Tag: Alan Watts

Consciousness Stream Towards Deeper Waters

 

“This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”
― Alan Wilson Watts

 

Investing myself and my time…Conquering the moment or perhaps just living it… filling my days with art and rhyme.. dogs and cleaning and family too… grand adventure in the mundane…tho is anything mundane when its done magically with full will and intent? This next year I will live my time… and time my living… all traveling towards a further deeper consciousness.. because in the end isn’t that what it’s all about?
Blessings, G

 

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King of the Night ForestKing of the Night Forest by G A Rosenberg

 

KaleidoscopeKaleidoscope by G A Rosenberg

The Play’s the Thing…

 

“You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.”
― Alan Wilson Watts

 

The stage is set. The universe manifests itself as settings and props. Then it imagines characters that will interact with the props and each other. Each of these people is a unique aspect of the universe as it seldom sees much point in duplicating itself. After all there is an infinite palette to chose from and both all time and no-time in which to play it all out. The characters take on a life of their own as well-created characters are wont to do. Who knows, perhaps some of them may even break out of their pre-designed scripts going places well beyond its spec. This has happened before and the universe delights in it feeling the recursive thrill of co-creation. Others will not, at least not at this point in the universal show yet given infinite no-time there is always the hope that they too may do something unexpected. The play is always in progress…. and roll tape…
Blessings G

 

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Inner World ExplorationInner World Exploration by G A Rosenberg

 

Inside the NetInside the Net by G A Rosenberg

Ch-Ch-Changes

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”
― Alan Wilson Watts

 

The world is in upheaval. Not only the external world but for many of us, it seems that changes are happening more rapidly. It takes boldness to surf through those changes instead of feeling thrown by them. It takes even more courage to welcome the changes that come with wonder. I’ve been fighting the changes in my life strongly. My son’s growing up. He has become a teenager with a teenager’s need to question authority and fight the inner battles that hormones bring. My parents are older with the attendant health issues that often come with that. My areas of focus tend to move around and sometimes they ricochet. More and more tho rather than standing against the wind and either being in denial or resistance of the changes, I am letting them buffet me towards new ways of being.
The Death trump in the Rider-waite tarot shows the figure of Death on a pale horse. Death of course does not represent literal Death as much as transformation and the card itself speaks of different approaches to transformation. The trampled King on the card believed that his power and wealth would save him from having to change and he got trampled. The Priest, next in line believes that the dogma that he adheres to is eternal and he is soon to suffer the same fate. The maiden sits in surrender to the horseman tho her face is turned away. She still resists the idea of change no matter how inevitable she finds it. The child hands Death a flower. In innocence, we face change with the same wonder that we face everything else. It is only when we become older, we lose that innocence. May we each return to it.
Blessings, G
 

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Abstracted Spirits in the stormAbstracted Spirits in the Storm by G A Rosenberg

 

ExpansionExpansion by G A Rosenberg

Past Shades the Present

 

“We seldom realize, for example that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society.”
― Alan Wilson Watts

 

How often have you heard someone say that they were ‘speaking their own truth’ or ‘expressing their reality’? Are our thoughts truly our own or are they a combination of our religious, cultural and societal upbringings? We often feel we have rejected our past in terms of our own free thought. I know for many years I felt that only to realize then that most of what I thought were my own ideas were indeed reactions to my past. Either way I looked at it it felt like I was either fighting the tide or embracing it. It was only when I realized this that I was able to start weighing information taking my own upbringing as a factor in how I react to things I’ve learned. It will always have an influence. We are never free of our pasts and that is probably a good thing but understanding that patina has led to a greater understanding.
Blessings, G

 

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Moon WarriorMoon Warrior by G A Rosenberg

 

Moire VisionMoire Vision by G A Rosenberg

Emotional Waters

“Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.”
― Alan Wilson Watts

 

When too much is going on in my head, doing more or finding more to think about rarely helps. I have to sit with what’s there and let it gradually either fade or sink to the bottom. When I’m feeling frustration or impatience, I don’t find it helpful to dwell on the source of these emotions. That just adds fuel to the fire.  It also doesn’t help to tell myself that I shouldn’t feel what I’m feeling. That adds guilt to the list. If I sit with whatever the emotion is, letting myself feel it, even watching myself feel it as much as possible and I find it start to dissipate. It feels quite a bit like muddy water looks when it settles, a clearing thats gradual at first and then picks up speed until only a few traces of the cloudiness remain. After the emotion has gone, I can look at causes and reasons and perhaps come to a dispassionate understanding. At the very least I can do it from a perspective of peace and calm.
Blessings, G

 

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Time-ZoneTIme-Zoned by G A Rosenberg

 

SeededSeeded by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – March 15 2013

“We seldom realize, for example that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society.”
― Alan Wilson Watts

 

How do we break away from societal conditioning or at least realize which ideas are our own and which are just rote learned responses? Meditation helps for sure but also self-examination. If I feel myself having a fast reaction to something whether it be someone asking for money in the street, someone expressing themselves loudly or in ways that I was raised to believe were pushy and rude I have started to watch my reaction (I used to try fighting my reactions, talk about a sucker’s game… better to bring them out and let them dissipate in the open air), let myself feel what I feel and then look at it and test it for integrity. Does this truly express my values or is it the part of me that is the conditioned robot?  It helps to remember that the idea is not to not be the robot but to be truly expressive of the self at all times.

 

On a different subject, today just as an experiment, on my Facebook status I asked people, “What is the most beautiful thing you see right now?” and received so many fantastic responses. Shared joy is increased! I loved the idea that just for one moment, no matter what was happening in their days and lives that whoever read it would look around them for beauty. For me at the moment, it was my son having a bit of a temper tantrum over delayed plans. I have been enjoying watching him individuate more and more (tho there are parts of it that drive me a bit nuts as well) . Easily tho the responses to my question made my day. I may be getting the hang of this social media thing and how it can be used to share meaning after all.

 

What is the most beautiful thing you have seen today?
Blessings, G

 

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Wondering if His Dreams Have Wings
Wondering If My Dreams Have Wings by G A Rosenberg

 

Green EggsGreen Eggs by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – March 7 2013

“Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.”
― Alan Wilson Watts

 

I feel echoes of past blissful moments
they carry me
options abound to touch and
Connect with joyful people
and dance naked in the moonlight
or perhaps in the mind’s moonlight…
to be free
to realize freedom
we hold ropes and chains
and chainsaws
Some of us need to be tied
to know our true liberty
I prefer ropes to lies
for they are far easier to untie
but why speak of bondage
when the dance awaits
each steps unique
each rhythm skewed
we throw ourselves
into movement
faster and faster we transcend
until we wind down spent
in those dizzying moments
we feel our identities
I wouldn’t miss it for the world!

— G A Rosenberg

 

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In a Magical Universe they studied the Soul GemIn a Magical Universe They Study the Soul Gem by G A Rosenberg

 

Crystal and CloudsClouds and Crystal by G A Rosenberg

 

 

Quote of the Day – June 16 2012

“Normally, we do not so much look at things as overlook them.”
–Zen quote by Alan Watts

Fishing in a Zen garden. I feel comfortable with the metaphor. Our witness sitting with its fishing pole allowing whatever we do or see to flow past knowing that what will land on the hook is what is needed for growth, for balance and for evolution.

 

So often, I put such importance on my day to day stuff. I worry about how something may or may not turn out either through my effort or lack of it. So much matters. Since it matters, it weighs down each moment and I forget that the matter has accrued in this here and now. In the here and now one week in the future, things that matter now will matter a whole lot less and five years from now probably won’t matter at all.

The fisherman still sits at his fishing hole fishing. Whatever comes by will. If it jumps on his line then it does. The witness smiles…

Blessings, G

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Fishing in a Zen Garden by G A Rosenberg

Amethyst by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – May 11 2012

““The art of living…is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.”
― Alan Wilson Watts

Each time I left or someone else has. Each time I thought I had it together only to smash on the rocks, each time I hit a new low in despair or thought I had, one thing has kept me going. Life has been so strange, so unpredictable that I just can’t wait to see what will happen next. It’s not the cliche that each day can be the start of something new and different, its that each moment can be. Something precious that can’t and won’t come again. All it takes is a willingness to leave the past behind. That can be a rough one because sometimes the past is not finished with us nor us with it.

I don’t see myself as clinging to the past but the thing about travelling in spirals is that we come around again, if not revisiting an old moment at least gaining new perspective on it. It’s amazing sometimes the things we can learn to forgive ourselves for at least if we are willing to forgive the others involved as well.
Blessings G

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Phoenix Mandala by G A Rosenberg

Greetings From a Fractal Universe by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – December 25 2011

“Faith is a state of openness or trust.”
Alan Watts

Finally a quote on faith that works for me. It seems so often that people use their faith as a reason to close off to anything that may challenge or contradict it. I see faith as being an open dynamic principle, one that can change and grow. My faith in the universe and in my source grows daily, also my faith in myself. Does that mean that my ideas of the nature of what source may be stays the same, no I hope that I understand more and more the nature of.
Hope everyone reading this has had a joyous and blessed changing of the seasons, no matter what name and symbolic significance it has for you.
Namaste, G

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Cavern Christmas 2011 by G A Rosenberg