Road to Nowhere - A Lakota Teaching

1972, the following are the words of Lakota prophet John Fire Lame Deer published in the book Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions.

"Only human beings have come to a point where they no longer know why they exist. They don't use their brains, and they have forgotten the secret knowledge of their bodies, their senses, or their dreams. They don't use the knowledge the spirit has put into every one of them; they are not even aware of this, and so they stumble along blindly on the road to nowhere -- a paved highway which they themselves bulldoze and make smooth so that they can get faster to the big empty hole which they'll find at the end, waiting to swallow them up. It's a quick, comfortable superhighway, but I know where it leads to. I've seen it. I've been there in my vision, and it makes me shudder to think about it."

(Quote contributed by Marianne Henry.)

Understanding the Possibility

More than this, I cannot say today! :)

from Ram Dass

Wisdom & Healing

Sense of Wonder

There's a sense of wonder within us. When we're children the world is full of wonder – everything looks new – permeated with deep feelings of wonder and awe. The sense of pure existence is all pervasive and natural; but, we age and get focused on “things” forgetting being. Our work is to recover that. 

Here We Are

From Baba Ram Dass's now classic book: BE HERE NOW.

Today is Wednesday

Politics

My To-do List

Closeness of God

The word "God" is loaded with all kinds of meanings. We can speak of God in many ways - and all of them would be right and also wrong from one perspective or another. To me, God is a word for Ultimate Reality - a cosmic sense of Presence within and all around. On a small 3x5 card a few months ago, I wrote the following: 

God gets

as close

as we

allow Him

It's that simple. And, that difficult! I urge people to surrender to the mystical and the unknown. We can't ever get to the "bottom" of reality. It's awesome, is it not? 

My religion is love

My grandson asked, "Grandpa, what is your religion?" Thinking deeply, deciding to be honest, I said, "My religion is love.”

My grandson asked, "Grandpa, what is your religion?" Thinking deeply, deciding to be honest, I said, "My religion is love; which is what great religions teach -- love." Then he said, "So which one is your religion?". Out of my mouth (and heart) came, "All of them, if they are about love." I also wanted to say that the great sages are humbled by the encounter with the mystery, the truth of that which cannot be spoken, of that union with the spirit known directly, while indescribable. That was too much to say; it says nothing anyway! Grandson wanted me to pick one religion, just like buying a car or computer; but, that’s not my way. For thirty years, I studied, digested, and internalized many religions; finding all leading to the same place inside myself. That is my particular spiritual non-religious perspective on religion. Spirituality is very inner, very personal -- but as we share our spiritual lives we build common languages with terms, texts, rituals, and symbols which become religions. Religions naturally happen everywhere; they are spiritual support groups.

The seeds of great religions are the cosmic-divine insights of great souls in all places and circumstances. These insights are life changing. Someone asks, "Master, what did you learn? How did you become like this?" Teachings are passed by words and deeds which are recorded in many ways. Spiritual insights become religions over time.

[bdhg]

Being Real

Time to write something off the top of my head in this Philosopher-at-Large Blog. Good to be "more real". So much of what we "express" is highly edited. There's a place for the spontaneous. Be more here-now, not so "self correcting". No longer in school with teachers grading us.  It's more vitalizing. Being real to our true self.

P.S. Okay, I did edit. Just a little.