“I don’t think of [my views] as spiritual - I’m too cynical and scientific to ever admit that. I reject a lot of things that are ‘main stream’ or ‘common knowledge’ or ‘common sense’ (a totally asinine construct) because I think they are a product of our cultural and sociologically infused human chauvinism.

“We don’t know who we are or why we are here and never will. Hell, we don’t even know where ‘here’ is! The best we can do is keep our minds open and learn from anywhere we can. The concept of adopting a single philosophy or religion or social mindset makes no sense to me.”

- Rick Daniel, musician

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I find it really hard to do certain things that are very easy - so I call them difficult. It could be something simple like fixing a broken faucet, improving myself or becoming more deeply aware. One is no different than the other, because the mindset between them is consistent. Plainly stated, with my kind of thinking it is very easy for me to call many such things impossible; it is very easy to give up and just coast.

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leadership and responsibility

It is flawed logic to argue that we have all of eternity to “fix” this mess we are in on earth. This argument - and that’s what it is - assumes that at some point in the future we are going to fix things. The assumption, however, is flawed, because each time we reincarnate we must overcome successively stronger weighted tendencies - as we become more deeply set in our conditioned reflexes.

The job gets harder the longer we put if off. Global warming makes the case: putting our heads in the sand eventually extends us beyond critical mass - to a point where things can no longer be fixed. If we don’t find ways to better illuminate the path, it will stay dark here; we will keep living in the dark… forever.

The light-headed optimist glibly responds in chatty rhythm, “I really don’t have to be all that worried. Heaven [the other side] is so full of light, and that’s where I’m going; I’m leaving this darkness behind!” This is a naive, egotistical and immature point of view, because it can be just as dark for us over there as it is for us here. Only our immediate circumstances are escaped by death.

“Oh, but I am in the light here,” comes the predictable response. “I am growing everyday, and I’m becoming more one with the universe.”

Light IS in everything, but we are talking two different games here. It’s like a newly minted sailor walking up to the veteran captain, and, upon surveying the churning sea, saying with a forgivable chirpiness, “Wow, sir; the ocean is really big and dangerous - but, I know that we’ll make it, sir, and we’ll be fine. You want to know how I know that, sir? Because of all my training and my really great mental attitude!” Read the rest of this entry »

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If an angel came to earth, how would we distinguish its legitimacy?

Authors and speakers list articles and books in their resumes, which can make them sought after on the lecture tour. Doctors and engineers have letters behind their names, imparting their qualifications and significance.

Credentials give authority, but only if we recognize them. What about unrecognized authority?

What’s an angel to do, if it can’t show its wings?

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Talk about getting upset with myself. When I hear the drone of my voice lecturing to others about their faults, it’s embarassing. It is far easier to stop the slobbering of superiority when it is obvious. When I make my ‘corrections’ in a subtle manner - like thinking, or through a more distant medium - like writing, it becomes harder to capture and correct.

Becoming aware of this tendency can make us hesitate to speak out. It’s at this point something subtle can creep in: reticence. Hestiation to take a stand - due to humility - is often a smokescreen.

There is a difference between humility, and using humility to avoid taking responsibility. That makes me even more upset with myself.

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How many people are planning for their next life?

The superior perspective - which would be mine, of course, just in case I haven’t mentioned it - is to think in terms of our next incarnation, but we are poor planners when you get right down to it. Most people, if they think about this, usually ponder in terms of life after death, leaving their physical body behind and going to “heaven”.

We need to think about our eternal nature in terms of a continuum, something that is happening now, has been happening and continues to happen. We are eternal beings, now.

I wonder if monks consider their next life more than the rest of us? Perhaps they only think of it when their teacher lectures about it, or when it comes up in rote meditations and prayers.

I recall two past lives when my teacher said, “You need to understand that it doesn’t stop with this one life, that we’ll be back.” I may have mulled that over a bit in one of those lives.

In another life, I recall someone saying, “You think this is the end? You actually believe that? Well, you’ll see, and you’ll see me too! I’ll look you right in the eyes.” He kept his promise. Are you familiar with the phrase “being shook right down to your core?” I wasn’t prepared for that.

I find myself thinking more and more about my next life. Is that because I am getting closer to death? Perhaps I am simply using sound project management planning skills.

Painting: Fransico Goya, Time

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“It is crucial not to fix your eyes on one place,” states Kadensho, the Hereditary Book of the Martial Arts, by Yagyu Tajimanokami Muenori (1571-1647). His essential advice for martial artists is also true for spiritual seekers. It describes a certain state of mind.

“In judging your opponent’s reaction to the trap you set for him, see him without looking at him; that is, do not fix your eyes on one place. Keep your eyes in motion all the time, and catch glimpses between each movement.”

I have been reading stuff like this for years. It sounds great, but what does it mean in practical terms? There are people in everyday life who possess a degree of understanding about this. A dedicated martial artist comes to understand it, and to realize it. Boxers know this, as do world class tennis players. They hardly think about the game - it is coming too fast. They go into a zone.

Here is what this saying means to me: learn to gaze when I look at someone or something. Because the thing I am looking for, the thing I am wanting to connect more deeply with is ‘in between’ movement, in between words, in between right and wrong. It can be found in a gaze, and in a feeling. Stop thinking so much. It is in the middle, in the center… a place I am unaccustomed to looking at and dwelling in.

Tabata, Kazumi. Secret Tactics. Tuttle: North Clarendon. 2003. (6)
Photo credit: Gaze, by Manuel Librodo

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If you like spirituality, getting lost in mazes and wandering through dictionaries - you may like this.

If you liked rings and groups, and want to do something a little different with like-minded bloggers (etc.) - you might try this.

If you like the idea behind how Wikipedia works - you may enjoying forming a global spiritual movement the same way.

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The inexpressible becomes expressible through building common experiences. We can see this in everyday life.

For example, a solitary traveler returns from the far reaches of the world and says, “Let me tell you what great things I have seen.” But no matter what he says, it doesn’t convey his astounding adventures. So, the listener politely nods her head, occasionally murmuring, “That sounds great.”

On the other hand, when one or more people share an indescribable experience, a vocabulary emerges. Read the rest of this entry »

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Miysmoto Musashi, widely considered one of history’s greatest warriors and strategists, developed nine principles for living:

Never have a wicked heart.
Train not by thought, but by practice.
Learn a wide variety of arts and skills, and do not fix on only one.
Know not only your own techniques but also those of many others.
Find out rationally what is an advantage and what is a disadvantage.
Foster an intuitive ability to judge all things.
Feel an essence you cannot see on the surface.
Pay attention to the very smallest phenomena. (Everything takes its own course, and sometimes we get unexpected results.)
Do nothing in vain, for the energy and time we have is limited.

One who always keeps hei-ho in mind and trains vigorously can be superior to others and also judge matters better than others. The person who comes to control his own body by hard training will have physical strength greater than others. If a person trains his mind in a similar manner, he will then become spiritually superior to others. Accomplishing the above things, he will never be defeated.

Tabata, Kazumi. Secret Tactics. Tuttle: North Clarendon. 2003. (54-55)

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