When do you intend to cease suffering?
When will you quit this cross of your own making?
When is it time for your resurrection?
You say.
It's your call.
Monday, May 31, 2010
TRAPS & OBSTACLES
There's only one major obstacle to Happiness --
Our own ego's ideas, concepts, opinions and beliefs,
And it's promise --
"Adopt these and you'll be happy."
There's only one major Trap --
Thinking that thinking alone will get us over the obstacles.
Ego can't solve itself!
We need something larger than mere mind.
Fortunately,
We are larger than that,
And we're all-ready, all that we need.
Look within.
Ask for help if you need it,
But from someone who will direct you deeply
Into yourself.
The only valid answers to your questions
Lie within you.
You are Your Question and Your Answer -- both.
You are both Sinner and Saviour.
Our own ego's ideas, concepts, opinions and beliefs,
And it's promise --
"Adopt these and you'll be happy."
There's only one major Trap --
Thinking that thinking alone will get us over the obstacles.
Ego can't solve itself!
We need something larger than mere mind.
Fortunately,
We are larger than that,
And we're all-ready, all that we need.
Look within.
Ask for help if you need it,
But from someone who will direct you deeply
Into yourself.
The only valid answers to your questions
Lie within you.
You are Your Question and Your Answer -- both.
You are both Sinner and Saviour.
BE-AWARE
Regardless of what we do --
To engage or avoid,
Anything in our makeup that we're unwilling to accept,
Or look at,
Will cause us pain,
Sooner or later.
I once worked with a man who'd had a bad experience with doctors.
He refused point-blank to have anything more to do with them.
By the time I knew him, he was covered in boils.
He died a slow and horribly painful death from septicemia.
Well, that was his conscious choice.
Personally, I've been happy to endure a short, sharp pang of pain,
Have the boil lanced
And be done with it.
That's my choice.
What's yours?
To engage or avoid,
Anything in our makeup that we're unwilling to accept,
Or look at,
Will cause us pain,
Sooner or later.
I once worked with a man who'd had a bad experience with doctors.
He refused point-blank to have anything more to do with them.
By the time I knew him, he was covered in boils.
He died a slow and horribly painful death from septicemia.
Well, that was his conscious choice.
Personally, I've been happy to endure a short, sharp pang of pain,
Have the boil lanced
And be done with it.
That's my choice.
What's yours?
SUFFERING -- A QUESTION WORTH STANDING IN.....
- What is it here that's more important than being at one with myself?
LOGIC & REASON -v- TRUST & SURRENDER
Trust and Surrender
Are the womb of a growing Conscious Awareness.
Logic an Reason are amongst the essential nutrients
Needed to nourish the growing Self.
But without Trust and Surrender
To contain and sustain it
An embryo of New Awareness,
Fed on logic and reason alone,
Will be stillborn.
In the process of growing,
Trust and Surrender have to be reached into
Time and again.
Are the womb of a growing Conscious Awareness.
Logic an Reason are amongst the essential nutrients
Needed to nourish the growing Self.
But without Trust and Surrender
To contain and sustain it
An embryo of New Awareness,
Fed on logic and reason alone,
Will be stillborn.
In the process of growing,
Trust and Surrender have to be reached into
Time and again.
ANGER
I've been standing in a question --
"Why do I start boiling at the public behaviour and verbal vomiting of politicians?"
An answer popped last night .........
Anger is my dialogue with a looming pall of Despair.
When threatened, I get angry ... I knew that.
But it was a blinding flash of the bloody obvious to discover what it is that I feel threatened by
And what lay at the base of my depression and anxiety.
Why would I feel threatened by a feeling?
Because "I" thinks "I can't handle this."
A feeling does not need to be handled;
It can be experienced.
Safely.
We are, after all, bigger than the feelings we generate --
The fruit cannot swallow the tree.
"Why do I start boiling at the public behaviour and verbal vomiting of politicians?"
An answer popped last night .........
Anger is my dialogue with a looming pall of Despair.
When threatened, I get angry ... I knew that.
But it was a blinding flash of the bloody obvious to discover what it is that I feel threatened by
And what lay at the base of my depression and anxiety.
Why would I feel threatened by a feeling?
Because "I" thinks "I can't handle this."
A feeling does not need to be handled;
It can be experienced.
Safely.
We are, after all, bigger than the feelings we generate --
The fruit cannot swallow the tree.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
GETTING WARMER.....
When I was kid we used to play a game called "Hideys".
One of us closed our eyes and counted aloud to 20 while the other hid an object.
As the seeker blundered around looking for what was hidden,
The hider would call "Warmer" or "Colder" according to whether we were getting closer to, or further away from, the hidden object.
Maybe God plays the same game......
As we get closer to a fundamental shift in consciousness,
Fear begins to creep in.
It used to be a turn-off,
But I think I got that wrong.
It was God's way of saying
"Getting warmer!"
One of us closed our eyes and counted aloud to 20 while the other hid an object.
As the seeker blundered around looking for what was hidden,
The hider would call "Warmer" or "Colder" according to whether we were getting closer to, or further away from, the hidden object.
Maybe God plays the same game......
As we get closer to a fundamental shift in consciousness,
Fear begins to creep in.
It used to be a turn-off,
But I think I got that wrong.
It was God's way of saying
"Getting warmer!"
SURRENDER
Surrender (choosing to creatively engage with What-Is)
Is vital.
I first sought enlightenment to make my life better,
Or at least more tolerable than it was.
Things were "bad", and getting "worse".
The idea of using Enlightenment as a way out
Seems rather insensitive and selfish of me now that I look back on it --
And stupidly ignorant.
My enlightenment began
When I got the joke,
And the joke was Me,
And the joke was on me --
Enlightenment isn't about "changing" or "improving",
But about getting calm and creative with things as they are.
The discovery was, at first, crushing.
The road out looked like punishment by "more of the same".
It took a long time for me to get
That any worthwhile, effective exploration into self
Cannot be assaultive,
But must be held in a context
Of unconditional love, humility, and total acceptance.
A realisation of Perfection is not
An ideal to be achieved,
But is justly a name for What-is, Just As It Is.
I did the journey hard --
Hard on me and on everyone who cared about me.
I'd added the idea of "Getting Enlightened"
To a long "To-Do" list,
And to the huge pile of things I'd become attached to.
It's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
Than for a logical, religious Westerner
To accept the need for trust, detachment and unconditional letting-go
Of all attachments and identifications -- ideas, concepts, beliefs, opinions and such....
While there is anything we are attached to emotionally, mentally, spiritually, or in any other way,
We are doing the splits,
And the Wholeness we look for will elude us.
Our present condition is a not a disease to be cured
Or a failure to be fixed
With tools of "enlightenment".
That's ego speaking.
Our present condition is an experience to be had
So that the wisdom gained from it can flow back to the Source
From whence we came,
From whence comes the energy vitalising this experience --
The Source that you and I truly are.
Is vital.
I first sought enlightenment to make my life better,
Or at least more tolerable than it was.
Things were "bad", and getting "worse".
The idea of using Enlightenment as a way out
Seems rather insensitive and selfish of me now that I look back on it --
And stupidly ignorant.
My enlightenment began
When I got the joke,
And the joke was Me,
And the joke was on me --
Enlightenment isn't about "changing" or "improving",
But about getting calm and creative with things as they are.
The discovery was, at first, crushing.
The road out looked like punishment by "more of the same".
It took a long time for me to get
That any worthwhile, effective exploration into self
Cannot be assaultive,
But must be held in a context
Of unconditional love, humility, and total acceptance.
A realisation of Perfection is not
An ideal to be achieved,
But is justly a name for What-is, Just As It Is.
I did the journey hard --
Hard on me and on everyone who cared about me.
I'd added the idea of "Getting Enlightened"
To a long "To-Do" list,
And to the huge pile of things I'd become attached to.
It's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
Than for a logical, religious Westerner
To accept the need for trust, detachment and unconditional letting-go
Of all attachments and identifications -- ideas, concepts, beliefs, opinions and such....
While there is anything we are attached to emotionally, mentally, spiritually, or in any other way,
We are doing the splits,
And the Wholeness we look for will elude us.
Our present condition is a not a disease to be cured
Or a failure to be fixed
With tools of "enlightenment".
That's ego speaking.
Our present condition is an experience to be had
So that the wisdom gained from it can flow back to the Source
From whence we came,
From whence comes the energy vitalising this experience --
The Source that you and I truly are.
TRUST
Trust is an energy organiser.
At a time of crisis
When no rational, logical thinking
Will sustain an illusion of stability, security or control,
Trust provides a firm footing for your Self.
Trust is a knowing from deep within your self
(Distinguishing it from "faith", which is invested in someone or something external)
That Existence knows what it's doing,
(It has been doing it successfully for a VERY long time)
That life is designed to work,
That there are no mistakes,
No failures
And that survival is assured.
The only issue is, and always has been,
The quality of that survival.
That's where Trust allows us to get creative.
At a time of crisis
When no rational, logical thinking
Will sustain an illusion of stability, security or control,
Trust provides a firm footing for your Self.
Trust is a knowing from deep within your self
(Distinguishing it from "faith", which is invested in someone or something external)
That Existence knows what it's doing,
(It has been doing it successfully for a VERY long time)
That life is designed to work,
That there are no mistakes,
No failures
And that survival is assured.
The only issue is, and always has been,
The quality of that survival.
That's where Trust allows us to get creative.
KEEPING OUR BALANCE
Before awakening we were so sure,
So certain of what thought we knew,
Especially in the stormiest of seas.
We dealt with life
By emotionally battling every day
Like Jackie Chan on steroids.
In awakening, we become unsure, uncertain, vulnerable.
While the boat continues to be rocked and tossed,
How do we adjust to the push-pull buffeting
Of the world around us?
With impeccable self-honesty,
Genuine trust,
And open-hearted surrender.
Behind such scary vulnerability
You will find the effortless invincibility you've been looking for.
So certain of what thought we knew,
Especially in the stormiest of seas.
We dealt with life
By emotionally battling every day
Like Jackie Chan on steroids.
In awakening, we become unsure, uncertain, vulnerable.
While the boat continues to be rocked and tossed,
How do we adjust to the push-pull buffeting
Of the world around us?
With impeccable self-honesty,
Genuine trust,
And open-hearted surrender.
Behind such scary vulnerability
You will find the effortless invincibility you've been looking for.
A NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH "NOW"
It has been said --
"A fish does not know water until it is out of it."
We did not know Peace and Balance until we fell out of them.
Since then, we have lived in varying degrees of dis-comfort and im-balance.
Unable to really re-member what profound Peace and Balance felt like,
We have still used some idea about them as a reference point;
We have viewed imbalance as an aberration,
And have tried to re-balance ourselves
Against the imaginary ideal of "wellness".
No wonder we keep stumbling.
If what you're doing isn't helping you stay firmly on your feet,
Here's another way to look at it --
Instead of assuming a sense of disturbance, discomfort, dis-equilibrium or pain
As something to be cured,
See them instead
As gifts.
Instead of recoiling from the condition we're in,
It is possible for us to creatively use it
As a real, living, breathing reference point
From which to reflect upon our here-and-now place
On sliding scales
Of balance and imbalance,
(On a scale of 1 to 10, where do you feel?)
Fluidity and rigidity,
(On a scale of 1 to 10, where do you feel?)
Expansion and contraction,
(One a scale of 1 to 10....)
Openness and closedness,
Judgement and unconditionality.
In other words,
Instead of standing where you think you should be,
And viewing your experience negatively from There,
Stand instead where you are
And look at the situation,
And where you are within it,
From Here/Now.
From this new, real and actual viewing platform
There is no more good or bad,
No more right or wrong,
No more should or should-not --
No polarising,
No agreement or rejection;
There is just the eternal and abundant gift of What-Is,
Inviting us to look
From this point of view,
And re-balance
Here where we stand.
In this new engagement with Now,
Everything can be integrated with the complex harmony of Existence.
Just as a new pattern in an evolving tapestry
Develops and enriches the tapestry.
In this new engagement with Now,
We find openness, lovingness, supportingness,
And a growing sense of adventure, freedom and gratitude.
But it isn't going to happen by accident.
In turmoil we have to deliberately Choose
To switch from Recoil to Engage.
"A fish does not know water until it is out of it."
We did not know Peace and Balance until we fell out of them.
Since then, we have lived in varying degrees of dis-comfort and im-balance.
Unable to really re-member what profound Peace and Balance felt like,
We have still used some idea about them as a reference point;
We have viewed imbalance as an aberration,
And have tried to re-balance ourselves
Against the imaginary ideal of "wellness".
No wonder we keep stumbling.
If what you're doing isn't helping you stay firmly on your feet,
Here's another way to look at it --
Instead of assuming a sense of disturbance, discomfort, dis-equilibrium or pain
As something to be cured,
See them instead
As gifts.
Instead of recoiling from the condition we're in,
It is possible for us to creatively use it
As a real, living, breathing reference point
From which to reflect upon our here-and-now place
On sliding scales
Of balance and imbalance,
(On a scale of 1 to 10, where do you feel?)
Fluidity and rigidity,
(On a scale of 1 to 10, where do you feel?)
Expansion and contraction,
(One a scale of 1 to 10....)
Openness and closedness,
Judgement and unconditionality.
In other words,
Instead of standing where you think you should be,
And viewing your experience negatively from There,
Stand instead where you are
And look at the situation,
And where you are within it,
From Here/Now.
From this new, real and actual viewing platform
There is no more good or bad,
No more right or wrong,
No more should or should-not --
No polarising,
No agreement or rejection;
There is just the eternal and abundant gift of What-Is,
Inviting us to look
From this point of view,
And re-balance
Here where we stand.
In this new engagement with Now,
Everything can be integrated with the complex harmony of Existence.
Just as a new pattern in an evolving tapestry
Develops and enriches the tapestry.
In this new engagement with Now,
We find openness, lovingness, supportingness,
And a growing sense of adventure, freedom and gratitude.
But it isn't going to happen by accident.
In turmoil we have to deliberately Choose
To switch from Recoil to Engage.
INTIMACY
Into-Me-See.....
Private words expressed publicly.
Intimacy is Communication that evolves into Communion.
The former interaction of personalities,
Through radiation and absorption,
Becomes a blending of Presences.
Wow!
If you want it --
Give it away.
If you can't seem to get it --
Ask
How intimate are you with your self?
Private words expressed publicly.
Intimacy is Communication that evolves into Communion.
The former interaction of personalities,
Through radiation and absorption,
Becomes a blending of Presences.
Wow!
If you want it --
Give it away.
If you can't seem to get it --
Ask
How intimate are you with your self?
THE NEW "ME"
A renewed sense of self is more fluid,
More transparent,
In-differently accommodating differing environments,
Differing perceptions,
And differing people.
Defences are lowered,
Boundaries are stretched beyond limit,
Elastic and permeable.
More transparent,
In-differently accommodating differing environments,
Differing perceptions,
And differing people.
Defences are lowered,
Boundaries are stretched beyond limit,
Elastic and permeable.
ECSTASY -- STANDING APART.
Transformation either happens, or it doesn't happen.
It's a gift of grace.
It cannot be manufactured --
It cannot be coerced or made to happen.
Nor will it be forced upon you.
(Saul, on the road to Emmaeus, didn't get anything he wasn't looking for.)
All we can do is prepare to receive it
By opening up
And allowing ourselves to be transparent
To experience.
Any experience in particular?
Yes.The one in your face,
And the ones going on underneath
That you won't look at.
Yes, those ones.
This one -- the one that keeps cropping up time and time again;
This one -- the one we try to push away as unimportant or undesirable;
This one -- the one we won't have a bar of;
This one -- the one we want, but not like THAT!
This one -- the one we'll avoid by going for any distraction instead;
This one -- the one that our addictions allow us to say "No" to --
The one that precedes the urge to escape, the cigarette, the second cup of coffee, the chocolate bar, the second and subsequent drinks, the tablets, the snorting line, the must-have emotion, the must-have belief............
The fear that precedes the snatch for a security blanket,
The disappointment that precedes the shot for sensation,
The anger and grief that precede the grab for power and control.......
The real need that precedes the craving for a substitute.....
Yes, that one;
That's the experience that life stops for
Until we have it.
Transformation happens when our guard is down,
When the incessant yammering of our self-talk falls briefly silent
While we're fully present in an experience.
In such moments of grace
We may begin to intuit, under the experience,
A deeper energy level that's offering to move us along.
That deeper energy may take the form
Of a simple inner urge to finally complete with this experience.
If we've assessed the recurring experience to be undesirable,
We may have become what I call "Divinely pissed off".
"Enough at last!" we cry. "Let me have it!"
We're sick from being caught up in the discomfort and misery that "I" has attached to this experience.
There is more available to living than what "I" is experiencing right now.
Always.
But "my's" resistance keeps us glued
To our limited perception.
By dropping our resistance to this now,
We can have it, and be done with it.
Forever.
In this moment of surrender,
You may become aware of another aspect of your presence,
A witnesser --
That which stands apart and watches,
Un-involved,
In ex-stasis, (ecstasy)
While your "I" is having the experience.
Get to know this ex-static aspect of You --
Ecstasy will begin to infiltrate the reality of your awareness
More often.
It's a gift of grace.
It cannot be manufactured --
It cannot be coerced or made to happen.
Nor will it be forced upon you.
(Saul, on the road to Emmaeus, didn't get anything he wasn't looking for.)
All we can do is prepare to receive it
By opening up
And allowing ourselves to be transparent
To experience.
Any experience in particular?
Yes.The one in your face,
And the ones going on underneath
That you won't look at.
Yes, those ones.
This one -- the one that keeps cropping up time and time again;
This one -- the one we try to push away as unimportant or undesirable;
This one -- the one we won't have a bar of;
This one -- the one we want, but not like THAT!
This one -- the one we'll avoid by going for any distraction instead;
This one -- the one that our addictions allow us to say "No" to --
The one that precedes the urge to escape, the cigarette, the second cup of coffee, the chocolate bar, the second and subsequent drinks, the tablets, the snorting line, the must-have emotion, the must-have belief............
The fear that precedes the snatch for a security blanket,
The disappointment that precedes the shot for sensation,
The anger and grief that precede the grab for power and control.......
The real need that precedes the craving for a substitute.....
Yes, that one;
That's the experience that life stops for
Until we have it.
Transformation happens when our guard is down,
When the incessant yammering of our self-talk falls briefly silent
While we're fully present in an experience.
In such moments of grace
We may begin to intuit, under the experience,
A deeper energy level that's offering to move us along.
That deeper energy may take the form
Of a simple inner urge to finally complete with this experience.
If we've assessed the recurring experience to be undesirable,
We may have become what I call "Divinely pissed off".
"Enough at last!" we cry. "Let me have it!"
We're sick from being caught up in the discomfort and misery that "I" has attached to this experience.
There is more available to living than what "I" is experiencing right now.
Always.
But "my's" resistance keeps us glued
To our limited perception.
By dropping our resistance to this now,
We can have it, and be done with it.
Forever.
In this moment of surrender,
You may become aware of another aspect of your presence,
A witnesser --
That which stands apart and watches,
Un-involved,
In ex-stasis, (ecstasy)
While your "I" is having the experience.
Get to know this ex-static aspect of You --
Ecstasy will begin to infiltrate the reality of your awareness
More often.
IF YOU'RE HAPPY, LET YOUR FACE KNOW.
Why can't we be honest to our selves about how we feel?
Are we lying?
Or is it that we have a limited perception of what's available?
66% of a letter I received from a friend this week was a bitch -- about the lack of parking in North Adelaide, the failure of a doctor's receptionist to give correct information, and comment about a cleaning lady she calls "Miss Woeful". (Am I the only person to see irony in that?). I commented that "You seem to be having a bad day", to which she retorted with characteristically bristling energy "Not at all -- I'm happy-happy!"
Two possibilities occurred to me:-
Who does it to you?
Come in spinner!
Are we lying?
Or is it that we have a limited perception of what's available?
66% of a letter I received from a friend this week was a bitch -- about the lack of parking in North Adelaide, the failure of a doctor's receptionist to give correct information, and comment about a cleaning lady she calls "Miss Woeful". (Am I the only person to see irony in that?). I commented that "You seem to be having a bad day", to which she retorted with characteristically bristling energy "Not at all -- I'm happy-happy!"
Two possibilities occurred to me:-
- She IS happy, being unhappy. Maybe there's supposed to be juice in carping and unhappiness. In any case, she's out of her comfort zone unless she's unhappy; or....
- What she's actually saying is that "In a very narrow mini-spectrum within the whole Happiness Scale, I'm at the "happy" end of the range of feelings I allow myself to experience." She is relatively happy. My empathetic feedback evoked a retaliation to defend what she automatically perceived as an attack on the narrowness of what she's willing to experience. That wasn't my intention at all, but she doesn't know that. And my telling her isn't going to change her mind.
Don't you and I do the same thing?
Sometimes?
Aren't we afraid that, it we are willing to be wildly, ecstatically happy -- and show it -- we have to risk going through the polar opposite of that? It's true. We do have to take that risk. Our mistake is to think it may be fatal. Without an interplay of opposites, life soon gets monotone-ous. It's OK to be unhappy; you get to appreciate "happy" all the more!
Then again, there's an issue with the Purpose of Deliberate Unhappiness and Self-Limitation. If we outwardly show how truly happy and unlimited we are, who gets let off the hook? Who, in the past, have we tried to control by contracting and withdrawing our happiness?
Who does it to you?
Come in spinner!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
UNDERSTANDING FEELING
Do you want me to understand how you feel?
Sorry -- I cannot;
It's not possible because
I haven't lived your life.
Anyway --
Sympathy is not what we need:
(We need sympathy
Like Dracula needs the blood bank)
We need Empathy,
And you already have mine.
Thank you -- I don't want your sympathy:
Thank you -- I don't need a saviour.
Give me instead your empathy.
Please sit by me for a while and be my friend.
Give me space,
And help me have my feelings.
When I'm through,
We'll have a good laugh
At the wondrous silliness
Of being human.
And I'll sit with you
And give you all the space in the world.
I'll support you to have your experience.
Have we got a deal?
Sorry -- I cannot;
It's not possible because
I haven't lived your life.
Anyway --
Sympathy is not what we need:
(We need sympathy
Like Dracula needs the blood bank)
We need Empathy,
And you already have mine.
Do you want to understand how I feel?
You cannot.
Understanding is an activity of the tiny mind;
Feeling is a function of the expanding heart.
A feeling cannot be understood,
It can only be felt.
The Mind has no feeling;
Your mind cannot walk in my shoes;
It can only think it does.
It can only think it does.
My mind cannot walk in yours.
Thank you -- I don't want your sympathy:
Thank you -- I don't need a saviour.
Give me instead your empathy.
Please sit by me for a while and be my friend.
Give me space,
And help me have my feelings.
When I'm through,
We'll have a good laugh
At the wondrous silliness
Of being human.
And I'll sit with you
And give you all the space in the world.
I'll support you to have your experience.
Have we got a deal?
SEPARATION
Separation is a superstition;
While we believe in it,
We act as if it's real.
When we were born
We did not get separated from warmth, nourishment, support or love --
We simply emerged into a larger womb
To grow, to learn
And to stand on our own two feet,
Interdependent.
There is no separating
You from your self,
You from your being,
Or you from your godness.
Like "Black cats are bad luck",
"Separation" is just a superstition.
If you believe it, it's real.
But when you get that it's just a superstition,
You've taken your first step
Into Integrity.
While we believe in it,
We act as if it's real.
When we were born
We did not get separated from warmth, nourishment, support or love --
We simply emerged into a larger womb
To grow, to learn
And to stand on our own two feet,
Interdependent.
There is no separating
You from your self,
You from your being,
Or you from your godness.
Like "Black cats are bad luck",
"Separation" is just a superstition.
If you believe it, it's real.
But when you get that it's just a superstition,
You've taken your first step
Into Integrity.
THE GREAT "COMMANDMENTS"
Honour your mother and father.
Love the lord godness of all being.
Love your neighbour as your self.
What if.........
These gems of understatement
Were not originally dished out
As guilt-inducing, punishable standing orders,
But offered as optional signposts to a higher level of perception
And more effective ways of being and living?
What if they were not exhortations to obey,
But a revelation
And an acknowledgment of a state of affairs
That already is?????
You cannot love God and reject any part of yourself,
Or anyone or anything else.
If you think you can,
That's not God you're looking at.
We already honour our parents -- by becoming them.
We already love our neighbours exactly as we love the facets of ourself that they mirror back to us.
When we love God, who are we loving,
If not all things and all people that God is?
(Including ourselves).
Friday, May 28, 2010
TRANSFORMING OUR PAST
The dead Past is passed;
It cannot be changed.
But it can be transformed.......
We begin to transform our past when we accept blameless, grateful responsibility for it
For no reason other than
It suits us better.
Blaming circumstances or others for our history
Is keeping us stuck
With the drive wheels spinning,
Blowing a lot of acrid smoke
And losing traction by the second.
Once we accept loving responsibility as being Probable Cause of --
And giving willing connivance to --
Our background and conditioning,
Along with the people and energies that have helped us shape what we've become......
Then,
And only then,
Can we totally love and be in Gratitude
For the whole of what we have created ourself to become thus far.
Without what has been,
We could not have become what we are,
And without what we are,
We cannot become what we aspire to be.
Only from the totality of what we now are,
And have been,
Can we be-come.............
It cannot be changed.
But it can be transformed.......
We begin to transform our past when we accept blameless, grateful responsibility for it
For no reason other than
It suits us better.
Blaming circumstances or others for our history
Is keeping us stuck
With the drive wheels spinning,
Blowing a lot of acrid smoke
And losing traction by the second.
Once we accept loving responsibility as being Probable Cause of --
And giving willing connivance to --
Our background and conditioning,
Along with the people and energies that have helped us shape what we've become......
Then,
And only then,
Can we totally love and be in Gratitude
For the whole of what we have created ourself to become thus far.
Without what has been,
We could not have become what we are,
And without what we are,
We cannot become what we aspire to be.
Only from the totality of what we now are,
And have been,
Can we be-come.............
WHAT EXISTENCE LOOKS LIKE
The whole of existence is in a constant state of flux,
Expanding and contracting,
Coming together and moving away.
We can resist that expansion and contraction until we're blue in the face --
It isn't going to make an ounce of difference.
The whole of Existence is in perpetual motion,
Universes, tides, relationships --
Expanding and contracting,
Coming together and moving away.
The act of expanding builds the energy to contract;
Coming together winds up the energy to move apart;
Each is inherent in the other.
This is what the universe looks like --
<................................> , ..............>........<.................. ,
Get used to it;
And let life do what it's going to do.
Let it flow through you.
Resistance is futile.
Consciousness itself is also subject to the same law;
It selectively narrows and expands
As we touch upon different levels of self.
We're supposed to move around.
The in/out movements need not be judged or evaluated,
Merely witnessed,
Allowed,
And integrated
To gain traction, uplift and freedom.
Expanding and contracting,
Coming together and moving away.
We can resist that expansion and contraction until we're blue in the face --
It isn't going to make an ounce of difference.
The whole of Existence is in perpetual motion,
Universes, tides, relationships --
Expanding and contracting,
Coming together and moving away.
The act of expanding builds the energy to contract;
Coming together winds up the energy to move apart;
Each is inherent in the other.
This is what the universe looks like --
<................................> , ..............>........<.................. ,
Get used to it;
And let life do what it's going to do.
Let it flow through you.
Resistance is futile.
Consciousness itself is also subject to the same law;
It selectively narrows and expands
As we touch upon different levels of self.
We're supposed to move around.
The in/out movements need not be judged or evaluated,
Merely witnessed,
Allowed,
And integrated
To gain traction, uplift and freedom.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
A NOTE TO S.N.A.G.'s
A rising level of consciousness poses a problem --
"How can I now evoke and empower action,
Without resorting to the old motivating forces of jealousy and competition,
And the male macho ego ethos of "faster, stronger, smarter or better"?
These dinosaurs were never either attractive or productive,
And they lose every ounce of validity
When openness, receptivity and a preoccupation with the Now moment
Take over.
Here's a suggested start --
Quit competing;
Start creating.
Surrender.
Be aware of what is there to be done
And give your whole self over to that.
If you're lucky enough to have a woman in your life
Who owns her feminine power,
Has quit the Auxiliary
And has let go of her resentment around eons of masculine stupidity,
Listen to her --
She'll know best where the mountains need to be moved to.
"How can I now evoke and empower action,
Without resorting to the old motivating forces of jealousy and competition,
And the male macho ego ethos of "faster, stronger, smarter or better"?
These dinosaurs were never either attractive or productive,
And they lose every ounce of validity
When openness, receptivity and a preoccupation with the Now moment
Take over.
Here's a suggested start --
Quit competing;
Start creating.
Surrender.
Be aware of what is there to be done
And give your whole self over to that.
If you're lucky enough to have a woman in your life
Who owns her feminine power,
Has quit the Auxiliary
And has let go of her resentment around eons of masculine stupidity,
Listen to her --
She'll know best where the mountains need to be moved to.
CHANGE & TRANSFORMATION
Change is just a matter of doing things differently.
Transformation is just a matter of seeing things differently.
When things change, nothing transforms.
Everything stays basically the same.
When things transform, nothing changes,
But everything is somehow different.
Transformation is just a matter of seeing things differently.
When things change, nothing transforms.
Everything stays basically the same.
When things transform, nothing changes,
But everything is somehow different.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
MEMORIES
You expect life to be linear, logical and efficiently organised?
Whatever gave you that idea?
Sometimes she is;
Sometimes she isn't,
And she will not be forced into submission.
Is life fluid, intuitive, momentary and chaotically patterned?
You betcha --
Except sometimes.
The present is never the same as the past.
But Memory brings into present consciousness
Some experience from the past that has real and living relevance
To this new moment.
It's up to you to work out just what that relevance is.
It probably won't be obvious to you
But don't worry -- there are no "wrong" answers.
Whatever gave you that idea?
Sometimes she is;
Sometimes she isn't,
And she will not be forced into submission.
Is life fluid, intuitive, momentary and chaotically patterned?
You betcha --
Except sometimes.
The present is never the same as the past.
But Memory brings into present consciousness
Some experience from the past that has real and living relevance
To this new moment.
It's up to you to work out just what that relevance is.
It probably won't be obvious to you
But don't worry -- there are no "wrong" answers.
EXERCISE
When exercise becomes less of an assault on the body,
Less of a struggle to get, alter or stay "in shape",
When exercise becomes a more fluid means of balancing our energies,
We become less self-punishing,
And more graceful.
Your body says "Thank you."
Less of a struggle to get, alter or stay "in shape",
When exercise becomes a more fluid means of balancing our energies,
We become less self-punishing,
And more graceful.
Your body says "Thank you."
FOOD ENERGY
Have you never noticed
How some meals make you feel heavy,
And some leave you feeling light?
If you drew a line-scale from Light to Heavy,
Which foods would you put towards the "light" end,
And which foods would you put down the "heavy" end of the spectrum?
There is more than one sense in which "we become what we eat."
Food is energy,
And energy vibrates.
Different foods vibrate at different frequencies.
Asian cuisines, in particular, have known this for eons,
And strive to achieve a balance of all frequencies over the courses of a banquet.
The foods we eat contribute
To our perceptions of the energy available.
Become aware of how you feel
And use food to help you balance out
At times when you feel out of whack.
We speak of "comfort food", when most of those sugary, starchy substitutes for nourishment
Often add to our long-term discomfort, and -- eventually -- dis-ease.
Having diabetes has taught me the difference
Between Comfort and Balance.
Lighter foods (like salads and vegetables) tend to put me in touch with lighter, finer energies.
Heavier meals tend to quieten things down and ground me.
So now I have a choice --
To be enslaved to a diet,
Or attuned to Balance.
Both will work,
But one is more fun and more interesting than the other.
How some meals make you feel heavy,
And some leave you feeling light?
If you drew a line-scale from Light to Heavy,
Which foods would you put towards the "light" end,
And which foods would you put down the "heavy" end of the spectrum?
There is more than one sense in which "we become what we eat."
Food is energy,
And energy vibrates.
Different foods vibrate at different frequencies.
Asian cuisines, in particular, have known this for eons,
And strive to achieve a balance of all frequencies over the courses of a banquet.
The foods we eat contribute
To our perceptions of the energy available.
Become aware of how you feel
And use food to help you balance out
At times when you feel out of whack.
We speak of "comfort food", when most of those sugary, starchy substitutes for nourishment
Often add to our long-term discomfort, and -- eventually -- dis-ease.
Having diabetes has taught me the difference
Between Comfort and Balance.
Lighter foods (like salads and vegetables) tend to put me in touch with lighter, finer energies.
Heavier meals tend to quieten things down and ground me.
So now I have a choice --
To be enslaved to a diet,
Or attuned to Balance.
Both will work,
But one is more fun and more interesting than the other.
I NEVER THOUGHT IT WAS POSSIBLE.....!
Well.........
What does that tell you?
If this which was formerly im-possible,
Is now a reality,
What else may be possible?
Anything that presently looks to be impossible?
Funny how I never thought before
Of looking for Possibility
Behind the Impossible.
How much have I missed out on?
Until now.
What does that tell you?
If this which was formerly im-possible,
Is now a reality,
What else may be possible?
Anything that presently looks to be impossible?
Funny how I never thought before
Of looking for Possibility
Behind the Impossible.
How much have I missed out on?
Until now.
BEYOND MERE MIND
"We become
Or, at the very least
Powerfully participate in
What we think we're thinking."
BUT.....
What if we're not doing the thinking --
What if the thinking is doing us?
Over the years
We've built up patterns of habitual thoughts,
Thoughts that "think us",
And a prevailing mood of habitual feelings,
Feelings that "feels us".
We long ago ceased to think much, if at all, about our prevailing thoughts,
Or feel about our prevailing feelings --
We've uncritically allowed them to dominate our experience of living,
And to rule our behaviour.
We have assumed them as the normal, general climate in which we live.
"This is our lot" is our mantra,
But there is no acceptance in it:
We bitch and rail against our fate,
Unquestioningly convinced
That the thoughts and feelings we've steeped in up until now
Are the only reality available to us,
And that anyone who doesn't think and feel as we do
Is either deluded or lucky.
This barbwire cocoon we've wrapped ourselves in
Sorts and sifts the soup of thoughts and feelings we swim in,
Censoring the perceptions that are available to us
And making bloody sure that nothing filters through to us that doesn't fit
The Programme --
Our idea of The Way It Is.
This condition is a legacy of the unkind mind --
One of the challenges of what it means to be human.
There is nothing wrong.
The narrow spectrum (compared to all that's available)
Of thoughts and feelings we entertain
Are hand-picked by our pre-existing conditioning
Of self-proving thoughts and feeling patterns --
All of them "tried and true".
So we think.
We perceive only that which our existing thoughts and moods allow us to perceive.
We have almost 20/20 D.I.Y.blindness,
And yet we are so sure about the rightness and clarity of our "vision".
Consider this....
Our mind cannot know anything;
It can only think
And one of the things it thinks
Is that it thinks it knows,
Fooling us into a false sense of wisdom.
We'll never, ever know everything
Until we give up all that we think we know
And know nothing.
Therein lies an escape hatch,
A choice to be made --
Whether to continue to passively allow the Mind to use us for its continuing survival,
Or
Whether to take up the talisman of Awareness,
And use the situation for our Transformation.
Breaking out of any circular rut of un-thought thought and un-felt feeling can be difficult.
It is a function of the Mind
To resist any influence that threatens the ramshackle shanty
Of its existing patterns.
Transformation is not, and never will be on your Mind's to-do list!
It doesn't even go into the Mind's too-hard basket
Or "Maybe" file.
Transformation -- the dreaded "T"- word -- is not reason-able......
And is therefore Verbötten!!
Transformation lies beyond mind,
In the silences between the words,
In the gaps between the road-train of thoughts.
No thinking,
No doing,
No more catharting (the process of "doing" feeling),
No more meditating (the process of "doing" not-doing),
Nothing more to do,
Everything to be and have -- be-haviour.
Realisation dawns when nothing is going on.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
THE COSMIC JOKE
Awakening deeply
Is an awesome journey
Where nothing happens
And nothing changes.
After decades of trying to make something happen.........
To my mind
It felt like dying,
Until I saw the joke
And laughed out loud.
Then it happened..........
Nothing and Everything
Is an awesome journey
Where nothing happens
And nothing changes.
After decades of trying to make something happen.........
To my mind
It felt like dying,
Until I saw the joke
And laughed out loud.
Then it happened..........
Nothing and Everything
Friday, May 14, 2010
MID-LIFE CRISIS
The point at which you realise
The things that once motivated and nurtured you
Have long since ceased to work
And are slowly killing you off.
The point at which you realise
That Survival is not, and never was the name of the game;
And that life is not about "getting better"
But about getting happy
With the way it is,
And the way you are.
The things that once motivated and nurtured you
Have long since ceased to work
And are slowly killing you off.
The point at which you realise
That Survival is not, and never was the name of the game;
And that life is not about "getting better"
But about getting happy
With the way it is,
And the way you are.
ANXIETY
Anxiety debilitates.
It temporarily facilitates performance,
Which might explain why controllers use it as a tool of motivation,
And why we get hooked on its "highs",
But eventually
The underlying
Debilitation prevails.
It temporarily facilitates performance,
Which might explain why controllers use it as a tool of motivation,
And why we get hooked on its "highs",
But eventually
The underlying
Debilitation prevails.
THE DOWNSIDES OF ENLIGHTENMENT
It has always fascinated me how
The same people who worshiped the ground that Jesus walked on
Turned
And crucified him.
Where were those he healed?
Where were those he enlightened?
Where did they all get to after Palm Sunday?
Did they go into hiding?
What happened between Monday morning and Thursday night?
How come they suddenly stocked up on stones and spittle?
To hurl at their "saviour"?
I have found in this respect that...
Victims want to make someone else responsible for their expectations.
Think of your best friend
And know this.....
If you ever violate that person's expectations of you,
Watch your arse!
An enlightened person is no more immune from the duality of others than everyone else.
An enlightened person knows, however,
That he/she evokes both peacefulness and aggression
In those who draw near,
And is not surprised by it when it happenes.
An enlightened person knows that when an unaware perception changes,
The person responsible might turn feral in the blink of an eye,
At least covertly.
An enlightened person knows and accepts the risks
And puts him/her self out there anyway.
Most of us, like the Three "Wise" Monkeys,
Play it safe;
We keep our cards close to the chest.
We try not to rock the boat,
We try not to upset people,
We try not to make waves --
A lot of "trying-not" that gags our grandeur.
And stifles our Truth.
An enlightened person cannot hide his light.
He puts it, and his realised Self out there.
To the extent that we are open and receptive to new possibility,
We generally feel good about themselves
In the presence of an enlightened one.
And...
To the extent that we resist Openness and Surrender
We feel inwardly uncomfortable, deeply threatened,
And maybe even covertly or overtly hostile
To someone who tweaks our lariat.
We're trying to protect something
That we think we'll die without.
What could that be?
I wonder.
Enlightenment is an affront to the ego.
(And ego can smell danger to itself a mile off!)
Ego will put up a good show --
It will go along to get along with the crowd,
It will publicly applaud and affirm,
It will wave palm fronds and sing Hosannahs,
It will give effusive Agreement,
(But zero Acceptance)
Until nightfall.
Then it will crucify
The carrier
Of the Message it feels threatened by.
I know this about ego
Because I have one.
But it doesn't have me,
Except sometimes.
How about you?
The same people who worshiped the ground that Jesus walked on
Turned
And crucified him.
Where were those he healed?
Where were those he enlightened?
Where did they all get to after Palm Sunday?
Did they go into hiding?
What happened between Monday morning and Thursday night?
How come they suddenly stocked up on stones and spittle?
To hurl at their "saviour"?
I have found in this respect that...
Victims want to make someone else responsible for their expectations.
Think of your best friend
And know this.....
If you ever violate that person's expectations of you,
Watch your arse!
An enlightened person is no more immune from the duality of others than everyone else.
An enlightened person knows, however,
That he/she evokes both peacefulness and aggression
In those who draw near,
And is not surprised by it when it happenes.
An enlightened person knows that when an unaware perception changes,
The person responsible might turn feral in the blink of an eye,
At least covertly.
An enlightened person knows and accepts the risks
And puts him/her self out there anyway.
Most of us, like the Three "Wise" Monkeys,
Play it safe;
We keep our cards close to the chest.
We try not to rock the boat,
We try not to upset people,
We try not to make waves --
A lot of "trying-not" that gags our grandeur.
And stifles our Truth.
An enlightened person cannot hide his light.
He puts it, and his realised Self out there.
To the extent that we are open and receptive to new possibility,
We generally feel good about themselves
In the presence of an enlightened one.
And...
To the extent that we resist Openness and Surrender
We feel inwardly uncomfortable, deeply threatened,
And maybe even covertly or overtly hostile
To someone who tweaks our lariat.
We're trying to protect something
That we think we'll die without.
What could that be?
I wonder.
Enlightenment is an affront to the ego.
(And ego can smell danger to itself a mile off!)
Ego will put up a good show --
It will go along to get along with the crowd,
It will publicly applaud and affirm,
It will wave palm fronds and sing Hosannahs,
It will give effusive Agreement,
(But zero Acceptance)
Until nightfall.
Then it will crucify
The carrier
Of the Message it feels threatened by.
I know this about ego
Because I have one.
But it doesn't have me,
Except sometimes.
How about you?
Thursday, May 13, 2010
I - DENTIFIES
Identifying fills a deep human need for connection:
It gives us a sense of belonging,
Whether it be to an idea, a belief, an opinion, a value, a way of being, another person ---
And we kid ourselves that these belongings are ours.
Well that's fine, as far as it goes.
BUT....
Identification with any one or any thing blinds us
To the fact that our identifications also have us very firmly in their grip,
And to the possibilities of other levels of experience.
It gives us a sense of belonging,
Whether it be to an idea, a belief, an opinion, a value, a way of being, another person ---
And we kid ourselves that these belongings are ours.
Well that's fine, as far as it goes.
BUT....
Identification with any one or any thing blinds us
To the fact that our identifications also have us very firmly in their grip,
And to the possibilities of other levels of experience.
DEALING WITH GRIEF
In the process of grieving
We are saying "Goodbye"
To a raft of personal experiences --
To a part of our self.
If you are grieving,
Release the past,
Let it be just as you now feel it to be,
Defined as it was then by your experience of it
And the quality of your relationship with that that experience.
Love that was lavished is never lost.
All you ever had of the lost loved-one
Was your experience of him/her,
And that lives on in you,
Along with the love that nurtured it.
Set that free now,
And feel free
To play with it any time you like.
It lives still
In you.
Let go of the Past
And use the energy released
Creatively in the Now
Any way you like.
We are saying "Goodbye"
To a raft of personal experiences --
To a part of our self.
If you are grieving,
Release the past,
Let it be just as you now feel it to be,
Defined as it was then by your experience of it
And the quality of your relationship with that that experience.
Love that was lavished is never lost.
All you ever had of the lost loved-one
Was your experience of him/her,
And that lives on in you,
Along with the love that nurtured it.
Set that free now,
And feel free
To play with it any time you like.
It lives still
In you.
Let go of the Past
And use the energy released
Creatively in the Now
Any way you like.
DEPRESSION
While it often feels like it --
Depression is not a lack of energy;
Quite the reverse.
Depression involves suppressing
Vast amounts of high emotional energy.
While I curled up in bed wishing the world would just go away,
Innuit were picking me up on CB in Alaska!
That's why it's so exhausting!
And the confusion is compounded by indecision and ignorance
About what to do with all that pent-up energy.
For a start,
Try celebrating
Whatever you think is causing your depression.
When you're stuck....
The way out usually lies hidden
Behind the very portal you won't look at.
Depression is not a lack of energy;
Quite the reverse.
Depression involves suppressing
Vast amounts of high emotional energy.
While I curled up in bed wishing the world would just go away,
Innuit were picking me up on CB in Alaska!
That's why it's so exhausting!
And the confusion is compounded by indecision and ignorance
About what to do with all that pent-up energy.
For a start,
Try celebrating
Whatever you think is causing your depression.
When you're stuck....
The way out usually lies hidden
Behind the very portal you won't look at.
CRISIS, STRESS, AND CHRONIC FATIGUE
CRISIS
Life is full of crises;
Get used to it.
But crisis doesn't have to be difficult or painful
Unless you insist upon it.
Crisis is nothing more
And nothing less
Than a "T" junction --
An opportunity and an invitation to try another way.
How you feel about that challenge is up to you.
And.......
How you see it will determine
Your next choices and decisions.
STRESS
Stress is the discomfort of being off-balance,
The tension between two Oughta's --
What Oughta Be -v- What Oughta Not-Be.
Stress is a sure sign of Resistance to the way things seem to be:
No resistance = no stress.
I'm not saying stress is bad -- or good for that matter,
But too much of it for too long can be detrimental to your well-being.
I have the scars to prove that.
Life is a balancing act,
And, as part of the game, it often conspires to knock us off-balance
For a very creative reason.
When the boat gets rocked
We're invited to shift our arse from a fixed and rigid, limiting point of view
And take the opportunity to re-structure our perception of reality.
Stress levels go through the roof
When we judge the feeling of being off-balance as "bad"
Instead of opting to engage with the crisis
We waste energy railing and reacting
Against whatever we deem to be "the cause" of our perturbation.
And the crises keep coming..........
Next time you catch yourself trying to fireproof yourself against the process of evolving,
Try, instead, surrendering and responding creatively to the rocking of the boat.
You have everything to gain,
Including freedom, flexibility, poise and mastery.
For the price of a little transitory discomfort,
That strikes me as a good deal
CHRONIC FATIGUE
The prize for ""life on the No's".
The inevitable result of chronic resistance.
Life is full of crises;
Get used to it.
But crisis doesn't have to be difficult or painful
Unless you insist upon it.
Crisis is nothing more
And nothing less
Than a "T" junction --
An opportunity and an invitation to try another way.
How you feel about that challenge is up to you.
And.......
How you see it will determine
Your next choices and decisions.
STRESS
Stress is the discomfort of being off-balance,
The tension between two Oughta's --
What Oughta Be -v- What Oughta Not-Be.
Stress is a sure sign of Resistance to the way things seem to be:
No resistance = no stress.
I'm not saying stress is bad -- or good for that matter,
But too much of it for too long can be detrimental to your well-being.
I have the scars to prove that.
Life is a balancing act,
And, as part of the game, it often conspires to knock us off-balance
For a very creative reason.
When the boat gets rocked
We're invited to shift our arse from a fixed and rigid, limiting point of view
And take the opportunity to re-structure our perception of reality.
Stress levels go through the roof
When we judge the feeling of being off-balance as "bad"
Instead of opting to engage with the crisis
We waste energy railing and reacting
Against whatever we deem to be "the cause" of our perturbation.
And the crises keep coming..........
Next time you catch yourself trying to fireproof yourself against the process of evolving,
Try, instead, surrendering and responding creatively to the rocking of the boat.
You have everything to gain,
Including freedom, flexibility, poise and mastery.
For the price of a little transitory discomfort,
That strikes me as a good deal
CHRONIC FATIGUE
The prize for ""life on the No's".
The inevitable result of chronic resistance.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
RELATIONSHIP -- A PARADOX
Freeing and Blessing...............
It strikes me there are basically only two ways to hold anything :--
- Limit the weight and space needed by what you want to hold; or
- Expand your self to contain what you want to hold.
Well, I've tried Option #1. many times over, with a lack of success that bordered at times on the "spectacular". What has your experience been?
Colin Hayes used to say: "If you want to hold on to something or someone, let her go. If it/she returns to you, she returns in freedom. If she doesn't return, she was never yours in the first place. You were kidding yourself."
The tighter our grasp, the less we can contain, the more damage we do to what we're holding, and the more exhausted we get.
Q. How can we contain anyone or anything that refuses to accept limitation?
A. Give it all the space it needs.
Open up
And find the space within
That will allow whatever is happening
To happen
Unconstrained by any urge to disapprove, limit or control.
Let go.... let go..... let go........
[Hint: You won't find that kind of space in your head.]
It's going to cost you dearly --
Your old limited, limiting, evaluating self.
You have to give that up
Forever.
Some lessons are tough.
The way back to heaven is simple
But no-one guarranteed it would be easy.
SEPARATENESS SAPS
Separation is tiring!
It saps energy from our awareness.
Nowhere is this more evident than in Social Consciousness.
When we rigidly identify with
Separating, defining social structures
(male/female; Catholic/Protestant; politically correct/incorrect; late/early; guilty/innocent......)
Social Consciousness gets sapped of its potential
For higher and finer evolution.
It gets bogged down in irrelevancies,
Opening the way for (social) dis-ease.
It saps energy from our awareness.
Nowhere is this more evident than in Social Consciousness.
When we rigidly identify with
Separating, defining social structures
(male/female; Catholic/Protestant; politically correct/incorrect; late/early; guilty/innocent......)
Social Consciousness gets sapped of its potential
For higher and finer evolution.
It gets bogged down in irrelevancies,
Opening the way for (social) dis-ease.
TRANSPARENCY
When I speak of being "available and transparent"
I'm referring to a particular perspective
That allows us to see
How the nature of energy changes
Commensurately with our ability
To be available to it
And present in it.
Everything is transformed --
The energy,
Our Self
And the world.
This is the mystery that the human mind cannot allow --
To change the world, become available and transparent to it.
Transparency is a perspective from which we see
That our thoughts, feelings and behaviours do not proscribe who or what we are;
They merely illuminate what we will and won't dissolve with.
The more we participate proactively with All-That-Is
And allow it to flow through unimpeded,
The more radiant and transparent we become......
Vulnerable and unassailable.
I'm referring to a particular perspective
That allows us to see
How the nature of energy changes
Commensurately with our ability
To be available to it
And present in it.
Everything is transformed --
The energy,
Our Self
And the world.
This is the mystery that the human mind cannot allow --
To change the world, become available and transparent to it.
Transparency is a perspective from which we see
That our thoughts, feelings and behaviours do not proscribe who or what we are;
They merely illuminate what we will and won't dissolve with.
The more we participate proactively with All-That-Is
And allow it to flow through unimpeded,
The more radiant and transparent we become......
Vulnerable and unassailable.
INNOCENCE
Innocence is neither naivety nor ignorance.
Innocence is child-like;
Naivety and ignorance are childish.
Ignorance and naivety are a repudiation
Of the availability of knowing.
Innocence knows,
But does not let its knowing prevent it
From meeting every moment
In wide-eyed, first-time freshness.
Innocence is child-like;
Naivety and ignorance are childish.
Ignorance and naivety are a repudiation
Of the availability of knowing.
Innocence knows,
But does not let its knowing prevent it
From meeting every moment
In wide-eyed, first-time freshness.
INDECISION
Indecision is Inertia with St.Vitus' Dance;
It can be either the static inertia of ennui,
Or the dynamic inertia of an unstoppable habit;
In either case it feels like we're being racked back and forth
Between polar opposites.
Indecision is a fit of spasmodic indetermination
That results in our temporary but total disconnection
From Opportunity and Potential.
Indecision is an outward and inward symptom
Of a conflict between two or more values
On your hierarchy of "What's Important to Me".
You are at cross-purposes with yourself,
Perhaps caught in eddies of "ifs", "buts" and "maybes",
That your mind has convinced you are "relevant" and "important".
The devil lies in that kind of detail.
If you're undecided, there's something you've forgotten,
Something you're unclear about,
And something you're not being honest about --
You've lost touch with your overriding life-choice:
There's something unacknowledged that is sabotaging you
And paralysing you.
You're spasmed onto conflicting needs
And contrary ways of getting them met.
Get clear of the crap.
Drop the "story".....
Let it go;
It's blinding you to the bloody obvious..
There's nothing in all your head-cranking that's worth losing your freedom and balance.
Take a deep breath or three.
Now.....
What are your needs here?
Write them down.
All of them. Censor nothing.
Which of your needs are not being fully met?
What, if anything, can you do to improve this situation?
What do you want?........
...Out of life?
...Out of this situation?
How will one get you the other?
What is your highest Choice?
Which alternatives are most closely aligned
To the kind of person you'd rather be in your own eyes?
Look at your list.
Which items best meet your long-term needs and values?
(If your needs aren't being met, you're of no earthly use to anyone else.
The last thing a stuck person needs is a "saviour" with baggage!)
CHOICES AND DECISIONS
We began life with many choices already made for us
And we adopted them as a matter of course
In order to survive.
We went along to get along.
Other choices naturally followed the channels already excavated --
Mostly flowing either totally unconsciously or
At best, informed by limited life experience.
This process is natural and common to every human being I've ever come across.
But choices previously made on shaky awareness
Never get reviewed:
Human minds are just not happy to do that.
In our teens, most of us rebelled
Against the growing feeling of entrapment.
We didn't know, of course,
The origin or nature of the feeling we'd been trapped,
Nor did we know that rebellion was just going to make it worse.
It takes a major, catastrophic crisis (usually later in life)
Before another inner voice (often needing the help of an aware counselor)
Ever rises to challenges the strident insistences of our ego
And questions the content and validity of default choices
That we don't ever remember having made.
We once blindly formed Choices
Which have long since taken over the job of forming us.
We no longer think them; they "think" us.
Decisions, on the other hand, are formed,
Moment-by-moment,
Usually in line with habit
And usually in the limited illumination
Of our blind, unchosen Choices.
Indecision is a wake-up call
To bring your Choices and Decisions out into the daylight
And really look
At what they are
And question "How well is this serving me?"
Wake up!.......
First get clear on what you want,
(And that may be harder than you think).
I'd love a dollar for every time I've asked someone
"What do you want?"
And got a blank, incredulous stare in response.
Having enunciated what you want,
If you're still undecided,
Make a decision.
It really doesn't matter which one,
As long as you know what you want.
Any decision will do
To release you from the hiccups
And the paralysis of will.
This isn't rocket science........
The antidote for Inaction is to Act.
The cure for Indecision is to Decide.
Drano for the spirit.
It can be either the static inertia of ennui,
Or the dynamic inertia of an unstoppable habit;
In either case it feels like we're being racked back and forth
Between polar opposites.
Indecision is a fit of spasmodic indetermination
That results in our temporary but total disconnection
From Opportunity and Potential.
Indecision is an outward and inward symptom
Of a conflict between two or more values
On your hierarchy of "What's Important to Me".
You are at cross-purposes with yourself,
Perhaps caught in eddies of "ifs", "buts" and "maybes",
That your mind has convinced you are "relevant" and "important".
The devil lies in that kind of detail.
If you're undecided, there's something you've forgotten,
Something you're unclear about,
And something you're not being honest about --
You've lost touch with your overriding life-choice:
There's something unacknowledged that is sabotaging you
And paralysing you.
You're spasmed onto conflicting needs
And contrary ways of getting them met.
Get clear of the crap.
Drop the "story".....
Let it go;
It's blinding you to the bloody obvious..
There's nothing in all your head-cranking that's worth losing your freedom and balance.
Take a deep breath or three.
Now.....
What are your needs here?
Write them down.
All of them. Censor nothing.
Which of your needs are not being fully met?
What, if anything, can you do to improve this situation?
What do you want?........
...Out of life?
...Out of this situation?
How will one get you the other?
What is your highest Choice?
Which alternatives are most closely aligned
To the kind of person you'd rather be in your own eyes?
Look at your list.
Which items best meet your long-term needs and values?
(If your needs aren't being met, you're of no earthly use to anyone else.
The last thing a stuck person needs is a "saviour" with baggage!)
CHOICES AND DECISIONS
We began life with many choices already made for us
And we adopted them as a matter of course
In order to survive.
We went along to get along.
Other choices naturally followed the channels already excavated --
Mostly flowing either totally unconsciously or
At best, informed by limited life experience.
This process is natural and common to every human being I've ever come across.
But choices previously made on shaky awareness
Never get reviewed:
Human minds are just not happy to do that.
In our teens, most of us rebelled
Against the growing feeling of entrapment.
We didn't know, of course,
The origin or nature of the feeling we'd been trapped,
Nor did we know that rebellion was just going to make it worse.
It takes a major, catastrophic crisis (usually later in life)
Before another inner voice (often needing the help of an aware counselor)
Ever rises to challenges the strident insistences of our ego
And questions the content and validity of default choices
That we don't ever remember having made.
We once blindly formed Choices
Which have long since taken over the job of forming us.
We no longer think them; they "think" us.
Decisions, on the other hand, are formed,
Moment-by-moment,
Usually in line with habit
And usually in the limited illumination
Of our blind, unchosen Choices.
Indecision is a wake-up call
To bring your Choices and Decisions out into the daylight
And really look
At what they are
And question "How well is this serving me?"
Wake up!.......
First get clear on what you want,
(And that may be harder than you think).
I'd love a dollar for every time I've asked someone
"What do you want?"
And got a blank, incredulous stare in response.
Having enunciated what you want,
If you're still undecided,
Make a decision.
It really doesn't matter which one,
As long as you know what you want.
Any decision will do
To release you from the hiccups
And the paralysis of will.
This isn't rocket science........
The antidote for Inaction is to Act.
The cure for Indecision is to Decide.
Drano for the spirit.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
A NEW ENGAGEMENT
The experience of being human
Is a process
Of a sentient being (you/me) interacting
Between matter
And conscious thought.
The quality of the thought(s) entertained
Has a lot to do with the quality of the interaction.
(High-frequency thought = high-quality experience;
Low-frequency thinking = low-quality experience)
Although we can only consciously notice one thing at a time,
Our awareness encompasses many levels at once
And our personal consciousness is always responding
To hidden forces
At many different levels of awareness.
I find this comforting
To know that transformation self-happens throughout the spectrum,
Without my having to keep tabs on it all.
The art (and fun) of being human
Lies in our ability (whether realised or not)
To participate in the interaction --
To exercise options
And alter our position in relation to the forces we're aware of,
Rather like the way a surfer "rides" waves.
The more wiling we become to engage with the conditions as they are,
And, with practice, the more adept we become at proactively surfing life creatively,
The more our experience transforms from one of suffering to one of exhilaration --
From hell to heaven.
We speak of the quality and the quantity,
The intensity and the amplitude,
The fineness or coarseness,
And the cycle and rhythm of the forces.
We respond with varying degrees of openness and closedness,
Fluidity and rigidity,
Balance and imbalance,
Awe and indifference,
Wisdom and naivety,
Strength and uncertainty,
Engagement and withholding --
Fluctuating in our capacity to participate.
Life in this new awareness
Goes 'way beyond the realm of mere understanding.
We are challenged to Participate proactively with our experience,
Unconditionally.
Knowing and wisdom will follow
As day follows night:
Without evaluation or judgment,
Without separation
Without comparisons
Without classification.
Participation with life as it is
Renewed afresh in each moment.
Is a process
Of a sentient being (you/me) interacting
Between matter
And conscious thought.
The quality of the thought(s) entertained
Has a lot to do with the quality of the interaction.
(High-frequency thought = high-quality experience;
Low-frequency thinking = low-quality experience)
Although we can only consciously notice one thing at a time,
Our awareness encompasses many levels at once
And our personal consciousness is always responding
To hidden forces
At many different levels of awareness.
I find this comforting
To know that transformation self-happens throughout the spectrum,
Without my having to keep tabs on it all.
The art (and fun) of being human
Lies in our ability (whether realised or not)
To participate in the interaction --
To exercise options
And alter our position in relation to the forces we're aware of,
Rather like the way a surfer "rides" waves.
The more wiling we become to engage with the conditions as they are,
And, with practice, the more adept we become at proactively surfing life creatively,
The more our experience transforms from one of suffering to one of exhilaration --
From hell to heaven.
We speak of the quality and the quantity,
The intensity and the amplitude,
The fineness or coarseness,
And the cycle and rhythm of the forces.
We respond with varying degrees of openness and closedness,
Fluidity and rigidity,
Balance and imbalance,
Awe and indifference,
Wisdom and naivety,
Strength and uncertainty,
Engagement and withholding --
Fluctuating in our capacity to participate.
Life in this new awareness
Goes 'way beyond the realm of mere understanding.
We are challenged to Participate proactively with our experience,
Unconditionally.
Knowing and wisdom will follow
As day follows night:
Without evaluation or judgment,
Without separation
Without comparisons
Without classification.
Participation with life as it is
Renewed afresh in each moment.
POSITIONALITY
Right/Wrong
Good/Bad;
Simple, convenient contrivances,
Righteous Positions taken by timid, judgmental minds
That forget............
Binary is for computers.
Inhuman and unnatural.
We are human --
Naturally.
Nothing is ever fully black nor white
For more than a nanosecond.
Good/Bad;
Simple, convenient contrivances,
Righteous Positions taken by timid, judgmental minds
That forget............
Binary is for computers.
Inhuman and unnatural.
We are human --
Naturally.
Nothing is ever fully black nor white
For more than a nanosecond.
WHO ARE YOU?
You are what you are......
Not what you think you are,
Or what you'd like others to think you are.
How do you find out who you are?
Look around you.......
Own all of what you see
And what you think and feel about that.
This is closer to the truth of it.
Tell the truth of that
At least to yourself.
And then there is more
Waiting to be realised.
Not what you think you are,
Or what you'd like others to think you are.
How do you find out who you are?
Look around you.......
Own all of what you see
And what you think and feel about that.
This is closer to the truth of it.
Tell the truth of that
At least to yourself.
And then there is more
Waiting to be realised.
Monday, May 10, 2010
UNDO UNTO....
Sometimes there is nothing to do.
Sometimes....
Doing interferes,
Blocking the natural process
Of everything ebbing and flowing in a state of flux,
Healing,
Maturing,
Changing,
Becoming into something else.
Sometimes.....
There is nothing to do
And everything to Be.
Doing can expand possibilities for us,
And sometimes......
Doing can have the opposite effect,
Diminishing our awareness and sensitivity to the flowingness and intrinsic happiness of life.
From inappropriate doing
We can get lost, frustrated and depressed.
Sometimes....
We just need to Un-do...Unto......
Sometimes....
Doing interferes,
Blocking the natural process
Of everything ebbing and flowing in a state of flux,
Healing,
Maturing,
Changing,
Becoming into something else.
Sometimes.....
There is nothing to do
And everything to Be.
Doing can expand possibilities for us,
And sometimes......
Doing can have the opposite effect,
Diminishing our awareness and sensitivity to the flowingness and intrinsic happiness of life.
From inappropriate doing
We can get lost, frustrated and depressed.
Sometimes....
We just need to Un-do...Unto......
WILLINGNESS & INTENTION
Your Intention always shows up.
Nothing can ever -- will ever -- show up in our life,
Without our Willingness.
Our Willingness is given direction and thrust
By our Intention.
Both Willingness and Intention can be active or passive,
Consciously directed, or unconsciously permitted.
Either way, nothing significant will ever show up without willingness and intention.
In a life lived with conscious Intent
Everything falls into place
(sometimes surprisingly perhaps)
But there are no accidents
For "accident" is the opposite of Intention,
Conscious or otherwise.
In a life committed to consciousness
Both masculine and feminine energies are evoked --
A masculine intention to grow beyond our perceived limitations,
Couple with a feminine surrender to engage with the power of Intuition.
What is your Intention for your life right now?
Not what you think it ought to be;
But what is it as it actually IS?
This question needs to be asked in three stages:
1) Firstly discover your pre-exisitng default, unconscious programming. That's easy -- look at what you've got. What is your fair dinkum here-and-now experience? Hmmm? Have you got a handle on it? Good. This is what you wanted. This is your Intention showing up. You may not have thought about it in this way; you may have thought your intention was something completely different. It really doesn't matter. Either way is OK This here/now is what you've got and this is where your prior intentions have brought you. Got it? Now, acknowledge it. You don't need to justify it -- just acknowledge that it is so; you cannot change what you do not acknowledge. It is pointless going to Step #2. until you have surrendered to the fact that you created what you've got, if for no other reason than to get you to this point, whether this is an experience of rapture, or one of divine dissatisfaction and crisis. Wake up!! The process is working. Celebrate this moment of choice and renewed Possibility.
2) Now what is your conscious Intention? If you can't think of it, make one up on the spot, here and now. Make up as many and as often as you like. Just remember though, once any intention is recognised, it is created. Any Intention that you find less than satisfactory, simply cancel it and replace it with something that serves you better.
3) Having formed an Intention, go deeply within with this question -- "Am I Willing to allow my Intention to show up? Am I willing to allow life to deliver the experiences and lessons I need so that my Intention can become my reality?" The answer to those questions will come, not as a "Yes" or "No" (that could be your ego talking), but as an inner letting-go, a releasing of your personal will-power in favour of All Will. It will be a quiet "Amen -- so be it."
Any ambition to seize control and power
And win glory in a battle of life
Is a sure-fire way to discover the backlash
Of All-That-Is.
In this moment of release and surrender,
All-That-Is conspires with you
In your Intention and Willingness --
In your Intention and Willingness --
Yours is the kingdom of heaven.
SENTIMENT
Sentiment is one of those very human warm-and-runnies
That comfortingly reassure us that, somewhere under our phony facade,
We have a kinder side.
But sentiment is a Clayton's emotion.
Sentimentalists are an emotional pushover,
Sentiment is for suckers......
Sentimentalists are an emotional pushover,
Sentiment is for suckers......
It has no place in Nature.
Anything that no longer serves us,
Including sentiment,
Must be ruthlessly discarded.
That is the process of evolution
And transformation.
Don't worry,
Without sentiment you won't become an impersonal humanoid,
You will acquire an emotional backbone
And become all things, all varieties, all kinds - omnifarious.
And become all things, all varieties, all kinds - omnifarious.
Sentiment will rebirth
As natural, genuine, effective Kindness
And single-hearted Compassion.
FROM TOOL TO TRAPDOOR
Tools have a use-by limitation.
For example --
Goal-setting gets us moving out of a state of lethargy,
But, in a heightened state of activity,
That busy-ness may limit the natural flow of abundance..........
Religion awakens an awareness of our spirituality,
But will eventually limit our access to God.
Tools become trapdoors
When we fail to appreciate the context
In which they were useful,
And we fail to notice when times have changed.
A caterpillar that will not give up the whole of its caterpillar-ness
Will never get to be a butterfly.
For example --
Goal-setting gets us moving out of a state of lethargy,
But, in a heightened state of activity,
That busy-ness may limit the natural flow of abundance..........
Religion awakens an awareness of our spirituality,
But will eventually limit our access to God.
Tools become trapdoors
When we fail to appreciate the context
In which they were useful,
And we fail to notice when times have changed.
A caterpillar that will not give up the whole of its caterpillar-ness
Will never get to be a butterfly.
Sunday, May 09, 2010
PERIPHERAL VISION
There's a lot going on around us that we never see because
We get so focussed in and narrowed-down
On our stuff!
We forget to check our peripheral vision --
A 165-degree lateral and 75-degree vertical panorama
Of unseen wonders
That are available at any time
Without even having to turn our head.
We were born (most of us) seeing everything at once,
Then we learned how to focus on details.
Later, we began editing, shutting out and de-focusing
As we homed in on what we classified as "important".
We got into an unfortunate habit of blinkering out the existence of
The bigger picture.
This degeneration can be reversed quite simply and easily
With just a little perseverance.........
As often as you remember,
Take a quick check of what's going on in the corners of your eyes;
Flick-scan around the edges.
You don't have to turn your head or shift your major focus
(Unless you find something there that piques your continuing interest).
Without moving your eyeballs,
Just flick your awareness briefly around
And check your "side mirrors";
Become aware again of the wider world
Within which your comedies and dramas are unfolding.
You'll be often amazed at what you discover
When you stop Looking
And allow yourself to See.
Try it now --
Look at this screen,
Really LOOK at it for 20 seconds.
Now mentally lean back and, without moving your eyes or head,
Allow yourself to see all that is in your whole field of vision.
Feel the difference?
Which is easier --
Concentrated Looking, or Open Seeing?
Click backwards and forwards;
Get used to consciously shifting the scope of your awareness.
Both looking and seeing have their unique contributions to make.
When you're comfortable with shifting your visual scope,
Experiment similarly with with your Listening and Hearing.
Then later, play with your senses of smell and touch.
You'll discover just how much you've been out-of-touch!
I have found
When you practice this simple discipline,
All manner of abilities and faculties will return for you --
You'll become more aware,
Safer in traffic,
More considerate in crowds,
Less likely to be caught off the hop,
More intuitive
And open to messages that come via less traditional means.
You''ll also re-awaken your engagement with the Third Dimension ==
Depth.
You can have 20/20 eyesight (albeit with glasses)
And remain blinkered and blind.
You can have 20/20 hearing
And be deaf to the world.
How sad, when all that's required
Is to reverse a limiting habit.
We get so focussed in and narrowed-down
On our stuff!
We forget to check our peripheral vision --
A 165-degree lateral and 75-degree vertical panorama
Of unseen wonders
That are available at any time
Without even having to turn our head.
We were born (most of us) seeing everything at once,
Then we learned how to focus on details.
Later, we began editing, shutting out and de-focusing
As we homed in on what we classified as "important".
We got into an unfortunate habit of blinkering out the existence of
The bigger picture.
This degeneration can be reversed quite simply and easily
With just a little perseverance.........
As often as you remember,
Take a quick check of what's going on in the corners of your eyes;
Flick-scan around the edges.
You don't have to turn your head or shift your major focus
(Unless you find something there that piques your continuing interest).
Without moving your eyeballs,
Just flick your awareness briefly around
And check your "side mirrors";
Become aware again of the wider world
Within which your comedies and dramas are unfolding.
You'll be often amazed at what you discover
When you stop Looking
And allow yourself to See.
Try it now --
Look at this screen,
Really LOOK at it for 20 seconds.
Now mentally lean back and, without moving your eyes or head,
Allow yourself to see all that is in your whole field of vision.
Feel the difference?
Which is easier --
Concentrated Looking, or Open Seeing?
Click backwards and forwards;
Get used to consciously shifting the scope of your awareness.
Both looking and seeing have their unique contributions to make.
When you're comfortable with shifting your visual scope,
Experiment similarly with with your Listening and Hearing.
Then later, play with your senses of smell and touch.
You'll discover just how much you've been out-of-touch!
I have found
When you practice this simple discipline,
All manner of abilities and faculties will return for you --
You'll become more aware,
Safer in traffic,
More considerate in crowds,
Less likely to be caught off the hop,
More intuitive
And open to messages that come via less traditional means.
You''ll also re-awaken your engagement with the Third Dimension ==
Depth.
You can have 20/20 eyesight (albeit with glasses)
And remain blinkered and blind.
You can have 20/20 hearing
And be deaf to the world.
How sad, when all that's required
Is to reverse a limiting habit.
Friday, May 07, 2010
SWEARING
As a tool of last resort.......
Thank God for foul language:
Sometimes its the only way of getting through to some thicksters,
And of saying exactly what I feel!
I feel utterly gratified,
And it's so f***ing effective!!
Compulsively P.C., polite ponces don't know what they're missing out on.
Thank God for foul language:
Sometimes its the only way of getting through to some thicksters,
And of saying exactly what I feel!
I feel utterly gratified,
And it's so f***ing effective!!
Compulsively P.C., polite ponces don't know what they're missing out on.
TOOLS OF LAST RESORT
In negotiating --
The only problem I have with tools of last resort,
Is that I'm tempted to use them first......
Especially with teenagers
And old crones with attitude.
The only problem I have with tools of last resort,
Is that I'm tempted to use them first......
Especially with teenagers
And old crones with attitude.
OUT OF CONTEXT
A claw hammer --
Very handy thing to have if you're building a house,
But not of much use in brain surgery.
Similarly, a bazooka is an extremely effective firearm,
Unless you're hunting a rabbit for food........
Context determines appropriateness.
Very handy thing to have if you're building a house,
But not of much use in brain surgery.
Similarly, a bazooka is an extremely effective firearm,
Unless you're hunting a rabbit for food........
Context determines appropriateness.
HOW "I" SEES IT.....
I find it much easier to handle Uncertainty when I see it instead as Possibility;
Fear, when I can see it as Excitement and an Anticipation of Adventure;
Boredom, when I look at it as Anger that I don't think I have a right to;
Anger, when I experience it as a Passion for something valuable;
Distrust, when I choose to see it as Carefulness;
Stupidity, when I take away the criticism and see it as Innocence.
Emptiness, when I can see it as a disguise for Unlimited Possibility;
It's the critical labels and judgments we pin onto what's going on
That affect the way we see it.
How we choose to see what's happening
Presents the problems we might have in engaging creatively with it.
The pin-ons are often more a matter of habit than of fact.
We have to step in consciously at some point
And choose to look at it from a different point of view --
Not because the new way is necessarily "right",
But just to get free of an old habit
That's no longer working for us --
If it ever did.
When we change the way we see,
We change what we see,
And that changes everything.
Fear, when I can see it as Excitement and an Anticipation of Adventure;
Boredom, when I look at it as Anger that I don't think I have a right to;
Anger, when I experience it as a Passion for something valuable;
Distrust, when I choose to see it as Carefulness;
Stupidity, when I take away the criticism and see it as Innocence.
Emptiness, when I can see it as a disguise for Unlimited Possibility;
It's the critical labels and judgments we pin onto what's going on
That affect the way we see it.
How we choose to see what's happening
Presents the problems we might have in engaging creatively with it.
The pin-ons are often more a matter of habit than of fact.
We have to step in consciously at some point
And choose to look at it from a different point of view --
Not because the new way is necessarily "right",
But just to get free of an old habit
That's no longer working for us --
If it ever did.
When we change the way we see,
We change what we see,
And that changes everything.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
BEING IN THE FLOW
In the daily churn of living
I'm constantly being grabbed by a "sane" need
To get a handle on what's going on,
To grab a hold of something stationary,
To get my bearings,
To find my feet.
These urges feel like remnants of old needs to understand,
Control the hurtle,
And have it my way.
Meanwhile, the tide races on,
And I get swept off-balance once again,
Pitching head-first into the swirl.
I have to keep on re-minding myself
That life is in the water,
That the journey is in the Flow.
The rocks promise a refuge,
But if we tarry too long
We get caught-up
And stuck
I'm constantly being grabbed by a "sane" need
To get a handle on what's going on,
To grab a hold of something stationary,
To get my bearings,
To find my feet.
These urges feel like remnants of old needs to understand,
Control the hurtle,
And have it my way.
Meanwhile, the tide races on,
And I get swept off-balance once again,
Pitching head-first into the swirl.
I have to keep on re-minding myself
That life is in the water,
That the journey is in the Flow.
The rocks promise a refuge,
But if we tarry too long
We get caught-up
And stuck
MY ASSUMPTIONS
Thank you for almost always being wrong.
You remind me
I know bugger-all about most things
And a helluva lot about nothing.
That reminder puts my ego in his place --
The back-office mailroom.
You remind me
I know bugger-all about most things
And a helluva lot about nothing.
That reminder puts my ego in his place --
The back-office mailroom.
THE FUTURE
You are a lot less scary when I realise that you're just a figment of my imagination.
If you ever change your mind and become The Present.,
We'll get together.
If you ever change your mind and become The Present.,
We'll get together.
TO CONTRADICTIONS, PARADOXES AND MYSTERIES....
Thank you for reminding me that there are some things that I'll never be able to figure out with my mind.
CHANGE THE WORLD
Do you want to change the world in some way?
Good luck!
Already you are opposing something the way that it is,
Creating a "You -v- It" duality.
By so doing, you certainly intensify your sense of "I",
But you also focus on, and empower the very dynamic you want to change.
We've tried Change by Opposing and Imposing......... haven't we?
We've assumed for eons that to be happy,
We have to get the world working our way.
That hasn't worked,
Either for us or for The World.
Perhaps we've got it back-to-front;
Maybe a world that works
Begins with your world working for you,
And my world working for me.
Try this instead ---
Before you attempt to make the rest of The World work the way you think it should,
First get your world working for you.
Fall into the centre of your self
And, from there, take a fresh look at what already is.
Then Create that to be
Exactly as it is
Now.
You can do that, can't you?
If that sounds silly, look again --
Don't we all go around finding things to be unhappy with?
Stumbling across things that aren't "quite right" --
Your partner's mood over breakfast,
The morning traffic,
The weather ----
We spend precious little time actively creating or finding things to be happy about.
And that's a matter for choosing.
All creating begins with Choosing What-Is.
(This is the step we usually skip)
You will never be able to create anything else
Until you can first successfully and comfortably create what-is.
What-is so, for any of us, is whatever we choose to see,
And however we choose to see it.
Whatever you choose to see, however you choose to see it --
That is What-Is for you.
Create it to be this way.
When you're ready
Without attempting in any way to change the reality of how it is
Change your perception of how it is.
See it another way.
For no-one else but yourself
And for no reason other than your own freedom:
Find another perspective on it.
On a crowded commuter train one morning, 3 young children were creating minor mayhem and considerable annoyance amongst the commuters. They were pushing through the throng, thoughtlessly shoving and upsetting people, and inappropriately yelling and squealing at the top of their lungs. Their father was sitting quietly near one of the doors, seemingly oblivious to everything around him and his children's disruptive behaviour. At a station stop, one gentleman could stand it no longer. He called out to the man -- "Hey! Will you please ask your children to behave themselves! They are creating a nuisance!" Some of the other passengers nodded, one or two muttered "Hear, hear!" The man looked up, and seemed to come back to the present. He called his children to him. Then he addressed the other passengers -- "I apologise," he said huskily. "We have been up all night at the hospital. My wife died this morning, and I guess they're having trouble coming to terms with that. To be honest, so am I."
The carriage fell silent.
Nothing had changed, but something profound had shifted.
When you change your perception of what-is
You change your experience and your reality of what-is.
When enough people change what-is for themselves,
And create that to be so,
What-is changes
Without bloodshed.
I cannot explain how that happens,
But it does.
I have seen it.
Good luck!
Already you are opposing something the way that it is,
Creating a "You -v- It" duality.
By so doing, you certainly intensify your sense of "I",
But you also focus on, and empower the very dynamic you want to change.
We've tried Change by Opposing and Imposing......... haven't we?
We've assumed for eons that to be happy,
We have to get the world working our way.
That hasn't worked,
Either for us or for The World.
Perhaps we've got it back-to-front;
Maybe a world that works
Begins with your world working for you,
And my world working for me.
Try this instead ---
Before you attempt to make the rest of The World work the way you think it should,
First get your world working for you.
Fall into the centre of your self
And, from there, take a fresh look at what already is.
Then Create that to be
Exactly as it is
Now.
You can do that, can't you?
If that sounds silly, look again --
Don't we all go around finding things to be unhappy with?
Stumbling across things that aren't "quite right" --
Your partner's mood over breakfast,
The morning traffic,
The weather ----
We spend precious little time actively creating or finding things to be happy about.
And that's a matter for choosing.
All creating begins with Choosing What-Is.
(This is the step we usually skip)
You will never be able to create anything else
Until you can first successfully and comfortably create what-is.
What-is so, for any of us, is whatever we choose to see,
And however we choose to see it.
Whatever you choose to see, however you choose to see it --
That is What-Is for you.
Create it to be this way.
When you're ready
Without attempting in any way to change the reality of how it is
Change your perception of how it is.
See it another way.
For no-one else but yourself
And for no reason other than your own freedom:
Find another perspective on it.
On a crowded commuter train one morning, 3 young children were creating minor mayhem and considerable annoyance amongst the commuters. They were pushing through the throng, thoughtlessly shoving and upsetting people, and inappropriately yelling and squealing at the top of their lungs. Their father was sitting quietly near one of the doors, seemingly oblivious to everything around him and his children's disruptive behaviour. At a station stop, one gentleman could stand it no longer. He called out to the man -- "Hey! Will you please ask your children to behave themselves! They are creating a nuisance!" Some of the other passengers nodded, one or two muttered "Hear, hear!" The man looked up, and seemed to come back to the present. He called his children to him. Then he addressed the other passengers -- "I apologise," he said huskily. "We have been up all night at the hospital. My wife died this morning, and I guess they're having trouble coming to terms with that. To be honest, so am I."
The carriage fell silent.
Nothing had changed, but something profound had shifted.
When you change your perception of what-is
You change your experience and your reality of what-is.
When enough people change what-is for themselves,
And create that to be so,
What-is changes
Without bloodshed.
I cannot explain how that happens,
But it does.
I have seen it.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
A NEW KIND OF FREEDOM
What if.........
What if life is about living in this moment,
Whatever it might be,
Now
Spontaneous and vulnerable.?
What if it's not about Happiness
But about Waking Up?
What if it's not about Winning or Losing
But about Giving Up the struggle?
What if it's not about Success
But about Growing Up?
What if it's not about Competing
But about Creating?
What if it's not about Finding Your Feet
But about Riding the Rapids?
What if it's not about Solving the Problems of life
But about Living the Mysteries?
What if it's not about Growing Wiser and More Mature with age
But about Being Reborn every moment?
How do you feel about this kind of freedom?
Is it too much?
What if life is about living in this moment,
Whatever it might be,
Now
Spontaneous and vulnerable.?
What if it's not about Happiness
But about Waking Up?
What if it's not about Winning or Losing
But about Giving Up the struggle?
What if it's not about Success
But about Growing Up?
What if it's not about Competing
But about Creating?
What if it's not about Finding Your Feet
But about Riding the Rapids?
What if it's not about Solving the Problems of life
But about Living the Mysteries?
What if it's not about Growing Wiser and More Mature with age
But about Being Reborn every moment?
How do you feel about this kind of freedom?
Is it too much?
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
SIGNPOSTS TO SERENITY
- What is -- is. What ain't -- ain't. When What-is takes precedence over What-ain't, suffering ceases.
- Whatever happens -- happens. How you feel about it is up to you.
- You invested yourself in suffering in order to get some needs met. How's that working for you?
- There's nothing to get and, ultimately, you'll get it.
- Whichever road you take, you'll get to where you're going to.
- When you want what you've got, you'll always get what you want.
- The meaning of life is the process of living every moment itself, whatever that experience is for you.
- The key to Happiness is Gratitude. Ungrateful people are never happy. Grateful people are always happy. Hadn't you noticed?
- Attachment is the only cause of suffering. Resistance is an attachment. Need is an attachemnt. Addiction is an attachment. Whatever it is that's hurting you, whatever it is that you're attached to -- let it go. Nothing is worth this much pain.
- If it isn't joyful, it isn't useful.
- Most people would rather be "right" than happy. Is your righteousness worth what it's costing you?
- Are your resentments worth more than your freedom?
- Where you come from is where you're going to.
- Be yourself; everybody else is already taken
- No matter where you go, you'll always have to take You with you. Get to love what you've created.
- Uncertainty is a good sign of progress. There's no growth or nourishment in certainty.
- Serenity lies down the road of Mystery. Understanding is the booby-prize.
- What we don't know is available if you know how to ask.
- Experience is what we came here for. Which experience? The one you're having, and the ones you refuse to have. Get on with it. Others are waiting.
- There are no mistakes.
- You have every right to be here, and you are. Own the ground you stand on. Claim your space. What you do with the opportunity is up to you.
- You are much more than you think you are. More even than you can imagine. Can a caterpillar imagine itself as a butterfly?
- How you see the world says nothing about the world, but it proclaims loudly the state of your Awareness.
- Life is full of surprising twists and U-turns. Get used to the idea.
- Mastery begins with Acceptance.
- A soft, open hand gathers more goodies than a hard, clenched fist.
- If you continue to do what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always got.
- Love your neighbour. You're looking into a mirror.
- If the teachers are in your face, you're ready for the lesson
- When you're ready for the lesson, the teachers will appear.
- We teach others how to treat us.
- You make yourself feel. No-one else on the planet makes you feel anything without your connivance
- You are the sole creator of your reality.
Sunday, May 02, 2010
FEEL INTO ME
Whatever we perceive, we are.
If there is anything we are not,
Then we could not see it (recognise it)
In anyone or anywhere else.
So whatever we recognise -- we are.
Become what you perceive;
Bring it on home where the perception belongs.
Be altogether
Together.
Whatever I see in you, I am.
Whatever you see in me, you are.
Own the reflections.
Just for a moment
Please don't try to communicate with me,
Or ask me to communicate with you.
For that presupposes some difference between us,
That you and I live only on opposite sides of some duality.
But maybe we can be closer than that --
More intimate;
Let's experiement
With Intimacy (Into-Me-See.)
Let's stop talking for a moment,
Let's not even touch.
If the honesty's too much,
We may not even look at each other for a while.
Let's stop communicating.
Let's just be with each other
And enter Communion
With each other and with the space surrounding that holds us both in its embrace.
Gently feel into me;
Feel me open up to you.
Let go into me
And allow me to let go into you.
Let's allow whatever arises to flow and ebb between us,
Without comment,
Unhindered.
Breathe.
Conspire.
This is Trust.
When communicating stops
Communion can begin.
We are one.
When we let-go into each other,
We allow the one-ness
That is.
If there is anything we are not,
Then we could not see it (recognise it)
In anyone or anywhere else.
So whatever we recognise -- we are.
Become what you perceive;
Bring it on home where the perception belongs.
Be altogether
Together.
Whatever I see in you, I am.
Whatever you see in me, you are.
Own the reflections.
Just for a moment
Please don't try to communicate with me,
Or ask me to communicate with you.
For that presupposes some difference between us,
That you and I live only on opposite sides of some duality.
But maybe we can be closer than that --
More intimate;
Let's experiement
With Intimacy (Into-Me-See.)
Let's stop talking for a moment,
Let's not even touch.
If the honesty's too much,
We may not even look at each other for a while.
Let's stop communicating.
Let's just be with each other
And enter Communion
With each other and with the space surrounding that holds us both in its embrace.
Gently feel into me;
Feel me open up to you.
Let go into me
And allow me to let go into you.
Let's allow whatever arises to flow and ebb between us,
Without comment,
Unhindered.
Breathe.
Conspire.
This is Trust.
When communicating stops
Communion can begin.
We are one.
When we let-go into each other,
We allow the one-ness
That is.
BLIND ARROGANCE
The blindest arrogance
Is to look at life from one favourite point of view,
Without allowing or exploring any alternatives.
Such arrogance finds it so hard to allow others
To see what they see
And to be as they are.
For the Bigots
There is only One Truth --
The source of all limitation.
They'd rather be right than alive.
Is to look at life from one favourite point of view,
Without allowing or exploring any alternatives.
Such arrogance finds it so hard to allow others
To see what they see
And to be as they are.
For the Bigots
There is only One Truth --
The source of all limitation.
They'd rather be right than alive.
OUR MOST LIMITING ADDICTIONS
Pleasure & Gratification
Favourite Emotions
Fulfillment
Control
Growth & Enlightenment
Purpose, Significance & Meaning
Connection
Acceptance By Others
Freedom from Addiction.
Do you notice something?
Most of our addictions can be traced back to basic human needs that have bolted out of perspective.
We have Needs;
We have Desires;
We have Preferences
But we don't have Addictions.......
Addictions have us.
TAKE WHAT YOU GET.....
There are certain things about ourself that we don't like. Right?
So we emotionally reject our "stuff"
And go searching for something more, something better, and/or something different,
Leaving the old stuff behind,
Buried where we won't have to look at it any longer.
What was it for you?
For me the coffin contained anger, frustration, resentment,
Boredom, jealousy,
Grief, hurt, anxiety and fear.
Quite a pile!
BUT
The journey kept bringing me back full-circle to the gravesite,
To find that some dog had dug it all up while I was away.
There it sat,
And there some of it is still,
Waiting to be integrated with all that I have learned along the way.
It is not until we at least begin to integrate and embrace the old
That enlightenment can possibly occur.
Are you in a job or a relationship that has lost its magic?
Do you want to quit?
Naturally! I can relate with that.
But if you quit while you're disenchanted,
You're just going to go out and create another just like it.
I'm not saying "Don't quit."
Some relationships and situations are toxic
And we need to get away.
But you must earn your exit....
Before you quit
Look at the stuff -- your stuff --
That killed off the magic.
It will be lying around just under your nose.
What is it that you tell yourself is wrong about this relationship, this situation?
What is it that you get to be right about by creating this situation to be the way that it is for you right now?
What are you telling yourself your partner is? Your boss is? The situation is?
What are you telling yourself that You Are?
Whatever is wrong about the way your partner is,
Whatever is wrong about the way your job is,
Whatever is wrong about the way your situation is......
Those are not The Problem;
The problem, for you, is that you don't think you can handle them being that way without getting upset about it.
That's your problem;
And that's all you have to deal with.
Fortunately.
(If your partner, boss or situation has to change for your life to get better, you may be well and truly fucked)
And.....
If you don't clean your stuff up before you quit,
You're going to take it all with you into the next relationship/job/situation.
Have a look at this possibility..........
This relationship,
This job,
This situation that is bugging the crap out of you
Is offering you the insight and the opportunity
To discover the crap you need to clean up.
Who knows?
When you clean up your stuff,
Maybe the situation won't be like you thought it was.
And even if it is,
You can break clean.
And that's the good news.
You might like to look at the possibility of being grateful
For the opportunity this situation is giving you
To get out of the rut you're in.
No, I haven't lost my marbles --
Gratitude for What-Is, if you can allow it in, is the magic ingredient "X"
That will transform you life!
If you can't find gratitude for the situation just now,
Don't worry;
You can still do it.
But gratitude makes the job so much easier.
So we emotionally reject our "stuff"
And go searching for something more, something better, and/or something different,
Leaving the old stuff behind,
Buried where we won't have to look at it any longer.
What was it for you?
For me the coffin contained anger, frustration, resentment,
Boredom, jealousy,
Grief, hurt, anxiety and fear.
Quite a pile!
BUT
The journey kept bringing me back full-circle to the gravesite,
To find that some dog had dug it all up while I was away.
There it sat,
And there some of it is still,
Waiting to be integrated with all that I have learned along the way.
It is not until we at least begin to integrate and embrace the old
That enlightenment can possibly occur.
Are you in a job or a relationship that has lost its magic?
Do you want to quit?
Naturally! I can relate with that.
But if you quit while you're disenchanted,
You're just going to go out and create another just like it.
I'm not saying "Don't quit."
Some relationships and situations are toxic
And we need to get away.
But you must earn your exit....
Before you quit
Look at the stuff -- your stuff --
That killed off the magic.
It will be lying around just under your nose.
What is it that you tell yourself is wrong about this relationship, this situation?
What is it that you get to be right about by creating this situation to be the way that it is for you right now?
What are you telling yourself your partner is? Your boss is? The situation is?
What are you telling yourself that You Are?
Whatever is wrong about the way your partner is,
Whatever is wrong about the way your job is,
Whatever is wrong about the way your situation is......
Those are not The Problem;
The problem, for you, is that you don't think you can handle them being that way without getting upset about it.
That's your problem;
And that's all you have to deal with.
Fortunately.
(If your partner, boss or situation has to change for your life to get better, you may be well and truly fucked)
And.....
If you don't clean your stuff up before you quit,
You're going to take it all with you into the next relationship/job/situation.
Have a look at this possibility..........
This relationship,
This job,
This situation that is bugging the crap out of you
Is offering you the insight and the opportunity
To discover the crap you need to clean up.
Who knows?
When you clean up your stuff,
Maybe the situation won't be like you thought it was.
And even if it is,
You can break clean.
And that's the good news.
You might like to look at the possibility of being grateful
For the opportunity this situation is giving you
To get out of the rut you're in.
No, I haven't lost my marbles --
Gratitude for What-Is, if you can allow it in, is the magic ingredient "X"
That will transform you life!
If you can't find gratitude for the situation just now,
Don't worry;
You can still do it.
But gratitude makes the job so much easier.
Saturday, May 01, 2010
CHANGE & EVOLUTION
The weekly shopping is not one of my favourite chores,
The evidence of Evolution solely by Gradual Change
Least of all when I get home and, try as I might, cannot add everything into the freezer.
Eventually, I have to empty the whole thing out and start stacking from scratch.
Amazingly, when I've finished, there is ample space left over.
Your Life, whether you feel it's working for you or not,
Is already full to the point of choking.
Cramming in more desirable behaviours and disciplines
May gloss over the dysfunctional mess within,
But ultimately they're also adding to the chaos.
To change the metaphor,
Adding desirable or deleting undesirable characteristics
Is already full to the point of choking.
Cramming in more desirable behaviours and disciplines
May gloss over the dysfunctional mess within,
But ultimately they're also adding to the chaos.
To change the metaphor,
Adding desirable or deleting undesirable characteristics
Does no more to transform life
Than do alterations, or extensions to a house.
Sometimes of course, change is enough;
But there comes a time, after years of modifications,
When the house becomes an architectural and functional nightmare
Of lean-to's, additions and work-arounds.
But we won't let go of it.
We're too emotionally attached to the dysfunctional slum we've created.
But we won't let go of it.
We're too emotionally attached to the dysfunctional slum we've created.
Usually it takes a new owner --
Someone without any sentimental attachment to admit the obvious,
Someone without any sentimental attachment to admit the obvious,
Bulldoze the mess to the ground,
And start over.
So it is with our own lives.
We retain sentimental attachments to parts of our life
That ceased to work for us long ago.
Transformation is called for,
Meaning that we must emotionally detach, empty out and die to old ways of being
And create completely anew.
Look at the process of Evolution.
Change is not the sole feature of evolution.
Change is not the sole feature of evolution.
If gradual change was the only process on offer
We'd still be living in caves, but maybe better ones
Illuminated and ventilated by burrowed chimneys,
Illuminated and ventilated by burrowed chimneys,
And still subsisting on raw meat and vegetables.
The evidence of Evolution solely by Gradual Change
Is too full of holes -- "missing links".
Evolution is a game of gradual change AND a game of quantum leap-frogging --
Instant generational jumps to a new way of being
That leave the old behind
To die out.
Change is incremental and, frankly, cyclic --
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Change has a short-term place in the grand scheme of things -- and --
Transformation is the name of the game.
NOTHING TO WORK ON
I approached the transforming challenge thinking
That, rather like renovating a house,
All I'd have to do would be to whip up a to-do list
And fix my "problems" one by one -- eg. my relationships, my anger, my low self-esteem. etc. etc.
But we humans are not compartmentalised --
Human growth does not work like "fixing" the stove today, the refrigerator tomorrow, and the plumbing the day afterward:
Everything in the human condition, just like the rest of creation, is connected to everything else.
I can not work on my relationships without involving my self-esteem,
Nor deal with my anger without affecting just about every other area of my life.
When one area of life changes,
Everything changes,
In and around me.
And that's very good news --
If I had to turn my life around department-by-department,
I'd need a lot longer to do the job than my so-called "three score years and ten".
Furthermore, during transformation, the original "problem" becomes irrelevant
In a larger and deeper process of re-creating everything.
In truth,
I've found there is nothing to "work on",
Away from embracing it all and finding a deeper balance.
Our "problems" offer us an avenue, a way in, an access point
To break into the wheel of repetitive patterns
And open the treadmill up to discovery and transformation,
Providing an exit into the wide world of Possibility.
The trick is not to focus on "the problem".
Drop it.
Your problems are not The Problem:
Focusing on anything keeps you hooked into it.
Give your attention rather to a process of inspirating, becoming aware, allowing, conspiring
And integrating "the problems"
Into a greater level of Be-ing
In an atmosphere of reverence, trust, gratitude and love.
ALL OR NOTHING
We humans are almost universally and inexplicably addicted to the entertainment of low-frequency experience.
So inured to it are we that,
Faced with the possibility and challenge of transforming the very basis of all our experience,
We may encounter an overwhelming urge to flee, deny, suppress or blow-off an opportunity for up-leveling.
Oh, we're prepared to change all right!....
But only the bits we want to change.
The rest we want to hang onto --
"Don't touch that, that's me -- that's who I am!"
Change is incremental and, frankly, cyclic --
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Change has a short-term place in the grand scheme of things -- and --
Transformation is the name of the game.
NOTHING TO WORK ON
I approached the transforming challenge thinking
That, rather like renovating a house,
All I'd have to do would be to whip up a to-do list
And fix my "problems" one by one -- eg. my relationships, my anger, my low self-esteem. etc. etc.
But we humans are not compartmentalised --
Human growth does not work like "fixing" the stove today, the refrigerator tomorrow, and the plumbing the day afterward:
Everything in the human condition, just like the rest of creation, is connected to everything else.
I can not work on my relationships without involving my self-esteem,
Nor deal with my anger without affecting just about every other area of my life.
When one area of life changes,
Everything changes,
In and around me.
And that's very good news --
If I had to turn my life around department-by-department,
I'd need a lot longer to do the job than my so-called "three score years and ten".
Furthermore, during transformation, the original "problem" becomes irrelevant
In a larger and deeper process of re-creating everything.
In truth,
I've found there is nothing to "work on",
Away from embracing it all and finding a deeper balance.
Our "problems" offer us an avenue, a way in, an access point
To break into the wheel of repetitive patterns
And open the treadmill up to discovery and transformation,
Providing an exit into the wide world of Possibility.
The trick is not to focus on "the problem".
Drop it.
Your problems are not The Problem:
Focusing on anything keeps you hooked into it.
Give your attention rather to a process of inspirating, becoming aware, allowing, conspiring
And integrating "the problems"
Into a greater level of Be-ing
In an atmosphere of reverence, trust, gratitude and love.
ALL OR NOTHING
We humans are almost universally and inexplicably addicted to the entertainment of low-frequency experience.
So inured to it are we that,
Faced with the possibility and challenge of transforming the very basis of all our experience,
We may encounter an overwhelming urge to flee, deny, suppress or blow-off an opportunity for up-leveling.
Oh, we're prepared to change all right!....
But only the bits we want to change.
The rest we want to hang onto --
"Don't touch that, that's me -- that's who I am!"
Even the threat of having to give some things up feels like death.
Transformation doesn't work like that.
There's a Law of Life that goes --
Nothing will change.
When everything is up for change,
Life transforms.
How do you feel about that?
Hopeful, or fearful, or both?
Some changes are earth-shattering, some are subtle --
But transformation changes everything.
In transformation
Transformation doesn't work like that.
There's a Law of Life that goes --
When you give it all up,
You'll get it all back.
And everything is brand spanking New.
Unless everything is up for renewal,Nothing will change.
When everything is up for change,
Life transforms.
How do you feel about that?
Hopeful, or fearful, or both?
Some changes are earth-shattering, some are subtle --
But transformation changes everything.
In transformation
There is surrender, death, gestation, and rebirth to a new form
That does not even vaguely resemble the old.
We die, to be "born again".
And nothing changes.
We die, to be "born again".
And nothing changes.
HUMAN LIMITS
We are limited
By what we allow to define us --
Outdated values, principles, beliefs, concepts, goals,
Opinions --
(Our own, and those of others we allow to matter);
Ideas about, reactions to--
Self-images, expectations
Fears.
We will become only what our expectations allow.
No more than that.
To break free of any rut we may be in,
We need only work on ourselves --
And our self-imposed limitations.
By what we allow to define us --
Outdated values, principles, beliefs, concepts, goals,
Opinions --
(Our own, and those of others we allow to matter);
Ideas about, reactions to--
Self-images, expectations
Fears.
We will become only what our expectations allow.
No more than that.
To break free of any rut we may be in,
We need only work on ourselves --
And our self-imposed limitations.
THE SOURCE OF SUFFERING
We live perturbed lives
Because we use ego-identity as a reference point
And forget our divinity.
Looking our through a vast picture window,
We allow ourselves to be distracted
By our fingerprints on the glass.
We focus on smudges in the foreground
And lose sight of the view.
Because we use ego-identity as a reference point
And forget our divinity.
Looking our through a vast picture window,
We allow ourselves to be distracted
By our fingerprints on the glass.
We focus on smudges in the foreground
And lose sight of the view.
EXPERIENCE
Experience arises through the expansive Heart
Seeking to flower and flourish.
The frightened Mind, at best, trails behind,
Pretending it is in charge,
Taking notes, classifying,
Limited and limiting,
And ceaselessly carping and commentating.
The body enables the experience
And deals with the consequences.
Of the activities of both Heart and Mind.
Awareness watches it all
Without comment.
Seeking to flower and flourish.
The frightened Mind, at best, trails behind,
Pretending it is in charge,
Taking notes, classifying,
Limited and limiting,
And ceaselessly carping and commentating.
The body enables the experience
And deals with the consequences.
Of the activities of both Heart and Mind.
Awareness watches it all
Without comment.
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