Hand It Over

One observable fact I have noticed about religion is that if you stop giving them money, they leave you alone. blessings, r

An Occupied Space

There come times in life where we do not know our best course of action during a trying time. I, personally, am in such a time and wish to share with you a course of proper action. It is frank, rather candid, to the point and will challenge the foundation you may believe you are standing on. This is not small potatoes. This is the nuts and bolts of real living. To begin, what you are experiencing must be felt. Do not justify what is ailing you with illusory thinking. Do not think ahead to when this will all go away. Let it sit there with you, in you and through you. Do not buy yourself something, do not consume drugs or alcohol. Do not try to cast blame on another. Do not talk it out through expressions of rage, anger, fear, self pity, guilt or the like. It will not hurt you to hurt. There is no point in front of you that will safely harbor you and there is no other human being, in the world, that can or will save you. You must save yourself from yourself, it must be in the sanctified isolation of yourself and you must inevitably experience it alone. The cure? Dare to proceed even while afraid. No matter if the ground you are standing on is shaking and breaking up, stand there, you can take it. You can do this. There is no other help. This cross you are carrying is yours. No matter how heavy it is, no matter if the path is unclear and no matter if you are blinded by tears and heartache, walk towards it. Remember that Christ overcame the world, so you can do this, no matter what it is. Be aware of your feelings, love that which is making you uncomfortable, embrace it. You must endure to the other side. Don't appear or try to be strong (you know you are not, anyway). Allow yourself to be vulnerable to everything, do not fight and do not resist. Awareness of your unhappiness IS happiness. Allow yourself the privilege of feeling and I promise you that when you come through it, the other side is as bright and clear as a crisp November sky and You will be a better human being because of it. Blessings, r

Notable influences:

Vernon Howard
Guy Finley
Tom Russell

sleeping dogs

Most people are like dogs, they lay around, bored all day, waiting for something to bark at. r

Guaranteed Success

..."Pick up your cross, daily and follow me". Luke 9:23

I have a practical application that guarantees a 100% success rate. Look at the cycle of your life. Being high on yourself begets depression or complacency, complacency begets depression or high on yourself and so on. These cycles are how most people live through their lives. Most do this to themselves on a daily basis, and most, are unaware that they do it. Any combination of the three begins a cycle, a cycle to rid themselves of the previous state and so on, and so on...
Whether you believe this to be true or not, try this simple experiment. Go to the jewelry store and buy yourself a chain and a cross. You don't have to go overboard, you can make you own, but get a cross around your neck. Now, there is something to remember and that is this is "your" cross. It represents the "you" you know at this very minute. As soon as your cross is hung around your neck (for lack of a better word, because hanging used to be a form of death and punishment) go and find a mirror and look at it. What you see is a wonderful and beautiful human being, created by God, in his image. Now as you take your line of sight away from the mirror, you now see a seemingly different person. Try it. When we focus on our cross we see ourselves as God sees us. When we look away from our "cross", the different self now appears and this is where the evil one comes to play (through our thoughts about ourselves). Now, there is some effort required. Deny this away-from-the-mirror self. Be watchful of everything that it is thinking, needing or wanting and consciously let it pass. Include all of your present schemes, plans, desires, passions and ambitions. Deny yourself of these things as best you can. Do not focus on why you are doing it or that your eyes are now on God or Christ. There can be no self-sought illusion here (even if you think your illusions are honorable). Forget yourself as best you can. Go about your day observing as much about this you as you can. Don't react to anything you see, just casually observe, deny and let it pass on by. You may have to grasp your cross as a helpful reminder that this is something higher you are doing for yourself. No one need (or should)know what you are doing. You may even deny the need to tell another what you are doing. At the end of the day report back to yourself in what you saw. It is okay to be amazed before you are halfway through. blessings, r

The Space Between

There is a universe of life. A universe overlooked by most and seen by few. Thoreau once said that the inner world is equally as vast as the outer world and that they are both infinite (re-read June 2009, "Mathematical genus"). You will not find it in books or the knowledge obtained from reading. It is not in any lecture, job, past time, recreation, belief or thought. It is not in any typical action, nor is it in the confining of one's movements. It lies only in the space between thoughts. People are so top heavy in logic that they fail to see it, but it is there. Most, will live their entire life and overlook it. Those not afraid to slow down, consciously, have a greater chance of illumination from these limitless spaces. The only anecdote is the desire to understand something you know nothing about yet, has everything to do with you. The innocent willingness to take off the mask and face your illusions of current events and lower desires. It is too difficult for most because it will require change and most are too lazy for that. It is not conventional, is your conventionalism working for you? There are many who have seen this vastness of newness, men like Christ, Thoreau, Emerson, J. Krishnamurti, George Fox, Vernon Howard and countless others. The one common theme to what they lived, learned and left was that man is asleep, that he is, basically, evil and that nothing can exist for him unless he is consciously aware of it. Take anyone of them and study their teachings and then make your own path. I, personally, desire to know everything about everything they spoke of. Truth and the parallelism of truth will answer any doubts you may have in their validity. I can ill afford to limit myself with thought and thought alone. The desire to know and the desire to know how must be the aim. The experimentation of the space of life between thought and between logic constitutes a mind power which rises above all thought and conventional wisdom and exists in a place of greater understanding of the intricacies you call you. Are you aware of the room that you are in right now or are you so tunneled visioned in this reading that you do not hear the blue jay outside your window or the clock ticking on your wall? We may be on to something here. blessings, r

Eye of the Sun

He senses an essence, that part to be him.
Who doesn't know where he is going or,
what he should do.
He remembers a time,
like that of a child,
where nothing was important,
except something new.
He built up the man,
he thinks is his own,
but fights the man daily,
dismayed not atoned.
While sitting one day
and soaking the sun,
he heard the wind calling
the name of someone.
A name with no name,
and not bothered to care.
Just he and the wind,
a new minded friend.
He now knows the direction,
that is no direction at all.

So too.... are those born of the spirit...

blessings,r

Deja Vu

I awoke this morning with the rain coming down and a noticeable itch in my mental makeup (where all itches appear to originate). Faculties begin to whirl. I know those faculties, I have been experiencing them my whole life. They are usually, but not always, instigated by a previous manic yesterday and were written about earlier this week. So, nonetheless, they are not new, they are old. They are not based on anything but the old false, illusory self. I want to share a story with you. It is a story Christ shared about such times. The beautiful fact about Christ is he always told the truth. He gave us scenarios, but never left us hanging. He always left an anecdote to assist us in finding the truth about ourselves. The story goes something like this: The evil one will return to find an empty room, a room that has been swept clean. He will then leave, go out into the desert, and return with seven more, seven more powerful than he. To the asleepened world, this illustration appears archaic, but for those of us who seek the truth and what to find out how to live, it is beautiful music for our hearts. If I am on a spiritual quest and I am examining myself alertly, I can be on the lookout for these types of devilish illusions. Expect them. Now, your attention is needed here. We must see the evil one in action by first recognizing his masks and that these negativities are not us, but rather, his scheme to pull us into the darkness. This is what Christ refers to as "the world". This "world" is the false, illusory self. You are not that, but the evil one wants you to believe this to be so by using "I" in all of his ploys against you. Now, for the truth, the anecdote. "I have overcome the world!" Yes, Christ experienced the illusions of the evil, masked one. He overcame the nature of the false self. He was rigorous, honest and very thorough with self examination. He wants us to do the same and paved the way for us by leaving us with his findings and by the way he lived his life. Never take his words at face value. They are not meant for that and will not work. Go deeper into the makeup of you. Take his words and apply them as these life experiences occur. They will occur if you are on the quest. He left his life and teachings as an example for us to see, diligently work by, and, yes! overcome. blessings, r

Reputation

"A conscious man is protected at all times, but his protection is utterly unlike anything known by a sleeping man. It is the protection of having no protection at all. If you protect anything, perhaps your reputation, it means you are protecting a label, a mere word, which causes tension toward whatever threatens the label. So this kind of protection protects nothing; it just makes you nervous. But if you have no reputation at all---which is a wonderful way to live---there is no need for protection and there is no nervousness, for you are yourself only."

Vernon Howard 'Esoteric Mid Power'

It would be wise to notice the many "I's" within one's self. Whether they be labels of greatness or despair they are traps, requiring large amounts of needless life energy. Their opposites carry no value either. Look at your outward and inward self proclamations. What do they really mean? Do you think you are nothing without some claim, some piece of a proverbial pie? Am I this...Am I that....are good questions to ask as a starting point. How about expected results from your titles? You say you want to live your life the way you want to, well... you do, how do you like it? It is not an airy attitude to allow some doubt at this point. It is a precursor to true heroism. Try an experiment. You may not understand it at first, but with practice the benefits will eventually ring true. The next time you are with a group of friends, peers, casual acquaintances or strangers, watch for the need to speak of your accomplishments. Don't concern yourself with failure or whether you are doing it correctly---those are just labels too! Observe your conversations and description of things you have like trophies, awards, titles, accommodations, current activities or opinions. See the masks that you and others are wearing. Remember this is an experiment so don't take what you see personally, just observe casually. You can learn a lot about your self and others (oneness exploration). This is something you are free to get excited about. blessings, r

Upon Further Review

Notice how the ego strives for attention. It doesn't just strive for attention it demands it. Now, it would be important for me to try to understand it's inter workings if I am to not live from it. Having acted from it most of my life is not seeing it, but if I were to examine "most of my life," I could get a glimpse of how it has effected or molded me (for lack of a better word). It is this nature of the false self to demand my attention, for it is I who give it life. Without my inclusion of false desire, obsession, daily thought patterns, ambition and passion, it cannot exist. Pick up an example of an act. Take cycling as an example or anything you passionately do. Let us say that I pick up my bike and ride out 20 miles. Upon my return, I am feeling good about myself and my body is invigorated. The endorphins are running through me and I am feeling pleased with my efforts. These are natural and necessary states. The false self, however, will not allow you to put it down and leave it for another day. No, it infiltrates and expounds into the mind (where it can only exist)creating illusions. These illusions can range from: "You should ride everyday because you can become a professional, an expert," to, "I will scan the cycling ebay files for a $3000 bike because I am now a professional." I know these examples may seem absurd to you, but you get my drift and if you look at your passions, ambitions or desires you will find similarity. Now, for the good part. Isn't this funny? Can you laugh at yourself? This is a healthy way to see how it is the nature of your ego, false self to demand your intense attention in these areas. Keyword: Intense. This is the ego's greatest weapon, because it loves for us to create tunnel vision to which it festers and "contains us", the most. This is why ego driven good days are followed by ego driven bad days. Try not to identify so much with what you do. Balance of everything is the path to good health. Walk-a-long casually is the best medicine. Be watchful without trance. Blessings, r

Que

There is no other person in the world I would rather spend time with then myself and there is no other person in the world I would rather speak with then my wife, Leah. How wonderful is the consummate marriage, how wonderful is the inspired life. It is truly amazing how little we actually do and how lovingly we are carried by the mystery of God. Do you have to work at taking a breath? How amazingly magical is the oxidation of the blood from the lungs and you do not even have to think about it. Just getting up and walking to get something from another room is so phenomenal and incomprehensible, yet we effortlessly do it a thousand times a day. It is good to be alive, really alive and consciously aware of these present states. How sublime life can be by noticing even the slightest intricacies. Less of me. More of Thee. blessings, r

Questions to Answers

For the next few days, weeks or even years, consider the following questions from the time you wake up until you go to sleep at night. Allow these questions to come full circle when an experience awakens you, whether it be stirring your coffee, within the midst of a hectic work schedule or simply planning your day. Be watchful and casual. Keep them in your peripheral as you go along.

*1. Do you feel contradictions or repressions within?
*2. Are you compelled to defend or prove yourself?
*3. Do you worry over the loss of what you call your happiness?

All of the questions are directly interrelated with one another. Happiness is impossible if I am defending, proving, feeling loss or worry, irritable with contradictions or repressed feelings, etc.. The only way I can be happy, truly, is to see these dangling opposites and that the only way through them is to see them for what they are and that they are there. They are there because I granted them permission to be there, but through diligent watchfulness, whether before, during or after the fact, the winds of awareness can brisk fully carry them away. Blessings, r

*From Vernon Howard's, Esoteric Mind Power

Dumb driven cattle...

There is nothing more important to me than any guilt, fear or negativity (should it arise) from my "consciously justified" desire to separate from the herd. J. Krishnamurti once said that, "if Christianity and Muslims, alike, would allow doubt, their empires would crumble."** So often, I allow myself to fall into ruts because I allow other things to spread their blankets over my inward negativities, yet, if the blankets where removed, the negativity would still be there. I can no longer see fear nor all these said "negativities" to constitute some calling upon anything else, but my total involvement with that present state(no matter what it may invoke). It is the total involvement of the state that determines and dictates a rise to spiritual health, understanding and truth and can never be located in any other context. blessings, r

** taken from podcast #153 @ superwisdom.com

No Rhyme of Reason

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

or...

Do unto yourself as you would have others do unto you

in other words...

If my aim should be unconcerned with what you do then,
your aim should be to not concern yourself with what I do...

fore bearing...

No man should work, so that another doesn't have to,
Nor toil so that another's slothfulness may benefit.

Christ, himself, was a separatist. " I have come to bring division, not peace."

blessings, r

Civil Disobedience

If a man asked me for food,
I will give it to him.
If a man asked me for clothing,
I will give him the shirt from my back.
If a man sought shelter,
I would welcome him in,
But if a man asks for my gun or my life,
I will point both in his direction and
request that he ask again.

Inward Toast

From a letter to a friend:

Good Morning,

Thank you for your e-mail. I read some very important me from you. It was heart felt and true. I used to rely solely on how I was doing by other people's reflection about me, ( I am referring to the "good stuff," of course). As I begin to move more inwardly towards myself, I see the presence of two things. These "things" are the two halves of a man. One is the mystical and magical "kingdom of heaven" within, the second is the dark world of illusion and tyranny. Both, of which, are indefinite and both of which want my soul. Happiness exists as my awareness of the present state, for I am only a receiving set and not a sending unit. A natural separatist. Great title for a new political party, huh? blessing, r