Come, My Love. Let us run away together.
Let us seek our Joy in the marvels of this land. Let us journey to the waterfalls and hidden coves, meander through the old ruins and statues of our elders. Let us climb to the hilltops and watch the clouds, wade in the lakes and float belly up. Let us remember the magic of this place, the wonder all around.
Let us smile the smiles that have long been forgotten. Let us dance the dances that have been frozen in time.
You know, My Love, as do I, that for these things and more we need not even leave our living room, or our sunny park bench. We need not board airplanes or travel great distances. Let us run away, My Love...in our minds and in our hearts. Deep into the moment we will plunge, deep into each other's crazed eyes and knowing grins.
Let us leave ordinary behind by calling it extraordinary. Indeed extraordinary is all there is.
Let us remember the blessing of our time, the freedom of our expression.
We are gods among gods, My Love. There is nothing we cannot do.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Friday, August 23, 2013
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
One's trash is another's treasure.
So. My wife and I have been playing the blame game recently. We are in short supply of our paper and digital monetary currency at the moment, and we both have made purchases that the other has deemed unnecessary. She got a speeding ticket, I bought the wrong color paint, she made in-store purchases, I made online purchases.
As we both looked through our bank account and demanded of each other -- "Why did you buy this?! Do we really need this right now!?" -- I began to notice how easy it is to question the decisions of others, and how easy it is to hold my own as inherently righteous. When I make a decision -- any decision at all -- I am making a judgement call. I am deciding that the value of my decision's outcome is worth what I am "spending" -- time, energy, money, etc. -- to see the decision through. When we see someone else make a decision, we know, even if only subconsciously, that they are following the same process of weighing outcome vs. input. What we forget is that they simply have a different value system than we do. What we may judge as a "worth it" decision, they might not. And this is only because we hold the inputs and outcomes at different levels of value.
Think of shopping at a thrift store. You are purchasing things that others have gotten rid of. There might be a shirt there that fits you perfectly, and you think "how could someone get rid of this!" Perhaps it simply does not fit them any more. If they have outgrown that shirt, then what value is there in keeping it? Realize how this relates to all decisions we make: we make the decisions that fit us at the moment. It is true that we can agree on some decisions, one shirt may fit multiple people, but we would also do well to allow the space for others to choose the shirts that fit them, even if they do not fit us.
Thinking this way may seem simple enough, but it becomes a bit stickier when we share our resources. If I see someone spending their time, energy or money on something that I would not, it may not bother me. I might say, "well it's his money, he can do what he wants". It is when his money, or her money, becomes our money that we become increasingly invested in, and potentially possessive over, the decisions that are made collectively.
My wife and I share our money. So when I spend it on something that she does not agree with, it may feel to her like she is spending it on something she does not agree with. And indeed she is. Our money, and much else, is One, so if either of us use it, we both use it. The way we make sense of this is by remembering that our loving other is someone for whom we deeply adore, respect, appreciate and care. This allows for us to honor each other's decisions. I may become upset initially with regard to a particular expenditure saying, "we don't need this!!" -- but if she maintains that it is indeed worth it for her, my avenue to peace and happiness proceeds through remembering how wonderful, intelligent and reasonable she is, and if it is worth it for her, then it is worth it for me to allow it to be worth it for her. Let me be clear that I am not saying I need to change my value system and agree with the decision -- indeed I may be betraying myself by doing so. Instead I can simply observe as she enjoys her decision. I do not need to get in the middle of it.
When I question a monetary spending decision of my wife I am saying, "don't you know how little money we have at the moment, we can't afford that!" And it is true that oversights do occur. She might realize that indeed we have less money than she thought, and so she may return the item. However, if she has all of the same information that I do, and still stands by her decision, then I must remind myself of how reasonable and intelligent she is. I then realize my solace is in letting it be.
My wife and I dance together in intimate relationship because of who we experience each other to be. Certainly we have our differences, but we appreciate, Love, and respect each other for Who We Are. Our relationship blossoms, as do we, by allowing each other to be fully ourselves. Especially in times of disagreement. Indeed disagreeing situations are those with the most potential for growth because we must push our own boundaries in search of comfort. The result is that we find comfort in larger and larger domains of experience. Our relationship is our declaration of our willingness to grow together.
In reality, all of humankind is in relationship with one another. In truth, we are all sharing all the world. Let us get out of our own and each other's way. Let us honor, respect, appreciate and care for ALL the same way we do for our intimate others. Let us let each other have our decisions, our differing value systems. Let us remember that we are not the sole arbiters of rightness and wrongness. Instead we all make these decisions together as One Human Family Here On Earth. We cannot expect to police the decisions of others while simultaneously enjoying the freedom to make our own decisions. If we are to let freedom reign for ourselves, it must reign for us all. To let freedom reign we must let it be.
So let it be.
As we both looked through our bank account and demanded of each other -- "Why did you buy this?! Do we really need this right now!?" -- I began to notice how easy it is to question the decisions of others, and how easy it is to hold my own as inherently righteous. When I make a decision -- any decision at all -- I am making a judgement call. I am deciding that the value of my decision's outcome is worth what I am "spending" -- time, energy, money, etc. -- to see the decision through. When we see someone else make a decision, we know, even if only subconsciously, that they are following the same process of weighing outcome vs. input. What we forget is that they simply have a different value system than we do. What we may judge as a "worth it" decision, they might not. And this is only because we hold the inputs and outcomes at different levels of value.
Think of shopping at a thrift store. You are purchasing things that others have gotten rid of. There might be a shirt there that fits you perfectly, and you think "how could someone get rid of this!" Perhaps it simply does not fit them any more. If they have outgrown that shirt, then what value is there in keeping it? Realize how this relates to all decisions we make: we make the decisions that fit us at the moment. It is true that we can agree on some decisions, one shirt may fit multiple people, but we would also do well to allow the space for others to choose the shirts that fit them, even if they do not fit us.
Thinking this way may seem simple enough, but it becomes a bit stickier when we share our resources. If I see someone spending their time, energy or money on something that I would not, it may not bother me. I might say, "well it's his money, he can do what he wants". It is when his money, or her money, becomes our money that we become increasingly invested in, and potentially possessive over, the decisions that are made collectively.
My wife and I share our money. So when I spend it on something that she does not agree with, it may feel to her like she is spending it on something she does not agree with. And indeed she is. Our money, and much else, is One, so if either of us use it, we both use it. The way we make sense of this is by remembering that our loving other is someone for whom we deeply adore, respect, appreciate and care. This allows for us to honor each other's decisions. I may become upset initially with regard to a particular expenditure saying, "we don't need this!!" -- but if she maintains that it is indeed worth it for her, my avenue to peace and happiness proceeds through remembering how wonderful, intelligent and reasonable she is, and if it is worth it for her, then it is worth it for me to allow it to be worth it for her. Let me be clear that I am not saying I need to change my value system and agree with the decision -- indeed I may be betraying myself by doing so. Instead I can simply observe as she enjoys her decision. I do not need to get in the middle of it.
When I question a monetary spending decision of my wife I am saying, "don't you know how little money we have at the moment, we can't afford that!" And it is true that oversights do occur. She might realize that indeed we have less money than she thought, and so she may return the item. However, if she has all of the same information that I do, and still stands by her decision, then I must remind myself of how reasonable and intelligent she is. I then realize my solace is in letting it be.
My wife and I dance together in intimate relationship because of who we experience each other to be. Certainly we have our differences, but we appreciate, Love, and respect each other for Who We Are. Our relationship blossoms, as do we, by allowing each other to be fully ourselves. Especially in times of disagreement. Indeed disagreeing situations are those with the most potential for growth because we must push our own boundaries in search of comfort. The result is that we find comfort in larger and larger domains of experience. Our relationship is our declaration of our willingness to grow together.
In reality, all of humankind is in relationship with one another. In truth, we are all sharing all the world. Let us get out of our own and each other's way. Let us honor, respect, appreciate and care for ALL the same way we do for our intimate others. Let us let each other have our decisions, our differing value systems. Let us remember that we are not the sole arbiters of rightness and wrongness. Instead we all make these decisions together as One Human Family Here On Earth. We cannot expect to police the decisions of others while simultaneously enjoying the freedom to make our own decisions. If we are to let freedom reign for ourselves, it must reign for us all. To let freedom reign we must let it be.
So let it be.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
You need not control it. Neither need it control you.
You need not control it. Neither need it control you. Instead, dance together...you and it. Feel the deep collaboration, the shared experience.
Be both a cell in a body, and the body itself.
C'mon dad! I'm going to say hi! C'mon, follow me!
Be both a cell in a body, and the body itself.
C'mon dad! I'm going to say hi! C'mon, follow me!
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
"Imagine all the people...sharing all the world."
Remember sweet child, Life expands in all directions.
It is not only our highs that grow, but our lows as well. Indeed the lows are what urge us to explore greater and greater highs. Our highs would not exist outside of our need for them to balance our lows, so each low brings with it the opportunity to seek the high that balances it. Indeed our evolution, then, is experienced not through how far we venture from our center, but how able we are to return.
An observation about human culture and Life as addressed to all humans:
You have created a world in which true ownership is rarely experienced. Everything you have is essentially rented from a group you call your "government". This group, which you have helped create, has invented rules and declared that you may keep what you have borrowed as long as you follow those rules. If not, they will reclaim possession.
This group has been GIVEN THIS AUTHORITY by the lot of you. Indeed, you say of your governments that they speak for the people, and so you have granted them authority, ownership, of everything that is "yours" including your children and your actions. This is observably true by noticing that those who do not follow the rules will have these things taken from them. Those who have to have their actions taken from them are locked in metal cages you call "Jail." Those who have not behaved "correctly" with regard to their children may also wind up in Jail, but they will certainly be forcefully parted from their children, and the loaning company (government, that YOU have helped create) will repossess, manage, and re-distribute them to another home.
In reality, of course, true ownership, the kind that is not on loan and can be taken by no one, is all that exists. Everything you experience belongs to you, belongs to everyone. There is not a thing among you that does not belong to all of you. So why do you pretend that one group owns it and that another does not, and further, why do YOU GRANT THIS GROUP AUTHORITY to use VIOLENT MEANS if necessary to retrieve what is theirs?
John Lennon has asked you to "Imagine all the people...sharing all the world."
It has been imagined long enough.
Now I ask you: Will you join ME in sharing all the world?
It is not only our highs that grow, but our lows as well. Indeed the lows are what urge us to explore greater and greater highs. Our highs would not exist outside of our need for them to balance our lows, so each low brings with it the opportunity to seek the high that balances it. Indeed our evolution, then, is experienced not through how far we venture from our center, but how able we are to return.
An observation about human culture and Life as addressed to all humans:
You have created a world in which true ownership is rarely experienced. Everything you have is essentially rented from a group you call your "government". This group, which you have helped create, has invented rules and declared that you may keep what you have borrowed as long as you follow those rules. If not, they will reclaim possession.
This group has been GIVEN THIS AUTHORITY by the lot of you. Indeed, you say of your governments that they speak for the people, and so you have granted them authority, ownership, of everything that is "yours" including your children and your actions. This is observably true by noticing that those who do not follow the rules will have these things taken from them. Those who have to have their actions taken from them are locked in metal cages you call "Jail." Those who have not behaved "correctly" with regard to their children may also wind up in Jail, but they will certainly be forcefully parted from their children, and the loaning company (government, that YOU have helped create) will repossess, manage, and re-distribute them to another home.
In reality, of course, true ownership, the kind that is not on loan and can be taken by no one, is all that exists. Everything you experience belongs to you, belongs to everyone. There is not a thing among you that does not belong to all of you. So why do you pretend that one group owns it and that another does not, and further, why do YOU GRANT THIS GROUP AUTHORITY to use VIOLENT MEANS if necessary to retrieve what is theirs?
John Lennon has asked you to "Imagine all the people...sharing all the world."
It has been imagined long enough.
Now I ask you: Will you join ME in sharing all the world?
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
And within that new day, a new moment. Our journey is that of growth. Our time is now and always. Know that Life flows not without you, but always and only within you and through you.
Please bear with me as I just let this flow...
Don't forget it's just a dream. It is just a figment of your imagination. All of Life occurs within you -- not without. I know it can feel so real sometimes (whatever that means) but REALLY, what's happening is that you've climbed inside yourself and have chosen one particle, one tiny little peace of ALL THAT YOU ARE through which to experience the rest of yourself.
You will not stop until you have experienced all of yourself through every particle of yourself. And the wonderful catch is that you are a being without end, a being that is always growing. There will always be more of you to experience. Do not think the only place for "infinity" is in the math classroom. Infinity -- boundlessness -- is the very nature of Life.
Realize that Life does not acknowledge "ends" and "beginnings", but instead continuity, seamlessness. The thought that you have "begun" and that you will one day "end" is a thought that you made up. In truth we flow onward, always changing form -- from day to day and lifetime to lifetime. Ever heard of recycling? Or do you imagine that God is wasteful?
I tell you this: you will never be thrown away, nay you will live always and forever. We will dwell together in the kingdom of heaven -- the kingdom of Life itself. Our reign will be without end, and continue always. Such is our purpose and our destiny.
We are here to be here -- to imagine and envision and create ourselves anew in each Holy Moment. Our journey is that of growth. Our time is now and always. Know that Life flows not without you, but always and only within you and through you. Without you, Life is not. Without you, we are not. Without you, I am not. How very precious you are. Smile my child for you are a gift to Life, and you are the gift of Life.
Relinquish the visions of your smallest self, settle steadily in your largest. And onward, always onward. This river flows without resistance.
Breathe, remember, celebrate, Love, nurture, cherish, feel, adore, relax. Fear not, for I am with you. Always and all ways.
Don't forget it's just a dream. It is just a figment of your imagination. All of Life occurs within you -- not without. I know it can feel so real sometimes (whatever that means) but REALLY, what's happening is that you've climbed inside yourself and have chosen one particle, one tiny little peace of ALL THAT YOU ARE through which to experience the rest of yourself.
You will not stop until you have experienced all of yourself through every particle of yourself. And the wonderful catch is that you are a being without end, a being that is always growing. There will always be more of you to experience. Do not think the only place for "infinity" is in the math classroom. Infinity -- boundlessness -- is the very nature of Life.
Realize that Life does not acknowledge "ends" and "beginnings", but instead continuity, seamlessness. The thought that you have "begun" and that you will one day "end" is a thought that you made up. In truth we flow onward, always changing form -- from day to day and lifetime to lifetime. Ever heard of recycling? Or do you imagine that God is wasteful?
I tell you this: you will never be thrown away, nay you will live always and forever. We will dwell together in the kingdom of heaven -- the kingdom of Life itself. Our reign will be without end, and continue always. Such is our purpose and our destiny.
We are here to be here -- to imagine and envision and create ourselves anew in each Holy Moment. Our journey is that of growth. Our time is now and always. Know that Life flows not without you, but always and only within you and through you. Without you, Life is not. Without you, we are not. Without you, I am not. How very precious you are. Smile my child for you are a gift to Life, and you are the gift of Life.
Relinquish the visions of your smallest self, settle steadily in your largest. And onward, always onward. This river flows without resistance.
Breathe, remember, celebrate, Love, nurture, cherish, feel, adore, relax. Fear not, for I am with you. Always and all ways.
A new day. Keep going, don't quit, be patient (with yourself especially), choose Love, smile at fear, all is coming.
I started this blog from the inspiration I felt one morning, a few weeks ago now, while watching the sunrise. I then set out to return to the sunrise every morning to continue this thread of inspiration and enjoy the benefits that I felt from these experiences.
The first few days I woke up around 5am, sometimes before my alarm even sounded, eager and ready to bike to the reservoir and get on with it. I was riding high on the freshness and clarity of these experiences, a sort of "honey moon" phase. Eventually, reality caught up with my ambition.
I am a father of an (amazing) almost one-year-old girl (and husband to her beautiful mother), I work late some nights, and have not experienced myself to generally be a morning person. Somewhere during the second week I began feeling sluggish when attempting to wake up early. I think perhaps some of the initial inspiration and enthusiasm had faded, and I feel like I simply needed more sleep than I was getting. This became disheartening.
Was my Sunrise Journey to Enlightenment ending?
Of course not.
I called on the tools of my practice. I remembered to breathe, I remembered to be flexible, I remembered to smile. If I don't practice early (an added ingredient is that sometimes my wife needs the early hours to get herself to work, so I take baby duty) I practice later on in the day -- usually during Marley's morning nap. One thing that I know to be true is that making something a high priority is different than doing it when it "fits your schedule". Your priorities will never just happen to "fit your schedule". You need to make them fit your schedule, or, rather, build your schedule around your priorities.
With that being said, I also noticed the tension that I created by not being flexible, by thinking that I HAVE to catch the sunrise or all is lost. Yes the sunrise is a wonderful event to experience, but at the end of the day, it's just a sunrise. It's just an event. It's just an experience -- like any other. Experiences are what we make of them. I found myself putting all my faith into the sunrise experiences to generate my clarity and inspiration, so that in a small way I felt the seeds of attachment -- not quite addiction, but I can see how addictions grow from attachment. I just NEED the sunrise or I have NOTHING.
Now I see that my clarity and inspiration is born of my will for it to be. The sunrise experience is a tool that I'm using to remind myself of this truth. Sort of like the notion that the hardest part of going running is putting on your running shoes. Once that happens, most likely, you'll be running. The willpower to take the first step and put on your shoes is crucial. For me, this is what I was using the sunrise for. The willpower to get out to experience it was of utmost value. From there, everything flowed...perhaps not from the sunrise itself, but from my exercised will. Also, there is the added value of watching the world come alive, and the remembrance of what's really going on that strikes when a giant glowing ball of warmth ascends from the horizon. However, first and foremost, the true benefit is the exercise of will -- the realization that simply because I want something to be so, I can make it so.
As I write this post, I have not been on my yoga mat today, though I am planning to get on it soon. You could say that the inspiration and clarity that I feel writing this now is from the ripple effect, or the lingering principle -- what you do carries with you, and the more you do it the more powerful it becomes. The more that I build my sunrise yoga practice -- or even simply the "sunrise yoga consciousness" in which I remember to breathe, stay relaxed, appreciate Life, etc. -- the more it will continue to swell into my Life, whether I miss a day or not.
Keep going, don't quit, be patient (with yourself especially), choose Love, smile at fear, all is coming.
The first few days I woke up around 5am, sometimes before my alarm even sounded, eager and ready to bike to the reservoir and get on with it. I was riding high on the freshness and clarity of these experiences, a sort of "honey moon" phase. Eventually, reality caught up with my ambition.
I am a father of an (amazing) almost one-year-old girl (and husband to her beautiful mother), I work late some nights, and have not experienced myself to generally be a morning person. Somewhere during the second week I began feeling sluggish when attempting to wake up early. I think perhaps some of the initial inspiration and enthusiasm had faded, and I feel like I simply needed more sleep than I was getting. This became disheartening.
Was my Sunrise Journey to Enlightenment ending?
Of course not.
I called on the tools of my practice. I remembered to breathe, I remembered to be flexible, I remembered to smile. If I don't practice early (an added ingredient is that sometimes my wife needs the early hours to get herself to work, so I take baby duty) I practice later on in the day -- usually during Marley's morning nap. One thing that I know to be true is that making something a high priority is different than doing it when it "fits your schedule". Your priorities will never just happen to "fit your schedule". You need to make them fit your schedule, or, rather, build your schedule around your priorities.
With that being said, I also noticed the tension that I created by not being flexible, by thinking that I HAVE to catch the sunrise or all is lost. Yes the sunrise is a wonderful event to experience, but at the end of the day, it's just a sunrise. It's just an event. It's just an experience -- like any other. Experiences are what we make of them. I found myself putting all my faith into the sunrise experiences to generate my clarity and inspiration, so that in a small way I felt the seeds of attachment -- not quite addiction, but I can see how addictions grow from attachment. I just NEED the sunrise or I have NOTHING.
Now I see that my clarity and inspiration is born of my will for it to be. The sunrise experience is a tool that I'm using to remind myself of this truth. Sort of like the notion that the hardest part of going running is putting on your running shoes. Once that happens, most likely, you'll be running. The willpower to take the first step and put on your shoes is crucial. For me, this is what I was using the sunrise for. The willpower to get out to experience it was of utmost value. From there, everything flowed...perhaps not from the sunrise itself, but from my exercised will. Also, there is the added value of watching the world come alive, and the remembrance of what's really going on that strikes when a giant glowing ball of warmth ascends from the horizon. However, first and foremost, the true benefit is the exercise of will -- the realization that simply because I want something to be so, I can make it so.
As I write this post, I have not been on my yoga mat today, though I am planning to get on it soon. You could say that the inspiration and clarity that I feel writing this now is from the ripple effect, or the lingering principle -- what you do carries with you, and the more you do it the more powerful it becomes. The more that I build my sunrise yoga practice -- or even simply the "sunrise yoga consciousness" in which I remember to breathe, stay relaxed, appreciate Life, etc. -- the more it will continue to swell into my Life, whether I miss a day or not.
Keep going, don't quit, be patient (with yourself especially), choose Love, smile at fear, all is coming.
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