There is a reassuredness that can come upon you anytime. A sense that everything is, well, as it is. That there's no need for anything to be different, but a knowing that it will be so. Everything will be different and yet everything remains the same in that life continues to be.
There's a sense of place, of restful purpose. As though one is being carried through life on a sedan chair. Always effortless, always flowing, always irresistible.
How to get there? Relax, enjoy, know that it's fine, wish others well, heck, wish yourself well. Expect it to be the best and have no idea what the best is. And after a while there is a stillness, a sense of space emerges. Hush.
.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Here, now, love
Every moment is actually a glorious moment, and not knowing how glorious it is in no way detracts from the glory, from the reality of this glory, which can always be felt and is instantly accessible. For, as they say, love is all around us, and it is not only around us, it is inside us, and not only that, it is us. And you have to work pretty hard to block the love, and there have been moments, so many moments when it has been blocked. What has to happen to let the love flow? Not then, not when, right now? This moment is for you.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Life is
Life is not an outcome. If you think of the outcome of your life, what is it: The moment when everything is just perfect; Or when you get everything done; Or the moment just before you death, whenever that may be? If you had to choose whether an outcome is life or death, you would have to say it is like death, in the sense that someting is over. Life is not an outcome, it just is.
Life is not a process. It’s not even a million processes. They are all going on, responding to whatever they are responding to, being, doing. But the processes, where they persist, are mere guidelines, down which life channels, until life finds another channel.
Life is not something where we have to make stuff happen. Stuff is happening all the time, life does its thing.
So what is life? Well, the nearest we can get to it may be to say that it is life. Saying life is life may take us nowhere, but maybe staying here is the challenge. Calling life something else may give the illusion of progress without taking us anywhere either. At this level, words are just words, seen through the skein of our own interpretation: life is.
Life is not a process. It’s not even a million processes. They are all going on, responding to whatever they are responding to, being, doing. But the processes, where they persist, are mere guidelines, down which life channels, until life finds another channel.
Life is not something where we have to make stuff happen. Stuff is happening all the time, life does its thing.
So what is life? Well, the nearest we can get to it may be to say that it is life. Saying life is life may take us nowhere, but maybe staying here is the challenge. Calling life something else may give the illusion of progress without taking us anywhere either. At this level, words are just words, seen through the skein of our own interpretation: life is.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Magic moments
This moment is magical, the one you are experiencing right now, and every other moment too, utterly magical. Yet existence is so easily taken for granted, it is after all, the way that it is. But the reason why existence exists is not obvious, and that is OK. It's an incredible mystery, and that is part of the process.
We don't need to say "It's God" or "It's random" or "It's something else", as though that would explain it; it doesn't explain anything. Anyway, connecting with it is so much more fun. Feel the life force flowing through you as though you are alive, as though it is alive, as though the whole thing is alive.
There is - or may be - no kingdom of heaven anywhere else. It is a right here, right now kind of thing. You are in it, I am in it, we are all here.
We don't need to say "It's God" or "It's random" or "It's something else", as though that would explain it; it doesn't explain anything. Anyway, connecting with it is so much more fun. Feel the life force flowing through you as though you are alive, as though it is alive, as though the whole thing is alive.
There is - or may be - no kingdom of heaven anywhere else. It is a right here, right now kind of thing. You are in it, I am in it, we are all here.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Shooting match
And then there is, or rather here is, something absolutely amazing, and that is being. Just being, nothing more, it is enough, for it contains everything, it is everything and nothing more need be sought. It's the whole shooting match, dancing with itself until the end of time.
There is also this sense of something else, something beyond, something inside, and it can be tasted or at least sensed, and it is IT too, and it lacks nothing either. It is irridescent, it is life, it is just so.
And if it could speak, and it can, if it could speak it would say it's OK, it's happening, let it be. Sooner or later we will stop struggling and flow with something altogether greater. And then we will forget and then we will remember and then we will forget again. And this is life recognizing itself. We will love it, and it is love. Altogether a little bit dizzying.
There is also this sense of something else, something beyond, something inside, and it can be tasted or at least sensed, and it is IT too, and it lacks nothing either. It is irridescent, it is life, it is just so.
And if it could speak, and it can, if it could speak it would say it's OK, it's happening, let it be. Sooner or later we will stop struggling and flow with something altogether greater. And then we will forget and then we will remember and then we will forget again. And this is life recognizing itself. We will love it, and it is love. Altogether a little bit dizzying.
Monday, July 25, 2011
A momentary knowing
What if you knew that you were absolutely and completely protected at all times and in all places? Sure, you are, but what if you knew it, knew it in such a way that there was no question of a moment's doubt: how would your life be different, how would the experience of each and every moment change? And there is a space where you can know that this is true.
The evidence that you have been absolutely and completely protected at all times and in all places is that you are here now, reading these words. That's the evidence, and it is pretty compelling. Would you doubt it, and if you would doubt it, why would you do so? Your world is as complete as it is. It is evolving as it is evolving. It is coming to pass.
You could come to terms with it, you could love it as it is, and love it as it may become.
The evidence that you have been absolutely and completely protected at all times and in all places is that you are here now, reading these words. That's the evidence, and it is pretty compelling. Would you doubt it, and if you would doubt it, why would you do so? Your world is as complete as it is. It is evolving as it is evolving. It is coming to pass.
You could come to terms with it, you could love it as it is, and love it as it may become.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Ready, steady, breathe
Always and everywhere I’ve been wondering, wondering and wandering. Thinking there must be something, imagining something and then feeling something, seldom noticing the miracle of existence itself. For here we are.
It seems that, take the view that there is nothing and nothing comes, take the view that there is something, and it emerges, inch by inch, into the day to day, the divine moment arrives. And yet it was always here, right here, right now, this being the time and the place, as it were, that one is. Welcome it, love it, say yes to what you don't know that you always knew.
Always, the only limitation is oneself, and that needs gentle and forgiving work. Ready, steady, breathe.
It seems that, take the view that there is nothing and nothing comes, take the view that there is something, and it emerges, inch by inch, into the day to day, the divine moment arrives. And yet it was always here, right here, right now, this being the time and the place, as it were, that one is. Welcome it, love it, say yes to what you don't know that you always knew.
Always, the only limitation is oneself, and that needs gentle and forgiving work. Ready, steady, breathe.
Friday, July 8, 2011
The Sieve of Yourself
You know it is not about this or that, it is always about you and your relation to this and that. And the way you change your relation to this and that is by changing yourself, so either way it is about you.
Yet it is not about the you that you know to be you, amazing as it is, for you already know that. It is about the you that you do not yet know to be you, which is even more amazing, for in coming to know that, you come to know the gateway to everything, for you know everything through the sieve of yourself.
So life, real life, begins with you, and it begins anew in this moment. And life, real life, is available in all its glory in this moment, for it is not not-being: it is being. And you may have noticed that you are being. And it may feel that there is one multitudinous being, and you are part of that multitude, gloriously interconnecting in a myriad of ways, and yet simultaneously preserving its individuality. An extraordinary concoction, don't you think?
Yet it is not about the you that you know to be you, amazing as it is, for you already know that. It is about the you that you do not yet know to be you, which is even more amazing, for in coming to know that, you come to know the gateway to everything, for you know everything through the sieve of yourself.
So life, real life, begins with you, and it begins anew in this moment. And life, real life, is available in all its glory in this moment, for it is not not-being: it is being. And you may have noticed that you are being. And it may feel that there is one multitudinous being, and you are part of that multitude, gloriously interconnecting in a myriad of ways, and yet simultaneously preserving its individuality. An extraordinary concoction, don't you think?
Monday, May 23, 2011
What do you know?
What do we know? That we are, but if we don't know who we are, then we don't know the we that is. So itt may be truer to say that something is, and that provides a base for something more.
If we know that something is then at least three things are implied: there is a something, there is a someone and there is somespace, i.e. the space between the someone and the something, and somespace is occupied by the relationship of the someone and the something to one another.
These three elements in turn suppose a fourth; and that is the totality of the three; and if we postulate a pouch inside which they fit, then there is the possibility of something else over and beyond them, like other someones and somethings, which take us into the fifth and beyond. But when all this is said: what do we know?
If we know that something is then at least three things are implied: there is a something, there is a someone and there is somespace, i.e. the space between the someone and the something, and somespace is occupied by the relationship of the someone and the something to one another.
These three elements in turn suppose a fourth; and that is the totality of the three; and if we postulate a pouch inside which they fit, then there is the possibility of something else over and beyond them, like other someones and somethings, which take us into the fifth and beyond. But when all this is said: what do we know?
Yours for the asking
First, be thankful. In a sense, that's enough. Your thankfulness changes your relationship. Be thankful for what? By all means be thankful for this or that, which will change your relationship with this or that. Better, be thankful for life, for life is what you have. More than that, life is who you are. You are life, surrounded by life, relating to life. When you are thankful for life, you change your relationship with life.
Second, know that everything is evolving, or not evolving in the moment. Life continues to propitiate life. You may see some of it, a relationship, a flower, an opening out of your consciousness. Each of us sees so little, but the underlying truth can be seen. And what else would you see?
Third, ask for guidance. For there is what you are aware of and what you are not aware of. There is consciousness that you are conscious of, and there is consciousness that you are not conscious of, and there is a consciousness that is greater and vaster than the consciousness you routinely access. Yet you can at least ask for guidance, and you will be guided; you may even experience guidance. It is yours for the asking. And if there were such a form, if there were such a process, why would you not engage?
Thank you.
Second, know that everything is evolving, or not evolving in the moment. Life continues to propitiate life. You may see some of it, a relationship, a flower, an opening out of your consciousness. Each of us sees so little, but the underlying truth can be seen. And what else would you see?
Third, ask for guidance. For there is what you are aware of and what you are not aware of. There is consciousness that you are conscious of, and there is consciousness that you are not conscious of, and there is a consciousness that is greater and vaster than the consciousness you routinely access. Yet you can at least ask for guidance, and you will be guided; you may even experience guidance. It is yours for the asking. And if there were such a form, if there were such a process, why would you not engage?
Thank you.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Gliding through the world
There's a feeling of relief, to still be alive, not that I am aware of any impending challenge, it's just majestic. And I am grateful for this breath, and this one, even though in most moments, I don't remember to be thankful. It is enough to be connected and to remember the connection from time to time.
Where else is there to go? Wherever you go, you are you. What else is there to do? Whatever you do, you are you. And so we glide through the world, imagining it all to be real.
Who else is there to be? For that's the question. To be what you do not know yourself to be, to become what you have not yet discovered, but dimly sense, to become unbecoming, to cease, to be.
Where else is there to go? Wherever you go, you are you. What else is there to do? Whatever you do, you are you. And so we glide through the world, imagining it all to be real.
Who else is there to be? For that's the question. To be what you do not know yourself to be, to become what you have not yet discovered, but dimly sense, to become unbecoming, to cease, to be.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Not a jot, not a single thing
Right now, right here and now, you need absolutely nothing that you don't have. You can check by imagining that you are missing something that you need and then travel forward a few seconds of time, notice that you are OK and that you still don't have it. So you don't need what you don't have.
And this also applies to every moment of your life so far. You always had what you needed for every moment and the evidence is that you are here now. So far, so good.
As for the future? Well it exists only in your imagination, so you might as well imagine one in which you have everything you need, you know; as always.
Life, who would have it any other way?
And this also applies to every moment of your life so far. You always had what you needed for every moment and the evidence is that you are here now. So far, so good.
As for the future? Well it exists only in your imagination, so you might as well imagine one in which you have everything you need, you know; as always.
Life, who would have it any other way?
Sunday, March 27, 2011
A field of joy
In every moment there is this connection, sensed or not, within which our consciousness drifts, not knowing where it has come from, what it is, or where it is going, clinging to the familiar, as though that provides meaning. And yet there is purpose, as life unfolds from an unawareness of its unawareness into an awareness of its unawareness, and then venturing into a field of joy.
And though the ego may shout "What about me?" if it would only still itself, it would hear the universe whispering back "There is so much to enjoy".
When we recognise that our thoughts are only our thoughts, our emotions are only our emotions and our obsessions are only obsessions, we may be willing to surrender them in the search for something more than being this little self, lovely as that may be.
So let it go. Yes, that and that. And when it is all gone, there You are.
And though the ego may shout "What about me?" if it would only still itself, it would hear the universe whispering back "There is so much to enjoy".
When we recognise that our thoughts are only our thoughts, our emotions are only our emotions and our obsessions are only obsessions, we may be willing to surrender them in the search for something more than being this little self, lovely as that may be.
So let it go. Yes, that and that. And when it is all gone, there You are.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
If God is God then
If God is God then God hears everything. If God hears everything then God hears you; always. And if God hears you, you are speaking to God everytime everytime you speak.
So if God is God then you can speak to God anytime. In fact, you would be speaking to God all the time, whether or not you are aware, whether or not you intend to do so.
So if you do not know whether God is or what form God would take, try talking to God mindfully. Some people may call it prayer. Be aware that you may be talking to God even in this moment, imagine you are talking to God in the moments to come, and look out for the responses that may emerge.
After all, what do you think this life is?
So if God is God then you can speak to God anytime. In fact, you would be speaking to God all the time, whether or not you are aware, whether or not you intend to do so.
So if you do not know whether God is or what form God would take, try talking to God mindfully. Some people may call it prayer. Be aware that you may be talking to God even in this moment, imagine you are talking to God in the moments to come, and look out for the responses that may emerge.
After all, what do you think this life is?
Monday, March 7, 2011
Little short of a ...
There is a mystery that is all around us and inside of us waiting to express itself. Unnoticed, it persists, radiating magical life, for this is the miracle of miracles: life itself.
And you know who you are? You are life. This is it. You are the miracle, you are life expressing itself, you are life noticing itself expressing itself. You are the miracle watching the miracle.
And how does this feel, how does it feel to be part of the miracle, how does it feel to be its essence?
If we allow that there could have been nothing, nothing at all, then how unlikely is it that there is something? And more than something: this, in all its majesty.
We, who could perhaps have been nothing, are part of something utterly amazing: we are utterly amazing. There is icing on the cake too: that is to notice the miracle of being; and there is a candle.
Don't you just love this living thing.
And you know who you are? You are life. This is it. You are the miracle, you are life expressing itself, you are life noticing itself expressing itself. You are the miracle watching the miracle.
And how does this feel, how does it feel to be part of the miracle, how does it feel to be its essence?
If we allow that there could have been nothing, nothing at all, then how unlikely is it that there is something? And more than something: this, in all its majesty.
We, who could perhaps have been nothing, are part of something utterly amazing: we are utterly amazing. There is icing on the cake too: that is to notice the miracle of being; and there is a candle.
Don't you just love this living thing.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Being heard
You hear me, I know that. And because I know that you hear me, I know that you are there. To invert Descartes ("I think therefore I am"): you hear me, therefore you are. One knows when one is heard: and that is enough.
We cry out and we are always heard - whether we know it or not - every thought, every word, every action in every moment. In fact, there is no way not to be heard, there is no way not to resonate. We are always resonating, but resonating with what?
The splendid opportunity - the responsibility - is to develop your resonance. And then to speak, and having spoken to know that you are heard, and that is all.
We cry out and we are always heard - whether we know it or not - every thought, every word, every action in every moment. In fact, there is no way not to be heard, there is no way not to resonate. We are always resonating, but resonating with what?
The splendid opportunity - the responsibility - is to develop your resonance. And then to speak, and having spoken to know that you are heard, and that is all.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The Other Path
There is another path through life. But in order to see the Other Path it is necessary first to see that you are on a path and then to see that there is an Other Path.
The Other Path is not a path through the physical world. Such paths lead you everywhere and nowhere. There value lies in how they may change you, which is not a path through the physical world at all. The Other Path is neither visible nor physical but it is absolutely real.
The Other Path is neither the journey of the self into the world nor the journey of the world into the self.
The Other Path can be regarded as the Journey of the Self but it is more than that. It involves the transendence of the Self so that the Self is, to all intents and purposes, no longer the Self; at least it is not the Self you know. It is the path from the Little Self to the Greater Self and through the Greater Self to towards the whole. It is the journey into unity.
It is a journey into consciousness and through consciousness that into a greater consciousness, from little being, through becoming and into bigger being.
The Other Path is not a path through the physical world. Such paths lead you everywhere and nowhere. There value lies in how they may change you, which is not a path through the physical world at all. The Other Path is neither visible nor physical but it is absolutely real.
The Other Path is neither the journey of the self into the world nor the journey of the world into the self.
The Other Path can be regarded as the Journey of the Self but it is more than that. It involves the transendence of the Self so that the Self is, to all intents and purposes, no longer the Self; at least it is not the Self you know. It is the path from the Little Self to the Greater Self and through the Greater Self to towards the whole. It is the journey into unity.
It is a journey into consciousness and through consciousness that into a greater consciousness, from little being, through becoming and into bigger being.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
A little like love
I have had a great time here, really - it's been a blast. So thank you for letting me be a part of it, thanks for more than letting, thanks for creation, thanks for life itself. I am hoping for more, looking forward to more, not counting on anything, but confident of something. Of what? A presence. Something utterly glorious, unseen but not unsensed. And lo and behold, it is you, or at least the tiniest aspect of you - a brush across my cheek. And so I float, gently, in this soup of being.
There's more than that: divine promptings accessible in every moment. As if I needed anything more.
On my own, I am ... well actually I am never on my own, for you are always here, and how can you not be here, and that is the glory of it. And there is so much more of you to know while I bumble around, and that is OK too, more than OK. It feels a little like love.
There's more than that: divine promptings accessible in every moment. As if I needed anything more.
On my own, I am ... well actually I am never on my own, for you are always here, and how can you not be here, and that is the glory of it. And there is so much more of you to know while I bumble around, and that is OK too, more than OK. It feels a little like love.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
I feel therefore we are
French philosopher Rene Descartes famously remarked that, "I think therefore I am". But he might as well have said, "I feel therefore I am". Thinking is no closer than feeling is to being.
Or better, he could have simply said "I am", though that would have seemed less logical. However, it is possible to build upon the "I am" statement, without restricting ourselves to the valley of thought.
As Ken Wilber has observed, having noticed that "I am" one can notice that as well as an "I" that is being noticed, there is a noticer who is - well - doing the noticing, and now, hey presto, we have the "subjective self" and the "objective self".
However, we can go further in a particularly interesting direction. Better than "I think therefore I am" or "I feel therefore I am" is "I feel therefore we are". To adapt the saying "beliefs divide, values unite", we have "thoughts divide, feelings unite" or even the mind analyzes, the heart encompasses.
Better still, would be to notice that there is "one that is" and one that is "noticing that there is one that is", even if the latter turns out to be part of the former.
Or better, he could have simply said "I am", though that would have seemed less logical. However, it is possible to build upon the "I am" statement, without restricting ourselves to the valley of thought.
As Ken Wilber has observed, having noticed that "I am" one can notice that as well as an "I" that is being noticed, there is a noticer who is - well - doing the noticing, and now, hey presto, we have the "subjective self" and the "objective self".
However, we can go further in a particularly interesting direction. Better than "I think therefore I am" or "I feel therefore I am" is "I feel therefore we are". To adapt the saying "beliefs divide, values unite", we have "thoughts divide, feelings unite" or even the mind analyzes, the heart encompasses.
Better still, would be to notice that there is "one that is" and one that is "noticing that there is one that is", even if the latter turns out to be part of the former.
Monday, January 31, 2011
A Bigger Truth
Fore decades I thought "I am". This thought took many forms including "I am successful", "I am a failure" and even simply "I am". But this very partial truth is trumped by a more complete truth - "We are" - and this, in turn, is part of a bigger truth that "Life is". Even so, these words may not convey the majesty.
From the perspective of "Life is", the sentiment that "I am" represents the grossest shrinkage. One is not so much as a full-stop in a library; the narrow "one" is almost nothing.
Yet there is good news. Each one really is part of the whole, and the whole really is. So the whole is in you and you are in the whole, oh holy one.
From the perspective of "Life is", the sentiment that "I am" represents the grossest shrinkage. One is not so much as a full-stop in a library; the narrow "one" is almost nothing.
Yet there is good news. Each one really is part of the whole, and the whole really is. So the whole is in you and you are in the whole, oh holy one.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Feel the Flow and Do it Anyway
Susan Jeffers wrote a best-selling book Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway. Brilliant as it is, there is another view: Feel the Flow and Do it Anyway. There is Flow everywhere - in fact everything is flowing.
We could say there is nothing but Flow. But if that is so how come it doesn't feel that way? Because we let ourselves get in the way. You can notice yourself getting in the way when you are thinking about ... yourself.
A worry, for example, is usually a worry about yourself - "Will I keep my job?" "What will happen to me?" "What will they think of me?" But getting out of the way isn't so easy especially if, like me, you spent decades getting in the way. And resisting interference usually stimulates more interference.
This leads to the paradox of the self: the more you know you are nothing, the more you can connect with everything. And the more you feel you are something - especially something special - the more you disconnect. A lilttle qualification: the life force that is in you is absolutely amazing. It is, however, the same life force that is in everything else. It is life in all its abundance.
I spent years thinking "I am", a sentiment which is qualified by the bigger truth "We are", which is also part of a bigger truth "Life is". Even so, these words may not convey the majesty, for from the perspective of "Life is", the sentiment that "I am" is, well, puny.
We could say there is nothing but Flow. But if that is so how come it doesn't feel that way? Because we let ourselves get in the way. You can notice yourself getting in the way when you are thinking about ... yourself.
A worry, for example, is usually a worry about yourself - "Will I keep my job?" "What will happen to me?" "What will they think of me?" But getting out of the way isn't so easy especially if, like me, you spent decades getting in the way. And resisting interference usually stimulates more interference.
This leads to the paradox of the self: the more you know you are nothing, the more you can connect with everything. And the more you feel you are something - especially something special - the more you disconnect. A lilttle qualification: the life force that is in you is absolutely amazing. It is, however, the same life force that is in everything else. It is life in all its abundance.
I spent years thinking "I am", a sentiment which is qualified by the bigger truth "We are", which is also part of a bigger truth "Life is". Even so, these words may not convey the majesty, for from the perspective of "Life is", the sentiment that "I am" is, well, puny.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Happy New Year
A few things to say at the start of a year. First, congratulations on having survived the last one. You'll probably survive this one too. Second, welcome to this one - another awesome experience beckons. As we enter a new year, what's the point? When we are unaware, perhaps the point is to find it. So what's yours.
The start of the year may be a good time to review the blog. It has a new title - Reflections on Being - which has been popping into my mind recently. What the point of the blog? It is a means, not an end. At it's best, it may prompt you somehow. A slight shift in awareness. A clearer hearing of a deeper calling within. The fostering of inner space.
For me personally writing these short reflections is also an exercise in trust. A simple trust that words will flow nicely. That there is, after all, something to say, that a simple quality may adorn mere words.
Happy New Year.
The start of the year may be a good time to review the blog. It has a new title - Reflections on Being - which has been popping into my mind recently. What the point of the blog? It is a means, not an end. At it's best, it may prompt you somehow. A slight shift in awareness. A clearer hearing of a deeper calling within. The fostering of inner space.
For me personally writing these short reflections is also an exercise in trust. A simple trust that words will flow nicely. That there is, after all, something to say, that a simple quality may adorn mere words.
Happy New Year.
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