Listen Deeply

Listen ever so deeply with your whole being. Anything less is a waste of time. But don't listen to me. Listen to what's inside you. You and I are constantly constructing a sense of the world. It's quite possible that what is called "one's world" is not that same as reality. So look deeply. Perhaps, you (and I) can get a glimpse of what's real beyond "my world" or even "our world". That would be true science, true wisdom. 

∆

Political Chaos

Consciousness and human unity

For decades, I've shared the dream of human unity with my friend Eugene Haggerty who traveled the world signing up public leaders and common folk to the reality of our true human unity beyond all differences. It's imperative that fundamental human unity becomes a universal cultural and personal norm. It's the positive constructive nonviolent bases for optimum life survival and flourishing on earth. How can this happen? Turn your attention back on your own consciousness; you will eventually realize that everyone else's consciousness is like yours. States of mind, states of life all differ; yet, we share a common field of consciousness. This is "seeing the lamp and not the lampshade." In fact, you and I participate in the same human reality even though we have different bodies and circumstances. This is the essence of the golden rules expounded by all the world's great traditions.

Torrent of Time

TIME IS LIKE a torrent of water rushing through our lives. Time cannot be stopped - and life cannot be separated from time until there is deep transcendence of all the cares and concerns of daily life. Few ever learn to live with abandon without attachment - at peace with the passing parade of phenomena. Yet, yet, and yet again - there's something within us that does not change. Something unchanged since our first awareness of being here in our lives. ∆

Purification of Consciousness

During forty seven years of life, I've practiced meditation and purification of consciousness. It's the most difficult and rewarding of tasks. Purification of consciousness is attained by uncovering the innate stillness and peace of mind -available via simple frequent moments of meditation during the minutes, hours and days of our lives. Take time today to stop the busy mind - thereby uncovering the peace and joy already within yourself. 

Playing with Oneness (more Sunday morning meditation) Written by Diane 2012

 I.

All is one

and One is all;

Not for a ball-team,

But a ball!

Fun is what you make of it;

Bliss is even better.

As one in All,

      all is One.

      Oh what fun!

      (happiness in the sun).

II.

The laughter and the tears

Melt into the years

And become

     One.

III.

The Oneness-of-all-things

is no less

than more

(more-or-less)

and no more

than one

is All.

IV.

“Playing with the One,

       no less!”, says Americ,

              my loved-one.

                         Diane (July 2012)

New World

Feel the wind in your hair.

Smell the salt of the sea.

Hear the lapping of waves on the hull.

Watch the new shapes emerge on the horizon.

Taste the freedom of moving forward.

Beautiful future lies ahead. 

Just Be

It's been said that: This is the best of all possible worlds! Why? A non-existent possible world is just a dream, an illusion. My self and your self are both "self" seen from different directions. Parmenides, the Presocratic philosopher, showed us that whatever is just is - and cannot not be. Can't be anything but what it is. BEING IS unchanging, eternal. So relax. Just be.

Universe Speaking

The Universe is always

speaking to us

from the scintillating stars

to the heartbeat

in our chests. 

Ocean of Life

Sometimes I feel the ocean of life

Kicked around by waves of feeling and thought 

Such moments seem endless

Reality sets in - endless moments abruptly end 

There we sat, stun surprised

Without Beginning or End

WITHOUT BEGINNING OR END

Chuang Tzu

The Way is without beginning or end      

All things have their life and death          

Hence, you cannot rely upon them for fulfillment

One moment is empty

The next moment full    

Hence, you cannot depend upon their form         

The years cannot be restrained  

Time cannot be stopped            

Decay

Growth

Fullness

Emptiness        

All end and then begin again

This is the understanding of the Great Meaning
And the principles of The Ten Thousand Strings

 

Happy birthday, Americ!!

We all love and miss you. Dont worry, you’ll always be alive in our hearts and minds. 

“When the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me. Shine until tomorrow. Let it be.” 

Settling Down

Settling down is the great work of giving life meaning. It's also the great work of getting up in the morning and clearing the mind for the day's work. In my case it is writing these notes and publishing a blog entry. Humble but meaningful to my soul. I live in the way that I must - so as to be real to the self. What else can I do? 

Beyond philosophy

A lover of wisdom may speak of wisdom all day long, yet not live that wisdom. Someone who possesses wisdom may say nothing wise at all. As a graduate student in philosophy, I became frustrated with philosophy itself. I saw academic philosophy as a craft without real answers to my deepest concerns. T. S. Elliot’s lines from “The Rock” moved my soul: 

The endless cycle of idea and action,

Endless invention, endless experiment,

Brings knowledge of motion, but not stillness;

Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;

Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.

…

Where is the Life we have lost in living?

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?

Where is the knowledge we have lost information?

Shortly afterwards, Chögyam Trungpa showed up as a classroom guest speaker. He wore a blazer and turtle neck shirt, holding a can of Coca-Cola in his hand – not my image of an Eastern guru or yogi. He spoke directly and spontaneously. It took many years to realize that his presence was the teaching more than his words. Now, I don’t remember the words, but the presence remains. I look, and feel, for that same presence in others and within myself. I stopped  philosophizing, and started to prepare for wisdom by meditating. That was the beginning of a very long journey.

Time is a Construct

Time is not real

it is a construct 

a framework

used to measure

movement and change

We are free to change 

our relationship to time 

moment to moment

Professor Americ Azevedo's Last Class at UC Berkeley

The photos are blurry but I felt it was important to represent this crucial time in Americ's life.

-Haku

(Written from my handheld.)

Voice & Text

There's a dynamic tension between voice and text. I've been struggling for many years with this. I love to write but also love speaking. People tell me I'm a better speaker then writer. Of course, a voice activated system for writing provides an interesting hybrid! Am I speaking by writing or am I writing by speaking. (I "wrote" this using voice to text technology - but edited it in text.) Thank you dear blog reader for being part of this experiment!

Stages of Life (Americ Recording Sound Cloud)

Dancing Star

“I say unto you: one must still have chaos in oneself 

to be able to give birth to a dancing star. 

I say unto you: you still have chaos in yourselves.” 

-- Friedrich Nietzsche

Chaos is the window of freedom within us. Many will tell you that no freedom is opposable unless your mind is discipled and controlled. Yet, if that was the absolute case, there would be little or no room for surprises. 

A disciplined mind is robotic, like a computer program running its course toward predefined type of solution. The creative genius surprises herself by creating the unexpected as they go along. They don’t know where their thoughts and ideas are taking them. 

 

Becoming Free

Attain complete emptiness,

Hold fast to stillness. 

Tao Te Ching, #16

When I was young, I dreamed about becoming enlightened, liberated, like Buddha. It seemed that if I “worked hard enough” I would become free. But it was not clear what one would “become free of”. So there was a deep problem. Perhaps, doing more meditation, or living through all the binding non-liberating possibilities, or finding the right teacher, or reading the right book – something would liberate me, then I would be happy and not suffer at all.

The years passed, it become apparent that becoming enlightened is not an event. Some people have spontaneous enlightenment experiences, glimpses that soon fade away. Enlightenment is not an experience. Call it wisdom. Not the wisdom found in books; but, a wisdom that slowly grows within the heart-mind until one day we awaken to a new way of being, living. We discover we where already free – but did not know it!

THE RIVER RUSHES

The river rushes,
The last rains of spring.

A rose bud in my hand
Opens;
Its petals fall to the ground.

This Moment—
A clod of earth
Between my fingers,
Crumbling to dust.

I brush it off,
And reach out
For the next touch.

Springtime
To summer sunlight.

I am that Light;
And I am the dust
Returning to the Earth.

                         Diane Shavelson (~1999)

Fields of dreams

Our lives are like fields of dreams within a luminous empty screen of pure consciousness. Within those dreams come a few thoughts, insights, and realities that are eternal – that are not dreams. Such thoughts are true comfort and wisdom within the uncertainties of life.

Basic Reality

Basic reality cannot be realized by  
words, thoughts or pictures 

The Ultimate cannot be realized by 
words, thoughts, or pictures 
Un-expressible it is  

Beyond knowledge it is 
Go toward stillness until arriving 
at peace beyond understanding 

There within nowhere 
the you that is you just is   

Presencing

Engaged in endless desires 

mind darting place to place
forgetful of true deep nature
looking for jewels of enjoyment
within illusions and flickering desires
water passing through our fingers 

Living is showing up for our own lives. No one else can do it for you! Where would you “be” if you don’t know you’re here?  “Presencing[1]” is the process of coming to full presence. Real presence is quiet and still.

An old friend asked, "What happens after you die?" Without thought, I said, "Nothing". They looked stunned.  Either way it is nothing. If you really don't die – nothing changed. You die – nothing changed. Consider this deeply.

It is not so much about being alive or dead; it’s being awake to this moment that is life. The intensity of wakefulness is how alive you are. Good sleep, paradoxically, is a sound basis for stable wakefulness. Waking up requires going to sleep. Remember to exercise, eat good food and keep good company. Attend to the general environment all around – the air, the ambient sounds, the tone of the times, and so forth. That means to adjust your distance closer or further away as needed.  Enhance your inner resolve to be alive, to be awake.

Modern civilization’s great “dis-ease” is intentional distraction. Our everyday world is built on distractions. Technology, new products, advertising, sales people – all of them want our attention – their livelihoods depend on your attention

Your real livelihood is your real life which depends on bringing your attention back to the present here and now. Every morning, our place on earth turns toward our local star – the sun. And, we, over and over, need to turn toward the life experienced – this very present, ever present moment here and now. This is active intention called “presencing”. 

Feel with the whole being, be present to the rich textures of body, mind, and heart! Face life. Live life. Live today.

---

[1] The word “presencing” was introduced to me by Frederika Kreitzer, who was a graduating Philosophy student at UC Berkeley. Thereby turning the noun (present), into a process, a verb (presencing).

Fabric of the Universe

Modern quantum physics suggests that 
uncertainty is woven into 
the fabric of the universe. 
Each of us reflects the 
wholeness of all that is. 
Can't be certain 
we'll be here tomorrow.  
Statistically, chances are good 
for being correct when saying, 
"See you tomorrow morning." 
That's not absolutely determined. 
So be humble. 
Nothing is certain - 
not even death and taxes.

Sonnet

Putting all your love into something leaves you empty; expecting love to be returned so as to fill the void which has been created. 

Love everything to the fullest extent.

Just don't forget to direct that love inward too. 

You can't give what you don't have.

Love yourself.

This is how you can love others.

Philosophy in My Life

In my last year at the University of California at Irvine, I switched majors from biology to philosophy. Friends asked me, "What good is philosophy?" What they really meant was, "Can you make any money at it?"

I knew people with lots of money, but little meaning in their lives. They seemed to be lost in games and pastimes. They worked without questioning the purpose or value of their work. I was interested in meaning, not money, but the people around me didn't share my feeling. Most of them believed that only money was real.

In my search for meaning, I first turned to the study of logic, mathematics, and science. In my teenage years I encountered logical positivism. Logical positivism was an early 20th Century school of philosophy that claimed all the grand questions of traditional philosophy were meaningless. Questions like "What is the meaning of life?" or "Is there a God?" were meaningless, logical positivists asserted, because the answers cannot be verified. But questions like "Does the moon have an opposite side?" are meaningful because we can construct tests to prove or disprove any answer. We can build a rocket to the moon. But how can we verify the meaning of life, or the existence of God? The logical positivists saw no true/false test for these matters.

Of course, just because we can't prove or disprove God's existence doesn't mean He doesn't exist! Logical positivism lost its hold on me while I was a graduate student at San Francisco State University in 1970. I was moving toward 'meaningless' questions like: Why is there something rather than nothing? What is the purpose of life? Why is there evil in the world? Then I discovered Buddhism and other ancient spiritual traditions that addressed such questions. I was beginning to find real philosophy.

Philosophy is not a word game. It is, as Plato explained, the "love of wisdom". Few students get to study real philosophy at college. Philosophizing is an extraordinary act. It requires re-thinking issues at the most fundamental level -- right down to questions of being. One winds up asking simple-sounding, childlike questions like "What is real?"

The world is adrift, without meaning. That is why so many become victims of political ideologies and extreme religious viewpoints that offer a sense of meaning at the expense of compassion, truth, and justice.

All the really amazing jobs I've held came from my grounding in philosophy. I became a computer programmer because my boss assumed that philosophy made one logical. I got promotions to higher levels of responsibility because I saw the "big picture" in the organizations I worked for. One day I found myself the acting CEO of several small technology companies in trouble. Why? Because my philosophical perspective gave me a high tolerance for ambiguity, which allowed me to go into unknown and almost unknowable situations again and again. So yes -- philosophy can help you make money. But meaning, understanding, and wisdom are the real payoffs.

Hippie Days

"That was a long time ago", Americ

So Many Years

Coming of old age is easy - it just happens. Difficult are the goodbyes coming one upon another with accelerating velocity - demanding new levels of self mastery. 

Roots of the Golden Rules

The world's religions are rooted in experiences of cosmic consciousness. Often these experiences came after long periods of isolation and fasting. By looking at this common root, we can come to greater understanding of the unity within the diversity of religions.

All Life is Meditation

A lightly guided meditation for your day.

Breath of Life

A long time ago, I killed a mouse in the kitchen by dropping it into a bucket of water. Thinking that would drown him. But it kept swimming back up to the surface. The mouse eventually drowned. At the moment of death a white mist came out of its mouth into the water. That was the mouse’s last breath - as if “seeing” his life spirit leave the body. One of the most memorable experiences in my life. 

Quiet Morning

Recording quality is low, but the message is important.