Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Love


Qamea, Fiji

When someone cuts us off on the freeway, do we really want to kill them? When the old woman in front of us in the checkout line at Whole Foods takes a long time writing a check, do we really think she is an idiot?

Who are we really hurting when we are irritated, angry or enraged at things large and small? We are only hurting ourselves. Stress causes strokes and heart attacks. Stress is caused by our irritation, annoyance and anger.

We are literally killing ourselves with our anger.

We can release the anger and irritation and be loving instead, both with the people we know and with ourselves. We have no need to be patient. Patience implies that we are waiting for something. When we are standing in line, we are steeped in loving presence. No patience necessary.

Let's release our anger and return to our loving true nature.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Truth

Near Queenstown, New Zealand

We do not live our lives truthfully. We show a different face to the different people we interact with in accordance with the expectations of the situation. We act differently with our parents, with our friends, with our bosses, with the gardener, our spouses, homeless people, etc. We have secret agendas and do not express what we are truly thinking and feeling. We try to manipulate people instead of telling people what we want. Even our white lies damage our relationships and ourselves.

It takes an enormous amount of energy to feel one way and act another way. We project the image that we think people want us to project. This causes a lot of stress.

Aren't we tired of suppressing who we really are? Aren't we tired of sleepwalking through life like programmed zombies? It is far more relaxing to be transparent and live authentically. We believe that we are sparing someone's feelings when we do not tell them the truth. The opposite is true. We do not give people enough credit. Are we really doing our friends a favor when we lie to spare their feelings? Do we think that little of them that we do not think they can handle the truth? When we live authentically, people often respond to us in the same way.

Let's have the courage to be who we really are. Let's be transparent.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Surrender

Dylan

We have the desire to awaken. We have the knowledge and the tools to become awakened. We have the courage to look at the pain and anguish that we have buried in our subconscious. We have the discipline to continually bring our attention to the present. Now we must let go of everything we have learned and surrender to the void.

We cannot use thought to awaken. It is not something that we can "figure out." In fact, thought is keeping us from awakening. It is not something that we can describe or label. It is what we are. We are the peace, joy and love that we seek. All that we have to do is surrender to it.

Let's surrender all of our thoughts, our beliefs, our judgments and be what we are. Let's surrender.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Life

Sunrise in Hana, Maui
If we believe that everything happens for a reason, we usually spend a lot of time figuring out the reason because it seems so important. Often we look back at some painful event in our lives and appreciate that it was an opportunity to grow or experience something better.

However, life only has the meaning which we give it. If we believe that life is a meaningless combination of random events, that is what we will experience. If we believe that all of the events in our lives are occurring because of divine destiny, life will appear to be governed that way. If we believe that life is unfolding so that we realize that we are all one, a part of divine presence, we will experience that too.

I used to read dream interpretation books, so that I could figure out the meaning of things that happened in my dreams. Although often interesting, I realized that I could better interpret my dreams by defining their meanings myself. The significance of dreams on a physical, psychological and spiritual basis would be what I believe they are.

Let's stop trying to figure out the meaning of life and why things are happening to us. Let's instead declare it!