Posted on April 9, 2007 By OneMysticalMonkey
Recently, somebody close to me was involved in a minor car accident. The other driver – the one causing the crash- was too busy looking in his rear-view mirror while driving across a busy street and into a parking lot, hitting my loved one in the process. In other words, he was too busy focusing on the past to be effective in the present. The immediate physical result of this preoccupation was the driver hitting my loved one. Fortunately, it was only a minor scrape and nobody was injured. But how unusual is this situation – on the road, and off? How often do we find ourselves focussed on the past -some past event, some past “wrong”, some situation that we rehash in our minds, tearing our emotions and sometimes our bodies apart? And if we are not focused on the past, perhaps we dwell instead on the future? How often do we allow either situation to affect our present? Do we do justice to our present, or those involved with us in the present, to be so preoccupied with something that has either already happened or something which may never happen? Are we effective with our current, “now” tasks under those circumstances?
The past is gone; You can not change it. The future isn’t here yet; how much can you control something that doesn’t exist?
Should you ignore your past? No. It is important to learn from your past, but it’s also important for you to choose the timing to do so. When your preoccupation with the past determines the timing for you is when the above situations tend to happen (*crash!*). Consciously set aside some time to revisit and evaluate past events. Take the lessons from it but leave behind the emotional turmoil – all it is likely to do is cause you further turmoil!
Should you ignore your future? No. You need to plan ahead, to put some thought into your goals and what you need to do in order to get there. The mundane things also need to be taken care of, and they often need a bit of forethought: bills should be paid on time, appointments should be met on time, trips planned appropriately, etc. But do you stare into space endlessly, ignoring the present? No. Your dreams will not likely be realized if all you do is dream of them, and you once again are not effective in the present if you are preoccupied with the future. Again, you may find that consciously setting aside some time to plan your future – whether it’s next year, the next day, or even twenty minutes from now – may help manifest those dreams without sacrificing the present.
So we are left with the present. The present is all that exists, and it exists for only a moment. By the time I finish this sentence -this word- it’s already a past event! Moment by moment by moment, we live… how many of your moments really count?
Namaste.
Metaphysics • Nudges & Ponderings
Posted on April 8, 2007 By OneMysticalMonkey
So if the body is a temple, why do the chips taste so good? And if they taste so good, why do they make my eyes hurt and my belly a little nauseous an hour after eating them? And if I feel a bit ill after eating chips, and I know I’m likely to feel ill later, why on Earth do I keep eating them? *groan*
What is it that draws us back to the things that are not in our best interests? Whether it’s potato chips, or chocolate, television, a relationship, a bad habit, or any number of other things – why do those things grab our attention so? Don’t we realize we deserve better? And if you answered “yes” to that – do you really believe it? Does your belief manifest itself in your world, or do you somehow undercut yourself because deep down you doubt you deserve better than you have? How did we as a society even come to the conclusion that we deserve what life has given us? Did somebody tell us that? Is it that collective consciousness against which some of us push? Is it karma? Is that a convenient excuse to accept what is before us instead of doing the work to find something better?
How many different ways do we sabotage ourselves in our daily lives? Is it obvious, or subtle? Are you even aware of it? If your overall level of awareness changes (we are talking about metaphysics and spiritual states of awareness and growth, after all), do you gain clarity? For how long? Can you change these self-defeating habits? Is it possible, in a higher state of awareness, to make permanent changes to those things which you wish to change? Is it a matter of self-will and determination to avoid those things that are not in your best interest? But is avoidance even the answer? According to the ancient texts, you should take all experiences – those things which are enjoyable, as well as those things which are not – and treat them the same way, because they are, after all, just part of the whole illusion that is Earthly life. That’s great for the physical things in our lives (and yes, it’s possible), but how does that apply to the spiritual things? Or does it?
And once again, I’m back to the concept that the Path is the journey; All things on the path are part of the path, and it’s all here for us to learn our lessons. Apparently, that includes the spiritual aspects as well as the physical, and we once again need to get our egos – our wants and desires – out of the picture, because it’s only with a still mind and undisturbed emotions that these truths come to light. And round and round we go again.
*Throws chips in the trash*
My zafu is calling…
Peace
Metaphysics
Posted on April 5, 2007 By OneMysticalMonkey
Aaaarrrrrgh!!! Heaps of distractions from all kinds of directions! But what is a distraction from a goal if we don’t understand what the goal is? Is there more than one goal? How do we achieve our goal(s)? Achievement. Oh boy – now what is that supposed to mean? Achieve what? The goal? What goal? Why is there something to achieve in the first place? What is it? How do we get there?
If the goal is enlightenment (even if it’s the more local and personal kind), then how do we go about realizing it amid all the distractions? Most ancient texts on the subject tell us that we are all already Enlightened – that we are inseparable from the “perfect state of being” but we don’t realize our true nature. Enter the concept of Spiritual Duality; the perception of enlightenment and spirituality being something other than ourselves. Wow. What a concept!! So how do we realize our natural enlightenment amid all these worldly distractions? Or are the distractions part of the path? Are they the goal? And how, in this mental and emotional chaos, do we manage to keep our houses cleaned, the bills paid, our families fed, the dog walked, and the cushion sat upon? Aaaaah…. now there is the question!! — where in this mental and emotional chaos, indeed!!
The funny thing is, if we can manage to still our minds and bodies long enough to actually sit ourselves down on the meditation cushion for even a few minutes, suddenly all our worldly worries (and often much more), fall right into place. Suddenly our physical distractions are prioritized clearly, without the emotional twists they can often bring with them as they jostle for our attention. Things seem to get done much faster in the physical world when our minds are clear and our emotions are no longer making a mess of things for us. And while we sit, we may even catch a glimpse of our natural spiritual state while we’re at it. (Now That’s my idea of multitasking!!)
So how amid the emotional and mental chaos do we manage to realize our true nature, AND take care of the worldly things? We stop the chaos, and we do both at the same time. The distractions are more than just part of the path – they ARE the Path, as weird as that may sound. And boy do I wish I didn’t seem to keep needing that lesson!
… So the moral of this blog entry is: just sit and meditate. Leave the TV, the computer, the dishes, the laundry, all of it, behind for a few minutes and meditate. Even the blogging…
For meditation instruction by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, visit the Shambhala web site: [meditation instruction]
Metaphysics
Posted on April 2, 2007 By OneMysticalMonkey
It’s Spring. The weather is warming up, the plants are sprouting, the trees budding, the birds are returning to their more northern homes and making their nests. It’s Spring Break. It’s April. This time of year is all about growth and new life and possibilities opening up and blooming to their full potential. That hope extends to we humans as well in this time of awakening. Whether American, Canadian, Brazilian, any other nationality, we all have dreams we hope to make bloom. So how can we do this?
With the recent popularity of movies and books such as “What the Bleep…” and “The Secret”, manifesting all our hopes and dreams sounds so very easy. But is it? What is it that stops us from manifesting whatever we want? Even Buddha in the Dhammapada says “With our thoughts we make the world”. This insight has been echoed through various traditions and belief systems, and is now being hinted at in the science of Quantum Physics. So if this is true, what holds us back? Is it our own deep-seated, nagging, subconscious belief that it doesn’t really work like that? Are our egos sneaking in with the thought that we don’t really deserve better than what we have? That it can’t be done? Or is our current situation the fruits of karmic actions done in the past? Can we recognize them? Can we alter them? And if so, over what time-frame? This year? This life? Ten-thousand three hundred and six lives in the future?
Perhaps it’s something else. Perhaps it’s a bit more dynamic and complicated than simply believing you are the creator of your own little world down to the most intricate of details. Perhaps it has more to do with humanity as a whole; the collective belief system, our collective state of being. On a local level, suppose a young man is trying to get a girl to go out with him. He tries manifesting it – believing it with all his heart, and seeing it as a “done deal”. But she never says yes. The date never happens. Why? Is it that she never shared this thought? That she has her own things to manifest? That some other young man was better at manifesting a date with the girl than the first?
How does this work on the global level, then? The universal level? How do all our beliefs, perceptions, needs and wants interact with each other? And why do some of them manifest while others don’t? Who -or what- chooses? Is there even a choice being made? Is there some larger “thing” – a “grand scheme”- that sets every thing, that sets all of us, in balance with each other? Perhaps we are meant to work together as a species for the overall good and enlightenment of our world and of our species. If this is true, then it would suggest that by being unselfish in your desires, you actually have a better chance of manifesting your dreams. And aren’t we fortunate that we live in a time that more and more people are being less selfish, more compassionate, and more global in their thoughts? Perhaps we can manifest our desires after all…
“The world is on Fire!
And are you laughing? ”
– Buddha, “Old Age”, The Dhammapada
Metaphysics • Nudges & Ponderings
Posted on March 30, 2007 By OneMysticalMonkey
I’m reading a lot these days; trying to find my metaphysical and spiritual ways a bit more. I am trying to find the specific path I am meant to tread, knowing that my time is “now”, and that it is time to call past experience to bear the fruit that has been many years in growing. And although I have no doubt that Spirit will guide me correctly at the right time and place and branch of the path, I also have no doubt that this investigation is all part of the process. I’m doing my research, reading, studying, learning and growing. And although my path is still quite broad, I’m getting a much better idea of what my path is right now, as well as where it may lead as one foot surely follows the other.
But it is not just the spiritual path on which I am finding my way at the moment; it is also the blogging path. I am sorting through the interface, the tools, the design, the community, the process, the technology – bringing my more worldly experiences in technology and design to bear in this newer medium. In some ways, it is going slower than I’d like, but nonetheless, I am finding my way, discovering where I am and where these investigations and experiments in blogging may lead.
And so things are coming around full circle for me on both the metaphysical and the physical planes. But it’s more than the quick little cycles of the experiences within this life. It’s the trick (yes, a trick!) of recognizing these cycles, of seeing the patterns, and listening to the echoes from the last cycle. It’s the trick of echoes; Echoes of technical know-how that hasn’t been used in a while, echoes of spiritual knowledge that has been blacked out by the cycle of rebirth and the curtain of obscurity. Echoes. {{ echo … echo … echo … }} (Sorry, couldn’t resist! 😉 )
Echoes are interesting in that if you hear them, if you listen to them, they can lead you places you may not have found on your own. This is true of our personal echoes as well as the ones you may find deep within a cave somewhere. It is true of the physical echoes in our day to day lives, as well as echoes from Spirit. Journeys (and that’s what life is, isn’t it?- a journey?!) are about listening to echoes and following their lead. The leads, these whispers and echoes from Spirit tend to bring us closer not only to our goals but closer to Spirit, closer to each other, and closer to ourselves. Can we hear the echoes? Do we listen? What are they saying….?
Peace.
Monkey business
Posted on March 28, 2007 By OneMysticalMonkey
Aaaaaah… as a bug goes across my computer screen and I automatically go to smash it, the question of the day: What is our intrinsic nature as human beings? What is our base nature? Are we tainted, or are we pure? Are we physical or are we spiritual? Are we both? Are we neither?
This is a topic many monks, priests, and other spiritual leaders have contemplated over the centuries, and depending upon who you ask, you’re likely to receive a wide variety of answers. In my limited experience and explorations of such things, I believe that humans are intrinsically good and that we are not inherently tainted or evil. Despite our materialistic society and pressures for the physical, we are spiritual beings. Yes, we are Spiritual beings!
Our world has it backwards – we are not physical beings with a soul, but spiritual beings with a body! We have gotten so enmeshed in our physical sensations and society, perhaps, that we have forgotten our true nature and calling -so enmeshed that some have become overwhelmed and reacted violently (literally) to the stimuli and chaos of the physical world- but we remain spiritual beings nonetheless. Somewhere along the line, our species started to “forget” this little truth. As time went on and more of us forgot our spiritual basis, our physical cultures twisted the reality around further, separating man from “God” with rules and dogma and ritual.
After centuries of fostering this separation from spirit, our world, our people, is sick – heartbroken. Why? Because we have lost the connection with our true spirit. We have allowed ourselves to be separated from truth and from each other. If we do not recognize our neighbor as an expression of the same higher power from which we came, it is easier to harm him in word or deed, ultimately enforcing the vicious “un-spiritual” cycle. If we do not recognize ourselves as expressions of the ultimate spirit, it is easier to fall into the materialistic physical trap; Easier to fall prey to our own anger and jealousy and ego-trips. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? What does that say about us, about the state of our world?
Ironically (and fortunately), we are beginning to reach out for each other through the technology that once served to separate us. Online communities of all kinds are all over the internet! Yes, some of them are absolutely overrun with emphasis on the physical (or is it the virtual?) and inundated with egos of all kinds. Yes, sometimes the technology that brings us together also makes it easier to forget there’s another human being across the world who is going to see your unnecessarily harsh response to a post. Nonetheless, we are reaching out to each other. We are reaching out across the world to each other in an attempt to reconnect with our species. Reaching out at a time when our immediate physical surroundings may seem overwhelming. But we are reaching out, and that is an amazing step in the right direction. At the same time that we are reaching out for each other across the internet, many folks are also beginning to realize and explore their spiritual side. Yaaaay us!!
And as we continue to reach out for each other and continue to realize our spiritual nature, our species is starting to evolve. We are changing ourselves and our world, for the better. And although I haven’t completely curbed my impulses to smash bugs, sometimes, just sometimes, my karma is spared a tiny bit from inflicting pain on another expression of spirit (I missed the bug).
Namaste!!
Metaphysics • Nudges & Ponderings • Spirituality
Posted on March 26, 2007 By OneMysticalMonkey
So it starts – my blog. So why a blog? Why a site at all? Well, simply put, it’s just the right thing to do. Ok, so that sounds a bit corny to a lot of you… but *why* is it the right thing to do? And what am I hoping to accomplish here?
Well, I am somebody on the “Path” and my time is “now”. This is part of my particular path. Everything that I’ve done so far in my life has lead me here, to this blog, to this site. It is a way to reach out to others much like myself who are making a similar journey. The World is changing. Our concepts of “reality” are changing. It is time to share with each other, to reach out to each other, to learn and grow and evolve as a species. This is a part of that.
On a favorite bookmark, a quote by Edith Wharton: “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” Whether the candle or the mirror, I’m not sure which, nor am I sure it matters right now. What does matter is that the light is spreading. If you are on a similar path, or curious about it, then I welcome you to accompany me, and to share with me. If not, then you are not meant to be here yet, and I bid you adieu and good luck on your journey.
Let us discover, together, where this particular branch of the path takes us…
Namaste!
Monkey business
