Path to Enlightenment

Insights part 3

2010-04-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

In an unusual morning, my mind came up with many interesting tidbits.

Almost 40 years ago I began to read Carlos Castaneda. He was an anthropologist who studied shamans in Mexico. According to the books, he was actually brought in as an apprentice who unwittingly learned the ways of his master. NOw, the first three books cover his time with his teacher Don Juan as a basic narrative. that's because Castaneda really didn't understand all that was going on. The remaining books were his attempts to break down, understand, remember, and reconstruct the teachings of his master, many of which were learned in altered states of Consciousness.

The main idea of all of this was explained in a book called "The Eagle's Gift". In it, he explains that the purpose of his practice was to "trick" the eagle. DOn Juan explained that when we die, A great Eagle eats our consciousnesses. His teachers, however, had discovered a way to, as Don Juan put it, sneak past the eagle so that we wold not lose our consciousness at death.

Don Juan's practices are very difficult and were never fully described in his books. Since Carlos was the last teacher, there is a real possibility that the knowledge has been lost forever.

That said, I suddenly realized something. In a book called "Awakening the Buddha within", by Lama Surya Das (see link), The lama explains that the real purpose that Buddhists struggle to remain awake in the moment is so that at the moment of death, they understand they are dying. At that point, they can use their wills to project their consciousness into the next dimension of space and break the reincarnation cycle.

If we don't do this, we remain trapped in a neither world for a while and then reincarnate-we retain some of our old consciousness, but obviously, we do not retain all of it.

What I realized was that Don Juan and Lama Surya Das were describing the same thing! In different ways people from totally different cultures had discovered a way to move on while retaining who we are and what we know.!

Carlos suggested that they had learned how to move bodies into the next realm, but I am no longer sure that that is completely true. Nevertheless, the important thing is that in both cases the consciousness was transferred intact. And that is the goal.

Insights part 2

2010-04-04T07:05:00.000-07:00

In my last post I spoke of using the universe as a power that has no mind. Like electricity, for example. It can be tapped for use, but it itself has no consciousness of its own. It cannot tell us what to do. Like electrify, it too has rules that must be obeyed, however, if we want to gain access to that power. In electricity, the wires must be insulated. You must use the right equipment for the available voltage. Plugging a 12 v DC item into a 120 volt outlet leads to problems.

Thus, it is true for the Tao (universe). When you say to the universe "what are you telling me to do", it will not answer (it cannot answer). You, on the other hand, might perceive and answer. That answer always comes from us-from within. You see, when you are struggling, it is because you are not going with the flow of life. You are trying to force something to happen when the circumstances are not there for it to happen. So, if the crops won't grow, we call it "the will of god" instead of realizing that some other cause might be involved. Or if things are just unsettled, we also tend to think the universe is unsettled, rather than thinking the time is not right or we are too distracted mentally to focus on the immediate task on hand.

When things like that happen, it is important to step back and slow down. Take a deep breath and move on. Know that life is unbalanced because you are unbalanced. The answer is always simply to bring your self back into balance.

Just how you do that depends on the circumstances. Sometimes it's as simple as taking a break. Other times, it may be a lot more complicated possibly involving a major life change. But in all cases, it involves you taking action-not waiting for some god to help you out of whatever situation you find yourself in.

More insights later today!

Some Insights part 1

2010-04-04T06:51:00.000-07:00

Today is Easter Sunday. I was in bed this morning thinking back to an Easter almost 40 years ago. I was in Ohio. I got up early and the day was warm and sunny. I thought it was a mystical day-obviously because it was Easter. Today, I know better-there are no special mystical days. All days are mystical. It goes back the the wonder of God. Yesterday I was driving past a church. The sign out front invited us to worship over breakfast. I though it was odd that people worshiped a God that was no more than an idea. God only exists in our minds. But then I though people have been worshiping gods for thousands of years and it has only been the last three hundred or so in which some people-at least in the west-have decided there really is no God. In the East, the idea of God was never developed in the same way. It i sonly in the Jewish Christian traditions that God exists.

That said, people still believe in a god-be it the old guy in the white robe or some White brotherhood somewhere off in the universe or something called the Tao (also somewhere in the universe). THe idea has always been that we are apart form this "being" and that through different techniques, it may be possible to make contact with it. The problem is that it is all nonsense. WE are part of this being. WE are the being, along with everything else. We are not apart from anything. THere is no need to make some kind of connection. All you have to do is realize that the connection is already there.

Now, even after a connection is made, we also have to realize that in reality the power of the universe is not a separate consciousness that can give us direction. Lao Tzu never said the Tao told us what to do. Rather he said it was a power that we could tap into. Think of it as electricity (a very limited example). We can plug in a lamp, for example, but the electricity has no mind to light it up. It is simply there for us to use. That is what the universe or the Tao is like. It is simply a power that we can access

More in part 2

The new year

2009-12-29T11:39:00.000-08:00

As the year winds down, I want to talk about the flow of life. It is almost a cliche to talk about looking back and looking forwards as the year ends, yet, almost everyone does.

My point here, is not to do that, but to recognize something even more basic that we sometimes forget-the idea of cycles.

Our lives operate in cycles, like everything in the universe. Lao Tzu observed that:

Reversion is the action of Tao.
Gentleness is the function of Tao.
The things of this world come from Being,
And Being (comes) from Non-being.

In other words, everything that exists declines and reverts back to where it. At the same time, new things constantly appear from the same one source.

Everything we have is created, it declines, and is discarded. It is then reborn in another form at some other time in some other place.

We are now at the "bottom" of the renewal cycle of earthly nature. (of course this applies to those in the Northern Hemisphere). Soon, spring will come and with it comes renewal.

It is the same with out lives. Sometimes we are down. This is not a bad thing (although it may seem to be at the time) because we know that when we are at the lowest, things will turn and we will rise again.

It is also important to remember that when we are at the top-watch out! because the decline will start soon.

If we revel in the satisfaction of being on top, we will suffer greatly when the inevitable downturn arrives.

On the other hand, being stricken with sadness and melancholy at the bottom is equally wrong. For we know that things will turn around soon. They have to, it is part of nature.

Peace and Love

MrT

Interesting sign

2009-11-06T12:18:00.000-08:00

I was driving along today and I passed a Christian Church. this church usually has clever signs about their ideas of salvation. Today, the sign read" Repent Now!. Stop Drop and Roll doesn't work in Hell!"

Think about that. It is purely an advertising scheme to get people on board. Have you ever been to hell? DO you know anyone who has been there? Of course not. The only way to be sure is to die.

As Shakespeare said:

"To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; "

It is fear of that undiscovered country that keeps us alive. For if we knew a wonderful heaven awaited us, we would happily die immediately.

Thus, many cling to religion as a way of protection against that unknown. It has been that way snce the first humans recognized that something happens to us after death and we don't know what that is.

So, for tens of thousands of years, we, as a people, have spent time creating ways to distract us from that unknown.

Some learned a long time ago that it was good business to sell the idea of just what the afterlife holds-and how to get the best of it. That church was following a long, long tradition of salesmanship.

Note that the new age movement is not at all immune to this. They just have a different pitch. But it is basically the same idea. "Go with us and you will be happy forever".

But as enlightened beings, we have to ask "is it true"? Do we know? If not, what do we do about it?

The answer will be in my next post

How to handle what comes your way

2009-08-04T17:19:00.000-07:00

As I said in my last post, we are responsible for how we handle what comes to us in life.

All too often, when something bad happens to us, we brush off our response because we rationalize that it was not our fault, or that it was all preordained, or that there is nothing we can do about it, or it is a lesson sent of us to learn or it is the "will of god".

There is even a prayer to help us deal with life: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the strength to change those I can, and the wisdom to know the difference".

On one level, that is very good advice. The most important part of that prayer, however, is the part about the wisdom to know the difference.

Such actions and crutches are fine or people who are not on a path. They live from event to event, sometimes happy, sometimes sad but never feeling like they have any command over their lives.

People on a path, however, understand that they are in control. Although sometimes, they don't always believe it. For some of them, there is quiet acceptance of whatever happens to them. For others there is a sense of adventure. What happens next, what new thing can experience.

Enlightened people, though do none of that. They understand that life moves and that they move through life. It does not matter to them what happens, although, they are prepared to act in accord with any situation. They spend their time mostly in peace. Living in the moment.

Now, this does not mean that enlightened people don't have emotions. They do. And they use them. The difference is that the enlightened know that they are not their emotions. Emotions arise, they experience them and then move on. They can also daydream. Enjoying a day dream at some time is part of the here and now.

That is the key. Experience everything; but don't cling. don;t shy away from emotions because you are supposed to be at "peace with everything". Stifling an emotion is worse than experiencing it. you are supposed to experience your emotions.

As you move through your day, focus on what you are doing. Feel it, experience it in its entirety and then move on. ENjoy life whenever you can. Take time to feel life. When you eat, eat. When you sleep, sleep and when you work, work.

Only then will you find true serenity.

MrT

Responsibility part II

2009-08-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

At the end of my last post, I wrote about the idea that some new agers sometimes speak about-that our lives are selected by us before we come to the earth. Thus, whatever happens to us is entirely our own doing. This is often combined with the idea that we came here with a specific purpose in mind. Often, that purpose is to learn so lesson about the universe.

To follow this idea, we have to step back. This concept requires us to accept that we, as consciousnesses, exist outside of our bodies. THen, at the right time, we occupy a body and are born into the world. One of the problems we encounter is that when we take on a body, we "forget" who we really are. So, we spend a lot of time trying to remember our true nature. Once we recognize who we are, we can then use the physical nature of the world to continue on our paths of knowledge, or, to just have fun.

For some, then, what we experience here has been selected beforehand for our benefit. So, when you are complaining about being miserable, we should remember, we brought this on ourselves for a lesson.

While I do believe that we reincarnate, and that we can incarnate into a particular place, it is simplistic to accept that we entirely create our own circumstances.

You see, the only way that could be true is if we are the only ones on the planet. Obviously, we are not. Each of us has our own life, but we constantly interact with others. The idea that we are all working together is not realistic. Thus, many of the things we experience come out of the blue and are completely unexpected.

Therefore, we are not responsible, nor do we cause everything that happens to us.

That said, as I pointed out in my last post, we are responsible for how we deal with these situations.

More on that in my next post.

MrT

Why me?

2009-07-31T16:50:00.000-07:00

In my last post I ended with this comment: But there are others who seem to have everything and get it almost miraculously. We sometimes ask what about me? Why is that guy doing so well and is so rich while bust a gut working for chump change and am not getting anywhere?

Today I will address this kind of question. There are actually many different forms for this question. There tends to be many answers as well. Most often this kind of question is asked by people who are struggling, rather than those who are doing well. That is no big surprise. There is an old saying that "money can;t buy happiness, but it sure makes being miserable a lot more comfortable.

I will spend the next few posts looking at this subject from several angles. Today, I want to talk to the idea that we are responsible for our place in life. Now that concept covers a broad range. On the one hand, some teachers limit the responsibility to how we feel about our situation. For example, how we feel about being laid off, they say, is entirely in our hands. We can be angry, acceptant, stressed out, etc. But whatever, we feel, we choose to feel.

There is a lot of truth in that idea. We suffer not because of what happens to us externally, but how we choose to process it internally. Now, keep in mind, that being upset at losing a job can indeed be stressful and feeling nervous and anxious is perfectly normal. However, how we feel and ultimately deal with situations will help move us through the world. We may be constantly bitter and angry at all of the stuff we have to put up with. Such bitterness creates an aura around us. It affects how we see the world and how we see others. It can turn us into victims. Feeling helpless in a sea of troubles. That affects how we respond and ultimately how much we enjoy life.

We all have" troubles" that is, situations that appear difficult for us. Yet, we can deal with them in a positive manner too. In that way, we can move past them with a minimum of suffering.

Doing that can put us in charge of our lives. It can turn us from a helpless victim into a problem solver.

So, the next time a "problem" shows up on your doorstep resolve to work it out in an enlightened manner and you may find it to be much less of a problem that it first appeared.

The next time, I will discuss a more radical version of the "responsibility" theory, which says we are responsible for everything that happens to us. We are also responsible for who we are because we chose our lives before we were born.

Till next time then,

MrT

The trap of Doing nothing part 2

2009-07-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

In my last post I talked about the paradox of "doing nothing". The idea is that we must surrender to the tao (the universe, god, the force or whatever you wish to call it) if we are to be at peace, or to gain understanding, or to reduce our problems, etc.

As I said in the last pose, however, surrendering, does not necessarily mean "not doing". On the contrary, the Tao requires us to act. The idea that we can-or should- simply sit back and let our lives just happen is simply wrong. The story from the last post is an example of that. In the story the may is seen bobbing in the river happily letting the river take him where ever the river wants to take him. The idea being that the river knows where it is going and will take the man where he is supposed to be.

The problem with that kind of thinking is that the tao (universe, force) has no mind. Contrary to popular belief, it has no plan for you or me. Rather, it is an energy that can be used to make things happen. Going back to the man in the river, the river has no mind to carry the man. It flows in a direction. It is up to the man to use the river to get to a destination. Now, here is where it gets complicated. You see, desire does not fit into the flow of the tao. Yet, it does. To say one must be desire-less is somewhat disingenuous. THat is because as humans, we have real needs. We need food,water, air, protection from the elements, etc. So, does wanting these things put us at odds with the tao? Not exactly. First of all, obtaining needs is in conformance with the tao. All creatures in nature survive by going out and getting what they need. So acting to provide food, clothing and shelter is in accordance with the Tao.

The problem arises when we seek to obtain things that we do not have the internal power to have. This causes strife, frustration and suffering. Also, when we desire something sooner than is possible for us to have it, we suffer.

Acting in accord with the tao takes awareness. Awareness of your needs, an awareness of the timing for when we need those needs. It also requires an openness and a readiness to act when the tao delivers what we need to us.

Many people suffer because they do not see the new opportunities open to them. They so not comprehend that it is time to move on. Staying in a job, a relationship or a place after it has given us what we need can cause problems. When the universe wants us to move to the next place we are supposed to be, and we don't recognize it, the suffering we experience may be be seen as a message to move on. Thus, we suffer.

This is an example of just "going with the flow" like the man in the river. Some see the suffering as some kind of lesson and allow it to continue because they assume that is acting in accord with the universe, even though it is the opposite.

I think it is clear that knowing how and when to act is difficult. It is not as simple as just letting things happen. It is also not blindly setting goals and launching ventures that come to nothing and leave us frustrated and burned out.

Learning how to read the universe is part of the training that one undergoes. It is part of the process. Some people never learn (or at least learn very slowly). For them, life can be a struggle from beginning to end.

But there are others who seem to have everything and get it almost miraculously. We sometimes ask what about me? Why is that guy doing so well and is so rich while bust a gut working for chump change and am not getting anywhere?

I will discuss that situation next.

Mrt

The trap of Doing nothing

2009-07-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

A friend chided me a few days ago about a comment I made to her. She had told me of a bunch of troubles she has had to endure. I said perhaps she should tell the universe that "she got the lesson and it can back off".

She pointed out that it was not productive to argue or to try to persuade the universe that she got the lesson. The universe will do what it wants anyway.

Of course, she is right. That said, we must be careful not to fall into the trap of inaction by always "going with the flow".

What does that mean? One of the problems I had in studying Taoism years ago is that for many western writers, Taoism was a religion for retired people because it is based on the principle of inaction. Another way of saying it is " Do nothing and all will be done". Now, many people take that literally. We must do nothing. Just sit and contemplate (like the old man at the end of Siddhartha. That, of course, is nonsense. The Tao requires actions from people-the right action.

The cryptic saying really means that we must act in accord with the Tao (or the universe or whatever you wish to call it) rather than going against it. Christians and Muslims often speak of "doing God's will" or placing oneself "into the hands of God".

Often times it means letting things happen naturally-not fighting fate or the inevitable. However, that is too simple and often leads to a trap. Simple letting things happen is not necessarily the best course. It may work for leaves fluttering to the ground, but it does not work well for people.

You would not get on a boat, head out to see and simple let go of the wheel and let the sea take you to where you want to go. That will probably get you killed. Similarly, the old story of of the two guys walking along a coursing river and seeing a guy on the other side skipping and whistling? Suddenly the happy travelor was swept away by the coursing waters and was seen bouncing amidst the rocks as he sailed pell mell downstream. The other two men began shrieking and appealing to the Heavens for intervention. Then, the river just as suddenly spit out the congenial soul farther down, and he shook himself off and continued whistling. The two men caught up with him and asked incredulously, 'Good Heavens, we thought you'd be killed, were you not afraid?!" The unassuming travelor said, "Oh that, well, no, I just surrendered and let the river take me where I was headed anyway." Sounds good, but sometimes, there is a waterfall in the way and the results may not be so great.

This leads to the next logical question, which is "OK, if I am supposed to act, how do I do it?

I refer to Lao Tzu once again. In his verse 8, titled "water" he says:

The best of men is like water;
Water benefits all things
And does not compete with them.
It dwells in (the lowly) places that all disdain -
Wherein it comes near to the Tao.

In his dwelling, (the Sage) loves the (lowly) earth;
In his heart, he loves what is profound;
In his relations with others, he loves kindness;
In his words, he loves sincerity;
In government, he loves peace;
In business affairs, he loves ability;
In his actions, he loves choosing the right time.
It is because he does not contend
That he is without reproach.

Contemplate that until next time, where I will elaborate on this question.

Mr.T

So how DO you know?

2009-07-24T14:34:00.001-07:00

In my last post, I talked about being too sure of oneself. The idea that we knowwhat we are doing, when in fact, we really don't.

So, as the title asks, just how do we know? Well, simply put, we "know" when we are enlightened. That is what enlightenment means. Of course, that does not say much.

When one is enlightened, one is fully awake and aware. Knowing in that state is not an intellectual act, but a physical one. We do not have to think about it, we just know. It is like asking what is 2+2? Most adults don't have to reason with that question, they know the answer. There is no doubt. there is certainty.

People who are not enlightened tend to think of themselves as "knowing". I know, I was like that too. Yet, deep down, I knew it was not true. I has too many unanswered questions. I was not sure. I asked "is this really it?" "Is there any thing more?" The answer would come back inevitably "no, I am not sure". ANd the path continued.

Once you become enlightened, however, ll doubt is gone. You understand. No, you don't "know everything". You just know the important thing-the reality of the universe.

Now, there are people who today move through life with no doubts whatsoever-at least that is what they say. Once again, Sarah Palin is a prime example (only because she is in the news). She says often she holds true to her beliefs, she does not doubt them. However, her beliefs belie her true knowledge.

People who believe in the literal meaning of the bible are not enlightened-they are ignorant. That does not make them bad people. They simply lack the awareness to know better. They are in that particular level of awareness.

So, beware overconfidence. Being enlightened has nothing to do with adherence to religion-any of them. They are lower level tools helpful in gaining understanding but are not the truth.

They are also dangerous traps. Being enamored with a religion, mysticism, eastern philosophy, the Bible, the Koran or any worldly texts, can be dangerous. It can lead one into a stare of stasis. Where the fun of belief takes over and the desire to know gets overshadowed.

As I said in my last post, meditation, for the all the good it does, is not awareness-no matter how good it feels or how much you may enjoy it.

Next time I will continue with this theme-it will discuss what is the purpose of knowing.

The trap of being sure of oneself

2009-07-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

Sarah Palin is a shining example of what happens to us when we become too sure of ourselves and are not aware beings. Aware beings are never too sure of themselves because they are aware.

Palin, like many others makes decisions based on a number of things that affect her. She sees herself as a victim of the media, yet she revels in the media attention. She sees herself as a fighter, yet can't wait to get out of her job. She sees herself as family oriented but uses her family for her own personal gain.

Palin is a very public example, but countless others – mired in obscurity –follow the same pattern. They live their lives in a tempest bouncing from one problem to another, seeking attention and then complaining because it is not what they were really looking for.

The problem is that they are too sure of themselves, which leads to making major mistakes, which causes them to condemn all around them without realizing that they are the cause of their difficulties in the first place.

Lao tzu says this about that– from verse 9:

9. The Danger of Overweening Success
Stretch (a bow) to the very full,
And you will wish you had stopped in time.
Temper a (sword-edge) to its very sharpest,
And the edge will not last long.
When gold and jade fill your hall,
You will not be able to keep them safe.
To be proud with wealth and honor
Is to sow seeds of one's own downfall.
Retire when your work is done,
Such is Heaven's way.

Overdoing anything can only cause problems– but note that he is talking about overdoing things that ordinarily are not mistakes. Tempering a knife edge is important–but overdoing it leads to problems. You get the idea.

Many people following a path to enlightenment fall into the same trap. Take meditation. Now, meditation is a very useful tool. zIt can be used to remove blocks, to get centered, to silence the voices of ego that too often push us into going too far. However, meditation is not being in the world. It is a way f escaping from the world. As such, it limits our ability to be aware beings. Believe it or not.

Being aware means being aware of everything around you at all times. This is not easy until one wakes up. No matter how heard one tries, one cannot "wake up" in meditation. They can only wake up when the complete meditation.

The next time you are in deep meditation have your guide tell you that when you wake up you will be fully awake and aware of the world around you.

Have him or her tell you to be aware of the expression on your face. Waking up that way may pull you into a state of enlightenment.

And that is the goal.

Mr. T

On Sarah Palin quitting her job.

2009-07-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

Most aware people know by now that the Governor of Alaska has quit her job.

How does quitting a job fit into an enlightened life? Some may say that you should follow your bliss and leave jobs, relationships, etc in order to find what truly makes you happy. The problem with that kind of thinking is that it presupposes you know what it is that truly makes you happy AND that what makes you happy is truly harmonious with the universe. Now, Sarah Palin is not an enlightened being. She is an ambitious being. She is not happy doing what she is doing, she is only happy in doing something else. She also enjoys Being in the spotlight. Neither of these traits is a mark of enlightenment.

Now, how does this fit into an enlightened life? For starters one who is enlightened tends to migrate to what is joyful. This does not mean that one is always joyous or that one does not get exasperated at times. Enlightened beings do get exasperated. But, they are always aware of their feelings and surrounding and can react to the situation from an aware position instead of a subconscious automatic response. Remember enlightened beings are still human and their emotions do not disappear when one becomes enlightened.

Most enlightened people are not centered on other people or being in the spotlight. hey usually seek peaceful places and are completely comfortable with solitude.

If you are in a situation where emotions control and you are driven by external forces and desires such as "to be appreciated" or to be "in the spotlight" you are trapped in a worldly existence. The best way out is to pull back and shift your focus away from being driven by the outside forces and by learning to find harmony and joy in whatever you do.

Finally, you would well to remember that, as Wayne Dyer says "you cannot control your reputation". What others think of you is out of your hands. What you do control is your character. If you live your life honorably and in harmony with things, that will come through and when bad things are said about you, people will recognize that those things are false.

That is the best way to remain peaceful and harmonious as you move through life.

Mr.T

The "reality" of "illusion"

2009-06-09T16:48:00.000-07:00

The question for today is this: Is the path to enlightenment irrational?

People who are following a path tend to run into resistance from others who view these paths as "out there" or not real or irrational beliefs that are simply not true.

So, do you have to be crazy to be on the path of enlightenment? The answer is NO.

Irrationality implies that what you are doing is not logical. It is not something that can be proven scientifically. Some might call it superstition. Even we call it "mysticism" some times.

However, it is anything but mystic. Of course, such exotic sounding words come in handy when trying to sell a program to beginners who are seeking an adventure. Not many people would be "new agers" if it was packaged as boring simple reality.

Yet, that is exactly what enlightenment is. Boring simple reality. Only one is completely aware of it as such.

A familiar Zen saying: "Before enlightenment, chopping wood, carrying water; after enlightenment, chopping wood carrying water."

As I said, enlightenment is being completely aware of reality with no illusions.

A lot of the gurus use that word-illusions all the time. They say we must strip away our illusions-whatever that means.

Some people think the world around us is all "illusion" nothing is real-we create everything in our own minds.

But in fact, what "illusions" are is really our perceptions of the world. From the moment we are born, we begin to form perceptions of the world. We adopt habits based on where we live, what we do, who we live with, what we eat, etc.etc.

Over time, many of these perceptions become fixed. We begin to see the world as we expect it to be-not as it really is.

So, in essence, the purpose of the path is to strip away these illusions. As many know, this is not a simple task.

It takes time and real effort to release the pin that fixes us in the world, but that is what we must do.

Think about it. All of the paths from zen to meditation are designed to put us into situations outside of our envelope. In such situations, our normal perceptions are "out of focus". That forces us to see the situation differently.

Little by little our fixed perception is degraded until all that is left is reality. When that happens, you are enlightened!

And, might I add, completely rational

More later

Lessons of the election

2008-11-05T11:48:00.001-08:00

Today I want to talk about the lessons of the election from an enlightenment perspective. Many times, reachers of the path denigrate life in the world as a distraction. They believe the path to enlightenment is best achieved by isolation from the world in which the student can learn the secrets of enlightenment. There may be some truth to that for some, if not many. The real key to enlightenment is understanding and knowing who you really are.

That said, the world is not your enemy. THere are many things in it to experience and enjoy. The key is to understand that none of it defines who you really are.

This is the meaning of the first verse of the Tao. (see the link for Lin yu Tang) It says:

The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth;
The Named is the Mother of All Things.

Therefore:
Oftentimes, one strips oneself of passion
In order to see the Secret of Life;
Oftentimes, one regards life with passion,
In order to see its manifest forms.

This is the key. TO see the secret of life, you must be objective and silent. However, to see the manifest forms, one must look with passion. Note that he adds:

These two (the Secret and its manifestations)
Are (in their nature) the same;
They are given different names
When they become manifest.

They may both be called the Cosmic Mystery:
Reaching from the Mystery into the Deeper Mystery
Is the Gate to the Secret of All Life.

When you really understand the nature of the mystery-that it exists as both the secret and the manifestations and that they are really the same thing, one will be a lot farther along on the journey.

The election, with all of its energy-positive and negative, is one of the purest forms of the manifestation. We, as a society, actually created this from the Tao.

By looking at what happened and examining the flow of thoughts and energy, you can see how the people of the world manifested this entire election season.

It is one of the best examples of an expression of the Tao I know.

Feel it and know it.

Peace

A new day

2008-11-04T17:03:00.001-08:00

It is election day and like many others, I have been caught up in this year's election fever.

It looks like Obama will win. I am pleased.

ALl is good

Bears

2008-08-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

Just today I read another article about another jogger being attacked by a bear in Anchorage.

She was jogging (no doubt with her headphones on and oblivious to all around her) on a trail where at least three others have been attacked.

HELLO!!! I cannot believe anyone would be that dumb. But they are.

So guy wrote a letter to the editor complaining that there are just too many bears. He jogs the trails and cannot believe how many bears there are. My guess is that the number of bears is about the same. The big difference is the increase of clueless joggers who tune out their surroundings and run smack into bear country and then are surprised when a bear attacks.

This is just another example of clueless people moving through life at odds with the harmony of nature.

In all my years of hiking and fishing, I have never been close to a bear on any trail. That is because I make noise and avoid the most used bear trails. To me that is common sense. I guess that is something too many of us lack these days.

MT

Hello again

2008-08-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been quite a while since I have posted. But then it's been a busy summer. Not a great summer, mind you. It has been cold and damp all summer. Really, there have only been a handful of days that were nice and only one or two that have been "beautiful".

That said, I have been busy fishing and camping in our little trailer. I have also resumed backpacking and have been going on hikes. It is great to get out and be outdoors, even if the weather is not the greatest.

I find it odd, though that there are people who go hiking with I-pods. To me, there is nothing better than the sounds of nature. Birds, the wind in the trees, the sound of a creek. I know, I know, that sounds so typical, but it is true. I can't understand why people want to shut that out with their toons.

Obviously, there are times when music comes in handy-at a crowded campsite, after a long day on the trail, etc. But for me, when I am backpacking, I want to hear the outdoors.

Summertime and the living is easy

2008-06-06T09:11:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a while since I've been here. I been busy with life. Too much going on to write or paint.

BUt then this is what we do. Winter is a time of repose while snow and cold and darkness surround us. Spring is a time of renewal. Well, you know that. How much more of a cliche can that be. And yet, at least up here, it still carries some truth.

THat is one of the fundamental ideas behind the I Ching. It is also called the book of changes. You see, change is all around us. It is ceaseless. Even our knowledge and "enlightenment" are constantly changing. Make no mistake. Becoming enlightened is not a dead end where you suddenly "know everything" and spend the rest of your life sitting around smiling!

No, enlightenment is really a step in a long process. It is a measure of understanding-a higher level of understanding -but it is not an end.

So enjoy the summer get out, have fun and renew.

Spring has sprung

2008-05-07T17:10:00.000-07:00

Ah, it has been while since I've written anything. But, then spring has sprung. I've had an inch to get out and go camping, but it is still a little early up here.

Camping is a great way to get focused. It does not have to be in a tent or an RV or any particular type of vehicle.

One can go for a walk in the woods or a week on a deserted beach. Paddle a canoe in lake country-anything to get away.

What do I mean by "get away"? Well, it means breaking out of your current position. If you work in an office, sometimes you need to get out and see the world from a completely different viewpoint.

Remember, enlightenment doe snot mean solemn and somber. Rather, it means being free from the things that oppress us.

Now, when one is enlightened, one is not normally oppressed by the world around him or her. THat does not mean that you should sit in a state of bliss all day either.

Go out and experience the world. Enjoy what life has to offer 24/7. But always remember you are not limited as to how to enjoy the world.

Many enlightened people live in quieter areas of the country, however. Quiet and peacefulness are better than frantic and "busy" for anybody, but the enlightened are naturally attracted to them.

So, find a place to get away for a few days and then go out and enjoy.

Many paths

2008-04-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

Now that I have basically covered the road to enlightenment. I want to turn my attention some aspects of the road.

There are almost as many paths to enlightenment as there are people. True, most of them are based on Eastern philosophies and "new age" thinking. However, they are not the only ways to enlightenment. We each have the ability to reach enlightenment because it is really a self awakening. So, just how each individual arrives at that awakening is particular to that individual.

As I just said, it is not necessary to follow some Eastern philosophy to reach enlightenment. Yet, that is the way most people use to get there. I wondered why we in the west have not developed more of an enlightened pathway. I have done much research to try and understand and answer this question. More on this in my next post.

Mr.T

The hard part

2008-04-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

In my last post I explained that the process of enlightenment is really the process of knowing that we are not out body/mind/emotions package.

Just how do we do that is the hard part. I say it is hard, because we make it hard. We reject the notion that we are not our minds.

We have integrated the package for so long, we have a hard time breaking away.

In reality, true enlightenment is rather simple. Once you wake up to know who you really are, it's done. It happens that quick.

But more on this later

Mr.T

More on who we are

2008-04-07T14:03:00.000-07:00

As I was saying in the last post, we do not realize who we really are when we come here.

That is why teachers talk about inner truth and self-realization. The knowledge of who we really are must come from within because is that's where it is. There is nothing outside of us that can give us this information. All outsiders can do is point us in the right direction. Then, it is up to us to discover it.

As I said, on earth, "we" are our consciousness. These consciousness occupy a body that has a mind and a set of emotions. The body, mind and emotions are not "us". We only use them while we are here.

As is it, most of us don't understand that so we live lives based on the understanding that we are our minds, bodies and emotions and that is all there is. And so, for most people, that is all there is.

Understanding that we are not our bodies, minds and emotions is the first step. However, that is not enough. We must come to know our consciousness. We must know that it is separate and distinct from the body/mind/emotions package before we are enlightened.

More later.......

Our true selves

2008-04-04T12:26:00.001-07:00

Let's take a step back and come at this from another angle. As I have said, enlightenment is becoming aware of one's true self. But what does that really mean?

Most people believe they are them-a body and a mind. That's who they are. Actually, they are not. They are what I call their consciousness. That is the part of them then enters the physical lane and departs it when it is time to go. That is what never changes. Of course, people call this a "soul" as well, but I don't want to get hung up with a bunch of religious connotations. A soul is something that can be lost and condemned, A consciousness is and has no bad attached to it.

When we descend into this plane we take on a body that has a mind and a set of emotions. That package us "put on" like a suit, but it is not who we really are. It is something we adopt while we are here.

Now, because we are born into the world, when we assume this body/mind/emotions package, we undergo a period of growth and learning as we "get used to" the package. Unfortunately (or perhaps by design), as we get used to the package, we easily believe we are the package.

The mind is a powerful tool and it is easy to get caught up in the mind/emotions package and become stuck or addicted to trapped by them for many many lifetimes before we get to the point that we remember and realize just who we really are.

More later......

Knowledge and knowing

2008-04-03T16:48:00.000-07:00

I have been talking about knowledge-just how do we know and why is it important.

For me, knowledge is not something static. I am always learning new things. Being enlightened does not me you know everything-only that you know the most important thing, which is who you really are.

Once you have done that, you see the world and everything around you differently. However, there is still much to learn.

There are some who suggest that once you are enlightened, there in no need for any further learning. One is content with oneself and the universe. However, it is not like that for me. I am curious as to why we are the way we are. Also, like I said a few posts ago, when we arrive, we "forget" our true nature. I have been working on why that is to better understand.

Since my enlightenment I have learned a lot about the past and why things are as screwed up as they are. I still have many questions and an constantly astounded by what some people say and do, but that comes with the territory.

Back to history. Why is Plato and his thinking important? Well, for me, it is important because it shows that Eastern philosophy is not limited to the east. In fact, "Eastern" philosophy is not all that special.

It also illustrates the issue at hand-knowing and awareness.

more later......

Your Path to Enlightment

2008-04-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

All of these discussions are designed to lead to on your path to enlightenment. But what is enlightenment?

As I said before, to me, enlightenment is having knowledge of who and what you really are and why you are here.

By knowledge, I do not mean belief. I me a knowing. This knowing is not scientific. There is no way to measure or test this knowledge. Yet, once you have it, there is no doubt. How does that work? Ah! That is the end result of the path to enlightenment. That is what you are here for.

This all ties back into my discussion of Plato. Just how did Plato know about the forms? People will tell you that he really didn't know about them-he only believed they were there. Not only that-he was wrong. There are no forms. Of course, these people are really doing the thing they accused him of doing because they have no proof that the forms don't exist.

For most people in the west, all matters of religion are matters of faith. We have no way of proving that god, or any other mystical or spiritual thing exists. So it is all a mater of belief. However, for those who know, it is not belief.

more later.....

What's old is new

2008-04-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I said that new age thinking was, in many ways, old. What I mean is that these ideas have been around for a long time.

Take the popular new age saying that we are really spiritual beings in a physical body. That idea is at least 2,500 years old.

Not only that, but it is not some secret that comes out of the far east. It is well known in the west.

Plato, the Greek philosopher believed exactly that. Now, he and his followers didn't couch it in "new age" terms. Nor did they make it confusing with contradictory sayings like "do nothing and all will be done".

Plato believed that we, and everything here are imperfect models of reality. He believed the Truth existed beyond us as a set of "forms" that define the ideal thing. For example, all horses on the planet are imperfect versions of the True horse form. Similarly, everything on earth, including us, is an imperfect version of these forms.

How do we know about the forms and how do we become those forms make for an interesting discussion......

Spiritual beings.

2008-04-02T21:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, so what did Melville know? He knew what many "new age" people have been saying for years: that we are really spiritual beings having a physical experience. As opposed to physical beings having spiritual experiences.

What that means, essentially, is that we are beings who exist on a different plane from this one. In that plane we are spirits. We come here to learn or to perform some other activity. What those activities are, I will discuss in later posts.

Why we take on human form is another interesting question. Some believe we do it to slow things down. In the spirit word, there is no real sense of time and space. We can travel across the galaxy in an instant. Things "happen" quickly with no sense of order.

Coming here, slows all that down. There is a sense of linear time as well as space. It takes time to go from one place to another. We feel and experience a sense of space and dimension. There is real weight here.

All of that helps us to gain insight into many things. Unfortunately, taking on these physical forms also causes to to "forget" that we are really spirits. Our minds believe that we are really physical beings. Our consciousness is clouded by our bodies. As such, most of us spend many lifetimes stuck here without realizing or remembering why we came.

It takes many lifetimes to work up the energy to remember who and what we really are. Once we do, we can then use this place to our advantage.

Fortunately, for spirits, time is not a problem. If it takes 1,000 years to remember who cares? time has no real meaning to spirits.

Interestingly, all of this is not new. While it may be called "new age", this knowledge has been around for a long long time. I will be talking about this in later posts as well......

Moby Dick II

2008-04-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

In my last post I started talking about how I discovered Melville was one who knew.

I was reading chapter 35 called "The Mast Head" when it happened. Melville was describing the experience of standing watch on the mast head. High above the deck, crew men would stand for hours watching the sea for signs of whales.

He says:
The three mast-heads are kept manned from sun-rise to sun- set; the seamen taking their regular turns (as at the helm), and relieving each other every two hours. In the serene weather of the tropics it is exceedingly pleasant the mast-head; nay, to a dreamy meditative man it is delightful. There you stand, a hundred feet above the silent decks, striding along the deep, as if the masts were gigantic stilts, while beneath you and between your legs, as it were, swim the hugest monsters of the sea, even as ships once sailed between the boots of the famous Colossus at old Rhodes. There you stand, lost in the infinite series of the sea, with nothing ruffled but the waves. The tranced ship indolently rolls; the drowsy trade winds blow; everything resolves you into languor. For the most part, in this tropic whaling life, a sublime uneventfulness invests you; you hear no news; read no gazettes; extras with startling accounts of commonplaces never delude you into unnecessary excitements; you hear of no domestic afflictions; bankrupt securities; fall of stocks; are never troubled with the thought of what you shall have for dinner - for all your meals for three years and more are snugly stowed in casks, and your bill of fare is immutable.

Then, a little further on he adds:

.... lulled into such an opium-like listlessness of vacant, unconscious reverie is this absent-minded youth by the blending cadence of waves with thoughts, that at last he loses his identity; takes the mysticocean at his feet for the visible image of that deep, blue, bottomless soul, pervading mankind and nature; and every strange, half-seen, gliding, beautiful thing that eludes him; every dimly- discovered, uprising fin of some undiscernible form, seems to him the embodiment of those elusive thoughts that only people the soul by continually flitting through it. In this enchanted mood, thy spirit ebbs away to whence it came; becomes diffused through time and space; like Cranmer's sprinkled Pantheistic ashes, forming at last a part of every shore the round globe over.
There is no life in thee, now, except that rocking life imparted by a gently rolling ship; by her, borrowed from the sea; by the sea, from the inscrutable tides of God. But while this sleep, this dream is on ye, move your foot or hand an inch; slip your hold at all; and your identity comes back in horror. Over Descartian vortices you hover. And perhaps, at mid-day, in the fairest weather, with one half-throttled shriek you drop through that transparent air into the summer sea, no more to rise for ever. Heed it well, ye Pantheists!

These words show that he understood what we are and where we really come from.

More on this in the next post.

Moby Dick

2008-04-02T10:38:00.000-07:00

Spiritual insights can be found almost anywhere and everywhere. We are not always aware of why we are directed to something or someplace, but when we are it is usually for use to gain understanding.

The trick is to be aware of what is happening. If you are aware, you are prepared to meet the experience head on and learn from it. If you are not, at best, you may realize after the event is over that something significant happened. The idea is to be there while it is happening so you can get the most out of it.

Now, not every event is going to earth-shattering. Sometimes, these events are small. They are done just to push you in a direction or to show you something new or to get you asking the right questions.

I will discuss how to be ready for these events in an upcoming post. For now, I will show you an example of one of them.

FIrst, I will set it up. It began some 10 years ago while watching an episode of "Star Trek Next Generation". In that show, Capt. Picard quoted something from Moby Dick. I can't recall what he said, but I found the quote interesting. So much so, that I decided to buy the book and read it for the first time as an adult.

While reading the book, I suddenly discovered that Herman Melville was one who knew.

At the time, it was not a big deal, but it got me thinking of others in the past-especially Westerners-who also might have known.

Moby Dick is an interesting book overall. Besides the basic story that most of us know, he has a lot of information on whales and other scientific observations. He also advocated for controls on whaling because he felt they were being overfished. That was over 150 years ago!

See my next post for the details of exactly what I discovered about Melville.....

Those who know and those who don't know.

2008-04-01T17:37:00.001-07:00

OK, let's begin with a statement I read many years ago ina little book called "At the feet of the Master". I posted a link to a site that has the book for you to read.

In that book, the master says: " In all the world there are only two kinds of people—those who know, and those who do not know; and this knowledge is the thing which matters. What religion a man holds, to what race he belongs--these things are not important; the really important thing is this knowledge--the knowledge of God's plan for men. For God has a plan, and that plan is evolution. When once a man has seen that and really knows it, he cannot help working for it and making himself one with it, because it is so glorious, so beautiful. So, because he knows, he is on God's side, standing for good and resisting evil, working for evolution and not for selfishness."

Now, there are some who think they know,but actually, they don't know. It is not enough to have an intellectual understanding. One must have a true, complete understanding of this to really be "one who knows".

Once one gains understanding of this concept, the desire to continue to learn and grow can become overpowering. It can drive you to learn ever more.

That said, learning sometimes leads to unusual places and can open your eyes to different and unusual ideas.

In my next post, I will illustrate an odd example of one who knows that I ran into by accident while reading Moby Dick!

Till next time......

After college

2008-04-01T12:14:00.001-07:00

After college I continued my studies. I read many books and listened to many tape programs. I meditated and work my way to a major impasse.

All of the texts said the way to enlightenment was to lose the self. This was a problem because I kept thinking that it meant I would lose "me" my personality. the part of me that makes "me" me.

As a result, I could not get past the fear that I would "cease to exist" if I went further. I stopped working on the path for many years. Then, I suddenly became inspired to get back on the path.

Soon, I found a new resource. A program (like many, this guy no longer is around) that actually helped me. As a result of this program I became self aware. I "woke up" and have been awake ever since (going on 15 years).

Since then, I have not been the same. My blog will discuss these changes and a lot of the stuff I learned over the years. I hope it helps you.

College years

2008-04-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

Hello again,

Once I got to high school, I discovered eastern philosophy and religions. It opened my eyes. Finally, I knew I was not alone in my thinking. College expanded this understanding. I began to read everything I could get my hands on.

At first, i focused on Zen Buddhism. It was elegant and poetic. Of course, many westerners find it totally confusing, but that is because the are all blocked up. Take my favorite zen poem:

The snow goose has no mind to cast its reflection upon the water
The water has no mind to receive it.

Despite its elegance, Zen didn't go far enough for me. I was looking for the essential truth. I wanted it stripped away of all ceremony of all pretense. That is when I found the Tao. Lau tzu wrote a great book 2500 years ago. My favorite translation is by Lin YuTang. You can read it at:

http://www.terebess.hu/english/tao/yutang.html

I will write more on this later.

I also read Carlos Castenada. As well as many others. By the time I finished college, I was firmly established in eastern wisdom. But, I still wanted more. THere was still more to learn so the quest continued........

The beginning

2008-03-31T21:24:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, I was raised as a Catholic. But even in 2nd grade I knew that what they taught made no sense. However, I was much too young to really understand this. I was afraid because what I knew was so different from what all of the adults were saying.

I knew that the universe worked by a direct interaction-that you could get what you want by thinking about it long enough. I also knew that the god of the bible really didn't exist.

At that time I believed that "god" was everything or, at least everywhere. In 2nd grade the Catholic school made us read a catechism. That was a book of doctrine that explained church teachings. The first question in the book was "Who is God?". the answer was "a supreme being. The second question was "Where is God?" Answer: God is everywhere.

I though that if god was indeed everywhere, that why was it necessary to be with god in church? Why did we need priests to act as go betweens?

Needless to say, in second grade of a Catholic school, these were not exactly the kinds of questions one just popped out.

It would be many more years, however, before I discovered that I was not alone and that my thinking was not unique or strange. more on that later......

Welcome

2008-03-31T21:14:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to my new blog. I have been on a path to knowledge for 45 years and have learned many things along the way. This blog will discuss many areas of knowledge including new age material, which, I have discovered is actually much older than the name implies.

I hope you join me on the trip.