It’s all happening inside of us, all of it. We know this, do we live this? What does it mean to our life, our decisions, our moving along? Can it be different if we get to the full being of this knowing?

Life does it’s work on us. The experiences line up to be noticed, to be endured, to be lived. Then, as they fade, as they move to the background, the seed has already been sewn. It unfolds as it is nurtured by the winds of change, the rain of feelings and the elements of further experience.

While the zigs and zags of circumstance are impossible to predict, they are there for us. Every turn, every bump in the road is for us, is there to support and nurture us. What else would it be? Though the drama may not be the choice of our conscious ego, it is the choice of spirit, the self of us who knows all and supplies perfection. I know, hard to imagine.

More than once I have looked skyward shaking a fist and asking; so you think this is perfect?!?!? When I have an issue about my situation, when I am in judgment about what is, I tend to place the blame out there. I tend to play the victim and make some unseen power in the sky into the culprit. Pretty silly, but pretty common.

What looks like perfection from the position of spirit may look like disaster from here. That’s to be expected as point of view is powerful and creative. If you don’t like what you’re currently looking at, a shift to a new point of view is sure to change it. Yes, it’s safe to try this at home.

We can watch ourselves, in the mirror or in the mind or in the faces of those around us. Nothing is required but seeing. If we notice we have refused the truth of the present moment, then we have it cornered. Once we get that out from behind the veil, we have it handled. Once that seeing emerges, we have the power to know who we are beyond that which arises. We are no longer searching for ourselves in the circumstance, the situation, the advantages and disadvantages.

We are simply beyond all that. Simply, we are the field in which the great and the not so great comes to play. As that space, we are not in need of explanation, not lacking in identity, not grasping for personal importance.

In the super simple act of watching, we can notice all that is. In the depth of simplicity we can find our true self. No rush, it’s always there, all ways.

Sometimes, enlightenment seems like a good ole boy’s club that is exclusive and excludes us. Who invented it anyway? Who decided what it is and how to get it and where to go and whom to pay? Actually, those are not empowering questions so I will drop them.

I simply am. That’s all and that’s enough, plenty. There may be something in my life that would be better left behind. There may be a habit, a tendency or a repetitive thought that does not serve me. And, none of that interferes with me being IT right now.

No seeking is required, no longing, no desire carries us over some imagined threshold. These are myths, stories made up to fill the dark and lonely night around a camp fire. They are mighty fine legends indeed, but only legends.

Seekers enjoy the tales about the masters, the intimate details of their personal lives, as if this has some baring on personal reality. They want to know more and more, thinking the next tidbit will be the one that turns the tide, the little piece of the puzzle that unravels the mysterious fabric of in-lightening.

This only shows that they are already IT. A less mature soul would grow frustrated and furious after only a few hundred sessions in which the same old tired epic is retold yet again.

Who invented enlightenment after all? Let’s get ‘em and tickle them until they give it all up. With me?

It happens by accident. There is a pull, it has no name nor face. There is no way to explain it, no way to make it fit into a happy linear logical model that will please the funny little mind.

There will be eyes, eyes of your own, eyes of a child, a dear animal or a stranger. The eyes are there to serve us, to remind us of our deepest truth, to allow us to know. The entire world is a set up, perfectly arranged, like two parallel fences narrowing narrowing until we are funneled into the perfect place at the perfect time. Then time and space revert to the truth of their non being.

When you are available, life is there waiting. When you flip into knowing, the questions that were so pressing yesterday fall away with no answer needed.

All the answers line up, stand behind one another and let you see how invisible they are.

Realization opens, lets you come closer, lets you move forward, lets you be. There is no difference that counts. There is no question that truly requires an answer. There is no requirement, no demand. No name can be applied. It can not be explained.

In fact, attempts to explain fall flat, fail, falter. Attempts to put it in a form that can be digested in the usual way can not succeed. And who cares?

It’s all about the flow, the movement, the vortex created by the river. Hoarding interrupts the flow, causes constriction and financial constipation. Hoarding is the antithesis of life. Hoard and you will find yourself experiencing all the emotional and physical symptoms that go along with it, not pretty.

Somehow, our belief in lack, limitation and imminent disaster has encouraged this behavior. We might call it saving, we might call it thoughtful preparing for the future and some of that works. However, when putting away something for a rainy day elevates into keeping as much as possible for me me me, we have a wee problem.

When we gather up as much as we can, sock it away and lock it up, we get bound up in our distrust of the funky future. We wear a frown, walk with a consternated gait and try to avoid eye contact with strangers.

What we’re looking for is knowing by experience; when we give, spend and enjoy money consciously, it keeps on coming. Tithing is the giving of a significant percentage of our income to the person who has been most influential in the growth and support of our spiritual life. This giving confirms our belief in the infinite source. When we keep money moving, it allows for a flow of finances, letting great wealth come into and through our lives.

If we hold sustainability as a value, then money is to be collected and applied to this end. Putting money into action as the hand expressing our beliefs is only appropriate. Why bother to chose and revere the highest beliefs if we are not going to charge them with action? Money makes it possible to energize beliefs and put them to work for everyone.

If indeed we are going to make our dreams come true, help our fellows, protect the innocent and make peace on earth, some cash might well come in handy.

I know, we don’t speak of money in polite circles. This is a different kind of circle where there are no taboo subjects.

Poverty is not more spiritual, higher nor more godlike. Poverty may be a rite of passage, a difficult condition with gifts hidden among her cloaks, but it is not some kind of proof of spiritual superiority. If it were, we would be bowing in a different direction.

Likewise, wealth does not keep one out of the kingdom of heaven. There is not some other-dimensional accountant giving demerits for every hundred bucks we earn. There is no foul smell to money, there is no sin attached to wealth and money is not proof of mafia affiliation. How about that?

Evil is not a thing, it is not an object, it is merely an idea. Any concept, when it is revered, respected and elevated to be treated as a thing, is still a concept. Evil is an idea, nothing more, and I don’t believe in it.

No such thing as evil exists. Money may be gained or used in ways that are delightful or ways that are despicable, either way, money is not evil. Money may be seen as energy which can be applied to do work, avoid work or even be wasted, thrown into the sea. In any of these cases, money is not evil, though it may be judged as such.

Money is not wealth. Wealthy is not a measure of bucks, ruppies nor pesos. Wealth is a standard, a manner of traveling and can be limited unconsciously or consciously. It can also be released to expand with conscious intention.

If indeed we know ourselves to be holding and applying higher standards, then it is our responsibility to attract and distribute wealth in a way that harmonizes with our beliefs. Tricky one, that. If we are aligned with higher beliefs, if we know ourselves to be in this category, then it falls to us to accumulate wealth and use it in conscious ways. This is not for our own gain, not for our own aggrandizement but for the good of all.

Let’s chew on that for a couple of days.

The feeling of failure is simply inappropriate. It does not matter what comes and what goes. Undisturbed by what passes in front on the stage of life, there we rest. That which has concerns, is not us. There are no anchors to drop nor anchors to pull up. No line between me and that, me and them, me and me.

Something beyond all this contemplates, watches, observes without observing. Humming along, knowing, seeing, simply is. Tears may come but they are not me. I am not crying. I am not to identify with the act, the sadness nor the salty H2O. What I am defies definition, evades touch and will not be captured by a digital device.

Since there is no there to get to, there is no way to put off arrival. Even the divine is not there for us to get to, to attain, to grasp. We are not tied to the weather, the tide nor the desires. If the searcher has a form, it is not me. If the going is set up as a goal, it is not a goal to be completed. To the extent that I don’t mind, I expand. To the extent that I am not attached, I expand.

There is no way to fail. Peace does not anoint us if we deserve it. We are not romping over the meadow hoping to catch up with peace. We are available to watch the peace that has opposites show up and then blow up. We are abiding in the peace that has no opposite, no polarity.

If there is someone who can go, who can search, who can seek after peace, the trick is to notice that someone is not me. The girl who stops at the service station to pick up a map, is not me, is not my true identity. The girl who believes she might get lost or make the wrong turn, is not the one who knows, is and plays in the peace beyond desire. Take a boat, take a plane, take a fast car, none of these will get you ‘there’. No physical vehicle is needed. You can take this trip without leaving the farm.

There is no map, no instruction manual, no set of criteria. Isn’t that liberating?

No matter how high we get, peace is not something we own. We never get to run it, decide on it, insist on it. It is not something we attain and then wear like a favorite sweater. It is not a cabin we find along the road and move into. It is not a badge we sport with pride. Nope.

Peace may show up, may come to visit, may be kind and stay with us for a while. It may take a detour, turn left while we turn right and give us the slip. Good to keep in mind; we are not hunters, we are not seekers after peace (though we may have been called that once). We are not tied to thinking we have to stay in peace or drop out of grace all together. There is no ‘arrival’ that signals the end of opposites, the end of fluctuation.

Instead, we are above all that, smoothly floating in a space where peace may be noticed to come and go, go and come. We move and dance in a medium where the passing of peace may be noticed but not lamented. We have our lunch in the presence of peace or her evil twin, not being attached to which one shows up in any moment. We live in between preferences, watching the movement, noticing the differences but not writhing in pain when we don’t get our way.

Peace is not ours to have or lose. Peace is one of the infinite possibilities, all of which combine weaving into the fantastic fabric of life. Doncha love it?

What do we know? We know that so long as we remain right here, right now, we are just fine. We know this is all there is and this is enough. We know we are still entitled to step out of this moment, worry about the future and/or harangue about the illusionary past. We can fool our sweet selves into slipping into the darkness of wishing the last year had been different or wishing we could have a firm control over the equally illusionary future. We can do the dance of suffering or we can stay, right here, in this moment and play. Such a deal.

It might be; staying here inside this moment is life. Wandering outside of this moment, into the made up ideas of yesterday and tomorrow, could be called death. Could it be that death is the manifestation of the reified and therefore false belief in the concept of time?

One of the reasons people enjoy sports is their insistence on presence. You have to show up in the present to smack a baseball out of the park. You have to arrive in this present in order to score a goal in soccer. It’s tough to make a mental shopping list while bungy jumping. The more extreme the sport, the more extreme the requirement to stay in the moment.

It’s so simple; show up or blow up.

Long ago and far away, I had some friends who had a guru. He was the real deal, lived in India, wore weird clothing, the whole banana. They were expecting him, he was on his way to visit and it was a huge occasion. Every thing that could be cleaned was cleaned, at least twice. Every corner was dusted, every possible enhancement was made. A marvelous organic vegetarian meal was planned and set to go. Flowers were arranged. All was in readiness when he popped in. They stood huddled with huge grins to greet their honored One.

As the door swung open, several of those gathered were heard to gasp and swoon. A couple of them stepped back in surprise. The honored guest was carrying a large, large, half eaten bag of fritoes. Yes, they were crunching away in his mouth as he grinned at them. A few of the yellow morsels were escaping as he smiled. The bag was big, and he was delighting in the crackle of another huge bite when he noticed their chagrin. He held up the bag and explained in two words; guru food! And so the teaching began.

They say; spiritually advanced folks can transcend food, can eat anything and remain centered. There are legends of holy ones swallowing strychnine (do not try this at home nor anyplace else) to prove their mettle, but what has this to do with us? We have nothing to prove, we are not beating off followers, we are on the path, plodding at our own pace.

Have you ever wondered just how a change of diet might change your mind? Have you thought about leaving meat behind and watching to see how this effects you? It can be argued; a truly expanded one can eat anything and remain expanded. Though this may be the case for some, I am not among them nor have I met them.

I’m not suggesting you survive on air alone in order to remain pure. I am suggesting you take a step from where you are toward a more peaceful way of eating and see how it goes. All of life is experimental.

If these ideas call your attention, you may enjoy perusing; www.juicingforhealth.org or www.rawvegandiet.org or www.ohsohealthy.org

See you there.

If you are running from the law, running from the last person you married or running from yourself, it’s still running. Tough to imagine your life as a mission if you are on the run. Just the stress of the regular thing folks call life can keep you from thinking of yourself as a person on a mission. And we can change all that. Just give me 2 minutes.

If you were in charge of this whole thing, how would you change it? If you were the boss (and you are), what would be your first mandate? If you could change the world, where would you start? The answer to any or all of those interrogatives can define your mission. Then state it in the positive. I’m here to be sure all the children get lunch. I’m on the planet to beg people to breathe. That’s mine, but you can share it.

I know a guy whose mission is to seek out obscure herbs, plant them in his garden and make sure they have a marvelous life. I know a lady whose mission is to mix herbs into harmonious concoctions, then find the people who can be helped by dropping them into their mouths. She loves to try new combinations and see how they work for folks. Oh, maybe those two should meet.

A mission does not have to be made public. It does not have to be approved by the Pope. It does not have to be something your Mom would like. It’s very personal.

A mission does nurture your soul, and often other souls who pass bye close enough to feel the ripples. It does have to speak to your own heart of hearts with a whisper of delight.

My humble suggestion; let yourself know what your mission is, right now. Why wait?

Where did this idea come from? Some seekers fervently believe; when the big bang pops them into the big consciousness, difficulties end for ever. They say; all my troubles will be over if I can hang in long enough to get my mind around en-lightenment. They might say; my trouble is, I’m just striving and working toward the day when I can shift into the next dimension where there are no more troubles.

Many folks who line up and take the class, do the work and call themselves seekers are in it for this reason. They think when they ‘make it’ their ups and downs will cease. Life will be one smooth sail into the smooth sunset. Sounds a bit boring to me, but to each her own.

May I submit; troubles never end. Ask the most spiritually mature human you know; are you free from the plebeian adventures that plague the rest of us? Are you beyond the familiar trials and tribulations we wrestle with each day? We want to know; was it one magnificent big badaboom and then a glorious skip through a park full of fragrant flowers from then on into the infinite infinite? Inquiring minds have to know.

My dissenting opinion; troubles never end. Dips and bumps are part of what we call life. So long as there is life, there is change, and much of what we call a problem is simply change.

What does happen with a shift in point of view is troubles are not so troubling. The stuff still happens, comes up to be dealt with, but the dealing comes about in a more comfortable, effortless and delighted way. While we do not see the last of our misery fade away into the rear view mirror, we do see all of it from a new position where we are not threatened, not scared and not ruffled. Grins.

Somehow, there is a prevalent idea that there may be a better place than this. Somehow, a belief has been held and passed on and respected that moving to another location will do the trick, get you there, increase your chances that the enlightenment bug will smack you right between the eyes. It happens better in Nepal. They have a corner on it in Tibet. If I could just get over to Uluru, then I would have a better opportunity.

You may have heard people say; when I get to the right place, the optimal place, I will feel it. If I can just stay alive until I get there, then my third eye will open up like a big blossom and all my troubles will be over.

People who teach techniques lead us to imagine; if I chant Om Nama Shivaya 46 times on one breath while holding my nostrils shut on alternating sides and looking up at a mandala of daffy duck, then and only then will I pass from regular consciousness to that other kind that’s better. I don’t think so.

There is no place like home. I’m not downing travel, I’ve done plenty of it. I’m just saying, the traveling is not it. And, it’s all perfect. Your next trip around this wee globe may be the one that pushes you right into the next dimension. I could be entirely confused on this.

However, I am confessing to you, I hiked all the way around Ayer’s Rock and nothing happened. Even though I went out before dawn, even though I went with the best positive intentions, nothing happened. I got tired, I got sweaty, I got a lot of people wanting to buy my head covering net because the flies were intense. But no discernible shift in consciousness happened. None, zip, nada, nope, I wish. The next day I tried Kata Tjuta, even earlier. Got special dispensation from the guard to go in before they opened, all alone, in perfect silence, stumbling around in the dark. Got some nice insights, got some clarity, got to experience some peace, but the sky refused to open up.

Could be I wore the wrong shirt.

There is no where to go, no thing to do, nothing to gain, no thing to win. You already are all of it, all of IT. Right there, where you are now is it, IT, all there is. No striving, no effort, no suffering will bring you closer to where you already are. No amount of time passing will bring you to spiritual maturity, what ever that might be.

The next seminar does not hold the secret. That may be both the good and bad news. You don’t have to go to the next seminar, you don’t have to buy and read the next book, you can relax. Imagine that.

It’s not a competition, it’s not a race, you are not behind. You are not less able, less blessed nor less ‘enlightened’ than any other hu-man you might meet or hear about. There is no rush, there is no hurry, you are not late. Hmm, that was a lot of negatives, wasn’t it? Let’s try it from another angle.

You have what it takes. Better put; you are all it takes. You are the guru you may have been snooping around to find. You are sitting in the perfect position right now, exactly. You are always in the right spot. That cave in India is right for the folks who are sitting over there. The tip of the North Island of New Zealand is the right spot for the dear ones who are there right now. How does it get any better than this?

Sufi Hazrat Inyat Khan is quoted as having said;

No one has seen God and lived.
To see God we must be non-existent.

Heaven knows what he actually said.

WELP
let us not forget this was written by a man, a very nice man, but a hu-man
meaning
it’s all projection;
HE can’t see God
or
he has decided God is in-visible from where he sits in some body
so
he is speaking for himself
not for us

I would say; no one sees God and stays the same,
no one sees God and is not morphed, not impressed, re-formed,
see God and you stop being who you thought you were,

or we might say; see God and know yourself

we got this covered

Movement has become a god. We have some kind of respect, even reverence for movement. We like to build endless freeways and sit on them amongst hundreds or thousands of our fellows, going as fast as we possibly can without incurring the consequences of crash or citation. When we see our pals on Monday morning, they are quick to ask; where did you GO over the weekend?

On a visit to the states, a friend invited me for lunch and offered to let me pick the place. I said; thanks, that’s very kind, I would prefer someplace close to avoid the driving. Her idea of close bye was at the end of a 52 minute terrorizing adventure at speeds over 80. I simply don’t fit in modern life.

My question is; what would happen if we simply did not go? You’ve heard of the man who was so outraged by an oil tanker accident and spill that he decided to never ride in cars nor other vehicles that consume combustibles. Seems like a great idea to me. His personal protest has not stopped the millions of autos burning burning the gas and oil. However, I know it has contributed to his personal peace.

My suggestion; question every thing. Question every habit, question every decision, especially the thoughtless ones, question all of them. The intention is not to judge, not to adopt some strict moral standard. The intention instead is to bring each trip in the car up for review. Is this necessary? Is this contributing to peace? Is there a better way? What other options are here, visible and invisible?

Next time, instead of accepting the lunch invitation, I will offer to make lunch or walk to the corner cafe. We have choices.

Radical concept number 34298; we can take an aggressive approach to loving all there is. Yes, we can go out looking for things, people and situations that give us shivers, make us gasp or cause us to pop into judgment. Sure, they will come to you sooner or later, but why wait? We can go out and find them, get nose to nose with them and come out loving.

There are buddhist monasteries where this idea is used. They use photos of people and situations. The idea is; you stare right at things that make most folks go AWG ! and get into your center and come to peace with it, no matter what it is. This approach is pro-active, stepping out to engage your fears, anxieties, and righteousness. Sure, there are plenty of natural occurences that make you go whoa. We might let them organically appear in our lives, or we can go get them.

Anyone can come to perfect peace residing isolated in a cave for 12 years. Unless you really don’t like yourself, a few years alone can bring your natural calm to the surface. And this is mighty fine. However, what happens when the cave dweller emerges from their solitary confinement? How does that tranquil center fair in a traffic jam? Is it real peace if it can not survive a day in the city?

I used to have a wonderful step mother who provided a great service for me free of charge, but with plenty of emotional charge. When I got to thinking I was ‘advancing spiritually’, when I started feeling like I had made some progress, I would take the drive, go and visit her. Within minutes, sometimes within seconds, she would have my calm center in shreds on the floor. She was my own personal guru. None of my phony self aggrandizement could survive in her presence. Of course, I could have avoided this trauma/drama by skipping the visits, but then I would not have received the teachings. I am deeply grateful for all her consistent verbal abuse. Without it I would be suffering under my own fake enlightenment.