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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. 

Next Evolution

no wonder

I Am feeling Love for the first time in my life

i feel i can barely handle it

I think no wonder i was addicted to depression

no wonder i was obsessed with the suffering

my heart

it aches

it longed for this

the mind was confused

self alignment

HERE IT IS

here it always has been

only i have awoken to it

I am awake

my heart

it breaks.

Call to Earth - A Message from the World's Astronauts to COP21

For a better view, go to HERE.

Crust in Peace

"A crust eaten in peace is

better than a banquet partaken

in anxiety."

~ Acsop

Found at Cheese Board Pizzeria, Berkeley, California.

Time, Money, Love, and Good Society - Dialogue Proposal

Eternity Eternity Eternity

                                                                           ~ Sikha

Eternal Life

A look at the real meaning of "eternal life".

Roadblocks

Sometimes nothing works. Stuck in roadblocks and fields of mud. What to do? Sometimes doing nothing is better. Develop patience and true power grows. So wait and wait. True freedom naturally unfolds. 

Aloneness & Oneness

Enter fully into

your aloneness

for a moment,

then you experience

the oneness of all things.

~ Adyashanti ~

Tree of Life

Found this image and quote while scanning the Internet for 

  "tree of life". Attributed to Albert Einstein. Feels true. 

Image within www.treeoflifeintuitive.com/

Resting

Resting in a place most high,
a man or woman may last a thousand years.
Mysterious yet simple.
Breathe, let go.
Allow moments of free falling where we are.
Those moments feed our days with rest.

The Real Work

Walking around, found a 

poem by Wendell Berry 

on a neighborhood bulletin board 

near the sidewalk. 

You see what you focus on

I keep getting this recurring theme showing up in random places. (Reminds me of how people say when they first meet me, they start seeing '11' everywhere.) 

It is a reminder: Whatever YOU are looking for, YOU will find. If you look for misery and suffering, you will find it in abundance. If you focus on beauty and love, you will see it, your heart will finally be still with JOY.

What I am being pointed to now, over and over again (which I've been ignoring for years out of a combination of my own ignorance and stubbornness) is that thinking the same behavior I have been exhibiting will get me a different result. This is just a bad waste of good energy. (Similar to the famous Einstein quote defining insanity: doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.)

If you are suffering, you are a victim of something. We are here to figure out what our story is, then write it ourselves, making the discovery that we have been the author of our stories all along. Whatever was done to us (WHICH MAY HAVE BEEN TERRIBLE, UNFORGIVABLE, PAINFUL BEYOND MEASURE) is over, and if it's not over, most likely YOU are the only one who is perpetuating the suffering. That is it my dear friend. (I speak in regards to the physical and the emotional, because ALL ONE.)

A promise I have made to MYSELF, is to never sink so low again. The underworlds exist, they are dark, you can explore them all you wish (probably not in a safe manner.) Most humans do not allow themselves to feel such extremes, we are fearful. I didn't want to be afraid of the darkness, so I explored it, I sat with it, I worked with it.... but you must know when the time is done. You must realize your own STORY, then put an end to the story of the people or thing(s) that perpetuated your suffering. Past tense.

And in order to fully LET GO, you must realize that there is an end, there CAN be an end to this perspective that you have grown so comfortable in... do you even know you are covered in SHIT?! You must see the end to the darkness you are creating, the all-encompassing SPACE that seems so dark, but once you let go and you are lighter, you can rise to the stars! You SEE the little lights surrounding you in the darkness. Friends who have wanted to love you for years, LOVE that you were not able to ACCEPT let alone even feel even an inch of until NOW.

Start to feel yourSELF. In your BODY. Feeling LOVE, feeling LIGHT. Is it painful? Are you in IT? Are you feeling? Be grateful to be ALIVE. Does it hurt you? The love will hurt at first, the LIGHT will hurt after living in the darkness for many years, or perhaps your whole life. Like Plato's Cave, the Light may blind you... but keep letting go, keep getting LIGHTER, LIGHTER and you will become one. 

REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!

Today

A semi-poetic spoken teaching on the nature of "today".

Check List

I forgot who i was. I dont know how to find myself again. Dont get depressed. Keep going. Learn how to live. Dont stop. Hold onto something. Jump into the tide. Read. Meditate. Learn. You cant go on being someone else. You really cant. Stop pretending and move on. Let them move on too. Let it be. Let them be. Time to be. Be on time. Learn both. Begin again.

Renounce and Enjoy

For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

Matthew 6:21

Many of us suffocate in stuff, spending countless hours sorting out our things. Bankers, economists, and business persons measure goods and services produced rather than joy and happiness. "Goods" replace good. Cars, houses, real estate, bank accounts - measure material self worth, not happiness (which is spiritual).  All too easily we feel something is wrong or missing within us, if we don't have "enough" material goods.

Strange to say, "more is not more". Truth is "less is more" - which means freedom from bondage to stuff. Hard to rid ourselves of things. Pick up anything to get rid of - and it reattaches itself to us as if saying, "You're going to need me again someday!" We may die and others will take, sell or give it all away.

Gandhi was asked to sumarize his philosophy in three words. Gandhi said, "Renounce and enjoy". It's true. Try it.

Setup Time

A master artist spent days setting up canvases and paints in his studio. Then in a few hours, dashed off the painting. Much happened in his mind during days of set up. He was ready. Within a short time, he dashed off the painting. In his conscious and subconscious minds things where coming together. Many phases of our lives are like that: going to school for a degree, finding a life partner, getting a business off the ground, etc. Living often appears to be mostly setup time. Enjoy setup as well as execution and completion. Every step along the way is precious. Therefore, live in full presence of this moment, here and now. This is the way of embodied meditation.

Canopy

It's been so long since I returned home.

I lost myself entirely the past few months. I avoided who I truly was and wandered down a deep path into the dark forest of life. There were rays of light in the forest's canopy but instead of following them out of the forest, I followed the dried stream of a once nurturing river. Why did I choose this path when I knew it wouldn't support my journey? It was easier to let go of my true self instead of letting go of my ego. The ego is manipulative and promises us peace if we follow it blindly. I desperately wanted peace and decided to choose what was easiest. It asked me to avoid the light shining through its canopy so I couldn't find my true self again; so I couldn't find my way home. Regretfully, I agreed to follow my ego deeper down this dark path and I strayed even further.

Waking up today was terrifying. When I opened my eyes, I saw how far down the path I had wandered and realized it wasn't just a bad dream. I have a long journey ahead of me to get back to where I was before I diverted from my path.  It will take me time but I will find my way home; I can finally see the light.

Global Spirituality

a real whole human being

am i just seeing what i want to see

or am I actually seeing what's really there ?

in the idealistic sea, not one form is perfect !

be strong and shine through the mind clearly

do not push and pull

rather, be

as you silently watch

all these creations of fantasy, illusions & projections

how they rise and fall

like your breath, here and now

deal with what is real

is YOU

YOUR WORLD

always changing, shifting

while remaining steady & whole .

Bernie Sanders 'put a bird on it' at Portland rally

Could not resist publishing this photo from the 2016 presidential races.

Wash Yourself

There’s no need to go outside.

Be melting snow.

Wash yourself of yourself.*

~ Rumi

*Translated by Coleman Barks

Tyranny of Clocks and Timers

We are ruled by clocks and timers. For example, you may meditate to become more present to life, but quite likely using a timer - thereby adding up minutes per day or per session by starting on the bell and stopping on the bell. A timer or clock tells how long. This is not the nature's way.  Instead, feel the way into "natural being" without clocks or timers. Using our internal senses of time and the relationships to the living cycles of day and night. 

turn around

                turn around and turn again

                spin spin spin

                like the earth keeping time

                to the songs of the cosmos

Disease of Complexity

We suffer from complexity in our current world. 

Economic growth drives the world. 

Instead, enjoy just "being".

growth

It is painful to grow

Center of Stillness

It is Amazing!

[the song link:] It's Amazing, by Jem

'Do it now

You know who you are

You feel it in your heart

And you are burning and wishing

.....

You're gonna have to work for it harder and harder

Nothing can compare to deserving your dream

It's amazing, all that you can do

It's amazing, makes my heart sing

Now it's up to you

Don't be embarrassed, don't be afraid

Too many dreams slip away

It's your determination and using your gift

Everybody has a gift

........

Never give up, never let it die

Trust your instincts and most importantly

You've got nothing to lose

So just go for it

It's amazing, it's amazing, all that you can do

It's amazing, makes my heart sing

Now it's up to you'

Forget Past

~ ~ ~

Forget the past,

change our habits.

Today begin again

as if the First Day.

~ ~ ~

Bliss

When I was young and a graduate student in philosophy, I started pursuing bliss. That was good and bad. The distraction of the pursuit of bliss became all consuming; driving me toward experiences of great pleasure and pain with little peace of mind. I grew older and wiser, discovering that being alive was already enough. Gradually settling down to the such-ness of existence itself. Be humble. It's a big world out there - we are little in comparison.

Practice Being Present

Today: Let's practice one pointed stillness for 11 minutes this afternoon wherever we are. Find a quiet spot. Tell those around you that you are doing a meditation or stillness break. Let them join with you if they wish. Being here now is profound. By remaining present as we move through our day, our world becomes more coherent and miraculous. With training and practice, we become progressively more present to daily life. Indeed, life more abundant.

Uses Of Fatique

Image: painting of a small pond in the Azores Islands.

Take a Pause

Take a pause. Now do a slow long deep breath. Feel gravity's downward pull. Celebrate the in and out breaths. Sense patterns of light all round. Take a pause. Be-here-now in all its banality and glory.

Techno-Aborigines

Shortly after graduating from school, I found a job in ADP (automated data processing), as it was called in the early 70's. Soon I spotted a "techo-aborigine". He was working off site in a coffee house. That got my attention.  I wanted to work that way too. Being at an office all day was not so much fun. We are turning back into "aborigines" as we return to more mobility. Many of us can do our jobs at home, workplaces, or vacation resorts. The reach of the global communication networks is global. Work supervisors are beginning to count results not desk time.

Deep Stillness

It takes a life time to reach deep silence or stillness. Don't expect instant results. Everyday of your life, do spend sometime in inner quiet or stillness. Call it meditation, prayer or contemplation. It will nurture you and make you stronger than anything else you "do".

Presencing Into the Present Moment

Healing through Joy

It is time to heal through Joy.

Now is when you find your healing through Love,
for Love is wiser than we are.

Longing to be understood, Love will only stay if it is welcomed.

Try on your beauty everyday.

How many small-seeming daily aspects can you fall in love with?

Unfold your Light and Shine!

Being You

"Grounding" Americ + Josh

What the Tree Said

"What The Tree Said" by Diane Shavelson

Surrender to Life

Life in the Media Cave

So many of us spend our lives in front of screens (i. e., computer screens, television screens, and movie screens). Media consumption is now the major American activity. We spend about 69% of our waking hours consuming media such as TV, the Internet, music, radio, and phones.  For the latest numbers on media consuming check out: Media Use in the US. Enjoy!

Effortless Desires

We effortlessly desire
truth, beauty, and wisdom
because our souls are made of
truth, beauty, and wisdom.
The deep charm of meditation
is that it opens
doors to the soul.

John Lennon - Day After Day

It matters not who you love,

where you love, why you love, when you love

or how you love, it matters only

that you love.

~ John Lennon ~

The Good Life

What are the elements of "the good life"? For fifteen years I had lunches with Vince Bacon, an old man, who said, "In my day the good life was taken seriously. It was not about making money or being famous, it was about enjoying the good things of life: friendship, children, home, and the places you often visit." He said that in our time "the good life is forgotten". The years pass, more and more, I feel the truth of what Vince told me.  

Metamorphosis

Image: http://www.revuemag.com/2011/06/metamorphosis/ 

"Metamorphosis" implies "changing forms". Life requires going through stages of transformation - changing forms or stages of life. Before you are a baby you are a fetus, after birth you are the small little creature. You can't even walk, but later you start crawling, followed by walking, later on you're talking, one day you're going to school. Eventually you grow up and become fully functional. A worm turns into a butterfly. You are like a butterfly who had once been a worm. Now, what's next?   

Arunachala Mountain, India

Arunachala, India

One of our world's sacred mountains.

Let Your Life

Let your life

Be a thank you gift

For life received

Effortless Stillness

True stillness comes without effort as if by grace. Stillness, quiet, and meditation experienced everyday, lead to a good life. I go to my meditation spot at home - resolved to sit for eleven minutes and come to stillness. I sit and breathe. After five minutes or more the mind is suddenly quiet without effort. It seemed easy - perhaps because of forty years of meditation experience. It still surprises me, when the quiet comes easily and steady like a slow flowing river. So, please, wherever you are now: sit or stand in stillness. Eventually reality opens up. Be still now and surrender to being alive.

Options

Looking at ourself from a distance cultivates space for a new experience. Consciously make a choice of what experience it will be and keep your power; dabble in darkness or bathe in light.

Chief Seattle ~ All things share the same breath

"All things share the same breath -

the beast, the tree, the man, 

the air shares its spirit with all

the life it supports."

~ Chief Seattle

Excess Mobility

Excess mobility is the disease of the modern world. Here we are, Facebook users scattered in too many places often longing and missing each other. Systems like Facebook attempt to re-link us by providing virtual substitutes via the Internet. All this is a misuse of Internet technology. The Internet industry wants us physically separated and utterly mobile; but, at high cost to local community and real day to day family and community life. The radical thing now is to "go back" to being near each other and limiting travel. Less fuel burned up, less global warming gases, less sleepless time in clogged airports.

Everyone Creating What They See

Eckhart Tolle - All One

You are the universe,

expressing itself as a human

for a little while.

~Eckhart Tolle

All That IS

Consciousness is unbounded, 

free standing, and eternal. 

The Creator is a scientist, 

experimenting with possibilities; 

generating universes 

throughout an unbounded cosmos; 

beyond the limits of individual ego. 

The ancients would say: 

Om tat sat (All that is).

Proofs

When two hearts intersect, a point is created. It can be designated as any number on a line but nevertheless, they have left a point of themselves behind. They might begin to run parallel one day, but it’s all right, they made an infinite possibility for new lines to begin.

Time Passing

Time passing

Day by day

Always now

Centrifuge

In the middle of a storm is an eye which brings reprise from violent weather.

In the middle of an eye are pieces which help you see.

In the middle of yourself is the perceiver;

the ultimate 'I' that sets you free.

Baby steps

Fifty years can go in a flash while some days last forever.

I can learn to find my spirit with my heart and soul together. 

Spirit resides within. It can't be broken, though worn thin. 

Before life flashes before my eyes, my journey will begin.

Sometimes, the biggest gift you can give to a person is silence.

Buddha ~ Thinking, Attracting, and Creating

What you think,
you become.

What you feel
you attract.

What you imagine
you create.

         ~~ BUDDHA*

*Found in the internet commons. 

Chuang Tsu ~ Harmony of Heaven

Along The Way

Then, begin again

First Aid

Let meditation be like an ice pack for a swelling mind. When your mind inflames and begins to cause you pain begin to meditate. It wont stop the cause but will help in healing the wound. Let go of your thoughts, let the swelling go down.

Presencing

What came before me?

What came before me?

Do I know?

Can I know?

The flood of memories

all jumbled up in

future, now, and past.

Where are you and me?

Parents and parents of parents

all rushing from life to life.

A waterfall of

laughter, boredom and tears. 

The Great Work

"The Great Work now, as we move into a new millennium, is to carry out the transition from a period of human devastation of the Earth to a period when humans would be present to the planet in a mutually beneficial manner."           

~~Thomas Berry, 1999

the work of stability

the most enlightened teachers
experienced great struggles of self

god is the safest constant
if god is ever changing

dear one, see inside yourself
the only constant
is you

Pico Iyer ~ The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere

Uphill Battle

Just because you age doesn't mean you are getting old. Bodies might grow older but souls only mature. Don't let your fear of your physical body aging grow like barnacles on a ghost ship. If you can stop carrying around the years of your life like a heavy weight on your back, you will become light and ageless.

Ahimsa and Satyagraha

Ahimsa is "not to injure".

Satyagraha is "holding onto truth".

Keith Whittingslow - The Fine Structure Constant

Recently, an old friend of mine, Keith Whittingslow, passed away. Especially sad for me since I had not kept up with him during the past fifteen years. He sent me a copy of his book: The Fine Structure Constant. This book is a fine blending of science and poetry. His poems are experiments expressing the beauty of the science that he loved. I encourage you to visit the Amazon web link to his book; it includes sample pages of his book. I was truly honored to have crossed paths with Keith in my lifetime.

Obituary