Tuesday, November 30, 2010

On Asana

It’s not how well your body gets into the posture.
It’s how well the posture gets into your body.

Question(s) d'jour:

As previously addressed, our mood is not beyond our control. So, respond to this one by feeling the answer, rather than with words.

How do you want to feel?

Monday, November 29, 2010

Assignment d'jour:

Imagine that this planet was your creation and
your “pet”.

Consider humanity's affects on your beloved.

Contemplate how you contribute to sustaining humanity's momentum.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Question(s) d'jour:

Who would you be if you were born and raised by Aborigines in the Australian outback, in Nazi Germany, to a junky in the ghetto or as a member of a Taliban tribe?

What of you isn't due to acculturation?

Remember Tibet

“Free Tibet” is an appealing notion; but honestly, it's a lot like saying “free America”. The place is still there on the planet and on a map, but it's no longer the Tibet that existed before the Chinese invasion and occupation. The culture is trying to stay alive by sustaining traditional practices, both in Tibet and among Tibetans, now displaced into other countries. But the government that once spent over 80% of its resources on education, and prioritized the welfare of its people and environment, has been replaced. The current rulers have turned the place from a haven for higher thinking into a tacky tourist trap, and decimated the surrounding country side for minerals and monetary gain. Each passing year leaves fewer left, who lived in that alpine Eden. And much of the art and literature that represented the culture was “cleansed” as a part of China's assimilation.

There are now two Tibets. One is the “should be re-named” monastic mountaintop metropolis, that's now another nook of China. The other is a memory – a recollection of a people, a philosophy and an ideology that still echos from the society that shouted its prayers into the Himalayas, many years ago.

And it's a memory worthy of passing on. All peoples and governments should aspire to the nobility that Tibet once exemplified. Each culture would do well to embody the spirit of universal brotherhood that was woven into the genome of its population of yore. Everyone who proudly thinks that their society is the apex of civilization needs the heaping helping of humility that would come through reflecting on the priorities and values that Tibet used to espouse.

So while “Free Tibet” makes a marketable bumper sticker, “Remember Tibet” is a motto that could potentially lead to societal evolution on a global scale.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Question(s) d'jour:

Occasionally, loss, accident or near calamity alert us to the value of every day life.

How can you sustain your appreciation of being?

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Assignment d'jour:

OK. Let's try a little twist on the holiday tradition.

Think, or make a list, of the things you've experienced, which you thought were horrible at the time,
yet are now grateful to have gone through.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

On Asana

Our practice becomes skillful when we accept that we don't know what to do, or precisely how to do it,
nearly as well as our bodies do.
Our task isn't to know such things, as much as it is,
to know how to listen to our bodies, their instincts and our intuition; and, how to guide our movements accordingly.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

On Asana

Don't move, then feel.
Feel as you move.

Question(s) d'jour:

What would it take to give you confidence in your own intuitive powers?

What would motivate you to incorporate them in your decision making processes?

Eureka!

Brilliant discoveries and great insights don't come from getting the right answers.

They come from asking the right questions.

Friday, November 19, 2010

On Asana

Move into your postures with the same level of attentiveness that you would apply
when putting your hands into the sudsy dishwater, after pulling out a half of a broken glass.

Assignment d'jour:

Imagination is the source of everything.
Exercise yours to keep it in prime condition.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

On Asana

Don't work on your body.
Work with it.

Question(s) d'jour:

Who/how do you want to be, today?
In the next few minutes?
How about now?

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Assignment d'jour:

Actions become habitual. Intentions and priorities are frequently discounted if/when they contradict our actions. Take time each day and, whenever possible, before acting to make sure that your actions are in line with your most honest heartfelt ambitions.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Question(s) d'jour:

If you had no ties or obligations, what would you want to do and/or be?

How well does that resonate with your deepest sensibilities?

Monday, November 15, 2010

Assignment d'jour:

This is another one that'll take practice to be able to appreciate it.

As you're “speaking” your thoughts, try to not “say” the last word or three. It may be difficult to do, at first; but once you figure it out, you'll find that the content of the thought is there in full, without it being fully articulated. After you've mastered this, you can shorten you verbalizations even more. Eventually, you'll be able to know your thoughts without spelling them out.

This practice helps one to see that thinking is a process separate from the seed notions and from the observer that sees all.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Question(s) d'jour:

What is the source of your thoughts and feelings?
What are they before they're born in your mind?

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Assignment d'jour:

Remember that you can't tend to the world's needs, unless you tend to yourself first.

Take a nap. Go to a movie. Walk in the wilderness. Dine out. Spend some time doing your favorite hobby. Whatever it is, do something to make yourself feel good. If others get involved too, that's an extra bonus.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Question(s) d'jour:

If you could choose to be any other species, which would it be and why?

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Just Do It

There are a lot of techniques that fall into the category of meditation. I've taught many, as different people respond better to different practices. All are just doorways to another way of seeing, understanding and being. So, in the end, the door you choose is of little consequence, if it leads you to the right place.

First, you need to come to know your own mind, through dispassionately observing it in action. This frequently goes hand in hand with gaining the requisite control over its activities. Then you need to learn to let go of your attachment to, and identification with, it.

You are not who you think you are. This is a crucial realization. (For those who seek the truth)

It's not about nailing down the correct idea of what/who you are. It's about sensing what/who you are, and living in accordance with that, in the steadily mutating moment. This isn't an extraordinary way of being. Pretty much everyone has been there for brief flashes, many frequently. But most aren't actually aware of just what's going on, while it's happening.

It's not about learning some trick that magically makes everything alright, either. It's about seeing that it already is. Everything is imperfect; ergo, imperfection is a given aspect of all existence and action - and therefore, of perfection, too.

Acceptance, patience, gratitude, compassion, humility, ... There are many different qualities that need to be nurtured, in order to create the openness required, for us to be who we are. Harmonious actions and lifestyles, flow naturally from an attuned way of being. But for most, it's necessary to regulate actions and lifestyles first. Ideally, that helps to ingrain the attitudes that form the foundation for surrendering to the truth.

To think that we already know, intellectually, is to delude ourselves. To walk the path, is to seek to verify that our understanding is wrong - to step out of the world we've created in our heads, so that we can stand tall and walk forth, in a new world. One made different by our viewing it through fresh eyes.

There is no finish line to cross, after which the work is done. It's like balancing on one foot. You can get more comfortable with it and learn to stay there for longer, but eventually you have to walk, or think.

The Buddha, Jesus and many other spiritual teachers have said that we're already divine. That the truth is simply obscured behind a cloud of self-perpetuating illusions. And that, regardless of which door we choose, our task is to shed our skin of arrogance and ignorance, and embrace our opportunity to help heal the world. Only this, can bring us the fulfillment and enduring happiness that we all seek.

So pick a door, any door, step through it and bask in the wonderland that you were born into. It's what you really want, and it's what the world needs.

Born Sinners

We aren't born hardwired to commit adultery or steal or lie or preform any “sinful” act. But our very existence requires us to kill to eat, to pollute when we defecate or dispose of our scraps, to foul the water when we bathe, the air when we breathe and to mar the planet when we build our homes and highways upon it.

For those who still believe that the earth was built just for for us to do whatever we want with, that very idea is a sin against creation, itself. It's a glaringly pompous notion that should have passed away with the belief that our little planet is the center of the universe.

Our existence requires that we do harm to the earth and to other living beings on it. This is the way it is. The sin is in presuming superiority and taking what we reap from the earth, and the sacrifices it makes to sustain us, for granted.

On Asana

It’s not how well your body gets into the posture.
It’s how well the posture gets into your body.

Assignment d'jour:

OK. This is a big one. To do it properly will require keeping up with it for a number of days.

Take some paper and begin to compile a list of your habits. You'll start with the big bad easy ones. Then you'll think of some of your beneficial habits. But there are many very subtle ones that you do all the time, which will take persistence to see. Put your wishes aside and be brutally honest, as you scrutinize your smallest actions, and especially, your reactions. (Including your thoughts and emotional responses.)

If you do this right, many of you will be quite surprised by how much of your activity is done automatically.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Question(s) d'jour:

If you could choose to be anyone else, who would it be and why?

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Assignment d'jour:

Get fapitzed for no real reason and, once preened, go out in public and carry on as you normally would. Notice if you feel any different and if others look at or treat you differently.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Question(s) d'jour:

How/where do you sabotage yourself?
Why do you do it?
What can you do about it?

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Assignment d'jour:

Take a few minutes to rummage around through your childhood. See if you can find any dreams you may have left there that are still worth wishing for. If so, dust them off and prominently display them on a shelf, in the present.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Question(s) d'jour:

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Assignment d'jour:

Pause to imagine a favorable future. This can be a years long view, imagining a care free drive across town or just remembering where you left your keys.

Whenever you entertain your future circumstances, practice optimism. Being mindful is more than a fanciful notion for those with nothing better to do. Expectations and imagination sway events.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Question(s) d'jour:

Is there something that you've been wanting to do or set into motion that you can initiate today?

Excuse Me

Excuses abound, and always will. We must expand our motivation to overcome the present momentum, or lack there of, if we wish to achieve anything.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Assignment d'jour:

Complacency isn't a successful strategy for anything. Need I say it?

Get out there and vote.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Question(s) d'jour:

How do you want to feel?

Who's in Charge Around Here, Anyway?

Although, most people don't think that they're at the mercy of their thoughts, they do seem to feel as though they're at the mercy of their feelings. And since our feelings are such tangible phenomena, that appear to arise and thrive independently, most think their emotions happen to them, as well.

It's true that feelings just bubble up within us. But we're no more obligated to sustain them, than we are any other notions that may arise in the realms of recollection, fantasy or conjecture. Our emotional capacities are merely for consideration, as another “sense” with which we can interpret our world.

Problems begin when we give them too much credit and cling to them for whatever reasons. Fixation can produce fabulous talent, glorious art and wondrous invention. But it can also lead to debilitating emotional states and compulsive neurosis.

We have a kind of gravitational attraction that lures thoughts and feelings, and causes them to stick to us - until they're dislodged by the next one, or intentionally brushed off.

Any notion that begins to sprout, whether it's destined for an emotional or conceptual birthing, is ours to attend to or ignore. This, either as we see fit, or as we blissfully tool along, in auto pilot. (Ignorance being bliss, that is.)

It's easy to get caught up in the dramas that we fabricate inside of our heads. It's like the ones that grab us through the TV. Stories have their own “static cling”, which adds to our natural gravitational force, making them even harder to keep at arms length. They can make us feel really good, and can be positive experiences - or the contrary. The inner stories feel real, in the same way that movies feels real, when we allow ourselves to get caught up in them. But the inner story doesn't turn off. It never stops being written, and re-edited. And our selves are defined by our stories.

Or so the story teller would like us to believe.

We can learn to take our stories more like novels being read to us, and see them as just one accounting. A single sampling of the bigger unfolding. We develop an awareness of the space between us and our dramas. Then we can see that our emotions are responses to how life is relating to our sensibilities. Those sensibilities, being a reflection of our stories. And so, we see that they have no realness outside of the attention that we give to them.

The clearer our perspective, the easier to be free of our emotions. Not free, as in “devoid of”, but rather, as “not a slave to”. But it isn't necessary to hold a saintly overview to begin to take charge. Simply imagining that it's possible and daring to step out of your habituated and/or knee jerk patterns, is really all it takes. Then it's just a matter of practice.