Keeping an open mind

It doesn’t make sense to meet what we perceive as closed-mindedness with a closed mind. Often times, nested deep within such ideas is wisdom that we are unable to see at the moment, and it just might be exactly what we need to balance the way we see the world. Each vantage point has within its line-of-sight its share of dysfunctions. Don’t confuse the message with the perceived hypocrisies of the messenger; all of us are human and have our share of flaws after all.

Philosophy and the Unmanifest

It’s one thing to recognize the bars of a jail cell… it’s quite another to start believing that the bars are the only thing that exists.  To be held back by what the words are trying to convey misses the point…

Self Acceptance

I have noticed that when I find it hard to accept some aspect of myself, invariably that same thing bothers me when I see it in others. It is in fact the same judgmental voice that surfaces in both cases that hinders peace and harmony. This voice of non-acceptance, as much as it might appear at first as a voice of reason and higher values, invariably ends up hurting more than it helps. Not only does it create more pain for others when people act out on it, but it also creates more pain for the thinkers themselves.

To accept the flaws of another is to accept the flaws within ourselves. Often we don’t know clearly why a person behaves in a certain way, but it is important for us to recognize that there might be relative experiences in that persons past that has conditioned them to behave as such. Emotional hurts from a young age can be one such explanation. If you feel yourself judging someone for their behavior, turn it around and feel compassion for them. They might have had a much tougher life than you and I; they might have been dealt a much tougher hand.

We often say that there are an infinite number of paths that leads to the Divine. One of the reasons for this is that we seem to intuit that there must be an infinite number of souls in the Universe, each one with it’s own unique purpose, and trajectory; it’s own Dharma. Hence, it would make sense that there would be as many paths to the Divine as there are souls. To quietly accept what we perceive as flaws in others is to acknowledge that each being is exploring the Universe in its own unique way. And it’s important for us to give them the freedom to make mistakes along the way without qualifying those mistakes. When we do this, we invariably free ourselves from that same abrasive voice that shackles us
and keeps us from attaining our highest potential.

If you find it hard to feel compassion for yourself, feel it for the world and all beings, regardless of their appearances, actions or intentions… self acceptance, and along with it harmony, will soon follow.

Spiritual Indentity

No amount of spirituality will help if it becomes ones form identity.

The cat continues to stare at the hand that points, not understanding that the hand points to a mouse. Ultimately it matters not what the qualities are of the hand; what matters is that the mouse be found.

Release the need for spiritual ideas to be true… No matter how nuanced a spiritual concept is, it can never accurately represent the nature of reality. The hand, no matter how beautiful, can never be the mouse. Including this one.

Perceptual mirrors

As humans, we clearly see the insanity in others, but fail to see the insanity in ourselves. If only it were the other way around – that we were sensitive to the insanity within ourselves and blind to the insanity within others – then, well the world would be a lot less insane…

Purpose

All purpose has creation at its root.  To ask what one’s purpose is, is to ask what one was born to create; to give the rest of existence.  As human beings we may have many purposes, each of which are important and play a crucial role.  Biologically speaking, a common purpose is to procreate.  This might not be everyone’s purpose, but it is quite a common one for the majority.  Another common purpose is to create for the world some structure – be it intellectual, material, emotional, spiritual – that plays a specific role in the evolution of consciousness – even if only temporarily – as all structures eventually dissolve.  Most often such a creation comes through our profession.  But it might also come in the form of a hobby.

To not know one’s purpose can be a very disorienting feeling.  Quite often, many of us struggle hard to figure out our purpose at such times, assuming that it requires a lot of doing on our part to discover.  Sure we might come up with an idea of what we think our purpose is, but quite often this is a self-deception that is crafted to hastily mask feelings of inadequacy.  Many times what is required is tuning into the silence and emptiness that we experience as disorientation.  For it is out of this feeling that our true purpose is born.  Like any other process of birthing, both metaphorical and actual, this can be very painful.  Everything (every thing) is always born out of nothing (no thing).

Tune in to the emptiness that is experienced as disorientation.  Observe that the purpose of the present moment is to accept not knowing one’s purpose.  The cue will manifest when it is time to act.  The knowing shall be at a very deep level.

In fact the knowing will be so deep, that the concept of “my purpose” will not even arise, and the acting will flow freely and openly with pure love and consciousness, and no desire but the impulse to Create.