The physical world we live in is called the Relative world, because it is continually changing. Every object of our experience, indeed, every experience itself, is bounded in space and time. Objects are created and destroyed, experiences begin and end. Even our consciousness is continually changing... every day we move through the three Relative states of consciousness: Waking, Dreaming and Sleeping.
And these Relative states of consciousness are unique and complete unto themselves. As the saying goes: "The gun in the Waking state cannot kill the tiger in the Dream state."
Throughout our lives we continually seek out new experiences, but as we mature, we come to realize that eventually we will grow bored and will begin to look for a new experience. Regardless of how enthralling the object of our affection, how delicious the meal, how gorgeous the clothes, how thrilling the entertainment, how absorbing the task or how compelling the political, religious or social cause, eventually we will have experienced it as completely as we can, we will become satiated and bored. And in that moment our senses will begin to scan our environment for the next new sensory stimulation.
This is the nature of the Relative world, and there is no end to it, because fulfillment in the Relative world is only relative, and thus temporary. True fulfillment cannot be found in the Relative world. It cannot be found by scanning outward with our senses. True fulfillment, true bliss, true happiness can only be found in the Inner World in which we transcend the finest, subtlest levels of our own thoughts and directly contact the transcendent Absolute that lies within us. And for that we need only begin to meditate:
Meditation Instructions
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Wish-Fulfilling Room
Once there was guru, a spiritual teacher, who was conducting a retreat at his ashram. One of the students, an eager young woman, experienced a dramatic spiritual breakthrough in her growth and development, and soon found an opportunity to share her experience with her guru. The exchange went something like this:
Woman: Oh, Guruji, I feel so happy, so completely blessed and fulfilled. There’s nothing in the world that I desire, that I could wish for.
Guru: So, you believe that you are completely fulfilled, and there’s nothing in the world that you desire, that could make you any happier than you are at this moment?
Woman: Yes, Guruji, that is what I am saying.
Guru: Suppose I were to offer you a room, and in that room was a special chair. And all you had to do was to sit in that chair and wish for something, anything at all, and instantly, the thing you were wishing for would materialize and be yours. Would such a wish-fulfilling room be of any interest to you?
Woman: Well, of course, Guruji. Who wouldn’t want a wish-fulfilling room like that? I certainly would.
Guru: So, what you are really telling me is that at this moment you feel completely fulfilled and without any desires, because you already possess everything in your world that you have desired... you have no desires left to fulfill. But you also know that tomorrow’s world will bring more new things and more new experiences. And when you find out about them, you might well desire some of them, which is why the wish-fulfilling room is of interest to you. What you are experiencing is not real fulfillment, but only a faint shadow of real fulfillment.
Woman: Oh, Guruji, I feel so happy, so completely blessed and fulfilled. There’s nothing in the world that I desire, that I could wish for.
Guru: So, you believe that you are completely fulfilled, and there’s nothing in the world that you desire, that could make you any happier than you are at this moment?
Woman: Yes, Guruji, that is what I am saying.
Guru: Suppose I were to offer you a room, and in that room was a special chair. And all you had to do was to sit in that chair and wish for something, anything at all, and instantly, the thing you were wishing for would materialize and be yours. Would such a wish-fulfilling room be of any interest to you?
Woman: Well, of course, Guruji. Who wouldn’t want a wish-fulfilling room like that? I certainly would.
Guru: So, what you are really telling me is that at this moment you feel completely fulfilled and without any desires, because you already possess everything in your world that you have desired... you have no desires left to fulfill. But you also know that tomorrow’s world will bring more new things and more new experiences. And when you find out about them, you might well desire some of them, which is why the wish-fulfilling room is of interest to you. What you are experiencing is not real fulfillment, but only a faint shadow of real fulfillment.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The Teacher and the Existentialist
A teacher and an existentialist met, and the teacher, noticing that the existentialist seemed rather sad, asked him how he felt.
The existentialist replied that he felt very sad and depressed. And when the teacher asked him to explain why, he said that, as he observed the physical world and everything in it, all the life forms and all the inanimate objects, he couldn’t help but notice that everything was changing. As soon as a plant or animal was born it began to change; to decay and die. And even the objects that weren't alive were changing and dying... they were rusting, corroding, crumbling, deteriorating, and falling apart. In fact, everywhere the existentialist looked, everything was changing, changing... dying, dying. Even the seasons of the year expressed it. Spring gave way to summer which changed into autumn which finally turned into winter. It made him so depressed that nowhere in the world could he find something that was constant and unchanging, something that was not forever changing and dying.
The teacher thought quietly for a few moments, and then spoke softly to the existentialist. She pointed out that the existentialist's observation, that everything in the physical universe was always and forever changing and dying, was correct.
Everything in the physical universe, the relative world, is forever changing.
And then she observed that it was this element of forever that was, itself, constant and unchanging. This element of forever is a quality of the constant, eternally unchanging Absolute, the foundation of Is-ness upon which the entire physical relative universe that Is, exists and thrives. For if the physical relative universe is to continue to be changing forever and ever, it must do it on the foundation of the forever constant, unchanging Absolute.
The existentialist was an intelligent man and he quickly grasped the significance of the teacher's words. Now that he had the intellectual understanding about the Absolute, he wanted to experience it for himself, since knowledge consists of both intellectual understanding and direct experience. So he asked the teacher how he could experience the Absolute.
The teacher suggested that turning inward in meditation, experiencing thought becoming fainter and fainter, and finally transcending the finest thought and directly contacting the Inner Silence, would give him the direct experience of the Absolute on an individual, personal level. And so she sent him on to a course in meditation.
Meditation Instructions
The existentialist replied that he felt very sad and depressed. And when the teacher asked him to explain why, he said that, as he observed the physical world and everything in it, all the life forms and all the inanimate objects, he couldn’t help but notice that everything was changing. As soon as a plant or animal was born it began to change; to decay and die. And even the objects that weren't alive were changing and dying... they were rusting, corroding, crumbling, deteriorating, and falling apart. In fact, everywhere the existentialist looked, everything was changing, changing... dying, dying. Even the seasons of the year expressed it. Spring gave way to summer which changed into autumn which finally turned into winter. It made him so depressed that nowhere in the world could he find something that was constant and unchanging, something that was not forever changing and dying.
The teacher thought quietly for a few moments, and then spoke softly to the existentialist. She pointed out that the existentialist's observation, that everything in the physical universe was always and forever changing and dying, was correct.
Everything in the physical universe, the relative world, is forever changing.
And then she observed that it was this element of forever that was, itself, constant and unchanging. This element of forever is a quality of the constant, eternally unchanging Absolute, the foundation of Is-ness upon which the entire physical relative universe that Is, exists and thrives. For if the physical relative universe is to continue to be changing forever and ever, it must do it on the foundation of the forever constant, unchanging Absolute.
The existentialist was an intelligent man and he quickly grasped the significance of the teacher's words. Now that he had the intellectual understanding about the Absolute, he wanted to experience it for himself, since knowledge consists of both intellectual understanding and direct experience. So he asked the teacher how he could experience the Absolute.
The teacher suggested that turning inward in meditation, experiencing thought becoming fainter and fainter, and finally transcending the finest thought and directly contacting the Inner Silence, would give him the direct experience of the Absolute on an individual, personal level. And so she sent him on to a course in meditation.
Meditation Instructions
Monday, May 18, 2009
Relationships: Dharmic and Karmic
Dharma is a Sanskrit word meaning sacred spiritual duty, or allotted duty. Our dharma is the work we came to Earth to do, the reason we incarnated at this time and place, within our particular family, culture, language, spiritual tradition, nation, etc. And one of our most important tasks in life is to figure out what our dharma is, so we can do it properly. And one of the worst things we can do is to try to do the dharma of another person.
So dharmic relationships are those relationships that support and encourage the performance of dharma. Simply put, if we are in a dharmic relationship with someone, it means that we are walking side by side along the path of life with that person. We treat that person as an equal, we have the best interests of the other person in our heart, and our goal is to support and enrich the growth and development of that person. We don't try to control the other person, we don't objectify or manipulate the person to gratify our own senses, or to increase our personal power.
Karma is a Sanskrit word meaning action. When we say, for instance, that we have good karma or bad karma it simply describes the quality of what Mother Nature is bringing to us as the result of our past actions. This is simply another way of saying: What goes around, comes around. Or, as scripture reminds us: We reap what we sow. The interesting thing about karma is that it can take a LONG time between what we sow and what we reap... a very long time. It is even possible that what we sow in one lifetime does not come back to us until the next lifetime. But we should never doubt that it will come back, regardless of how long it takes.
Positive actions (good karma) will be rewarded (balanced) and negative actions (bad karma) will be punished (balanced). So a karmic relationship is one in which we are either creating karma, or balancing karma, with another person. Regardless of whether we are creating or balancing karma, it appears that we are in constant conflict with the other person, as though we are rubbing against them, creating friction, wearing away the rough edges on both of us. If we are in a karmic relationship with someone, the objective should always be to balance or neutralize existing karma, rather than creating any new karma.
This is why we have the New Testament recommendation to turn the other cheek. If we try to exact retribution for a perceived wrong, we simply continue to create new karma which must be balanced at some time in the future. And why is this so bad? Well, karma created while we are in physical incarnation can only be balanced or neutralized while we are in physical incarnation. In other words, we need a physical body to balance physical karma. So as long as we have unbalanced physical karma, we must keep on coming back into physical incarnation. We must be part of the wheel of life and death, the wheel of karma and reincarnation until it is all balanced and we are free.
So dharmic relationships are those relationships that support and encourage the performance of dharma. Simply put, if we are in a dharmic relationship with someone, it means that we are walking side by side along the path of life with that person. We treat that person as an equal, we have the best interests of the other person in our heart, and our goal is to support and enrich the growth and development of that person. We don't try to control the other person, we don't objectify or manipulate the person to gratify our own senses, or to increase our personal power.
Karma is a Sanskrit word meaning action. When we say, for instance, that we have good karma or bad karma it simply describes the quality of what Mother Nature is bringing to us as the result of our past actions. This is simply another way of saying: What goes around, comes around. Or, as scripture reminds us: We reap what we sow. The interesting thing about karma is that it can take a LONG time between what we sow and what we reap... a very long time. It is even possible that what we sow in one lifetime does not come back to us until the next lifetime. But we should never doubt that it will come back, regardless of how long it takes.
Positive actions (good karma) will be rewarded (balanced) and negative actions (bad karma) will be punished (balanced). So a karmic relationship is one in which we are either creating karma, or balancing karma, with another person. Regardless of whether we are creating or balancing karma, it appears that we are in constant conflict with the other person, as though we are rubbing against them, creating friction, wearing away the rough edges on both of us. If we are in a karmic relationship with someone, the objective should always be to balance or neutralize existing karma, rather than creating any new karma.
This is why we have the New Testament recommendation to turn the other cheek. If we try to exact retribution for a perceived wrong, we simply continue to create new karma which must be balanced at some time in the future. And why is this so bad? Well, karma created while we are in physical incarnation can only be balanced or neutralized while we are in physical incarnation. In other words, we need a physical body to balance physical karma. So as long as we have unbalanced physical karma, we must keep on coming back into physical incarnation. We must be part of the wheel of life and death, the wheel of karma and reincarnation until it is all balanced and we are free.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
The cycle of action-impression-recognition-desire
This process of (a) recognizing that we are unfulfilled in some way, (b) beginning a search for the object that will fulfill us, (c) finding the object, (d) experiencing it, and then getting bored with it, has been given a name. It has been called the action-impression-recognition-desire cycle. To help understand this cycle, let me tell you a story.
Once there was a suburban family, and they were at home one spring evening. Amy, a little girl eight years of age, was playing with her dolls. Her daddy was sitting in his chair reading the entertainment section of the newspaper. Suddenly he put the paper down and said, in an excited voice:
Guess what, Amy, the circus is coming to town. Would you like to go to the circus?
Well, Amy had never been to the circus, and she had no idea what the circus was, so the word circus didn't mean anything to her. She was not really interested, but she knew her daddy loved her, so she thought that if he really wanted to go, it might be a fun experience.
That Saturday Amy and her daddy went to the circus, and it was a completely mind-blowing experience for her. There were lions and a lion tamer with a chair and a whip. There were elephants and horses and bare-back riders. There were trapeze artists and jugglers and clowns. And there was a Ferris wheel and a carousel, and cotton candy and soft drinks. And Amy loved it all. She loved it so much that for weeks afterwards she was still telling her mommy stories about the things she had seen and heard and smelled and tasted at the circus.
Eventually, as with any other experience, after a few months the circus faded from her awareness. Thanksgiving came, and then Christmas, and the circus was all but forgotten. And then, the following spring, one evening, Amy was playing with her dolls while her daddy was reading the newspaper and he said, casually:
Oh, guess what, Amy, the circus is back in town.
Instantly the word circus resonated with Amy's deeply stored memories, and a shiver went through her as all of her experiences of the circus came flooding back into her consciousness. Without a moment's hesitation she dropped her doll, jumped up, flung herself into her daddy's lap and cried:
Oh, daddy, daddy, take me to the circus!
What happened is really very easy to explain. Amy's original experience of the circus is the initial action. The memory of the circus stored deeply within her consciousness is the impression. When Amy hears the word circus and it resonated within her consciousness, reawakening the hidden, stored memories of the circus, that is the recognition. And, when Amy runs to her daddy and begs him to take her to the circus again, that is the expression of her desire... to again experience the thrill and excitement of the circus.
What is the value of this knowledge? What is the significance of this cycle in our daily lives? It is simply that when we have a desire, either to repeat an earlier positive experience, or to avoid repeating an earlier negative experience, the desire is awakened by the existence of previously stored memories that resonate with some stimulus in the present.
Psychologists who work in the world of advertising are well aware of how powerful these stored memories can be in getting us to buy their product, service or experience. It's called selling the sizzle rather than the steak and the goal of the advertising is to reawaken our positive memories of previous, similar experiences. An advertising message that resonates strongly and positively with a stored impression can be powerful enough to create the desire in us to have that experience again, and we will begin to scan our environment for a way to have the experience again, and thus satisfy the desire again.
There are those who believe that the cycle of action, impression, recognition and desire keeps us tied to the physical plane, keeps us incarnating over and over again. The Sanscrit word for action is karma, and so the cycle is sometimes thought of as the cycle of karma. Each time we perform an action to satisfy the desire, we reinforce the impressions that are stored deeply in our consciousness (the chit) and so we perpetuate the cycle.
Spiritual seekers have, for thousands of years, focused their spiritual development on breaking the cycle. Some believe that we break the cycle by denying our desires. The argument is that if we don't perform action to fulfill our desires, we won't reinforce the stored impressions. Over time the impressions will weaken and we will escape from the cycle. If it works, this must be a long, slow, painful process, but it is the way of the recluse, and monasteries and ashrams are filled with spiritual seekers who have shut themselves off from the world as a way to deny themselves any experiences which might serve as the recognition or trigger, resonating with previously stored impressions and giving rise to desires. For these seekers, the goal is a life of no desires, of desirelessness. These seekers live a very flat, dull, emotionless, lifeless existence.
There are other spiritual seekers who believe the easiest way to break the cycle is to destroy the stored impressions. If there are no stored impressions, there's nothing to resonate with, and nothing to give rise to future desires. This doesn't mean we have no stored memories; it just means they aren't powerful enough to resonate with any experiences in the present, and so they cannot give rise to future desires. There are many spiritual techniques for destroying stored impressions... many forms of tapas or spiritual austerity. There's meditation, guruseva (spiritual actions performed in service to the guru), japa (walking meditation), kirtan (chanting), pranayama (breathing), hatha yoga (special bodily postures), tantra (control of the sexual fire), kundalini (awakening the spiritual energy in the nadis... the subtle channels that parallel the physical spinal cord), darshan (audience with the guru) and many others. Some of these practices are designed to directly destroy the stored impressions, others accomplish the task indirectly.
Regardless, if the impressions stored in our chit (consciousness) are destroyed so they can no longer resonate with experiences in the present, and so cannot give rise to future desires, it can be said that the seeds of our future karma have been roasted in the fire of knowledge, and are no longer capable of sprouting future desires.
I favor meditation to accomplish this process, but I have heard it said that for one who is performing guruseva (spiritual service to the guru), meditation has virtually no value.
Once there was a suburban family, and they were at home one spring evening. Amy, a little girl eight years of age, was playing with her dolls. Her daddy was sitting in his chair reading the entertainment section of the newspaper. Suddenly he put the paper down and said, in an excited voice:
Guess what, Amy, the circus is coming to town. Would you like to go to the circus?
Well, Amy had never been to the circus, and she had no idea what the circus was, so the word circus didn't mean anything to her. She was not really interested, but she knew her daddy loved her, so she thought that if he really wanted to go, it might be a fun experience.
That Saturday Amy and her daddy went to the circus, and it was a completely mind-blowing experience for her. There were lions and a lion tamer with a chair and a whip. There were elephants and horses and bare-back riders. There were trapeze artists and jugglers and clowns. And there was a Ferris wheel and a carousel, and cotton candy and soft drinks. And Amy loved it all. She loved it so much that for weeks afterwards she was still telling her mommy stories about the things she had seen and heard and smelled and tasted at the circus.
Eventually, as with any other experience, after a few months the circus faded from her awareness. Thanksgiving came, and then Christmas, and the circus was all but forgotten. And then, the following spring, one evening, Amy was playing with her dolls while her daddy was reading the newspaper and he said, casually:
Oh, guess what, Amy, the circus is back in town.
Instantly the word circus resonated with Amy's deeply stored memories, and a shiver went through her as all of her experiences of the circus came flooding back into her consciousness. Without a moment's hesitation she dropped her doll, jumped up, flung herself into her daddy's lap and cried:
Oh, daddy, daddy, take me to the circus!
What happened is really very easy to explain. Amy's original experience of the circus is the initial action. The memory of the circus stored deeply within her consciousness is the impression. When Amy hears the word circus and it resonated within her consciousness, reawakening the hidden, stored memories of the circus, that is the recognition. And, when Amy runs to her daddy and begs him to take her to the circus again, that is the expression of her desire... to again experience the thrill and excitement of the circus.
What is the value of this knowledge? What is the significance of this cycle in our daily lives? It is simply that when we have a desire, either to repeat an earlier positive experience, or to avoid repeating an earlier negative experience, the desire is awakened by the existence of previously stored memories that resonate with some stimulus in the present.
Psychologists who work in the world of advertising are well aware of how powerful these stored memories can be in getting us to buy their product, service or experience. It's called selling the sizzle rather than the steak and the goal of the advertising is to reawaken our positive memories of previous, similar experiences. An advertising message that resonates strongly and positively with a stored impression can be powerful enough to create the desire in us to have that experience again, and we will begin to scan our environment for a way to have the experience again, and thus satisfy the desire again.
There are those who believe that the cycle of action, impression, recognition and desire keeps us tied to the physical plane, keeps us incarnating over and over again. The Sanscrit word for action is karma, and so the cycle is sometimes thought of as the cycle of karma. Each time we perform an action to satisfy the desire, we reinforce the impressions that are stored deeply in our consciousness (the chit) and so we perpetuate the cycle.
Spiritual seekers have, for thousands of years, focused their spiritual development on breaking the cycle. Some believe that we break the cycle by denying our desires. The argument is that if we don't perform action to fulfill our desires, we won't reinforce the stored impressions. Over time the impressions will weaken and we will escape from the cycle. If it works, this must be a long, slow, painful process, but it is the way of the recluse, and monasteries and ashrams are filled with spiritual seekers who have shut themselves off from the world as a way to deny themselves any experiences which might serve as the recognition or trigger, resonating with previously stored impressions and giving rise to desires. For these seekers, the goal is a life of no desires, of desirelessness. These seekers live a very flat, dull, emotionless, lifeless existence.
There are other spiritual seekers who believe the easiest way to break the cycle is to destroy the stored impressions. If there are no stored impressions, there's nothing to resonate with, and nothing to give rise to future desires. This doesn't mean we have no stored memories; it just means they aren't powerful enough to resonate with any experiences in the present, and so they cannot give rise to future desires. There are many spiritual techniques for destroying stored impressions... many forms of tapas or spiritual austerity. There's meditation, guruseva (spiritual actions performed in service to the guru), japa (walking meditation), kirtan (chanting), pranayama (breathing), hatha yoga (special bodily postures), tantra (control of the sexual fire), kundalini (awakening the spiritual energy in the nadis... the subtle channels that parallel the physical spinal cord), darshan (audience with the guru) and many others. Some of these practices are designed to directly destroy the stored impressions, others accomplish the task indirectly.
Regardless, if the impressions stored in our chit (consciousness) are destroyed so they can no longer resonate with experiences in the present, and so cannot give rise to future desires, it can be said that the seeds of our future karma have been roasted in the fire of knowledge, and are no longer capable of sprouting future desires.
I favor meditation to accomplish this process, but I have heard it said that for one who is performing guruseva (spiritual service to the guru), meditation has virtually no value.
To increase our reward, we need to increase our service
It's the nature of life to want more and more. To have more and more requires more financial resources, more wealth. We can increase our wealth by increasing our reward, what we receive in payment for the work we perform. The way we increase our reward is by accomplishing more, by increasing the level of our service.
Increasing our service means adding more value. What does it mean to add value? It simply means to increase the usefulness of a product, service or experience to whomever is considering buying it.
For example, suppose you want to read the daily newspaper. You can go to a newsstand and buy it, but if you had a home delivery subscription, it would be delivered to your door. A newspaper delivered to your door is worth more to you than a newspaper you have to go some distance to get. So the newspaper publisher can increase the value of the paper to you by delivering it to you. The publisher is adding value through the delivery process.
For example, suppose you want to read the daily newspaper. You can go to a newsstand and buy it, but if you had a home delivery subscription, it would be delivered to your door. A newspaper delivered to your door is worth more to you than a newspaper you have to go some distance to get. So the newspaper publisher can increase the value of the paper to you by delivering it to you. The publisher is adding value through the delivery process.
Heyam Dukham Anagatam; Dukham Anagatam Heyam
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras II.16:
Heyam Dukham Anagatam;
Dukham Anagatam Heyam.
The English translation of this verse is:
Avert the danger that has not come;
The danger that has not yet arrived deserves to be avoided.
Heyam Dukham Anagatam;
Dukham Anagatam Heyam.
The English translation of this verse is:
Avert the danger that has not come;
The danger that has not yet arrived deserves to be avoided.
The world is as we are.
The world is as we are.
If we are wearing rose-colored glasses, the world will appear rose-colored.
If we are wearing green-colored glasses, the world will appear green.
We don’t see the world as it is; we see the world as we are.
Knowledge is intellectual understanding plus direct experience
Knowledge consists of both intellectual understanding and direct experience. The intellectual understanding about something supports and enriches the direct experience of it. The direct experience of something gives significance to the intellectual understanding about it. Both are supplementary and complementary. Both are necessary for complete knowledge.
As an example, suppose you have never heard of nor seen nor tasted a strawberry; it is completely unknown to you. I say to you:
I am going to give you a fruit called a strawberry. It is a little red fruit with green leaves. It is sweet and juicy and tart and delicious. It grows on a plant on the ground and can be eaten fresh, baked in a pie, cooked into jelly or preserves, or prepared in many other ways.
What I am doing is giving you the intellectual understanding about a strawberry. But at some point you will stop me and say: Enough! Please give me the strawberry. You have had enough intellectual understanding and are ready for the direct experience of seeing and tasting and smelling and touching the strawberry; you want to give significance to your understanding.
Suppose, on the other hand we go back to the beginning, to the point at which you have never heard of nor seen nor tasted a strawberry. This time I simply offer you a bowl of freshly-picked and washed strawberries and say: Here, taste one of these!
You pick up a strawberry and bite into it. The taste and smell of the sweet, tart, crunchy, juicy, red-with-green-leaves strawberry fills your senses. Immediately the questions arise: What is this called? Where does it come from? How was it grown? Can it be cooked? What nutrients does it contain? Can one be allergic to it?
You want to understand all about the strawberry to support and enrich your direct experience. This is how we grow in knowledge, throughout our lives, in steps of direct experience and intellectual understanding, with neither one getting very far ahead of the other.
As an example, suppose you have never heard of nor seen nor tasted a strawberry; it is completely unknown to you. I say to you:
I am going to give you a fruit called a strawberry. It is a little red fruit with green leaves. It is sweet and juicy and tart and delicious. It grows on a plant on the ground and can be eaten fresh, baked in a pie, cooked into jelly or preserves, or prepared in many other ways.
What I am doing is giving you the intellectual understanding about a strawberry. But at some point you will stop me and say: Enough! Please give me the strawberry. You have had enough intellectual understanding and are ready for the direct experience of seeing and tasting and smelling and touching the strawberry; you want to give significance to your understanding.
Suppose, on the other hand we go back to the beginning, to the point at which you have never heard of nor seen nor tasted a strawberry. This time I simply offer you a bowl of freshly-picked and washed strawberries and say: Here, taste one of these!
You pick up a strawberry and bite into it. The taste and smell of the sweet, tart, crunchy, juicy, red-with-green-leaves strawberry fills your senses. Immediately the questions arise: What is this called? Where does it come from? How was it grown? Can it be cooked? What nutrients does it contain? Can one be allergic to it?
You want to understand all about the strawberry to support and enrich your direct experience. This is how we grow in knowledge, throughout our lives, in steps of direct experience and intellectual understanding, with neither one getting very far ahead of the other.
Spiritual centers
Spiritual centers are found in cathedrals, churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, ashrams, schools and other places.
Different people come to these places for different reasons. Some come for a divine revelation or for a spiritual experience; some come for intellectual understanding; some come for sensory stimulation; some come for food; some come to meet people; some come to steal things.
It is said that if a saint meets a pickpocket, all he sees are his pockets.
Different people come to these places for different reasons. Some come for a divine revelation or for a spiritual experience; some come for intellectual understanding; some come for sensory stimulation; some come for food; some come to meet people; some come to steal things.
It is said that if a saint meets a pickpocket, all he sees are his pockets.
Love
What is love? Love is intensified attention, intensified appreciation. We can appreciate someone, we can really like someone and then, finally we can love them. Our loving someone is for us. It is a beautiful thing when that person loves us in return, but there isn't any guarantee that this is going to happen. Sometimes we try to make it happen. We think that if we love someone enough, if we give them attention to an intense-enough degree, that they will have to love us in return. It rarely works that way. We may guilt someone into loving us, but that is what it will be. And eventually it will be seen for what it is. It is rare for two people to love each other equally at the same time, for a long-enough period of time for them both to gain and grow from the experience. And eventually the difference in the degree of their respective love becomes evident.
When we come to love someone, the love we feel is really for ourselves, to gratify and stroke our own ego. All love is ultimately directed toward the self, the ego.
The fact that we love someone is no concern of theirs. In fact, it is a real measure of a person's maturity to be able to say:
The fact that I love you is no concern of yours.
The snake sheds its skin at the rate the snake sheds its skin...
The snake sheds its skin at the rate the snake sheds its skin; You cannot rip the skin off the snake.
We are all growing and evolving at our own rate, the rate we're most comfortable with. For most people it's totally unnoticeable. Sometimes we become energetic and motivated and undertake a program of self-development, whether physical, emotional, mental or spiritual. However, we often become bored with the program after a short while when we don’t see dramatic life-altering results. Most of us have difficulty sustaining any therapy modality for longer than about three months... ninety days. And coincidentally that's about the average length for the state of being "in love"... about ninety days.
We are all growing and evolving at our own rate, the rate we're most comfortable with. For most people it's totally unnoticeable. Sometimes we become energetic and motivated and undertake a program of self-development, whether physical, emotional, mental or spiritual. However, we often become bored with the program after a short while when we don’t see dramatic life-altering results. Most of us have difficulty sustaining any therapy modality for longer than about three months... ninety days. And coincidentally that's about the average length for the state of being "in love"... about ninety days.
Buy quality, not quantity
Whenever I buy something - a product, service or experience - there are two conflicting motivations that are driving me. I can buy something really inexpensive - cheap would be a better word. And when I make the purchase it feels as though I got a good deal because I didn't spend a lot of money. But every time I use it, I have this subtle feeling of dissatisfaction, this shrunken, pinched feeling, because it wasn't what I really wanted, because I feel that I'm worth more and I denied myself.
Instead of buying something cheap, suppose I buy what I really want, even if it is expensive. When I make the purchase I feel really extravagant, almost as though I don't deserve this beautiful, well-designed, well-crafted object. But, every time I use it I feel a warm glow inside. I feel as though I have enriched my life with something special, and that makes me feel special. It affirms that I am a special, worthwhile person, deserving of the best.
Since our dreams and desires always exceed our resources, perhaps it is better to buy and own fewer objects, but have them be what we really want. In other words...
Don't go for what you know you can get;
Go for what you really want.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Don’t go for what you know you can get; Go for what you really want.
Mother Nature does not want us to suffer. She wants us to be happy, successful, fulfilled and prosperous. She wants this for us more than we want it for ourselves because her consciousness is more developed than ours.
If we really want something we can expend some energy in that direction and see whether Mother Nature supports it, or we meet with some resistance.
If we meet with resistance, then we have to evaluate whether that is really where we want to spend our energy. Mother Nature is always sending us subtle messages; we just have to learn to listen.
If we really want something we can expend some energy in that direction and see whether Mother Nature supports it, or we meet with some resistance.
If we meet with resistance, then we have to evaluate whether that is really where we want to spend our energy. Mother Nature is always sending us subtle messages; we just have to learn to listen.
Being, Thought, Action, Achievement, Fulfillment
Fulfillment is based on Achievement
Achievement is based on Action
Action is based on Thought
Thought is based on Being
Core questions to answer at the beginning of a relationship
Gaining an understanding of personality type has been invaluable to me, primarily as a way of understanding myself, how I relate to my world and to other people in it. One of the ways personality type can be used, is in understanding others, so we may form a more productive, fruitful relationship with them.
At the beginning of a relationship we are fascinated with the other person, they are the object of our affection, and the more intensity we can bring to the relationship, the more intense will be the affection, as though it feeds on itself. At some point, however, the limit is reached and the attention we need to pay to ourselves intrudes on the attention we are paying to the other. Reality sets in.
The ability to sustain a relationship beyond the initial in love phase really depends on meshing two different personalities. There are many ways to evaluate two personalities to see how much they have in common… how well they will mesh, or alternatively, will drive each other crazy.
One way to evaluate personality is through the technology of personality type. Originally proposed as a theory by Carl Jung in the early 1900s, the theory was developed and crystallized into a reliable, verifiable and testable technology by two American women, the mother and daughter team of Myers and Briggs. The resulting Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) has been administered to millions of people worldwide since the 1950s and has wide scale acceptance. Essentially the inventory is a set of over 120 questions that clarify a person’s preferences. There are four dimensions: Extraversion/Introversion, Sensing/iNtuition, Thinking/Feeling and Judging/Perceiving. Four dimensions, each with two possible preferences gives us sixteen distinct personality types.
As an example, the answers to the following questions will help you determine how well mated you and your significant other are for each other. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. The process is for each of you to answer the questions independently and then discuss your answers together.
After you have finished working for the week, and you’re worn out, how do you like to unwind, to recharge your batteries? Do you like to go out with your friends and party, or do you like to cocoon at home alone and have some quiet time?
Do you share your thoughts out loud as they are bubbling up in your mind, or do you have to think about them privately for some time before being comfortable enough to share?
Does it bother you to have someone ask you what you’re thinking?
When you are talking to someone, does it bother you to have them interrupt you?
When you are listening to someone tell you a story, do you wonder how important what they’re saying is, if there is a point, and if they’ll ever get to it?
When working on a project, do you prefer to work on it alone, or in a team?
When you read a newspaper, magazine or technical report, do you skim-read, looking for the main ideas, the big picture, or do you read every page, cover-to-cover?
Are you skeptical about unproven scientific theories of global warming or dinosaur extinctions?
Would you rather work for someone who was fair and impartial, or for someone who was kind?
Would you tell a lie to protect a project or a relationship that you valued highly?
If you have made a decision, and then you get compelling new information that indicates you made the wrong decision, could you reverse your decision?
Do you believe that you can only play when your work is done, or do you believe that you can play any time?
Does the trunk of your car contain equipment and tools for auto maintenance and emergencies? Or does it contain sports equipment, gym clothes, or garage-sale treasures?
Is the laundry done after the dryer is loaded and the start button pushed, or after the dried laundry is removed, folded and put away, and the dryer lint trap cleaned?
When you set off on a vacation, do you like to have a travel plan and an itinerary, or do you prefer just to start off and see where your desires take you, and what adventures come to you spontaneously?
For more information on personality type, I invite you to visit my personality type blog, by clicking the following link: MauiPeterB-PersonalityType.blogspot.com
At the beginning of a relationship we are fascinated with the other person, they are the object of our affection, and the more intensity we can bring to the relationship, the more intense will be the affection, as though it feeds on itself. At some point, however, the limit is reached and the attention we need to pay to ourselves intrudes on the attention we are paying to the other. Reality sets in.
The ability to sustain a relationship beyond the initial in love phase really depends on meshing two different personalities. There are many ways to evaluate two personalities to see how much they have in common… how well they will mesh, or alternatively, will drive each other crazy.
One way to evaluate personality is through the technology of personality type. Originally proposed as a theory by Carl Jung in the early 1900s, the theory was developed and crystallized into a reliable, verifiable and testable technology by two American women, the mother and daughter team of Myers and Briggs. The resulting Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) has been administered to millions of people worldwide since the 1950s and has wide scale acceptance. Essentially the inventory is a set of over 120 questions that clarify a person’s preferences. There are four dimensions: Extraversion/Introversion, Sensing/iNtuition, Thinking/Feeling and Judging/Perceiving. Four dimensions, each with two possible preferences gives us sixteen distinct personality types.
As an example, the answers to the following questions will help you determine how well mated you and your significant other are for each other. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. The process is for each of you to answer the questions independently and then discuss your answers together.
After you have finished working for the week, and you’re worn out, how do you like to unwind, to recharge your batteries? Do you like to go out with your friends and party, or do you like to cocoon at home alone and have some quiet time?
Do you share your thoughts out loud as they are bubbling up in your mind, or do you have to think about them privately for some time before being comfortable enough to share?
Does it bother you to have someone ask you what you’re thinking?
When you are talking to someone, does it bother you to have them interrupt you?
When you are listening to someone tell you a story, do you wonder how important what they’re saying is, if there is a point, and if they’ll ever get to it?
When working on a project, do you prefer to work on it alone, or in a team?
When you read a newspaper, magazine or technical report, do you skim-read, looking for the main ideas, the big picture, or do you read every page, cover-to-cover?
Are you skeptical about unproven scientific theories of global warming or dinosaur extinctions?
Would you rather work for someone who was fair and impartial, or for someone who was kind?
Would you tell a lie to protect a project or a relationship that you valued highly?
If you have made a decision, and then you get compelling new information that indicates you made the wrong decision, could you reverse your decision?
Do you believe that you can only play when your work is done, or do you believe that you can play any time?
Does the trunk of your car contain equipment and tools for auto maintenance and emergencies? Or does it contain sports equipment, gym clothes, or garage-sale treasures?
Is the laundry done after the dryer is loaded and the start button pushed, or after the dried laundry is removed, folded and put away, and the dryer lint trap cleaned?
When you set off on a vacation, do you like to have a travel plan and an itinerary, or do you prefer just to start off and see where your desires take you, and what adventures come to you spontaneously?
For more information on personality type, I invite you to visit my personality type blog, by clicking the following link: MauiPeterB-PersonalityType.blogspot.com
The Path; A Visualization and its Interpretation
I first experienced The Path visualization a long time ago when I was in college. I was at a party in a sorority house and a young woman offered to take me through it. It was a fascinating experience, one which has stayed with me for sixty years, as of 2021. So, in that spirit, I offer it to you. It is best if you have a close friend read it to you step-by-step, while you sit or lie down with eyes closed. That is the most effective way to experience it.
The Path Visualization
Imagine that you are alone, walking along a path. Visualize yourself on the path. Imagine it in as much detail as you can.
What kind of a path is it? What is the time of day and season of the year? Does the path climb, or descend, or is it level? Is the path smooth or rough, straight or winding, through an open field, a wooded forest, or someplace else? Is the path dirt, paved, brick, or what? Is the weather warm or cool? What are you wearing? Are you comfortable, refreshed and happy or uncomfortable, weary and sad?
As you walk along the path, you notice a cup by the side of the path, at your feet. Visualize the cup in as much detail as possible.
What is the cup made of? Is it old or new? Is it intact, cracked or broken? Is its design simple or ornate? What do you do with the cup? Do you pick it up? If you do pick it up, do you take it with you or put it back down?
As you walk further along the path, you notice a key by the side of the path. Visualize the key in as much detail as possible.
What kind of a key is it? Do you recognize it? What material is it made of? Is it modern or antique? Do you know which lock the key fits? What do you do with the key? Do you pick it up? If you do pick it up, do you take it with you or put it back down?
As you continue to walk along the path, you notice a wall built directly across the path, in front of you. Visualize the wall in as much detail as possible.
How tall is the wall? How wide is it? Of what is it constructed? Can you see over it or around it? What do you do at this point? Do you go over or around the wall? If you do, are you still on the path? Is it the same path or a different one? Is the slope the same? What about the scenery, the weather, the time of day, season of year? Are these the same or different? Are your clothes the same or different?
Interpreting The Path Visualization
The path we have been visualizing is our life path, our journey through this life. The path, rough or smooth, easy or difficult, ascending, level or descending, through open fields or dense forest, is our vision of our life. The time of day, season of year, weather, are all how we see life as we move through it from day to day.
The cup is a vessel, a chalice. Our image of the cup parallels our image of the feminine principle, the yin element of life, of the Earth, Gaia or Mother Nature. It also corresponds to the degree to which we honor the feminine principle within ourselves. The cup represents the lovers, friends and acquaintances we have collected and nurtured throughout our life. What we did with the cup parallels how we have treated the human relationships in our life, as well as how we have treated the Earth.
The key is that which unlocks something hidden or secret. Our image of the key and what we did with it parallels our relationship with the masculine principle, the yang element of life, and the degree to which we have honored the masculine within ourselves. The key also represents power and knowledge. So what we did with the key corresponds to how we have treated and valued knowledge throughout our live.
The wall symbolizes death. Is it an insurmountable barrier or can we walk around it, or climb over it? What do we do when faced with the wall of death? What is the environment like on the other side of the wall? Our answers to these questions tell us a great deal about how we regard death, whether we look forward to an afterlife, and what we think that afterlife will be like.
Hopefully The Path visualization and its interpretation has been helpful and revealing. Thank you.
The World of Politics is the World of Problems, not Solutions
Each society has a government that reflects the collective consciousness of that society.
In a society with a representative government, we elect representatives to go to a distant city and sit in a body and try to pass legislation to improve society, to better it. It’s a crime for us to send our representatives to a pool of negativity, to a hopeless task.
Societies cannot be led by future-oriented visionaries. They cannot be pulled into the future. Rather they are reactive; societies move in response to an outside stimulus, as has been demonstrated time and time again in history.
Whether it is the result of a war, drought, famine, economic crash, depletion or embargo of natural resources or energy sources, natural catastrophe (earthquake, volcanic eruption, hurricane, and tsunami) or global climate change, it is typically outside influences that force us to change.
And change is always painful, which is why we resist change.
Internal influences can also be the source of change. For example, when a segment of society that formerly held a plurality finds that, over time, it has lost its plurality to a different ethnic, racial or religious group, civil war can often be the result.
In fact, this is what is happening in the state of Texas right now (2021). The Caucasian race has a plurality of around 39% of the population, while the Hispanic race has around 38%. However the population growth of the Hispanic race is nearly ten times that of the Caucasian race. Eventually the Caucasian race will lose its plurality. It is inevitable. This civil war is presently being fought in the state legislature and in the courts as new voting-rights legislation and anti-abortion legislation is signed into law. Will it become a shooting war?
The happiness before goes with the pain now
Life moves in waves, phases, trends. There is rarely a stable foundation of contentment for long in relative life. The wave has peaks and troughs, and the higher the peak of joy or happiness or pleasure or excitement, so deep will be the following trough of sadness or despair. That’s just the way life is.
The well-known author and Christian theologian C.S. Lewis put it this way... The happiness before goes with the pain now; that's the deal!
The well-known author and Christian theologian C.S. Lewis put it this way... The happiness before goes with the pain now; that's the deal!
To experience the rose blossom, we must give up the rosebud
One state of evolution, one state of development is followed by another one.
But we cannot have them both at the same time. In the same way that infancy is followed by childhood, then by adolescence, and then by adulthood, the rosebud is transformed into the rose blossom.
We cannot have all stages of development at the same time. One inevitably gives way to the other.
But we cannot have them both at the same time. In the same way that infancy is followed by childhood, then by adolescence, and then by adulthood, the rosebud is transformed into the rose blossom.
We cannot have all stages of development at the same time. One inevitably gives way to the other.
Even a little of this dharma delivers from great fear
Even a little of this dharma delivers from great fear
From the Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter II, Verse 40
When I was a small boy I used to wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat with the stark realization that I was not going to live forever, that someday I would die and stop existing. It terrified me and I tried to understand, in this moment of clarity amid the darkness, what it meant to die.
Several months after I began the practice of daily meditation I began to notice that changes were occurring in my life. I had stopped smoking, I had stopped biting my fingernails, and the nervous movements of my legs had ceased. But it was only when I realized that the late night panic experiences had also gone away. The dharma, the practice of meditation had delivered me from the great fear of death. Now I understand the thinness of the veil separating this life from the next.
From the Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter II, Verse 40
When I was a small boy I used to wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat with the stark realization that I was not going to live forever, that someday I would die and stop existing. It terrified me and I tried to understand, in this moment of clarity amid the darkness, what it meant to die.
Several months after I began the practice of daily meditation I began to notice that changes were occurring in my life. I had stopped smoking, I had stopped biting my fingernails, and the nervous movements of my legs had ceased. But it was only when I realized that the late night panic experiences had also gone away. The dharma, the practice of meditation had delivered me from the great fear of death. Now I understand the thinness of the veil separating this life from the next.
To build a structure, we must first dig a hole for the foundation
It’s ironic that when we want to build something, a house, an office building, a tall skyscraper, we must first dig a hole in the ground for the foundation. And the taller the building, the deeper the hole we have to dig. To grow upward, we must first dig in the opposite direction to create the foundation.
And digging the foundation isn’t glamorous work; it’s dirty. And sometimes when we are digging the foundation we wonder if we will ever begin building the skyscraper.
But eventually we do. And finally the skyscraper is finished. And while we are appreciating the skyscraper, we never think of the foundation that supports the structure.
Life is like this. Whenever we decide to start a project or an adventure or a business or a course of study, we first have to make sure the foundation is there, so we are building on something solid. If we don’t have a solid foundation, the structure is sure to collapse.
Developing a skill is like this, as well. There's an old saying that practice makes perfect. Several years ago Malcolm Gladwell wrote a little book titled The Outliers about the amount of practice it takes to be world-class at anything, whether you are The Beatles or Bill Gates. His research showed that it typically took about ten thousand hours of practice to achieve world-class performance.
And digging the foundation isn’t glamorous work; it’s dirty. And sometimes when we are digging the foundation we wonder if we will ever begin building the skyscraper.
But eventually we do. And finally the skyscraper is finished. And while we are appreciating the skyscraper, we never think of the foundation that supports the structure.
Life is like this. Whenever we decide to start a project or an adventure or a business or a course of study, we first have to make sure the foundation is there, so we are building on something solid. If we don’t have a solid foundation, the structure is sure to collapse.
Developing a skill is like this, as well. There's an old saying that practice makes perfect. Several years ago Malcolm Gladwell wrote a little book titled The Outliers about the amount of practice it takes to be world-class at anything, whether you are The Beatles or Bill Gates. His research showed that it typically took about ten thousand hours of practice to achieve world-class performance.
Messages, Lessons, Problems, Crises, Damage
Mother Nature continually sends us subtle, whispered messages to guide our actions.
Often these messages are too subtle, too quiet for us to hear. So we get a lesson to learn.
If we don’t learn the lesson, we are given a problem to solve.
If we don’t solve the problem, it will become a crisis which we will have to deal with, and we will likely experience damage as part of the crisis. The damage might be physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, financial or environmental.
To be able to go on with our life we will have to heal, or repair, the damage. Healing the damage will require the most subtle, most powerful healing methods we can bring to bear. This is so that the most subtle damage can be repaired, and so, as we then move on, we can again hear Mother Nature’s subtle messages.
The deep rest of sleep is often prescribed to heal damage, but meditation can provide even deeper, more profound, rest than the deepest sleep.
Often these messages are too subtle, too quiet for us to hear. So we get a lesson to learn.
If we don’t learn the lesson, we are given a problem to solve.
If we don’t solve the problem, it will become a crisis which we will have to deal with, and we will likely experience damage as part of the crisis. The damage might be physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, financial or environmental.
To be able to go on with our life we will have to heal, or repair, the damage. Healing the damage will require the most subtle, most powerful healing methods we can bring to bear. This is so that the most subtle damage can be repaired, and so, as we then move on, we can again hear Mother Nature’s subtle messages.
The deep rest of sleep is often prescribed to heal damage, but meditation can provide even deeper, more profound, rest than the deepest sleep.
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