Climate Change: Humanities Greatest Opportunity

Climate Change: Humanities Greatest Opportunity.

A Scientists' Take

"The primary cause of global warming is from humans, mostly burning of fossil fuels to drive cars, generating electricity, and operating our homes and businesses. Within the next fifty to one hundred years, the Earth may be hotter than it has been in the past million years. As oceans warm and glaciers melt, land and cities along coasts may be flooded. Heat and drought may cause forests to die and food crops to fail. Global warming will affect weather everywhere, plants and animals everywhere, people everywhere." ~ Ashiq Hussain

"The throwing out of balance of Nature throws out of balance the lives of men." F.D.R.

How have we gotten to the point where we are looking at the possibility of human extinction? We have tried to control life on Earth. Yet, by the results, we see that we've failed miserably.
In our attempts to control life, rather than recognizing that everything we need is provided, we perpetuate the belief, that just to survive, we have to struggle.

"In complete control.
Pretending control, with dignified authority
We are charlatans...
Or maybe just a goats' hair brush in a Painters' Hand" ~ Rumi

I believe this poem has answers for us. I believe that being the "brush" means that we are the "tools" through which this "painter" creates their art.  We are like Pinocchio and Gepetto is the universal force beyond us, pulling the "strings". And when we let go of control and align with this infinite force we feel expansive, alive, and inclusive.
 We've all felt it.

"There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water. See who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally. Least of all, ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we've been waiting for. ~ Hopi Elders, Arizona

There is a flow to life of great beauty, where synchronicity and magic are the norm. To align with this "flow", we must know how to recognize it.  Lean into the voices of inspiration, intuition, and love. Abandon all investment in the thoughts that tell you that to get by you need to push, lie, manipulate, hide the true you, or become rich or famous. These fear-based concepts have no place in this flow.

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."                         ~ Howard Thurman

The balance of our planets air, water, and soil has been trashed. As we are moving closer to the "precipice" of environmental destruction (and our very existence), we are seeing beyond our perceived differences, to recognize that we are one family. We are learning that each person has skills, gifts, talents, and ideas, unique to them that can be a contribution to the well being of life on this planet. We are stepping out of fear and isolation, into Love.

Feeling Trapped Or Stuck? Ready For Freedom?

Ever feel trapped, like you have absolutely no choice? As though you're completely stuck in this addiction/ relationship/ job or life?  In this blog, I offer assistance in freeing yourself  from this "prison".
First, I invite you to consider that your present experience is a result of the way you think about yourself. Swami Muktananda said "The world is as you see it". Said another way: "You are the way you see yourself".

How Did I Get Stuck?

As very young children we made significant decisions in relationship to the main authorities in our lives (generally, our parents).  These decisions were based upon the degree to which we felt loved and accepted as the unique and beautiful beings we were. Each decision was a "brush stroke" in the creation of a "picture" that we painted. This "picture"  became our own self image.

With parents who were in conflict, we may have made decisions about how to behave in order to feel safe. These decisions lead us away from our natural spontaneity, to believing that we had to determine our life's course based on perceived  circum-stances. Eventually these decisions made up our outlook on life. From this outlook,(or  self-written "manual" for our life) we have learned to strategize and prepare to defend/ hide/ oppress/ or seduce and manipulate people and  circumstances. The extent to which we identify with our "manual"  (disallowing other possibilities of perception)  is  the extent to which we are invested in or attached  to specific outcomes. This leads to a life of expectation and disappointment.

In our first few years of life, we shifted from our natural state of being internally based and pro-active (experienced as "Us as Life"), to being externally based and re-active (experienced as "Us separate from Life" or even "Us against Life"). Consequently we frequently become complacent, living out an existence of struggle.  

Until we recognize this "manual", it will dictate our every thought, word and action. It will remain subjective and we will never question it's validity or whether we could choose differently from it. Fortunately, the more aware of this "manual" we are, the more objective it becomes, and the less influence it has over our choices.

Gaining awareness of the "manual" is key. How do we do this?

In a previous blog, I referred to the Vedantic practice of  "Not this, not this". The practice is one of recognizing all that is temporary (including the "manual"). Whatever remains is of a permanent nature and therefore, the Truth of who we are. It's about identifying our attachments and investments. To do this become aware

We can't command our love, but we can our actions.
Arthur Conan Doyle

Wisdom, Love, Our

It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.
Arthur Conan Doyle

Wisdom, Been, Things

Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/arthur_conan_doyle.html#et2l3piypY2UvVmW.99

Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.
Arthur Conan Doyle
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/arthur_conan_doyle.html#ShCEQ1WBCbvcXIyk.99

Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.
Arthur Conan Doyle
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/arthur_conan_doyle.html#ShCEQ1WBCbvcXIyk.99

Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.
Arthur Conan Doyle
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/arthur_conan_doyle.html#ShCEQ1WBCbvcXIyk.99

of the areas in your life where you want results. . The area of relationships may be the easiest to recognize where we are invested in results. Take a moment to reflect:...
.
Think of a person in your life and ask yourself the following questions:

Are you in this relationship to get a certain kind of attention?
What needs are you attempting to get met in this relationship?
Are you in a power struggle with this person?
Are you making them your "project"?...meaning are you invested in them changing or "growing"?
If so, what do you tell yourself will be your reward when they change or grow into the person you want?
Do you feel yourself to be a better person when you're with them?
Are you are looking for a certain kind of permission from them (for instance, permission to engage in a certain behavior or activity)?

Now, think of an activity in your life and ask these relevant questions:


Are you engaged in this activity because of what others have told you you should do?
To what extent is this activity an escape?  From what or whom?
Do you experience joy, vitality, peace, or love when engaged in this?
Or is it a promise of some later reward?.
Are you engaged in this activity because you are wanting for something / someone to change?
Are you engaged in this because it's tradition?
Are you engaged in this activity out of a belief that by doing it you are more deserving?

This is a process of recognizing all "self-generated" thoughts. Thoughts born out of the belief that you are separate from life, alone in the world, misunderstood, and consequently, that life is struggle. When you recognize these thoughts and no longer give them your attention, you then hear "fresh" thoughts, not based on reaction, belief, or history.  There is a deep peace and joy that accompanies these "fresh" thoughts.

One teacher of mine said,  "become aware of this "manual", don't try to change it, don't even try to minimize it. Just let it be." When I asked his awareness of the influence of his "manual" in his life, he said "Its  influence is like a fart in a distant galaxy"! He lived a life of great inner freedom. He was fun too!

OSHO ON WAR 'A man of peace is not a pacifist, a man of peace is simply a pool of silence. He pulsates a new kind of energy into the world, he sings a new song. He lives in a totally new way his very way of live is that of grace, that of prayer, that of compassion. Whomsoever he touches, he creates more love-energy. The man of peace is creative. He is not against war, because to be against anything is to be at war. He is not against war, he simply understands why war exists. And out of that understanding he becomes peaceful. Only when there are many people who are pools of peace, silence, understanding, will the war disappear.' OSHO, from: 'Zen: The Path of Paradox, vol II'

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- See more at: http://www.otoons.de/politics/hug.htm#sthash.L1h3DfiX.dpuf

OSHO ON WAR

'A man of peace is not a pacifist, a man of peace is simply a pool of silence.
He pulsates a new kind of energy into the world, he sings a new song.
He lives in a totally new way his very way of live is that of grace, that of prayer, that of compassion.
Whomsoever he touches, he creates more love-energy.
The man of peace is creative.
He is not against war, because to be against anything is to be at war. He is not against war, he simply understands why war exists.
And out of that understanding he becomes peaceful.
Only when there are many people who are pools of peace, silence, understanding, will the war disappear.'

OSHO, from: 'Zen: The Path of Paradox, vol II' - See more at: http://www.otoons.de/politics/hug.htm#sthash.aevFp3tf.dpu“A Man of Peace is Not a Pacifist” by Osh

Follow Your Bliss; It's Who You Are

We recently saw "YesMan" with Jim Carey. In it, he makes a "covenant" to say "yes" to every request made of him; to every opportunity presented to him. Though initially saying "yes" to eveything, he realizes that he has not said "yes" to himself. His discrimination develops to the point where he learns to say "no" to his decisions based on what others wanted for him and from him, when it wasn't what he wanted for himself. This allowed him to hear more acutely his intuition (or his "yes") and his wishes for himself.

For me, intuition manifests as a joyous inspiration for a specific action. This joyous excitement (or "yes") is free of any suffering, yet filled with great anticipation.  A very life affirming feeling. If I die today, I want "Follow Your Bliss" as my tombstone epitaph (although, I have no "plans" to leave this mortal coil any time soon). I would place this phrase on my tombstone because these words are a reminder of my vision for my life. and I would call them the "secret of real happiness" for all beings. The more I follow my Bliss, the more Blissful opportunities show up in my life.

I love that bumper sticker that says "If it's not fun, don't do it." Amen to that!!!

We Are Bliss

At age 15, I met an enlightened Being, Swami Muktananda. Three days into my visit with him I had the direct experience of my truest Self. I was joyfully chanting away, my arms swaying, my whole being uplifted. In an instant, the "borders" of my being dissolved; no body to confine me or separate me; no three-dimensional reality whatsoever. Distance disappeared; no here, no there. Time dissolved; no sense of before or after. This experience was of an eternal Now and an Infinity without measure. This was accompanied by a Boundless Joy. Free of thought; completely still, I was not separate or alone. Only our minds conjure up the thought that we're alone.

Thought free, infinitely blissful, transcendent of everything, at one point I had the thought "this is great!" At that very moment this experience began to "shrink". Over the next few hours I became more identified with my thoughts and body. Although, I remember being in the lunch line and still being so blissed out that I hugged a pillar next to me! Even the pillar was a part of the Oneness.

I learned that this experience is called "Satchitananda". "Sat" means Existence Absolute. "Chit" means awareness of this Existence. "Ananda" is Infinite Bliss. I now had a name for my truest Self. Ever since, I have identified that experience as a "pointer" back to the real me.

As you explore every aspect of your life, I invite you to ask yourself: Do I experience joy, vitality, peace, or love when engaged in this?
Or is it a promise of some later reward?
Promises of later rewards are offered by insurance companies, religions (ie Heaven), the promise that making your body look a certain way will get you a relationship. Making enough money will provide future security.

Don't ask the world what it needs
Ask yourself what makes you come Alive
And go and do that.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
~ Harold Whitman Thurman

What inspires you?


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THE QUINTESSENTIAL QUESTION; WHO AM I ....REALLY?

We continue to hear how we are in a time of shifting paradigms. A time in which we are recognizing our intrinsic connection to the Earth, each other, and all Life.  I believe that we are collectively on a course to answer the most important question of our lives; "who am I?"  How we answer this question is the basis for every choice we make; for every thought we have.

Although we may not be conscious of how at the most fundamental level of our being, we answer this question, it still determines every thought we have. Beneath the level of thought is what I call the "petri dish" of our existence. At this primal level of our being, we hold the existential belief of who we are. Out of this belief  we determine every choice we make.

Setting Our Course

As very young children we made significant decisions in relationship to the main authorities in our lives (generally, our parents). These decisions were based on the degree to which we were loved and accepted as the unique, naturally gifted and beautiful beings we are. Each decision was a "brush stroke" in the creation of a "picture" that we painted. This "picture"  became our own self image.

With parents who were in conflict we may have made decisions about how to behave in order to be safe. These decisions lead us away from our natural state of authenticity and spontaneity, to believing that we had to determine our life's course  based on perceived  circumstances. We shifted from an internally, freedom-based, pro-active reality to an externally based, re-active existence. Our natural state is experienced as "us as Life" or "us with Life", our reactive state is experienced as "us as separate from Life"; an existence of struggle, which is how most of  us live.

How to return to the freedom and spontaneity of our True Self?

Beyond (or behind) the perceived struggle there is an awareness that has always watched our thoughts and the drama of our lives. It's like a movie screen in a theater upon which the movie is projected. Although the movie is cast upon it, it remains free from what is projected upon it. The drama has all kinds of characters, activities and perspectives, yet the "screen" is none of these. This "witness" (as it is called in Eastern Mysticism) watches our thoughts, emotions and even our dreams.  I consider this "witness" our doorway to The Infinite Life

At age 15, I met an enlightened Being, Swami Muktananda. Three days into my visit with him I had the direct experience of my truest Self, beyond this still witness. I was joyfully chanting away, my arms swaying, my whole being uplifted. In an instant, the borders of my being dissolved; no body to confine me or separate me; no three-dimensional reality whatsoever.  Distance disappeared; no here, no there. Time dissolved; no sense of before or after. This experience was of an eternal Now and an Infinity without measure. This was accompanied by a Joy that had no bounds. Free of thought; completely still, I was not separate or alone. Only our minds conjure up the thought that we're alone.

Thought free, infinitely blissful, transcendent of everything, at one point I had the thought "this is great!"
At that very moment this experience began to "shrink". Over the next few hours I became more identified with my thoughts and body. Although, I remember being in the lunch line and still being so blissed out that I hugged a pillar next to me! Even the pillar was a part of the Oneness.

I learned that that experience is called "Satchitananda".  "Sat" means Existence Absolute. "Chit" means awareness of this Existence. "Ananda" is infinite bliss. Great! I now had a name for what I had identified as my truest Self.

How do we return to that experience?

I love to quote Joseph Campbell's pithy, poignant, phrase; "Follow Your Bliss". Like the bumper sticker says: "If it ain't fun, don't do it".  Following our bliss invites us to recognize what we love to do.
It invites us to reflect on where we're struggling in our lives and why we're perpetuating struggle.
Having this phrase as a  guiding light, my entire life has changed. I do work that I love, I live with people that I love, and have learned how to return to love when I have entered conflict.
Follow your bliss long enough, and your life becomes filled with inspiration and passion.

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs.
Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
Harold Thurman Whitman

                                                             What's Your Bliss?

 

By the way, I'm hosting an evening of chanting at my home/studio tomorrow evening and 

will be playing with Jaya Lakshmi next Tuesday evening (8/20), at The Dhyana Center. Peace.

Life After Car Ownership

Four years ago, my truck was totaled in an accident. The insurance company said the accident was my fault.  I was convinced that I was "innocent."  I've spent much of my life trying to convince myself that I'm innocent.

With the "death" of my beloved truck came the intuition that I was not going to "re-up" on the car ownership thang. That Life had something else in store for me.  This was to be the first time in 26 years (1/2 my years on the planet!) that I would not own a car!  And I have'nt gone back. 

A  freeing experience. 

As I let go of my attachment to my truck, I was able to listen more to Life's calling. I relaxed into the work that called to me, waaay more than about 1/2 of the work I had been engaged in at that time. Not having the truck (a symbol of my previous work) actually freed me up to lean more into my counseling practice, my music, and the groups that I facilitate. My real joys.

I just had to let go of being in the "driver seat" to recognize it.

I see how identified we are with our cars. The thought of being without our car can be quite scary. It's like loosing a limb. It's a huge symbol for freedom. The thought that we can go anywhere anytime we like is a sweet one. The car is a symbol of safety. If we need to get away from someone, we've got our car. An emergency? We're good. Homeless, we've got a roof.

Yet like relying only on the contents of a book to tell us about the Great Mystery, when we rely on "our" car as our "vehicle" for freedom and safety we can easily miss the direction Life is inviting us into. Letting go of my car was one of the most freeing invitations from Life that I've ever stepped into.

Opening to the Mystery

Just the other day, a friend of mine, who was heading to Santa Rosa, gave me a lift to an appointment I had.

I felt excitement at the mystery of how Life would carry me home. After my appointment, I had a wonderful, brisk walk for a couple miles. While on a route I had taken hundreds of times, who do I find on the side of the path but a djembe drummer, jamming with great passion, while listening to a metronome. As a djembe drummer myself, I was enthralled, listening to his great groove.
Now, I had never crossed path's with a drummer on this route, but what followed was a very inspired conversation and a ride in his comfy car to Sebastopol. Magical. If I had fallen back into the "known" of car ownership, I would not have been open to the Magical Mystery Tour.

Before letting go of my truck, when  planning a trip, I never considered the journey ("flower-smelling" and the like). The car was in the driveway. That was the journey. Done. Now, when I have somewhere to go, just by the very nature of not having the car in the driveway, I get excited as to how Life will provide, which in turn, opens me to recognizing when and how Life is inviting me to it's "Tour".

It's always a Grande Adventure!!!

In this day when we are becoming ever more aware of how we isolate ourselves, I see just how much car ownership can be another way that we do this. We're in a box, most often by ourselves.
I'm not promoting the end of cars. I'm inviting you to look at how your attachment to your car actually limits the thing that you identify it with; FREEDOM.

There are multitudinous ways to get around. I love carpooling. We save money (big time!), pollute less (way less), share costs (give a few bucks to the driver), hang out with friends (old or new), & help with directions. Remarkable, how when there is nothing else but you, the road, and a friend, just what can be shared.

I live near a bike path.  I ride a recumbent bike; it's more comfortable, faster, and safer than upright bikes. Believe it! I occasionally take a bus. I walk a lot. I do much of my work out of my home. All of this contributes to a slower, more peaceful life.

If you want to talk about the being car-free, give me a shout. My window's open.  Let's go for a walk.