“What should I possibly have to tell you, oh venerable one? Perhaps that you’re searching far too much? That in all that searching, you don’t find the time for finding?”
― Hermann Hesse
In searching for the true essence of something, do we deconstruct it, reduce it to its component elements? In all the parts that make up our physical form, where do we find our essence… a doctor (or butcher) could dissect us in every way possible and still never see it… Perhaps to understand the essence of something, the trick is not to open it but to open ourselves…and find that in ourselves that relates…
True Mirrors, whether they be people or objects can either cause us unbelievable bliss or painful aversion..all depending on how well we can handle what is reflected back to us..
It’s not meaning that we search for as much as that something in ourselves that will help us know and understand.
“Belief gets in the way of learning.”
― Robert A. Heinlein
Over the years I have met many people of strong faith and in most cases it has filled my heart. I don’t mean the dogmatic faith of a born-again true believer because that often feels hypocritical. It seems to me that anyone who feels the need to defend their faith by insisting that everyone else has got it wrong and should be somehow punished for it has a somewhat shaky foundation to begin with. I am talking about those who can accept anyone no matter their beliefs because they are centred in themselves and their universe. They have no need to defend because they are so sure of it. These are the people who have shown me what a divine unconditional love can truly be.
I have exposed myself over the years to as many belief systems and schools of thought and philosophy as I could. As I have stated here many times, I want to understand where the commonalities lie and try to get a glimpse of the biggest picture I can. One side effect of this avocation has been that while I notice certain tendencies towards a greater truth, there is none that has been put into words that I could grasp onto and call my own. Never completely. It has been an awesome journey that I have found fulfilling in countless ways. I know that the universe as a whole is conscious and aware and once or twice I have even touched that awareness and felt its echo within myself. I have nothing to defend not because of the security I have in my understanding but because I am open to all discussions on the subject. Especially ones that will deepen my understanding. It has been a strange wonderful dance and it continues.
Blessings, G
“There is truth, my boy. But the doctrine you desire, absolute, perfect dogma that alone provides wisdom, does not exist. Nor should you long for a perfect doctrine, my friend. Rather, you should long for the perfection of yourself. The deity is within you, not in ideas and books. Truth is lived, not taught.”
― Hermann Hesse
We read and we study. We analyze with critical thought anything that comes our way. We seek perfect understanding yet all too often we avoid the self-work that may bring it closer. It feels like we circle the outer rim of ourselves while the centre remains many layers down. What can bring us inside? Oh exposure to new ideas is fantastic, don’t get me wrong. I love new paradigms and new ways of looking at things. Yet who is doing the looking? Is what we are exposing ourselves to bringing us closer to our truest self or leading us in circles. Perhaps we can take what we have learned and journey inward with it, adding awareness to our knowledge and knowledge to our awareness.
Blessings, G
“Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is… The only problem in your life is your mind’s resistance to life as it unfolds. ”
― Dan Millman
When I first heard the concept that suffering is optional and that it shows resistance to life as it is, I immediately began to protest.
“Sure try telling that to people who are homeless and have nothing. Tell that to someone who is out of work and doesn’t know how to feed their families!”
Then I met people who’s lives seemed so much harder than my own and yet they had a joy that I don’t think I could match on my best days. I met people with death sentences from cancer hanging over their head who wanted nothing more than to tell jokes and misbehave. I learned that it was possible to hurt but not suffer.
It was then that I understood what Bruce Lee meant when he said “Be Like Water.”
Blessings, G
“We deserve all the good things that happen to us. Don’t feel guilty. Accept the blessings”
— Paulo Coelho
When I first read the above quote, I was struck by how many different levels there can be in a simple eloquent statement. On the one hand I asked myself, is he saying that we deserve and are deserving of whatever comes to us either good or bad? Does that mean that people who suffer deserve their suffering? It occurred to me that that is a stretch for Mr. Coelho does not talk about the bad things but the good.
I have know several people who were so convinced that all they deserved was hardship and pain that when their lives actually improved, they sabotaged them because they did not feel they deserved it. In many cases, the people who did this were kids which made it even rougher to experience along with them. If only they could see that the full experience of life was available to them, the joy and delight as well as the sorrow. Indeed this full gamut seems to come part and parcel with the spirit and the DNA. If only we could accept it.
Likewise, if we only see the good, then our experience is also limited. Many times it is through adversity that we receive our greatest gifts. We become able to see just how strong we are and we develop compassion for others in whatever difficulties that they are experiencing. Indeed, often the parts of our lives that seem the most difficult are the ones we look back and treasure.
I hope to maintain equilibrium and continue to know both joy and pain, compassion and appreciation.
Blessings, G
“It’s not at all hard to understand a person; it’s only hard to listen without bias.”
― Criss Jami
How do I shut myself off enough to hear you? How do I stop pushing to be near you? I am me so loudly at times, how do I tune it down so I can amplify your voice in my ears? How can I dry not judge your tears? How can I sit with you in pain without feeling the cause? or the because…when the only way i can hear the because is to listen not with my ears but with my heart, to feel your energy, as it is presented not as how I would have it be… I cannot use your pain to make my rhyme or waste my time I need to sit with you as I need to sit with myself. Perhaps something I need to learn how to do better as well.
Blessings, G
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
— Buddha
I like to think of myself as being pretty open to most ideas. Oh, I can and will cheerfully discuss almost any topic and come at it from one point of view or another, tho I know that often truth lies somewhere in the middle of any given issue especially when it comes to concepts of history, politics, philosophy or spirituality.
There are occasions tho when I read or hear something that someone has wrote or said and it sets my hair on edge.
A friend of mine had brought up the subject of the Middle East, specifically Palestine and Israel on his page and people were discussing it back and forth. Since it is a subject I have researched quite a bit, I brought up a point or two. Someone who disagreed with me first asked me to cite some sources and when I did and suggested a few other topics to research, he replied “You’re contradicting what I’ve been taught in school, you shouldn’t expect me to dig around to support *your* claims.” I was surprised. I was expecting him to examine other points of views yes, but I had no interest in him supporting any claims I was making.When someone disagrees with me, I love to be given a chance to examine where they are coming from. Some of my greater leaps of understanding have come from being willing to look at and grock (understand) another point of view. Isn’t that what critical thinking is all about?
Blessings, G
“Real magic can never be made by offering someone else’s liver. You must tear out your own, and not expect to get it back.”
― Peter S. Beagle
That’s right. If we define magic as the ability to make changes according to will, then the only way to effect change is to know and understand (grock in fullness) whatever it is we wish to change. If we wish to make changes in ourselves than we must be willing to tear ourselves open and examine what’s inside. Of course the very act of understanding ourselves to that extent will cause changes so that the live we get back is never quite the liver we offer (metaphorically speaking anyway). Understanding, transformation, consequence and balance are each steps in performing any kind of magic whether ritual or psychological.
Blessings, G
“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
“You have to take seriously the notion that understanding the universe is your responsibility, because the only understanding of the universe that will be useful to you is your own understanding.”
― Terence McKenna
In my experience the easiest way to feel ripped off is to give someone else the responsibility of understanding and transmitting how the universe works and yet we do this all the time. When I say this comes from my experience I do not exaggerate. When I was younger I tried to pan this job off on anybody. First on the rabbis, then all of the great atheistic teachers, then the Moonies, the Charismatic Christians, C. S. Lewis and various friends and religious leaders of all stripes. Each time I felt betrayed and finally gave up on anyone else’s interpretation defining reality for me.
Once I did this, the fun truly began. Not beholden to any one person I could learn from all and pick and choose my interpretation and my understanding. This yielded both a wider perspective and appreciation for all but also a greater understanding of the universe as a whole. Never again will any one interpretation do.
Blessings G
Chamber’s Secrets by G A Rosenberg 
Soul Mirror by G A Rosenberg 
