Love Is

...another essay written for my 100 level english class last year.

  Love is a context. It is not an action, an infatuation, a currency, a feeling, an event, an intention, a fantasy or an intellectual construct. Each of those things can be 'loving', but inherently none of them have any such meaning. A thing or action, of itself, is meaningless without a context, and as such, doing the dishes after a meal is just a meaningless string of mechanical movements, unless one considers the context. It can be an empty, resentful fulfillment of obligation, or a joyful, loving act of service to one's family. At first it might seem as though intention may be the critical factor in the previous examples, however, intention is typically just a manifestation of self-interest. When an act is performed 'for a reason', it is performed as a means to an end; for the sake of a presumed reward - perhaps for the good feeling of living up to an ideal that one holds in high esteem; perhaps to avoid a feeling of guilt. Self-interest is different from love. As a context, love is complete and all-inclusive; it has nothing to lose and nothing to gain. That said, the vessel of love (subjective awareness) is not separate from the context itself. Love then, is a way of being in, and of relating to the world. It is not a matter of particular things such as the act of washing dishes, but rather, a matter of the propensity of nature for compassion, nurturing, and forgiveness; love is committed to the whole of existence.

   So what exactly does a context of love entail? In Jay Ingram's article “The Look” (2003), he talks about the phenomenon of 'love at first sight', and the experience of locking eyes with a stranger across a room. According to Ingram, there is a physiological phenomenon which occurs in such an instant; typically marked by a dilation of the pupils. This is not particularly surprising, given the general feelings we associate with gazing deeply into the eyes of another, but nevertheless, inquiry as to a teleological reason for the phenomenon is rather intriguing. Most of the time when we look at people or objects we tend to focus on the near side of them. We probably do this because the near side of things is the side which we are most immediately capable of manipulating. When it comes to locking eyes with a person however, the focus is no longer on the near surface of their body. As the saying goes, “the eyes are the window to the soul”. When we look into someone's eyes, focus shifts to the far side of the person; they become included in one's awareness (as opposed to when the focus is on the near side, and things are perceived as though they were invaders from outside of awareness). While this change in perspective toward a more inclusive experience has no immediate effect on the absolute relationship between the observer and observed, it does have an impact on the context of the experience. Just as one might perceive two cells in a body separately, one can view them non-dualistically as components of a single organism. This is what happens with love; the dualistic perspective of observer and observed dissolves and everything takes on meaning as it relates to service of the whole.

   When it comes to love, it is often believed that our faculties for reason become compromised. While from an outward perspective this may seem to be the case, being that logic presumes that self interest is our primary function, love merely represents a reassignment of intellectual resources. Where normally the question would be about whether or not to act forgiving or compassionate, love automates the decision and instead assigns cognitive efforts to the task of figuring out how best to go about implementing forgiveness and compassion. Where making choices between two alternatives entails a very linear (left-brained) sort of processing (weighing pros against cons), the problems of how to implement the particular functions of love are more representative of creative pursuits, and as such, they mark a shift toward more non-linear, right-brained processing (which, to the linear mind appears highly irrational). Thus, love is not subject to reason. Rather, it is inclusive of our faculties for reason, but ultimately those faculties serve a context of love, and not the other way around (as the scientific mind would prefer). Where the scientific mind might become preoccupied with details and specifics, love caters to the broader spectrum; intuitively accounting for the overall field of an encounter, rather than the immediate appearance of it. There is less emphasis on control, and more emphasis on facilitation.

   With love there is less focus on the particulars of the existence of a person or thing, and more focus on its essence. The focus on essence illuminates the wisdom in the saying “if you love something, let it go”. The essence of a thing has absolutely no relation to a person's sense of possessing it. In Anita Rau Badami's article, “My Canada” (2000), we have a stunning example of the transition from particulars to essence and how this transition facilitates love. At first, Badami's experience of Canada gained its meaning in contrast to her prior experience of living in India. To her, Canada was remote and exotic; different. Though she enjoyed the country, it was mostly for the varied experiences, environments and encounters that it had to offer which could not be said for other parts of the world. When she finally begins to view Canada as her home, it comes as a consequence of shedding the comparative perspectives that she had initially brought to her experience; from her ability to appreciate Canada independently from any comparisons - she appreciates it for its essence. When she says 'my' Canada, having witnessed the beauty of its essence, she really means 'everyone's' Canada. It is no longer the Canada of her expectations but the Canada that simply is.

   By examining all that has been discussed thus far, it becomes evident that love is represented by a progressive transition from the conditional to the unconditional. Anthony de Mello (1931-1987), a Jesuit priest and psychotherapist had this to say about love:

Is it possible for the rose to say, "I will give my fragrance to the good people who smell me, but I will withhold it from the bad?" Or is it possible for the lamp to say, "I will give my light to the good people in this room, but I will withhold it from the evil people"? Or can a tree say, "I'll give my shade to the good people who rest under me, but I will withhold it from the bad"? These are images of what love is about.

It would seem that love then, is not a matter of doing anything, but rather it is a matter of being. The nature and the function of the rose are inseparable from one another. In order to love, one must merely surrender the obstacles to love – resentment, selfishness, bias, pride – and let one's nature unfold in participation with the totality of existence. Given the inclusive nature of seeing things in a loving context, perhaps the key to letting go of obstacles is to welcome them rather than resist them, as doing so recontextualizes the relationship between oneself and the obstacle, dissolving any opposition there might have been between the two. As a context, love has no opposition, and that is its power.

-Rob

Taking Offense: Making a Fence

This was an essay that I wrote for a 100 level english class last year.

   When it comes to conflict in the world, particularly as it takes shape in racist discrimination, individuals must assume accountability for finding their own peace. When we resort to being offended by racial slurs and challenges to our reputation, we contribute to the divide between persons, and perpetuate the inflation of the superficial differences from whence these slights arose. One might do well to compare a billboard to a willow tree; where each, by virtue of being that which it is, must stand against the wind. Only, in the case of its firmness and resistance, the billboard takes on more wear and tear than the flexible willow tree. Without taking offense, the weight of negative words and ideas disintegrates. With nonresistance there can be no conflict.

   In Lawrence Hill's essay “Don't Call Me That Word” (2002), we have a picture of this principle illustrated rather clearly when he cites the example of the black woman on the subway who could not bring herself to read a book with the word “nigger” stamped across the cover (Reader's Choice; 324). She is virtually paralyzed by fear at just the possibility that displaying such a word right next to her face could incite racial objectification/discrimination. It ought to be noted that in the example Hill gives, there's no mention of external circumstances. The woman is pained by the sting of her own empowerment of the word; not, as we might first assume, by the ravages of fellow passengers pelting hate at her as she read. She doesn't take accountability for her own peace, but rather, keeps it in the hands of her perceived oppressors.

   As third party observers, we can imagine an image of a black woman reading a book with the word “nigger” on the cover, and we can view the image as being either degrading or empowering. The image, of its own, has no meaning at all. Without our preconceptions and projections, the 'word' is reduced to mere letters, and the letters are reduced to mere lines.

   If we can do this exercise with an image of something external, then surely it's possible that the same principle can be applied to our own images of ourselves.

   In Wayson Choy's essay “I'm a Banana and Proud of It”(1997), we have yet another example of the accountability principle at work, although in this case, we get to see just how benign a racial slur can become, given that the individual applies nonresistance to the situation. For Choy, it is enough to realize that the terms are born out of ignorance; that they are often based on unintentional assumptions. In fact, he even goes on to suggest that the term 'banana' might even be an endearing nickname, provided that the intention behind it is such as to inspire humility. But how could such a name inspire humility? In terms of our happiness, we are reminded by such nominalizations, that we are only subject to what we hold in mind. In order that one might receive such nicknames without anxiety, it is necessary to be comfortable with the self that is a priori to one's perceived personality. We must be comfortable in knowing ourselves in such a way that our identities transcend circumstances. Whether the world understands a person or not; whether the world subjects a person to insult or injury, we can have peace in knowing this transcendent self. This is not to suggest a detachment from the immediate effects of these 'conflicts', but rather that peace itself is not in opposition to conflict; that to have peace is simply to be 'okay' with the state of the world.

   Often, a significant lot of our difficulties are born, not out of circumstances which are beyond our control, but out of the insecurities we bring to those circumstances. If only we could just be comfortable having insecurities, it might render the challenges of day-to-day life a little more bearable. Being honest with ourselves in regard to insecurities, we are better able to act rationally. Rather than have insecurities rule our behaviour and decision making, their impact can be reduced by addressing them as manageable factors in the larger context of mental prosperity. When insecurities are not recognized and addressed with a rational mind, they tend to manifest in less than desirable ways. Paranoia, anxiety, anger, guilt, shame, and inflation of the significance of irrational ideas are amongst the most common ways in which unaddressed insecurities can emerge. We see then, that accounting for our insecurities, while it may be difficult, is essential in rendering them less threatening to our sense of well-being. If not for our ability to set our insecurities aside once in a while, functionality in the world would come to a screeching halt. If being insecure about a store clerk's opinion of us caused us to refrain from shopping, it is quite evident how that could easily escalate into larger problems. The correlation between one's sense of peace and their ability to come to terms with personal insecurities is very strong, again pointing toward accountability on the part of the individual as the key to resolving the social issue at hand.

   Surely all of this is highly applicable to one's every day life, but what can we do to affect change on the larger social scale? As members of this society, wanting to promote a shift in perspective, all that need be recognized is that by changing ourselves, we are, in effect, changing the social structure of the world we live in. There is no fence between we and those who would persecute us. The inward perspective must be maintained in order that promotion of such ideas doesn't slip into conflict with the conventionalities they aim to address. There are no ideas that need changing, after all. As a person adopts a more peaceful approach to the world, his more abrasive behaviour patterns conveniently sink into recession all by themselves. They don't need to be corrected, just replaced. When we aspire to enforce peace, we become like the billboard in our metaphor: rigid and vulnerable. Force is always met with a counterforce, it's a law of nature. By 'taking sides' we perpetuate the divide which facilitates this conflict of energies. Fortunately however, it's entirely unnecessary to protest anything at all. Peace, by virtue of what it is, inspires. In the history of man, there has never been anything quite so effective a catalyst for change as inspiration. With this in mind, change on the large scale seems to be influenced much less by what we do, and much more by what we have become.

   As we reflect on this concept, we have an opportunity to re-examine past experiences in a fresh context. When we had taken offense in the past, were we really upset due to the things we thought? Or was it because we had neglected to nurture the peace that we already have within? Mohandas Gandhi once said: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” If this is indeed true, then to live in a world free of conflict and offensiveness, we must be responsible for bringing an attitude of nonresistance to every experience in our lives. There has never been a greater opportunity for peace than we have right now.

-Rob

Religion and Spirituality

 Everyone lives by faith. We take this for granted in the case of religious persons, yet the same is true for materialists, non-religious spiritualists and atheists too, since all of them live by faith in their own beliefs. What is unique in the case of religion are the shared belief systems that are formally acknowledged within a community that is intent on preserving a belief system as a social institution. However, just as patriotism is to a country, so religions are to belief systems, and just as patriotism is to nationalism, so religion is to religionism. While the former cases in each of the previous examples is marked by devotion to a respective cause or ideal, the latter cases are characterized more by outwardly directed inflation and aggression. This distinction is important to identify for the sake of preserving the rich treasury of wisdom that religions have to offer the world, especially in defense against the growing trend toward 'secular spirituality' which arises due to a seeming aversion to religion. The conflict between religion and spirituality is much like the conflict between clouds and the sky, which is to say that really, there is no conflict at all. So why would people have an aversion to religion then? This is not to imply that everyone need be religious; the intention is simply to deflate the supposed aversion, and perhaps to recontextualize religion in such a way that it might, at the very least, be embraced more willingly as a benign yet important aspect of society and modern culture as a whole, whether individuals have the desire to be involved in formal spiritual practice or not.

 In modern culture it is interesting to note that religious values and ideas have permeated the everyday aspects of our lives, especially when it comes to our most cherished forms of entertainment: television and film. In fact, upon closer inspection, the similarities between how we entertain ourselves and how we practice formal religion are uncanny. With television, we set aside an hour once a week to spend with our most inspiring characters. With religion, we do the same. In both cases, individuals are developing a deeper relationship with the characters; getting a deeper sense for their motivations, expectations and values. Also, as psychologists and sociologists have documented, television, in a physiological sense, has a similar effect to meditation on the psyche. Meditation serves to relax the body and disengage the mind from being excessively active, as does television. The effect of both these practices is that they enable us to have a break from the intensity of day to day life, so that when we do get back to our day jobs and other obligations, we can do so with a reduced level of anxiety. The striking parallels between religious practice and the average person's day to day life are quite remarkable; almost as if every experience we have, when viewed in the right context, has a spiritual component. Why then, if daily life and religious practice are so similar, do people take such rigid positions when it comes to religion? It would appear to be the result of a lack of distinction between regular religious practice, and extreme religiosity.

 So often these days, we see news reports about terrorists engaged in jihad (holy war); we read on the internet about evangelists who brainwash naive, at-risk teenagers; we hear from friends about people handing out pamphlets on street corners, warning us of an eternity in hell if we do not kneel down and repent. All this without even mentioning the bloody history which has been credited to religion with the Crusades and the Inquisition to name just a few examples. If any of this accurately represented religion, then the seeming aversion would be far more understandable. Of greatest significance in any of these cases is that none of the respective religions being 'represented' actually supports this kind of activity. In fact, the Holy Bible, the Koran, the Vedas, Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita all support alternatives to aggressively principled evangelism. All of the world's most prominent religions, and the vast majority of the more obscure ones, preach messages of love, peace and forgiveness. They teach followers about humility, surrender, and service to one's fellow man. Each of the examples of extreme religiosity mentioned above are examples of 'religionism'. Religionism occurs when spirituality is removed from religion, and what is left is little more than politicized dogma. In these cases of extreme religiosity it is very common for individuals to take integrous teachings and segments of scripture, only to present them, far removed from their original context, in such a way that supports political or egoistic agendas. We might note how the Koran teaches of 'Allah the All-Merciful' who uses the 'Sword of Truth' to bring about peace and justice, and how extremists have taken the teachings out of context in order to inspire men to take up the sword of steel. As well, we have cases where Christian fundamentalists brutally attack homosexuals, citing that “God hates gays”, even though the passages they refer to are rather ambiguous, while the less controversial teachings of the Christian Bible proclaim that judgement is reserved for God alone, and that in order to be holy, a man must 'love his neighbor as he loves himself'.

 One issue which seems to give rise to extreme fundamentalist groups is the issue of sectarian exclusivity. Exclusivity arises as a result of a deeply subconscious characteristic of the human psyche which is likely the consequence of early evolutionary adaptation. This characteristic is best described as a secret tendency to think that what we believe is 'righter' than anyone else's beliefs (a secret that we may very well deny, even to ourselves). When we encounter someone with a different belief or interpretation than us, it appears to be threatening to our secret belief. In response to the perceived threat arises a sense of opposition, division, and ultimately sectarianism. With sectarianism, individuals lose sight of the principles and intentions which form the foundations of their spiritual belief systems. People become religionists when they lose sight of divinity as a spiritual authority, and instead begin to revere the belief system itself as authority over truth. Worshiping religion, ironically, is not religious.

 It has been said that “Spirituality is the individual's ability to wonder at, and delight in, the indecipherable”. This sort of spirituality is integral to religious practice. Socrates taught that 'man always chooses what he believes to be the good, though he lacks the means to tell the difference'. Spirituality and religion are just a few of the means of exploring that difference; each as fallible as the investigator who explores them. The indecipherable nature of existence reinforces for us that indeed, everyone lives by faith. In light of this condition, this virtual state of oblivion, we can resolve then that the best we can do for now is to simply be compassionate toward our fellow man. The religious can be compassionate for those lost without religion, and the non-religious can exercise compassion for those who seem to be lost within it. Aversions only contribute to further divisions, and a greater sense of conflict, neither of which gets us closer to the goal of understanding. If there's anything we can know for sure, it is that love has never in the history of man been an opponent of peace. Perhaps that is a good starting point.

-Rob

Taking Offense

Socrates taught that ’Man always chooses what he believes to be the good’, and yet, so many of us tend to be of the belief that the world is against us.
People are always well intentioned insofar as their awareness is capable of letting them believe that their intentions are meant for good. Even if the actions don’t necessarily reflect the highest good, the truth is that every person would do things in a manner that didn’t offend or upset anyone if he had the means to.
We tend to justify everything in the moment, even if only to regret it in the next (e.g. I know that hitting people is wrong, but in this instant it’s justified because I’m angry).
Now having realized all this, it’s important to examine the spirit of the intention behind people’s actions.
For example, a mother might resist letting go of a child…letting her make her own descisions. However irrational it may appear to the girl, the truth is that the mother does it because she wants her child to be safe. She does it because she cares.
The issue at hand isn’t an opposition of wills, but simply an intellectual difference in awareness that can be resolved when either party makes an effort to appeal to the intention behind the other’s actions.
Taking offense merely perpetuates the unresolvedness of the situation.
Of course then, we must also make the effort not to take offense at others who take offense at things. In fact, we shouldn’t even be offended when we catch ourselves taking offense at things. Being patient with our own offendedness is a great place to start addressing it all. We don’t do well to beat ourselves up over it. Acceptance is the key to transcendence…in non-resistance we don’t inflate frustrations so that they have an easier time in persisting. Instead, we let frustration run it’s course until it simply lets go. After some residual manifesting of whatever propensities we’re trying to overcome, generally we can kiss them goodbye with confidence that we won’t fall victim to them again.

As a friend pointed out in a discussion that we had months ago about taking offense, the Socrates quote seems to be echoed in Jesus when he says ’Forgive them Father for they know not what they do’. Talk about not taking offense!

Another interesting point that another friend brought up was the distinction that can be made between responding and reacting. She also went on to note that ‘People are doing their very, very best, even when clearly they are not. When you look at life this way, compassion, empathy, forgiveness and respect are the norm.’

Anyhow, it’s all food for thought.
Have a peaceful day,

-Rob

Effective Communication

Tone is so very important.
On a message board I was reading one day, one poster complained at a totally receptive response that another poster wrote in reply to a particular comment.
“I’ve been saying that all along! Straightforward, with none of the fluff!
It seems like to get a point across anywhere around here you have to go and give the ego a good stroke first, otherwise nobody wants to hear it! No ego payoff means no interest!”.

Curiously, the message that he’d been trying to convey all this time was a message of unconditional acceptance of what is.

In observing this whole transaction, it would appear as though tone is like an adverb that gets tacked on to whatever message is being sent.
In the case in question, it would appear that people weren’t recieving the message clearly because the message was being modified by the tonal adverb.
They weren’t hearing the message “unconditionally accept All!”
They were hearing “Harshly accept All unconditionally!”

Harsh, aggressive and demanding approaches to communication tend to provoke the ego…and subsequently, those emotions/attitudes reside in the ego too.
The confusion that the ego had to be stroked in order that a person be receptive to the message was that the tone of the message was actually what was provoking the ego into involvement in the first place!
It’s hard for people to recieve your message while you’re stepping on their toes!
So basically, it’s not really necessary to stroke the ego at all if you don’t go getting it all riled up in the first place…
The tone should reflect the content of the message.
Peace ought to be expressed peacefully.
Love ought to be expressed lovingly.
Acceptance ought to be expressed acceptingly.
It’s a simple concept…but so often it gets completely overlooked.

For example, we might take a look at anti-war protests.
Anti-War is not the same thing as Pro-Peace.
While the anti-war folks might be trying to promote peace and love, they defeat the cause with the aggressive, harsh, demanding attitudes….the precise attitudes that propagate the condition that they’re protesting against!
It’s been said that “there’s no way to peace, peace is the way.”

One of my favourite quotes, by David R. Hawkins goes “Truth can only be validated by identity with it, not by knowing about it.”
For this reason, doubt, skepticism, non-receptiveness and opposition are generally the response when the tone doesn’t match the content of the message. If the tone doesn’t identify with the content of the message, then how can the messenger be trusted?

Jesus taught “They will know you by your love.”
To communicate with love and peace and patience immediately opens up the audience to be receptive.

Words just convey what’s being said. Tone conveys what’s being meant.

-Rob

Addendum:
Special consideration for the audience is generally important to good communication too. At certain stages in consciousness, awareness just isn’t expansive enough to really comprehend certain messages at all.
I used to teach art classes to 4 homeschooled kids between 6 and 12 years old, and I was reminded on a regular basis that you can’t talk thermodynamics to kindergarteners.
Without an understanding of addition and subtraction, they just aren’t going to grasp it!

So realize that much of the point in communication is that it’s an act of service…so cater it to best serve your audience!

Be Proud of Your Self

It’s a fine line to walk between knowing we’re talented and being prideful about it.

It would seem that the key is to know why we’re so skilled; the purpose that those skills serve.
I’m a decent writer, painter, athlete, scientist, planner, counsellor, animator, musician, speaker, listener, caretaker, student, etc.
None of it matters if those skills aren’t being used to serve God though.
Today I’m called to be a decent chef, and tomorrow, maybe a decent fisherman. Later, possibly an actor or a weather man. At some point, a lawyer…

Who we are is not what we do. The satisfaction is in service to the greater good in this very instant; service in the Now.
God may enlist our skills as a horrible nintendo player, better known to Him as a self esteem builder for the little cousin or niece who takes great pride in being able to show someone how to drive Mario around the race track.

What we do is all just the unfolding of potentiality…
Who we are transcends that…and there needn’t be any regrets regarding this fact.
Why say ’I could have been ______’ when what you are right now is so essential?

Love and Light,

-Rob

Atheism and Theism

Buddha didn’t use the term ‘God’ since it had so many different meanings to so may different people. He was definitely on to something there.

It does seem silly in a way for any of us to call ourselves atheists or theists since there’s really no difinitive…definition, of what God is.

So, in the effort to dissolve polarities and give people a common ground to meet on, could it possibly be acceptable to both atheists and theists to say that God is the Nature of nature?
I mean, beyond that, the whole thing continues to be a subjective process of discovery, evaluation and insight where one may or may not find religiosity to be useful in the spiritual quest…where he may or may not define God for himself at greater depth…

I’m reminded of an article that I read a while back with Dr. Amit Goswami(One of the featured speakers in the ‘What the Bleep’ movie), where he explains that we’ve sort of been approaching our understanding of life in an odd way.
For centuries we’ve looked at the world as though matter was the foundation of all being, when in fact, with our current understanding, it would appear that Consciousness is the ground of being!

So, if God is the Nature of nature, and Consciousness is the ground of being, it seems as though a relationship between Divinity and the individual is much more tangible.
In non-theist terms, one could say that there is a clear relationship between subjectivity and the nature of experience.

Certainly there are some belief sets which don’t agree at all with this notion. Nevertheless, it could possibly serve to bring many of us together in greater effect.

Peace to All,

-Rob

Free Will: The Useful Illusion

It’s been said, that the last obstacle that one must transcend is the Self.

The notion can be validated by observing the fact that truly enlightened teachers never seem to say the words ”I am enlightened”, since, having transcended the Self, there’s a recognition that the Self was never the ’doer’.
This prompts us to ask then, “Who or what has transcended the Self if not the doer?”

We generally get 2 answers for this question from enlightened teachers…
One, is that the universe is holographic/complete/unchanging…that nothing has happened….that all is as it was….and the only thing that has changed is perception of what is.
The other answer is that All happens by the Grace of God.

Basically, one does not progress in consciousness without the agreement of Divine Will. It’s impossible to step outside of reality.

Divinity is the Souce of all, and simultaneously All that is.
Pleasant experience appears to be governed more by the alignment of the individual will than by the actions of the individual will. By alignment with ‘that which is’(divinity), the automatic consequence is pleasant experience, since the illusory choices that are made are then in agreement with what the individual will desires(since it desires the desires of divine will, and divine will is that which is).

I say ‘illusory choices’ because it’s only after the fact that it becomes apparent that a descision has even been made. The ego, in that split second between what happens, and the awareness of what has happened, claims authorship of the choice.
Socrates taught ‘Man always chooses what he believes to be the good’.
Now, we ask ourselves, can we spontaneously make a conscious descision to deem something that we believe to be good, ‘bad’?
We can’t. So, every choice is merely the consequence of conditioning. No doer has made any choice.

So what is the advantage of free will? What makes it a useful illusion?
Well, the notion that we can actually decide to ‘do’ something automatically aligns us with the concept of progress/accomplishment. The notion of progress is essential, since the efficiency of progress is what inspires alterations in one’s alignment….ultimately contributing more and more toward complete alignment and surrender to Divinity…
Alignment serves karma; karma serves progress; progress serves the will of the Divine.

Caroline Myss said ”The greatest act of the will is to have no will”
It’s sort of an inevitability…though alignment with that inevitability may hasten its arrival.

-Rob

What is Real?

As one of the first lines in A Course in Miracles states: ”Nonexistence, by it’s very essence, cannot exist”.

In order to help wrap one’s head around this concept, please consider a thermometer.
A thermometer measures the presence of heat. It does not measure the presence of ‘cold’, since ‘cold’ is not really a thing. ‘Cold’ is the term that we use to mean the absence of a thing; heat.

Heat vs. Cold
Light vs. Dark
Existence vs. Nonexistence
Love vs. Hate
Truth vs. Falsehood

Consider these each as single variables which indicate the degree of the presence of a thing.
Nonexistence/Falsity is to Reality/Truth as Darkness is to Light.
One cannot aim darkness at light and cover a room in shadow.

The difficulty lies in telling the difference between appearance and essence.
All of these variables appear to have opposites, however, Truth cannot have an opposite. By virtue of a thing’s existence it would also fall under the category of Truth/Reality.

Buddha taught that “suffering exists, but none who suffer”
Suffering exists, but the experience of suffering does not.
'The experience of suffering' is to 'Acceptance of what is' as Cold is to Heat.

Everything is real.
Seeing things as ‘not real’ is just the absence of acknowledging them as being real.
Illusions are real.
In order to transcend illusions we cannot imagine that they are not real.

“You can never know the Truth because you are the Truth….and yet…
…..the fact of the matter is that Truth cannot be described nor explained.
Truth is ‘What-Is’
There is nothing objective about truth, which essentially is pure subjectivity”
-Ramesh Balsekar

One of our core human needs is to be seen as real.
One the greatest feats we can accomplish is to see All as real.
Doubt, over-rationalizing, and denial all inhibit our ability to see reality.
Seeing things as real means that we are better able to quantify and qualify exactly what something is and what it means.
It becomes totally apparent that “This is an illusion” and “This is objective Truth”.
Doubt is a willingness to consider something as being ‘not real’.
Willingness to consider something as ‘not real’ is the absence of discernment.

Subjectivity and objectivity are the same thing.

-Rob

What is Thinking?

Awareness is like a field of potentiality.
You might imagine it like a thick fog, and whatever we can see in that fog is within our field of vision.
In the case of a very unevolved state of consciousness/awareness, the potential for certain thoughts to occur within the field is very limited; limited to the point where the odds of something happening are quite predictable. Black or white.
In being so predictable, one may believe that he’s decided that the thoughts were chosen or created by himself.

When an intention manifests, one becomes aligned with the pursuit of that intention, and so does his field of awareness.
We can imagine a bowling lane.
There’s a pursuit; a desire to knock over the pins. This desire pulls our attention/alignment in the direction of that pursuit.
So the thoughts which arise in the field relate to the alignment of the field.
When the potentiality is limited, and the thoughts are related to the intention, people still think that they are ‘thinking’. They believe that what happens to the bowling pins is the direct consequence of their intention.
Narrow awareness, specific intention, and low potentiality contribute to the idea that all which appears is very linear(i.e. I roll the ball, the pins fall over).

As the field of awareness expands, so does potentiality increase exponentially, dealing with ever greater numbers of variables.
Less predictability means that identification with the self as the source of the thoughts is less plausible.
One might still claim authorship of some of them, and attribute the rest to the influence of external factors. He still believes himself to be ‘thinking’, only there’s the notion that his thoughts are affected by things beyond his scope of awareness also.
The thoughts are still governed by his alignment, though the scope of his field of awareness expands further than the scope of his attention/focus(similar to a person’s peripheral vision). There’s a consideration for factors outside the narrow focus of the core intention.

Factors which exist outside the scope of the overall intention may have appeal, which can lead to a realignment of the immediate intention, unlike in the case of a narrow awareness, where one is concerned only with getting that which is in his immediate attention.
The person still believes that he’s doing the thinking, since the thoughts that arise in consciousness are still related to the ever changing alignment. He believes that he’s picking the directions that are most ‘good’(eventhough one cannot change what he thinks is good, against his own good judgement!).

With ever greater expansion of awareness, many possibilities begin to appear favourable, so the overall intention/alignment is forced into expansion as well.
The overall intent becomes ‘service to the greater good’ as there’s a recognition that the individual doesn’t ‘decide’ what is best/what is good, but rather, that there’s an overall goodness which prevails in the field completely of its own.
This letting go of the will to ‘decide’ what is good, is the beginning of disidentification from thought. The individual becomes aware that he is not the sum of his thoughts.
There still appears to be ‘thinking’ though, since the thoughts which arise in awareness at least appear to relate to eachother, even if not to the intention of the individual.

When consciousness keeps expanding even further, to the point where ‘all that exists’ is something comprehensible, ‘thinking’ ceases. The timelessness of thought and awareness is witnessed as having been totally complete, always and forever.

Further yet, it’s realized that thought only ever made up 2% of the entire field of awareness, and that the rest of it was always just silent essence.

In terms of ‘potentiality’, just for the sake of clarification, it refers to the possibilities that may appear within a field of awareness, and the odds of that possibility coming into manifestation right ‘now’(Though it also refers to future possibility, it is not limited exclusively to future happenings. It is very much a quality of the ‘now’ as well).

The odds of a tree sprouting from your forehead in the instant that you’re reading this are pretty low, while the odds that you’ll continue the act of breathing are fairly high.

Awareness can expand across a threshold where even potentiality ceases to exist too, where the scope of one’s awareness is inclusive of Allness as being simultaneously manifest and unmanifest, since, for something to be manifest, there must also exist the potential for it to manifest.
Like data on a computer, just because the files are not being accessed at this moment, does not make the data any less existent. All of the past, present and future are registered in the timeless totality of consciousness.
…and it’s not so much that the future exists right now, as it is that all of the potentiality of the future exists right now.
For example, the death of the physical body might be immanent, but there are different files on the computer(potentialities) which dictate the means of that physical death.
We arrive at those different potentialities according to our alignment.

One of the most effective ways to potentiate the expansion of one’s consciousness beyond the limitations of thought, is to practice devotional surrender…which is essentially nothing more than alignment with divinity at whatever the cost.

In Peace,

-Rob

Addendum:
Since it seems to come up whenever people are ‘thinking’ about thinking, some thoughts on drugs and altered mental states:

Keeping with the fog metaphor, it would appear as though the effect of drugs, is that they temporarily dissolve the clouds so that the sun can shine through; so that the individual can experience some of the qualities of higher consciousness, without acually expanding his awareness.

Physiologically, the conditions of altered perception and presence of the drug are always concurrent…which is to say that the drug use and altered state are connected, yes, but that there’s no hard evidence to say that one causes the other. They’re simultaneous.(sometimes the mental condition can occur with a placebo, sometimes the presence of the drug has no apparent effect on perception…so one could theoretically lean one way more than the other, but it doesn’t appear conclusively governed by either the mind or the chemicals).

I wouldn’t know where to even start investigating this in order to find the bridge between consciousness and the body…and how exactly the drugs temporarily dissolve the fog of awareness…but such an effect seems to be why the altered states occur.

Not One, Not Two

“All is One”

People often say this. Few attempt to substantiate the claim.
Mostly, it depends on context.
Clearly, there are more than one letter in this sentence…so in this context, all is not One.
Hundreds of billions of separate molecules are the building blocks for a lake…and yet the lake is a single mass of water.
One might observe the individual pieces as emergent alterations in an infinite pattern….so, although they can be percieved as many, they really are just one.

Some go so far as to say that the line between where I end and the computer screen begins gets awful blurry at particular stages in consciousness.
To the linear mind, this doesn’t make any sense at all.
We tend to say that we have a body more readily than we say that we are a body…but just for a moment, we can ask ourselves, “If I am a body, where do I end and my eyeball begin? Where do I end and my fingernail begin? Where does my hair end and my body begin? Am I my hair? or am I my eyeball?
Am I my brain? or am I my nerves?
So, the line between myself and my body can easily be blurred when we go deep enough into the illusion that we are our bodies…so why not the line between the body and the computer screen, right?….
The line where I end and the eyeball begins is the same line where I end and the rest of the universe begins.

It’s a scary notion though….because if beingness begins at the point where I end, then it’s quite possible that I don’t exist at all! ha ha
This would probably be the ‘Void’ that people refer to in high stages of consciousness…where the ‘I’ is really the formless substrate of reality that is the source of all beingness. Something coming from no thing…and so we resolve then, that nothingness must be ultimate reality….since something cannot come from no thing.
…but as consciousness forges onward, even further up the proverbial ladder, the notion of void, is transcended for a state of Allness.

Getting back to the title of the blog…’Not One, Not Two’, I think the gist of that notion points to the un-separateness of existence and essence…the dancer and her dance.
The dancer and the dance are two things, and yet they are one thing…for the dancer is only a dancer whilst she dances. All is One, and yet all is not One.

There’s a duality between duality and nonduality to be observed here…and it can only be resolved by identity with both notions as though they were the same notion.

-Rob

Genius: One of the Many Paths

Now, to begin, let us be clear that genius and high IQ are not the same phenomenon. –at least not in this context.
While a high IQ might reflect a vastness of experience and inherent ability to calculate and discern based on observable factors, genius is much simpler.
Genius is doing exactly what is most appropriate in any given situation.
Anyone can be a genius. Not everyone can have a soaring IQ.

It’s not uncommon for a genius to live out on the countryside, living very simply. A genius doesn’t try harder than is necessary, nor does a genius waste energy on laziness.
The beauty of the path, is that it draws one into Prescence.
Being in prescence is what is most approriate in any given situation.
Making calculations based on past memory and future expectation is not prescence. When one’s attention is not on ‘what is’ he is not present in the Now.
Now is the only chance anyone ever has to do anything, and the genius lives this truth.

Genius only works with that which is tangible. The present reality is the only tangible thing at anyone’s disposal. Being in prescence is the only access that one has to any of it!

So one might ask then, ”without consideration for past or future, how can one do the most appropriate thing?”
Consider the nature of the question…
What answer does it seek?
It seeks a future where one can do the most appropriate thing! It comes from a past where appropriate action perhaps was not always the case.
A question from the past; about the future.
In prescence, there is no question, and no answer! –only what is appropriate. As soon as one begins to view it as either a question or an answer, he’s no longer the moment! just a perspective of the moment. The unfolding of existence as experienced on the edge of that unfolding is prescence.

At this point, the paths of the heart, of the mind, of surrender and of negation, all merge into one. ‘Process’ dissolves into beingness.
From here, there is only the service of Grace.

-Rob

Questions and Answers

4 + 3 = 7

The left hand side of the equation is equal to the right hand side of the equation.
The same principle can be applied to virtually all questions and answers.
By understanding the question(left side), we have the answer(right side).
The question is equal to the answer.

One cannot even formulate a question if he’s not aware of the answer that the question is seeking.
One does not ask if cows are green when he wishes to know about sports cars.

As such, an extremely useful spiritual practice is to observe, document and analyze our questions. Explore the field that they have arisen out of.

Can I move on? = Courage
Can I remain unbiased? = Neutrality
Can I deal with this? = Acceptance
Should I go on? = Willingness
What does it mean? = Reason

Question = The Field

Then there are also fields that bring about questions of less integrity:

Am I better than you? = Pride
Why don’t I get what I want? = Anger
Can I have it? = Desire
Is it safe? = Fear
Can I ever be more than my mistakes? = Guilt

It is extremely useful to examine the field that a question arises from.
The only acceptable answer to any question is going to be one that arises out of the same field.
For those familiar with the Map of Consciousness, it is an especially helpful reference:


Between 500 and 600 there is a massive drop-off when it comes to the arising of questions. Beyond 600 it becomes very apparent that Truth can only be validated by identity with it and not by knowing about it. Complete surrender of one’s beingness to the Allness of existence is the process which carries him further. Contemplation occurs spontaneously, but there is no longer attatchment to questions or answers.
A boddhisatva deals with questions that arise out of the collective field rather than his own individual field(A boddhisatva is an enlightened one who remains in this realm by the will of Divinity, to lend assistance to mankind and the raising of its overall level of consciousness).

One of the main techniques of the boddhisatva is to simply recontextualize a question so that it becomes meaningless. On the map of consciousness, a question that arises out of Pride is quite meaningless once one looks at it from the perspective of Courage, or Neutrality, or any of the higher levels.
This is a technique that we can practice for ourselves once we have examined the field that the question has arisen out of. We can look at it from the perspectives of (in the context of: ) the higher levels of consciousness, and subsequently practice the surrender/release of those questions as they appear unimportant in this new light we have shone upon them.

-Rob

Humility

According to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, humility is best defined as ”a reverent love of the Truth.”

What a beautiful and appropriate definition.

-Rob

addendum:
On the topic of surrender, it seems to come up all the time where people ask “well how exactly does one surrender something?
Humbling oneself in the fashion that St. Bernard describes would seem to be a very effective way of surrendering.
To truly revere the Truth in this way is to surrender All to it.
St. Augustine once explained that, in the pursuit of holiness, three virtues are fundamental: the first being humility, the second being humility, and the third…humility!

Creativity

In an interview with Deepak Chopra he once said something to the effect that ”creativity requires uncertainty; after all, with certainty, what room can there be for creativity?.”
The basic idea then, is to get something from nothing. Inspiration from the mundane; life from a pencil and paper; clarity from a mess; certain awesomeness from total unknowingness. Something from nothing. Creativity is a nonlinear process.

So the question comes up: “How can I be more creative?”
A wiser pursuit might be to experience creativity itself more deeply, since creativity itself is a constant. Everything arises spontaneously out of uncertainty in every instant. Therefore, to experience creativity more deeply requires alignment; finding agreement between one’s will and the nature of creativity itself.

As 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 so beautifully outlines the nature of Love, perhaps we might outline the nature of Creativity in the same spirit...

Firstly, creativity is not frustrated.
There’s no need to worry about fighting frustration though, just be concerned with fostering patience. The frustration will dissolve entirely of its own when patience begins to flower.
Creativity is patient, but not so much in the sense of waiting calmly, as in the sense of proceeding calmly.
Creativity is not impatient.
With creativity there’s no sense of urgency, but never any hesitation either.
Creativity is a phenomena that one participates in, not something which one can orchestrate.
Creativity is the music that is played though we, the instruments.
Creativity is not limited or conditional.
Creativity is spontaneous.
Creativity is not synonymous with wit or cleverness; they are its weak immitators. It never serves nonintegrous intent. Creativity is a phenomenon that is served by one’s willingness to participate in it.
Creativity is not retaliatory.
True creativity is influential.
True creativity serves God above all else.

Saint Hildegard of Bingen described herself as God’s Trumpet; an instrument for His work. Mother Theresa described herself as a pencil in the hand of God, writing the most beautiful love story.

It seems that such an approach is evident even with the most celebrated creators in history. As we have witnessed them creating, it always appears to be effortless. The works of Shakespeare are hardly the work of a methodical intellect, and yet they shine with brilliance. Creativity appears to flow through us, even though we often suggest that it has been executed by us.
The claim to authorship is often a difficult thing to surrender.
Even with our thoughts, it’s only in the instant after the fact that we claim authorship of the thoughts.
In ’The Power of Now’, Eckhart Tolle suggests an excersize which can help to reveal this lack of copyright that we have on just our own thoughts, not to mention the creativity that we claim to be our own.
He suggests that one merely sit quietly and try to predict what his next thought will be.
It’s really impossible.

So, surrendering the sense of authorship can only help to deepen one’s experience of creativity.
What seems to be at the core of creativity is a love and devotion to Divinity(whether that occurs consciously or unconsciously). In Love of God, all of life is experienced as creative unfoldment.

“God, make me an instrument of Your Love.”
In bearing witness to the ways that prayer is answered, every second of every day, we are blessed to see God; the Nature of nature, whose essence is Creation; whose Creation is “I”!

-Rob

The Absolute, The Relative and True Knowledge

If reality is infinite context, then the Absolute and the Relative are the same thing.
Assuming that reality is True Knowledge(not to be confused with knowledge about something), then reality must be that which can be known, not simply the sum of the things that we know about.

What can be known though? Everything appears to be subjective and relative.

I am.

Knowledge is Identity.
That I am is the only subjectively verifiable fact.
If reality is the sum of that which can be known,and all that can be known is that I am, then True Knowledge is to identify oneself as the totality of All that exists! including the accountability of all that exists!(an important distinction to make, simply that the ego isn’t the sum of the Self, but the Self is the sum of totality.)

As Christ taught, one must die unto oneself that he may truly live.
How can one live, without knowing life? How can one live, without being life, if this premise is indeed correct?
To die unto oneself then, is to relinquish attatchment to any limited identity.

“Truth is verifiable only by identity with it, not by knowing about it.” -David R. Hawkins

-Rob

How to Know God

First off, it's impossible to prove God.
Second, knowing about God is not the same as knowing God.
Thirdly, God has a lot of immitators.

So, to start off with, it's important to figure out what it is that we're trying to know.
As God is classically defined, God is omniscient(all knowing), omnipotent(all powerful), and omnipresent(everywhere). Basically, God is a limitless phenomena.

All knowingness…
imagine all of the 'information' in the universe…all the information about how the world is, how the world was, and how the world can/will be.
It's common to say that the past is dead, and that the future doesn't exist…but consider potential for a moment. For anything to exist…for anything to happen…for anything to be conceptualized…the potential for it to exist…for it to happen…for it to be conceptualized, exists.
In order for these letters to appear on this page, the potential for them to appear on this page had to have already existed. Like files on a computer, the information exists even when it isn't being accessed. The potential for every possibe arrangement of everything exists in timelessness.
We can call this perfect organization of information 'omniscience'.

All Powerfulness…
At first glance, one could presume that omniscience might as well be synonymous with all powerfulness. However, if one wished to go a bit deeper, it wouldn't be amiss to outline more of the traits that constitute all powerfulness.
In order to be all powerful, it would seem that a thing would have to not be subject to threats. From 'A Course in Miracles' we're taught that “that which is real cannot be threatened”. Threatening realness cannot influence realness to cease being realness. Attacking realness cannot threaten realness. Truth is that which does not change.
The question of All-Powerfulness also raises an important question: the question of evil.
If God is all powerful, and all good, then why does God permit 'bad' things to happen?
The answer to this question is both simple and complex. Suffice it to say, for our purposes, that an omniscient Divinity would not operate in such a way that was contrary to perfect reason.
Buddha taught that 'suffering exists, but none who suffer'.
This lesson is integral to understanding All-Powerfulness. Surely, if we may percieve suffering, yet not be the actual subjects of that suffering(on a spiritual level), then we must consider the possibility that nothing which happens is actually bad, but rather, that everything which we percieve as 'bad' serves a plethora of divine purposes: to establish karmic opportunities; to achieve karmic equilibrium…essentialy to teach us.
That which is real cannot be threatened. It seems as though existence as we know it is all the evidence necessary in order to witness omnipotence. There is order to the universe after all. A tree sprout will not grow into an inside out hippopotamus after all.

Omnipresence…
It's the puzzle of locality. If everything exists in the universe, then what does the universe exist in? and what does that exist in? and so on.
At some point, locality has to arise out of nonlocality…just as it does in the mind when we imagine a table. We can imagine its hardness, its texture, its weight, its colour…and yet that table exists nowhere in discernable locality.
The fact that God is not provable, as circular as this may seem, is evidence for the nonlocality of Divinity. And if everything exists in nonlocality, then everything which exists occupies the same space as nonlocality. Omnipresence.

So omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence are all real phenomena…
timelessness…infiniteness…and nonlocality…all real phenomena…
These are essentially the Nature of nature. Divinity. God.


…so having established the basics of what we can know about God, how does one go about actually knowing God?
How does one appeal to the will of Divinity, when Divinity already has a perfect knowledge? It doesn't seem as though it would make sense for Divinity to go and change its will for someone whose will has already been anticipated…
How does one appeal to omnipotence? if everything already operates according to its unstoppable order?
“Truth is verifiable only by identity with it, not by knowing about it.” - David R. Hawkins.
To know God, one must surrender all disagreement with God's will.
To know God, one must surrender all resistance to God's power.
When God's will and one's own will are no longer dualistic…when God's power is no longer separate from one's own accountability, then one is One with God. There is no longer a knowing 'about'. There is only knowing.


…the only thing now, is that we must be weary of God's many immitators.
How to identify immitators of God:
if something has finite locality…as kind and loving as it may appear, it is not God(at best an expression of God's Love…but be sure to remain focused on God, and not simply the manifestation).
if something appeals to you by coersion/bribe/temptation, it is not God. God is all powerful, and has no need to seek your compliance.
if some force comes to you looking for answers, even if they are answers about yourself, it is not God. God knows you. At best, these questions may arise out of some desire to know yourself…at worst, they may come from some entity that would play on those questions to create doubt, and inflate its own importance in such a way as to inspire you to follow it.
if something is not expressing all goodness, it is not God. No suffering is the fault of God…it is the fault of false identification…of ego…of illusionary attatchments.

Basically, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence and all-goodness are the qualities that we must keep in mind. If we maintain a focus on knowing these when we see them, then it can only follow that we will also know God.

-Rob

Poetry Collection

Here are most of the poems that I've written in my life...I'll probably update this entry a few times yet as I'm in a creative writing class where we write a new poem each week. Some of them are much better than others...written while carried by a wave of inspiration; others are forced, and it's probably clear which are which. At any rate, enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
attatchment

Humbly Waiting
Ego Blazing
I Know it will go away.
Patient with me, for one day I'll be ready
to be unready

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
nonconditional

experiencing the soft warmth of a flesh I have never touched
looking into the eyes of one with whom I've never spoke.
knowing the love intimately without having the love.
or do I?
Am I living the love, or is it passing me by?
It's no less real when it's no more shared.
or am I wrong.
I can't say I'm scared.
If it is meant to be there's no point to it anyways.
It's meant to be good, meant for a certain way.
If it's not meant to be, it's still meant to be right.
Freedom is not 'yes I will' it's 'I might'.
A love with no bounds,
A love that may never happen,
has happened.
A love that is perfect
is happy
whatever the outcome.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
acceptance

Smiling at praise.
Nod at criticism.
hold my thoughts still.
Wonder about things.
Bold my stance
Firm my stability
With silence and heavy eyes
gently my heart sings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How to Say Nothing, and Mean It

a point without a premise.
a premise without a point.
the intent has been set forth,
but the path is out of joint.

a premise without a point.
a point without a premise.
a shot without a target,
yields a hit that marks a miss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Awareness

Silence
The song that needn't be played
Melody
In notes that can't be made
Beauty
As voices haven't sung
Peace
As It and I are One

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Terminus

a river of love
ebbs and flows
float with the current
wherever it goes
twisting and turning
effortlessly
in every direction
timeless beauty

with eloquent rhythm
softly it calls
lowering gently
over the falls

the current slows down
the river wide-opens
back to it's source
One with the Ocean

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One

What fortune found
To have a friend
Whereupon this journey
We could spend
A moment here
Seeing clear
The Silence

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Surrender to Grace

gazing, full with wonder
aesthetic fluence in the world around
   as a boat on the ocean
 with waves the soul bounds
caress of the heavens
   fills hearts of space
cognitive efforts
surrender to grace

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Love Poem

This feeling fills
It doth persist
A healing warmth
Vague as mist

Betroths this heart
A radiant field
All wants and needs
The feeler yields

He gives up All
So to embrace
A higher Truth
To bathe in Grace

He loves her not
It's not from him
Veritably
He feels on a whim

No, this Love subsists
Even when disaligned
It encompasses souls
So that they're combined

The caring endures
Glowing forth from his chest
By no will of his own
This union impressed

Her joy is his own
As hers is in he
Entangled by Love
Two drops meet in the sea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Involvement

So involved in desire
So involved in the pain
So involved in the story of the hero once again

So involved we compete
So involved we show pride
So involved in the view that we have from outside

So we just let it in
So we just let it go
So we know that the mind is the screen for the show

So we bend with the wind
So we go with the flow
So we follow the plot that continues to grow

So the reel nears it's end
So the credits start to roll
So we find all along that we watched from the soul

So we've learned who we are
So we aren't what we see
So we're not so involved
So in truth we are free

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heart Chakra

A fire without sound
let spirit abound
pouring forth from the chest
by love at last found
thru the door of the soul
enter into the whole
as inside, all around
what the heavens extol

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Portrait

A dancer and her dance
Existence as one with her essence
Though it may not be apparent

Figuratively perfect
Since she does well not to realize it
of the moment she is fervent

Her mind is ripe
Humility makes her bold
her honesty the root component

She’s on the edge
Of discovering herself in this perspective
Seeing herself in the moment

Above and beyond
She’s all this and less
Words can’t relay what’s inherent

The paragon of woman
The epitome of God’s grace
Divinity’s crowning adornment

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This Love

­As it comes
Loving you by loving the world
Yeah this love is what hearts are made for
Escaping eloquence gripping us tight

When it holds you it holds every child
When you breathe it’s what fills you inside
It’s the spirit that carries
the will that subsides
It’s the depth of your soul
And the light for your eyes
It’s the malleable stone
Soft hands work to the bone

Sculpting links in a chain that can lead us back home

It’s the wind in the forest
The sound of your voice
It’s the driver beside you
Your freedom of choice

And it flows
And it fills
Sometimes pushes
Sometimes gives
As it comes
Loving you by loving the world

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What to Bring to Work

An arbitrary assertion
'this is hard'
lame as can be
defeated at once by the force I call 'me'
is the puzzle inherently tough?
the Truth shall set me free
a prisoner of my impressions
is the honeycomb so complex to the bee?
why should this be such a challenging feat?
as easy as moving my arms
walking on my legs
turning a wrench
hauling kegs
no task is stronger than my mind
all work is as difficult as I find
when I bring it joy
it brings me peace
and when I bring love
the work loves me back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flo and I

"Nothing real can be threatened."
A phrase seared in my mind.
How it was so easy to accept, after the first time I saw her,
That we might never meet again.

Talk about impressions burned in the mind though!
Her love.
            Her warmth.
                          Her kindness.
                                                      Radiant like the glow of the sun.
Something about her...
This encounter would change the course of my life.
                                                                                                  I knew.

                                                         ~

Almost a year later we met again.
                                           "Wow. She is just..."
It seemed impossible that I let her go the first time.
Her Joy is now my soul's desire. My Self is hers.

A deep sense of living completeness...
Perhaps due to the way my spirit is reflected so clearly in hers;
Perhaps in the way our reciprocal strengths and hurdles compliment.
                                                                                       A nurturing wholeness.

Her heart has opened parts of me I never knew.
The journey into her soul and the road to mine are a singular path.
                 When once, the edge of my being was marked by a Mind,
Now it seems difficult to distinguish where I end and where she begins.

                                                                   ~

                                                      Freedom in the uncertainty of Life.
                                                      Anchored in the Truth of our Love
                                                      A phrase comes to mind...

                                                      "Nothing real can be threatened."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nondual

The indivisible totality of existence
               as viewed through pinholes in the fabric of time.
A timeless, changeless, limitless whole
               seems constrained – to the temporal, changing, limited mind.
Like frames on a film strip passing by...
               The illusion. The excitement. The interest.
What’s to come? What’s to find?
               Cassette in hand; the whole plot fulfilled.
listen,
           as pa,
                      after par,
                                        after part,
                                               is spilled.
O Perception: the Great Constraint.
                What of the Truth is there left to paint?
Do we think that we’re painters,
                when in fact we’re the brush?
Do we think that we’re brushes,
                when in fact we’re the push?
From the Artist’s hand,
                to the Artist’s mind.
We step forth through the gate
                then look back just to find,
That no gate e’er was there;
                that before we were blind.
But who was blind?
With eternity found,
                we are set free from time.
Where unending Silence,
                is the stage for all sound.
Where from infinite Stillness,
                is all movement found.
Where on eternal absence,
                doth Light shine its face.
Where the world of form,
                dwells in l-i-m-i-t-l-e-s-s Space .
Moving.
        Changing.
                 Growing.
                         Learning.
                                      Aging.
                                                                                  Appearing.
Artefacts of Totality nearing,
                  a realization of its true Self.
Nondual.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who Am I?

Perception the Bridge,
Or perception the Wall?
Which stands between me and the world.

Or is it a mirror,
Reflecting at me
My Self come completely unfurled?

Could I be an illusion?
A thoughtless conclusion?
A something which stands clear apart?

Or am I a question?
Pre-answer digestion,
A mystery from bottom to top?

Am I a persona?
Which stands quite alone?
A window to all that's outside?

Or am I a vessel
For something that's more?
Or have I just come for the ride?

Perhaps I'm a fish?
Could I be the water?
Or could I be both as a whole?

I might be a tooth,
Which can't bite itself.
A something that never may know.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Squish. Hmm. Ha. Ahh. Good Karma.

Squish.
A life ends at the sole of my shoe.
No thought for its life.
No thought for its soul.
No thought for the life which once made the world whole.

Hmm.
Is there anything I can do?
Can I remedy this?
Can I pay for my crime?
Can I bring back its life? Can I go back in time?

Ha.
I could hold a bug funeral!
Would it ease my mind?
Would it please the bug?
Would it hold off the wrath that I'm due from above?

Ahh.
There's a lesson in this.
Thank-you bug.
Thank-you life.
Thank-you universe, for setting me right!

Wow.
Two lives begin at the soul of my being.
Reborn with awareness.
Reborn to care.
Reborn with a spider I was meant to meet there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Letting Go

Drop what's in my hand,
            without a second thought.
But with layers
             layers
             layers of frustration,
             hold on with all I've got.
Take the anger.

              Grip it tighter.

                          Grip it tighter yet.

This feeling of discomfort;
            Closed as a fist can get.
I open up my sweaty palm
            and roll the object 'round.
Notice that it's not attached;
            that I'm not tied or bound.
I am it,
            or I have it.
                        Why struggle to hold on?
If I could only let it go,
                        my hurting would be...                           G o n e.

Find my comfort.
            Focus Inward.
                        Live with open hand.
I needn't grip things any longer,
                                     blown away like sand.
At core I'm silent,
                         I'm at Peace.
                                      Air in a bubble,
                                                                              finds r e l e a s e.
No more with pain or darkness,
                                                    no longer hurt by lies.
No longer blinded by scales,
                                                     which once covered my eyes.
This is what the wind feels like.
                                                                 Unhindered by confine.
Set free all my frustrations;
                                     they're here
                                                                      but they're not mine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Perfect Tree

A sapling
guided up through soil by the sun
from its source in the ground to its source in the sky
to a spire from a seed, it becomes

In infancy the tree endures
over storm, step and struggle, life is won
recorded in the rings of time
trials help the tree to grow tall and strong

As it ages it seeks space to grow
solidly established it climbs on
ever longing to hug heaven's light
it opens up its arms one branch by one

It reaches up and reaches out
does not deny its shade to anyone
though not the tallest, thickest, or most picturesque
its service to the world is not undone

A perfect vision of itself
through birth and life and death goes Nature's son
an everlasting gesture of Her wealth
for in its wake we find new life begun


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Simple Life

V1
If you remember how love put the beat in your step
and how the rain never got your heart wet
you can go back to a time when we all got along
If you remember that love is the breath of this living song…
you can put all your pain in the past
                                                            and we'll carry on

V2
So open on up and let the love shine in
I know we've done it before-we're gonna do it again
Come on and live your peace, go on and shine that light
With just a little faith, we find that things go alright
I know that life is good for the soul
                                                            as we all grow on

Chorus
Just look at where we've come
Take your time
and understand
it's a simple life

Bridge
I know that you've got your handful of troubles
and you know that I've got mine
But when you look out for me, I can look out for you
Just got to trust in people, not much else we can do
'cuz when it all falls down, I'm gonna pick you up
you know that we're all brothers and that's more than enough
we'll just lean on each other as life
                                                        keeps on moving on

Chorus
Just look at where we've come
Take your time
and understand
it's a simple life

Take your time
and understand
it's a simple life
and things will work out right

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emergence

Elementary particles
Created; not coloured
All alone they have nothing to show
But arranged as an atom
Bombarded by light
We witness a glorious glow

A single Molecule
Water; not wet
A pair of 'H' with a unit of 'O'
Limited.
       Finite.
              Alone.
So little to it
This lone unit
Some traits, only union bestows

An endless vacuum
There; not here
A volume without a divide
But fill it with objects
       and orbits
              and light
Then a context connects all inside
Though the vacuum has not a locale of its own
Its contents are spatially tied

Then what of Love?
Unconditional; under the right conditions
An emerging property too?
Does it only appear, between me and you?
Or is it always here?
Though it's not always clear?
Is emergence its coming to view?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Death and Loss

all the data of the holographic universe
stored in the quantum computer
whether it's accessed or not
though I know not all,
it is yet known,
just not by me

therein lies my bias
since I can't imagine death
to imagine the hollow;
the empty…
takes awareness

I just can't manage to smother the Self
long enough to allow
for the possibility of nothing

an after life?
after what?
can I ever evade the Now?

how?

even Loss,
I can't quite grasp
though fear of loss has made me gasp

if I say goodnight, is your love not mine?
how far apart, in space and time,
must someone be?

can we ever lose what we've set free?

as sure as I am that I can't lose you
you were never mine, this much is true
can I try the same on my Self too?

if I set me free
will I not be lost?
I do not know.

when did life even begin?
Now?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace

Simple kindness has no backlash
never leads to loss or despair
If I'm to be the change
it's kindness
that my world should get to wear

I can't just dream about it
it's something I must be
like the flame of a candle
lights another
to give myself
does not hurt me

To live with Peace does not consume
nor overwhelm
it does illume
it paints the world with Love and Light
does not divide the wrong and right

It ends all conflicts with forgiveness
melts all worry
caters to bliss
complete and perfect; life benign
in every moment – yours and mine

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey, Love!

V1
Hey, Tree! Come on and shine your shade
Give rest and comfort by your design
Let me hang from your branches
Let me roll in your leaves
Let me live life with freedom
Cherish the breeze

Chorus
…these are expressions, of Her embrace
Caress of the heavens, surrender to Grace
Hey, Love!
You're the silence in sound
The cure to my worries
You're all that's around

V2
Hey, Wind! Come on and give your touch
Lift up my spirits with your gentle push
Let me roar in your streams
Let me ride on your waves
Let me go your direction
Feel like I'm safe

V3
Hey, Rain! Come on and drip your scent
Wash me clean with refreshing descent
Let me be free of anger
Let me be free of pain
Set me free from resistance
And I'll be pure again

Bridge
The rain, it doesn't just fall on the bad
And the rose when she smiles…

It doesn't matter who you are
Or what your trial is

Just live Love
'Cuz that's what life is

V4
Hey, Sun! Come on and wrap that warmth
Blanket the world with nurturing arms
Let us comfort each other
Let us heal in your light
Let us change our direction
Live for what's right

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And there you have it! A bunch of Rob-Poetry!
Have a groovy-awesome day!

-Rob