Thursday, February 28, 2008
Sublime Enlightenment
This is a blog-worthy post I recently made on a private forum, when I was asked about Eckhart Tolle's new book, and it's similarities to the Avatar course:
---
You got me started, so let me, in words, try to translate my Avatar experience of enlightenment into, essentially, a paraphrase of what Tolle is saying in his book (A New Earth).
What keeps us from enlightenment is that we name (label), and then judge, and then identify with our judgment of (thoughts about) everything we experience in this world. So what we experience is our ego, which consists of the endless internal dialogue running through our heads made up of our worded judgments (interpretations) of what is out there. As a result we do not feel what is out there, or experience it, at all.
The fact is, we defend ourselves from truly experiencing and feeling that vastness "out there". Experiencing it on a constant basis would make it hard to survive in a world where the vast majority are disconnected from that vastness. We need to focus on surviving amidst those beings, finding our personal job so as to afford the ability to obtain and maintain our separate domiciles, our separate food supply, our personal vehicle, and so on. The mind has been our guardian in this defense. But the guardian has become our captor, imprisoning us in a tiny world of our own making.
Through Avatar exercises, we learn (experientially) about the nature of labeling, judging, and identifying with our judgments. Then, in one exercise in Part II, we're invited to stop judging.
In my own experience, just prior to that exercise, I was doing another exercise in which I had become painfully aware of how my tendency to label everything was interfering with and drowning out my ability to simply and peacefully experience everything as it was. I literally ran into my teacher's house and asked if I could take what I saw as the next step, and stop labeling things. Coincidentally, she said, that is exactly what the next exercise called for me to do - experience without judgment or labels - with a wordless mind.
So I did. I picked up where I'd left off, re-experienced my dislike of the constant naming and judging of things, and simply stopped. It took me a few tries, but when my intention took hold, my thoughts simply ceased. At that point I felt like I'd been carrying around two suitcases full of rocks for my entire life, and it felt as if I'd simply dropped them. I felt much, much lighter.
The next thing that happened was truly unexpected and amazing. I began to realize that, without labels, there were no real boundaries between the car and the road it was on, between the tree and the sky, between me and everything that exists. Without the artificial boundaries created by labels and judgments, there is only consciousness and the object of consciousness - the universe. Then, in an ever deepening silence, I knew that there was no boundary between these two either. There was only me, at one with all that is. A single, definitionless awareness that was not separate from anything that exists. And I knew that I was not different or separate from the awareness in any other being through all of time and space. I knew that the only thing that kept them from realizing their oneness with me is the labels and judgments with which they identify themselves, and to which they cling.
I was the One that I and they had sought for so long. The aware will that is the creator, sustainer, and destroyer of all form - the infinite, eternal, I am.
It was sunset, and, afraid I might float away into the vastness, I found my legs and walked back to my teacher's house. I laughed and cried as I told the two masters what I'd experienced. They completely understood. As I struggled for words to describe my experience, the word "sublime" kept intruding itself into my head.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Is America really ready for a woman president?
In this age of enightenment? Of course! And we can pay her less!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Synchronicity
On waking, I’m drifting through some thought that’s saying something like problems only arise for those who don’t choose to address those issues needing attention before they become actual problems. The more aware we are, and the earlier we attend to and prioritize issues as they are arising, the more we have the freedom to address things while they are projects of choice vs problems we are forced to deal with.
Synchronistically, my lifelong friend Kim leaves a comment on my MySpace page noting she’s re-purchased a copy of ‘God Calling’, a book of daily messages from the Christ about walking in The Way. I research and find that the contents are available online.
I’m moved to read the section from June 16 - 30, since today is the 23rd. The 16th is entitled, 'Seek me early', and says:
"The world, my poor world, flies to Me when its difficulties are too great to be surmounted any other way, forgetting, or never realizing, that if, with the same eagerness, those hearts sought Me merely for companionship and loving intercourse, many of the difficulties would not arise.
The circumstances, the life, the character would be so altered - so purified, that those same difficulties would not exist."
http://www.twolisteners.org/June%2016%20-%2030.htm
Fascinating.
Synchronistically, my lifelong friend Kim leaves a comment on my MySpace page noting she’s re-purchased a copy of ‘God Calling’, a book of daily messages from the Christ about walking in The Way. I research and find that the contents are available online.
I’m moved to read the section from June 16 - 30, since today is the 23rd. The 16th is entitled, 'Seek me early', and says:
"The world, my poor world, flies to Me when its difficulties are too great to be surmounted any other way, forgetting, or never realizing, that if, with the same eagerness, those hearts sought Me merely for companionship and loving intercourse, many of the difficulties would not arise.
The circumstances, the life, the character would be so altered - so purified, that those same difficulties would not exist."
http://www.twolisteners.org/June%2016%20-%2030.htm
Fascinating.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Review of Pan's Labyrinth
Here's a review from RottenTomatoes:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pans_labyrinth/about.php
That synopsis is pretty accurate. My first surprise was that it was subtitled, a fact which seems to have been carefully minimized in the trailers (one doesn't notice the lack of dialog). This sometimes bothers me, especially when a movie is as visually rich as this one - you fear to read, lest you miss some astonishing image. Nonetheless, this proved a minor problem with this particular film.
A second minor flaw, per my personal tastes, is the relative darkness which pervades much of the video itself. While it lends to the mood, it tends to make me want to turn up the gamma so that more details are forthcoming from the imagery. Beyond that, there are a few scenes which are visually horrific, in terms of the violence mentioned by some viewers, but these were pertinent to the plot and the character development of the villain, as well as an accurate representation of the fascist mindset and thebravery of those who opposed them.
The story and graphics move seamlessly between the grim reality of post Spanish Civil War fascism and the fairy tale world which captures the heroine. There is a lack of the kind of beauty one might expect from a Disney fairy tale, but this is consistent with staying true to the classical fairy tales of Grimm and others, as was the intent, and the imagery here is astonishing and imaginative, and perfectly well done. This rough imagery also offsets the beauty of the heroine, by contrast.
To take the critical factor to the nth degree, there are a couple of plot turns that may leave you wondering, "Why?", or, "What is the moral or significance of this event?" But, to be fair, I'm not at all familiar with the classic fairy tale traditions from which this is drawn, so they might well have significance in those terms, of which I am ignorant. Finally, the denoument is unrewardingly brief, and the fairy tale victory over 'normal' reality lacks the eternal joy inherent in the typical Disney classic, which cultural difference may leave you somewhat disappointed.
And, despite the very high ratings by both critics and viewers, as I was exiting the theater, one viewer said, "That was a horrid movie". So it's very possible that it's not to everyone's tastes, despite the reviews, and it didn't grab me and move me as much as some episodes of ER, but that may be because of the remoteness of the historical period from my reality.
All in all, it's a very memorable and highly imaginative masterpiece in almost every way possible - original in so many ways, yet impeccably true to the multiple elements from which it arises. But despite its artistic perfection, it may fail to connect with the heart and spirit of many Americans raised on Disney and addicted to "and they all lived happily ever after".
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pans_labyrinth/about.php
That synopsis is pretty accurate. My first surprise was that it was subtitled, a fact which seems to have been carefully minimized in the trailers (one doesn't notice the lack of dialog). This sometimes bothers me, especially when a movie is as visually rich as this one - you fear to read, lest you miss some astonishing image. Nonetheless, this proved a minor problem with this particular film.
A second minor flaw, per my personal tastes, is the relative darkness which pervades much of the video itself. While it lends to the mood, it tends to make me want to turn up the gamma so that more details are forthcoming from the imagery. Beyond that, there are a few scenes which are visually horrific, in terms of the violence mentioned by some viewers, but these were pertinent to the plot and the character development of the villain, as well as an accurate representation of the fascist mindset and thebravery of those who opposed them.
The story and graphics move seamlessly between the grim reality of post Spanish Civil War fascism and the fairy tale world which captures the heroine. There is a lack of the kind of beauty one might expect from a Disney fairy tale, but this is consistent with staying true to the classical fairy tales of Grimm and others, as was the intent, and the imagery here is astonishing and imaginative, and perfectly well done. This rough imagery also offsets the beauty of the heroine, by contrast.
To take the critical factor to the nth degree, there are a couple of plot turns that may leave you wondering, "Why?", or, "What is the moral or significance of this event?" But, to be fair, I'm not at all familiar with the classic fairy tale traditions from which this is drawn, so they might well have significance in those terms, of which I am ignorant. Finally, the denoument is unrewardingly brief, and the fairy tale victory over 'normal' reality lacks the eternal joy inherent in the typical Disney classic, which cultural difference may leave you somewhat disappointed.
And, despite the very high ratings by both critics and viewers, as I was exiting the theater, one viewer said, "That was a horrid movie". So it's very possible that it's not to everyone's tastes, despite the reviews, and it didn't grab me and move me as much as some episodes of ER, but that may be because of the remoteness of the historical period from my reality.
All in all, it's a very memorable and highly imaginative masterpiece in almost every way possible - original in so many ways, yet impeccably true to the multiple elements from which it arises. But despite its artistic perfection, it may fail to connect with the heart and spirit of many Americans raised on Disney and addicted to "and they all lived happily ever after".
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Bulletproof Windows Security
The bulletproof system consists of a multi-pronged approach which will make your system essentially invulnerable to attack by the vast majority of spyware, adware, and malware.
I - ASSESS YOUR VULNERABILITY
Go to Steve Gibson's ShieldsUP! page and test how accessible
your computer's ports are to a hacker looking for a way in:
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
Click on Common Ports to test the ones most used.
Click on All Service Ports for a complete test.
The perfect firewall will show Stealth (invisible) status
for all ports. ZoneAlarm is one of the few software
firewalls that can provide this level of protection.
It used to be the ONLY one.
II - INSTALL PROTECTION
1 - FIREWALL
You have a choice of a hardware or software solution here.
SOFTWARE FIREWALL
The best software firewall is ZoneAlarm, and it has the
advantage of being free, as well. ZoneAlarm protects both
against incoming attacks and outgoing events, such as
a keylogger sending private information, by asking you
if you initiated the program which is attempting to access
the internet at that moment. If you recognize the program,
such as the Internet Explorer browser, you can give it
blanket permission to access at all times, without being
checked out. If you say no, it will be blocked. You can
also give one-time access to check out any results, like
error messages from a Windows service which needs to run
in order to give your browser access.
ZoneAlarm offer a Pro version which provides additional
features and support, but the free version is just fine:
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp
HARDWARE FIREWALL
A hardware firewall is simply a router that sits
between your DSL or Cable modem and the network
card in your PC. It very effectively blocks all
incoming traffic which has not been intitiated
from your PC. It will NOT block programs on your
PC from accessing the internet, so, while it may
prevent a trojan from being loaded onto your PC,
it will not prevent it from working once it's
been initiated. When combined with the other
protection here, that won't be a problem, but
you should know that this blocking of outgoing
access by programs, without your permission, is
one of the virtues of ZoneAlarm.
The biggest advantage of a router is that is
fields all the traffic sent to the IP address
given to you by your ISP, and reassigns the IP
address used by your computer, so your PC's IP
address is simply not accessible.
Though they offer the possibility of being
configured, little or no configuration is
usually necessary.
One of the best routers for the money is Asante.
One of the most cost-effective solutions is the
FriendlyNET FR1004:
http://www.asante.com/products/productsLvl3/FR1004.asp
2 - ANTIVIRUS (AV)
Many of the commercial AV programs are notorious for failing
to detect bugs in a timely manner, and for causing conflicts
with other software (Norton is one of these). As a result,
users started looking for better solutions. I've tried any
number of the freeware solutions and finally settled on
AntiVir.
Here's a good list of possible programs:
Free online or downloadable virus scans:
AntiVir:
http://www.free-av.com/
BitDefender:
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php
Computer Associates:
http://www3.ca.com/virusinfo/virusscan.aspx
Panda:
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm
Trend Micro:
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp
I like AntiVir for several reasons:
- It tends to find viruses missed by other AV programs.
- Detection files are updated frequently - often several
times a day. You can set the update component to update
as often as you like. I update once a day.
- It has a component called AntiVir Guard which monitors
file activity on your hard drive and scans on-the-fly.
This is especially valuable in the case of hidden
"drive-by" downloads from malicious sites - a common
source of trojans. The Guard component sees these
hidden downloads and scans the files, immediately
alerting you of malicious content, and offering you
the option of deleting, moving or renaming the file
or placing it in quarantine. Priceless.
3 - WINDOWS UPDATES
Microsoft is painfully aware of the many vulnerabilities
in its software, from Windows itself to Outlook Express
to Internet Explorer. They work hard to patch them as
quickly as possible after becoming aware of a problem.
Updating your system is vital to any comprehensive
effort to protect yourself:
http://www.windowsupdate.com/
4 - FREEWARE SOLUTIONS
Out of all the freeware solutions out there, the following
programs should be considered essential. They are tried and
true, contain no spyware or adware themselves, work well with
other programs, and are constantly being updated and improved
by some of the most creative and conscientious programmers in
the world.
Many of them overlap in their protective capabilities, but
there's no such thing as too much protection. At the same
time, they each contain some unique aspects which more
than make up for any overlap in function.
- AdAware
"Ad-Aware is designed to provide advanced protection from
known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites,
Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware,
Browser hijackers, and tracking components. With the
release of Ad-Aware SE Personal edition, Lavasoft takes
the fight against Spyware to the next level."
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
The free version is essential. Plus and Professional
versions are also available.
Use it once a week, or more often if you browse aggressively.
Manually update before each use.
- Spybot Search & Destroy
A partial list of features:
Removal of adware and spyware
Removal of dialers
Removal of keyloggers
Removal of trojans and other baddies
Removal of usage tracks
Save removal of threats by shredding them
Backups of every removed problem
Exclude option to ignore specific problems
Permanent blocking of threatening ActiveX downloads
Permanent blocking of known tracking cookies for IE
Permanent blocking of threating downloads in IE
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/features/index.html
Overview:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html
- Javacool Software's Spyware Blaster
"Prevent the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware,
browser hijackers, dialers, and other potentially unwanted
software.
Block spyware/tracking cookies in Internet Explorer and
Mozilla/Firefox.
Restrict the actions of potentially unwanted sites in
Internet Explorer.
SpywareBlaster can help keep your system spyware-free and
secure, without interfering with the "good side" of the web.
And unlike other programs, SpywareBlaster does not have to
remain running in the background."
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Run it once a week to update it, and enable all protection.
Then close the program. This program acts more like an
inoculation, preventing changes to the system. 4349 items
are currently in the database.
- WinPatrol
"WinPatrol uses a heuristic approach to detecting attacks
and violations of your computing environment. Traditional
security programs scan your hard drive searching for
previously identified threats. WinPatrol takes snapshot
of your critical system resources and alerts you to any
changes that may occur without your knowledge."
http://www.winpatrol.com/
This program loads with Windows and sits in the system
tray, offering many features. The most noticeable are
when Scotty, the Scottish Terrier, barks to alert you
that a new program has been added to the Windows Startup
sequence, either in the registry or the Startup Folder.
Since one of the ways that viruses multiply themselves
is to add an entry to Windows Startup, this is a very
valuable program. You can immediately deny any program
from placing a startup entry.
You can also use the program by double-clicking on the
tray icon. Scotty will bark in response, and you'll
have access to several tabs of options, including
viewing Startup Programs, Active Tasks, IE Helpers,
Cookies, and much, much more.
Scotty can also be set to monitor any changes made to
your HOSTS file. Much more on this later.
- HijackThis (HJT)
HijackThis is a legendary program which is of immense
value if you've already been infected, or think you
might have been.
"HijackThis examines certain key areas of the Registry
and Hard Drive and lists their contents. These are areas
which are used by both legitimate programmers and hijackers."
http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/
HJT creates a log of what it finds which can then be
posted for analysis by experts such as those found here
on Google Answers, or in a forum dedicated to assisting
those who are infected, such as 'TomCoyote Forums',
'Geeks to Go Forums' and 'SpywareInfo Forums'.
Experts can tell you precisely what entries to check for
removal by HJT.
One of the latest enhancements to this program is the
addition of online HJT log analyzers, which can give
you a leg up in analyzing them yourself:
IamNotaGeek.com log parser:
http://hjt.iamnotageek.com/
HijackThis log analyzer (a more graphic version):
http://www.hijackthis.de/en
HJT has other very useful features, including one which
marks a file for deletion on reboot. This is very useful
when Windows prevents you from deleting a file because
it's currently in use, which happens a lot with viruses.
- Microsoft Windows Anti-Spyware (Beta)
I installed this and ran it for about a week. It didn't
give any indication of having found anything that wasn't
already protected against by the other software here, but
I'm including it because it's received very good reviews
in the geek community, and I'd certainly recommend it to
anyone who has limited knowledge of spyware and the other
programs I've outlined to prevent it.
Let this run in your system tray.
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
5 - HOSTS FILE
The HOSTS file is a little-known Windows file which normally
does nothing, since the content is minimal by default, that
being:
127.0.0.1 localhost
That entry just points to your computer and identifies it
as localhost.
But additional entries can be made to this file that amount
to Windows wizardry!
The file is typically located here, in W2000 & XP:
C:\WINNT[or Windows]\system32\drivers\etc
It has no extension, but your can rename it HOSTS.txt
and open it with Notepad to see that it is a text file.
Entries can be added on a custom basis. These entries
will point specified addresses to your computer, rather
than to your DNS server, so that, instead of looking for
the files on the web, your browser will look for them on
your PC. Since they don't exist there, they won't be
found and loaded. In this way, you can effectively block
certain sites from ever being loaded in your browser.
Many people use the file to prevent known advertising
servers and malicious sites from having access to your
browser. There are many sites which post replacement
HOSTS files to use in place of the default one.
Different sites focus on different content. You can find
sites that block porn sites, sites that block ads from
loading in your browser, sites that are known to be
malicious, and combinations of all of these.
Since there are hundreds of sites of all these types, the
number of entries in the HOSTS file can cause it to become
much larger. If the file is too large, it will slow the
speed of your browser's loading things, so some authors
of HOSTS files take this into account, and use it to
redirect only the most malicious sites and ubiquitous
advertisers.
The following page on the MS Most Valuable Professionals
site, offers the best compromise and supporting information
I've found for the HOSTS file:
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
You can download the one they provide and use it to
replace the default one (after renaming it). You can
then also lock the file, by right-clicking on it,
selecting Properties and checking Read-only. This will
prevent trojans and other hijackers from writing to
it, which can cause some major problems.
The MVPs page also offer a batch file utility which allows
you to temporarily turn off protection by renaming the file.
III RE-TEST YOUR SYSTEM
Once you've installed your firewall, go back to Steve Gibson's
ShieldsUP! page and test it out.
Then just update and run your AV program, Spyware Blaster,
Spybot S&D, and AdAware about once a week, and more often
if you have a period of agressive browsing in unknown
territory, or you have reason to suspect there is a bug
on the loose.
Meanwhile, AntiVir Guard, WinPatrol's Scotty, and MS's
Anti-Spyware programs, as well as Spyware Blaster's
innoculations, are keeping your system safe, and looking
for any changes.
BULLETPROOF!
http://everest.googlepages.com/
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
On abortion, and other complex issues...
I think that issues which are so complex, due to the number of unknown variables in specific instances, can't be decided simply. There just aren't any "one-size-fits-all" answers to issues this complex.
And that's what people seem to want.
Bang.
This is the answer.
No thought necessary.
No consideration of circumstances.
Now let's make it a law.
An established tradition.
An accepted fact.
An unchangeable belief.
That's much scarier, to me, than the alternative, where people appear to disagree, based on their interpretation of a situation due to their own experiences and what they've been taught.
I don't see that they actually disagree. To me, it appears that they just haven't yet managed to effectively walk a mile in all the variables of the experience of others.
That's a much more difficult path to arriving at agreement with everyone, but it's much more realistic and healthful than establishing an "accepted fact" and making it "just the way it is", as in making it "the law".
This is the same principle behind an email to a friend recently in which I told her I couldn't agree to the idea of "agreeing to disagree" because I honestly didn't see that we disagreed. Only that our viewpoints were not, yet, overlapping to the point where we could both say we saw things in the same way.
To me, God is the all-encompassing point of view that includes and comprehends all points of view which are more limited.
This is the true meaning of omniscience and omnipresence.
And spiritual growth, to me, means working toward becoming identical with the all-encompassing point of view of the Divine.
This is the ultimate in compassion and understanding.
And yet, it doesn't preclude the possibility of making personal choices as a human being, or being angry with someone whose narrow perspective is doing them, or you, harm. Interestingly, anger toward another from a place of compassion is much more effective than anger from a place of disagreement and resistance.
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
I once had a profound meditation, based on the feeling of being frustrated with my ability to extend a powerful and useful enough (in it's effects) love to others.
I was shown a cross. I saw the cross in my midst, the vertical beam running up the center of my body, the horizontal, through my arms.
The path of inner progress was the vertical beam, representing the path of raising consciousness from the physical emotional mental into the spiritual. From the desires of the body to the desires of the spirit.
The horizontal beam represented the outer path. The outstretched arms extending blessings, through relationships with others.
I was shown that the ability to extend love on the horizontal plane, through earthly relationships based from the 'heart' of the cross was dependent on the heighth to which we ascended on the vertical plane, and vice versa - the ability to rise on the vertical plane depended on our desire to extend our love on the horizontal. Only the desire to bless *all* of creation and humanity would trigger the vertical growth needed to access a love sufficient to the task.
But likewise, extending ourselves horizontally without expanding our foundation in spirit in the vertical relationship between us and God, heaven and earth, would result in a failed effort.
Only a balanced, coordinated growth in both planes would achieve the optimal result, either for personal enlightenment or the ability to effectively bless the outer world and those in it.
The words I was given were: "This is the way of the cross".
At that time, I was shown this due to my tendency to overextend myself horizontally, without sufficient vertical (inward) focus to compensate. And I've since realized that the majority of us in the west make the same error. The eastern lands and traditions make the opposite error, of working on internal/vertical growth without sufficient horizontal extension. This is why, some years ago, there was a great meeting of east and west, spiritually. They needed to understand our horizontal/outward focus, and we needed to understand their vertical/inward focus.
I was shown a cross. I saw the cross in my midst, the vertical beam running up the center of my body, the horizontal, through my arms.
The path of inner progress was the vertical beam, representing the path of raising consciousness from the physical emotional mental into the spiritual. From the desires of the body to the desires of the spirit.
The horizontal beam represented the outer path. The outstretched arms extending blessings, through relationships with others.
I was shown that the ability to extend love on the horizontal plane, through earthly relationships based from the 'heart' of the cross was dependent on the heighth to which we ascended on the vertical plane, and vice versa - the ability to rise on the vertical plane depended on our desire to extend our love on the horizontal. Only the desire to bless *all* of creation and humanity would trigger the vertical growth needed to access a love sufficient to the task.
But likewise, extending ourselves horizontally without expanding our foundation in spirit in the vertical relationship between us and God, heaven and earth, would result in a failed effort.
Only a balanced, coordinated growth in both planes would achieve the optimal result, either for personal enlightenment or the ability to effectively bless the outer world and those in it.
The words I was given were: "This is the way of the cross".
At that time, I was shown this due to my tendency to overextend myself horizontally, without sufficient vertical (inward) focus to compensate. And I've since realized that the majority of us in the west make the same error. The eastern lands and traditions make the opposite error, of working on internal/vertical growth without sufficient horizontal extension. This is why, some years ago, there was a great meeting of east and west, spiritually. They needed to understand our horizontal/outward focus, and we needed to understand their vertical/inward focus.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Someone asked me if choosing to feel peaceful didn't preclude personal responsibility for the perceived wrongs in the world, and involve 'detachment' from one's feelings.
Expanded awareness involves feeling *everything*, fully, deeply, but equally. It's called equanimity, and is the opposite of either attachment or detachment.
Another word for it is perspective. While in a movie theater, where you truly are powerless to change the outcome of the script, you can, nonetheless, maintain some emotional composure when the hero dies by widening your perspective, from it's 'attachment' to the hero and the action on the screen, to a perspective that includes the audience, the building, the neighborhood in which the theater exists, and so on. This is not 'detachment', which would involve shifting your attention away so that you don't have to feel what is going on. This is expansion of your attention to include other things, which puts *everything*, including, but not limited to, the hero's plight, into perspective.
It's really similar to the kind of perspective which time gives you. You've heard the saying "How will I feel about this in twenty years". Only this perspective isn't based on distancing yourself in time, but in enmeshing yourself more in the present moment which is happening *everywhere*, instead of just your immediate vicinity.
Expansion of perspective includes everything, rather than attaching your attention only to the painful situation, which excludes everything else, or detaching your attention from it to avoid the pain, which excludes the painful situation. Attachment and detachment alike are created by exclusion, and resistance to an awareness of other things.
In terms of being effective, responsible and powerful, acting from a space of equanimity based on an expanded perspective is always more effective than acting from either attachment or detachment.
Surely you've had the experience of being at a distance from a conflict and being able to see both sides of it (while still feeling the effects of it), and being able to see things which neither party sees which could resolve the conflict.
And surely you've been personally involved in up-close interpersonal conflict with another where you've felt absolutely powerless to either resolve it or to control the anger you have toward the other person.
It's quite possible to intentionally bring the perspective you have in the first situation into the second situation. Next time you're in such a conflict, simply begin to expand your attention from its focus on the other person. Begin to include an awareness of what they're wearing; their gestures; whether they are using words that relate to vision or feeling or sound; the area you're standing in; the colors of the surrounding environment; the temperature of the air; the other sounds which are in the background; etc. You'll probably find that in order to accomplish this, your breathing will have to become more relaxed and expansive, as well. Don't do this to the exclusion of the person and your dialog. Just include more and more things in addition to them. Don't forget to include yourself.
If you succeed in this, you will find yourself more grounded, more stable, calmer, and able to achieve the kind of balanced perspective on the topic of the conflict which you might expect to have if you weren't actively participating in the conflict. This degree of perspective will also show you the way out of the conflict, and into a true dialog which ends in resolution.
This is simply an extension of the unwritten rules for effective boxing, or karate, or kung fu: Don't fight from anger.
Anger signifies either attachment or resistance (purposeful detachment). Free attention always succeeds over both. Free attention is the ability to place your attention anywhere you want to. This comes from the kind of perspective gained by expanded awareness.
Taken to the extreme, there is considerable evidence that someone existing in such a state can do more to effect positive change in the world than thousands of people clinging to narrower perspectives based on attachment or resistance, and acting therefrom.
Expanded awareness involves feeling *everything*, fully, deeply, but equally. It's called equanimity, and is the opposite of either attachment or detachment.
Another word for it is perspective. While in a movie theater, where you truly are powerless to change the outcome of the script, you can, nonetheless, maintain some emotional composure when the hero dies by widening your perspective, from it's 'attachment' to the hero and the action on the screen, to a perspective that includes the audience, the building, the neighborhood in which the theater exists, and so on. This is not 'detachment', which would involve shifting your attention away so that you don't have to feel what is going on. This is expansion of your attention to include other things, which puts *everything*, including, but not limited to, the hero's plight, into perspective.
It's really similar to the kind of perspective which time gives you. You've heard the saying "How will I feel about this in twenty years". Only this perspective isn't based on distancing yourself in time, but in enmeshing yourself more in the present moment which is happening *everywhere*, instead of just your immediate vicinity.
Expansion of perspective includes everything, rather than attaching your attention only to the painful situation, which excludes everything else, or detaching your attention from it to avoid the pain, which excludes the painful situation. Attachment and detachment alike are created by exclusion, and resistance to an awareness of other things.
In terms of being effective, responsible and powerful, acting from a space of equanimity based on an expanded perspective is always more effective than acting from either attachment or detachment.
Surely you've had the experience of being at a distance from a conflict and being able to see both sides of it (while still feeling the effects of it), and being able to see things which neither party sees which could resolve the conflict.
And surely you've been personally involved in up-close interpersonal conflict with another where you've felt absolutely powerless to either resolve it or to control the anger you have toward the other person.
It's quite possible to intentionally bring the perspective you have in the first situation into the second situation. Next time you're in such a conflict, simply begin to expand your attention from its focus on the other person. Begin to include an awareness of what they're wearing; their gestures; whether they are using words that relate to vision or feeling or sound; the area you're standing in; the colors of the surrounding environment; the temperature of the air; the other sounds which are in the background; etc. You'll probably find that in order to accomplish this, your breathing will have to become more relaxed and expansive, as well. Don't do this to the exclusion of the person and your dialog. Just include more and more things in addition to them. Don't forget to include yourself.
If you succeed in this, you will find yourself more grounded, more stable, calmer, and able to achieve the kind of balanced perspective on the topic of the conflict which you might expect to have if you weren't actively participating in the conflict. This degree of perspective will also show you the way out of the conflict, and into a true dialog which ends in resolution.
This is simply an extension of the unwritten rules for effective boxing, or karate, or kung fu: Don't fight from anger.
Anger signifies either attachment or resistance (purposeful detachment). Free attention always succeeds over both. Free attention is the ability to place your attention anywhere you want to. This comes from the kind of perspective gained by expanded awareness.
Taken to the extreme, there is considerable evidence that someone existing in such a state can do more to effect positive change in the world than thousands of people clinging to narrower perspectives based on attachment or resistance, and acting therefrom.
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Broken down, responsibility doesn't mean 'obligation' as it has come to mean in our society, which is suffering a plague of litigation based on the idea that someone else (especially if they're loaded) is responsible for my well-being. As a result, the McDonald's company is 'obligated' to reimburse me when I spill hot coffee in my lap. This is nonsense of the worst kind.
Responsibility, broken down, simply means 'the ability to respond'. That ability, like most things, begins at home. In this case, home is where your heart, or attention is. Only you can best respond to the things that are available to your own attention. Since your attention dwells within a spirit-mind-body complex with which only you are intimate, only you truly have the ability to respond to it. No one else can possibly know more about your dreams, desires, intuitions, feelings, thoughts, and experiences than you. Your primary responsibility lies there.
This quickly eliminates the kind of thinking which says it was McDonald's coffee, so they're responsible. Rather, it was your lack of attention to what you were experiencing in the immediate moment which allowed the coffee to spill. McDonald's simply wasn't available to respond. You were. To attempt to make them responsible after the fact is soul-killing to the worst degree.
When you look at it in terms of available attention, it gets much simpler. You are responsible for your kids to the extent that their own attention is insufficient to what they are experiencing. The same yardstick can be used in measuring our responsibility toward a parent with failing awareness.
It works in other relationships, as well.
If you tell someone "Gee, your hair looks nice today!" and they respond with "Are you saying it looked like sh*t yesterday!?!", then they are the one with the problem. It's called taking yourself (or 'things') too seriously.
And if you take their outburst seriously and then proceed to take seriously the potential consequences of what you say to others when speaking from the depths of your heart, then you will have caught the disease and be dragged down to their level. In their minds, this is good, because now they have company with which to take things too seriously. But if someone is stuck down a hole, going down into it with them just traps you as well. Better to stay out of it and be available to pull on the rope you give them, if and when they decide to exercise the intent to climb out.
If the lady whose hair you complimented is so severely stressed that you're certain that she doesn't have the wherewithal to understand what you intended, then you can compassionately cut her some slack in your response to her outburst. If you find yourself unable to, and wanting to retaliate, those feelings are inside of you, and if that's the case, it's because your own attention is caught up inside you, unable to encompass her as well, and your first responsibility is to work with those feelings, rather than with her. See?
And that's what spiritual growth and enlightenment boil down to. Continually working on the feelings and accompanying beliefs that trap our attention inside us, and gradually expanding our attention, as it becomes freed, to include more and more of the world around us, to which we then have the ability to respond.
The ultimate reality to achieve would be an awareness that is so expanded that there is noone and nothing it doesn't include. Such is the awareness of the Divine. And yet, do we see evidence that this divine awareness responds to us in the ways we usually assign to responsibility? Does it act on our behalf as another human would? Does it act at all?
My own experience with this suggests that awareness itself is the highest form of action, but involves doing nothing. An example of this principle:
I'm sitting with a friend at work, and he's telling me about a problem in a relationship. As he talks, part of me is becoming aware of what he's describing from a more expansive point of view. As a result, I'm beginning to see what it is he needs to see in order to arrive at some resolution. I notice that I'm beginning to put this in words in my mind, so that I can speak them. I also notice that, when I do this, I lose touch with his awareness and what it's conveying. I also realize that if I speak what it is I'm seeing, he will also lose touch with what he's concerned about. His attention will shift to me - outside of him - and away from the issue. He may even resist my words for that very reason: despite any wisdom they might contain, my words will shift him out of his center, and preclude the possibility that he can arrive at the solution from within, and wouldn't that be preferable, and increase the likelihood that he would be willing to hear the truth?
So I abandon the desire to speak, to be wise, to be recognised and appreciated. I abandon putting what I am seeing into words. I rejoin him in the middle of his perspective, and resume my expanded awareness of his situation, in a wordless awareness. As a result, I begin to feel that his attention is following mine, moving into the expanded perspective in which the solution is obvious.
The next thing I know, he is verbalizing, from within, the exact words I had been about to say to him. It was a most edifying and uplifting experience.
A similar thing has happened too many times for me to count. I will be aware that the room is too hot, or the sound is too loud. Rather than say or do anything, I will simply be aware. Then someone else will turn down the A/C or the music.
What if divine awareness operates in this way - knowing all that is felt and desired by everyone, and being able to respond, not through direct action, but by raising our awarenesss to the level where the resolution is obvious, or by causing the universe at large to address our needs?
I once had a vision which suggested that if humans could tithe, not 10% of their money, but 10% of the attention they normally use to create division (we each live in our own separate dwelling that requires our own separate source of power to maintain our own separate environment, etc., etc. - and almost 100% of our attention is spent in the process of creating and maintaining this separation) - if we took 10% of that attention and united it in creative desire, the atmosphere of the planet itself might just respond to the degree that we wouldn't need our separate dwellings. The weather would be that perfect. There are legends that suggest that the planet was once like this.
Okay, I know I've gone a little far afield here, but the power of attention vs action, as illustrated by my talk with my friend, is unquestionable to me, and I honestly think that power is much more unlimited than we believe.
This isn't suggesting that we shouldn't act, any more than we shouldn't eat. But fasting has its value, as well. Food and acting are for the body. Fasting and being more expansively aware are for the spirit.
Responsibility, broken down, simply means 'the ability to respond'. That ability, like most things, begins at home. In this case, home is where your heart, or attention is. Only you can best respond to the things that are available to your own attention. Since your attention dwells within a spirit-mind-body complex with which only you are intimate, only you truly have the ability to respond to it. No one else can possibly know more about your dreams, desires, intuitions, feelings, thoughts, and experiences than you. Your primary responsibility lies there.
This quickly eliminates the kind of thinking which says it was McDonald's coffee, so they're responsible. Rather, it was your lack of attention to what you were experiencing in the immediate moment which allowed the coffee to spill. McDonald's simply wasn't available to respond. You were. To attempt to make them responsible after the fact is soul-killing to the worst degree.
When you look at it in terms of available attention, it gets much simpler. You are responsible for your kids to the extent that their own attention is insufficient to what they are experiencing. The same yardstick can be used in measuring our responsibility toward a parent with failing awareness.
It works in other relationships, as well.
If you tell someone "Gee, your hair looks nice today!" and they respond with "Are you saying it looked like sh*t yesterday!?!", then they are the one with the problem. It's called taking yourself (or 'things') too seriously.
And if you take their outburst seriously and then proceed to take seriously the potential consequences of what you say to others when speaking from the depths of your heart, then you will have caught the disease and be dragged down to their level. In their minds, this is good, because now they have company with which to take things too seriously. But if someone is stuck down a hole, going down into it with them just traps you as well. Better to stay out of it and be available to pull on the rope you give them, if and when they decide to exercise the intent to climb out.
If the lady whose hair you complimented is so severely stressed that you're certain that she doesn't have the wherewithal to understand what you intended, then you can compassionately cut her some slack in your response to her outburst. If you find yourself unable to, and wanting to retaliate, those feelings are inside of you, and if that's the case, it's because your own attention is caught up inside you, unable to encompass her as well, and your first responsibility is to work with those feelings, rather than with her. See?
And that's what spiritual growth and enlightenment boil down to. Continually working on the feelings and accompanying beliefs that trap our attention inside us, and gradually expanding our attention, as it becomes freed, to include more and more of the world around us, to which we then have the ability to respond.
The ultimate reality to achieve would be an awareness that is so expanded that there is noone and nothing it doesn't include. Such is the awareness of the Divine. And yet, do we see evidence that this divine awareness responds to us in the ways we usually assign to responsibility? Does it act on our behalf as another human would? Does it act at all?
My own experience with this suggests that awareness itself is the highest form of action, but involves doing nothing. An example of this principle:
I'm sitting with a friend at work, and he's telling me about a problem in a relationship. As he talks, part of me is becoming aware of what he's describing from a more expansive point of view. As a result, I'm beginning to see what it is he needs to see in order to arrive at some resolution. I notice that I'm beginning to put this in words in my mind, so that I can speak them. I also notice that, when I do this, I lose touch with his awareness and what it's conveying. I also realize that if I speak what it is I'm seeing, he will also lose touch with what he's concerned about. His attention will shift to me - outside of him - and away from the issue. He may even resist my words for that very reason: despite any wisdom they might contain, my words will shift him out of his center, and preclude the possibility that he can arrive at the solution from within, and wouldn't that be preferable, and increase the likelihood that he would be willing to hear the truth?
So I abandon the desire to speak, to be wise, to be recognised and appreciated. I abandon putting what I am seeing into words. I rejoin him in the middle of his perspective, and resume my expanded awareness of his situation, in a wordless awareness. As a result, I begin to feel that his attention is following mine, moving into the expanded perspective in which the solution is obvious.
The next thing I know, he is verbalizing, from within, the exact words I had been about to say to him. It was a most edifying and uplifting experience.
A similar thing has happened too many times for me to count. I will be aware that the room is too hot, or the sound is too loud. Rather than say or do anything, I will simply be aware. Then someone else will turn down the A/C or the music.
What if divine awareness operates in this way - knowing all that is felt and desired by everyone, and being able to respond, not through direct action, but by raising our awarenesss to the level where the resolution is obvious, or by causing the universe at large to address our needs?
I once had a vision which suggested that if humans could tithe, not 10% of their money, but 10% of the attention they normally use to create division (we each live in our own separate dwelling that requires our own separate source of power to maintain our own separate environment, etc., etc. - and almost 100% of our attention is spent in the process of creating and maintaining this separation) - if we took 10% of that attention and united it in creative desire, the atmosphere of the planet itself might just respond to the degree that we wouldn't need our separate dwellings. The weather would be that perfect. There are legends that suggest that the planet was once like this.
Okay, I know I've gone a little far afield here, but the power of attention vs action, as illustrated by my talk with my friend, is unquestionable to me, and I honestly think that power is much more unlimited than we believe.
This isn't suggesting that we shouldn't act, any more than we shouldn't eat. But fasting has its value, as well. Food and acting are for the body. Fasting and being more expansively aware are for the spirit.
Friday, March 12, 2004
Friday, November 21, 2003
One's true religion is the sum of all the behaviors they perform 'religiously',
regardless of what they profess to believe, or the arguments with which
they defend those beliefs.
Simply put, actions speak louder than words, and what we claim to believe
is often different than the beliefs belied by how we actually live. This, in
conjunction with the other constant dynamic in human relations, would
seem to be the source of all religious disagreements.
The other dynamic is that it's always easier to criticize and attempt to
change another than it is to take responsibility for critically observing
and changing ourselves - or so we'd prefer to believe, but let's explore
whether this is really true.
What if the true goal of spirituality was not to acquire the greatest
number of converts and 'win' the human race, but to achieve personal
peace of mind - enlightenment.
There are numerous indications that such a "peace that passeth
understanding" is simply incapable of being disturbed by the illusory
disagreements based on transitory beliefs of those who have yet to
realize such a profound peace.
There are plentiful suggestions that such a peace is based on an
experience so fulfilling that it is literally "beyond belief(s)", or anything
which can be expressed in words, and creates within the experiencer a
reluctance to engage in the folly of either words or beliefs, which, by
the nature of the duality they arise from and convey, detract from the
fulfillment inherent in the experience of that peace.
What if we truly understood that all the energy we expend on the effort
to change others was robbing us of the energy to change ourselves
in the process of realizing this ultimate peace?
Given this perspective, one might wonder if the things we most
passionately urge another to hear are the efforts of our own highest
nature to have us hear those very things, and apply them in our own
lives, toward the end of moving into a state of peace which surpasses
the need to change others, yet gives us the actual power to do so
just by being.
Perhaps the reason 'God', Itself, seems to exert so little effort to change
the follies of Man is because 'God' is that fulfilling, powerful peace,
and is calmly awaiting our arrival at Its doorstep, knowing we can't
fail to do so...eventually...since we are, at heart, of the same nature.
regardless of what they profess to believe, or the arguments with which
they defend those beliefs.
Simply put, actions speak louder than words, and what we claim to believe
is often different than the beliefs belied by how we actually live. This, in
conjunction with the other constant dynamic in human relations, would
seem to be the source of all religious disagreements.
The other dynamic is that it's always easier to criticize and attempt to
change another than it is to take responsibility for critically observing
and changing ourselves - or so we'd prefer to believe, but let's explore
whether this is really true.
What if the true goal of spirituality was not to acquire the greatest
number of converts and 'win' the human race, but to achieve personal
peace of mind - enlightenment.
There are numerous indications that such a "peace that passeth
understanding" is simply incapable of being disturbed by the illusory
disagreements based on transitory beliefs of those who have yet to
realize such a profound peace.
There are plentiful suggestions that such a peace is based on an
experience so fulfilling that it is literally "beyond belief(s)", or anything
which can be expressed in words, and creates within the experiencer a
reluctance to engage in the folly of either words or beliefs, which, by
the nature of the duality they arise from and convey, detract from the
fulfillment inherent in the experience of that peace.
What if we truly understood that all the energy we expend on the effort
to change others was robbing us of the energy to change ourselves
in the process of realizing this ultimate peace?
Given this perspective, one might wonder if the things we most
passionately urge another to hear are the efforts of our own highest
nature to have us hear those very things, and apply them in our own
lives, toward the end of moving into a state of peace which surpasses
the need to change others, yet gives us the actual power to do so
just by being.
Perhaps the reason 'God', Itself, seems to exert so little effort to change
the follies of Man is because 'God' is that fulfilling, powerful peace,
and is calmly awaiting our arrival at Its doorstep, knowing we can't
fail to do so...eventually...since we are, at heart, of the same nature.
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
I am male, yet I am not male -
I am not male as opposed to female.
I am a lover; I encompass both in my lovingness.
I am white, yet I am not white -
I am not white as opposed to black.
I am human; I encompass both in my humanity.
I am Christian, yet I am not Christian -
I am not Christian as opposed to Buddhist.
I am spiritual; I encompass both in my spirituality.
I am human, yet I am not human.
I am not human as opposed to divine.
I am (w)holy complete; I encompass both in my totality.
©1989 John Everest
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Sunday, June 01, 2003
BUSH
To THINK that I should find my tush
amidst the poem they call a bush.
A poem with branches stiff, unbending...
Poking, prodding my rear-ending.
A bush with thorns that tear and rend
The glutei of my back end.
A bush that makes arising painful,
and makes passers-by disdainful,
Lest, in helping me (to free me)
They, in turn, will look to be me.
Falls can come from those who push,
But pain comes from the g*****n bush!
To THINK that I should find my tush
amidst the poem they call a bush.
A poem with branches stiff, unbending...
Poking, prodding my rear-ending.
A bush with thorns that tear and rend
The glutei of my back end.
A bush that makes arising painful,
and makes passers-by disdainful,
Lest, in helping me (to free me)
They, in turn, will look to be me.
Falls can come from those who push,
But pain comes from the g*****n bush!
Saturday, May 31, 2003
Spiritual Peace
Actually, you already live in the midst of it, and it lives in the midst of you...
Intellectually, you can understand it this way:
Imagine the silence that exists in the furthest reaches of deep space...
like space itself, it is empty...there is no content, no sound...
no medium or atmosphere, for that matter, in which sound can travel...
Now imagine traveling toward the earth and entering the earth's
atmosphere...the silence of deep space still exists, but if you
say your name, you can hear it now, since the atmosphere
allows sound to travel from your mouth to your ear....
Silently, you continue, moving closer to the earth...
you can hear airplanes now, and closer still, you hear birds...
as you approach a city, you can hear traffic, sirens, etc...
Finally you come to rest in the middle of a sports
stadium filled with cheering people, and the noise is constant...
Then you realize that you are still sitting in the middle of
the same space through which you just traveled,
where there is endless and eternal silence.
It is just that your current space has been filled with
the earth, the people, and the sounds of the game and the crowd...
Take all that away, and the space and its native silence still exist...
You have been taught to pay attention to the sounds, the light,
and the physical objects...taught that these are the things of value and
significance....
But you can train yourself to pay attention to the native attributes of
space - the darkness, the silence and the space...
To appreciate the pauses between musical notes and the spoken
words of speech...between your thoughts, your breaths, your
heartbeats...
To appreciate the vast and silent emptiness which exists constantly
around you, no matter what content occupies or passes through it
in any given moment, attempting to distract you from it and the
infinite, fulfilling peace it represents...
Your mind is just like outer space, in which are endless constellations
of heavenly bodies, and innumerable objects like our planet...
And, as with the physical universe, you have been taught that the
contents of your mind-space are what matter...thus depriving
yourself of the nurturing fulfillment of the infinite emptiness of
the womb from which you were born....and to which you will,
inevitably, return....
Losing your attachment to the meaningless contents of the
mind and losing yourself in the infinite creative emptiness,
which alone can restore and renew you, is the necessary
surrender which gives rebirth, and comes either at death,
when we no longer have the strength to fight the force of
the attraction we have resisted all our lives
(which resistance has led to our weakness and death),
or through conscious trust and surrender in the act of meditation.
It took you years, from the moment you first opened
your eyes on this planet, to be taught the value of the
words and ideas you use, and the things you own
and seek after...
It will take more than a moment of opening your
heart to the empty silence before you appreciate
its mysteries...
Don't 'look' - you don't know what to look for....
Stop 'looking' and 'seeking' and simply
open your eyes in the dark...
open your heart in the silence...
Be willing to take your time,
or, better, give it...
It's the only thing you have to trade....
Actually, you already live in the midst of it, and it lives in the midst of you...
Intellectually, you can understand it this way:
Imagine the silence that exists in the furthest reaches of deep space...
like space itself, it is empty...there is no content, no sound...
no medium or atmosphere, for that matter, in which sound can travel...
Now imagine traveling toward the earth and entering the earth's
atmosphere...the silence of deep space still exists, but if you
say your name, you can hear it now, since the atmosphere
allows sound to travel from your mouth to your ear....
Silently, you continue, moving closer to the earth...
you can hear airplanes now, and closer still, you hear birds...
as you approach a city, you can hear traffic, sirens, etc...
Finally you come to rest in the middle of a sports
stadium filled with cheering people, and the noise is constant...
Then you realize that you are still sitting in the middle of
the same space through which you just traveled,
where there is endless and eternal silence.
It is just that your current space has been filled with
the earth, the people, and the sounds of the game and the crowd...
Take all that away, and the space and its native silence still exist...
You have been taught to pay attention to the sounds, the light,
and the physical objects...taught that these are the things of value and
significance....
But you can train yourself to pay attention to the native attributes of
space - the darkness, the silence and the space...
To appreciate the pauses between musical notes and the spoken
words of speech...between your thoughts, your breaths, your
heartbeats...
To appreciate the vast and silent emptiness which exists constantly
around you, no matter what content occupies or passes through it
in any given moment, attempting to distract you from it and the
infinite, fulfilling peace it represents...
Your mind is just like outer space, in which are endless constellations
of heavenly bodies, and innumerable objects like our planet...
And, as with the physical universe, you have been taught that the
contents of your mind-space are what matter...thus depriving
yourself of the nurturing fulfillment of the infinite emptiness of
the womb from which you were born....and to which you will,
inevitably, return....
Losing your attachment to the meaningless contents of the
mind and losing yourself in the infinite creative emptiness,
which alone can restore and renew you, is the necessary
surrender which gives rebirth, and comes either at death,
when we no longer have the strength to fight the force of
the attraction we have resisted all our lives
(which resistance has led to our weakness and death),
or through conscious trust and surrender in the act of meditation.
It took you years, from the moment you first opened
your eyes on this planet, to be taught the value of the
words and ideas you use, and the things you own
and seek after...
It will take more than a moment of opening your
heart to the empty silence before you appreciate
its mysteries...
Don't 'look' - you don't know what to look for....
Stop 'looking' and 'seeking' and simply
open your eyes in the dark...
open your heart in the silence...
Be willing to take your time,
or, better, give it...
It's the only thing you have to trade....
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
Sunday, May 18, 2003
Google has continued to become such a hot provider that, according to
OneStat.com, "Google has a global average usage share of 55.2 percent
during the last 2 months".
Additionally, Google just removed from 'beta' status a question-answering service
called Google Answers, which allows you to post a question, set a price, and get an answer from any of the 500 or so approved researchers who have been
screened by the Google Answers Editors. You can learn more about the researchers behind the service at Google Blogoscoped, a blog which publishes interviews with the researchers, as well as useful information about the world according to Google, and tips & tricks for using the search engine.
OneStat.com, "Google has a global average usage share of 55.2 percent
during the last 2 months".
Additionally, Google just removed from 'beta' status a question-answering service
called Google Answers, which allows you to post a question, set a price, and get an answer from any of the 500 or so approved researchers who have been
screened by the Google Answers Editors. You can learn more about the researchers behind the service at Google Blogoscoped, a blog which publishes interviews with the researchers, as well as useful information about the world according to Google, and tips & tricks for using the search engine.
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
The following letter was written by Clarissa Pinkola Estes to a young activist.
As you may know, Ms. Estes is a psychoanalyst and author of "Women Who Run with Wolves". She has served as a post-trauma specialist at Columbine High School since the massacre in 1999 and is a Board member of the Writers' Guild in New York.
Letter To A Young Activist During Troubled Times from Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Mis estimados:
Do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world right now. It is true, one has to have strong cojones and ovarios to withstand much of what passes for "good" in our culture today.
Abject disregard of what the soul finds most precious and irreplaceable and the corruption of principled ideals have become, in some large societal arenas, "the new normal," the grotesquerie of the week. It is hard to say which one of the current egregious matters has rocked people's worlds and beliefs more.
Ours is a time of almost daily jaw-dropping astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.
You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking.
Yet ... I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is - we were made for these times.
Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement. I cannot tell you often enough that we are definitely the leaders we have been waiting for, and that we have been raised since childhood for this time precisely. ...I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see
one.
Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able crafts in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the history of humankind.
I would like to take your hands for a moment and assure you that you are built well for these times. Despite your stints of doubt, your frustrations in arighting all that needs change right now, or even feeling you have lost the map entirely, you are not without resource, you are not alone.
Look out over the prow; there are millions of boats of righteous souls on the waters with you. In your deepest bones, you have always known this is so. Even though your veneers may shiver from every wave in this stormy roil, I assure you that the long timbers composing your prow and rudder come from a greater forest. That long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold its own, and to advance, regardless. ...We have been in training for a dark time such as this, since the day we assented to come to Earth.
For many decades, worldwide, souls just like us have been felled and left for dead in so many ways over and over - brought down by naiveté, by lack of love, by suddenly realizing one deadly thing or another, by not realizing something else soon enough, by being ambushed and assaulted by various cultural and personal shocks in the extreme. We have a history of being gutted, and yet remember this especially ... we have also, of necessity, perfected the knack of resurrection.
Over and over again we have been the living proof that that which has been exiled, lost, or foundered - can be restored to life again. This is as true and sturdy a prognosis for the destroyed worlds around us as it was for our own once mortally wounded selves. ...Though we are not invulnerable, our risibility supports us to laugh in the face of cynics who say "fat chance," and "management before mercy," and other evidences of complete absence of soul sense. This, and our having been to Hell and back on at least one momentous occasion, makes us seasoned vessels for certain.
Even if you do not feel that you are, you are. Even if your puny little ego wants to contest the enormity of your soul, that smaller self can never for long subordinate the larger Self. In matters of death and rebirth, you have surpassed the benchmarks many times. Believe the evidence of any one of your past testings and trials.
Here it is: Are you still standing? The answer is, Yes! (And no adverbs like "barely" are allowed here). If you are still standing, ragged flags or no, you are able. Thus, you have passed the bar. And even raised it. You are seaworthy.
...In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that. Do not make yourself ill with overwhelm. There is a tendency too to fall into being weakened by perseverating on what is outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That is spending the wind without raising the sails.
We are needed, that is all we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they appear.
Didn't you say you were a believer? Didn't you say you pledged to listen to a voice greater? Didn't you ask for grace? Don't you remember that to be in grace means to submit to the voice greater? You have all the resource you need to ride any wave, to surface from any trough. ...In the language of aviators and sailors, ours is to sail forward now, all balls out.
Understand the paradox: If you study the physics of a waterspout, you will see that the outer vortex whirls far more quickly than the inner one. To calm the storm means to quiet the outer layer, to cause it, by whatever countervailing means, to swirl much less, to more evenly match the velocity of the inner, far less volatile core - till whatever has been lifted into such a vicious funnel falls back to Earth, lays down, is peaceable again.
One of the most important steps you can take to help calm the storm is to not allow yourself to be taken in a flurry of overwrought emotion or despair - thereby accidentally contributing to the swale and the swirl. Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely.
It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts - adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take "everyone on Earth" to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.
...One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires ... causes proper matters to catch fire.
To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these - to be fierce and to show mercy toward others, both - are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do.
...There will always be times in the midst of "success right around the corner, but as yet still unseen" when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate.
The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours: They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here.
In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But ... that is not what great ships are built for. ...This comes with much love and prayer that you remember who you came from, and why you came to this beautiful, needful Earth.
©2003 C.P. Estes, All rights reserved. Permissions Department
As you may know, Ms. Estes is a psychoanalyst and author of "Women Who Run with Wolves". She has served as a post-trauma specialist at Columbine High School since the massacre in 1999 and is a Board member of the Writers' Guild in New York.
Letter To A Young Activist During Troubled Times from Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Mis estimados:
Do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world right now. It is true, one has to have strong cojones and ovarios to withstand much of what passes for "good" in our culture today.
Abject disregard of what the soul finds most precious and irreplaceable and the corruption of principled ideals have become, in some large societal arenas, "the new normal," the grotesquerie of the week. It is hard to say which one of the current egregious matters has rocked people's worlds and beliefs more.
Ours is a time of almost daily jaw-dropping astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.
You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking.
Yet ... I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is - we were made for these times.
Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement. I cannot tell you often enough that we are definitely the leaders we have been waiting for, and that we have been raised since childhood for this time precisely. ...I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see
one.
Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able crafts in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the history of humankind.
I would like to take your hands for a moment and assure you that you are built well for these times. Despite your stints of doubt, your frustrations in arighting all that needs change right now, or even feeling you have lost the map entirely, you are not without resource, you are not alone.
Look out over the prow; there are millions of boats of righteous souls on the waters with you. In your deepest bones, you have always known this is so. Even though your veneers may shiver from every wave in this stormy roil, I assure you that the long timbers composing your prow and rudder come from a greater forest. That long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold its own, and to advance, regardless. ...We have been in training for a dark time such as this, since the day we assented to come to Earth.
For many decades, worldwide, souls just like us have been felled and left for dead in so many ways over and over - brought down by naiveté, by lack of love, by suddenly realizing one deadly thing or another, by not realizing something else soon enough, by being ambushed and assaulted by various cultural and personal shocks in the extreme. We have a history of being gutted, and yet remember this especially ... we have also, of necessity, perfected the knack of resurrection.
Over and over again we have been the living proof that that which has been exiled, lost, or foundered - can be restored to life again. This is as true and sturdy a prognosis for the destroyed worlds around us as it was for our own once mortally wounded selves. ...Though we are not invulnerable, our risibility supports us to laugh in the face of cynics who say "fat chance," and "management before mercy," and other evidences of complete absence of soul sense. This, and our having been to Hell and back on at least one momentous occasion, makes us seasoned vessels for certain.
Even if you do not feel that you are, you are. Even if your puny little ego wants to contest the enormity of your soul, that smaller self can never for long subordinate the larger Self. In matters of death and rebirth, you have surpassed the benchmarks many times. Believe the evidence of any one of your past testings and trials.
Here it is: Are you still standing? The answer is, Yes! (And no adverbs like "barely" are allowed here). If you are still standing, ragged flags or no, you are able. Thus, you have passed the bar. And even raised it. You are seaworthy.
...In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that. Do not make yourself ill with overwhelm. There is a tendency too to fall into being weakened by perseverating on what is outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That is spending the wind without raising the sails.
We are needed, that is all we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they appear.
Didn't you say you were a believer? Didn't you say you pledged to listen to a voice greater? Didn't you ask for grace? Don't you remember that to be in grace means to submit to the voice greater? You have all the resource you need to ride any wave, to surface from any trough. ...In the language of aviators and sailors, ours is to sail forward now, all balls out.
Understand the paradox: If you study the physics of a waterspout, you will see that the outer vortex whirls far more quickly than the inner one. To calm the storm means to quiet the outer layer, to cause it, by whatever countervailing means, to swirl much less, to more evenly match the velocity of the inner, far less volatile core - till whatever has been lifted into such a vicious funnel falls back to Earth, lays down, is peaceable again.
One of the most important steps you can take to help calm the storm is to not allow yourself to be taken in a flurry of overwrought emotion or despair - thereby accidentally contributing to the swale and the swirl. Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely.
It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts - adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take "everyone on Earth" to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.
...One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires ... causes proper matters to catch fire.
To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these - to be fierce and to show mercy toward others, both - are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do.
...There will always be times in the midst of "success right around the corner, but as yet still unseen" when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate.
The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours: They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here.
In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But ... that is not what great ships are built for. ...This comes with much love and prayer that you remember who you came from, and why you came to this beautiful, needful Earth.
©2003 C.P. Estes, All rights reserved. Permissions Department
Thursday, March 20, 2003
Here's a link to an article by Jay Bookman, the deputy editorial page editor of
The AtlantaJournal-Constitution, dated 9/29/2002, which may help clarify why
George Dubya is so willing to ignore the negative public opinion he's been
getting in regard to his invasion of Iraq. It expounds on Bookman's perception of
The president's real goal in Iraq.
The AtlantaJournal-Constitution, dated 9/29/2002, which may help clarify why
George Dubya is so willing to ignore the negative public opinion he's been
getting in regard to his invasion of Iraq. It expounds on Bookman's perception of
The president's real goal in Iraq.
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