Ruins...

i rotate my vacations: beach side, adventure, nature and historic.  historical ones are my favorite - there is something about being able to touch and be absorbed into an ancient past ... and those magnificent ruins; if they are so moving now, imagine their potency when first created.

unfortunately, we are not so lucky - we do not get more majestic nor awe-inspiring the more ruined we get.  fractured personalities do not evoke a sense of romanticism in others; most are simply pitied.

but isn't everyone broken in some way?  emotionally scarred with open wounds from the past and becoming ever fearful of the shadows that may pounce upon us in the dark alleys of an unknown future - entities, living yet in ruins ...

it doesn't get easier  the older one gets for the senses weaken and feed increasingly incorrectly perceived  data to a mind that is losing its grip of its own sense of self... all this steadily becoming the decoration of your personal garden of ruin.

a mind knows only its own point of view - to this mind, its point of view is the only truth - all else is hearsay; one may take it into consideration, but it can never be true to you if you do not know it for yourself.

this is so important that there is simply no way to over emphasize it !

hence, practice what you claim to believe - live it - live it - live it... it has to be true to your own mind.  no one else can get in there !  no one else can make it true for you - so practice whatever it is you believe in; live it diligently, live it daily, live it completely.

liars, smokers, gamblers, alcoholics practice diligently and proudly wear their labels :
"hi, my name is Tom and i am an addict !"

why is the opposite so hard ?  "hi, my name is Susan and my life is glorious !"

if a truth is not ingrained into you through a life time of living it, how will it help you when you need it most ?

it may be a long process:  build the canoe, learn to paddle, practice the motion until you are skilled at it, choose the river you wish to travel, take the canoe there, get into it, start paddling and then and only then, will you be able to navigate that river and its unexpected dips or falls and yet enjoy the experience and thrill of getting to your destination.

today is a good day to start - your mind, your truth, your strength, your journey...

live well.

Way of Life.

i find that to be a fascinating phrase !

you are alive, you have a life ... now what to do with it ? get a job, make money, buy stuff, vacation from that life that you have made, and then repeat ...

that's the big picture of each one's life.  yet within that framework, you have all that daily stuff ... the things that end up defining who we are - whether it is charity or crime, yoga or drugs, meditation or abuse - the label tagged onto us due to our "way of life"

so why do we do or not do something ? why smoke if it's gonna kill you ?  why help those you have never met ? why have faith in a god you cannot see ?

most things or persons are first brought into your peripheral awareness and if your senses are attracted or repulsed by tickling of the senses, the mind will linger upon it. this lingering then finds an intellectual acceptance or rejection - at this stage, a choice has been made and this will be imprinted upon your psyche - you may accept a philosophy or reject smoking, etc.  Presto! you now have a addition to your bag of goodies, the sum total of which becomes YOUR way of life.

one can intellectually rationalize anything !  this means you can defend any lifestyle ... even one in which you know yourself to be miserable - yet you persist in your way of life to perpetuate that misery.. why ?

should anyone try to engage you in an intellectual debate upon the merits of an alternative way of life, it will probably be deflected without consideration for now, from a mere peripheral lingering, your way of life has transformed into your very nature and we all know how we can be pitiful victims of this deep rooted core being.

it's in my nature, i can't help it !  i didn't mean to, i'm sorry, i don't know what came over me... too late, damage done !

way of life... who knew each seemingly benign step could pave such a long road of unending repercussions.

this could be really wonderful if it is in your nature to help or be positive or even to evolve but what if it's just the opposite ?  what if you have forged your "nature" into something so dark, so self-destructive that the "you" inside is screaming to stop and break free but unfortunately you are imprisoned in this chamber of horrors, cemented by your own intellectual justifications ?  

be mindful of that mind of yours and tread very very carefully.

Raindrops.

i love looking at the rain when i am cosy in bed, in a cool room.  big drops falling from incredible height through a vast expanse of space.   from my vantage point it's all very wonderful and romantic.

however, let's step into the shoes of one single raindrop for a minute - imagine life from his point of view...

an undifferentiated part of an unimaginable vast ocean - immersed in the whole and encompassed by the whole - complete within the resting place of all water.

then one day, a part of that vast rises as vapor; condensation at high altitude, compression into clouds, but roaming the skies in joy and then - it all changes..

suddenly a tiny droplet forms out of the whole, and in time, it falls - perhaps back into the ocean to merge instantaneously back into the whole or perhaps into to pigsty !  it may take years of further rains to lift that one drop out onto a tiny string of liquid dirt - it gets caught up into innumerable blockages before joining a stream that may one day join a river where it may get sucked into a vortex which may perhaps only release it after several storms.  this little raindrop then flows finally to the ocean - back home now and part once again of the whole.  

yet at which part of this journey was it not water ?

had it know that from ocean to vapor to drop and then stream to river and back to ocean, it's apparent trauma was only due to its forgetfulness that it was merely various expressions of water and water, itself, pervaded it at all times, it could have enjoyed the entire experience, secure in the truth that its source, goal and various manifestation in between were all one and the same in essence.

non apprehension ( understanding ) of the Truth lead to misapprehension and all the ensuing misery.

Know you are That and That alone - then rest in Consciousness...

live well.

Consent form

have you noticed that almost all aspects of living today revolve around a " terms and conditions " consent form ?

you will fill in all your personal details, credit card details, expiry date, etc.,  press submit and then that annoying little box will pop up - you did not tick the box to verify that you consent ....

now who actually reads all the terms, all the conditions, all the sub paragraphs, all the exclusions ... anyone ?

of course, inevitably, something will go wrong; and then all the fine print become the focus of your given situation: pre-existing conditions, within 30 days, loss of data, original box, 24 month contract...

none of it matters if things are going great, but every single word is critical when things fall apart.

consent : do you agree to ... ?

"God" works on a similar system - in fact, He probably drafted the first one !

Most tend to ascribe to a belief depending on the family they are born into ... some convert,  some linger on, some pursue, some ignore .. whatever may be the case, there is a consent form for that religion, philosophy or premise of disbelief - most of us, however, never bother to read it or those who do, can't get past the jargon and say " whatever! "

then one day ( regardless of your station in life ), things go wrong and one will turn to that "god" and say "i don't understand"...  and herein lies the key - understanding is a function of the intellect whereas the consent form you signed states "all parts of your being must consent; that to perceive with the intellect is not enough"... the heart must consent to universal love ( we are One )  and the mind to the concept of universal life ( not a single particularity but rather a Cosmic Whole )  and once this is accepted ( ticking the box ) one offers to extend one's own consciousness to embrace the Multiplicity and draw it into the folds of Unity.

This expanse of Unity embraces even your own sense of self and hence, anything done to anyone,  you inevitably do to yourself - every vulgar word, every vile action, every insidious plan, will lay its fruit at your own doorstep - you place the crown of thorns on your own head... and with each violation of those terms & conditions, you push it deeper into your ulcerated scalp.

you ticked the box - now please follow those terms & conditions !

live well.

It's Personal

ever use the phrase, "Me, Myself and I !"  
it is usually used when either doing something only for oneself, or by oneself - stating unequivocally that only 1 person is being considered, me !

however, there is a fundamental philosophical truth therein.

if one ever decides to take that first step ( of a thousand steps, as it were ), where do we start ?  with "me", of course .. not us, but me !

each of us has to walk our own path .. we may bump into other people once in a while ( they come, they go ), but essentially, it is a solitary path taking us to an ultimately solitary Goal.

now i have me, but what do i do with me ?   "me" may be not think myself to be God material ... may not even have a grasp of the fundament concept of what "god" is ..


here we have to take an unabashed, brutally honest look at myself - who and what comprises this creature named "john" or  "paul" ?  peel off the layers that are merely dust covers of the rich content that is so vigorously  protected ... am i my name, am i my attributes, do i exist on a purely physical or animalistic level, do i spend a lifetime seeking to satisfy an emotional need , do i wander aimlessly in a smokey mind of inexhaustible thoughts - who am i ?  and why am i not happy in the pursuits i, myself, chose to undertake ? or am i happy wallowing in my misery ?  do i want more than what my life comprises of right now ?


and then the "I" - the ultimate Goal ... there has been enough said of this so repetition is unnecessary .. 


apply this "me, myself and I" philosophy in a new light : whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, we all walk alone .. best to know who we are walking with and even more importantly, where we are going :)


live well.  

Head for the Hills !

Today marks the day my Master left his physical expression.

He studied under conditions that we would consider difficult. He then circled the globe countless times in his effort to share what he had "experienced".  He could have easily stayed put in the lap of the Himalayas, isolated from all this daily chaos, suspended in His Bliss but He didn't... His was a life of tireless activity.

yet there are so many today, despite their valiums and prosacs, that constantly bleat out their misery and scream their longing to run to the thousand and one ashrams where they hope to find nirvana.  

they say they are tired of the world, they want peace, they see no purpose in their work and it goes on...

ashrams are good - one can get recharged, inspired to continue .. but they are not to be regarded as spas !

they are institutes of learning - study, understand, practice and evolve ...

to come back and seek delight in an object of desire will find you constantly void of a sense of fulfillment - the joy in not in the object itself but in having the vision of seeing the Absolute expressing Itself in that object - this perception of Unity is essential... for nothing exist outside of Him !  once this is established within as a truth, then we hold the whole universe in the palm of our hand - we no longer "need" anything and objects lose their sway over our salivating minds.

those who Know and walk amongst us do so not for any personal gain - they are already complete -  there is no desire prompting their "action";  theirs is an experssion of the merging of the once individual will into the total Cosmic Will.

hence, there is no need to head to the hills to avoid action, act you must - but do so without identifying oneself with the act - know Him as the Doer and the power that enables the Doing ...

Witness Him in all and then surrender all "your" actions and the fruits thereof at His feet ...

live well.

Installment Plans

what is this fascination with the the phrase "one day..."  why not "NOW!"

it seems even god is now a lay-away plan ... i will offer this, and pray there and vow this and one day, i hope to know god...

i can understand if we are talking about a disease; i will avoid fatty foods, drink less alcohol, not smoke, exercise more and hopefully void cancer !  this, i can get ... but why not feel the urge to know god right here, right now !

i will go to church next sunday, i will go on pilgrimage when i am 60... huh ?

the future will eventually become today and then what ? what would have changed ?  aside from the fact you will be older, more frail, less attentive and closer to death... a bucket punched full of holes, oozing out your essence at every moment - eyes darting around for more acquisitions, ears glued to your cell phones, tongues waging out rumors - all your senses seeping out Life until you are empty and dry.

so why not now ?

in truth, there is nothing to do.  perhaps you feel the effort towards god is too much - a herculean task for which you are ill prepared - but what do you have to do ?

in Silence, His presence is simply to be recognized ... not gained, for it was always there;
the sun does not wait for you to open your eyes before it sheds its light - it is ever present - open your eyes, and voila - instant illumination

Doing is an external act which requires exertion whereas Being is an internal experience of Silence - where is there to go, what is there to do ? simply witness Him - flowing through what you consider to be you, into what you consider to be "other than you" - both are Him alone... just know this to be true and you dissolve into Him, your life now His expression and your Peace, complete and perpetual.

there is no installment plan for God - He is the ultimate cash and carry deal !

live well.