If you don't know here...

If you don't know here, how can you possibly know there?

You can't have light without dark, and you can't have dark without light, a television artist used to repeat over and over. One day I realized he wasn't only talking about oil paintings. His mantra could be applied to many conditions, feelings and events. You can't understand Joy without sadness. Peace is known best to those that have experienced the ravages of war. Fresh air smells sweetest to those living in an overcrowded, polluted city. These are general concepts I agree, but the principle is the same down at the individual level. For instance, you only recognize your own vocabulary is deficient when you experience someone whose speech froths over with linguistic delights! You'd never know your mother's meatloaf was awful until you tasted some truly exquisite faire, and so it goes...

Taken to the next extreme, we have people who sadly rely on their prejudices to make comparisons. "Those people aren't poor, they have cell phones!" is a common refrain, completely ignoring the fact that those same people don't have health-care, or access to quality education... Poverty can't be imagined. It only "is" when actually experienced in relation to wealth. Prejudices, judgements, hatreds, idientities are all concepts that are applied in place of BEing. These are taught to be replacements for actual knowing.

In this vein, most people are trying to get somewhere else, without knowing where they are. They don't know where they are because they don't know who they are. They don't know who is experiencing "here." They are so distracted by their "to do" list, their identities and their personal story, that they have zero experience simply BEing. Since they don't know themselves, having never spent anytime BEing, they feel a constant unease, and try to ease it through the distractions and gratifications they constantly seek. They believe happiness is just around the corner in a better relationship, a better job, a better house, car, TV, etc. They are endlessly in search of "there."

The truth is there is no "there," only "here."

How do we BEgin to know "here?" The first step is to find a way to shut off the thinking mind. For most people, a continous cacophony of thoughts stream endlessly by. There is no recognizable gap between one and the next. Your thinking mind is screaming at you all day. Living in this state doesn't allow for any BEing, as all of your mind is used up thinking. Your thinking mind is a wonderful tool as a problem solver, but when the problem is solved, you must put it back in your tool box, and get on with BEing!

Have you ever experienced when you lost time while doing an activity, when you looked up and realized that an hour or so had gone by? That hour was spent BEing, flowing right along with the river of life, no seeking something else, no unease, as you were "here." You were experiencing mindfulness. Now, I understand you can't spend all day engaged in an activites that cause you to lose time, you have many responsibilities that need tending, BUT you can learn to bring that mindfulness to every minute of your day. Imagine how your focus would be improved if you weren't thinking of how much left you had on your "to do" list, while in a meeting, or during any other interaction?

Meditation is a proven way to mindfulness. There are many kinds of meditation, including prayer, chanting and affirmations. For most, simply find a quiet spot, sit upright with eyes closed, focus on your breathing, focus on how it feels to inhabit your body from the inside. When thoughts present themselves let them float by, notice them, but don't think about them, don't judge them. BEcome the observer, the watcher of yourself... BEcome aware there is a YOU behind your thoughts. This AWARENESS is the BEginning of mindfulness. After 15 minutes or so, open your eyes, and go about your day. Try to bring the awareness with you. For most people new to meditiation, the awareness will disappear with their first distraction. This is fine and normal. What is important is you experienced awareness and now you know it. Everytime you meditate, you will be able to keep that awareness a little longer. Soon it will BEgin to return to you whenever distractions end. You will BEgin to BEcome the watcher periodically throughout the day. Someday, if you keep practicing, most of your day will BE experienced from a state of aware mindfulness. Yes, when a problem arises, you will take your thinking mind out of the toolbox and put it to good use, but it won't be running the show, and the watcher will know to put it away when the task is completed...

Today, notice when you lose time, recognize how at ease you were during this time. BEgin to observe yourself going through your day. Watch when your thoughts are running out of control. Meditate. Learn to be "here." If you don't know here, how can you possibly know there really is no "there?"

Duffy

A flower lives among weeds without Ego...

A flower lives among weeds without Ego. It presents the opportunity for a brighter existence merely through its BEing...

Many who are walking the path to enlightenment falter from time to time. There are patches where it seems to be one step forward and two steps back. Obviously, faltering is an umbrella term that can be applied to a number of causes. In particular, I am referring to the frustration a traveler occasionally feels when faced with so many travelling the opposite way.

We all wander off the path now and again, but the focused traveler quickly realizes he/she has strayed, consults his/her compass and corrects. What troubles the focused pilgrim, is the number of people who have wandered off the path, who don't know how to read the compass, don't want assistance or are afraid to even examine the reality that they are lost. Their North Star is permanently obscured by clouds.

As one moves along the "Path," one's existence is more and more one surrounded by the glow of LOVE, JOY and PEACE. Life becomes so incredibly joyous and happy, that one wants to share this with everyone. A toddler will run to help an adult pick up something the adult has dropped. It is in our DNA to help, aid and assist each other. However, through a life time of Ego and cultural indoctrination many begin to see aid as something that should only be parcelled out to the deserving. Who is deserving? Those who your Ego JUDGES to be worthy, and those who benefit you, the individual, through your association. This association leads to separatism, which feeds the Ego. Association with the perceived "IN" group results in an Ego bath of superiority. The Ego relishes this and will increasingly think/say/do anything promoted by the group as long as it continues to be rewarded with membership. Eventually, things like lynchings, or the Irish potato famine, result when the "IN" group promotes distain and hatred so deep that death is not only possible, but deserved...

These kind of events and attitudes run completely counter to the experience of enlightenment. One does not have to reach enlightenment to feel this. Simply coming close often enough and/or by surrounding oneself with enlightened spirits, one can clearly see that not only are the attitudes of judgment, distain and hatred way off path, but all of the attitudes, of separatism and superiority are as well.

What is more frustrating than the lost people, the ones that don't even know the path exists, are the ones who know it does, who are familiar with it, but who say, "That's just the way things are," or "The problem is too big for me to do anything about," or "You have to go along to get along," and in their weakness do go along...

In "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle, the concept of flowers being the first examples of enlightened BEings emerges. At one time there were no flowers in the plant world. One day the first flower appeared, and showed all of the others what was possible... Slowly others followed the example and now many many plants live in grace as flowers. Among people there were first flowers, too. Buddha, Lao Tzu, Lord Krishna, Jesus and Muhammad were some. Later examples are Gandhi, Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy. Many of these "flowers" were murdered for their teachings. The weeds couldn't stand for their shining example. Flowering, as a way of life, continues to grow today, but many weeds are determined to hang on to their old ways, ways where they are rewarded through judgment, distain and hatred...

In a conversation with my daughter the other day, I was fretful. I had temporarily wandered off path. I was so distracted by the intransigent obdurance of the weeds, that I became disoriented, and told her I was having a difficult time finding the path again. She said, "I can understand your frustration, but imagine what it must be like for the Dalai Lama? He is the ultimate flower and everyone else must seem like a weed by comparison!" She continued, "The way I see it, you can revert, you can let your own Ego ruin your experience because you can't exact change at the speed you would like, or you can accept the ultimate challenge for a spiritual teacher, to learn to live among the weeds, helping and teaching when the opportunities present themselves, and allowing and accepting that the river is flowing where it should, when they don't."

Smart girl. Who is the teacher here?

Today, recognize when you are off path. Have the courage to make a difference. YOU may be the only person in the room who has a compass, so don't be afraid to lead others to the path, even if only by your example. Notice your Ego boost when you denigrate an "OUT" group and how you feel superior. Simply your acknowledgment of this will lead to a change of heart. Finally, accept that your example is the only true way to teach. A flower lives among weeds without Ego. It presents the opportunity for a brighter existence merely through its BEing...

Duffy

We all have perfect LOVE within us...

Peaceful, enlightened people have perfect love within them, as do we all. The only difference between them and US, is they have nothing else within them.

The other day I read a post on a well-known social media site that said, by removing the suffering of others, we take away their opportunity to grow... What kind of crap is that! It is the kind of crap that pseudo-intellectuals buy into. The real intellectuals behind this kind of reasoning are motivated by ideology, an ideology that promotes greed and selfishness. Manipulating people into believing that by helping they are somehow harming, allows the "pseudos" to feel good about their own selfishness. It gives them an "out."

If you remove a child from an abusive situation, are you taking away their opportunity to grow? If you provide food assistance to the hungry, are you taking away their opportunity to grow? No, you are LOVING them in the way that God does.

I grew up in a working class household. We rarely had money for stylish clothes, the latest stuff or fancy cars. We bought the practical, stripped down models, whether it was cars, clothes, shoes or entertainment. We got the encyclopedias that were offered through a grocery store promotion... We weren't "under-privileged," however we were never members of a Country Club. The Country Club kids grew up at the "Club," and so it feels completely natural for them to be among the rich, powerful and influential. That is their life experience, to be accepted. They have absorbed all of the little nuances of that lifestyle, along with all the confidence necessary to succeed at that level. They couldn't imagine and wouldn't settle for anything less! I, however, after college and a life full of travel, knowledge and other experiences, still don't feel quite comfortable in the "Country Club" environment. There are subtleties that I missed growing up. This is similar to growing up speaking a foreign language. Learning later in life to speak English, or whatever the language in your new country (environment), almost always results in speaking with an accent. That's how it is for me. I am successful, but I still have an "accent" showing I wasn't born to wealth...

Now, imagine for a moment that you grew up in an inner city ghetto where you never knew ANYONE who had a job. Nobody in your own family ever experienced more than a minimum wage, day laborer type existence. Nobody went to college, most never finished high school. Imagine you never saw anybody read, or exhibit any appreciation for knowledge or learning. Imagine that the only way you ever saw anyone succeed was through selling drugs, pimping, or the rare opportunity offered by professional sports. Imagine further that your family never had enough to eat, often had to choose between medicine and food, or medicine and rent, or rent and food. Imagine nobody you knew owned a car... Now imagine you are walking into a place of business to get a job. You've never seen anyone fill in a job aplication, never mind done it yourself. Imagine you have never heard anyone speak in a professional voice. Imagine you don't read very well, since you have had to skip school often to watch your younger siblings, when your one parent found a day's pay somewhere, or your grandmother was sick and needed help. Since you have never seen anyone go to an interview wearing a shirt and tie, nice slacks and shined shoes, how would you know to do so?

Can someone tell me please how removing this kind of suffering is taking the opportunity to grow away from an individual, when the experience of growth, and even the awareness of growth, is a mystery? How in God's name can giving to a person in these circumstances be taking away their opportunity to grow?

BUT, that's exactly what the ideologues, administering this kind of tripe would have you believe. For they do not want to treat ALL as God's children, that would mean sharing. They would have you believe you are superior to those who don't succeed. "If you don't succeed in America, it's your own fault!" What lies... Did Jesus divvy up the loaves and fishes according to some ideologically based value system? No. He gave equally to all. He NEVER even have considered, that removing someone's suffering was taking away their opportunity to grow.

Today, reject the ideology that provides you with caveats to giving LOVE. Don't be manipulated. Don't hold others in judgment. Peaceful, enlightened people have perfect love within them, as do we all. The only difference between them and US, is they have nothing else within them.

Duffy

Anger is a facade of power...

Anger is a facade of power. It is an attempt to feel powerful by the powerless...

What is anger? To begin with, Anger is one of the negative levels of Consciousness. When you experience Anger, you are dipping into the negative, and lowering your level of Consciousness, at least temporarily. If you happen to have been at a lower level, Shame, Guilt, Apathy, etc., then it indicates a move towards the positive, but still falls well short of the positive levels. It lies above Desire (Craving) and below Pride.

As one moves out of the lower levels and begins to overcome FEAR, one begins to want. Wanting (Desire, craving) leads to frustration, and frustration leads to Anger. Anger can be sometimes be used to springboard whole populations of people upward. Frustration with social injustice has led to great movements toward freedom. Most often however, Anger leads to resentment and hatred. Revenge often follows.

The person who exists in Apathy, experiences life from a hopeless, "What's the use in trying?" perspective. The Angry person is not experiencing this. The Angry person is not living in hopelessness, but he/she has allowed their hope to focus on wanting. Exaggerating the importance of their unsatisfied desires turns into frustration. Their Anger from this oftentimes becomes a way of life. They develop a code of conduct, annoyance, irritability, temper, cynicism, etc. Their Anger prevents them from moving to the next higher level, Pride, because their concept of self is externally generated. Their unsatisfied outward life prevents them from feeling Pride. For an in debth look at the levels of Consciousness, I suggest, "Power Vs. Force," by Dr. David R. Hawkins.

We all know angry people. Of the four classic control dramas ("The Celestine Prophecies," by James Redfield), is that of the "Intimidator," which is the preferred choice of Angry people. The intimidator towers overs you, whether literally of figuratively, and intimidates you into submission. Your acquiesence to them sucks energy out of you and into them. It gives them a sense of power, of control, albeit a false one. They compensate for their lack of control over their frustrations by attempting to exercise their control (imagined) over you. They beat their kids, abuse their wives and terrorize anyone and anything weaker than they.

Anger is selfish, self-centered and truly infantile behavior.

Today, notice yourself experiencing annoyance, irritation and Anger, and realize that your frustrations reflect your unrealized cravings. Recognize that no emotional eruption, regardless of magnitude, will ever result in you successfully pushing the river. Anger is a facade of power. It is an attempt to feel powerful by the powerless...

Duffy

A working apology is not an opportunity to restate the original injury...

A working apology is not an opportunity to restate the original injury, nor is it a free "get out of jail card..."

What is an apology? For starters, it is a social convention. It is a kind of grease that allows us to slide past rough spots. It is device of function for both sides. The apologizer is excused for his/her trespass, and the apologizee receives a compensation of sorts for the said trespass. Therefore, it is in the interest of both parties and for society, that this act to be carried out with grace and sincerity.

In today's society, where courtesy and grace seem to be lost arts, "the apology" is taking a beating. Often on display is an outright refusal to apologize, executed by the machismo crowd. Their creed is never apologize, for that would show caring and bring you to the level of the injured. We couldn't have that! We also have developed many pseudo-apologies. An example is the I can't be bothered apology, "Oh all right, I'm sorry, now stop whining. Geesh!" Another common apology today is the non-apology apology, where the apologizer says, "To any of those who MIGHT have been offended I apologize." In other words, I am not sorry for being offensive, but I need to get off the hook (of scrutiny) so I can go back to being offensive.

What is this all about? Are we all too big to be at fault these days? The reason for the social convention was originally developed because eveyone realized that at some time or other THEY would be the one hurt, and by accepting an apology, they would be paying forward for the acceptance they would receive when they were THEY were the perpetrator. What a nice solution!

Today though, we are all Ego-driven one-man teams, too important, too high and mighty to even recognize the collateral damage of our actions nevermind feel bad enough to seek atonement. Afterall, offering an apology might open one up to litigation, and one might have to make reparations, pay damages! Reparations are for LOSERS! Why do you think it is called paying damages? Because these are damages you have caused! Corporations and the wealthy, hire whole lawfirms to create labyrinths of ways to injure without responsibility. Shame on them...

The truth is, when you hurt someone emotionally, caused loss of income, ended a life, poisoned an environment, crippled a child through an injury or a carcinogen, or have otherwise polluted the functioning beauty of someone's life, you have a responsibility to apologize to them, even when doing so acknowledges a debt.

Today, BE careful. When you do offend, don't let your Ego rule. Apologize. A sincere apology from the heart affirms that the offended one is of value. And, when you receive a heartfelt apology, accept it graciously, for a working apology is not an opportunity to restate the original injury...

Duffy