Life 2.0

A Return to Wisdom

There's something refreshing about feeling free to speak the truth as we see it, don’t you think? 

The French have a word for this - 'témoignage', which means being willing to speak openly about what we see in front of us.  As far as I'm aware, there's no English equivalent. The universities in Ancient Greece were very much into this.  If you'd discovered something cool you could just come and tell.  It wasn't so much about recognition or status, as sharing.

But there's another, perhaps less obvious, benefit in being present and open.  We discover a natural wisdom and ability to respond perfectly to whatever arises.  Almost childlike, we sense, feel and act without any of the judgments or friction that accumulate as we grow up.

This inner knowing doesn't announce itself or insist.  The mind doesn't know, 'Is this the right way?',  'Is this what is best?',  'Is this what I want to do?'  That's mind stuff.  But when we accept the fact that intellect can never really know, we become aware of this feeling -- an inner movement... and where it leans, we can go.  But when our mind asks, 'do I know this is the right way?' the answer is always no.  In fact, 'not knowing' is the way... a way that brings with it an incredible freedom and peace of mind from letting go of the burden of ever needing to know again.

This is wisdom.  And yet it doesn't come as a formula, you can't learn about from or set of bullet points, you don't gain it from experience and it's not something that some old guru can pass on to us at a retreat.  It's something that pre-exists and is wholly formed in all of us.  It is something we've had all along, closer than our next breath.  We've just been too busy preening our self image, defending against an imagined past or planning for a better future, to notice.

There's absolutely nothing needed to start having this inner wisdom move us right now -- by stepping back and instead of moving, allowing ourselves to be moved instead.  And if our mind asks, 'Is this the right feeling?' there will be no answer.  Our mind never knows.. but inside we do, because as we move the right way we feel a congruity and peace.  This is direct knowing.  Anticipation, or any other thought process, plays no part at all in this.

And as we do, what arises on the 'inside' and what appears as 'outside' start to move in harmony as the distinction we have made between the two begins to fade.  What we begin to see reflects the peace and harmony of our true nature as opposed to conflicts and confusion in mind. 

It seems that the movement of life is always towards this.  One way or another life finds a way to prise our fingers away from clinging to littleness, which is what we do when we try to control our little corner of the Universe.  There is no joy in clinging.  Our safety, our happiness and our influence lie in the flow of Life itself.  It is this same inner wisdom that flows through us and moves us when we let it.  We are not apart from it all.  It is no coincidence that when people recall the moments of real flow in their life, they report everything working to perfection, with what's needed arriving at exactly the right moment and doors opening where previously there were no doors at all.

But nevertheless, before we commit to live true to this inner truth in us -- in Flow, the question comes, 'How could we possibly let go of conscious control of our lives?' and perhaps also, 'How would we organise a team or build any successful enterprise without our time tested control strategies?'

To let go of our need to control seems crazy, doesn't it?  Wouldn't chaos reign?

The opposite of Control...

is not Chaos…

..it is Closeness

When we let go of our need to control we are free to receive others just as they are.

When we are connected information  flows  freely.  Without resistance everything  flows  perfectly.

Do you see the irony?  Controls act as resistance... and it resistance that causes the problems that we seek to control!

When you think about it, using plans to managing anything is wishful thinking at best.  Who in their right mind could possibly say they could predict all that was to happen and know the effect of their decision on everyone that may happen to be affected?

A future focused, control/goal orientation is a sorry substitute for the clarity, the wisdom and joy of being free to let our attention be openly present and respond 'as we feel' to what is here in front of us.  In an open, self-aware environment the gap between us disappears and we all become wise.  We become too close for answers not to flow to where they are needed and too connected for our influence not to flow everywhere. 

By allowing ourselves to come together in present trust -- to Flow, opens up our awareness.  In that awareness if there are plans needed they become obvious, without the need to plan.  And if there's any doubts, we can ask each other:  'What is it right now that appears to stand before us as an obstacle?'  An open question with a present focus is never left unanswered.  In our willingness to come together and fully experience whatever appears to stand in our way, insight reveals both it's nature and it's cause, and in seeing this it is done.  This is wisdom.

As the challenges of our world appear more complex and daunting there's an inexorable push towards better education, more sophisticated management techniques, more 'intelligent' control systems, more commitment to goals and best practices.  But one thing we never do is question the nature of the complexity we are attempting to respond to.  Why should it all be so difficult?  We take as given that the world is a complex place and yet the great discoveries in science and other disciplines, are invariably beautiful in their simplicity.  Once discovered they seem too obvious, and make everyone appear foolish for not having discovered them before.  As Einstein said, "If you can't explain it simply you don't understand it well enough.”

But deep down we already know this.  When we recognise something as true it doesn't come to us via a thought process, but as an experiential one -- we feel it as a sudden 'AHA'.  And then, surprised at the simplicity of it, we are amazed that it was never known before.  We've all experienced this, usually whilst engaged in an activity that involves 'feeling' as opposed to thinking -- such as shaving or putting on our make-up, or both!

Just take a moment to consider what a strange idea it is that the nature of reality should be hard to see!  And yet the 'greatest minds' among us struggle with this.  You would imagine that to simply see the nature of 'what is' would be, by definition, ease itself.  If reality appears complex, with struggle being the norm, doesn't that suggest that the lens through which we see it might actually be causing the distortion?

By leaving the appearance of complexity unexamined, the connection between the 'way we see' and 'what we see' goes overlooked... and then the world of science and academia are left attempting to see things not as they are,  but as a pathologists would -- by looking at each part and trying to figure out its relationship to the rest.  But this body is already dead… by taking ourselves out of the picture there is no Life left to see and understand.  

This is not wisdom, it is madness.  It leaves us having to derive a multitude of rules, driven by our most pressing problems, to operate in a complex and precarious world based on our latest 'understanding'... and expecting scientific or philosophical answers to our problems, where in fact the answers are so simple and self-evident.  And yet it never occurs to us once to question the way we look.  Reason surely tells us that the starting point of any investigation ought to be to know our own relationship with the world. 

Whereas, deep down, we know the simple answers, we're brought up to believe it must be more complicated than it is.  Our mind rejects as too naive, the notion that the answers could lie in simply choosing to be open to fully experience what is here in front of us and allow our own inner guidance to show us what is true and how to flow with that. 

All it takes is a little courage... and 'courage' only because it flies in the face of all our societal conditioning.  We have learned to prize 'good' judgment and be wary of being open; and we have been brought up to be ashamed of ignorance and to accumulate knowledge.  But what's called for here is the exact opposite -- to embrace 'not knowing'. 

There's an inexplicably beauty in allowing ourselves to be guided, because as we step back the light in us steps forward and encompasses the world.

This requires no reasoning, no calculation, no learning, no practice or discussion... no thinking or activity of any kind.  Just a radical honesty -- a willingness to live in non-resistance to what is here in each moment and be true to truth as it appears to us, instead of what we believe it to be.  Témoignage, in fact.
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Footnote:  This post is an adaptation of an article I’ve written by way of introduction to a talk I’m giving in a couple of weeks at the Summer School for the Welsh Government.  All being well, as part of this talk we’ll take a deep dive into seeing and understanding this connection between ‘the way we see' and 'what we see'.  The idea behind this is that with awareness comes choice, and with choice freedom. :)
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Healer, heal thyself

A friend asked me why I haven’t written anything here for a while.

Many of us now recognise that the old leader/follower models no longer serves us, but there's still a temptation (at least in me) to walk one step ahead (preach) or one step behind (shut up) instead of taking the hand of those who walk with us.  I've been absent here because I noticed a subtle arrogance in me.  I was writing not solely for the joy of it (my test of authenticity), but from a place that seeks validation for the things I'm learning. 

Ideas that are shared grow stronger.  Arrogant thinking is not something I wanted to share with you, so I took a little time out to get this sorted.

However, in my refusal to move until I got to the bottom of this issue, I discovered something that's been a complete surprise and revelation to me.  It is this:  When we welcome the experience of an unwanted feeling, that feeling disappears, as does the effects of our resistance to it.  Therefore, the fastest way to get to where you want to be is simply to stop and fully experience your resistance to being there right now.  When we commit to no longer resisting what is troubling us, and elect to fully experience it instead, the experiencing of it annihilates the pattern that was sustaining it and holding us back.

This revelation (it came in two parts) has led me to whole host of other insights about the nature of our experiences, how we subconsciously create them and how we can choose experiences that reflect our unlimited nature instead of fear.  I'll tell you all about his soon enough, but here's a synopsis (as a brief as I can, without out it becoming useless):

1.  It is only our resistance to a problematic situation or feeling that sustains it. 

Out instinct when we come across something that troubles us is to try to fix it, move away from it, get to the bottom of it or 'let it go'.  These are all forms of resistance to actually experiencing it directly.[2]  But problems aren't causeless, and when we choose to no longer resist an experience or feeling, we create the opportunity to resolve the cause.  It is only our resistance of an experience (the need to move towards or away, instead of standing still) that keeps us stuck.  When allowed, experiences flow through us easily and naturally, leaving us wiser and freer.[3]  In fact, a good definition of 'Flow' is non-resistance... and the definition of a problem: some 'form' of resistance.

Common questions that are asked ere are ‘how do let go?', ‘how do you still the mind?’ or ‘.. but I am confused, what should I do?’  The way to still the mind is be open to the experience of a rampant mind and simply watch it while it lets rip.  The way to let go is to sit with the experience of not being able to ‘let go’ and not move from that experience.  Same for confusion.

Sounds too simply doesn't it?  If you happen to be one of those looking for some profound 'secret' then this is bound to disappoint.

Here's the thing:  It's impossible to be totally non-resistant to our present moment experience, no matter how unenlightened, mundane or painful that may be... without also being non-resistant to the recognition of this Presence of awareness that is also here, witnessing this experience.  If we then elect to follow this Presence instead of our thoughts, it takes care of all the rest.  But not only does it nourish us and set us free, it appears to clear a path where no path was seen before.  To choose this, is to choose the path of joy.

So to experience 'Flow' right now -- before you even read the next sentence, simply stop where you are, and allow yourself to be open to experience your resistance to having the light of our Self shine through you this instant.  This takes no time... only willingness.  The only precondition for freedom is non-resistance -- just to let what Is, be.  We can do this in any moment or situation we choose.[4]  It is impossible for anyone not to have the ability to recall the recognition of our own true nature.

2.  Feelings are not 'good' or 'bad', they are our best friends

Feelings are the way in which the divine in us communicates.  Feelings bypass the interpretations and judgements of our mind.  When we remain open to our present moment experience and listen, we know which way to lean.  We don't make decisions as such, but flow with the situation in trust that our Self knows how to do this best on its own.  If we need a word, a thought, or just a tranquil open mind, this is what is given.  Anticipation plays no part at all in this.  This direct form of guidance is 'impersonal' [5], brings us together.. and leads to joy.

Feelings are also messengers -- they carry insights.  We receive the insights by allowing ourselves to experience the feelings openly.  These insight are direct knowledge from our Self, and lead to wisdom -- better than any book or teacher can give us. 

When we welcome the experience of the feeling and the insight is received, the feeling disappears… its mission accomplished.

Feelings only turn painful and get 'out of hand' when they are resisted.  On some level or other, resistance takes form as drama in our life, sometimes as emotional or physical dis-ease.  This drama can been seen at every level of perception - personal, family, community, national and societal.

Feelings that we are unwilling to experience end up running our lives.  This happens directly, or indirectly -- our mind constantly vigilant to avoid the unpleasant ones, or in pursuit of 'better' ones.  These choices to experience happiness in the future or avoid the experience of unhappiness in the past always fail, because they eliminate the possibility of making choices that would give us joy now (the only 'time' in which joy can be experienced).

Over time the more 'traumatic' feelings get buried underneath another 'protective' feeling, in place to help prevent us experiencing the one it hides.  These buried feelings, although unrecognised, are the most debilitating in our lives.[6]  Sometimes these 'protective' feelings are several deep (numbness, emptiness, sadness, anger, stuckness are common ones).  We all experience these -- maybe it’s irrational 'anger' when someone cuts us up, or drops a cigarette packet out of the car window in front.  In our willingness to experience say 'anger', without moving, the experience of the underlying protected feeling can return and the door to being free is opened. 

Once the message (the insight [7]) is received, the messenger (the feeling) disappears, its purpose over.  The drama that our resistance to the experience created (and was necessary to bring us to the point of no longer being able to avoid experiencing the feeling) also disappears.  To the 'unenlightened' these disappearing acts look like miracles.  To those who are willing to experience all their feelings, miracles become as right and as natural as breathing.

What we resists persists, but what we fully experience sets us free and then disappears leaving us in stillness and peace.  Time slows down and turns lush.

Recognising the positive intention of all our feelings releases the narratives that dominate our thinking.  Instead of who did what, or why something should or should not have happened, we can take responsibility for our feelings and see the blessing in disguise in whatever pushes our buttons.  With this responsibility comes freedom, because once we take ownership we can use these feelings.  True forgiveness is to take the hurt we see another inflict and claim it as our own, where it can be resolved.  True forgiveness is completely healing.[8] 

So here's an alternative to further effort and struggle:  Instead of living in hope of a better life or anyone coming to make it feel better, we can elect to allow everything to be exactly as it is... and then welcome whatever angst or despair or other form of fear appears, so that we can really face it.  Instead of following the mind's need to move, we can choose to sit still in the middle of it all and allow it to consume us, regardless of the consequences.  This can feel like death itself, but by letting our heart be broken like this, what we discover in the rubble can never be lost.  What flows free from an heart that’s been broken open is an unimaginable Love that could never be put back and envelops everything.

It has taken me far longer to write this down than it does to put it into practice.  And if you feel it doesn't, or it is anyway a struggle, you may like to sit still with that feeling and see where it takes you.  The belief in difficulty is a mask the mind holds up to hide the real reason we struggle -- unwillingness.  As Marianne Williamson so wisely observed, ‘….it’s our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us’.  What we've looked at here is a way to use this fright as a bridge, and as we do it disappears back into the Love from where it came, taking us with it. 

When I revisit this, we'll look at a way to supercharge this process a thousand fold.

Thank you for being patient in my emailing, commenting and blogging silence.  I'd like you to know that sometimes absence really does make the heart grow fonder. :)
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Footnotes:

[1].. Caveat: I imagine this way will appeal only a few brave souls.  We exchange time and effort for the willingness to experience our worst nightmares.  It is the most radical form of self acceptance - - the acceptance of our identity as the Love that flows free from a heart that's been allowed to be broke open.

[2].. As are the need to anaesthetise the feeling (think TV, net surfing, chocolate, chatter etc...) or to express them.  Expressing a feeling is just another strategy to avoid the experience of feeling it directly.  Taking ownership of our feelings doesn't mean withdrawing from those around us.  A simple, "I experience a feeling of anger in me when you say things like that' is both truthful, inoffensive and helpful to everyone.  A true Master would probably also add, "Thank you for helping me to experience this feeling in me".. but lets not run just yet ;)

[3].. I know it seems totally counterintuitive to allow a troubled mind, confusion or feeling of difficulty to just be here exactly as they are  -- 'What good could come of accepting misery?'  Ever sinew in our body wants to move in the opposite direction to this... because our mind is conditioned to move away from the things we don't want and towards the things we do.  Although this intention is honourable, the 'I' the mind thinks it is protecting is a mistake.

This 'I' is the illusion of isolation and powerlessness -- that we could be a victim of a Universe that appears outside of us.  This belief requires the denial of seeing the connection between what we resist and what we repeatedly experience, and the denial of seeing our life flowing to perfection when we allow it.  And this is the same illusion that has us believe we are not  perfect as we are, that we are not capable of knowing this right now -- without having to first learn something, practice something or pay some karmic due.

And so the mind will reject this direct approach at the slightest opportunity.  It will want to look for another teacher another book or another practice rather than accept the wisdom that we can let flow through us.  Vigilance is required (at first) to spot the movement of this old momentum in mind as it appears.  Once busted, this 'me' thought paradigm is not quite over, as it will get subtle and devious to avoid further detection, often appearing as 'helpful' as it attaches itself to our new intentions (see 1st paragraph of this post for an example).

[4].. Our unwillingness to let go of our conscious control of a situation stems from a lack of Self trust.  We fear we may leave ourselves open to losing something.  The experience of loss is entirely an ego phenomena -- our Self makes choices only for our well-being.  Seen from our Self -- where we recognise that everything resides here within our consciousness, even the idea of losing something sounds absurd.

[5].. It's pleasure, not happiness, that comes from separate interests.

[6].. We think we have free will but in truth most of us live our lives unconsciously -- responding to thoughts and feelings that seem to come 'on their own' -- patterns of mind established and forgotten perhaps generations ago in order to avoid experiencing the feelings we most dread.  The result is, in our own particular way, we end living a big part of our lives hiding, venting, chasing, clinging, protecting, anaesthetising ourselves or fighting back,,, instead of enjoying our Self.

[7].. From what I've seen so far, the insights are often into the patterns of thinking that underpin our resistance.  Like the belief in a lie, once seen, these things no long hold any power over us.

[8].. The 'disappearance' of physical effects ('symptoms') is really secondary in the wake of what gets released.  This is its own reward.  So to focus on the physical aspect of healing is to miss the whole point.  In any case, without healing the underlying fear in our lives the 'effects' will always reappear in some form or another.  I think we have to be careful what we wish for.

Credits:  Dave Pollard  for the inspiration to write this post, and  Julie Higgins (artist) for the image.

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With that Moon Language

Today I came across a translation of a poem by  Haziz on Jen Lemen's blog, called  ‘With that moon language’

Admit something:

Everyone you see, you say to them, "Love me."

Of course you do not do this out loud, otherwise someone would call the cops.

Still, though, think about this, this great pull in us to connect.

Why not become the one who lives with a full moon in each eye

that is always saying,

with that sweet moon language,

what every other eye in this world is dying to hear?

 
Oh.. to be a pen in God’s hand, eh!
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Seeing Brilliance

Three little sound bites came my way this week, that spoke on the same theme… as they so often do!  So I followed them to see where they led.

The first I discovered by following a link to  Jack Kerouac's 30 Cool tips:  'Belief and Technique for Modern Prose, a list of thirty 'essentials'', from a  tweet by Evelyn Rodriguez.  No 29 on the list was:  'You're a Genius all the time'. 

The second was an Emerson quote from Evelyn again,  "We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents"

And the third came from  a short movie  on the Art of Hosting,  'Seeing Brilliance' posted by  Chris Corrigan: "...this is not the time to live in fear any more of who we are or how powerful we are."

Try watching the film and tell me you still feel miserable. :)  Just lately I find it impossible to witness anyone who declares their willingness to accept their own power and not hear a resounding 'YES' inside of me.  It really is easy to get transfixed, like a rabbits staring into headlights, by stories of the fall of empires and the end of civilisation as we know it, and forget that choice and power always lie within us.  We are never a victim unless we continue to believe we are.

So let's look at this.

'You're a Genius all the time'.  Yes!.. that has been my experience too.  Flow is not something to attain  it is who we Are... and yet the self-help / new-age sections are filled with titles on how achieve this... subliminally reinforcing the idea that we are  somehow broken.

But if this is true, why is this not our everyday experience? 

When we look at what actually goes on in our mind it's not such a great mystery:

Our mind is predicated towards the future.  It works ceaselessly to set up control of future events because it’s in doing this that we believe our safety and well-being lies.  In this future orientation we completely overlook the present, because we believe that past events and beliefs have taught us enough to direct our future course.  And if things work out as we wish, then we feel (temporarily) happy.  If they don't, we either get upset or more resolve to make greater effort to get what we want.  The the only two possible outcomes are some level of stress, or a faux happiness (read ‘temporary relief from stress’).

Do you see the problem with attempting to control the future based on past experiences and beliefs?  We are creating the future in the likeness of the past.  By planning for change we guarantee that substantive change doesn’t happen!

The mind that plans is refusing to allow for change because its past experience directs its choice of what will happen, the basis for its future goals.  It never gets the opportunity to see that here and now is everything needed to guarantee a future totally different from the past, and be free of this perpetual recycling of past fears and limiting beliefs.

'Planning' is so normal to us that we never stop to consider whether it is natural.  Our natural state is not as slave to an imagined future but one of open, receptive awareness.  With a present orientation we become aware of awareness itself, and discover there this flow of well-being that is our Self.  By letting present trust replace planning… communion,  learning, transformation and right action take place effortlessly without any conscious control.  If there we are plans to be made they become known to us, but planning plays no part in this.  Anticipation is not necessary when our Self leads the way.

But it takes courage to let go of the familiar and step into the unknown.  It seems a far easier choice to cower from the winter’s cold and keep struggling on like all the rest.  But turn our face towards the coming summer sun and that fear soon disappears in the discovery of what it is that joins us. 

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly"... Richard Bach

Related article:  So you want to be a genis, huh?
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When I let this life be as it is..

When I let this life be as it is
instead of imposing my agenda,
what could there be to grieve for?

Believing in a world beyond my mind
fearful eyes reported what I imagined I would find
but I found no life, no love, no intelligence in matter.

So turning to this tug of Love in me (the one that calls us to be free)
to help me let this mask of grievance go
and reveal what the intellect and eyes don't know,
a long forgotten memory came back to me.

As I stood before you 
and the fog began to clear
a loving Presence stood shining here
Surprise!  It was our own Self, in answer to our fear.

And then, without a care
I saw this freedom rise up everywhere.
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R.I.P. Andrew Wyeth

"I think it's about Love. Sounds sentimental as hell but I really believe it is." 

...[at 4:40 in the video ]

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A Holy Communion

Have you every considered why we experience life so differently?

Some 'thing' exists for us when we draw a line around it in our mind.  By carving out a boundary everything on the inside becomes 'that' and everything on the outside 'not that'.

But these distinctions are not made at random.  There can be no distinction without motive, and there can be no motive unless contents are seen to differ in value.  For example, when we look at something as a problem we draw a distinction around something of a lesser value to us.  Similarly, when we set a goal we cleave a space in mind that we believe has greater value.

Sensation:  You notice a colourful blob.   Perception:  You recognise a car.   Cognition:  It is your car.   Judgement:  It is your car and some bastard is driving away with it.

Our intentions determine our experiences because our intentions determine what distinctions we make.  So... what we think  we see is reality, but what we really  see is what we want to see.  Perception is projection, not fact.

And so, living in these our 'private worlds', communication has come to be a mediation between the different meanings that we've attached to things.  

But there is another way of communicating that I touched on in the last post.  It is possible to speak from an on open, choiceless space, and allow truth to inform our words.  And when we do, the words we speak draw us away from the complex world of perceptions into the realm of Reality itself.

Communication takes place in the world of form -- between physically 'detached entities', differentiated as we first described.  And so, in some way or another, all forms of communication can be sensed and explained on the physical level.  For example, a sound or wireless wave can be detected by a receptor and then decoded into a form that is recognisably. 

But the thing is, without at least some level of communion between those that are communicating, there can be no real communication at all... because what reaches the other end doesn't get understood.  You can see this in a gang of youths -- one syllable can express what it would take a whole book for an outsider to comprehend.  The same in a tight knit workgroup too. 

Communication is secondary to communion.  In fact, there appears to be a fundamental law at work here:  The greater the communion between us, the less the need for physical communication and the more that gets communicated. 

Conversation begins before it starts, continues after it ends and doesn't always involve words.”... Christie Diamond  [via Chris Corrigan ]

Communion takes place in this Presence of awareness in which all form appears, and is time and space agnostic.  Have you noticed how it's possible to have as close a rapport with a writer or commenter of a blog post written in a different time-space than the guy sat next to us on the bus?

And this isn't just a human phenomena.  As a kid, it fascinated me how a flock of birds could fly every year in perfect formation, over thousand of miles, to some unseen destination with no apparent means of communicating.  I felt the same way again when I learnt to dive, and witnessed a shoal of hundreds of fish change direction in the same instant and in perfect unison.

The natural world doesn't so much communicate as commune. 

Those of us with pets have surely noticed this.  A ‘meouw’ could mean a thousand things but when my cat 'meouws' I know exactly what it means.  If I can't be bothered to get up and give it the fish or open the door or pet it.... by pretending I don't know what this  ‘meouw’ means, then it knows I'm being awkward and makes damn well sure that I know that it knows too. ;)

As far as I can tell, we all have this ability to commune in equal measure.  It seems stunted only by our need to exercise some measure of control.  From Wikipedia: “Control is the attempt to impose excessive predictability and direction on others and events, often associated with lack of trust and insecurity.”  Sounds true enough, but lack of trust and insecurity are symptoms, not primary causes.  Fear is at the root of it.

But as we discussed earlier, what we fear is not reality but the reflection of our own imaginings... and so there's a way to undo that.

The more open we are, the more we understand.
The more we understand, the less we fear.
The less we fear, the more we are aware of our shared Presence
… because fear, in all it's many forms, is just the veil within our mind that blocks this awareness.

In 'How to Save the World'  we looked at how fear is never justified because we always have the ability, in any situation, to choose to look beyond perception to see what's real -- to choose Peace instead.  But this cannot be known on our own, because the idea of  'alone'  is the very denial of Peace. 

As described at the start of this post, the distinction I make called 'me' only appears real to the extent that I separate it from everything on the 'outside' of it's imagined boundary.  Our Self doesn't stop at the bodies limits and does not have the body’s limitations.  Our/Life's/Love's purpose is to know this -- to heal our unfounded sense of separation and resulting fear.

To commune with anyone is to let this idea of separateness go and prove, beyond any of shadow of doubt, that what is real is forever untouched by any of our dark imaginings.
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Related article:  Blogging's Hidden Jewel

Credits:  The still life painting is called 'Eucharist' by Chris Peters.

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Namaste :)

My eldest daughter, Jodie, called from San Francisco yesterday... on the last leg of her 15 month round the world adventure.  Although warned not to go alone after dark, they did anyway and ending up having a great time eating late at a place where no-one spoke English, in the Mission district / Mexican quarter.

As she told me the tale, she reminded me of what I love about travelling to different places.  When you don't know the language or culture you have to get out of your head and pay attention -- become present and aware, and communicate on a much more fundamental level.  And when we do that we come deliciously alive, as do those around us.

Of course, we don't have  to travel to foreign parts to do this.  It's just that we're normally too engrossed in our agenda to notice what's real.

We think of dreaming as something that happens during the night, but there's a kind that happens in the daytime too.  Each morning just before we open our eyes, there's a moment of pure Beingness -- an instant that's free of our beliefs, of the ideas and problems that drive us, and free of our past too.  All this gets recalled in the next few moments and then, on top of that, we layer all the 'shoulds' and 'coulds' and wishes for the day.  It happens so quickly and so automatically we're rarely aware of it happening so, in effect, this dream world within our head is the only 'reality' we know.  Each day being  just more of the same.

The thing is, in dreams we enter a world that is entirely our own.  And narrative is the map we need to bridge these separate worlds.  But the map is not the territory… and in a place where the words are meaningless our 'map' has effectively gone.  We are forced to raise our eyes, and in doing so we see what's real.  To do this is always a joy.  So often in the past I’ve been too clever, too taken up with my own busyness or self-importance to see this.  Silly me. 

There seems to be a perpetual anxiety that comes with living in our 'own world'.  It's one we've learnt to hide well but you still see it in people's eyes.  Except perhaps in tiny children.  Before the accumulation of words and concepts in their mind, children look with a thoughtless, open Awareness.  You see it in their smile -- what shines through is a pure joy of Being.

But this innocence is never lost.  There's a way of meeting someone that changes everything.

A smile from the heart knows no language, yet it communicates perfectly... and in doing so demonstrates quite clearly that the gap we think exists between us does not exist.  It can unveil what we've kept hidden and leave both of us shining brighter.

There a word for this that exists in the ancient Sanskrit language but not (as far as I am aware) in any other:  Namaste.  It means 'the light in me acknowledges the light in you', or something like that.

I honour the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells -- the place in you which is only love, truth, light & peace.  When you are in that place in you & I am in that place in me.  We are One.”  [citation?]

I don’t think that the precise definition is important, but I do know that when we silently meet anyone with the intention  behind that word, something really magical and profound can happen.  Just try it and see.  Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if we remember to turn on the light. 

Namaste  :) 

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Related Posts:

• Blogging's Hidden Jewel
• A Red Violin and 'just another weekday morning'

Credits:  Thanks to Nik Askew (soulbiographies) for the video

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