blog

The Secret Life.

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 11:42:08 +0100

"Most of us feel as if a sort of cloud weighed upon us, keeping us below our highest notch of clearness in discernment, sureness in reasoning, or firmness in deciding. Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake. Our fires are damped, our drafts are checked. We are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources. In some persons this sense of being cut off from their rightful resources is extreme and we then get the formidable neurasthetic and psychasthetic conditions with life grown into one tissue of impossibilities that so many medical books describe.
Stating the thing broadly, the human being thus lives usually far within his limits: He possesses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use. He energizes below his maximum and he behaves below his optimum. In elementary faculty, in co-ordination, in power of inhibition and control, in every conceivable way, his life is contracted like the field of vision of an hysteric subject but with less excuse, for the poor hysteric is deseased while in the rest of us it is only a inveterate habit, the habit of inferiority to our full self - that is bad.
Admit so much, then, and admit also that the charge of being inferior to their full self is far truer of some men than of others, then the practical question ensues: To what do better men owe their escape? and, in the fluctuations which all men feel in their own degree of energizing, to what are the improvements due when they do occur?
In general terms the answer is plain: Either some unusual stimulus fills them with emotional excitement or some unusual idea of necessity induces them to make an extra effort of will. Excitements, ideas, and efforts, in a word are what carry us over the dam.
In those "hyperesthetic" conditions which chronic invalidism so often brings in it's train, the dam has changed it's normal place. The slightest funtional exercise gives a distress which the patient yields to and and stops. In such cases of "habit - neurosis" a new range of power often comes in consequence of the "bullying treatment" of efforts which the doctor obliges the patient, much against his will, to make. First comes the very extremity of distress, then follows unexpected relief. there seems no doubt that we are each and all of us to some extent victims of habit neurosis."
William James

Not guilty!

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:42:11 +0100

GUILT.
Guilt is a man-made emotion. It is not natural. If you kick the dog for chewing up your slippers he ain't going to feel guilty about it. He's not going to chew on them anymore because he doesn't want to get kicked again, not because he feels guilty. Also, he realizes that this upsets you.
Guilt is negative and useless. You can do nothing about guilt. You cannot act upon it. It festers and torments you with no positive results whatsoever.
"Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean"
Humans are the only creatures who experience guilt. It is NOT a natural emotion.
However, remorse or regret (like the dogs) are useful in making us better spiritual beings.
Learn from you mistakes and make up for wrong doings. If you messed up then learn from it. "Behave better next time."
We have total control of the here and now and can help mould the future.
Unless you're HG Wells and have a full-on, working time machine then there is absolutely nothing you can do about the past. (Certain magicians and shamans accepted)
Everyone messes up, everyone makes mistakes. Everyone, with hindsight wishes they had done certain things differently. Lord knows I feel like that all the time.
All one can do as an individual is learn from the past and try and rectify situations for which they are responsible.
The Buddhists have no word for guilt and oh what a better place our world would be if the rest of us didn't either.

A Clumsy Attempt At Clarity.

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:11:30 +0100

I have a friend and I use that word rarely. A man who inspires me and has since I first met him. I've stood back and admired and enjoyed his success but of late he's been having it hard. But even in times of hardship, his words and attitude fill me with wonder. You may have heard of him, he's kind of famous (I think, I don't have a TV) but you wouldn't know it if you met him. You wouldn't realize if you came across his MySpace page.....

I wrote to him recently after a bit of a break. My life took a U-turn and I had problems of my own. I am always interested in what he has to say. Interesting, forthright people are a dying breed. Those of us who question everything and seek answers in unusual places. Ridicule a proven response, but I don't subscribe to that media sheep trick. Religious dogma, a rule book for the masses.....

I arrived in Los Angeles with the usual dreams of celebrity and musical success. Feeling rather sorry for myself after being somewhat eaten alive within days by the City of lost angels I received a call outside the Rainbow bar and grill on Sunset.....

"I arrived here with a suitcase full of tinned food and $25 and was sleeping in someone's closet."....

That from a man who was now staring in some primetime TV show he'd been filming in Austin.....

That brought me down a peg or two I must say.....

Dreams of super stardom were soon surpassed by thirst for truth anyway. I'd first encountered tales of 2012 theories on my friends MySpace page and locked away in a downtown, one room fleapit apartment block found myself on a search for the meaning of everything. The truth behind the lies.....

A shift is definitely upon us.....

I don’t comprehend all that he writes as our paths are of differing meanderings but the crux is the ability to think for oneself.....

We all have the ability to open our minds and question what we are told, though most of us seem too lazy to undo all the programming we are drip fed from birth. If one can achieve an attitude of infinite possibility based on personal experience then suddenly, life’s troubles and disappointments take on an irrelevance in the whole scheme of things.....

Within weeks of arriving the wife and I were penniless, homeless and pregnant.....

That's when another guardian angel swept in and helped us out. That, though, is another story.....

What is really important here?....

Being a successful actor/musician? Making oodles of money and having people recognize you in the street. Getting the best tables in the best restaurants and driving down Rodeo in a shiny, fast car?....

I was grateful for a space to rest our heads. For $2.50 to get something to eat from the Mexican market on Eldorado. Those Mexicans down there haven’t got shit but a smile and a song for you.....

Again, what really makes one "happy"?....

The free baby clinic and the dollar store. Aspirations replaced by relief.....

The Hollywood sign in the distance was an apparition of success. The Beverly Hills hotel, a temptation for the deluded.....

This was real life for the strong of will and pure of heart.....

I arrived I L.A an ideological buffoon and left an enlighten misfit.....

I saw my friend briefly before we left. He was kind enough to invite us to his party. He wanted to encompass all of those he had met along the way. The purveyors of the ups and the witnesses of the downs I suppose.....

We were bad. The stress, the strain, the worry and the pain. We made our excuses, the three of us now and had to leave early. And that was the last time I saw him.....

Now it seems he is in pain and has had to regroup once more, yet still his words inspire me. I could offer a token word of sympathy but instead empathize with life’s tests and questions. He doesn't need my attempts at wisdom. He has ample reserves of his own.....

Eighteen months and on and we are finally settled. A roof, a stove and some hope. A desperate drive from California to Memphis. A son born on 9/11 (of course!). Swimming the Atlantic and barely breathing. Departures and separations and still wrongs to right. Still challenges to face. But what of them?....

When someone wrongs me now, when life seems to be turning the screw I think, not "Oh! Why me?" or "Just my luck." No, I think, "what is the universe trying to teach me?"."Why is this happening and where is it leading?"....

Clarity and trust. Wisdom and truth.....

My friend, we only met a handful of times. You are 6000 miles away and I'm surprised you still have the inclination to write. I wish I had the words or the wisdom for you now but you will find the direction you need, of that I am sure.....

I don't need a house with a pool and a truck on the drive. An HD TV and a plastic life.....

I haven’t touched a guitar in twelve months.....

I need truth, wisdom and the word you spoke which came home to me so clearly. Clarity!....

I'm searching for mine and I hope you find yours soon.....

Peace to you my brother.

Silent revolution.

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 10:21:44 +0100

“On the surface of the world right now there is war and violence and things seem dark. But calmly and quietly, at the same time, something else is happening. Underground an inner revolution is taking place, and certain individuals are being called to a higher light. It is a silent revolution - from the inside out, from the ground up. This is a Global operation, a Spiritual Conspiracy. There are sleeper cells in every nation on the planet. You won't see us on the T.V. You won't read about us in the newspaper. You won't hear about us on the radio. We don't seek any glory. We don't wear any uniform. We come in all shapes and sizes, colours and styles. Most of us work anonymously. We are quietly working behind the scenes in every country and culture of the world - cities big and small, mountains and valleys, in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands. You could pass by one of us on the street and not even notice. We go undercover. We remain behind the scenes. It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit, but simply that the work gets done. Occasionally we spot each other in the street. We give a quiet nod and continue on our way. During the day many of us pretend we have "normal jobs." But behind the false storefront at night is where the real work takes a place. Some call us the Conscious Army. We are slowly creating a new world with the power of our minds and hearts. We follow, with passion and joy. Our orders come from the Central Spiritual Intelligence. We are dropping soft, secret love bombs when no one is looking: Poems ~ Hugs ~ Music ~ Photography ~ Movies ~ Kind words ~ Smiles ~ Meditation and prayer ~ Dance - Art ~ Social activism ~ Websites - Blogs ~ Random acts of kindness...

We each express ourselves in our own unique ways with our own unique gifts and talents. “Be the change you want to see in the world” - that is the motto that fills our hearts. We know it is the only way real transformation takes place. We know that quietly and humbly we have the power of all the oceans combined. Our work is slow and meticulous. Like the formation of mountains, it is not even visible at first glance. And yet with it entire tectonic plates shall be moved in the centuries to come. Love is the new religion of the 21st century. You don't have to be a highly educated person or have any exceptional knowledge to understand it. It comes from the intelligence of the heart, embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings. Be the change you want to see in the world. Nobody else can do it for you. We are now recruiting. Perhaps you will join us. Or already have. All are welcome. The door is open.”

Author Unknown