September 9, 2020

04

Our life does not happen accidentally,
while we are in pursuit of our dreams.
It isn't what occurs while we are doing something else.
Something more fun.

Our life is the intentional production
of the mutual collaboration
between the conscious 
and unconscious
aspects of ourselves.

We are two selves:
Conscious
and Unconscious
(We call it the Unconscious because 
the conscious side of us
is not conscious of it,
which makes dealing with it
a full-time operation
requiring our complete attention,
total devotion
and faithful allegiance).

When the old Chinese mystics talked of the Tao,
they were talking about the Unconscious self.
And being in accord with the Tao
was held to be the key to balance and harmony,
stability,
character,
wisdom
and peace.

It still is.

Our Conscious self is good for knowing
how to do something,
relying on intellect,
logic
and reason
to come up with the best,
most efficient,
way of getting things done.

But.
On its own, it has no idea of what to do.
Consciously, we know what we want
and don't want,
what we like and don't like,
what is pleasing
what is displeasing,
but we have no notion 
of what we should want,
or of what we have no business
even thinking about.

Our Unconscious self is good 
for what, when and where,
and has a knack for knowing
what is called for
in each situation as it arises.

When our Conscious and Unconscious selves
are communing with each other,
in full accord,
and on the same page,
our life has a radiance about it
and a flow to it,
that cannot be fabricated
in some other way.

Our duality is dancing
in a manner that declares our unity,
which is something to be relished
and enjoyed
as the purest expression
of the experience 
of being alive.

–0–

03

Notice what catches your eye,
and look closer.
Move toward that which moves you.
Pay attention to the things 
you are quick to dismiss,
discount,
disregard,
ignore,
and stop doing that.

The Most Important Things
are the cornerstones the builder dismisses,
discounts,
disregards,
ignores.

"Nothing good comes from Nazareth!"

The pearl of great price
lies in the bin of costume jewelry
waiting for one who sees
to take notice
and look closer.

Our destiny hangs in the balance,
dangling by the finest thread.
Our name is called 
by the faintest whisper.
The first test is the hardest:
Will we see what we look at?
Will we hear what is being said?

Nothing of consequence
is the key to everything that follows.
The path that leads to awakening
and enlightenment
begins with the silliest choices.
Our future life hinges on--
and takes shape around--
our being open to the offerings
of the present moment,
and willing to trust directions
from the unlikeliest of guides.

Having expectations,
strong opinions
and harsh judgments--
being impatient,
insistent
and hard to please--
increase the internal noise level,
and make it difficult 
to recognize the grace at work
in our circumstances,
or to allow impromptu shifts
toward uncertain outcomes.

We are always forgetting
that we did not intend to be
where we are,
or plan any of the steps
that led us here.
The future will be an extension of the past
in this regard,
and we can rely
on knowledge beyond reason,
logic
and intellect
to pilot our boat 
on its path through the sea.

Those gifts are well-qualified to deal with How,
But.
What,
When,
and Where
are within the purview 
of more than words can say.

Choosing the gifts and the giver
puts us in the position 
of the moved in response to the mover.
Recognizing what is asked of us
and responding in ways
appropriate to the occasion
are all that is asked of us
in each situation as it arises.

All our life long.

–0–

02

We have to know what moves us
and allow ourselves to be moved by it--
to be owned by it--
to belong to it--
to be possessed,
seized, 
dominated and controlled
by the things that move us--
moved against our will--
"Without hope,
without witness,
without reward"
(Steven Moffat)--
to live in the service of,
with filial devotion
and liege loyalty to,
that which moves us!

In the spirit of the old alchemical formula,
"One book opens another,"
the thing(s) that move(s) us
will move us to the thing(s) that move(s) us,
and we will be carried all our life long
from one thing to another
on an adventure that never ends.

This is the Hero's Journey.

Don't be a sissy.

–0–

01

Our idea of God is not God.

This is the foundational realization.

We can never get beyond our idea of God to God.

In order to approach God,
we must abandon our idea of God.

Theology has to go.

Meister Echart said,
"The final leave-taking 
is leaving God for God."

Our idea of who we are is not who we are.

The final leave-taking
is leaving ourselves for ourselves.

We become God.
God becomes us.

And that's that.

In the end, we are all one.

All of our divisions are false divisions.

All of our dichotomies are false dichotomies.

All of our dualities are false dualities.

Our idea of reality is not reality.

It is all a joke we play on ourselves.

It all ends in laughter.

That never ends.