I have friends who are Quakers, friends who are Unitarian Universalists, friends who Dialogue in the Bohmian tradition, friends who are Mystics, friends who are Poets, and so many other friends who live lives of wisdom and wonder... this is my account of the meeting with these friends...

Monday, January 26, 2009

Is Reality subjective or objective?

A few friends were inquiring with me into the nature of reality- asking if reality is subjective or objective- asking if reality could be known... one of them brought forth this quote from Philip K. Dick:

"reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."


they commented:

This is of course an inherently personal definition


I said this:

there is another way to take this quote- that when the subjective is in abeyance, then the objective can be seen... this quote could be speaking of KNOWING the subjective so completely, as to have it disappear, and there what remains, is pure objective...

that seems to be the difficult part for our looking- that once something is seen in its completeness, then it is no longer as it was...

put in another way: if the subject is partial, it will measure the world partially- and from there, notions of object are also bound to be partial...

if the subject comes upon itself completely- that is, it sees itself wholly, then the objective can also be understood wholly, because the subjective as a partial can no longer interfere...

what formerly existed as an opposite, no longer has an opposite- and this can be seen, upon understanding the whole of that which measures (makes partial)

that which measures - IS that which limits- to measure is to make partial- is to separate- that is what limits the immeasurable- the whole...

end the measurement, and then find that which is not partial... the wholly objective...

measurement will read this, and defend itself from the partial in all its cleverness...

"you cant do this-and-that because" - or - "oh, what youre talking about is just this-and-that"

these will be just partial defenses on something that insists on limiting itself for its own survival... the subjective is perfectly designed to keep itself alive as long as it is possible, BY separating into twos (opposites) and defending those partials that will feed it- and opposing those partials which are perceived as threat...

so, a non-belief is still a belief- that is to say, a partial that speaks of the whole, is still making a partial out of it... the whole, does not argue with itself

this, is reality

the difficulty in achieving this "state", is that it is not a state at all! the ending of the partial comes at the ending of time... above, I stated that IF we can see the partial wholly, THEN we can come upon the whole- but the partial will see this and understand this "in time"- time is as fundamental as "IF/THEN" - the if/then approach to the problem is itself a result of the partial being partial- in the whole, there is no time, there is no "if/then"- time is the block to the partial seeing itself- end time, and the whole will appear- the partial, the subject, IS time... they are inseparable... it is impossible for the partial to end time, by trying to end time- the partial has motive to end time, so that it can see itself as whole, and that motive HAS to exist in time- motive does not exist out of time, that is, in the whole- motive is time is partial... these things will not come upon the whole...

what will come upon the whole?

the whole...

can the partial, see its own end?

can the partial see the end of time?

who wants to know?

what remains, is what you are looking for...

call it something, and lose it! you have named it, you have measured it- it is partial!...

LOOK, at motive- and find out the ending of motive, the ending of measurement and time- and then, the whole will be there, as it always was... this we call reality, when we are partial beings...we call it nothing, when we are whole- when "we" are not...


Nisargadatta makes me laugh



From this page:
David Godman explains his memories about Nisargadatta Maharaj

"I remember one woman asking him, rather innocently, 'I thought enlightened people were supposed to be happy and blissful. You seem to be grumpy most of the time. Doesn't your state give you perpetual happiness and peace?'

He replied, 'The only time a jnani truly rejoices is when someone else becomes a jnani'.


Harriet: How often did that happen?

David: I don't know. That was another area that he didn't seem to want to talk about."


(bolding is mine)

Saturday, January 24, 2009

The ending of opposites, the ending of debate


"I dont mean to debate this, but..."

Debate is bound to the outward...

no wisdom, comes from the outward... all wisdom is inward... the wisdom of the inward, will find that the outward is a part of it- the one and the many- but this will only ever be found inwardly- this cannot be seen from the outward... the outward will always believe itself to be separate from what it sees- this is the very nature of it BEING outward... the inward, already is one with what it sees- and there is nothing to debate there... there is only to see the nature of the inward, as the one and the many... if we are compelled to the outward, then we are compelled to debate- and this structure only exists to strengthen the "me"- to assure self and its life of fear, that it will continue on, and reign supreme... this is its design, and it does this excedingly well...

the ending of debate, within oneself, is a most sacred thing... it is the birth of the Sacred No- and thus, the birth of wisdom...

this is NOT disengagement, or illusory self affirment... but, we may not see this, until we learn the sacredness of the ending of debate- and this is a difficult thing to come to... the brain, within its very structure, is perfectly designed to separate- to create "I" and "other"- and in so doing, debate is its natural hunting ground... but therein lies the actual illusion- that we are in any way separate from another... seeing the fact of this, the fact behind the illusion, is the ending of debate... and this is where the oneness will come into the communication... this is where that which has no opposite, comes to inform- wisdom is here...

the Sacred No, is the biggest Yes that life has to offer... it is yes to everything that exists, just as it exists, timelessly, fearlessly, fully alive in this moment- in the now... it has no opposite, it has no opposition- it is pure compassion, that acts throughout- it is NOT a compassion that one obtains, or carries as an attribute- it is compassion that also is beyond opposites- it HAS to be beyond opposites to actually BE compassion, to actually Be Love... it cannot be otherwise...

end debate in onself, and come upon the eternal... live out of that, and all other questions fall into their places...

this is what is meant when the sage says: "Love only knows itself"

Content and Structure, to the Mystic's way of meaning


I wrote the below three weeks ago- and I put it aside to go through it again and see if it needed "cleaning up"... it probably does, but who am I kidding? Im not going to go through it again- things like this, when they come out of me, I wasnt "there"... so in that sense, I didnt write this- it just comes out... and so, it may be messy, it may be perfect... I dont know... but it is time to post it...

______________________________

If you and I are there together, sitting in a room- comfortably- or perhaps we are taking a walk together, and we are talking things over... lets say that I see something very clearly- and in our discussion, it is seen together, as I speak it (whatever it is Im seeing clearly) as I speak it, we both get to see it- it becomes clear to both you and I because we are there and we are looking together... it is no longer at that place, about "me" seeing and then "you" seeing or missing- the seeing is one... the question, the frustration, the conflict, whatever it was that we were looking at together- was revealed in that moment of our looking together, its true nature was seen... it may return- it may return only a few moments later, and if it does, we look again... but when the true nature of something is revealed, the part of it that can "catch"- the part that latches on, that part has been dissipated, for even that moment... that moment when there is pure seeing, there is no "time" involved... in that moment, the illusion is dissipated... and then, yes, that illusion may take hold again, may return and attach itself moments after the seeing of it... this is the nature of the brain... it is going to do this... the important thing to understand here, is that even if/when that should occur, the dissipation, the clear seeing, has already done its work!...

nothing more should be said about this... know now, that even if the "problem" thought should return, the looking has done its work... this is important to understand... the clear seeing, was NOT from the brain... the clear seeing was not in time... the brain IS time- seeing the true nature of a thing, does not happen in time... so, time may well return, and with it, all of the worries and problems that go with it... then, we get to look again- and when we look into the nature of that return, we are less looking at the CONTENT of the problem, but now, we are looking more at the structure of the problem- which is that it was there, then a clear seeing into its nature, then a return to the content of the problem again-

but seeing the STRUCTURE of the problem, and how it arrives and how it dissipates, and then its return to the brain- this then becomes the new opportunity to come to a clear seeing... the content of the problem will only have any weight on us, if we fail to look at the structure of how these problems appear in the brain... the brain IS time- and time will always create problems by its very nature... "If/Then" is the primary problem making apparatus in the brain- I dont think there is an expression more succinctly depicting how time exists in the brain, the these two simple words, and their relationship to each other... "If/Then"...

when we actually see into the nature of a problem- the NATURE of it, not the content which includes all of the various opinions and offered up solutions and theories on causes etc etc... but the actual nature of the problem, and how it lives in ones own being- in ones own heart and mind- there is no "If/Then" in those moments of seeing... there is no solution/ opinion/ cause/ effect/ theory/ thought/ mine/ yours/... there is NONE of that, when we have an insight into the nature of a thing... ONLY the brain, comes in AFTER such a seeing, and lays claim to what it had measured as the content of the problem... and in that claim, in those measurements, Time then comes into existence- time as the "me"- this is then where the "hook" comes in- the burr, the grab, the latching onto... when the brain, poor sod that it is, comes to believe that IT IS its measurements- and thereby, living within the conviction that the world is full of problem...

the "me" is nothing more than the measurements that I make of the world, which in turn sees past and future in everything, where that is never so! there is no past and future- there is only ever NOW. we hear this, we may sense this, we make like this, we want to go hear more about this "now"... but that WILL BE the new "problem"... we now need more "now", so that (there is the if/then)... so that we can be without "problem", that only exists because we think in if/then...

this is not a simple twist of words to sound clever and make for good fun out of this post... this is a fact...

the solution to what appears to our if/then brains as a paradox, is to see the ending of the need for solution... "acceptance" has been used for this- but this will not be so either... accept nothing! LOOK!

Looking is the thing that can act on this... Looking is its own action...

this is what is most important to understand... the looking is already doing the necessary work of seeing... seeing will begin to see the structure of what is going on, over the content of what is seen... but if that should now become important, to see only the structure and not the content, then the structure merely becomes more content... and the brain will come and grab hold again...

this is why I said, its important to know that the looking has already done its work... the looking alone, will dissipate illusion, and reveal the true nature of things, of the one and the many... but with any attachment to what is seen, with any attempt to carry it with oneself, so that the "me" can have it for future, and thus, be without problems- THIS will be the very thing that creates problems- and THIS will be the very thing that keeps one from seeing clearly...

this whole thing was started as a comment about forums... how funny it is, that when a conversation moves along in an internet forum, one can say something that one is seeing ever so clearly, and have it missed by the others, precisely because it is mere content in the whirl of content that their minds are already in... and then, a day or a month later, a participant in that conversation will find a quote from some "authority" and post it, and create more opinion and argument off of that quote...

clear seeing must be created in the present- here and now- and ONLY so!... if Im bringing in an outside authority to boost a point that Im making, then Im not Looking in the here and now- and whatever it is Im saying, is more content in this vast ocean of content... none of it will be marked for clear seeing, as long as Im looking outside of myself for wisdom... as long as Im adding content to content, Im missing the seeing... Im in time- If/Then- if I could only get these guys to see what it is Im saying, if I could only get them to listen to this perfectly valid point of view, THEN I would... THEN they would... THEN the world would...

all of it misses the here and now... content, over this moments unfolding... content is born of measurement, and is born TO measure.... this moment contains nothing that is measurable... this moment just is...


Delivery of the "Sacred No"


this is from a comment that I left on another's blog- get the full story here...

The "sacred No", is when I see that what rises in me, IS actually me, and its not dependent on what another does or says... from that seeing, I see a mirror was there all along- the mirror is to show me what obscures the truth... it does NOT mean that the truth was not seen by me- it means that the truth can never be "pointed out" to another- not with anything that may still be attached to some old "me"...

this is the essence of the "mirror" of relationship... it is essental for when you see the actual truth of something, and no one else around you seems to "get it"... the sacred "no" is the only thing that can actually get through, and it WONT get through in "my" time- it will get through in its own time... otherwise, otherwise, similar to what this very comment-post here is at risk of, the "taking credit for knowing the truth" is precisely what will obscure the necessary learning- the compassion...

its the compassion that acts on the truth in another, NOT the truth in me, the truth that "I have"... my truth, no matter how perfectly aligned with Truth-capital-T, is BOUND to obscure, when it is argued for... "that which you resist, persists"...

if the TRUTH is what is important to you, LET it GO! the compassion, is what will do ITS work- in ITS time...

I may not be there to witness it, but so what?

the only reason I would have to "persue" what I see and how I see it, would be to be sure to get the credit... look here with me... its there!...

and so, if Im at all concerned with "not leaving until they see"- that is now MY creating a hierarchy... that is now MY new religion- MY new law... the the resistance that that meets is far more destructive than getting credit for being right...

say the truth, and be on your way...

ONLY if the other has a real inquiry, a deep abiding desire to see the truth WITH you, and not to proffer some agenda- ONLY then, is it worth staying around in the dialogue... but upon sign that the other is completely unwilling to look within, and if I stick around to push the point, that is MY unwillingness to look within...

this is "the big one"... on the road to enlightenment... relationship, is a mirror...

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Presence

Why do we measure?


Ego wants to want, more than it wants to have
~Eckhart Tolle


this really is the very essence of question of mine, "why do we measure"... this is it... because "I" am "not enough"... the "me" is the very manifestation of "want"- of "not enough", of measurement...

our brain separates "I" from "other"... if I and other are illusion- if there really IS NO separation- then what else could possibly come from that BUT "not enough"? a feeling of want- a feeling of incompleteness ... we are completely innocent of this wanting- of this "not enough"... and our grasping attempts at more gratitude is only born of WANTING completeness so that we dont have to suffer- but the wanting is more than the having, still...

when we can settle into the innocence of it- when we can just have what is, without wanting more- and this means too, "more wisdom" - "more peace" - more gratitude, abundance, connection, health, life, on and on with the MORE... the more will always win out over the have, the what is... Life as we have it, will never match up with life as we imagine-it-could-be, and that is the source of "not enough"... that keeps us from Life- that keeps us from Living THIS, right now- this, JUST as it is! this this this... just as it is!

ALL of our judgments of another- ALL of them, are born of this separation- of this "not enough"... and so, when we come to realize that we are NOT SEPARATE, then we get to see that the wars live in me- the greed lives in me- the envy, the disdain, the hatred, this lives in me... I am not separate from that! so if it is there, then it is here... the very fact of my seeing it as "there"- over there- yours-not-mine - pointing pointing outwards from "me"... the very fact of my pointing outwards, and disowning, is the source of war everywhere...

because it is conflict- it is in conflict with what is, in this very moment- it wants more- it wants what it wants- it has no intrinsic appreciation for what is... it can only know how to want...

it cannot look...

it cannot look!

want wants... its so simple... and that wanting is Is IS the very separation that creates all conflict... it matters not a bit where the energy centers of that conflict, of that separation have formed on the globe, so that then we can point outward from ourselves some more and say "there is war" and "they should stop fighting"... NO! - if you create conflict, then you have added to it! then the war is RIGHT HERE! ...

looking at this- without judgment, without measurement- just look at this... just to look, at where the war is, in this whole movement - how many wisdom-seers have told us? how many more have to tell us? before we will look? YOU are the world! - it is ALL ONE... there is no time and distance to war... war is here in this basic separation... SEE IT! see it!

look- and conflict will end- war will end... this is the lasting thing... this seeing is what lasts... not our ideas of how we can act on "them" to get "them" to stop fighting... that just piles more ideas onto more measurements... END the measurement, and find out- it ends HERE, with me, with this, with what is in this very moment...

this moment, is all that can last...

this moment is all that ever was...

this moment is where conflict, ALL conflict ends...

Friday, January 16, 2009

Sincerity

sincerity

1546, from M.Fr. sincérité (1519), from L. sinceritatem (nom. sinceritas), from sincerus "sound, pure, whole," perhaps originally "of one growth" (i.e. "not hybrid, unmixed"), from sem-, sin- "one" + root of crescere "to grow" (see crescent). Ground sense is of "that which is not falsified."


my new friend tells me Im "nice"- 'Im a nice guy' he says... and that is so nice to have someone say- quite!

I wasnt always a nice guy... a good deal of looking at who and what I was has passed through here, and that looking seemed to manage to make some changes in this "me"...

but what I can tell you I always was- and still can attest for myself, is sincere...

the etym above will indicate some mystical roots to the word sincere- "to grow into one" - "to grow into wholeness" - "into the holy"- perhaps... yes, I can allow this for myself, from as far back as I can remember- to grow into one... if that is sincere, and I can see that it would be, then yes, I can allow this has always been here with me...

it seems then, sincere has led me to nice- and that is such a blessed thing, to have someone say...

I was asked yesterday by some folks that I dialogue with, what I thought it might be that makes profound change within us- is there some intention? they were suggesting, is there some will, to do the hard work of looking within oneself... I didnt use the word sincere in my response to the question, and I see that I will want to remember the word for next time... but I can see that I was with their question very sincerely- and whatever it was that I answered, was sincere... not just sincere in the desire to be honest with my answer, but sincere in this deeper sense, that to join the question of another (in this case an inquiry of "intention") is to grow into one, to move into wholeness...

this is a blessed thing, this sense of sincerity... Im going to continue to look at it, and how it informs the meeting...

Homeless Tom


I left this comment on the blog of Homeless Tom

Im in a good place at the moment, but I do feel inches away from homelessness myself... of course, in reality, we are ALL always inches away from homelessness, or death- but the day to day keeps us generally mesmerized in some sort of "security" notion...

anyway, earlier this year there was a scary predictable sense of being a hairs breath away from having no place to go whatsoever... and I came upon your blog- and since, Ive read it from cover to cover...

so thank you for what you are doing here- and know that there are those out there who you are helping in ways you may or may not realize...

its like a "spiritual preparedness" for meeting what is REAL - what this life is all about really... and you are helping in that with journaling this experience for us...

thanks for the link above too- Ill be watching after that as well...

Peace, and better days for you and all there in your company...

Tom


I would recommend keeping this one on your list... it really is about "keeping it real" for me- I look forward to his posts when he can get the chance to make them- and I keep he ahd his companions in my prayers (companions the world over, indeed!)

rightness


It seems...

it seems we either want to talk about some thing-of-life or another, in order to find out- or we want to talk about things to find out we were right...

this is oh so very tricky...

I beg of you to know which one of these has come to the meeting...

just knowing which one has come to the meeting is enough...

compassion will know what to do from there...

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Wanye Dyer made a feature flick


Its called Ambition to Meaning

http://www.ambitiontomeaning.com/

Wayne Dyer has his first movie come out- and its free today for "Ellen fans", apparently - (just went through the process- much easier than most- asks for name and address- did not have to go back to my email to receive a code or anything... just give the info and get a streaming link to watch right away)

Trailer on YouTube

IMDB page

Molly Bryant ... Sarah

Michael DeLuise ... David

Portia de Rossi ... Denise Moore

Wayne Dyer ... Himself

etc...

if you exit to watch later, then you have to use the link they send you in email to reenter (at the place you left off- which for me was just before the closing credits end- so I dont know yet how that works fully)

REVIEW:
Yeah, you gotta love a movie where you start disliking it in the beginning because it feels "canned" and predictable- then it builds into a moment where a tear actually comes to ones face- and it ends with a huge smile on ones face, and a GREAT ending credit song!

See it! - well well worth it I think... its a movie I would have written (actually thought about something very very very similar to this) an Dyer beat me to it... and good for him! and good for anyone who watches...

oh, and what an interesting moment to find where that tear came for me... Ill not mention now- till you guys get a chance to see it- but I think the tear-moment was probably specific to me (dont know that anyone else would necessarily have the same reaction to this part) ...and it "opened" something that Ive been looking at this past two weeks or so... very very interesting moment, that...

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The Devil and Krishnamurti


You may remember the story of how the devil and a friend of his were walking down the street when they saw ahead of them a man stoop down and pick up something from the ground, look at it, and put it away in his pocket. The friend said to the devil, "What did that man pick up?" "He picked up a piece of Truth," said the devil. "That is a very bad business for you, then," said his friend. "Oh, not at all," the devil replied, "I am going to let him organize it.

~J Krishnamurti

Monday, January 12, 2009

Learning


"to understand what truth is one must have a very sharp, clear, precise mind; not a cunning mind, not tortured, but a mind that is capable of looking without any distortion, a mind innocent and vulnerable; only such a mind that can see what truth is. Nor can a mind that is filled with knowledge perceive what truth is; only a mind that is completely capable of learning can do that; learning is not the accumulation of knowledge; learning is a movement from moment to moment"

~J Krishnamurti
October 1968
3rd public talk at Brandeis University


Friday, January 9, 2009

Dont let the door hit you...


I know theres a few more days to go, but Id like to say my goodbyes now

"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
Florence, South Carolina, 11 January, 2000

"You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror."
CBS News, Washington DC, 6 September, 2006

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." Washington DC, 5 August, 2004


~George W Bush-
twice elected President of the United States of America

LINK

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Nazim Hikmet


ON LIVING

I

Living is no laughing matter:
you must live with great seriousness
like a squirrel, for example-
I mean without looking for something beyond and above living,
I mean living must be your whole occupation.
Living is no laughing matter:
you must take it seriously,
so much so and to such a degree
that, for example, your hands tied behind your back,
your back to the wall,
or else in a laboratory
in your white coat and safety glasses,
you can die for people-
even for people whose faces you've never seen,
even though you know living
is the most real, the most beautiful thing.
I mean, you must take living so seriously
that even at seventy, for example, you'll plant olive trees-
and not for your children, either,
but because although you fear death you don't believe it,
because living, I mean, weighs heavier.


II

Let's say you're seriously ill, need surgery -
which is to say we might not get
from the white table.
Even though it's impossible not to feel sad
about going a little too soon,
we'll still laugh at the jokes being told,
we'll look out the window to see it's raining,
or still wait anxiously
for the latest newscast ...
Let's say we're at the front-
for something worth fighting for, say.
There, in the first offensive, on that very day,
we might fall on our face, dead.
We'll know this with a curious anger,
but we'll still worry ourselves to death
about the outcome of the war, which could last years.
Let's say we're in prison
and close to fifty,
and we have eighteen more years, say,
before the iron doors will open.
We'll still live with the outside,
with its people and animals, struggle and wind-
I mean with the outside beyond the walls.
I mean, however and wherever we are,
we must live as if we will never die.


III

This earth will grow cold,
a star among stars
and one of the smallest,
a gilded mote on blue velvet-
I mean this, our great earth.
This earth will grow cold one day,
not like a block of ice
or a dead cloud even
but like an empty walnut it will roll along
in pitch-black space ...
You must grieve for this right now
-you have to feel this sorrow now-
for the world must be loved this much
if you're going to say ``I lived'' ...


Nazim Hikmet
February, 1948
Trans. Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk - 1993

Sunday, January 4, 2009

On Change and Path


Below, something I wrote just before Christmas, as a comment on someones blog... I came across it again earlier today, and it seemed worthwhile posting here after all... hopefully, the context will be sufficiently evident...

I think we never really leave anything or anyone behind as we travel our "path"... I think what we leave behind is a part of ourselves, that we must pick up again when the circle is completed- when we come to see the true nature of ourselves and of our Self, then it is seen that nothing was ever left behind...

I think its helpful to consider this, as we contemplate the meaning of "path"... if indeed it is "me" (or a part of me, if we would rather put it as that) that was "left", or has "ended", then of course it needs to return, to come to the ultimate "wholeness" that signifies the true "ending"

did that make sense?

all of those things that I had thought had been left for good, are now reappearing as necessary parts to be re-embraced... to come home, to the wholeness that was always here, and could never leave... even the "leaving behind" is seen to have been as temporary as when it was an active part- ALL temporal things must come to wholeness- this can be understood as losing Everything, or Gaining the Whole- either way, its the same thing- its always coming Home...

this comes down to seeing ALL form, as a mirror for self, and Self... when S/self is understood for its true nature, then the formless is also understood- at that meetingplace, we find the holy- whole- Home-

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Contemplation and Action


In response to a conversation at Forest Wisdom

There is a way between voice and presence

where information flows

in disciplined silence, it opens

with wandering talk, it closes


~Jalal ad-Din Rumi


I think often, as human beings, we miss flow-ways of communication that are very active in our lives... often, the "need to DO something" can interfere with ones listening, which itself would be doing a great deal more-

and I think we potentially could be more open to our relationship to time and distance, not taking it at "face value"- that is, at minds first measurement of what those things are...

I know the academics would get all up in arms over this one (you cannot prove a negative and all that) but as a pointer to what Rumi was speaking of in his poem, I would challenge to see some 'proof', that buddhist monks meditating in the Himalayas RIGHT NOW, are NOT in fact what is holding the world together for us...

I know, I know- its wrong... Im just saying, its a pointer to something that we dont commonly allow for...

The End of "Us and Them"



In his Morning Meditation, our Unitarian Universalist friend David Markham had a particularly wise and important seeing, that has sparked some additional seeing for me, and so I thought to bring it to here... he said:

"that suffering is the result of stupidity, ignorance, and lack of awareness"

and reading this, brought up again my ever-favorite meditation: "relationship is a mirror"

it rings true in these ears, when I read David describe being:

"utterly amazed at how stupid people are. They are narcissistic, arrogant, willful, full of hubris, and then wonder why they suffer."

yes, this lives in me too...

and we travel together as well, when we see his obsevation that:

"Whenever our politicians would divide the world into us and them, and in our personal lives we divide our families into us and them, and at work we divide the world into us and them, we are contributing to the suffering in the world."

ah yes!
here we have it right- where we say that it is this basic division of "us and them" that brings about all of this suffering...

so, if this is true, if what I see "out there" in "them" is truly not separable from what is "here" in "me", then it is there that I "Suffer" the stupidity, ignorance, lack of awareness of humanity... but when I see that these things are here in ME, as proved by the very FACT that I see it in "them" (relationship is a mirror), that I am the one now creating an "us and them" when it comes to this stupidity... then it gets to be seen that I and the stupidity, ignorance etc are one in the same...

it is there, and only there, that compassion can act... and it is only compassion, that has any wisdom to offer this situation of suffering... certainly not my cleverness in being able to point it out to others, how stupid they are and thus they suffer... the "they" in that VERY pointing out, is "me"... it is "I" who suffer the stupidity that is inherent in missing the mirror, in not seeing that it is me who suffers this separation, and not them... "I" am the one who compassion cannot act through- "I" am the one who is woefully unaware, whenever I make an "us and them"- whenever I separate my 'wise and clever' seeing, from that stupidity which it believes it can identify...

but when we see that there is NO separation- that the stupidity is ME, that it is "I" who suffers, then that ends it- that ENDS it, right there... there is nothing more for "them" to do! Compassion now comes in and acts- Love now comes to know itself- "I" am now out of the picture... this and only this will end the suffering- will end the separation that creates the stupidity...

did you know, that the root of the words "Satan" and "Devil" both, have this sense of separation with them, of "pointing outwards" to "other"? ... according to wikipedia "The name "Devil" derives from the Greek word diabolos, which means "slanderer" or "accuser"" and "The word 'Satan', and the Arabic "shaitan", may derive from a Northwest Semitic root meaning "to be hostile", 'to accuse.'" ... isnt the very picture in your mind of "accuser" a man or woman pointing their finger at a person in a crowd? ... I know thats the first image that comes to my head ...

This is what it is to "miss the mirror"... to separate what we see, from ourselves- and assume it is someplace "out there" that we are seeing it... this is the very lack of awareness in our own seeing, that will add itself to the stupidity- because there is no room for compassion to act in this... we have effectively walled it out, from our outward pointing- from the separation of "that" and "me" - "I" and "thou"...

This I think, is what Gandhi was seeing, when he said to "be the change you want to see"... to end the outward pointing- to see that the lack of awareness can ONLY come from believing that there is something that separates what I see from me- that there are things "out there" that need to be fixed, as if I didnt have that very trait, stupidity, ignorance, lack of awareness RIGHT HERE in me, BY the very seeing of it!!!

by the very seeing of it, it is me

relationship is this mirror... I pray to give my every living breathing moment, to polishing this mirror...

Friday, January 2, 2009

It's Right here- it's Right now!


Your existence needs no justification. You do not have to prove yourself. No one is keeping score. The kingdom of heaven is right here, within and among you. If you can not recognize its presence right here, right now, how can you ever enter it? As the "prodigal father" says, in essence, "The party is in progress, set aside your distress and come join the party."


A great posting by (fellow New Englander) John Crockett at The Natural Contemplative... You'll want to read this one...

Thursday, January 1, 2009

an important something about storytelling


"Genre stories are about exceptional people, and may note the ways they're normal. Mainstream stories are about normal people, and may note the ways they're exceptional. This is why Lord of the Rings is not a genre fantasy; it's about an ordinary person caught up in exceptional events. Had it focused on Aragorn, few people would know of it today."


this is more than just about storytelling- or, it isnt, because in a way, our human life is ALL about storytelling... and so, this quote from Will (its all one thing) has much to say about the "meeting" with our own existence, and each other...

Ill say some more of whaat Im seeing here, after I sit with it for a bit

thank you Will!