"Life is what happens when you are making other plans." John Lennon
Perhaps you've seen the movie The Accidental Tourist. It's a story about an emotionally wounded man who shuts down his heart after losing a child. Although he is a famous author, Macon (played in the film by the amazing William Hurt) is lonely and looking for love. He meets a crazy lady who, with her son, invites him to come back to the world of the living. At first he personifies resistance, but after a while it dawns on him that she is not only not a threat, but is his salvation.
I used to get annoyed when I would get pulled off track on something I was going - until it dawned on me that those distractions were the best and most helpful part of my day.
Sure, sometimes we have to concentrate on something. I do database design and work with multiple fields, rules, scripts and tables - all of which have to work together to create an effective unit. But sometimes, taking a break, by choice or circumstance, causes me to rethink and more often than not, revise things. Not a bad deal. So, I can say that sometimes the best parts of my day are the interruptions.
When somethings comes up that is unavoidable, and we are interrupted from our plan, we can be pissed, annoyed or cranky (all three are easy for me to manifest at the drop of a hat), or we can ask to find the gift in it. Consider the possibility that the person or circumstance has been sent or created to serve us in some way. Maybe we're being asked to open our heart more, or take a stronger stand for something we believe in, or take a new direction ultimately more meaningful than the one we're currently heading in. These aren't accidents, only opportunities to dance in a bigger Universe.
Today I am willing to allow the Universe's plan to substitute for my own. I am committed to finding the jewel in every encounter, relationship, and experience.
The Etymological Dictionary defines an iconoclast is a “breaker or destroyer of images” from the Late Greek word eikonoklastes. Later, an iconoclast was viewed as “one who attacks orthodox beliefs or institutions.” Today, iconoclasts like perceive things differently than other people - or maybe we just like to be annoying. Either way. This difference in perception plays out in our ideas, worldview and metaphysics - and in how we manage our fears and shadow self. It works well for me.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Crossing The Line
"Show me the way to freedom, dissolve my limits, that I may live the life you intended." [A Course in Miracles]
In the film, Meetings with Remarkable Men, young George Gurdjieff comes upon a Russian country village where some children are playing a cruel trick on one of their peers. Gurdjeiff finds a young boy trapped inside a chalk circle drawn by the other kids. Under the superstitious belief that anyone caught inside such a circle is trapped by the devil's power, the boy cannot escape, and he is terrified. With compassion, Gurdjeiff rubs out part of the circle and the boy flees.
Many of the beliefs that hold us hostage are no more real than the chalk circle. I've spent much of today dealing with the problems of my friend Barrett, who has found himself in jail (again), this time for domestic violence and a parole violation.
Barrett working with a relationship addiction (among others) where he is addicted to being in relationships, rather than to the relationships themselves, and this small distinction is causing him (and his family and friends) a whole ration of grief and annoyance.
I have spent quite a bit of time meditating on the causes of this, and have begun to realize the void Barrett feels that can only be filled by someone who "needs and cares" for him, even if that needfulness is completely screwed up and toxic. Being "needed" and important to someone else is critical because in his belief system, he's not much needed to himself. Isn't that always the way? We look to others to get what we can't give ourselves. It sounds so easy.
Like the little boy in the chalk circle, Barrett believes that he is limited in who will love him, and that he has to control whoever he suspects that might be - either by inappropriate gifts, or being a bully - or a strange combination of the two. As long as Barrett doesn't think much of himself (strange to say for someone I consider a total narcissist, but a narcissist with a lousy self-image)he's going to attract people who don't think much of him either, and the vicious circle of push-pull-push-pull will continue going.
When we examine our perceived limits, or someone else demonstrates that they are not valid, a portion of our chalk line is rubbed out and we are offered the opportunity to grow beyond our imprisoning perceptions to gain the freedom we deserve. I like to hold the possibility that one day (soon) Barrett will "get it" and all this dramatic nonsense will be a thing of the past.
What do you believe you cannot do? Are you willing to call to question your sense of limits? Would you rather be right or free?
Make a list of all the things you want to do, but believe you can not. Then, examine each of your reasons and consider whether they are real, or simply represent a belief you are holding. You maybe pleasantly surprised to find out you are not as constrained as you believe. When we look fearlessly and honestly at our limits, we may be struck by the sudden realization that we are MUCH more powerful than any of our fears.
In the film, Meetings with Remarkable Men, young George Gurdjieff comes upon a Russian country village where some children are playing a cruel trick on one of their peers. Gurdjeiff finds a young boy trapped inside a chalk circle drawn by the other kids. Under the superstitious belief that anyone caught inside such a circle is trapped by the devil's power, the boy cannot escape, and he is terrified. With compassion, Gurdjeiff rubs out part of the circle and the boy flees.
Many of the beliefs that hold us hostage are no more real than the chalk circle. I've spent much of today dealing with the problems of my friend Barrett, who has found himself in jail (again), this time for domestic violence and a parole violation.
Barrett working with a relationship addiction (among others) where he is addicted to being in relationships, rather than to the relationships themselves, and this small distinction is causing him (and his family and friends) a whole ration of grief and annoyance.
I have spent quite a bit of time meditating on the causes of this, and have begun to realize the void Barrett feels that can only be filled by someone who "needs and cares" for him, even if that needfulness is completely screwed up and toxic. Being "needed" and important to someone else is critical because in his belief system, he's not much needed to himself. Isn't that always the way? We look to others to get what we can't give ourselves. It sounds so easy.
Like the little boy in the chalk circle, Barrett believes that he is limited in who will love him, and that he has to control whoever he suspects that might be - either by inappropriate gifts, or being a bully - or a strange combination of the two. As long as Barrett doesn't think much of himself (strange to say for someone I consider a total narcissist, but a narcissist with a lousy self-image)he's going to attract people who don't think much of him either, and the vicious circle of push-pull-push-pull will continue going.
When we examine our perceived limits, or someone else demonstrates that they are not valid, a portion of our chalk line is rubbed out and we are offered the opportunity to grow beyond our imprisoning perceptions to gain the freedom we deserve. I like to hold the possibility that one day (soon) Barrett will "get it" and all this dramatic nonsense will be a thing of the past.
What do you believe you cannot do? Are you willing to call to question your sense of limits? Would you rather be right or free?
Make a list of all the things you want to do, but believe you can not. Then, examine each of your reasons and consider whether they are real, or simply represent a belief you are holding. You maybe pleasantly surprised to find out you are not as constrained as you believe. When we look fearlessly and honestly at our limits, we may be struck by the sudden realization that we are MUCH more powerful than any of our fears.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
May I Believe FOR you?
Miracles are performed by those who temporarily have more for those who temporarily have less. (A Course in Miracles)
So, my friend and housemate Cindy is planning on opening a yarn and associated items store in Portland's downtown Pearl District. The store will be called "Urban Fibre Arts" and it will be in one of the snazziest buildings in town, the Gregory. Of course, being a tony, ritzy kind of place - rent ain't cheap. But, after going back and forth (repeat back and forth a couple of more times) it seems they have come to some kind of agreement and so now it's on to formulating the lease.
There are a few more details to work out, but you get the picture. Cindy is excited about this, but at the same time, being a little bit of a cautious person, anxious about the large commitment entailed, especially in terms of finances.
A long time ago, a friend who was a pastor of a very large Portland Church (one no longer in existence) told me the story of when she wanted to expand her church, her friend asked her, "Would you allow me to believe for you?" He was offering an invitation to extend enough faith to allow the dream to come through through a mind that temporarily envisioned greater possibilities than were immediately visible.
So, sometimes when we are feeling anxious about something that we love, and our passionate about - and we know that it really is a calling of our Highest Self, we can ask other to believe for us.
A Course in Miracles tells us that a little willingness is all that is required to set a miracle in motion. When you declare that you are willing to have your dream come true, no matter by whose hand it is manifested, we signify that willingness. We have the capacity to open the door to miracles for one another. I invite you to try this out with our friend Cindy - and her GRAND PLAND for the new store. Think big.
So, my friend and housemate Cindy is planning on opening a yarn and associated items store in Portland's downtown Pearl District. The store will be called "Urban Fibre Arts" and it will be in one of the snazziest buildings in town, the Gregory. Of course, being a tony, ritzy kind of place - rent ain't cheap. But, after going back and forth (repeat back and forth a couple of more times) it seems they have come to some kind of agreement and so now it's on to formulating the lease.
There are a few more details to work out, but you get the picture. Cindy is excited about this, but at the same time, being a little bit of a cautious person, anxious about the large commitment entailed, especially in terms of finances.
A long time ago, a friend who was a pastor of a very large Portland Church (one no longer in existence) told me the story of when she wanted to expand her church, her friend asked her, "Would you allow me to believe for you?" He was offering an invitation to extend enough faith to allow the dream to come through through a mind that temporarily envisioned greater possibilities than were immediately visible.
So, sometimes when we are feeling anxious about something that we love, and our passionate about - and we know that it really is a calling of our Highest Self, we can ask other to believe for us.
A Course in Miracles tells us that a little willingness is all that is required to set a miracle in motion. When you declare that you are willing to have your dream come true, no matter by whose hand it is manifested, we signify that willingness. We have the capacity to open the door to miracles for one another. I invite you to try this out with our friend Cindy - and her GRAND PLAND for the new store. Think big.
Monday, July 12, 2010
It's Within You
"I have good news and I have bad news: The bad news is that we have lost the key to the door behind which the secret of life is hidden. The good news is that it was never locked." Swami Beyndananda
I have always loved the Wizard of Oz. At some point I started using it as a parable in classes I taught for guys in alcohol/drug rehab. There's a ton of symbolism throughout the story - from the black and white beginning - the dryness of our youth as we long to break free and more anywhere other than our own personal Kansas - to the unlikely pairing of the Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow and Dorothy. All through our life we will meet the most amazing people in the most unlikely of places and circumstances.
And we all have an OZ - a place we were told holds the answers to all our questions, hopes and dreams - a place that will help us return home to the (mostly imaginary) bliss of our youth. But, aside from the flying monkeys and mean 'ol Wicked Witch of West - the message really becomes clear when Dorothy finally encounters the Wizard and he explains that the power to go home has been hers all along.
There is no Wizard for any of us - although there may be some kindly person to tell us that - really tell us that. One of the greatest tests for spiritual authenticity is the willingness of a spiritual leader to explain that he/she isn't really necessary at all - and that the power already resides with us.
We remain in darkness when we seek external solutions for internal needs. We believe that problems exist because of causes outside of ourselves, and so we seek to rearrange the outer world. Even when we succeed, and sometimes we do, at great cost to our interpersonal lives, we feel empty because the external situation was not the cause of our pain. To really be healed, to really go to the place that is "home" for us, we need to deal with our experience at the source - beliefs, attitudes, actions.
We can empower ourselves to recognize that everything that happens - somehow was drawn to us as a gift. Richard Bach, in his wonderful little book Illusions wrote, "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. We seek problems because we need their gifts."
The whole game changes when you realize, really realize, that the answer, along with the power, is already within you.
If you want something to pray for today, pray for the strength to release anyone else as the source of your experience, and to own your responsibility for creating the life you choose. Then, click your heels together three times and say, "There's no place like home."
I have always loved the Wizard of Oz. At some point I started using it as a parable in classes I taught for guys in alcohol/drug rehab. There's a ton of symbolism throughout the story - from the black and white beginning - the dryness of our youth as we long to break free and more anywhere other than our own personal Kansas - to the unlikely pairing of the Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow and Dorothy. All through our life we will meet the most amazing people in the most unlikely of places and circumstances.
And we all have an OZ - a place we were told holds the answers to all our questions, hopes and dreams - a place that will help us return home to the (mostly imaginary) bliss of our youth. But, aside from the flying monkeys and mean 'ol Wicked Witch of West - the message really becomes clear when Dorothy finally encounters the Wizard and he explains that the power to go home has been hers all along.
There is no Wizard for any of us - although there may be some kindly person to tell us that - really tell us that. One of the greatest tests for spiritual authenticity is the willingness of a spiritual leader to explain that he/she isn't really necessary at all - and that the power already resides with us.
We remain in darkness when we seek external solutions for internal needs. We believe that problems exist because of causes outside of ourselves, and so we seek to rearrange the outer world. Even when we succeed, and sometimes we do, at great cost to our interpersonal lives, we feel empty because the external situation was not the cause of our pain. To really be healed, to really go to the place that is "home" for us, we need to deal with our experience at the source - beliefs, attitudes, actions.
We can empower ourselves to recognize that everything that happens - somehow was drawn to us as a gift. Richard Bach, in his wonderful little book Illusions wrote, "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. We seek problems because we need their gifts."
The whole game changes when you realize, really realize, that the answer, along with the power, is already within you.
If you want something to pray for today, pray for the strength to release anyone else as the source of your experience, and to own your responsibility for creating the life you choose. Then, click your heels together three times and say, "There's no place like home."
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Out of the Fishbowl
"It's not trespassing when you cross your own boundaries." (Anonymous)
A friend of mine was going to clean his fishbowl and so he put a few inches of water in his bathtub and put the two fish in the tub. When he came back to retrieve the fish, he noticed them swimming in a little circle the size of the bowl.
I love this story because it reminds me of so many things; how large our possibilities are and how unlimited the space we have to create those possibilities is - and, how little we are willing to access that increased space.
Strangely enough, I was reminded of this story by some issues I'm having with my computer and the database I've created for a client. It's quite a large database, filled with graphics and text, both english and Czech. Recently it started acting funny - and, after a series of scripts, crashing. Not a good thing. I activated the "Activity Monitor" on my MAC so I could watch, in cute, colorful graphics, the processes as they were taking place and try to figure out what the problem was. Somehow, memory was leaking from somewhere like a certain dike in Holland. I could watch the little pie graph change color as the script progressed, until finally, a few hundred records in, everything stopped.
I fiddled and faddled and finally decided to turn off one of the more obscure plug-ins I bought. I think that has made a difference.
So, back to our story - my RAM is limited to 2GB right now, and usually I don't come close to using it up. But, I learned the importance of being able to access more of it when I needed it. So, swiming in a small circle might work well for the fish, but it would be nice to be conscious that there was so much more that they could access if they wanted to.
We are conscious of that - or at least we try to be. Whatever world we inhabit right now is only a small potential of what's possible for us. Sometimes, an internal "memory leak" can give us the illusion that we are at the outer reaches of our boundaries, but it's only an illusion. We aren't even close.
We need to constantly check for memory leaks - to test our limits to see if they are real. To check and see whether we have the courage to venture into uncharted waters. Buddha said, "To see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone."
The laws and limits of the world, unlike the my MAC, exist by agreement only. When we release small thinking, we inherit a Realm of vast and unlimited potential. The world we live in is as grand as the thoughts we use to create it. Today - think grandly.
A friend of mine was going to clean his fishbowl and so he put a few inches of water in his bathtub and put the two fish in the tub. When he came back to retrieve the fish, he noticed them swimming in a little circle the size of the bowl.
I love this story because it reminds me of so many things; how large our possibilities are and how unlimited the space we have to create those possibilities is - and, how little we are willing to access that increased space.
Strangely enough, I was reminded of this story by some issues I'm having with my computer and the database I've created for a client. It's quite a large database, filled with graphics and text, both english and Czech. Recently it started acting funny - and, after a series of scripts, crashing. Not a good thing. I activated the "Activity Monitor" on my MAC so I could watch, in cute, colorful graphics, the processes as they were taking place and try to figure out what the problem was. Somehow, memory was leaking from somewhere like a certain dike in Holland. I could watch the little pie graph change color as the script progressed, until finally, a few hundred records in, everything stopped.
I fiddled and faddled and finally decided to turn off one of the more obscure plug-ins I bought. I think that has made a difference.
So, back to our story - my RAM is limited to 2GB right now, and usually I don't come close to using it up. But, I learned the importance of being able to access more of it when I needed it. So, swiming in a small circle might work well for the fish, but it would be nice to be conscious that there was so much more that they could access if they wanted to.
We are conscious of that - or at least we try to be. Whatever world we inhabit right now is only a small potential of what's possible for us. Sometimes, an internal "memory leak" can give us the illusion that we are at the outer reaches of our boundaries, but it's only an illusion. We aren't even close.
We need to constantly check for memory leaks - to test our limits to see if they are real. To check and see whether we have the courage to venture into uncharted waters. Buddha said, "To see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone."
The laws and limits of the world, unlike the my MAC, exist by agreement only. When we release small thinking, we inherit a Realm of vast and unlimited potential. The world we live in is as grand as the thoughts we use to create it. Today - think grandly.
First Class Flying
One of my favorite movies, "Defending your Life" with Robert Brooks and Meryl Streep, suggests that when we leave this world we review the experiences in which we succumbed to fear rather than choosing love. As Daniel (Robert Brooks) reviews his life reviews his life, he realizes that he consistently denied his own good, until the following event: after a nasty divorce, Daniel was left with a small amount of money and an airline ticket for a vacation in Asia. When Daniel arrived at the ticket counter for his trip, the agent told him, "You have 38B".
"Does that mean I'll be sitting in the back of the plane between two other people for ten hours?" he asked.
"I'm sorry sir, there are no other seats available."
"How about in first class?"
"There's one seat left; to upgrade will cost an additional $3,000."
Daniel deliberated for a moment, then said, "I'll take it."
Do you love yourself enough to give yourself what would make you happy? Can you trust that your happiness would not take away from another's good, but will only add to the sum total of joy in the Universe?
It's funny how I came to think about this today; one of my Facebook friends wrote about doing some painting at her house and indicated that she was sore from the work, which was only half done, and it appeared to me that she didn't seem to enjoy the effort. I hate doing stuff like that (painting, weeding, planting, etc.) and would rather take the few bucks it costs to hire someone, and enjoy the experience of them doing the work while I'm doing something I actually enjoy more.
It's funny how some people think they don't have the money to do this, or feel guilty about hiring someone else to help with stuff like that. I just think it's a way of loving yourself, and that with a small amount of effort you can find someone, in your budget, to do a great job.
Connecting with others and enlisting them to help with the tasks you want to get done and don't particularly relish isn't selfish; it's your responsibility. The more you honor yourself with with beauty, play, and job, the greater your capacity to love and serve others will be.
Like Daniel - it's a matter of having the courage to step up and say, "You know what...I deserve to enjoy this process so what will it take to 'get'er done'?"
In the long run I think this helps us to challenge ourselves to recognize that intrinsic worth we share and choose love, of ourselves or of others, rather than fear of scarcity that is so common in many areas of our thinking.
"Does that mean I'll be sitting in the back of the plane between two other people for ten hours?" he asked.
"I'm sorry sir, there are no other seats available."
"How about in first class?"
"There's one seat left; to upgrade will cost an additional $3,000."
Daniel deliberated for a moment, then said, "I'll take it."
Do you love yourself enough to give yourself what would make you happy? Can you trust that your happiness would not take away from another's good, but will only add to the sum total of joy in the Universe?
It's funny how I came to think about this today; one of my Facebook friends wrote about doing some painting at her house and indicated that she was sore from the work, which was only half done, and it appeared to me that she didn't seem to enjoy the effort. I hate doing stuff like that (painting, weeding, planting, etc.) and would rather take the few bucks it costs to hire someone, and enjoy the experience of them doing the work while I'm doing something I actually enjoy more.
It's funny how some people think they don't have the money to do this, or feel guilty about hiring someone else to help with stuff like that. I just think it's a way of loving yourself, and that with a small amount of effort you can find someone, in your budget, to do a great job.
Connecting with others and enlisting them to help with the tasks you want to get done and don't particularly relish isn't selfish; it's your responsibility. The more you honor yourself with with beauty, play, and job, the greater your capacity to love and serve others will be.
Like Daniel - it's a matter of having the courage to step up and say, "You know what...I deserve to enjoy this process so what will it take to 'get'er done'?"
In the long run I think this helps us to challenge ourselves to recognize that intrinsic worth we share and choose love, of ourselves or of others, rather than fear of scarcity that is so common in many areas of our thinking.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Rocks or Light?
My friend Jon has had some problems recently. Enough problems that he landed in jail for five days for a parole violation. Seems he got stopped speeding (he wasn't driving)and there were a bunch of empty beer cans in the back seat of the truck. Jon did almost ten years for vehicular manslaughter after a friend died in a drunk driving accident. Sometimes John doesn't make the best decisions.
There is a Hawaiian spiritual tradition that every child born into the world is like a "bowl of light" containing the radiance of heaven. If rocks are placed in the bowl, the light of original innocence is hidden. Fear, guilt and unworthiness are some of the stones that mask our true radiance. The more rocks in our bowl and the less light we shine. Angry, nasty or irksome people have lots of rocks in their bowls, while radiant, happy and joyful people have few.
Back to Jon - sometimes I wonder about this - he's such a delightful guy, innocent and almost childlike at times. But dense...(and I mean that kindly). He's so concerned what everyone else is thinking about, or feeling about - and, like a puppy, wants to be liked so badly, that he does things without any consideration of consequence or the "bigger picture."
It isn't that he has a lot of rocks in his bowl, as much perhaps as he hasn't learned the skill of managing the rocks he does have. It's frustrating to me, because I want him to do well. But more than me wanting it, he has to want it.
The game of awareness is not about going out and getting something we don't have, or becoming someone we're not. We already "enlightened"; we have simply covered our wisdom. As Alan Cohen puts it, "We started out fine, then we got de-fined; now we must be re-fined." I like that.
So where to start with Jon - telling him that's OK and reinforcing the good decisions he does make seems like a simple place to start. Health, happiness and success are our birthright, and we each carry all we need within us to manifest all the good we seek. I believe that about me. I believe that about Jon. I believe that about us all.
So this evening after Jon ran the story of getting arrested down to me, I explained this concept and asked him what rocks were in his bowl? I asked him to just try to be conscious of some of the attitudes and beliefs that stand in the way of his becoming more conscious, more attuned to what he needs to do - and more willing to think through his choices a little bit. We'll see - I'm holding out the positive expectation that he will connect with this, even a little. Regardless, it was a helpful awareness for me to re-connect with. What does your rock situation look like?
"Your task is not to seek for love, but to find the barriers in yourself that you have built against it." (A Course in Miracles)
There is a Hawaiian spiritual tradition that every child born into the world is like a "bowl of light" containing the radiance of heaven. If rocks are placed in the bowl, the light of original innocence is hidden. Fear, guilt and unworthiness are some of the stones that mask our true radiance. The more rocks in our bowl and the less light we shine. Angry, nasty or irksome people have lots of rocks in their bowls, while radiant, happy and joyful people have few.
Back to Jon - sometimes I wonder about this - he's such a delightful guy, innocent and almost childlike at times. But dense...(and I mean that kindly). He's so concerned what everyone else is thinking about, or feeling about - and, like a puppy, wants to be liked so badly, that he does things without any consideration of consequence or the "bigger picture."
It isn't that he has a lot of rocks in his bowl, as much perhaps as he hasn't learned the skill of managing the rocks he does have. It's frustrating to me, because I want him to do well. But more than me wanting it, he has to want it.
The game of awareness is not about going out and getting something we don't have, or becoming someone we're not. We already "enlightened"; we have simply covered our wisdom. As Alan Cohen puts it, "We started out fine, then we got de-fined; now we must be re-fined." I like that.
So where to start with Jon - telling him that's OK and reinforcing the good decisions he does make seems like a simple place to start. Health, happiness and success are our birthright, and we each carry all we need within us to manifest all the good we seek. I believe that about me. I believe that about Jon. I believe that about us all.
So this evening after Jon ran the story of getting arrested down to me, I explained this concept and asked him what rocks were in his bowl? I asked him to just try to be conscious of some of the attitudes and beliefs that stand in the way of his becoming more conscious, more attuned to what he needs to do - and more willing to think through his choices a little bit. We'll see - I'm holding out the positive expectation that he will connect with this, even a little. Regardless, it was a helpful awareness for me to re-connect with. What does your rock situation look like?
"Your task is not to seek for love, but to find the barriers in yourself that you have built against it." (A Course in Miracles)
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Attitude is Everything
I really believe that attitude is everything. A man at a Hindu ashram came to Swami Muktananda and complained, "You must get rid of my roommate! He is a smoker and his smelly smoke s polluting the atmosphere in my room. Someone as vile as he should not be allowed in here!"
Muktananda thought for a couple of minutes and responded, "I ill change your room - for his sake, not yours. Polluting the physical atmosphere with smoke is an offense, but polluting the psychic atmosphere with judgment is worse. You are hurting yourself and the Universe more with your anger and judgment than he is with his smoke."
What we do with our bodies is important, but what we do with our minds and hearts is even more important. I spend a lot of time in judgment. I don't feel good about that. Because I believe that our reality is a spiritual one - and that who we are is really a spiritual being having a human experience (rather than a human being who has spiritual experiences) - I think it's important that our thinking habits and patterns are in harmony with a loving and forgiving Universe.
It seems almost impossible for me to read the newspaper and not be in judgment - sometimes so severely that I feel anger or extreme frustration at people I don't know, and circumstances I am not fully informed about. That's not fair.
So, I forgive myself for feeling that way - and I commit to trying to just be conscious that when I find myself in extreme judgement, to the point of creating anxiety or anger in myself, I can step aside and loosen my attachment to it. Let go and let God...isn't that what the AA bumper sticker says?
Muktananda thought for a couple of minutes and responded, "I ill change your room - for his sake, not yours. Polluting the physical atmosphere with smoke is an offense, but polluting the psychic atmosphere with judgment is worse. You are hurting yourself and the Universe more with your anger and judgment than he is with his smoke."
What we do with our bodies is important, but what we do with our minds and hearts is even more important. I spend a lot of time in judgment. I don't feel good about that. Because I believe that our reality is a spiritual one - and that who we are is really a spiritual being having a human experience (rather than a human being who has spiritual experiences) - I think it's important that our thinking habits and patterns are in harmony with a loving and forgiving Universe.
It seems almost impossible for me to read the newspaper and not be in judgment - sometimes so severely that I feel anger or extreme frustration at people I don't know, and circumstances I am not fully informed about. That's not fair.
So, I forgive myself for feeling that way - and I commit to trying to just be conscious that when I find myself in extreme judgement, to the point of creating anxiety or anger in myself, I can step aside and loosen my attachment to it. Let go and let God...isn't that what the AA bumper sticker says?
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