are always learning, or you're not. It depends where you are at in your mind. The True You that has never been born and will never die is vastly wise. The True You was as wise as always when you were an infant and as you grew into adolescence and then into adulthood. That is why there are child prodigies and geniuses that reveal their brilliance at much later stages in their life. The timing of wisdom to come forth is about allowance, its always with you, its closer to you than your breath. The question is do you allow it come forth.
Sometimes as a write, I struggle to articulate the concepts that I have in my thoughts. Words just don't seem to due justice in describing concepts of the eternal ineffable wisdom that makes up our essence. So when I say "It depends where you are at in your mind" to describe if you are in a state of allowing learning or not, its not nearly enough. Think of it this way; Have you ever read a book for the second or third or twentieth time and something hit you like it never has before, like an epiphany? And you sit back and think, why has that never sunk in or resonated with me like it did just now? The ability to recognize truth is always with you, its just a matter of if we allow that ability to be present through our thoughts.
For as long as I can remember, I have always had an affinity for Joseph Campbell's work. I even grew up in a town called Campbell. Coincidence? When I was younger, I rarely watched PBS, but as I was channel surfing, invariably I would come across a Bill Moyers special on PBS called "The Power of Myth" with Joseph Campbell and I was almost spell bound as I watched it. It felt very comfortable and almost nourishing to watch and listen to Campbell talk about Myth's and the Heroes Journey, even though intellectually I had no clue what it meant for me or how to apply it in my life. In retrospect, I now know my True Self was creating that curiosity and warmth I felt as I watched Campbell and Moyers discuss the meaning behind the myths.
The message resonated with my heart rather than my intellect. The teacher was appearing as the student became ready. At the time I really didn't understand the meaning behind the message, but understood the feeling I had about it. It was the feeling of truth and it serves me well every time I make note of it as it swells up within me more and more often as time goes by. By being curious and not making an effort the student and the teacher collaborate internally within me to gain the clarity that directs me to see through the many veils of rational thought that are misleading. This collaboration potential exists within everyone.
There is a calling within each of us to move toward clarity of who we are and each of us will answer that calling at some point. The timing for recognizing the call is determined by a willingness to hear and respond to the calling. What triggers this recognition? It can be different and unique for each individual yet it is identical in origin. The only requirement to recognize the calling is to have a different thought. So much of what we take to be real only exists because we take it to be real based upon our thoughts. So as you have a different thought, what you take to be real changes, and what you take to be real is what exists.
Rather than moving through time in a belief system that facilitates infinite possibilities, so many people move through time operating in a belief system of limits. These limits are the veils that we take to be real and blur our vision of possibility. Having a different thought can focus your vision to cut through these veils and allow your truth to be seen with the Clarity that is your True Self. Having a different thought is the portal through which the infinite potential that is you can come forth. It really is as simple as that. And how awesome is that?
As I mentioned in my last post about Gabrielle Bernstein's lesson, and I love the way this flows, "You don't have to get your way, you only need to get out of your way". How do you get out of your way? Change your thinking!!! Be your own Teacher by being the Student.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Monday, February 10, 2014
Identity Theft can kill!!!
That's right, Identity theft can kill you at its worst and at its best can make you miserable. Fortunately, I'm not talking about Identity theft of your Social Security number or credit file, though that can be horrible. I'm talking about your true authentic Self being stolen. And who steals it? The only person that can, Yourself!! It's not really stealing in the conventional sense of the word, you don't take it away never to be found again. But your true self is stolen when you don't live it. When you repress it rather than expressing it.
Authentic means; Real or Genuine, True or Accurate. Ask yourself this question. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best, how real or genuine were you yesterday? Seriously, how true were you to your True Self yesterday? In my experience, the vast majority of people severely over rate themselves, including me. Why? I believe the reason why is that we don't take the time to even consider who our True Self is for the most part. We have been conditioned into uncomfortable numbness you crazy diamond (little play on Pink Floyd).
That uncomfortable numbness is a state that we are not even consciously aware of, but it doesn't really feel that great, certainly not as great as we are capable of experiencing "great" as. We have allowed ourselves to be conditioned to see life working a particular way, and then we adapt to that way thinking it will be better when we do. Essentially, life happens to us and we deal with it the best we can. It's like a train moving down a track and we are along for the ride and we react to the scenery as we pass through it. Don't think so, look around you.
Just take the train of the economy, we are all on it cruising along living our lives for the most part oblivious to the fact it cannot be sustained. Why does the US government need to develop a new fighter jet called the F35 for a projected cost of over $400 Billion dollars? Why do 30,000 people die every year in the United States during a medical procedure they don't need? Why is the United States the most medicated population in the world? To Prop up an economy that cannot be sustained, that's why. And most of the participants are unaware of their participation in the dis-function.
My point is not political, my point is we think we are oblivious to a unsustainable way of living. As Howard Zinn said "You can't be neutral on a moving train", and by being along for this ride, we are uncomfortably numb. Our True Self sees what is happening, our Ego does not, and there is a tug of war of sorts. The True Self isn't worried, she knows all will work out regardless of how the external circumstances play out. But in between, it just does not feel right. Angst, anxiety, neurosis, disease, addictions all manifest out of this place of not being aligned with our true self but not understanding how to alleviate that "Not right" feeling.
Whats the answer then? Well, the good news is you only have to be concerned with you, the rest will take care of itself. One of my favorite teachers, Gabrielle Bernstein posted a video today about a lesson she learned on her way to Brazil. The lesson was, "You don't need to get your way, you only need to get out of your way". For me that means, little ego, step aside and allow your True Self to come forth. The more you do that, the more of a positive impact you have on those you interact with. And its as easy as changing your thoughts. Seriously its that easy.
So do it, spend a little time on you today. Just sit and quite the mind, do Yoga, exercise, write, do your art, do what centers you......and ask sincerely, "What would you have me do today?". And just let it be, you don't need to make an effort to get the message......what will happen is, you will notice yourself in a state somewhat less than positive, and you will change your thinking and your whole experience will shift. You will have taught yourself it is always about your thinking as the cause and the world as the effect. You, the teacher has just taught You, the Student and that is a miracle!!!!
Authentic means; Real or Genuine, True or Accurate. Ask yourself this question. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best, how real or genuine were you yesterday? Seriously, how true were you to your True Self yesterday? In my experience, the vast majority of people severely over rate themselves, including me. Why? I believe the reason why is that we don't take the time to even consider who our True Self is for the most part. We have been conditioned into uncomfortable numbness you crazy diamond (little play on Pink Floyd).
That uncomfortable numbness is a state that we are not even consciously aware of, but it doesn't really feel that great, certainly not as great as we are capable of experiencing "great" as. We have allowed ourselves to be conditioned to see life working a particular way, and then we adapt to that way thinking it will be better when we do. Essentially, life happens to us and we deal with it the best we can. It's like a train moving down a track and we are along for the ride and we react to the scenery as we pass through it. Don't think so, look around you.
Just take the train of the economy, we are all on it cruising along living our lives for the most part oblivious to the fact it cannot be sustained. Why does the US government need to develop a new fighter jet called the F35 for a projected cost of over $400 Billion dollars? Why do 30,000 people die every year in the United States during a medical procedure they don't need? Why is the United States the most medicated population in the world? To Prop up an economy that cannot be sustained, that's why. And most of the participants are unaware of their participation in the dis-function.
My point is not political, my point is we think we are oblivious to a unsustainable way of living. As Howard Zinn said "You can't be neutral on a moving train", and by being along for this ride, we are uncomfortably numb. Our True Self sees what is happening, our Ego does not, and there is a tug of war of sorts. The True Self isn't worried, she knows all will work out regardless of how the external circumstances play out. But in between, it just does not feel right. Angst, anxiety, neurosis, disease, addictions all manifest out of this place of not being aligned with our true self but not understanding how to alleviate that "Not right" feeling.
Whats the answer then? Well, the good news is you only have to be concerned with you, the rest will take care of itself. One of my favorite teachers, Gabrielle Bernstein posted a video today about a lesson she learned on her way to Brazil. The lesson was, "You don't need to get your way, you only need to get out of your way". For me that means, little ego, step aside and allow your True Self to come forth. The more you do that, the more of a positive impact you have on those you interact with. And its as easy as changing your thoughts. Seriously its that easy.
So do it, spend a little time on you today. Just sit and quite the mind, do Yoga, exercise, write, do your art, do what centers you......and ask sincerely, "What would you have me do today?". And just let it be, you don't need to make an effort to get the message......what will happen is, you will notice yourself in a state somewhat less than positive, and you will change your thinking and your whole experience will shift. You will have taught yourself it is always about your thinking as the cause and the world as the effect. You, the teacher has just taught You, the Student and that is a miracle!!!!
Saturday, February 8, 2014
In the classroom of relationships.....
The teacher is the student!! Christ knew this, Buddha knew this as did Muhammad and every other great sage throughout human history. Christ wasn't just a Christian, Buddha wasn't just a Buddhist and Muhammad wasn't just a Muslim. They were teachers and students of Love, they taught Love and as they taught, they learned more about the power and divinity of Love.
They also knew that every encounter with another person was not by chance, it was for the purpose of learning. And every encounter you and I have with another is not by chance, it provides us with the opportunity to be willing to learn and teach about love. Love, the opposite of fear and the teaching is not always overt as in the conveying of a concept. A lot of time it is resting in the feeling of Love and the impact that can have on the interaction. Maybe it is compassion that is expressed rather than judgement. As you do that, you are learning more about the power of Love and that it is always a choice.
You have likely heard the phrase "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear". That can happen in an instant with your willingness to learn just by changing your thoughts or perception. Every thought you have creates form on some level, but at times it is difficult to be aware of this and choose deliberately where your thoughts come from. This very much impacts if the student is ready. In a previous post I mentioned a person at my work that irritates the shit (sorry) out of me. Well, that irritation is my choice to reside in and even to allow, so I have chosen to make my relationship with this person one of my greatest learning opportunities and things nothing short of miracles are taking place almost on a daily basis if not hourly with this change in perspective.
Before I had this revelation, I had made up my mind to remove myself from the situation of being influenced by this person. In essence, I had accepted that they influenced me in a way that irritated me, that I was the victim and I was going stop that by moving on. It finally dawned on me, "Oh, Hell no", I am the only one in control of my thoughts. This person wasn't irritating me, my thoughts about the person were irritating me and it was a lesson I needed to learn. If I left the situation, another, likely more irritating person would come into my experience.
It came down to deciding, did I want to be right or have peace. When I was frustrated by this person, I wanted to be right, as in "I was right and they were wrong". I was judging them and nothing good can come from that.......but I was right and that was most important to my ego. Peace is so much easier and expansive but only if we are willing to let go of "Being Right". Peace is where the Student became ready and the teacher taught. This person was my greatest teacher as I learned a great lesson about myself. The irony of the whole thing, was "being right" was just a struggle I was having in my own mind.
Here is the real beauty in this experience, the teacher/student realtionship is internal to me, as David Bohm would say it is a part of the implicit order. Does this person think of themselves as teaching me? Probably not, but who cares? What I get from my willingness to come from a new perspective is awesome for me and those I interact with becasue I am better for having changed my thoughts.
Be the student in order to be the teacher and then teach, not necessarily by conveying concepts but by living from Love and Peace and Truth. Everything else is just an illusion you either buy or dismiss. And you dismiss it by having a different thought. Do that!!!
They also knew that every encounter with another person was not by chance, it was for the purpose of learning. And every encounter you and I have with another is not by chance, it provides us with the opportunity to be willing to learn and teach about love. Love, the opposite of fear and the teaching is not always overt as in the conveying of a concept. A lot of time it is resting in the feeling of Love and the impact that can have on the interaction. Maybe it is compassion that is expressed rather than judgement. As you do that, you are learning more about the power of Love and that it is always a choice.
You have likely heard the phrase "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear". That can happen in an instant with your willingness to learn just by changing your thoughts or perception. Every thought you have creates form on some level, but at times it is difficult to be aware of this and choose deliberately where your thoughts come from. This very much impacts if the student is ready. In a previous post I mentioned a person at my work that irritates the shit (sorry) out of me. Well, that irritation is my choice to reside in and even to allow, so I have chosen to make my relationship with this person one of my greatest learning opportunities and things nothing short of miracles are taking place almost on a daily basis if not hourly with this change in perspective.
Before I had this revelation, I had made up my mind to remove myself from the situation of being influenced by this person. In essence, I had accepted that they influenced me in a way that irritated me, that I was the victim and I was going stop that by moving on. It finally dawned on me, "Oh, Hell no", I am the only one in control of my thoughts. This person wasn't irritating me, my thoughts about the person were irritating me and it was a lesson I needed to learn. If I left the situation, another, likely more irritating person would come into my experience.
It came down to deciding, did I want to be right or have peace. When I was frustrated by this person, I wanted to be right, as in "I was right and they were wrong". I was judging them and nothing good can come from that.......but I was right and that was most important to my ego. Peace is so much easier and expansive but only if we are willing to let go of "Being Right". Peace is where the Student became ready and the teacher taught. This person was my greatest teacher as I learned a great lesson about myself. The irony of the whole thing, was "being right" was just a struggle I was having in my own mind.
Here is the real beauty in this experience, the teacher/student realtionship is internal to me, as David Bohm would say it is a part of the implicit order. Does this person think of themselves as teaching me? Probably not, but who cares? What I get from my willingness to come from a new perspective is awesome for me and those I interact with becasue I am better for having changed my thoughts.
Be the student in order to be the teacher and then teach, not necessarily by conveying concepts but by living from Love and Peace and Truth. Everything else is just an illusion you either buy or dismiss. And you dismiss it by having a different thought. Do that!!!
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