal to get back to Self...the mind is a tool we can use to do that. It is a fascinating instrument that allows us to ''make sense" of things in our outer and inner worlds as we journey along toward our destination.
Thinking is the means it offers to do this. There is actually no problem with thinking. Thoughts are just thoughts...little energy forms that come and go. If we see them for what they are and use them correctly they can be very helpful.
Misusing and getting lost in thought
The issue is that with most of us...we don't use them correctly...we don't use them as the pointing fingers they are meant to be leading us back to the familiar home of Self...we don't weed out the unhealthy thoughts and learn from the healthy...we become too identified with them....we get lost.
We have collected so many thoughts over the years and not all of them are positive and life affirming. In fact, the majority of them aren't. We have heard from authority figures (people we believed knew more than us) over our life spans all kinds of things about who and what we were. Those "thoughts" like little entities of energy landed in our psyches and found a home there. The more we heard them from the outside or inside voices...the more we have come to believe them.
And that is the problem...once we believe all our thoughts...we become them. We see them as us and this is what ego is. Ego is our identification with thought and this is what throws a veil...a thick, dark veil, in many cases, over Self...so we don't see it, don't have a chance to become familiar with it. We believe we are these little vulnerable selves ego defines us as. We forget there is a Self to go home to.
Our thoughts become us and if we believe those collective thoughts we live through this veil...seeing the world in the way ego tells us to see it. We get further and further away from Self, from home. We are as the saying goes "lost in thought".
Creating Space
Hmm! Without any space between us and thinking, we are our thoughts and we are guided by ego. If, however, we are able to create at least a small amount of space between us and our thoughts...we begin to see that our thoughts are not who we are. We are the one observing them.
So the trick is to be able to take a step back from thinking...just enough so you can observe your Self thinking. That distance allows you to disconnect from the crazy illusion that you are your thinking. How can you be your thinking and the one observing your thinking? You cannot be the subject and the object at the same time can you?
You don't have to stop thinking (you couldn't if you tried because it is simply a flow of energy) nor do you need to actively control it. All you have to do is take a step back away from it, create a little space between you and your thoughts so you can see the thought as the object...not you. In other words, you do not have to believe everything your monkey mind is telling you to believe. Thoughts are something one can simply observe. Meditation can help us to create this space.
That space between you and your thoughts is actually where Self is. That space is the doorway home. Find it.
All is well.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Missing Something?
If you do not know who you are at the essence level, you are a problem to yourself [and others].
-Eckhart Tolle
There is something missing here! There is something frightening! There is something 'wrong'!
As long as we see ourselves only on the surface layers of our existence, as bodies and minds full of thinking, we will have the sense there is something missing, frightening and wrong with and in the world around us.
Many, many of us operate only on the surface layer. We are so distracted and hypnotized by the busyness of the physical world with all its moving and "separate' forms that we cannot see, recognize or accept our true essence that lies at a deeper level beneath all that. We cannot feel that below this constant flux of form is a stillness that is us. We cannot see that beneath body lines and the sharp borders of matter everything is actually One, a One that we are connected to.
As long as we operate on this level we are a problem for our selves and for others. We will sense the truth as something "missing" but so caught up in external craziness we will look to the external world for that missing something never finding it. So far from the peace that is us, we will feel frightened by the noises, the constantly changing nature of this busy outer existence. We will sense and know that it is all "wrong" as we learn to judge like the world of mind judges. We will act out! We will feel lost, incomplete, afraid and wronged....until we recognize who we are.
That is where stillness comes in. It is when we take moments of our day to pull away from the noise and the busyness to spend in stillness and silence that we learn to reconnect with that essence. The more we connect with that essence, the less real and frightening the outer world seems. The more we are aware of this essence, the more we know how whole and complete we actually already are and the more perfect and right life becomes. We are no longer a problem to ourselves or others.
All is well!
Eckhart Tolle ( Aug., 2019) Our Essential Nature and Awakening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ETelbX32eQ
Note: I had a compulsion to go back to September 4th's entry from last year for some reason. Ironically, I was writing about this exact thing. Go figure
https://dale-lynwritin.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-quest-for-happiness.html
-Eckhart Tolle
There is something missing here! There is something frightening! There is something 'wrong'!
As long as we see ourselves only on the surface layers of our existence, as bodies and minds full of thinking, we will have the sense there is something missing, frightening and wrong with and in the world around us.
Many, many of us operate only on the surface layer. We are so distracted and hypnotized by the busyness of the physical world with all its moving and "separate' forms that we cannot see, recognize or accept our true essence that lies at a deeper level beneath all that. We cannot feel that below this constant flux of form is a stillness that is us. We cannot see that beneath body lines and the sharp borders of matter everything is actually One, a One that we are connected to.
As long as we operate on this level we are a problem for our selves and for others. We will sense the truth as something "missing" but so caught up in external craziness we will look to the external world for that missing something never finding it. So far from the peace that is us, we will feel frightened by the noises, the constantly changing nature of this busy outer existence. We will sense and know that it is all "wrong" as we learn to judge like the world of mind judges. We will act out! We will feel lost, incomplete, afraid and wronged....until we recognize who we are.
That is where stillness comes in. It is when we take moments of our day to pull away from the noise and the busyness to spend in stillness and silence that we learn to reconnect with that essence. The more we connect with that essence, the less real and frightening the outer world seems. The more we are aware of this essence, the more we know how whole and complete we actually already are and the more perfect and right life becomes. We are no longer a problem to ourselves or others.
All is well!
Eckhart Tolle ( Aug., 2019) Our Essential Nature and Awakening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ETelbX32eQ
Note: I had a compulsion to go back to September 4th's entry from last year for some reason. Ironically, I was writing about this exact thing. Go figure
https://dale-lynwritin.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-quest-for-happiness.html
Monday, September 2, 2019
Oneness
All human beings come from a mother's womb. We are all the same part of one human family. We should have a clear realization of the oneness of humanity.
-Dalai Lama
-Dalai Lama
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Timelessness
The timelessness in you is aware of life's timelessness. And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow's is today's dream.
-Kahil Gibran
September 1st and my daughter is off to her second year of university. My house feels so empty and so does my head lol. I have no idea how we got to September first. Where did the summer go?
I have, I realize, a very limited experience of time now. I don't see it passing. I just know that it has by life events and seasonal changes. What is up with that lol? Even my concept of hourly time is off. I think it is morning and find out it is three in the afternoon. If I am outside, I can tell by the light changes what time of day it is but if I am in the house on a writing spree. .. I can't. Oh well...that is life. :)
Beautiful day, just the same.
-Kahil Gibran
September 1st and my daughter is off to her second year of university. My house feels so empty and so does my head lol. I have no idea how we got to September first. Where did the summer go?
I have, I realize, a very limited experience of time now. I don't see it passing. I just know that it has by life events and seasonal changes. What is up with that lol? Even my concept of hourly time is off. I think it is morning and find out it is three in the afternoon. If I am outside, I can tell by the light changes what time of day it is but if I am in the house on a writing spree. .. I can't. Oh well...that is life. :)
Beautiful day, just the same.
I know it is September by the return of these guys to their tree. It does not seem as if a whole year has passed since I took this shot.
All is well.
Friday, August 30, 2019
The Three Factors
The three factors that seem to have the greatest influence on increasing our happiness are our ability to reframe our situation more positively, our ability to experience gratitude, and our choice to be kind and generous.
-Dalai Lama
I have gained so much valuable insight from this little Insight from the Dalai Lama calendar that sits beside me as I write. Looking for a quote to start the morning with and voila there one is. (Of course, I am almost a week behind...lol...my sense of time lately is completely off!)
Let's look at this statement a bit.
The three things most likely to influence our sense of happiness (again happiness is a word I use loosely because it seems like such an "ego" word, doesn't it? Superficial, almost? I prefer the words; joy, peace, love, wholeness, wellness. But they are all just words and if the Dalai Lama uses "happiness", it is alright with me.) The three tings are:
All is well in my world
-Dalai Lama
I have gained so much valuable insight from this little Insight from the Dalai Lama calendar that sits beside me as I write. Looking for a quote to start the morning with and voila there one is. (Of course, I am almost a week behind...lol...my sense of time lately is completely off!)
Let's look at this statement a bit.
The three things most likely to influence our sense of happiness (again happiness is a word I use loosely because it seems like such an "ego" word, doesn't it? Superficial, almost? I prefer the words; joy, peace, love, wholeness, wellness. But they are all just words and if the Dalai Lama uses "happiness", it is alright with me.) The three tings are:
- Our ability to reframe our situation more positively: What does that mean? Basically it means the more able we are to change the way we see and perceive our experiences the happier we will be. We need to first understand that our life situations are not Life...they are just things happening around us or to this idea we have of who we are. They are not the vital life force that is within us. Then we have to realize that what we perceive is usually influenced by ego-mind and therefore dramatized, made into story, negative, repeated again and again, mostly to keep us away from the truth of who we are so ego can maintain a sense of identity. It is illusion, trivial, unimportant. Then we examine that thinking and remove fiction from truth so we can see clearly. We can reframe our thoughts into a more positive version (cognitive restructuring) until we can get beyond thought. Our goal...if there is such thing as goals...is to get beyond thought so that we perceive not only more positively but more clearly.
- Our ability to experience gratitude: This is essential...we need to be grateful for whatever is showing up in our lives now and what will show up in our lives in the so called future. We need to appreciate Life in what ever way it shows up. Appreciation is a step beyond accepting.
- Our choice to be kind and generous: Life is all about flow...a flow of giving and a flow of receiving. What we receive...we give; what we give...we receive. There is nothing sweeter to the heart than giving. When we give we are open and the love within us has a means to pour through us and pour out of us. That is what it is all about. It's a choice that will free us, ultimately leading to joy.
All is well in my world
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Where focus goes, energy flows.
-Tony Robins
Do you believe that?
We have all heard of "The Law of Attraction" by now (what Neville Goddard referred to as " The Law of Assumption"). I am not sure if you believe in that or not. I simply want to put the question out there:
Does energy really follow our thinking?
If all Life is energy (including our thinking), are our lives determined by what we place our attention on? Are our minds really that powerful?
And if manifesting is a real possibility should we be placing all our attention on the "tangible things" we think we want in this life time so we achieve money, cars, houses, special relationships, the great job, recognition or on the intangible like "peace" and "love" and "joy"? What is true "abundance" anyway?
If our intention is simply "joy, love and living a full and purposeful life", how do we focus on that? Especially if we have to feel it first and act as if we are living it? What would that mean? What would it look like? What would that feel like? And most importantly...what would that "be" like?
Hmm! And if we are "being" that for the sake of "achieving" that ...isn't it then unnecessary to attempt to manifest anything because we are already that?
Just pondering and putting it out there...confusing myself more than anyone else. :)
All good.
-Tony Robins
Do you believe that?
We have all heard of "The Law of Attraction" by now (what Neville Goddard referred to as " The Law of Assumption"). I am not sure if you believe in that or not. I simply want to put the question out there:
Does energy really follow our thinking?
If all Life is energy (including our thinking), are our lives determined by what we place our attention on? Are our minds really that powerful?
And if manifesting is a real possibility should we be placing all our attention on the "tangible things" we think we want in this life time so we achieve money, cars, houses, special relationships, the great job, recognition or on the intangible like "peace" and "love" and "joy"? What is true "abundance" anyway?
If our intention is simply "joy, love and living a full and purposeful life", how do we focus on that? Especially if we have to feel it first and act as if we are living it? What would that mean? What would it look like? What would that feel like? And most importantly...what would that "be" like?
Hmm! And if we are "being" that for the sake of "achieving" that ...isn't it then unnecessary to attempt to manifest anything because we are already that?
Just pondering and putting it out there...confusing myself more than anyone else. :)
All good.
Monday, August 26, 2019
We are what we eat?
I can't control everything in my life but I can control what I put in my body.
-Unknown
Sounds a bit like something an individual challenged by an eating disorder might say. Wasn't intended as such. There is a healthy type of intermittent fasting that is not about "starving" the body but healing it and rewiring the way the mind thinks about food.
Juicing
I am on day five of another juice/smoothie fast and I feel amazing!!! I feel lighter, happier and more energetic. This feeling was not really suppose to happen for a few weeks after the fast but I feel it now.
This was not done as a means to lose weight or gain a sense of control over my body. I had no expectations with this fast other than maybe hoping it would put me on a better nutritional path in the future and help to relieve some of the old body's symptoms. I also hoped that it would allow me to hear what the body really wanted beneath all the mind noise. Getting rid of my menopausal belly was not a goal as I know and fully accept that it is a healthy part of this transition.
Helping the body get rid of all the accumulated toxic and yucky stuff we put into it, however, leads to a bit of healing. It allows us to hear it through occasional hunger pains and understand better how it responds to what we put into it.
Filling the trillions of cells within this clump of flesh with fabulous plant derived antioxidants, vitamins and micronutrients has made it happy. A happy body will create a happier state of mind and a happy mind helps to create a happy being.
More on this later!!
All is well!
-Unknown
Sounds a bit like something an individual challenged by an eating disorder might say. Wasn't intended as such. There is a healthy type of intermittent fasting that is not about "starving" the body but healing it and rewiring the way the mind thinks about food.
Juicing
I am on day five of another juice/smoothie fast and I feel amazing!!! I feel lighter, happier and more energetic. This feeling was not really suppose to happen for a few weeks after the fast but I feel it now.
This was not done as a means to lose weight or gain a sense of control over my body. I had no expectations with this fast other than maybe hoping it would put me on a better nutritional path in the future and help to relieve some of the old body's symptoms. I also hoped that it would allow me to hear what the body really wanted beneath all the mind noise. Getting rid of my menopausal belly was not a goal as I know and fully accept that it is a healthy part of this transition.
Helping the body get rid of all the accumulated toxic and yucky stuff we put into it, however, leads to a bit of healing. It allows us to hear it through occasional hunger pains and understand better how it responds to what we put into it.
Filling the trillions of cells within this clump of flesh with fabulous plant derived antioxidants, vitamins and micronutrients has made it happy. A happy body will create a happier state of mind and a happy mind helps to create a happy being.
All is well!
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Listen to the Body
Our bodies speak to us, clearly and specifically,
if we are willing to listen to them.
Shakti Gawain
Despite the advances I have made:
Every morning I wake up with my jaws clenched tight. I have broken so many back teeth in the last eight years (which have been full of very challenging life circumstances) that I feel ashamed. I do occasionally get lower back pain that lands me in bed for days at a time. I suffer from muscle strain and injury that the average duck wouldn't. My feet are constantly aching. My joints are sore because of how I hold my body. (In a constant state of being prepared for fight or flight). And my ticker acts up ...though much less so...when I am tense.
I am physically tense. I have always been. Yoga helps dramatically that is why I recommend it and teach it. Being off work helps more than I realized it would. My spiritual practice is taking me beyond my mind's response to stress and old trauma to a more peaceful place. To the outside world I look more relaxed, centered and calm than I ever did.
I am healing in leaps and bounds. I am so much better than I was, say in 2012, when my life circumstances started to change dramatically and traumatically. Yet, the truth is ...I am still tense.
The Body: a Reminder of the Healing Left to be done
The body, I am realizing, remembers and holds onto things even when we are able to get beyond the mind to some degree. Trauma does get entangled in our cells...possibly one of the reasons why we get cancer or other cell-destructive diseases???? Our body tension, then , is a good sign that we are not yet healed and a warning that we better take healing to the next level.
Possible Cause for my Own Body Tension
I have some challenges now dealing with the behaviour of a loved one whose choices make him a definite risk to himself and to the community at large. He has had very little social sanctioning or consequences for his behavioural choices and even when we are told something is about to go down in hope that it will protect him and others...it doesn't. So, of course, the behaviours continue.
There is this collective and relayed perception that he is "getting away" with one "social injustice' after another. That is true. The people who feel violated come to us and say, "Why aren't you doing anything?" We have gone to the authorities several times with this definite observation in hope they would take over the reins of this. They didn't. I have gone and pleaded with others to stop enabling only to find myself, indirectly enabling. Truth is I don't want it to be my responsibility to do anything.
We don't want it to be our responsibility. We...being myself, D., his extended family, and the authorities. We are burnt out! It is easier to turn our backs, close our eyes, and put our hands over our ears as we chant, "La!la!la!la!".
I believe in the Al-Anon axiom: You didn't break it! You can't Fix it! But I have gone beyond that to just not caring. I close my eyes and try not to think of it. And it seems that I am doing okay...in the peaceful center of "letting Go!" Yet, the moment he or his behaviour is mentioned; or heaven forbid the moment I am confronting him with these issues, my body tenses up. ...my sleep is disrupted...my ticker starts talking very loudly to me. My body speaks, when my mind won't.
I need to listen. I am not sure, at this point, what my body is encouraging me to "do" or "be".
The Body's Message
Following the body's direction is not necessarily a matter of doing something...though it could mean taking part in some "inspired action."
The body's message is more, I believe, about becoming aware by listening to it. What does the body want us to hear? Maybe it is telling us that we were trying to "run away" from something we cannot run away from. Maybe it is telling us that we haven't yet "let go" though we have convinced our conscious minds we have....thus creating tension from "clinging". It may tell us we are still struggling and resisting internally. It may be telling us that we are not as truly "peaceful" as we seem to be. It may tell us that there is some trauma still stuck within and it needs help in getting it out.
Whatever the lesson...we need to listen!
The body, like the mind, is just a tool for communication. We definitely do not want to get lost in it but it would be helpful if we listened to it ...a little more than we do.
All is well.
if we are willing to listen to them.
Shakti Gawain
Despite the advances I have made:
Every morning I wake up with my jaws clenched tight. I have broken so many back teeth in the last eight years (which have been full of very challenging life circumstances) that I feel ashamed. I do occasionally get lower back pain that lands me in bed for days at a time. I suffer from muscle strain and injury that the average duck wouldn't. My feet are constantly aching. My joints are sore because of how I hold my body. (In a constant state of being prepared for fight or flight). And my ticker acts up ...though much less so...when I am tense.
I am physically tense. I have always been. Yoga helps dramatically that is why I recommend it and teach it. Being off work helps more than I realized it would. My spiritual practice is taking me beyond my mind's response to stress and old trauma to a more peaceful place. To the outside world I look more relaxed, centered and calm than I ever did.
I am healing in leaps and bounds. I am so much better than I was, say in 2012, when my life circumstances started to change dramatically and traumatically. Yet, the truth is ...I am still tense.
The Body: a Reminder of the Healing Left to be done
The body, I am realizing, remembers and holds onto things even when we are able to get beyond the mind to some degree. Trauma does get entangled in our cells...possibly one of the reasons why we get cancer or other cell-destructive diseases???? Our body tension, then , is a good sign that we are not yet healed and a warning that we better take healing to the next level.
Possible Cause for my Own Body Tension
I have some challenges now dealing with the behaviour of a loved one whose choices make him a definite risk to himself and to the community at large. He has had very little social sanctioning or consequences for his behavioural choices and even when we are told something is about to go down in hope that it will protect him and others...it doesn't. So, of course, the behaviours continue.
There is this collective and relayed perception that he is "getting away" with one "social injustice' after another. That is true. The people who feel violated come to us and say, "Why aren't you doing anything?" We have gone to the authorities several times with this definite observation in hope they would take over the reins of this. They didn't. I have gone and pleaded with others to stop enabling only to find myself, indirectly enabling. Truth is I don't want it to be my responsibility to do anything.
We don't want it to be our responsibility. We...being myself, D., his extended family, and the authorities. We are burnt out! It is easier to turn our backs, close our eyes, and put our hands over our ears as we chant, "La!la!la!la!".
I believe in the Al-Anon axiom: You didn't break it! You can't Fix it! But I have gone beyond that to just not caring. I close my eyes and try not to think of it. And it seems that I am doing okay...in the peaceful center of "letting Go!" Yet, the moment he or his behaviour is mentioned; or heaven forbid the moment I am confronting him with these issues, my body tenses up. ...my sleep is disrupted...my ticker starts talking very loudly to me. My body speaks, when my mind won't.
I need to listen. I am not sure, at this point, what my body is encouraging me to "do" or "be".
The Body's Message
Following the body's direction is not necessarily a matter of doing something...though it could mean taking part in some "inspired action."
The body's message is more, I believe, about becoming aware by listening to it. What does the body want us to hear? Maybe it is telling us that we were trying to "run away" from something we cannot run away from. Maybe it is telling us that we haven't yet "let go" though we have convinced our conscious minds we have....thus creating tension from "clinging". It may tell us we are still struggling and resisting internally. It may be telling us that we are not as truly "peaceful" as we seem to be. It may tell us that there is some trauma still stuck within and it needs help in getting it out.
Whatever the lesson...we need to listen!
The body, like the mind, is just a tool for communication. We definitely do not want to get lost in it but it would be helpful if we listened to it ...a little more than we do.
All is well.
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Our deepest feelings [of faith and reverence for the sacred]are precisely those we are least able to express, and even in the act of adoration, silence is only praise.
-Neville Goddard from The Power of Awareness
We may recognize there is something bigger, something so great that goes beyond our limiting understanding.
We may sense that there is a perfection and preciousness to Life existing in everything, at every moment...in the moment even though we cannot see it or perceive it with our senses.
We may begin to realize and remember that we are a part of that something and not merely the clumps of flesh others see with over active minds and personalities.
We may feel the deepest adoration and reverence for this scared truth that we fall to our knees.
Yet we cannot explain it or our feeling about it with mere words.
We cannot "know" It with our crazy mixed up minds.
We an only go to the silence and stillness within us so we can experience It, Live It Be It, .
We allow It to breathe and shine through us.
We do nothing. It does all.
That is how we adore It.
All is well!
-Neville Goddard from The Power of Awareness
We may recognize there is something bigger, something so great that goes beyond our limiting understanding.
We may sense that there is a perfection and preciousness to Life existing in everything, at every moment...in the moment even though we cannot see it or perceive it with our senses.
We may begin to realize and remember that we are a part of that something and not merely the clumps of flesh others see with over active minds and personalities.
We may feel the deepest adoration and reverence for this scared truth that we fall to our knees.
Yet we cannot explain it or our feeling about it with mere words.
We cannot "know" It with our crazy mixed up minds.
We an only go to the silence and stillness within us so we can experience It, Live It Be It, .
We allow It to breathe and shine through us.
We do nothing. It does all.
That is how we adore It.
All is well!
Friday, August 23, 2019
Start your new life today
This very day start your new life. Approach every experience with a new frame of mind -with a new state of consciousness. Assume the noblest and best for yourself in every respect and continue therein.
-Neville Goddard
Hmmm! A new life begins with a change of mind. In fact, nothing will change unless you change the way you think of yourself, the world...Life.
So, so many of us are stuck in old ways of thinking and that thinking is reflected in the lives we are living.
Believe me when I repeat again and again...if we are experiencing any form of struggle or suffering...it is because of old tired beliefs, conditioning and thought patterns. The idea of "problem" is in our minds as is the solution.
Walk away from that old mental construct you have of yourself and step into the wonderful life that is waiting for you.
All is well.
-Neville Goddard
Hmmm! A new life begins with a change of mind. In fact, nothing will change unless you change the way you think of yourself, the world...Life.
So, so many of us are stuck in old ways of thinking and that thinking is reflected in the lives we are living.
Believe me when I repeat again and again...if we are experiencing any form of struggle or suffering...it is because of old tired beliefs, conditioning and thought patterns. The idea of "problem" is in our minds as is the solution.
Walk away from that old mental construct you have of yourself and step into the wonderful life that is waiting for you.
All is well.
Thursday, August 22, 2019
The One Reality
When you know that consciousness is the one and only reality-conceiving itself to be something good, bad, or indifferent, and becoming that which It conceived itself to be-you are free from the tyranny of second causes, free from the belief that there are causes outside your own mind that can affect your life.
-Neville Goddard ( The Power of Awareness)
What is meant by this passage from Goddard's, The Power of Awareness?
Simply put when we realize how powerful our consciousness is ( our Essence Identity, our spirit, God, the Divine force...or whatever you wish to call this energy that moves us, creates us and the world around us...) we will truly understand that we are not victims to circumstance...We will understand that we create our life experience. The tool we are given to that with...is our minds.
We create our life experience with our minds?
Pretty powerful statement isn't it? It may go against everything we were brought up to believe. It may go against what most people may believe. We may try as Rumi did to know thyself by copying other people while we walk around asleep...unaware of the dormant force within us. We stay stuck in our limiting perceptions because we are told we are "supposed to". So possibility of more is something we may push aside for fear of being blasphemous or "crazy".
Yet so many great teachers, including Christ taught this.
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me, will do the works I have been doing and they will do even greater than these...John 14: 12 NIV
Belief is a very powerful thing. If we believe...truly believe in the power within us...we can do amazing things. We are not stuck anywhere but in our minds as Patanjali so often taught.
So it is our minds that limit us and our minds that can free us. But what part of our mind does the bondage and what part of our minds do the liberating?
The subconscious needs looking at
According to Bruce Lipton, it is the subconscious that is both our so called "problem" and our solution.
Most of our negative, repetitive thoughts occur on the conscious level. They drag us away from the present moment and for that reason are worthy of our attempts to get beneath them. We can also, because they tend to be negative and Self defeating, change them, reconstruct them, alter them to create a more positive thought experience. We can affirm positive things to push the negative dialogue out of our heads. That's all good and great. That is even encouraged by the majority of today's population.
Yet...it isn't enough. It doesn't lead to lasting change in our worlds, does it? Why?
Because it is just a superficial fix. Changing our conscious thoughts does not necessarily change our "beliefs" about ourselves and the world. Those beliefs are ingrained into another part of our minds...the subconscious. Though we may become more and more aware of our conscious thoughts (as is necessary for our healing and evolving) we are often not aware of the belief system that hides in our subconscious minds. It is those beliefs, collected over years of social conditioning and learning, that we need to change, that we need to replace with healthier, more life affirming ones.
How do we do that so we are living the full, abundant lives we are want to live?
All is well!
Barks, Collin (1995 ) The Essential Rumi
Goddard, Neville (1954 ) The Power of Awareness.
Lipton, Bruce (2005 ) The Biology of Belief.
Satchidananda, Sri Swami (2007 ) The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
-Neville Goddard ( The Power of Awareness)
What is meant by this passage from Goddard's, The Power of Awareness?
Simply put when we realize how powerful our consciousness is ( our Essence Identity, our spirit, God, the Divine force...or whatever you wish to call this energy that moves us, creates us and the world around us...) we will truly understand that we are not victims to circumstance...We will understand that we create our life experience. The tool we are given to that with...is our minds.
We create our life experience with our minds?
Pretty powerful statement isn't it? It may go against everything we were brought up to believe. It may go against what most people may believe. We may try as Rumi did to know thyself by copying other people while we walk around asleep...unaware of the dormant force within us. We stay stuck in our limiting perceptions because we are told we are "supposed to". So possibility of more is something we may push aside for fear of being blasphemous or "crazy".
Yet so many great teachers, including Christ taught this.
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me, will do the works I have been doing and they will do even greater than these...John 14: 12 NIV
Belief is a very powerful thing. If we believe...truly believe in the power within us...we can do amazing things. We are not stuck anywhere but in our minds as Patanjali so often taught.
So it is our minds that limit us and our minds that can free us. But what part of our mind does the bondage and what part of our minds do the liberating?
The subconscious needs looking at
According to Bruce Lipton, it is the subconscious that is both our so called "problem" and our solution.
Most of our negative, repetitive thoughts occur on the conscious level. They drag us away from the present moment and for that reason are worthy of our attempts to get beneath them. We can also, because they tend to be negative and Self defeating, change them, reconstruct them, alter them to create a more positive thought experience. We can affirm positive things to push the negative dialogue out of our heads. That's all good and great. That is even encouraged by the majority of today's population.
Yet...it isn't enough. It doesn't lead to lasting change in our worlds, does it? Why?
Because it is just a superficial fix. Changing our conscious thoughts does not necessarily change our "beliefs" about ourselves and the world. Those beliefs are ingrained into another part of our minds...the subconscious. Though we may become more and more aware of our conscious thoughts (as is necessary for our healing and evolving) we are often not aware of the belief system that hides in our subconscious minds. It is those beliefs, collected over years of social conditioning and learning, that we need to change, that we need to replace with healthier, more life affirming ones.
How do we do that so we are living the full, abundant lives we are want to live?
- We need to first of all, recognize our "stuckness". We need to be aware of what the mind in "status quo'' does to our life experience; how it limits and holds us back; how it creates "suffering".
- Then we have to accept the possibility of more. We have to accept the possibility that maybe if we change our minds, we can change our lives. We need to see that we are not victims of Life...we are victims to our minds. We have forgotten that they are simply tools to help us maneuver through these wordly experiences...not something meant to control us and keep us stuck.
- Then we need to know who we are. We need to get beyond the social image we have created in our minds to who we truly are. We need to explore Self beneath the image of self.
- From there we need to know what we truly want...get beyond what we think we should want, what social media and other opinion dictates. We need to get beyond what ego wants to what spirit wants. What do you truly want in your Life to be happy, joyful, alive and at peace? Know that. Be clear about it.
- Want it obsessively and passionately!!
- Then imagine, visualize as if you are living that experience right here and now. Bring the so called future back to the only time there is...the now. It is best to do some good solid visualizing and imagining exactly what you want right before bed or right as you awaken. Lipton encourages having some type of affirming recording to drift off to sleep with.
- Act as if! Act as if you have what you want in your life. Act as if you are the exact being you want to be. Act as if you are living the exact life you dream of living!!!
- Give it at least three days to happen. It takes that time for the brain to rewire. May take longer too...so do not put pressure on yourself with an exact time frame for achievement.
- Don't get caught up in the details. Step back and let life handle the rest without demanding how it should all get done.
- Have Faith!!! Keep going back to number 3.
All is well!
Barks, Collin (1995 ) The Essential Rumi
Goddard, Neville (1954 ) The Power of Awareness.
Lipton, Bruce (2005 ) The Biology of Belief.
Satchidananda, Sri Swami (2007 ) The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
Don't Go Back to Sleep
For years, copying other people, I tried to know myself.
From within, I couldn’t decide what to do.
Unable to see, I heard my name being called.
Then I walked outside.
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the door sill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.
From within, I couldn’t decide what to do.
Unable to see, I heard my name being called.
Then I walked outside.
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the door sill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.
Don't Go Back to sleep?
I stumbled across this poem yesterday in a selection of my own poems and I immediately found myself drawn to it. Then I awoke this am in early dawn and the words, "Don't go back to sleep" kept circling through my mind.
I did go back to bed with the intentions to sleep (I have been feeling exhausted and drained by what I perceive going on around me)...but the words just kept getting louder. "Don't go back to sleep."
So I got up; went outside and even stood on the doorsill (though not round lol) where the two worlds touch. And asked Rumi why the h*&^ he drew me out here so early in the am.(lol) Then the line "You must ask for what you really want!" hit me. And it all made sense.
Ask for What You Really want
I had just finished a book by Neville Goddard on the power of imagination yesterday right before I stumbled across Rumi's poem. I had also run across a few book passages, quotes and videos incidentally throughout the day that spoke to the idea of imagination and knowing and asking for what you really want...putting it out there. I had a friend at lunch who kept saying, "Be careful what you ask for" providing some challenging life examples that apply to that axiom. My daughter even brought up "the power of thinking and imagination" to me yesterday without prompting. Yet, somehow the line, "you must ask for what you really want" eluded me until this morning...and boom!
Now this is serendipity lol. I am being called back to the topic of using our imagination to create the world we want!
Dawn
When is our imagination most powerful ? When are we most likely to effect change in the way we perceive ourselves and our worlds thus changing our lives by rewiring our subconscious programming? At dawn!! When our brain waves are in what is said to be a theta state. That theta state is the doorway where the two worlds touch. It is a doorway between sleep and wakefulness...between the invisible and the visible, the manifested and the unmanifested...between the lives we are presently perceiving we are experiencing and the lives we really want. If you fall back to sleep you fall out of the "dawning of greater possibility" and go into a deeper brain wave pattern.
So what is Rumi telling us in the above poem that will help us live better lives?
- We need to know ourselves and that begins with breaking away from the need to be like other people and our conditioned social learning that is ingrained in our subconscious minds. We need to step outside that level of perception and understanding.
- In those early hours of the morning ( literally ) we are in a state where we can rewire and relearn because as we awaken we are in theta brain vibration.
- So we do not want to go back to sleep and fall away from that ability
- In the dawn of our new lives ( figuratively) as we "awaken" into a new understanding we are told secrets ...a spiritual truth emerges as we reconnect to nature, the moment...who we really are.
- We do not want to slip back into the "dream state" of ego illusion.
- People go back and forth between wakefulness and sleep all the time(literally and figuratively) ...but what we really want is to stay awake.
- The people he could be referring to could be those that have passed on, the two worlds being this physical world and the spiritual one...implying that there is support for our achieving a better life from the other side?
- The early hours are often referred to by many as the sacred hours or the hours of the Divine...the best time for meditation, prayer etc because we are then on the sill between the physical and the spiritual.
- The door is open between what we think and what we create. I am not sure what he means by round?? I think of the womb of creation being pregnant and round with possibility but I am not sure if that has anything to do with what the poet intended.
- The biggest take away I get from this poem...now that I have read it for the 100th time lol is that we must ask for what we really want. We must know what it is we really want beyond what we are conditioned to believe we want.
- If we are not careful we will end up with things we didn't want, like my friend did, because we were not clear with our intentions.
- Know who you are and what you really want. Ask for it passionately in the early hour of the morning and in that cusp between physically awakening and sleep. as well as spiritually awakening and ego-dominated sleep.
- The door of imagination is always round and open. We just need to wake up enough to go through it!
All is well.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
-Dalai Lama
Things don't always turn out the way we think they should , do they? But they always turn out perfectly!
An Example
We really hope to buy a particular car we have had our eyes on for months. We save and put away for the down payment, we wait for the right circumstances and finally trot happily off to the dealership to make our purchase...only to find out the car we wanted was sold. We didn't get what we wanted (or what we thought we wanted). Where is the luck in that?
Well maybe something else will occur in your life that requires the money you put away. Maybe you will hear that that particular model was recalled because of some major dangerous defects. Maybe another car will come along that is even more appealing to your psyche.
Of course, at the time of finding out that the thing you wanted is something you can't have...you will feel defeated, punched down and possibly rejected by Life. It will suck...
Just know that you are not rejected by Life...you can never be. Trust that Life knows what it is doing. If you were meant to have that car...you would have it. What you want is not always what you need on this journey towards your best Self.
It really has little to do with luck though...it is just Life being Life.
It is all good!!!
-Dalai Lama
Things don't always turn out the way we think they should , do they? But they always turn out perfectly!
An Example
We really hope to buy a particular car we have had our eyes on for months. We save and put away for the down payment, we wait for the right circumstances and finally trot happily off to the dealership to make our purchase...only to find out the car we wanted was sold. We didn't get what we wanted (or what we thought we wanted). Where is the luck in that?
Well maybe something else will occur in your life that requires the money you put away. Maybe you will hear that that particular model was recalled because of some major dangerous defects. Maybe another car will come along that is even more appealing to your psyche.
Of course, at the time of finding out that the thing you wanted is something you can't have...you will feel defeated, punched down and possibly rejected by Life. It will suck...
Just know that you are not rejected by Life...you can never be. Trust that Life knows what it is doing. If you were meant to have that car...you would have it. What you want is not always what you need on this journey towards your best Self.
It really has little to do with luck though...it is just Life being Life.
It is all good!!!
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
How beautiful his sinlessness will be when you perceive it!
-ACIM-T-25: V: 5:4
My heart breaks a little bit when I see someone struggling with their own version of sinfulness. I also want to judge and condemn this person for his "sin" because I personally feel violated and frustrated by his choices. I know though that what my ego judges him to be in those moments I slip away from my realization of Self and essence identity, is nothing in comparison to how he judges himself ...even if he does not realize that yet because of all his perceived brokenness.
Sigh!!! Our house got broken into while we were gone and some valuable items ( that did not belong to me) were stolen. We knew immediately when we were told, which was while we were away, who the individual was. (Well we didn't know...strongly suspected with evidence to back up our suspicions...but who ever truly "knows" anything? Innocent until proven guilty, right?)
I was so angry at first...I still get angry but the anger does not last long before compassion takes over. I feel bad for him. Though there may be no socially sanctioned consequence for this action, the consequences of his past actions and choices are about to slap him across the face. He is now like a frightened child waiting for his daddy to come home from work to punish him. This daddy is the penal system and the daddy comes home today. He has run away to hide under the bed but he knows like we all know, Daddy will find him. There is no escaping the punishment this time.
It is just so sad to see people get so lost, to mentally stray so far away from their own pure and perfect Self that they allow ego's need for immediate gratification to take them into some pretty dark places where others get hurt. Yes there needs to be social sanctions, legal repercussions and consequences for hurting others...but do we as a social whole...have to judge him as a "sinner"? What do we get from doing that?
We get a sense of self righteousness, a bit of a reprieve as our own "sinfulness" gets diminished somewhat in comparison to his. We get an outlet for our own hate and anger (that we all have people as long as we are not truly Self realized). And our sense of "me" becomes stronger, doesn't it, when we have a target for blame, and judgment? In some weird way we like to be victims. It adds to our "story" doesn't it?
Yet...we are no better , no worse than the individual about to be punished. We are all capable of all he has done and more...as long as ego calls the shots.
I am going to try to put down my judgment here, to put away my need to add drama to my story, and I am going to try to look beyond the broken, festering ego this person wears and see what is truly there. We are not what our bodies do. We are not what we think and feel. We are not the choices we make. We are so much more than that. He is so much more than that
Beneath the ego and the crazy monkey minds that can take us to many strange places is a perfect and pure essence. If we could see it in all others, regardless of what they may do, would they not strive to be better ? Would we not be better off to see sinlessness rather than sin?
I share this only because it brings a profound question to the healing mind.
All is well in my world.
-ACIM-T-25: V: 5:4
My heart breaks a little bit when I see someone struggling with their own version of sinfulness. I also want to judge and condemn this person for his "sin" because I personally feel violated and frustrated by his choices. I know though that what my ego judges him to be in those moments I slip away from my realization of Self and essence identity, is nothing in comparison to how he judges himself ...even if he does not realize that yet because of all his perceived brokenness.
Sigh!!! Our house got broken into while we were gone and some valuable items ( that did not belong to me) were stolen. We knew immediately when we were told, which was while we were away, who the individual was. (Well we didn't know...strongly suspected with evidence to back up our suspicions...but who ever truly "knows" anything? Innocent until proven guilty, right?)
I was so angry at first...I still get angry but the anger does not last long before compassion takes over. I feel bad for him. Though there may be no socially sanctioned consequence for this action, the consequences of his past actions and choices are about to slap him across the face. He is now like a frightened child waiting for his daddy to come home from work to punish him. This daddy is the penal system and the daddy comes home today. He has run away to hide under the bed but he knows like we all know, Daddy will find him. There is no escaping the punishment this time.
It is just so sad to see people get so lost, to mentally stray so far away from their own pure and perfect Self that they allow ego's need for immediate gratification to take them into some pretty dark places where others get hurt. Yes there needs to be social sanctions, legal repercussions and consequences for hurting others...but do we as a social whole...have to judge him as a "sinner"? What do we get from doing that?
We get a sense of self righteousness, a bit of a reprieve as our own "sinfulness" gets diminished somewhat in comparison to his. We get an outlet for our own hate and anger (that we all have people as long as we are not truly Self realized). And our sense of "me" becomes stronger, doesn't it, when we have a target for blame, and judgment? In some weird way we like to be victims. It adds to our "story" doesn't it?
Yet...we are no better , no worse than the individual about to be punished. We are all capable of all he has done and more...as long as ego calls the shots.
I am going to try to put down my judgment here, to put away my need to add drama to my story, and I am going to try to look beyond the broken, festering ego this person wears and see what is truly there. We are not what our bodies do. We are not what we think and feel. We are not the choices we make. We are so much more than that. He is so much more than that
Beneath the ego and the crazy monkey minds that can take us to many strange places is a perfect and pure essence. If we could see it in all others, regardless of what they may do, would they not strive to be better ? Would we not be better off to see sinlessness rather than sin?
I share this only because it brings a profound question to the healing mind.
All is well in my world.
Essence Identity: What Uses What?
The essence of you is [a part of ]the essence of the universe.
-Eckhart Tolle
So we are so much more than this that we can perceive with our senses and describe, explain or even understand with our minds?
We are minds in bodies; formless in form; invisible in the visible; spirit in matter; timeless in some concept of "time"; changeless in the changing ; eternal in the temporary and we are in this world but not of it?
Our true identity then is the essence beneath every "thing"?
In the short video clip listed below, a question is asked, "How do we use our essence identity to make better choices?" Eckhart Tolle quickly replies with this truth: We don't use essence identity; essence identity uses us.
We got it so very mixed up. We ...as this pathetic little me...walk around this planet thinking we are using everything and have a right to. It doesn't work out so well for us so we decide to search and seek for something deeper...for the purpose of using it to make these pathetic little me better.
How can the pathetic self use the Divine Self? How can illusion use truth? How can bodies use minds? Form use the formless? The visible use the invisible? Matter use spirit? An illusion of time use the truth of timelessness? The ever changing use that which is incapable of change? The temporary use the eternal?
It can't... can it?
Our essence identity...that which we truly are cannot be used. It uses this form we are in, our minds, our bodies, and this world we are in to do what it does...shine. It is always there...always present because it is presence. It just is! And once we realize presence...it will use this limited form of us to shine through onto the world.
We are the formless presence beneath form...so the body doesn't run the show. We, (as our true selves: Essence Identity) are not used by the body ...presence uses the body. We are not used by our minds...presence uses the mind. We are not used by this concept of time, or change...presence uses that. We are not used by the world...presence creates and uses the world to do what we are here to do...shine.
But the "we" I speak of here is not the little "me" we have come to know through over identification with body, mind and the physical world... as self. It is not this story we created. It is not a separate little entity trying to find peace and enlightenment in a busy chaotic world. It is beyond all that. It is beyond body. It is beyond mind. It is beyond this world as we perceive it.
And at the same time...it is it. It flows through and wraps itself so gracefully, so perfectly around all of it.
We just need to be present. We do not need to use anything. We just need to fall back into the stillness of our own essence identity and allow ourselves to be used by it. The little "me" may never use it. We can, however, be vehicles for this amazing light to shine through, while realizing we are that light.
All is well.
Eckhart Tolle (2019) How can we use our essence identity to make better choices? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtkyDZFQvCw
-Eckhart Tolle
So we are so much more than this that we can perceive with our senses and describe, explain or even understand with our minds?
We are minds in bodies; formless in form; invisible in the visible; spirit in matter; timeless in some concept of "time"; changeless in the changing ; eternal in the temporary and we are in this world but not of it?
Our true identity then is the essence beneath every "thing"?
In the short video clip listed below, a question is asked, "How do we use our essence identity to make better choices?" Eckhart Tolle quickly replies with this truth: We don't use essence identity; essence identity uses us.
We got it so very mixed up. We ...as this pathetic little me...walk around this planet thinking we are using everything and have a right to. It doesn't work out so well for us so we decide to search and seek for something deeper...for the purpose of using it to make these pathetic little me better.
How can the pathetic self use the Divine Self? How can illusion use truth? How can bodies use minds? Form use the formless? The visible use the invisible? Matter use spirit? An illusion of time use the truth of timelessness? The ever changing use that which is incapable of change? The temporary use the eternal?
It can't... can it?
Our essence identity...that which we truly are cannot be used. It uses this form we are in, our minds, our bodies, and this world we are in to do what it does...shine. It is always there...always present because it is presence. It just is! And once we realize presence...it will use this limited form of us to shine through onto the world.
We are the formless presence beneath form...so the body doesn't run the show. We, (as our true selves: Essence Identity) are not used by the body ...presence uses the body. We are not used by our minds...presence uses the mind. We are not used by this concept of time, or change...presence uses that. We are not used by the world...presence creates and uses the world to do what we are here to do...shine.
But the "we" I speak of here is not the little "me" we have come to know through over identification with body, mind and the physical world... as self. It is not this story we created. It is not a separate little entity trying to find peace and enlightenment in a busy chaotic world. It is beyond all that. It is beyond body. It is beyond mind. It is beyond this world as we perceive it.
And at the same time...it is it. It flows through and wraps itself so gracefully, so perfectly around all of it.
We just need to be present. We do not need to use anything. We just need to fall back into the stillness of our own essence identity and allow ourselves to be used by it. The little "me" may never use it. We can, however, be vehicles for this amazing light to shine through, while realizing we are that light.
All is well.
Eckhart Tolle (2019) How can we use our essence identity to make better choices? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtkyDZFQvCw
In Essence, You Are...
The answer is, who you are cannot be defined through thinking or mental labels or definitions, because it is beyond that. It is the very sense of being that is there when you become conscious of the present moment. In essence, you and what we call the present moment, at the deepest level, are one.
-Eckhart Tolle (https://www.quotetab.com/eckhart-tolle-quotes-about-essence#jEbU6x8Beva9A3Bi.97)
-Eckhart Tolle (https://www.quotetab.com/eckhart-tolle-quotes-about-essence#jEbU6x8Beva9A3Bi.97)
Monday, August 19, 2019
Self-Realization
Our own Self-realization is the greatest service we can render the world.
-Ramani Marharshi (https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/self-realization)
So the best thing we can offer the world is our own realization of Self which in a sense is enlightenment, waking up and finally becoming aware.
What is Self -realization?
Yet what is this thing we call self realization or awareness of Self? We can't seek it or ever get "there". We can't define it with words or concepts? We can't understand it with the mind?
WTF (front door)?
How are we going to realize Self when we don't even "know" what Self-realization is?
The Mind that Wants an Answer
Ahhh! But it is the mind that poses that question. It is the mind that wonders what it is. It is the mind that occasionally slips beneath ego's veil for just a second to attempt to curiously peek at the this "consciousness thing." It is the mind that needs to seek, attain and then describe and explain awareness. Isn't it?
It is also the mind that personalizes everything, the mind that needs to create images and stories about who we are. It creates an idea of self in lieu of knowing Self. That idea of self is wrapped in "I" and "me" and "mine". It is wrapped in a need to do, achieve, attain, cling, defend and attack for anything it perceives as belonging to the "my story"... including awareness. It is the mind that has to narrate, explain and conceptualize our living. It is the mind that has to conceptualize self.
Yet by conceptualizing self it fails to realize Self. The self it explains is not the Self we need to live in order to serve the world. Anything that can be explained by the mind is not truly realized.
A name that can be named is not a lasting name. (translation of Tao Te Ching by P.J. McLaggan, 1898....http://www.bopsecrets.org/gateway/passages/tao-te-ching.htm.)
The self we think we are is not the Self we are. We are so much more than that story we use to define and explain our limited versions of "me".
So what do we do to become Self - realized?
We get beyond the mind. We put away our need to explain and use concepts to understand. We accept that this thing we may call enlightenment cannot be explained...it cannot be sought after...it cannot be found somewhere in the future. It just is. So we simply open up and allow this "isness" which is simply the here and now to be.
We recognize the mind and what the mind does. We understand its 'crazy' nature. We do not try to stop the thinking or necessarily control it. We just look beneath it to what is there. We sit in stillness and silence with it, knowing that we cannot narrate our way through what we may find. It is beyond words, beyond explanations and the limited ability of the mind to understand.
Self is here where it always was and always will be. It isn't going anywhere. All we can do is live it, experience it, feel it and be it...We simply be what we always were and will always be. The mind can't take us there but we can be here.
That is self-realization.
All is well.
-Ramani Marharshi (https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/self-realization)
So the best thing we can offer the world is our own realization of Self which in a sense is enlightenment, waking up and finally becoming aware.
What is Self -realization?
Yet what is this thing we call self realization or awareness of Self? We can't seek it or ever get "there". We can't define it with words or concepts? We can't understand it with the mind?
WTF (front door)?
How are we going to realize Self when we don't even "know" what Self-realization is?
The Mind that Wants an Answer
Ahhh! But it is the mind that poses that question. It is the mind that wonders what it is. It is the mind that occasionally slips beneath ego's veil for just a second to attempt to curiously peek at the this "consciousness thing." It is the mind that needs to seek, attain and then describe and explain awareness. Isn't it?
It is also the mind that personalizes everything, the mind that needs to create images and stories about who we are. It creates an idea of self in lieu of knowing Self. That idea of self is wrapped in "I" and "me" and "mine". It is wrapped in a need to do, achieve, attain, cling, defend and attack for anything it perceives as belonging to the "my story"... including awareness. It is the mind that has to narrate, explain and conceptualize our living. It is the mind that has to conceptualize self.
Yet by conceptualizing self it fails to realize Self. The self it explains is not the Self we need to live in order to serve the world. Anything that can be explained by the mind is not truly realized.
A name that can be named is not a lasting name. (translation of Tao Te Ching by P.J. McLaggan, 1898....http://www.bopsecrets.org/gateway/passages/tao-te-ching.htm.)
The self we think we are is not the Self we are. We are so much more than that story we use to define and explain our limited versions of "me".
So what do we do to become Self - realized?
We get beyond the mind. We put away our need to explain and use concepts to understand. We accept that this thing we may call enlightenment cannot be explained...it cannot be sought after...it cannot be found somewhere in the future. It just is. So we simply open up and allow this "isness" which is simply the here and now to be.
We recognize the mind and what the mind does. We understand its 'crazy' nature. We do not try to stop the thinking or necessarily control it. We just look beneath it to what is there. We sit in stillness and silence with it, knowing that we cannot narrate our way through what we may find. It is beyond words, beyond explanations and the limited ability of the mind to understand.
Self is here where it always was and always will be. It isn't going anywhere. All we can do is live it, experience it, feel it and be it...We simply be what we always were and will always be. The mind can't take us there but we can be here.
That is self-realization.
All is well.
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